Tag: Arsenal

  • ODDS and ENDS: Tottenham Wins, Hiking, and Crypto

    (What time is it? SHOWTIME!!!)

    I have no faith in the sports teams I support. I blame the lifetime of following the Cubs for that. Yesterday, going in to the North London Derby, and even though Tottenham was playing at home, I was not confident that the Spurs would beat Arsenal. Clearly I was wrong, as the 3-0 win was rather resounding, and Harry Kane was playing like he had something to prove. Tottenham is still one point behind Arsenal for fourth place, and they have to win their final two matches, and hope that Arsenal ties or loses at least one match. Looking at the schedule, Arsenal is playing the more competitive teams, but Tottenham has a habit of playing badly against bottom of the table teams, which is what they will be facing in Burnley and Norwich. I still stand by, that if Tottenham doesn’t place fourth, thus not making it into the Champions League next year, Harry Kane is gone, and I will add that Conte will take off as well. So, there is a lot on the line.

    Tomorrow, Saturday the 14th, my little family kicks off Hiking Season 2022. I am actually very excited about this, as this will be our third year. I have a feeling that we are working our way up to going camping next season. (In fact, I was looking for a place to rent this summer for a vacation with the express purpose of being near hiking trails.) But in the meantime, we are aiming to go for two hikes a month through the end of October, and expanding our range to further from the City, and hiking trails longer that an hour. Soon, I’m going to be that guy that gets up at the crack of dawn on the weekend to get a jump on the day. Three years ago, I never thought I would be here, and excited about it as well.

    My crypto is tanking. But I will buy low and sell high. I have a cunning plan.

    (Say, don’t forget to like this post, or share it, or leave a comment. I got bills to pay, you know.)

  • ODDS and ENDS: Dr. Solomon Hughes, Tottenham End of Season, Stan Getz, and The Car

    (Get in loser, we’re going listen to me talk about stuff)

    I have been watching Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty on HBO. It’s good, a little uneven in parts, but it is catnip for Gen X males like me who lived through this stuff, and are now finding out what “really happened.” It’s embellished, and I knew that going in to it, but it is fun. Yet, the greatest accomplishment of this series is Dr. Solomon Hughes who plays Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Hughes is just “killing it” (as a friend of mine said) as the legendary NBA superstar. His portrayal of Abdul-Jabbar is nuanced, intelligent, subtle, and brimming with an intensity that is compelling to watch. Dr. Hughes is doing the most difficult acting trick there is; playing someone intelligent and also indicating the unspoken thought process that his character goes through. And this is Dr. Solomon Hughes first professional acting job. You read that right, it’s his first acting gig! As of last night, Dr. Hughes didn’t have a Wikipedia page, which made it very difficult to find out who he is. As of today, that has been rectified. If nothing else, just watch Winning Time to see this performance.

    The Premiere League is coming to an end this month, so I don’t know what I will be talking about when it comes to sports this Summer. (Cubs, yes, but that’s always a slog.) (The World Cup isn’t until November, remember?) So, basically, Tottenham has to win all of their games from now to the end of the season, and stupid-old-late-to-the-party Arsenal needs to lose at least none match. If Tottenham finishes fifth on the table, Kane is out of here. The future of the team is riding on these last matches. That’s it, I’m done. Totally not being overly dramatic.

    I have a new apparition for Stan Getz. I have been listening to him a lot, and I don’t know why I skipped him for all of these years. In the same sense, I don’t know why I ignored Roxy Music either.

    We got our car back from the shop today. Back in the middle of April, someone backed into it in the middle of the night while parked on the street. I missed the car, and I can’t believe that I am saying that. I missed sitting and doing the alt parking stuff. I am changing, to a different person that I didn’t know that I would like.

  • ODDS and ENDS: KBJ, Anti-Rent Protests, Tottenham, and Hiking

    (I drink coffee and know things.)

    Ketanji Brown Jackson will be on the Supreme Court. That’s a pretty big fucking deal. I like it when American institutions start looking more like America. The process was pretty disgraceful, but I want to focus on the fact that we are a step closer to getting to RBG’s dream, which was an all-woman Supreme Court. Come this Summer, there will be four women on the Court. I think the next Justice should also be a woman, and this way one of the three Branches of Government will be Woman majority. But, I do digress. What I keep thinking about is how representation matters. My daughter is seeing more women in leadership roles in the nation. And I also know, there are a bunch of little girls that are going to school today, and their teachers are going to show them a picture of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, and those little girls are going to see someone who looks like them, doing important and great things. That matters. That’s huge.

    I just found this out today, but in upstate New York, back in the 1840’s, there was an Anti-Rent War. It had to do with back rent being owed under the manor system that traced back to the old Dutch Colony days of New Amsterdam. Reading up on it, I had two thoughts. First, early America really didn’t like the rule of law, and took up arms pretty quick. Second, if you protest enough, you can get the law changed in your favor. Basically, people broke a 200-year-old system of land ownership and leasing because the rent was too damn high. It happened in the past, so what’s to say that it can’t happen again.

    Tottenham has found a way to get to fourth place in the Premiere League. There is no way they will catch Man City or Liverpool, but if things got really crazy, they could pass Chelsea for third by the end of the season. But, this is Tottenham we are talking about. They do have problems closing out. They need to beat Aston Villa if they want to keep ahead of Arsenal. I will say this, if the Spurs can stay up and qualify for the Champions League, there is a chance Harry Kane might stick around. Just saying.

    Anyone want to go hiking? I know I do.