Happy 2017, Everyone

Once again, it's been a while since I posted, for which I apologize.  First of all, Happy New Year to everyone!  The past few years have been very trying at this end, so here's hoping for a better 2017.  A friend of mine did this--a song from each year of his life. It's his "life playlist", so to speak. I thought that it was a great idea. so here's mine. These aren't necessarily my favourite songs of all time, though I love (or at least like) every one of them. Certainly, there were some years that were harder to do than others, either because of a plethora of good songs or a paucity of them, and often, the choice was made based on the memories I have associated with the song.

1965: My Girl, The Temptations
1966: What becomes of the Brokenhearted, Jimmy Ruffin
1967: Groovin', The Young Rascals
1968: Hey Jude, The Beatles
1969: Get Together, The Youngbloods
1970: Love Grows, Edison Lighthouse
1971: My Sweet Lord, George Harrison
1972: I Can See Clearly Now, Johnny Nash
1973: Drift Away, Dobie Gray
1974: Sundown, Gordon Lightfoot
1975: Can't Get It Out Of My Head, ELO
1976: Dream Weaver, Gary Wright
1977: Jet Airliner, Steve Miller Band
1978: Grease, Frankie Valli
1979: What A Fool Believes, The Doobie Brothers
1980: Cruisin', Smokey Robinson
1981: I Love You, The Climax Blues Band
1982: Trouble, Lindsay Buckingham
1983: Come On Eileen, Dexy's Midnight Runners
1984: Dancing In The Dark, Bruce Springsteen
1985: Shout, Tears For Fears
1986: Life In A Northern Town, The Dream Academy
1987: Heart and Soul, T'Pau
1988: Red Red Wine, UB40
1989: Paradise City, Guns 'N Roses
1990: Free Fallin', Tom Petty
1991: Hole Hearted, Extreme
1992: Jump Around, House of Pain
1993: Ordinary World, Duran Duran
1994: Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm, Crash Test Dummies
1995: Hold My Hand, Hootie And The Blowfish
1996: One Of Us, Joan Osborne
1997: Bitch, Meredith Brooks
1998: The Mummer's Dance, Loreena McKinnit
1999: Iris, The Goo Goo Dolls
2000: Take A Picture, Filter
2001: Butterly, Crazytown
2002: In The End, Linkin Park
2003: Calling All Angels, Train
2004: Hey Ya, Outkast
2005: Boulevard Of Broken Dreams, Green Day
2006: Bad Day, Daniel Powter
2007: Chasing Cars, Snow Patrol
2008: Let It Rock, Kevin Rudolf
2009: Use Somebody, Kings Of Leon
2010: I Gotta Feeling, The Black Eyed Peas
2011: Sexy And I Know It, LMFAO
2012: We Are Young, Fun.
2013: This Is What It Feels Like, Armin van Buuren
2014: First Light, Racing Glaciers
2015: Spirits, The Strumbellas
2016: All Is Lost, Patrick Krief

There you have it. I'd be curious as to some of your "life soundtracks"!

Social Media

So, I realize that I am probably writing a blog post which will be read by absolutely no one other than myself (that's what happens when you posted sporadically over the course of seven years or so), but that's okay.  The internet is often nothing more than the collective voices of millions of people shouting at each other because they disagree politically, or over religion, sports, or because a misguided segment of the population mistakenly believes that the Kardashian family actually contributes something to Western society.  Whatever.

What I want to discuss is social media.  I have been on Facebook for over eight years now, and on Twitter for several years as well, though I "tweet" about as often as Donald Trump acknowledges his (many) limitations.  However, I recently deactivated my Facebook account.  Facebook can fill some voids in a person's life, but it cannot replace actual human contact, and if you are in a bad place mentally, it can often make things worse.  There's a phenomenon known as "The Fakebook Phenomenon", and essentially, what it means is that no one wants anyone "out there" to see that their life has problems, so what we often see out of Facebook is that people post nothing but happy photos of wonderful times when in fact their lives are far from that.  That's not to say that people don't have happy moments in their lives, or that they shouldn't post about them when they do, but there are studies which support the theory that Facebook and other social media outlets actually serve to make at least some people depressed, or more depressed, as the case may be.  For more on that see here and here and here and here and here.  People look at the news feeds of their "friends" enjoying a never-ending stream of parties, nights out, financial success, and then they look at their own lives and think, "What the hell am I doing wrong?  My life is NOTHING like that.  How did I screw up my life so badly?"

I have to be honest, I started feeling that way.  My life has hit some ruts (and then some) over the last couple of years.  I'm still standing, but it has not been easy.  In any event, I watched as my Facebook feed was constantly filled with people celebrating one glorious success after another, and it got to me. I just couldn't take it anymore.  I had to walk away.  So, I deactivated my account, and when you're as into social media as much as I am, this is a very, very difficult thing to do, but when you're not in a good place mentally, it is sometimes necessary to "disconnect".  I don't know how long I will stay away, I just know that for the time being, it is what I must do.  If nothing else, it will force me to focus on myself, and to concentrate on what I can control, as opposed to what I can't.  And (yes, I know that it's poor grammar to start a sentence with the word "And", but I'm going to do it, anyway) if I can step away, so can you................if you think that it will help you.  We get one crack at life.  I don't believe in heaven or hell, so in my view, this is our chance at enjoying existence.  It serves no purpose being unhappy because of things we cannot control, so if social media is causing you unhappiness, disconnect.

I began this post by acknowledging that it is likely that no one will ever read this post, but if someone browsing the internet finds it and something I wrote helps them, it has served a purpose.  I don't know if this post will represent any significant return by me to blogging--I very much doubt it, to be honest--but what I posted here was worth sharing, I thought.

I hate tree pollen

No, I mean that I REALLY hate tree pollen.  Yes, I know that trees use it to "procreate", but given what it does to my sinuses and my immune system in general, I have no choice but to hate it.  When the BHG family left the Garden State, I hoped that the tree pollen issues would improve.  Uh uh, not meant to be.  Turns out that North Florida has some of the same types of trees as New Jersey, and given that nothing ever really freezes or dies down here, those trees can happily pollenate all year long.  Woo hoo!

My Habs had a very rough trip to the Left Coast.  First, there was another futile offensive effort against the Los Angeles Kings, making for a 2-1 loss.  That was followed by a surprising but heartening 4-3 shootout win over top team in the West, Anaheim.  However, two one-sided losses (to Phoenix by a score of 5-2 and San Jose, by a score of 4-0) rounded out the road trip.  Basically, unless Montreal plays Anaheim, things don't look good for the Habs if they somehow make it to the Stanley Cup Finals.  My money is still on a repeat of last year's final, Chicago vs. Boston, with the same result.

Baseball season is just a few weeks away.  Last season, my Red Sox surprised everyone with their third World Series title in nine seasons.  I'm not expecting a repeat.  The team hasn't added anybody, while it has lost Jacoby Ellsbury and Stephen Drew.  The Evil Empire--I mean, the NY Yankees, added Ellsbury and Japanese ace pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, and they will also have a healthy Mark Teixeira this season. Bottom line, this is the Yankees' World Series to win, much as I hate to write that.

You never really know about someone else

A friend of mine sent me an article this morning about an attorney from New Jersey who recently pleaded guilty to defrauding his clients out of more than a million dollars--well, specifically, he pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.  The friend sent me this article to "tweak me" and poke fun at the state where I lived for 18 years.  What the friend didn't know is that I actually knew the attorney, who is potentially facing a long jail sentence and/or a huge criminal fine.  In fact, I worked with him for a few years, before he left my old firm suddenly.  The article on him is pretty damning, reading in pertinent part (names redacted):

"XXXXXXXXXXXX, of XXXXXXXXXXXX, N.J., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge XXXXXXXX in federal court to an information charging him with one count of wire fraud. During the proceeding, XXXXXXXXXXX admitted that he fraudulently inserted the names of his former law firm’s clients into legitimately filed XXXXXXXXX suits and charged the clients more than $1 million in attorney’s fees, costs and settlements to defend them.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Specifically, XXXXXXXXX admitted, he obtained copies of legitimately filed XXXXXXXX complaints and fraudulently altered them by deleting a named defendant and inserting the name of one or more of his firm’s clients. XXXXXXXXX admitted that, unbeknownst to anyone else at the firm, he forwarded those fraudulently altered complaints by email, fax and otherwise to the firm’s clients, their representatives and insurance companies.

After notifying the firm’s clients of the suits, XXXXXXXXXXXXX – and others at the firm who were not involved in the scheme – undertook the representation of the clients, by attending depositions, answering discovery and even settling claims. It is estimated that XXXXXXXXXXX inserted his firm’s clients’ names into more than 100 lawsuits, resulting in the generation of more than $1 million in fraudulent fees, costs and settlements. XXXXXXXXXXXX personally benefitted from the scheme through bonuses and increased compensation."

The conduct to which this attorney pleaded guilty took place long after he had left my old firm.  When I worked with him, he never seemed like the kind of guy who would do anything like this.  He was diligent, worked hard and well-liked by the powers that be at that firm.  I personally really liked him and was disappointed when he left that firm.  I guess that it goes to show that you never really know someone.............

Tuesdays Stink (and other miscellaneous thoughts)

Really, they do.  You don't have the "glow" of the just-completed weekend anymore, and the next weekend is still far off in the future (or so it feels, anyway).  I have always hated them and I still do.  I remember that as a kid, I used to routinely "get sick" and end up in the nurse's office on Tuesdays, to the point where it was a running joke at my elementary school, and my late mother threatened me that unless I was near death, I was NOT going to be allowed to come home early from school, and even then, she wanted to speak to a doctor first.

I'm still a sports fan, but as I've gotten older, my interest in it has really dropped off.  Growing up, and even into my twenties and early thirties, I would often plan my life around sporting events (when my favourite teams were on tv, etc.).  Now, I often don't even bother to watch when those teams are on tv.  Is that typical?  Don't get me wrong, I still have teams for which I cheer, and those against whom I cheer just as strongly, but the outcomes don't really affect me the way they did in the past.  I remember in 1988, when I was still in my early twenties, the Montreal Canadiens lost a playoff series to the Boston Bruins, and it was the first time in 45 years that that had happened.  I was devastated for weeks, and it was just as bad the next year when Montreal lost to Calgary in the Stanley Cup Finals.  Now, when the Habs lose, it bothers me, but my attitude is more of a "Oh, well", a shrug of the shoulders, and life goes on.

One of the "joys" of getting older is seeing the people with whom you have interacted vanish from your life. In the past few weeks, four people (one judge, three lawyers) with whom I had dealt regularly all passed away.  It really is depressing.  Three of them were older, so their passing wasn't entirely unexpected, but one of them wasn't much older than me.  It really makes you think.  Good Lord, I'm turning into Billy Crystal's character at the beginning of the first City Slickers movie...................

I get that people aren't happy with the way President Obama has responded to the Ukraine crisis, and one thing that hasn't changed in the four years that passed during my blogging hiatus is that I continue to be a critic of his foreign policy.  However, what exactly SHOULD he be doing?  Do people want us to intervene militarily in the Ukraine, and if that's what they want, are they prepared for the consequences of such an intervention?  We would almost certainly lose, given that Russia is right next door and we have no large numbers of military forces nearby.  The world economy would tank.  Oil prices would double (or worse). The Europeans will not help us, given that they are completely dependent on Russian gas to heat their houses. And, then there's that little matter of all of those Russian nukes, which a despot like Vladimir Putin might be willing to use.  So, again I ask, what exactly should President Obama do?  Don't give me talking points; I want specifics.

I've been asked fairly often over the years why I am such a strong supporter of Israel.  Well, there are "macro" and "micro" reasons.  Dealing with the "micro" reasons first, I have friends and (distant) family there. The "macro" reasons are a bit more complex.  There is a total of around 14,000,000 Jews on the planet, at least as of 2012, the last year for which I could find a statistic.  Over 82% of them live in Israel or the United States.  Especially after the Holocaust, I view it is one of my responsibilities as a Jew to ensure that my fellow Jews will always have somewhere to go in the event of war, discrimination or intolerance. Fortunately, here in the U.S., it seems as though "our place in society" has largely been accepted.  In Israel, the only Jewish-majority country on the planet, that "place in society" is under attack, both militarily and socially. No, there are no large-scale military invasions of Israel under way, nor do any appear to be imminent (the fantasies of Iran's mad mullahs notwithstanding), because the Arab world has come to realize that more insidious forms of non-military warfare such as attacking Israel in international organizations (such as the odious United Nations) and the "BDS" (Boycott, Divest and Sanctions) movement, which has successfully turned the image of Israel into that of a modern-day South Africa--even though that is simply a lie--are far more effective. Hatred of Israel is at an all-time high, and hatred of Jews in general is following suit.  What does it say that the sole country in the world which is the target of such a movement is the world's only Jewish-majority state?  Not China, which has oppressed Tibet and the Uighurs for closing in on 70 years. Not Russia, which has already violently taken over part of Georgia and is now occupying part of the Ukraine.  Not Morocco, which has engaged in a virtual war of extermination against the native inhabitants of the Western Sahara, to the point where the natives of that region are now a minority in their own land.  Not Saudi Arabia or Iran, which practice gender apartheid and still stone people to death for adultery or "religious blasphemy", and which ban other religions (in the case of Saudi Arabia).  I could go on and on. Nope, only Israel is worthy of world opprobrium--and then people wonder why I am convinced that the BDS movement is by and large anti-Semitic?

I Hate Travel Soccer

So, the older of the two BHG girls plays travel soccer.  She's had some pretty bad experiences with it over the last few years (not last year, though--we loved her coaches and the girls on the team).  Come to think of it, all three of the older BHG kids have had their issues with travel soccer over the years, though younger BHG boy and oldest BHG girl really seem to have taken the brunt of the misery.  Still, that was in New Jersey, where politics and travel soccer go together like France and losing wars.  When we moved to Florida, we hoped that things would change a bit, and my daughter was thrilled when she made a local travel team.  Well, today was their first game, and she had a great view of it, seeing as she spent the entire game on the bench.  Yup, she didn't play one single second of the game.  Now, keep in mind, we pay money for her to do this.  And then we pay MORE money for her uniform.  So, are we now paying money for the privilege of watching her be a uniformed spectator?

What is it with travel soccer and asshat coaches??????  I hate this................

Over Four Years Later..........

...............I decided to finally write another post.  It's been an interesting few years, to say the least, and I make no promises that I'll blog again "full time".  It's just too time-consuming, and there is too much going on in life for me to devote all that much time to this (not that anyone is paying much attention, anyway!).  Let's see, where to start?  Well, for one thing, I am no longer a resident of the Garden State.  Last year, I moved from New Jersey to Florida.  Timing is everything, and I'm missing the worst winter in my old state in close to 20 years.  Still, I really miss my friends and the familiar sights from my old stomping grounds, and I wish that all of those friends were down here with me.  Love the weather down here, but I have to say, southern hospitality is largely a myth.  Yeah, sure, the people are friendly to your face, but that's about the extent of it. We've been here for eight months, and no "real" friends yet.

What else?  After 15+ years at my old firm, I left that job in April of 2010, and went to a firm that specialized in commercial litigation, bankruptcy and foreclosure work.  I don't know that that was such a great decision on my part.  In any case, I left THAT job in June of last year, before moving down here and taking a new job doing what I used to do at my old firm. So far, so good, as far as that's concerned.

Politically, I have done the proverbial "about face".  I left the Republican Party in 2012, mainly because I couldn't stand its positions on social issues or guns.  Very simply, I am "pro-choice" when it comes to abortion.  While I am personally opposed to abortion, I do not believe that I have a right to enforce that belief on anyone, and I don't think that the government should be in the business of banning it, as many Republicans seem to want.  I am also pro gay marriage.  Basically, if two people love each other, what business is it of mine to tell them that they shouldn't get married? Go, be happy--it has no effect on my life if two homosexuals tie the knot.  On guns, well, the Republicans seem to be completely beholden to the NRA. I am NOT a fan of that organization.  Maybe it's my Canadian upbringing, but I think that the prevalence of guns in the United States, and abject failure of our legislators to do anything about the level of violence that flows from these guns is completely unacceptable.  I had thought that maybe the massacre of 26 people, including 20 children, in Newtown, Connecticut, in December of 2012 might represent an opportunity for real change, but even that didn't do anything to change the attitudes of our government officials.  Hell, they couldn't even agree on background checks, which is something that the NRA itself favoured as recently as a decade ago (like the Republicans themselves, the NRA has grown more radicalized over the past decade).

And, then we get to the unemployed, for whom the Republicans, at least at the national level, seem to have utter contempt.  Full disclosure:  My wife lost her full-time job near the end of 2012, and was ardently looking for work from that point on.  While she looked, she collected unemployment benefits, but yes, she never stopped looking for jobs.  Unfortunately, she didn't get one (though I'm happy to say that she now has a job, and an exciting one at that).  In late December, her unemployment benefits were cut off, leaving us in a very precarious position financially.  We rode it out, but it for January and much of this month, until she landed her job, it was truly "touch and go" for us as to whether we would be able to make it.  Those benefits were the only "buffer" for us, and yet when they ran out, the Republicans started playing games............at least where they weren't expressing outright contempt for those who were collecting them (I won't forget or forgive Rand Paul for his asinine comments that the people collecting those benefits were "lazy".  Yeah right, Senator, because my wife WANTED to make 70% less than she was when she had a job.).  They demanded that before they would agree to a three-month extension, the extension had to be "paid for" (i.e., extending them would not add to the absurdly large and still-growing deficit).  That had never before been a demand when any benefits program was extended or enacted, but fair enough, with the deficit being as large as it is, I can understand that.  To their credit, the Democrats figured out a way to do it, and then the Senate Republicans STILL wouldn't let it come to a vote.  Bottom line, the Republicans don't want anyone to get these benefits.  Period.  Well, screw them.  This has a real world impact, and people are now losing their homes, or getting evicted, etc., because of this decision.  That was the final straw for me.

So, where do we stand now? I'm not a Republican anymore, but I'm not a Democrat, either, mainly because the Obama Administration's foreign policy is so horrendous that I can't ever see myself supporting it.  That foreign policy can best be summed up as follows:  Treat your friends/allies like crap and treat your enemies with deference.  So, that's why we have the Administration sucking up to Iran, letting Syria gas its own people and treating Israel and the UK with utter contempt (if not outright hostility).

I suppose that going forward, I'll pick and choose the people for whom I vote based on how they stand on various issues.  I don't really know what else to do.  I'll save the sports commentary for another post.............

Happy New Year (belatedly)!

Sorry, I've been inconsistent in my return to blogging. Happy 2010, everyone. I hope that all had a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Hannukah, yadda, yadda, yadda................No Top Tens or Bottom Tens in sports this week, though I will have some sports comments to offer.

1) Everyone I know is riveted by the ongoing disaster in Haiti, which was struck by a magnitude 7.3 earthquake five days ago. Estimates of the number of dead range from 45,00-50,000 on the conservative side to as many as 500,000. My heart goes out to the unfortunate citizens of that country, who never seem to catch a break, either from their fellow human beings or from mother nature. I would ask that to the extent that you can, please donate to the relief effort, be it in the form of money, time or goods. Those people can use whatever help we can provide. Just be careful about how you donate the money. There are a lot of bogus sites and groups trying to scoop up your well-intentioned donations, and even some of the legitimate ones are having "issues" (Wyclef Jean has been accused of personally profiting from the aid organization he set up, an accusation he has denied. As well, if you're a supporter of Israel, don't donate to the International Red Cross, which hates and discriminates against Israel. Donate your money instead to the American Red Cross, which is a separate entity). As an aside, I note that the countries who responded most quickly are the "usual suspects": Canada, the United States, Israel (which it's sending aid and disaster recovery teams). China's chipping in with ONE plane of relief supplies (gee, thanks!), and as far as I know, the Saudis have given exactly nothing. I guess that unless it involves building madrassas, they're not interested.

2) In the U.S., very close attention is being paid to the special election in Massachusetts, which will fill the Senate seat left open when Ted Kennedy passed away last year. I have a few thoughts on this. First, the Democrats never expected that they'd have to pour serious money or time into defending this seat. After all, Massachusetts hasn't elected a Republican senator since 1972, and Martha Coakley, the state Attorney General, was a household name. As well, the Republican challenger, Scott Brown, was a virtual unknown before the election. However, he has run a strong grassroots campaign, unlike Coakley, who didn't think that she really even had to run. After all, initial polls had her 30+ percentage points ahead in the polls. Recent polls, however, have seen Brown surge, and in some of them he is holding a four point lead. It's a sign of the worry that Democrats are experiencing that President Obama is campaigning for Coakley this weekend. Unlike her, he still polls very strongly in the state. The stakes in this election are huge. If the Republicans win, they will have a 41st senator, and a potential to filibuster against legislation they don't want to see passed. Still, there is one thing about this election that really has me irritated, and that is the assertion by some Democrats that "This is the Ted Kennedy seat". Umm.......I thought that that this was the people's seat. When did the Kennedy family assume ownership of it? That sense of entitlement and ownership is so, well, Kennedy-esque........

3) California's about to get some rain. No, make that a LOT of rain. The state, which has been in drought for what seems like decades, is about to get some rain. No, make that a lot of rain. Estimates for the rainfall over the next week range anywhere from 1-3 inches in some spots to as much as 10-15 inches in the northern part of the state. Parts of the Sierra Nevada are expecting as much as 1o feet of snow. Most experts expect that the precipitation will put a significant dent in the drought. I have friends and family in the Golden State, so I can only hope that they're right.............

4) I'm a bit late to the party, but I'm finally reading the Harry Potter books. I must say that I absolutely love them. I'm about 1/3 of the way into the sixth book. The last long series of books which I enjoyed this much was the Narnia Chronicles which, to this day, remain my favourite books of all time. Other series which I truly enjoyed: The "Assassin" trilogy by Robert Ferrigno; the "Worldwar" series, by Harry Turtledove (I really love alternative history--the "what ifs" of history have always fascinated me).

5) A truly sad development today in the sports world: Gaines Adams, a Chicago Bears defensive end and the fourth overall pick in the 2007 NFL entry draft, died today at the very young age of 26. The preliminary autopsy results are that he died from cardiac arrest caused by an enlarged heart.

6) Cindy Sheehan continues to try to keep herself in the news. Her latest effort was through a protest at the home of former Vice-President Dick Cheyney as well as the CIA headquarters. What were they protesting? The use of unmanned Predator drones in the fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan, because they consider it to be "immoral". Funny, I never see them protesting against homicide bombings, Qassam launchings, Somalian piracy, etc., etc. And, hasn't anyone told her that Cheyney hasn't been the Vice-President in almost exactly a year, and that the CURRENT President, Mr. Obama, has maintained the policy of using Predator drones? I guess not............

7) The NFL playoffs are well underway, and I've found a new team against which I can cheer (other than the Dallas Cowboys, against whom I will always cheer). That is the Indianapolis Colts, who tanked their last two games of the year in order to "save" their starters for the playoffs. If it's possible, let's leave aside the fact that the Colts were 14-0 at the time, and were seemingly in line to achieve NFL history by become the first team to go 19-0 (assuming that they won the Super Bowl, unlike the 2007 New England Patriots, who went 16-0 and then lost the Super Bowl). No, what really irks me about what they did (and the New Orleans Saints too, for that matter), is that they continued to charge fans full price for these games which they obviously considered to be nothing more than glorified exhibitions. If you're going to play your starters half the game, they really should have charged them half the price..........

8) So Mark McGwire finally came clean and admitted that he used steroids, including during his record-breaking 1998 season. Big shock there, I know. However, Big Mac wasn't as honest as he could have been, as he still refused to admit that the steroids helped him hit home runs. Either he's really, really stupid, or he thinks that we are...............

9) Alabama won the B(C)S title game with a methodical 37-21 win over a Texas team that lost starting QB Colt McCoy to an injury early in the second quarter. Texas had its chance to win, or at least put some serious doubt into Alabama's mind, when it had two early possessions which saw it drive deep into Crimson Tide territory, only to end up with field goals instead of touchdowns. A 14-0 or even a 10-0 Longhorns lead might have put some doubt into the minds of the Alabama players. Instead, they had to think that they'd dodged a bullet. At halftime, the score was 21-6 for the Crimson Tide, and though the Longhorns battled back to make it a 24-21 game, I never got the feeling that Alabama was in serious trouble. And, for those who don't like Alabama (or the SEC in general), you're in trouble, because this team is poised to repeat.

10) In the NHL, my Montreal Canadiens continue to flounder around, winning some games, losing others, and (at this point) clinging to the eighth and final playoff spot. Let's face facts: Even if Montreal does make it to the NHL's post-season dance, it's not going very far. A four-game sweep at the hands of Pittsburgh or New Jersey is inevitable. So, what would the end result of General Manager Bob Gainey's radical remaking of the team be? The exact same playoff seeding and playoff result as last year. And, that's assuming that the Canadiens even make the playoffs. If they don't, or if the team gets crushed in the first round, it's likely that Gainey will be looking for employment next season.

11) In the NBA, we could be looking at history, and not in a good way. The New Jersey Nets are an almost unfathomable 3-36, after a league record 0-19 start. Now, I still suspect that the Nets will find a way to win at least seven games the rest of the season, in order to avoid breaking the 1973 Philadelphia 76ers' futility record of 9-73, but they'll certainly give it a run.

Disneyworld, Part Two

So, now we've gone through Animal Kingdom (loved it), one day at the Magic Kingdom (watching the one-year old BHG scream with delight when she hugged Piglet was worth the entire cost of the trip), and yesterday at EPCOT (word of advice to all: Come to EPCOT during the food and wine festival. Then you too can eat and drink your way around the world!). Today it's back to the Magic Kingdom, and Disney Hollywood Studios tomorrow. The best ride so far: Soarin', at EPCOT. I absolutely loved it. The little BHG's loved the bad jokes made during the Jungle Cruise, and Splash Mountain was a huge hit...........

Disneyworld

My self-imposed break from blogging is over, at least temporarily. I am with the BHG family, as well as mother- and father-in-law BHG, at Disneyworld. Mrs. BHG and I haven't been here in 11 years, and it's the first time we've been here with the little heathens--I mean, the little BHGs. We're staying at the Polynesian, where I last stayed almost 29 years, when I was 14 years old. I love this place. It may be campy, it may be dated, but it never loses its appeal for me. The kids are thrilled so far, if a little hyperactive from sitting on the plane for 2 1/2 hours.

I'll post updates as I find the time. On tomorrow's agenda: Animal Kingdom.

To answer an inevitable, non-Disney question, I will post an entry on the Presidential/General election at some point while we are here. I just don't know when.

Break from Blogging

I'm going to be taking a break from the blog--I'm not sure how long it will be, but I simply have too much other stuff going on in my life right now to focus on the blog. I may post occasional entries here and there, but any posting will be sporadic at best. For the (few) readers that I have, thanks for checking in, and I hope to eventually resume normal posting.

BHG

Update on Flash

My thanks again to everyone who has continued to e-mail, post on the blog or send me messages on Facebook asking about Flash. He is recovering well from the surgery, and now that the vet has given him a clean bill of health--the tumour was benign and surgery is generally 100% curative--he should have no problems from this point forward. In fact, he's acting like his old, cantankerous and mischievous self, so I'd say that he's completely back to normal!

Once again, thank you to all.

Shana Tovah!

Sorry, blogging has been very light of late due to a heavy workload and the approaching Jewish High Holidays (which are now here!). I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of my Jewish readers the healthiest of New Years, one which I hope will be filled with health, peace, happiness and prosperity (no more 779 point drops for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, please!) for all!

Update on Flash

As I type this (it's approximately 9:45 a.m. on Monday, September 19, 2008), Flash is undergoing his surgery to remove the tumour/lump in his neck that caused us to have to rush him to the vet on Friday. It was a stressful weekend at the BHG household. Neither Mrs. BHG nor myself could really focus on anything other than Flash, and we were both feeling very guilty for leaving him at the vet at all weekend, even though we know that it was (from a medical standpoint) the best thing to do for him. Worse yet, the little BHG's were full of questions, as one might expect, and the questions were not always ones we could answer. The number one question was "Is Flash DEFINITELY coming home?", a query undoubtedly motivated by their memories of 2005, when my father went into the hospital and never came home and then when later that same year, the other original commando basset hound, Sprint, was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma and had to be put down. They still talk about that and worry that Flash is following the same path. Honestly, Mrs. BHG and I worry about the exact same thing.

Flash should be out of surgery by lunch, barring complications, and we are hoping that he is able to come home tonight. I promise that I will update this post when I hear from the vet. Then, we will have to play the waiting game for the next week to ten days while they do a biopsy of the mass that is being removed.

I d0n't have it in me to post about politics right now (hence the post-less weekend). I may post about sports today or tomorow, but it will probably be later this week before I get back into the swing of commenting on the news stories of the day, and I apologize to everyone for that. I want to thank everyone who has posted on the blog about Flash and those who have e-mailed me privately or posted messages of support on my Facebook page. These sentiments are very much appreciated.

UPDATE (4:45 p.m.): Flash made it through the surgery, and the mass that was removed from him is being sent for a biopsy. Unfortunately, according to the vet who did the surgery, what was removed from him had the looks of something malignant, but we won't know for sure until the biopsy results come back in five to seven days. Then, we'll have some decisions to make, apparently.

Once again, thanks to all who have reached out to express their support. It means a great deal to me.

UPDATE 2 (7:55 a.m., 9/23/08): Flash is now home, and boy, is he ever ticked off at us. He seems to be a bit more "with it" this morning, but he still isn't eating or drinking, so that's something on which we'll to keep a close eye.

I'll post periodic updates about his condition over the next few weeks.

A worried dog post

I've posted occasionally on my blog about the commando basset hounds--those who read this blog know why; I love my dogs. They are part of my family and I care about them deeply. Today, Flash, the oldest dog, had to be hospitalized. He has had a growth on the left side of his neck for a while now--the vet told us that it was something called a lipoma, which is essentially (as I understand it) a benign tumour. It suddenly started growing about a month or so ago, and we brought him to the vet yesterday. The vet thought that it should come out, but that it was nothing that required immediate attention, so we scheduled surgery for October 2. Today, at the risk of being graphic, it started oozing blood, and we had to rush Flash to the vet once again. Now Flash is at the vet for the weekend and will have surgery Monday morning. As well, the vet was no longer talking about a lipoma--the word "biopsy" was mentioned (I watched both of my parents and my mother-in-law die of cancer--I know ALL about biopsies), and we're very alarmed by everything that is going on. On top of it all, Mrs. BHG and I are racked with guilt over leaving Flash at the vet for the weekend, but with the cyst/lipoma/tumour/whatever-the-hell-it-is seeping blood, we didn't know what else to do.

Right now, we are both very sad and worried...............

Sleep does not come easy

I suppose that we've all had nights like this--I fell asleep around 10:00 p.m., woke up at 12:45 a.m., and have been up ever since. There's no point in tossing and turning in bed, and even with 100+ cable channels, it's amazing how little there is on television. So.....here I am online at 3:10 in the morning, mainly because I have absolutely nothing better to do.

For future reference, does anyone have any good recommendations as to what to do when one can't sleep? I can tell you that Ambien no longer does the trick for me, and I wouldn't take it now anyway, given that I have to "get up" (can one get up when one was never asleep in the first place?) in three hours?

Who ya gonna call?

The Ghostbusters movies (and in particular the first one) were two of my favourite movies of the 1980s--in fact, they were two of my favourite movies of all time. The word on the street is that there will be a third one made, nearly 20 years after Ghostbusters II came out in 1989: http://www.comcast.net/tv/seenontv/10790/officescribeslandghostbusterssequel/. It doesn't look as though Ivan Reitman will be involved this time, but the four main actors; Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson, are apparently on board. If so, sign me up now for a ticket. I can't wait...........

Goodbye to one of my favourite comic strips

I have been a devoted fan of the daily comic strip "For Better or for Worse" for as long as I can remember. I always loved the fact that the characters evolved. Michael WASN'T always in high school. Elizateth turned from a child who couldn't yet speak into an adult woman who, in the concluding series of the strip, got married. Now, sadly, Lynn Johnston, one of the most gifted cartoonists of our time, is ending the strip so that she can pursue other opportunities (including a re-writing of the stip from the begining): http://www.fborfw.com/news/. Here is a Chicago Tribune article on her decision: http://www.fborfw.com/pdf/TribuneArticle.pdf. The final strips: http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/003335.php,
http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix/archives/003336.php.

The strip was largely based on Johnston's home life, though occasional deviations (the birth of April, etc.) took place. I have always felt privileged to have read the goings-on in the Patterson household, which at times were so much like my own. I wish Lynn Johnston and her entire family success in their future endeavours, and I'll miss watching the Pattersons evolve further.

16 years ago today

Hard as it is to believe, Hurricane Andrew roared through South Florida and through my life 16 years ago: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/weather/hurricanes/hurricane-andrew-EVHST000062.topic. I remember the day like it was yesterday--what I did, where I went, coming back to my apartment hoping that it had not been destroyed (it hadn't been), and just seeing the unbelievable destruction that Andrew had wrought across the area.

There are some things in life on wich I don't think one can comment unless they have been experienced. A Category Five Hurricane is one of those things............

STILL a "SPAM" Blog, redux

We're into Week Three of my blog being designated by Google/Blogger as a "SPAM" blog. I've notified Google/Blogger of the problem twice aready, with no response at all. The Blogger support group of which I am a member hasn't offered any solutions, only a steady diet of other bloggers whose problem mirrors mine. No one seems to be able to get Blogger to lift the "SPAM Blog" designation. It's clearly not a political thing, which was my original suspicion, because some of the blogs that are being hit with this designation are movie blogs, or literary blogs, etc. All I know is that my patience is about at an end. I am going to investigate what Wordpress requires, and whether I can transfer my entire blog to that platform, including the archives.