I always thought the advice I got from my Dad through the years was pretty good. Most of the time he was right. He told me I should learn a trade so I learned the barber business and used it to supplement my income during my early years in broadcasting. He advised me to change the oil in my car every 3000 miles so it wouldn't wear out. He was right about that too. But it was my mother who gave me the spiritual advice I needed most. She was the one who told me to look within myself before blaming anyone else for my problems. She was the one who taught me the daily prayer, "This is the day the Lord hath made, I shall rejoice and be glad in it." She was always the one who told me the straight truth. I remember the first time she saw me on television. She had flown out from the east coast to visit me in Seattle. I went on the air for the 5, 6 and 11 o'clock news and when I got home at midnight she was still awake. She looked at me and said, "Dear, don't wear a brown jacket anymore you look better in navy blue." The next day I donated my brown jacket to Goodwill.
My mom passed away this last Christmas night and in her memory I put here in the sub title of my book, "Smile In The Mirror." The sub title is Dad was Right and So Was Mom.
On this Mothers Day do something memorable for your mom instead of just showing up for dinner. I leave you now with one of my favorite mom quotes. "A mother is someone who notices four pieces of pie for the five people around the table and suddenly decides she doesn't like pie."
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
Cardboard Heros
Michey Mantle lived in a shoe box in my closet when I was a kid. He shared it with Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Duke Snider and Jackie Robinson. They were the cardboard heros of my childhood. I used to imagine that they would come alive at night when I was sleep and play an all star game on the carpet next to my bed. For all I know maybe they did. I was a pretty hard sleeper in those days.
Baseball cards have been a constant in my life time and in fact for generations. I bought my first card from herman's Smoke Shop in Norwalk, Connecticut in 1953. I'm not sure but I think a pack of cards cost 10 cents and included a rock hard square of bubble gum whose flavor lasted less then 40 seconds.
Herman's sold tobacco products, candy, gum, Coke and Pepsi in bottles and baseball cards. Oddly enough the guy running Herman's Smoke Shop was named Herman. He was a friendly guy who used to point out which packs of cards had the best players inside them. I don't know how he knew but he was usually right. Following his advice I once got a Mickey Mantle in a pack of 1954 Topps and a Ted Williams in the next pack. That was years before kids even cared about the value of a card. In those days we traded them, flipped them or attached them to the fenders of our bikes with clothes pins to make it sound like a motor bike.
Baseball cards are still appealing to me though they cost as much as 3 bucks a pack now and don't come with bubble gum anymore. Herman's Smoke Shop is long gone and I live three thousand miles away anyway so it wouldn't be practicle even if Herman was still there. Now I buy my cards at a store that sells nothing but sports collectables. The guy who runs it is nice enough but he never tells me which packs have the best cards and I don't even think his name is Herman.
Baseball cards have been a constant in my life time and in fact for generations. I bought my first card from herman's Smoke Shop in Norwalk, Connecticut in 1953. I'm not sure but I think a pack of cards cost 10 cents and included a rock hard square of bubble gum whose flavor lasted less then 40 seconds.
Herman's sold tobacco products, candy, gum, Coke and Pepsi in bottles and baseball cards. Oddly enough the guy running Herman's Smoke Shop was named Herman. He was a friendly guy who used to point out which packs of cards had the best players inside them. I don't know how he knew but he was usually right. Following his advice I once got a Mickey Mantle in a pack of 1954 Topps and a Ted Williams in the next pack. That was years before kids even cared about the value of a card. In those days we traded them, flipped them or attached them to the fenders of our bikes with clothes pins to make it sound like a motor bike.
Baseball cards are still appealing to me though they cost as much as 3 bucks a pack now and don't come with bubble gum anymore. Herman's Smoke Shop is long gone and I live three thousand miles away anyway so it wouldn't be practicle even if Herman was still there. Now I buy my cards at a store that sells nothing but sports collectables. The guy who runs it is nice enough but he never tells me which packs have the best cards and I don't even think his name is Herman.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Seahawks Mini Camp
Picture a jigsaw puzzle with 53 pieces. Sounds simple enough huh. Now what if you had to start with a 104 pieces and figure out which 53 make up the real puzzle. That's the task facing Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and his staff as they launch into a three day weekend mini camp.
With three over head cameras watching every move of every player for 90 minutes a day the coaches will be armed with enough material to figure out who belongs where when training camp begins in late July.
The team has a lot of needs, that's no secret but with a successful draft netting nine new players including at least two immediate starters, the Seahawks are one their way to a comeback.
Bird and Cash Return
Sue Bird and Swin Cash return to Seattle this weekend and will be on hand for Storm Media Day Monday at Key Arena. Lauren Jackson will be back in town next week. All three have been playing basketball in Europe which is commonplace in the WNBA. It's like the old days in major league baseball when players actually had to get jobs in the off season to supplement their incomes. The Storm open their home season against Los Angeles Sunday May 16th at Key Arena.
With three over head cameras watching every move of every player for 90 minutes a day the coaches will be armed with enough material to figure out who belongs where when training camp begins in late July.
The team has a lot of needs, that's no secret but with a successful draft netting nine new players including at least two immediate starters, the Seahawks are one their way to a comeback.
Bird and Cash Return
Sue Bird and Swin Cash return to Seattle this weekend and will be on hand for Storm Media Day Monday at Key Arena. Lauren Jackson will be back in town next week. All three have been playing basketball in Europe which is commonplace in the WNBA. It's like the old days in major league baseball when players actually had to get jobs in the off season to supplement their incomes. The Storm open their home season against Los Angeles Sunday May 16th at Key Arena.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Alaska Makes it Tough
Last year I volunteered to skip an over booked flight on Alaska Airlines and received a $200 Bonus Travel Certificate. I forgot about it until 90 days ago when I received an email from Alaska reminding me to redeem it for travel. I tried, really I tried. I called the toll free number and got someone on the phone who had no clue about what I wanted. I went on line and faced further obstacles that made the whole process a chore. I have now decided to forget about the $200 and not make the mistake again of volunteering to postpone a trip on Alaska or any other airline.
NFL Draft
The build up to the NFL draft is a lesson in the genious of marketing. The league has figured out a way to make something that was going to happen anyway seem way more important than it really is. This is not a complaint, I admire what the league is doing. The NFL makes a celeration out of everything it does, including the Pro Bowl which is it's post season reward for its best players. Now the Pro Bowl precedes the Super Bowl in the same location. This way the league gets the full attention of the sports media and the fans for twice as long as before. That's brilliant.
Names on Uniforms
The Seattle Storm of the WNBA have a new agreement with Microsoft's new search engine Bing. Now instead od Storm on the front of their uniforms, its says BING. I have no problem with that either. It's another case of great marketing and besides I always loved Bing Crosby anyway. Too bad old Bing isn't alive to see his name on those jerseys, I'm sure he'd be proud.
NFL Draft
The build up to the NFL draft is a lesson in the genious of marketing. The league has figured out a way to make something that was going to happen anyway seem way more important than it really is. This is not a complaint, I admire what the league is doing. The NFL makes a celeration out of everything it does, including the Pro Bowl which is it's post season reward for its best players. Now the Pro Bowl precedes the Super Bowl in the same location. This way the league gets the full attention of the sports media and the fans for twice as long as before. That's brilliant.
Names on Uniforms
The Seattle Storm of the WNBA have a new agreement with Microsoft's new search engine Bing. Now instead od Storm on the front of their uniforms, its says BING. I have no problem with that either. It's another case of great marketing and besides I always loved Bing Crosby anyway. Too bad old Bing isn't alive to see his name on those jerseys, I'm sure he'd be proud.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
The Next Great Idea
I don't waste my time with reality, I'm a dreamer. Some of my friends think my head is in a cloud. It's actually above the clouds where the sun is shining. While some dwell on the idea that my "Boomer" generation is the last great gift to the world I'd like to remind them that no one thought the "Greatest Generation" could be equalled either, but it's been done.
Now it's up to the next generation to leave us in the dust. I've heard the predictions that our children will be the first generation to be worth less than their parents. That's hogwash, give them a few years, they'll catch up and pass us with ease.
A few thousand years ago someone invented the wheel. Now you have to buy four of them or your car won't go anywhere.
Sorry for the big leap but in 1887 Heinrich Hertz was the first to detect radio waves by causing a spark to leap across a gap that generated electromagnetic waves.
Guglielmo Marconi took it a step further when he invented the spark transmitter with antenna
in 1894.
He started the world first radio factory four years later and five years after that General Electric made a voice broadcast ove the North Atlantic. The first coast to coast radio program was "The Dodge Victory Hour" starring Will Rogers and Al Jolson in 1928. Radio golden age was from 1935-50 but it still thrives today.
GE began a regular television broadcast in 1928 and the rest is history. When we least expect greatness someone proves us wrong.
NASA started the Mercury Space Program in 1959 with seven original astronauts and in 1961 Alan Sheppard became the first American in space. John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth in 1962 and Neil Armstrong the first on the moon in 1969.
We've always found a way to create something new and exciting, something that baffles the mind and makes us say, "why didn't I think of that."
Dr. Martin Cooper took early cellular phone technology and invented the first hand held cell phone in 1973.
Thanks to German scientist Konrad Ruse' invention of the first programmable computer in 1939, Bill Gates and Paul Allen were able to found Microsoft in 1975 and take the idea of personal computing to a whole different level.
For every one who worries about the future, predicts woeful things around the next corner or collects canned food in a closet there's someone else with a vision, an idea, a dream that will lift us all above the clouds where the sun is shining.
Now it's up to the next generation to leave us in the dust. I've heard the predictions that our children will be the first generation to be worth less than their parents. That's hogwash, give them a few years, they'll catch up and pass us with ease.
A few thousand years ago someone invented the wheel. Now you have to buy four of them or your car won't go anywhere.
Sorry for the big leap but in 1887 Heinrich Hertz was the first to detect radio waves by causing a spark to leap across a gap that generated electromagnetic waves.
Guglielmo Marconi took it a step further when he invented the spark transmitter with antenna
in 1894.
He started the world first radio factory four years later and five years after that General Electric made a voice broadcast ove the North Atlantic. The first coast to coast radio program was "The Dodge Victory Hour" starring Will Rogers and Al Jolson in 1928. Radio golden age was from 1935-50 but it still thrives today.
GE began a regular television broadcast in 1928 and the rest is history. When we least expect greatness someone proves us wrong.
NASA started the Mercury Space Program in 1959 with seven original astronauts and in 1961 Alan Sheppard became the first American in space. John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth in 1962 and Neil Armstrong the first on the moon in 1969.
We've always found a way to create something new and exciting, something that baffles the mind and makes us say, "why didn't I think of that."
Dr. Martin Cooper took early cellular phone technology and invented the first hand held cell phone in 1973.
Thanks to German scientist Konrad Ruse' invention of the first programmable computer in 1939, Bill Gates and Paul Allen were able to found Microsoft in 1975 and take the idea of personal computing to a whole different level.
For every one who worries about the future, predicts woeful things around the next corner or collects canned food in a closet there's someone else with a vision, an idea, a dream that will lift us all above the clouds where the sun is shining.
Monday, March 1, 2010
We Need Government
If I hear one more person say government is too big, government cannot tell me what to do, government should not be mixed up in our lives, I'm going to scream. This poses a problem for me because I've never screamed before in my life. I may have to hire a government official to scream for me, after all there are so many of them just doing nothing but scheming different ways to take our money. At least that's the opinion of the "tea party" movement which seems obsessed with whining about paying taxes for any reason whatsoever.
One day a long time ago our founding fathers decided to break away from an oppressive British government because we were being unfairly taxed without representation. We staged something called the American Revolution and formed out own government around something called the constitution of the United States.
Today the only document mis quoted more than the Bible is the U.S. Constitution and by many of the same people.
To all of those who believe our current administration is trying to take away our rights I say this. Where were you when the "Patriots Act" was crammed down our thoats by President Bush and company. Where were you when we invaded Iraq against the wishes of most of the American people. Where were you when the deficit was run up out of control long before the Obama administration took office.
I know many people in local, state and national government. Every one of them is decicated to making their neghborhood, region, state or country a better place in which to live. I know hundreds of people who are government workers including fire fighters, policeman and women, teachers, secretaries, accountants, maintenance workers and elected officials.
The fact is we need more policeman, more fire fighters, more teachers and more good people to run the agencies that hold our country together. Government is not the enemy, ignorance is the enemy. Americans should spend their energy being involved in the process not whining about others who are.
Our system of government is not flawless but it is the best system ever devised. It invites debate, new ideas and innovation. It is a system that must keep improving itself and that can only be done with the support of all the people.
We dont all have to agree on what ideas will help us move forward but we should at least agree that moving forward and getting better as a people is what we need to do.
One day a long time ago our founding fathers decided to break away from an oppressive British government because we were being unfairly taxed without representation. We staged something called the American Revolution and formed out own government around something called the constitution of the United States.
Today the only document mis quoted more than the Bible is the U.S. Constitution and by many of the same people.
To all of those who believe our current administration is trying to take away our rights I say this. Where were you when the "Patriots Act" was crammed down our thoats by President Bush and company. Where were you when we invaded Iraq against the wishes of most of the American people. Where were you when the deficit was run up out of control long before the Obama administration took office.
I know many people in local, state and national government. Every one of them is decicated to making their neghborhood, region, state or country a better place in which to live. I know hundreds of people who are government workers including fire fighters, policeman and women, teachers, secretaries, accountants, maintenance workers and elected officials.
The fact is we need more policeman, more fire fighters, more teachers and more good people to run the agencies that hold our country together. Government is not the enemy, ignorance is the enemy. Americans should spend their energy being involved in the process not whining about others who are.
Our system of government is not flawless but it is the best system ever devised. It invites debate, new ideas and innovation. It is a system that must keep improving itself and that can only be done with the support of all the people.
We dont all have to agree on what ideas will help us move forward but we should at least agree that moving forward and getting better as a people is what we need to do.
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