Day 1,471, Quasi-Quarantine: On The Eve Of Another New Baseball Season

Let's take a moment to celebrate a moving collection of clips showing the intersection of baseball and cinema. I'm not sure baseball could be considered America's pasttime anymore, but it's role in our national identity and the feeling of spring are unquestioned.

Let's go Mets.

Day 1,470, Quasi-Quarantine: Kool Mo D.'s Run Continues As State Storms The Sweet Sixteen

 

There are a number of incredible stories unfolding around NC State's seven-game run through the ACC Tournament and the first two rounds of the NCAAs:

• The nation falling in love with big man D.J. Burns.
• The late-game heroics of Mike O'Connell.
• The emotions of Raleigh native D.J. Horne in helping the Pack to its first league title in 37 years.

But perhaps the best storyline of all is the relentless performance of Mohamed Diarra. Mo has caught fire in the postseason, grabbing an incredible 85 rebounds and racking up four double-doubles in the seven games thus far.

To do all this while fasting as part of his faith in honoring Ramadan makes his narrative all the more compelling.

Keep it rolling, "Kool Mo D." You've got this.

Limerick Friday #613: Well, Goddam ... The Pack Done Went And Did It -- Day 1,469

They came from so very far

Made me want to drink the bar

First title in 37 years

Had all of Wolfpack Nation in tears

I'm not crying, you are

Justin Fields gave his all

Accuracy was his downfall

Held the hopes of his city

Was more mediocre than shitty

Now the Bears hand Caleb Williams the ball

Ineptitude never held to account

Of shittiness an excessive amount

Strategy unclear

Relevance nowhere near

Too many jackasses to count

For another bat I did scream

To round out this Mets team

So welcome to J.D.

He'll hit a dinger or 23

Now Queens can continue to dream

The Cardiac Pack

Decided to run it back

Headed to the Big Dance

Kicked Texas Tech in the pants

Of confidence this team doesn't lack

Last time ...

Day 1,468, Quasi-Quarantine: McCarthy's Coda Contemplates Math, Philosophy, Science, And Morality In "Stella Maris"

“A friend once told me that those who choose a love that can never be fulfilled will be hounded by a rage that can never be extinguished.”

The companion novel to "The Passenger," "Stella Maris" provides the origin story for the troubled siblings Alicia and Bobby Western, offering insights that help inform one's interpretation of "The Passenger."

“If you had to say something definitive about the world in a single sentence what would that sentence be?"

“It would be this: The world has created no living thing that it does not intend to destroy.”

This work gives Cormac McCarthy a format to explore esoteric, existential, and mortality-tinged questions about math, philosophy, quantum mechanics, and even music theory. The book is comprised of transcripts of the sessions between 20-year-old Alicia -- diagnosed with schizophrenia -- and her psychiatrist, Dr. Cohen, at the Stella Maris facility.

“If you’re sane enough to know that you’re crazy then you’re not as crazy as if you thought you were sane.”

The banter meanders between disturbing, humorous, flirtatious, and challenging, at times stifling the narrative flow. McCarthy mentioned that he had been wanting to write about a woman for half a century, and the departure for him is apparent.

“The dream wakes us to tell us to remember. Maybe there’s nothing to be done. Maybe the question is whether the terror is a warning about the world or about ourselves. The night world from which you are brought upright in your bed gasping and sweating. Are you waking from something you have seen or from something that you are?”

A very touching and moving ending -- particular in the context of McCarthy's impending death -- adds a redemptive value to "Stella Maris," which could otherwise be dismissed as offering questionable value to pushing the story behind "The Passenger" forward.

“Nowhere like nothing requires for its affirmation a witness which it cannot supply by its own definition.”

Some readers have wondered whether "Stella Maris" actually works better as the precursor to "The Passenger" instead of the sequel. Though I'm not sure I agree with that assessment, all I know is that deciding which book should serve as the ending will do nothing to diminish the chasm represented by the loss of McCarthy.

“I think our time is up.”

“I know. Hold my hand.”

“Hold your hand?”

“Yes. I want you to.”

“All right. Why?”

“Because that’s what people do when they’re waiting for the end of something.”

Day 1,467, Quasi-Quarantine: Puddy Supports The Soarin' Team

As a massive "Seinfeld" fan and a modest Disney, this hits right in my wheelhouse. David Puddy greeting us at EPCOT as we're queuing up for Soarin' will never not induce giddiness, so I can only imagine the real-life experience.

Way too good.

Day 1,466, Quasi-Quarantine: A Goldface Enoch Steals The Show In "Ahsoka"

 

One of the most memorable characters in the all-too-brief run of "Ahsoka" was Captain Enoch.

Serving as Grand Admiral Thrawn's Captain of the Guard, Enoch has an ominous and distinctive look, highlighted by his gold face plating and metallic voice. He largely dominates the sixth episode of the show, despite the presence of Morgan Elsbeth, Sabine Wren, and Ezra Bridger on the planet Peridea.

When he departed with Thrawn on the Eye of Sion starship, headed (ostensibly) to Dathomir, I found myself wanting to know so much more. I'm hopeful that a second season of "Ahsoka" will reunite us with this incredible character.

Until then we settle for Funko! and Lego versions ...

Day 1,465, Quasi-Quarantine: Why Not Us. Why Not Now. Why Not Remember Us Forever.

 

Proof that good things come to those who wait for 37 years.

Thinking of you, Norm. Man, you would've loved this team. 🥲

Go Pack.

Limerick Friday #612: Resuscitating The Cardiac Pack -- Day 1,462

On the verge of making Keatts leave

He may have earned a reprieve

An ACC Tournament run

Has many remembering fun

And maybe just how to believe

The biggest hypocrite of all

Keeps talking college downfall

If you're going to retire

Shut up and expire

A favor Saban can do that's small

State fans wanted to send

Keatts anywhere so it would end

But he rises from the grave

With a smile and a wave

And a "Not so fast, my friend"

Favoritism abounds

Politics resounds

Shooting our feet

Kept on repeat

Hypocrisy collecting in mounds

A team finally showing fight

And coming together right

Survive and advance

Change your underpants

Reconvene for another night

Last time ...

Day 1,461, Quasi-Quarantine: Mystery & Meditation On The Gulf Coast Drive McCarthy's Stunning "The Passenger"

 

“Too soon old and too late smart. You dont know anything till it gets here. You told me once that maybe the end of the road has nothing to do with the road. Maybe it doesnt even know there’s been a road.”

A meditation on grief and an exploration of the role of math and science in questions of eternity, "The Passenger" is a fascinating kaleidoscope of genres. Cormac McCarthy details the life and times of Bobby Western, son of the creator of the nuclear bomb, physics phenom, former race-car driver, and itinerant salvage diver. 

“Names are important. They set the parameters for the rules of engagement. The origin of language is in the single sound that designates the other person. Before you do something to them.”

Western wanders New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, ruminating with an eclectic cast of characters as he struggles to define his life in the wake of the loss of his sister, with whom he had a troubling and vaguely heretical relationship. These characters (Kline seems to exist only as a conduit for lengthy diatribes) can occasionally be difficult to keep straight, chronology can get hazy, and attribution can be problematic, but the sheer brilliance of the dialogue makes the novel an immediate classic.

“The world is full of people who should have been more willing to weep.”

“Mercy is the province of the person alone. There is mass hatred and there is mass grief. Mass vengeance and even mass suicide. But there is no mass forgiveness. There is only you.”

As the narrator, Western is difficult to pin down: Is he insane? Going insane? A ghost himself? In a coma-induced dream state? "The Passenger" stands on its own, but the presence of "Stella Maris" as the companion book inspires hope that some of the mystery and ambiguity could be resolved. 

“The world’s truth constitutes a vision so terrifying as to beggar the prophecies of the bleakest seer who ever walked it.”

Indications are that most of this book was written in 1980 and published 42 years later, and balancing the hilarity and depth can only be achieved by a writer of McCarthy's talent. With 16 years between novels, it's clear that McCarthy is pushing himself here in his final works -- and the results are to be treasured.

“Her hair was like gossamer. He wasnt sure what gossamer was. Her hair was like gossamer.”

“He knew that on the day of his death he would see her face and he could hope to carry that beauty into the darkness with him, the last pagan on earth, singing softly upon his pallet in an unknown tongue.”

Day 1,460, Quasi-Quarantine: Going In On Clarence Thomas And The Supreme Con

 

Clarence Thomas and the Supreme Court are indicative of everything wrong in America 2024, and Ruben Bolling nails it as per usual in "Tom the Dancing Bug."

Best read in a Pedro Pascal laughing/crying sorta way ...

Day 1,458, Quasi-Quarantine: SNL Takes The Piss Out Of Airbnb Design With Rare Stellar Skit

As a recent host of "Saturday Night Live," the undeniable Sydney Sweeney absolutely nailed this take-down/send-up of the arty pretentiousness of Airbnb culture.

All hail Chanel & Chanel ...

Limerick Friday #611: I'm Always Larry David Now -- Day 1,455

No safety in the suburb

In a world that's disturbed

Outlets are rare

But I just have to share

Still, nothing's as funny as "Curb"

Gave every kind of report

The best in the sport

No scoop he'd lose

The king of NFL news

Rest in peace, Mort

It's a frustrating bunch

They can ruin any lunch

On any call or meeting

A feeling that ain't fleeting

So many faces I'd like to punch

Binged a show or three

On the hunt for the right one for me

Moving toward true crime

Or conspiracies sublime

Makes for interesting TV

Another March madness

Missing a little gladness

State's on the outside looking in

Unless the ACC tourney they win

Prepping for more Wolfpack sadness

Last time ...

Day 1,454, Quasi-Quarantine: Unlikely Alliances And Faint Hope In The Darkness Propel "The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store"

"You can forever remember the wrongs done to you as long as you live," she said. "But if you forget 'em and go on living, it's almost as good as forgiving. I don't care who you was, or what you done, or even what you calls yourself. I know your heart."

James McBride weaves a stunning tale of culture clashes in 1930s Pennsylvania in "The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store," with his working-class melting pot joining forces to free the wronged, punish the guilty, and carve out hope in a bleak landscape. 

"He was a man without a country living in a world of ghosts, for having no country meant no involvement and not caring for a thing beyond your own heart and head, and ghosts and spirits were the only thing certain in a world where your existence was invisible."

You'll find yourself swept up in the neighborhood of Chona, Nate, Moshe, Big Soap, Dodo, Addie, Fatty, and others, rooting for justice with a surprising intensity.

As a minor nit, there were a few incidents in the book that were glossed over or not explained well that were central to the plot. What actually happened becomes more apparent as the story progresses, but some initial confusion is possible on the reader's part.

"It was a future they couldn't quite see, where the richness of all they had brought to the great land of promise would one day be zapped into nothing, the glorious tapestry of their history boiled down to a series of ten-second TV commercials, empty holidays, and sports games filled with the patriotic fluff of red, white, and blue, the celebrants cheering the accompanying dazzle without any idea of the horrible struggles and proud pasts of their forebears who had made their lives so easy."

"The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store" is a many-layered feat of storytelling, setting heartbreak against retribution, depression against joy, and prejudice against shared values.

"The difference was that the white man in the South spoke his hatred in clear, clean, concise terms, whereas the white man in the new country hid his hatred behind stories of wisdom and bravado, with false smiles of sincerity and stories of Jesus Christ and other nonsense that he tossed about like confetti in the Pottstown parade."

Day 1,452, Quasi-Quarantine: Celebrating The Comerciales Cerveza Cristal Star Wars

I could not love how Chilean Star Wars approached product placement more. Once that can (or bottle) is opened, the possibilities are endless.

Also, Jar Jar Binks makes a lot more sense if you think of him as being perpetually hammered.

Cheers. May the Coors be with you ...

Day 1,451, Quasi-Quarantine: Lions, Tigers, Giraffes, And Hairy Basketballs -- Oh My!

 

While each Disney World park has its own personality and vibe, perhaps Animal Kingdom is my favorite (despite a recent hard run at the title by Hollywood Studios). 

One of the reasons is Kilimanjaro Safaris, which offers a memorable experience of an African savanna, replete with rhinoceroses (rhinoceri?), giraffes, okapis ... and lions.

This year's visit was highlighted by a private Up Close with Rhinos Tour, where we got to visit -- and pet! -- one of the baby rhinos who lives there. Oddly, this creature felt like a hairy basketball up close.

Of course, the presence of Expedition Everest -- Legend of the Forbidden Mountain will always be my favorite part of this park. We've had so many memorable moments enjoying this ride that it almost makes me cry every time we ride it.

You betcha, Yeti.

Limerick Friday #610: A World Devoid Of Laughs Loses Another Who Created Them -- Day 1,448

The nervous comic

Supplied a laugh tonic

He coped through us

Goodbye, Richard Lewis

To me, you'll always be iconic

The news it does hurtle

There goes the demented fucking turtle

Fade away, Moscow Mitch

You democracy-wrecking bitch

I just want to drink and play Wordle

On the edge of our seats

With rum and popcorn treats

It's the yearly debate

About the state of State

And what to do 'bout ol' Kevin Keatts

Gutless hypocrisy

Useless pomposity

A collective lack of spine

Of cowardice they're the sign

This is today's GOP

Hey, it's spring training

Time for this year's paining

For injuries, New York's the worst

Kodai Senga's the first

For Mets fans, there's no explaining

Last time ...