My Personal Blog

This is it… the last entry in the 40 til 40 series as tomorrow is my 40th birthday. In the 40 til 40 series, I spoke about anything and everything relevant to the number 40.  The finale of this series is about the events that occurred 40 years ago, in 1985, the year I was born. 1985 was the year of the creation of the Internet’s Domain Name System, USA for Africa released the song “We are the World”, Ronald Reagan was reinaugurated as president, the border between Gibraltar and Spain reopened for the first time since 1969, Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union, Expo ’85 was held in Japan, Coca-Cola released the infamous New Coke, 44 tornadoes struck Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario killing 90 people, U.S. Route 66 was decommissioned, Live AID concerts at Wembley Stadium in London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia jointly raised more than £50 million for famine relief in Ethiopia, Delta Airlines Flight 191 crashed in Dallas killing 137 people, Australia intro...

This is the penultimate entry in the 40 til 40 series of blog entries leading to my 40th birthday on Thursday. In this entry, I will speak about the episode of the sitcom Call Me Kat titled “Call Me Forty”. Before I talk about the episode’s storyline, let me explain what Call Me Kat is about.  Kat (Mayim Bialik) runs a cat cafe in Louisville, Kentucky who struggles to find a balance between her career and constant sense of loneliness.  Her mother Sheila (Swoosie Kurtz) cannot understand why Kat chooses to be single and constantly tries to get her to meet new men.  Phil (Leslie Jordan), the baker at the cafe, was supposed to be named William but was given the name Philliam after his father got drunk.  Randi (Kyla Pratt), is a waitress at the cafe and later business partner.  Carter (Julian Gant) runs the Middle C, a piano bar next door to the cafe.  Kat’s friend Max (Cheyenne Jackson) has just returned to Louisville after years of traveling overseas.  O...

This is the antepenultimate entry in the 40 til 40 blog series leading to my 40th birthday on Thursday.  In this entry, I will take you on a journey along Interstate 40. Our journey begins in Barstow via the 15 freeway (in California residents’ terms) and passes through the Mojave National Preserve before crossing the Colorado River into Arizona.  Parts of Historic U.S. Route 66 run parallel to Interstate 40 in Arizona.  We will ultimately get to Flagstaff and potentially take in the beauty of Grand Canyon National Park.  We could also take in the beauty in Petrified Forest National Park along the way.   We will enter New Mexico and the Mountain Time Zone towards Defiance and Gallup.  The trip will then take us into Albuquerque where we could take in the International Balloon Fiesta.  (We need to make sure we take that left turn at Albuquerque!)  But Interstate 40 will lead us to Texas and into the Central Time Zone, which Interstate 40 passe...

  This is day 37 of the 40 til 40 series of blog entries leading up to Thursday and my 40th birthday. In this entry I’m going to talk about the infamous Pittsburgh drug trials that took place 40 years ago in 1985. The 1985 Pittsburgh drug trials were the catalyst for a cocaine scandal in Major League Baseball.  Many then-current and former major league players testified before a grand jury at the federal courthouse on Grant Street in downtown Pittsburgh. The following players testified: Dale Berra Lee Lacy Lee Mazzilli John Milner Dave Parker Rod Scurry Willie Aikens Vida Blue Joaquin Andújar  Al Holland Lary Sorensen Claudell Washington Gary Matthews Dusty Baker Dickie Noles Manny Sarmiento Daryl Sconiers Derrel Thomas Enos Cabell Keith Hernandez Jeffrey Leonard Tim Raines Lonnie Smith Alan Wiggins Their testimony led to the September 1985 drug trials.  Eleven of the players were suspended in February 1986 by then-commissioner Peter Ueberroth.  The suspensions ...

We’ve reached the homestretch of the 40 til 40 blog entry series leading up to Thursday and my 40th birthday.  This is day 36.  This entry is about a curse that affected the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League for 40 years between 1927 and 1967 called the Curse of Muldoon.  (Keep in mind that the namesake of the curse, Pete Muldoon, was not related to my late friend Dr. Jane Williams, nee Muldoon.) In 1926, the Chicago Blackhawks played their inaugural season in the National Hockey League.  It was a moderate success, with the forward line of Mickey MacKay, Babe Dye and Dick Irvin each finishing near the top of the scoring race.  However, the Blackhawks were eliminated by the Boston Bruins in the first round of the 1927 playoffs, after which head coach Pete Muldoon was terminated. It wasn’t until 1943 that a sportswriter for the Globe and Mail named Jim Coleman wrote that Muldoon was terminated over an end of season disagreement with Major Frederic M...

Happy birthday America as I post on this 35th day of the 40 til 40 series of blog entries about anything and everything relevant to the number 40 leading up to next Thursday and my 40th birthday.  And in honor of Independence Day, I will post about the 40 most significant events in American history. 40. September 21, 1970:  The American Broadcasting Company launched Monday Night Football with the team of Keith Jackson, Don Meredith and Howard Cosell. 39. July 1, 1941:  Commercial television began in the United States. 38. September 26, 2012:  Following the Fail Mary incident on Monday Night Football, the NFL referee lockout ended. 37. November 22, 1963:  President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 36. July 30, 2002:  President George W. Bush signed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act into law following the Enron and WorldCom scandals. 35. September 28, 1985:  The Pittsburgh drug trials began. 34. June 27, 2025:  The United States Supreme Court ruled ...

This is day 34 of the 40 til 40 series about anything and everything relevant to the number 40 leading to my 40th birthday in exactly one week from today.  Last time I talked about my 40 favorite cartoon characters of all time.  Now I’m going to take you on a road trip along U.S. Route 40, also known as the National Road. We begin our journey at the National Road’s western terminus in Silver Summit, Utah where we get off of Interstate 80 north of Park City.  We climb several large mountains and eventually get near Dinosaur National Monument, an International Dark Sky park.  It was here Earl Douglass of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History discovered eight vertebrae of an apatosaurus on August 17, 1909.  It was the first dinosaur skeleton discovered and excavated at the then-new Carnegie Quarry. Past Dinosaur National Monument, we enter Colorado.  Along the way, we pass through the Continental Divide via Rabbit Ears Pass, Muddy Pass and Berthoud Pass....

Here we are on day 33 of the 40 til 40 series of blog entries about anything and everything relevant to the number 40 leading to July 10 and my 40th birthday.  Last time I talked about the 40 most significant events in Canadian history for Canada Day.  This entry is about my 40 favorite cartoon characters of all time.  I have included characters from kids movies, books and television shows, in addition to those from the funnies that you see in your local newspapers. 40. Porky Pig 39. Captain Planet 38. Tanya Gertrude Vanderflock  37. Rocko  36. Baba Looey 35. Quick Draw McGraw 34. Wildwing Flashblade 33. Mallory McMallard 32. Madeline 31. Daffy Duck 30. Rocket J. Squirrel  29. Bugs Bunny 28. Huckleberry Hound 27. Julia 26. Inspector Gadget 25. Norbert 24. Daggett  23. Big Bird 22. Bullwinkle J. Moose 21. Marvin the Martian 20. Tommy Pickles 19. Arthur:  He was created by Erie native Marc Brown. 18. Doug Funnie 17. Dagwood Bumstead 16. April O’Neal...

It’s day 32 of the 40 til 40 series of blog entries leading to my 40th birthday on July 10.  And in honor of Canada Day, I will post about the 40 most significant events in Canadian history. 40. April 17, 1919:  Women in New Brunswick gained the right to vote. 39. December 19, 1917:  The first games in the National Hockey League were held. 38. March 17, 1955:  Following the suspension of Montreal Canadiens star Maurice Richard, a tear gas bomb exploded near NHL president Clarence Campbell’s seat at the Montreal Forum, leading to the Richard Riot. 37. July 22, 1940:  Sudbury, Ontario gave the world future Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek. 36. July 11, 1990:  The Oka crisis began as a group of Mohawk people feuded with the town of Oka, Quebec over their plans to build a golf course on land that included an indigenous burial ground. 35. April 3, 1925:  Women in Newfoundland and Labrador gained the right to vote. 34. October 1, 1961:  The CTV network was la...