Years are personal.

 

Today's Tids Issue 5,071

Years don't skip a beat:

 

Well folks, Happy New Year. It was good one if you look beyond the temporary hardships, generally wrought beyond our control. Tere were deep losses for many, but each heartbreaking loss is an eternal remembrance of all the love that came before. We all had glorious moments with family and friends, and yes, life’s little conquests. Small things that may have tickled your hearts that nobody noticed but you. Years are always like that, jumbled at times, but we always know what was important. When we sit back and dismiss the cacophony around us, we realize always that most years are very good years, and so will be those yet to come.

 

I don’t usually get warm and fuzzy vibes from the comic strip “Hagar the Horrible”, but this morning a line that struck me was, “Twinkle is a happy word”. Maybe that’s a good New Year’s resolution -- Always look for the happy word.

 

What is a New Year’s resolution? Something that goes in one year and out the other.

The Question:

49 years ago today one of my all-time favorite baseball players died after a plane he had chartered to deliver food and assistance to those in Nicaragua devastated by an earthquake crashed just after takeoff from San Jua PR. Who was he? Bonus: 35 years ago today another plane crashed carrying to death the popular singing son of a famous radio and TV family. Who was he?

 

The Headlines:

--Stock Markets Open For Regular Hours This New Year’s Eve Day; Three Major Indices Lower In What Appears To Be Lackluster Trading Day.

--Colorado Fires Burning Wildly; At Least Five Hundred Homes In Denver/Boulder Areas Destroyed So Far

--Covid Cases Pass Two Million Per Week For First Time Since Pandemic Began.

-- Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Paris, Rome, London, Edinburgh, Athens and New Delhi Among Many Of World’s Cities Cancelling NYE Celebrations; NYC TO Go On With Limited Crowd Of 15,000.

 

For some odd reason the powers that be in NCAA football thought today, when people are scurrying at the last-minute to find reservations or picking up fancy party dresses and platters for tonight, would be great for the biggest two games of the season. Whatever happened to New Year’s day when peep have nothing to do but contemplate their year and dry out in an environment of boys at play. I’m rooting for Michigan and Cincinnati. Cincy league rival Houston beat Auburn this week so maybe the SEC isn’t invincible after all. Except maybe Alabama. Georgia is tough but maybe Michigan is tougher. Maybe the “Blue” will carry the ball over the end zone line and the Wolverine fans wall be singing loudest, Old Lang Syne!

 

Cows favorite holiday: Moo Year's Eve.

 

I didn’t say New Year’s jokes would be good.

 

When you think about it the bowls featuring the four remaining playoff teams really take the luster off all the other bowls, no matter the tradition.

 

In 1905 NYC held its first ever Times Square NYE Celebration. Over 200K attended. There will be but 15K tonight. Actually, a nice manageable crowd for a change. If going to a NYE Party on Times Square was on my bucket list, I would know for sure that my pail was leaking.

 

George Orwell’s line, “The greatest enemy of clear language is insincerity.” How true is that in progressive and today when for example the Head of US HHR calls Mothers “Birthing People” and progressive groups classify races and classes by inane acronyms like BIPOC. They say are averse to segregation but trough their current devotion to identity politics they are segregating groups more than ever. George Will wrote an excellent column on that today.

 

Ther are many things I may not n be great at, but I am very good at packing the trunk of a car and loading a dishwasher.

 

Unfortunately, too many people make pour decisions New Year’s Eve.

 

The Answer:

Roberto Clemente was maybe the greatest of all I have seen domination that diamond of play. H could hit that ball and with his rifle could cut down any runner at any base. He was admired for his fielding, hitting in the clutch and maybe most of all, his heart. (He a had a lifetime batting average of 317 with 3,000 hits and 1,305 RBIs, and a shadow across the field of pure quality) and  Bonus: Ricky Nelson was a darling of the pop world in1986 when is plane went down, but to me he is best remembered as one of two very funny sons on Ozzie and Harriet.

 

If your 2021 went by in a blur, maybe your resolution might've been too low.

 

I don’t have that much to say today, except,

Happy New Year, E-v-e-r-y-b-o-d-y!!

 

What a thrill it is for me to find something to write about for you each day. That’s what life is all about.

 

Thrill is a happy word!

 

Exclamation points are happy punctuation marks.

 

 

Just because that’s the way it is.

 

Today's Tids Issue 5,070

Kisses at Midnight:

 

Yesterday new Covid cases and Wall Street’s major indices set all-time records. I expect that it may be because the financial community is understanding that the pandemic thing is part of the “New Normal” (Sorry for that overused cliche’). That economy standards will adjust to being intruded upon by this basically uncontrollable infection phenomena. That our national ability to control it will only get better. That Americans will become saner in the way they deal with it. In other words, it will be absorbed into day-to-day living. WS can live with that very nicely. And we all should be able to do that to, that’s the best part – able to shift, to adapt, to comfortably deal what seems to be inevitable for years to come.

 

What if that whole ice-bucket challenge was just a long game strategy to bring down the Wicked Witch of the West?

 

I remember the first big New Year’s Eve boy-girl party I went to at around the age of 13 or 15. It was a big disappointment. Maybe it was because I had this gigantic zit on my nose and I hid in the corer all night.

 

This is for sure a feel-good week for stock holders. But what happens in the first the days Of January is always the real clue.

 

The Question:

For what is director James Burrows best known?

 

The Headlines:

--Dow And S&P Edge Higher; Nasdaq Selling Calms Down As Nothing Seriously Negative Looms In Waning Days Of Year; New Jobless Claims Fall Below 200K.

--Biden Ad Putin To Talk Again Today About Ukraine

--Powerball Jackpot Grows To $483 Million After No Win Wednesday.

--Ghislaine Maxwell Found Guilty On 5 Of 6 Counts; Could Get Up To 60 Years.

--Tesla Recalls 500K Cars Due To Issues Of “Increased Risk Of  Crashing”.

--Some NYC Leaders Are Suggesting Cancelling New Yar’s Eve Times Square Bash.

--Trans Jeopardy Contestant Amy Hailed As Top “Female” Earner.

 

New Year’s resolution: I will not let fear of Covid beat me.

 

Russia just closed down a second human Rights memorial operation. And, over in China Hong Kong Police Arrested the staff of a news operation accused of sedition.  Just two more examples to explain why so many people in America fear even the slightest inclination towards communism here.

 

Something beat the Tid’s Pickers last week. A lot had to do with the season long unpredictability of teams in a near parity season, and Covid itself. And stupid, emotional picks. There were just too many teams without all of their “A” players. We had a mediocre 9-7 bringing out record to 161-80-1 (67%). Looks like 75% is not in the cards this year! This weekend is last ditch weekend for many teams hanging by a thread (HBAT) – AFC’s Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Denver and almost hanging by a thread (AHBAT) Baltimore, LV and LAC Chargers; NFC’s HBAT Washington, New Orleans, Minnesota and Atlanta, and AHBAT San Fran and Philly.

 

Let’s get right into it:   Will Buffalo facing an Atlanta team that must win to stay alive be complacent after last week’s manhandling of the Pats? Maybe, but Josh Allen is playing too well to lose. KC has clinched and is rolling, but Cincy is good aerially needs this win. I’m picking Cincy. The Rams have recovered form their swoon, but Baltimore is still in theirs, and without a QB. Even though the Ravens are in a must win situation, I have to pick the Rams. Indy has been the hottest team of late but QB Wentz is down for this key game against another team with a chance, the LV Raiders. Can Taylor do it all by himself? Indy to find a way. Tennessee and Miami are both battling for to remain firmly entrenched. Miami can really solidify their season with a win. This is one tough pick. I’ll pick Tenn. The Chargers also really need to get back on track, and even though Denver still has a slim chance, I think the Chargers will make it. Arizona, once a league darling that has gone south, will face the current NFC darling, Dallas. Another really tough pick. I’ll pick Dallas. Also among the games that count, I just don’t think Minn has enough to beat Green Bay in their own house. Lastly, Cleveland and Pitt have outside chances and I’m picking Pitt in this long-time hot rivalry series. I’m just not believing anymore that Baker Mayfield can rise to the occasion.

 

Of the rest, I have New England taking down a woeful Jax, a must win game for the Pats, Chi beating the Giants in a meaningless affair, and TB warming up for the playoffs with a scrimmage against the Jets. I like NO if they can find a QB, to beat the Panthers, Seattle to salvage a little self-esteem by beating another QB less team, the Lions, and San Fran overcoming the loss of QB Jimmy G tot take down the Texans. Lastly, Philly is really playing well and the once hot WFT is declining rapidly. The Eagles will not let this one slip away.

 

The celebs and wealthy maybe a little more nervous after Maxwell’s conviction which proved clearly that gobs of money will not assure dodging justice.

 

Usually around now I’m getting ready for the January thaw. But this year it looks to be the January freeze. Everything is going backwards it seems.

 

Life time Revaluation: I will never go to a New Year’s Eve party in a restaurant.

 

I used the term, “a Last-Ditch Effort” in the football picks above. I wondered why? Where did it come from and it is it a correct usage? Here is the origin of that meaning: “It is derived from the phrase to die in the last ditch, meaning to die still fighting to defend something. The term last ditch denoted the innermost or only remaining defensive entrenchment, as in the following passage from St. Leon: A Tale of the Sixteenth Century (London, 1799), by the English social philosopher and novelist William Godwin (1756-1836)—as quoted in The British Critic (London) of January 1800: ‘One evening that Bethlem Gabor entered my dungeon, I observed in him an air of unusual disturbance. Chatillon, said he, perhaps you will never see me more! “My castle is besieged.  In the worst event I will not be made a prisoner; I will die fighting.”

 

No player will probably die, but if they lose they may feel like they did.

 

China has decided to get into their own self-sufficient chip making industry. They are challenging their biggest tech companies which have never built a chip, like Alibaba and Tencent, to start the process. World chip experts say they will never survive in this industry with no chip building expertise or experience. I say they have already stolen all of the most important engineering info they need.

 

I’m loving the universal love being shown for John Madden these past two days since his death.

 

“Do you think shaving cream really softens your beard … or is it just so you don’t lose your place?”

 

Chip shortages are really hurting many key US and otter global manufacturers. But the chip shortage is not breaking hearts like the current shortage disaster of Baby cribs, strollers and car seats that are not arriving in time, if at all. It’s not the babies you hear crying, it’s the parents.

 

Kamala Harris is resorting to the now tiresome national excuse for her lack of accomplishments and resultant criticism and falling poll numbers. Its because she is a black woman. Sure, it is.

 

The Answer:

I picked James Burrows for a Q because I he was the director of two of my all-time favorite TV concedes, Taxi and Cheers. He became the “Go-To” guy in TV comedy creating the pilots for Friends, Frazier, Will and Garce, Mike and Molly, Two and a Half Men and Big Bang Theory. He also directed many of those show episodes. It would take me a couple of days to type the rest of his accomplishes that include hundreds of movies and other TV shows. And another day or two to fix my typos. He began his career directing various episodes of Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart Show and Laverne and Shirley. He must be fun to have over for dinner.

 

“Shaving each morning in front of your car’s passenger-side mirror will give you a closer shave than it actually appears.”

 

Do you think that criminals stop criminalizing and political oriented people stop making inane comments before New Year’s? Because, have a lot of trouble finding things to write about.