Closure

 So, the funeral was today, and it was...quite nice, actually.  Somewhat larger crowd than I expected, but that was ok.  Mass was nice -- two hymns (rare in this day and age), a good homily, a pretty church (we do do that well at the Shrine)... Mom would have approved.  It was funny; when I arrived, a bouquet was there...it was from the Order, which amused us immensely, given 1) Mom never wanted flowers at the funer (or at all, when she could get the money for the casino) and 2) Mom squawked about how much time I spent at the food pantry.  I got them, and I will try to keep them around as long as possible...

Sunday night I watched "The Thomas Crown Affair" on TCM.  I liked it...sort of; I mean, I liked how the film was made, but as to the plot/story...it seemed a bit much, in all honesty.  I heard the remake was as good/better than the original, so I may check it out...

Cleaned the fridge yesterday -- old stuff purged, every surface wiped clean and bleached.  For all the horror of the job, it didn't take that long (I don't let stuff accumulate) and I felt sheepish I didn't do it sooner.  I did look at some labels, at least, and pulled stuff forward.  I also re-cleaned the bathroom, not for any real reason, just to be...responsible?  Adulting?  I think I will keep at it for a few more days, as the benefits (namely, a feeling of accomplishment) seem to outweigh the other factors.  For now.

Choices

 That was certainly quite the Cure bowl; I got a kick out the ending in regulation.  I don't know...either score or take a knee; I would like to think that kicking from the 5 or 6 (down the middle, too) is no different than from the 2.  That is the sort of decision that the coach should make, and we know that Hugh Freeze has had...questionable decision making in the past.  

Odd today at Mass. Well, ok, for one, I just had EM duty, so that return to normalcy was simply awesome, I can assure you.  Then...several people came up to me to ask about Mom and offer condolences...fine.  But then, one of the people I bring Communion to in the pews..gave me a gift -- a nice card, some candy, and a small amount of cash.  This threw me for a curve (ok, I didn't look at the gift til later) because...cards are fine, candy I can handle, but cash... I dunno, it's not quite blood money, but... I didn't really need it.  It will go back to the parish one way or another, but... I am not doing it for tips, so to get a gift (I am bad at gratitude, you know)... 

I noticed today that I received far fewer Xmas cards than in years past.  Not sure if this is due to the pandemic, the mail issues (in which case they will trickle in), people figuring out I am a reply-to-sent cards only kind of guy...  I guess I don't mind too  much; I am saving on stamps, and while I prolly should hit the stores for closeouts on cards...the only downside is the address label pile did not exactly diminish this Christmas.

Boxing Day

 I just realized it was almost 7 and should start thinking about dinner... I got a late start today, sleeping in til 8, then some leisurely reading of Internet articles, and then to the gym, where I rode the hell out of the treadmill (on top of leg day).  Then I got home and cleaned -- spraying down every surface, cleaning, scrubbing, and swiffering the steps (I think my Swiffer is going the way of all flesh...sigh).  The house even smells clean, and tomorrow I intend to do some more... I am beginning to think this daily chore or hour of so of activity is good in many ways.

Funny... I noted that today is the Liberty/Coastal Carolina bowl game, which promises to be a good one (especially if the head coach mentions the Christ-centered nature of Liberty).  More seriously...I really haven't watched any bowl games this year; to be sure, there are fewer of them, but the lack of a bowl pool has made me...well, there were always a few I'd have on as backgrounds, sort of like college football in general... but not this year.  It should be a good game; I know they sort of dummied into it, with tie-ins and such, but it would be ideal if bowls could be made to feature two equally competitive (or compelling) teams; I know it will never be a thing, but one can hope...

Almost done with the Wigilia leftovers, so now I can get around to eating the Christmas kielbasa... I don't even want to think about my plans for Downton Abbey-style feasting for Boxing Day.  Ok, I do; in retrospect, I should do more of this, but not all at once...  I find it easier and prolly less stress-inducing to make one item at a time; doing three at once as I did Xmas Eve was a bit much, whereas I feel better taking it slow, God forbid I deviate from a recipe...

Christmas

 Merry Christmas to all my readers!  It's a good day; after a slow but steady ride to church, I discovered that not only would I be the EM, but also the reader...thankfully, everything was right there on the lecturn, so it wasn't too bad... crowd was a bit more than I expected (roads were ok on the way there at least), and all were nice...I even made some friends, as a couple drove in from Mentor (I was impressed, given the snowpocalypse) and I showed them some of the sights while the sacristan was busy.  Then home to eat, lounge, and sort through some presents (books, cash, needed clothes). Might deep clean the house like I have been supposed to...

Yesterday I decided to make some of the dishes of the dishes of the Wiglia, the 12-course meatless feast of dishes eaten in Poland on Christmas Eve; I bought pierogi and picked herring, and made kutia (honey-soaked cracked wheat, quite good), noodles with poppy seed (it's ok; not a huge poppy seed fan). and a twelve-fruit compote (it had 12, but I think I overdid the brandy, though my fam assured me it was not possible) that came out pretty decent.  It was a lot of work -- about three hours -- but not that complex; just mixing and cutting and watching.  It was sort of fun...then again, we NEVER did this when I was a kid, of course.

I don't have much to do this long weekend -- I am off Monday -- so aside from hitting the gym, napping, and cleaning, one thing I need to do is erase some of the bookmarks I have been saving; the other is to watch some content, such as finishing "Free to Choose" or something I have been saving...it is more than high time that I crossed some of those off my lists...

Adjustments

 First time in a long time that I didn't call Mom right before Final Jeopardy! tonight...that took some getting used to, but I will have to.  Funny; the tradition started my freshman year of college, when I stayed on campus for the summer and I would talk to my parents every day at that time... and we kept doing it; I would give my score and we'd talk about the day.  Of course, I have had a bevy of texts and phone calls today, people checking in and all, so... I was not exactly alone.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/pope-francis-warns-against-internal-division-in-response-to-vatican-scandals-11608562364?mod=hp_listb_pos4

This could be me, but he certainly has done his part to create said divisions, hasn't he?  Not that we are going the way of the Episcopalians or Methodists yet (despite his theological attempts), but the man has certainly put his finger n the eyes of the theological conservatives... again, this is a problem, as in most cases, these are the people going to Masses, putting envelopes in the basket, and doing the legwork of the parishes. Unwise.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/democrats-see-grim-prospects-in-final-election-results-despite-biden-s-win/ar-BB1c6BuJ?li=BB141NW3

Maybe.  First of all, can Trumpism survive, and can it survive without Trump, if he goes away/party rejects him/whatever?  I am not sure he is going away, but with less of a platform, his voice might get marginalized (as much as it can be) and I am not sure that this is an unwise idea. Two, the GOP has to figure out a way to keep the new Trump voters whle also getting back the old voters, and this requires, if you will, surgical skill.  Now, someone other than Trump is probably a better choice for something on the "tact" side of the equation, but I don't know if we have anyone who can do it...

Progress

 Anyways....life goes on. Went back to the gym today (skipped yesterday), which was good.  The "Check Engine" light in my car has went out, which is suspicious.  Made all of the calls, texts, and such to pass on the news...couple of talks with my sister about the next steps -- funeral planning, cleaning out the hovel, that sort of thing.  I noticed the house is slightly messy, but as Xmas has been delayed til June, it can probably wait.  I did the dishes and took it upon myself to read a magazine from the pile, which is not exactly helpful to the cause.

I realized today -- even moreso -- that I could do both a tradtional Polish Wigilia and a Downton Abbey Christmas for Boxing Day...it would be awesome, aside from the making of 12 or so unfamiliar dishes, and working like a dog on the holiday, which would be less awesome. But I could certainly do a couple of each...hell, they sell pickled herring in the store, so I could use that as well...

I am not exactly surprised by the CFP results, but I was a little surprised to see several of my OSU-loving friends saying they didn't deserve to be in.  I think this is fair, but... the conference or even OSU could have helped by making them play another conference game or scheduling someone -- anyone -- to come to Columbus. I think the committee would have paid more respect to BYU compared to say, Coastal Carolina or Liberty, but I think OSU could have waved enough money around to have gotten a real opponent, and it would have not only given them another game... it would have sent a message that they were trying to fill out a season with games and were serious about competing.

A Lifetime of Regret in Twenty Minutes

 So...my Mom was re-admitted to the hospital this morning when her oxygen level was dropping; at noon the hospital called us and told us that there wasn't much they could do...and that they recommended hospice care. She had been diagnosed with COVID (a mild case), got remdesivir, never required a ventilator, and was doing well -- released back to the home to continue rehab.  But, it affecter her heart, and there was nothing they could do...

I went to the hospital to be there; Favorite Niece made the three hour trek from Michigan, and we went in together; a couple of residents and the hospice nurse came to see me in the interim (my plan to watch the Big Ten Championship sadly scorched) to answer some questions and see if we had plans (we did not; but Mom wanted very little -- no wake -- and now, of course, no one is having them anyway).... Favorite Niece arrived, and we went in to see her -- masks, gown, goggles, semi-scrubs -- for twenty minutes.  

The death scene of John the Savage's mother in Brave New World came to mind; the one where John and his dying mother are there... just because you couldn't get close and say goodbye, just in your mind...there we were, just watching her machine-breathe, hoping that somehow, somewhere, Mom knew we loved her, we were sorry for all the pains and sorrows we had caused along the way, and relived some of the best joys and highlights as best as we could...  Mom had been through a lot the past few months, medically, and I knew she was tired of it, and maybe this was for the best, but also, selfishly, I didn't want it to be now...  and then there was a knock on the window, and we removed our scrubs, left the room, removed the other gear, and let hospice take over.

Funny; I had just wrapped Xmas presents this morning -- which I hate more than soccer and Democrats put together, including the ones Mom wanted me to buy for everyone else.  The call from the hospital came just as I had finished -- all but one --and I decided the hell with it and just taped up the box.  I am a it down now...all of my friends have been group-texting me and such, but now, of course, I don;t want that... I do tend to cocoon when down, and this is no different...

Falling back

 So, my check engine light came on today...this would not be a problem, save for the fact that Wednesday I picked up the car to have a leak fixed....so, $400 later, something is wrong.  Ideally, it is just a misplaced sensor, but...it is an annoyance, and now is not the time for this sort of thing.  Of course, it's not like I have to go anywhere (the gym is optional, and we are allowed to skip Mass, not that I would), and being homebound might force me to go and wrap some presents, but...

I hit the SWAT food truck today -- a SWAT and Surf burger and some broiled brussels sprouts.  It was pretty good -- the portion of sprouts was ginormous -- and the burger (topped with lobster and crab rangoon) was good; it had some heat to it, to put it mildly, and in some ways it was too much (but I did order because it was so much).  It's funny, I have crossed three places off my food list in the last two weeks, which leads me to believe I am putting my Restaurant Lives Matter belief into practice.  My wokefulness knows no bounds.

In other sad news, one of our original founders of the OC passed away this weekend, with a funeral (no wake) this week. He was a nice guy, very practical and nonjudging, and he will be missed.  We are getting into the second generation of helpers for some of our parishes... at my age, I have plenty of time before I retire.  By which I mean "carried out by six at a lovely Mass."  Alas....

Up Late!

So, last night I did indeed stay up til 3 watching some of the new releases from the National Film Registry. I am off today, burning off a vacation day, so I was able to sleep in til 9:20 or so, which was...fine?  I felt pretty good, more or less, during the night last night...  anyways, brief film recaps!

"The Battle of the Century" (745)  This is a 1927 short from Laurel and Hardy; the story of its preservation is the big one; most of it was lost until a few years, when reels with 95% of it were found in a private archive, and they were able to save the film.  It's pretty funny -- who doesn't love a giant cream pie fight - and this is the sort of thing I love about silent films; it's overacting, nut it's well done, and we don't really notice it...

"Lilies of the Field" (746) I rather liked this one....Sidney Poitier is traveling workman who builds a chapel for barely assimilated nuns in the middle of the desert. Given what was going on in the world at the time...the context is there, of course, but also it's an interesting tale... mainly, two widely divergent people come together to build something. 

"Illusions" (747) Interesting novella-length film; shot in the 80s but set in WWII Hollywood, it deals with a woman "passing" for white to advance her career, and the challenges of keeping that secret while dealing with the racism and sexism of the time.  I liked it, sort of... it was a little slow at times, but it was a unique way of looking at the period through that prism.

"The Joy Luck Club" (748) I read this book in college, and the movie...oi.  Didn't like it; much like, say, "Grease," I can see why it was culturally significant, but...the plot can be described as Chinese mothers treat their daughters shittily across generations.

"Cabin in the Sky" (749).  All-black musical from 1943.  Thankfully, it wasn't that musically... anyways, I liked it in the this is interesting way....  for one thing, as we know, this movie probably wasn't seen everywhere, if you get my drift...two, there was a war going on, and they referenced it in some clever ways... odd, too, because in some ways, the stuff is...not 2020-approved, but at the time... the NAACP, for instance, approved of the film...

https://newrepublic.com/article/160534/desperate-last-days-local-news

Ok, this is me, but this is where the GOP is missing something; the party has olenty of people who can write checks...so buy these distressed assets, if you will, and put them to work...for our side.  I suspect that at the end of the day... if people want to be journalists, they will do so, even if it means swallowing a shit sandwich and investigating Democrats....

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/15/monell-rule-police-racial-justice-445308

This sort of thing annoys me; as I have gotten older, one thing about which I am completely concerned is that the courts exist to inhibit democracy; here, in this case, they've a created a mechanicism by which you can never have justice....which is not what the justice system is for, in my opinion...

https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2020/12/formalist-versus-realist-interpretations-of-the-post-election-litigation

I think is largely correct, and the idea -- floated by many right-wing bloggers -- that the Dems would NOT do the same -- is also largely correct...

Progress of a Sort

 Mom did not have a good day at the home today, so in consequence, neither me nor my sister had a good day, ether.  Oi.  I am thinking we need to find her a new place, as we have lost confidence in the old one... my sister is letting me handle this, for a bunch of reasons, and it is no fun.  Basically, you're flying blind here, as you can;t look at the places, visit the elderly parent to see for yourself, that sort of thing...  not much to do but hope for the best and muddle through.  To be sure, this is life in general, but...the stakes are higher now.

https://www.city-journal.org/end-insider-privileges-of-socialism-to-fix-american-capitalism

Interesting...

https://www.wired.com/2017/06/poes-law-troll-cultures-central-rule/

This is a thing?  I've pleaded this for years, often to no avail...and now I find out about this?  Oi.  More seriously, this is a problem (a first world one at that), that it's impossible to discern intent in a text.  Now, to be sure, 98% of the time I am a snarky smartass, and everyone knows this, but there are times (few and far between) whenI am not, and it impossible to tell.. 

https://deadline.com/2020/12/national-film-registry-2020-list-the-dark-knight-grease-shrek-blues-brothers-1234655817/#comments

I've seen five of these (six, if you count "Golden Arm," but it was so long ago that I will watch it again).  I have seen "The Blues Brothers" too many times to count -- the Penguin was pretty much most of the nuns I knew growing up -- and I suspect they held it to this year for the 40th anniversary.  Others I have seen include "The Hurt Locker," "Grease" (for the cultural significance, I can assure you), "The Dark Knight," and "A Clockwork Orange."  That's it; notice no "Shrek," though those who know me are not surprised.  Anyways, TCM is running a special tomorrow and will air a bunch of them, so I will have my caffeine ready and will stay up to enjoy...

Busy-ness

 The Cleveland Baseball Team? Give me a break.  How shall I say this...if the Tribe doesn't want to use Indians...well, I can anticipate many fewer nights at the ballpark.  Alas, alack.  I wonder how many people will feel the same way...

In other news.... while I am not a huge fan of football, it's no secret that I prefer the college game to the pro game, namely because so many more interesting things happen... shoe tossing, for one?  The end of the LSU-FL game was impressive, as was the WMU-Ball State ending.  And, then, of course, the firings.. Kevin Sumlin was dead man walking, as was Lovie Smith, and then Gus Malzahn.  I told a few friends that Hugh Frazee -- having absorbed as much Christianity he could take -- would be the next football coach at Auburn, and sure enough...his name is in the hopper.

Busy day -- surprisingly so.  The usual -- Mass, gym, laundry, followed by a trip out to Westgate to Target to pick up some ordered gift items; for all of the hustle and bustle there, it went quite smoothly.  Then off to King Wah (it's on my list of restaurants to visit) for lunch; it was quite good (the har gou was an awesome remembrance of things past) even if it was a bit odd in that it seemed that all of the guests were crammed in one section, which was...hardly distant, if you get my drift.  Of course, life is to be lived.  Then I hit some friends out there for a porch visit (I was roundly chagrined for being active in life as part of a high risk category; I think we all know how I feel about that), followed by a porch visit to another friend (pneumonia will get me before COVID).  Then home, where I tried out a new salmon marinade recipe...it was good, but I suspect the toaster oven's temps are not quite the same as that of a real oven. 

Funny, as I had planned to spend the day catching up on reading (I did some of that) and clearing out the email and links backlog....not that I didn't, but we still have several more stalls in the Augean Stables to clean out..

Lazy Saturday

 Slept in a bit today -- I have been trying to get 7 hours a night for the past few nights, with middling results, and then hit the gym...funny, I was planning on going to the mall today or tomorrow to do some shopping, but my sister and niece texted me their ideas, so... most of this can be done online, at least the ordering, and all I have to do is pick it up; that, and some gift cards, and we should be good to go...  funny; just gifts for my sister, brother-in-law, and favorite niece... all else are postponed.  I told the family -- my turn to host on dad's side -- that I wanted to do Xmas in June or July, and they were all for it.  I was a bit surprised, but, as my sister noted, a freaking pandemic is going on... anyways, my need to clean the house is lessened.  Rah.  I went through the list I did a couple of weeks ago; half are done, a big half; I can do a couple of little ones, maybe this weekend, but should be good to go...

Went to Blue Monkey Brewery today; it's the new place that opened next to Drug Mart (not the best location, and no food)... I picked up a Peanut Butter porter to go (a bit pricey), but it was...quite good, at least the few ounces I had of it.  I was gifted a to-go container of one of their IPAs, which was also good -- not very hoppy -- and for the few times a year I imbibe, this was it...

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/december-11-2020

Friend of mine sent me this...I love her books, actually; have a couple floating around here, writes about the birth of the GOP.  I think she is largely correct in her assessment; that said, I suspect most of the GOP reps who signed on to this are -- as she astutely noted -- protecting themselves from a primary challenge (which I get; the first duty of a politician is to get re-elected, and not being primaried is in many ways the key part; ask Joe Crowley, for instance).  In other words, I think much of this is posturing and gasconade, and should regarded with as much as the usual pablum.  On the other hand, with the latest allegations against Hunter Biden and Swalwell out there -- safely after the election, of course -- I have no doubt the anger over those allegations is....genuine.  There, I think, is the root of some of the animus, and until there is a reckoning of some sort...this will continue.

Cravings

 https://www.si.com/college/alabama/bamacentral/nate-oats-sounds-off-on-talk-of-postponing-season-due-to-covid-19-we-should-100-percent-be-playing-basketball

You know, I side with Nate Olds here...one, I do think Coach K is trying to fix his team on the fly, and two... I would argue that college athletes are probably best suited to withstanding the virus, so... teams, if possible, should play...

I had this taste for ice cream today, and... it seems most of the places are closed.  Some of the local joints are done for the season; the nearest East Coast Custard is.  I went to Handel's, which is fine, because it is quite good, but I guess I was a little surprised that places shut down.  I guess they are not that busy...but it seemed that Handel's was doing a land office business when I arrived.  People need their sweet fixes, and I suspect that the pandemic has accelerated it...

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-black-latino-and-progressive-democrats-are-forcing-biden-to-rethink-his-cabinet-picks/

This amused me, as yes, NO Never Trumpers have been named to the Cabinet, and even if they are...well, let's just say it will be to the ignomity that they richly deserve...

It will be odd to see Carlos Santana as a Royal the next two years, but...I don't know.  I recall what Bill James said about players with "old-player" skills; they tend to fall far and fast.  On the other hand...he developed the theory when players with Santana's skill set -- enhanced plate discipline -- were...less common, or, at least, it was not developed to the extent that it is now.  So I just wonder how much of the batting eye will remain as he ages and the power diminishes....

Sadness

Sadness... one of my good friends from church is now in in-home hospice care for cancer...while this was not unexpected, maybe I didn't expect it so soon, and it does suck, as he will be missed...

Slightly less sad:  Duke hoops.  Losing to MSU is no sin, but last night... I don't know, live by the 3, die by the three, but... the lack of an inside game is A problem to me, mainly because if you have one...one, it's easier to score, and two, teams move their defense inside to contest it, meaning you can shoot open 3s...  in the meantime, I writhe.

https://www.nationaljournal.com/s/711598?unlock=J578UR45EWWDTTDD;

I don't know....if I am Mike DeWine, and my opponent in a GOP primary is Jim Jordan...well, I am feeling pretty happy with myself.  I guess I see a 60/40 win there, sort of like Bush beating Pat Robertson in the NH Primary in 1992; it's a protest vote with plenty of headlines but that has no outward effect on anything. As I have said before...  I don't see Ohio, at least at the top, is Trump territory.  Also, one can argue that the kook factor helps DeWine in the general (like Truman in 48), as he can position himself in the sane lane...

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/12/trump-will-reign-atop-gop-until-2024/617300/

https://www.mischiefsoffaction.com/post/gop-conversation

Um...maybe. First, I think that yes, the Never Trumpers are indeed dead; I won't vote for one, certainly none of the new Trump voters would, and these people seldom have the support of the social conservatives who make up the base of the party.  It's one thing to not support President Awesome; it's quite another to make it public.

More seriously... one, four years is a long time; two... part of the issue is that a party is defined by its opponents as much as by its own policies, so... I wonder who/which of the party figures will rise as they battle the Biden Administration? Certainly Trump can do that, but a lot of it will be...old news, and I wonder what the younger voices in the party will do; hell, we HAVE a young wing, it could be argued, compared to the gerontocracy on the other side of the aisle...  

I suspect that at end of the day, while plenty in the GOP are glad for Trump for what he has done -- expanding voter outreach, pumping some enthusiasm into a staid bunch, that sort of thing -- there are quite a few people who are tired of the shitshow, as I like to say, and are more than willing to bet that they can ride the coattails to victory in 2024.  2022 will be the test of that, and I am glad to watch...

Vividity

 So, I've been watching the "Free to Choose" series on youtube -- it's the 40th anniversary, and on the various right-wing blogs this has been trumpeted (and heralded).  And you know what?  It's pretty good, and has certainly held up over time.  I am halfway through, and wish there was more...or that it would be remade. The appearances at the end are impressive, as well; Don Rumsfeld (of all people) and Thomas Sowell are among the recognizable figures. Of course, nowadays, it could not be made..

Not sure what I have been eating, but... Sunday morning I woke up and I had ripped the covers off, thus waking up freezing...so I got up, went to the bathroom, wrapped up again under the blankets....and just at the point where I was warm and comfortable again, and felt the stirrings of fatigue...off went the alarm.  Last nite... I seldom remember my dreams, but when I do... and this was one of them.  Not sure how or where it got started, but basically it was me taking a three-month trip to Wales, becoming ensconced with a local family (which came from "Shameless," more or less), and then having a Hollywood-style wrapup, all of which happened just when I woke up. It was quite impressive...

I do know that I have been eating a lot, or too much; I can feel the fatness, as I like to say.  I did a double at the gym today - complete with extended cardio -- and that will help; I also need to start reading while pacing again, not that that drags off calories but it is the principle, and any activity is better than none...  Things have not been helped by me making a big pot of cabbage and noodles...

https://nypost.com/2020/12/04/democrats-reaping-the-whirlwind-of-their-2016-election-resistance/

Yes, and it needs to be done to them in spades...

Refreshed

 I had planned on hitting the 1000 post mark by Xmas, if not the end of the year, but these little absences will make it harder for me to hit my goal.  I just crashed at 10:30  yesterday and -- after a wakeup at 2 due to low blood sugar -- I woke up at 9. On the one hand, I do feel rested; on the other, I definitely feel as if I missed out on things... I think shoveling did take a lot out of me; almost four hours but the driveway is clear.  Hit the gym yesterday for the first time in a while -- legs -- and whoa. I did do the 18 minutes of cardio that I had wanted; I think adding 3 more minutes per day might not be the worst thing, especially after the exhaustion of shoveling... to say nothing of the reading time.

I am reading The Allure of Battle now; it's written by a UK historian who looks at military history through the prism of battles - mainly that they are seldom decisive (at least totally so) but generals tend to want to fight them in the hope that they are.  The tone is actually mournful, looking at the game of the kings through the prism of men who fight the battles and suffer the losses.  Interesting.

Thursday night "Employees Entrance" was on TCM, so I watched it (739!)... it's a pre-code film about well, a businessman and his lack of scruples.  It's very dark; I need to watch it again to get all of the fine points I think I missed, but it is...well, relevant?  I mean, the main character/villain is straight from Harvey Weinstein, and considering that the character type was more prominent then than now (one hopes)... not that I didn't like the film, but it defies easy characterization...

Lights On

 Well, we certainly have a lot of snow here... I measured 14 inches in my driveway, which I have to shovel, as my plow person has a broken part (which I can understand, if he was carving through 14 inches or more on every driveway)... on the one hand, I am getting older, and need more cardio, and simply can't shovel a foot of snow on a 40' by 12' driveway.  On the other, it's a lot of fucking snow, and at least today I did half of it; it wasn;t that cold or windy, and I just went down the driveway, made a path to the mailbox, and widened it and the apron this evening.  Will try to finish tomorrow; don;t think it will be warm enough to rely on snowmelt...

Tuesday I woke up and the power was out; I figured out because my battery-powered clock did the honors and the light switch didn't work... I texted my boss, read the most important emails, and went back to bed... woke up at 9 and it was...odd. No furnace; had to light the stove burners with a match.  I just settled under a blanker and decided to read as much as I could before it went dark.  But, lo and behold, the power came on about 10:30, and it was a fairly normal, if stuck in the house, day.  I guess the thing that surprised me was how much of my life was governed by electricity; no Internet, no TV weather, even making a cup of coffee was a challenge...

https://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/newsstand/discussion/mlb_non-tender_deadline_tracker_yankees_will_keep_gary_sanchez_white_sox_tw

Every year, when the minor league FA list came out, the boys on my fantasy team and I, we'd always try to craft a team of players that could go .500... not that they ever did, of course, but the idea of taking a team of never-has-beens, never wills, and once-and-future greatness and making something out of it...well, with this list, you can!

https://deadspin.com/sarah-fuller-called-out-vanderbilt-in-a-halftime-speech-1845794743

https://www.outkick.com/vandy-players-considering-opting-out-of-final-game-at-georgia-another-kicker-joining-team/

Interesting...very interesting...