Father's Day 2012

Happy Father’s Day to all dads and those who are celebrating dads today.

·         Henry Hill passed away last week at 69. His story was made famous in the Martin Scorsese movie “Goodfellas”. I love a good mafia film. “Goodfellas” is no “Godfather”, but is such a fun movie to watch, and (along with “Donnie Brasco”) probably provided a more accurate account of the paranoid narcissism that ruled that culture, especially prior to RICO. Rudy Giuliani probably does a little superior dance whenever another of these rat/informants meets his maker. What was somewhat endearing about Henry Hill was the fact that he was the quintessential loser. Ray Liotta, handsome and charming, was an interesting choice to portray the real Henry, who was, to be kind, a mutt, and to hear him speak on the Howard Stern show, seemed like kind of a dork. Anyway, RIP Henry.

·         Rodney King was found dead in his swimming pool yesterday. The authorities are saying so far that foul play is not suspected. It appeared that real bad karmic juju hovered over Rodney. He was on a celebrity rehab show a couple of years ago and seemed like a nice man who was lost and sad and had been used for a cause, and was by no means comfortable with his role in history. 47 years old is far too young to die, RIP Rodney.

·         It’s interesting to me that when Lindsay Lohan is in the middle of a highly publicized big budget production (“Liz and Dick”) and totals her Porsche and then is found passed out in a hotel room, it’s from “dehydration” and “exhaustion”.

·         If there ever was any legitimate application of the Florida “Stand Your Ground” defense in the Trayvon Martin killing, it’s doubtful that a judge and jury will now be able to give unbiased consideration to the defendant’s version of events. I still have issues with the media’s and some politicians’ rush to judgment in the early reporting of this case, but clearly George Zimmerman and his wife have proven themselves to be sneaky and not too bright.

·         This month marks the 40th anniversary of Watergate. Hard to believe.  Certainly some politicians had been crooked and conspiratorial prior to this event, but it’s undeniable that American innocence and faith in our government starting changing forever in those days of 1972. I vividly remember being 10 years old and watching the hearings on TV at home during my school lunch breaks.  And there were those cynical and disrespectful jokes about our president, “Tricky Dick” Nixon. I remember that it all made me feel very strange and vulnerable.

On a Lighter Note......

·         I always have smudges on my glasses, and can’t seem to stay ahead on keeping them clean. I'm forever wiping them off with lens cleaning tissues.  When I had a cat, I’d often step over “her”, only to realize what I was seeing and stepping over was a smudge on my glasses. Smudge would have been a good name for the cat, but I acquired her pre-glasses, and she came with the name Cupcake. I had other names for her too, when she was naughty mostly.

 

·         The YMCA I belong to has a "Quiet Gym", where there is no music piped in and members are supposed to avoid use of cell phones and to use only personal music devices with earplugs. In theory, these rules create a great atmosphere for concentrated workouts and respectful consideration for all involved. The actual result is people, ear plugs in and personal music cranking, shouting their conversations back and forth to each other.  I sometimes mouth obscenities with a smile to these deafened shouting folks and am greeted with warm and friendly smiles and waves in response.