For those of you that didn’t know me in my youth A few words about mom & pop. Pop was born at the end of the 19th century In East Harlem, New York To a family of 8 children Six boys ,two girls Pop was next to youngest He had more education than his siblings As he went to Public School through the 8th grade He was then intrigued with the life of bootlegger & professional gambler And was a craps dealer on the lower East side of N.Y. At one time he roomed with famous gangster Legs Diamond. At the outbreak of World War I He enlisted in the U.S. Army And was sent to France to fight Upon hearing of my father’s arrival The Kaiser surrendered And with no war to fight He ran floating crap games And sent homes bags of diamonds to his mother Coming home he became interested in Labor Unions and was an organizer for the Retail Clerks Union Later he became a VP of that Union as well as a salesman for Bond’s Clothes Pop on his tippy toes was 5’5” and tipped the scales at 110 pounds He had his clothes custom made (bit of a peacock) Had his clothes made by Skip Gambert who now makes shirts for Bill O'Reilly among others
Mom was 17 years younger Came from a wealthy Newark NJ family Zayda (grandpa) had a Rolls Royce Unusual for her generation she went to business college and worked as a store detective for the Wilmark Agency Also unusual she moved out of her parents home before her marriage
Her family did not approve of her marriage to Pop because of the age difference and his unsavory background
At their marriage two of Pop’s former girlfriends broke in to the ceremony & threatened to kill themselves if Pop married Mom Mom laid them both out Mom had quite a temper She once flattened a policeman who hit my kid brother It didn’t pay to mess with Mom
In young pictures Mom was a flapper As she grew older sort of looked like me with long blonde hair Also got heavier in her last few years Mom truly had supernatural powers Perhaps I’ll share some of those legends later on
Just rec'd word that my friend & fellow 13 member Allen Swift passed on For those of you unfamiliar with Allen, he was known as "Man of 1000 voices Among the most famous Howdy Doody when Bob Smith had his heart attack. Mr Bluster on the Howdy Doody show Simon Bar Sinister on a cartoon series President Eisenhower on the satelite Voyager Because the President had a heart attack And many many more He was a navigator in the Army Air Corp during WWII
(Corp is pronounce core Pres. Obama) Alav HA Sholum Allen

ERUPTIONS 4/1/10

Not April Fools

As Erev Pesach approaches My memory drifts back to past holiday seasons In this remembrance I’ve skipped over some events that do not apply to the story Forgive the editing please
In 1975 my one & only legal wife , had enough and left me & our son to “find herself”!
When her health failed, Maryann requested custody of our son to qualify for welfare At the time she was living in Newark to be near her boyfriend Meaning our son would attend Madison Middle school In what my sociology professor would call a “transitional neighborhood Prior to this my son had attended parochial school From the first my son experienced anti Semitism
When Passover arrived, Russ was spending time with me during his mom’s reoccurring illness The middle school didn’t, as I recall have a cafeteria
And He brown bagged his lunch
I asked if he’s prefer hardboiled eggs or tuna during Passover so as not to have to bring matzot He replied “I’m proud of being a Jew I’ll bring matza”!
It wasn’t the first time he made me proud or the last
Cannabis, marijuana, weed, gage, shit, herb It goes by many names But it’s all the same And there is a mystique about it that has always eluded me I have tried it a couple of times with little effect or benefit Each time it was implied , but it makes sex great It didn’t!
But two friends have had “amusing” experiences with marijuana that might give you a chuckle
Years back, a close friend used marijuana recreationally on occasion When he remarked to his brother a Chasidic Jew that he was having locating an MJ supply The brother said he’d have some one contact him.
One Sunday morning a few days later his doorbell rang At the door were two Chasidic gentlemen Complete with beard, payas, Price Albert coat and beaver shtremel Each carried two suitcases
He invited them in and The ‘leader’ said Reb Yussell said you were his sister and were looking for marijuana
They opened all four suitcases which were packed chock full of “weed”
My friend explained he was looking for a half ounce or ounce
Why did you bring so much?
They explained “We didn’t know how much you wanted!”
Second anecdote
An acquaintance of my is a street magician And IMO a heavy user of “herb” A few years back he was asked to perform at the White House Along with other entertainers Before the performance The entertainers were asked to remain in a large room Where they were told dogs would be brought in to sniff out bombs and drugs
And he was holding two ounces on marijuana
When he arrived home he called me and relayed this tale My reply “YOU BROUGHT GRASS TO THE WHITE HOUSE!” Well he said I don’t have a connection in D.C. and I can’t go on straight” “YOU BROUGHT GRASS TO THE WHITE HOUSE!” I repeated
Well obviously he was not calling me from Leavenworth So what happened I asked
He replied “I LOOKED FOR A DOG WITH A COLD”

March 25th

Well here we are again. A number of you have PM'd me about adding reviews to this blog
Problem is there is public access. And what I discuss can be accessed by anyone
Latest eruption, there is a mentally disturbed pirate out there. SELLING scanned works of others that he's scanned. On the Genii forum, he says high prices, "force" (his term) people to scan. The truth is , scanning and piracy drive prices up. In an attempt to profit from their intellectual property. Creators raise prices to compensate for theft. Some, I'm told, like Steve Duschek, have stopped marketing.
A few years back I spoke to a store that many other things sold sheet music. I said, to the proprietor, my musician friends tell me the price of sheet music has sky rocketed. Why? His answer "photo copying " (this was before scanning was common) He said local groups, especially churches, buy one or two copies and make photo copies for every one else.
Now I have to give this thief, grudging credit. Though he's advertising sale of stolen material, he doesn't sell it directly. You buy a book from a sell on demand publisher, he's written under a pen name. You describe specific contents. He sends you CD. Clever but still theft

In the monthly journal of an organization to which I subscribe. A well known amateur magician, discusses performers who do readings and senses. He suggests we're all thieves and simply doing magic tricks and should be jailed. IMO, nothing could be further from the truth. Most of the readers I know are most sincere. They follow ancient divination methods, and sincerely try to help people. Whether the methods are valid, is a matter of opinion. Just like your local church or political belief. But questionable validity isn't dishonesty
Piss some one off today
from
Kross