Not Just from the Streets of San Francisco

I'd like to think Richard Hatch would smile at this; and if not Richard, then Michael Douglas. 

And if not Mike, then at the very least Karl Malden.
-bill kenny

 

Halcyon Half-Hallucinations

This is from so long ago, I wasn't even alive (or maybe awake, I get confused) when I wrote it (and a lot of people are kinda pissed that I am now, so go figure). At the time I called it:  

I'm Lovin' It-Her, Not So Much

There are days when the public relations kids cannot make this stuff up. That's why they have radio, print, and television outlets. Who among us, toiling in the pursuit of persuasion, doesn't want rabid fans of your good or service who will ACCEPT NO LESS than your product, OR ELSE. 

This is one such 'news from the newsroom floor' item and if I'm in the fast-food business I'm riding this palomino pony until the little guy's legs wear down to the nubs and my stirrups touch the ground: "Woman gets violent over lack of McNuggets".

I live for stories like this and am very grateful one of our local (for me) newspapers had it in its online edition earlier this week, though the copy suggests the incident actually happened a week ago. Not sure if I was more surprised that she pleaded not guilty (I realize the presumption and assumption of innocence is the cornerstone of our legal system) or that she was, as I understand it, arraigned on a Saturday. 

Toledo, Ohio, may be suffering a shortage of Chicken McNuggets and that's unfortunate (unless you're a chicken) and, I'll admit, may not speak well for their casual dining industry, but....that their court system is in session on a Saturday morning, is refreshingly reassuring. The system not only works, it works weekends, and, I suspect, is as diligent in running to ground felonious foodies, be they pizza pilferers, doughnut delinquents or even kebabnappers.

This entire incident underscores my belief in law and order, though in this case, I think the attempted order actually preceded (and in no small part) precipitated the encounter with the law. I wouldn't be surprised if Dick Wolf sees some money in all of this. And as I'm working through the various accounts, I've developed a respect for the physical prowess of Melodi Dushane, who has the look of a woman very accustomed to getting her Chicken McNuggets with as many different dipping sauces as she wants. You think I jest? Have a seat, buckaroo, pick a fist and use it, while still seated, to punch something (anything) as hard as you can in an attempt to break it. How'd that work out. Better eat your Wheaties, eh?

I'm wondering if Wendy's, whose chain began in Ohio, have contacted her for an endorsement. I think they're just rolling out a new spicy chicken nugget, and you know how they say 'timing is everything'. If they also offer, as a beverage choice, Hawaiian Punch, we could see some awesome cross-promotional commercials during this Super Bowl. But sit back from the screen.
-bill kenny

The Power of Unarmed Truth and Unconditional Love

Everyone has a favorite quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, and between the anniversary of his 93^rd birthday this Saturday and the federal holiday on Monday, we’ll be treated to a lot of them.

Perhaps revealing more about me than it does about Dr. King, my personal favorite is one I’ve always suspected he offered tongue in cheek, but it still makes me smile, "We may have all come on different ships,” he said, “but we're all in the same boat now." Dr. King is known as a civil rights leader and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize but that’s a line any stand-up comedian would admire for both its humor and truthfulness.

Dr. King was murdered before celebrating his 39^th birthday but his impact in both scale and scope is still being measured by sociologists, political leaders, and, most importantly well-intentioned men and women just like us, every day and everywhere.

I believe he was so intent and intense in living he might be amused by those trying to calculate his import but I think that’s because analyzing the doing is always so much less risky than the actual doing itself. The anniversary of his birthday allows communities across the country to join hands and hearts even if it’s only for a moment, to celebrate his life and to assess our progress as a nation in the ongoing journey for equal rights.

To begin, we're not there. Yet. But I’d hope we're closer today than we were yesterday and choose to believe that come tomorrow, we'll be farther along still. Norwich has always been a city of doers, with a rich ethnic diversity from its earliest days when immigrants took their turns in the mills and factories built along the banks of the three rivers which helped define the city's boundaries and character.

The villages that made up Norwich and the farmlands to the east and northwest of the city all offered opportunities to newcomers and established settlers alike and the city thrived because of who we were and what we made of ourselves in those moments we claimed for our own. It wasn't the first time, I suspect, that we realized we had more in common than the individual differences that separated us and it’s that history and heritage we should remember not just as we honor the 93^rd birthday of Dr. King, but every day.

There are formal observances this Monday, with COVID containment and cautions, of course, starting at a quarter of one across from the Harbor (you wondered why I like that ‘ships’ quote from Dr. King?) at the Market Street Garage, with a formal public unveiling of the Public Art for Racial Justice, PARJE, mural, followed at half-past one with a Freedom March starting in the David Ruggles Courtyard at City Hall with uplifting words from guest speakers and a lot of singing (by unspoken mutual agreement, I only listen during this part of the program) concluding with a program at the Evans Memorial AME Zion Church on McKinley and some prayerful reflection.

I hope you'll make time to take part in the ceremonies and commemorations celebrating Dr. King wherever and however you can. He dreamed a dream for all of us but each of us must make it our own.
-bill kenny

No Argument from Me

I think I stopped following the New York Jets about two days after our dad brought home autographs from both Weeb Eubank and Joe 'Willie' Namath (post-Super Bowl III victory). Are you surprised when I confess to having no idea what became of those autographs? Yeah, me neither.

Dad used to take us to see the Jets when they played in Shea Stadium and every time they scored (which back in the day was fairly frequently and regularly) somebody (I'm guessing a hapless intern), raced up and down one sideline in a cart that had been kitted out to look like a jet. Yeah, we were a lot more clever back in the day. 

In those days, being a Jets fan meant automatically rooting against the New York Giants who played their home games, I always thought, in Yankee Stadium except when that was being rehabilitated (the old one; the new one was decades away from being built) when they played at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut.  

By the time I joined the Air Force in the spring of 1975, both teams were pretty non-descript and of little interest to me, and by the time I came back from living in Germany in the autumn of 1991, football was something entirely different to me and had little to do with either team or any aspect of the professional league they played in.

The Giants started playing in New Jersey, perhaps on top of Jimmy Hoffa's body for all I know, at some point though I know not when to be joined by the Jets some years later. Considering myself a Jersey Guy, I'll admit it rankled, and still does for that matter, that neither of them incorporates the name of the state in which they play into their official name. Though calling both of them The Incompetents, because that is very much their state of play, would be confusing, admittedly. 

Enter Abdiell Suero who in true Shakespearean tradition wants a rose to be called a rose, no matter how it smells (and in the Meadowlands, olfactory concerns are always an issue) and a whole lot of money for the pain and suffering he has gone through for enduring the thorns of an outrageous commute, apparently. You can read about it here. 

That both teams have played for decades somewhere in the swamps of Jersey and he's only now upset about it does cause my bullshit detector to start flashing, but I'm thinking, like his outrage, a spot of greenbacks might just cure whatever ails it 
-bill kenny

Talking about the Spin Cycle

It's admittedly a little late in the game (or new year) for this, but I think still worth your time. 

And by 'this,' I'm talking about the press conference where the former President of theUnited States admits his complicity in the attempted seditious insurrection of 6 January 2021. 

Actually, I'm not; not even close. 

But, and that should be in all capitals, BUT, that admission would have been hysterical.
-bill kenny

Quarter Pound of Reason

I'm closing in on seventy years of age, through the rate of approach has in recent years slowed considerably (hence, the battalion of specialists I now have) but I'm still a little kid when it comes to the beginnings of every new year and that would include this one. Despite COVID and all the wrangling, it still has that just baked aroma. It won't last I know but while it does, I breathe deeply.

I'm glad I was born a human since I lack any special skills or abilities that would have enabled me to survive to anywhere near my current age as any other life form on this planet. ('Look, Livingston! It's a ring-tailed bandicoot trying to access blogger.com!' Or not. And thus ends my homage to H.H. Munro (I hope it has earned your seal of approval)).

No other species divides the rotation of the earth around the sun in quite the rigid and unyielding demarcations we create-and let's be honest here, we are very good at it. Because we wind up with extra hours and fractions of time that accumulate as merrily we roll along, every four years we have a leap year, though this isn't one of those. I've never personally known anyone born on Leap Day (if that's what February 29 is called) but I've read enough stories about the birthday celebrations and such to be happy that my mother had the good sense to wait until Spring to have me.

Meanwhile, it's a new calendar page, but the challenges and opportunities look very familiar, don't they? We need to resolve (assuming you didn't make any resolutions (I always resolve to NOT keep any I might make and therein lies the contradiction)) if such a formality is, indeed, required, to move from the 'talking about a problem' to 'finding a solution' (use of the indefinite article is deliberate there. I'm always disquieted by folks who tell me they have found 'the' way rather than 'a' way. (Not that I don't admire their confidence; I just don't share it.)

My concern in this New Year, much like in the one just passed (and many of those before that one), is that we get distracted while on the way to addressing a situation, and end up accepting less than our best effort as a solution and leave undone something we meant to do. And then at the end of the day, or the end of a life, we don't reflect on where we started and how we got there, but rather turn the page and begin again oblivious that we are no wiser or better for its passing.

Perhaps this is the year we try "a small sprig of time and as much of prudence, you mix them all together." Thanks for the recipe, Tim Hart. It looks like we'll go the rest of the way without you.
-bill kenny

Laut Und Umlaut

IKEA, the furniture store we all shop in though no one ever admits it is off to a rough start in 2022 with supply chain problems and inflation fueling what is reported to be a nine percent (on average) price hike across their stores. 

Unclear, at least to me, is if this price increase also includes their cafeteria's Swedish meatballs and lingonberries (hint: it had better not). I was yesterday old before I learned that many of the items offered for purchase in IKEA do not have made-up names, but rather borrow the actual names of, as it turns out, rather scenic locations throughout Sweden which presents nearly insurmountable marketing challenges for the Sweden Tourism Department.

I'm thinking they might economize with fewer minuscules, Ø, (a/k/a 'O with a stroke'); I mean if it's NOT an O then just don't write one instead of writing it and then lining through it. Unlike the French who have a different word for everything, IKEA would seem to prefer the same word for the whole universe.
-bill kenny