Americans don't understand the Europeans

Just reading about the bru ha ha about our new Attorney General attempting to
stomp into a Swiss hotel and put six of the world's most distinguished citizens into handcuffs for taking bribes. We Americans are still virgins when it comes to how things are done in the world outside our borders. Favors, a few dollars here, a few dollars there. That's the way soccer has always been run.

I'm for Bernie

The next time someone asks me who I want for president, I have an answer. "I'm for Bernie Sanders", I can say. He's been a mayor, a Congressman and now a Senator. He reminds me a little of the guy who teaches the history of labor unions at Livingston College. You had to really work to get a bad grade in his class. 

Sure he probably won't win but at least he won't be a spoiler like Ralph Nader. And he'll be a great conversation starter at parties. "Me? I'm for Bernie Sanders."

Editor's note: I wrote a new post on boxing in my Sixties blog.

Samuel Beckett prepared me for life

I was reading today about the new English class at the University of Pennsylvania called "Wasting time on the Internet."  Apparently it is being discussed in places like Slate. It made me a little nostalgic for some of the classes I took in college. I took a course in Anarchy, the Theatre of the Absurd, Altered States of Consciousness and Varieties of Religious Experience, the Intellectual History of the 20th century, and the French film, to name a few. My mother used to get laughs at parties by reciting the classes I was taking.

Actually when you think about how much time most of us kill on the Internet, the merit of a class that teaches you how to perform this task makes sense. If you are going to waste time on the Internet you might as well know how. You Tube is a major time waster. Just watch a few episodes of Pillow Talk to see what I mean.

As far as analysing how my own coursework prepared me for the world of work let us just say my first job after college was selling hot dogs at Two Guys in Hackensack. I kept waiting for Samuel Beckett to come up during that job but it only came up in the sense that Godot was somehow related to mustard and sauerkraut.

Working class Hillary

And now the latest development in the Hillary election campaign. She is officially running. I am enjoying the new working class Hillary. She drives around in a brightly painted van called the Scooby, she pumps her own gas, she stops families at Walmart and holds the baby while Mom puts the groceries in the back seat.

Old men never liked Hillary. She reminds them of the sister in law who doesn't let their brother take a drink or the woman at work who looks annoyed when a man lifts and installs her new printer.  Old guys, watching the game at the bar,  never liked her.

Of course maybe now that all will change. Older men  all love a woman who pumps her own gas and drives a car out of the Partridge Family. I'm waiting for her to go deer hunting. Yes the presidential season has begun.

Zorbing

Today I decided to take a walk to my local park and on the path by the lake was a group of young people surrounding this giant globe. It was planted firmly in the path I was taking but I was able to navigate around it. No it was not a reunion of Buckminster Fuller prototypes, it was a zorb. 

As if seeing such a thing in my local park wasn't enough, a teenage girl then got into the thing and the zorb rolled down the hill with her in it. What an unexpected thrill. Inside the zorb is what looked like a trapeze with her arms holding the top, her butt in the middle and her feet touching the pedals. Oh my. I wonder if her father knows about these adventures. 

Of  course us baby boomers have lived through the hang gliding phase, the velcro jumps era and we have all gone to parties where people were talking kayaking. This is apparently a new craze, with origins in New Zealand.  I read that zorbing is done today in the United States but I have never seen it til now. 

I suspect my life has past that phase where I will ever zorb. Going to the doctor is scary enough for me. 

the Royals

The past two weeks every time I've channel surfed I keep landing on the Royals.
There it is, seemingly in continuous rotation on the E! channel. What  a great show! It's an accurate and realistic portrayal of the way most of us see not only the Royal Family of England as well as the private lives of rich celebrities worldwide. I especially like the Jack Daniels from the bottles sweetie, Ophelia. Thanks to this show, I have gained many useful insights into life at Buckingham Palace. Croquet anyone?

Millenials vs Baby boomers

We are constantly being told things about millenials.

They don't own cars and are too lazy to learn how to drive a car.
The don't want to have their own places but prefer to live at home and be waited on by their parents.
They want everything handed to them.
They spend all their time playing games on their cellphones and communicate by texting.
They come to work and want to set Their hours and rules.
They have USB mittens on so their fingers don't get cold when they are playing on their toys.
They can't eat like  normal people because they are gluten intolerant.

Sometimes it reminds me of what the greatest generation said about us baby boomers.

They won't go to a barbershop and have no respect for their country.
They'd rather smoke their marijuana than put in an honest day's living.
They were spoiled by their mothers and the television set and they want to set their own rules.
That music they listen too. Thump thump thump. Sounds like a tractor trailer with teeth missing on the gears.
They think they know it all.

It's great being a grumpy old baby boomer.

Editor's note: I don't want usb mittens for Christmas but I could use an Apple watch.