Swinging Jenny

Rod Gilbert, Mr. Ranger ~ RIP

Getting older means many things, the inexorable yet often unexpected march of death among them.

Such was the feeling tonight when a friend texted to tell me our boyhood sports hero, Rod Gilbert, had died at 80. 

In 1968 I started playing Pee Wee hockey in Connecticut's Mid-Fairfield League. Soon after, my father got season tickets to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. I came to idolize Gilbert, a French Canadian right winger, who skated with elan and scored goals with a booming slap shot.

Gilbert, aka Mr. Ranger, holds the team records for most goals, points, and games played. He also won the most hearts as a player, and in retirement as the team's ambassador with younger players and fans. 

I met Gilbert for the first time in May 1979. On a whim, I drove to Montreal from Burlington, Vermont, hoping to get a ticket to game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Rangers and Montreal Canadiens. Outside the Forum looking for a scalper, a well-dressed French Canadian man with his family saw me and invited me to join them. Walking the aisles between periods, I came face to face with Rod Gilbert. I extended my hand, he shook it, and I told him about the many games I watched over the years at MSG, and how I idolized him as a Pee Wee player. Mr. Ranger took it all in stride, smiled, and thanked me. The Canadiens won the game and the Stanley Cup that night, their fourth in a row. 

20 years later, I hired Rod and John Davidson to host IBM personal computer retailers for dinner before a game and then in the seats behind the goal. The Rangers beat the New Jersey Devils that night. Rod and I cheered and high-fived after every Ranger goal. Such great memories. RIP.

Disasters

Man or nature, what a summer.

Insurrection

Mass Psychosis & Social Media

After Skool and Patreon teamed up on this new animated video about 21st century totalitarianism and fear-inducing social media. 

Wake up America, they're not talking about China, Russia or Iran.

Et tu, Cuomo?

47 years ago tomorrow.

 

Jo-ey Gal-lo, Jo-ey Gal-lo

How sweet it is!

Obama's Vineyard Birthday

Everyone knows our erstwhile President Obama likes to celebrate himself. The Barack Obama Presidential Center now under construction is but one case in point.

But few knew until this week that he had invited 450 of his closest friends along with another 250 staff, caterers, security, and the band Pearl Jam to celebrate his 60th birthday at his new 29-acre, $11.75 million estate on Edgartown Great Pond on Martha's Vineyard. And that's when things went south.

Vineyard health officials had reinstated a mask advisory the week before as Delta variant cases were climbing, and indoor gatherings came under new restrictions.

The Obamas took the heat for a couple of days as headlines grew more critical and then decided the PR fallout and local opprobrium were too much to risk. This morning, news reports said the Obamas have canceled the party while others said they scaled it back. No doubt many invitees are already on the Vineyard while others will fly in before the party on Saturday. Martha's Vineyard Airport will soon look like the Davos and Sun Valley conferences with parked rows of private jets, including climate czar John Kerry's Gulfstream G-IV.

No one wants to be a party pooper, but what message do the Obamas think a party of several hundred jet-setting One Percenters during the Covid-19 pandemic sends to island residents?

We know what Jimmy Cagney would say.

The Blockchain Barn

We recently shopped the "curated whimsy" of The Sparkle Barn in Wallingford, Vermont.  Who knew so many things sparkle?

Can The Blockchain Barn be far behind?

Underwater Sea Life