THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD

To many, it's probably a little thing. To others, like myself, it's extremely rewarding and viewed as a big deal.

For years, while attempting to play competetive amateur sports, I often had the Sullivan kiddie clan along with me. When I "rented" Steeler tickets in the 70's I would often try to find a way to take along my two sons, Bruce and Michael.

When I worked for an insurance company, that my daughter also joined, the trend continued.

My kids were known as "Barry's kids".

Now that they are grown and aging well at 50, 49, and 46, they are no longer "Barry's kids".

It is me that has switched positions in the identification game.

When I visited Michael, out at Levins furniture - I was "Michaels dad".

When we attended grandson Stevie's birthday bash last evening and I was introduced to strangers, it was as "Beth's dad."

At last weeks St. Maurice golf outing at the old Buffalo Country Club golf in Freeport as a guest of my eldest and part of his foursome, everyone, including many of the other golfers, knew me as "Bruce's dad."

Like I said at the beginning, to many the transformation would seem to be a natural progression - a little thing.

To me, it's a "big deal."

Being a parent of young kids who were holding my hand crossing streets and asking dad to pick them up in stores, told both dad and child they were dependent on me.

When they were hiding behind me while I got into one of my protracted conversations with friends, they were acting like me when I was with my Dad and was "Sully's kid".

We all raise our kids differently. Sometimes, as we grow older, we may even wish we might have done a little more of this and that with them as they were growing up.

Times have changed. So has parenting. Perhaps even parenting skills.

And, the latter is meant as a compliment for those little kids of mine who have grown into "super parents" - all very involved in the lives of my grandchildren.

Sometimes, as we age, we look for a legacy.

I'm proud to have mine be as "Bruce, Michael, and Beth's dad".

FOUR FANTASTIC FRIENDS

Last night at PNC Park was TRULY: "a diamond in the rough".

No, not the final score - even if it confirmed a 19th consecutive losing season for the Pirates.

The game was good, but nothing in comparison with the efforts put forth by Chris,Don,Gerri,and Kathy - 4 new friends from Pittsburgh, all of whom we met at the outstanding and friendly Morgan's Restaurant on Rodi Road in Penn Hills.

Nothing could be as good as that aggregation. As wife Phyl said, "That's a night I'll never forget.". I totally agree. No whim, preference, or need was overlooked by these four generous people.

The date for our attendance was set well in advance - maybe even when the Pirates were still winning games.

How to start? Gerri using a coupon for half-off prices of our right field seats in section 103, with a great view of the game and the stadium?

We were dazzled by everything that was going on in the stadium; the lights, the signs, the big screen promotions and entertainment, and the speakers that rocked the stadium floor. Even the fans made it special as we booed along with them at the third base umpires' strange and unforgiving calls.

Perhaps, it was Don & Gerri making a special trip down to PNC Park to purchase our tickets when the Parkway was full of it's normal traffic rush. Or Don's willingness to haul us all down to Station Square and back in his oversized Honda vehicle.

Maybe it was their collective steel-trap memories when I happened to mention to them that Phyl had not only never seen a Pirate game in person - but had never gone to the stadium on the boat.

Perhaps it was Chris and Kathy, his Mom, and their determination that we would each leave with a souvenir - as if the sight of the stadium by itself and the company of good friends wouldn't be enough.

This resulted in the two of them treking over to the far section of the stadium where they would "Spin The Wheel" in search of prizes we could take back to Florida.

Their actions enabled me to carry off a baseball hat, and Phyl, a Pirate shirt, which she protectively guarded all the way back from the Allegheny to the Mon during the return boat ride.

I might also opt for the time before the game when Don was taking pictures of Phyl and me under the statue of Maz with his "hat held high" pose as he rounded third base in the series of 1960.

Then again, it might be that Phyl found a comfortable position to lean on the statue and Don captured it on film. I doubt if anybody will even notice me in my "official" long sleeved Willie Stargell, #8 baseball shirt.

Some would argue that the hotdogs and nachos were a tremendous gastric hit; which they were.

I also could cheer for the two small, but delicious, Bloody Mary's I enjoyed on the leisurely wait on the wharf and on the boat delivering us to the game. Two was my limit, as I wanted nothing to spoil the experience.

But, our final choice for a perfect night was the awesome view of Pittsburgh all lit up in a spectacular display of lights and water reflections.

Phyl said she'd never forget the sight of the bridges and their string of lights sparkling bright and towering, one after another, in a parade of cathedral arches looking down at the water.

None of this would have happened without the efforts of those four sweet people.

The presence of Dawn, Gerri's very friendly niece, was the icing on the cake. Like the others, she quickly made it clear: "Here was a Pittsburgher" - who just enjoyed making two out-of-towners feel good and to be able to fall in love with the city and it's people.

Good night! Great people!

"TRAVELLIN"

Did some travelling over the weekend to Baltimore and Harrisburg.

Phyl's youngest son, Tad, who is on the Pensky management team, invited us to his 3rd floor apartment in Owing Mills. Great choice but it's been a long time since these old legs have climbed two flights of 17 stairs each.

In preparation for the 2 1-2 month trip to Pittsburgh from "the flatlands" of Florida ,we both went on diets. We remembered the hills as well as all the steps in the 3 floor home we had in Harrisburg.

That was also a great choice.

Our 2 1/2 days in Baltimore were great and extremely relaxing. Tad's not only a great host but fun to be around. He's been down to our home in Florida several times and we definitely wanted to share and become familiar with his digs.

His decor is contemporary in both his choice of paintings and furnishings. His selection of funky jazz pictures blew me away.

The apartment reminded me much of one that I had in Pgh out in the South Park/Library section. Both had balconies with relaxing and pleasant views.

Phyl and Tad had fun shopping, picking out exotic spices, and then cooking together. Old Ish here specialized in consuming the delicious results.

Just a lot of talking and watching TV as Baltimore had their inagural Gran Prix that weekend with a few hundred thousand people jamming up the Riverfront. We took in the races on TV and were cheering for the eventual winner of the second race won by Will Power, driving a Penske car.

When Tad's in town he's kind of a prisoner of old fart TV so we reversed roles and watched his ecletic style. We learned a lot and even Bella stood still at our feet or up on the couch.

I vowed never to watch an auto race which I likened to watching your old Christmas train endlessly circle the Plasticville houses on the train platform - but, even that was fun (for a while).

We have a very adaptive dog who loved all the new smells Maryland had to offer outdoors in the beautiful apartment complex. She walked me like a dog.

I got doggy toilet duty all weekend to save Phyl from having to climb and reclimb all the stairs. Some health issues precluded that from happening so I got a lot of "Bella time"..

Late Monday morning we headed over to route 83 for about an hour or so drive up to Harrisburg, Phyl's home town.

We stayed overnight and had a good time visiting a couple of familiar restaurants, renewing some old friendships at the restaurants for a short time before crashing.

We also made sure we stopped at Al's in Mechanicsburg for three of his famous cheeseburger subs which we devoured when we returned to Pittsburgh.

The ride back on the turnpike was a real challenge as the tropical storm made the three hour trip feel like we were driving on ice.

Based on the weather channel reports of subsequent flooding in Harrisburg, our timing could not have been better. Our motel was right across from the Susquehanna river and the water was already higher than we could remember for a long time.

A few more trips are in store before we head back to Florida at the end of the month. The nice part of both of us being retired is we can decide and then change our mind about where and when.

Some plans do include dinner with the kids on Saturday, a Pirates game with friends next week, the Steeler/Baltimore game on TV Sunday and a golf outing with oldest son Bruce around the middle of the month.

Life is good for these aging retirees!

CANTOR: SAME NAME - DIFFERENT SONG

Eddie Cantor - "Banjo Eyes" was a talented comedian,actor,singer, dancer, and songwriter. I still remember watching one of his many movies,"If You Knew Susie" co-starring comedienne Joan Davis, back in 1948.

The title song became a hit.

Cantor could do it all clear back from the days when he was a singing waiter at Coney Island with Jimmy Durante playing piano.

He later becoming an alternating host of The Colgate Comedy Hour, a Sunday evening show that made the comedy team of Martin & Lewis famous.

He was a beloved entertainer whose only outstanding mistake was turning down the lead role in the first talkie, "The Jazz Singer" which will forever be remembered as a defining role for Al Jolsen.

Cantor co-wrote the song "Merrily We Roll Along" which was adopted as the theme song for the "Merrie Melodies" Warner Bros. cartoon theme.

After other singers of his time turned down a Christmas tune as being too "silly" and "childish", Cantor agreed to record it in 1934
The song was "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town."

A good man, well respected, he was also remembered for this quote:

"It is nice to be important, but it is even more important to be nice"

Ah, if only his namesake, politician Eric Cantor, had adopted it as his own theme song.

Alas, this Cantor, the House Majority leader, would have Eddie Cantor fans rolling in their graves had they discovered how far away from the original was this man now carrying on the Cantor name.

If you're old enough to remember, the song went "If You Knew Suzie- Like I knew Suzie - Oh, Oh, Oh what a girl", you have to be repelled by the successor Cantor's version.

Some of his critics might uncharitably suggest Mr. Cantor seemingly decided to substite the word "sleazy" for the given name "Suzie" in this popular song of the late 40's and early 50's.

But, it's a different time and a different mentality - particulary if you're not an entertainer, but a politician with a far different agenda. And, there are a lot more critics out there.

Eric Cantors latest "hit" was his recommendation, prompted by politics, related to handling the cost of all the natural disasters that we have recently experienced.

Traditionally, the costs have been borne by not only the Government via FEMA, but by all the many contributions that came in from both "the big and little people". These folks were appalled by the horrendous losses their neighbors in other states and distant parts of the country have sustained mostly through no fault of their own.

This Republican "leader" insisted that federal disaster relief for flood-ravaged states such as Vermont and New Jersey be "offset' with spending cuts elsewhere. Eric is from Virginia.

As the USA Today editorial staff so accurately put it: "The bigger question about Cantor's pay as you go approach (for natural disasters) is why he picks FEMA to make his point when much more costly items - wars, health care and tax cuts, to name a few - routinely get a pass, and not just from Democrats."

Yep, this Cantor is singing a different song.

In the opposing view written by Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, he points out a few things about Eric:

- Cantor is one of Wall Street's biggest supporters.
- Cantor's influence lead to the $800 billion effort to bail out
the largest banks.
- While the richest people are becoming richer and corporate
profits are soaring, Cantor has fought to maintain and expand
tax breaks and loopholes for the wealthiest people in this
country, as well as the largest corporations.
- While all of this was, and is going on, the word "offset" never
passed over Cantor's lips.

Eddie Cantor did much for those considered "the little people" in his time. The names included Dinah Shore, Sammy Davis Jr, and Eddie Fisher; just to list a few; none of them rich or famous at the time.

Eddie's charity and humanitarian work was extensive and he was credited with coining the phrase,and helping to develop, "The March Of Dimes" to fight the battle to combat polio.

His long running radio shows made people in this country laugh at a time when they truly deserved a few laughs. But, perhaps his greatest asset as an entertainer and comedian was his impeccable timing.

It's an asset that politican Eric Cantor apparently so desperately lacks.

So Eric, is it time to "re-Cant"?

THE ART OF BUILDING BLOCKS: A LOUSY METAPHOR

A book I'm reading called "Microstyle: the Art of Writing Little" by Christopher Johnson is complicated but encourages any writer to concentrate on short messages. (Hold your applause, and please remember that sarcasm is perceived as a sign of anger.)

Admittedly, the book is a little too technical for this old guy who still does not understand the concept of electricity - and why it works.

I also still don't know the difference between "Rango" and "Rambo" but still believe Judy Garland performed the best version of the latter.

Finally, I have never successfully answered all the questions on any one show of "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" I now understand what makes a teacher of kids an expert on so many subjects.

My goal is to continue the challenge of addressing Mr. Johnson's book. But, like the game of "Mother, May I?" I suspect there will be a lot of "pee-pee steps" mixed in with a few awkward "umbrella turns."

I will hold off on reading Chapter 22 "Establish A Relationship" - until my wife reads it first.

However, the book is full of hints and examples of what makes good communication. Unfortunately, due to it's many references to highly technical communication advancements I can only do a chapter at a time.

Last evening during one of my all too frequent "sleep breaks" I took on the chapter entitled,"Tap Into Metaphor" but resisted the temptations of the following chapter: "Use Ambiguity For Good, Not Evil".

I kept thinking of a book from the 80's by E.D. Hirsch, Jr, now gathering dust on the lanaii back in Florida and hope my recall is accurate.

Hirsch resisted the theory of experiental learning and leaned on the learning of cultural terms such as "1776" and "John Brown" as the means for providing the gateway to Cultural Literacy and an accelerated acquisition of knowledge.

The premise is very simple: learning requires a specific touchstone or reference to which you can recall in order to master something more complex.

It is a building block theory. I don't recall the entire topic but will "bet the farm" I have the right book in mind as I write this.

The latter is a much easier building block to understand unless you're a former Mossad agent working for NCIS.

For example, if the writer of the book you're reading or the lecture you're attending, makes repeated references to a specific subject, noun or verb, etc with which you have no familiarity, your progress in advancing your knowledge is going to be impeded.

If you don't understand what the "base" means and it's relationship significance to the current challenge you're studying, it will avail you little as the writer or speaker continues to drone on.

It's like missing the previous Geometry class and failing to get someone's notes about the last Therom.Such is my dilemma in attempting to read this book.

The irony is that this is the same criticism of me I have occasionally received from some readers of this blog.

They say that by failing to explain a prior building block reference, or by using some unfamiliar polysyllabic term, I have obfuscated their ability to enjoy my blog.

For the life of me, I can't understand what the problem is.

Our Dad was a man with an extensive vocabulary who often refused to define a word he used. Instead,he encouraged us in a less than sympathetic tone, and with obvious disdain to "Look it up!" .

Dad was a very bright man who, early on in his life, had on his own mastered complicated accounting and legal terms and procedures as well as their meanings and application. A failing memory stole much of that knowledge from him later in life.

His one regret was that he had never finished college. My attendance at Grove City College, with the understood goal of being the first one in the family to graduate, ended up as sort of a "push-pull" for Dad. To this day,I believe he was conflicted.

As a result, reading his letters to me in my Freshmen year required that I keep both a Dictionary and a Thesaurus handy. Dad was not about to allow me to think I was the leading linguist in the family. I still ain't - in a well deserved bow to a younger brother.

But, when I was in college and taking one of about "eleventy-seven" lit based classes, including "The Art of Communication", the vocabulary books assigned to me and my classmates caused me to develop an appreciation for his teaching methods.

Books like "Word Power Made Easy" and "Thirty Days To A Better Vocabulary" - both required readings - were not as much of a challenge to me as they might have been had I not been such a pansy when an opportunity to disobey my Dad was presented.

So, what's the message here?

"Hell, I don't know. That's why I'm reading the freakin book!"