November 28th, 2021

Hiya,

Went to the knee doc this week and am scheduled for replacement on December 14th.  Fingers crossed it'll go as well as round one.  Will have to dig up my recap to remember what to expect when your expecting (a new knee)

Something I remembered about the States after seeing it in a crowd shot at a football game this week...dudes are wearing dresses.  I saw it more than a bunch in Seattle, mainly in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, but also at some rock and roll shows too.  And it doesn't seem like it was just on a dare cause they the dresses they were choosing fit them.  I'd say that I saw as many guys wearing dresses as I did ladies some nights.  It is jarring to see someone wearing a dress from the back, and then you get up close and it is a dude with a finely manicured 3 day growth.  I get the shock value, and perhaps they are more comfortable, but you can put this old man in the thumbs down category.  To be fair, too many members of my age/race cohort continue to wear cargo shorts

Something I have noticed in Taiwan these last two weeks in my neighborhood is there is a pack of bony white chicks new to town.  Our neighborhood has the international schools so there is a high concentration of foreigners here.  I see these white chicks pushing their strollers or doing yoga together in the park and have yet to figure out what the deal is.  A couple years ago, there was an influx of older Dutch ladies (and men, but as a stay at home dad, see mostly the women) roaming about and learned that there was a big wind power project starting and the Dutch were the ones brought in for their expertise.  I seem to be the only one noticing all the new young women in town (I know), and have not got to the bottom of this yet, but I will not rest until I do.

We had Thanksgiving at our place this year.  Other than the first year we were here, we have always gone away for the long weekend to some beachy place for a few days. It was nice to spend it at home with friends.  Forgot how to make mashed potatoes but they are surprisingly easy and really should make them more often cause they were effin' delicious.  Made my mom's macaroni and cheese, which has always been a staple of our family's Thanksgiving dinner table.  I heard some take by a football player this week where he was getting angry that mac-n-cheese is now part of every T-giving table, and was a topic by the talking heads to discuss in detail, but it has always been a part of mine and of all the other dishes on the table, it is the one that I look forward to the most.  Mom's recipe is incredibly easy, but the resulting goodness is universally loved.  Here is a picture of the recipe written in her distinctive cursive and it brings back all the good memories of her for me.

It is best with the extra sharp Cracker Barrel cheese, but if you can't find that brand, make sure it is extra sharp as that is the key.  And I always like it better when the sprinkle of breadcrumbs is generous.  Both The Boy and I suggest using Italian bread crumbs as it pushes it over the top.  You are welcome in advance.

Our table was a lovely collection of people and as we are in an international community, had an global flavor with representatives from New Zealand, Canada, Singapore and The Philippines.  We had the lady that cleans our place stay over that night to help with things, and while she was uncomfortable sitting at the table, I would have been more uncomfortable if she didn't and it was a pleasure to have her sit down with us.  It is what the pilgrims would have done with the Indians before they sent them back into the kitchen to clean up our mess.  

Now that we have residences in Seattle and Taipei, a project that I am slowly working on is editing my clothes and household items.  There will come a day when we depart this place and want that container going back to the States to be lean as we don't have a ton of space in Seattle to handle two apartments worth of accumulated crap.  This week, took aim at the pants part of my closet.  I had dress slacks from the Nordstrom days in there that were well worn before we moved.  Since I don't see me wearing dress pants regularly ever again, they got to go in the donation box.  There were some fat pants hanging and if I ever get that fat again, I will not forgive myself, and some skinny pants there is no chance of ever getting closed again.  I was able to cut my inventory by at least half and feel good about doing that.  What occurred to me in this process is that my pants are like a basketball team.  You have your starting 5 and a couple of high rotation bench guys.  Then there is the rest of the bench that only get playing time in special situations or blowouts.  

Then occurred to me that a better analogy is that your friends are like a basketball team (I had a lot of pants to try on so there was time for my mind to wander).  For me, I have my starting 5 and 2-3 heavy rotation players.  Ones that I always think of first when looking to make dinner plans or party guestlists.  Then there are those that have special skills, like going to music shows or talking about obscure sports.  And there are a few at the end of the bench that are being developed to be future stars, and a couple of old timers that are hanging on cause they have a history with the team and bloated contracts that cannot be dealt. I have outright released a couple in the past that played a lot of minutes for conduct detrimental to the team, and recently had to bench one of my starters from the opening line-up for some outrageous decisions to send a message.  This analogy is a work in progress, but I hope I am somewhere on your team.

There has been a lot of baseball activities for yours truly.  Hanging with the kids is so great as they provide endless entertainment.  We were in the batting cage the other night and while picking up the baseballs, I ask them if they have mid-term exams this week.  One kid said his are next week and then added that if he failed every single one of them, he'd still have a 3.3 GPA.  I wouldn't blink if that was a kid in Seattle public school, but for this place, it was stunning to hear as there is a ton of pressure on these kids to get 4.0s.  Not just from their parents, but from the other kids...I didn't have to push mine hardly at all cause they got enough peer pressure to keep them in line.  During our batting cage conversation, one kid offered that the highest possible is a 4.8 and that some kids are lobbying for it to go up to 5 something.  The 3.3 kid replied that 3.3 is a good GPA for an athlete and couldn't resist telling him that 'you're a baseball player, not an athlete.'

The one sad thing about baseball is that they don't call me Coach Imbro.  It is the one thing that I have always wanted to be called in life and think at this point that I would deserve it.  Have coached forever.  Obviously a ton of baseball.  I coached a very successful soccer team for several years and have even had stints coaching volleyball, basketball and badminton.  Have coached both boys and girls.  Odds are that I've been the coach of one of your kids at some point.  I was even the coach of our beer league softball team for a decade and know that I not only coached the parent, but the son as well.  You would think that after all of these years spent coaching, the dedication of molding minds and developing skills, the sweat and blood I have poured out in the arena that people...someone...anyone would call me Coach Imbro.

But you fuck one goat...

November 21st, 2021

Hey there,

Have been out a week and it feels like a month.  Is hard to think about the quarantine days in any cohesive or linear way.  Have talked to a bunch of folks this week that all went through it and we all have similar recollections.  As one could guess, many were families with kids and most of them had adjoining rooms, so there was someone else there and you could go from one room to another, which sounded OK.  One guy said he was in a room with just his 10 year old kid and it was worse than I could imagine...and was imagining that to be pretty bad.  

The one through line in all of the quarantine tales was that around the 7 day mark, people almost lost it.  In various ways...like they were gonna make a run for it, or like me, they hit the bottle in an unhealthy way.

This has been a great week that feels more so due to the freedom and seeing folks I hadn't in 6 months.  There will come a time when we leave this dump for good and there are some nouns that I will never forget .

Here is one I will absolutely not miss though...Effin' year round mosquitos.  There was a good month and a half where they got frozen out in Seattle and my body was bite free.  Already have them from behind my ear to the top of the feet, and as I am typing this in the office on Sunday morning, one is circling me like it's a shark and I'm a wounded sea otter.  

Not a surprise though.  The locals get all freaked out about a cold snap when it 'dips' into the 60's, and most days have been in the upper 70's with today looking like it is gonna hit 90...so ideal mosquito breeding weather.  Have to powder up before going out to keep the globes dry.  Watched a Dimitri Martin stand-up special and he was saying that calling them balls was misguided.  You hit and kick balls.  He suggested they should call them something like mints or lozenges and from now on, will refer to them as such.  Flip-flops are accepted in all major retail outlets and our windows are open all day and night.  Even had to turn a fan on one evening as it was a bit uncomfortable to sleep.  Yin/Yang my friends.  

After 6 months away, not sure why I was expecting the place to be much different.  Covid is really under control currently.  They post numbers everyday and there are usually 5-10 'imported'  cases, ones where people in quarantine from other countries test positive, and only a handful of 'local' ones total.   Of those, there is detailed tracing information about them.   After quarantine, one must self-monitor their health for 7 days, which seems weird cause I self monitor my health 24/7, but it is an official 7 days where the government is keeping an eye on you.  They text me at precisely 9am every morning asking to rate my health from 1-3, with 1 being all clear.  If you don't reply immediately, they text you every 15 minutes asking the same.  If after an hour you don't reply, they will call and if you don't answer, the cops will be sent out.  I have replied within the hour time frame, but have also received two phone calls from the local police (in English) asking me if I feel OK.   I took my home PCR test they issued at the airport yesterday (21 days after arrival) and was very negative.

They sent me a text asking about that result too.  

In every business you enter, you must scan a QR code onto your phone and send a text to the Man so they can alert you if you have come into a place where someone that had it was.  What is almost jarring to see is the mask wearing.  They wear them in businesses for sure, but literally everywhere else all the time.  Walking on the streets at any hour, I have yet to see a single person not only not wearing one, but never with it sliding under their nose.  Not once.  And a lot of folks wear eyeglasses and they have somehow figured out how to not have them fog up.

It appears that all of the places I like to frequent have made it through their covid times and are still open.  My friends at the coffee and vegetable stands were happy to see me but I was happier to see them still in business although they all say that it was a tough summer.  

Would be remiss if I didn't mention the roads.  The dopes are still doing dopey things, but does it feel like a little less?  Has it been microscopically less with each passing season, but so little that it is hard to perceive?  Have seen some traffic reconfigurations that have been done recently in areas that I have been tilting windmills against for years.  Betty says that the cops have been cracking down on a couple of the more egregious habits they have.  Driving habits is one of the three pillars of my gripes against this place.

Betty told me she was driving here now and was excited to see her in action.  She picked me up from the hotel at midnight and drove home.  Roads were quite empty so didn't see her navigate through swarms of scooters.  On the drive she told me a story.

One day she is coming home from work and to get to the lane our apartment garage entrance is on, you needed to cross a busy street.  4 lanes of traffic to be exact...I can show you.

You can get into the middle as the merdian is big enough to fit a car without bleeding into oncoming traffic, but at an angle as it isn't quite a car length wide.  It is also long enough to fit three cars at an angle.  Typically, the turn our way is busier so if we are first to the space, will take the middle space to go left as many cars make a U-turn there and that is better from the first spot of three.  The third space is for cars to make a U-turn going the other way as their is no left turn there as it is a school.

Betty relates that she is in the middle space to go left waiting for oncoming traffic to clear, and when it does, a car is in that first spot and cuts her off going into our lane in a way where she almost hit them.  This car then turns into our garage and it also happens to be the car in the parking spot next to us.

The car is driven by the driver of the people who live on floor 13 and he drops off his passengers at the elevator before parking.  Betty eyeballs the floor they go to, takes the elevator to 13 and knocks on the door.  I don't know the tone she used, but from experience can guess it wasn't gentle, and tells them that if she sees their driver do shit like that again, she is gonna report them to the cops/building/God only knows who. 

The cutoff move this guy made is typical for here and it (and all the other moves like it) drive me insane and have always railed on them for it.  I will lay on the horn for sure, and scream a blue streak if I get the chance, but road raging to a persons apartment is next level.  The good thing is that she now has a better appreciation of the way things are from the drivers perspective and can relate to my frustrations and anger in a way that escaped her previously.

Last thing that I've noticed about being back is that people are concerned about China taking action militarily.  It has always been part of the conversation, but as something far off in the distance.  This week, almost every conversation past small talk has touched on the topic...like what is the timeline to leave the country, or the escape plan if things get hot.  I know that the situation is making it through the normal media BS as so many people in the States asked me before I left why we would be going back at all.  Daily life goes on, but that it enters into my mind regularly is something new and it sucks.  If you are not clear on what the deal is, John Oliver did a piece on it a few weeks ago that I feel does a great job of explaining the situation and would direct you to see that if you want to know more.

That's that.  I was hoping that by the end of this entry that I would have killed that mosquito and could show you its carcass, but it has eluded me.

November 13th, 2021 Q15

Hey there,

Q15.  Today Is The Day

A song by my beloved Yo La Tengo performed on the late great John McEnroe show.  Two great tastes.

Britney Spears and I were both freed on the same day.  Coincidence?

Officially, it is tomorrow.  Betty is gonna pick me up at midnight, which is the earliest possible moment.  I would have been perfectly happy sleeping and getting picked up Sunday AM, but it was her call to come down with less traffic.  Betty drives here now.  I saw her drive one time in all the years we've been in Taipei and it was not a pleasant experience.  Cannot wait to see her in action.  She is a good driver and if I had some constructive criticism, she tailgates a bit too much for my taste.  I learned over the summer that I can extend my parking superpower bubble to another if I put my mind to it.  Looking forward to seeing how she deals with the drivers here.  She has defended them in the past and was noticeably critical of the American lunkhead equivalents this summer when she drove there so it'll be an interesting look inside her mind.

Started putting stuff into bags, packing up, etc. in anticipation of tonight's departure, and in every meal bag they put in a drink.  I have little interest in beverages other than water (still), milk, coffee, red wine and whisky.  It is a rare day when I drink something other than these 5 things and never touched any of the juice boxes.  Figure someone would love them later as they are all on sale at the 7-11 so have been collecting them.  Here is the haul.

It has been nice to have a balcony, and the first few days I left the door open to get fresh air in the room, but saw a couple of Taiwan's massive cucarachas patrolling the perimeter, and the lady upstairs says she hears a rat climbing on the roof above her, so ended my open door policy.  I noticed coming back inside yesterday that this room has an odor.  B.O. for sure...not terrible as I haven't sweated hardly at all, but just musty old Gomez smell.  Some of these quarantine rooms don't even have a window that opens and can't imagine what they must smell like at the end of the fortnight.  Betty's was like that, so I can imagine a little bit.  

Physically, feel OK.  My calves hurt when I wake up and am looking forward to going for a nice walk tomorrow.  Maybe will make a pot of sauce to eat next week.  What I won't be doing tomorrow is writing in this space.  Do want to try a weekly thing and will see how the schedule shakes out.  Hoping there is  a ton of baseball...start on Monday with a 3.5hr practice and am looking forward to seeing the fellas.  At this age, they can sprout so fast...height, facial hair, voice changes.  

Well I did it...posted every day.  I will avoid ever doing this quarantine thing again if possible. Seriously, I don't know how all y'all did it for a year.  Know it wasn't as confining as this two week stretch, but that you didn't see people socially for over a year still boggles my mind.  I enjoyed hearing all of your tales from that time and how you occupied it...teaching yourselves to cook, learning to work from home, all of it.  You amaze me.  Like to think I could have done it just as well, but after these two weeks, I just don't know.

November 12th, 2021 Q14

Hiya,

Q14 

As I type this, have 40 hours left before release, assuming my test comes back negative of course.  What happens if it doesn't is a mystery, but it is not gonna be good.  I will get mentioned in the local paper as imported case # whatever it is at this time (there were 10 imported cases today and the current total is 16,586  

What I do know is that if I have to look at the slop they bring 3 times a day much longer, I am gonna lose it.  Breakfast is usually OK, but I am mad at lunch and dinner before they ring the bell, and then am just disgusted to the point I sometimes don't even open the box.  I then go for a bowl of granola or a few spoonfulls of peanut butter.  So it has been 13 days times 3 meals a day, which is 39 doorbell rings, and there has been exactly one offering where I would voluntarily eat it on the outside.  Sorry...I know I'm a picky asshole, but the next wet meat I wanna see is after my next shower (or after using the lady button on the toilet).

Breaking news...lunch just came and had to share what the chicken(?) looked like.

Purposely blew that photo up so you could see how it glistens.  What made this one particularly unappetizing was that you can see the bumps on the skin.  It's like the feathers were freshly plucked, then boiled and served over rice.  Probably healthy and you'll live a long time if you eat your foul (misspelling intended) this way, but is it a life worth living?  After getting this, called Betty to have her order me up something nice for my last night here.  She found the Korean chicken place delivers and so some of the spicy stuff is about an hour away.  

One quick nice family moment to share.  B-doll joined a dance team at UVA this first semester and this weekend is their performances.  She's been stressing a bit cause she has a lot going on the first semester, what with tailgate parties, frat parties, Vietnamese Student Association parties, and this required a lot of rehearsal time, but she made it through to the end.  I offered that she must be in good shape and she says that she is a work out monster and immediately showed me her guns.  

I haven't missed a performance of hers and was sad to not be able to go, and they don't even have a way for us to live stream, but the Boy picked up the family mantle and drove up to watch opening night.  He missed her high school career and it was his first time going to any dance thing.  He was as confused as I was my first time, but was a good soldier and brought flowers.  Awwwwww.

One more thing...have heard through various grapevines that they both have special friends.  I don't know much more than that and it isn't right that I share here, but am happy they seem to be happy.  

Allrighty...a couple of US in review items.

Immediately, noticed that traffic was nearly non-existent.  Everyone kept saying that it is gonna change next blah-ba-de-blah when people go back to work.  Whether it be the rise of Delta and people not going back to work or them doing so from home, it never happened.  

Of the cars that were out and about, there is a new color that is sweeping the showroom floors.  It is a soft blue, like a sky.  Am sure they have clever names for it, but there were a lot of them.  Mostly Subaru, but there were Hyundais and Toyotas, etc.  This seems to be a PNW preference for now cause I didn't see them anywhere else, but it is one of those weird things that come out of nowhere and takes over.  Like poke.  I like them...great color.  I seem to be the only person to notice this as whenever I ranted/raved about it, no one had a clue

What I didn't like was the adoption of a thing they do in Taiwan that drives me insane.  Cars at a traffic light with no blinker on, then when the light turns green, that is when they immediately put the turning left light on.  If you want a sign of the inevitable deterioration of US society, that is it.  Are you just out of it or is there some reasoning for not indicating your intentions in advance.  Please tell if it is the latter cause I am willing to listen.

Inflation is a thing these days.  I'm not interested in economics much but it doesn't take a ton of thought to understand that so much has gone on that it makes total sense.  The first sticker shock we felt was going out to eat...all the prices were 1/3 to 1/2 as much more expensive.  I could not help but think back to a trip we took to Australia about 5 years ago.  Had the exact same sticker shock when eating out there and asked what was up to some locals.  They replied, somewhat condescendingly after hearing my accent or at least it felt that way, that "we pay our service workers a living wage here" and that it was based on a minimum wage that made that so.  Seemed absolutely reasonable at the time and those words echoed in my head all summer as I read stories about people not wanting to work for shit pay.  There is a lot going on in the economy, but that is one area where I am totally on the side of raising the minimum wage. 

OK...following up yesterday's question as to the extra money for the car repair.  I gave it all back to the guy...via Venmo of course.  I certainly could have kept it without any guilt as I had to take time to get two estimates and was without the vehicle for a week.  The reason I returned it was the dude was extremely easy to deal with and gave the money for the repair to us early without hesitation or hassle.  I was leaning this way at dinner when I asked the crowd, and it was an interesting hearing the rationale for keeping/giving the money back.  Then I mentioned that I thought giving it back was just good karma and that set off a discussion about karma as one of the participants said that there is no such thing.  It got a bit weird and dark but I'm gonna stick with doing things that bring good karma.  It has certainly worked well for me so far.  

November 11th, 2021 Q13

Hey there,

Q13

Today is when they came to take the pre-release Covid test.  It costs NT$500 (about US$15) that you pay at the time it's administered.  They call you down from the room when the bus comes, and it is a proper city bus converted into a mobile testing facility.  They park in front of the hotel and you walk out to it.  

This is the first time I've seen the area in daylight (my room faces away from the street and is just ugly rooftops) and am on a busy street.  Lots of folks walking and such, and as soon as I walk out the door, the people parted like the Red Sea before Moses.  The look of horror as the unclean white boy wearing hotel slippers was just beautiful.   For the PCR test they have here, they take a swab about the length of a chopstick with an end like a little bottle brush and stick it up your nose until I could feel it at the back of my throat.  The dude gives it a little twirl and that's it.  Directly back to my plush cell. 

It is hard to remember what happened the previous 12 days.  Watched all the football games and that is the only time that being cooped up is good..  We have Hulu and they show hockey and have been watching Kraken games.  I wish I was feeling something for them...maybe by watching all the games I will come to love them.  No doubt that they look fantastic in their uniforms.  

Someone recommended Money Heist as a quarantine watch and I enjoyed the first 7 episodes or so.  Thought it was a one season bank heist show, but it is 5 seasons.  At episode 8 in season 1, things happened that were strange, and then what the characters did started to piss me off.  The women in this show are so stupid that it hurts.  That it is Spanish and obviously written by macho men is obvious.  Problem is that I cant quit something in the middle no matter how dumb it is or how angry I get at the show.  I still watch NCIS the day it comes out and it is season 18 or something.

I spend some time each day on this space, watch some sports and then read.  I know...am as surprised as you.  I brought two books.  Started 'The Birth Of Loud' on the plane and knocked it out by day 2.  It is the history of the electric guitar told via the lives of Les Paul and Leo Fender.  Well told and if you love the electric guitar half as much as me, it is a good read.

The other book I brought was purchased with quarantine in mind.

'Isaac Asimov's Guide To The Bible'  Asimov is having a bit of a renaissance lately as they have started to make his Foundation series of books into a show.  I love those Foundation books so much and have read them all at  least 4 times over the years and will probably do it again.  Read most of his other sci-fi stuff and have dove deep into interviews where he talks about religion and rationality...here is a good one with Tom Snyder for instance.

In that clip he talks about science in 1988 in a way that is eerily relevant in today's discourse.  Had heard about this bible book and that it is a historical analysis of the Old and New Testaments.  What was going on in Egypt's recorded history during the time the Jews were there and how they match up for instance.   Chose this book cause I enjoy history and Asimov.  And it is 1300 pages long, so figure I could read 100 pages a day and that would get me to the other side.

Have met my reading goals so far and should finish it tomorrow.  Is it good?  It is dry, which makes for perfect pre-afternoon nap fodder.  Lots of smiting in the first half, a lot of debate on circumcision in part II.   I don't think you read this for excitement, and I thought he would be more scathing in his views of the bible, but it does put biblical times into context of the wider world at the time and makes a lot of what goes on in the bible understandable.  At 1300 pages, have taken a lot away that will probably come out in conversations, and a ton of things to think about.  Way too much to even start dissecting it at this point, but wanted to share a quarantine time killer for posterity. 

The hotel gave me a little gift last night.

It came in my dinner bag and thought it was chocolate at first, but it is a mini Lego horse

Well it isn't official Lego, but their Made in China counterpart.  The pieces are so small that I am not even gonna try to put it together.  Not only are the pieces a classic choking hazard, but are probably filled with lead paint so if you survive swallowing them, you'll be poisoned.

During States-time, I kept a running list of things that I could share here some day.  It got pretty long and have been taking chunks out the last couple of weeks.  The one thing left was a list of observances about how things in the States have changed, and I managed to delete it yesterday.  Not sure how to recover it and will probably just spit things out as the come back into focus, which is getting harder with each passing year.  I will share one event today that was a fun ethics exercise.  

One afternoon, B-doll asks me to drop her and a friend off at the Goodwill Outlet.  First of all, thought all Goodwills were outlets but learned so much about the second hand game from the girls this summer.  The Goodwill Outlet is just that...stuff that doesn't make the cut at a regular Goodwill goes to this place where they sell clothes by the pound.  I popped in to see what was what later in the summer and it is a trip.  Big bins of all manner of clothes and could not imagine rifling through any of them.  Went home and showered just from being in there but did see packs of girls dressed exactly like B-doll going through the bins and can see the attraction for them.  They can get all manner of funky clothes for pennies.  I also learned from Babydoll that there is a high end Goodwill, which is located on Capitol Hill.  Went with her there one day and it is that...nicer things that are displayed like a boutique store.  

Anyhoo, drop the girls off and a guy pulls out of a parking space where I am doing so and dings the bumper of our car.  It doesn't look bad, but we exchange info, take pictures, etc.  The driver looks like a high school kid and turns out he was.  By the time the girls get home from the Goodwill, they know where this kid goes to school, what sports team he is on, and probably more.  Later that night, get a text from the kid's dad and I tell him that we can play it out whichever way works best for us.  I go out and get two estimates at places Mercedes uses, and one comes back significantly less than the other.  I tell the dad about these estimates, he prefers to handle it outside of insurance and almost immediately sends me the estimated cost in full via Venmo.  I forget the exact cost, but it is close to $1,300.

I make an appointment to get the repairs done (two months later as everything in the States takes two months minimum).  I drop the car off on a Monday and it is done on Friday.  They don't have loaner cars and the way the week shook out, was able to take care of all my errands and activities via Metro or someone giving me a ride.

The repair place that we chose gave two estimates.  One for $1,300 that included new parts, and another that was less if the damage that could not be seen was minor and they could simply repair it.  It wasn't too serious and the repairs came out exactly $200 less than what I was given by the dad via Venmo.

The ethics question is...what to do with the extra $200?  That night was at dinner with some friends and there were 6 of us total and I posed this question.  I got 5 different answers ranging from keep it all, give different percentages back, to give it all back.  What would you have done?  Will tell you what I did tomorrow.  

Until then...stay hydrated my friends.

November 10th, 2021 Q12

Hey there,

Q12

I know it seems like I am two days away (it is currently Wednesday morning), but I don't get freed until Sunday .  It can be 12:01am on Sunday, but somehow, have four more days in here.  Math isn't my strong suit and who am I to argue math with Asians?

One thing I am gonna have to work on is how I eat.  They deliver food at exactly the same times, and if it is two minutes past that time, am looking through the peephole.  Not that I am ever excited about what the meal is, cause I can only stomach parts of it sometimes, it is just that it was so easy to be trained like a dog that it is dinnertime.  The other thing is that I eat the food like a dog...pouncing on it and swallowing it with barely chewing.  Not a great way to eat and need to make a conscious effort to slow it dowwwwwwwwn..

The other day, a friend of mine sent me a link to a podcast that had his son as a guest who was promoting his own upcoming podcast.  This was the first time I used the word meta correctly. I like this kid and so spent some time listening to it.  He is quite likeable, but every time he started a sentence, it began with "Ummm".  I would normally let it go, but since I like him, thought that he needed to hear it cause it makes you sound dumb.  Just like "like", which is more of a girl thing.  Of course it is a device the brain uses to allow it time to collect what you want to say, but is something to get out of your speech pattern should you be speaking in public.

I use "fuckin'" in a similar way.  Look at that fuckin' guy or, the employees at the fuckin' mailbox are fuckin' idiots.  Something to work on cause it is unneeded.  One of the things about going to multiple Yo La Tengo shows in a town is that you start to recognize people from the day before.  There are usually a couple points in a Yo La Tengo show where the music will stop so they can collect their thoughts, get a drink, maybe say 'Hello Cleveland', and in Portland, there is a guy (there is always this guy) that yells stuff.  He did it at every opportunity and I know it was the same guy cause we are close to each other.  Each time he yells things like 'we love you' or 'you're awesome', he adds fuckin' to it.  Fuckin' love you!.  I turned to him the second night and asked, 'do you have to say fuckin' every time?'  Yes, I am that guy.

Moving on.  This summer I had a weird realization about myself.  Betty left for Taiwan early in September and my flight back was for late October.  Got to thinking about it and there was not a single time I was really alone in a living environment for more than a night.  Of course as a child with parents, always then had roommates in college and with people after that.  Then along comes marriage and baby in a baby carriage.  Betty traveled a ton, but there was always a kid in the house.  Now was going to be in the condo solo for almost two months (and now this 14 day quarantine).  Pretty weird I thought and started to share this with others and got a bunch of tilted heads.  No one ever said they experienced the same.  Thoughts of 'What if I choked on a meatball or something?', started coming to mind.  

I don't think I did poorly, but not having another heartbeat in the place was strange.  When I wanted to share a thought or get a second opinion or try out one of my 'little comments', there wasn't someone there to roll their eyes.  I missed those eye rolls.  It only took about 24 hours before I turned into late stage Hef and exist in a robe where the belt was more decorative than functional.  Eating alone was the worst time, probably the saddest.  Had to make an extra effort to get out to see people and that helped.  As you could tell from yesterday, went to a bunch of shows, but went to more than a few of them alone cause my taste doesn't sync up too closely with others, and my friends are getting old...not geriatric, but they aren't going to too many late night shows anymore.

One thing that did fill the void was baseball.  A buddy of mine coaches youth baseball and he had a team of 9 year olds that I got to pitch in to help for a few weeks.  Anyone that likes sports usually has one they consider superior to all others, and there is really no wrong answer to the question as to which is your favorite.  Except rugby of course...that shit is for Neanderthals. Let me make a partial case for being a baseball fan.

My buddy ToCo is a trip.  He still pitches in over 50 leagues, chain smokes, and enjoys picking weeds cause it helps his grip.  He coaches a club team and starts when they are 8 and keeps them into Middle School.  I get out there and it is a bunch of squirrely 9 year olds, all head cases, and they are pure joy.  And they can pitch...never seen anything like it.  8 of the 12 can get up and throw strikes, which we can't get at the HS level here in TW, and they all want the ball.  We're in a couple of tournaments and win a lot of games.  Just miss out on the finals of one of them by run differential, and win the whole shebang  at the year end tournament.  It has been since forever since I got to hold a big ass trophy.

The other coach in the photo above is ToCo's son, who is one of The Boy's best friends and who we met in Little League and have remained friends since.  That kid plays college ball at NYU and has it bad for baseball.  If I look back on my parenting accomplishments, instilling a love of baseball in the Boy is one of my finer moments.  The place he lives in Durham is across the street from the Durham Bulls stadium and he says he goes all the time.  

You can argue about what sport is better to play, but I defy you to argue that there is a better sport from a lifestyle perspective.  Skill wise, all sports demand practice and all that and they all have merit.  What no other sport has is the dugout.  If you've spent time in one, you know.  It is a sanctuary where no one not on the team is allowed in and so there is a freedom there where things can be said and done .  Jokes, practical jokes, cheering, fights, commiseration in defeat and joy in victory.  I had a good long conversation with one kid about the best dumplings to get in town.  Another kid walks up to me, opens his mouth and mumbles he has 15 pieces of bubble gum in there.  Other team sports have benches and stuff, but not like baseball where every team I have ever been a part of has been unique and wonderful, sometimes awful, but always entertaining.  Am sitting in my spot in the dugout one game and hear the kids talking behind me.  One of them says to the other two, "Did you know that Coach ToCo smokes?  My dad saw him smoking the other day." and then another kid interjects, "Why do you care?"  

I mentioned these kids are all head cases right?  Hard for me to recall a player I've ever been on a team with that wasn't a goofball in some way and am certain they feel similarly about me, but on this team there is a kid that is way out there.  Kid couldn't do anything put pitch and he had a couple of big moments along the way, but mental in a non-harmful way.  At the end of the last tournament where we won, we had a post game chat where everyone was thanked and all, and at the very end of it all as we are breaking up, this kid comes up and gives me a giant hug and walks away.  Choked me up good.

Baseball is also unique in that it is everyday.  Am talking about MLB now.  It has been a soundtrack of my life ever since I can remember.  I remember listening to Dodger games on my little clock radio throughout my childhood.  Vinny, Jerry Doggett, Ross Porter for the Dodgers, and Dick Enberg for the Angels.  Every day/night.  Whenever I was lucky to get to a game as a kid, it was a magical experience in some way.  I don't remember sitting with my dad for three hours uninterrupted in any other setting.  Go to any other sport and you are engaged in yelling and music and all that and you are forced to engage throughout.  With baseball, it is so slow that there is plenty of time to really get into a conversation.  Tell me another sport where that is the case.  

I try to catch a few games every summer and with a lot of travel the last decade, seeing new stadiums was a goal, but this year, had plenty of time to spend getting to know the Mariners.  Now....the Mariners have been awful for years.  They haven't been to the playoffs since 2001, the longest playoff drought in professional sports by a decade.  Mariner fans are justifiably skeptical at this point and attendance is way off.  The good thing about that is that there are always good seats available and they have a lot of "value game" specials with tickets as cheap as 10 bucks.  We went a lot this summer, got 10 dollar seats and basically sat wherever we wanted.  If you are a kid sneaking into the good seats, they bust you fast, but for a couple of old timers like us, we had the run of the joint.  We'd sit in about the same spot every time...in line with 3rd base about 10-20 rows up.  So the bus costs $2.75 and ticket is 10 bucks.  Grab a reggae dog before the game and you have a full entertainment experience for 20 bucks.  

There are some stalls outside the stadium that sell dogs and stuff, but we always go to Al's as they pump hard core reggae all the time.

I get a spicy Polish with cream cheese and jalapenos

I went a bunch with ToCo and many with another buddy who is currently between jobs.  And I went a couple of times alone and that was OK too.  One game we are sitting there and it is late in a tight game, and there is a 20-something lady in a group behind us that is scream swearing up a storm.  This lady was a virtuoso with the curse words.  In front of us are a group of boys, 10ish, and at one point one of them turns around and yells at the lady "There are kids here".  She's loaded and undeterred, and as the M's are working on the last couple outs, she gets up and delivers my favorite line of the season,  In full throat she screams..."Strike this pussy OUT!"  

Another game we are watching these two ladies getting drunker and drunker and moving around our section, and then they sit down next to us.  Talking to sloppy drunk ladies is the best and she has one of those clear plastic tote bags that are allowed into baseball games, and there are a 1/2 dozen airplane bottles of tequila clearly visible in it.  We ask how she got those into the game, and the sloppy drunk lady grabs her big sloppy breasts and says, "right here buddy".  

Went to a couple of games against the Red Sox and saw my first in the stands brawl.  Red Sox fans are the worst and we had a contest as to who could identify the douchy-est.  The easy winner was the hoodie wearing scraggily beard (the kind a guy grows when he can't grow a real beard) wearing a Curt Schilling jersey.  As for the brawl, was just too far away to hear what was said, but the Sox fan wearing a t-shirt a size too small amazingly didn't throw the first punch...it was the fleece wearing Seattle hippie dude that landed one right on  Boston bro's kisser.  Nice.  You see videos of these kinda brawls at football games all the time and the best part are the nasty women these brawlers have along with them trying to land haymakers.  This was no exception and the skanky Red Sox broad whiffed on a swing  and went flabby ass over saggy tit into the row in front her and came up covered in peanut shells.  .  Bonus entertainment for my 20 dollars.

And the Mariners were good.  They were in the wild card chase till the last day and towards the end, more people kept  showing up.  This is hard to explain, but at the top of the left field bleachers was a guy, a bit tubby, that would wear weird pajamas and dance between every inning waving two big heads of broccoli.  

The last weekend of the season, the Mariners were at home and it was becoming a thing in town and we wisely bought tix to the final homestand.  Those last three games sold out and that hadn't happened in a couple decades.  So fun and heartening to see the fans come out for the team.  

I could go on forever about baseball and hope to.  You know there is baseball in heaven as there is that story from the bible where God and Satan challenge each other to a baseball game, and God says his team is gonna win cause all the best players are in heaven and the Devil says that he will win cause he has all the umpires.    Have a few days more stuck here, but on Monday I get to go out to practice.  It pains me when I see articles about how baseball is dying.  That it is only for old fogies like me and is too slow for the kids.  Well kids are idiots...we need to listen to them now?  But not all of them.  As much as those takes on baseball's imminent demise are hard to hear, watching the 9 year olds this summer, or hearing an old friend of mine talk about how his 12 year old sleeps with his glove, or watching the love of the game these kids here in Taiwan have for it, I know there is hope for humanity.  

November 9th, 2021 Q11

 Hiya,

Day 11 today.  Got notice my Covid test was today, but misread it and it is gonna be on day 13.  Had all my good clothes laid out as it was gonna be the only time we are let out of the room.

The rest of today is about the run of 5 Yo La Tengo shows.  Don't blame you if you FF to next time.

Left off yesterday's RnR recap at the end of the run.  Early into the Seattle time for us, we made plane reservations to come back to Taiwan.  Betty bumped hers back from August to September, and mine was set for the first couple of days in October.  Sometime in June, got an alert that my beloved Yo La Tengo were playing shows in the PNW (October 18-20).  Didn't even have to make a peep to the Boss for her to change my flight to accommodate those.  Parents weekend at UVA was the weekend of October 23rd, so that was my excuse to the folks expecting me back in Taiwan to delay the return.  Of course being with the kids was super important, but also...well you know me enough.  Later in September, they booked two other shows in SF , and you know I was not gonna miss them.

This will not be an exhaustive review of the 5 show run cause I've done this recap many many times over the years and how many different ways can I preach the good word?

The SF shows were at The Chapel where their last couple of runs had been, so we know where to eat beforehand and where the best sound is in the club.  A treat prior to a show there is grabbing a Filipino burrito at Senor Sisig.  Should also mention that my brother-in-law is a convert and will go with me to all the nights.  When I told him about the shows in September, he was reluctant as he hadn't been to a show since the before times and it was Delta season, but he came around.  Fly down on a Monday afternoon, shows Mon/Tue nights, and back on a plane Wednesday morning.  Flight was a ridiculous $49 each way...

Night one, great.  Solid setlist.  The new move Mr. Kaplan did this night that I noted was using his guitar as a back scratcher during one of the noisy parts.

Night two, great.  Solid setlist..  The weird thing about this night was the crowd mix.  Around us were a bunch of Asian ladies, age appropriate.  In our little pod were 6 of them (all along with white boys), but they were totally into it.  Am sure I have seen Asian ladies at these shows before, it was most unusualy.

The new phone I got for our US number has a crappy camera and so didn't waste much time trying to get good ones...I have enough of those already.  Their tour this run was just them, a quiet set and then a louder one.  They would all start at 8:15, then they take a 15 minute break and play till 10:55.  Two and a half hours is a nice return on ones investment.  To complete this part of the run, we popped by the American-Italian Deli in Los Altos and I grabbed a meatball sandwich (double meatballs) for the flight home.

The next two shows were the following Mon/Tue in Portland.  A couple of Seattle types were gonna road trip down, but they were unable to join, so it was a solo ride.  My Portland concert wife (Malibu) only commits to night two, something about having to work...lame, so night one was the only one I attended alone.  

Night three...great.  Solid setlist

I think Yo La Tengo love to play Portland as they have a ton of friends there.  On this night, Scott McCaughey (REM/Young Fresh Fellows/Minus 5, etc.) and Janet Weiss (Quasi/Sleater-Kinney) joined for a rollicking encore.  The joy on all the faces during these parts of their show is evident.

Night 4...mind melting.  Setlist scratched a couple of those hard to reach places.  The second set was one of those that found them in a mood to make all the noise.  You go multiple nights in hopes of catching fire and this was the night. 

They do this version of the Beach Boys 'Little Honda' where they all bang the shit out of every instrument at their disposal.  Boom

The guest tonight was Steven Hunking from Hypnolovewheel and they played my favorite song from that band called Bridget Because.  There is a line in it that goes, 'She keeps her stereo on the floor and her records on the shelf'.  If you have to ask...

I decided to not drink this night and make the 3hr drive back to Seattle.  I'm already pumped from the show, maybe a little extra cause it was sooooo good, but traffic is light and I can sleep in and relax more as there is another show that next evening.  I dropped off Malibu, grabbed a giant coffee from Mickey D's, and pointed the car north on the 5.  Turned on the cruise control at the Oregon/Washington border and did not have to turn it off till I hit the offramp to our place in Seattle.  

Night 5...great.  Solid setlist.  The show was supposed to be at the new Crocodile but it still wasn't ready, so got moved to The Neptune.  

That is fine by me as it has a nice orchestra pit that is roomy and the sound is quite good.  THe crowds at these shows are usually the same...a bunch of guys my age with some ladies and a few (very cool with exquisite taste) 20 somethings.  At this Seattle show, in our little corner of the world, it was full of the 20-smoethings.  My friends this night and I are chatting between sets and they are asking me how many times I've seen them (at least 70 that I can document) and then offer that my first ticket stub was from 1991.  The young fella next to us says he's sorry to eavesdrop, but says he wasn't born in 1991 and what was the band like in those days.  Exactly the same...noisey, quiet, playing almost the exact same sized venues, and completely endearing.  

They have a song called Ohm that is a staple in their shows. They do a nice version in the quiet set, or will lay on the feedback for the loud one.  A move they have been doing for a few years during this song is that Ira will start with a guitar that isn't one of his prized possessions, and when it gets to the feedback part, will hand the guitar into the audience for them/us to hammer on for a bit.  I've done a fair bit of hammering so kinda stand back and let others get to have some fun.  One night in Japan I did that, yet it found its way to me and I got dogpiled, which was fun.  Another memorable night when they did this was in Los Angeles and as soon as he handed it into the crowd, the guitar crowd surfed to the back and disappeared out the back door (it was ultimately recovered).  But with covid, I guess they didn't feel this was an appropriate move, so at the noisey part, he gets a facemask out of his pocket and jumps into the well between the stage and crowd and let's the fans take a whack at it like that.  What a showman

Yo La Tengo have never disappointed, and what relationship have you had for 30 years where you can say that?  I am sure that list is short.  Anyhoo...my ultimate pilgrimage, the thing I have wanted to do for decades now, is to see them for their 8 nights of Hanukkah.  2022 is from December 18-26, so X-mas in NYC is looking really possible.  Until next time my friends.

  

November 8th, 2021 Q10

 Hey there...

Day 10.  Into double digits and that has to be a good thing.  Monday here, so NFL day for me. 

Betty had some Indian food delivered for me last night.  It was delicious and there is a perfect amount for round two tonight.  One note for future quarantineers...Indian food is not easy to serve in a hotel room.  Splashed all over and Indian curry sticks to stuff like paint.  Worth it, but still. 

I figure since I am highly distracted, will pound out everyone's favorite.  Rock and Roll recap.

The good thing to report about every single show attended was that proof of vaccination was required.  Masks were also required inside, but as alcohol is sold at all of them, a lot of fresh freckled faces in the neighborhood.  Regardless of the venue, you will be in close contact with humanity.

I wouldn't say there were slim pickings, but it was lean to start.  Not everyone was going out full bore and later in the summer as Delta took hold, a bunch of bands called off their tours.  Still think I did a decent job of getting that sweet electricity between my ears.

First show was a surprise.  Looking at the local city paper, they said a pick of the week was Kendall Rae Jones, which was that night.  An all-time favorite band of mine was Fishbone, and they  disintegrated in the 90's as the guitarist (Kendall) lost his mom, then entered a "demonic' cult with his dad, and then the bassist Norwood got arrested trying to kidnap Kendall.  And then Kendall did some kidnapping of his own...something about burning a prostitute with cigarettes to exorcise the demons from her.  And you can guess that drugs were part of the mix.  So it was with surprise to see him playing.  It was at a venue that I'd never heard of before (The Clock Out Lounge) and was 8 minutes from our place.  As a bonus, the place also happens to be a deep dish pizza joint and made a pleasant return for one of those later in the summer.  It was also the places first show since covid started.  This was a weird transition time in the States for sure.

Kendall was rough.  He didn't look great and am still unclear as to what he was going for musically.  R&B riffs that just sorta repeated.  Brilliant to see him upright and seemingly in a coherent space, but rough.  

What wasn't rough was the opener.  Brittany Davis.  

Solo keyboardist who is also blind.  Her set was fun and the crowd at that point consisted of me and her family.  They were all into it and was infectious.  Hope we cross paths again.

A few days later, an old friend from school (AU), who I had last seen playing on his couch in a dumpy LA apartment in the early 90's, played at another venue I had never been to...some honky tonk thing in the industrial area south of downtown.  Mike Stinson.  He's been beating the boards in Texas for years and this was his first time playing in Seattle.  He is a super guy and really should have made it bigger.  This night, he was with a guitarist and they were very good.  Not much to find from him on Spotify, but dial up Square With The World, which is a beautiful song.  

Was in DC for a few days and that coincided with a show by a band I have enjoyed for a while and had never seen...Cloud Nothings.  They rocked really hard.  Got real sweaty this evening.  

Next up was Squeeze.  I have a long history with this band as they were favorites of my crew in High School, saw them many many times way back then and since, and they were also the soundtrack with my very first special lady friend.  One thing about them was that their shows were never what some would call incendiary.  They play their hits just like the records and that's it.  I invested some decent money to get great seats, and ended up bailing about half way through.  They weren't bad, just boring.  And the show was seated.  Big venues, seated shows, bands 30-40 years past their golden age...just pass next time, will ya Gomez?  You know better.

Was starting to get a bit concerned.  Were the shows not great cause of the state of the world?  Was I getting too old for this shit?  Modest Mouse were playing at a shed venue that I had never been...Marymoor.  Shed shows are usually bummers cause it is typically seating up front, and the lawn is so far back that you might as well be in the parking lot, and the sound is lower than Betty approves of in the car.  I kept getting alerts about the show so knew it wasn't selling out and made a game time decision to go.

Really liked the venue, mainly cause it was all GA and could get into my comfy spot.  And the sound up there was plenty loud.  On the way in, they handed out this flyer.

Now ya tells me.    I take up position for the show after the opening band ends, and am standing behind a couple of teeny bopper girls.  From right behind me, an older lady leans past and tells one of the girls that if she loses her phone to meet after the show at the merch table and then adds, "you're not going to lose your phone again, are you?  You've lost your phone before.".  Ouch.  A few minutes later, the lady's friend comes back and asks how she is doing and she says that she hopes she isn't being too much of a helicopter mom.  I resisted commenting.  

During the show, there is this hippie chick in our little area and she is dancing a bit more enthusiastically than the space we all had would comfortably allow, but she is into in and have no problem with a little mosh pitting.  In fact, at one point during a particularly boppin' part of the show, I found myself pogoing.  Yes, with my new knee I can pogo!  What the problem with hippie chick was that she had a low slung bag that would swing about kept hitting me in the nuts.  I asked her to watch her bag please to no avail, so had to tell her a bit more emphatically.  I believe I said. "Stop swinging your bag into my balls!" although I think I yelled it and add 'fucking' in front of bag.   By the look on her face, pretty sure I scared her.  I hate harshing on folks at a show, but they're my balls.

Modest Mouse were excellent.  The main Mouse grew up in Issaquah, which is about 5 miles from this venue, and he says during the show that it was his first time there ever.  Me too!  They have a ton of great songs and play them with gusto, and the stuff from the record that just came out were really interestingly played too.  They certainly proved their mousey worth.

The problem with these bigger venues is that one is far from the performers even in the front row.

Next up was Mdou Moctar (spelling correct).  Cannot remember where he came into my consciousness, but was excited to see him.  From Niger from a Tuareg Muslim family, his parents disapproved of music, but the kid had it in his blood and fashioned his first guitar out of a box with bicycle cables for strings and taught himself to play in his own style.   There is more to it, but a really interesting story of how he came to be...his music is funky and African and groovy.  Have never seen anyone play guitar quite like it and it was amazing.  Amazing.  

Guy had a smile on his face the whole night and we were all in love by the end of the night.  This was supposed to be at the Crocodile, which is an iconic venue that was changing locations, but the new place was not ready so they moved it to the VFW hall 7 minutes from our place.  11 by bus.  

Another show on my radar was Bob Mould and made a late call to get a ticket at the door.  This was at Neumo's on Capitol Hill, which is also about 10 minutes from home.  You're picking up a theme here I presume.  

I got there a bit early so headed across the street to The Comet Tavern for a drinky-poo and watch the end of the Dodger playoff game.  The Comet is an institution and it feels exactly the same as it did before Nirvana took over the world.   Was sitting there with some new friends and we can see the venue across the street.  People start coming out so we figure the opener was done and we should settle up our tabs and head over.  But there were way too many people coming out, and then firetrucks arrived.  A lady from Neumo's came over and asked the Comet people for some buckets.  She said someone blew up a toilet with a firework and it caused a flood in the club.  We all had some more drinks and in about an hour, the firemen came out with all their squeegy equipment and the show could go on.  THe firemen received a huge round of applause from all of us on Pine St.

Have seen Bob Mould a lot and is one of those acts whose music I love, but have always walked away feeling lukewarm about the show, and tonight was no exception.  He plays loud and angry, which I like, but there is simply no nuance from song to song.  After about 45 minutes, I'd had enough.

One more...Rose City Band.  Ripley Johnson is the leader of a couple of hard driving psychedelic bands (Wooden Shjips and Moon Duo), but a couple years ago started making records under the Rose City Band moniker.  These records were recorded exclusively by him on all instruments and they are fantastic records.  I can put them on for virtually anyone and heads will start moving.   They added a show at the tiny Tractor Tavern a few days in advance (for 10 bucks) so of course had to see that.  Turns out he recently put some friends together to play the songs live and this was their second ever show.  Damn good.

Did I say one more?  Well I do not consider seeing Yo La Tengo to be a rock show and saw them 5 times in October.  I'm gonna mull over what to call a Yo La Tengo show and get back to you tomorrow.