Sunday, September 08, 2013

The LuLac Edition #2513, September 8th, 2013

Our “Maybe I’m Amazed” logo.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED

MAYBE I’M AMAZED……..that the mothers of the people arrested for the shootings of those little girls at Sherman Hills defended their sons to the hilt. To hear them tell it, they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I know mothers defend their kids, it’s natural to do so. But they lost all credibility with me when I read further down in the story in the Citizen’s Voice that one of them had a taser gun. Like who carries a taser gun besides someone in law enforcement or working security? Yep, good boys.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED………at Peyton Manning. It would have been so easy for him to step aside after that neck injury. He had nothing to prove winning a Super Bowl and being a premier players in the NFL. But Thursday night cemented his place in football history as someone who can be one of the greatest of all time.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……..that someone I know and worked with had Peyton Manning in a Fantasy League. BUT HE BENCHED HIM and played another quarterback. He was taking a lot of busting until another guy I know (a wise old sports sage) pointed out that by benching Manning, no one else had him either. Everything is perspective.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……..that the new thing among Foreign Leaders is to debate whether there should be a military strike. Can you imagine if Roosevelt had dithered over D Day? I mean the whole point of war is to strike when the enemy is least expecting it. You don’t go tipping your hand as to what day you might be doing it. Do we think terrorists have debates as to when to strike? Boom, they just do it. Crazy stuff.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…….that every time people say we should never get into a war and use diplomacy, we always get into a war.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that penguins can jump 6 feet. And speaking of Penguins. How about the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Hockey team starting a Hall of Fame? Great idea that will build the history and heritage of the brand.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……..that a big deal was made over the fact that during the Martin Luther King/March On Washington anniversary, it was widely touted by the right wing press that black Republicans were not invited. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina was used as an example. However, that was not true. No less an authority than Fox’s Bill O’Reilly offered an apology saying he was uninformed and that the black Republicans decided not to go.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that one of the best TV dramas is the BBC America’s Luther. This week’s four night story line had you with a lump in your throat 90% of the time. And I'm glad that ME TV brought back the old reruns of “The Untouchables”. The fun in watching that show is to see stars on the upward path like Jack Lord and Robert Redford and others on the decline like William Bendix and Claire Trevor in various roles.
The late Pittsburgh Pirates Manager Danny Murtaugh.The Bucs Manager was featured on what is one of the best looking card sets (1964) of the Topps Series. (LuLac archives).
MAYBE I’M AMAZED………that when I spoke with Congressman Lou Barletta on the set of Topic A at WYLN TV 35 on Friday, I found out that one of Barletta’s press staffers, Tim Murtaugh is the grandson of the late Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh. Murtaugh won a World Championship twice with the Pirates in 1960 and 1971. That was a feat in itself because the two teams were very different generationally and also in make up. Along with Billy Martin, Murtaugh is the only manager to lead the same team four times. (There might have been a Billy 5 if Martin had not been killed in an truck accident on Christmas Day in 1989. Murtaugh skippered the Pirates over four different periods (1957–64, 1967, 1970–71, 1973–76). When Murtaugh retired in November of 1976, his retirement was very short because sadly he passed away the next month at the age of 59. As a player, he led the National League in steals in 1941 and finished ninth for MVP in 1948. The Sporting News named him Manager of the Year in 1960 and 70 and the Pirates retired his number (40) in 1977. Murtaugh’s grand daughter Colleen Hroncich, wrote a wonderful book on him called “The Whistling Irishman”. It is a wonderful read and gives you an insight into the late manager. And I have to say this one more time, if Earl Weaver is in the Hall of Fame with just one World Series Championship, why aren’t Danny Murtaugh with two as well as Ralph Houk with two straight ones in a row denied entry into the Hall? You have to wonder, don’t you?
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……..at the perception out there that Governor Tom Corbett slashed education funding. You’ll hear that line during these two recent labor strikes going on in Old Forge and Wyoming Area. The fact is he did not. Corbett restored the funding that was used from the Obama surplus (something that should have been used for something else entirely) and actually raised funding but not to the level Education union big shots wanted.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED………that WNEP TV weathercaster Michelle Rotella just left the big 16 to go to Florida. John Webster and I have declared a 30 day period of mourning in LuLac land.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED………at the amount of stuff people believe. Going up to WYLN on Friday I heard Steve Corbett talking to woman from Mountaintop. I know Corbett takes some heat for the way he conducts his show but, hey, it’s his show. One of the great things he does is he will let an uninformed, really stupid person just keep burying themselves. This woman claimed that she saw on the news that there were members of the Muslim Brotherhood in the government, specifically in the area of Homeland Security. She challenged Corbett to Google it (always a fine source of verifiable information) and it turns out that her source was Glenn Beck. Then his next caller reaffirmed everything the woman told him. Man, that has to be a tough job some days!
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……..that when speaking to a buddy of mine (who is a taxpayer in the Wyoming Area School district),  he made me actually choke on my Snapple as I was taking a sip when we were talking. He told me that one his way to work at 7am he saw the pickets outside of Board President John Bolin’s Flower Shop, “Flowrs By Lucille”. Then he said as he returned home from his job at 5:30 PM  (yes please note those in the public sector, there are private sector employees who actually work more than 8 hours a day sometimes like he did on Friday if business need demands it-and come to think of it, isn’t Education a business need??) and saw no teachers picketing. Then there was a pause on the phone and he chuckled and said, “How stupid am I to expect to see them at 5:30PM, they quit every day at 3!!!!!” And you know, let me ask this question, if this negotiation is so vital, why didn’t the union do an informational, symbolic protest in the summer? You know the answer to that one! 


Chelsea Cardillo with her Grandfather and our lifelong family friend and neighbor, Arthur "Art" Prandy. (Photo: AOL.com) 
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…………..but not really about the level of information I receive from my Junction childhood buddy Bruce Prandy. Bruce sent a link today regarding a slide show put together by the folks at AOL regarding Grandparents day and the wit and wisdom grandchildren received from the older generation. Chelsea Cardillo the daughter of Joey and Joyce Prandy Cardillo submitted a wonderful photo of her grandfather Arthur. Art was well known in Pittston as the Postmaster and was a WWII vet. But above and beyond, he was one of the most fantastic neighbors we ever had growing up on Dewitt Street. 
I have so many vivid memories of Art like him showing his son Barry how to carefully light a firecracker stooping down making sure the instructions were followed to the letter, sobbing in our kitchen the day my father died, retrieving our balls from neighbor’s gardens because they certainly wouldn’t trust us to go near them, letting me borrow a movie projector when I was working for the United Way trying to view old film footage (this was before VCRs!) and just being an all around good guy neighbor. I’m glad the photo got up on AOL because apparently they had hundreds of thousands submitted. I guess Art taught his grand daughter to strike while the iron is hot. Nice job Chelsea and thanks Bruce for passing it along. Art has a son Barry who for years plied his trade as a barber in the Pittston and Scranton areas and currently holds a similar position in the State Corrections Unit. Barry was the brave soul who decided once to try to teach me how to golf. It never happened but I did appreciate the gesture. Anyway to Art and every grandparent out there, Happy Grandparents Day.

14 Comments:

At 5:38 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"...that the new thing among Foreign Leaders is to debate whether there should be a military strike."

Only because no leader actually has a complete spine. It's like Junior High before any of us has real confidence in ourselves.

(watch that kid Putin)

 
At 8:04 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I bought a taser for my wife, daughter and niece.

 
At 10:51 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Taser's don't always work so I carry a gun!

Yonkman, why is it you always throw stones at public emp;loyees about the hours they work but you ne er ever mention that they get p;aid only for those hours and not the 8 you would like. The clowns at the Court House are dyhing to make ;public points by raising the workday for some employees from 7 to 8 hours but they never consider that the extra hour pay will be a budget breaker when arbitration forces the county to pay for the additional hour. Currently my close friend works from 8:30 to 4:40, that's 8 hours but he only gets paid for 7 hours. Why don't people and also you, be more concerned with the sillliness that goes on with management? Just wondering.

 
At 12:29 PM, Anonymous JUNCTION said...

Dave, thanks for your kind words in regards to Art Prandy and his family.All of us who grew up in the junction will always remember him as being a person who always set an good example for us kids growing up. He will always be "Uncle Art" to me.

 
At 2:34 PM, Anonymous JUNCTION said...

Dave, thanks for the info on Pittsburgh Pirates Manager Danny Murtaugh. I began to follow the Pirates in the mid -late 60 and I admired him as one of the greats in the manager arena. Maybe someday soon his name will be added to the BHF.

 
At 7:02 PM, Blogger David Yonki said...

IN RESPONSE
I bought a taser for my wife, daughter and niece.
GLAD I NEVER HIT ON ANY OF THEM!

 
At 7:08 PM, Blogger David Yonki said...

IN RESPONSE
Currently my close friend works from 8:30 to 4:40, that's 8 hours but he only gets paid for 7 hours. Why don't people and also you, be more concerned with the sillliness that goes on with management?
IT APPEARS YOUR FRIEND IS NOT GETTING A PAID LUNCH. THAT'S THE ONLY THING I CAN FIGURE. I GET A HALF HOUR LUNCH UNPAID AND STAY UNTIL 5:30PM TO GET MY PAID EIGHT.
THE UNION DOESN'T SEEM TO BE MAKING THE CASE AS WELL AS YOU ARE IN A COHERENT FASHION.

 
At 7:10 PM, Blogger David Yonki said...

IN RESPONSE
Dave, thanks for the info on Pittsburgh Pirates Manager Danny Murtaugh. I began to follow the Pirates in the mid -late 60 and I admired him as one of the greats in the manager arena. Maybe someday soon his name will be added to the BHF.
HE DOES BELONG ALONG WITH HOUK. I ALWAYS FELT EARL WEAVER WAS SO OVERRATED. I ALSO THINK BILLY MARTIN BELONGS BECAUSE HE HAD WON EVERYWHERE HE WENT. BUT THE FIGHTS AND DRINKING WILL KEEP HIM OUT.

 
At 10:31 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Where in Florida is Michelle Rotella working? Anywhere near Tampa? I'll do some "stalking" for you and you can share anything with Webster.

 
At 10:32 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dave: If I would of know she was leaving, would of asked for an autographed picture. Would of taped the weather a few times just for a reminder!!!
Ever find out why she left? Was Tom and Joe Sch. behaving themselves?

 
At 11:34 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

If you look up "Good Neighbor" in the dictionary, there's no doubt you'll see Arthur Prandy's photo. Very nice words about a very nice man.

 
At 11:04 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry to see Michelle go, but so glad this wasteland of the ignorant didn't get its claws in here.
My advice to Michelle, don't ever return, even for a visit, you might get trapped.

 
At 11:27 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm NOT amazed that the next county council "elected" by the sheeple will be far worse than the band of idiots we have in there now!!!!

 
At 11:33 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Maybe I'm amazed..that you always amaze us.

 

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