The LuLac Edition #3143, February 13th, 2016

13 QUESTIONS

Our “13 Questions” logo.

1. You have been featuring “Women We Love” as a year-end feature, what about Men We Admire too?

That is very interesting. We use the end of the year as a way to recap and reflect. It is a lot of work especially around Christmas but I think it has a place in the blog calendar. I’ll see if we can make this work providence willing.

2. Thoughts on this year’s Half Time Super bowl Show?

I didn’t see it. I unloaded wash from the dryer and took a shower during half time. But I saw it on the rewind and thought it was good. I’m a sucker for retrospectives anyway.

3. What were the best Super Bowl performances you’ve seen?

Michael Jackson. McCartney and The Who. I’m showing my age.

And I can’t forget my girl Madonna!


4. What was on the menu for Super Bowl snacks at the LuLac household?

Not a lot. Mrs. Luluac went out for her birthday/Christmas present dinner with one of her girl friends. So I boiled up some Mrs. T’s Jalapeno Pierogies with Pace Salsa. Had an Aquifina, a diet tea and an 8 ounce Coke. When she came home, we had a dip with these wonderful Good Health Avocado chips. Now let me clarify that “not a lot” phrase. In some places in this country and the world what I had would be deemed a feast.

5. Will the races for the nominations end early and will we wind up with a brokered convention?

I think the Democrats will wind up in May making Pennsylvania relevant. The best chance for a brokered convention will come from the GOP. I envision a four way race at the end. Trump, Cruz, Kasich and Bush. Trump and Cruz will represent the anti establishment in the party, the other two will represent the old guard. Trump will win and gain delegates so will Cruz especially in the South. Kasich will get some love in the Midwest and Bush will win delegates if not primaries. Look for the deals if this happens.

6. I understand that you went to King’s College and knew the late Francis Swingle. How do you think the late Professor would grade Donald Trump’s speeches on?

The late Francis Swingle. (Photo: LuLac archives).

Great question. For those who don’t know, Francis Swingle was one of the first graduates of King’s and was a Professor there until his death. Regretfully I never took a Swingle speech class but I saw him in action many times when he was either a keynote speaker or a main speaker. He was dynamic and never missed a beat.
I think he’d give Trump an A for enthusiasm, a C for specifics and a B minus for structure. Maybe a C Plus. But I never took his class or was graded by him. If there are any King’s College grads out there who read this, give me your opinion.

7. How’s that WARM 590 blog going?

Going. When I started that in 2008 my vision was to give readers 590 Mighty Memories. It had to be the chemo drugs because at that time I thought it was a great idea. We are in the mid 340s now and have little vignettes.
I got a major assist from broadcast veteran Joe Klapatch who dug up some fascinating articles from the Scranton papers when he was researching his books for the Carbondale and Scranton Fire Departments. We’re still posting so if anyone has some WARM memories, let me know. You will join the ranks of old WARM veterans like Bobby Day, Tommy Woods, Andy Palumbo and Joey Shaver who have sent me stuff. . One day on that page I’m going to list the contributors who are many and helped me add the memories I saved along the way. Here’s that link: http://david-yonki.blogspot.com/

8. Do you think Pat Toomey is vulnerable this year?

Absolutely. Toomey has been a Senator for 6 years and because of the gridlock really can’t point to a lot of specifics. Plus Gun Rights groups are out for him because of his essentially giving up on gun background checks.

9. Why didn’t Chris Christie take off?

Three reasons. Trump took the wind out of the straight talking guy. Christie is Jersey brash and not many people like that. Plus the attacks from Rubio really deflated his numbers in New Hampshire which rendered useless his nearly 100 Town Meetings in that town. He should go home, shut up, shore up his state and wait for the call for Veep.

10. First time you ever made a Valentine’s Day move?

Ernest Borgnine as Commander McHale. (Photo: TV Guide).

Great question! 6th grade. St. John the Baptist in Pittston. We all handed Valentines to our classmates. You got these little note cards for under a buck a Kresge’s. I scrawled most of them out but on one for a blonde (yes she was tall for her age) I wrote on the envelope “Miss _______ _______. She was really impressed by that because it showed maturity. A few months later I gave her my Batman button which she wore under her winter coat lapel. (The nuns would not approve). It was nice while it lasted but when summer arrived, puberty came for her and hormones came for me. She matured and I became the King of The Idiots in 7th grade. On the school bus going home one day, I asked her girlfriend why my old Valentine didn’t like me anymore. She answered, “Doing a Quinton McHale imitation (remember when McHale would exclaim to Captain Binghamton “Whaaaaaaattttt?” when accused of something, yep that me back then) just doesn’t do it for her”. Lesson learned.

11. Is it me or why are they firing so many NBA coaches this year?

They’ve already fired 5. The Cavs fired a guy, David Blatt  who had a great record because La Bron was pissed about something. Unless you are a legend like Pat Riley or Phil Jackson, all an NBA coach seems to do is baby sit and make sure there are snacks for the kids. The Knicks fired Derek Fisher  too but it didn’t faze me. They still stink.Plus I'm not convinced the Knicks won't get Phil Jackson back at the helm either.

12. Jersey Mikes or Primos? Or best hoagies in general. Maybe you should ask your boy Rendell before answering? 

 Your blog editor and Ed Rendell at Barnes and Noble. (Photo: K. Mullen)

I like both. A good sandwich I came across was the Fat Clemenza from Bake House. I get one of those and cut it up and have it for lunch three days in a row at work. I order it without the mortadella though. Wegman's is great as well as Subway's basic turkey or tuna. And no I don’t consult Ed every time I order a sub .

13. Why don’t you like Bernie Sanders for President?

Here ya go:
a. Age. He’s 74 for crying out loud.
b. He will lose 49 states because when the GOP attack machine winds up, he’s dead meat. If they can discredit a war hero like John Kerry, what do you think they’ll do with a Socialist??
c. He can scream like Frank Costanza but can’t govern like that with what will be a tough Congress. He has never had relationships with any of them like Clinton, Biden and Kerry did. Can’t govern.
d. I cannot abide a President for four years who makes the word “our” 5 syllables long.