Monday, April 24, 2017

Weekend Bliss

Religion, according to Karl Marx, is the opiate of the masses (or to quote more accurately), the opium of the people. But in America, with the masses increasingly identifying as non-religious, or at least non-affiliated (Between 2007 and 2014, the percentage of Americans identifying as Christian dropped from 78 to 70 percent, while the percentage of self-identified unaffiliated rose from 16 to 23 percent, according to a 2015 Pew study.)

In these fractured times, we do as a people need some solace. Some bread and circuses at the very least. We need a goddamn opiate.

Thanks to a handful of gifted humans, we got our share this past weekend.

El Clasico might've been the most classic ever.



John Wall got pissed off about trailing by 25 in the first half.



Overtime playoff hockey always delivers, even when it kills my team.



At least the locals were on the right side of the bouncing puck.



And Kevin Chappell got his first even PGATOUR win.



I'm buzzed. At least for a minute.




34 comments:

  1. I'd add Spurs-Grizz from Saturday night to this list. High level, intense playoff basketball.

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  2. i joined the list of gheorghies who've finished shit town, finally getting through the last episode this weekend. like tr, i was whelmed. it was a fascinating character study, but my mind, trained by hollywood, wanted more payoff. there were some amazing nuggets of detail, 'church' being high on the list. and i buy the producers' diagnosis of john b's condition. guess i'll wait for the sequel, which finds tyler on a caribbean island somewhere living off of john b's millions.

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  3. I know not what you speak of. Also, have yet to hear the Eddie Money story.
    And lastly, the wife and I started watching The Walking Dead a couple of weeks ago. Six episodes in and I'm like, meh. I'll give it another episode or two? Or more? Please advise.

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  4. When it was first on, we gave up two episodes into Season 2. Quit now.

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  5. The sloop John B?

    I have not delved into The Walking Dead. I'm sure it's excellent but I don't think I can tolerate 7+ seasons of undead warfare after slogging through 7 seasons of undead warfare in True Blood.

    I have, however, delved into all of Better Call Saul season 3. Finally, Fring!

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  6. Wayne Rooney's goal y/day was biggest story. By far. No debate about it.

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  7. Hot take - I gave up on The Wire in Season 1.

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  8. I haven't watched a TV series in ages.

    So what did everyone pick up for Record Store Day? I missed out while on family vacation.

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  9. I think The Wire deserves your attention, it's a damn good show.

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  10. TR, I gave up on The Wire in season 1 as well. Came back to it a few years later and stuck with it. Glad I did.

    Only seen 2 episodes of Breaking Bad.

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  11. Better Call Saul and Fargo being back at around the same time is wonderful.

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  12. ORF Rock 7-8pm

    WODU Live on YouTube

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  13. Re: previous post...A.I. Was one of my favorites regardless of his juvenile delinquency. That post reminded me of watching Alonzo Mourning in the Hampton Roads area bc we are same age, and once he and I happened to walk out of a Gym at the same time right next to each other..those of you who know me will recognize what a funny sight this was (those who don't, I'm 5 feet nothing and back then might've only been 4'10 or so). Re: NYC trip--Big THANKS for recs...we've been ultra-tourists (Met, Natl History, MoMA, Statue of Lib/Ellis Island, St Pats church, Trinity Church, Central Park, 9/11 Memorial/Museum, Empire St bldg, Top of the Rock) and loved it all, ate from Eataly!, saw "Wicked" (AMAZING), and are sufficiently exhausted as we head home tmw!

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  14. The best recommendation I ever heard about the Wire was to watch the first four episodes in one sitting. It's the only way you'll make sense of the players and the plots.

    I watched into Season 6 of walking dead. The first (abbreviated) season is entertaining. The second season has the cast bogged down on the farm, where everyone loses track of Carl (think of the repetitiveness of Michael running around the Lost island screaming "I have to find my son" multiplied by 20), and it never really pulls out of the tailspin. You get a couple unbearable seasons of Herschel, who tells the audience how they should be feeling every time he opens his mouth. I kept watching hoping for some deeper meaning, some art, some imagery, something. It is happy being completely mindless. Only upside is Andrea is hot as all get-out.

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  15. John Wall has gotten a lot of media attention this week, but he must be really fun to ball with. He is hard-wired to reward the gruntwork and effort of his teammates - any little screen and hustle play that gets Wall free and he is looking for that guy on the next pass heading to the basket.

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  16. Warriors up 28-5 to start the night in Portland.

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  17. Sounds like the Warriors came out to pla-ee-ay.

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  18. Sounds like we'll retire TWD viewing prematurely.
    Breaking Bad 2 episodes. What I might recommend is starting w/Better Call Saul and THEN watch BB. Heh? Is that a good idea or what?

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  19. Dale Junior, retarrin. What in carrrnations?

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  20. I think you can watch Better Call Saul without having seen all of BB and thoroughly enjoy it.

    Mrs. Marls and I highly reccomend Westworld.

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  21. the dion waiters piece in the players' tribune is gold. i highly recommend it. pretty unfiltered stuff.

    https://www.theplayerstribune.com/dion-waiters-miami-heat-nba-is-lucky/

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  22. That Dion Waiters article is fucking phenomenal.

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  23. westworld is self-congratulatory and sort of slow. we have just begun "how i met your mother" and the whole family digs it, but i hear the ending isn't so good . . .

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  24. Breaking Bad is worth the effort. zwoman likes Westworld more than I do. I enjoy it but there are a few gaping holes in the plot that I can't overlook.

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  25. Jeter and Jeb! will own the Marlins! The team, not the couple. Loria got roughly an 8-fold return on his investment from 2002, pretty impressive. And Maria Sharipova is back on Wednesday!

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  26. I thought you loved gaping holes, Zman.

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  27. Dave - I thought you wuould love self congratulatory and slow, just like every Random Idiots song.

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  28. Hopefully Houston will put OKC out of their misery tonight. And hopefully OKC will figure out a better way to play. Kowtowing to Russ in the hopes he won't leave as a FA in a couple years is a sub-optimal strategy.

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  29. Dave's comment about the ending not being so good reminds me of Mitch Hedberg:

    I like to drink red wine. This girl asked me, “Doesn’t red wine give you a headache?” Yeah, eventually, but the first and the middle part are amazing. I’m not going to stop doing something because of what happens at the end. Mitch, do you want an apple? No, because eventually it’ll be a core.

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