Random Thoughts

 We're currently in the midst of watching the newest season of "Cobra Kai" on Netflix.  What a great show that is.  Not unlike "Stranger Things", it's a huge nod to the 80's and asks you basically to let the story tell itself and to allow yourself to be entertained by it.  Realism is secondary, just like shows in the 80's.  I remember those days watching shows and it was all about pure fun without politicization of current events or any Woke crap.  And it's almost entirely unpredictable.  There'll be a theatrical cinematic movie follow-up after this season - at least I think this season.  Maybe the next.  It's pretty great fun if you're willing to give it a try.

What happened to WWE anyway?  I've always loved pro wrestling.  The theatre, the bombast, the soap opera for action fans aspect of it, the characters, good guy vs bad guy dynamic.  But I stopped watching WWE when I learned Vince McMahon's wife, Linda, was going full throttle in helping get Trump re-elected for president.  Even after the coup attempt and his subversion of democracy all to protect himself.  Now that they're apparently divorced, I thought I might give it a shot again.  Well... the big pay-for-sex scandal came to light where it's alleged by a lot of women in the company that he paid them off to have sex with him and keep it quiet.  It goes deeper than that, but I'll spare the rest.  So then Paul "HHH" Levesque takes over creatively while Vince resigns as CEO and his daughter Stephanie takes over.  I thought I'd take a look.  Being a fan of the upstart AEW promotion, I thought it'd be nice to have two different formats to watch.  Well... I went and turned on WWE programming a few times and was aghast at how astray they've gone.  It's unwatchable to me right now.  It truly is "sports entertainment" like they call it while AEW is "pro wrestling", with far less talk and far more action.  With my long lost Pop having been a big wrestling fan back in the day, I can't imagine he'd put up with the long, drawn out stuff on WWE these days.  Maybe I'll try again a lot later.

Summer is over --- yes, it was hot and humid a lot.  Uncomfortable, even.  But I'll take that over what's to come any day.  Shorter days, rainy fall weather with herky jerky temperatures, dead trees, dead leaves, dead grass; "oh but I love the colors" I'll hear all over the place.  I'm not crazy about all those colors all over the lawn that demand to be raked lest there be a big pain in the ass job to do in the spring.  When it's not raining, that is, because Fall is all about rain.  People seem to forget that too when they wave the Summer Is Dead/Long Live Autumn flag.  I don't dread Fall, I just hate that it's the bridge between the hot sunny days and the long, cold, dark winter nights.  Still, I'll find things to keep me busy.

My Red Sox blew chunks this season, outside of June anyway.  On paper, they looked like a solid contender when Spring came, but then the injury bug bit and just hung around pretty much the whole damn season.  Shit happens.  Boston is not immune to that fact.  I'm wondering if Bogaerts and Devers will still be on the team come the offseason.  They'd better be.  I've read Aaron Judge is a free agent after this season and he won't rule out going to Boston, saying he loves their fan base.  This begs the question... would Boston actually let Devers and Bogaerts go to free up funds to accommodate Judge?  I'd sooner they didn't.  But Judge being on Boston's roster is intriguing to think of.  Anyway, let's see what the Jays do now, where they're poised for the post-season.

KISS is supposed to schedule another 100 dates for the "End of the Road" tour probably taking them to a finish next summer.  This gives me hope that I'll get to see this tour.  As most of my friends know, I was ripped off by Ticketmaster when I got tickets for a show in Bangor, but then covid hit, the borders closed and we couldn't go because of it.  Ticketmaster refused to refund me for my three tickets, so I lost over $400.  Lesson learned.  But I wish Ticketmaster didn't have such a hold on the ticket industry.  It's like a buddy of mine said, it's organized crime, and the governments won't even glance at it.  I've contacted media outlets about what happened to me, and none of them will even acknowledge me.  Here in Moncton, we used to have Ticketron, which I think is based in Quebec.  Prices were pretty reasonable with them.  A Bryan Adams show we saw in Moncton cost us maybe $140 for a pair of tickets.  I brought my wife to a show of his for her birthday, and that ticket price doubled, because it was through Ticketmaster this time.  Of course, there's the new building too, but all those "fees" attached to the ticket are all going to Ticketmaster.  Anyway, I'm keeping my ear to the ground about KISS coming around these parts.  I gotta see my boys one last time.  That band got me through so much in life.  And they're STILL HERE.

Speaking of Bryan Adams, after seeing the great show he put on supporting his new "So Happy It Hurts" record, we got those last two albums he put out that we didn't get around to getting, that one and "Shine a Light".  Listening to both, SHIH sounds like an apology for SAL.  SAL just is not Adams as I know him.  It's him doing his damndest to appeal to the younger generation right now, and not really pulling it off.  But he goes right back to basics on SHIH.  In KISS terms, if SAL is Adams' "Unmasked", maybe SHIH is his "Creatures of the Night".  This year I'd say my favorite new CD up to know would be Ty Tabor's "Shades".  Ty being of King's X.  Not a bad song on that album, and in fact some really great ones.  Also got the new King's X, "Three Sides of One".  Loving it so far.  Can only give a fair judgement on it after a while, though.  Nice to hear Jerry Gaskill get to sing more.  He's kind of King's X's George Harrison, except he's a drummer.  Also great hearing Doug Pinnick go so deep lyrically.  Really I think the only pop star I'm curious about is Dua Lipa.  I love her voice.  Muscular, tight vocal cords are admirable, but more admirable is how much of a person's soul is waving from underneath.  It's why listening to cover bands is often so uninvolving.  It's because they aren't involved or invested in the writing.  A lot of cover bands really are good too, though.

We re-watched the movie "Tenet" the other night, for the third time now.  I didn't look too favorably upon this movie when it first came out, and then it bothered me after a while that I didn't like it.  Clearly it's a well crafted, mega-deep movie where you can see the $$ spent on the visuals.  Well, then I used the subtitles option.  BOOM.  Brand friggin' new movie.  Now I appreciate the story, all the acting jobs in it, the direction of course, Everything.  I've come to realize the more you watch this, the more you get it.  And you feel smarter every single time.  And, if you're reading this and you haven't seen it yet, you can choose to go in cold with the subtitles and watch the movie, or you can go to THIS LINK and read up on the movie first, although kinda blowing the movie, but you'll want to watch it again.  And again.  So anyway, yeah I did order the blu ray on Amazon.  I believe "Tenet" is this generation's "Blade Runner", where it didn't make a huge load in its theatrical release, but gets its value appreciated year over year.  I'd bet the ranch on it.

As a matter of fact, "Tenet", will make you question reality itself.  I question the very nature of the future.  I think it could just be an illusion.  No one's any good at predicting it.  What if the moving present, the here and now, is all there was?  There's no past.  If something happened, it's impossible to go back to it.  Neither can you go forward in time further than it naturally allows.  You can have film and photographs or whatever, but it still won't effectively physically bring you back there.  What if our memories have been written and we didn't experience them at all?  You can't prove or disprove it.  Anyway, so that's what this movie does to your head.

Lastly, a PSA about PSA's... guys, especially us older ones, need to get their prostate-specific antigen tests done regularly.  My beloved brother Roy caught prostate cancer in its tracks with it many years ago and is alive today because of it.  Thus, with prostate cancer being in my family, I keep an eye on it, but just because it isn't in your family doesn't mean you won't get it.  I had mine checked very recently, the doc said 2.5 or so is average for a guy my age, and it was 1.5.  Score!  Peace of mind is everything.  Get it checked.  It's a simple blood test and it could save your life.  Ladies, get your guys checked.  Doesn't hurt to have your PSA checked no matter what your age.  Any guy can get prostate cancer.  Vigilance is key.

Thanks for reading!

Imagine

 Do you believe in God?

Well, I do.  Always did.  If you do, great!  Also, if you don't, great!  

I will judge a person based on how they treat others and how they carry themselves.  I won't judge someone based on their belief systems, if they have any; or how much money they have; the job they work; or whatever wrongs they've committed as long as they regret them, depending on what they are.

There's a lot of talk these days about what makes a Christian.  I think that's a very malleable term.  Being a Christian can be an insult to some, or the highest praise to others.  The way I see it, anyway.  Me, if someone calls me a Christian, I'll take it as a compliment.  I rarely hear it, though.  That's fine.  Especially these days.

Because lately, being Christian is increasingly derogatory, thanks mainly to the far-right.  It's especially scary in the U.S., where God and guns go hand in hand more and more as the years pass.  It's ramped up especially in the last number of years since Donald Trump entered politics.  I've never seen a politician so antichrist in my life as Trump, yet the Christian far-right claims ... literally ... that he is 'the Chosen One'.  I honestly can't think of another politician in North American history more un-Christian than that monster.  In two and a half years from now, if he's allowed to run for president again and wins, that will accelerate the corrosion of society at breakneck speed and usher in the end of the world as we know it.  That's going on right now, but at least with that criminal out of the White House, with his completely unqualified jerkoffs backing him up (many of whom must face justice from this point forward), we see somewhat of a glimmer of hope.  Not all that bright, mind you, but even the smallest match can kill the dark.

The issue of recent times south of the border is gun control.  Mass shooting after mass shooting, school after school getting shot up, even hospitals aren't safe from gun violence.  It's remarkable.  And the solution offered every single time from the right has always been 'more guns!'.  There are more guns in the U.S. than there are people.  Not that that seems really to matter.  Canada has a shit-ton of guns.  The difference between us are the laws.  And the average Joe next door isn't allowed to carry weapons of war.  I've seen lots of pictures of Jesus holding guns at rallies.  Bibles literally with guns on top of them.  A scary number of these people actually think slavery was a good thing!  Is this actually Christian material?!

The Jesus I've been taught about and believe in abhors violence.  He welcomed sinners into his life so he could teach.  He tried to tell us we should be humble and not boastful.  This is a guy who was born in a manger because no one would take in his family.  The man was buried in a cave without any statues or ginormous grave markers that you see at any given graveyard today.  He tried to teach us humility, that we didn't know everything, and that we need to help and love each other.  When Magdalene was about to be killed for prostitution, he dared anyone who was without sin to throw the first stone.  Cancel culture and the whole Me Too Movement ought to learn a few things from this.  None of us have spotless pasts, but all of us has the ability to change.  If we change for the better but someone goes digging for past misdeeds, does that cancel out all that's been learned by said 'sinner'?  So-called Christians, many of them, are pots calling kettles black.  I've been known to be just that way.  But I'm also proud that I had the capacity to learn from my past mistakes.  It may not be a proud moment to do something terrible, but it is to realize that you did and correct it.  To me, that's part of what being Christian is.

And I don't think you necessarily even have to believe in Jesus to actually be Christian.  I know I'll catch hell for saying that with some people.  But it's a lot more Christian to give a poor man $5 begging for money outside a church than it is for another coming out of that same church and sneer at that man.  "Oh, but he might take that money and buy drugs," some will counter.  Bullshit.  That means you are elevating yourself as judge and jury to that man, after walking out of a building you've just claimed you worship as the real Judge.  Moreso, I've seen how people behave right after they leave service.  It's not always terribly Christian to me.

The question of abortion is a very touchy and muddy one.  I hate the idea of abortion.  I'm anti-abortion, make no mistake.  Something that upsets me the most are casual abortions, when a woman gets pregnant inconveniently and decides to terminate.  But this is not a black and white issue!  It's made out to be by the religious right, that's for damn sure.  But here's the thing... you can't be anti-gay and "pro life" at the same time.  There are wonderful gay couples everywhere that are waiting to adopt kids and give them happy, prosperous lives full of love.  If pregnancies of inconvenience are somehow incentivized to follow through on giving birth to pass the child onto a loving couple, whether they be gay or straight, shouldn't that be something that is embraced?  What could be more "pro life" than that?  But the thing is, right now in the south, laws are being passed to force women to carry through their pregnancies whether they want to or not.  On a significantly smaller scale, imagine being an uncircumcised man and there being a law passed that says you have to get snipped, or else.  Risk of infection?  Trauma?  Strain on the health care system?  Too bad.  You've got to do it.  Non Jewish men everywhere would throw the BIGGEST fucking fit there ever was, telling lawmakers they have no right to tell them what to do with their bodies.  Now being pregnant is a far greater risk than circumcision, granted.  The chances of complications, not to mention God knows what the baby may wind up as healthwise - especially if the mother was doing drugs or whatever if she was unknowingly pregnant, or if it was rape or incest - are scary enough to normal pregnancies.  But the religious right is insisting that ANY conception must be carried out.  The government officially owns your body if your pee test comes up positive.  CARRY THAT BABY TO TERM OR ELSE.  That precious, innocent life!  How dare you think of abortion!

That is, until the child is actually born, then the religious right couldn't give a sweet shit what happens from there.  Many of these kids being forced to be born will end up getting killed by gunfire not long after they're born, anyway, with the way things are going.  And republicans won't bat an eye about it.  They'll cry their hearts out to keep their guns before they'll lift a finger to protect these kids who were once babies themselves.  This is the hypocrisy that is right wing politics.  Guns are their kids.  How Christian.

The far right also detest immigrants.  Those fleeing poverty and war, especially if they're not white.  Trump notoriously pleaded with Norwegians to immigrate to the U.S., Norway being almost completely a white country.  Like Russia.  And we all know how much Trump loves Russia, even with their attempted genocide of Ukraine.  They have a missile earmarked for North America specifically named 'Satan'.  It's not hard to figure out how 'Christian' that isn't.  Just how Christian is it to tell the poor and downtrodden that the richest continent in the world can't do anything to help?  Does Jesus approve of that??

Take someone like George Carlin, one of the most famous atheists in recent modern times.  He made no bones about not believing in a 'higher power' (a term I hate myself, if I'm being honest).  But he was a champion for freedom and equality and fairness.  So was Jesus, wasn't he?  Carlin didn't believe in God or Jesus, yet his actions were far more Christian than Trump could ever hope to be.  Take Stephen Hawking, who was another avowed atheist.  A kind soul who devoted his life to teaching science and the advancement of the human race as a whole, whether you were spiritual or not.  Ricky Gervais ridicules religion all the time, but he doesn't hate people who are religious, unless they're genuine douchebags, which is true of too many too often.  He's actually a champion of animal rights and human rights.  So is Bill Maher, a super-atheist, but still respects anyone who believes as long as they're not obnoxious or arrogant about it.  Then he'll let you know what he thinks of your hypocrisy.  He's more Christian than most right wing politicians, whether he wants to accept that or not.

I'm a huge fan of King's X, a band my long-lost friend Steve introduced me to all the way back when I worked at a convenience store in the 80s.  In those days, King's X were lyrically heavily influenced by their faith.  As time went on, though, they became more and more persecuted by evangelical Christians, to the point that it angered them, and one member in particular renounced his faith in Christianity, because he came out as gay and was nailed to the proverbial cross for it.  He may have left Christianity and become more agnostic, but God is still a thing for him.  His actions and his words are still more Christian than the majority of those who actually claim they are.  I met him and the other guys in King's X with some friends a few years ago, and we were all taken aback at how kind, thoughtful, generous, and downright next-door-neighbor-y they were with us.  In fact, I asked Doug Pinnick, the one I was talking about, to write out a verse to a King's X song precious to me that related to my depression, which he also dealt with, so I could tattoo it on my back.  He has a website where you can order these frameable sheets of artfully written lyrics.  These lyrics were written by Ty Tabor, the guitarist, but he sings the verse, which makes it resonate more for me.  He said he'd do it, but with respect to Ty, he didn't want to sign it.  I was over the moon that he would do it!  Not to mention, he only wanted postage to have it sent.  I told him I couldn't just let him do it for nothing, so I sent him $60 U.S.  He promptly sent me the lyric sheet, along with some bass picks, a personally autographed solo CD of his, and a few other things.  How cool is that??  Show me an artist more generous than that.  The man's not rich.  King's X does well overseas, but they're essentially a club and theatre band stateside, and have never been profitable.  The fact that he did what he did for me makes him Christian in my eyes.

Jesus said that no one enters into the Kingdom of Heaven except through him.  I truly think Jesus would accept anyone as kind as the people I mentioned above into Heaven based on how they treated everyone else.  Because that is what defines a Christian to me.  Some would agree and some would disagree, which I respect.  The older I'm getting, the more I see the Holy Bible as a book that speaks in metaphors - not necessarily exclusively, but particularly pertaining to a lot of stories that are particularly hard to envision actually happening.  My thought is that they're lessons through metaphors, based on things that actually may have happened.  What about the Bible's wording itself?  How it was originally written can be lost in translation.  Chances are you've eaten earth apples.  Oh, you didn't?  In French, potatoes are "pommes de terre", which translates directly to earth apples.  Add centuries and more translations and revisions, along with other religions' version of what happened, and you've got one confusing story.  To me, the Bible is kind of a human's handbook on how to live, which, like everything else, would have to adapt to the times as we move forward.  I don't think Abraham would get away with tying up his son and get him ready to be torched in this day in age, for example.  Nor does the God I believe in actually tell him to do it, only to step in and say "whoa, DUDE, just kidding!"  The God in the New Testament just doesn't seem to be much like the God in the Old Testament.  But you can certainly take great elements from both books and use them to help guide you in life.  Being a Christian myself, I've chosen to adopt what Jesus taught, with consideration to his possible amendments.  Jesus amended much of the Old Testament when he was alive.  Wouldn't that be because people just evolve and grow?  Today we have things like industrialization, electricity, multiple forms of transportation, and constantly evolving technology.  Surely we can't live exactly the way we did as they have back in Jesus' time on earth.

And if you agree with that, then ponder this... Right now, the abortion debate is going on all over North America.  I stop and think of what I'd feel about that if I was a woman.  I'm no longer in control of myself.  If this is the case, and I was pregnant for any particular reason, I can't imagine what it would feel like to know that the law can force upon me their laws in governing my body.  That just sounds like a nightmare.  If I wanted the pregnancy?  Great!!  I will take care of that child and do whatever it takes to raise said child properly.  If I don't want it?  What if I drank heavily at the time of conception, or even during the first number of weeks before I realized I was pregnant?  What if I was raped?  Incest?  You're telling me I have no choice in any of these matters at all, because it's the law??  Then if I need this pregnancy terminated, I'm going to the gym and lifting the heaviest weights that I can't lift.  There's the coat hanger option.  Maybe there's some other way I can harm myself that will justify getting what I want.  THIS is all the stuff that's going to go on if we treat women this way.

And speaking of technology... it's inevitable science will get to the point where, instead of abortion, the fetus is safely extracted from the mother, and raised not unlike "test tube babies".  You would then have a healthy child waiting to be with a pair of loving parents, instead of an outright abortion.  That, to me, would be an acceptable compromise.  But with the current state of affairs, the religious right would do everything possible to make all of that illegal just like abortion.  No compromise.  Their way or the highway.

In a perfect world, of course, there is  no abortion, and every child is wanted and welcomed.  Also, in that same perfect world, there is no rape, incest, assault or lack of love to be sure someone is equipped to look after a child.  The thing is, there's lots and lots of all that terrible stuff going on right now, and will be for the foreseeable future.  Not every conception is equal.  So what can we do then?  Start by treating women as equal human beings with the same rights men have.  That's a massive start.  Women will be taken care of for their child no matter what.  During and after the pregnancy.  But this isn't happening, and too many people in power just don't want it to happen.  Most of these people call themselves "Christians".

Let me be clear, I'm a God-loving Christian man.  And I believe if people are all viewed more with love and understanding, and forgiveness when applicable, things like abortion would drastically wane.  Without laws and subjugation of women.  

As one famous atheist once said, "Imagine".