Things Just Ain't the Same

Diesel in Maine in 2007:



Diesel in Maine in 2008:


Diesel in Maine in 2009:


Diesel in Maine in 2010:


Diesel in Maine in 2011:

Diesel in Maine in 2012

Diesel in Maine in 2013

Diesel in Maine in 2014:

Diesel in Maine in 2015:

Maine in 2016:

Maine in 2017:

Please Disperse

I know people died in this fire at a fireworks market in Mexico



but I can't help but laugh because the video reminds me so much of this scene from "The Naked Gun."

One More Craig Sager Fact

When Hank Aaron hit his 715th career home run to pass Babe Ruth, Sager was on the field (in trench coat) trying to get an interview.

The World Just Got Less Colorful

Craig Sager dies at the age of 65 after a long battle with leukemia.

Something's Missing

Diesel in Maine in 2007:



Diesel in Maine in 2008:


Diesel in Maine in 2009:


Diesel in Maine in 2010:


Diesel in Maine in 2011:

Diesel in Maine in 2012

Diesel in Maine in 2013

Diesel in Maine in 2014:

Diesel in Maine in 2015:

Maine in 2016:

There's Some People Even 300 Pounds of Weight Loss Can't Help

Actor Ron Lester died after suffering liver and kidney failure.
Lester became famous as the 500-pound offensive lineman, Billy Bob, in "Varsity Blues."

But as I reported in 2008, Lester had bariatric surgery and lost roughly 300 pounds.

But perhaps the damage was done. Poor Billy Bob.

I Would Have Shot the Parents Too

The tragic death of Harambe the gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo is the direct result of negligence by the parents of the child who ended up in the gorilla enclosure.

Yes accidents happen. Small children do things and go places they are not supposed to. But any good parent would have rounded up their child before they even thought of getting close enough to the gorilla enclosure to fall in.
As sad as I am about the death of the gorilla I feel the Zoo had no other choice. A tranquilizer dart wouldn't work fast enough on an animal that large. Entering the enclosure, even a trained professional could have frightened the animal.
They did what they could to do save the child's life. Now if they could only do something about his parents.

I Hope We Find Them a Nice Warm Jail

A bison calf had to be put down after a pair of tourists to Yellowstone National Park put the animal in their car because they thought he was cold.

The idiots took him away from his herd, and efforts to reunite him were unsuccessful and he had to be euthanized for his safety and the safety of others because he kept approaching people and cars.

The tourists, who are not American, say they found him alone, thought he was freezing and wanted to drive him to a park facility.

That's bullshit. I don't know if they wanted to take him home, or just have a good instagram picture of a bison calf in their rental car but everyone knows you don't fuck with nature.

The park rangers said the tourists thought they were caring for the animal. I am not forgiving. They should be prosecuted.

Paul Amon is Dead

The tugboat crewmember who died after the ship struck a barge and sank in the Hudson River early Saturday was identified as a Bayville man.

Emergency crews recovered the body of Paul Amon, 52, after the crash, near the Tappan Zee Bridge, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino said at a news conference.

Two others on the 90-foot tugboat, named The Specialist, were missing.

At a previous briefing, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the missing crewmembers were believed to be dead and state police were using sonar to pinpoint the location of the tug.

"You have three people who left for work, who aren't going to come home and that's what today is all about," Cuomo said. "Again, our thoughts and prayers are with the families."

I Walk Alone

There's an old breakup song by Dru Hill called "What Do I Do With the Love?" and one line "what do I do with my time, if I'm not spending time with you?" has really hit home for me ever since Diesel died.

I miss him terribly. I hate coming home to an empty house. No one waits for me by the door.

I hate dropping food. No one comes by to scoop it up.

I watch TV and look at the floor next to the couch. No one is there.

I hear a noise and look for Diesel.

I see something black on the floor. I think it's Diesel. But it's just a sweatshirt, or a pair of socks.

It's going to get even worse over the summer. I used to walk him almost every day when the weather was nice.

The rabbits would run and he would chase them.

Will I even leave my house this summer?

We used to go everywhere together. We walked foot and paw together through the world.

But now I walk alone.

A Boy and His Dog

The loss of Diesel has been hard on every member of the family and the kids have dealt with it, in their own way, befitting their normal personalities.

Chase was sweet, saying when he is sad he goes and lays with Diesel who makes him feel better.
He is old enough to understand the permanence and gravity of the situation but young enough that he doesn't quite know what to do with these feelings.

Even in his darkest hour, Julian can't help but be hilarious.
At first when we told him we were putting Diesel to sleep, he didn't seem to understand, thinking we would be able to go to the vet and pick him up when he woke up.
Once we explained that we would never ever be able to see Diesel again, he really freaked out, punching a pillow and shrieking.
When he finally calmed down he asked "Einstein and God invented everything right?"
We said "mostly God, but yes."
"Why did they invent dying?"
We didn't have a good answer for that.

Then we tried to explain that everything dies, pets, people. "and the dinosaurs!"

Lastly he wondered why "can't we make a robotic dog, with real dog fur, and we can reprogram him to not die."

Despite all this, I think the boys are taking it well. They grasp it now. They understand it's serious. They were appropriately sad, but not overly so.

But no matter where they go and what they do in life, Diesel will always be their first pet.

And nothing can compare to the love between a boy and his dog.

Diesel 11 (77)

Diesel, 11 (77), of Fair Lawn, NJ died Thursday, December 10th, under the loving care of the veterinarians at Valley Brook Veterinary Hospital, after a brief battle with cancer.
Diesel, an energetic, loving, black Labrador Retriever, enjoyed long walks in the park, chasing tennis balls (and rabbits and squirrels, too), laying in the sunlight and swimming in the ocean.
A lifelong Mets fan, Diesel was known to get incredibly excited every time he heard those magic words, "Mets win."
Diesel is survived by his parents, Paul and Kate, his brothers, Chase and Julian and a long list of adoring grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
In lieu of flowers, please pet the next dog that you see. Especially if it is your own.

Poor Diesel

A French police dog named Diesel was killed in the raid on an apartment in a suburb north of Paris.

Diesel is a 7-year-old Belgian Mallinois. The breed is similar to German Shepherd but more athletic. It is the preferred police dog throughout Europe and a breed I would love to own someday.

Money Can't Buy Happiness

Maybe I'm going soft in my old age but I actually feel sorry for Markus Persson, the guy who created Minecraft, sold it and pocketed roughly a billion dollars in the process.
Persson, known as Notch to cool people like me, recently tweeted a series of unhappy thoughts about life as a famous billionaire.
"The problem with getting everything is you run out of reasons to keep trying, and human interaction becomes impossible due to imbalance.
Hanging out in ibiza with a bunch of friends and partying with famous people, able to do whatever I want, and I've never felt more isolated.
In sweden, I will sit around and wait for my friends with jobs and families to have time to do shit, watching my reflection in the monitor.
When we sold the company, the biggest effort went into making sure the employees got taken care of, and they all hate me now.
Found a great girl, but she's afraid of me and my life style and went with a normal person instead.
I would Musk and try to save the world, but that just exposes me to the same type of assholes that made me sell Minecraft again."

Half the internet thinks he is clinically depressed and needs medication and talk therapy. The other half thinks he's a whiny little baby who should shut up and realize how good he has it.

But on my little corner of the internet I think he's just a guy going through some things that he doesn't know how to process.
He probably never wanted to sell Mojang (Minecraft), but did so because it would greatly enrich his partners, investors and employees.
He's just lacking direction and purpose in his life right now.
He probably has a great time at these fancy parties and hanging out with his cool famous friends (Zedd tweeted at him and invited him to his show when he plays LA next month) but when he's at home and his friends are busy with work and family, he gets lonely and feels isolated. And in this case he decided to let it out.

This is Markus Persson's house. He paid 70 million dollars for it.

But I think we need to remember that in life you need a certain amount of money to live a comfortable life. But once you have food and shelter covered, and some money to buy stuff and go on vacation, each additional dollar like has a very small incremental impact on your happiness.

So I do feel for Notch, and hope that he can find something to fulfill him, give him worth and help him make meaningful personal relationships.

Former Met Darryl Hamilton Killed in Murder-Suicide

Police have identified a man and woman found dead Sunday in a murder-suicide at a Houston home while their child was in in the house.
The bodies were found about 4:45 p.m. inside the house in the 11500 block of Island Breeze, according to the Pearland Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the home on an emergency call about a disturbance. When they arrived, they found the body of Darryl Hamilton, 50, near the front entry way. The body of Monica Jordan, 44, was found in another part of the home.
Investigators said it appeared Hamilton had been shot more than once and Jordan died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Police said the couple's 14-month-old child was also found unharmed in the home. The infant was turned over to the state's Child Protective Services.

Day 104

I remember the first time I ever heard of Phineas and Ferb. Chase was very young and we walked into the Disney store and all Phineas & Ferb merchandise was 30% off. I suggested buying him a bunch of discounted items and forcing him to like the show. Mrs. Poop said she heard it wasn't a good show for kids.

Boy was she wrong.

I remember the first time I ever saw Phineas and Ferb. Though we didn't realize it until much later, it was playing on the TV in the waiting room where Chase and the grandparents waited for Julian to be born.

And four years later I was running around Epcot in the Perry the Platypus shirt trying to thwart the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz.

And now, it's over. After the longest summer vacation ever Phineas and Ferb's series finale will air on June 12th.

Of all the shows my kids watched over the years, no show has been smarter, more beneficial, more life-affirming (yes, life-affirming -- we only have a finite amount of time, and even if it seems long -- like a 104 day summer vacation -- we have to make the most of every day) and more fun to watch (for young and old) than Phineas and Ferb.

We have so many family jokes from that show: when I tell them what we have planned for a day I say "hey Ferbs, I know what we're going to do today" and when we attend a small party will call it an "intimate get-together."



And we ask each other, "whatchadooooin?":



That of course is the adorable Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, daughter of Vivian Garcia-Shapiro (who loves the Mexican-Jewish Cultural Festival), whose family is half "ole" and half "oy vey."

On Christmas, we sing Buford's version of "Good King Wenceslas":



"Nobody's asking you nerd!"

So of course when I heard the news that the show was ending I got sad. Not so much that the show is ending, the episodes will live on in perpetuity on our DVR (especially "Roller Coaster the Musical" and the Star Wars special), but more because that chapter in my kids' lives is ending.

And it's unlikely a new show with as much imagination, creativity and humor will ever come our way again.

So I hope we will all heed the main lesson of the show and do everything we can to make today the best day ever. And then try to make tomorrow a million and six times better.