Coffee
Feb 26, It's 10am, sunny and warm...unsettling.
Sports:
My alma mater Father Judge High School won the Philly Catholic League championship on Sunday. I’m not a huge rah-rah “Judge guy” but I spent a good amount of my teen years sweating in that gym and trying my hardest to be 4 inches taller so I appreciate the work. Congrats!
The Phillies have begun Spring Training in the midst of the Delaware Valley’s literal and metaphoric Super Bowl hangover. There are reasons for optimism but the fanbase has watched two epic playoff choke jobs from an overpaid aging lineup. My advice is to enjoy the crack of the bat and pop of the mitt in March and April. Save October hand wringing for October.
Movies:
Director David Lynch passed away a few weeks ago so I decided to watch Blue Velvet for the first time and holy shit! Lynch basically dared Dennis Hopper to turn the crazy acting choice dial up to eleventy gazillion and Hopper doubled that. This sex freak noir whodunnit, oh of course theydunnit and now they’re gonna dunnit to me, gives Chinatown vibes and features crazy young Laura Dern and crazy odd Dean Stockwell (Al from Quantum Leap). I give it 4 out of 5 severed ears.
Just saw they’re bringing Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith back to theaters soon and I can’t believe it’s been 20 years. Not a perfect movie but it did enough to make it a fun rewatch. Having a 10 year old son to bring to an old Star Wars movie is pretty fun.
Beer:
I went to a local pub this weekend and ordered a Troeg’s Nugget Nectar. This is a beer I know and love and it tasted unrecognizably bland. It was darker than usual and had no bitterness or sweetness, just grey tasting dead beer.. (Clean your draft lines!!!) I’ll give this place another chance because the food was good but yikes. Bartending tip: Always taste the beer you’re pouring. I’ll also be buying a 4-pack of Nugget Nectar to see if Troeg’s just dropped the ball this year.
LITerature
I’m reading Stephen King’s Needful Things. I’m about halfway through and this is looking like a top 10 King story. The villain is so deliciously wicked and I picture the food critic from Ratatouille when I read him.
Games
Zelda Breath of the Wild is a great mix of escape room puzzling and open-world RPG sandboxing. Some of the puzzles are really well designed and some are a bit clunky but I think the designers are aware we will look up solutions on YouTube when we are stuck. About 25% done and I am savoring the experience. Lot’s of great callbacks to Ocarina of Time.
Quote: ―Ernest Hemingway,For Whom the Bell Tolls - (great book alert!)
“But are there not many fascists in your country?"
"There are many who do not know they are fascists but will find it out when the times comes.”
"But you cannot destroy them until they rebel?"
"No," Robert Jordan said. "We cannot destroy them. But we can educate the people so that they will fear fascism and recognize it as it appears and combat it.”