Monday, July 31, 2017

A penny for your ounce

Cook County, IL, the same county which contains the city of Chicago, will be starting August 2nd charging a 1 cent per ounce tax on soda and other non natural beverages in an effort to raise funds.

As someone who drinks Coke Zero instead of coffee (and will likely drink their "new, improved" version), that becomes an impact to me even though I do not live in Cook County since the two stores I most frequently shop are the closest to the county line for those north and northeast of me and the stores are advertising that the new tax does not affect them.

There are times when Coke Zero runs out now. It will probably happen more often when those in Cook County travel to buy 4 cases of it at a time.


Du Page county, where I live, was at one time a part of Cook County but was created separately in the 1800s.

There are those who think this can help me because it might inspire me to stop drinking soda because that is why I am fat. I say, "Fuck you." I am fat because I eat way too much and not from drinking things without calories.

They could also say drink coffee or tea. I say, "Fuck you." I can't stand the taste of coffee or tea either hot or cold. I am used to popping a 20 oz bottle at 6AM.

Monday, July 17, 2017

Jumping the Thames

It has been 24 hours since I was sitting at a picnic bench eating lunch between rounds of a tournament when I discovered that the next person to play the Doctor is Jodie Whittaker.

My first thought was the phrase "jumping the shark" which is a term used to describe a tv show declining in popularity doing something different in an attempt to boost ratings. Looking at many reactions to this announcement, it is possible that this move could turn viewers away from the show than to it.

I have begun to wonder how the new producers of the show will handle the Doctor being female. There has always been self discovery within the character after the previous regenerations and this one will definitely be more significant. Being a show where there are episodes that take place in the past, the new appearance of the character can provide additional obstacles to overcome. I have even imagined scenarios where the Doctor would need to uncomfortably tap into its previously unused feminine side to escape imprisonment or influence someone.

However, exploring a radically different persona won't be enough to make the show viable and I hope that those making the new episodes which should become available next Spring will realize that.

This scenario reminds me of what happened decades ago when Tom Baker made the show very popular who was replaced by Peter Davison who kept the momentum going through before losing viewers with Colin Baker before the original run ended with Sylvester McCoy. The new show took off with David Tennant and now this one will be the third past him.

Saturday, July 8, 2017

Unexpecting the expected

The title of the post refers to a song done by a California comedy music artist named Dino Mike whose most recent CD ANALBUM  had a song that was a 2016 Logan Award finalist, Urban Dictionary, and a song called Beamer whose video won the 2017 Logan Award last month.

The song can be heard here: http://www.thefump.com/fump.php?id=1889

The song has a label called Squick (unlike the explicit stag which means profanity) which means that there are concepts in the song that can really gross people out.

The song is an upbeat positive jingle from the point of view of an abortion clinic doctor featuring a whole bunch of puns that are in poor taste. I have wanted to make a video for this song for the FuMPFeST video contest but lack the person behind the camera as well as a couple of extras that are needed.

Wanting to kill time on a day off work without feeding me face, I decided to walk 2+ miles each way to the Wood Dale Police Station to drop off empty prescription bottles even though I drive past it to go to my job. I know that my town has that also but their container is only open during weekday business hours so I left about 11AM.

While walking down Irving Park Road past the many places where I can get food, I realized that there might be people protesting outside the abortion clinic as they have done for years. Knowing that there is an open field which can shorten my walk a block each way if I walk past it, I continued in that direction.



There were only two ladies on the main sidewalk and as I passed them, one offered me a pamphlet about "the joy that I could receive from being a member of the Christian church". I politely declined and with my back to them as I continued on my way one told me to have a blessed day to which I instinctively replied, "Not plausible".

I then heard both of them yelling but due to the traffic and my hearing I could not make out one word which was probably for my best. I then had a decision to make. On the way back do I avoid them and add a block or two on my walk back since Irving Park Road is not a true east-west street here or head back the same way I came since if they have a right to stand on the sidewalk and harass people who have decided to make a difficult decision, I have the same right to use that sidewalk as well. .

Knowing what they could say to me, I rehearsed my replies including listing the 12 years of Christian education that I received, asking if their protests have even caused one person to change their mind (though it is possible that their protests might prevent others from going there), and explaining that not plausible means that though the concept of eternal salvation is something only an idiot would not want to get, there is no tangible evidence to support that concept and using the Bible to support your claim is as meaningless to me as someone using a Little Men book to prove that Mr. Tickle exists.

I also considered pretending to be on my phone talking about that evening's Vatican City style drug fueled gay orgy but put the phone down and calmly walked to that location only to find that those two ladies moved to a different part of the sidewalk not along Irving Park Road to harass customers. The sun being in a different part of the sky might have caused them to move but I really hope that they moved to avoid me.

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Straight on the edge

I do admit that my level of seriousness when playing sports has always exceeded my level of play. Even when playing in the Cook County golf amateur championship in the 90s or in a league against the best bowlers in the area, that occurred especially when others show more ability than me since my intensity was the only thing that could when harnessed properly allow me to compete.

In the world of disc golf, my attitude becomes more out of place. I rarely on a busy course not hear music playing from a portable speaker and even in tournaments see alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana either used or see people whom I can tell were using. I even heard of a video showing the lead card at a local tournament made by that tournament's TD that there were people openly drinking alcohol while playing.

(Due to my arthritis, I take multiple prescription medications and a vitamin supplement so I can take that medication. There are some that will question my opinion since I choose narcotics to function as opposed to "more natural" things. I am aware. Deal with it.)

In events held by the Professional Disc Golf Association, drinking or drugs on the course are grounds for immediate disqualification. Not wanting to be "that guy", I ask that those who ask me about using to use make sure nothing blows in my direction since the whiff of it can give me a headache and I also do not want the smell on my clothes.

There was a recent non sanctioned event on a course that I like to play so I went. I broke even financially by having the best shot out of over 30 players involved at the end of round one and was in a good mood starting the second round.

Due to pairings, I was paired with the associate of the person who was running the event. He played in the same age restricted category I did in a sanctioned event there last year but was not in the same group as me in either round as he struggled in his first round being hung over from the previous night and showed how much better he is than I am in his second round once he was sober.

At the recent event, he chose to not offer his bag tag since he was again hung over and I was not looking forward to playing with him as his lack of sobriety showed as he was trying to pair people for round two. At least I did not play with the person who mentioned during the break how weird he felt after having a "mushroom".

As we were waiting to play, he started complaining that the person who won $20 in the throw off was a cheapskate by not donating it to the charity. My first thought was to confront him and tell him that if he wanted that money to go to charity, he should have thrown his shot better than me but since he was helping the TD, I decided to not do that.

As he struggled, he was popping multiple beers even bragging that 30% of his income (though he is unemployed) goes to alcohol. I was getting more annoyed by him as the round progressed. With a couple holes left, he wanted to take a break so he could enjoy something else as the parking lot would not be suitable for him. Since I was downwind as it happened, I got the full brunt of it and had a headache soon after.

After all that, I won't return to that course for an event unless it is a fully sanctioned one. There is also a chance that another tournament group might hold an event there since a location had to change. Since an event there could mean being paired with that person since that is his "home course", I hope it doesn't happen.

On my way home that day, I was thinking about him and how he lives and realized that though he is someone whom I look down upon, no doubt he is happier than I am.