Making fun of Virginia politics these days is like shooting fish in a barrel, so I’ll skip to this bit of info…
I discovered last night that singer Tom Jones and I share a birthday. (That would be June 7.) I guess with thousands of celebrities out there and only 365 calendar days you’re bound to find coincidences like that.
In other words…
it’s not unusual.
As of two days ago I was one of the last people on Earth who subscribed to this thing called “cable.” You know… TV. Like with the channels and the remote and the tuning in at certain times.
I told myself that if watching the Super Bowl were easy to do without “TV” I really didn’t need it anymore. (Live sports were the last refuge of cable.)
My four-year-old figured out how to stream the game.
And then he asked, “Daddy, what’s TV?”
Time to move into this decade.
Well, you can’t count on Clemson to win every time they take on Goliath.
Two teams from Los Angeles disappointed me yesterday: the Rams and the Maroon 5s.
Disappointing. Just disappointing.
The bankers from Boston? Yeah, that’s the rich getting richer.
First the Red Sox (again), now the Patriots (again). The next thing you know Dunkin’ Donuts will be getting a Michelin Star.
Okay, basketball, get good for me.
Being snowed in the past couple days has given me plenty of time to think. Not necessarily important things, but puzzling questions nonetheless. Here’s one example.
For years I watched Fred Rogers on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. You remember how the thing used to start: Mr. Rogers walks in, takes off his coat, puts on a sweater, and changes into casual shoes. The thing that never occurred to me as a kid was where was he coming from?
Seriously. What was Mr. Rogers doing before he got “home.” Was he at work? And then at the end of the show he got dressed and headed back out. Was he going back to work? Was he just stopping by on his lunch break? And what exactly did he do for a living? Continue reading
Global warming jokes just get too easy at a point. Even the president has jumped on my old bit about said phenomenon forsaking us from time to time.
Let’s give a quick kudos, though, to my local school district, who predicted the exact start to yesterday’s D.C. area storm. At six a.m. Loudoun County Public Schools called an early dismissal of two hours (no doubt sending 80,000 sets of parents scrambling). So instead of sending kids home in the 3-5 p.m. range it was 1-3 p.m. Wouldn’t you know a blizzard started at 3:00?
Wow.
Harness those powers for the betting track some time, will ya?!
The great thing about 21st century living is that there’s a new cultural phenomenon to get swept up in every five minutes. Don’t like this one? Just wait five minutes.
I might as well weigh in on the sensation of the moment, because everyone else in the world is. It’s Tidying Up, the Netflix bonanza based on the best-selling book. In case you’ve been under a rock the past few weeks, it’s that show in which that woman, you know, Marie Kondo, shows people how to “tidy up” their lives, asking us the immortal question (while holding up a piece of junk): does this spark joy?
Let the record show I am completely on board with the Tidying Up lifestyle. It’s basically what I’ve been doing my whole life; I just never thought to write a book about it. Actually, mine is more like an OCD-inspired need for everything to be organized and in the “right” place.
I like my junk in the right places.
And if you’re going to let me be the one who determines what sparks joy and what doesn’t?
Yeah, I can live with that.
You’d be surprised what I’ll say passes for joy.
Now to go admire my VHS tape collection…
Borrowed this one from math class…
In the first 17 full years in the NFL, Tom Brady has won five Super Bowls. That’s nearly 30 percent of his seasons ending with a championship.
For a little comparison, in his 15-year NBA career, Michael Jordan won six championships. That’s 40 percent. That’s even better, no? (And we’re not even going to look at DiMaggio or Bill Russell or anyone from that era.)
So if Brady wins another Super Bowl this year that’ll give him six in 18 years. One-third of his seasons. If he wins the next year–and the year after that–he’ll have the same percentage as Jordan.
By then he’ll be about 57 years old, but it is something to shoot for.
For more than a decade I’d been a closet fan of The Killers, Las Vegas rockers who have brought me occasional joy this century amidst what has passed for “music” the past 18 years.
Their new single, “Land of the Free,” is a great study in contradiction. I don’t think I’ve ever liked a song more, musically, with which I have had such displeasure with its lyrics. Those last few stanzas of “This Land is Your Land” (go ahead and google it)? Maybe.
“Land of the Free” begins with a piano intro that can be described only as Billy Joel-esque. Okay, check number one. Sweet chorus with some surprising chord choices? Yeah, check two. And the sentiment of America? Yes, yes, and yes.
Unfortunately a full read of the lyrics shows the title and choral refrain as pure irony. This is not the land of the free, say my friends from Sin City. Too bad, because I really like the song. And I suppose it does give us something to think about and something to strive for in the future.
Until then, please, somebody produce a Muzak version of this one stat!
I know the NFL likes to milk its lock on Sundays and television ratings, but two overtime games? Come on! Talk about the rich getting richer.
But seriously, who can complain? Give me more, more, more. Possible blown calls aside, this was good football. And who am I kidding–good television!
I’d call the games “one for two” as far as who I wanted to win (never, never want the Patriots to win), but setting up a Boston-LA final? Yeah, that sounds good. Waiting 13 days for this is going to make the Cuban Missile Crisis look like waiting six seconds for the microwave.
Commence Super Bowl pre-game show immediately!
My local NBA team (that would be the Washington Wizards) has had sort of a rough go of it this season, but how many NBA teams can say they’ve won games on two continents this year?
Following a 101-100 win over the Knicks in London last night… at least one. (And the bizarre ending just made it that much funnier.)
Now if they could just win a few more on this continent.