Little bit of rambling

Good Morning and it really was summer the last few days!

Admit it, it's been nice sleeping weather this summer, but you do miss the heat. Right? I mean, we live here because we like the change of seasons. The winter was a pain, but at least it felt like winter. This summer hasn't been hot enough.
I have a prediction, though, when school starts next week, it'll be 98 degrees. Oh well, at least I won't have to deal with overheated youths.
I think in a lot of ways we have, for lack of a better term, lost our way. Our corporate society has decided we are all just robots and don't actually need to be talked to like adults. Send an e-mail. Don't actually look anybody in the eye. Changes are always made, just be up front about them. Hiding behind walls is never the best way to handle situations.
I'll freely admit that once again I felt lost watching the MTV Video Music Awards. It wasn't the music so much, it's just I didn't think MTV played videos any longer.
For some strange reason, I look forward to a new TV season starting. I'm probably justifying the price of cable in my mind, but I like watching the new shows. Sure, I can wait until they hit Netflix. I guess I'm just old-fashioned that way.

This is still pretty funny:

Watching TV

Good Morning and start yelling!

I watched the Emmy Awards show last night for the first time in a large number of years.
While some of these shows are fun to watch, the Emmys just never really did it for me. The shows I watched were never nominated and those that won, I had never seen.
Don't know why I tuned in last night. Maybe it's because the Phillies are so boring this year or maybe there was absolutely nothing else on.
I think it was a lost couple of hours.
There were not heart-felt speeches. Everything seemed rushed. The host, Seth Meyers, wasn't funny.
 When the only highlight is Woody Harrelson doing a Matthew McConaughey imitation, well, maybe the 10th rerun of 'Pawn Stars' would have been a better choice.
Actually, I think going to bed early would have been a better choice, but, you know, that's for another time.

From the Phillies on down

Good Morning gentle readers!

How far have the Phillies fallen? Well, I had a couple of tickets for last Friday's game and couldn't give them away. Seriously, I was just going to give them to anybody who wanted to go.
Nobody wanted to go.
Just a couple of years ago, I probably could have sold them for double the amount I paid. Now, the market has died. I think it's gone and buried.
There is no market. There are completely empty sections in the stadium. You can sit where ever you want (provided you can sneak past the aisle guards).
The thing is, there's something great about the ballpark on a summer night.
It doesn't matter if the home team stinks. It doesn't matter if the visiting team stinks (the Cardinals are no great shakes this year either).
When you walk through the gates, it's like entering a different world.
The smells are there. The green grass is still there.
I was outpriced by baseball years ago. It's just too expensive to take everybody to the game on a consistent basis.
I remembered Friday night what was so right about the game, though.

Ruining the cool

Good Morning to the Internet!

Let's face it, we really don't need to carry a phone with all the latest technology.
We really don't need to have the ability to play Candy Crush while waiting for the light to change. We don't need to be connected all the time. Sometimes, we don't want to answer the phone.
You can admit it, you see the caller-id and let the phone go to voicemail a lot. You can always claim later you were in the bathroom or cleaning the kitchen or sleeping.
We carry these things around because it makes us feel cool.
Anything we want is right there. Need to cheat at Quizzo? Hold the phone under the bar. Need to win a bet? Quick, check Google.
So, when I was semi-excited when I heard Amazon was putting out something called the Fire phone. Great, I thought, everything from ordering sneakers to watching videos will be right there. I won't need anything else. We've finally reached the top level.
Then, I saw the commercials advertising the Fire phone.
Now, I don't feel so cool. I mean, really, a 9-year old telling me how great the thing is?
When does the iPhone6 come out?

They don't make them like they used to

Good Morning and I can hear the school bells already!

So, Saturday night, we decided to sit down and watch a movie.
Yeah, I know, real exciting.
Anyway, having watched and enjoyed the Jason Bourne movies series (as well as the books, but that's another story), it seemed like a good night to catch the latest sequel, 'The Bourne Legacy.'
About an hour into the movie, nobody in the room could figure out the story. The characters were boring. There was no action. The only time there wasn't low-level talking was when one character killed off six others.
We were falling asleep, not a good review of an action movie.
So, I checked the listings and asked if it was OK to change to something else.
"Please," came the quick response.
That's when we stumbled upon another sequel. One that was much more entertaining: 'Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman.'
Yes, it was made in 1943. Yes, some of the costumes were laughable.
The movie, unlike the newer one, was entertaining.
That's all we ask from Hollywood. Unfortunately, more often than not it seems, we have to go back 80 years to find one.

It's all about the service

Good Morning and the Phillies should still move Ryan Howard.

You know, there are a lot of restaurants out there begging for my money. There are those big chains who want to 'See me Tomorrow.' There are others which offer great deals (really, two meals for $20) or e-mail clubs for free stuff.
So, if you want to go out to dinner, there are so many choices you could literally throw darts at a map and hit one.
Most of the places make really good stuff. I can count on one hand the number of times the food was awful. I'd pretty much take my credit card to any place I've tried before.
It really comes down to service.
For instance, a local sandwich place (actually it's a regional chain a certain announcer uses a lot during the broadcast of games), gave me such bad service a few years ago, I vowed to never go back. I ordered a sandwich, then stood there and listened to the workers fight over who was going to make it. Finally, I had to step in and ask about the problem. I mean really, there are plenty of sandwich places. If it's ordered, make it.
So, last night, I tried out a relatively new place in town. I've wanted to for awhile and it seemed like the right time.
The food and the beer selection was great. The service? Uh, let's just say it was below standards.
Look, I won't mention the place because it might have been a bad night, but if I go back and experience the same, well, there are plenty of places.

All that's wrong in Atlantic City

Good Morning to all you gentle Internet readers!

I am old enough to remember Atlantic City before casinos. Well, just barely old enough. I remember going to the old Steel Pier. I remember the diving horse.
When the casinos came in, it was somewhat cool. They were big. They were shiny. They had cool arcades.
There was a very short time in my life when I liked going into the gambling part of the casinos.
After a few losing nights, I realized it was silly to be giving my money away. If I'm giving it away, it's going to something a little more tangible.
This past weekend, I attended the beach concert in Atlantic City and stayed around for the night.
Walking through the casinos, I was quickly able to see why they are failing (at least the ones on the boardwalk).
They are no longer shiny. They are no longer new. For the most part they reflect those taking up the whole row of slot machines: Old and broken down.
The rugs in many of the places were old and dirty. I saw one that had a huge rip right down the middle.
A couple of the elevators had cracks in the fake woodwork. One was missing something (I think a mirror) on the side. Instead, there were glue marks up and down.
While those working were nice and helpful, the owners have let things fall apart around them.
I think the city will have a tough time attracting people as the casinos shut down.
Maybe if they were kept up a little better, this wouldn't be happening.