Scattershooting and Random Thoughts: Sunday 21 April, 2024

SCATTERSHOOTING AND RANDOM THOUGHTS (THIS WEEK)

1. Credit House Speaker Mike Johnson for rising to the occasion big time and being a real leader. I didn’t expect to praise anything pertaining to Johnson, who remains one of the most far-Right Republicans in Congress, but his effective leadership this past week in orchestrating the passage of a largely bi-partisan bill supporting American allies (Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan) merits universal applause–sans the hard-core conspiracy wackos within his party.

2. I admit to being confused about the differences between goats, rams, sheeps, and ewes. Also, I have been writing for 50+ years, half of that span professionally, and I still misspell easy words, often confusing *their* with *thier* and *freind* with *friend.* I could go on, but that would get even more embarrassing. Does anyone else have these issues?

3. I’m kinda’ shocked the New York court was able to seat 18 jurors (12 on the panel, along with 6 alternatives) in relatively quick time. Maybe it’s because Trump is involved, but I expected more chaos and pointless delays. But the court certainly has done its job so far, thanks to a no-nonsense, drama-free judge (Juan Merchan).

4. Is Kevin Hart the most overexposed “celebrity” on television nowadays? He pimps so many products, it tough to keep straight what he’s selling. Those DraftKings commercials were already annoying as fuck, and then Hart began hawking extortion-level high-interest credit cards for Capital One Bank. Gee, does anyone see the obvious overlap here? Bet more on sports at DraftKings, then run up your credit card debt? When he’s not rambling on for sportsbooks and banks, Hart also pimps his brand of tequila called Gran Coramino, ranging from $50-100 per bottle. The “comedian” also has his own protein drink, called VitaHustle. Seriously. Tequila *AND* a protein drink. You can’t make this shit up. Makes me want to change the channel.

5. I learned an interesting new fact this week, and it’s worth sharing. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was interviewed. He said the NBA makes more money from *international* deals than domestic revenue. In other words, TV rights and merchandising in other countries is so huge that it surpassed U.S.-based revenues, which must be enormous due to TV, merchandising, and ticket sales. Understanding this new *global* reality puts things into perspective. It also portends similar trends in other major sports, notably the NFL which is trying to do something similar. Next time you hear someone squawking, “nobody watches the NBA anymore,” keep in mind that for every viewer and fan the league loses here, they’re gaining many more overseas. This successful business model has enormous consequences for the future of all sports.

6. Netflix has been a wonderful discovery, but now I’ve reached the “seven-year itch” stage. I’m not connecting with shows like I used to. For instance, the past few weeks I’ve tried to get into a few popular series, including “3 Body Problem” (gave up about an hour into it), “Unlocked: A Jail Experiment’ (do I really want to invest hours watching near-illiterate convicts???), “Baby Reindeer” (got to Episode 3, but the lead character is a pain in the ass to watch), “Ripley” (the best of this list, so far–might continue watching….I stopped after Episode 3). It could be me, the spring weather, or maybe it’s that I watched “The Gentlemen” series last month (best show on TV this year, by far) and anything that followed that was due to disappoint.

7. I don’t know shit about medicine or prescription drugs. But that miracle weight loss pill that’s become wildly popular sure sounds good. Eat as much as I want, then take a little pill. Bingo! Lose weight! Thing is, I don’t like the idea of depending on a foreign substance for the rest of my life, when instead I could take proven measures like exercising more and eating less. I wonder if these drugs have really been tested and might be dangerous? It’s an interesting debate–some people say those weight loss super drugs are a smart trade-off because continuing to carry lots of extra weight is even more of a health risk. I admit to not knowing much, but will keep an open mind going forward. It’s an interesting debate, especially for many of us who could stand to lose a few pounds.

8. The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talking about.

9. There used to be an amusing parable about European “heaven and hell.” It was based entirely on old stereotypes. I forgot how it went exactly, but it was something like this: In Euro heaven….the cooks are French, the musicians are Italians, the police are British, the engineers are Germans, etc. But in Euro hell….the British are the cooks, the Italians are the engineers, and Germans are the police, yada, yada. I was thinking about a similar parable for the times we live in. This needs some work, but it goes like this: In American heaven….we’d have the politics of the 50s, the music of the 60s, the movies of the 70s. and the economy of the 90s. In American hell…..it’s the fashion on the ’70s, the music of the 80s, the movies of the 2010s, and the politics of right now.

10. I find it strange that so many “natives” decry the arrival of new transplants. Americans don’t want any more Mexicans. Floridans don’t want any more New Yorkers or Chicagoans. Arizonans don’t want any more Californians. Coloradans don’t want any more Texans. And Nevadans don’t want any more of people from anywhere. Whats odd is — almost all of us are transplants, if not within our generation then certainly the last one of that previous. Unless you’re a real “Native American” just shut up and recognize that people want to move where they want and to places where there are opportunities.

11. I don’t like the word “fiduciary.” That word annoys the fuck out of me. I can’t explain it. But at least I can spell it.

12. Oh, look! Lunch is served! Marieta just placed a heaping bowl of pappardella pasta with San Marano tomatoes. A perfect compliment to this Rotari Brut Rose from the Italian Alps!

Those are a few thoughts for today. Have a great Sunday!