On the eighth day of Gheorghemas, Big Gheorghe gave to me
Eight Hot (or Lukewarm) Takes
Seven Books For Reading
Six Footie Jerseys
Five musicians from San Antonio known as the Sir Douglas Quintet
A four-part Japanese life strategy (as told by our man in the OBX)
Three 80's Baseball Sports Looks
Too Many Entries,
and a Cameo That Will Go Down in History
1) Go watch a football doc with your kids! We are doing a whole lot of TV watching as a family these days, since recreation options for the kids are limited. Both are doing outdoor paddle tennis clinics, one is doing a basketball clinic, and one will start on-line chess soon (though he doesn't know yet and will make a fuss, but will end up loving it). We recently watched the Tua doc produced by FS1. It's a one-hour review of his journey from Hawaii to the NFL. You will come away liking him and his family quite a bit. The guy really seems grounded. So he'll torch the Jets for the next fifteen years. You can watch the one-hour doc on-line here.
2) And then go watch a football series! When you are done with the Tua doc, I recommend watching the HBO Sports mini-series The Cost of Winning. It tells the story of St. Frances Academy, a high school football powerhouse in inner-city Baltimore that is bankrolled by a wealthy hedge fund guy. The doc was filmed in Fall 2019, and many of the players highlighted are now in college (many at big-time programs). It's easy to have a knee-jerk reaction to a football factory high school, but learning the back story of the kids and learning more about the grim realities in that part of Baltimore may change your view.
4) The USDA's dietary recommendations are hot garbage and you all should consider a low-carb diet. A recent study was released that further validated the benefit of a low-carb diet. The study entailed putting patients with Type 2 diabetes on a "nutritional ketosis" diet for two years. Patients had lower cardiovascular risk and better body weight figures than the control group. The findings are here. The USDA's 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines continue to call for grains and low-fat dairy as staple foods. I bet those fools still think Fish Oil is good for you. (spoiler: it's not)
5) Denver Riggleman seems like my kind of Republican. The Rig-man is a Congressman representing the 5th district in Virginia, a comically gerrymandered area that approaches the yards of a few of our readers. He is not afraid to piss off fellow Republicans. This means he probably has no shot of having a successful career in Congress. He has become a pariah in his party for officiating a same-sex wedding (sweet blazers on the dudes getting hitched) and speaking his mind about the election. He was on a Bulwark podcast yesterday (h/t to Zman for getting his pal TR a one-year subscription to Bulwark+) and appeared amazingly coherent and fact-based in his comments. What he had to say about being concerned about the future of his country and the future of the Republican party was not comforting. I'm guessing some of you Virginians are already aware of him. The podcast is here.
7) My favorite guilty pleasure song these days is an 18 year-old Busta Rhymes/Mariah Carey sex jam. At the end of last summer, the wife and I went out for outdoor cocktails at a nice joint in Asbury Park with another couple. I was 2-3 drinks deep and in the proper headspace when I excused myself to use the indoor restroom. As I walked in, I heard a smooth beat I hadn't heard in quite some time. It was playing LOUDLY. And it was awesome. Busta and Mariah. Go figure. Busta Rhymes has been in my life since early 1992, when my friends and I bumped Leaders of the New School cassettes in my Dodge Caravan. Always liked the guy. This song is mesmerizing to me. The beat is sick. His singing is very amusing (kinda bad, but still fun). And the lyrics are all about lovemaking, like he is paying homage to Barry White. I downloaded the song on the spot and promptly forgot I did. A month or so later, I found it and have been enjoying it. I want you all to play it and think of me the next time you're making sweet sweet love. On second thought, no need to think of me mid-coitus. Post-coitus is fine.
8) I really really dig the Sturgill Simpson country record. Almost every music fan I respect loves the guy. I have it on my To Do list to get through his catalog. I even drunkenly committed to go see him at MSG in May 2020. That didn't happen. Not sure why or how, but I ended up downloading his 2020 album Cuttin' Grass - Vol 1. It's good! It's filled in when I want to hear country-ish tunes these days. The musicians are top-notch and the banjo gives a dash of bluegrass sound that my ignorant ears like.
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21 comments:
in the 'tr is prophetic' category, denver riggleman's congressional career is already almost over, as he lost the gop primary to eventual election winner and all-around wingnut doucheknuckle bob good. fun fact: riggleman writes erotic sasquatch fiction in his spare time. this is not a joke.
funner fact: virginia's 5th congressional district was represented by tom garrett from 2017-2019. tom garrett's first chief of staff was kevin 'weenie' reynolds. so the fightin' 5th has a gtb connection.
Since he lost in June and I put this up last night, "lazy" and/or "apathetic about doing research" are probably better terms.
And as for the sasquatch fiction, it's like I said - he's my kind of guy. I have a neighbor that Zman knows. He's a trust-fund hippie type w/ a giant white beard and he always stinks of weed. I call him Yeti. I do not write erotic fiction about him.
TR writes erotic non-fiction about the Yeti.
And these are good hot takes! I didn't know Sturgill Simpson had a new album and I will check it out. I am not getting on the Jest bandwagon though.
I think Sturgill just release v2 of that project.
Someone I know well saw a video of Riggleman's successor Bob Good speaking at last weekend's dead ender maga rally and their instant reaction was 'he's a gay man, right?' about Good. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but there's a perverse irony if the VA GOP jettisoned Riggleman for being an officiant in order to install a closeted gay man in his place.
Zman, you used to listen to Les Coole's playlists. October's has a Sturgill song prominently placed.
And I like the usage of "the Sturgill Simpson country record." Check out "You Can Have the Crown" from 2013...
coincidentally, listening to les coole's december 2020 playlist right now. nice mix of new and old.
Les Coole says thanks, Rob.
I stopped listening to Les Coole when he stopped hanging with the Cukes. I'll check out his October playlist.
deacon king kong made both dave and barack obama's lists of books to read. so i guess i should read it.
The Tua doc is a good one. As is the Baltimore one. The QB for the team in Baltimore (Jalon Jones) signed with Florida two years ago. He then proceeded to get kicked off the team just a couple of weeks into his first summer semester due to sexual assault allegations.
Watched the first part of the Pistorius doc earlier this week. I had no idea that he won his first Paralympic events at 17. He still had braces at the time and barley resembles the guy we all became so familiar with.
Sturgill does have two volumes of Cuttin Grass out now. Haven’t listened to them yet. It it’s on my list.
Busta has a new album out too. And it’s pretty damn good.
Based on the pictures I received this morning from my oldest it looks like y’all got quite a bit of snow in Jersey.
In our town, we got about a foot of snow. Was light and fluffy, so the shoveling wasn't too brutal.
The Pistorius story is crazy b/c it's such a short window. Wins gold at 17 in the '04 paralympic games. Competes in the '12 Olympics, kills his gf in '13. From nobody to South African hero to murderer in nine years. And he's only 33-34 y/o now.
And that wasn't a spoiler. All of that comes out in the first 10 minutes. The total doc is 6+ hours. They could've trimmed it down a bit, but it's still fascinating.
obama and i also love "collision low crossers," which is about the jets.
full circle.
obama certainly would like "deacon king kong." that guy was on seinfeld . . . he's got a sense of humor.
tr, our kids are also doing winter tennis and ian has just joined the chess club . . .
our snow was heavy down here in hp-- we got close to a foot . . .
Obama was on Seinfeld?
Pistorius was such a glorious, fun hero in the disability community. I was trying to rally folks around his story. And then... yiddit. Oh well.
Is being called fuckers by an incoming deputy chief of staff going to be the rallying cry for the right wing civility police now?
If I were messaging for their opposition, I’d lean into that depiction hard af.
i agree. dems should own 'fuck', 'fuckers', 'motherfuckers' with righteous anger. let the gop be seen as fainting couch pearl-clutchers more worried about words than action. fuck 'em.
To paraphrase Jameis Winston?
Yeah, my demented head went there too, Zman. "Fuckers" + Trump's Billy Bush line = Jameis.
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