Archives for November 2023

Sunday, November 12, 2023

We are back from Charlotte where we saw both the women and the men’s Virginia Tech basketball teams play. Both teams played well, but lost by four and two points respectively.

The women were playing Iowa. The attendance was over 15,000 – which was the largest crowd in North Carolina for a women’s game. Many, myself included, were anxious to see Iowa’s Caitlin Clark play in person. I came away being disappointed in her game, which is the kindest I can put it. She bullied. She walked. She pushed off. She whined. And the refs let her get away with it. I now understand the foul late in their playoff game last year where it looked like all she did was toss the ball haphazardly to the edge of the court and she got called for delay-of-game. I’m guessing one of the refs had enough of her BS.

Virginia Tech’s point guard Georgia Amoore held her own against Clark in the first half, including a half court at the buzzer three pointer. In fact, she and Clark each had 18 points that half. Then a strange thing happened. In the third quarter Amoore and the Hokies went flat. I’m not sure why, but other have said that the ladies backed off of their defensive play because they were getting called.

Clark on the other hand didn’t get many calls on here. This despite her knocking ful bodied into defensive players, shoving off them with a hard hand to the stomach, and taking on average four steps to the basket.

After the game, which the ladies lost by four points, it seemed the sports writers and analysts couldn’t heap praise on Clark fast enough or high enough. Yes she scored some forty points, but when the refs don’t call you for your actions and the other team has to back off, well, it just wasn’t that impressive. It was kind of – I don’t know – disappointing? I mean, she’s supposed to be the best woman basketball player in the country – college level and she acts like that? 

Moving on. I saw a little clip of Don Jr. from a rally where he said Paul Krugman, the Nobel winning economist, had said something about the economy improving. But Donnie said Krugman had taken all the basic indicators that we are interested in, out of his prediction. Things like gas prices, inflation, jobs, etc. 

Wow. It turns out that is true. What Don Jr. forgot to mention was that if you put all those things “average people care about” back in the economic picture is even better. Suck it Donnie.

Watched the end of My Cousin Vinnie the other night. I couldn’t take any more football or politics. What a great ending. I missed the early bit where Fred Gwynne as the judge asked Joe Pesci, “What is a yut?” But Marissa Tomei with the “It’s a trick question,” and her response to that and her declaration of the make and model that made the tire tracks during the getaway. Classic.  (that last part is not in this clip.)

Here it is:

Monday, November 6, 2023

We went to the late afternoon show of Taylor Swift’s Eras movie. There wee few people in the theater, maybe twenty. Before the movie started three groups of two were chattering incessantly. One pair were tween girls. The other two pair were young girls with older women (moms?). I was hoping they’d shut up once the movie started. They did, except the tween pair sang along sometimes, which was okay. There was one Rocky Horror type moment, one of the girls shouted out, “One, Two, Three…” at just the right time at a break in the song. You had to be in the know, I guess. I wasn’t (shocking).

The movie was great. One film critic talked about rough cuts but was forgiving because Taylor did the movie herself. I have no idea what he was talking about. One thing the critic said was that the quality of the production was way better than any earlier movie tour documentary. She apparently had some forty odd cameras involved.

I was blown away to see the shots of the crowd at SoFi Stadium. The stadium seats 70,240 and she sold it out for six nights. That’s 420,000 tickets at what price? $100, $200, $500? I don’t know. And I wonder if that count is accurate because there were people in the infield, too. But to see all those cell phone lights through out the three (or is it four?) tiers. It’s incredible.

The setup is both a stage and a runway, and she commands it without being pushy or patronizing. She’s flirty and sexy without being dangerously arousing. Does that make sense? Shelby says it’s because she’s appealing to women, not men. Celebrating girl-power, or should I say female empowerment.

How she made all those costume changes so quickly was amazing. And what if she had to go to the bathroom? What if people in her band or her dancers got sick? So many questions. Such a flawless performance. And some of the transitions were spectacular. 

At one point she was talking to the audience. Usually, she said she does an album and does a tour. ut with the pandemic she has released five albums and no tour. “What are you going to do?” she said people asked her. They continued, “Do all the albums? In a three and a half hour show?”

“Yeah,” she said, “And we’ll call it the Eras tour.”

Did the place go nuts with that comment? Well, yeah, but it was nuts the whole time.

She started this tour at 33. Now she is 34.

I would love to ask her parents, mainly her dad, “When did you know?”

I’ve been beside my daughter when she has done things that just blew me away. When did it happen for her dad? 

What must it be like for him to walk out into SoFi Stadium and see over 70,000 screaming fans all there to see his daughter?

That sense of one dad to another was what I kept thinking about. That and how did she make those fast costume changes.

Moving on. A Fantasy Fulfilled and The Dark Side.

Okay, I’ve done it. I’m not proud of it. Nor am I guilt ridden. It’s just a thing that I did. I know. Some of you will say, “It’s about time.” While others will cry, “Sell out.” Be that as it may, I’ve done it.

I took the bag of Pumpkin Spiced Coffee and slit the bag with a razor and spooned some of the dark grounds into the coffeemaker. Yup, Pumpkin Spiced Coffee (not latte!). It’s okay. I mean. It’s nothing to freak out about. 

The other day the grocery store had persimmons. They don’t stay in season long. I bought six. I went back yesterday and bought six more. Two of which were soft to the touch. If you haven’t had persimmons you are missing out. If you like fresh figs you’ll like persimmons. They have a unique texture. I don’t know anything else close: papaya? Mango? Kumquat? Kumquat is closest in texture. Taste? More papaya mango but not as citrusy. think fresh jack fruit. (Oh, you haven’t had fresh jack fruit? Well excuuuuse me.)

The thing bout persimmons is you have to let them ripen. When they get soft and begin to blacken they are ready to eat. I’ll cut one in half and pour cream on it. Yum. That’ what I had last night after Taylor. 

Be forewarned, if you take a nice firm persimmon, that is like a firm tomato and bite into it, you will never have another persimmon. The taste is dry and astringent. In America, the persimmon is picked before it is ripe and is full of tannins. You have to wait. 

I was in Egypt and every day they had persimmons they were red, and firm. I knew better than to eat them. Eventually, I tried one. It was good! Apparently, they can let the fruit get ripe and they pick it ripe off the tree.

Don’t try that at home.

Saturday, November 4, 2023

The news has been concentrating on Israel, but our Orange One has managed to stick his head up and make some headlines and that is where I will concentrate my attention for the moment.

Two states have cases in front of them arguing that Trump can not run for President because he is “not qualified” based on the Constitution. If you were elected to public office, took an oath, and participated in an insurrection against the U.S. you are no longer qualified to be President of the United States. That’s the argument. What will happen? Most are betting that it will end up in the Supreme Court and no one seems to know what they will do. 

To be clear, this is an argument about qualifications. Just like you have to be above a certain age and be born in this country to run for President. The only question seems to be, “did Trump participate in an insurrection?”

Well, there are some that say Jan 6th were merely tourists visiting the Capital. Or that they were not Trump supporters, but Antifa and BLM folks who put on MAGA hats. And lastly, Trump gave a speech he didn’t incite what happened next. 

Will The Supreme Court buy any of those arguments? Or will they come up with some new and novel way to deny reality?

Then there’s the testimony of the Trump brothers. One of the commentators (a former Republican) pointed out how there is a varying three step denial that they and all the Trumps use:

1. We’re the smartest people in the room how dare you question us.

2. I don’t recall. It’s not my job. We rely on others for this stuff, like accountants and appraisers.

3. It’s the fault of the stupidest person in the room that is not named Trump.

Argument 2 fails to realize that the documents that accountants and appraisers create is based on the information they are given by – wait for it – the clients! I guess I should add that the documents are not based on information that the accountants or appraisers were not given (duh, but worth stating).

If you tell the appraiser that the apartment is 30,000 square feet when it’s only 10,000 – well, whose fault is that? The guy with the tape measure? (In construction which Eric claims he was doing he would no doubt be familiar with the term “the dumb stick,” or “the dumb end of the stick.” This term refers to the person who is holding the beginning end of the tape measure. I’m guessing Dad held the tape and Eric walked out holding the end of the tape. The part that never changes because it’s the beginning of the tape. Eric looks at dad and Donald looks down at the tape and reads the number. (No, he doesn’t. He makes one up, but okay. Let’s go with ‘He reads a number’.) When all is said and done they calculate 30,000 square feet. What does Eric know? He was looking at 1” the whole time. And dad? Okay, Donald has never had a conversation where he didn’t lie, so of course, the number was wrong and over inflated.

Okay, let’s be honest. They never measured anything. They just said, “Thirty thousand, yeah that’s it.”

But they had no idea? Come on. The only thing Trump cares about is the size of his fortune. And it seems his tiny hands will be able to wrap around the diminished size more easily soon.

I predict within a year, two at the most, Donald will declare bankruptcy, and he’ll be found criminally guilty of something. Whether he will spend time in jail? I don’t know. He may die first, but I doubt it.

As to his two sons involved in the business? I can’t say what will happen to them. 

Not yet.

I’ve gotta see a man about a car warranty.

Friday, November 3, 2023

This week we have seen the bombing of Gaza killing hundreds if not thousands, Trump’s boys as witnesses in a civil fraud case, the head of FTX the crypto exchange found guilty on all charges, the Senate finally getting fed up with Tommy Tuberville’s antics, and Republican senators outraged that someone wants to question the billionaires that gave tons of money to a Supreme Court justice. Meanwhile, the Speaker of The House put a bill on the floor giving aid to Israel but not Ukraine and cutting funding to the IRS.

And what is the Supreme Court doing? Considering whether a t-shirt maker has the right to trademark the slogan “Trump Too Small”.

Tuberville, who has no military experience, says his holds for nine months do not affect our military readiness. I hope that when Alabama asks for a military flyover at a football game they get a dilapidated bi-plane holding a banner saying something like – I dunno – something. “Tommy You Suck”?

Apparently, the Trump boys have no idea that their accountants or appraisers were grossly inflating the value of the assets held by the Trump organization. Seems odd. You’re the CEO or some such and you do’t know? But you sign the papers anyway? Hey, how about all those emails where you discuss it? Can’t recall? I see. You might want to look to Sam over at FTX to see what might happen. But that’s criminal, not to worry. No jail time, just repay everything you made from not knowing. What? you’d have to sell something? Maybe, everything? Oh no.

Meanwhile, the Repubs put up a bill cutting funding to the IRS. They like to say that giving money to the IRS will pay for storm troopers to come kick down your doors when the reality is that it will pay for accountants and auditors who would go after the Republican super donors, who currently pay little or no taxes. One commentator pointed out that the poor are being audited much more than the rich. No wonder the Republicans want to keep it that way. The poor aren’t their voters.

I overheard some folks talking about Romney retiring from the Senate. He’s burnishing his image as an elder statesman, which I guess he is. Have people forgotten how he made his money? Basically, it’s how Richard Gere did it in Pretty Woman. He bought businesses whose stock was down, sold off the assets, loaded the company up with debt, charged fees to do it, took the cash then declared the company bankrupt or resold the stock or dumped the shell on a U.S. agency to clean up. Elder statesman my A.. No, wouldn’t be prudent.