What is ‘issue oriented’ ?

As you know, I’m a lawyer. I’ve learned a lot of things as a lawyer. One of those things is that you don’t need to preface your thoughts with “In my humble opinion”, now known as IMHO in texticon. After all, if I’m the one spouting off an opinion, of course it’s “my” opinion. To say “in my humble opinion” is essentially redundant. Nevertheless, this column is IMHO.

IMHO the seats on Spirit Airlines are horrible. I’m not sure why. They tout that they have the youngest airplane fleet in the industry. They have rock bottom fares. They charge for everything, even water. But nothing keeps you from bringing your own snacks or drinks. All in all, the recent flight I took was very well executed. Mary Ann and I flew to Las Vegas recently and back for the price of one of us flying on Delta. But the seats were horrible and the four hour flight was miserable. I’m not against Spirit, but were I to fly them again I’d bring some kind of back support pillow.

IMHO I don’t really care what rockers, artists and actors think about politics. They are welcome to their opinion, I just don’t want to hear it, that’s all. That line comes from an old Andy Capp comic strip that my dad kept taped up on the refrigerator. So when I go to a Ringo Starr concert, I don’t want to hear his opinion, I want to hear music. Ringo obliged and said not one word political. Thank you Ringo.

IMHO Bugsy Seigel is an American Hero unknown to most of us. Who is Bugsy? He had the grand idea of taking a small little desert town (pop. 400) and turning it into a gambling mecca with lots of money, gambling and showgirls. His “Flamingo” hotel initially bombed and was shuttered, but he was in the process of reopening it when he was murdered in a classic mob hit. While he didn’t live to see it, Las Vegas became everything that Osama Bin Laden hated about America. It is opulent. It is electric. It is wasteful. It is sin. It is beautiful. It’s whatever you want it to be.

IMHO the funniest funeral song I’ve ever heard was sorta my fault. My sister, Sharon, died of melanoma last year. As we gathered the night before the funeral, we worked on a playlist of her favorite gospel songs. I had Grant, my now college sophomore music wunderkid, downloading the songs we needed. He downloaded “I Saw The Light.” It’s a beautiful song alright. As we are standing in the family reception line greeting Sharon’s friends, “I Saw The Light” came on. I started laughing, drawing the curious looks of my family. I told them to listen to the song. It was “I Saw The Light” by Todd Rundgren. A mellow rocker song, at least, but it was a rock song. Grant had done exactly what I told him, but it was not the song we expected. I mention this because Todd Rundgren is in Ringo’s All Starr Band and he too is a person known to speak politically, but at the concert he played music, which is all I wanted to hear.

IMHO, of all the Beatles, Ringo was the happiest. And well he should be. Fortunately for Ringo, Pete Best couldn’t bang on the drums satisfactorily for the rest of the Fabs, so they fired Pete and found Ringo. While not the best drummer ever (I think Keith Moon holds that title), Ringo was the best drummer for the Beatles. And he rode that position to fame and fortune, such that his All Starr Band is still touring with Ringo at age 77. I think he’ll be the first 80 year old rocker still playing that rock’n’roll.

IMHO if you ever get to Vegas, either save up your money or win some in the casino and take a helicopter flight into the Grand Canyon. They’ll sit you down on the edge of the river, provide you with a champagne brunch and take you back to Vegas. The Grand Canyon is an awesome spectacle, but a few hours of looking at it ought to be all you need, unless you are into hiking.

IMHO, you can go to Vegas and not gamble. Mary Ann and I have done it a couple of times. There are a lot of “free” things to do in Vegas, but watching the people on Fremont Street on a Friday or Saturday night should be on everyone’s bucket list. America is awesome because of liberty. You’ve got the freedom to be what you want to be, and the place to do that is Fremont Street.

HHJ News