Although I don't find it as exciting or as interesting as the Major League baseball season, I'll still be watching and reading about the Summer Olympics in London later this month.

Two of my favorite actors died within the last two weeks, Andy Griffith and Ernest Borgnine. I really felt a sense of loss when I learned of their passing. They felt like friends. Many remember Borgnine as the star of TV's "McHale's Navy", or the Oscar winning actor in "Marty." But my favorite Borgnine rolls were in "The Dirty Dozen" and "The Poseidon Adventure."As for Andy Griffith, he'll always be remembered as Sheriff Andy Taylor of Mayberry, and one of my wife's favorite shows, "Matlock."How many of us, especially those of us who grew up in a small town, didn't want to live in a place like Mayberry, with Andy and Barney, Floyd and Aunt Bee, Opie and Gomer?It's nice that even those these two Hollywood greats are gone, that we'll still have them to enjoy because of their cinematic work.And speaking of TV shows, one I could never come to grips with the comedy, "The Big Bang Theory." I just don't think the show, or any of the actors in it, are funny. And what's with the annoying laugh tracks in these comedy shows? Do producers of the shows think we, the viewers, lack the smarts to know when to laugh at a good line, and that we need a prompter to tell us when to laugh or groan?Charlie Sheen may be a loose cannon - a nut case some will say. But his old show, "Two-and-a-Hal Men" isn't one tenth as funny without him.What the world really needs is a state-of-the-art toe nail clipper. The ones on the market now don't do a decent enough job.Closer to home, the Panther Valley School Board recently voted to spend $16,000 to paint the rusted light standards at the football stadium in Lansford. Good idea. And while they're at it maybe they can take the work a step farther. How about they take the time to replace the metal banners honoring the championship football teams of 1987, '88 and '89. The banners, taken down during the restoration of the stadium several years ago, were designed to recognize one of the best runs of winning in the school's 48-year-history. This included two District XI championships and one berth in the Eastern Conference finals.The banners currently rest alongside the bleachers on the north side of the field, doing nothing but accumulating dust. They could serve as a good reminder to today's athletes of some of the rich history of the football program.Of the four major sports, Major League Baseball's All-Star game is the only one with any meaning, and the only one worth watching. Yes, even Tuesday's 8-0 blowout by the National League, held my interest.The home run hitting contest is also a lot more entertaining than basketball's slam dunk contest.One of the best signs of summer - ads proclaiming "hand-picked, sugar enhanced, local sweet corn for sale." Drought conditions in 18 states have severely hurt this year's corn crop. Here's hoping Pennsylvania's crop isn't listed among the 18.How bad was the recent heat wave? Even air conditioners that don't work are in demand, it seems.I placed an old air conditioner out for the trash pickup this week. It was old, the cover was duct-taped, and it lost its cooling capacity. It's been replaced in our bedroom by a new model.The old relic didn't sit on the curb more than a half-hour, when it disappeared. I hope whoever picked it up can get it running properly again before we get our next wave of triple digit temperatures.What's in a name?A Schuylkill County man was arrested this week in Pine Grove Township and charged with pushing a woman down a flight of stairs.The name of the street where the incident took place?"Lovers' Lane".Go figure.Surprisingly, despite the Jerry Sandusky scandal, Penn State University received $208 million in donations this year. This is a slight increase over previous years.Looks like the school's supporters are as loyal as ever.