STUBBED MY TOES ON THE KITCHEN CHAIR OF LIFE

I just had to publish this photograph of sacred ground in Title Town. It was obviously taken at a great height! If you have never been in Lambeau for an f-16 fly over, you haven't experienced the ultimate deeply moving moment. I mean, they come in really low, it feels like they are just above the rim. The engines can be heard in the distance as the final strains of the National Anthem is just finishing. With the final note, those jets come screaming over the stadium, rattling the beer in your hand. It is one of the few times that the word awesome
isn't being used superficially.

The Packers won this game 17-7 against the Dallas Cowpies on November 15, 2009. My dislike of the America's team poseurs is second to only that of the ViQueens.

Speaking of football. My internet friend from Ohio, Kirk Roebuck sent me this yesterday:

In my exhaustive and never ending quest for information on NFL socks, I found this.
Of course, the holy grail of NFL socks are the 60s Packers the 5 stripe yellow-white-yellow-white with the white and yellow separated by thin green (as on the jerseys).

Next would be the Redskins when Lombardi adopted the look for them.

Then I read that the Chief’s owner, Lamar Hunt liked the Packers look and wanted to adopt it for his teams uniforms. Never made it to the sleeves, but for a short time the Chiefs had a similar pattern on their socks, and very rare, hard to find in photos.

Guess what---I found such a pic, and in it the Chiefs are playing the Packers. I think the current NFL commissioner should mandate socks with stripes on all teams!



Being very much a traditionalist in many ways, I totally agree with Krk on the NFL socks. When the Green Bay Packers graduated from their former blue and gold and went to the dark green and yellow, it became their standard and has changed very little over the years.

When Ron Wolf was in Green Bay he toyed with the idea of changing the helmet color from yellow to shiny old gold (ala 49'ers) and going with shiny gold pants. Fortunately there was such a loud Cheesehead response that he dropped the idea.

Uniforms that stayed true to the roots like the Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts, New York Giants, New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, the 49'ers - I am sure there are others, look the classiest. Teams that really re-designed and I think for the worse: like the Vikings, Lions, Broncos, and many others - adding black was all the thing recently I find unappealing. I was happy to see that the 49'ers went back to their old look this past season.

And Kirk, as I said, is right about the socks! Look at the photo and note how it really ties everything together.

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Still trying to recover from the tissue damage around my left ankle bone.

Then yesterday I got out of my car (idling) over on the house driveway as Kim needed me to help with something and all of a sudden Kim yells: "Your car is leaving!" I turn around and it is rolling towards the high creek embankment -- and do I jump in it to hit the brake - Not me -- I run on my bad ankle to the front bumper left side and try to stop it with my body weight - luckily the front tire came to rest on the wooden sidewalk but I stumbled on that same side walk and sprained my two small toes on the same foot that already throbs.

Then this morning here at the office, I stubbed those two toes on a chair leg and I cursed as loudly as I could for three minutes but it still hurt. And still does right now. I hurt therefore I am. I think that was the motto of my patron saint, Lawrence.

Lawrence is said to have been martyred on a gridiron (martyred on a gridiron -no wonder I like football) as a part of Valerian's persecution. During his torture Lawrence cried out "This side’s done, turn me over and have a bite." ["Assum est, inquit, versa et manduca."] [5] This is the legend often quoted explaining why Lawrence is the Patron Saint of Comedians, butchers and roasters.

How very appropriate. I think of myself as a professional comedian (among other things) and I have been known to "butcher a tune" now and then, and I have participated in more than one roast - not the kind referred to, methinks.

There are other ways that I consider myself a traditionalist. Take guitars. for instance. I think acoustic guitars should be made of real solid wood! Not veneers, or plastic, or fiberglass. or even graphite. And they should have real inlay or none at all. I don't even like it when I play an acoustic through a pickup and amplifier. Give me a good parabolic mic anytime. there is nothing like the sweet, deep tone of a good acoustic guitar!

And I long for the return of hats. Not caps - which people refer to incorrectly as hats, but real hats, with a brim. fedoras, if you will. I even love well shaped felt cowboy hats. The 1930's and 1940's were a great time for men's fashion. every guy wore a hat. And I love double breasted jackets. I got married in one second time around. I wonder if I still can get it on without ripping out the back.

Got to get to work now. If I can stand, that is. Ouch, eech, oooouch!

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