Month: February 2023

HEROES & HEELS – February 2023

We’re back with another edition of H&H, in which we celebrate the good & call out the bad that we’ve witnessed in the past month. Though I am convinced that we’ll probably see some sort of big snowstorm in the next few weeks here in northcentral WV I’m thankful that we’ve made it to the end of February having enjoyed a good amount of sunshine & 60/70-ish degree days. If this is global warming…i.e. climate change…then I’m here for it with few complaints. Let us go forward into spring with renewed hope, vigor, and joy.

“President” Brandon Biden & Pete Booty-Keg

It was inevitable that China Joe, a strange mix of immoral & incompetent, would end up here. Though I am convinced that his elevator hasn’t reached the top floor in several years and he isn’t really in charge of anything, as long as he holds the title he must be held accountable for his administration’s ineptitude & stupidity, including filling positions of authority with unqualified idiots in the name of “equity”. On February 3 a train derailment in East Palestine, OH (20 miles south of Youngstown) left toxic chemicals to contaminate the water & soil and pollute the air. Two & a half weeks later Biden still hadn’t went to Ohio but instead spent Presidents’ Day in Ukraine hanging off Zelenskyy’s junk and giving away more of OUR money. As a matter of fact Biden STILL hasn’t been to East Palestine and has given no indication that he intends to do so. However, nearly three weeks after the incident Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg did show up in Ohio, about two & half weeks after he should’ve already been there. The citizens of East Palestine are showing signs of illness & their environment is demonstrably contaminated, but Biden clearly cares more about his Ukraine kickbacks than American citizens, while Mayor Pete (who absolutely got his position because of his sexual preference) is in way over his head and seems to be more concerned with identity politics than doing a job that he was unqualified for in the first place.

Natural Immunity

It has now been confirmed by legitimate sources that masks have always been useless against Covid-19 and that natural immunity from having had the virus is just as effective as the “vaccine” so many were forced into receiving, with the added benefit that natural immunity doesn’t cause mysterious heart ailments or lead to otherwise young & healthy people dropping dead. Those of us with common sense & critical thinking skills understood this a few years ago, but we were shunned, belittled, “fact” checked, and called conspiracy theorists.

Aaron Rodgers

Rodgers is a weird dude. I don’t know the details of all of his issues with the Green Bay Packers, but it seems pretty obvious that the 39 year old quarterback and the team that he has played for since 2005 are heading for a divorce. However, before he can make any kind of big decisions AA-Rod recently had to embark on a “darkness retreat”, during which he spent nearly a week inside a cabin with no lights, no phones, no TVs, etc…just a pitch black isolation room, kind of like solitary confinement. Perhaps I am a bit old-fashioned and even somewhat obstinate, but what the hell kind of New Age BS is that?? 😂 There are undoubtedly lots of folks with real problems who might benefit from such tranquility, but a wealthy athlete believing he needs it is silly. The Packers need to trade him & be done with it.

Don Lemon

Lemon is another beneficiary of identity politics. A straight white male would’ve been fired long ago, but because Lemon is what he is he has gotten away with much more than others. A few weeks ago, after former South Carolina Governor & former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley announced her 2024 Presidential bid, CNN’s Lemon opined that the 51 year old Haley “isn’t in her prime” because women are in their prime in their 20’s & 30’s. Okay, first of all, what does Don Lemon know about women?? Secondly, if Ambassador Haley isn’t in her prime then what the hell is the deal with the fossil in the White House and all the old geezers in Congress?? Their expiration dates came & went a long time ago.

Former President Donald Trump

Unlike Biden, who has yet to visit East Palestine, OH and probably never will, the allegedly evil former President went to Ohio and distributed cases of bottled water & other needed supplies. You know…what we used to call leadership. Look, I’ve never put Trump up on a pedestal and will never waste time trying, but it is undeniable that the train derailment makes the Biden Administration look incompetent & unsympathetic on multiple levels, while Trump actually did something positive. Was it a smart political move?? Probably, although that area of Ohio is known to be mostly conservative folks who voted for Trump in the past, so at most it might’ve been repaying a kindness. It certainly can’t be categorized as “buying” votes since those people are already considered Trump voters. Conversely, Biden’s no-show could be looked at thru the prism of him not giving a damn about those who aren’t useful to him. At any rate, the fact is that President Trump actually showed up no matter what the motivation may have been, and I’m sure the citizens of East Palestine appreciated his generosity.

February 2023 Book of the Month – Man’s Search for Meaning

No matter how much we try to run away from this thirst for the answer to life, for the meaning of life, the intensity only gets stronger and stronger. We cannot escape these spiritual hungers. – Ravi Zacharias

So…you might have clicked on the link assuming…due to the title…that I’m about to drop some profound knowledge up in here. Well, you’d be right…it isn’t my own profundity though.

I have to give a shout out to my old friend The Owl, who years ago recommended to me Viktor Frankel’s 1946 best seller Man’s Search for Meaning. I have a vague recollection of maybe sorta kinda possibly hearing about the book, but then again that might just be wishful thinking. Anyway, after hearing The Owl…a man with impossibly high standards who is perpetually unimpressed by most everything…heap praise upon this book as if it is one of the best things ever written I put it in my Amazon shopping cart. However, when he continued his profuse admiration I decided to take things a step further and downloaded Man’s Search for Meaning on my Kindle app (which I rarely use) and spent a few nights winding down by reading what isn’t that lengthy of a book.

It turns out that it was a fantastic decision.

Joseph Campbell said that “Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer.” Writer Anaïs Nin stated that “There is not one big cosmic meaning for all…there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person.” Robert Louis Stevenson opined “To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.” Leo Tolstoy believed that “the sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.” The Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger says that “For me life is continuously being hungry. The meaning of life is not simply to exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer.” Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz admitted that “I don’t know the meaning of life. I don’t know why we are here. I think life is full of anxieties, fears, and tears. It has a lot of grief in it and can be very grim. I do not want to be the one who tries to tell somebody else what life is all about. To me it’s a complete mystery.” Douglas Adams, in his classic The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, proposed that “the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything is…42!”.

Are they all right?? Or are they all wrong?? According to Dr. Viktor Frankl…yes.

Viktor Frankl is the founding father of a branch of psychology called logotherapy, logos being the Greek word for meaning. Logotherapy advocates the notion that life has meaning under all circumstances (even misery). Our motivation for living is our will to find meaning, and we have freedom to find meaning in what we do, what we experience, or in the stand we take when faced with a situation of unchangeable suffering. We can discover our meaning in life by a) creating a work or doing a deed, b) experiencing something or encountering someone, or c) in the attitude we take toward unavoidable sorrow. The first way…achievement or accomplishment…should be self-explanatory. The second way…experiencing…could be something general like goodness, truth, & beauty, or more specific such as experiencing nature, culture, or another human being “in his very uniqueness”. We might call that love.

Logotherapy differs from other philosophies & schools of thought. For example, nihilism, which is the idea that life is meaningless. Or Sigmund Freud’s Pleasure Principle, which contends that man’s main concern is to find pleasure & avoid pain (y’all remember the id, ego, & superego, right??) And then there is the teaching of Alfred Adler & Friedrich Nietzsche, both of whom advanced the notion that our driving force is power, ambition, and achievement.

Conversely, Frankl believed that “striving to find meaning in one’s life is the primary motivational force in man”. He contended that humanity’s “main concern consists in fulfilling a meaning, rather than in gratification of drives & instincts, merely reconciling the conflicting claims of id, ego and superego, or in the adaptation & adjustment to society and environment”.

Dr. Frankl had been working on his theories since the 1930’s, but he was unfortunately derailed during World War II when he spent three years in concentration camps. Or was he derailed?? Being imprisoned actually provided an opportunity for Frankl to see his ideas in a horrific, very real situation. His description of life in the concentration camp makes up a large chunk of Man’s Search for Meaning, and it is a deeply impactful account. It is one thing to read about The Holocaust in high school history books, but it is an entirely different experience reading a first person perspective of the daily life of a prisoner who survived. It is a true blessing not only that Viktor Frankl made it thru such hell on Earth alive, but that he utilized lessons learned there to help people for decades afterward and write such a fantastic book.

Let me be clear…I have never been in a concentration camp or prison. I do not want to equate anything I have experienced in my life with those circumstances. However, many of the things Dr. Frankl says make a lot of sense to me and hit home in a very strange way. Due to some health issues I have spent some time (on more than one occasion) in a “skilled” nursing facility, have had a couple of longer than preferred stretches of unemployment, and have spent a great deal of my life feeling isolated & alone due to my disability. In reading Man’s Search for Meaning I felt like Frankl understood such conditions and how they affect one’s psyche and viewpoint.

It is in the third way one find’s meaning…one’s attitude toward unhappiness, regret, and inescapable circumstances…that Dr. Frankl’s wisdom shines. We’ve all heard the axiom “don’t sweat the (bad) small stuff”, and while I wholeheartedly agree I believe there is a different side to the same coin…appreciating the (good) small stuff. My father has a saying – “a half loaf is better than none”, and he’s also always taught us that one doesn’t have to look too far to find a person worse off than we are. We tend to find meaning in big stuff…lots of money, being famous, having some kind of grand purpose. There’s nothing wrong with any of that, but not everyone will achieve grandiose things. I have come to realize that I’ve been in survival mode my entire life. That’s not meant as an excuse, it’s just the cold hard truth. And you know what?? I’m still here. If Viktor Frankl were around he’d tell me that my life still has meaning, and if I’m being honest it would take some rather arduous convincing for me to believe that. However, reading this book is a pretty good start.

Top 100 Books of All Time (Allegedly, But Probably Not) – Part Deux

If you have not already perused Part 1 please do so. We’ll leave the light on for you.

An old friend of mine once observed that I “live in a library”, and he wasn’t wrong. My humble abode boasts about ten bookcases. Having said that, allow me to drop a truth bomb: I am a fraud…kind of. One of my favorite television shows is the 90’s sitcom Frasier, and I always admired Frasier & Niles Crane. Educated. Classy. Well-dressed. Cultured. However, the truth is that I am much closer in temperament to their father Martin…just a simple guy who prefers ball games, comfy t-shirts, and iced tea to opera, tailored suits, and fine wine. Looking at lists like the one we are perusing makes me realize that I am not particularly well-read, atleast by others’ lofty standards. I am much more inclined to enjoy a great sports biography or a cultural examination of food than most of the “great” books you’ll see mentioned here. So be it. I am at a point in my life when I am unlikely to change course, which is fine.

26 Catch-22 / Joseph Heller

A catch-22 is “is a paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules or limitations”, or “a problematic situation for which the only solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem or by a rule”. Same thing. The term was actually coined by Heller for the book, but if you want to find out the details you’ll need to read it yourself. No spoilers here, except that the story is a satire set during WWII.

27 2666 / Roberto Bolaño

I had to look this one up, and it doesn’t sound like my cup o’ tea. If you’re more familiar with the book feel free to try & change my mind.

28 The Recognitions / William Gaddis

Another book that I’d never heard a peep about in all my years on the planet. It sounds like it’d be long & boring. No thanks.

29 The Book of the New Sun / Gene Wolfe

We’re establishing a theme…supposedly great books that I’ve never heard of in my life. I’m not saying that’s an accurate metric. The older I get the more I realize just how small & meaningless my life has been. However, this whole thing is about me & my taste in books. There’s a lot of other great sci-fi that I’d love to get to eventually, so I doubt this makes the cut.

30 The Sound & The Fury / William Faulkner

Faulkner wrote a few well-regarded novels, and I’d like to get around to them eventually.

31 V / Thomas Pynchon

My initial reaction is to recall a godawful TV miniseries from the 1980s in which a race of lizard-like aliens invade Earth & disguise themselves as humans. However, the V referenced here is the 1963 debut novel of Thomas Pynchon, who has gone on to write Gravity’s Rainbow, Inherent Vice, and a few others. I think I’d lean toward giving those other works a go, and if I really get into Pynchon perhaps I’ll circle back to his first novel.

32 Journey to the End of the Night / Louis-Ferdinand Céline

I’ve never heard of it, and after reading the description I’m not the least bit interested.

33 The Catcher in the Rye / JD Salinger

I’ve read it, but I think it was too late. If I’d read it as a 16 year old boy I may have found Holden Caulfield relatable, but as a grown man I view him as an annoying kid and perceive the book as overhyped.

34 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man / James Joyce

Joyce has snagged another spot, but I’m not sure I am as intrigued by this book as I am the others. Maybe.

35 The Book of Disquiet / Fernando Pessoa

I read a description that called it a “masterpiece beyond comparison”, which sets the bar pretty high. I won’t dismiss it out of hand, but I’m not sure it is something I’d purposely seek out.

36 Faust / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I find the idea of a Faustian pact, in which a person actually sells their soul to The Devil, fascinating in a disturbing kind of way. However, since I already understand the concept do I need to spend 500 pages reading about it?? Probably not.

37 The Metamorphosis / Frank Kafka

We’ve already mentioned Kafka, and this is generally considered his masterpiece. It’s actually a short story, so I’ll give it a whirl eventually.

38 Siddhartha / Hermann Hesse

I’ve seen this book mentioned in passing thru the years but had no idea what it was about. The title is a Sanskrit word that translates to “he who has found meaning”. I have nothing against deep & profound, but I’ve got to be in just the right mood. It’s a pretty short book, so perhaps I’ll grab a copy somewhere.

39 The Master & Margarita / Mikhail Bulgakov

I only heard of this book in the past year, and since I occasionally enjoy a tasty margarita the title stuck in my mind. However, I’m pretty sure there is no tequila or lime juice involved. My research indicates it is a dark satire about Satan visiting The Soviet Union, which sounds like it might be a fun read.

40 The Lord of the Rings / JRR Tolkien

You’ve probably heard of it. Full disclosure: I’ve tried a couple of times to get thru the entire trilogy & failed. I don’t think I even watched all of the critically acclaimed movies. I really love The Hobbit though.

41 The Picture of Dorian Gray / Oscar Wilde

The Faustian Pact is back, and I am intrigued. Oscar Wilde’s personal life may be more fascinating than his books though.

42 Mason & Dixon / Thomas Pynchon

Pynchon is an American and he’s still alive, so that kind of makes him an outlier amongst all the authors listed here. I guess you’d call the book historical fiction, which is kind of in my wheelhouse.

43 The Idiot / Fyodor Dostoevsky

Dostoevsky sure seems to get a lot of love from the folks on /lit/. Have a bunch of Russians infiltrated the site?? Who knows?? At any rate, my research indicates that the story deals with the protagonist’s “most intense personal ordeals, such as epilepsy & mock execution”, and “explores moral, spiritual, & philosophical themes.” Ol’ Fyodor must’ve been lots of fun at parties, huh?? 👀

44 A Confederacy of Dunces / John Kennedy Toole

What a great title!! Are we talking about stupid people during The Civil War?? Actually, no. The story is set in 1960’s New Orleans. It won the Pulitzer Prize a decade after the depressed author had committed suicide at the age of 31. He only wrote two books in his short life, with the other one (The Neon Bible) having been completed at the age of 16 but not published until two decades after his death.

45 Pale Fire / Vladimir Nabokov

Nabokov wrote this lesser known story a few years after the success of Lolita. It’s a short book, so perhaps I’ll give it a whirl someday.

46 Slaughterhouse Five / Kurt Vonnegut

I am ashamed to admit that I’ve not read it. I own it, but that’s a whole different thing. World War II seems to be a popular setting for these “great” books, which might be part of the problem. My father was really into war movies & documentaries when I was a kid, and as you might imagine I found the subject matter quite tedious. I am much more inclined to read things related to The Civil War or The Revolutionary War. I realize that doesn’t make much sense, but it is what it is.

47 Brave New World / Aldous Huxley

Much like 1984 I feel like this is a book worthy of being reread, because decades ago I had no idea how much “fiction” would seep into my reality.

48 No Longer Human / Osamu Dazai

I’ve never heard of it, but apparently it’s a Japanese novel that “presents recurring themes in the author’s life, including suicide, social alienation, and depression”. Okay, so here’s the thing…I prefer books much the same as I do movies: uplifting, fun, delightful. I stopped watching The Oscars many years ago because it seems like the only films that critics appreciate are real downers. Is it the same thing with books?? To be considered “great” does a book need to be bleak & somber?? That’s just not how I roll.

49 Paradise Lost / John Milton

I don’t know…can’t I just read my Bible?? Y’all know how I feel about epic poems at this point. I am absolutely sure we studied it in school, or atleast parts of it. That may have to suffice.

50 Les Miserables / Victor Hugo

Titling your novel The Miserables is terribly poor marketing. While I have an affinity for historical fiction as it relates to American history I am much less interested in French history, unless it traces the origins of fries, kissing, or toast. The story has been adapted multiple times into movies & stage plays, but I don’t have any interest in those either.

We’re halfway there!! Stay tuned!!

Top 100 Books of All Time (Allegedly, But Probably Not) – Part 1

/lit/ is apparently a discussion board on something called 4chan, which, if I understand correctly, is an Internet community. I don’t know folks…I’m old. I pretty much stick to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, with Wikipedia in the mix as well. Anyway, /lit/ does an annual Favorite Books list based on polling of its users, and I stumbled upon this aggravate list, which is based on cumulative results from 2014-20. I find the rankings fascinating, and have been pondering use it as a jumping off point. For what?? Well, that is to be determined, though I will provide more context going forward. For now I have decided to simply provide my gut reaction to each book, some of which I am quite familiar, while several others I’ve never even heard of before now. I’m a pretty open minded guy though, so perhaps this project will lead to some impactful entertainment.

1 Moby Dick / Herman Melville

I read it in high school and didn’t hate it. I wouldn’t mind reading it again, although my time might be spent more wisely with new material rather than rereading a book that didn’t really impact me much in the first place.

2 The Brothers Karamozov / Fyodor Dostoevsky

I have it. It came as part of a Great Books collection I spent way too much money on that I didn’t really have many years ago. I find Russian literature challenging, and at 50 years old I’m kind of past making myself do anything unnecessary just to impress anyone. Never say never though.

3 Ulysses / James Joyce

May I contradict myself?? Ulysses is thought by many to be one of the most difficult books to read & interpret…but I’d actually like to give it a whirl. How far can I get?? Stay tuned.

4 Infinite Jest / David Foster Wallace

I actually have a copy of Infinite Jest sitting on the desk beside me. Procrastination has always been a character flaw, and quite frankly I am intimidated by everything I’ve heard about Infinite Jest. However, I am equally fascinated by its place as a modern classic, since it was actually written in the 1990s & the author wasn’t that much older than me. Sadly Wallace suffered from depression and hung himself at the age of 46 in 2008. It’d be less than honest if I told you that part of the equation didn’t intrigue me just a bit.

5 Lolita / Vladimir Nabokov

It is my understanding that it is one of the more controversial books of the 20th century, with the narrator being a middle aged professor who has an inappropriate relationship with a young girl. That sounds like a train wreck that one should look away from but can’t stop staring at. I’m sure a psychologist could explain our fascination with such things.

6 Crime & Punishment / Fyodor Dostoevsky

Another Russian novel that I own but really feel no pull to actually read. Kudos to Dostoevsky though…two books in the Top 10 is impressive.

7 Gravity’s Rainbow / Thomas Pynchon

I’m intrigued by the title. Is that odd?? I am also interested to see another book actually written in my lifetime (1973) show up, versus novels written centuries ago.

8 Don Quixote / Miguel de Cervantes

It’s a huge book…over 800 pages. There was a time in my life when I could blow thru something like that in a week, but those days are long gone. Still, I’d like to give it a whirl because everything I’ve heard indicates that it’s a really cool read.

9 Blood Meridian / Cormac McCarthy

Though written in 1985 it is set in the mid-1800s. I’d be more inclined to read it if it was actually set in 1985. McCarthy is probably best known for writing No Country For Old Men in 2005, a book that was adapted into a film that won the Academy Award for Best Picture a few years later. I have zero interest in that film, which makes me wonder if Blood Meridian would frost my cupcake.

10 Stoner / John Williams

This is the first book on the list that I’ve never heard of, and after reading a little about it I think I understand why. The first thing you should know is that it’s not what you might think it is given the title. It’s not about that at all. To be honest the description sounds rather boring, so I doubt I’ll waste my time.

11 The Holy Bible / God

I realize that The Bible can be viewed thru the prism of great literature, but that’s not what it’s about in my eyes. Do I need to do a better job of studying God’s Word?? Absolutely. However, I don’t view it the same as reading novels.

12 The Stranger / Albert Camus

I actually own a copy of The Stranger. I don’t remember when or why I got it, but it’s a short book that I will be tackling in the near future.

13 The Trial / Frank Kafka

Kafka is an interesting dude. There is actually a term…kafkaesque…which means “having a nightmarishly complex, bizarre, or illogical quality”. The Trial is amongst his best known works, and tells the story of a man who is arrested but has no idea why. I have a vague recollection of beginning to read the book but not finishing it, which sadly is not unusual for me. I thought I had a copy but can’t find it, so I might have to reinvest because the premise is intriguing.

14 The Divine Comedy / Dante Alighieri

I am intrigued, but…it isn’t a novel, it’s a narrative poem. I’m not really a poetry guy, and y’all know the deal with teaching old dogs new tricks. Still, Dante is a paisan, and though it’s a long book I’ve read lengthier stuff in the past. It is a challenge that holds a certain level of interest. We’ll see.

15 Ficciones / Jorge Luis Borges

I’ve never heard of it, but it’s a book of short stories originally written in Spanish in the 1940’s & 50’s. It isn’t high on my priority list, but short stories do seem a little more palatable than committing to one super long book.

16 Anna Karenina / Leo Tolstoy

I wonder if Tolstoy & Dostoevsky had kind of a Frazier/Ali, Brady/Manning, Bird/Magic rivalry?? They were contemporaries in Russia. At any rate, it’s a book I may or may not get around to someday.

17 War & Peace / Leo Tolstoy

Of the two I am more likely to tackle this Tolstoy masterpiece first, although I’ve heard it’s a bit of a slog.

18 One Hundred Years of Solitude / Gabriel García Márquez

I am intrigued by the concept…a story that follows seven generations of the same family. If you’re one of those folks who’ve watched the same soap opera for decades you’ll understand the idea. It’s high on my list.

19 Dubliners / James Joyce

Other works by Joyce get more love, but I’ve heard good things about this little collection of short stories about life in Ireland around a century ago. I am inclined to learn more.

20 The Odyssey / Homer

I own a copy. I know it’s one of those books I am supposed to have read long ago. However, it isn’t a novel, it’s an epic poem, which is defined as a “lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants”. The subject matter sounds cool, but poetry is supposed to be relatively short. If you’re going to write an “epic” why not do it in a novel?? The format weirds me out. I realize that sounds goofy, but it’s the truth.

21 1984 / George Orwell

It has been many years since I read it, but given the state of the world nowadays a refresher may be worth the effort.

22 In Search of Lost Time / Marcel Proust

It is a seven volume novel, and I don’t know if I have the strength. According to my research it contains “recollections of childhood & experiences into adulthood in the late 19th/early 20th-century high society France, reflecting on the loss of time & lack of meaning in the world.” Sounds like a real laugh riot, huh?? To be honest I hadn’t really heard of it until I saw the 2006 comedy Little Miss Sunshine, in which a character calls Proust the greatest writer after Shakespeare. It’s a mountain part of me has interest in climbing, but it would take a level of commitment & focus I haven’t exhibited in a very long time.

23 Hamlet / William Shakespeare

Not only did we study Shakespeare in high school, but I took an entire class dedicated to his works in college. Here’s the thing about ol’ Willie Shakes though…his stuff is really better experienced the way it was originally intended…as live stage performances…rather than read as books. Having said that, Hamlet is terrific, and if you can’t catch a stage production it has been faithfully adapted on film a few times. You ought to give it a whirl.

24 The Iliad / Homer

I own a copy, but have I ever read it?? Not that I recall, although surely we skimmed it in high school, right?? It’s not a novel, it is another epic poem, and I think we’ve established my feelings on that. Never say never though.

25 Notes from Underground / Fyodor Dostoevsky

He’s back!! Really…three books in the Top 25 almost makes me want to give Dostoevsky a whirl. Almost.

WINNING & MUSING…VOLUME 1.23

In retrospect we didn’t talk about sports as much last year as usual, which probably made a few folks happy. Of course I wasn’t as prolific overall in 2022, and it remains to be seen if that’ll change anytime soon. It’s been a rough few years in The Manoverse, and quite simply I’m not the same guy I used to be. That’s a whole can o’ worms we won’t open right now though. Instead let’s put a bow on the football season and perhaps address another topic or two.

Congratulations to the Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs. Did the Philadelphia Eagles get screwed by the stripes?? Yes & no. The controversial defensive holding penalty at the end of the game was legit, although I don’t think it’s a call that should be made in that moment. It was ticky-tacky…technically correct but still not a good look for the officiating crew. In general I thought it was a good game, although the fact that I didn’t have a dog in the fight on any level negatively affected my enjoyment of it. The anthem was alright, as was the halftime show, though neither were my cup o’ tea. It was generally an unremarkable event that I’ve already pretty much forgotten about.

You may recall that Zach & I went into the last week of the regular season tied in our Pigskin Picks of Profundity, and we picked all eight games the same in that final week, necessitating an unprecedented tiebreaker. We both went 3-5, finishing the season at 57-64. However, using the tiebreaker I was “closest to the hole” in 6 of the 8 games, giving me the season victory. I can’t wait to do it all again in a few months.

If I may go off the beaten path for a moment…

I watched with some level of befuddlement recently as Lebron James became the NBA’s all time leading scorer, eclipsing the record held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar since 1984. When James broke the record near the end of the third quarter they STOPPED THE GAME and had a whole ceremony on the damn court!! Then the Lakers lost the game!!!! First, I do not have an issue with the record being broken. It’s a record of longevity really, and both Abdul-Jabbar & James played in the NBA for over two decades, with the latter probably continuing on for another year or two. That is undeniably impressive. However, my perception of Lebron James is that he’s always been a Me First kind of guy, both on & off the court. Everywhere he has played the talking heads have whined about Lebron needing more help or Lebron not having enough talent around him to win a championship. That has resulted in him bouncing from Cleveland to Miami back to Cleveland and on to Los Angeles chasing titles. He’s played in ten NBA Finals but won only four championships, all the while blaming the losses on everyone else but the guy in the mirror. Conversely, Michael Jordan won six titles in eight years, and I have zero doubt it would’ve been eight titles had he not taken a soul searching sojourn into minor league baseball in the wake of his father’s murder. Not only did he not run away from Chicago complaining about the talent surrounding him not being good enough, but I cannot fathom any scenario in which Jordan would’ve allowed a game to be completely halted to celebrate an individual achievement. I know he wouldn’t have been okay with his team losing just because he set a record. James’ teammates will continue to say the right things, but I couldn’t help but wonder if they were seething that night, watching the masses fawn all over one guy while ignoring the team’s loss.

I suppose congratulations are also in order for college football’s back-to-back national champions, the Georgia Bulldogs. After a thrilling semifinal round that saw the Bulldogs defeat the Ohio St. Buckeyes with a last second field goal right at the stroke of midnight to welcome a new year, and the TCU Horned Frogs upset the Michigan Wolverines in the highest scoring game of the Fiesta Bowl’s 50+ year history, the title game was an epic disappointment in which Georgia beat TCU like Sonny Corleone battered Carlo Rizzi in The Godfather. I think I changed the channel in the first quarter.

Speaking of college football, Zach bested me in our Bowl-a-Palooza picks. He was 23-20, while I was a putrid 19-24. I’m sure he’d give up that victory in a millisecond though to change the outcome of the Fiesta Bowl and see his Wolverines get a shot at the title.

POINTS OF PONDERATION…..EPISODE 1.23

A semi-regular attempt to address some of life’s minutiae that might otherwise be overlooked…..

Well, the “conspiracy” theory has been proven as fact. Many of us have questioned the efficacy & safety of the Covid “vaccine” for awhile, but we had to be extremely careful with comments online because “fact” checkers do NOT want anyone with common sense & critical thinking skills to weigh in with truth, logic, and pesky statistics. That seems to be over now, as “legitimate” outlets like NBC, Sky News, & CNN have published a recent study that confirms “immunity generated from an infection was found to be at least as high, if not higher than that provided by two doses of an mRNA vaccine”, and “immunity acquired from a Covid infection provides strong, lasting protection against the most severe outcomes of the illness”. In other words, y’all were straight up lied to while Big Pharma & career politicians walked away with a financial windfall & absolutely no legal culpability. At best the “vaccine” that so many proud parents cheerfully boasted on social media about having pumped into their innocent children is marginally effective, while we’ll probably never be told the truth about the worst end of the spectrum. Sadly people will continue to “die unexpectedly”, and the ignorant masses will disregard this latest news while gladly receiving booster after booster after booster. Pathetic.

I know occasionally it is meant with sincerity, but ladies, men hate when you call us sweet. It’s dismissive. It is low key derogatory. It’s a gut punch to be perfectly honest. Please come up with something fresh & original.

One of the great mysteries of life is how the hell noted bartending enthusiast Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez became a U.S. Congresswoman. However, I think I may have cracked the case to some degree. I’m still trying to figure out why otherwise intelligent people admire AOC, but an undeniable fact I have stumbled upon is that she is a hero to really stupid people, and sadly there seems to be no shortage of them. Idiots see themselves in AOC…a humble waitress & bartender who became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. She is a freakin’ Lifetime movie, so it makes sense for such an individual to become a role model to pole workers, service industry laborers, anyone under 40 sucking the government teat, and miserable small town nobodies who think Olive Garden is fine dining & grocery store wine is the height of sophistication. It doesn’t matter that 90% of the drivel that comes out of her mouth is demonstrably false and/or embarrassingly ignorant. The masses don’t even pay attention to what AOC says. It’s the cult of personality, and she isn’t the only beneficiary, just one of the most blatant examples of how dangerous it can be.

Pro Tip: If you have to call off from your job it doesn’t need to be a ten minute conversation. Just. Stop. Talking.

In 1972 Senator Thomas Eagleton was initially chosen as the running mate for Democrat Presidential nominee George McGovern, until it was discovered that he’d previously undergone electroshock therapy for severe depression. I wasn’t yet born when Eagleton was forced off the ticket, so I will refrain from opining on the rights & wrongs of the situation and how it was handled. However, isn’t it interesting that a half century later newly elected Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, mere weeks after taking office, has been hospitalized for depression and it’s barely being reported by the press?? Many will see it as a sign of how enlightened we’ve become about mental health in our modern society, and in a vacuum they might have a valid point. However, given Fetterman’s already poor physical health and questions surrounding how fit he is to serve that have been a topic of discussion since he was on the campaign trail, I believe the current circumstance should raise major red flags. Those of us with a functioning brain have always thought that Fetterman was a prop, with the goal of keeping that seat in Democrat hands no matter who the actual Senator might eventually be. Rumors have swirled for some time now that his wife, a Brazilian born community organizer, was or would become the real power behind the puppet and eventually replace him when they can no longer hide his deficiencies (not that they ever did a good job of that in the first place). I suppose we’re about to find out. What I find truly insulting is that leftists aren’t even playing coy or trying to conceal their agenda anymore. They brazenly put it all out there in full view, knowing that the American public can’t be bothered to pay attention.