50 Years Collecting Dust The 1936 Olympics in Berlin introduced basketball as a completion. Between 1936 and 1972, the U.S. Men’s Basketball Olympic team compiled a record of 63 wins and zero losses. The Soviet Union took home the silver or bronze medals in 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964 and 1968. The resentment from the Soviet […]
The Two Plinys Dateline: Early morning, August 24, 79 AD, Misenum, Italy. Roman Naval Commander, Pliny the Elder, discusses the days affairs with his nephew, the Roman poet and administrator, Pliny the Younger. Let’s listen in. Pliny the Younger: “Uncle. I miss the old August when it was called ‘Sextilis’”. Pliny the Elder: “Now, Nephew. […]
Arrrgh! ’Tis Pirate Radio My Friend! England. 1964. Rock-N-Roll is a teenager growing from the Do-Wopp ’50s bands to Elvis, and now to England’s own Beatles. Beatle-mania is sweeping through Europe and heading toward the United States. Yet, you can almost never hear a song from the Beatles on the radio in England. The BBC […]
A Spaniard in the Far East August 6, 1945. An atomic bomb explodes over Hiroshima. August 9, 1945. A second atomic bomb explodes over Nagasaki. These events directly lead to the end of World War II less than one month later. While the estimates vary greatly, at least 20 million military personnel and over 40 […]
In the Summertime . . . Summertime simply means more music in our lives. It could be driving with windows down or sunroof open which causes us to play music instead of listening to podcasts and news. With weekend getaway trips and vacations, we want to hear familiar and favorite songs. Maybe we are anticipating […]
Selfies or Self-Centered? Recently, an American tourist fell into the volcanic crater of Mt. Vesuvius. The tourist, scraped and bruised, held on for his life dangling above a 1,000 foot fall to the base of the crater and his most certain demise. When rescued by Italian authorities, the tourist claimed that he lost his footing […]
Who Cheers for the Bad Guy? Early 1930s. Great Depression in full swing. New Deal relief still only theoretical. The banks which have not failed continue to foreclose on defaulted mortgages at record pace. With distrust of the government and absolute resentment of banks, it becomes easier to appreciate the romanticizing of Depression era Gangsters. […]
Lost at Sea Summer weekends. Time to escape the New York City area for the Jersey Shore, the Catskills, or Montauk. The Upper Crust of society venture to their get-away “cottages” in The Hamptons. Then there are the highest of high society who give no concern to traffic jams or crowds on the beach as […]
I Got Guys from New Jersey . . . St. Peter’s College Peacocks mens basketball program continues its improbable journey through the NCAA Tournament. Truly against the odds as a 15 Seed out of 16, they beat the University of Kentucky Wildcats in the opening round of the Tournament. They followed up this biggest win […]
Ears, War and Snorkeling My wife reminds me that I possess a keen mind for collecting the most useless details and trivia. She usually brings up that point when I cannot recall simple or quite useful bits of information such as account user names or passwords. Frankly, who cares about mundane login credentials when you […]