Thursday, July 14, 2011

Random (and not so random) Thoughts 9

The YMCA days are now done.  I won't completely rule out going back, but... uh, we're saving a HUNDRED FRIGGIN' DOLLARS A MONTH not going, and we have a year's membership at the Moncton Hospital Fitness Center!  But, in the past three years at the Y, my wife and myself have gotten into pretty good shape.  Speaking for myself... I now can bench press 135lbs, 8 times; use 65lb dumbells on each hand for presses and flys; run two miles in 15 minutes, and continue at a moderate pace for up to an hour and a half at least; do at least 600 crunches in one sitting on the exercise ball; execute the 'plank' in a tripod stance (both hands, one foot) for over five minutes straight; do about 10 chin-ups with no weight assist; squat 240lbs, among a few other odds and ends.  Those numbers might not impress a lot of people, but they impress me, and that's what matters the most.  I never would've dreamed I'd even approach some of those stats when I started out.  I even braved a Zumba class (lost a bet, had to pay up) and learned a bit how to swim, kind of, at least conquering my fear of water.  So I did get a lot done.  But, the Y is not an affordable place to common folk like me in the end.  It's clean, it's big, it's vast... but the gym is very busy, and limited in its hours compared to the MHFC (24hr access).

I think the last time I wrote a RT blog I might have been in slightly better spirits.  At least.  Since then, things have kind of happened.  My outlook toward people has changed somewhat.  Perhaps not how I view them, as much as how I feel about how they view others, including myself.  At the Canada Day celebrations on Main Street here in Moncton a couple of weeks ago, I watched as a couple of younger guys, who didn't look the part of punks, ridiculed and taunted a homeless man sitting in a corner of an entrance of a closed building.  This past weekend in Shediac, some random guy, looking to be the same age, drove by in his jeep, yelling at me, "hey, fucking put some real shorts on!"  I was wearing my spandex bike shorts, having just been at the gym.  We watched as rowdy kids cut people off on the road screaming and yelling, passing by, cursing at passersby on the sidewalk.  Just tonight on facebook I saw a post, jokingly but still stingingly, comparing 'ugly' people to 'beautiful' people that just shook me and made me reflect on everything in the past several weeks.  And about a month ago, a friend cursed me out for going to somewhat extremes for their safety, well being and very survival.  I can't shake that.  Neither can I shake what happened just a day or two later, when a co-worker compared my look to a hooker on St. George St. here in Moncton, joking that I must be growing my beard to reaffirm to people that I'm actually a man.  There are a lot of other things.  But, no wonder I'm antisocial, and it's no wonder I'm still so scared of women.  My trust in them has been shaken to its very core and is getting worse.  I might even have to consider booking more time with my psychologist, it's that bad.

On the bright side, my wife is steadfast and understanding of me, and my 15 year old daughter is probably my fiercest defender.  And, I have my two cats that will never tell me I look feminine, hurl insults, or judge anyone else for anything.  No wonder so many people prefer pets over human company.

Anyway...

The Baseball All Star break is just about done, thank God.  But something riles me about it.  You'd agree with me, I think, that people who "play" sports for a living and get paid millions and millions of dollars a year are not deserving of their wealth, no matter how good they are at what they do.  Perhaps the wisest man I know, Mr. Donnie Goguen, once told me when I worked at Green Gables many moons ago, "no man is actually worth a million dollars a year."  He's right.  No one is, especially for PLAYING.  You don't "work" sports, you "play" them.  Sure, you have to be in shape, you have to train to hone your skills, and some athletes are more gifted than others.  But All Stars in any sports are normally voted for by the fans.  When the fans choose who is to be on an All Star team, those players are obligated to play on that team for that one friggin' night.  Note to celebrity athletes:  The Fans Are Your Bosses.  They are the ones who pay the ridiculous ticket prices to see you "Play".  They pay the crazy inflated prices to buy your shirts, caps, jerseys, jackets and memorabilia that your team likely commissioned workers in Chinese sweatshops to make and bring to our continent so you could scalp them some more.  Some of those fans follow you on the road, buy season tickets, staunchly defend you in bars and in forum editorials and on the internet, and basically live, sleep, eat and breathe the teams you play for, and so You At Least Owe Them The Satisfaction To Serve Them On That One Day A Year To Play On That Coveted All Star Team!  What?  You say you need the break instead?  The whole fucking winter isn't long enough for you?!  Your fans who work 300 days a year don't get 'breaks' like that.  Not like yours, where you've taken the winters off in sunny locales and bathed in the pools of the finest mansions and had hired chefs and butlers served you the finest foods.  God hasn't blessed us with your talents.  But you do have the choice of honoring your fans.  If "you're too tired and need the break", do all of us a favor and just fuckin' retire.  There are a lot of budding young players chomping at the bit to take your place on the roster, who would give a lot more than you would just to be on such a team.  Shame on each player who shirks that responsibility to honor their fans.  Shame on every one of you.

"Thor" was good.  "Super 8" was a bit better.  "X-Men First Class" was best.  Not sure what else I want to see this summer now though.  I'm not into wizards.  I'm not into Bay-stardized action flicks.  Cartoon sequels just plain suck to me.  I'm not exactly holding my breath for "Captain America", and I knew, I just KNEW, "Green Lantern" was gonna bomb.  "Cowboys and Aliens" will be lucky to get its money back.  "Apollo 18" and "Contagion" look good, but they're only out in the fall.

I know most people don't like pro wrestling... I mean, it is fake after all, with the fake chairs, fake tables, fake blood, fake concussions, fake broken bones, fake surgeries, fake shortened life spans, etc.... but damn if CM Punk isn't giving WWE a shot in the arm it so badly needs right now.  The last time I saw a wrestler give wrestling any kind of air of legitimacy like that was during Bret 'The Hitman' Hart's reign with his Hart Foundation faction back in the mid 90's.  I do still prefer TNA, though, with its superior in-ring athleticism and... *cough cough*... women wrestlers.  I mean those ladies are tough!  They can wipe their asses with those prissy little Divas in the WWE.  I'll take a tough girl over a prima donna any day.  I married a tough sexy girl.

Did I read right when I saw on the news that the U.S. is $14 trillion in debt???  Are they headed the way of the poor nations in Europe right now?  Perhaps Greece is the word.

U2 in just a little over 2 weeks from the time I type this.  I really don't think Moncton has a clue what they're in for.  At all.  For those who haven't seen them and want to, they're going to have their expectations exceeded.  Those who are on the fence, better jump down on the side of Magnetic Hill because when they read all about it in the papers the next day... and the next, and the next, etc... they're going to regret not going, even though they won't publicly admit it.  This is the last stop on their world tour which will go down in history as the biggest ever by anybody.

Speaking of U2, they're quite good friends with Coldplay.  I wouldn't bet against Bono and the boys talking to Chris Martin & Co. about how great of a concert destination Moncton is, and you'll see them here in about 2 years from now.  By then, for sure, Coldplay will be ready for the Hill.

Can someone tell me why a car will get pulled over for a noisy muffler and given a ticket, while some motorbikes can make noises 10x as loud and just be deemed as the norm?

I watched a commercial on TV tonight for Nova Scotia tourism, a province of Scottish pride, spoken by a girl in French, raving about some Irish Celtic festival on the English channel.  Uh...

Getting the itch to jam again.  An obstacle is the anti-social thing.

The Casey Anthony trial is tragic.  Everyone knows the wrong verdict was reached.  I wonder if this would have turned out any differently if there wasn't such intense media coverage and scrutiny?  I'm thankful that here in Canada, they don't allow cameras in the courtrooms for trials.  The American media's insatiable hunger for tragedy and terror porn truly defines the decline of western civilization as we know it.

Should we be forced to vote?  Millions of Canadians who are eligible to, don't.  It is a Canadian citizen's civic duty to vote in elections.  Those who don't, should be refused tax credit on their income tax forms.  You can't expect the rest of the country who does their civic duty to get what you do for doing nothing, when doing something is as simple as casting a vote.  Thousands upon thousands fought and died so that we could pick our leaders, and not just have leaders we don't want telling us what we're going to do.  Try living in a communist nation if you don't want to vote if you think that'll make your life easier.  My dad fought in WWII, and my uncle lost his life in it.  Not voting is spitting on their graves to me.  Go to the ballot box before you have to go to the battlefield.

Summer's just about halfway over, and it's been mostly wet and warm, but not so much hot and dry.  Let's hope that changes for the next half.  In any case, I hope you make the best of your summer, and whether you believe in Him or not, God bless you, and thank you so much for observing my very humble blog.

Fire up those colortinis and watch the pictures fly through the air.

Good night.