Rest

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-18/meet-the-chicago-floor-trader-who-helped-inspire-the-tea-party-movement

This was....fairly interesting, in a lot of ways, especially to me the parts about the set and then at the end, when they tie between the Tea Party and Trump...

Anyways, a long and busy week -- no time to catch up on films or any of that nonsense.  One thing I did want to mention was how I loved the Cardinal approach to Tribe hitters; they went slow, they went offspring, and they flummoxed a good lineup, albeit one that was facing a real team for the first time in a week.  In the meantime, I am moderately curious as to what will happen in Oakland.

I have decided that I need to embrace my inner foodie a little more; namely, I need to start hitting some of the restaurants I've always wanted to try... I am not getting any younger, and not that I deserve it, per se, but.... And, let's face it, it's not like the annual plan for a summer romance will happen....

Links

Up to 668 on the film list with the viewing of "Blackboard Jumble," which was an early version of "Stand and Deliver," I guess...it had some star power (quite a bit, if you account young Poitier and Morrow) and a plot that was... well, 50s ish.  I guess it was ok enough.  In the meantime...well, we are getting to the point where most of the films that have been seen and can be easily found... have been crossed off. 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/trump-is-worshipped-as-a-god-by-this-man/ar-AAzeyys?li=BBnbcA1
This, as you can imagine, amused the hell out of me...

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/26/republican-tax-law-churches-employees-670362
I think I've mentioned before we as the GOP should NOT be afraid of this; one, because, well, it would our base more of a reason to get involved in things, and two, if libtards believe in taxing and paying their fair share...well, a disproportionate number of churches and on their side would be paying the brunt of this, and there is nothing more enjoyable than to see one's enemies hoisted on their own pastoral petards...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/sotomayor-and-ginsburg-issue-scathing-dissent-of-scotus-travel-ban-decision/ar-AAzctPw?li=BBnbcA1
My first thought was "The ladies doth protest too much," followed by "Religious liberty but God help you if don't want to bake a cake for a same-sex couple."  In the meantime, Kennedy's retirement... well, for all the kvetching Republicans do about Trump (and I am one of them)... well, this is where, I think, they are (each and every mother-trucking one!) glad that he is sitting in the Oval Office.  I can console myself quite well by lapping up the sweet tears of liberal sorrow....

Bubbling

You know, while I didn't exactly do a lot over the weekend, one important thing I did was sleep.... I took a three-hour nap Satuday, and I cannot remember the last time I did that.  It also, I think helped my side -- the muscle is still sore and while it might be getting better, it doesn't feel good.  One unique side benefit is that I am now doing leg day every other day, so those things are built up.  That said, I have not exactly picked a fine time to act my age, or at least feel like it.

It was good to see the Tribe doing well over the weekend, though again... it is like medaling in the Special Olympics.  Hell, even Tomlin got a scoreless inning! :)  That said, they are still short a reliever, and I wouldn't mind seeing Erik Gonzalez out there  at 2B...

This could be me, but the people who insist that people should have to bake cakes against their will should also have to serve any government official who walks in, like it or not... as for Maxine Waters... well, there a lot of GOPers with concealed carry permits, and I think a few of them standing their ground... well, you get the drift.  As for the politics...well, I think -- as noted elsewhere -- that the issue does help the GOP... most people already have no trouble believing that the press is against them, and if the Swamp, if you will, is also against them...well, drain baby drain!

Progresses across the board

https://www.vox.com/videos/2018/6/14/17461488/dungeons-dragons-explained

This is pretty cute, but... no winning in D&D?  Next you'll tell me there is no winning in baseball, or life!

Anyways, life and things are going...swimmingly, if you get my drift.  Actually, I am feeling my age, if you want to reflect... a few nites ago I woke up and 1) Pulled the muscle attached to my rib cage (on the heart side; I don't think I was having a coronary as I am alive and kicking still) and 2) Knocked over my glasses, banging the screw loose.  Fortunately, I was able to get the glasses fixed, and while my core still aches... well, I've been able to do more leg day, which is prolly good, even if it kills me.  Think of the calorie loss...

I see George Kontos is with the rampaging Tribe; two BBs and striking out the side is impressive enough for this bullpen.  The defense -- which has been interesting all year -- has especially shoddy of late; even Erik Gonzalez is getting into the act, which is no fun.  My original comment -- beating up on the White Sox is like medaling in the Special Olympics -- makes me about as offensive (and accurate) as I have always been...

Up to 667 on the film list (I watched two in a row to avoid certain demonic numbers):  "Steamboat Bill Jr," the Keaton flick with the cool wind effects (quite good) and this one:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eadweard_Muybridge,_Zoopraxographer
 I really found it interesting; much as I say that silent films are a look at a lost world, so too was this one... all those photos, trying to capture motion, and then the camera comes along... but still pretty cool.

Back

That might be a record hiatus... let's see.  Saturday my family threw a surprise bday party for me (the exact age will be unmentioned)... Sunday was the parish picnic; Monday and Tuesday I had meetings.. Wednesday was PQ; Thursday was a late dinner with friends and the watching of "In Which We Serve," and last night I dined with a college friend and her family.  Rah!  Busy stuff.

In the meantime, the Tribe... well, the bullpen has been better -- hard to believe Neil Ramirez and Oliver Perez did the trick... now the OF is a wheel of movement... Melky is gone; hard to say if he needed more work or if the batspeed is gone.  Chiz and Naquin are back (thank you Yonder for your emergency which gave the Tribe some time), which might be nice... Rajai has become less crappy (though still capable of mental baserunning errors) and Greg Allen might be hitting himself to Columbus.  I for one suspect Kluber had a bad day at the office, but that could be me...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/republicans-absorb-new-lesson-cross-president-trump-at-their-peril/ar-AAyBSTs?li=BBnbfcL

This could be me, but someday someone will write a book about how the GOP electorate was misread by its politicians; maybe someone saw it coming, but it seems to me that, for better or worse, GOP voters decided they wanted something different, and the only person selling it was Trump.  I am not sure all of it is wise, but I think you can make a convincing case (quite easily, too) that the base wants less immigration, tax cuts, and less of the Swamp (whatever that may be to each voter!)... and that a lot of GOP voters do not like that other things -- Obamacare repeal, for instance -- have yet to occur.

https://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2018/06/why_president_trump_will_be_th.html

A couple of my coworkers were complaining about this... I pointed out that usually... when a black man and a Republican in a Democratic town was espouse his politics, a rope and a tree were the solution... needless to say, my little historical lesson was NOT exactly appreciated.

A new chapter

So... the bday was yesterday, and I am now 40... ugh.  Ok, it wasn't too bad -- I had an intensive workout at the gym, which I paid for today -- caught up on some things, and had a family dinner at Banter in Gordon Square; the poutines looked interesting and they were.  They were good; mine was a bit salty, but the rabbit pot pie was solid and the brussels sprouts were pretty awesome.  Then it was home... rah.

One thing I have been doing is watching some films.... these are:
"Superman:"  Yes, the one with Christopher Reeve and such.  I liked it; I was surprised, but I did... the effects were pretty cool, the story was interesting, and... well, it was sort of neat.  I can see how it became such a hit.
"Ball of Fire:"  1941 film -- Stanwyck, Cooper, and Andrews -- about encyclopedia writers finding love and the real word via a gangster's moll...cute and funny, but I am not sure it was NFR-worthy...
"John Henry and the Inky Poo" short animated piece from 1946; all African-American depictions... I liked it, actually, to say nothing of its content.

This puts me to 664 on the list... with a few more out there to watch, though, I am sad to say, some will be... off limits for now.. :(

I finished reading River of Dark Dreams yesterday...interesting book about the role of Mississippi in fomenting the cotton culture, slavery, etc.  I liked it, but it was a little far-reaching, and I think it could have been a couple of different books...

Links

Off today-- had an eye MD appointment -- and while everything is fine, the pupil dilation is rough; it was about four hours til I could read or type today, and that is NO FUN, especially for someone like myself.  I took a brief nap and watched "Save the Tiger," an interesting film NOT on the NFR, but one for which Jack Lemmon won the Best Actor Oscar in the 70s. In the meantime, I am better now, with a healthy dose of day baseball to cope.  :)

https://www.vox.com/2018/6/4/17424748/clinton-lewinsky-resign-gillibrand

I call b.s. here; either it was wrong then and it was wrong now, or you made a political calculation to say it was right...but you can't go backsies, or, say, criticize the current occupant of the White House when your guy was pulling the same crap.  As with so many other things, as soon as people who were around back then and did nothing start squawking about the Donald, you know when it is time to stop listening.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/06/title-ix-is-too-easy-to-abuse/561650/
Not only do I agree with this, but this is genius for males, especially those of a conservative bent...

https://www.vox.com/2017/12/20/16772670/baby-boomers-millennials-congress-debt

I largely agree, but then the question is...what do you do about it now?

Extension

Didn't sleep well last nigh, not sure why...ok, stress about the various things in my life, angst about the bday, the usual things... and it affected the workout today, which was leg day; I had to cut short some sets and I felt my right calf tightening the whole time during cardio.  Ugh.  I am hoping -- I am off the rest of the week -- I can nap/rest one of these days to catch up and let the body heal, or at least rebuild itself a bit... I can certainly sense myself flagging due to a lack of rest.

https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2018/06/cleveland_indians_add_veteran.html

Good to see the Tribe front office listening to me... :)  Tim Lincecum is also available, sadly... for him. Not saying we should sign him, but it would be cool to see The Freak live and in the flesh once.  I also note that three of the four top draft picks of the Tribe were of pitchers, including one who Francona wants to see up this year, which, frankly, seems a bit... soon?

I am not surprised the Supremes punted on the cake case... again, this is me, but I see this as a market issue; if people can run a business catering to -- or not-- some segments of the population over the other, more power to them... I guess, of course, as I have said before, for liberals, it is the Chick-Fil-A issue, where the presence of even one dissenting voice is simply too great a temptation and must be crushed (I am thinking of the Battle of Germantown, where the Continental Army lost a chance to win the battle by concentrating its efforts on the surrounded British garrison of the Chow/Chew? house...and no I am NOT Wikipedia-ing this; old but not stupid am I!) no matter the consequences.  I think the danger for the GOP is that the new case might not be winnable (and this one was narrow) and then what happens....

https://www.vox.com/polyarchy/2018/5/31/17406590/local-national-political-institutions-polarization-federalism

This amused me, mainly because -- again -- it is the Left who engaged in this nationalization of political battles/suppressing of legislatures to win on issues and now finds that the strategery is being used against them; to be sure, every out-of-power party believes in federalism, but only among the GOP are there people (and not nearly enough) who actually do believe in it and try to implement it...

Up to 660 on the Film List... watched "Theolonious Monk: Straight No Chaser" (660) and... for someone who knows little and has less interest in jazz, it was... fascinating.  Sort of made me want to check out more of his music...which I guess -- the propagation of knowledge -- is why I started on this in the first place.

Processions

Good to see Edwin getting uncorked... to be sure, it always seems to happen now and in Minnesota, but, this team will -- for the time being -- have to score 12 runs to win.  Oi.  In the meantime... this could be me, but while I like Bauer and Clevinger, they are sort of head cases, and the fact that they continue to put pitches where they shouldn't...oi.  I know they are young, but they are not that young, and it is... troubling.  In the meantime, I like the idea of Oliver Perez, not that he is any better than anyone else, but at least they are trying something, and it is certainly better than Jeff Beliveau. God, Perez has been around a while, and I can remember that, which means I am old..

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/germaine-greer-stirs-furor-with-call-for-lighter-rape-penalty/ar-AAy4BCz?li=BBnb7Kz

As a feminist, I am shocked and appalled by the efforts to silence a woman and prevent her voice from being heard....  Ok, I'll stop. It's almost too rich for me.  Ok, it's not, but you get my drift.  In other news, the North Korea summit is back on, not exactly surprising anyone, I think... again, I am not completely confident that it will achieve anything, but if it achieves something, that will be an improvement.

Corpus Christi today...it was nice, as always, but it was...small.  I mean, all of the altars were on parish property, and it was just one block around.  I mean, I suspect there are not a lot of places elsewhere in the immediate neighborhood to put the altars up, and it's not like there are that many Catholics around -- and certainly not enough volunteers to help, either.... and this would include me, so, as with so many other things, we are at fault.

Took a break from the film list and watched "Land of Mine," a Danish film about how German soldiers -- it appears the Hitler Youth drafted at the end of the war -- were used to clear Danish beaches of mines after the war.  The film seems to imply that yes, it was shitty for these kids to do that, and I agree, but, anyone who has ever read more than 1,000 words about Germany and WWII... well, I feel badly, but not that badly.