UpperWestside

I have people ask me regularly if I will ever move back to Texas once they find out I grew up there. I have the same one word answer for everyone. No. I likely will never set foot in the state again for more than a day or to have to catch a connecting flight and I’m cool with that.

Hope the Johnnies make the tourney now that they beat Seton Hall. A couple of UConn fans came through where I work when they came here to play and they thought Pitino had them playing hard and that they were going to be good. The Garden is going to be a really awesome place to be tonight with NYC’s favorite college team taking on UConn again. If I wasn’t working I’d go down the street to watch it.

I am sure it is a well done movie. I had several chances to watch it, but decided not to. I have had my fill of movies about nazi Germany. I want to see movies that are uplifting in nature. Again I am sure it is well done, but I prefer to not see films like that one. Perfect Days was and is what I hope to see in a film and it is who I would have voted for in that category.

My other friend from work was there today. I asked him how he’s doing and if the funeral plans had been finalized for his grandmother. He said he was okay (he was lying) and that things are a mess for his family. I told him it’s okay to say he’s not okay. It’s a normal human emotion to be greatly saddened at the passing of someone he loved and cared about. I told him to just let out his feelings and if he has to just text me his thoughts to do so because he’ll feel better just getting it out. He couldn’t understand why I told him to do this because very few people have asked how he is doing and I have only known him a few months. I said that I know pain like his and that when you see that kind of pain you do what you can to help. I hope he will reach out when he is ready. At least he knows there is someone willing to listen at any time of day or night.

I have a friend that I used to work with here that joined the Air Force and has been stationed in Okinawa for most of the last two years. He called today and we always have great conversations. Today when he called he told me that a member of his unit committed suicide last week. He was 28 years old, a loner and an alcoholic. He said that his commanding officer found him in his room after they got the door unlocked. He told me on Friday they had a ceremony as they boarded his remains back to the states. He said it was like what you see in the movies and guys were crying as they saluted him. My friend is a little older than many of them as he is 30 and married. He can talk about this easier than they can. He said you could see signs he was unhappy. They try to talk peer-to-peer as much as they can to help folks through things, but him being such a loner made it hard. He said he looked at this young man’s social media and saw someone who was really close to his family. That probably weighed heavily on his mind being so far away in Okinawa. I guess the thing to take from a tragedy like this is to just remember to check on your friends and family more often and see how they are really doing before it gets to this point. Just so sad to know this young man felt this sad on the inside and left this world way too early.

So you’re telling me that that Brisketbucks idea you wanted me to invest in might be bad idea jeans?

No because it’s all blatant fraud. What is happening needs to be punishable with serious prison time. I have zero sympathy for people trying to lie about the value of fake money. They all need to be sent to Snake Island.

Anyone propping this garbage up belongs in prison. The con is obvious with crypto. You have to either have the IQ of a howler monkey or be someone that is susceptible to being scammed. Watching people spend real money to obtain fake money is about as good an investment as buying a bunch of beanie babies 25 years ago.

Why has this stuff not been banned yet? This is not real currency. It has no value and is one of the biggest grifts this side of what TFG and his fellow criminals do. This is still a gigantic pyramid scheme that should be punishable by time in prison for the clowns still trying to “sell” the public on the benefit of owning fake money.

I watched this interview with Yakusho. I need to go and find some of his other movies and watch them. This was a really cool interview. He has said before his English has never been good enough to make it into American film so it’s got subtitles. He comes across as really thoughtful and nice and appreciative of getting to work with the director Wim Wenders.

I think you might should look into posting on abovetopsecret.com. That site seems more your speed. Plenty of conspiracy-minded people there.

I used to have this routine I’d do with a friend from Niger when we were working. He’d say how easy the white man has it in America and I’d jokingly retort back how hard it is being white in this country. “Don’t you know the struggle is real for the white man? We have always had it rough and never can catch a break. It’s rough being white in a country not built for us!” If we were out in public doing mockery like that I think some people would think we were being serious. White people, men in particular, have the easiest existence in this country economically. I had and have more respect for that man ascending to a position where he made so much money that he could let his wife go to medical school and have no monetary issues at all for his family while she finishes up. White people making great money? Yeah we’re a dime a dozen.

I can confirm this also here where I live in East Harlem. I get on the 6 train at 103rd street sometimes when I head to mid-town and right next to it is a bodega that sells lottery tickets. Some of the poorest people in my neighborhood are the ones in there day after day handing over what little money they have hoping to strike it rich. The line is always longer for the lottery than the one to buy something to eat or drink. It is beyond sad to see it honestly.

You’ll be fine, unless you aren’t. In which case it was nice knowing you. Seriously flying overseas is safe and your flight will be just fine. I feel safer 40000 feet up than I do attempting to cross the street in Manhattan during daylight hours.

Oh you think senile Joe only wants a 2nd term? He’s busy rigging this election and then the day after he takes office again he’s naming himself dictator for life. It’ll also be written into law that Hunter will be named president upon his death so get ready for a whole lot of wild parties at the White House.

Pretty much most of the dialogue now at work about sports has to do with gambling. I place some small bets, but I don’t talk about them. Overall I would say that for myself I now have even less interest in pro and college sports than I did before, which was already little to none.

Hoo boy Russell had himself a game tonight against the Bucks!

I believe he is still in the land of the living. At least as of a year or so ago from what I was told. The OP reads like him.

I cannot say I was a big follower of his work, but he made an incredibly positive difference in the lives of millions of people. These are the kinds of people we should celebrate more. What a life he had and I feel for all the folks that will miss him. May he rest in peace.

I am not sure that telling anyone to rush out and watch a film that has a main character who cleans toilets in Tokyo will get anyone to watch it. That isn’t the point of the film though. I suggested this movie to someone on this site because you cannot help but feel good after seeing it. It stars Koji Yakusho as Hirayama and he has minimal dialogue. His facial reactions to things that happen in his day make this film beyond amazing to watch and so uplifting. He is content with his life and I find myself identifying with many of the characteristics his character portrays in this wonderful movie. It’s two hours of a thoroughly great movie-going experience. I have watched it more than once and I enjoy it more each time and see something new as well when I see it again. Highly recommend this movie.

Watching them do their thing is pretty cool. The oceans are their world to do what they want to. Those orcas are infinitely smarter than the collective IQ of my hometown.

Watching the creatures of the ocean do their thing is pretty cool. I’ve been lucky enough to get to swim a few miles out off the coast of Oahu with sharks and got to watch them up close. This year I have swimming with humpback whales on the list. I swam with reef sharks as well, but they were fairly docile and seemed really used to being around people.

I walked out about 45-1 hour in. This was, well, this was a movie that should never have been made. I really Sam Rockwell so it was not fun walking out of a movie he’s in. I am loathe to criticize movies as a whole because not everyone likes the same kind of style of movie or genre, but this was a trainwreck of a movie from what I watched.

Last night while I was at work one of the people I work with received a call. He immediately looked crushed. I asked him what happened and he said that the woman who helped raised him, his grandmother, passed away. It seemed like this was completely unexpected. All I knew to do was give him a hug and let him cry for awhile. I am not much on hugs and physical contact with people, but I can recognize when someone really needs that. I got his number and told him to just text or call to talk. His mom and dad had no part in his upbringing and it was an aunt and uncle and grandmother who raised him. I worry about him because I do not want him to go overboard and drink heavily. I know he had one last night before he left. I just told him to try and gather his thoughts and grieve for as long as he wants in whatever way he wants. He’s a really good guy, but this just hit him like a rock.

https://defector.com/point-counterpoint-senator-kyrsten-sinema-retires I have met one of the two authors of this piece at Defector’s annual birthday celebration. David Roth would fit in around here. He is someone that I am sure others read with their Defector subscription. It’s mostly sports, but he’s a great read on any topic he writes about, even when it’s his Mets failing him again. Albert Burneko is also a great read. That man knows a con artist since he’s a fan of all the Washington sports teams.