DILBERT MAKES THE RIGHT DECISION

ZUMA JAY

Jefferson Wagner, aka Zuma Jay, surfing legend and surf shop owner, Malibu City Council Member and Mayor, and as reported here,  Ralph Lauren model, Marlboro Man, Clint Eastwood stand-in, explosive expert, and some-time rock and roller, among other things - but most importantly, Jay is a basketball player.  Check out the Zuma Jay link for more pictures of The Man dating back to the 70's.

And I guess this is one of the perquisites of being Mayor of Malibu.

But back to basketball.  I met Jay while playing Wednesday night open gym adult basketball at Malibu High School.  Jay was a regular, along with Downtown Scotty Brown, Doug-I-Am-Not-Related-to-Adam Sandler and his son Nick, Vinnie, Eddie, Pablo and Pedro, Dave and Big Dave, Justin, Philippe,Steve, Tall Paul, Crazy Mike, Doc Sam and gym custodian Sam.  While Jay was not the most talented player on the court, he certainly was among the most competitive.  He has good skills, good basketball sense, and an intense desire to win, particularly since winners stay on the court while losers sit. Smiles don't come easy to Jay when he is playing ball!  I much preferred playing with Jay than against him, particularly since he is quite good at exploiting any height advantage he might have.  His signature move is a fake shot followed by a drive to the basket, and his signature MO is calling a foul when he missed his shot - OK - I overstate just a bit, but would wager that Jay is among the leaders in calling fouls against players on defense.  

 

Jay spends most of his time at his shop on the land side of the PCH in mid-Malibu, close to the Malibu Pier, so if you are out that way, stop by and say hello.

AMISH CENTERFOLD

I'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER, I'LL LIKE YOU FOR ALWAYS

Love You Forever

by Robert Munsch 

A mother held her new baby and very slowly rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she held him, she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

The baby grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was two years old, and he ran all around the house. He pulled all the books off the shelves. He pulled all the food out of the refrigerator and he took his mother's watch and flushed it down the toilet. Sometimes his mother would say, "this kid is driving me CRAZY!"

But at night time, when that two-year-old was quiet, she opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor, looked up over the side of his bed; and if he was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

The little boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was nine years old. And he never wanted to come in for dinner, he never wanted to take a bath, and when grandma visited he always said bad words. Sometimes his mother wanted to sell him to the zoo!

But at night time, when he was asleep, the mother quietly opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up over the side of the bed. If he was really asleep, she picked up that nine-year-old boy and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang:


I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

The boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was a teenager. He had strange friends and he wore strange clothes and he listened to strange music. Sometimes the mother felt like she was in a zoo!

But at night time, when that teenager was asleep, the mother opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up over the side of the bed. If he was really asleep she picked up that great big boy and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

That teenager grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was a grown-up man. He left home and got a house across town. But sometimes on dark nights the mother got into her car and drove across town.  If all the lights in her son's house were out, she opened his bedroom window, crawled across the floor, and looked up over the side of his bed. If that great big man was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

Well, that mother, she got older. She got older and older and older. One day she called up her son and said, "You'd better come see me because I'm very old and sick." So her son came to see her. When he came in the door she tried to sing the song. She sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always...

But she couldn't finish because she was too old and sick. The son went to his mother. He picked her up and rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And he sang this song:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my Mommy you'll be.

When the son came home that night, he stood for a long time at the top of the stairs. Then he went into the room where his very new baby daughter was sleeping. He picked her up in his arms and very slowly rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while he rocked her he sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

GLEN CAMPBELL, OVATION GUITARS, ETC

 

Some of you may know that Glen Campbell has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease and has released a 'final album' Ghost on the Canvas (official video) and is on an extended farewell concert tour (details at the Campbell link above).

A while back, I had the opportunity to chat a bit with Campbell.  He was attending the President's Reception for new students and faculty which is held each year at the Pepperdine President's Residence.  I believe that one of his children, Ashley, was an incoming student that year, and President Benton invited Campbell to join the President's Midlife Crisis rock and roll band for a couple of tunes including a rousing rendition of the classic Johnny B. Goode.  As he was awaiting his turn on the stage, I started our conversation talking about Ovation guitars because I knew that he played one on his TV show, the Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour.  In the 1960's, by way of a college friend connection (Henry Gleeson's dad worked for Kaman Sciences), I was able to get a very early production (#449) Ovation Balladeer, and as we chatted about his TV show and guitar playing, he reminded me that he has a line of Ovation guitars, designed by and named for him. Also, it turns out that Campbell was raised in the Churches of Christ, which is Pepperdine's affiliation.

Here are a couple of pictures of a 1976 Balladeer that is very similar to my circa 1966 guitar - the unique and ground-breaking feature was the single piece, molded composite back.  Charles Kaman was an engineer and a guitarist and along with his engineers, came up with the design as an acoustical enhancement.  Note the narrow neck - as I got older, my fat fingers have a hard time negotiating the frets, so I finally broke down and bought a wider-necked Martin.

As with all of us, time has marched on and Campbell had definitely aged since the halcyon days of the youthful guitar-playing singer.  

And like many celebrities, Campbell has a couple of mugshots, found here.  I would venture that you all can name a few of Campbell songs and perhaps even have a favorite that you would like to share in the comment section.  While I appreciate many of his tunes, I cannot say that any are on my Top 10, 25 or perhaps even 100.  However, among his many hits, this one is probably my favorite:

Written by Jimmy Webb

I am a lineman for the county.
And I drive the mainroad.
Searchin' in the sun for another overload.
I hear you singing in the wire.

I can hear you thru the whine.
And the Wichita Lineman,
is still on the line.

I know I need a small vacation.
But it don't look like rain.
And if it snows that stretch down south,
won't ever stand the strain.

And I need you more than want you.  And I want you for all time.
And the Wichita Lineman,
is still on the line.

And finally, for you old codgers [like me] here is a real blast from the past:

 

RUDY TOPS BLAKE

Much ado has been made over Blake Griffin's monstrous dunks, and they have become the benchmark for being 'posterized.'  For over a year, Griffin's dunk over Timofey Mosgov, then of the New York Knicks, has been the standard, and "Mosgov'd" became part of the NBA lingo:

Then, probably as a relief to Mosgov, Griffin's recent dunk over Kendrick Perkins has set a new standard - note how he uses his left arm to leverage himself right over Perkins:

And then last night, Mosgov, who is now a Nugget courtesy of the Carmelo Anthony trade, got the final word on Griffin.  At about the 30 second point in the video below, watch Griffin approach for another big-time slam, and watch Mosgov stop him cold.  From that point on, the Nuggets rolled and blew out the Clippers in LA.

But, the main focus of this post is a spectacular play by Rudy Fernandez of the Nuggets.  IMHO monster dunks should be EXPECTED from somebody who is 6 feet 10 inches, weighs 251 pounds, and can jump.  But Fernandez' play below requires a lot of skill, basketball smarts, and a bit of luck.  Time is running out at the end of the quarter, the in-bounded ball goes to Corey Brewer  who puts up a prayer that is way wide to the right - but watch how Rudy circles from the left, goes past the basket, and tips it in left-handed [Rudy is right-handed] with just a moment left on the clock.

Indeed, one of the best plays I have ever seen.