tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21305725695411828652024-03-18T12:29:43.802-04:00Casa Cabeza"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one..."Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.comBlogger2268125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-57690689340841622082024-03-18T07:59:00.003-04:002024-03-18T07:59:51.440-04:00#AsForLax & a Personal View of Sports Psychology<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Announcer </span><a href="https://twitter.com/NikolaiBusko" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nikolai Busko</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> called me out twice during Saturday afternoon’s broadcast of Army Lacrosse versus Lehigh. The first time was awesome. The second time, though, I felt bad about it.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span></span></span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">A little surprised the BKs starters are still in. I wonder if they’re making a concerted effort to keep the score lopsided b/c of the rankings.<br /><br />Lehigh scores again, & it’s 17-11.<br /><br />I did not think the BKs would give up more than 10 today.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoArmy?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoArmy</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BEATLehigh?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BEATLehigh</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AsForLax?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AsForLax</a></p>— Danno E. Cabeza (@DannoECabeza) <a href="https://twitter.com/DannoECabeza/status/1769062454137377110?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<a name='more'></a><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It’s funny because I don’t think of myself as any kind of expert in a lot of sports and certainly not in reference to college lacrosse. But because of </span><a href="http://asforfootball.com" style="font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">As For Football</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, folks sometimes take what I say </span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">seriously</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. That’s great a lot of the time, but at the point when it feels like what we say might start getting back to the coaches or especially the players, that’s where it makes me feel a little weird. </span></p><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I hope AFF improves the fan experience by reliving the glory of victories, by commiserating in defeat, and by occasionally giving folks specific things to look for during games via our preview articles. However, we’re also quite cognizant of the reality that the coaches know more than we do. We don’t want to be “Vinny from Long Island” yelling at the Jets coaches on a call-in radio show. It’s for this reason that I personally always feel weird about having the coaches on our shows, though they’ve invariably been very gracious about it when we’ve asked.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Friends, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am a swimmer</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I did okay when it was my turn to do it, but even within that context, it’s been more than thirty years since the glory days. Swimming as a sport has moved on. Like, it is amazing how much it’s moved over the last three decades. And that’s from a sport I know </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">well</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I swam butterfly, and more to the point, I specialized in the 200 Fly. It’s arguably the most psychologically intense race in the entire sport, which is how I got so deeply into sports psychology. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bottom line, the 200 Fly sucks. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The 200 Fly sucks for everyone, even if you’re great at it like I was. The back half inevitably becomes a gut-check, such that being good at the race becomes a little like being good at poker. You want to get out fast but loose, dictate the tempo, and then force your opponent to go “all in” when </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> are ready and not when </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">he </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is ready. In practice, this means getting to the halfway point right on the guy’s shoulder and then dropping the hammer just as you turn for that third fifty. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the halfway point, folks are just starting to feel it. Inevitably, in the back of his mind, your opponent is thinking, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Man, this sucks.”</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> If then you hit a guy with a really good move at exactly the moment he’s starting to feel the fatigue of the race overall, well friends, you’ll break almost everyone every time. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s simple human nature. When you hit a guy with a truly excellent move just as he himself is just starting to feel like shit, your opponent literally can’t help but think, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Wow. I’m up against a better swimmer.”</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I honestly couldn’t tell you how many races I’ve won like that, not just because I swam well but because the other guy broke mentally and actually swam badly. Far more than I ever lost, though.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you’re wondering, this is the thing that makes my plebe year win at Army-Navy stick out so significantly. The Mids used this exact strategy on me -- </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and it worked!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I spent the entire third fifty of that race feeling like I’d lost the race and trying to convince myself that it was okay because I was only a plebe. I just couldn’t do it, though. So I hung in there, and as we hit the fourth fifty, I decided that I </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">was not</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> gonna be able to live with it no matter what… </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is how we got a relatively short swimming race where the lead changed hands three times. I’ve only ever seen that happen once, and *I* actually did it.</span></span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
So yeah. I get </span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">way</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> into the psychology of sports. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I love it. It’s literally my favorite thing.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As a result, I find myself unconsciously dialed into body language between plays in football. I see the same kinds of things when I watch college lacrosse or even baseball. I feel like the experience of racing at a high level, of knowing what it feels like to fight through those truly tough times and come out the other side victorious, that helps inform a certain way of looking at this stuff.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m also an engineer who’s pretty good with understanding sports expectations through numbers. Any swimmer does a decent amount of this through the natural course of managing timed interval workouts over a series of years. Indeed, this is the core of what we do at </span><a href="http://asforfootball.com" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As For Football</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. As I’ve said, we hope it informs the fan experience to have a sense of what “good” might look like on any given day or how the two “best” or “worst” parts of two given teams -- in terms of mathematical expectations -- might match-up on the field.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But. None of this gives us -- me in particular -- any particular insight into </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">what teams or coaches should be doing</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. It doesn’t mean that we know how to analyze blockinng schemes or intend to present an opinion on when teams should switch from a man-defense to zone coverage. More to the point, if things don’t necessarily go </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as expected</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, like, that’s just a data point. It doesn’t necessarily mean that teams or players played well or badly.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is how I felt about Army’s game against Lehigh. I </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">expected</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to see a final score along the lines of maybe Army 12, Lehigh 8. I’d have put the Over/Under at something like 20 heading into the game itself. But instead we saw the Black Knights drop 18 and the Mountainhawks post 12, going WAY over my expectations for total offense. It struck me because these two teams have traditionally been defensive powerhouses, and even moreso when they’ve faced each other. Granted, Army has looked really good on offense this year. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lehigh, though, just played really good ball on Saturday.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You could actually see this in their body language. The Mountainhawks got down, but they never broke. They played aggressive, winning lacrosse all game long; it just so happened that they were never able to close the gap and get all the way back into it on the scoreboard. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Still, good for them, honestly. Fighting hard in a losing effort like that is really hard to do.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://asforfootball.com" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIzKvXRHtAi5zttkDBbGxWPNVQ45l1uNH00kGVlsrnnchmmhIluNUqJeGXW_nTCkzJyXEQMRGq8SEteJsvNSeuaAPdMdq56MYPcQ81tbqMgjxc9XXCywHbK91PLSGQwoUtGC-m5JMKSyHSHF85fl7o1wcir3WktNTV8Kh9H11dYJuLkIHhsAElMvUkM06C/s320/1000%20px%20Logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Oh by the way, Army Lacrosse faces another really good team in Boston University this coming Saturday. Since we’re talking about sports psychology, here’s some. It is really, really hard to be consistently excellent across an entire season despite the fact that the better you are, the more people start gunning for you. Worse, the better you are, the more people want to tell you how great you are, and that’s actually poisonous to one’s focus and intensity. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Speaking personally, I actually hate hearing how good I am. Like, I </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">really</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> hate it.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">BU, though, *is* a really good team. Just as important will be how effectively the Black Knights are able to block out the noise associated with being ranked #1 in the nation and do what they do.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Happy Monday, friends. Have a good week.</span></span></p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-db184bca-7fff-91ea-a012-b8d6ac4405fd"></span></p><h2 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span face="Verdana, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Go Army! Beat Boston University!!!</span></span></h2>Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-47310101601368578842024-02-20T17:16:00.003-05:002024-02-20T17:25:22.059-05:00Let's Reboot Miami Vice!<span id="docs-internal-guid-ab75ddcb-7fff-214d-ad62-10b3925e850e"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It took some doing, but I finally convinced my wife to watch </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B000W4JMEO/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">the original </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Miami Vice</span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> with me via Amazon’s </span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">FreeVee</span><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> service</span></a><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. We’d just finished </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Sopranos</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, and for as much as we enjoyed </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Sopranos,</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> I gotta say we're both enjoying </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Vice</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> a good bit more. Part of that is undoubtedly down to nostalgia. My wife and I were both 80s kids. Most of it, though, comes from the vibes, which were immaculate at the time and remain unchanged even to modern eyes. I have therefore started wondering what a modern reboot of </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Miami Vice</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> might look like. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Here’s my idea.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a></span></span><p></p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><h3 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Revisiting </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Miami Vice</span></span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Vice</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> might’ve been a groundbreaking show for its time, but it existed long before what we might think of as “peak TV”. Not every episode is great, but as noted, it’s always a vibe, even when it’s little more than an extended music video. In fact, it’s at its best in some ways when the plot runs second to the setting, mood, and accompanying musical score.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="288" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-aMCzRj3Syg" width="566" youtube-src-id="-aMCzRj3Syg"></iframe></span></span></div><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">
Don Johnson’s Sonny Crockett got most of the buzz, but Phillip Michael Thomas’s Ricardo Tubbs actually serves as our viewpoint character through most of the early part of the series. Tubbs had been an NYPD detective on the trail of Columbian drug lord “Calderone,” and being that this is the 80s, Calderone had recently killed Tubbs’s brother, making the case personal. Tubbs pursues Calderone to Miami in an off-book investigation, has a meet-cute with Crockett, who also just had a partner killed by Calderone, and from there, we see Miami as a kind of </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Strange New World</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> through the lens of an NYPD</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> detective. </span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Crockett and Tubbs team up, and the rest is history.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The strangest thing about watching any 80s show </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">now</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> is that all those shows are absolutely episodic, and it’s especially weird considering that </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Vice</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">’s initial high concept seems </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">much</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> better-suited to a season-long storytelling format. Almost every episode exists as its own self-contained story because, for better or worse, weekly TV didn’t start doing season-long story arcs until the </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">X-Files</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> premiered nearly ten years later -- in 1993. So the guys’ pursuit of Calderone runs for a single two-hour premier episode plus another two-part, “to be continued” storyarc a few weeks later. In another era, Calderone would’ve been the Big Bad for an entire season’s worth of storytelling.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Being a product of the 80s-era “War on Drugs,” </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Miami Vice</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> spends maybe half its time chasing drug dealers, another 25% of its time chasing pimps and sex traffickers, and the balance goes towards random acts of a violence that border at most tangentially on the typical subjects of a vice squad. Sally and I have just reached the first season’s penultimate episode, and the guys are chasing gun runners. No idea why a local vice squad would be after illegal guns, but whatever. So far, so good as far as the episode itself is concerned, and anyway, the vibes are impeccable as always.</span><br /></span><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: large;">Rebooting Miami Vice</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I liked the show’s early focus on Tubbs. We see Miami through his eyes, and it works. He’s the one who’s more apt to fall in love in the early episodes, and he’s also the one who’s a little more apt to take cases personally. By comparison, Crockett starts as a guy who’s a hairsbreadth short of total burnout. He’s living on a boat with a freaking alligator and having an on-again-off-again affair with a woman in his office while his wife files for divorce due to the stress of his job. It would be easy to explicitly reframe his story around this kind of dead-end existence. Imagine Crockett basically about to quit on life writ-large before he meets Tubbs, whose fresh-faced enthusiasm for Miami reawakens Crockett’s own love for both the city and his job.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I mean, that’s </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">almost</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> subtext in the original. They just never quite leaned all the way into it.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="368" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aQmba21VeW4" width="497" youtube-src-id="aQmba21VeW4"></iframe><br /><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">For our reboot, we’ll base Tubbs’s character very loosely on the real life story of </span><a href="https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2016/09/20/army-s-jackson-remembered-for-a-life-of-promise-and-purpose/" style="font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Army cornerback Brandon Jackson</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. Jackson’s mother was an NYPD detective. In our imagined reboot, Tubbs graduates from West Point (naturally), finishes his Army service, joins the NYPD, and moves up to detective before getting involved in the Calderone Affair. Events in the reboot will play out more or less the same way they do in the original, though as noted, we’ll stretch the conclusion out to run the length of the first season. Beyond that, we’ll include several of my favorite episode arcs, including </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Miami_Vice_episodes#Season_1_(1984%E2%80%9385)" style="font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Heart of Darkness,” “No Exit,” “Smuggler's Blues,” and “Nobody Lives Forever”</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. </span></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Heart of Darkness” is a good one because it focuses on a horrific sex trafficking ring. That’s an appropriate plot point for the modern audience and probably ought to make up about 50% of the episodes by total subject-matter. “No Exit” is good because it also involves sex trafficking as well as an FBI agent who can’t get out from his undercover role. We’ll make that agent another West Pointer, tying into our rebooted Tubbs’ background. “Smuggler’s Blues” is a classic staring Glen Frey that I wouldn’t mess with too much. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Finally, “Nobody Lives Forever” sees Crockett fall in love with an uptown girl who can’t understand why he wants to be a cop and ultimately wants him to quit the force. We watched this episode last night, and if I'm being honest, I hated that women. However, the plotline is perfect. Again, I’d swap it for Tubbs, using his West Point backstory. By the time we’re in our 30s, every West Pointer knows a shitload of high-powered corporate types who’re all too ready to help us do whatever in the corporate world. This gives a chance to get all existential. </span><i style="font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Why does Tubbs even want to be here?</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Answer: Tubbs likes the job, and he likes Miami. That’s not hard to understand unless you’re a careerist asshole, which -- alas -- many West Pointers are.</span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="317" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/H-QCKnlD0R0" width="487" youtube-src-id="H-QCKnlD0R0"></iframe></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">As noted, the reboot probably needs to focus about 50% on prostitution and sex trafficking, at most 25% on the drug trade given modern sensibilities, and 25% on whatever else comes out of the writers’ room. This isn't a huge switch, but it's worth noting the reality that the War on Drugs is over, and <i>Drugs</i> won.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The modern reboot also needs to get the modern vibes right. We probably can’t take Crockett out of his trademark white linen suits, but again, we can do something with Tubbs. I also don’t know what the music should be, but man, figuring that out would be half the fun of working on this project.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2Fe6%2Fc9%2F74%2Fe6c974a9a0206086027ee25e4fbd365a.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=996368991fcfe4cf90e26029fb59188980510068bc21e1560d4c5f1ea6b47e6b&ipo=images" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2Fe6%2Fc9%2F74%2Fe6c974a9a0206086027ee25e4fbd365a.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=996368991fcfe4cf90e26029fb59188980510068bc21e1560d4c5f1ea6b47e6b&ipo=images" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I Googled "Miami Style Men" and found this glorious look.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Anyway, that’s the bones of the idea. What do you think?<br /></span></p></span></div></div>Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-55841547578101848972024-01-23T09:33:00.006-05:002024-01-23T09:35:23.995-05:00#AsForDynamite: Why Are We Doing This?<p>Hello friends. I hope this post finds you well. </p><p>Let's talk about AEW.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Ya4vvZ9GP5PDF6TvPHFPKoR9LU5Dc2E77Kxm8dLFRI3ZsWQKP1lF_xC5QVXIPfH5B4OhHz6rpEhAlyYNdCiu8x6BeCKGpI-3YGiSfBCbXrVz5f9iiRmieDrrARUIwKFTyP2bv4HB5Ggq2d_kCQRMdFUGzwL2IdJ-SBNwBhR091eG2Cjw2MbRVL3eT7Zf/s1920/AFD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Ya4vvZ9GP5PDF6TvPHFPKoR9LU5Dc2E77Kxm8dLFRI3ZsWQKP1lF_xC5QVXIPfH5B4OhHz6rpEhAlyYNdCiu8x6BeCKGpI-3YGiSfBCbXrVz5f9iiRmieDrrARUIwKFTyP2bv4HB5Ggq2d_kCQRMdFUGzwL2IdJ-SBNwBhR091eG2Cjw2MbRVL3eT7Zf/w640-h360/AFD.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>A common complaint among WWE fans about AEW is that "AEW doesn't tell stories," or more precisely, that AEW tends to book random matches with no built-in backstory ahead of time. Now, usually WWE fans rank just ahead of Navy fans as far as my Personal Fucks Given Rankings (PFGR) are concerned, and indeed, many of these takes have become substantially less grounded in reality since Elon started his nominal pay-for-engagement scheme over on the former bird app. </p><p>But it still got to me this week. </p><p>I mean, I understand that dudes are shooting out random nonsense to try to stir engagement & get Elon's money, but this week still marked spectacularly bad story comprehension.</p><p><br /><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Living large <a href="https://t.co/O1ylL1NMgy">pic.twitter.com/O1ylL1NMgy</a></p>— Three Year Letterman (@3YearLetterman) <a href="https://twitter.com/3YearLetterman/status/1748456038523691209?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<p></p><p><br /></p><p>It must be said, too, that I haven't written anything on the blog here in quite some time. The blog is monetized -- far more effectively via Google ads than Elon's pay-per-post scheme, which pays hilariously little. So it was either this or a long discussion of my current training/rest cycle in the gym. </p><p>Granted, I also could've written the legitimately long-awaited intro post on top-ranked Army Lacrosse's upcoming season over at <a href="http://asforfootball.com" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">As For Football</a>,<i style="font-weight: bold;"> </i>but fuck it. </p><p>I just can't bring myself to actually <i>work</i> just yet.</p><p>But yeah, I should really be doing <i>that</i> instead. I know.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Why Are We Doing This?</span></b></h3><p>At a certain level, asking why two guys are wrestling on a pro-wrestlinig show is like asking why two football teams are playing football on an NFL Sunday. <i>What should we expect them to be doing?</i> I mean, it says "wrestling" right there on the sign! </p><p>Friends, if you go to an NFL game, you expect to see football. If you go to a pro-wrestling show, you should expect to see wrestling. This is not complicated. </p><p>Would this Sunday's AFC Championship Game become more interesting if we learned that Patrick Mahommes and Lamar Jackson didn't like each other? Would they try harder out there, or is a chance to play in the Super Bowl already enough motivation? Reality is that they're work collegues in a union environment. Most of them are just trying to do their best at a very competitive, very violent job and not get hurt doing it. </p><p>Within that context, of course they mostly like each other. Free agency and the trade market could make literally any two of them teammates on any given Sunday.</p><p>Same thing with pro-wrestling, really.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">This Week's Card</span></b></h3><p>This week's AEW Dynamite is a perfect example of how AEW is built like a sports league rather than like a soap opera. They set up almost everything on this card on <i>AEW Collision</i> this past Saturday, and almost none of it is built directly around personal animosity.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg49qGbNmGFcCnprlRlw50bCEgdrTEFCrguozxR0628Eu1ZKNDpoXtA97KuHq53gv460R2VkI7dGXyFTQDc9wv6IisuUGVKMlI6YXBfqtd9PgKtZCYE3mkSzrtyD67_Sw6xzuemUkW7-qbdVrz265AYktBFAhFZuUSb5mo82Ni0OR-fbfNSoLxz1m3wfeEk/s1350/AEW%20Poster.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg49qGbNmGFcCnprlRlw50bCEgdrTEFCrguozxR0628Eu1ZKNDpoXtA97KuHq53gv460R2VkI7dGXyFTQDc9wv6IisuUGVKMlI6YXBfqtd9PgKtZCYE3mkSzrtyD67_Sw6xzuemUkW7-qbdVrz265AYktBFAhFZuUSb5mo82Ni0OR-fbfNSoLxz1m3wfeEk/w512-h640/AEW%20Poster.jpeg" width="512" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;"><i>Adam Copeland vs. Minoru Suzuki </i>comes from Cody Rhodes's idea that the TNT Champion should take open challenges. Copeland won the TNT Title at <i>World's End</i>, but then lost it less than five minutes later to his longtime friend/rival Christian in underhanded fashion. Copeland is now either trying to qualify for a rematch against Christian or perhaps uphold the honor of the title <i>for</i> his friend since Christian isn't taking open challenges.</p><p style="text-align: left;">AEW has made "The Cope Open" a Collision mainstay. After last week's terrific match versus Dante Martin, Copeland cut a promo saying that he'd battled a bunch of young kids in the "Open" but no vets. When would a veteran step up?</p><p style="text-align: left;">Enter Minoru Suzuki, the murder grandpa and ultimate pro-wrestling veteran.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i>Jeff Hardy vs. Swerve Strickland</i> and <i>Penta Zero Miedo vs. Hangman Adam Page</i> both arise out of AEW's decision to go back to using a rankings system to set up their matches. Strickland and Page both want to qualify for a World Title shot against Samoa Joe. Neither of them hate Samoa Joe, but they both want to be World Champ. They therefore need <i>quality</i> <i>wins</i> over <i>big name opponents</i>. </p><p style="text-align: left;">Notably, however, since Swerve holds two wins over Hangman, Hangman needs <i>more</i> and <i>better</i> wins.</p><p>Penta won recently and is very likely to be ranked this week when the initial rankings get released. Beating him, a ranked opponent, will mean more for Hangman than Swerve beating Hardy, who's a legend but not particularly successful in the wins-column as of late.</p><p>Swerve and Hangman don't like each other, adding a little juice to their race for a title shot, but beyond that, neither of these matches mark any part of a feud.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Timeless Tony Story</i> and <i>Deonna Purrazzo</i> have been friends for a long time. Alas, Storm has lost her mind. Purrazzo wants to become AEW Champion -- obviously -- and if she can beat some sense into her friend at the same time, that would be great. Meanwhile, Storm has implied -- twice -- that she actually wants to fuck Purrazzo after their match, which has been hilarious.</p><p>Is Storm's character bisexual, or is she losing her mind, or is this maybe some kind of Hollywood-based sexual power play? </p><p>This whole thing is probably the most "soap opera" aspect of AEW currently, but if it's anything, it's some kind of weird-ass rom-com.</p><center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">THIS WEDNESDAY! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AEWDynamite?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AEWDynamite</a><a href="https://twitter.com/enmarketarena?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@enmarketarena</a> | Savannah, GA LIVE 8pm ET/7pm CT | TBS<br /><br />After weeks of taunting & verbal exchanges, <a href="https://twitter.com/DeonnaPurrazzo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DeonnaPurrazzo</a> will stand face-to-face with the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AEW?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AEW</a> Women's World Champion "Timeless" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ToniStorm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ToniStorm</a> <a href="https://t.co/5383hvD9JI">pic.twitter.com/5383hvD9JI</a></p>— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) <a href="https://twitter.com/AEW/status/1749537423011291190?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></center>
<br /><p></p><p><i>The Mogul Embassy</i> just lost the ROH Trio's Championships to <i>Bullet Club Gold</i>, who in turn just formed a super-faction with <i>The Acclaimed</i>. So the Mogul Embassy is an obvious top-contender for the AEW Trio's Titles, and in a larger sense, all of this appears to be building towards a Trio's Titles Unification Match between The Acclaimed and BCG.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Sting's Last Match</i> will occur at <i>Revolution,</i> and since the Young Bucks are Executive Vice Presidents at AEW, they booked themselves to face him and Darby Allin in that match.</p><p>I have no idea if Sting will play up the abuse-of-power angle inherent in this story. It's been widely reported that *he* requested to work with the Bucks in his last match, and indeed, the Bucks' promo last week talked more about protecting AEW from veteran has-beens than it talked about their power within the company. We'll see. I suspect Sting will note that he's never lost a match in AEW, and that he plans to go out on top.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Wardlow vs. Trent Beretta</i> is the only truly random match on this card. Like Hangman and Swerve, Wardlow wants to qualify for a title shot against Samoa Joe, and Beretta won recently, so <i>maybe</i> this will be considered a <i>quality</i> win for MJF's former strong arm. </p><p>Personally, I think it would be more interesting to see Beretta go over, setting up an International Title Shot against the winner of Orange Cassidy vs. Roddy Strong at <i>Revolution</i>, but I very much doubt that's what will happen.</p><p><br /></p><p>That's AEW's card for this week's <i>Dynamite</i>. What are your questions?</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">* * *</p><p><br /></p><p>We'll close this week with <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/433HtIdzMi6gqDdO0n5EX8?si=4237475372624ed7" target="_blank">my new Sammy Hagar "Van Halen Tribute" playlist</a>. Hagar is headed out on tour this year with <a href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/2yzxX2DI9LFK8VFTyW2zZ8" target="_blank">Joe Satriani</a>, Michael Anthony, and <a href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3USq8cJevkZdDRzRlGwUX4" target="_blank">Jason Bonham</a> for what they're calling a "<a href="https://www.wecb.fm/a-van-halen-tribute-tour-with-sammy-hagar-and-joe-satriani/" target="_blank">Van Halen Tribute Tour.</a>" </p><p>For those who haven't followed Hagar since he left Van Halen, that lineup is either <a href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/416gMRzj1LnFJvSBF5PO2R" target="_blank">Chickenfoot</a> with Jason Bonham on drums or <a href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/3AltEY6Hu4mXfegvDuDtqI" target="_blank">The Circle</a> with Satriani on guitar in lieu of Vic Johnson. Regardless, this is as close as <i>anyone</i> is gonna get to the original Van Halen lineup given that Eddie has passed, Alex doesn't appear to want to tour anymore, and David Lee Roth's voice has been shot for while now. </p><p>What can you do? </p><p>Having seen The Circle this past year, I can tell you that they let longtime backup vocalist Michael Anthony sing whatever Roth songs they play. Anthony does pretty good. </p><p>Anyway, here's the playlist, complete with a bunch of live cuts from Chickenfoot. I really hope they play "My Kind of Girl" this summer. I liked a lot of what Chickenfoot did.</p><iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="352" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/433HtIdzMi6gqDdO0n5EX8?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="100%"></iframe>Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-80931024217231447672023-12-27T09:21:00.002-05:002023-12-27T09:25:49.423-05:00Greetings from my Social Media Break<p>Merry Christmas & Happy New Year, friends!</p><p>I started my social media hiatus on Friday, December 15th, which was about ten days ago. I drove up to the University of Vermont that day to pick up my eldest daughter Hannah, making it easy to leave Facebook and Twitter behind. I'd found myself getting a little too obsessed with seeing reaction to things I'd written, mostly for <i><a href="http://asforfootball.com" target="_blank">As For Football</a></i>, over the previous months. I therefore wanted to break the habit of checking in with the world-at-large. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqR7DvfynF7MyHqhd2IK5ut2vXEX_vGP2-zEr4iBfBG2m57keMg-UfQ0Xt6klrBMYbClImd0sYWxhGmU_UBX3E0WusmMVhMesf3wGMLnLhOriXTFTKmQjUWDBiWfWOvwCHt0TGSw_4YrqKInAyuVDFtorepa-3gqrybIxTzFYS9O3zpZwWXg9Bf6OXOozj/s1920/F7E9677B-6E5F-4F54-8A33-64A8BCF2E6E0.JPEG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="1920" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqR7DvfynF7MyHqhd2IK5ut2vXEX_vGP2-zEr4iBfBG2m57keMg-UfQ0Xt6klrBMYbClImd0sYWxhGmU_UBX3E0WusmMVhMesf3wGMLnLhOriXTFTKmQjUWDBiWfWOvwCHt0TGSw_4YrqKInAyuVDFtorepa-3gqrybIxTzFYS9O3zpZwWXg9Bf6OXOozj/w400-h320/F7E9677B-6E5F-4F54-8A33-64A8BCF2E6E0.JPEG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Merry Christmas from <i>Casa Cabeza!</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It had gotten a little too easy to doom-scroll my way through the day, and with that had come a lot of unfiltered bullshit. Too much of what passes for opinion comes from miserable bastards looking to outsource their own unhappiness. I've missed interacting with AFF's Firstie Club, but the cold turkey approach seemed like the best thing for the moment, and here we are.</p><p>I've read quite a bit, I've listened to a few audiobooks from my local library, and I've watched a few movies. The beauty of all of this is that I've gotten to do it in the vacuum of my own space, allowing an easier place from which to form my own opinions.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Audiobooks</b></h3><p>I've listened to three this month. These include the two most recent books from Robert Galbraith (i.e. J.K. Rowling in her guise as author of the <i><a href="The Strike Series" target="_blank">The Strike Series</a></i>) as well as Jim Butcher's <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12183815-brief-cases" target="_blank">Brief Cases</a> anthology, extracted from <i>The Dresden Files</i>. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGXjqUSe2SLWC8J0N88myaWMXaZW8OgAYoJm2U48UQaSCPohMp4AldTTjFcZhyXwFj-0Y4jcLh9W94qi-8MI7b8VD8ZjzucArsFv8bDxSxV6aIB3_vS0j3fqfPPok0uABVaZkkYszF5QtwdtVN4UVFRcmFv1VM7WbwHMHNP_7xI0uDW8Y4Qg-MvYmYJNFD/s1500/Galbraith_TheRunningGrave_FC-4247395002.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGXjqUSe2SLWC8J0N88myaWMXaZW8OgAYoJm2U48UQaSCPohMp4AldTTjFcZhyXwFj-0Y4jcLh9W94qi-8MI7b8VD8ZjzucArsFv8bDxSxV6aIB3_vS0j3fqfPPok0uABVaZkkYszF5QtwdtVN4UVFRcmFv1VM7WbwHMHNP_7xI0uDW8Y4Qg-MvYmYJNFD/s320/Galbraith_TheRunningGrave_FC-4247395002.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I listened to the <i>Strike</i> books before my social media hiatus, primarily on the train ride home from the office and/or at home while doing household chores. I hadn't realized that Rowling had released <i>two</i> books since 2020's <i><a href="https://robert-galbraith.com/stories/troubled-blood/" target="_blank">Troubled Blood</a></i>, the book that got her canceled for her anti-trans views, nor did I agree that <i>Troubled Blood</i> was anti-trans, whatever Rowling's personal politics. I've long since decided not to let my politics affect my willingness to enjoy others' art and entertainment, and so I <i>enjoyed</i> <i>Troubled Blood</i> quite a bit<i>.</i> <p></p><p>The weirdest thing about that whole thing is that there aren't any trans characters at all in the book!</p><p>Which is how we get to <a href="https://robert-galbraith.com/stories/the-ink-black-heart/" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">The Ink Black Heart</a>, a book that serves primarily as an examination of toxic fan culture. I understand why the topic is of interest to Rowling, but I'd argue that Twitter is not a great place to set a murder mystery. Worse, I realized at some point during this book that Rowling has a real tendency to give vent to her personal sense of auteur-aggrievement in this series through ever other iteration. So all of the even-numbered books have been kind of lousy because they tend to get a little self-indulgent. On the odd-numbered books, Rowling's sense as a professional storyteller comes back to the fore and presents a ripping good murder mystery.</p><p><i>The Cuckoo’s Calling</i> - A really great murder mystery set against the backdrop of upper-class London.</p><p><i>The Silkworm</i> - Rowling punches down at self-publishing authors and literary dreamers.</p><p><i>Career of Evil</i> - Bloody macabre mystery about a serial killer.</p><p><i>Lethal White</i> - Strange book with overwhelming literary pretentions. The weakest of the series by far.</p><p><i>Troubled Blood</i> - A really interesting cold case murder mystery.</p><p><i>The Ink Black Heart</i> - Rowling punches down at Twitter trolls.</p><p>This brings us to the newest book, <i><a href="https://robert-galbraith.com/stories/the-running-grave/" target="_blank">The Running Grave</a></i>, which might just be the best in the series. Rowling takes on cult psychology this time, building a book that's only slightly murder mystery but mostly a straightforward paranoid thriller. This gives the book a truly fascinating structure. It's <i>long</i>, unfortunately, but all that length pays off. Rowling builds the moments of tension with painstaking patience, and once this thing starts delivering, it <i>really</i> delivers.</p><p>So. I've written all of this to tell you that I really liked <i>The Running Grave</i>, but I don't know that you can read it in a vacuum -- or that you should. Do with that what you will.</p><p>If you're a fan of <i>The Dresden Files</i>, then <i>Brief Cases</i> is also fun, especially in the back half. Butcher spends a lot of time with Dresden's former apprentice Molly, a fascinating, definitely underused character. But the best story is the one told from the perspective of Dresden's dog, Mouse.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Rebel Moon</b></h3><p>I loved Zack Snyder's <i>Rebel Moon </i>and have been surprised by the weirdly negative reactions its gotten from movie critics. Do these guys want <i>more </i>recycled IP bullshit? I mean, what were they expecting from a Zack Snyder "Star Wars" movie?</p><p>And let's be honest: this is less Zack Snyder's <i>Star Wars</i> movie and more his <i>Warhammer 40K </i>movie. The real indictment here is that only one critic even picked up that up, and he's not even a real critic!</p>
<center><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1wnDqvKfq8A?si=Cw-E-XZ1aFvxxff3" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></center><center><br /></center><center style="text-align: left;">Alan is my favorite <i>Star Wars </i>talking head. <i>Yes, </i>Star Wars<i> talking heads are a thing!</i> I agreed with his take completely.</center><center style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfXw59inh-PlMFHla6EotWVQv-AvbqbMvYqao3RwUPjNm7cnylpbBdE-hsnEF0RrvgORthV6pBUOLxQh3oYApnBNrYsewuV88Nxdg1bD_sRLTEVqHAG1QNXFZsyQYW8kUe4pRQwEpUb2QroycbsjC5ofdcMBkMlRlD0W_UPt9O27-IRRVMISf2GihYqSi7/s1024/doctor-aphra-2703120561.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="666" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfXw59inh-PlMFHla6EotWVQv-AvbqbMvYqao3RwUPjNm7cnylpbBdE-hsnEF0RrvgORthV6pBUOLxQh3oYApnBNrYsewuV88Nxdg1bD_sRLTEVqHAG1QNXFZsyQYW8kUe4pRQwEpUb2QroycbsjC5ofdcMBkMlRlD0W_UPt9O27-IRRVMISf2GihYqSi7/w260-h400/doctor-aphra-2703120561.jpg" width="260" /></a></div><br /></center><center style="text-align: left;">While we're talking about Star Wars, I also started working my way through the <a href="https://www.marvel.com/comics/series/22719/star_wars_doctor_aphra_2016_-_2019" target="_blank">2016 <i>Dr. Aphra</i> series</a> from Marvel. It's a clever deconstruction of the <i>Original Trilogy </i>characters and probably the best comic ever set in the <i>Star Wars </i>Galaxy.</center><center style="text-align: left;"><br /></center><h3><center style="text-align: left;"><b>New Beat-Navy-Mobile</b></center></h3><center style="text-align: left;">My daughter is taking my old car back up to UVM. I therefore had to get a new car, and after a LOT of research and debate decided to lease a new Subaru Crosstrek Sport. It's gray with a gold racing stripe. </center><center style="text-align: left;"><br /></center><center style="text-align: left;"><i>Glorious!</i></center><center style="text-align: left;"><br /></center><center style="text-align: left;">There is so much crazy AI crammed into this car that it freaks me out. I actually turned down quite a bit of automation, and it's still nuts. For example, when you set cruise control, you can also set a follow-distance from cars in front of you and enable lane following, and the car will essentially drive itself. It will stay in the lane it's assigned and follow the car in front of you at whatever distance you prescribed. </center><center style="text-align: left;"><br /></center><center style="text-align: left;">What a world.</center><center style="text-align: left;"><br /></center><center style="text-align: left;">Anyway. How are you guys doing out there?</center><center style="text-align: left;"><br /></center><center style="text-align: left;">If you're wondering, I'll be back in the Firstie Club after the New Year. Not heading back to Twitter, though, until we hit the start of Army Lacrosse season. I also have no plans to read reactions to this post, so send me a text or reply right here.</center><center style="text-align: left;"><br /></center><center style="text-align: left;"><i>Happy New Year!</i></center>
Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-24512867829354282102023-12-21T08:43:00.002-05:002023-12-21T08:43:36.294-05:00As For Dynamite: Jay White is AEW’s Cactus Jack<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Greetings, friends, from my social media hiatus. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC817I7rPCz6O89cMYx4ixWl-h5uj1JbfH1Ry7Ym9nZrEznJHoPC1xGEghyxmGZAXkCKunCvuzzxWhXSjoCImmXEd3RdkdGOoM7VfFQBxsvMRIg72_kLXy497mp7y-KX7MRGz8VWhlVLdMN4ePLITNEaYWS12AuPyu5-_0xZ4iBbjbKE7QGApWIK3fEIK_/s1920/AFD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC817I7rPCz6O89cMYx4ixWl-h5uj1JbfH1Ry7Ym9nZrEznJHoPC1xGEghyxmGZAXkCKunCvuzzxWhXSjoCImmXEd3RdkdGOoM7VfFQBxsvMRIg72_kLXy497mp7y-KX7MRGz8VWhlVLdMN4ePLITNEaYWS12AuPyu5-_0xZ4iBbjbKE7QGApWIK3fEIK_/w640-h360/AFD.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span><a name='more'></a></span></span><p></p><h3 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It’s a Hateful World Because Some Folks Seem to Like It That Way</span></span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My DVR -- via YouTubeTV -- cutoff last night before AEW’s five-minute overrun got recorded. I therefore logged onto Twitter just long enough to see who won last night’s main event. Alas, after a mere week’s hiatus the sheer negativity smoking off the former bird app felt so overwhelming that I gave up almost immediately. I saw that we’re getting a three-way final in the Gold League next week, so obviously Jay White somehow won the match. However, I couldn’t quickly find a clip of the main event’s last minute, and the rando bizarre hatefulness overwhelmed my poor uncalloused synapses before I could dig deepy.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I would like to say that a lot of folks on the bird app probably need therapy, but in truth, I’ve always believed Tony Khan’s assertion that WWE runs an ongoing information warfare effort against AEW in order to make the product less enjoyable for AEW fans via negative social media interaction. In this, WWE appears to interact a lot like Russian state-sponsored actors. They appear to have hired a small team of mostly non-native-English-speaking posters to amplify the voices of a tiny handful of professional shittalkers mixed with several dozen hardcore “useful idiot” fans. This sort of thing is not difficult to organize and can be extremely effective, especially lately on the bird app since -- ironically -- nearly all the restrictions on bot-networks and their handlers have come down since the platform’s conversion to “X”.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m no expert on this stuff, but I am a close personal friend and classmate of Clint Watts, who inadvertently taught us all what to look for when covering Russia’s information operation in the run-up to the 2016 election. The signs seem pretty obvious -- to me, at least. But maybe that’s because deep down, I’d rather ascribe active professional malice to ongoing malicious actions rather than to sheer hateful stupidity. Which is to say that surely </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">most actual wrestling fans just enjoy wrestling</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> whatever their personal tribal bias might be.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That’s what I would prefer to believe, at any rate.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It took awhile, but AEW’s Tony Khan appears to have set up his own bot network maybe 18 months or so ago. Of course, he seems to have done this in a very TK way. His network appears not to trash WWE or other wrestling companies so much as they promote what’s good about his own product. He’s also gotten behind any number of prominent AEW-positive voices, some of whom are decidedly </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">not</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> WWE-friendly. Moreover, there is at least one prominent social media account on the former bird app that I would bet works directly for Khan in the analytics department of his European Football Club. Even a few of my own positive statements about AEW have occasionally gotten magnified all out of proportion to their brilliance by what is obviously a bot network.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I hate this part of the world, but it’s the world we live in.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alas, being on social media is an unfortunate necessity for </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As For Football’s</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Editor. I say this despite knowing full well that AFF’s picks up </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">most</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of our fans via word of mouth when guys email our stuff to their buddies and/or when they Google “As For Football”. This is why we’ve developed separate logos for a bunch of our new initiatives. We’re trying to make them more memorable because we </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">know</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that you’re mostly going to find us via Internet search.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Against that, social media referrals come a distant third. Even so, however, social media remains important, and here we are.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So I have to go back. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I can’t believe it, but at some point, I really will need to go back.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><h3 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jay White is AEW’s Cactus Jack</span></span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jay White has done outstanding work throughout the Continental Classic. And even before that, really, when he worked with MJF and before that, within the FTR-Punk-Ricky Starks storyline immediately following the start of AEW Collision.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We just established that reading online wrestling discourse is a mistake. But even beyond all the disingenuous information warfare out there, it seems clear that most AEW fans don’t understand White’s role within the company. Because they keep saying that he’s getting “buried.” </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It struck me last night during Mark Briscoe’s match with Jay Lethal. Briscoe did the Cactus Jack spot, and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">BANG BANG!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Simply put, there are several guys vying to be AEW’s Mick Foley, i.e. the super-versatile modern day main event player who puts over main event stars. That guy will be THE critical role player over AEW’s next few years. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don’t care what anyone says, Mick Foley was the Attitude Era’s real hero. Truthfully, I think most big time fans from that era know it, too. Based on his tribute, we can safely assume that Mark Briscoe </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">wants</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to be this era’s Real Hero. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Unfortunately for him, Jay White is currently That Guy.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I mentioned at the top that my DVR cut-out right before Dynamite’s finish. This was extremely unusual for YouTube TV, and indeed, by the time I’d logged in this morning, they’d gotten it fixed. So I saw Dynamite’s last five minutes over coffee this morning. White beat Moxley relatively cleanly, setting up an injury angle that will protect Mox next week while also -- immediately -- selling Swerve’s popularity to the crowd. This was outstanding work backed by White’s recent history of excellence, both in the ring and on the mic.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Friends, it’s not some accident that Jay White has been AEW’s co-headliner for something like the past four to six months now. He and Juice Robinson had my favorite match of the year with FTR over the summer in order to revitalize both FTR’s reign as Tag Champs and the Tag Titles overall. He then revitalized Punk before going straight into a campaign to make MJF the biggest babyface in the company. Now he’s in the main event to make Swerve Strickland a star.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jay has not been THE headliner, but he’s been doing amazing work </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">making</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> headliners. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guys, this is his actual job. </span></span></p><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">White’s time at the top will come eventually, I’m sure. For now, however, let’s appreciate the quality of his work on its own merits. He’s been the company’s MVP since the start of Collision, and I love it.</span></span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-31340192477888893412023-10-26T09:06:00.009-04:002023-10-26T09:12:09.557-04:00As For Dynamite: "The Hangman Problem"<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have a million things I need to be working on right now, but fuck it. Let’s talk about </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">AEW Dynamite</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Granted, maybe ten people are gonna read this, but…</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Who cares?!</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiZkQw-eJly1bu0MV3rcumnyB8b0cFbgu2MySXfyQSsxxHE2Ve49Mj88uF_KLfSYE6lKc1IoMjXZdq7waSeHbQP_-j0-cvqL_toebOobRNPJnHB-EGSdICBpGjRxsD1zlylgaKV1qbYF0AW1Jr3kp4bxfX-KPuaG0mcdF3tArehfbmUF849KT-qke_BTy6/s1920/AFD.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiZkQw-eJly1bu0MV3rcumnyB8b0cFbgu2MySXfyQSsxxHE2Ve49Mj88uF_KLfSYE6lKc1IoMjXZdq7waSeHbQP_-j0-cvqL_toebOobRNPJnHB-EGSdICBpGjRxsD1zlylgaKV1qbYF0AW1Jr3kp4bxfX-KPuaG0mcdF3tArehfbmUF849KT-qke_BTy6/w640-h360/AFD.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></span></div></div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a name='more'></a></span></span></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wrestling fans love to talk about why certain companies “miss” on certain wrestlers. Why does the WWE release a guy like Swerve Strickland, for instance, only to see Strickland rise meteorically through the ranks in another company while doing the best work of his career? That answer hinges on what I’ve started thinking of as </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hangman Problem.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hangman Problem</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is so-named after AEW’s babyface protagonist Hangman Adam Page. Page’s character is a self-styled “anxious millennial cowboy,” who is -- perhaps ironically -- at his most interesting when he’s full of self-doubts and unfocused anxieties. As a character, Hangman drinks too much, loses matches that he should win despite possessing unrivaled physical gifts, and often struggles within AEW’s social hierarchy because he just can’t quite convince himself that he’s as good at this pro-wrestling thing as his more decorated friends The Elite always have been. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Page presents himself as a flawed character. That’s the whole point. He faces universal personal struggles, and it’s easy to identify with him for that reason. </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The upside of this presentation, then, is that Page’s character is </span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">at least</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> as interesting when he’s losing as he is when he’s winning. This, then, is </span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Hangman Problem:</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">How do you keep your character interesting when you’re losing?</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
This matters for two reasons. First, and most obviously, AEW has a huge roster, wrestlers must compete for TV time, and not everyone can win all their matches. Reality is, as QT Marshall put it, “It’s easy to get on TV when you do whatever you’re asked to do.” By comparison, as guys like Miro and Andrade can both testify, it’s a lot harder to stay on TV consistently when you’re trying to keep your win-loss record strong. However, if a wrestler has mastered </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Hangman Problem</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, losing is much less of an issue -- up to a certain point, anyway.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Three-time AEW World Champion Jon Moxley laid out his own approach to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hangman Problem</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> recently in a promo ahead of his Wrestledream match with Orange Cassidy. Of big matches, he said, “Sometimes you win, sometimes they win. That doesn’t matter. What matters is the fight.” </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="325" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KitPR-hgORA" width="546" youtube-src-id="KitPR-hgORA"></iframe></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">It’s an interesting take because Moxley really </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">can’t</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> be AEW Champion again for a good, long time. Where’s the pop in a guy winning his </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">fourth</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> World Championship? He’s got no choice but to find other ways to stay relevant.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This brings us to the second reason why </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hangman Problem</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> matters more in AEW than it does in WWE. AEW doesn’t have writers. Where WWE is a scripted sports-based soap opera in which its Superstars are basically stage performers, AEW is more like an SNL-style sports variety show where its performers pitch ideas to a director who then approves or rejects them. AEW doesn’t “have creative” for its wrestlers. Rather, AEW wrestlers “have creative” for the promotion.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is a radically different approach to production, and it makes </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Hangman Problem</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> urgently important for everybody on the show. Think about the characters who’ve gotten super-over on the show recently. Swerve Strickland. Timeless Toni Storm. “Mr. Collision” Juice Robinson. Orange Cassidy. Hell, even Kenny Omega, Bryan Danielson, Christian Cage, and as of last night, Chris Jericho. All of these characters have done something interesting </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in defeat</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in order to set up their arcs going forward. I’d argue that Storm and Robinson have been the best at this lately, but Omega might be the most obvious. He’s on a losing streak -- </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">that people freaking hate!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> -- because he’s broken up with long-time friend and manager Don Callis.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m telling you, Omega losing is losing </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">BECAUSE HE NEEDS TO!</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Not for me. Not for you. Not even for Tony Khan, or to put over younger talent. He needs to lose because otherwise his character won’t be able to grow and evolve, and he’ll get stale. Over a long enough time horizon, that’s the real problem.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Even MJF, arguably the most protected wrestler in AEW, did something interesting in defeat after he lost to Wardlow. I mean, it kind of sucked for Wardlow, but Max’s character has always been the dark mirror of Hangman’s. Both guys work constantly on issues arising from adversity that lead to growth, and change. Where we are right now comes on a direct line from what Max did with his loss to Wardlow last year.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="327" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7lKehSddwyE" width="522" youtube-src-id="7lKehSddwyE"></iframe></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>So. Why isn’t your former WWE favorite getting more time and more wins on AEW TV? It’s probably because he/she/they can’t think of a way to build creatively off of a big TV or PPV loss. Which is fair because I don’t think it’s easy. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-632789f7-7fff-f8f0-6516-3ad35a3070e9"></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I just think it’s necessary.</span></span></p>Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-83455487156375639992023-08-18T07:00:00.006-04:002023-08-19T08:31:24.500-04:00The Pointer Brothers’ Guide to Skiing on a Budget<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Skiing is a great sport, but alas, it can be very expensive. Even my rich friends often dedicate a decent amount of time to figuring out how to manage the lifestyle on some kind of budget. It’s one of those things where it sometimes really helps to get a tip or two, hence this piece.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve had this thing in mind for well over a year now. It’s based on conversations I’ve had with strangers on various ski lifts plus tips from my friends and classmates in the </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/4641877949187820" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pointer Brothers’ Ski Group</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The Ski Group is an informal friend collective that I organized with my “brother” Brian, who was, in fact, my roommate throughout our firstie year at West Point. We use the group to plan ski trips, share tips and photos, etc. And now, well… here we are. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This piece is intended for young professionals just getting into the skiing lifestyle. If you found your way here, you’re probably a fellow West Pointer, and that’s great. However, it’s not a requirement or anything. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">All are welcome. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Re9_saOQou-OAuMRDDXF-U3TO_cuEdxOJTlmCdWQzMUdoAcypM6Sr4JSfhlZnEBtpxYYtcmFRYDZ2Odjz6cdB3Hlz9aT1AZpcnjmbJVoIRWrhjx_PKd6vBVIZ4RDHWl5Ynl8hMwu1dy2Wn8qgiuw4BUKhzAee4gpdWoxYjbpRz6xsOmzvCD91YvGA6BP/s1640/Pointer%20Brother's%20Guide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1640" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Re9_saOQou-OAuMRDDXF-U3TO_cuEdxOJTlmCdWQzMUdoAcypM6Sr4JSfhlZnEBtpxYYtcmFRYDZ2Odjz6cdB3Hlz9aT1AZpcnjmbJVoIRWrhjx_PKd6vBVIZ4RDHWl5Ynl8hMwu1dy2Wn8qgiuw4BUKhzAee4gpdWoxYjbpRz6xsOmzvCD91YvGA6BP/w640-h360/Pointer%20Brother's%20Guide.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you’ve got tips, drop them below. As you’ll see, I started with my own thoughts and then added in the voices of the group as we went along.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><p></p><h3 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">First Things First: Find a Club</span></span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Skiing is a social sport, and with that in mind, it shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that many ski clubs started as local civic organizations. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are lots of them!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> My own small town in Connecticut has two, the </span><a href="https://www.sterlingskiclub.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sterling Ski Club</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and the </span><a href="https://www.sikorskyskiclub.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sikorski Ski Club</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Sterling has lodges near Mount Snow and Sugarbush, while the Sikorski lodge is near Okemo. Both are also part of the </span><a href="http://skiclub.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Connecticut Ski Council</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7rHIQV7AOWn1flXVGxJDAO6leP_XkFU-5Inbd8JL-fQRs428xdA4W_25holYVmUfY6kg070ttM5RRE7cRsJDPJ3LLfNBiOeTgueYdjoq0UUnceLqoqdUyIxewKXIIj_EUxTMQUAv1Aa_poYqj1bI87TxbB3goc7rxLecRqUs_tOLsxzMFK0jGZevK_VdZ/s4032/IMG_0211.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7rHIQV7AOWn1flXVGxJDAO6leP_XkFU-5Inbd8JL-fQRs428xdA4W_25holYVmUfY6kg070ttM5RRE7cRsJDPJ3LLfNBiOeTgueYdjoq0UUnceLqoqdUyIxewKXIIj_EUxTMQUAv1Aa_poYqj1bI87TxbB3goc7rxLecRqUs_tOLsxzMFK0jGZevK_VdZ/w400-h300/IMG_0211.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sally & the kids at Sterling's Mt. Snow Lodge.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The clubs are great. First, because staying at the lodges is vastly more affordable than trying to book hotels or VRBOs, and second, because they offer any number of discounted lift ticket programs, either through early season bulk-ticket sales, through recurring offers, or through </span><a href="http://skiclub.com/special-discount-days/" style="font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Ski Council Awareness/Appreciation Days</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. Many clubs also organize special trips. These run the gamut from local bus trips to mid-Summer sojourns to ski in South America.</span></p><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There was a time when Americans just did stuff because we enjoyed doing it, before everyone and their brother was trying to monetize their hobbies and turn them into micro-businesses. This is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">why</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> we have non-profit civic organizations, a universally beneficial system that has -- unfortunately -- struggled against the sheer overwhelming commercialism of the modern world. It doesn’t have to be like that, though, and indeed, many of these potentially beneficial organizations are still around. You just have to know where to look for them. My club, the Sterling Ski Club, in particular is always looking for young families. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Families tend to take good care of the lodge.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The </span><a href="http://skiclub.com/ct-ski-council-welcome/clubs/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Connecticut Ski Council</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> web page has a list of local clubs, and there is a similar umbrella organization in the </span><a href="http://www.metnyski.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">City of New York</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Your state probably has one as well.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Friends, if you </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">really</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> want to help grow the sport and save a little money at the same time, join a club.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><h3 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Find the Right Pass</span></span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vail created the </span><a href="https://www.epicpass.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Epic Pass</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> system a few years ago and changed the sport forever, both for better and worse. The good news is that the various passes now make it relatively easy to ski a large swath of resorts as much as you want more or less all over the country. The bad news is that the skiing landscape is now divided into something like three walled gardens, and if a specific place isn’t on your pass, it can be hard to justify going there. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This sucks! </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Plus, the skiing lifestyle in general is now more affordable than ever, and that’s good, but it also means that more people than ever are skiing more than they ever have previously. So the mountains can be crowded at times, especially on powder weekends.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJqTtu2T-D0o6zxi0uGw93GwXRHy_EQ9-tijnOvU0TR6sAeAWIJY5uSOuURtmMOEu7a4YbPB5U5T8bab8RhXNW07xPs4ErXsivYeyDhusQIVcJIfKQs7CRh9f5bv_ZGAD4I0xKV9bRn-9BhBSVVqrrLPSJTwxiMzsGISHua-wc49GFqKoB_3fgDsT9YDvB/s4032/00BE3C68-0354-426C-A384-5BC0D8D82CEA.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJqTtu2T-D0o6zxi0uGw93GwXRHy_EQ9-tijnOvU0TR6sAeAWIJY5uSOuURtmMOEu7a4YbPB5U5T8bab8RhXNW07xPs4ErXsivYeyDhusQIVcJIfKQs7CRh9f5bv_ZGAD4I0xKV9bRn-9BhBSVVqrrLPSJTwxiMzsGISHua-wc49GFqKoB_3fgDsT9YDvB/w400-h300/00BE3C68-0354-426C-A384-5BC0D8D82CEA.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">With Brian at the top of the world in Breckenridge, CO.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you’re a military veteran, you pretty much </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">have</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to buy an Epic Pass. Active duty and retired service members can ski the whole season for about the price of a single day lift ticket, while even five-and-fly vets like me ski the season for something like half-off the full-price Epic Pass. Even at full price, though, the Epic Pass isn’t a bad deal. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As of this writing, early-season prices are:</span></span></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Epic Pass: $909</span></span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Epic Veteran: $519</span></span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Epic AD/Retired: $159</span></span></p></li></ul><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There are a bunch of other Epic passes available, depending on where you live, where you plan to ski, and how many days you’ll be out on the mountain. Unfortunately, it looks like they’ve done away with the Epic College Pass, but what can you do?</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you’re not a veteran, you might want to consider the </span><a href="https://www.indyskipass.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Indie Pass</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Currently, you get two days and two nights at all Indie Pass resorts for $279, which is not bad at all, especially if you like hitting a bunch of different resorts. Locally, this includes </span><a href="https://berkshireeast.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Berkshire East</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://catamountski.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Catamount</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://westmountain.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">West Mountain</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://jaypeakresort.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jay Peak</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://magicmtn.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Magic Mountain</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and a bunch more. Couple the Indie Pass with Club Appreciation Days, Club Bulk Ticket Sales, regular Club discounts, plus </span><a href="https://skibutternut.com/tickets-passes/tickets-passes/lift-tickets" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">midweek</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://berkshireeast.com/winter/winter-2223-tickets" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">local mountain deals</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and you can easily ski a whole season for about the same price of skiing Epic as a veteran. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was what we did before Vail bought Mount Snow, and in many ways I miss it. Granted, skiing Epic is easier, but figuring out and planning around the club days was an inviting challenge, and exploring all the different independent mountains was a Hell of a lot of fun. It’s worth noting, too, that most of the </span><a href="https://www.ikonpass.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ikon Pass</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> mountains still participate in Club Appreciation Days and Bulk Ticket sales whereas Vail wants you to buy a pass, full-stop.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally, New York State has its </span><a href="https://www.nyski3.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NYSKI3 pass</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, covering </span><a href="https://www.goremountain.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gore</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://www.whiteface.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whiteface</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and </span><a href="https://www.belleayre.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Belleayre</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. A lot of the guys I work with ski on the NYSKI3. It’s $859 for an unlimited pass or $699 if you’re not skiing high-traffic days. Active duty and retired military ski for $479.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><h3 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Reciprocal Passes</span></span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Brian adds, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Check out the relationship between resort passes, especially small resorts. I got a smoking deal on a Monarch Military pass this past year ($129) that reciprocates with every small and mid-sized resort in NM, CO, UT, and MT. It offers three days at Copper, Cooper, A Basin, Silverton, Sunlight, etc., on top of unlimited days at Monarch.”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That is an amazing deal.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><h3 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Free Parking</span></span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Brian again, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Do a little research and there’s almost no need to pay for parking. There are a few exceptions, of course.”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This depends a lot on how willing you are to take a shuttle bus and/or walk as well as on how willing the resorts are to enforce their parking prices. Many places put up a pay-to-park sign that points to an app with no real enforcement mechanism. </span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTVtAjxLehrGOSALn4MC-GoON-OTq6rF9IWF3nZyDywPKIQNOPowz4cPu3Mplo-oEM-v6VWhDmJNrNezAeho2C3vCXjjttK8MDcUmtuxnSzIym_GNJdTV0rUpGywYilGGn8RlBJh-CMV9yqxv1Ca_oCpgA4qjcRKdQ9tOFiCSyhOF6_Q3mYRed8iyy8ugG/s953/2BC29A4B-DA4A-4EF3-8BFC-4D5E578D4B33.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="953" data-original-width="953" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTVtAjxLehrGOSALn4MC-GoON-OTq6rF9IWF3nZyDywPKIQNOPowz4cPu3Mplo-oEM-v6VWhDmJNrNezAeho2C3vCXjjttK8MDcUmtuxnSzIym_GNJdTV0rUpGywYilGGn8RlBJh-CMV9yqxv1Ca_oCpgA4qjcRKdQ9tOFiCSyhOF6_Q3mYRed8iyy8ugG/w400-h400/2BC29A4B-DA4A-4EF3-8BFC-4D5E578D4B33.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">With Rob and Josh on the gondola up to Killington, VT.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><p></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><h3 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Gear</span></span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When I floated the idea for this article to my friends, several said, “Buy used gear!” Which, okay, but I honestly have no idea where to go for used gear that I trust, save maybe one of the local places in West Dover, VT, just off Mount Snow (more on that below). If you show up any time from late March to May, you can probably find some former season rentals and/or demos that are in decent shape. I wouldn’t do that, though, unless I had a pretty good idea of what I was looking for, and I don’t know that I would buy used gear online. Speaking personally, I would much rather buy last year’s gear — new — at an end of season sale.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Having said that, it’s important to note that my kids are both in college. So they’re not still growing or anything. </span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkXeQ-EForw0KeKVaBlfImwXxRDzGXrr0wF3SSnttjb8cJYJ5SRhk3splt-wMaNr9MHMSA7QmM_M0JfvxVXuCnoCwK4Q7V3vC4Qdz6r9-Rq4QuZBk8APRB13E81bKDLnKXWKz2gZBWbamDEP5PJrTTB31rLoRGtdRPMlzy6Mdr4RJodiTPNfi72CYkni1i/s1830/5BA98845-99BA-4485-BD41-4528CC44ADDA.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1830" data-original-width="1307" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkXeQ-EForw0KeKVaBlfImwXxRDzGXrr0wF3SSnttjb8cJYJ5SRhk3splt-wMaNr9MHMSA7QmM_M0JfvxVXuCnoCwK4Q7V3vC4Qdz6r9-Rq4QuZBk8APRB13E81bKDLnKXWKz2gZBWbamDEP5PJrTTB31rLoRGtdRPMlzy6Mdr4RJodiTPNfi72CYkni1i/w286-h400/5BA98845-99BA-4485-BD41-4528CC44ADDA.jpeg" width="286" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Full "ski banana" at Breck last year.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I’ve had good luck over the years buying closeout inventory, i.e. last year’s models, -- new -- from both </span><a href="https://www.evo.com/" style="font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Evo</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> and </span><a href="https://www.levelninesports.com/" style="font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Level 9 Sports</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. I bought my Helly Hansen jacket from Evo in May of 2021, literally for half price. My </span><a href="https://www.arborcollective.com/products/a-frame-22" style="font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Arbor A-Frame</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> came from Level 9 back in March 2020. I got such a good deal on it that I paired it with top-end bindings and still stayed under $650 all-in.</span></p><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In terms of brands, </span><a href="https://arctix.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Arctix</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> makes probably the best truly </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cheap</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> gear out there. Their stuff is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">really</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cheap</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and friends, they make truly excellent budget snow pants. I bought a pair of </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Arctix-Sports-Bamboo-Yellow-36-38W/dp/B082YMMK8J/ref=sr_1_5?crid=784T2431WIAA&keywords=yellow+snow+pants&qid=1678541183&sprefix=yellow+snow+pants%2Caps%2C98&sr=8-5" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">yellow snow pants</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> from them through Amazon last year for $48 — </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">because who wants to pay a lot of money for freaking </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">yellow</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> snow pants?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> — and against all odds, they’ve become my favorite pants. They don’t have vents, but they’re thick and warm, and they’ve got tough material construction. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve never worn </span><a href="https://arctix.com/collections/mens/products/mens-tundra-jacket?variant=41044036649167" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Arctix’s $90 ski jacket</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, but if I had to buy something for a first lesson, I’d probably start with that jacket and the cheapest pants I could find.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.dopesnow.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dope Snow</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> also makes a line of affordable pullover ski jackets and hoodies that I really like. Their stuff runs from $150 to $250, and with that price point, it’s now </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">everywhere </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">on the slopes in New England. I bought </span><a href="https://www.dopesnow.com/yeti-pine-snowboard-jacket-men-metal-blue" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">one of their ski hoodies</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> recently ($169) for warm, bluebird days, and I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s perfect for days when you want minimalist insulation.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don’t think Dope was </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">trying</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to introduce their gear as “affordable,” per se -- their advertising certainly doesn’t scream “cheap!” -- but they’ve put it out there at a price point that’s scored a hit with the college set. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally, I don’t know when </span><a href="https://www.champion.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Champion</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> devolved to become a Walmart-level fitness brand, but for what it’s worth, they make totally serviceable gear at extremely reasonable prices. I mean, you can absolutely pay $300 for an alpaca wool base layer, and in some conditions, that might even be appropriate. However, if you team </span><a href="https://www.champion.com/cold-weather-long-sleeve-tee.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a $20 Champion athletic shirt</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> with a simple t-shirt and a lightweight vest, you’ll be fine -- and nicely layered, too.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><h3 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Used Gear</span></span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Katie says, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Used gear - </span><a href="https://skisundown.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ski Sundown</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> usually does a ski swap every fall. You can buy used gear or trade items. Not sure if other mountains do this </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[Editor’s note: they definitely do]</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Growing up my town library in MA had a ski swap every summer. Awesome for kids because they grow so dang much. As an adult I’d opt for new gear since my feet and ski style aren’t likely to change too much.”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eric adds, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Summit County race team ski swap, Larson Sports Denver ski swap… Point is, you have to find these random ones for cheap gear.”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Brian says, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“</span><a href="https://www.powder7.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Powder7</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a great little shop out of Golden, CO, that has a phenomenal inventory starting in April when they resell the various resorts’ demo gear. Expect 50-60% savings on skis plus free bindings. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“I may have a slight problem because I buy from them. A lot. Like every year. For my growing boys, Jen, me, and my friends.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Completely unrelated… if someone needs some boots or skis, I have 12 pairs that I could make available in almost every size.”</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjElHMdkVKZXIp2lu6hOdn5z6xx6EcsJ2sGAe_pbGTBDjr8z6RdlGfxWnGEPeVIhN4R_YpzT_AaguoDZMQJp5VN80zOCO2xmLPeg1qha991rs85DCyhifw2_wYwFeWsffRW1MKO5iAQZyPYq90AY6ryieDoTF2la1CZg6xy_7al_uiB2r9zwkmY4kjoOrc5/s1920/46CE49B2-7854-4052-B1AF-1866EF3E9631.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjElHMdkVKZXIp2lu6hOdn5z6xx6EcsJ2sGAe_pbGTBDjr8z6RdlGfxWnGEPeVIhN4R_YpzT_AaguoDZMQJp5VN80zOCO2xmLPeg1qha991rs85DCyhifw2_wYwFeWsffRW1MKO5iAQZyPYq90AY6ryieDoTF2la1CZg6xy_7al_uiB2r9zwkmY4kjoOrc5/w640-h360/46CE49B2-7854-4052-B1AF-1866EF3E9631.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Matt & Matt at Breck.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><h3 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ski Boots</span></span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Brian says, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The one place NOT to skimp is on your boots. You date your skis and marry your boots. Go to a local boot fitter, spend time. It should take 3-4 hours to get the right fit in the right pair. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“There are no ‘good’ boots for everyone. All of our feet are different and try several. Any good boot fitter will start with a few good options based on your foot shape, but will ask you to walk around with a different boot on each foot for several minutes. Heat molding matters and can dramatically shorten the break-in period, but you have to start with a pair that fits YOUR foot. Then get a pair of custom insoles. Your days on the hill will be much more enjoyable.”</span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxmb-d4sIcSR86NEVCJSc_eKJDPzEGReX9JKi4XZdcMdARHt3UwLZFgvYj60e7DAcwP_FYckI5ELEfl72i9nKXf8V5Xv5YOeZXeo8LUi7L0x3qPBqeFl8i89g3TEq9l9MXvelbdfXdQr4p9lIOZGBzlqNQVtRWz0vJmgpDsdp4Yi_0_UI3juXWGTD983Ow/s3088/IMG_1974.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2320" data-original-width="3088" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxmb-d4sIcSR86NEVCJSc_eKJDPzEGReX9JKi4XZdcMdARHt3UwLZFgvYj60e7DAcwP_FYckI5ELEfl72i9nKXf8V5Xv5YOeZXeo8LUi7L0x3qPBqeFl8i89g3TEq9l9MXvelbdfXdQr4p9lIOZGBzlqNQVtRWz0vJmgpDsdp4Yi_0_UI3juXWGTD983Ow/w400-h300/IMG_1974.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Apres ski with Matt, Amber, and Matt at Breck.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lodging</span></span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eric says, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Number one: start early. Passes, lodging, and gear all go up when the first snowflake falls.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“</span><a href="https://www.redweek.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">RedWeek.com</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> helps you locate other people’s unused timeshares, maybe with no cleaning fee or taxes. You can also negotiate with VRBO/AirBnB owners at the last minute to find better deals if you’re committed to looking. We’ve given deals on our rental and gotten deals from others. Owners want whatever revenue they can get, within reason, but it can be a gamble.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“If you can, don’t ski while school is out. Resorts and airlines know the second your kid gets out of school.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Never ski Christmas to New Years. Go MLK, Presidents, Easter.”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Heh. I love to ski Christmas Day, and I *never* ski MLK or President’s Day weekend. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the rare occasions I try one of the long weekends, I always, always hit a small, local place like </span><a href="https://skibutternut.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ski Butternut</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> or </span><a href="https://magicmtn.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Magic Mountain</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The big resorts will be JAMMED.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH2_mojE49ygJ0JYxPIidM2cFW41WTGf-WnBWahoRX2biwTCKbc17v94K3dc0Su9zygf4wWSTJtkCQErhcwZ0FDDARtJ34dud5e1CISYGM_SvtOYooK9vGkW9iBtK_GuZP82amUtDkHyUhNo4M7ZM2OmnjIgfQS4Bh_f5PmXMfWz5OCrvRBiCYfrOjgmsk/s3088/6F1C9B18-078A-41CA-82D3-846EE55B3C35.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2320" data-original-width="3088" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH2_mojE49ygJ0JYxPIidM2cFW41WTGf-WnBWahoRX2biwTCKbc17v94K3dc0Su9zygf4wWSTJtkCQErhcwZ0FDDARtJ34dud5e1CISYGM_SvtOYooK9vGkW9iBtK_GuZP82amUtDkHyUhNo4M7ZM2OmnjIgfQS4Bh_f5PmXMfWz5OCrvRBiCYfrOjgmsk/w400-h300/6F1C9B18-078A-41CA-82D3-846EE55B3C35.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">With Sally at Mt. Snow.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><h3 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Helmet Speakers</span></span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Helmet speakers are the new hotness. My kids both tend to ski using their regular earbuds, but I personally find real helmet speakers much, much more comfortable. Because I’m bald, my head tends to get cold without a helmet liner, but helmet liners make regular earbuds uncomfortable, and here we are.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Most new helmets these days come speaker ready. There’s a zipper or something in the earpiece. Even my helmet, which I bought several years ago, came ready-made with space for speakers.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I bought </span><a href="https://www.aleck.io/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aleck speakers</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The new model runs around $150, but the </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/ALECK-ALKWHSP-Wireless-Helmet-Speaker/dp/B0BP9HGBR8/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1WJRZBG7FCC4G&keywords=aleck+006&qid=1678541767&sprefix=aleck%2Caps%2C106&sr=8-5&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.006c50ae-5d4c-4777-9bc0-4513d670b6bc" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">original is still available for just $59</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The newest ones have some interesting features, including both an intercom and a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Find Your Friends</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> feature, but that stuff is only useful if everyone in your group is using them. By comparison, the originals are straightforward Bluetooth speakers. I’m the only person I know using the Aleck system, so the original model has worked fine for me.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><h3 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pack a Lunch</span></span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Food on the mountain is not cheap. I personally tend to stuff my pockets with granola/breakfast bars, ski a bunch, and then sit down with some fries and a beer at the summit lodge late in the day. However, if Sally and I are skiing together -- especially if we also have the kids with us -- she </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">always</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> packs a cooler. By comparison, my buddy Brian usually just skis with a bunch of sandwiches in a little backpack. In fact, most of the truly serious skiers do some version of that and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">never</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> buy food at the lodge.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Anything is fine. The point is, do yourself a favor and bring some food out there with you.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eric adds, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“You can get free cups and hot water at lodges. We bring our own cider and hot choc packs for kids.”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqaHXzVwMcewR6Dr5YpX0adJF_SCdTCokha-q2dfXdGBuXRGbgwlsW7Mrka-ULiKDFTnRwzf4LEcYlUKQRr2V96GZHgg3oSErWBJIQ8KAb6I6C9je7NgWEsbB3ZSGa1AqjvFnY2ViQEfupU-TW5daokjIFnmP72D1LDJn6_vlajG7l1KdCWjAgZbbrH9FB/s960/Class%20of%2095%20at%20Mt%20Snow.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqaHXzVwMcewR6Dr5YpX0adJF_SCdTCokha-q2dfXdGBuXRGbgwlsW7Mrka-ULiKDFTnRwzf4LEcYlUKQRr2V96GZHgg3oSErWBJIQ8KAb6I6C9je7NgWEsbB3ZSGa1AqjvFnY2ViQEfupU-TW5daokjIFnmP72D1LDJn6_vlajG7l1KdCWjAgZbbrH9FB/w640-h480/Class%20of%2095%20at%20Mt%20Snow.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The West Point Class of 1995 & family at Mt. Snow, apres ski.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;">
That’s it. Enjoy the season, friends. And if you have some tips, please feel free to add them in the comments below.</span></p><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Thanks!</span></span></p>Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-33890102308305957872023-07-06T13:20:00.003-04:002024-03-16T08:49:15.349-04:00Quick Explainer: Who the Hell Do I Think I Am?<p>Friends, it feels like new social media sites are popping up faster than weeds in my wife's garden. <i>What can you do?</i> No one's quite sure which ones are gonna stick just yet, but we're all steady joining these things for better or worse. The hope, at least for me, is that each new site will offer a way to engage a new or different audience.</p><p>But every time we join one of these sites, we have to introduce ourselves all over again. That's a pain in the butt.</p><p>So. This is a little explainer: <i>Who the Hell do I think I am?</i></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb-vGWiCWTIEeNFw_Yd_ndb1BBui1dkOj-fhQU0W-9XRq9ylgciray3Abz-77K9hNLxkxGeMUacMwdg_Izz2pPOv4Y3h6IrE0bju_i7Pjo9kBOgEP3z4sZBI8OOTPUJvvy_iI7I3yM-lrKO8FQDKu6VzZ6pDnseyZnDQ4UUauL5wYOY93dwdF4Dkv21Jv9/s3088/IMG_6131.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3088" data-original-width="2320" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb-vGWiCWTIEeNFw_Yd_ndb1BBui1dkOj-fhQU0W-9XRq9ylgciray3Abz-77K9hNLxkxGeMUacMwdg_Izz2pPOv4Y3h6IrE0bju_i7Pjo9kBOgEP3z4sZBI8OOTPUJvvy_iI7I3yM-lrKO8FQDKu6VzZ6pDnseyZnDQ4UUauL5wYOY93dwdF4Dkv21Jv9/w240-h320/IMG_6131.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Me & my wife Sally in Miami for my 50th</span></td></tr></tbody></table>Hi, my name is Dan. I write under the pen name <b><a href="https://linktr.ee/DannoE" target="_blank">Danno E. Cabeza</a></b>.<p></p><p>If you know me, it's probably as the Editor and Managing Partner of the world's greatest Army Football fansite, <b><a href="http://AsForFootball.Com">AsForFootball.Com</a></b>. I love college sports, especially Army sports, and most especially my own personal college football team, the Army Black Knights. </p><p>Shocker. I know.</p><p>I graduated from West Point in 1995, have been attending games regularly since 2013, and have been an Army Football Season Ticket Holder since 2015. That was the year the Black Knights went 2-10. I realized early in my fandom, however, that I didn't know nearly as much about who was on the team and/or why things were happening on the field as I needed in order to truly maximize my experience. So I did what I do and started writing about Army Football right here on this very blog.</p><p>My work here picked up a little following via Facebook and from various friends and acquaintances emailing it around until other folks started asking me to come write for them. I chose <i>As For Football</i> both because the AFF Crew offered to make me a full partner and because the guys who started the site were a lot better at social media memes than I am. I'm now managing the site after a near-total staff turnover, but I like where we are and what we do. </p><p>As For Football is about the experience of being an Army Football fan. It helps folks improve their fandom. I feel good about that.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://asforfootball.com" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1181" data-original-width="1181" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKBhabZ2QIjmjlp_LXlhMHJOd_Xa5u1GjWstElNUbS9ORV0FiTauOzGYu9HgLge-5Mud4NXzCnA1vl2-ZEDg1RtR99u73nFY-gGaLcy5MD_irDkkEnhHa0MPnxVmjnpVSgMXL98VAuRUCi5vZdYkYULwLkAwOC-EJVJEbMniiSsGqMmGIYx_3y_XcwcLJQ/s320/AFF%20Sticker%20Design%20--%20New.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>It's funny, though, because I didn't play football and don't think of myself really as any kind of football superfan. I'm more of a generalist writer who happens to be very good at trend analysis. I do a lot of that in my day job, and I think it's provided an interesting approach to watching Army sports overall. But we cover Army Football the most because that's what folks mostly want to talk about. However, I also enjoy Army Lacrosse and Army Baseball, and I'll even watch Army Volleyball or Swimming if it's Army-Navy.</p><p>I swam at West Point, specializing in the 100 and 200 Butterfly. I did okay. Never lost an individual race to a Navy swimmer, won the Patriot League Championship in the 100 Fly in 1994, and was Co-Champion in the 200 Fly in 1995. Was ranked something like 90th or maybe 95th in my event nationally by the NCAA in 1993-94.</p><p>This was before swim meets got shown on ESPN+, but I do have one highlight you can watch:</p><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FG12ijZlsEU" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div>
<p></p><p>If you want a comparable, I'd liken my collegiate career to that of former <a href="https://goarmywestpoint.com/sports/football/roster/rhyan-england/9575" target="_blank">Army Safety Rhyan England ('17)</a>. We're about the same size, we were both four-year starters, and if you saw us do our thing, you'd definitely think, <i>"Holy shit, that guy is really good!"</i> But neither of us was a team captain, nor did either of us possess the sheer physical tools to make it to the next level regardless of overall talent. Nevertheless, I think each of us can point to some specific competitions and say, <i>"Y'know what? Army won today at least partly because I personally played really well."</i></p><p>Neither of us is ever making it into the Army Sports Hall of Fame, though.</p><p>The Academy grades everything on kind of a triune axis -- academics, physical, military -- but I was somehow well into my 30s before I realized that I'm happiest and most fulfilled when I'm leaning into my athletic side. I'm the best version of myself when I'm actively working as an athlete. This is what keeps me training on a daily basis, and it's part of what keeps me writing about sports, too.</p><p>I like physical competition, and I especially like racing sports. That's just part of what makes me, well, me.</p><p>With that, my life kind of falls into three seasons: Ski Season, Swim Season, and Football Season. </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB16PpmkaEwOlbnj7jUicvLDnLaVNOu8_ut7WSLOfkqWvKNcf9JTEf9IIPkCUiFkFpk-4Jnu8IMy49HZI9mxtD5K7ERK_4CGLWG5mkgBBEgX2kDXN4IOflVJYm0Z2JOxaOc4GRw_1zAzEK6838RzaCNdpUSVtL_-zmXmanlbYamF5g-wrTCwfOBdOe0Ijz/s1205/8D4A5BC9-3869-4CD3-9672-2E0FA76AE0EB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="910" data-original-width="1205" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB16PpmkaEwOlbnj7jUicvLDnLaVNOu8_ut7WSLOfkqWvKNcf9JTEf9IIPkCUiFkFpk-4Jnu8IMy49HZI9mxtD5K7ERK_4CGLWG5mkgBBEgX2kDXN4IOflVJYm0Z2JOxaOc4GRw_1zAzEK6838RzaCNdpUSVtL_-zmXmanlbYamF5g-wrTCwfOBdOe0Ijz/w400-h303/8D4A5BC9-3869-4CD3-9672-2E0FA76AE0EB.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Snowboarding at Mt. Snow last season in 13" of fresh powder!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />From late August through late March, I train to look good, stay on the slopes all day, and take the occasional fall. This involves a mix of mid-distancee swimming, weight lifting, and bike commuting. Truth to tell, I enjoy lifting more than swimming these days, but it's so hard to come back from layoffs as I get older that I can't ever <i>stop</i> <i>swimming altogether </i>no matter what time of year it is. Alas. Then from the start of April through mid-August, I transition to full swim training, slowly cutting weights and massively upping my yardage in preparation for the <b><a href="https://charity.pledgeit.org/t/bdcp9D7EHX" target="_blank">Swim Across the Sound</a></b>.<p></p><p>The Swim is 15-mile open water swim from Port Jefferson, Long Island, to Bridgeport, Connecticut. It's done as part of a big local charity drive in Connecticut that helps cancer victims hold their lives together in the midst of -- massively expensive and painful! -- cancer treatments. I started doing the Swim back in 2015, and started my own team, <b><a href="https://charity.pledgeit.org/t/bdcp9D7EHX" target="_blank">Team RBG</a></b>, in 2018. </p>
<center><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nn14TiRjQyQ?si=EEnZvp0uU6bqiFsN" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></center><p>The Swim is important to me. I work hard in the water and at fundraising, and for that, I won the Swim's "Dream of Life" Award last year. That's their highest award, basically a lifetime achievement award.<br /><br /><b><a href="https://charity.pledgeit.org/t/bdcp9D7EHX" target="_blank">Support Team RBG as we swim to <i>BEAT CANCER!</i></a><br /></b></p><p><b><a href="https://healthnewshub.org/former-army-swimmer-on-a-personal-mission-to-help-others/" target="_blank">Former Army Swimmer on a Personal Mission to Help Others</a><br /><br />
<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/pffl-episode-43-danno-e-cabesa--51068866" data-resource="episode_id=51068866" data-theme="light" data-playlist="false" data-cover="https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/images.spreaker.com/original/31b60aaa095c973a84ab7b0c7db8812f.jpg" data-width="100%" data-height="400px">Listen to "PFFL-Episode #43- Danno E. Cabesa" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>
</b></p><p>One final note: I wrote a memoir about my swimming career and about my family a few years ago called <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Swim-Bike-Live-Love-Repeat-ebook/dp/B08YX19XHX" target="_blank">"Swim, Bike, Run, Live, Love, Repeat"</a></b>. I've been told that's the most "Karen" title possible, and I've also been told that it's perfect. Opinions vary, I guess. Regardless, folks who've given the book a chance seem mostly to have liked it. As of this writing, it's got 16 reviews on Amazon with 14 write-ups, averaging 4.9 stars. The book is never gonna be a bestseller, and that's okay. But it's available for the Kindle app, if you're interested.<br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Swim-Bike-Live-Love-Repeat-ebook/dp/B08YX19XHX" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeApkdKMSWHAF1wrrAADWHQURRnKOnJIjZo2381x0sYV2shzEprcwB4RWpEbyhbaQ8_T0tXCA12Oo9G5LkiGMi9jHlUGepuWH-0e6PLKcXMLdzX8JypLkk1t38-gTTq5u7WvpcrLuu6RhOpu0Mt1KnGCELrBrCT4VLWMv2C9pf_R_6jtZEmLEcmt98NwvH/w251-h400/SBRLLR%20Cover%202.jpg" width="251" /></a></span></div><p>Thanks for your time. Let me know if you have any questions.</p>Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-1642976424063861902023-06-04T09:18:00.008-04:002023-06-04T09:22:21.793-04:00As For Dynamite: What Do You Do with Goldberg?<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Twitter got into a thing about Bill Goldberg the other day, and it got me thinking.</span></span></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">This was awesome at the time, but in retrospect, Diamond Dallas Page is the only guy who got a legitimately good match out of Goldberg.</p>— Danno E. Cabeza (@DannoECabeza) <a href="https://twitter.com/DannoECabeza/status/1664410256712015873?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 1, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So okay. After </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Double or Nothing</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, AEW head honcho Tony Khan was asked about potentially bringing Goldberd into the company for a brief run. Goldberg is a free agent, but rumor has it that his price is too high. Still, Khan noted that he’s spoken to Goldberg a few times, and that he “likes” the big man.
</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK4OtrVAT6NuIrRPn1ub4jQxP8cBlvc6QTJXVRmBBoge0HiA2osfix0XYoErUKWvKdds_xpbjZ8euMjLBk9m9u07pGecygJZ9VfmA2Zt12TBZZUTXsnhKD5KMJoGIiEI5Euh-Y1S3MdcxYqFraogQXhbbLJRa0uz2gelSmX87-7lxjlH15FfNFNxQPTw/s1920/As%20For%20Dynamite.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK4OtrVAT6NuIrRPn1ub4jQxP8cBlvc6QTJXVRmBBoge0HiA2osfix0XYoErUKWvKdds_xpbjZ8euMjLBk9m9u07pGecygJZ9VfmA2Zt12TBZZUTXsnhKD5KMJoGIiEI5Euh-Y1S3MdcxYqFraogQXhbbLJRa0uz2gelSmX87-7lxjlH15FfNFNxQPTw/w640-h360/As%20For%20Dynamite.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you’re AEW, what do YOU do with Bill Goldberg?</span></span></p><p><b id="docs-internal-guid-4131bfff-7fff-7639-66ff-5098cd3c3340" style="font-weight: normal;"><span></span></b></p><a name='more'></a><b id="docs-internal-guid-4131bfff-7fff-7639-66ff-5098cd3c3340" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b><p></p><h3 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Option 1: The Luchadores’ Revenge</span></span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As noted above, Goldberg ran through quite a few luchadores on his way up the ladder back in the late 90s, including in that match against La Parka in which poor La Parka tore his ACL. My first thought was therefore to put him up against a guy like </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rush</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, a supremely physical worker who can match Goldberg’s intensity and who would no doubt relish the opportunity to get revenge for La Parka and all the other Mexican workers that Goldberg squashed during his meteoric ascent.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But the more I thought about this, the more I thought that Rush isn’t the right guy just based on where he’s positioned on the card. Rather, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">El Hijo del Vikingo</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> might be a more logical, though completely out-of-the-box, opponent.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Friends, Vikingo has been AAA Mega Champion for something like 550 days. On that basis, he has an excellent case for a title shot at MJF, and that match would be awesome. AEW has been introducing Vikingo to the American audience; his match against Kenny Omega was a ratings hit. </span></p><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VPeedcQetus" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">All we need is a way to set up the title shot.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Setup: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vikingo comes out, maybe with Alex Abrahantes, to challenge MJF at the start of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dynamite</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. This comes completely out of the blue. People are like, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Wait. What?!”</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Oh my God, I never knew I needed this match until just now.”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But, of course, MJF isn’t having it. He’s not taking this match under no circumstances. Not from some random luchadore, even if said luchadore is the champion of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“some tiny promotion in Mexico.” </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We go back and forth with a typical MJF set-up that eventually resolves itself in a match. Vikingo can have his title shot if he beats MJF’s mystery opponent at </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All In</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That mystery opponent turns out to be none other than Bill Goldberg.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As I’ve said, I would put Vikingo over because Goldberg is too expensive to bring in more than once, and because the whole point is to use his single appearance to create a big money main event match in the very near future. Dude wants millions just to show up, so really… this is the only way that works. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Plus, Goldberg hitting the stage at </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All In</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, only to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">job to freaking Vikingo?!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> That’s an all-time shocking double-swerve that you will never, ever replicate. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Vikingo will be a made man forever. That’s actually the point.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This sets up the title match for either </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Grand Slam</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> or </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Winter is Coming</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, giving the company a chance to actually make back its money on Goldberg’s appearance fee.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><h3 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Option 2: MJF</span></span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I got this idea after rewatching </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Goldberg vs. DDP</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> at </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Halloween Havoc ‘97</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. To my mind, that match was Goldberg’s best. It’s the only one that I personally think holds up to modern wrestling standards.</span></span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OBmyb3TXrRk" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The match set the style for future “good” Goldberg matches going forward. Goldberg dominates until he goes for the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spear</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, but he misses and hits the ringpost. That sets him up to sell the arm, giving DDP a comeback spot. Here, though, DDP couldn’t quite make it work, allowing Goldberg to eventually hit another </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spear</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, followed by a one-handed </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jackhammer</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Right result in 1997. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Frustrating that this is still where we are in the year 2023.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It struck me watching this, though, that MJF could play DDP’s part here, that the only thing missing is a bit of positioning with the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jackhammer</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> plus another ten minutes working the arm to set up the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Salt of the Earth</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, okay. If you’re gonna bring in Goldberg, he has to hit the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spear</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jackhammer</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. And no one should kick out of that. The play, then, is to have him hit it too close to the ropes, so that MJF can -- just barely -- drape a foot over the line to stop the count. The champ then rolls out of the ring and collects himself while Goldberg sells the idea that the one-handed Jackhammer took something out of his injured shoulder. Commentary sells the (very real) fact that this is the shoulder that will eventually need surgery. This in turn sets up another comeback spot and an eventual submission to the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Salt of the Earth</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Obviously, we set this up with the first part of this proposal, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Luchadores’ Revenge</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. But Goldberg wins this time, screams, “Who’s next?” and then looks pointedly at MJF. TK books the match, and you’re off. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Again, I’d set that at either Arthur Ashe or </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Winter is Coming</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><h3 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Option 3: Chris Jericho</span></span></h3><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jericho famously never got his match with Goldberg back in the day. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So. Coming off the loss to MJF, Goldberg is out to talk about his future. We’re expecting a retirement speech, but instead here comes Jericho. Hey, they’ve both lost to MJF. The guy might be a shithead, but he’s a Hell of a good wrestler. What can you do?</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“You’ve been ducking me for the better part of 30 years, Bill Goldberg! I want my match!!!”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And we’re off…</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Anyway. Those are my ideas. What have you got, friends?</span></span></p>Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-22574677890532929162023-05-29T10:50:00.010-04:002023-05-29T10:50:50.007-04:00As For Dynamite: Quick Thoughts on AEW’s Double or Nothing, 2023<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let’s just acknowledge up front that no one really </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">needs</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> my thoughts on last night’s AEW show. For better or worse, these </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As For Dynamite</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> spots aren’t exactly getting over with my particular audience. I suppose that this means you </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">either </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">care about Army Football and open water swimming, or you care about AEW pro-wrestling, but apparently, you absolutely </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">cannot</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> care about all of that stuff at the same time.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sigh.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaWwERn6QWyvxgszVb_aKQ6F8CuJEFJ8bYKDHHIAgrGcWRCVOFy32_uI-osCOBlWQwthFczwsCMTY4fHsDYDiJ2bBGbTl4vbYaT5Q7my8XmGrTxN8HHx8jDTC5F7HkyDYC4s5uPScqra-zoINtXGr6TQRwDS_Omz85fNm8_1BBQVWMEYCAPYvEjYjAZg/s1920/As%20For%20Dynamite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaWwERn6QWyvxgszVb_aKQ6F8CuJEFJ8bYKDHHIAgrGcWRCVOFy32_uI-osCOBlWQwthFczwsCMTY4fHsDYDiJ2bBGbTl4vbYaT5Q7my8XmGrTxN8HHx8jDTC5F7HkyDYC4s5uPScqra-zoINtXGr6TQRwDS_Omz85fNm8_1BBQVWMEYCAPYvEjYjAZg/w640-h360/As%20For%20Dynamite.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I got super-excited for this PPV. I’m a regular </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dynamite</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> viewer, but I’ve missed the last two AEW PPVs just because of family stuff, and I’ve also missed the last two </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ring of Honor</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> PPVs. So it’s been a good long while since I’ve been able to sit down and really dig into longform stuff from the Tony Khan-verse, and I’ve missed it. Moreover, there was a lot of stuff on this particular card that I thought looked cool. I got into it.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">We grilled out on the back deck last night, watching the show outside via the power of Chromecast. We didn’t do anything fancy, just hamburgers and grilled asparagus, but we got the tiki torches lit, creating a fun atmosphere. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I should say, though, that no one in the family particularly cares for pro-wrestling besides me. Even my younger daughter Emma, who started AEW with me back during the pandemic, has gotten away from it over the last eighteen months or so. I hoped that maybe Emma would watch some of it with me, and that maybe some of the rest of the family might be won over. But I wasn’t counting on it.</span></span></p><p><b id="docs-internal-guid-ec198474-7fff-2beb-b8f6-1ba9b1195717" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><h2 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Cast of Characters</span></span></h2><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Me:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Fifty-year-old competitive swimmer turned electrical engineer. Lapsed Attitude Era fan now into AEW. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Go Army! Beat Navy!!!</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sally:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> My wife. Yoga/fitness instructor. Actively dislikes pro-wrestling.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eilleen:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Sally’s sister. New York City transplant now in Coastal Connecticut. No opinion on pro-wrestling.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hannah:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Nineteen-year-old Biochem Major. Swiftee. Likes chaos and insanity but has no opinion on pro-wrestling overall.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Emma:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Eighteen-year-old lapsed AEW fan. Actively dislikes WWE and NXT.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><h2 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Match: Buy-In Trios Match</u></span></span></h2><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Viewers: Everyone</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I was in and out of this match, trying to grill while this went on. The girls liked Hook and Ethan Page. I saw that the good guys won this one, but I didn’t really see how. Will have to check back in at some point later this week.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><h2 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Match: International Championship Battle Royal</u></span></span></h2><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Viewers: Me and Emma</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Emma and I both really enjoyed this match. It’s telling, too, that she hasn’t watched AEW much in the past year and change, but she still knew who most of the players were. Personally, I thought they did a great job using this match too keep a bunch of simmering feuds on the boil without blowing them off, and I’ll add that I hope the addition of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">AEW Collision</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> gives us more time for Swerve, Keith Lee, and most of the others who made it into the second half of this match.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This match also had a perfect finish. It gets double bonus points for reengaging Emma in AEW.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><h2 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Match: Jericho vs. Adam Cole, Unsanctioned</u></span></span></h2><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Viewers: Me and Emma with others drifting in and out.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This was a weird match, and it was a little distracting at the house. Eileen left at some point during this match, and Hannah and Sally came in and out. I thought the match picked up once Adam Cole started beating Jericho with the chain -- Hannah liked that but Sally was repulsed by it -- but it went on second and had to compete on violence with Anarchy in the Arena. That’s a tough spot in every way.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Best thing about this match is that I had the whole family watching wrestling with me by the end of it.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><h2 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Match: Tag Team Championship</u></span></span></h2><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Viewers: Me, Sally, Hannah, Emma</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I explained to the girls that this was gonna be some old school 80s-style Southern rasslin’ and that it should be appreciated on that basis. They wrestled, sure, but the point of the match was always gonna be all the crazy extracurricular shenanigans at the end of it. So everybody </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">loved</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> this match, even my wife, and when Karen Jarrett hit referee Aubrey Edwards with the guitar, she made a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">pro-wrestling fan for life</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in my older daughter Hannah. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That was worth the $50 for the PPV all by itself. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More than any other factor, it seems like folks’ opinions of this one set the tone for what they thought of the PPV overall. If you were into Team TNA and all their crazy shenanigans, then you probably liked this show overall. I certainly did. </span><a href="https://youtu.be/wNxnCvYA7YE" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Wrestletalk team also liked this match a lot</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and not coincidentally gave the overall show a 93% rating. If, however, this wasn’t for you, well, they did a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">lot</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> like this, and you probably didn’t like it nearly as much.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Look. Serious wrestling is fine, but just so we’re clear, the wacky insanity on display in this match is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">why</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I personally continue to watch this stuff. I </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">prefer </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">it this way. Plus, FTR and Team TNA get quadruple bonus points for actually getting my wife into a match. That’s a literal miracle.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><h2 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Match: TNT Title Ladder Match</u></span></span></h2><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Viewers: Me and Hannah</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Emma and Sally both tapped right after the Tag Title Match. In fact, they both literally hit the showers. Emma had been in Lifeguard training for most of the past two days, and being in Coastal Connecticut, it started to get chilly outside. Sally had just sort of had enough. Hannah and I, though, got blankets and settled in for more chaos.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“So wait. They’re gonna jump off these ladders?” and “Why is that guy wrestling in a turtleneck?” Also: “Is that a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">dinosaur?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The joy of someone’s first experience with pro-wrestling.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hannah and I both really liked this match, and we both hoped afterwards that no one was too badly busted up in any of those crazy spots. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Booking-wise, this was kind of like the previous match in the sense that there was a lot of overarching insanity here. As I said, the whole PPV was like that. If you like that sort of thing, then you probably liked the show overall. We definitely did.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><h2 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Match: Women's World Championship</u></span></span></h2><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Viewers: Me and Hannah</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">“It’s a shame that the one girl got hurt.”</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><h2 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Match: Trio’s Championship</u></span></span></h2><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Viewers: Me and Hannah</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For me, the high point of this match came in the first few minutes, with Anthony Bowens vs. Malakai Black at opening. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But my overall impression </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">loses</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> points because Hannah remembered that she had to work on some essays </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">during this match</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. She’s transferring from Manhattan College -- probably -- to Vermont, and her transfer applications are due June 1st. So the clock was running starting right here.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><h2 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Match: TBS Title Match</u></span></span></h2><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Viewers: Me & Hannah</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I liked this match, and Hannah popped for Taya’s furry boots. But she bailed right after the initial match ended, and that made me sad. Not that she would have known who Kris Statlander was regardless, but still…</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yes, my daughter works Vampire Hours.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Personally, I thought that this was Jade’s best showing to date. She got put into a tough spot as a champ in her first year wrestling, and while I get why they did that, they’ve got a potentially much better way forward now with the belt on Statlander.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I loved using Smart Mark Sterling to set up the bullshit finish here, too. It protects Jade and clearly sets up a rematch. As I’ve said, there was a lot of that kind of thing on this PPV overall. But look, the TBS Title hasn’t had nearly enough actual feuds, so yeah, this was good.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><h2 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Match: Pillars Fatal Four-Way</u></span></span></h2><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Viewer: Me</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The last two matches on this card showed why the top guys in AEW are TOP GUYS. In that sense, the whole show was about finding out who could carry the company going forward. Ordinarily, you’d have the Elite, the BCC, and the Pillars spread evenly throughout the show, and since all of those guys are terrific, you’d see banger after banger all night long. Tonight, though, the vast majority of AEW’s established, original star power hit in just the last two matches. The rest of the card was filled with guys trying to prove that they can also deliver on that level.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Personally, I feel like Swerve, FTR, Lethal, Mark Briscoe, and Kris Statlander stood out in the show’s early going, and if I had to pick one guy as the first half MVP, it would be Swerve.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Starting with the Pillars Fatal Four-Way, though, we were back with AEW’s core cast, and friends, now you see why they’re there. This match was awesome. Everyone agrees that it was awesome. No one was surprised that it was awesome. These guys really ARE the foundational Pillars of AEW’s future. Really, they are the guys who’ve made the show work from Day One.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><h2 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Match: Anarchy in the Arena</u></span></span></h2><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Viewer: Me</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Man, I am usually in bed by this point. But who could sleep? </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This ruled.</span></span></p><p><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So. This post is off-theme for Memorial Day for me, but it was a fun show that I thoroughly enjoyed. Enough that I decided to write about it.</span></span></p><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Enjoy the rest of the weekend.</span></span></p>Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-54616668865046584472023-05-28T10:30:00.000-04:002023-05-28T10:30:14.519-04:00As For Dynamite: Why I Like Pro-Wrestling<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">AEW’s Double Or Nothing (DoN) Pay Per View (PPV) is this evening, and folks online are talking about it. Friends, there are a LOT of pro-wrestling takes out there on the interwebs, and some of them are, well, “strange” is a polite way to put it. To the point where I sometimes question what’s wrong with me that I’m actually reading some of this nonsense. And let’s be honest: if you follow me, </span><a href="http://asforfootball.com" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As For Football</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, or my writing career in general, my interest in AEW might seem a little off-theme from the rest of it. So maybe now is a good time to talk about why I enjoy AEW -- and pro-wrestling in general.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6pJRR3jOGRSrK9J-W8DjW2TOG5dfewd_Av_ixjQbicVXscxSQXPZEdZUoGtjl5Qvbh3kFbmPq3foPK3UxU-92oYUPqEC6-Zja0UaT4syRqQUIpLpsrdQzq1mMd_W_p9yzLdE_1dAIGdToo02EBnY6BlnX2dbK7PE0wAHSMHBxRjMG4BW3Jk9bQBdkGA/s1920/As%20For%20Dynamite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6pJRR3jOGRSrK9J-W8DjW2TOG5dfewd_Av_ixjQbicVXscxSQXPZEdZUoGtjl5Qvbh3kFbmPq3foPK3UxU-92oYUPqEC6-Zja0UaT4syRqQUIpLpsrdQzq1mMd_W_p9yzLdE_1dAIGdToo02EBnY6BlnX2dbK7PE0wAHSMHBxRjMG4BW3Jk9bQBdkGA/w640-h360/As%20For%20Dynamite.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">So there I was, no shit.</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The year was 1997, and I -- having graduated from West Point something like 18 months prior -- now stood in the motor pool as a tank platoon leader alongside the rest of B/4-64 AR. Individually, my soldiers had a variety of hobbies and interests the same as any diverse group of young men anywhere in America. As a group, however, they mostly talked about one of two things while we stood around working on the tanks -- the NFL and pro-wrestling.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pro-wrestling was having a moment back in the day. The product was mostly pretty good, there was tons of variety, and since the two main shows went on head-to-head, you could flip back and forth if one channel wasn’t showing you something that you wanted to see right then and there. Plus, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">everybody</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was watching pro-wrestling -- at least in my circles -- so, it existed as a basic part of the background chatter.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Meanwhile. 1997 saw me make arguably the biggest mistake of my entire life. I got married to the wrong woman for reasons that were at best ill-considered. I realized this immediately after our honeymoon -- like, literally as we were coming back into the house with all of our bags. But at that point, the deed was done.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lots of folks had tried to talk to me about getting married. Did I know what I was doing? Was this the right time? Place? Circumstance? </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My tank battalion tended to be quite a socially conservative organization. The officers were all married professionals, and I was an officer and a professional. I wanted to be like those guys who were my mentors. More than anything else, I felt like I </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ought</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to be married. Finding a spouse -- any spouse -- meant taking the next step in my professional development. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was the basic reason </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">why</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I got married.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alas, Misty and I did not have a lot in common. However, we both liked pro-wrestling, and there was a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">lot </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of high-quality pro-wrestling on TV back when we really needed it. I mean, it turns out that you can’t actually sustain a marriage on </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">just</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> sex and a shared love of pro-wrestling, but we gave it an honest try for every bit of eighteen months. We really did.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We separated in December 1998 and finalized our divorce in the spring of 1999. I went to the Career Course and Ft. Knox and then Korea, and I watched </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">way </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">less pro-wrestling, but I definitely still watched. But when I left Korea and the Army in September 2000, I also left pro-wrestling. I got back to the States and reinvented myself wholesale.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Enough was enough; it was time for a change.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Fast forward to 2014, and my daughter Emma and I gave pro-wrestling another try. I gotta be honest, though. It just wasn’t good. First and most importantly because there wasn’t enough actual wrestling on the shows. It was endless bullshit, forever. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Personally, I don’t care about sports storylines for the most part. Like, who cares why these two teams don’t like each other? Just show me the game. Similarly, I’m happy that there are lots of different kinds of pro-wrestling in this world, but I’m telling you, if I only had to watch one kind of pro-wrestling for the rest of my life, it would for sure be </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">lucha libre</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Give me dudes in masks doing flips onto other dudes in masks. That shit is amazing. A triple-jump moonsault doesn’t </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">need</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> context.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So Emma and I watched for a few weeks back in 2014 before giving it up as a bad deal. There was lots of stuff on TV. We watched that other stuff. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Mostly sports because I am a sports fan.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Then the pandemic happened, and we were stuck. There was nothing on, no sports whatsoever. I thought I was going to lose my mind. We tried AEW in something like desperation.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Emma and I both really liked it!</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">AEW is awesome because they havelots of actual wrestling, typically punctuated by amazing physicality. They bring in actual </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">luchadores</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and treat them like they are a big deal. Dudes routinely do things that I cannot do, amazing things, things that I find incredible and entertaining.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It was cool because we -- accidentally -- got in on the ground floor of AEW. We’ve been watching long enough now that when tonight’s Four Pillars match goes down, it’ll be the culmination of several years worth of fandom for amazing athletes that we saw come up from out of nowhere. I am absolutely looking forward to it.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOmIPb0afoeNSIMzbP4aBtKBTLm4UYYyLzFQ93FTel2Mg0j099Tb18xeozESzSc0tyPtobaMfYrW44wz5h1CZZdXwzyfLspAWfcWvNvK5HGNb1EPs_MT-13A1hOAXe_8sJQLtln-0P56maH0g3HMvg3A_ar0HKTPm22eeB24rIMRaiGYs8T1SRB8uOXg/s1200/AEW.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOmIPb0afoeNSIMzbP4aBtKBTLm4UYYyLzFQ93FTel2Mg0j099Tb18xeozESzSc0tyPtobaMfYrW44wz5h1CZZdXwzyfLspAWfcWvNvK5HGNb1EPs_MT-13A1hOAXe_8sJQLtln-0P56maH0g3HMvg3A_ar0HKTPm22eeB24rIMRaiGYs8T1SRB8uOXg/w640-h360/AEW.jpeg" width="640" /></a><br /></span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m just giving you my perspective here, but as you read it, I’m hoping that you’re seeing why I’m right about this, and you’re wrong. Whatever it is that you were thinking, I’m telling you right now that mine is the only take that matters </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to me</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s crazy because I like following some of the Internet wrestling news sites, and in particular, I think </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@WrestleTalk" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wrestletalk</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> does a good job of making opinionated rumor mongering into entertainment. But man, so much of what’s out there is completely incomprehensible. Like, I know intellectually that CM Punk is a big deal, but… I missed his whole run and don’t care. But I liked what he did with MJF last year as a part of AEW, and on that basis, I’m glad that they’re at least trying to figure out a way forward after all the craziness. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Similarly, I don’t get why people like WWE. It’s like a Disney princess story executed for teenage boys but with lesser special effects, and it’s inferior to, say, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Daredevil</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on Disney+ but uses most of the same writers’ tropes. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What is the appeal there?</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Whatever. I’m not a “real” wrestling fan. I just enjoy pro-wrestling.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-8c169a1b-7fff-1c66-f0b2-6744ce423ae6"></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Enjoy <i>Double or Nothing</i>, friends. I know I’m going to.</span></span></p>Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-18064732164515116652023-05-25T13:14:00.005-04:002023-05-25T13:19:48.194-04:00Thoughts on Turning 50<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Well friends, I’m now fifty years old. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m trying not to let it get to me. Lots of my friends are </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">already</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> fifty, after all, and my wife is actually fifty-five. None of it means much on balance. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbh9FngmcuJCX-BW9hgjqDaZftNyl3Hjyxho47CXEK6NtadGrtlc1x_krdDTmCgWQz6e0lHSegri6TtCjO8dxhdNtDzNgaurVEsVgzscJ6OjOK6FwgsXmjyaJJLwjsfS6EGRqUfnrPIAyW8j9ixosCOlOESg8Tzi0kDPU0nSG7oDmBpcf9f23wrZxg2A/s1299/F8DE9B0F-8B71-4843-8069-065C2BFB8DCF.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1299" data-original-width="1299" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbh9FngmcuJCX-BW9hgjqDaZftNyl3Hjyxho47CXEK6NtadGrtlc1x_krdDTmCgWQz6e0lHSegri6TtCjO8dxhdNtDzNgaurVEsVgzscJ6OjOK6FwgsXmjyaJJLwjsfS6EGRqUfnrPIAyW8j9ixosCOlOESg8Tzi0kDPU0nSG7oDmBpcf9f23wrZxg2A/w400-h400/F8DE9B0F-8B71-4843-8069-065C2BFB8DCF.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I shouldn’t let it bug me.<span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But this birthday has still hit me hard. I mean, let’s be real. There was no part of our teenage selves who didn’t think fifty was </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">old</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. By fifty, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">everybody</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is showing signs of wear and tear. And look, even if we somehow make it to a hundred, we’re still every bit of halfway there right now. And being honest, living to a hundred looks like a decidedly mixed blessing at best.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The good news is that I can still do most of what I like to do. My knees don’t like to run much anymore, but that’s not new. Beyond that, though, I still snowboard, and I still mostly do tempo work when I’m in the pool. I lift. I eat. Life is essentially the same now as it always has been -- at least as long as I’m smart about it.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx1qtBFhT1TLftaT9f1z-6sQV4qChJ2y4AWpPD2L20t6y6V5lDcd8GaJa6PDecm8j7n8mtaUqS2byf8Dlg9cWSTwkPvFaBDV-MhKBeDlEriz8Cl0XVC7efilbCs_Atzsjhz0-ZwoHLkKz8NMknle_hyaux1cLLA9gsO1_qNWVKv125pCZ0ghTWLAeJVQ/s1648/86625528-0870-4164-B2F9-E8FE278FDDF5.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1648" data-original-width="1319" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx1qtBFhT1TLftaT9f1z-6sQV4qChJ2y4AWpPD2L20t6y6V5lDcd8GaJa6PDecm8j7n8mtaUqS2byf8Dlg9cWSTwkPvFaBDV-MhKBeDlEriz8Cl0XVC7efilbCs_Atzsjhz0-ZwoHLkKz8NMknle_hyaux1cLLA9gsO1_qNWVKv125pCZ0ghTWLAeJVQ/s320/86625528-0870-4164-B2F9-E8FE278FDDF5.jpg" width="256" /></a></span></span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The hard part is that I now have to proactively plan recovery periods after workouts. I don’t bounce back the way that I used to, the way that it feels like </span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I still ought to be able to</span><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and that makes it hard to put in the kind of intense, routine training that made me a decent athlete in the first place. I’m not talented, y'know? I just grind really, really hard. So I can still swim -- hard -- and I can still lift afterwards. But I’d better take a day off after that, or I’m gonna feel like garbage the next time out.</span></p><p></p><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s frustrating. I always feel like I </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">can</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> do more, like I </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">should be doing more</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, but every time I try, well… I’m reminded that I really </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">can’t</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ve become a master at pushing my body past its limits.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This was great at nineteen. It’s less productive now that I’m fifty.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’d like to say that there are things about being fifty that compensate for the loss of physical prowess, that finding some kind of earned wisdom or being an acknowledged adult somehow makes up for the rest of it. Alas, I’m not sure that this is true. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I became a tank platoon leader, i.e. got a real job, at twenty-two. Got married and bought my first house at twenty-four. Got divorced at twenty-six. Felt like folks started treating me like a serious professional when I got promoted to captain at twenty-seven. Finished my master’s degree at thirty-three. Found my forever home and buried my father both at age thirty-four. Became the patriarch of my family at thirty-eight. Sent a kid to college at forty-eight.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizpfb_wujBvcCfaB6f-K636uXGMW-9vwLfc2phB1YjJQ0m4IndGqEgOg4ITVA6uPd4zImCQJ5RoFJaZtXwkznvgUXeHjR5F9oypiQMzkeFW2kkHcBrt-ZD9fIv0lnHcynwCvkBm03xHBESngI4D-l4RtDaowTpjcGsJA33NXIUh4iY1J-3XsnO4oYpPg/s1837/75404891-9DE7-4A3C-B455-9EE44D97EDE3.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1837" data-original-width="1471" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizpfb_wujBvcCfaB6f-K636uXGMW-9vwLfc2phB1YjJQ0m4IndGqEgOg4ITVA6uPd4zImCQJ5RoFJaZtXwkznvgUXeHjR5F9oypiQMzkeFW2kkHcBrt-ZD9fIv0lnHcynwCvkBm03xHBESngI4D-l4RtDaowTpjcGsJA33NXIUh4iY1J-3XsnO4oYpPg/w320-h400/75404891-9DE7-4A3C-B455-9EE44D97EDE3.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I mean, I don’t know at what point you started thinking of yourself as a Grown Ass Man -- or Grown Ass Woman, as the case may be -- but it’s long since in the rearview by now.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What can you do?</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My wife asked me if I wanted a party for my birthday. I’m telling you, friends, I’d never wanted anything less. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Instead, we went to Miami for a couple of days. Had fun. Spent time on the beach, and for once, I read a lot. It’s unrelated, but I think I might be the only person on Earth who liked </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dune: Messiah</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> more than </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Children of Dune</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. And that’s okay. I mean, I get why the second book confounded folks and why they were happy to get back to something like the action-adventure paradigm that informed the first and third, but I personally found the story increasingly depressing the longer it went on.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirTfv4tpysg4ff32l8s6KMxh68pJqFm9AeH0VtTAGjExvRHtcoKVE6z-cZ4m4jZybRfcSeTIoFaDK7Wv5B3pgXjsMep-uZZ0M08KkZZ7QnHsqefgSS4wtjuuDqoFuhw6WdxGHPjbNG-7J7GQgm0cSNK51bKal6CBABKToewyHVKBaKddTT5ks8q_7JwA/s1920/BE162C2A-9FE2-4489-B9EA-7B41A9973160.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1920" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirTfv4tpysg4ff32l8s6KMxh68pJqFm9AeH0VtTAGjExvRHtcoKVE6z-cZ4m4jZybRfcSeTIoFaDK7Wv5B3pgXjsMep-uZZ0M08KkZZ7QnHsqefgSS4wtjuuDqoFuhw6WdxGHPjbNG-7J7GQgm0cSNK51bKal6CBABKToewyHVKBaKddTT5ks8q_7JwA/w640-h480/BE162C2A-9FE2-4489-B9EA-7B41A9973160.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Anyway. I’ve wanted to write something profound about turning fifty for the longest, and now here we are, and I don’t know that I have anything of value to add to the conversation. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-c21d7180-7fff-2df2-c099-3072fe71b29d"></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Life goes on. All we can do is the best we can do.</span></span></p>Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-34195512909531687652023-05-18T10:03:00.002-04:002023-05-18T10:04:07.629-04:00As For Dynamite: Let’s Talk About Collision<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you’re reading this, you probably already know that All Elite Wrestling (AEW) announced a new two-hour Saturday show at the Warner Brothers-Discover (WBD) upfronts yesterday called </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">AEW Collision</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On its face, this seems like good news.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKqAgOH7BMbheo9WVLh22qe5U68jEWEfDPOevpC2Jo5zBaDQSrD_wY0qjhEnuP3iU-P4bfL2p8iDCa79rViV-kxnNTMvXqhZC_WkMUg7mkcindjWoEMKzAfu77gyiXVc3Wx0spmrW0QdRxbH6MBDt5CDmIMN8VZa__o_JfV_ZjZ_7R_-QCtgx283pytw/s1920/As%20For%20Dynamite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKqAgOH7BMbheo9WVLh22qe5U68jEWEfDPOevpC2Jo5zBaDQSrD_wY0qjhEnuP3iU-P4bfL2p8iDCa79rViV-kxnNTMvXqhZC_WkMUg7mkcindjWoEMKzAfu77gyiXVc3Wx0spmrW0QdRxbH6MBDt5CDmIMN8VZa__o_JfV_ZjZ_7R_-QCtgx283pytw/w640-h360/As%20For%20Dynamite.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span><a name='more'></a></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">AEW has a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">huge</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> roster, so the addition of another two-hour “A” show makes sense from the perspective of trying to get people on TV. Plus, I mean, we’re talking about a wrestling company in AEW that makes most of its money through TV rights deals, so the fact that they’re getting more money to produce more TV is great news for the company’s overall business. Also: they’re gonna produce most of these shows live on Saturdays, which ought to help their ticket sales. Going to a three- to four-hour wrestling show on a Saturday is a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">much</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> easier proposition than are the current three- to four-hour live Wednesday shows.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Friends, we’ve been to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dynamite</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> twice. It was great both times, but it was a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">loooong</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> night of wrestling -- </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">on a school night!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> -- both times, too.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdOZTNpjA-D-lPEJmjhtf0K0WajbnlUhpoOunii_5UecKjEgSHYrNB-CP4GK_MUX1XHhnJ10WdeHcGEdXvfej0HSCav77Es8vzr2mjHjQxKGLzaLByBiSX8KXs9_sXkZfYk6hyB0qcpvfr--QaYskaTV1l-9kMopw8WV6bJSktrfZfK7yfEGS7katkEQ/s2598/Collision.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2598" data-original-width="1698" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdOZTNpjA-D-lPEJmjhtf0K0WajbnlUhpoOunii_5UecKjEgSHYrNB-CP4GK_MUX1XHhnJ10WdeHcGEdXvfej0HSCav77Es8vzr2mjHjQxKGLzaLByBiSX8KXs9_sXkZfYk6hyB0qcpvfr--QaYskaTV1l-9kMopw8WV6bJSktrfZfK7yfEGS7katkEQ/w261-h400/Collision.jpeg" width="261" /></a></span></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But there are a couple of potential issues with </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Collision</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, though, not the least of which is potential market oversaturation. Indeed, we’re already seeing this. When AEW plays new markets, they tend to do really well with ticket sales. In fact, they tend to do really, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">really</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> well. But the enthusiasm and novelty wear off over time, to the point where AEW’s domestic ticket sales have been falling generally, and their house show tickets sales have been actively bad in some areas. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is not necessarily some outsized business-model disaster, but it is a potential warning sign. AEW created their </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">House Rules</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> brand to reach out specifically to smaller markets, to reach fans where they live in order to connect with folks in a more intimate way. This is the way independent wrestling has always built its market. AEW doesn’t necessarily need to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">make money</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on every show if they’re creating experiences that will build a larger, more loyal fanbase over time. However, they do need to create memorable in-person experiences, and they definitely don’t want to lose, like, tons of money touring, say, the backwoods of Kentucky.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bands tour to build engagement. So do wrestling companies. But there’s definitely a lower limit on what’s a productive use of one’s time and resources.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The same is true on TV.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When AEW was just on Wednesdays, those Wednesdays were can’t-miss TV. Then they added </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rampage</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on Fridays, and it was like, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Yeah, okay, maybe I have time for this via Video on Demand, but…” </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m telling you, I mostly like </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rampage</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, but the reality is that my time is limited. Now we’re adding yet another show on Saturdays -- one that’s gonna conflict with college football, no less -- and it’s like, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Sure. Maybe I’ll watch it on Sundays if the local NFL game isn’t great, but I’m </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">definitely</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> not about to plan my Saturday nights around a TV show.”</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> That’s just not gonna happen.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And how can any of this now be must-see television? </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s five hours per week!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Friends, that’s something like six full quarters of college football, at least.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With that said, I would totally go see </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Collision</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> live. Like, I actually can’t wait to catch an episode in person on a Saturday night. That sounds awesome.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I confess that I’m curious to see what AEW does with some of their less-exposed stars as well. Miro, Andrade, Bandido, PAC, Rush, the Dark Order, most of the tag team division. Hell, even current tag champs FTR. Like, there is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">definitely</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> enough talent to create five hours of content, and some of it will probably be awesome. I’m just saying, five hours per week is a lot of my personal TV time to devote to pro wrestling.</span></span></p><p><b id="docs-internal-guid-7c1a68ef-7fff-0e12-7343-45d7bd8c3f43" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Is CM Punk Coming Back?</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have no idea, and I’m really not all that interested, save to note that Punk comes across like pro wrestling’s Odell Beckham, Jr. Like, the guy clearly has enough talent that he could legitimately be considered the best in the world. And yet, somehow he’s such a toxic combination of injury-prone and hard-to-work-with that this whole “Will he?” or “Won’t he?” thing has become more central to his storyline than his actual work.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Just like Beckham.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYjjZGHtiOTcQ2x3UaZfbgX9woKeMHyfrTfZwYPoPHc1M3RDpmrgzl-6F6prkNl27J45Zy7z9u54F9v1pBM9Hxv7G6R3n3_Y7fndL09j31Ly9Fl4NbtNTkCJc0HeNQvr0k8jiZ6uQBRhZZDZxKQuoO0afKuP1gjuqHjJn7J-mvqErZ-IYMGoOdYPzZQw/s4493/odellbeckhamjrweek10.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3118" data-original-width="4493" height="445" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYjjZGHtiOTcQ2x3UaZfbgX9woKeMHyfrTfZwYPoPHc1M3RDpmrgzl-6F6prkNl27J45Zy7z9u54F9v1pBM9Hxv7G6R3n3_Y7fndL09j31Ly9Fl4NbtNTkCJc0HeNQvr0k8jiZ6uQBRhZZDZxKQuoO0afKuP1gjuqHjJn7J-mvqErZ-IYMGoOdYPzZQw/w640-h445/odellbeckhamjrweek10.webp" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m tired of it. I mean, I was really annoyed when the Giants let Beckham go, but in the long run, it looks like they did the right thing.</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alas, pro wrestling thrives even more on press rumor mongering than does pro football, to the point where AEW now has an actual problem. They have a good thing going without CM Punk. If they just stay the course from where they are right now, they have more than enough momentum to continue building the company up to and through the big show at </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All In</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Who knows what happens from there, but they ought to have every chance, anyway. However, Punk is such a big name and has commanded so much attention that his potentially </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">not</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> showing up feels at least like a hugely disappointing missed opportunity.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I say this as a guy who doesn’t particularly care for Punk’s schtick.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But they’ve already planned shows in Punk’s hometown of Chicago, and they’ve already built a second show that really </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">should</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> be focused on Punk’s storyline. To say the least, they’d be much, MUCH better off figuring out how to make it work, at least for a little while.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve gotta be honest and say that billionaire Tony Khan has been a lot more patient with this thing than I think a lot of his peers would have been in his position. Most billionaires would, I think, have sicced an army of lawyers on Punk after </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Brawl Out</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, seeking to turn him into a burnt-out financial cautionary tale for future malcontents. Most hyper-successful, A+ personality types, that’s just the way they roll. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Khan, though, seems like he really wants to make this work. To the point that he now has to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">make it work </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">because he’s created this perception that </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">this is what he wants.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4zIlf-7dnmkCfmSJ2ktACNKRtmiAcdW7AIvDgl8hbv0Wtyv2gVrrDVXpf1kKi5qoWX171r9LuFck8bxaMIYs2NF8vHQF7QB0jXY2ZuWaVmkTptob_iKm55wRlOEQOw8s5MKagBuyWFZ_2MNFukmZX4WhHcyc5FK618v2jB-700Zx0z57typWblDqGjg/s399/TK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="399" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4zIlf-7dnmkCfmSJ2ktACNKRtmiAcdW7AIvDgl8hbv0Wtyv2gVrrDVXpf1kKi5qoWX171r9LuFck8bxaMIYs2NF8vHQF7QB0jXY2ZuWaVmkTptob_iKm55wRlOEQOw8s5MKagBuyWFZ_2MNFukmZX4WhHcyc5FK618v2jB-700Zx0z57typWblDqGjg/s320/TK.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Friends, TK ought to be trying to plan out an endgame with this whole Punk thing regardless of how it plays out in the short term. Like, do whatever you have to in order to get the guy on board, let him wrestle and do whatever he can to create as much attention as he possibly can, and then announce an injury settlement/retirement from the ring next time he gets injured and can’t compete. </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bottom line, TK needs a way to declare victory and move on.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s just so ugly, and it keeps eating up all the oxygen in the room. Meanwhile, there’s a ton of great stuff actually on TV, and that’s </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">never</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> what folks are talking about in regards to AEW. And sure, publicity is great, but all this craziness has gone way past its useful life.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Eh. What do I know? </span></span></p><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Every week I tell myself I’m never going to write another one of these, and yet here we are.</span></span></p>Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-31757080833620769612023-05-04T10:24:00.006-04:002023-05-04T10:24:59.318-04:00Fix it, Felix<p><span style="font-style: italic; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">an original short story by hannah head</span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhelcnP0AYetNApb7I_xHt5UxeMysTXt_u2kfJKIIr6zJ4kFg_z4oRm_OBMN6K3VLoFMUkGUb-nfv1xW3dDuPZtaLXkVL5YSJiyODkJNFrVugYXDAmxClSyvqcUhVDWVWTflYVCu--Tp7VRCzTm4fxXqdjXcZWLS7SqF32EXNpJ-I2zc4fx2J3_lrLeIw/s4032/Author%20Photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhelcnP0AYetNApb7I_xHt5UxeMysTXt_u2kfJKIIr6zJ4kFg_z4oRm_OBMN6K3VLoFMUkGUb-nfv1xW3dDuPZtaLXkVL5YSJiyODkJNFrVugYXDAmxClSyvqcUhVDWVWTflYVCu--Tp7VRCzTm4fxXqdjXcZWLS7SqF32EXNpJ-I2zc4fx2J3_lrLeIw/w400-h300/Author%20Photo.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hannah last year on our trip to the USVI.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I posted on Twitter last week that my daughter has finally surpassed me as a writer. And as I said at the time, it's a bittersweet moment.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Regardless, this is the story that convinced me. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm presenting this as is, completely unedited. That is not by any means normal for me, but after giving it some thought, I decided that I'd rather keep Hannah's original voice as is, even the occasional typo and syntactic wacky bit.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Enjoy this, folks. It's really something.<br /><br /></span></p><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a name='more'></a></span></span><h2 style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: x-large;">Fix It, Felix</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></span></h2><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-66069d8c-7fff-5a22-f38d-f321ab1b6270" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You wake up in your standard boxy apartment⸺long-proven to be the most </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">efficient</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> living model for compact living. It’s alright, you don’t mind the sharp edges. That’s why you bought those green curtains, with the little golden flowers⸺pretty excellent at blocking out the early morning sun, wouldn’t you say?⸺and a couple houseplants. You still don’t </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">really </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">know how to take care of them. It’s a miracle they’re still alive.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The day is already bleary before it has begun. The sun has long hidden away behind harsh and hazy clouds that do nothing but sit and wilt over the city of Genericopolis. It makes your apartment feel darker than it should be at seven in the morning; maybe you </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">should</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> open those curtains. You opt to turn on a few lights instead. It makes the room feel small and yellow. You hope that your skin only looks </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">that</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> washed out in your crappy apartment lighting, and not in real life.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Your morning is simple. Get up. Get dressed⸺in a gray suit, of course, your office has forbidden colors. Make coffee. You take your Daily Pill with it. Everyone does. You reread the label on the yellow bottle for the millionth time.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Felix: The Cure for all your problems!</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You swallow it with your coffee⸺has it </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">always</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> tasted this stale? Maybe your milk has gone bad. You think nothing of it. The pill, of course. Doctors have created a pill that solves all your problems. They’ve eradicated sadness. There is nothing to be depressed about anymore. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of course, you cried yourself to sleep last night because of that chick flick you were watching. You’re right, it really </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">was</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> romantic of how the guy told her that he loved her whilst standing in the rain. He must’ve really meant it, if he was all wet and he still didn’t leave. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You can’t think of anyone that’d stand in the rain for you. Then again, to be fair, you can’t think of anyone you’d stand in the rain for. Guess you get back what you give, right? </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You should probably think of putting yourself back out there. Maybe you’ll go out tomorrow, and wear that dress you shoved somewhere in the back of the closet. Wait, no, tomorrow they’re taping your favorite show. The day after? Oh, no, it’s going to rain. Oh, well. Guess you’ll have to find another chick flick. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You realize that you’re running late to work. Again. Well, Felix always </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">did</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> make your head cloudy. You can’t seem to remember anything anymore. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s really nothing to linger on. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Everyone</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> takes Felix. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Everyone</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> has problems⸺or, at least, they </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">did</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. You’re not special for being depressed. Of course, you should probably get yourself together. Your neighbor’s on Felix and she goes to pilates </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">every day</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Don’t you keep saying you want to lose that weight in your stomach?</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You leave the house in such a rush you almost forget your keys. Isn’t that dumb? You shove them back and berate yourself a bit before taking a calming breath. Felix digs its fingers into your lungs and forces the air out like smoke in an exhaust pipe. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gah, don’t you feel so much better?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You ride the subway to work. There’s a man who gets in after you and starts singing a song you sort of recognize, but he keeps changing the key. The stranger standing next to you whispers in your ear how glad he is to be on Felix. You force a laugh because you’re slightly uncomfortable by the tone in his voice. The stranger offers the man a Felix from his bag. The man screams a litany of curse words in his face and runs off at the next stop. The stranger nudges your elbow and calls him rude. You don’t really know what to say to that. Conveniently, you haven’t said anything at all. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You really need to get a car. Maybe your boss will give you that raise he keeps hinting at. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You work for a company called GeneriTech. You know they make </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">something</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, but you can never remember what. You’re sure you’ve seen their products in the supermarket before. It’s not really relevant to you, anyways. You just fill out spreadsheets all day. You still don’t really know what they’re for.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You sit at your cubicle in the corner of your office. You get a nice view of Genericopolis from your desk. When you get too bored, you like to look down and watch the various pedestrians on the street below. In the distance, a blimp colored the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">iconic</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Felix yellow floats along the horizon. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let Felix Fix-It</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, it reads. You think the slogan is a little on the nose. Felix coats the world in a haze of yellow and gray. You </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">would</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> stop taking it⸺if you could.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Your least favorite, most annoying coworker comes over to your desk ten minutes before you’re about to break for lunch. You get a mildly entertaining vision of “accidentally” spilling your half-drank mug of stale coffee down her too-fancy white blouse. Honestly, shouldn’t she know that ruffles aren’t considered business casual anymore? </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She pesters you about her kids. You don’t understand why she chose to have them. You try not to linger on the fact that she’s two years younger than you. She complains that she got a call from their school, her older son is apparently bullying his classmates. She whines that he’s just “depressed” and “socially awkward.”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You suggest sarcastically that she should put him on Felix. She looks at you as though you’re a genius and sets off to call her doctor to file a new prescription. Apparently, she’s refilled her prescription so many times she gets this new one for free. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You can hardly mask your vaguely shocked expression as you watch her leave. You wonder how anyone could subject their kid to living a life that’s unendingly blurry and monotone. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That’s not fair. You’re grateful to be on Felix. It’s so nice to have all your problems </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">wonderfully</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> taken away. Now you can’t feel sadness anymore! </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You really can’t feel anything at all, but they say that’s a sign that it’s working. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Great</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, huh?</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You’re halfway through your lunch⸺cold leftover noodles, you were too lazy to use the microwave⸺when your boss comes over to your desk. She’s always been hard to read because of her addiction to botox⸺her face really looks like </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">plastic</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, doesn’t it⸺but you think she looks pleased. You slurp down your noodles quickly and “forget” to remind her that you’re on your lunch break. You have a good feeling she’s about to give you that raise.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She lays you off. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She says GeneriTech is losing too much profit to OtherCorp. She </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">conveniently</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> forgets to mention how OtherCorp is sponsored by Felix, as written on that blimp you keep seeing in the window. Your boss says she’s really sad about laying you off; no one can calculate spreadsheets like you can. Of course, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">thankfully</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> they just installed that new computer program, so, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">unfortunately</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, your job is now considered useless. She frowns and tells you it’s a shame.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You tell her that her botox makes her face look fat. You regret at bit as you pack your things⸺she’s just doing her job. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well, then again, so were you. At least</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> your</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> face is real.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You walk home instead of taking the train. It takes almost an hour. You don’t understand why you chose to walk, or what this </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">new</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> feeling bubbling up in your chest is. It’s weird, can you even </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">feel</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> feelings in your chest? Shouldn’t they be all in your head? And why is your mouth all dry? Do you need water? </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You don’t know the term for it. They taught feelings in school as vocabulary terms, but no one remembers what they learned in high school anyways, right? Your face feels hot and exposed. You want to run down the street and scream like the guy on your train earlier. You think you understand him now. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You get home, set your bag down, and give yourself a few minutes to bang your head into the wall until you get a migraine. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What are you going to do?</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">There’s no instruction manual for this. You checked. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You pop another Felix. You’re not supposed to take more than one a day. You do it anyway. At this point, you don’t care.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The phone rings. It’s the hiring manager from Felix. He says he wants to offer you a job. He’s heard you’re good at spreadsheets. He says you can start tomorrow and emails you a contract. You sign it immediately.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Guess Felix really </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">does</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> solve all your problems, huh? </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now you don’t have to move back in with your parents in Idealtown. Plus, you got a bit of a raise. Isn’t that just</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> peachy</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">? Maybe you can afford that pilates class now. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Or</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> organic groceries. No excuses now, right? Maybe you could even afford that car, if you’re frugal enough.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You go to bed dreaming of all the ways you can improve your new life. Technically, there’s nothing </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">new</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> except a job, but you let yourself get lost in the possibilities. The hiring manager says they let their employees wear colors besides gray. Maybe you should buy a suit in green. You’re pretty sure it’s your favorite color. Or is it blue? Wait, no, you hate blue. Wait, no, you’re pretty sure you like blue⸺who hates blue? </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You’re not really sure of anything anymore. You chatsize yourself, thinking that you have </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">really got to get yourself togethe</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">r. Maybe you’ll buy a planner on the way home from your new job.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You wake up the next morning and turn on the news. The leading segment: Felix has been recalled. Turns out the doctors behind it had just repackaged cocaine. You watch them get arrested on live TV.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You reach for your bottle of Felix. There’s only one pill left⸺you </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">knew</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> you shouldn’t have kept putting off refilling your prescription. You decide to save it for when you </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">really</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> need it; maybe when you </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">finally</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> go out and try to Find Love Again like you keep saying you’re going to. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The hiring manager who hired you yesterday calls you just as you’re getting ready to leave. He says that the company is getting shut down, and he can’t offer you the job anymore. He sounds genuinely sorry when he says it. You tell him that you’re sorry, too. Your voice sounds faker than your old boss’s face.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You pop your last Felix thinking, screw it. It can’t get much worse than this, can it? As the familiar wave of dry, bland mellow and hollow emptiness washes through you and finally settles in that soft little spot in your brain, you slowly start to feel your stomach lurch as you wrestle a new, terrifying question.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Who’s going to solve all your problems for you </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">now</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">? </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.7999999999999998; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Because, obviously, it really won’t be you. </span></span></p>Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-28407454132366597962023-04-19T10:08:00.002-04:002023-04-19T10:08:06.465-04:00Quick Thoughts: The Mandalorian Season 3 Finale (Spoilers)<p>Spoiler alert: this post is totally going to have spoilers for the Mandalorian Season 3 finale.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibpUR0aqcnVBny4Ty-vSL6VZ6Yx1mWYIEZ8ZFgoQtpanHH_egfF2pz5CvRXAIG89f4Ao787o9CFEvXc6rMO5bhYcv139M-ngxvZ35TzQGnRqlUVTqogqj_xeKow38DwH9YUx-Ve_5hI-5zjN_dThMmCpgqMnzf_FuPufySU-gfTIsMGTl7PyqoaemuSA/s474/gideon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="474" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibpUR0aqcnVBny4Ty-vSL6VZ6Yx1mWYIEZ8ZFgoQtpanHH_egfF2pz5CvRXAIG89f4Ao787o9CFEvXc6rMO5bhYcv139M-ngxvZ35TzQGnRqlUVTqogqj_xeKow38DwH9YUx-Ve_5hI-5zjN_dThMmCpgqMnzf_FuPufySU-gfTIsMGTl7PyqoaemuSA/w400-h266/gideon.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><br /></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>This post is a discussion of the Darksaber's fate. I'm writing this because a lot of folks on Twitter seem like they maybe didn't understand this season taken as a whole and this aspect of the finale in particular.</p><p>So. We've watched Bo Katan struggle to claim the Darksaber -- and with it, the right to lead her people -- for the past two seasons. She was the rightful ruler by blood, and she was without question the only Mandalorian leader with any possible hope of uniting her people, but without the symbology of the Darksaber, she was always going to remain, as the Armorer put it, "A cautionary tale." </p><p>Some folks just weren't going to believe.</p><p>But was this really <i>The Way?</i> Or was this season <i>really </i>about how leadership of an entire people shouldn't revolve around the ownership of a single magic sword?</p><p>Din Djarin laid this out in detail in the season's penultimate episode. He didn't know anything about the Darksaber, nor did he care about it. Everything he'd learned of it, he'd learned either from Bo or from the Armorer. The Darksaber literally meant <i>nothing</i> to him. </p><p>He followed Bo because he believed in her vision<i> </i>of a <i>united</i> Mandalore. </p><p>Even the Armorer, the most orthodox of all of the covert Mandalorians, came to see that Bo's vision was the correct one. That Mandalorians would never survive and thrive until they set aside their differences and became one people.</p><p>Thus, the Darksaber had become a symbol of the Old Mandalore. The Mandalore that tore itself apart in petty squabbles, that was literally led by whomever could best the most rivals in single combat.</p><p>In fact, this was <i>NOT</i> the Way. We were never watching an Arthurian Legend unfold; we were watching a people evolve to a more rational form of government.</p><p><i>Let the past die. Kill it if you have to.</i></p><p>None of our heroes was ever going to beat Moff Gideon one-on-one. Din couldn't; Grogu couldn't; Paz Visla couldn't; the Armorer couldn't; Bo Katan couldn't. That was the whole point, the very theme of this final episode. </p><p>The job was too big for any one person. They had to do it together.</p><p>Gideon didn't understand that, and indeed, this is why he lost. He's been working his own angles the entire time, trying to clone more of <i>himself</i> to the detriment of the larger Imperial remnant. The Empire -- together -- could have crushed the Mandalorians. Instead, the Mandalorians -- together -- crushed Gideon by himself.</p><p>The Darksaber was emblematic of this. With the Darksaber, Gideon could have made it even more about <i>himself</i>. But when he crushes the saber, he frees Bo Katan to now make the fight about the <i>entirety of her people</i>.</p><p>Friends, the sword was always just a sword. Regardless of who held it, Bo was right that the Mandalorians were always stronger together. They needed to find a way to become one people.</p><p>Finally, it's worth pointing out that Grogu is no longer a Jedi. He has become a Mandalorian apprentice. So the Jedi were never going to help him find his own kyber crystal. Thus, if Grogu is ever to have a lightsaber of his own, he's going to need to find a spare kyber crystal somewhere, and well, now we know where there's one just sort of laying around. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmJ8VqijMdBPGvMhSYp_-UiykTSbGWBYKW0VwgS78LxPAXIRk7kjNpUV6vMrjMNMIciRmEh5jBk0rANKgdRykUMMTqZOgCIGNNyYJVg4T0cHat1uL1u5AfHPqffFQYY_EP55bn147mgM9SK8lF1ifTBkWB5nk1K6lsw_Mj3wanltHAViwfdoJsODXgAQ/s474/babyyoda.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="474" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmJ8VqijMdBPGvMhSYp_-UiykTSbGWBYKW0VwgS78LxPAXIRk7kjNpUV6vMrjMNMIciRmEh5jBk0rANKgdRykUMMTqZOgCIGNNyYJVg4T0cHat1uL1u5AfHPqffFQYY_EP55bn147mgM9SK8lF1ifTBkWB5nk1K6lsw_Mj3wanltHAViwfdoJsODXgAQ/w400-h225/babyyoda.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Which is to say that if you've been hoping that Grogu will someday wield the Darksaber -- and who isn't? -- then they needed to explain how and why he was able to reforge the sword to fit his own height. </p><p>Now they've gotten that done.</p>Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-84440322840719019122023-02-23T08:08:00.002-05:002023-02-23T08:08:24.002-05:0030 Day Poetry Challenge: Day 23<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">My daughter Hannah suggested </span><a href="https://www.pspoets.com/blog/30daypoetrychallenge" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">this challenge</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> for our family. She wanted to try writing more poetry, and she hoped that this challenge might get her into the habit. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">She, my daughter Emma, and I started this thing, and then my wife joined after a few days. Now we are all doing the challenge. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Today is Day 23.</span></p><p><i><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1px;"></span></i></p><div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><div><b>23. Choose an inanimate object. Write from its point of view. Have it questions its purpose and the meaning of existence.</b></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Xw1X_WNXNVuUH3d1pLs-vo6_Irb7ohAcEkylOJ9COqoeWXXVB2nM0eGqSviTAXeJLABtIk-00ji-M9a7ulIAEACvjVdl99cAibDa8Jd8s-tNDnRxRShU6u7UUMdg4ySy2ed1HanDQ-jGyiNYci_30Y14UC4ENFmIoMXG6JzzShC2avuvt9-oN6RYHQ/s1830/A1613DD7-9F43-4324-A9AA-223D1CD27C1C.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1830" data-original-width="1307" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Xw1X_WNXNVuUH3d1pLs-vo6_Irb7ohAcEkylOJ9COqoeWXXVB2nM0eGqSviTAXeJLABtIk-00ji-M9a7ulIAEACvjVdl99cAibDa8Jd8s-tNDnRxRShU6u7UUMdg4ySy2ed1HanDQ-jGyiNYci_30Y14UC4ENFmIoMXG6JzzShC2avuvt9-oN6RYHQ/w286-h400/A1613DD7-9F43-4324-A9AA-223D1CD27C1C.jpeg" width="286" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>I am a snowboard. </div><div>I am meant for the snow.</div><div>Not to sit in this closet,</div><div>Where no one will know</div><div><br /></div><div>About my sharpened edge</div><div>And my gorgeous line,</div><div>How I carve through fresh powder</div><div>When the snow is real fine.</div><div><br /></div><div>I went on a plane</div><div>Out West on a junket </div><div>And rocked out in the beauty</div><div>Of Colorado’s winter blanket.</div><div><br /></div><div>But now I sit forgotten </div><div>In this forlorn closet space </div><div>Forgetting my purpose,</div><div>Mouldering in dark and dank place.</div><div><br /></div><div>I long for the sunshine </div><div>And the show’s cold embrace;</div><div>I long for the mountains</div><div>And the mighty North Face.</div><div><br /></div><div>My binding need boots</div><div>And my boots need two feet,</div><div>For this tiny little snowboard,</div><div>That’s such a great treat!</div><div><br /></div><div>So come down and get me</div><div>And take me to snow;</div><div>Let’s rock out on these mountains!</div><div>Let’s go go go go!!!</div></div></div>Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-57961769871948648662023-02-22T08:25:00.002-05:002023-02-22T17:33:48.554-05:0030 Day Poetry Challenge: Day 22<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>My daughter Hannah suggested </span><a href="https://www.pspoets.com/blog/30daypoetrychallenge" target="_blank">this challenge</a><span> for our family. She wanted to try writing more poetry, and she hoped that this challenge might get her into the habit. </span><span>She, my daughter Emma, and I started this thing, and then my wife joined after a few days. Now we are all doing the challenge. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Today is Day 22.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>I don't know if this is my best work. I found today's prompt </i>very<i> challenging.</i></span></p><p><i><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1px;"></span></i></p><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a name='more'></a></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>22. Write a poem that takes readers through a week in your life. Embrace the mundane, the excitement, and everything in between.</b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBeS-IwjZu-2qibsKVX7Ie5wHDxeMt_0tGs5YvABAkeXhrL1Wz4gYD5l4Gk-DpTUA3z5D8lm2tRGTqX1BFGMqa2uYi6lYErSFfBNNwOe6tGWUsHqtwA-k_9U4ND4YEYub8Ac5cqe3zRSOl4KQzfRZPd64ZB0i7TAq64qFEyPx1CUmvYV7tQzJKbWsjbA/s3088/69833033715__EF7AF281-A41F-4876-AF02-F4914F877C4A.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2320" data-original-width="3088" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBeS-IwjZu-2qibsKVX7Ie5wHDxeMt_0tGs5YvABAkeXhrL1Wz4gYD5l4Gk-DpTUA3z5D8lm2tRGTqX1BFGMqa2uYi6lYErSFfBNNwOe6tGWUsHqtwA-k_9U4ND4YEYub8Ac5cqe3zRSOl4KQzfRZPd64ZB0i7TAq64qFEyPx1CUmvYV7tQzJKbWsjbA/w320-h240/69833033715__EF7AF281-A41F-4876-AF02-F4914F877C4A.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At home in my office.</td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Monday.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Up at five,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stumbling through the kitchen,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Making coffee.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where are my keys?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where are my gloves?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where is my coffee?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the bike, wind in my face.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alive.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Train. Train. Train. Train. Train. Train.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sitting at my desk, staring at screens.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sitting & staring.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Staring & sitting.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">More machine than man.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Am I alive? Is this living?</i></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Back on the bike, sun in my face.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m alive. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I really am. <i>I’m alive.</i></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Waiting on the platform.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">No, I don’t have any change.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Did you know that you’ve pissed yourself?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Train. Train. Train. Train. Train. Train.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chopping vegetables, boiling water, getting plates on the table, sitting down.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cleaning up.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m alive again, for an hour, sitting on the couch with ice cream. With Sally.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And hopefully NOT also with Bob. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">But sometimes with Bob.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Sigh.</i></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Brushing my teeth, laying down.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trying not to think about tomorrow…</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tuesday.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Up at six-thirty.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Good god, it feels good to sleep.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stumble downstairs, make some coffee, fire up my desk.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">More man than machine.<br /></span></span><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Emma needs me, the dog need me. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hell, even the dishes need me.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And sunlight streams in through the windows.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Later, I stumble through the basement,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Collecting clothes, towels, swim suits.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Filling my water bottles.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stand at the edge of the pool deck.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Will I be alive today,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Or just a shell of my former self?</span></i><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dinner. Dishes.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">An hour with my wife.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">An hour with my life.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then I’m…</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trying not to think about tomorrow.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Wednesday.</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is a lot like Monday.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thursday.</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is a lot like Tuesday.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Friday.</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is a lot like Wednesday but with fewer people.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And, you know... <i>It’s <span style="font-size: large;">FRIDAY</span>.</i></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eventually, Sally and I split a bottle of wine.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We’re alive for two hours. Maybe three. And i</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">t’s nice.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Saturday.</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m up at seven. Maybe seven-thirty.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s nice to sleep, but</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It takes a long to wake up, and</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve got to swim.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like, I've REALLY got to swim.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like a Real Swimmer. Not like an Old Man.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Drop Emma off, wheel the car around, put on something upbeat, and then</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m standing at the edge of the pool deck.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reach, pull, breathe, stretch.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #202124;"><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reach, pull, breathe, stretch.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s Saturday, and I have time. For once.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m alive. At least for a little while.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>I’m alive. I'm really ALIVE.</i></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Starving.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eggs on the stove. English muffins in the toaster. Table set.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sally asks, “Did you make me some?”</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not yet. But I did set two places at the table.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sunday.</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">A day of light. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">A day of life.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's over in an instant.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">And then I'm trying not to think about tomorrow.<br /></span></div></div>Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-27377837031054852152023-02-21T09:25:00.004-05:002023-02-21T16:14:31.103-05:0030 Day Poetry Challenge: Day 21<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>My daughter Hannah suggested </span><a href="https://www.pspoets.com/blog/30daypoetrychallenge" target="_blank">this challenge</a><span> for our family. She wanted to try writing more poetry, and she hoped that this challenge might get her into the habit. </span><span>She, my daughter Emma, and I started this thing, and then my wife joined after a few days. Now we are all doing the challenge. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Today is Day 21.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1px;"></span></p><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a name='more'></a></span><div><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">21. 21 Questions. Write a poem using only questions (21 to be exact) about a feeling, person, or topic you would like to know more about. </span></b></div></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">“Corporate Training”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Why am I here?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Was it fear?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Was that it?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Can you see it clear?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Don’t you wish that we had beer?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Come on, is this stuff important?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Why does it seem sordid?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Or is it just mundane and boring?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Does it seem almost morbid?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Or is it just lame and even more mid?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Do we just go with the flow?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Do you know?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Is that what they want?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">But what if there’s snow?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Are we trapped, or can we get out and go?!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Will we ever learn for real?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">How do you feel?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Are you also stuck, too?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Can we maybe get a meal?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Or at least make some kind of deal?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Does any of this make sense?</span></div></div><div><br /></div>Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-23031887219987508242023-02-19T16:44:00.002-05:002023-02-19T16:44:54.907-05:0030 Day Poetry Challenge: Day 19<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">My daughter Hannah suggested </span><a href="https://www.pspoets.com/blog/30daypoetrychallenge" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">this challenge</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> for our family. She wanted to try writing more poetry, and she hoped that this challenge might get her into the habit. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">She, my daughter Emma, and I started this thing, and then my wife joined after a few days. Now we are all doing the challenge. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Today is Day 19.</span></p><p>We've not all loved every single one of these prompts, and though I've personally tried to fight through as many as I could, real life has gotten in the way a few times. We're therefore going from Day 17 straight to Day 19 -- and then probably to Day 21. </p><p>But we'll see.</p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1px;"></span></p><div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>19. Write about a textile in your home and the character it brings to the space.</b></span> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSCz-IoN0_1YgaCHsoVW8DZpR9MpyI-oi5xSYbB3Ft2ClKayLNPMnVQKX0JlbYFgb0Fd5VLIIOTdek6ODuhYcmNrtsRzrxHVevc_LKSMSA1hpKNdLna7FixK_GPNjSfGYbIVGkOG28R42uTaiA36b3rAZRVTlYEq_UB3O180e6u9kMVeGlo2iP1XUsQ/s942/IMG_4654.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="942" data-original-width="942" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSCz-IoN0_1YgaCHsoVW8DZpR9MpyI-oi5xSYbB3Ft2ClKayLNPMnVQKX0JlbYFgb0Fd5VLIIOTdek6ODuhYcmNrtsRzrxHVevc_LKSMSA1hpKNdLna7FixK_GPNjSfGYbIVGkOG28R42uTaiA36b3rAZRVTlYEq_UB3O180e6u9kMVeGlo2iP1XUsQ/s320/IMG_4654.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sally likes a lot of WP stuff, but not my Green Girl</span>.</td></tr></tbody></table>My Green Girl is almost as old as me;</span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px;">She’s gotten frayed and a little ragged.</span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px;">She’s got holes where you can see her stuffing,</span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px;">At times, we’re both a little haggard.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px;">My Green Girl doesn’t brighten the space;</span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px;">She’s not some old-school, classic beauty.</span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px;">But she’s been there for me many times,</span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px;">With loyalty and a sense of duty.</span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: center;">My Green Girl still feels like home,</span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: center;">Even after all these years.</span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: center;">She comforts me in the dead of night,</span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: center;">To take away my fears.</span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: center;">Alas, my Green Girl isn’t welcome</span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: center;">In the bed with my wife and me.</span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: center;">Sally doesn’t like her much;</span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: center;">She’s got a little jealousy.</span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: center;">But I can’t, I won’t give my Green Girl up,</span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: center;">Not after all this time.</span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: center;">For awhile it was just me & her;</span></div><div style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px;">Forgetting that would be a crime.</span></div></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGu_50EEwa4kSIlDCfCAy2NpY34HcYuyuJNbYpCiggXoPjqoWQDeGW-rHKn6C_IdhIiEGUcwuvTnJsjn4bMPjKik1x2kZfUHDDWZaw32_a1VHy7EBENjHlxsiiJbNKfbkM_ZyG5o6Hozf-80yAQfWb5jwBy3ZuCeNxuA0K8RJ1xbDrlx27bt7c1PLukw/s1920/99CCE0E6-CB3B-4B6B-B277-D67FACA3C3F0.jpeg"></a></div></span></span></div></div>Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-9582631713496202432023-02-19T08:15:00.002-05:002023-02-19T08:22:55.319-05:00Blog Shots: Pics from Vail & Breckenridge<p>Some pics from last week's trip out to Breckenridge to see and ski with some of my favorite classmates. This was an amazing trip.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9BEcIPadgbJCK38elD5fc_U4JQ2oHFjq4yM_1A_OpfB9kKzWnsC9XcgHMTP6k43c61QIStv6UZAXKSck_oHEbH6BcdfHpIhX8fzMs8ITYmnUQOXisRDhcjb4xV-gHh7m01H134Rppbfoj/s400/Blog+Shots.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="400" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9BEcIPadgbJCK38elD5fc_U4JQ2oHFjq4yM_1A_OpfB9kKzWnsC9XcgHMTP6k43c61QIStv6UZAXKSck_oHEbH6BcdfHpIhX8fzMs8ITYmnUQOXisRDhcjb4xV-gHh7m01H134Rppbfoj/w400-h225/Blog+Shots.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm writing this on Sunday morning with the intent to talk a little about this trip on this week's <i><a href="https://www.asforfootball.com/series/army-football-show/" target="_blank">As For Football Army Football Show</a></i>. However, we're recording tomorrow night, so who knows? Maybe you'll see this before we get the show up and running.<br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><a name='more'></a></span>I went out last week on Sunday and came back Thursday. That gave me three days on the mountain.</div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>We skied Vail on Monday. That place is gorgeous, especially under glorious bluebird skies!</span></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3j_ODSeJRFR2iK225nquim8Sg79B8HAVoVNIdtDvh8nfb32cIJvbUQTcpEfFjrexDfUvbQus7R-D19OWYJP40UVbOk_7OLXxDFnmGwltNnq9rr8r9dndU3m_ueCwu-ZIo1VJHXqGvLnFP_YopCOq9Prlr18E4ZYVkLMz1v469Vhhj0HWmKQAybZ4XqQ/s4032/IMG_1932.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3j_ODSeJRFR2iK225nquim8Sg79B8HAVoVNIdtDvh8nfb32cIJvbUQTcpEfFjrexDfUvbQus7R-D19OWYJP40UVbOk_7OLXxDFnmGwltNnq9rr8r9dndU3m_ueCwu-ZIo1VJHXqGvLnFP_YopCOq9Prlr18E4ZYVkLMz1v469Vhhj0HWmKQAybZ4XqQ/w480-h640/IMG_1932.JPG" width="480" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our first lift up Monday morning. <br />We must've ridden four miles worth of lifts to get out to the Back Bowls.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQUTiM2-GqsO2d2phHJnZAmKajRYVb8CopWu4jbG0gX4NrI2FNV-CQ6zzkt_2Op9yWJybHdEE6J4VM-xnGmZK5nSEiRBefu-UD1G3cOdrD0ZVdxPS2FG8Xi9MzpoZh4mRUyjZ7sbn68FImGR6w9xwjCfaXWHW3D7_HHISODx_Pzt8_lN5YnIthq61KFw/s4032/IMG_2878.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQUTiM2-GqsO2d2phHJnZAmKajRYVb8CopWu4jbG0gX4NrI2FNV-CQ6zzkt_2Op9yWJybHdEE6J4VM-xnGmZK5nSEiRBefu-UD1G3cOdrD0ZVdxPS2FG8Xi9MzpoZh4mRUyjZ7sbn68FImGR6w9xwjCfaXWHW3D7_HHISODx_Pzt8_lN5YnIthq61KFw/w640-h480/IMG_2878.HEIC" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My buddy Matt took this shot. Neither of us had ever been on a lift that went up a <br />mountain and then back down the other side before this.</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZRjXeE-Mnsd6FY5D3qR4uPziZ-i-X2vKq2FNH37tDRrG9LGnQOv0Ah3GGiHuP0t0EiSPNHyqeiBLjuQWEkd0hi1jXwXyxe8i7XJ_ZzlmCeLbLUZPTbIDwIXrMsSwbRJqDrHLKhhK8lNzJuoPvEQrGwNdm0JQIpdLiweRKJuynX4tRcb66Bvzybd2lEw/s4032/IMG_1939.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZRjXeE-Mnsd6FY5D3qR4uPziZ-i-X2vKq2FNH37tDRrG9LGnQOv0Ah3GGiHuP0t0EiSPNHyqeiBLjuQWEkd0hi1jXwXyxe8i7XJ_ZzlmCeLbLUZPTbIDwIXrMsSwbRJqDrHLKhhK8lNzJuoPvEQrGwNdm0JQIpdLiweRKJuynX4tRcb66Bvzybd2lEw/w640-h480/IMG_1939.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lift into the Back Bowls</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6kBgyDuTUdFVRQH4GPBOt8IDi_LQbLkUPMafWNZJLtLA4E2ApJ6EpL5Om4LCUIL-sFcW1r4_JDjaopuJ3VDVj3FeZ10bnUHOWPAJjMuCF3-O5YL8WwQJkZlB1ZYjR05IXNbtgqV64-Rl3Xi5iK0sxwWieVY6owotvRIfxuzv3Glhn7FQWYUVnbNXFXA/s3088/IMG_1934.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2320" data-original-width="3088" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6kBgyDuTUdFVRQH4GPBOt8IDi_LQbLkUPMafWNZJLtLA4E2ApJ6EpL5Om4LCUIL-sFcW1r4_JDjaopuJ3VDVj3FeZ10bnUHOWPAJjMuCF3-O5YL8WwQJkZlB1ZYjR05IXNbtgqV64-Rl3Xi5iK0sxwWieVY6owotvRIfxuzv3Glhn7FQWYUVnbNXFXA/w640-h480/IMG_1934.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Obligatory selfie from the Back Bowls</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEuDaLo-KUhuvAr3csE-GlXHzHnffPEnFTT4tYysp-GG6EpkUS2vAjmVcD0FI17yTNJlHre_mryy83ElGeKwuwi9CaDqEiV4pZQFGptJfU4FL5ZkbvwJ07TfFAiPXVYFST6lKgQTivn0lNXepd4xOMm5W_JXO_30PXeP0_8FLrGHeBWfNeWZD-78tnxg/s3088/IMG_1940.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2320" data-original-width="3088" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEuDaLo-KUhuvAr3csE-GlXHzHnffPEnFTT4tYysp-GG6EpkUS2vAjmVcD0FI17yTNJlHre_mryy83ElGeKwuwi9CaDqEiV4pZQFGptJfU4FL5ZkbvwJ07TfFAiPXVYFST6lKgQTivn0lNXepd4xOMm5W_JXO_30PXeP0_8FLrGHeBWfNeWZD-78tnxg/w640-h480/IMG_1940.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With my buddy Matt at the top of the backside after lunch. <br />We went from here right into those tree behind us, inspiring <a href="https://dannos-lair.blogspot.com/2023/02/30-day-poetry-challenge-day-15.html" target="_blank">this poem</a>.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbNbgf5LeMPqVG8ikqFgN_Qk6DQIJ7raPmxKBASNl_xMW8UXp-1oNWGoVhIn3LKi4cT4wM0lt-Qvby1dXvSXPnb5DcHzVXuOBdSRTdBhujoFpEeDO7lH6iKJA9bdRipxSIq5diTwFmFXnV-hgUD-IBAAGa_7Lal2r5WqMuIBI3CnQjXXmDLUm26lv7rQ/s3088/IMG_1943.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2320" data-original-width="3088" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbNbgf5LeMPqVG8ikqFgN_Qk6DQIJ7raPmxKBASNl_xMW8UXp-1oNWGoVhIn3LKi4cT4wM0lt-Qvby1dXvSXPnb5DcHzVXuOBdSRTdBhujoFpEeDO7lH6iKJA9bdRipxSIq5diTwFmFXnV-hgUD-IBAAGa_7Lal2r5WqMuIBI3CnQjXXmDLUm26lv7rQ/w640-h480/IMG_1943.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lunch at the top of the world</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9C7ABBKj2pcyMQZRXJcnEjf8h1BZFkr_85AvwP6r4hCxzcmZ_DgK0YuY_v19rKmaCtshdL_lqqu7WAm_eXVNc_ns5G4Xsm46nxJw81X5SsGlIXYiLOBwvhlO1MRraeaEMicOC32CXEobsw_xF_e8rl4gbYWKYUY_kpnLaLTbm0tDC4SwQ7ec3WBnIzg/s4032/IMG_2880.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9C7ABBKj2pcyMQZRXJcnEjf8h1BZFkr_85AvwP6r4hCxzcmZ_DgK0YuY_v19rKmaCtshdL_lqqu7WAm_eXVNc_ns5G4Xsm46nxJw81X5SsGlIXYiLOBwvhlO1MRraeaEMicOC32CXEobsw_xF_e8rl4gbYWKYUY_kpnLaLTbm0tDC4SwQ7ec3WBnIzg/w640-h480/IMG_2880.HEIC" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWA8cDdp1G07wSKPjPH8Ky0nRiqYQCiHvW5zaJtS8EAi1ZxZbPctHt2Bsud6df4BIz90fVeKL5Q1FCg0-AhunLEIDmE5RAmHCimjluQrO_1zljjwYdotwMRFv1ZMVz7mipwtuQtBhAnlayvYIorRhozeLzsHFdJKW8aNe1PgJXaEEBFAIpHP_j34-ueA/s1854/B8AB3D51-2E7A-40E8-A5C9-8C1831B69DA3.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1043" data-original-width="1854" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWA8cDdp1G07wSKPjPH8Ky0nRiqYQCiHvW5zaJtS8EAi1ZxZbPctHt2Bsud6df4BIz90fVeKL5Q1FCg0-AhunLEIDmE5RAmHCimjluQrO_1zljjwYdotwMRFv1ZMVz7mipwtuQtBhAnlayvYIorRhozeLzsHFdJKW8aNe1PgJXaEEBFAIpHP_j34-ueA/w640-h360/B8AB3D51-2E7A-40E8-A5C9-8C1831B69DA3.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My buddy Matt took this shot.</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-CVRQbDWP47484Dmb72VAk67Fml3wPkTxUq4iY_6gJCzVQOORevrhrr4hlgOR2tUM1a3C-XqFjd6ORmZPr_7GsMpdiNeJBJbSEd5bnQCmrzkcK3rUH3-2URoZ71PCC9jUrL_WcWtOvLaQj_U3L8su6_Uw0mb4n3uAj4jf9qSiB_38P1s5oDokGOzqJg/s4032/IMG_2890.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-CVRQbDWP47484Dmb72VAk67Fml3wPkTxUq4iY_6gJCzVQOORevrhrr4hlgOR2tUM1a3C-XqFjd6ORmZPr_7GsMpdiNeJBJbSEd5bnQCmrzkcK3rUH3-2URoZ71PCC9jUrL_WcWtOvLaQj_U3L8su6_Uw0mb4n3uAj4jf9qSiB_38P1s5oDokGOzqJg/w640-h480/IMG_2890.HEIC" width="640" /></a><br /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three-way selfie from the top of the world: Me, Matt & Matt.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQS5sba5R2_42d0wZSZYtSHHPWejD4wgDSNZ1UzEVM4YISsdkVs8bgMUBsMJZwB8u2bbJptmQv0ef1rOm27JHU6JdY2pUJv3SBjje56itvHzOzfd3dcNWIMxyyTXSLJ7yTXAdAnPKyhplYT5sP9novgMxMBg_PYqGBowAqdM5Ukq8uuS9OdPnt-RoAkQ/s4032/IMG_2895.HEIC" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQS5sba5R2_42d0wZSZYtSHHPWejD4wgDSNZ1UzEVM4YISsdkVs8bgMUBsMJZwB8u2bbJptmQv0ef1rOm27JHU6JdY2pUJv3SBjje56itvHzOzfd3dcNWIMxyyTXSLJ7yTXAdAnPKyhplYT5sP9novgMxMBg_PYqGBowAqdM5Ukq8uuS9OdPnt-RoAkQ/w640-h480/IMG_2895.HEIC" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apres ski with Matt & Matt</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>As you may remember from 2017's Army-Navy Game, Vail is the former Camp Hale, initial home to the 10th Mountain Division as they organized and trained to enter World War II. A few of the guys came back from the war, bought the place from the government, and more or less created the modern American Ski Resort on their former training grounds.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB-FIgqkb8e8CF0wmbuULrikiq8pjRq5O-9_VPX9gPDU2GIzNre7LPVDWlsKJlzT-wk2kUhbwJCLbaTO0WWN3NTPmt15PkNyQf3Wleyf83bfJR8CEpm4vpj7ZRbzd5T4nPs7e4pBZmoROusj8ZFVtwwhYjq9tZT_4I-eqGZKFqnBzPouM_FuQBWJtEYw/s1440/3AC73907-F6A0-4175-9434-8B6F58084AED.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB-FIgqkb8e8CF0wmbuULrikiq8pjRq5O-9_VPX9gPDU2GIzNre7LPVDWlsKJlzT-wk2kUhbwJCLbaTO0WWN3NTPmt15PkNyQf3Wleyf83bfJR8CEpm4vpj7ZRbzd5T4nPs7e4pBZmoROusj8ZFVtwwhYjq9tZT_4I-eqGZKFqnBzPouM_FuQBWJtEYw/w640-h480/3AC73907-F6A0-4175-9434-8B6F58084AED.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My buddy Matt took this shot of me taking a selfie with the Ski Trooper. <br />His was better than mine.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><span></span></div><div>We hit Breck on Tuesday and Wednesday. Didn't get the same kind of glorious bluebird skies, but it snowed a bit on Tuesday, giving us arguably much better skiing conditions.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcMlmyPUKfxl4tXlfyyGgzuoBJwt4mubqoKVUwijfmILeLXflantuauc8dou7bIliSgfCwWi0QFw5RpEf6ewHFd2Tb0aWgy6uO80Yea4a_UgXDSF0CPaok2AKDwCvQZg9rEogVtsYb43QpefXNjPr4zWUsjvxtv7O0UxlzaUgTZ-7-F0AUsrvjwLrC3Q/s1920/5740C893-5813-4951-A462-EE62DF421AF1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1920" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcMlmyPUKfxl4tXlfyyGgzuoBJwt4mubqoKVUwijfmILeLXflantuauc8dou7bIliSgfCwWi0QFw5RpEf6ewHFd2Tb0aWgy6uO80Yea4a_UgXDSF0CPaok2AKDwCvQZg9rEogVtsYb43QpefXNjPr4zWUsjvxtv7O0UxlzaUgTZ-7-F0AUsrvjwLrC3Q/w640-h480/5740C893-5813-4951-A462-EE62DF421AF1.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whiteout conditions at the Top of the World. The day actually started sunny, but then it started snowing.<br />I couldn't see! Until I changed lenses, I had to use the Force to find my way.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAGxykxNS9PCHtuEn2Z3dlOKHi04WKqGIc4Dtl_w-nKHZEcDNsiQlwxqStxv1GKFlqdUxhzLFJV1CI5nt1SWaHvHAYjadYRfko2Rmcp8Xs7cZO7ZX0sgX2NY4BbD8crupw3qmcuCORCCOEczrYVYcbfPgPVUece_RDHf-46fQrPXzilSslY7-J0rWF-g/s1830/5BA98845-99BA-4485-BD41-4528CC44ADDA.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1830" data-original-width="1307" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAGxykxNS9PCHtuEn2Z3dlOKHi04WKqGIc4Dtl_w-nKHZEcDNsiQlwxqStxv1GKFlqdUxhzLFJV1CI5nt1SWaHvHAYjadYRfko2Rmcp8Xs7cZO7ZX0sgX2NY4BbD8crupw3qmcuCORCCOEczrYVYcbfPgPVUece_RDHf-46fQrPXzilSslY7-J0rWF-g/w458-h640/5BA98845-99BA-4485-BD41-4528CC44ADDA.jpeg" width="458" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My buddy Matt took this shot on Wednesday.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQuxQfC5K0nLDP3HbiCwL_DB0SBXB_NzRNIbHIPFUZnBOMIqH5dhM82y0rnBWAy_bP_31WbKXWlMiGHmn_5_zpu36oFY_ZMjtfCUNogmXfpkTxx_rXOC1iKFpHYIhd9ynZD6CpipLeUjWM7cb1dT1H2ilAX_dqJ24Wi3m2N0yNBuprOXNle89lsYnASQ/s1920/46CE49B2-7854-4052-B1AF-1866EF3E9631.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQuxQfC5K0nLDP3HbiCwL_DB0SBXB_NzRNIbHIPFUZnBOMIqH5dhM82y0rnBWAy_bP_31WbKXWlMiGHmn_5_zpu36oFY_ZMjtfCUNogmXfpkTxx_rXOC1iKFpHYIhd9ynZD6CpipLeUjWM7cb1dT1H2ilAX_dqJ24Wi3m2N0yNBuprOXNle89lsYnASQ/w640-h360/46CE49B2-7854-4052-B1AF-1866EF3E9631.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt, Matt, and a LOT of snow.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh12dNxwdsPYvupcmbPRhT8vezqAkqZkl8SfMLJoaPx8gKY36tra5AnqhSMddOMT7S3Bp8SNIngviTelsw7OXvRxxU0GltkiBGnxOrPYGI8-16yQXQu0Lz6g0NPWBArBxrXwJx9VB40WkiCv5zEt3li212325tzhJmcksWQC49F4LbxGckLtTLOeTeybg/s1920/C75AB2F9-1519-4A9E-8612-334D58443FEC.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1079" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh12dNxwdsPYvupcmbPRhT8vezqAkqZkl8SfMLJoaPx8gKY36tra5AnqhSMddOMT7S3Bp8SNIngviTelsw7OXvRxxU0GltkiBGnxOrPYGI8-16yQXQu0Lz6g0NPWBArBxrXwJx9VB40WkiCv5zEt3li212325tzhJmcksWQC49F4LbxGckLtTLOeTeybg/w360-h640/C75AB2F9-1519-4A9E-8612-334D58443FEC.jpeg" width="360" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>That's it, friends. Highly recommended!Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-91202616259510161482023-02-18T09:21:00.001-05:002023-02-18T09:21:15.951-05:0030 Day Poetry Challenge: Day 17<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">My daughter Hannah suggested </span><a href="https://www.pspoets.com/blog/30daypoetrychallenge" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">this challenge</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> for our family. She wants to try writing more poetry, and she's hoping that this challenge will get her into the habit.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">She, my daughter Emma, and I started this thing, and then my wife joined after a few days. Now we are all doing the challenge. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yesterday was Day 17.</span></p><div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;"><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>17. Find a friend. Write a collaborative poem that is at least 12 lines. Take turns by having one person write a line, then switch until you feel it is complete.</b></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></div><br /><div style="font-family: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGu_50EEwa4kSIlDCfCAy2NpY34HcYuyuJNbYpCiggXoPjqoWQDeGW-rHKn6C_IdhIiEGUcwuvTnJsjn4bMPjKik1x2kZfUHDDWZaw32_a1VHy7EBENjHlxsiiJbNKfbkM_ZyG5o6Hozf-80yAQfWb5jwBy3ZuCeNxuA0K8RJ1xbDrlx27bt7c1PLukw/s1920/99CCE0E6-CB3B-4B6B-B277-D67FACA3C3F0.jpeg"></a></div></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLXOL4IOVz6Hn7FwPNWzqE18yBpWmp1m1B2ASpo6cq3LfVLaHDy_M9SEYTIqnmxfXic6-bccxwPGfUZZPLEmlCSwJPMs3-n3h2xMc2xpd-aqwA20dvMesUuurlfxlJvYAqbVlzLnPm8gA03emBA9N3Zeyz0tW8yWNEFPX9QlWudnbH20S8TUcsIPqIoA/s3088/IMG_4474.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2320" data-original-width="3088" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLXOL4IOVz6Hn7FwPNWzqE18yBpWmp1m1B2ASpo6cq3LfVLaHDy_M9SEYTIqnmxfXic6-bccxwPGfUZZPLEmlCSwJPMs3-n3h2xMc2xpd-aqwA20dvMesUuurlfxlJvYAqbVlzLnPm8gA03emBA9N3Zeyz0tW8yWNEFPX9QlWudnbH20S8TUcsIPqIoA/w640-h480/IMG_4474.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hannah (Right) and I wrote this one together. My lines are <span style="color: #990000;">Red</span>. Hers are Black.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.1px;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /></span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #990000;">Back from a ski trip with my office in pieces,</span><span style="color: #202124;">
Traveling alone in my wet, muddy sneakers;
</span><span style="color: #990000;">Rainy afternoon at the end of the week,</span><span style="color: #202124;">
A cold gray sky makes Friday feel bleak.
Pasta and tomato sauce cooking in the kitchen,
</span><span style="color: #990000;">The smell of Mom’s cooking starts my mood switchin’.</span><span style="color: #202124;">
The table now set for four instead of three;
</span><span style="color: #990000;">We’ll have a Boobaloo here, just wait & see!</span><span style="color: #202124;">
Tomorrow will be sunny and 60 degrees
</span><span style="color: #990000;">Which beats the heck out of a winter deep freeze!</span><span style="color: #202124;">
</span><span style="color: #990000;">A three day weekend after a hard-ass week.</span><span style="color: #202124;">
Is just what I need to get back on my feet.</span></span></span></span></div></div>Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-79365161368256501652023-02-17T12:25:00.001-05:002023-02-17T12:25:10.711-05:0030-Day Poetry Challenge: Day 16<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">My daughter Hannah suggested </span><a href="https://www.pspoets.com/blog/30daypoetrychallenge" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">this challenge</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> for our family. She wants to try writing more poetry, and she's hoping that this challenge will get her into the habit.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">She, my daughter Emma, and I started this thing, and then my wife joined after a few days. Now we are all doing the challenge. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yesterday was Day 16.</span></p><div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>16. Think about the outdoors after it rains. Place yourself in the setting and describe what it's like.</b> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-weight: bold; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGu_50EEwa4kSIlDCfCAy2NpY34HcYuyuJNbYpCiggXoPjqoWQDeGW-rHKn6C_IdhIiEGUcwuvTnJsjn4bMPjKik1x2kZfUHDDWZaw32_a1VHy7EBENjHlxsiiJbNKfbkM_ZyG5o6Hozf-80yAQfWb5jwBy3ZuCeNxuA0K8RJ1xbDrlx27bt7c1PLukw/w640-h360/99CCE0E6-CB3B-4B6B-B277-D67FACA3C3F0.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Short Beach in Stratford, CT, after a rain storm.</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGu_50EEwa4kSIlDCfCAy2NpY34HcYuyuJNbYpCiggXoPjqoWQDeGW-rHKn6C_IdhIiEGUcwuvTnJsjn4bMPjKik1x2kZfUHDDWZaw32_a1VHy7EBENjHlxsiiJbNKfbkM_ZyG5o6Hozf-80yAQfWb5jwBy3ZuCeNxuA0K8RJ1xbDrlx27bt7c1PLukw/s1920/99CCE0E6-CB3B-4B6B-B277-D67FACA3C3F0.jpeg" imageanchor="1"></a></div></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hard rain on a Friday night;</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It never makes things better,</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wanted to swim tomorrow</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">But now there’s runoff in the water.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sigh.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rain coming off the streets,</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Washing oil & other crap into the Sound,</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.1px;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sending bacteria levels up,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And bringing the beach mood down.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We just wanted a nice weekend,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">But now there’s all this crappy rain.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Making the ground all mushy,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">And now it’s harder to train.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m dreaming of open water</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">While watching the rain drops fall.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It just doesn’t seem fair;</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;">This weather has dropped the ball.</span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div>Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-25677222646587235742023-02-15T11:27:00.003-05:002023-02-17T12:25:44.877-05:0030 Day Poetry Challenge: Day 15<p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>My daughter Hannah suggested </span><a href="https://www.pspoets.com/blog/30daypoetrychallenge" target="_blank">this challenge</a><span> for our family. She wants to try writing more poetry, and she's hoping that this challenge will get her into the habit.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">She, my daughter Emma, and I started this thing, and then my wife joined after a few days. Now we are all doing the challenge. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Today is Day 15.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a name='more'></a></span><div><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">15. Use vivid imagery to write about a tree in a forest. Describe what the environment feels like, the colors, the scent of the leaves.</span></b></div></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZOvLntiWSBdT1FovEJg8MbW2mRtzg5obTqSalv-QA_iRk0slaIgC2oFLKSFfwQ_Z6JFlmg_Bi-Qmxq-LxnhoorPchqF67lmCEMZ6TobLFXOPLpTtyrIkfDcH_KQraJmU2uYgTFQHBA_Aadgss78Uv4bVYoLOygxUbw4O2juGbjXHikjhIt_tfC2infQ/s1920/41A1AD94-273F-48DD-A5A1-B0C60C0C0801.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1440" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZOvLntiWSBdT1FovEJg8MbW2mRtzg5obTqSalv-QA_iRk0slaIgC2oFLKSFfwQ_Z6JFlmg_Bi-Qmxq-LxnhoorPchqF67lmCEMZ6TobLFXOPLpTtyrIkfDcH_KQraJmU2uYgTFQHBA_Aadgss78Uv4bVYoLOygxUbw4O2juGbjXHikjhIt_tfC2infQ/w300-h400/41A1AD94-273F-48DD-A5A1-B0C60C0C0801.jpeg" width="300" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The Glade</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sliding down the bumpy trail,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Music blaring,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Feeling it.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Front edge,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Drop in,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Back edge,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Drop in.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’m flying.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guitar riffs urge me on…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Faster.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Front edge,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Back edge,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Front edge,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Back edge,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Flow…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">As the trees get closer.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tighter</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Closer still…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Slide through a hard edge and stop.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pine trees are everywhere,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Green and brown on white,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Heady scent with a whiff of real danger…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">“When did we get into this glade?”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">A few brave souls have blazed a trail.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Power cords tell me to</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Drop in,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hard edge,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Drop in,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Attack.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Slide to stop, and I’m…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tumbling.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Green, brown, white,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Green, brown, white,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Stick my board, and then</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Blue sky glimpsed through the forest canopy.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Slowly right myself,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Heart racing.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Take a breath,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Make sure everything is still attached.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Double-click my headphones to something</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Less aggressive.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Push sideways,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">But the trees close in.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Slide back to the trail,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">But that dude was better than me.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hey. At least it’s a little more open.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Patience. I can do this.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rocking.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sliding down.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Back and forth,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Back and forth,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Front to back, then</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Back to front.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Again,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">And again…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Trees slide by slowly,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Green and brown on white</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Heady scent with a whiff of real danger…</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">But this forest seems endless.</span></div></div>Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-1700420012130386052023-02-13T19:08:00.003-05:002023-02-13T19:08:23.057-05:0030 Day Poetry Challenge : Day 13<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">My daughter Hannah suggested </span><a href="https://www.pspoets.com/blog/30daypoetrychallenge" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">this challenge</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> for our family. She wants to try writing more poetry, and she's hoping that this challenge will get her into the habit.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">She, my daughter Emma, and I started this thing, and then my wife joined after a few days. Now we are all doing the challenge. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Today is Day 13.</span></p><div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><b>13. Pick something in your life that you are grateful for. Write about how fortunate you are to have that thing in your life and why.</b></div></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6w0EjqPTvwLXSSy4Dre1eh_Y8PnlfKyO92Lw49xX_PAAlMMch9eEnJiFLYxNglsc408pQNkP01l8Ozl8UHFo8kZR4uGxL-ls-ojcPzDyFxfbdlsw2uH1zs3NoNg6JBMLPIrEAeLUuvwYbKXbCXbPI-7vK07kXFyBL9Vuzk9jH29wo39wz75RgMv03Og/s1539/3EAB0D62-879B-4223-965B-35A142939CB8.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1539" data-original-width="1539" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6w0EjqPTvwLXSSy4Dre1eh_Y8PnlfKyO92Lw49xX_PAAlMMch9eEnJiFLYxNglsc408pQNkP01l8Ozl8UHFo8kZR4uGxL-ls-ojcPzDyFxfbdlsw2uH1zs3NoNg6JBMLPIrEAeLUuvwYbKXbCXbPI-7vK07kXFyBL9Vuzk9jH29wo39wz75RgMv03Og/w400-h400/3EAB0D62-879B-4223-965B-35A142939CB8.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>My wife Sally is such a blessing,</div><div>I’ve known that now forever;</div><div>I’m out here skiing even now</div><div>While she holds our home together.</div><div><br /></div><div>She’s beautiful, oh yes it’s true,</div><div>And also mighty clever;</div><div>She helps me be my very best self,</div><div>Encouraging my every endeavor.</div><div><br /></div><div>God blessed me on the day we met,</div><div>I didn’t even know how much;</div><div>That this wonderful woman would stay with me,</div><div>Loving me and such.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sally, I love you.</div><div>I know that you know it’s true;</div><div>But it’s worth repeating every day.</div><div>So you will feel it, too.</div></div>Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2130572569541182865.post-71398650616438180402023-02-12T12:37:00.000-05:002023-02-12T12:37:14.013-05:0030 Day Poetry Challenge: Day 12<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">My daughter Hannah suggested </span><a href="https://www.pspoets.com/blog/30daypoetrychallenge" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">this challenge</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> for our family. She wants to try writing more poetry, and she's hoping that this challenge will get her into the habit.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">She, my daughter Emma, and I started this thing, and then my wife joined after a few days. Now we are all doing the challenge. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Today is Day 12.</span></p><div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: #fcfcfc; caret-color: rgb(63, 59, 59); color: #3f3b3b; letter-spacing: 0.18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>12. Write about the seasons as if they were people. How do they feel</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>?</b></span></span></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: #fcfcfc; caret-color: rgb(63, 59, 59); color: #3f3b3b; letter-spacing: 0.18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Winter, you are so good to see</div><div>When you bother to come around</div><div>I love to ski your snowy goodness</div><div>Atop your glorious shroud.</div><div><br /></div><div>Spring, you’re kind of a drag, you know,</div><div>With the Sun a maybe half-power,</div><div>It’s rainy all the time, it’s true;</div><div>That’s how you bring the flowers.</div><div><br /></div><div>Summer, you’re oft too hot by far</div><div>But fun, too, all the same</div><div>Swimming in open water rocks,</div><div>It keeps me in the game.</div><div><br /></div><div>Fall, you are the best of all,</div><div>My favorite of the seasons</div><div>Autumn leaves and football games,</div><div>Yeah, those are my reasons.</div><div><br /></div><div>And now you know the seasons</div><div>As though they were real folk.</div><div>They’ve each a personality </div><div>To know as if we’d spoke.</div></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr></tr></tbody></table></div>Danno E. Cabezahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00514343832663815418noreply@blogger.com0