Ranting and Raving Goes On Vacation

Just to let everybody (or the few of you who do visit this blog) know that my family and I will be taking our vacation starting at the end of business today. We will be both home and away, but I am going to go on a real vacation--from the Internet. I am going to limit my Internet time, so it is a real, honest to goodness vacation.

But please, spread the word about Ranting and Raving. Any of my rants can still be answered, and I will do my best to follow up on the posts once I return to normalcy.

It has been fun doing this blog, even though not too many people know about it. I am still trying to improve that situation, but so far, the results have not been good. As I said previously, I am not happy with Twitter, which I think is vastly overrated.

Anyway, this is my last post until sometime in July, so have fun and I will get back on here soon.

Rant #35: I Hate Ampersands!

I hate ampersands, or the character that represents the word "and."

"&"

As a writer, I think it is simply lazy when people use this symbol instead of writing out the word. I mean, how difficult is it to write out the a-n-d? If you are writing, it takes a second. If you are typing, it's three key strokes and you are done.

I also hate it when corporations use the ampersand in their names, such as Procter & Gamble. What is wrong with Procter a-n-d Gamble?

In our Internet world, people look to shorten their messages by using electronic acronyms in place of words, such as LOL, BF, etc., and in this world, the ampersand has gone through a revival, because many computer users use it to shorten their messages.

However, maybe I am a traditionalist, but I can't stand its use. When I am writing, I avoid it like the plague.

It's a-n-d for me, and it will always be a-n-d.

& I dnt cr f nobdy lks it.

#30#

Rant #34: Network Television Has Lost Me

I don't watch much network television anymore, whether it is on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, or the CW or whatever they call it now.

I just don't have the interest that I once had.

Sure, I do watch a couple of things: Lost, Survivor, even ridiculous shows like Wipeout and Big Brother.

However, as far as weekly episodic dramas or comedies, I just don't get too excited about them anymore. Lost is another story. It is such a weird and quirky show, that I almost have to watch it, although I believe the quality of the earlier episodes has not been evident in the episodes of the last two years.

As far as other weekly shows, I guess I am tapped out. At 52, these shows are not developed for me anymore. I have sampled a few, and I don't find them interesting at all.

I remember that this phenomena--and change in my viewing habits--began with the show Friends. So many people raved about it that I felt I should tune it in to see what all the fuss was about. I remember the episode--it was about one of their elderly neighbors passing away, and the main cast members' reaction to his demise. I don't think I laughed a single time, and I never watched the show again.

I also couldn't get into Seinfeld. I sampled that too, but although I don't remember the episode, I don't think I laughed a single time. Funny, I went to school with him--I wasn't a friend of his, as I was a freshman in our high school who just moved to Long Island and he was a senior--but I do remember him pretty clearly.

And I have watched numerous episodes of CSI, but I simply cannot get into the show at all. To me, it is like watching an encyclopedia.

I imagine there are some good shows on network TV, but I haven't found them yet. Not that the few that I watch are any good--surely Big Brother and Wipeout are pure trash--but the ones I do watch kind of keep my interest.

What a far cry from when I was a kid, when I watched everything from Gilligan's Island to Dark Shadows to The Monkees to The Andy Griffith Show to Dragnet to ... well, you get the idea.

I guess TV simply is not as important to me as it once was.

However, I do watch numerous TV DVDs. I am currently hooked on The Mod Squad, and have Room 222 and some others just waiting for me to dig in.

Rant #33: Baseball and Steroids-Sosa What?

I am a huge baseball fan, a big fan of the Yankees, and this entire steroid mess we, as baseball fans, have been put through has been a horror, putting a major smudge on the game we love. Every time we hear a new name--McGwire, Clemens, ARod, Ramirez--we cringe even more.

Well, a new name has been added, even though this one was really not much of a surprise. Sammy Sosa, who testified before Congress that he did not use steroids (or barely did, since he said his English wasn't too good), has reportedly been named as one of the players on the infamous list for using Performance Enhancing Drugs, or PEDs as they are called in our acronym-happy society. Sosa was always suspect, but no one had anything on him, reportedly until now.

As a baseball fan, I am all tapped out on this mess. When I hear another name mentioned, I shrug my shoulders and basically say, "So what?" Was Sosa any different from dozens of others who used and abused these drugs? More importantly, did he abuse this stuff before these substances were deemed illegal by Major League Baseball? People forget that Mark McGwire broke no rules when he supposedly used his PEDs--none were in place at that time for his drug of choice, andro.

I know this is cheating of the highest order--not only are you cheating on the field, but many of these substances are so dangerous that you could be cheating on your life--but when I hear another name added to the list, it doesn't faze me anymore.

The game is cleaner now, although guys like Manny Ramirez still try to buck the system.

Personally, although I am not an athlete by any stretch of the imagination, I can't understand why anyone would use these things anyway. They scare me just by what's in them, and why can't athletes get what they get out of these substances more naturally? I am sure that many players don't go this route, so why do some think they are smarter than the rest?

So, Sosa has been added to the list. Yes, his name, with his 600-plus home runs, is sullied for eternity.

But does it change my love for the game? No, it doesn't.

It is, and will always remain, America's National Pastime.

If you want to see real baseball being played by players who really care, take in a Little League game. Sure, these are just kids, but as a former coach, I can tell you that these kids really love what they are doing. Major leaguers should have it in their contracts that they must attend a few local Little League games each year--not only will it show them players who really, truly love this game, but it will bring them back to their roots, when they felt the same way about baseball.

I played Little League baseball until I was 15--it wasn't in a registered Little League, it was our community's league--and my love for the game has continued to this day. My son played until he was 12, and he loves the game too.

Sosa on steroids--so what? The game will survive his lapse in judgment.

Rant #32: Writing Instruments: Just Put the Pen to the Paper

I am a writer, so an essential tool that I use is a pen.

There are many different types of pens, but I prefer your usual, run of the mill ball-point pen. As long as it writes, I am happy. When it is empty, I get rid of it, and move onto the next pen.

I know that pen companies need to sell their product, but some of the newest "features" to pens--like cushions, wide bodies, different types of inks, and the like--kind of throw me for a loop.

Who needs all of these features--don't we just want to have a pen that writes?

Purchasing a pen is not like purchasing a car, although the pen companies want you to believe that one is akin to the other.

Personally, I just want a pen that writes.

BIC pens--France's greatest contribution to the modern world, as far as I am concerned--are the perfect types of pens for the jobs that I use them for.

Pen companies I guess must make pens more than they really are. People admit to be car salesmen, but have you ever heard of anyone who admits to being a pen salesman?

Pens should be disposable and not too thought provoking. Heck, the local bank here gives out pens for free. I don't see car dealers doing the same.

Again, just give me a pen that writes. Once it is done doing its job, it goes in the waste basket, and the next victim finds my hand.

And don't get me started on all the different types of pencils out there ...

Rant #31: Rap Crap

My son enjoys rap music, and he really enjoys the four-letter-word-laden, sexist, racist and anti-everything kind that is popular among kids today. I don't really know why he likes it--I have asked him the question, and he never really answered, other than saying that "I just like it, I don't know"--but I suspect because he knows it is something "dirty," and as a 13 year old, he is attracted to doing something his parents don't approve of.

Have any of you heard some of this garbage? I have told him many times that I don't care how much money these guys have--and they have plenty--that this music really isn't music; it is gutter garbage.

Now, I sound like an old fuddy duddy, but if I do, so be it. This is not music, and although there might be a beat that the kids like, I still think they are attracted to the subversive nature of the lyrics (if they can understand them).

I would say that record companies should police this garbage, but again, that is a free speech issue. I guess even people with these mentalities have the right to say what they want in this country.

However, the way they say it is what bothers me the most. They appear to be completely inarticulate, and must resort to using one curse word after another to get their point across. And don't get me started about the constant use of the N-word in many of these songs!

When I was a kid, plenty of people spoke up through music about things they thought needed to be addressed. Everyone from Bob Dylan to Marvin Gaye, from Phil Ochs to Stevie Wonder, sang about things in their music that they felt were important. I am not saying that these people were saints, but they used music to articulate their thoughts--and they did them in at least a somewhat understandable tone (nod to Bob Dylan here).

These rappers today, "articulate" their thoughts through hatred. It's not the way to do it.

And before anyone gets on the racist bandwagon, I feel as strongly about Paul Wall's lack of real musical ability as I do 50 Cent, and the same goes for Eminem, whose popularity boggles my mind.

Rant #30: Abuse of the Internet

Just to continue my thoughts on the previous post for one last time ...

As a writer, I do believe in free speech.

However, I do not believe in the abuse of free speech, although I understand that oftentimes, the abuse is in the eyes of the beholder. For instance, my recent rant about gay marriage could be looked upon as free speech abuse by some. So could my rant on ties, or women and swimsuits, for that matter.

Whatever the case, I think we are in a new era of free speech, because the Internet has given some an electronic pulpit from which to spew their hate--and through the Internet, this hate can get to many more people than other hate campaigns could in the past.

It does appear that the Internet is akin to the Wild West now; there do not seem to be any rules, and whatever invisible "rules" there are, are seemingly made to be broken. Anybody can say anything; that is both good and bad, because while the Internet gives a voice to people who previously had none, it also gives a voice, and a certain credence, to those who abuse their privilege and responsibility.

Can rules be set in place to monitor this hate? Probably not. But Internet providers can make their own rules about what is right and what is wrong, and certainly, Nazi-themed hate sites are wrong.

I think it is about time for these providers to step up their efforts to weed out this type of garbage.