Grandpap and those damn Beatles...

It's been a while since I've written about my Grandpap. I was reminded Sunday night about how opinionated he could be when he believed something to be right, and how funny he could be even when not trying.

In case you haven't followed this blog since its inception, I'll give a little background info: My Grandpap, Thomas J. Gannon JR was born in August of 1913. He lived to the ripe old age of 98. He was a very traditional Irish Catholic man and could be as stubborn as anyone I have ever met.

Not too long after my arrival on this earth, he was close to collecting his modest pension from the U.S. Postal Service and begin to enjoy retirement. Given the house on Oakwood St. had long since been paid for, he could afford himself a few perks in life. Every few years he would buy the latest Oldsmobile Cutlass. Tom always insisted he wanted a Cadillac, but in his mind he "settled" for an Olds.

He loved to drive. It was his freedom. He had been driving since the Great Depression, and as long as he had wheels, he was basically a happy old man.

I like to think it was apparent pretty early on in my life that I was going to be a music head. I'm sure Grandpap knew it. I think he got some enjoyment in introducing me to Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and sometimes even the Rat Pack. He didn't stray much in his tastes musically, and the car stereo was always tuned in to some random Erie PA AM station playing "The Hits of Your Life." This channel was pretty progressive actually, they would spin "Puttin' on the Ritz" after a good turn of "Pennsylvania 6-5000."

One day fateful day in 1985, while riding shotgun with Grandpap on a weekend errand run, he changed the channel. He allowed 2 songs to play in their entirety on the JET top 40 radio station. Maybe it was an attempt to show his grandson how "with it" he was. Maybe it was a treat for the young music head. Who knows?

First song up was Mick Jagger's "Just Another Night." I was a little horrified sitting next to my elderly grandfather listening to Mick singing a plea for one more romp. To be fair, I was probably 10, but understood this was something I shouldn't be listening to with Mr. Gannon.

Next up: Animotion's "Obsession." That's right, another song that bluntly asks for sex. The horror of hearing the chorus sitting next to my 'pap is very memorable.

At this point, I'm sure the readers of this story are thinking "Mike, why are you so full of crap?" Look, as a writer, I take creative freedoms from time to time, but I really can't make this shit up.

Grandpap let the song finish, then turned off the radio. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke: "Everything was fine until those damn Beatles came along."

He was right.

I miss you G. I hope you're enjoying your rest.

Nago

Were the Oscars on or something?

The Oscars came and went, and the world moves on to the next thing to be mad about. I didn't watch the show. I am, however, watching the internet go guano loco regarding Leo's global warming speech. Nice job DiCaprio. Educate the masses (insert sarcasm). Not to say I don't think global warming is a thing, but I'm typing this on an airplane trip from Pittsburgh to Alabama. 

There is the rub. We live in a world where making a big change is uncomfortable and expensive. Most of us are just struggling to survive. I am working, and won't quit my job (neither will Leo, quite frankly) to curve global warming.

I am an optimist, however. I do believe that small changes make a large difference in our lives, and the betterment of this planet. I also believe the next generation will hold new solutions we haven't fathomed yet.

Do you think 100+ years ago anyone besides Nicola Tesla believed information could travel great distances without wires? He could not predict the way it changed us. People stay connected, stay disconnected, fall in love and cheat with a few taps on a screen. Who saw that coming even 20 years ago?

That's not to say we shouldn't be responsible humans about safeguarding the world we live in. I've never seen anyone have a meltdown because they couldn't find a recycle bin, but I have seen people lecture others for not recycling. The stewardess on this flight just announced "We here at Southwest do recycle," and that's a good thing. Almost makes me feel better about the pollution spewing form of mass transit I choose to use today.

What is the alternative? Driving there? That seems like a huge waste. Train? Diesel engines and long trip times aren't very practicle either. The truth is: I have no idea how to navigate the world I live in other than guzzle petrol and heat up the planet.

Most people are the same as me. We aren't formally educated in the science, our leaders profit from not doing anything, and when they do, entire communities are laid to waste because of regulations and global outsourcing. Plants and factories close forcing people to just simply survive.

As a society, we have road blocks to achieving enlightenment. I hear a lot about the kind of world we are leaving behind for our children. Our grandparents probably didn't focus on it as much as we do, but it is all part of the progression of the human race. We rely heavily on the tools available to us. You don't drive nails with a butter knife, you use a hammer. If you're like me, a cheap hammer will do just fine. After all, I'm not building a house. I have no idea the conditions of the factory my cheap hammer was manufactured in, or the location of said factory. It was the cheap option at Home Depot. It looked cool. It gets the job done.

We are a society obsessed with cool, flashy things. We want a "nice car." We want a "nice house." Both of which are powered by fossil fuels. If it's cold, you kick up the heat, and if you are going to the store, you drive.

Even the television we watch the stupid Oscars on is made up of parts from a foreign factory and is powered by electricity generated by Coal, Gas or Bio Fuels. 

So if Leo flys to St Bart's on a private jet, takes a stretch limo to the "Model of the Week" store, entertains his Model on his private Yaht and decks himself out in diamonds mined using child slave labor, it's just the tools available to him, and I'm not mad...

I do wish he would not preach however. A little "shut the hell up" is in order. Go on Internet, be mad at Mr. Dicaprio. He seems to forget the people that pay hard earned money to see him "suffer" for his art do not have the luxury to follow the pretentious.

My podium: Walk some, and for Christ sake people, recycle. It's the little things. You have control over that.

Nago