A Random Collection of Thoughts
I had a bunch of stuff that I wanted to write about today but none of them seemed like their own post. So, I figured I’d just hit them all in quick little bites.
With Jackie Bradley, Jr. signing a contract with the Milwaukee Brewers, the Boston Red Sox’s homegrown outfield that just two years ago I imagined spending a decade watching is gone. Mookie Betts was traded last year and Andrew Benintendi signed with the Royals this offseason. I’m honestly furious and disappointed about it. I was looking forward to seeing the Killer B’s hoist another World Series trophy or two. Instead, they all play for different teams now. There was no real rationale behind this other than money. For a small-market team, this logic might make sense but the Red Sox print money. They make hundreds of millions of dollars every year and even more when the team is winning. This is greed, pure and simple. It’s yet another reason why baseball is quickly becoming America’s “past” time, as in people used to care about it. Looking like it’ll be another crap season for the Sox.
Sticking with sports, I really miss Tom Brady on the Patriots. I’m not sure what the hell happened there but it’s crazy to me that it couldn’t be worked out. I’m not one of those fans who’s “happy” to see Tom raise another Lombardi. Screw that. He should have retired a Patriot and seeing him winning with another team just makes it hurt more. Again, it seems like it was a money/ego thing. Ridiculous.
Moving to music, Adam Levine made some waves when he said that bands weren’t really a thing anymore. I actually agree with him for the most part. And listen, you KPOP maniacs GTFO of here by saying boy bands are bands. They aren’t. They’re creations made to sell music. They’re no more a band than margarine is butter. I miss guitars and percussive drums and primitive recording and production. Auto-tune and digitized recording software have done quite a bit of harm to the quality of music. it’s done some good, to be sure, but I think I prefer less “crafted” music and enjoy something a little more messy and spontaneous. Just this old punk rocker’s opinion.
Dr. Seuss wasn’t “canceled”. His estate decided to stop selling a few of his books because they were offensive. Nobody is forcing anyone to do anything. There is no woke mob trying to cancel the Muppets either. Putting a disclaimer before a show is no different than putting a sticker on an album with curses or rating movies PG-13. If this is your biggest complaint about America right now it might be time to reevaluate your priorities.
Biden has been OK. The bar was pretty low. But if anyone is surprised that he’s slowly chipping away at the progressive policies he ran on, you need to pay more attention to who he’s always been. He’s a centrist (like Obama before him) and so that’s what he’s doing. Unfortunately, that’s not going to cut it right now. We’re on a sinking ship and while it’s good Trump is no longer poking holes for the water to rush through, Biden bailing us out with a teaspoon won’t do much either. If you want progressive policies, like universal healthcare, free college, and a livable wage standard, then you need to support and vote for progressives.
I got to hang out at a brewery the other night and it was a lot of fun. I don’t think I appreciated how much I missed socializing. Hopefully, this summer will feel a little more normal and by normal I mean like summer’s past.
Laszlo says: Happy Friday everyone! Have a great weekend!
