I've been involved in many activities during my life. One of my favorites was being a baseball umpire. Over the past few weeks, umpires and their behavior have received a lot of attention. As a kid who grew up in the '50s and '60s, I loved and played baseball a lot. Early on in my career of organized ball, my coaches made me a catcher...

Last weekend, I was focused on the annual Masters Golf Tournament. After reflecting about the tournament over the next few days, I was reminded of a particular quote from my youth, "... remember sports fans, when speaking of sports, speak like a sport!"...

Last weekend, "Baby Boomers" lost another legend from our collective past. Actor Peter Graves passed away from a heart attack, at age 83. His most famous role was on the television show, "Mission Impossible," but for many people my age, we remember him fondly, portraying the ranch owner, Jim Newton, on the Saturday morning kids series, "Fury."...

One of my favorite new shows on television is "NCIS Los Angeles." In a strange episode this week, the show's script, delved into a real life political and population issue. The show looked at one fictional family from China, who had their lives changed forever by the "one-child" policy of the People's Republic of China...

"A person is more likely to change their doctor or dentist, than the person who cuts their hair." I suspect that there is a lot of evidence to verify that theory. For both men and women, the cut and style of their locks, is vital to individual self esteem...

Every now and then, the planets align themselves, and I have an epiphany. That is a two dollar word that has many meanings, but for the purpose of this article, let's define it to mean a revelation or insight. It is not a coincidence that I am using a word like this. It has everything to do with the message I am trying to develop for this article. It has to do in particular with the changes I am seeing in our civilization, and the general puzzlement these adaptations cause me to experience...

If anyone ever deserved a Presidential Medal of Freedom Award, my list would include Ted Turner. Ted is of course famous for many different accomplishments, but for me his single greatest achievement was the creation of "Turner Classic Movies." Like many of you, movies have been an important part of my life as far back as I can remember. Movies have shaped for me, and millions of others, the way we view life and ourselves...

Last week, my friend Odie sent me an e-mail titled "Dancin' The Boogie." Like many of you, I get a lot of e-mails that are just so-so. Well, this one was so great, that I sent it to everyone in my e-mail address book. It was the best I have seen in a long-long time...

Making every Kansas City Chiefs game was once again a futile labor of love this season. There was, however, one recurring theme that I enjoyed immensely. Servicemen and women from all branches of our military, volunteered at the games for different charities. It was the reception that these men and women received from the public that made an impression on me...

One of the oldest jokes I can remember was one I heard from a relative at a family dinner. I was very young, but the joke made sense to me then just as it still does today. Here is the joke as I remember it. There were two fellows who went to see a parade in their town. In the front of the parade was a marching band. In the first row of the marching band was a fellow playing a trombone. Neither of these two fellows had ever seen a trombone before...

My first exposure to a passenger plane took place in the mid 1950s. I must have been about 6 or 7 years of age at the time. The old Municipal Airport, just across the river from downtown Kansas City, was the location for my initial introduction. The airplane for this original viewing was the most beautiful I have ever known, a TWA Constellation...

"I have a story for an article that you need to write." That is a common line that many of the contributors to our local newspaper hear frequently. I cannot speak for all of my fellow journalists, but I suspect that many of them have been approached with the same half-request, half-directive. It comes with the job...

Every few days it seems, the government, or some other ruling body, hands out a new rule or regulation. Sometimes these new prescriptions for behavior actually make sense. Too often, they are so ridiculous, that one wonders if the people who proffered these new disciplines, were of a sound mind...

The older I get the less I follow that advice. As a youngster, I looked up a great deal. There was a lot to see up there. I am not sure why age has changed my outlook, or should I say upward look, but it has. I noticed on the Internet news, that tomorrow night there is going to be a return of the famous Leonids meteor shower. As a kid we knew these shows by a different name, "falling stars."...