Maine Scenery

When I was a kid there was no Pizza Hut, There was no Pizza-Roma. There was no Tri-City Pizza. There may have been pizza but NOT in Bangor, Maine. The idea wasn’t even alien. It simply didn’t cross anybody’s mind. One evening in 1949 that all changed.

We were all gathered in the living room after dinner, doing what ever we did before television. I was probably abusing my younger brother and Mom & Dad were reading. I’m sure Dad was engrossed in an adventure novel (10 cent paperback) and Mom was reading a magazine. (Family Circle, Woman’s Day or Good Housekeeping.)

There must have been a lull in the bullying of my brother because I remember my Mom ask Dad, “What are anchovies?” He glanced up from his book and said, “Little fish, like sardines.” Then Mom asked, “What is Mozzarella?” Dad answered, “It’s cheese, a soft cheese from Italy.” (Dad had been to Italy so he was an expert.) In another minute, Mom asked. “What is Marinara?” Dad answered without looking up from his book, “Tomato sauce, Italian style, with oregano.” “What’s oregano?” “It’s like pepper but leaves.” Quiet descended. In a few minutes, Mom got up and magazine in hand headed for the kitchen. Cooking sounds followed.

Mom came and went from the living room for an hour or so and finally yelled for me to help her in the kitchen. I helped carry 4 plates of something square and colorful to the living room and we all tried something Mom said was Pizza for the first time. It was an odd, but not unpleasant taste and we all made short work of it. She said, “I didn’t have everything in the recipe so I made some substitutions. The bread is just a regular bread dough stretched to fit a cookie sheet and flattened out. I didn’t have Marinara which Dad said was tomato sauce. I didn’t even have any tomato sauce in the cupboard so I used tomato paste and spread it over the bread, The only cheese I had was Velveeta so I used that instead of mozzarella. I’ve never even seen an anchovy so I used sardines. I just used black pepper instead of oregano. How did you like it?”

We loved it. And it became a regular item at our house. It was about another 10 years before I had what we call pizza today. It took a while to get used to it.

Over the years there have been a continuous parade of solid, competent, intelligent and witty female reporters. I rather liked Connie Chung and Katie Couric.  I admired Jessica Savitch, Andrea Mitchell, Jane Pauley, Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters. I was flat out in love with Linda Ellerbee. So it pains me that if I go to my favorite cable news source early in the afternoon, I get chattering magpies.

My father was and my brother is a non-editorial staff employee of a newspaper. In my family, the daily paper was a part of daily life when I was growing up. That was then, this is now…

Newspapers are losing circulation rapidly. Why? Several reasons i think. Television news certainly provided people with a more immediate report  especially on local news. National news on TV was less compelling than the in depth reports one could read in the daily paper when they still had reporters.

Now in the eight years of the Babylonian Captivity, the newspapers quit altogether. They gave the worst administration in U.S. History a free ride and so did the prostitutes knows as network news. So now they’re hurting. Murdoch’s right wing propaganda empire is off by 97% and the (slightly) more trustworthy outlets are in only slightly better shape.

So, income is declining. I know this will come as a shock to most newspapers but the reason is simple. They offer no value to the potential customer. The failed in their mission for eight years, they sold out to the highest bidder, they prostituted themselves and not having any heart or brain, they still have not figured it out.

I see the New York Times is mulling over a couple of schemes to charge people to view their content. It’s nice to know that although they are using the internet, they are consistent in their total lack of touch with reality. Their content would be worth every penny ONLY if it were free. Print newspapers have about 10 years left before they become museum curiosities. Their websites will disappear long before that.

The amount I would be willing to pay to read NYT (or any other newspaper) content online? $0.00

I don’t think I’m unique. 

British Airways gave me the worst flight experience I have ever had. American Airlines was second worst. The best? Budget carriers Southwest and JetBlue.

All airlines could learn from Southwest.

Except BA who are incapable of learning.

I read the Gadling news feed regularly for travel news and among other bloggers there is a "senior flight attendant" i.e. one who has been doing the job far too long and should retire. Now.

Her blogs generally whine about how rude passengers are today compared to the good old days.

Well, Madame Flight Attendant, consider this:  The average passenger got up 4 hours before their flight, got sodomized at the hotel desk on the way out, got sodomized by the taxi-driver on the way to the airport, got sodomized by the troglodyte at curbside check-in, got sodomized at the little breakfast nook inside, got sodomized by TSA (possibly several times) and after all that, you start in on him because he is a little slow to cram that severely traumatized body part into a child sized seat. Cut the poor guy some slack, lady. And understand that the "good old days" are gone right along with Stewardesses.

If you put up with a real airline passenger experience instead of the free ride and "pass through" perks you get, you'd be far more understanding. Bottom line:  That passenger is paying your check. Treat him that way.

I just received an e-mail from a travel agent that I have used on occasion. It advertised "New York City BARGAINS!!! Rooms as low as $250!"

$250/night is NOT a bargain. $250/night, even in Times Square is ludicrous. $250/night for a room with no window, a room where you must go into the hall to change your mind, a room where you have to back into the bathroom if you intend to sit is beyond ludicrous.

I love New York but I won't be going there again soon.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and Happy New Year to everyone.

Best wishes for the Winter and stay warm!

I wonder why Burton Cummings never had a successful solo career. Remember all those great hits by the Guess Who?

Puzzling...

I waited 24 hours to write this so I could see the keys to type. I'll be 66 later this month and I have seen a lot of history. November 4, 2008 I saw history made again. At 11 pm I stood across the room from the TV with tears rolling down my cheeks watching Jesse Jackson in Grant Park, Chicago with tears rolling down his cheeks. Political considerations aside I realized how far we have come since I stood across a sales counter from William Bradley and Roy Ballard of CORE in 1963 and got my first taste of civil rights education.

Though I was never an activist by anyone's standards, I was a supporter and contributor to the movement from that moment in San Francisco and in Westchester County, NY through mid-1967 when I returned to Maine and the peace & quiet of New England living to raise a family and build a career. I sent a check now and then, and saw Selma, saw the riots and saw Dr. King on TV and tried to pass on my values to three sons.

So here we are, 45 years later and Barack Obama is President-Elect. Frankly, though I supported Jesse Jackson in two campaigns, I never expected to see this day. I'm glad I did.

We've come  along way, but we're not there yet. We may not get there in my lifetime, but we can get there. Yes, We Can.

Just a note to automobile manufacturers. Stop pretending to be heroic leaders in the fight for energy independence. 24 mpg is not as great as you pretend it is. It is not even poor mileage. It is criminal. Your machines are gas guzzling pollution factories. Come back and tell me when they get 250 mpg with ZERO emissions. The technology exists. USE IT! Invest those bonuses your criminal executives receive in the future of this planet. Oh yeah, and DO IT HERE in the United States.

A new episode every Monday. Here's a good example: