Woo, it’s been a minute, I guess? One day it’s Sunday, and you blog at your leisure because you’re lining up your ducks and packing your workout bags for the week ahead and all that, and the starter’s pistol goes off and the next thing you know? Thursday evening.
Right now I’m feeling like downloading all the post-it notes in my brain, so here goes:
** I no longer watch “Jeopardy!” but will start again once this James Holzhauer guy goes back to Vegas. He’s taken all the fun out of the game, at least for me, so someone let me know when he flames out. I hope Alex Trebek outlasts him, and I’m not entirely sure he will.
** I was listening to a radio show the other day that featured a state legislator, and he lied his lying ass off. Then I listened to an NPR chat show about the Georgia abortion legislation, and the right-to-lifer lied his lying ass off. I am very very tired of being lied to, and I’m very very weary of polite radio hosts who either aren’t prepared enough to say, “Buddy? You are a lying liar,” or simply won’t do it because that would be rude, or something. We need to have the entire BBC over here to do some in-service work here for their colleagues on this side of the pond. Because those folks know how to call a lying liar what he is.
** To those who wondered, in the previous post comments, why anti-abortion groups make endorsements for offices that have nothing to do with abortion, here’s why: They are playing a long game, and they want to know who their friends are before they need them. City council members may have zero impact on abortion policy, but city council members are ambitious, and may run for the state legislature when they’re ready to move on. If dogcatcher were an elected position, the local right-to-life group would send all the candidates a questionnaire about their beliefs regarding the sanctity of human life in utero. The infamously disorganized Democratic party could learn a thing or two. And I wish they would, instead of digging up old columns written for college newspapers by 19-year-olds to scour them for ideological purity. Meanwhile, these bills that are under consideration in Alabama and Georgia are horrifying. How many abortions do you think the president has paid for in his life? I’ll put the over/under at…five. And take the over.
** To you “Game of Thrones” book readers, I say this: I don’t care if the latter seasons of the show are disappointing you. The books disappointed me, and I quit midway through the third one. The series was a victim of Harry Potter Syndrome; after a taut beginning, the later volumes started to sprawl all over the place, and were terribly overwritten. But they were successful — they were a cult — and all the publisher wanted was MORE. So honestly, I welcomed the TV show, with all those subplots dropped or trimmed. Admittedly, this last-episodes wrap-up is kind of a mess, but blame your guru, Mr. G.R.R. Martin, who presumably had something to say about it. Tying up this saga is no small feat. Once it’s done, I’ll happily move on to other things.
** I count 10 eggs on this guy’s plate, and we can’t even see the entire plate. WTF, is this the Cool Hand Luke breakfast special?
"it's totally ridiculous. they're promising people everything; free this, free that, free this, free that. and in actuality if you sit down and look at it, that's buying votes." pic.twitter.com/j7TZMlJmqp
— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) May 8, 2019
** I’m going to recertify as a lifeguard this summer, because who knows when that will be my only job possibility? In the meantime, everyone should read this: Drowning doesn’t look like drowning.
Now I have to get ready to go out for a bit, so I say to you, my friends? Adieu. Good weekend to all.
LAMary said on May 9, 2019 at 10:53 pm
It’s the Jeopardy teacher tournament this week and next so no Holzhauer.
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beb said on May 10, 2019 at 12:44 am
There was another Jeopardy article which said that Holzhaser was unlike every other Jeopardy player, even Ken Jennings. There was a sense with Jennings that he was smart but not that much smarter than you, and any day he could lose. But Holtzhauser is so fast on the buzzer and seems to know everything that no one has a chance against him. In face last week when he was playing I had the feeling that he was holding off during the Jeopardy round to let the other players to get something on the board. And only when it looked like he wasn’t going to skunk them does he unleash that uncanny memory of his. At first it was kind of exciting but now it’s less and less so.
Brits have a bit of a bully tradition in higher education. Civility doesn’t matter if you can drop some Wildean wit. Also the BBC isn’t beholden to corporate masters the way American TV is so their hosts can be ruder without fear of being fired.
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Dave said on May 10, 2019 at 1:22 am
I wonder if Holhauser is one of those rare people who remember everything, every day, every word, much like Marilu Henner, and a few dozen other people who have that rare complete memory. I can’t hardly watch him anymore, I wonder how anyone can have that much knowledge. I’m sick of hs grin, I’ve not much use for gamblers, anyway. Yep, tired of him.
I saw Marilu Henner on a show once with some other folks who were similarly afflicted. They said their ability to remember everything was devastating to most relationships they’d had.
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jerry said on May 10, 2019 at 4:42 am
Some interviewers here are quite aggressive in their approach to questioning politicians – sometimes too much so. John Humphries on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme can be guilty of not allowing the interviewee to answer. But on occasion interviewers can be extremely persistent in trying to obtain an answer. Jeremy Paxman once asked Michael Howard, then Home Secretary, the same question twelve times on a television programme! He never got an answer but he made it obvious that Howard was ducking the question.
Having effective journalism seems a necessary, if not sufficient, requirement for a properly functioning democracy.
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bb in DE said on May 10, 2019 at 6:49 am
I’ve kinda been fascinated to watch James H’s Jeopardy run. (We’ve taken to calling him Guy Smiley for that weird, cyborg-trying-to-look-pleasant grin of his.) It’s a bit like watching someone throw a perfect game. On the one hand, it’s objectively dull that the competition can’t get so much as a person on first base. On the other, it’s amazing to see someone so completely dominate everyone he faces.
Then again, that one guy a couple weeks back only lost by $14. (I think I read somewhere that his score was like the 12th highest ever recorded on Jeopardy; he just happened to be going up against a buzz saw.) One of these days Guy Smiley will bet too much on a 2nd round daily double and get it wrong. He’ll go down eventually.
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Julie Robinson said on May 10, 2019 at 9:57 am
We’ve been watching again because of Holzhauer; he’s made it exciting again.
But then, I’ve always preferred word puzzles and I’m outing myself as a regular Wheel of Fortune viewer. With the caveat of course that Pat Sajak’s politics are execrable.
Last night was the reason we came to Orlando, to see my kids sing in a community choir concert. It’s a huge group; over 300 singers, accompanied by an orchestra, dancers, ASL interpreters, and for this concert, two acrobats climbing the silks. They sing everything from Beatles to movie music, Broadway musicals, hymns, and a few classical pieces.
They each had a solo, and of course I’m Mom-proud, but they were both great. Music and the performing arts are so important to me. I believe they could heal the world.
It goes without saying we’re going again tonight.
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Deborah said on May 10, 2019 at 11:12 am
I never got into Jeopardy. Is that the one where you have to answer with a question?
Seems like we may now be going to France again in July. Not a done deal but Uncle J has invited us to join him and his caregivers in the south of France for 8 days. They are there now but want to go back to see the lavender in bloom. This came up suddenly in the last few days and we didn’t think it was serious. Uncle J goes every year to this place near Nimes, owned by Pierre Salinger’s wife (or widow, although she has remarried). We have decided to go up to Paris again for 4 or 5 days after that. I’ve never been to the south of France so I’m looking forward to it (if it really happens).
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kayak woman said on May 10, 2019 at 5:54 pm
How many abortions has Trump paid for? I do not know but thank you for asking that question. I have been asking that (rhetorical) question since his presidency began and I get blank stares in return, even from anti-Trump pro-choice folks.
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LAMary said on May 10, 2019 at 7:11 pm
Supposedly Trump has paid for at least eight abortions.
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Sherri said on May 10, 2019 at 11:49 pm
David C., to finally get back to you about the alt right article…
I would say that the parts seemed plausible to me. I will agree with you that the sum of the parts adds up to a rather neat narrative, maybe too neat. I obviously don’t know for sure it’s true, and I don’t know what Washingtonian’s standards are for fact-checking things. I will say this did appear in print, not just online, and I saw it because it was shared by journalists I trust. That doesn’t mean it’s true, either. But it’s not just a random blog posting somewhere.
Surviving TN. It’s not an emergency trip. My mom asked my brother and I to come so she and my dad could go over all their stuff: where the documents were, where the money was, what funeral arrangements they had made, etc. They’re in reasonable health, but are 80, and my mom is so hard of hearing that phone conversations are difficult. (In person conversations aren’t easy.)
It’s just difficult for me to be around my parents for a number of reasons. I live 3000 miles away because I’m a happier person then. I’ll head back home Sunday, with my duty done.
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Brian stouder said on May 11, 2019 at 1:08 pm
Sherri, granted that I don’t know you, but you strike me as an intelligent achiever and all-around great person, that any mom or dad would be very proud of
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Dexter Friend said on May 11, 2019 at 5:53 pm
A milestone: I happened upon Ann Arbor Public Radio for a seg about Sunday’s The Simpson’s show, completing 30 years. We all know the story, how Groening created the characters, the Tracey Ullman connection. I still watch it, it’s still great and getting better.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on May 11, 2019 at 7:20 pm
I’m learning this weekend what it’s like to have an entire country club mad at you. It’s interesting.
https://www.newarkadvocate.com/story/news/2019/05/10/judge-rules-ohc-can-reclaim-octagon-mounds-country-cub/1170949001/
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Deborah said on May 11, 2019 at 8:10 pm
Jeff tmmo, good for you and the other folks who took this to court. More power to the public to get to access this important historical site.
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Julie Robinson said on May 11, 2019 at 9:41 pm
Go Jeff! (How’s the fund raising going?)
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basset said on May 11, 2019 at 10:55 pm
Sherri, just now seeing your posts… but if there’s time for a pizza at the Blackhorse before you leave, let me know. Or at any one of several places near BNA…
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Sherri said on May 11, 2019 at 11:31 pm
Maybe next time, basset. Thanks.
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Jakash said on May 12, 2019 at 1:30 pm
Congrats on the ruling, Jeff, and good luck going forward. Kinda surprised that your namby-pamby mound enthusiasts don’t enjoy a bracing application of fungicide and herbicide on the regular, but kids these days…
Reading that article, though, made me wish I could see selected outtakes from the meeting where it was decided that the Ohio Historical Society would be renamed the Ohio History Connection. ; )
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alex said on May 12, 2019 at 2:52 pm
I’m still tittering about the judge named Branstool.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on May 12, 2019 at 6:10 pm
Judge David Branstool is a rock star right now in my book, an activist judge according to many who dislike me, too — Branstool Orchards are legendary in this county for their peaches, even though they get a crop off about every third year due to untimely frosts (we’re a little far north for peaches, the edge of the viable zone). His father, Gene Branstool, hosted Bill Clinton & Al Gore on stop #2 of their bus tour when they first ran; Gene was given an undersecretary position in the Department of Ag when Bill & Al won, spent less than six months in DC and resigned saying “I’m not the right man for the job” and came back to Licking County, growing apples and peaches and young Democrats in central Ohio. A wonderful family.
Plus, David quoted me at length in his opinion ruling in our favor, so he’s a man of exquisite taste and discernment.
Jakash, I’ve now been through three names in my years working with OHC, with a fourth in the historical documents we wrestled coming to this point — and their execs have heard my mockery of this trying-too-hard-to-sound-relevant name since it was rolled out. But they have also changed the culture over the last ten years of the former “historical society,” and if the name helped do that, I probably should eat my words.
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4dbirds said on May 14, 2019 at 12:05 pm
It doesn’t surprise me that the Jeopardy guy is a poker player. Game theory has taken over the game of poker and Jeopardy guy is using game theory to give him an edge over everyone else. Once others catch on, the will be like poker, others will learn and imitate it and the edge will even out.
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