Man at the pot

My final day of food pantry duty today (for a while)... we weren't that busy, but half of the clients came in the last hour, so it was... odd.  I mean, you prefer a big rush early; instead, you started slow and then you had to pick up the pace.  The other thing odd is that people were... pulling crap?  Ok, not exactly, but cadging for more stuff, trying to get food without ID, etc... it's not like these are newbies here, they have been coming for years, and while some of the stuff we do is new... most of it is not.  Oi.  And, as we say, it's not like they forgot cigarettes... Anyways, no more duty for a while -- we were joking about how I said they can call me and ask for help, but they won't like the answer...

In the meantime, our cities are aflame, and while I get the anger, the looting and the pillaging, I think, is the last thing we need, as it proposes a counter-reaction, to put it mildly, and, well, let's just say that one good thing about this is the effect on the POTUS re-election.  Law and order might not work completely well here, but it does appeal to those on the fence about the man.

I have been concentrating on Hamilton and trying to get some rest, so no time for films.  In some ways, I am just waiting on normalcy -- Netflix and the library are the main sources for the rest right now.  

Another thing I have been doing is cooking.  I bought a Sav-A-Lot bag of chicken leg quarters ($3.99), a two-pack of butter ($2.99), and some potatoes ($1.49), and, over the course of two days... cooked them all (8 quarters total). I added a melange of spices (more on day two!) and...they came out pretty good, I would say!  Plus, as I told Mom, I got 8 meals out of this for about a buck each, which -- given my frugality and being the last fiscally responsible Republican around -- is something.

Catching Up...

So, I am not reverting to my previous ways (I hope); rather, after taking Memorial Day off, I tried to catch up on sleep (ha) and catch up on everything else... top it off, I've been having connecting troubles with the Internet...something is amiss, not sure what, but it is annoying as hell.

In the meantime, the gyms are open, and I have gone every day.  And, it's glorious!  Today I think I overdid it (I did a reprise of leg day, my blood sugar was a little high) but it has still been good to go out and lift.  The only drawback is... no one seems to be wearing masks.  I mean, I wear one -- it's a pain in the ass but it is a good example -- but I was literally the only person in the gym today with one, and there were about 50 people.  Mind you, nearly all of them were half my age (I hate saying that) and, like me, they are pretty skeptical of the COVID-19 claims... but still.  

Progress continues on Hamilton, as I now at page 625.  Still fairly interesting, of course.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/05/27/what_the_obamagate_scandals_mean_and_why_they_matter.html

I think this is largely correct, though, as I like to say, they did it because they could, not because they thought they'd get caught.  Which brings me to the related point, which is... they are going to get away with it because they did it by the book.  Or, more accurately, they used the rules and procedures to set it up that they could do what they wanted to do and cloak it with the air of legality... I think it is brilliant, if not devious, but that is part of the brilliance.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29175321/how-major-league-baseball-finding-narrow-way-back-field-coronavirus-pandemic

I don't see how they can pull it off without the prospect of labor strife, given all the variables in play...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/an-avalanche-of-evictions-could-be-bearing-down-on-americas-renters/ar-

BB14F8Du?li=BBnbfcN

I am a little skeptical of this, not that evictions won't happen, but I suspect that given the large number of tenants unable to make rent, it will be difficult to expel large numbers of people simply to replace with unknown tenants, many of whom are likely to be worse...

Summer is here?!

The long weekend is nice, even if it has not been terribly restful.. ok, maybe it has been.  I've still been getting up early, but for much of yesterday I caught up on podcasts, read, answered some emails, and did the little things.  I am slowly acclimating to the new CGM -- the location is not the best but the device is snazzy enough -- and today was the usual.

Today was the last usual for a while (I hope), as Masses open tomorrow and we will back to normal in time for Pentecost (yes, I will be wearing my Pentecost shirt).  Going to church an hour earlier will be different but it will be REAL Mass (insert snarky comment about the crowd being about the same). Our sacristan made the point that our parish is large enough that we can socially distance, but can you see at a place in the suburbs (someplace with plenty of money) someone coming in and being told to go home?  I, of course, will say get there earlier, but that is me.

Is it finally summer?  I mean, it feels like we had all of 10 days of spring but it is certainly warm enough now...  even the prospect of rain does not seem to dampen my spirits today, which is... good?  I guess I did have some extra pep in my step as I was out and about today.... so much so that I may even stay up to watch "Wings" tonight (a slient classic, underrated in my opinion, and of course no one watches them now), 2:30 AM or later bedtime be damned...

Progress across the board

So, Wednesday I went to bed early and last night I watched -- for the first time ever -- "Sleeping Beauty." (A couple of friends of mine found this to be incredulous, even for me.) Anyways -- this brings me to 728 on the NFR -- I liked it... the music was interesting, the plot sort of... nice, and I now I know where the Maleficent character comes from. I think I've mentioned I didn't do a lot of kid stuff as a kid -- I have definitely seen more Disney movies as an adult than not --so there is something I am missing, I am sure. 

It was funny, because during a text session with one of the friends, it was apparent that he didn't realize that back in the day, movies were a lot shorter... I had to explain to him (uisng films with an Entre-Acte, like Lawrence of Arabia) people spent whole nights at the theater (it was air-conditioned) and thus you could see two films, a cartoon, a newsreel, a short..it was all nerd-dom for me but he was genuinely fascinated by this concept... I really knocked his socks when I explained that there was a break between films because not only did people go to the bathroom, but... they (the projectionist) had to change the film reel.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/05/coronavirus-crisis-ron-desantis-florida-covid-19-strategy/
Yes, pretty much.  To be sure, it's still early, but... I think I read somewhere that Florida was 27th in the nation for COVID-19 deaths, and given the state's older population... well, that should count for something.  No one on this blog is that stupid to think that Andrew (or Chris) Cuomo will be called to the carpet for their failings...

In other news, I finally started Chernow's Hamilton today; I got it for Xmas, but for a number of reasons, I never started it until now... it is 700 plus pages, and the type is small, but it is engrossing, and very interesting, so the fact that I am 100 pages in, and only at 1778, is to me a good sign. The prospect of a long weekend with minimal things to do implies to me that there will be a lot of page turning...

Up and At Them

Long day today -- another sleepless night, for a bunch of reasons... anyways, in addition to work, I took my car in to get an oil change, and dropped it off, because, well, where do I have to be today?  Then, of course, the toilet clogged, and I had to call the plumbers, and it took four hours to unclog -- basically, it has been two decades or since the last time it was done, so there was a healthy accumulation of material (natural in various forms, if you will) to get through.  Oi.  They barely got done before 6, so I had to run over to the car place, get the car, and then drive to Mom's to take her shopping.  Humorously, at dinner, she got the last burger patty at Wendy's.  To her this was a crisis, to which I gave my usual response about people on ventilators and such.

Anyways, I do have this sense of dread about the virus, not that I will catch it but that cases will spread and the efforts to restart the economy will fail...and we will be worse off in every way imagineable.

https://aeon.co/essays/if-history-was-more-like-science-would-it-predict-the-future
Interesting.  I've read Toynbee, and while in some ways I thought he was spot on (such as climate or how technology developments push efficiency advances in soon to be obsolete fields) but I had to caution myself that in many cases, there is simply not enough there there to make more than a broad claim.

Sunday evening I watched "The Gang's All Here," bringing me to 727 of the NFR.  It was... ok? I mean, not my cup of tea, of course, but I could see how the film was a success -- wartime film, lots of attractive women, war-related theme, somewhat implausible story... it was sort of thing that could appeal to people back home and in the field...

https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2020/06/11/covid-19-sickness-food-supply/
I think this is largely true, but I also think that the whole point of these articles -- that we need to go back to a more localized food supply system -- is nice but also wholly unrealistic.  The fact of the matter is, we spend less on food now than ever -- and it would be a lot less (as a share of personal income) if people actually ate at home, instead of eating our or buying premade stuff at the grocery store.  We also spend less time cooking and preparing meals, which means we have more time for other things... I just think that these are good things -- go back 100 or even 50 years ago and Mrs. John Q Housewife (and it was indeed Mrs. Housewife back then!) if they wanted to spend more time and money making dinner, and see what they say...

Lazy Sunday

So, yesterday at the OC was... slow and steady?  For all of the hubbub of April, May has been... fairly quiet.  One thing that did amuse me was the large number of people who -- despite having been there before with our new format and such -- get out of their cars, try to talk to us, etc.  I realize these people are Hope and Changers, but... oi.  Especially when -- I read online yesterday -- that Slavic Village has a higher number of cases than, say, here.  I am not surprised by this, in honesty, given how people are acting.  At least we are closed next week, when I can perform social justice on my pillow.

Speaking of... last two nights I have been getting up way early; Saturday I woke up at 4:15 and could not get back to bed, and today I woke up at 5:30 with more of the same.  In consequence, I made myself a cup of coffee to plow through the afternoon.  Not sure why this is - stuff is the same as it always is, I guess, in terms of stress and work and whatnot.

I ordered some books from B&N (found a stash of gift cards)... with the libraries closed for a bit, I decided to pick up some paperbacks and try to knock off the ever-expanding book list.  Indeed, the combination of a long weekend, extra off time, a trip to take Mom to the beauty shop, etc., means I might have time to achieve some reading...

Weedwhacked today after lawn-mowing yesterday.  I guess it looks like...more importantly, it looks done, which is a far more important objective.

https://theathletic.com/1818308/2020/05/16/exclusive-mlb-proposes-medical-protocols-to-players-in-67-page-document/
Read as a first draft, this has...promise?  I am just not sure how doable it is, at the end of the day, from the practical -- Terry Francona's not going to stop with the sunflower seeds -- to the more realistic, like no one eating out or taking a cab or that sort of thing.  Three tiers of club staff?  Interesting.  Fifty -- fifty-- players on the roster?  Oi.  I do believe that is a sop to the union to pull other strings, though they may just take the gambit...

Friday thoughts

So...the state is re-opening!  I dropped off my watch for a new battery, yay!  We can go get our haircuts (I will use this opportunity to again suggest a manbun to my stylist, which I will suspect will go unheeded, as always) and hit the gym, the prospect of which I find to be...enervating, to put it mildly.  I still think most restaurants will not be open, given the difficulties of this...but I could be wrong.  People want to get out and eat.  I did note that one of my friends -- an RN -- is opposed to all of this, fearful of it restarting again.  I tend to agree with him, but the economic damage is such that we can't do it much longer.

In other news, I watched "Terms of Endearment" today.  I thought it was...ok?  I can't see how it was Best Picture.  Ok, it was tender and maudlin and a good story, but... I saw Larry McMurtry's name flash by, and I was like...didn't he write "Lonesome Dove?"  And he wrote this... and he did.  I guess it is a Texas story, in part, and he wrote other TX stories ("The Last Picture Show," the short story that became "Hud") but it was still something...

Some friends of mine were discussing the uneven nature of the supply chain -- knowing people who work in restaurants and all -- and how they were having food shortages; some of it due to farmers not getting the crops out, and some due to the trucking shortage -- a lot of the short-haul guys are now out of work and they're not carrying the food needed.  Today, I heard that we might be getting a supply of milk at the pantry...maybe regularly.  This is good -- free is free -- and as I pointed out.. well, cows have to be milked, whether or not you can sell it, so...

Costs & Benefits

No, I am not going to back to irregular blogging, and I was not watching classic films or NFR members.  The last two nights I simply went to bed early, for better or worse.  OK, better; there are times one just needs rest.  Also, I was getting the OC budget together, which takes time... I do have access to our accounts, which is good, but this also meant that for two months I didn't, so there was a backlog.  Alas.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-05-12/coronavirus-florida-s-reopening-is-worth-rooting-for
I think this is exactly right, and this is why I am sympathetic to people like Larry Householder; some states, and parts of states, do not need the same level of response as others.  People who are older or who have pre-existing conditions are indeed more at risk, but the much-maligned spring breakers might have correct (or at last less misguided) that for them, corona was...so what?  I mean, mind you, I am wearing my mask and social distancing, and staying home as much as possible, but at the end of the day...
Of course, this gives me an excuse to recall this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1YP_zZJFXs
Never mind that his opponent was...this guy.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/13/andrew-gillum-miami-democrat-linked-meth-overdose-florida-hotel/5042631002/
Meth...male escorts...bodily fluids in hotel rooms.  Yep, sounds like a Democrat to me...

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/05/coronavirus-us-economy-museums-should-reduce-spending-open-doors/
One of my college roommates sent me this... his dad asked what I thought of it, and... well, I agree!  I mean, I don't think that courts shitting on intent will go away, and I think that yes, museums should spend more on art.  Of course, now... can they?  I mean, in this day and age, how many people will rush -- en masse -- to see latest collection of Van Hoots?  I highly doubt the Re-Open protesters are the CMA crowd, if you get my drift...

Linx

Waking up -- on May 11 -- to a layer of snow on the ground made me, as I so often do, proclaim the settled science of global warming.  Anyways, as the magic of Netflix has yet to settle in the DVD player, I have some links instead...

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/how-an-obscure-british-comedy-sketch-became-the-world-s-most-repeated-tv-program?utm_source=pocket-newtab
I had never heard of this until today, so of course I was fascinated, and its pretty funny...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-start-of-a-talent-drain-in-the-college-basketball-game-11589194872?mod=hp_lead_pos13
Oh, I don't kow... I mean, even if say all of the top recruits went to the G League, wouldn't this just mean that colleges would be fighting for the next tier of players?  I highly doubt in such a case that the talent drop off would be so noticeable to the average fan that it would be noted. Indeed, I would ague that for most fans it would be immaterial, as they are rooting/caring for the school and not for the player. I mean, if enough players went to the G League, it would 1) possibly create more opportunities for mid-tier players but 2) drive up the bidding wars (legal with the upcoming NIL stuff and otherwise) for all players, pro-bound or not. Either way I don't think the talent drain would be more than a trickle.

Duke, of course, would never be involved in such shenanigans, and any and all complaints to the contrary are nothing but sour grapes.

https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b1lhy2h328jhpt/Inside-the-Biggest-Oil-Meltdown-in-History
Interesting!

The basebball news has been...depressing?  An 80-game season?  No fans in the stands?  Bad enough but understandable.  But, cutting the draft to five rounds -- in the guise of "cost-cutting" has to be dumb, especially for a club like the Tribe, where drafting young players is simply essential for being remotely competitive...

Catching up

OC duty today.... it wasn't very busy but it was steady; I think the cold weather -- behold the power of global warming, let me tell you -- scared some people away; we had a late rush.  Today we had...oddities; lots of people -- including those who know the new drill -- getting out the car, trying to get inside, asking about the clothing room, that sort of thing.  Oi.  On the volunteer side, we had plenty -- it seems everyone wants to get out of the house and get some activity -- and we were discussing the eminent return of Mass.  Namely, how are they going to distribute Communion?  Putting my Eucharistic Minister training to use, I pointed out you can;t use plastic cups or anything like that.  No one seemed to think that wine will be available anytime soon...

Keeping up NFR momentum, I watched "The Daughter of Dawn," (726) which was not exactly a thriller, but the subject -- a film with an entirely Native American plot and cast, recently discovered after being lost -- was pretty cool.  I wonder how much of the film was actual stuff and how much was for the (white) audience, but I assume some of it was traditional...

Nice, actually... did some reading and chilled.  Slept in a bit -- went to bed early-- and caught up on some stuff... one nice part about all of this, I guess, is that there is more time for that...

A Double Event

Bet you thought I was going back to the bad old days of weekly blogging... well, not quite.  Tuesday and yesterday I crashed -- not exactly sleeping well -- and Wednesday I stayed to watch a movie... it was funny.  Through the wonders of Netflix, "Zoot Suit" arrived -- 724 -- and I watched that, and it was... not quite my cup of tea/words cannot describe the awesome. Then, while channel surfing, I saw that "Daughter of Shanghai" would be on TCM at 11, and I had to watch it, as I couldn't find it anywhere else -- library, Netflix, etc.  And... it was interestingly good (if short); Asian male and female leads, a plot -- the smuggling of illegal aliens -- which is relevant today, and a plausible enough plot path.  So... 725!  Rah!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/elections-2020/trump-takes-underdog-role-in-campaign-against-biden/ar-BB13Gjhc?li=BBnb7Kz
Like it or not, I think this is going to be the new normal for the President -- Tara Reade notwithstanding -- but it must be said that the man is better on the attack than on defense, so maybe this will help...  I think it will take a bit more, hence the need to re-open the economy.  I don;t know... I am more and more on the side of the re-open question, mainly because the economic damage is so severe.  Mind you, I am not of the opinion that restaurants and bars will reopen quickly, or fully, but a start now would be a good thing for many reasons.

Oddly, I have yet to watch a KBO game... no real reason, just I keep forgetting it is on now.  Matt Williams, of all people, is managing a team there, so I will be rooting for them, and hoping that Jonathan Papelbon decides to make a comeback as well...

Travesties

Well, I guess J! has run out of previously taped episodes... I guess this is ok; I mean, you could tape new episodes, but I would guess that with between social distancing and the health issues of Alex, you probably could not.  Alas; I feel for people in the contestant pool -- it's large, and there are only about 400 or so spots a year, so every week they are not taping it's 10 dreams that are...crushed.  Ugh.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/allegation-against-biden-prompts-reexamination-of-believe-women/2020/05/02/00741eb0-8a5a-11ea-9dfd-990f9dcc71fc_story.html?utm_campaign=wp_politics_am&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_politics
Yeah, surre... I mean, it's "We need to revisit this because it might cost us the Presidency." Again, I don't mind that they do it, but the hypocrisy is beyond ridiculous -- even for Democrats -- and the fact that the GOP is not running ads on this is a bit odd, to put it mildly.

I also noted that the "1619" series won a Pulitzer... it is stick in the eye of the right, to put it mildly...

In the meantime, I went out and took another walk today...felt good to stretch the legs, and if the weather holds I will go out and do it tomorrow...

Unintentional comedy

So, our parish had its first even online Mass today, and I just watched it (in addition to my usual Sunday visit; our Polish community does not practice social distancing, if you get my drift).  And... I liked it (duh)... I am not sure that everyone will -- our camera people broke away from the action, if you will, to show shots of the parish interior and the side altars. Most of the other Masses I have seen don't do this... I can see both ways of course. For me... given my inability to pay attention to anything for more than 12 seconds, I was reminded of my own days (youthful and not) when I would wander with my eyes around the parish...so the approach appealed to me, if you will.

https://www.outkickthecoverage.com/all-that-and-a-bag-of-mail-115/
This is why I love Clay Travis...

It was (and is) really nice out... I ended up walking up and down the driveway and reading for a bit to get some sun and some exercise.  I really enjoyed it, which led me to believe I should be doing it some more...

The book I was reading was Rob Neyer's Power Ball, which covers all nine innings of a game between the Astros and the A's in 2017. As you can imagine -- knowing what we know now -- some of the book was unintentionally comic, such as the Astros' ability to put runs on the board while avoiding strikeouts, or any references to various front office strategy.  That said, the book was interesting -- mainly Neyer riffing about various points of interest to the baseball world, and in a world without baseball... I'll take it.

Dustless

Well, that Kluber trade is certainly looking even better now...

Food pantry duty today, and for all of the crowd and rush of last month, it was... slow?  Odd. Very odd.  We had a lot of produce to give away, at least, but we were all surprised.  On the other hand, it was a very stress-free day, as even the pain in the dupa clients stayed away as well...

I then came home and did some cleaning (I enjoyed a strawberry shortcake milkshake from Swenson's; pretty awesome)... dusted, swept a floor or two, opened some curtains and windows, even cleaned up some crap piles.  It looks and feels cleaner in here, which is... nice.

I rewarded myself by watching -- through the glory of Youtube -- "The Spook Who Sat by the Door," which is #723 on the NFR.  It was... oh I don't know, on the one hand a period piece, but it certainly has some relevance now in this age of BLM.  I liked it -- the premise was pretty funny, actually -- and the backstory (film suppressed because of its message) was in some ways as compelling as the story itself. On the other hand... well, I hardly think we are far-removed from that now...

I finished listening to this yesterday:
https://americanmind.org/audio/the-1619-project-exposed-a-special-edition-of-the-american-mind-podcast/

I found the history more engrossing than the politics, in all honesty...

I sense the goodness

So, I watched "Fog of War" yesterday -- 722! -- the documentary about Robert MacNamara, the Secretary of Defence during Vietnam.  I liked it, and I thought it was interesting, but... one learned about him, but not the why, and that to me was part of the problem -- it could have been better.  I realize maybe that was the point, but I watched it and went away wanting more.  One interesting point -- he talked about his first memory being the celebrations of Armistice Day, and everyone was wearing a mask because of the Spanish Flu pandemic...

I have been thinking about this lately, and in some ways... this is good?  I mean, no one likes being cooped up at home, but... oh, I don't know, there are some good things out of this. People can work from home for a prolonged period of time. I am driving a lot less, which is good for my pocketbook, and I suspect that everyone doing the same, it is good for the environment.  I am not hitting the gym, but I do have more time to read and watch some movies, hell, even write and text people I normally don't (as often).

I finished this book yesterday:
https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Religion-Culture-Politics-Eisenhower/dp/1101907398
I liked it, found it interesting.  Didn't realize he was from Rocky River.  I learned some things -- his experiences with the various spiritual and religious movements of the 70s, the Moonies, etc.  He seemed to have a lot of disdain for Billy Graham and the Jerry Falwell/Fundamentalist/Pentecostal movement.  I don't know; some of it is warranted, and some of it is Catholic bias towards a buttoned-down, free-wheeling group, which I get. On the other hand -- and the first part of his book discusses this -- some of this I think is simply that those groups -- like Catholics -- were never accepted by "mainstream" America at the time for being, well different.  (Think of the Latin Mass as speaking in tongues).  For Woodward to not get that is a little odd (maybe not, liberal bias). I guess this is why the alliance between the two groups for culture wars, if you will, has been surprisingly... easy and fruitful?  Some of it is I think the common enemy, but a larger part of it is simply at the end of the day they have the shared experience, which is a language in and of itself...