IT’S SUMMER TIME (FINALLY)

Last weekend we celebrated Memorial Day weekend (the unofficial start of summer) and after this long cold winter we are relieved.   Before I start with my Babbling I just want to thank all those who served in our Military for their service.

Last week the weather got quite warm and I thought it was funny how people were complaining about the heat. Funny they were the same people complaining about the cold. Oh well some people just like complaining.

For me Memorial Day means I can break out my summer suits! In particular my seersuckers, summer hats, and yes my two-toned shoes. I didn’t waste any time to wear mine, Tuesday in fact, the first business day of the summer. As the week went on I started noticing some trends that I really don’t like so I thought I would share them with you:

  1. Suits (or sports jackets with loosened ties). I know it’s hot, but really you can’t keep the tie tight? I was on several rooftops these week, (1) because of the weather and (2) my firm was hosting its annual conference. Several people complained to me and told me to loosen my tie and asked them why and the said “the Heat its too hot to wear a tie.” Really the only thing a loose tie does is make you look like a slob it doesn’t cool you off. It you tie is making you hot you probably have a shirt on that don’t fit you, so buy a bigger shirt.
  2. This brings me to my other pet peeve, a suit or sports jacket with no tie and a collared shirt. What is the purpose of this, it looks sloppy unless you button the top button (then you might as well wear a tie). This has been a new trend over the past several years and frankly I hate it. Tony Bennett was asked why he always wears a suit and tie. His answer “TO BE DIFFERENT”.   So what should you do? Simple if you don’t want to wear a tie then wear a mock silk tee shirt. The mock tee is simple neat and you will be noticed for being a little different. The cost less than a dress shirt and if you are not wearing a tie is looks a lot better and it is acceptable business casual attire. In addition it is a lot cooler in the heat of summer.
  3. Short Slacks, this one I will never get. Slacks (not pants, pants are for kids and slacks are for men) should have a break above the shoe. Either a half break or full break. THEY SHOULD NOT STOP AN INCH OR TWO ABOVE THE SHOE! Pee Wee Herman is not someone you should dress like.   I know what you are going to say “If I don’t wear them like this you can’t see my socks”. Well socks are supposed to be seen and that gets me to number 4.
  4. Stupid colorful socks! Where did this come from I will never know and yes I hate it. Colorful socks have their place and that place is when you wear a seersucker suit or a real light summer suit. They should not be worn everyday and I cannot wait until they are out of style. In a post several months ago I mentioned how I went to a Hugo Boss store and they had more styles of socks then ties. This is just stupid. I know I know it’s the style and to that I say three things (1) Parachute Pants, (2) Bell Bottoms, (3) giant shoulder pads.
  5. Lastly another trend I don’t like is brown or tan shoes with a blue suit. To me it just looks silly. Wear black shoes with Blue it looks better.

As I have stated many times these are my opinions. So you can ask yourself “what the hell do I know” Well if any of you have been out with me will know that everyday I have several strangers approach me to compliment the way I dress and tell me they like my style. So maybe you don’t agree with me and think I am an ass. Maybe that true, but I challenge you to following:

Dress the way you want for one month and see how many times strangers approach you and compliment you on the way you look then dress the way I say to on this Blog for a month. I will bet anyone out there that my way will get you more compliments. Sorry guys it’s not the cost of the clothes it’s the way you style them.

FOUR DOWN ONE TO GO

Four down and one to go

I just got back from my annual nine-day trip to Las Vegas. I know 9 days is too long. Not for me, as in the words of Dean Martin “I love Vegas, when I leave I shed a tear. Well I shed many tears on this trip. This trip like the many before, I saw a different Vegas when I got there and a much different Vegas when I left.

Back in 1960, Frank Sinatra made Ocean’s 11, the first of the “Rat Pack” (and the best) movies. Sorry folks George Clooney is NOT Danny Ocean that is Frank’s role. The movie takes place in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve. Danny Ocean and his pals rob the FIVE MOST GLAMAROUS CASINO’S ON THE LAS VEGAS STRIP, which were:

  • Flamingo
  • Sands
  • Desert Inn
  • Riviera
  • Sahara

Over the years as Vegas has changed these five glorious casinos faded from glory. It is very difficult to stay relevant in Vegas, the only casino to do it for 50 years is Caesars Palace and god bless them for it. Over the years I watched the Sands be imploded and the Venetian be built in its place. Not one spot in that hotel do they mention that this was the spot the Summit was performed (the Summit for those who don’t know was what Frank called the performances be him, Dean, Sammy, Joey, and Peter) and I say shame on them.

Then it was Steve Wynn’s turn to blow up the Dessert Inn and build the Wynn and Encore. Now the Wynn is a magnificent property, but why not call it “Steve Wynn’s Dessert Inn” as Wilbur Clarke once called it “Wilbur Clarke’s Dessert Inn”.

Then in May 2011, I got to say goodbye to my favorite casino of all time THE SAHARA. To me the Sahara was more than a casino it was my west coast home. Never before did I feel more comfortable in a casino then I did at the Sahara. That day in May as I walked the strip to play my last time at the Sahara I began to shed some tears. I though of the countless nights playing black jack with my brother and my wife and the fun we had. I thought of all the meals at Caravan Café and the House of Lords Steakhouse. I won that day only $200 bucks, but as I left that crowed hotel, I turned as I got into the cab and said “THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES OLD GIRL”. Today the SLS stands where my Sahara did and I can say that the SLS may be the WORST casino I ever went to and look forward to the day they go bankrupt and they will.

Once the Sahara closed, I moved to the next best Casino I know the Riviera or THE RIV. The Riviera was a great casino, it was there I met Coline a dealer at the Riv for over 50 years. On Sunday May 3rd, I played black jack for the last time at the Riv, because on May 4th at noon they closed their doors for good. On Monday the 4th my good friend Dan showed up around 10am to the Riv, all the tables games were closed so we sat at the bar with about 100 or so other folks just to enjoy one last drink at the bar. They were serving us Jack Daniels for $1.50 a shot. We laughed and cried with everyone. At about 5 minutes to noon the announcement came “THE RIVIERA WILL BE CLOSING IN 5 MINUTES”. We sat in our bar stools and finished our drinks. Five minutes later the tragic announcement ‘THE RIVIERA IS OFFICALLY CLOSED, PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE NEAREST EXIT”. We sat for a few minutes until Security told us to leave. As we walked towards the front door snapping as many pictures as we could. Security stopped us and said to go out the back. We noticed that all the doors were changed shut. As we walked out side they were setting the posts for the temp fence to seal the place off. It was a sad scene, as we got into the cab I turned and said “THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES OLD GIRL”.

Four down and one to go! The Flamingo the oldest of the Grand Casino’s and the only one left.   Caesars own the Flamingo, which is a big help. The Flamingo was part of a big plan to blow up everything from Bally’s to Harrah’s and destroy the Flamingo and build a Center City type complex. That was the plan in 2007, but 2008 the money dried up and plans were changes. Imperial Palace and Bill’s Gaming House were destroyed and the Flamingo was saved. From the looks of it the Flamingo should be around for a long time, but things change fast in Las Vegas so you never can be so sure.

Today the three oldest casino’s on the Las Vegas Strip are The Flamingo 1947, Tropicana 1957, Caesars Palace 1966. All three are vintage Vegas at its best, I would suggest that if you plan a trip to Las Vegas stop by these three Icons, because you never know when the wrecking ball is coming.

IMG_1162 IMG_1148 IMG_1194 IMG_1168 IMG_1183 IMG_1186

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. SINATRA

On this day in 1915 (99 years ago) on 215 Monroe Street Hoboken, NJ Francis Albert Sinatra was born. Later today at one of Franks favorite restaurant Patsy’s there will be a celebration of Franks life. I have never had the privilege to see Frank in concert and I never met him, but I will be there today listening to people that were blessed to call him Pally tell stories of the greatest entertainer that ever lived.

When I tell people that I am going to Frank Sinatra’s birthday party some people laugh, some don’t believe it is a real thing, and others remind me that he died in 1998. Some of my friends just think it just an excuse to have a party, but what they don’t get is Frank Sinatra is much much more than the greatest entertainer that ever lived.

I am not going to talk about Frank’s career in show business today, there is nothing to say he was the best and nobody will ever come close. I am not going to talk about Frank’s style because we all know he invented style. I am going to talk about the man I admire.

Back in the 30, 40s, and 50s, many artists changed their names, you may or may not know that Dean Martin and Tony Bennett changed their names because there real names were too ethic. Yes Italians were discriminated against. When people told Frank that he needs to change his name because it was too ethnic, he had some choice words for them and they weren’t Happy Birthday.

Well before it was politically correct to be tolerant of other people and religion, Frank was fighting for racial and religious tolerance. In 1945, long before the civil rights movement of the 1960s, Frank starred in “The House I Live In” In the movie Frank Sinatra takes a smoke break during a recording session and sees a large group of boys chasing a Jewish boy and intervenes. His message to them is that all Americans are one and all religions are to be respected equally.

In the 1950s he told the management of the Sands Hotel, that if Sammy doesn’t stay at the Hotel then he won’t and he will perform elsewhere.

Frank wasn’t perfect none of us are, but he lived by his rules and he stuck to those rules even if it wasn’t the popular thing to do. Many times he put his career at risk to stand by a friend or do what he thought was right.

So today when I hear all the stories, I will say to myself Thank God for Frank Sinatra, because the world is a better place because he was born 99 years ago today.

Happy Birthday Frank!

Saturday’s in October are really the Best

Just yesterday, I was listening to the Tim McGraw song Back When (yes I listen to a little country music) and it brought back some great memories growing up as a kid. I look at my children today and I truly feel sorry for them, because they will never have the freedom and yes fun that I had growing up in the 70s. Whether it was just playing whiffle ball or ring and run. We were free, our parents let us GO OUT AND PLAY. I used to love when the milkman came and drink the fresh milk, today my kids don’t even know what the milkman is or what whole milk taste like. I am not naïve to think that everything was great when I was a kid, the cold war was raging, hostages were in IRAN and we had long gas lines. However I was hopeful and I thought I could change the world. Now I am 48 and have two children 15 and 12 and I worry about them. I am not special most parents’ worry about their children. So yesterday I thought what are my kids going to remember in thirty years from now and I hope its Saturday’s in the Fall and the time we spent together watching College Football.

I know you thought this post was going to be all mushy and sappy, but its not! I am going to talk about the best annual sport on the Planet and that is FBS College Football. Yesterday was a tough day my Fighting Irish lost a close game last night on the last play of the game. I will admit it I didn’t sleep much last night because I was upset. As I lay in bed thinking about the game and what could have been, I remembered that Max and Luke were there with me watching pacing the floor on that last drive. I remember the joy we felt when we thought the Irish scored the winning touchdown with seconds left in the game and the disappointment when we saw the flag and knew the TD wasn’t going to count. Two more plays and the game was over and the Irish lost. We all went to bed disappointed.

Every Saturday from Labor through November I watch game after game with my boys. It doesn’t matter who is playing as long as there is college ball and we are together. Football just a game, the outcome and the results really don’t mean much in the course of our lives, but the game has bonded my family together for the past 10 + years and I have a lot of great memories of the game. Here are just a few in no particular order:

  • Watching Max Play in his third Offensive-Defense Football Academy Youth All American Bowl in Cowboys Stadium
  • Watch Lucas run 80 yards for a touchdown when he was six
  • Trip down to Tampa with Max for his 10th birthday to watch the Buccaneers play the charges (of course the Bucs lost)
  • Trip down to Baltimore with Lucas for his 10th birthday to watch the Ravens beat the Bengals
  • Trip out to South Bend with Max to watch the Fighting Irish give Michigan State their only loss of the year
  • Nearly 100 Saturday’s watching college ball with my boys eating KFC and Pizza while screaming, cheering, and crying at the TV.

So here is a shout out to Football and many other sports that still can bring families together and create happy memories in the midst of this crazy world we live in.

The Sock Garter – Don’t Laugh it Works!

Last weeks post was about a little unseen accessory that is wonderful, so I thought I would continue with that theme and discuss a little known accessory that nobody will ever see. THE SOCK GARTER!

One of my fashion pet peeves is when a man crosses his legs the way women do (I am not even able to do that and don’t know how men can). The crossing the legs is not the problem it’s looking at their hairy legs because their socks are around the ankles.

Men’s socks come in basically two lengths (1) Mid Calf, & (2) Over the Calf. Yes most over the calf socks will stay up all day long and that was the only type of sock that I ever wore. However as I got older the over the calf socks would start to hurt and my legs would cramp up.

So I bought some mid calf socks and while they didn’t hurt my legs they didn’t stay up. The top of the sock would get stretched out and fall to my ankles. IT DROVE ME NUTS!!!! I wasn’t sure what to do? As time went on it I became more and more self-conscious of my socks around my ankles so I started wearing over the calf again and just dealt with the discomfort.

 

One day back in the summer of 1992, I was at my friend’s house for the weekend in Hampton Bays and we were sitting there in the morning watching the boats go by drinking Irish Coffee and reading the paper and he asked me “Do you know where I can get sock garters?” I replied, “what the hell are sock garters and why do you need them?” He said that he couldn’t wear over the calf socks because they hurt and mid calf never stayed up! I explained I have the same problem but just dealt with the discomfort. He explained that sock garters go below the knee and hold up the sock all day without squeezing your calf.

Now I am on a mission, I need to find SOCK GARTERS! So I headed to Roosevelt Mall. I went to Clappers, Field Brothers, A&S, Macy’s and any other men’s store I could find and NOTHING. Most places never heard of them and those that did haven’t seen them in years. So off to Manhattan and Brooks Brothers, Barney’s, Saks, Bloomingdales, and yes-even Bergdorf Goodman and nothing no sock garters. The salesmen in Bergdorf’s suggested that I go to a tailor and get them made.

I gave up, and then in December 1994 (Yes I was looking everywhere for almost two years) while working at Edward Isaacs & Company I was assigned to observe an inventory in Manhattan. So I was told to report to Paul Stuart on Madison and 45th street. So I show up at 6:30pm to start the inventory and I notice that this store is awesome. The clothes and the accessories were amazing. I thought to myself how did you not ever hear of this place.

The team started counting the clothes and around 11:00pm I walked into the section of the store with socks and I said to myself maybe this place has them? So I asked an employee if they have sock garters? My manager looked at me like I was an idiot and said what are sock garters? The Paul Stuart employee answered the Manager with “Only the best accessory that nobody knows about” then he turned to me and said they are right here.

Paul Stuart has been one of my favorite stores ever since. They still sell them, but now we have an Internet and you can get them on Amazon. I highly recommend this accessory. You will NEVER have to pull up your socks again.

IMG_0617

THE LITTLE ACCESSORY THAT COULD

If you read the news the past couple of weeks you have beheading’s, NFL Players beating up the girlfriends or spouse. You hear about Cops getting killed and Cops killing people. Is Obamacare good or bad? Does the President know what he is doing? How could Robin Williams kill himself and how could Joan Rivers have died?

It really does make your head spin. It reminds me of a speech I heard by Bill Clinton, he said “Don’t you just want to get off the world?” I can say yes all that is going on is very overwhelming.

That is why today I am not going to discuss any of it! I am going to talk about something so simple its amazing, the Tie Thing! What the heck is The Tie Thing? Let me start by talking about the problem first. You are getting ready to go a very important meeting, job interview, or even just a special event. You are excited and you’re a nervous about the meeting so you put your best suit on, make sure your shoes are shined and you select the perfect shirt, tie, and pocket square combination. You are ready to kick some ass. As you walk into the meeting you notice that you tie is not hanging straight, so you unbutton your jacket and try to fix it without anyone noticing. What about when you are at Starbucks and you are adding milk and sugar and you bend down and your tie gets in the way.

Well if you are like me this happens all the time. So to fix the problem, I bought some tie bars. Tie bars have to problems (1) they fall off all the time, (2) they put pulls in your ties. Then one day I was looking around on Amazon to find a system to hang my ties (which I did and it is awesome, but we can discuss tie storage another time) I found the Tie Thing.   The Tie Thing is a half-inch wide piece of clothe with two buttonholes as far apart as on the common dress shirt. Simple Stupid Right? Well it is, all you do is button the Tie Thing to one of your shirts buttons, put the Tie Thing through the tie loop on the back of the tie and button the second button to your shirt. Your tie will not move the entire day, problem solved. I have been wearing it for weeks and it is Fantastic!

Now here is the bad news, I can’t find them anywhere. Amazon has what they call they call the Tiedown and Tiealign , but they are made of plastic and I don’t know how good they work. I am going to speak with Mr. Kelly and see if he can make me some and I will offer it to my followers for a small price. The accessory is not expensive and if you are anal about the way you look, this tiny inexpensive accessory will help.

BRIONI TIE WITH THE TIE THING

BRIONI TIE WITH THE TIE THING

On The Boardwalk In Atlantic City is No Longer Americas Favorite Playground, but It Can Be Again

This month The Trump Plaza will close its doors and it will be the fourth Casino to close in 2014. 11 years ago The Borgata open and AC was back on the rise and now it is crumbling at an extremely fast rate. Many people know that I love Atlantic City and have argued for years that I preferred it to Las Vegas.   It was true I preferred going to AC over Las Vegas, but based upon my last three trips to the Boardwalk, I can no longer say that. I was last in AC the weekend before July 4th weekend and frankly it was depressing to see what has happened to my favorite vacation spot on the Planet.

People have been asking me for weeks “Is AC dead”? My answer is NO it’s not dead. The seaside resort has faced trouble before and the city came back and it will come back again. But before I give my theory how to revive the very first pure vacation destination, I thought it would be necessary to give a little history of the great town.

Atlantic City was incorporated on May 1, 1854 (160 years ago). As legend goes some gangsters in Philadelphia wanted to create a resort town for blue-collar workers. Since ocean swimming had started to get popular they took out a map and drew a straight line from Philly to the Atlantic Ocean. On a small Island named Absecon. The gangsters built hotels along the beach and they built a railroad to take passengers back and forth. In a few years a permanent Boardwalk was built (it was built to keep the sand out of the hotel) the very first boardwalk in the United States.

Common people came to AC; it was a family destination, the beach, salt-water taffy and a lot of sideshows. At night dance halls opened and late night there was the casinos and the oldest profession (it just wasn’t legal back then).

Prohibition came and the city boomed. Led by Enoch “Nucky” Johnson (Thompson is just for HBO) who worked hard to bring people to the resort. He turned the City into a major port for illegal booze, he built Boardwalk Hall, and he organized the first organized crime commission, which was held in Atlantic City.

Then came my favorite person of Atlantic City, Mr. Atlantic City Paul “Skinny” D’Amato. Skinny was born in 1908 (nobody knows the exact day); he started running cigar shops, which really doubled as casinos. By the 1940s he owned the famous 500 Club on Missouri Avenue. The 500 Club was one of the countries greatest nightclubs. Move Stars, Professional Athletes would mingle with common folk. Legend has it that Skinny was the person who teamed up Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis to create one of the greatest comedy teams ever. He also was a good friend with Frank Sinatra. Skinny taught Frank how to hold a cigarette and order a drink. When Frank was down on his luck Skinny stood by his side. Frank would perform 5 shows a night every summer until 1974. In 1974 the City took a turn for the worst, the economy was bad and then the 500 Club burned to the ground. Everything was destroyed except one photo of Frank Sinatra performing at the Club.

The City was in decay in the 1970s and everyone thought the City was Dead. But in 1970 they legalized gambling and the city was re-born. The 1980s saw AC take the lead on gambling revenues from Las Vegas. In the 1980s all of the Las Vegas casinos were getting old and people from the east coast didn’t have to fly to Vegas, they could just drive to AC. It wasn’t until the Mirage opened in 1989 that Vegas began to make its big comeback (that is a post for another time). Slowly but surely casino’s started popping up all over the country hurting Atlantic City. In addition Atlantic City’s gambling revenue was so big they never saw the change coming that Vegas did. Vegas was ever changing to attract more guests, but AC said we are okay people love to gamble.   By the time AC figured it out it was too late. Now with casinos in eastern PA and in Delaware, the racino’s in New York, the gamblers stopped coming. Then there came the Revel, the dumbest idea to hit AC since the diving horse. The Revel is way too big a 50-story hotel that doesn’t allow smoking anywhere. In 2013, the Borgata is the only casino in AC whose gambling revenue increased. The Taj is close to being put into bankruptcy and all the other casinos are struggling. It looks real bad and if they don’t fix it the city will die.

So how does Atlantic City revive itself? Its simple, they have to go backwards not forwards. They have to go back to what the city was built on “AN AFFORDABLE VACATION SPOT FOR COMMON PEOPLE”. How do you do that easy COMPS!!! The Comps in Atlantic City just Suck. I have been going for over 35 years and each year they get cheaper and cheaper with comps. I get comps in the mail for a toaster or a chance to win a Hyundai. Give me food and room comps. So here is a list of things AC can do to attract people:

  1. COMP ROOMS – Give rooms away, an occupied room doesn’t cost much more than an empty one. If you don’t want to Comp them charge $25 per night instead of $400
  2. COMP FOOD – buy the player a meal. Give a $25 coupon to any restaurant in the casino. Every trip my wife and I go to Ruth’s Chris for dinner. If the steakhouse in the casino would give me $25 or $50 off I would go there.
  3. Stop Making it impossible to win – Go back to 4 or 6 deck blackjack, play single 0 roulette and give 20x odds on Craps.
  4. The casinos need to become more player friendly. Stop watering down the drinks, hire more waitresses and serve them faster. Treat the minimum player the same as the Max Player, there are more minimum players.
  5. CLUBS and LOUNGES – Get some good clubs and lounges. People love the Clubs. I hate them but I love Lounges. Give me live music along with drink coupons. Open a Cigar Bar and a Whiskey Bar.
  6. Bring in Real Entertainment – Only the Borgata does this and that’s why they are making money

I hope the town will listen because nothing would be worse to see Atlantic City fade away. The town inspired Monopoly, created the post card, the oldest Boardwalk, salt-water taffy, and my favorite vanilla/chocolate twist frozen custard. Summer would not be summer for me if I could go out and walk that Boardwalk with my coffee and cigar, singing my playlist.

A Summer Ends

Memorial Day through Labor Day what we Americans call summer. When in fact summer is from June 21st through September 23rd. That really doesn’t matter, does it? Summer is most people’s favorite time of the year. The Beach, BBQ, Swimming and other water activities. It’s the only time of the year when you greet people you ask, “How is your Summer Going?” Nobody asks how is Your Winter Going?

While summer is not my favorite time of the year, I do enjoy it. I like Sunday Mornings reading in my backyard. I like that the traffic into Manhattan is not as heavy and I really do love the Summer Fashion. So before this weekend is over I will put away until Memorial Day 2015 all my two-toned shoes, seersucker suits, and bright summer ties and most sadly my Summer Hats. Two of my favorite hats will be put into their boxes and stored until next year and I know that very soon in a few more weeks the rest of my straw hats will go away for the winter as well.

However with everything that ends something else begins and if Labor Day means the end of summer it also means the Start of Autumn. My Favorite Season!! Why is it my favorite season of the year. Well here are some reasons (1) College Football Starts (2) NFL Starts, (3) NHL Starts, (4) NBA Starts, (5) Baseball Playoff, and (6) NASCAR Chase! The Autumn (or Fall) is a sports fan heaven season. While those reasons are good, there is also energy in the air, people are done with vacation and are ready to start their lives again, work becomes more important and people are just more focused. It’s the time of the year when I set all my Goals.

While all the reasons I love the autumn my three favorite things are:

  1. The Weather – Cool mornings, Warm afternoons, and Cool evenings. It the time of the year when you don’t sweat and you don’t freeze, the weather in my view is perfect.
  2. Day Light Savings Time Ends – I know I am in the minority on this one, but I really don’t care. I love when it gets darker earlier and earlier. I love the night. Simple it’s my favorite time of the day.
  3. The Fashion – The dark colors, the browns and tans is just awesome. I can break out my heavier suits and ties, sweaters and vests it’s just a wonderful time to be a little creative. As I stated earlier when something ends something begins; so when my straw hats go away for the winter, my fur felt hats come out. It’s FEDORA time. Most of my fur felt hats are Fedora’s and most of my straw hats are Pork Pies. It is a fun time of the year breaking out the old clothes and making purchases for the fall.

So yes Summer of 2014 has come and gone, but just think how nice a cool night on the Roof at Patroon with your favorite Pallys, Cocktail, and Cigar to enjoy a 45 minute vacation. There really is no place like autumn in New York and I will leave you with the Sinatra Classic.

Happy Labor Day everyone!

The VMA Awards – I AM GLAD I AM NOT YOUNG ANYMORE

I am sure anyone who reads this blog won’t be shocked that I am not a big fan of MTV.  Never was, even when it launched in 1981.  However today is the VMA Awards and my curiosity was raised this year after last years Miley show and I decided I was going to watch the Red Carpet and the Show.  So at around 7pm this evening I went online to find out what channel MTV was on FIOS (I told you I am not a fan) and saw the Red Carpet was starting at 8pm.

I was glad because I was going to able to watch the end of the 1939 Classic “The Roaring 20s” on TCM starring James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart.  When the movie ended I said to myself “Let the Freak Show Begin” and I changed the channel to MTV.  I made until about 9:20 and then I had to shut it off, because I just couldn’t take it anymore.  Now if I wanted to I could write a very long blog posts about the many young women in the music industry who are just outright PIGS!!  That’s right I Said It THEY ARE PIGS!

The boys and girls (I don’t care how old you are if you like them you are a child) that are fans of these PIGS should be ashamed of themselves.  I needed a shower of Judy Garland and Ella Fitzgerald to wash the filth and horrible talent that was on that show.  If anyone really believes that Nikki Minaj is more than just a BIG FAT ASS, then you too are a Big Fat Ass.

As I was watching the show, I turned to my wife and said “YOU KNOW, I AM GLAD I AM NOT YOUNG ANYMORE”

So tonight will be a short post and I will leave you with one of my theme songs by Maurice Chevalier’s hit from the Oscar winning Gigi “I am Glad I am not Young Anymore”