the Rageful eight

 the rageful eight





     Our blog hero was a paradox in that he was a rageful romantic. He would curse and berate those parts and people of pop culture while mooning over sentimental tunes from the past. If I chose to include certain songs on my Ipod playlist of the week he would demand silence as he laid his head back and drank in the nostalgia. He could swoon over a Johnny Mathis song, be undone by Crosby, Stills and Nash plus tear up hearing any one of  his Dick and Oscar favorites. 

"Time and time again I would try to say

All I'd want you to know

If I loved youWords wouldn't come in an easy wayRound in circles I'd goLongin to tell youBut afraid and shyI'd let my golden chances pass me bySoon you'd leave meOff you'd go in the mist of dayNever, never to knowHow I loved you"

     Some might call this schmaltz, he called it genius.

How-fucking-ever he had certain targets for his rage that could never escape his wrath. Here are just 8

!. Pipe smokers- this one he carried on from his father. He believed every man puffing on a pipe was an affected horse's ass
2. Little League World Series- He somehow believed this was akin to putting little girls in pageants and that kids should not be put through this kind of pressure.
3. Quentin Tarantino- No idea exactly why but he despised this director who gave many of us great thrills
4. Rick Adelman- who was hugely successful as a basketball coach in the NBA but Greg never tired of assailing his lack of personality, holding up his fingers with sliver of light between them and saying that was as much personality the man had.
5. Conservative Republicans- don't even bring up the subject around Greg.
6. Horseradish- While trying to talk some sense into the guy I never could get him to put the essential horseradish mustard on his beef dip at Phillippes or as a perfect side to the prime rib at Lawry's
7. Mothers and Fathers Day- "an invention of the floral industry"
8. Actors giving opinions he did not agree with. He loved to shout "look at this guy who never did a day's work in his life."
     Many, many more but let us leave it at 8 today

     Like his wonderful bride they were no saps and did not melt at the sight of a puppy or kitten. They also were immune to Hallmark card sentiment or Rom coms with well-known stars in the roles as struggling youngsters. Don't even bring up the poem "the lanyard."




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