Hello, gang! A few musings on this week's headlines and major league baseball has become a whore! Shall we begin?

LA FLORIDIANA Florida’s Commuter Airlines from the 1960’s to the 1980’s: Part Two  by Will Moriaty
THIS WEEK'S MOVIE REVIEW "Van Helsing"  by Mike Smith
ODDSERVATIONS Long Hot Summer Movie Doldrums  by Andy Lalino
VINNIE VIDI VICI Wacko Jacko Went Down To Texas....Surprise Embargo on Sushi....The Asscroft and Dumbsfield Dept.  by Vinnie Blesi
MATT'S RAIL And Now I'm Steppin' Into The Twilight Zone....The Monsters Are Here!  by Matt Drinnenberg
MIKE'S RANT Knew I Wasn't Hallucinating....The Mouse That Gagged....Wish I Was A Jetson....This Game Has Lost Its Balls....Meet The Beatles, Part 15  by Mike Smith
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KNEW I WASN'T HALLUCINATING
A tip of the hat to old pal Rick Sousa for helping me remember the name of the club I was referring to at Britton Plaza last week. While Nolan suggested Tappers (which is in the rear of the center) the club I was thinking of was Big Daddy's. Spoke to Rick on the phone this past weekend and we put our collective heads together to remember the venue. If I remember correctly, Matt saw Mickey Dolenz, Davy Jones, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart perform there in the late 70's. Rick says there is now a Taco Bell and Arbys where the club used to be. Sad. (Mike, yes, I apologize, I meant to get back to you earlier about that, but last week, after The Rant had posted a couple days it was actually reader and occasional contributor Count Poffula who suggested to me it might've been the LEVEL III LOUNGE, previously known as BIG DADDY'S and subsequently known as DESPERADO that you were trying to think of. Dolenz, Jones, Boyce, and Hart did indeed play there when it was Big Daddy's. Your direction about "on the Dale Mabry side" was maddeningly vague as the entire plaza faces Dale Mabry!! What would've been more helpful is saying, "on the Euclid side of Dale Mabry" and I would've gotten it immediately. The newer Taco Bell is actually south of the old club. A WALGREENS actually sits where the Level III/Big Daddy's was. BTW, Matt Drinnenberg wrote to remind me "the bar-n-grill/nightclub at Twin Bays Mall I can never remember the name of" he played at in the '80s was BOOTLEGGERS. ---Nolan)

THE MOUSE THAT GAGGED
If is with horror that I read Nolan's bit on Michael Moore's newest film and the Disney Nazi's that want to keep it on the shelf. I've been waiting to see "Fahrenheit 911" for some time now, ever since I read Moore's article in "Rolling Stone" detailing the various activities President Bush sanctioned immediately after 9/11. I was shocked to learn that, while our nation was basically grounded due to the restriction on flight, private planes were taking various members of Saudi families and the Boston contingent of Osama bin Laden's family out of the country. Disney tried this shit when Miramax was getting ready to release "Dogma," which they allowed another film company to release. I'll be very interested in seeing if Disney allows another company to release the movie or bows to the big man in the White House and keeps it on the shelf. Of course, I would then hope that "unauthorized" copies of the film would appear so that it could be seen. I'm sure this isn't the last we'll be hearing on this subject.

WISH I WAS A JETSON
Know why? Then I would be driving one of those cool cars that didn't use gasoline. Not sure what the price of gas is back home in Tampa or in Boston where Matt is, but yesterday I filled up at $1.71 a gallon for regular unleaded. Today, less then 24 hours after I had done so, the same gallon of gas was now priced at $1.88 a gallon. A SEVENTEEN CENT increase in less then a day. And for what? It was the same gas from yesterday. It's not like they got in some new, expensive gas. Is anyone else paying attention to this? If so, can you give me a reason why this is happening? If the price of obtaining gas is raised, shouldn't we only be charged more when we get to that gas? Because you know as well as I do that once that more expensive oil shows up at the local refinery the price is going to rocket skyward again.

THIS GAME HAS LOST ITS BALLS
I remember when Columbia Pictures paid NASA to allow them to paint the logo for "The Last Action Hero" on one of the rockets for the space shuttle. As I shook my head in disbelief, I thought to myself, "What next...........advertising "Spider-Man 2" on the bases during major league baseball?" Wow, call me Nostradamos. This week Columbia announced that they have paid the MLB $3.5 million to promote their upcoming film, "Spider-Man 2." During the weekend of June 11-13, 15 stadiums will display the films title and web image on home plate, the bases and the on deck circles. This, according to the baseball bean counters, will appeal to, and hopefully bring in, the younger fans. I can see it now. "No, dad, I don't want to go to the ball game tonight!" "But son, the bases are painted with webs for the new Spider-Man film!" "Whaaaaa?! Let's go, pop!" No, sorry. I can't see it. Guess Bud Selig is going to be pissed 4th of July weekend when all of the kids are watching "Spider-Man 2" and not his Brewers getting their ass kicked!

MEET THE BEATLES - PART 15
May 7, 1968 - John and Paul fly to New York to officially present the group's Apple Corps venture to the press. It is here that John gives the classic explanation of the company as "a place where anybody who wants to do a record or a film or just has an idea doesn't have to go on his knees in someone's office, probably yours, to get it done."

Well, that's it for now. Have a great week! See ya!