Singles and Doubles Vol 8

Eight, and Still Great

1^st INNING

I can’t get enough of images such as this.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

2^nd INNING

I don’t know much about golf. Before I golfed for the first time, I wondered how hard could it possibly be, the ball is not even moving when you take a swing at it. Turns out, it was tougher than it looked.

I haven’t golfed for a long time, but when I was younger, I golfed a little. I remember one time I shot a 76, which is a pretty decent golf score, I guess, especially for a rank amateur such as myself. It was amazing. Just about every swing was straight and true. I never experienced anything like it, either before or after that day.

Believe it or not, my score could have been even better, but, I took an 8 on the final hole. I had a hell of a time getting the ball past the obstructions and into the rather scary clown’s mouth. It was quite frustrating. Golf just isn’t my sport, I guess.

Golf can be very difficult with a scary, evil-looking clown staring you down.

3^rd INNING

I am not a press basher. I believe in freedom of the press. And, I believe a free, vibrant press is vitally important in a democracy. Our society desperately needs a strong and fearless press to speak truth to, and about, power.

This does not mean they should be immune from criticism, however. So, here is my criticism. I get sick and tired of the false equivalence of the political parties that is fed to us by many news organizations.

I am not saying Democrats are perfect, and blameless for our country’s ills. They’re not. What I am saying is that any political party whose Presidential nominee is a twice-impeached, malignant narcissist misogynist liar who has been indicted for 88 crimes, is seriously messed up and will be wholly responsible for the ruination of this country if the bastard wins.

And, I want the press, the real press who are out there, to inform voters about this. I want the real journalists to report what is true, and not worry about seeming unfair to one side or the other. Stop with the false equivalence. Tell the voters about the damage Republicans are doing to our society by supporting such extreme, hateful, ignorant, incompetent, selfish, anti-women, anti-democracy, racist, Putin-loving candidates up and down the ballot.

The only requirement for journalism is truth. It might be the only way to reach the few remaining cultists who still have detectable brain activity.

The White House press corps. We need the press to do their jobs, with truth as the goal, whether we like what they report or not.

4^th INNING

Song of the Week: The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys by Traffic, released in 1971, from the album of the same name, written by Steve Winwood and Jim Capaldi.

I have read several differing explanations as to the meaning of this song, so I really don’t know what it is about. Is it a drug song? Is it a fantasy? Do the lyrics make any sort of sense at all? The “low spark of high heeled boys”? What is that?

The sound, though, is great. It is kind of a jazz/rock jam that works wonderfully, clocking in at 11 minutes 44 seconds, and the listener is left wanting more, despite the mysterious lyrics.

5^th INNING

I would guess we have dozens and dozens of books in several locations around our house. Most of them have not been read for many years. I’m not wanting to get rid of them, but what value do they actually have after they have been read?

When I was working at the library, I always had a book with me to read at lunchtime and on breaks. I liked how a real book felt in my hands. I liked the heft of a book. I liked the sound made by turning the pages. I even liked how books smelled (except for the books returned by heavy smokers).

But I haven’t read a book since I left the library, which is the opposite of what I thought would happen. The books we own have been read at some point in our lives, and I’m okay with reading a book I’ve read before, after all, I enjoy watching reruns of TV shows I have already seen, multiple times. I listen to the same songs on my iPod over and over. Why would a book be different?

But, something is holding me back from taking a book off the shelf to read. Something is preventing me from going to the library and getting a fresh new book. I sometimes miss having a book in my hands, but I am reluctant to do anything about it. Why is that? I wish I knew.

A bookcase full of books, but nothing to read.

6^th INNING

Last summer, I wrote an essay titled Welfare for Billionaires,

https://thestormbynorm.substack.com/p/welfare-for-billionaires

which was a rant about billionaire sports team owners who think it is perfectly fine, normal, and rational for local taxpayers to pony up the bucks to pay for the often opulent sports palaces where teams play their games.

This grift never stops. Recently, Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, said he needs $1 billion from the state of Illinois to build a new ballpark in Chicago. That’s $1,000,000,000 - a one, followed by nine zeros!

Reinsdorf later clarified that he didn’t really mean that he expected taxpayers to fork over a billion dollars for a new ballpark. What he meant to say was that he wanted two billion dollars. Jesus Christ.

The Chicago Bears, owned by Virginia McCaskey and family, want to get in on the gravy train, too. The proposal for their new stadium requires $2.3 billion in public financing. And, by the way, the taxpayers are still on the hook for a $629 million debt on renovations to the current playgrounds of the White Sox and the Bears. If I were a taxpayer in Illinois, I believe my head would explode.

I have a better idea for Chicago and the state of Illinois. Go ahead and raise the money. Call it $5 billion. But, instead of giving it to the grifting, moneygrubbing, billionaire owners of the local sports teams, invest in your schools, or clean up your neighborhoods, or beef up your police force, or renovate your public transportation system, or solve your homeless problem, or repair your crumbling infrastructure. And, tell the White Sox and the Bears to go fuck themselves.

Billionaire sports team owner begging for cash from the taxpayers.

7^th INNING

One of the best TV shows in history has been all but forgotten. Homicide: Life on the Street aired on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and suffered the misfortune of being too smart, too realistic, and too far ahead of its time. Ratings were mediocre at best, and the people affiliated with Homicide knew cancellation could happen at any moment.

The show was based on the great David Simon’s 1991 book, “Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets”, and, in his first foray into television, Simon worked on the show as a writer and producer. Homicide was the first show to win three Peabody Awards for drama, and received numerous other awards and accolades. But, it was unable to garner the all-important ratings it truly deserved.

Homicide: Life on the Street was a show that demanded attention and thought from the viewer. It paved the way for the likes of The Wire, The Sopranos, and Breaking Bad. I hope it becomes available for streaming someday so that maybe it can find the audience it so richly deserves as one of the greatest TV shows ever.

8^th INNING

I discover the most interesting things on my morning walks. Check this out:

I’ve come up with two explanations for this:

1. I have, in fact, discovered the center of the universe.

or:

B. It occurred to me that anyone standing exactly on top of the North Pole will be heading south if they take a step in any direction. So, apparently, I live way closer to the North Pole than I realized. Funny thing about that, though. The weather here at the Pole is much more mild than I ever would have thought. Must be all that global warming the scientists have been warning us about for the last several decades.

9^th INNING

A Public Service Announcement from The Storm. By Norm:

A few years ago, I went in for a routine vision test because I wanted new glasses. Something abnormal came up in my exam, so they sent me to an opthamalogist.

I have glaucoma.

Not to worry, though. It was caught in the very early stages. They cannot cure or reverse the damage that has already been done, but they can stop it from progressing. As long as I continue to put in my eye drops every night, I’ll be okay.

I am writing of this, not to garner sympathy, but to encourage everyone to get regular eye exams. I wasn’t having any problems with my eyes. I only went because I wanted new glasses. Good thing I did. Don’t wait until you have a problem. By then, it could already be too late. Get your eyes checked on the regular. (Do people still say that?) Take care of your eyes so they can take care of you.

I C U.

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