Travelogue: Lake George, Part 3

Waking up this morning in Lake George was a bit of an adventure.  Apparently, I had a nightmare during my sleep.  That'll teach me not to eat pizza as a midnight snack before bed!

After freshening up a bit, my brother and I headed down Canada Street to find some breakfast.  We pulled into an interesting looking place called "Biscotti Brothers"; a coffeehouse that also served traditional morning fare.  I couldn't get enough of their blueberry pancakes, which I washed down with two glasses of orange juice.  For his part, my brother quickly disassembled a cheese omelet.  

The weather in the area this week has been rather warm, but perfect for a dip into Lake George proper.  So of course, myself and my brother had to hit the beach.  It wasn't long before both of us were in the water.  

Speaking of the waters of Lake George, they are the cleanest, purest, and most crystal clear waters that I have ever been in.  I found myself saying a silent prayer of thanksgiving; "may these waters be clean and pure for generations to come".  

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.  So too must this vacation; tonight is my final night in Lake George.  The trip did not disappoint in any way; I must say that I have thoroughly enjoyed myself.  

They are wondrous and beautiful things to behold, these shores.  As expected, the Adirondacks have been a little bit of heaven on earth.  The mountain air and the cool temperature of the lake refreshed not only my body, but my mind and spirit.  

And that's really what making this trip was all about. 

Travelogue: Lake George, Part 2

A little before three this afternoon, my brother and I pulled up to a small motel called "The Heritage".  It is here that we will be staying for the next two days.  The establishment is right on the main strip, a long road named Canada Street.  

As we got situated and settled, I promptly tried out the bed in my section of our cabin.  I found it to be comfortable; not too soft, but not too firm either.  A bed such as this is more than suitable for reading, listening to music, or simply "crashing".  

It's been a hot day in Lake George; a quick glance at area weather shows that the temperature reached upwards of ninety degrees Fahrenheit (nearby Canada uses the Celsius scale and metric system; we don't).  

Nevertheless, the street outside of the motel beckoned me.  I had to go see what it could offer.  

For the hungry adventurer, there are many places on Canada Street where they may satisfy their appetite.  One of these happens to be a restaurant called "Giuseppe's".  Knowing from past experiences that it is a go-to spot for Italian cuisine, my brother and myself decided to have an early dinner there.  

The indoor patio of Giuseppe's proved a welcome respite from the summer heat.  Years ago, the restaurant had a second deck upstairs, overlooking the lake.  Apparently, this is no longer the case, likely due in part to the presence of a large hotel that had been built next door. 

As for the food, it was delicious; just as I had remembered it.  My brother dined on a Southwestern Burger, along with - broccoli?! - on the side.  I chose to order - well, what else? - a Sicilian pizza, which I happily munched on forthwith.  

After paying the tab at Giuseppe's, we walked a short distance to another of my favorite attractions; Playland Arcade. The place is packed with fun and games, including a photo booth, various ticket-based machines, and a shooting gallery (you heard that right; actual guns, or at least reasonable imitations).  

I must've been doing something right, because I managed to win over seven hundred tickets through numerous games.  Even so, that wasn't quite enough to land me one of the big prizes exhibited behind the redemption counter.  I'll save my tickets, and head back to the arcade tomorrow.  

Exiting the arcade, my brother and I chose to make our last stop at a place aptly named "Scoop's Ice Cream Parlor".  

(I say "aptly named" because my brother frequently answers to the nickname of "Scoop") 

The eatery has a long history in Lake George.  It began as a soda fountain in the early 1970s, under a different name (at the moment, I cannot recall what that name was).  The last time that I was in the area, the shop featured its own candy for sale, which you could watch being made by hand before your eyes.  It no longer appears that this part of the parlor exists, but you can still sit at the counter, and enjoy an ice cream or refreshing milkshake.  

So far, my brother and I have enjoyed this welcome trip.  Our first day in Lake George featured great food, fun games, and even a short jaunt to a most memorable ice cream parlor.  Not too bad for the first time in twenty years, I'd say.  

Tomorrow, we will venture off to the lake proper, as well as get in a game or two of mini-golf.  

But first, sleep.  

Travelogue: Lake George, Part 1

From southern Connecticut, there are two main routes up to the Adirondacks region.  One is to take the Taconic State Parkway starting in White Plains, and follow it to the Interstate 87 Northway.  The other method is to use Connecticut's Route 8, eventually merging onto the interstate around Albany.  

Earlier today, my brother and I took the latter route to the Lake George NY area, passing through various towns in northwestern Connecticut and western Massachusetts as we did.  I must tell you that the journey north was smooth, and quite uneventful for the majority of the drive.  There is something about traversing secondary roads that gives you a quaint, down-home feeling.  

Presently, our car approached the Albany area, which forced us to get off the back roads and onto interstate highways.  We came upon towns with names such as Watervilet, Cohoes, Malta, and Gansevoort.  A little further up the road, a sign notified us that the Village of Lake George was just three miles away.  

Then, I saw it; a sight that I had been waiting twenty years to see, ever since my last trip to the region.  This, of course, was the beautiful body of water known as Lake George; the "Queen of American Lakes".  

Seldom have I felt as fulfilled as I did at the moment that I entered Lake George Village.  The community has a special meaning with me, for it is a place where I spent many summers with my late father.  It is like a flashback to childhood, and to simpler times far from the worries of the world.  

I feel as if the Adirondacks are welcoming me back to a place I have always loved, and where my soul feels the most free.  

Thank you for that, Lake George.  It's been too long.

The Problem with AEW

Let's turn back the clock a bit, and examine last year's version of All Elite Wrestling's "All Out".  

  

The post-event "Press Conference From Hell" clearly proved that the show had been well named, as wrestler CM Punk made various off-color remarks concerning the creative direction of the promotion.  These comments resulted in a backstage fight, the fallout from which threatened the long-term stability of AEW (1).  

For instigating this melee, Punk was taken off all company programming for almost eight months.  He also found himself stripped of the AEW World Championship, a title that he had claimed in the main event of the "All Out" show.  

Not long ago, the wrestler came back to AEW television, making his return appearance on the June seventeenth debut edition of "AEW Collision".  

However, it has become obvious that since Punk's return, devoted fans of the promotion haven't been too happy with the AEW product.  Although the scheduled "All In" event in London has been selling like hot cakes, US-based sales have been sagging as of late.  I point to CM Punk's personality and attitude as the primary reason for this (2).

A recent AEW-ROH show in Las Vegas (3).

Yes, the embattled Punk was once a revolutionary figure, and a man who changed "the game" in more ways than one.  Nevertheless, somewhere along the line, the wrestler developed an ego.  He started to not only hype himself up, but believe his own hype.  

We have seen what happens when someone begins to think that they are bigger than the company which they work for.  We have seen this in the fall of WCW (World Championship Wrestling), and the irrelevancy of Impact Wrestling.  

In both cases, one or more wrestlers saw themselves as God's gift to the entire industry.  That frame of mind is great for promos, but not so much in the public eye; fans don't necessarily appreciate it. 

Yet this seems to be the attitude that Punk now espouses (see definition).   

  

Speaking frankly, I have recently realized the meaning behind previous comments made about CM Punk by Kevin Nash and Eddie Kingston.  

During an in-ring speech made in 2011, Nash referred to Punk as a "cancer".  And as part of the run-up to 2021's "Full Gear", Kingston said this to his adversary (4, 5, 6):

"Nobody wants you here...do me a favor, quit again and leave for seven years, and don't come back".

Both comments were on the money.  It's readily apparent to this observer that Punk has become a problem.  His actions jeopardized not only the jobs and careers of other wrestlers, but the very existence of All Elite Wrestling.  The fans obviously don't like this, but for a company that claims to listen to its fans, AEW has been quite tone-deaf.    

That said, I think that CM Punk needs to put his ego aside for just a moment.  He must look into the camera, and offer an in-ring public apology for his careless actions.     

If the wrestler will not do this, then he clearly is a liability to the promotion.  Accordingly, it would be wise for AEW management to fire Punk, telling him never to return.  

On a final note to the staff of All Elite Wrestling, I say this; you have provided the best and most welcome competition to WWE in some time.  Don't throw it away, or screw it up!

"Fish, Or Cut Bait"

It seems to me that a lot of my fellow Nutmeggers have lost the will to work against the "machine", so to speak.  

You hear them talk all the time about the principles of liberty and freedom.  Yet when "it hits the fan", they run away, preferring to remain silent.  In my neck of the woods, we have a name for these sort of people; cowards.  

For a moment, I will quote Jay-Z: "you know the type; loud as a motorbike, but wouldn't bust a grape in a fruit fight" (1).  

Regarding the other side of this argument, some say that "we need to pick and choose our battles", thus implying that protesting makes no difference.  Let me address this for a second.  

Personally, I've always believed that in any confrontation, you should fight until one of two things happen; either you win the battle, or you are no longer capable of fighting.     

Also, in every life, there will come a point where someone must "fish, or cut bait".  That is, one must stand up for what they believe in, or abandon it altogether.  

That time is unquestionably now.  Indeed, "the line must be drawn here! This far and no further!" 

Begging your pardon of my Star Trek fandom (2):

We can't just silently watch as our rights are continually usurped, and everything is taken away from us.  We have to be willing to stand, draw a line, and defend it at all costs.  

If we're not, then we might as well pack up, and move south.  

(Sooner or later, "they" will get there, too)

An Open Letter To Mr. Roland Martin (Political Commentator)

Sir,

I just watched one of your commentary videos (specifically, the episode recorded on April 13, 2021) in which you discuss Colonel Allen West, and your debate with him on the issue of voter ID (1).

Obviously, I can't claim to speak for Col. West. Nevertheless, I feel the need to comment on some of your remarks (yes, I'm aware they were recorded a while ago).

First, by implication, you seem to be stating that all Republicans are racists and segregationists.  This stereotyping could not be further from the truth.  I know of many Republicans that judge African-Americans “not on the color of their skin, but by the content of their character”(2).

To imply that all who vote Republican are somehow racist is wrong, and in itself racism.

Second, to support your view, you trot out the name of Lee Atwater. I am aware that man had a...let's say rather colorful...history on race.

Even so, you fail to mention several other interesting names. George Wallace, once governor of Alabama, was an unabashed segregationist. So too was Robert Byrd, the long-time Democratic senator from West Virginia.

In fact, here's a noteworthy tidbit about Byrd; in the 1940s, he organized and led a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. But I digress (3).

Do you deny that these two men were Democrats? If you admit to this, then what makes the Democratic Party any better on matters of race?

Third, you claim to be “a real Texan”.  On this, let me say that I did some digging.  It seems that, although you were born in Texas, your family origin is in Louisiana.  And I see that you once were a newspaper editor in Chicago (4).

Those being facts, why are you lying about being "a real Texan"? I could say that I'm "a real Floridian" because I once lived in the state; that doesn't make it true (I'm actually from Connecticut).

Finally, you go on to insult and disrespect Col. West’s military record.  I must ask; have you ever been part of the military? Have you ever picked up a weapon, or stood a post?

I have good friends who were badly injured in overseas combat. Can you say that you stood alongside them, or someone like them? If you can't, then please spare me the self-righteousness.

Mr. Martin; I have no doubt that you're committed to your cause. And you're obviously fond of the sound of your own voice.

That said, I think that before you paint Republicans like me "with a broad brush" again, you should study your history a bit more, and perhaps not exaggerate your own qualifications.

After all, "those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it".

Eulogy For A Legend

For those of you that missed Monday’s news, Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot has died at the age of eighty-four (1).

As far as his music is concerned, Mr. Lightfoot was a rare breed; an introspective songwriter who penned hits that discussed life and living.  Some of his legendary hits include “Sundown” and “If You Could Read My Mind”.

Then there is “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”, a song that hit number two on the Billboard charts (and number one in Canada) in 1976 (2).

In the lyrics of this ballad, Lightfoot tells the story of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, an American iron freighter that sank in Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. Typical of the style of other Lightfoot hits, it has all the elements of a great Shakespearean tragedy:

"Does anyone know where the love of God goes
when the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
if they'd put fifteen more miles behind 'er.

They might have split up or they might have capsized;
they may have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names
of the wives and the sons and the daughters" (3, 4).

“Wreck” is one of those songs that simply screams AM radio.  To someone of my age, that is a very appealing and comforting factor. Lightfoot had many songs like this; their popularity made him a legendary figure in the world of music, and one of my favorite artists of all time.

There aren't too many singers who can make you feel a certain way, and perhaps remind you of days gone by. Mr. Lightfoot was one of these; a unique artist whose ilk (see definition) is rapidly disappearing. He will be sorely missed.

(5)

RIP, legend.