New Yankee Stadium?

Plans have been announced for a new Yankee Stadium. It should be ready for the opening of the 2009 baseball season. Wait! No, stop, damnit! Am I missing something here? Why on earth would anyone want to destroy the world's most famous sports arena? Yankee Stadium (please do not call it the old Yankee Stadium) is hallowed ground. It's been called the "House That Ruth Built." Well Colonel Jacob Ruppert built it, but "The Babe" made it necessary. The great ones played there! Most of us who grew up in the NYC area could not imagine a summer without going to the ballpark! The main thing, with me, is that Yankee Stadium is hallowed ground. It's more than the thousands of hot dogs and beers that I have enjoyed there. It's more than seeing Mickey Mantle hit a ball farther than I had ever seen before. It's more than remembering my dad tell me of when he attended Lou Gerhig Day and the entire sell-out crowd wept. It's more than all of this.

A new stadium will be built. George will get his luxury boxes. We will live to see beer sell for $20 and we will savor the $15 hot dog. I have sat in luxury boxes. I know what I'm talking about. Baseball was meant to be watched from the open air with the beverage of your choice, hot dogs, peanuts and their shells all over the place and vendors hawking their wares. Maybe we should remember that we are watching a sporting event in a large ball park, not going to a formal theatrical event. I feel very strongly about this, even though I am no longer in the neighborhood. Please comment on this.
New Yankee Stadium

Michael Jackson

I am speechless! Michael Jackson is found to be not guilty on all 10 charges!

Of course the real winners were the defense attorneys.

The losers were the alleged victims' parents who are not likely to get any of Jackson's money.

There might be another loser: THE JUSTICE SYSTEM.

Does this verdict send the message that you can get away with anything if your pockets are deep enough to hire the right lawyers?
Michael Jackson

Comments

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Comments are welcome on any subject. You can click on the comments link at the end of each post. If you would like to keep it private, Marysol, you may e-mail me directly at generaltom10@excite.com.

Peggy Lipton: Breathing Out (or Selling Out)

Peggy Lipton in 1969

For those of us who remember Peggy Lipton in the late '60's and early 70's, she was truly something special. Girls wanted to look like her, walk like her, and talk like her. Guys couldn't get enough of her. She had sort of a pouty demeanor. We would watch her every week on the Mod Squad TV show on ABC.

She was a star.

She is no longer a star in that she is no longer marquis material and certainly not the money earning power of someone like Angelena Jolie.

So Miss Peggy wrote a book. She calls it "Breathing Out." I guess the thinking is that if all of us nerds from the 60's and 70's buy the book,she'll do very, very well. (They might even make a movie out of it.) She says that she slept with Paul McCartney and other celebrities including Elvis, but Elvis wasn't able to "rise to the occasion." Did we need to know that? And there's a chapter on "Married Men." Sounds fascinating!


When I heard about all of this, I thought that something, somehow was missing. I just figured it out. No matter how pretty you once were, no matter how alluring you once were, no matter how hip you were once were, there is absolutely no substitute for CLASS! I'm looking for it, and I want it to be there, but, there is no class here.

AFN, Europe

I recently came across this picture of the AFN Headquarters building, Frankfurt. I lived in this building for a little more than 2 years. As I remember, I painted a large portion of the interior of this facility. Painting and the Army seem to go hand in hand. Grunt or Broadcaster, it's all the same.

American Forces Radio Network, Europe

Why do I include this in the blog? Probably since I spent a large portion of my young life here. There are AFN Alumni groups and reunions. All of them are loaded with folks who have poor memories. As a radio station, AFN was mediocre at best. I can say this because I was on the air, hosting a network show, 5 days a week.

Our claim to fame was that we brought American top 40, rock and country music to the continent. Any enjoyment that I got from those years had nothing to do with the talentless zombies who called the shots at AFN.

Tom Cruise, SHUTUP!

Hey Tom Cruise, you're an actor. What the hell do you know about Brooke Shield's Post Partum Depression? Which med school did you attend?

I know that you have a movie coming out and that it is important to hype yourself as much as possible. Please SHUTUP.

And this thing with Katie Holmes. Believe me, we're happy for both of you....but love is not unique. But, of course, you know lots about love...having been married twice.

Someone please tell Tom that enough is enough.

Tom Cruise