Lies of the Desert; Life Without Vin

The Schloss-Blog is distressed today, over the primary results in Arizona and over the loss of two sports giants: Vin Scully and Bill Russell.

In The Valley, where I winter, and more, I will now have a different feel when I'm out and about.

Because "Big Lie" candidates won their primary races, it means a certain truth abounds out there in the desert.

It means when I go grocery shopping at nearby Fry's and Safeway stores, half the people in there shopping with me voted for Donald Trump and his acolytes, Kari Lake for the Republican gubernatorial nomination and Blake Masters for U.S. Senate.

It means roughly half of the people in line waiting with me to pick up prescriptions at the local CVS will vote for these people who believe the Big Lie.

It means half the people sitting in the stands at football games I go to believe in and will vote for candidates who promote the Big Lie.

It means the same for half the coaches and half the parents of the players,

It means at my favorite restaurants in The Valley: Base and Pomo for pizza; Chelsea's Kitchen for scrumptious eclectic menus and Starbucks for my favorite White Chocolate Mocha with coconut milk or Hot Chocolate with soy milk, half the patrons will vote to support the Big Lie.

It means at my health club, The Village, a comprehensive, enormous splendor with workouts for everyone from yoga to tennis to competitive swimming to every piece of equipment imaginable, half the people in there will vote to support the Big Lie.

When I go to Sky Harbor Airport to catch a flight or am there getting off one, half the people picking someone up or dropping someone off or being picked up or dropped off will be Big Lie advocates.

It means what my friend Larry told me one of the first times we went out to eat with him and his wife in The Valley, was to be careful about what we say about politics in an open space about the likes of Donald Trump unless I want to start a fight in a public.

These politicians promote "The Big Lie" even though they know it's not true, proven to not be true. Yet they spoon feed it to a lot of very amazingly gullible people in Arizona, despite the mainstream Arizona media regularly cautioning them that it has never been proven and no shred of evidence exists to support it.

Bottom line: all these people who think voting is fraudulent went out and voted.

***

Vin Scully spent 67 years calling Dodgers games, in Brooklyn and Los Angeles. He called the occasional football game, including "The Catch" by Dwight Clark, as well as golf tournaments and all sorts of other events.

No one had his vocabulary, nor his grace. At his last game, players for both the Dodgers and Giants stood on the field and applauded him.

But he'll be with the Dodgers forever - "It's time for Dodger baseball," will forever be the team's opening line on its telecasts.

His legacy of class goes far beyond that.

*** 

I despised Bill Russell. He died at 88.

Best defensive center ever, probably. Never played against Kareem though.

But in addition to basketball glory, he stood up for civil rights and at times endured harsh treatment as a Black man playing in Boston, where, at times in his career and since, it is still 1948.

He won 11 championships in 13 trips to the NBA Finals, crushing the hopes of my Knicks along the way too many times.

However, on his stance for equality, I commend him wholeheartedly.

***

Median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in NYC is now $4,000 per month.

I don't think I wanna' move back.

***\

45 and 440 - the only numbers you need to know. Speak for themselves.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Happy birthday, @ChadManis. Welcome back, @RonaGindin. 

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show. 

Further Differences Between Mean & Women

The Schloss-Blog presents a re-visitation of or the further differences between men and women.

Recently, the Schloss-Blog noticed even more differences between men and women than previously noted in a blog post a couple of years ago, when we noticed, for example, that men wear jeans and women wear jeans that fit.

Now though, for instance...

Men go to dinner and talk about sports.

And sex.

Women go to dinner and talk about gardening, shopping, favorite restaurants, favorite travel spots, prospective weekend getaways and fashion trends.

And why do men only talk about sports.

And sex.

***

KANSAS!

***

Footnote: men don't go dinner. They go to a bar with lots of TV screens to watch sports, drink and order wings and pigs in a blanket and call it dinner.

***

A tuxedo is supposed to, even should make a man look good. Maybe even sexy.

A woman can look good and sexy - in anything!

***

Men read magazines.

OK, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

Women read Cosmo, Good Housekeeping, Elle, Vanity Fair, Vogue and health, health, health.

***

KANSAS!

***

Men like catchy dance tunes.

Women know how to dance to them.

***

Driving around, men like to sing along with popular songs they hear on the radio.

Women know the lyrics.

***

KANSAS!

***

Men's favorite magazine bylines are Irina Shayk, Bar Refaeli and Nina Agdal.

Women's are Maureen Dowd, Michelle Goldberg and Rachel Maddow.

***

Curious note: could the Swimsuit Issue models who pose only in swimwear painted on them so well it looks real get into and be served in a restaurant or bar like that?

***

Men go to a game... and watch it on their phones.

Women go to a game, talk to each other, check their phones and then watch the game and explain it to their kids.

***

Men watch MSNBC, CNN and Fox News, think they know everything, and then go vote.

Women gather everything they can about the candidates and the issues.

And then go vote.

***

Men are pro-choice.

Women understand all the implications and complications being caused to health care by being denied pro-choice.

***

Men go to a game and scream J-E-T-S! Jets! Jets! Jets!

Women go to a game and scream J-E-T-S! Jets! Jets! Jets! and get me a hot chocolate, please.

***

KANSAS!

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson. Definitely, to you.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.

Of Mickey, 50ths, Dean Martin and Raphael Warnock for President

The Schloss-Blog is thinking of things all over the place today, from rapper Mickey Avalon to singer Dean Martin to Raphael Warnock for President and all things in between.

Played golf yesterday with my friend Brian. Had a hole in one (no, I didn't).

It was his 60th birthday and it was my job to keep him out of the house while his wife set up his milestone birthday surprise party.

Almost didn't pull it off, but we had a great round and it worked - he was surprised. And I didn't have to park around the corner from his house so he wouldn't recognize my car.

***

Families of victims of 9/11 sent a letter to Donald Trump, letting him know in no uncertain terms about how they feel about his hosting the Saudi-sponsored LIV tour this weekend at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf course.

A lot of great golfers have signed on to that tour.

Fuck them and the terror-sponsoring, human rights-denying, journalism-killing assholes paying them.

***

News junkie that I am, I've been thinking about all the things I miss about the short life of CNN+.

Haven't thought of anything yet.

***

Jewish rapper Mickey Avalon did a great show at the Social Club last weekend in West Chicago. No, he doesn't do it in Yiddish.

But he is talented and has a message that young people deserve their kind of music and it's OK to drop an F-bomb in there every once in a while. His dancer. Lizzy, a stunningly beautiful blonde, is a virtual gymnast on stage alongside him, prosthetic leg and all. 

Mickey has respect for the great rappers who preceded him and/or are his contemporaries. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to him pay tribute to them in is mood, his attitude, his presence and his lyrics.

Amen.

***

Is it just me, or does just about every commercial I see on TV these days include Dean Martin singing a song?

Yikes.

Is he that popular or are they rebooting the Matt Helm spy series of movies in which he starred? Speaking of which, Ryan Gosling is starring in the Gray Man spy series. His character's name is - not making this up - '6,' well, actually "Sierra 6," but '6' for short.

He's also going to play "Ken" in the "Barbie" flick, opposite Margot Robbie in the title role. Click on the link for a peek.

***

Raphael Warnock for president.

Seriously.

He's a man of god (a pastor).

He's already a Georgia senator, gaining valuable political experience.

And he's a level-headed Democrat.

His opponent for the senate seat he holds believes that our clean air has blown over to China and China's bad air has blown over to Georgia.

Really.

The former Heisman Trophy winner also believes that if man evolved from apes, how come there are still apes? Seriously.

The race for that Senate seat in Georgia is tight, which ought to tell you everything you need to know about the IQ level of so many Republican Trump voters in Georgia (see Greene, Marjorie Taylor).

Republican senate and gubernatorial this year candidates are Donald Trump on steroids.

Anyway, Warnock is not Joe Biden, who, apparently, nobody wants to run for a second term, Reconciliation Bill being so close to passage notwithstanding..

***

Thirty years ago, Dan and Dave were duking it out in commercials for the decathalon.

At the Barcelona Olympics.

Except Dan didn't qualify and Dave didn't win anyway.

All Reebok got out of it was egg on its face for the campaign.

***

It's the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the legislation that ensures that women have equal rights to funding and facilities at schools that receive federal aid.

Republicans have tried to rewrite it at every seminal anniversary, especially during the 'W' administration.

But women have prevailed. Now, 10 times more girls participate in sports at the high school level than when the act was passed.

The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team now gets the much-deserved consummate pay of the men's team it so deserves.

Women rock the sports world. And they deserve more and better. And will get it.

Now though, about Roe... wonder if the Supreme Court realizes that its ruling has actually endangered more women's and babies' lives than they believe it may have saved.

***

On a lighter note, a Texas brothel recently went out of business and put this sign on its door to prospective walk-in customers: "Beat it. We're closed."

Can't make up this stuff.

***

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show, and Sunday morning as I sit in for Joe Catanzaro. Join me for a cup of coffee.

And then a nightcap.

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Title IX.

Songs Sung True...

The Schloss-Blog is tuning up for karaoke, but it's not going to be too pretty, we're afraid. Before we take the mic though...

...a high school football coach who prays at the 50 yard line after games had his right to do so upheld by the Supreme Court in Kennedy v Bremerton, a blow to separation of church and state.

Some parents fear that defending this could adversely impact the chances of their sons playing if they don't join him or any other coach now with that SCOTUS blessing.

What do you think, guys? When you played, would you have felt intimidated?  What do you think, football moms?

***

The National Football League, so concerned about concussions, is petitioning the International Olympic Committee to have flag football declared an Olympic sport.

Can't want for the game against Russia.

***

We're going to have a new British Prime Minister.

Who cares?

***

Donald Trump is going to run for president again.

A few things here:

1) He could be running under indictment, in multiple states and federal jurisdictions;

2) But he'll use that for fundraising;

3) It would be a badge of honor for him;

4) Then again, if he did win in 2020, like he says, then he can't serve a third term;

5) As of the moment though, polls show him losing to ultimately unpopular Joe Biden.

***

New York has enacted a new law to restrict and monitor gun sales and possession.

Take that, Supreme Court.

***

President Biden has signed an Executive Order protecting women's reproductive rights. It goes as far as an executive order allows the man in the White House to go.

It broadens access to abortion pills and protects against some prosecutions that some state laws allow for performing and/or assisting those seeking abortions.

But with too many other things he has done in his administration, it may be too little, too late.

Until he gets Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin to get their heads out of their asses, Democratic legislative platforms have little hope.

***

We don't notice it in our everyday lives, but a United Nations report cites that we are using up 12 percent of our wild tree species around the world, especially in Africa, where greater than the international average of one in three people use wood for cooking.

Yes, 1 in 3 people use wood for cooking, on average, around the world. Not everyone has an Abt or Best Buy to shop at down the block.

This trend though is doing harm to more than a thousand wild mammal species.

Camping across America this summer? Before you light that campfire...

***

I mentioned karaoke. This is "karaoke lamentation America," and where the right-wing fascists are taking us. Recognize this old one?

And though the past has its share of injustice
Kind was the spirit in many a way
But its protectors and friends have been sleeping
Now it's a monster and will not obey

The spirit was freedom and justice
And its keepers seemed generous and kind
Its leaders were supposed to serve the country
But now they won't pay it no mind
Cause the people grew fat and got lazy
Now their vote is a meaningless joke
They babble about law and order
But it's all just an echo of what they've been told

And I know you recognize this one:

Blossom fails to bloom this season
Promise not to stare
Too long (this is not America)
For this is not the miracle

There was a time
A storm that blew, so pure
For this could be the biggest sky
And I could have the faintest idea

For this is not America

***

A new report compiled by leading American Republican judges and leading conservative jurist Ben Ginzburg reveals conclusively that every fraud claim brought in every suit by Trump and his supporters - all 64 of those filings - had no basis of fraud whatsoever. Not even a single precinct anywhere in any battleground state would have been overturned due to fraud. This was indeed the cleanest, safest election in history.

Maybe, just maybe, enough idiots, enough members of the basket of deplorables, will finally believe that.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show, followed by the Bohemian Night Cat, @JohnKirkDeRitis.

 

Grin, Aim and Bear It

The Schloss-Blog is thinking guns today. 

And lives lost. And lives threatened.

While Robert Crimo III was gunning down more than 40 people - killing 7 in Highland Park, Illinois, on July 4, two police officers providing security at a July 4 parade in Philadelphia were also shot. 

And in Sacramento, that same day, one person was shot dead and four others were wounded outside Mix Nightclub

This is America.

The Chicago Bears, whose practice headquarters are nearby to Highland Park in Lake Forest, Illinois, issued a statement condemning the violence and expressing their condolences.

Thoughts and prayers, they say, thoughts and prayers. The Chicago White Sox had a moment of silence before their game in honor of the victims in the Chicago suburb.

Who cares?

Everyone expressed a statement of thoughts and prayers but who did something about it, anything about it?

No one.

Vice President Kamala Harris, in Chicago for scheduled speaking appearance at a convention of educators, among America's most vulnerable in shooting episodes, stopped by Highland Park before heading back to Washington, D.C.

Thoughts and prayers, she expressed, thoughts and prayers.

Someone tell me what good "thoughts and prayers" do. Does it keep AR-15s and other weaponry of war out of the hands of the Robert Crimos of the world?

Or the Salvador Ramoses of Uvalde infamy? 

Of course not.

I'll let Mike Florio of NBC Sports and Pro Football Talk take it from here:

Thoughts and prayers. At this point, it’s more caricature than cliche. And yet that worn out phrase has made its way into the [Bears'] statement. What else, really, can be said?

The problem is simply beyond our ability to properly diagnose and repair. We just can’t do it. We can try. We can make minor strides. But it’s never going to be conclusively solved because we lack the political will to do it. The people may want it, but the politicians we’ve elected will not do it. And those who think it’s simple to replace the politicians who resist meaningful safety laws that don’t prevent responsible gun ownership don’t understand how a toxically-flawed two-party system truly works.

Here’s the reality. If you’re going to live here, you need to accept getting shot to death in a public place as one of the daily risks of leaving your house. Go to the grocery store, parade, church, school, wherever, and you could be shot and killed. Someone who has no business having a gun possibly will have gotten a gun and possibly will show up and take aim at you or those you have a solemn duty to protect but can’t.

Thank you, Mike.

Think about his words in his commentary, sparked by the Bears issuing their "thought-and-prayers" statement:

*If you're going to live here, you need to accept getting shot to death in a public place..."

Going to the movies anytime soon? People in Aurora, Colorado, did in in 2012: 82 of them were shot; 12 never made it home.

Gong to the grocery store? Payton Gendron is charged with shooting 13 people in a Buffalo grocery store on May 14, 10 of whom never made it home. He allegedly shot Blacks, trying to prevent the elimination of whites.

On the way to church? On June 17, 2015, a white supremacist charged into Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and killed 9 people in a Bible study group. All Black.

Thoughts and prayers, let me hear you.

Let them hear you on Capitol Hill.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mike Florio.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.

***

Hey Orlando, don't forget to read @RonaRecommends.

And congrats to dear friend @MeredithThompson of Wichita, Kansas, on her retirement.

Odd Questions and Blood Money

So, the Schloss-Blog is wondering, courtesy of Morning Brew, what is the oddest question you've ever been asked on a job interview?

For me, when I got hired to teach at Columbia College Chicago's Journalism Department, I was asked, after exchanging pleasantries with department chair Nat Lehrman, where are you from(?), after he clearly noted my New York accent.

When I said "Brooklyn," he came back with, "What high school did you go to?"

"Brooklyn Tech," I responded.

"Me too," he shot back. "You're hired."

That's it - two questions (and an impressive C.V., IMHO), and I was in.

What about you? What's the oddest question you've gotten in a job interview?

***

Now though, as John Oliver would say, our main topic today is ... Blood Money, the kind Saudi Arabia is paying the LIV Tour signees to play golf for them.

Why is it blood money?

Saudi Arabia has a dismal human-rights record, is noted to support terrorists and suppressive regimes, like the war in Yemen, and has ties to 9/11, let alone the brutal murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

And so, some of the biggest names in golf are playing on the LIV Tour, so named because of its 54-hole (LIV) format, shotgun start and no cuts. All the players, in fact, have been paid handsomely just for showing up (they have to) and play for a $4 million first-prize.

And what else?

They've been banned from the PGA Tour (they don't care), they can't play Ryder Cup or President's Cup (they don't care) and ... just what the hell else are they playing for?

Is Phil Mickelson just paying off his alleged gambling debts or does he have something else to prove, because he's been playing like shit.

What else do some of these players have to prove? Many have won majors, so why bother anymore? Why not just play for fun and money?

Fun? Is it fun being asked at every tour stop how they feel about taking "blood money?" Is it fun saying that they separate golf from terrorism?

From outright murder? The brutal, disembodiment murder, that is, of a respected, celebrated journalist?

He had a family. He was taking care of routine business at an overseas Saudi consulate and they grabbed him and disembodied him, one part at a time.

This is who's paying the LIV players.

And even worse, the LIV Tour is Donald Trump's entree back into "pro golf," such as it is, by virtue of two events being played on his courses this year.

Will you watch if it's televised? Will you attend if it's in your neighborhood?

I sure as hell won't.

ESPN Sports Center had highlights on from the most-recent event. I changed the channel.

***

I want to personally thank everyone who put a "like" or 💖 (90, so far) on my post about Jocelyn being named ASID's "Designer of Distinction" for 2022. It's quite an honor - they only give out one among designers from all disciplines.

I showed her the number and all the comments - from relatives, friends, former students of mine, colleagues - thanks from the bottom of my 💖.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Jocelyn.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show, including a cameo by Jocelyn..

Schloss-Sports Blog: Sports World Reacts to Roe, and More...

The Schloss-Sports Blog is watching, among a lot of other things, reaction from the sports world to Roe v Wade.

* The NBA and WNBA released a joint statement that speaks for itself: “The NBA and WNBA believe that women should be able to make their own decisions concerning their health and future, and we believe that freedom must be protected."

*Kyler Murray, the Arizona Cardinals quarterback, tweeted: “No one should be able to force their beliefs on anyone's body, that is not right. Sending love to our women.”

The sports world is lining up behind those who want to protect reproductive rights before the Supreme Court also does away with gun control and separation of church and state.

No, wait...

***.

Sports has a good side in the stands among some fans.

An adult at a Royals game snared a home run ball, to the dismay of a kid nearby, but gave the kid the ball.

When the kid, glove in hand, snared a home run ball later in the game, giving him two, he gave the first one back to the same guy.

Hey fans at Fenway and Wrigley, pay attention.

***

Ohio State has trademarked "THE," as in "THE Ohio State University."

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has said he will sue on behalf of "The U" and prohibit "The" Ohio State from playing in Florida unless they go back to just being "A Ohio State University With A Lot Of Illicitly Recruited Players."

***

The New York Times has banned its recently acquired Athletic property (not "The" Athletic, according to The Ohio State) from commenting on politics.

Just sports, says the Times.

At a time when sexual harassment, women's reproductive rights and equal-opportunity hiring are all on the sports radar and politics and sports intersect regularly, really, NY Times, really?

You guys, of all people? 

I guess this means Wordle, which they also own, cannot have political or politically-themed words either.

***

What a treat last week to attend a dinner at The Continental in Buffalo Grove honoring the memory of the late Daily Herald Managing Editor for Sports, Bob Frisk. Never a bad word ever in Bob's columns about sports and the prep athletes who participated in them.

Delightful to see fellow sports scribes Dick Quagliano, Larry Weindruch, Jim Cook and Mike Imrem, and coaches Doug Millstone, Ken Grams, Pat Ritchie(!!!) and John Wendell, with big thanks to Doug and Ken for organizing.

Bob, your words, your legacy still impact all of sports coverage, especially preps.

***

Briefly:

LIV Tour (Not THE LIV Tour, according to Ohio State) is something I could care less about because ... I just don't.

"Let's get ready to rumble," is trademarked by ring announcer Michael Buffer and he has made an estimated $400 million on it so far. 

LSU Gymnast Olivia Dunn is modeling for (not THE) Boyfriend Jogger by Vouri. Looks like I'm breaking up with Bar Paly.

***

Hope you enjoyed (not THE) Howard rock 'n' roll Hours on Radio Free Phoenix on Sunday night. More next week.