I am still feeling so-so. This will be eminently material to one of the main points of this entry. But, first, more pleasant, or pleasant-ish, things.
Fair enough Major League Baseball game yesterday between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Phillies. More interesting game between the Bronx Bombers and the Los Angeles Angels. I mean interesting in the sense of score-wise.
The Blue Jays-Phillies game was interesting in another manner, one which is closer to the reason I follow baseball (and the footy, and basketball, and hockey and NFL football and Formula 1) than is things like scores, streaks and personalities. This would be because baseball, like all these other sports, is not only THE ultimate reality TV (except, of course, for the shows of the Famous alumni Gordon Ramsay), but also accurately depicts how well the laws of probability and aerodynamics meet up in the real world.
In one of the earlier Blue Jays--Phillies innings, the Jays' Dwight Smith Jr. made a non-homer hit. This one did not have much range to it, and it was a toss-up between whether or not Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola or FB Carlos Santana would catch it. In the end, Santana caught it, but not before Nola came danger-close to Santana, causing Santana to almost get himself run over by Smith Jr. This marriage of the laws of probability and aerodynamics is why I saved money and skipped the new Star Wars Solo filim, as well the new Avengersfilim altogether. I am tired of, and no longer entertained by, heavily promoted filims that show two or so hours, wall-to-wall, of wildly improbable marriages of the laws of probability and aerodynamics when it is almost unheard of that you will see a fraction of the number of such marriages in any baseball, footy, basketball, hockey, or NFL football game, or any Formula 1 Grand Prix. Not going to see a filim I KNOW ahead of time will be dumbasstic-level unrealistic is good for the wallet.
Yes, I know I have a special place in my heart for the Fast and Furious franchise (Fast Five, as far as I am concerned, ranks up there with other all-time movie greats like La Grande Illusion, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, The Spirit of Saint Louis, Touch Of Evil, Major Dundee, The Wild Bunch, the ORIGINALAssault on Precinct 13, Trainspotting 2: T2--especially the scene where Johnny Lee Miller plays the piano--and this year's Hostiles, as well as Eli Cross' Corruptionand Upload), despite it always showing marriages of the laws of probability and aerodynamics that you will neversee in real-world sports. The thing is, like what is arguably last year's best filim, Logan Lucky, the Fast and Furious franchise has something all the Star Wars filims of this decade (save for the one written by the legendary, one and only Eli Cross, set-designed by Kylie Ireland and Andy Appleton and starring Allie Haze as Princess Leia, and maybe, perhaps Rogue One) lack. That something is charm. That is why I cannot be arsed with the latest Game of Thrones ka-ka, but fell immediately in love with Good Behaviourwherein Michelle Dockey pulled in a far superior, far more interesting, far more charming performance than she ever did in Downton.
Speaking of the legendary, one and only Eli Cross, he once wrote something to the effect of "I don't mind a bit of cabaret, just so long as it is not on my set." That is the theme of the first main subject of this entry. I cannot stand Québec Richard Spencer-wannabe François Legault and his Coalition avenir Québec mob. As far as I am concerned, he is just YouTubes mopes Mark Collett, Mike Enoch and Jean-François "Gaspesie" Gariépy dubbed in French. Yeah. That kind of scumbag. But I do so love the schadenfreude of it all when scumbag takes on scumbag. This week, Legault pledged to cut wait times in the A&E to ninety minutes. This was fun and hilarious to hear, not because there is zero chance of it ever becoming reality, but because it brings Legault into direct confrontation with another mob of his fellow Gaspesians, the Québec healthcare "professional" mafia, to be specific. A little background is in order here.
You see, a bit back, Québec family doctors association HMFICLouis Godin, as enraged a Gaspesian as Legault, Atalante and La Meute, went on a tear on RDI (CBC's French-language service, which, I must admit, tends to be more professional and less Don Lemonish-dumbass than the Mansbridge service, although certainly not up to par with Bell's CTV and TSN 690 and Shaw/Corus' Global News) about how bad the po' widdew Gaspesian family doctors have it now that health minister Dr. Gaetan Barrette made them get off their fat asses. Godin, you see, is a typical Gaspesian with all the typical Gaspesian defects. He thinks he is a REALFrenchman, but he is ANYTHINGbut. If he was a REALFrenchman, you see, he would have known that whatever "hardships" his mob has to endure, these all palein comparison to what Doctor Paul Grauwin had to endure at Dien Bien Phu, and he, Godin--as well as his mob--would shut their fucking pieholes and do their jobs instead.
Québec nurses are no better. One of them recently went a-whingin' and a-bitchin' and a-Ima-baLOW-yo house-down against Doctor Barrette over on the Facebook. The specific topic of whingery was alleged overwork. Here is a picture of the See You Next Tuesday who made this whingefest.
Overworked. RIIIIIIIGHT! Notice the nice, natural hair colour...oh wait, that's not a natural hair colour, now, is it? Painting your head every damned colour of the rainbow instead of what nature issued you with, you see, takes time. This See You Next Tuesday says she is overworked as a nurse...yet she still has time to fuck up her hair so she has that "bad acid trip" look. Really! How DUMBdoes this See You Next Tuesday think we are? Then again, this See You Next Tuesday is a Gaspesian, which means, like Godin above, she thinks she is a REALFrenchwoman, but she is ANYTHINGbut. If she WASa REALFrenchwoman, she would have known about Geneviève Galardat Dien Bien Phu, and shut her damned piehole, gotten off the damned Facebook, gotten off her pink-haired ass and done her job. This See You Next Tuesday thinks Gaspesian nurses have it hard. The families of REALFrench nurses Mathieu Toinette and Thibault MelocheWISH they had this See You Next Tuesday's "problems," but if this See You Next Tuesday found herself in a situation similar to that of MathieuToinette and Thibault Meloche, she would shit herself to the extent of being even more non-functional than she claims she is.
So, that is doctors and nurses in Québec. Now François Legault wants to make them get off their asses even more than Doctor Barrette already has. Not likely to happen, but it will most definitely make for record profit years for Orville Redenbacher. Kinda like in the WWE when Shawn Michaels turned against Triple H, then turned against Vinnie Mac, then when Triple H turned against Randy Orton, plus when the Hardy Boys fought each other over Lita. This will be a pure Gaspesian-on-Gaspesian Hell In The Cell Match. Seeing as doctors and nurses in Québec are unionised up the nose, Legault's proposition to move against them could well sink his campaign this October.
And still on the topic of Québec, this week there is this jackoff local "Gala des artisans," celebrating behind-the-scenes crews of Gaspesian filims and TV. I will not be watching it. I will not be watching it for two reasons. For one thing, Québec white nationalist with a history of violence Pierre-Karl Péladeau called for discriminatory tariffs against US company NetFlix. I am not a particular fan of NetFlix, especially after they aired that See You Next Tuesday Rashida Jones' ignorant attack on the adult entertainment industry. However, NetFlix is American. I was born in Montréal, but spent my formative years in New York. Push me hard enough, and my inner New York, my inner Gore Vidal, Billy Martin, Howard Cosell and Al Goldstein all come flooding out. White nationalist Péladeau wants to slam discriminatory tariffs on a US entertainment company? Fine. I'll launch my own countervailing tariffs by personally boycotting ANY AND ALLGaspesian or Gaspesian-related productions. That is why I did not see Blade Runner 2. It was directed by a Gaspesian. That Gaspesian may not have had anything to do with Péladeau, so some would say I was being unfair. I am not. That Gaspesian could have chosen to condemn Péladeau's encroachment on artistic freedom. He did not, so fuck him and fuck his movie too.
The second reason I am boycotting this "Gala des artisans" ka-ka is as follows. Québec is one of the most heavily taxed jurisdictions on the planet outside of North Korea and Venezuela. Québec then throws MILLIONSof this taxpayer moolah into a parastatal company, SODEDC, which showers Québec filim and TV (to the tune of $39 million last year, if I read this report right.) In the meantime, intrepid American writers/producers/directors like the aforementioned Eli Cross and directors/producers/set-designers like the aforementioned Kylie Ireland, and American-based set-designers like the aforementioned Andy Appleton consistently put out a product far superior to anything shat out in Gaspesie with SODEC, which is to say taxpayer-extracted, largesse...but unlike Gaspesian cinematic turds, they all do this with NOTHINGfrom the government except harassment like Measure B. For me to even entertain the idea of celebrating the useless assholes who live off my taxpayer dollars and give less than shit in return would be an insult to Eli Cross, Kylie Ireland and Andy Appleton. I respect Eli Cross, Kylie Ireland and Andy Appleton too much for that.
And, now, I want to end with a couple of plugs.
I first heard of this group on TSN 690. They are called Hockey Helps The Homeless, and they raise money for homeless people by hosting hockey tournaments featuring National Hockey League players and ordinary civilians.
McLaren alumni Sergio "Checo" Perez is collecting money for the victims of the recent earthquakes in Mexico through his foundation.
Puerto Rico has been devastated by Hurricane Maria. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has set up The Empire State Relief And Recovery Effort For Puerto Rico.
On the subject of Puerto Rico, Los Angeles Chef José Andrés has set up an organisation, called World Central Kitchen, to help feed the hungry, not only in Puerto Rico, but in other bad-off places in the world. Please donate or help if you can.
I also want to plug the Patreons of a couple of superb folks. First, there is Jordan Owen, superb musician and content creator. Then, there is Sunny Megatron, Sex Educator and Podcaster. And there is also director extraordinaire and podcaster Holly Randall. They are, all three, highly entertaining to watch. They have the charm and magnetic charisma of The Kylie Ireland Show podcast of a decade ago, starring the legendary, one and only Kylie Ireland and Eli Cross.