September 8th, 2017

Several follow up items to kickoff this weeks entry.  Sitting here a few minutes before the Thursday night kickoff game of KC at the...I can't even say their name anymore.  As soon as I typed up my happiness about the state of my teams last week, the Mariners, who were already starting to shit the bed, got out of it and then vomited into the laundry hamper.  And the potentially historic Dodger season turned around immediately, currently losing 11 of the last 12 and counting,  now may not even win their division.  Was there when Seattle won 116 games in 2001 and knew this was coming.

That means the following is about to happen.  My Aussie Rules Essendon Bombers will be hammered on Saturday night  and will regret giving up my Saturday evening to stay home to watch.  On Sunday morning, we are gonna realize that the Raider hype was just that and that questions surrounding their defense were as obvious as those we all felt in the lead-up to November 8th, 2017.  And Russell Wilson is destined to feel the wrath of God with an horrific injury.  Ugh...they just replayed the low lights of the Team That Shall Not Be Named comeback in SB LI and even tossed in the gratuitous Malcolm Butler pick for good measure.  Will this torture never end?  

Next, two huge validations on the Things That Bugged Me This Summer list.

#3 - The Poke Revolution.  Not a regular of this funny foodie podcast but had to give this one a listen.  Highly acclaimed Chef David Chang rails on poke.  To quote..."I can’t do it because I look at this place, and they have already-chopped-up fish, like tubs of fish, chopped up and seasoned, just waiting to be scooped out into a bowl. That’s just not how I want to eat raw fish."   Exactly.  Listen to the whole thing here.

#1 - Cucumber Water.  This article popped up in my feed today.  Basically, details how many germs are on those lemons places put in the water and how they get there.   Totally get there is nastiness on anything if you look for it (looking at you shopping cart handles), but still cannot understand why people need  "a slice of lemon to spruce up plain-old water."  Are you that much of a thrill seeker that plain water isn't edgy enough?  Perhaps the most disturbing sentence in the entire article is this; "Among the specimens collected were E. coli, staphylococcus epidermidis and candida, a fungus commonly found in the vagina."  What the hell are you women doing with these lemons?  I assumed that 100% of the cucumbers have candida on them, but lemons?  Kinky...and hot.

Sad news in the world of music this week with the passing of Walter Becker.  Have never met anyone that was neutral to them...either they were like me and loved their music, or hate them for whatever reason (usually not a good one).  They were part of the soundtrack of my life, being on the AM radio as early as I can remember.  I remember vividly the day my brother came over for Christmas in 1980, for the three hours he could stand to be with us, geeking out about how Gaucho had just come out. Was fortunate enough to live in the day they became a touring entity and saw them about 10 times over the last few years with the best being a three night stand at the Paramount in Seattle where they played Katy Lied, Sign In The Stranger and Aja in their entirety.  Can still dredge up the feeling of happiness I felt after walking out after night two, knowing that there was a night three.  

Hard to believe, but am getting weirder with age.  Monday was my birthday (52) and no one but immediate family was aware.  They mumbled happy birthday at breakfast and that was it.  And was perfectly happy about it.   Nothing new, never remember wanting a party or celebrate, but never really hid from it either.  Now, am active in preventing people from knowing and even went onto Facebook to change my birth date so wouldn't get the lame Happy B-day notes.  Do find it disconcerting that Google know when it is and changes the banner of their site to wish me a happy day.    Like I said, weird.  I do go onto all the sites and see what my Virgo/Snake horoscopes say about me and the future.  Also look at famous people born on my date too, and it has never been deep.  Golfer Tom Watson, Baseball legend and lower echelon Italian soccer team owner Mike Piazza, and some obscure Dutch mathematician.  It was with great surprise and joy that when I checked it this year, discovered that the great Beyoncé is a September 4th baby.  We were talking about her this summer and we all agreed that she is by far the most popular artist/entertainer going right now by far and feel a new bond.

Now that we've spent a few years in typhoon country, we've been staying tuned into the news of Harvey and Irma.  All of the emotion and tragedy and stories of heroes are fascinating.  There is one issue that got exposed in stark relief that I simply cannot understand is an issue at all.  I love astronomy and have been fascinated as early as I can remember with space exploration with the first moon landing being one of the earliest memories I can recall.  As a teen, watched the images from the Voyagers  as they came into JPL and can still see the face of the scientist gasp in pure ecstasy upon seeing that first one pop up on the screen.  And that we just sent a craft the size of a Volkswagen to Pluto and hit the mark to within a few meters of its target is all you need to know about the capability of the human mind.

So am watching/reading the coverage of the aftermath of the Houston storm/pending Irma landfall  and meteorologists are saying that the power of the storms are greater as the water temperature increases their ferocity, and that the warming of the planet is a likely contributor.  Seems logical and if the scientific community is agreeing on something, we should treat that pretty damn seriously.  I simply do not get how a certain segment of our population discounts these freaking geniuses by saying it is a hoax, conspiracy or some weird religion.  Are the scientists right about it?  I dunno, probably. Could they be wrong and it isn't caused by man?  Absolutely.  Am old enough to remember that eggs were good for you, then bad, then kinda good, and then you should only eat  the whites. 

So while I think there is something to it, am also one that concedes that science could be totally wrong.   What absolutely boggles is the argument against.  First...the statement that it is a hoax/conspiracy.  Have you ever met a scientist?  Their cluelessness to social cues is uniform and that they could gauge world opinion enough to collectively come up with a narrative like this is simply bat shit crazy.  Now that they have established by sound byte that this group of "other" people is conspiring to screw you,  here is how they justify it.  We gotta protect coal jobs.   Those have been going away for decades with technology being the main culprit.  Coal miner is unquestionably is in the top 5 on the crappiest jobs list, and if you've ever been anywhere near a mine or plant or China, you can see the pollution entering your system.  Next argument...climate change and clean energy is a religion for atheists.  Breathtaking and am simply in awe that the can sucker in all the evangelical/thumpers so easily.    But the hypocrisy that gets me the most is that the benefit of  getting off a dependence on oil seems like a no brainer across any aisle.  Would seem that not having to rely on the dreaded Mooselambs for oil should be job one for the party formerly known as the GOP.  What is the upside for more coal and oil?  Obviously the answer is money and power.

Unlike other political arguments, like a big ass wall, what if you're wrong?  Sickens me that the people leading the government say we shouldn't be using these tragedies to raise the issue when this is precisely the time that people are paying attention to it and can understand future ramifications.    And while I have no illusions that the left will use whatever means necessary to gain power, the abandonment of all moralistic high ground by the Republicans in adherence to their donors on the one hand, and pandering to those ignorants that need someone to blame on the other has gone beyond the point of disheartening.  I used to love having political debates, but now?  Everyone is a conspiracy theorist untethered to reality.  Come back to us GOP.

I said I'd do more Taiwan stuff today, but got sidetracked.  I will say that this week was the important Ghost Festival week, where all of the businesses and apartments make their offerings to the spirits so that they don't hassle the living.  Joined Betty at Costco for their Bai Bai this year.  At precisely 2:30pm, cause there is some industry that tells each business the exact moment they need to make their prayer to the Spirits, the incense is lit and the offerings (also very specific in nature) are laid out and the whole company comes out to do the praying.  The whole town is doing this throughout the day and the smell of incense permeates the air from sun up to sun down.

The precision and adherence to tradition amongst the Taiwanese is stunning and almost Teutonic.  Did you know how many Germans it takes to screw in a light bulb?  One, cause they are very efficient and not very funny.  Unsurprisingly, I told that one to the German lady at the office the other day and she didn't get it.  What's my point again?  Oh yeah...Taiwanese adhere to tradition.  Lunch hour here is from noon to 1pm, and there is absolutely no deviating from that schedule.  Can't leave early, or go late...you must go at noon and wait in line with every other schlub in town.  While I find this an admirable trait, is also emblematic at one of their biggest flaws in that they are extremely reluctant to thinking outside of the box.  Give them a task and they will complete it with singular vision, but ask them to be visionary and they struggle.  This editorial from the Taipei Times does a good job looking at this phenomenon.

Finally, had a local physical therapist recommended for my back, and Betty (who has some knee issues) and I both went to try it out.  The good?  It was with an office that took National Health Insurance and was able to get an appointment within a couple days.  Our initial visit, that included consultation with the doctor and therapy (elctro-stimulus and traction for me/x-ray and therapy for Betty) cost us NT$200 (US$6) each, and we have 6 therapy sessions prescribed that will cost NT$50 (about US$1.50) each.  The therapy itself was fine as far as I could tell, although I am wildly skeptical of that elctro-stimulous device.  The bad?  The therapy floor was communal.  At least  10 people all in one big room getting their ailments treated.  And pretty dingy...it wasn't dirty per se, but it felt that way to one used to the uber hygienic feeling PT rooms in the States.  As we all know, and as evidenced in the study linked to above about lemons, you know there is fecal matter and whatever the hell you women are rubbing on shit everywhere.  We walked out and Betty was kinda bumped by the scene in general.  I wasn't as disgusted by the facility, but it did feel a bit impersonal and that the care was more procedural than personal.  Have always felt that the PT game was as much drumming up future business as it was in real rehabilitation anyway, so will call it a push at this point.

Ohhh...KC just spanked the Pats in the season opener as I wrote the above and sitting here with a smile on my face.  Screw those guys. 

Up the Bombers.  Going into the (Red)Zone on Sunday.  Life is good.