Tape title stories

  Stick with what you know    This saying may be connected to Warren Buffet but Greg Sheehy lived by this code decades before the Billionaire used the words. Despite being a man who took many chances and went to three different colleges Greg truly liked to stick with what he knew. If possible he would have a filet mignon with a spud when he went to a restaurant, he drank Canadian Mist, he wore dress shirts to Dodger games, he started his days with coffee cakes and watched Law and Order waiting for dinner time with a drill in hand. Lissy once described it to me as he will only eat at a place with a friggin' checked table cloths on the tables.  The suggestion to this guy having Japanese, Indian, Lebanese, Nicaraguan or even Thai food was like setting down monkey brains in front of him. The idea of low-calorie dishes, vegetarian or meatless fare was anathema to him. He was raised with solid American food and that was fine with him. Grace Sheehy was a first-rate cook but...

  Sore ass      This tale goes back to one of the many arcane sayings we learned from John F. Sheehy aka Big Joanie who taught his son Greg sundry expressions that may have not been used in mixed company. The double delight of this term was that it changed over time and had two distinct meanings. I am sure Richard Lederer and the cast of the radio show "a way with words" would have some description for this linguistic form. John would use the phrase as a derogatory term when he wanted to heap abuse on a person he disliked strongly. Thus a man like Richard Nixon could be a sore ass or a guy like Joe Moore who opposed Mister Mayor in the late 1980's would warrant sore assness. He also would turn the idiom into a description of his reaction to people he disliked saying "You know what gives me a sore ass?" This would be the preamble to a lengthy vent about something that irritated the eloquent elder Sheehy. Greg picked up this saying from the elder Sheehy Lexicograp...

  The spoiler       This is a combination of an earthy but delightful real life story told to us by the master and a some cocktail napkin art we loved. The story was told by the old fabulist John F. Sheehy who was at Gilmore field for a boxing match back in the late 1930"s. After a beverage or two John headed up to the rest room and a welcome row of urinals that were crowded but one spot remained. Our hero stepped up ready to relieve himself when he noticed movie star Victor Mature right next to him. Mature was mid-stream and with all his own functions relaxed, released a loud fart that echoed around the tile facility. In men's room etiquette this is just not done because it puts everyone else on edge and interrupts the crucial concentration to get a fully emptied bladder for the rest of the men. When John told the story he referred to Vic as a "son of a bitch" who earned the unfavorable title of a "spoiler!" A spoiler is a louse who ruins everyone else...

  Six bottle kid      While it proved to be his undoing Greg Sheehy was true to his Irish blood loving a drop of the craythur and the fruit of the vine on a regular basis. He was also careful to keep proper supplies when the social situation involved drinking of spirits. The old Irish-American song "Finnegan's Wake from 1864 described his leanings You see he'd a sort of the tipp' lin' way With the love of the liquor, poor Tim was born And to help him on with his work each day He'd a drop of the craythur every morn His larder had plenty of club soda and a bit of tonic water to aid the imbibing. His liquor cabinet always was stocked with Canadian Mist or Jamesons that the Missus took in moderation. When it came to wine he had a jug of Woodbridge on the counter that he filled glasses with and brought back to the surface with a rather loud thud due to his dulled hearing. At social gatherings he leaned toward JLohr, BV, Rodney Strong, Kendall-Jackson or the dreaded ...

  Where you at...two and a half?       When Greg worked for the Athletic Club Flower shop he was sent to the nearby Pantry Cafe to have a hearty breakfast before beginning his rounds for Uncle Johnny Tassano. The boss would inform Greg or Kevin or both that they should show up at 7 am "having had." This meant you broke fast before starting work. The portions at the Pantry are legendarily huge and breakfast was no exception. If you ordered ham and eggs you were given a ham steak that covered the plate. Hot cakes were immense, stacked up beautifully and covered in rich creamery butter and syrup. Mannings coffee was hot and plentiful. These memories stretch back to the days of owner Dewey Logan when the Pantry had no key to the front door and never closed. Logan himself lived a few blocks up Figueroa and sometimes sat out on the veranda of his home and had a smoke. Legend was Logan hired ex-cons and gay men who needed work as waiters and they were trusted by this wise o...

  Showdown at Jumpin’ rock      This was one more of the tape titles created for Mr. Ziesing when he was diagnosed with macular degeneration. The titles reflected events at Bone during my visits but  these CDs were meant only to be loaded into an Ipod mini for Roy to carry around in his pocket. Jumpin' rock in Rattlesnake Cove was a favorite spot for kids at Squam lake as it was high enough above the lake that the climb and jump were quite adventurous. It was a thrill for the kidlets and accomplishing the leap into the soft water was a feat they felt good about. Some little brats did it repeatedly but most just squealed with excitement as they flew through the air and maybe went back for seconds. On this one day we boated over to Jumpin' rock in Little Bear for some dare-deviling leaps. Ed, being older was a repeat leaper but little Kit Kat was much more cautious and shy about the public forum. Even as she was to someday become a part of show business she froze ...

  mud pie nostradamus       Let us return to the Date Orchard pad of Evan Sheehy in Palm Desert where an acid test was taking place with myself, Greg, Mike and Kevin. I believe it was 1975ish. It really was an ideal place to drop with pals as the home was remote and elevated so that views could be enjoyed without much effort. Greg and Mike had found clothing too restrictive and were au natural for some time even hugging to show their confident masculinity. Kevin and I mostly explored the domicile with minds blown. We spent most of the time  on a veranda atop the house that offered a track to walk around and allow for tripping. Rock music was blasted from the stereo in the house with sounds booming up to where we rode the notes around the date trees. There was a lot of boisterous story telling, wheezy laughing and joyful hoots being issued from the perch above the orchard. The noise may have drawn a local boy who was mentally challenged, maybe even non-verbal on ...

  Seminole      This was a place of daydreams, pot smoke, yarn spinning and mind altering music. I had graduated from college in the Summer of 1970 and bummed around for a few months just wanting to be a hippy, However,  pressure from home forced me to accept a job as a salesman of scientific equipments and chemicals for Van Waters and Rogers aka VWR Scientific. After a couple of paychecks I rented a cozy back house on Seminole ave. in Gate-adjacent Lynwood. Rent was 60 bucks.  This being one of the few parents-free zones it was a gathering point for young pals wanting to smoke, drink and talk about how they were not getting any girls. Greg visited Seminole almost every night and we sat, smoked and listened to music on my Morse stereo while figuring out a life where we knew all the answers. The Morse was a terrible, department store clearance console my Dad bought out of some guys car trunk but it played the records we loved, just not very well. The only TV...

  R i c h   t a p e s t r y      This has been touched on before but it was a central tenet in Greg's life after his successful career, marriage, home and raising of two fine children. He looked around and most of his dreams had come true as he sat in his leather chair free of tragedy and appreciating the good luck that had allowed him to live blissfully contented. He fully recognized his good fortune and was thankful to luck and not God that he had found his way to a paradise on earth.  “We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.” - Maya Angelou     Greg had lived through the ignorance that was around us during our youth and welcomed new experiences and rejected repression of people and the spirit of good people. Even though he cursed mightily the hypocrisy of religion and patriotism he also embraced the full experience of ...

 spiky haired gent       One of the most enjoyable and eventful psychedelic journeys I ever took was with Greg and Kevin in the early 1970"s. It was nothing fancy, just a windowpane winner called "green booger" and a drive around downtown Los Angeles and West LA. We dropped at an apropriate time and were in a good, giddy place when we piled into my car and began our exploration of the city. As is the case when acid works the best way, everything was shiny and new but we sought the real LA and set out for skid row and the downtown that was not really getting back on its feet after freeways left the place bereft. No matter, as all three of us knew downtown as the forbidden and fascinating place like no other in our expeience. Greg and Kevin had spent time delivering flowers and hanging around 8th and Fig and I had been a delivery boy for my Dad in the mid 1960's.  The Skid Row we cruised through was a sad and desperate scene before much of the effort to help the h...

  Proud of his burns     Sixteen year old Greg was delighted as puberty began to transform his body and facial hair appeared in his process to be a full-grown man. While hair does not make the man (see "let me eat my fucking taco") it does give a hint at the future gentlecat that was to become "Craig" Sheehy.  As the hippie scene was capturing the youth of America, facial hair was a symbol of expressing your peace, love and contempt for the man. Rock stars wore sideburns and stashes along with full beards. It was just letting your freak flag fly...man.  I was lucky enough to travel to Europe and turn twenty-one during the Summer of 1968 (Love). When I returned home I found my young pal sporting some visible sideburns. Needless to say he was thrilled to find his body turning manly and gave a coming out party to said burns at my parents terrific bon voyage party when they took a cruise and left their home in the "care" of the profligate party-animals of Sout...

  Summertime…Posso       This goes back to a clever drawing that was in the 1960 St. Francis High School Alvernian (yearbook) of cousin Michael Sheehy. It was a beautifully executed top hat with gloves and a gentleman's cane that always signified a man of leisure's acoutrements when out on the town. The little drawing was accompanied by the signature of one Ed Possemato who was a pal of Michael in those heady days of his time on the campus in La Canada for young Catholic soldiers of Christ. The statement beneath the symbol of a gentleman was "summertime...Posso" which elegantly expressed the desire to enjoy the blessed Summer that was ahead for these lads on their way to success and happiness. Nixon was battling JFK for president and "the twist" was a dance craze as the groovy 1960'a began. The image and joyous statement stayed with Greg and when he felt the happiness of Summer's charms he might just say "Summertime...Posso!"

  Pitch to me kid!      Some of these stories are just molecules in the lives of a couple of South Gate kids who had the good luck to live on a sliver of the American Dream. Myself and a group of other healthy children were part of the true baby boom and on our suburban blocks there were lots and lots of youngsters with total freedom and a one hundred acre park to explore. The Park was the center of our universe and we spent countless hours over there just watching and listening to the world filtered through youth sports with adults trying to be part of the whole scene. There was an olympic-sized swimming pool called the natatorium, a spacious civic auditorium,  a girl's clubhouse, tennis courts, horseshoe pits, shuffleboard courts, two playgrounds, picnic tables galore and ten full sized baseball fields. In Summer, after dinner the local kids might wander over to the park and watch a baseball game under the lights and hear the sounds of the action as interprete...

  Penske the healer      This is a bittersweet but still hilarious tale of Greg's favorite doctor, the sage of medicine: Ben Penske M.D. He was Greg's regular physician for years and was an old style practical man who gave his patients plenty of leeway in their lifestyle choices. So the story goes when our Sheehy went in for his yearly physical and Penske held a chart in his hands as he asked some questions. Do you smoke? answer  yes, about a half a pack a day. Do you drink? answer yes, about a bottle of wine a night. Greg, like all of us was harming himself with these toys but did not want to be told he had to cut it out. When he examined  the report he saw Smoking: moderate ..Drinking Moderate .  Greg was so delighted he always referred to Penske as "the great healer." A while later in Costco Greg ran into the good doctor who was loading a half gallon of Chivas Regal into his cart. We used to quote Willy Nelson "there are more old drunks than there a...

  Panel put your masks on      This one goes back to a popular TV show called "What's My Line" that featured host John Daly and panelists like Arlene Francis, Dorothy Kilgallen, and Bennet Cerf. They would try to guess a guest's occupation and each show featured a voice disguising mystery guest who they would know by sight but could not see. The show was rather high class for early television and Daly was urbane along with the witty and elegant regulars. Men wore tuxedos and the women dressed stylishly. There would be series of yes and no questions  asked by articulate panelists to determine the occupation of guests. The show ran for decades and was a Sunday night staple watched by both households. The dramatic moment of each week was the mystery guest and the moment when the panelists would be blindfolded. They would don elaborate masks like from a ball or carnival which would heighten the fun. The moment this excitement began Daly would intone "Panel put your ...

  Over our wine  see also "at the Palazzo" and " For the love of God Montressor"      This one is also drawn from the brilliant short story by Edgar Allen Poe "the Cask of the Amontillado" that Greg committed to memory. We had listened to the spoken word record done by Basil Rathbone so many times Greg not only knew the words but the intonation of each statement. At this point the be-sotted Fortunato has been tricked into becoming chained to a wall in a niche where he was promised the prized Amontillado wine. The aggrieved Montresor seeking revenge for a series of insults is now bricking him into the space where he will slowly perish. As Forunato is coming to his senses and tries to make light of the jest.  "But now there came from out the niche a low laugh that erected the hairs upon my head. It was succeeded by a sad voice, which I had difficulty in recognizing as that of the noble Fortunato. The voice said— “ Ha! ha! ha!—he! he! he!—a very good jok...

  Pair marvel at shrunken cream     This one is just a little snapshot of life in the drug confused but colorful days of the mid-1970's.  After the Midvale experiment Zeke and I had a good run at a terrific apartment at Veteran and Ohio near the old Federal building in West LA. The place was deluxe in almost every way except the fact the owners were getting ready to sell the valuable property so huge mega-blights could replace this old-fashioned luxury dwelling. When we lived there the large front room was full of Value Village furniture including two couches and a couple of easy chairs where friends would get high and sip suds or cheap wine. There was no stove and all meals were prepared out of an electric frying pan. No one had girlfriends for pretty good reasons and most of our time was spent hanging out together. One of the traditions of the dead-end lifestyle was getting drunk-stoned and then satisfying raging munchies by eating sweets or junk food in many forms...

  The nurse from down under      This nurse was mentioned before in a tale known as "Oh Johnny, You've ruined Sis' dinner party" but she bears repeating because Greg loved to describe one of his in-laws with this title. Once again the Ziesing proclivity for nicknames enters in about their own Aunt Teedie who was rather sensational in her salad years and was remembered at the storied Sheehy-Ziesing nuptials wearing a bold wide-brimmed hat that drew attention to her striking presence.  Apparently Aunt Teedie had spent some time in Australia and loved the accent of the "land down under." She loved it so much she sometimes adopted the Aussie accent when she had sipped a few cocktails too many. On the occasion of Johnny being administered aid after puking at the dinner table it was "the nurse from down under" who brought the much needed cleaning supplies to wipe the drunken man's puss. Greg was so delighted by this story he liked to refer to any occ...

 Not on my watch! We return to Bone once again for a heated discussion where I had to bite my tongue and hard. From my experience at the History department reference desk I came to believe in Historic Preservation Zones as a way of keeping archictectural integrity intact and safe from developers. In this integrity part I am one with the famed Daphne, the empress of Metcalf road. Squam lake is as remote a place as someone from Los Angeles could imagine but the locals keep a fine archive of happenings on that little slice of heaven in New Hampshire. In looking around online you can find  reports from the Sandwich Home Industries , papers of the Squam Lake conservation suciety, the excursions of the Sandwich Historical Society and the monograph Kinship and Landscape at Squam Lake where one might read about canoe trips made by "Mims" Butterworth. If it were up to the Metcalf contingent Squam would have remained  as it was when Teddy Roosevelt was in office. Yet as the author ...

 Why didn't Brownie clip the son of a bitch      This goes back to the father to son wisdom that was passed from John F. Sheehy to his youngest boy Greg. Greg was telling him about an out of control drunk who caused chaos at an ill-advised halloween party given by the residents of Midvale (me, Zeke, Ed and Bruce) in 1972. Midvale was an experiment in shared living once called a hippie crash pad. There were no rules and the place was a nightmare for neighbors since we drank, smoked and took drugs until the wee hours of the morning with music blaring and sometimes "bing-bang basketball" being played in the front room where a trash can was duct taped to the fireplace mantel and balled up socks served as a ball. The purpose was to rough up the other players and yell constantly. Boy rules! No one cooked, no one cleaned and the one terrible TV was a portable with a big hunk of aluminum foil attached to some rabbit ears. The party started out to just be an acid test for a f...

  see also "Raz and Daz" Min and Fin      From the pages of the Old Ziesing Dictionary comes just two of many nicknames that were placed upon family members in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. "Min," of course was Minnie ne Maude Sinclair Adams who married the handsome Yalie Robert August. Ziesing on the same day (not year) I once put on the holy bonds of matrimony myself  December 10 of 1949. There are two thick novels here but suffice it to say Minnie, known by her sorties as "Sis" was a delightful and practical woman who lived to 90 very full years. She was loved in the full sense of the word by her son in law Greg who  paid her such compliments that I almost knelt before her on my first visit to Bear Cove. Truthfully, Minnie ran things but never seemed to sweat the details. She was described as gracious and I would say that was a bullseye but I was told by a  family friend she was a sweet-faced assassin playing bridge.  She did have rules and t...