Monday, August 31, 2009
The Gang's All Here!
But I just experienced a weekend and though I gained no wisdom from it, I gained the vision of why we should maintain solid-gold friendships with those who were instrumental to our development in the formative years and beyond. You see, following my college days, I spent a few lean years trying to figure out what I was trying to accomplish in life. How would I maintain my lavish lifestyle? Fulltime employment? Hmmm...not so much. How about playing softball with a bunch of rag-tag friends, working as a liquor store clerk and subsidizing my income by participating in a weekly poker game with aforementioned amigos? A couple of my teammates were elementary school chums, a few friends of friends, a sibling and even my "pater." Yes, Big George, my dad, strapped it on and lead this bunch of misfits (who had conned a local trucking company to pay for our jerseys and league fees.) My dad loved baseball/softball but due to some health issues could no longer play his favorite sport. But, he did enjoy sitting in the dugout wearing his "Big George" jersey and trying to get us to "get off our lazy asses and run out the grounders" and "quit looking at the ball." Did we ever learn? I doubt it. Just maybe we went deaf just so we could hear him continuously get on our cases. He loved it and so did we. Anyway............
Our team was mediocre and below but we had the times of our lives. And perhaps the meeting of the baseball minds after each game at the local pub, the Village Inn, was the real reason for our attempts at capturing the coveted $12 gold plated championship trophy. I made some tight, solid friendships during the years playing third base for our team. We shared weddings, births, even a couple of deaths in our early years. Then as usually happens, life gets in the way and no matter how hard we tried to stay together, it wasn't meant to be...(fast forward from the mid- 70's to the present; listen for that familiar whirling sound like you hear in the movies)...until this past weekend! Yes we held a reunion of the Orozco Trucking softball team and the Sunday Night Poker Posse. It took about 3 months to plan and finally it was here. Most of us had not seen each other in 30+ years...so we rented a penthouse suite in the OC and got her done!
Weezer flew in from Nebraska; the rest of us were still in SoCal. Oh, did I mention that not one in the group has a real name. That's right, for the years we were together nary a real name was ever used. And it had nothing to do with outwitting the law! So that tradition continued during the reunion...mostly because our memories are shot and we couldn't remember each others names if our collective lives depended on it. I would love to give you the sordid details of the weekend but "what happens in the OC..." Here's the roster of attendees:
Weezer
King
Large Lewis
Boomer
Lizard
MooseNose
Johnny 3 Fingers
Wheels
Simone
Roach (who stiffed us and pulled a no-show)
Great White (deceased)
Tony the Dick (Deceased)
Sounds like an episode from the Sopranos doesn't it?
Quite a conglomeration of interesting human beings who were attracted under the auspices of softball 3 1/2 decades ago. Our gathering last Saturday night resumed conversations that were begun 35 years ago and continued with incredible continuity 35 years later. We all experienced the power of the best friend. An amazing power and an equally amazing bond.
Orozco Trucking hit one out of the park this past weekend. One of our most sensational wins of all time. Hopefully we can get the team together again next year with the same strong lineup of men...er...boys who love each other and would do anything for each other.
So maybe I did gain some wisdom from our reunion and would like to impart these words of wisdom:
Your oldest and dearest friends are a deep-rooted connection to a past that created who you are today. Treasure and cherish them.
Friday, July 24, 2009
July...already? My favorite month is drawing to a close!
Sonny meets Tangi in Honolulu at his ukulele workshop. He hand built my favorite concert uke.
Back in my walking regimen (following that heart 'thang') and nearly making it to the top of Cowles Mountain. Maybe next month.
Hanging with Man-Ram...Manny Ramirez. Learing all the ins and outs of taking female hormones and how they might affect my home run swing.
Finding out how a three-inch splinter skewering the middle finger affects my home run swing.
Taking a little money from Viejas Casino by getting dealt 10 straight flushes. (My first "ever" straight flush and I just happened to be playing ten hands at one time. Got a nice little $125 payout on this baby. Still not enough to get 10-99'd but I'll take it!)
Enjoying scenic Sardine Lake near Sierra City, CA.
Having an intimate birthday celebration at PetCo with yet another Padre loss to the Rockies.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Lazy Blogger
Can you say "adios $12 hundred bucks?"
The plumber Dan, from Ideal Plumbing really did a good job. All the fittings fit, all the pipes piped, no gas leaks, no water leaks...and it took him 4 hours to complete the job. Had I undertaken this little projects....besides 43 trips to Home Depot...the water heater would be installed horizontally and the ripe odor of natural gas would be something we'd just have to learn to live with. Gotta light?
So getting back to being the master Twitterererer....this social application is the newest media darling but to be honest with you, in my humble opinion (IMHO), why am I wasting time with it? Is it something that's gonna make me a better morning radio guy? Is it something that's gonna translate into $$$ to help pay for my water heater? Is it something that will be beyond passe in 6 months? But the boss said jump into the Twitter gene-pool...so I went in head first. Ow! Think I cracked my dome on a "hash tag." (Not even gonna' try and explain that one.) A survey recently came out indicating that 90% of all Tweets (that's what socially networked who-hahs call messages on Twitter) are created by 10% of the users...and...that most who sign up on Twitter are abandoning their Twit-sonality within 30 days. So Re-Tweet that to someone who cares. But I'm making the most of my time with all the Twits. Just not spending a lot of it. You'll never catch a Tweet from me telling you I prefer Hidden Valley Ranch Fat Free Dressing on my sweet potato fries because I really don't think you care one way or another. But I will Tweet interesting tidbits happening around San Diego and to San Diegans.
Jeez, for not having anything to say I sure am blubbering along. So I'll stop now and try to stop in again sometime sooner than the 60 days between my last blog entry.
Enjoy whatever you want to enjoy. Find cheer from it and never hold me accountable. Now go Tweet and be happy. Or not!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Happy Opening Day...My 58th Baseball Season!
I grew up loving baseball because my dad and his dad and my grandmother made sure that I would love this American game. Every chance there was I'd be with the aforementioned family unit listening to an old bakelite Silvertone in the garage while doing chores (younger readers may be asking "what the hell are chores?") listening to the Dodgers try to take a game away from the San Francisco Giants. So give me a break, I grew up in LA and the Angels were still a minor league club. The Blue Wrecking Crew was my team until I moved to San Diego in 1975.
I have fond memories of attending Dodger games at the LA Coliseum. Oh yeah, a 250 foot left field shot over an 80 foot fence. Wally Moon shots we're something special. Then we catch a game at LA's Wrigley Field where the Angels played. The ballpark was an exact replica of Chicago's basilica of baseball. I even have a faint recollection of attending a couple of Hollywood Stars games (a Pacific Coast League team) at Gilmore Field where the present CBS Television City now stands (Beverly & Fairfax).
Baseball was everywhere in my life. It was my life. It's what I longed for during the Fall/Winter months. "Dad, when are little league tryouts?" His answer always the same, "still four months and 13 days away." My optimism shone a bit brighter. Yesterday tryouts were four months and 14 days away.
My auspicious little league career started off "like a balsa wood bat against Nolan Ryan." Drafted by the Fireballs, I was the biggest kid on the team. Expectations were always heightened by being the "big" i.e. chubby, kid on the team. He must be a long-ball bopper. Au contraire...I struck out 44 straight times that season. Batted a giant goose egg and really only got in the games because third base coach Big George was my dad. He never really got on me for being so crappy. He worked with me on my stance, my approach to hitting, keeping my eye on the ball...he was my personal Tony Gwynn. The only difference Tony gets results from his understudies. Then it happened. We figured out why my hitting style resembled that of an immigrant grandma beating the dust out of a carpet on a clothesline. It wasn't hitting mechanics. I was visually challenged. I had to grow into my new nickname.....Four Eyes. So here I was, the second year in the league, this time drafted by the Yanks but sporting a reputation that screamed "big boy, no game!" Now remember, the previous year, 44 at bats, 44 strikeouts, 44 long walks back to the dugout head hung low, bat dragging behind me, an invisible tear in my eyes. This year, it's a new me. Sporting some stylish Clark Kent eye wear but still unproven at the dish. First at bat, whiff, whiff, whiff...strike three. Second at bat, whiff, whaff, wuff...strike three. What the hell is going on here. My optometrist said I could see now. Why wasn't I able to hit that little round ball with my little round bat. My dad sensed my dejection but was always certain I had a skill set. Maybe it wasn't a baseball skillset.....but that day, he found the answer to my whiffing woes. My last at bat that day he pulled me aside as I was stepping into the batter's box. I wish I could tell you it was the last inning, bases were loaded and it was up to me to point to center field and knock one outta' 'da park. But I can't recall the circumstances. All I know that my dad's words changed my life that day. His words have carried me through life. Poignant. Succinct. Meaningful. Wise. It wasn't a diatribe. It wasn't a litany. It was eight little words that I carry with me yet today. Big George bent down, looked me straight in those tortoise shell specs and said, "Try it with your eyes open this time." I looked at him incredulously as if to say, "What are you nuts? Of course my eyes have been open." He put his finger to my mouth to shush me and he just nodded his head. I nodded back and stepped into the batter's box. Whiff....whiff....WHACK! Yeah, it was a Barry Bonds moment sans HGH. I watched a high drive to left field sail to that three foot fence and bounce off the top and onto the field. I hit that bastard! As hard as I could! My dad was yelling at me to "run." Oh yeah, I forgot. So like any chubby kid who runs like he has a Steinway strapped to his back, I legged out my first little league triple complete with a slide into third base. My dad smiled. I about peed my pants. And we went for ice cream after the game. By the way, that season we won the championship. I went 35 for 52...which is a sweet .712 batting average. And my love affair for the game of baseball grew even stronger.
Which brings me to why I wrote today's blog. The Padres invited us to PetCo Park to take some batting practice. Here's the video (along with co-workers Sam Bass and Kevin Dean.) Unfortunately for me I don't have that .712 form any longer. Hell, I barely got wood on the ball. But it didn't matter one bit. Just for that instance I was back at Barnes Park, digging in and trying to hit a round ball with a round bat WITH my eyes open.
Play Ball.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Not the Brightest Beacon on the Tower!
It was a small Northern California town. The kind you only dream about one day living...and this young, upstart radio "genius" was moving there. This was his third radio job and this time he was sewing Program Director stripes on his polyester disco shirt. Look out here comes a renaissance Marconi! Not quite sure if the industry could handle this upstart...it wasn't ready for him! First week on the job he spent living in a motel room listening to his "new" radio stations...the ones he would fingerprint with his personal wizardry, the ones that would create his broadcast legacy, the ones that would pay him $14,400 per annum. This was the most money he had ever made. He was on his way. So what would be his first move? After much thought, mental deliberation and reams of legal pads listing pros/cons his first foray into radio programming would be to clean up the noon hour where that "load" Paul Harvey was desecrating this hotshot's airwaves. Hell, this guy couldn't put a sentence together without annoying pauses, long-winded breaths, and claptrap he called "news." Hey I've got news for you Paul Harvey "you're done in my town!" Pack up your Bose Wave Machine and take a hike! Come back when you've got an act that plays in "my" Smallville, USA.
Yes, my first action as Program Director was in motion....that is until the General Manager said he wanted to "chat" with me. So into the palatial office I saunter, thumbs under my suspenders expecting accolades of a warrior who had returned with the spoils of radio wars. But before I even rested my proudest asset on his "davenport of doom" he posed a question to me. "How many people live in our county?" Smart-assedly I responded, "Enough to know that these two radio stations have become better in the last three days!" He didn't listen. He answered his own question, "125,000 people...that's how many." The he fired off another one. "How many people do you think listen to that so-called "load" Paul Harvey on a daily basis in our town and across the country?" Knowing he was serious I set aside my self-assured manner and tried to answer his query accurately and succinctly. "I'm guessing a few hundred thousand because you know it IS (hard emphasis) a nationally syndicated piece of tripe!" I couldn't let it go (a trait I would learn to corral following this meeting and forever thereafter.) With an angered wave of his bony hand he once again answered his own question. "30 G-damn million"!!! (Notice the three exclamation points...I actually think when he spoke there were more like 150 of them but for space and time constraints three should cover his exuberance nicely.)
That was the day I learned about Paul Harvey. That was the day I learned to listen to Paul Harvey. That was the year I went to the National Association of Broadcasters Convention in Chicago and met Paul Harvey. That was the year I learned to appreciate a great man dedicated to his craft, his wife, his family, his life....that's the the year I learned I wasn't the brightest beacon on the the tower...that's the year I learned the "rest of the story."
PS: Paul Harvey remained on the station for a mere 30 years following my departure. I guess I showed him!
Friday, February 20, 2009
Take a Whiff...It's Springtime...Almost.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Two "Construction" Workers Saved My Life
Along with a heart attack and it's subsequent physical recovery (glad I can use both those words/phrases in the same sentence) come psychological mending, too. Will I wake up in the morning? Will that artery clog again? Will I need a transfusion if I nick myself shaving (damn blood thinners)? What's that little pain in my chest? Oh, it's nothi....beeeeep...flatline!
So this is one of my landmark landmarks. Unlike my first "legal" cocktail, I could have done without this episode helping define my pretty much ordinary life. I could have done without the stress it had shoveled onto my Florence Nightingale wife. I could have done without the card I now must carry saying I belong to the "two stent gent's club." I could have done without all this had I only done without salt, sugar, excess calories and sendentarianism (not to be confused with Libertarianism, vegetarianism or disestablishmentarianism.)
I am thankful for all the landmark events in my life but none greater than this one. For along with this one comes the landmark opportunity to truly become "renaissance man" literally. In some regards a lot like Benjamin Button who grows younger and smaller with age. I'll never get younger, but I intend to grow smaller.
I am thankful to my electrician and my plumber for the chance to be reborn.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Socially Not-worked...er....Networked?
Now only "friends" can view your pictorial adventures at Spring Break. Safer? Yes. Still, what's the obsession with wanting your 15 minutes of infamy? I guess it's always been a pounding urge in many of us to "be somebody!" Yo! I coulda' been somebody. Are we that desperate for fame? A basic need bubbling under along with food, clothing and shelter. Meh.
I guess it's just cool...and a lot of us just want to show the world exactly how "wacky" we are. I will say, there are some pretty creative videos I've seen posted on all the aforementioned social networks along with YouTube. But some? Just more candidates for a Darwin Award...numbskulls that continue chlorinating the gene pool. Anyway...back to Facebook. I now have a Facebook account and am lording over the social network kingdom. I have rekindled unnecessary acquaintances with superficial "friends" by posting a note on their virtual "wall"; and I have labored over their posted "status" reports ad nauseum (I really don't care to be updated on your whereabouts or your fractured feelings twice per hour...I've lived this long without knowing, I believe I can muddle through another day without knowing.) But to be honest, I am enjoying the Facebook experience. I have even added the Facebook app on my iPhone so I can receive status updates whether I'm shopping at Target or over-taxing my heart trekking up Cowles Mountain. Man, I am socially networked. So, I will continue to lurk, sneer, chuckle, grin and enjoy what now has become an obsession among 30, 40, 50, 60 somethings. My only lament is knowing that now that I am into Facebook it must be on it's way out.