What a Tuesday
I felt great Tuesday morning.
The 5-at-Teenager crushed his promotion speech at the eighth grade ceremony. He got an award and made the ‘all As in middle school’ list.
He had some friends over in the afternoon for pool and pizza. Our fifth-grader had her promotion and had a similar, pride-producing showing.
And then, about the time the Braves take the field, I check in on the world.
A day of great joy for so many became a day of unspeakable tragedy in Texas that should ripple through all of us.
All of us.
The emotions are overwhelming. The attempts to imagine that kind of pain are impossible. The issues are clear, and the need for action is paramount.
I don’t know the answers that are doable or legal or possible, especially in our current climate.
What I can say is this: For the 360-plus days a year that the carnival barkers try to entertain and outrage us with the sideshow shinola that has become modern-day politics, it’s moments like this that should forever be the reminder that we have serious problems and we need serious people to solve them.
Not AOC or MTG or the next three-letter sound-biter or whoever.
And to the elephant in the room, and as a gun-owning, lifelong conservative, we have to be willing to examine, discuss and invest in changes in our gun laws and security practices.
I can remember growing up and the bumper sticker said, “If you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns.” I got that point.
But these are elementary school kids, not home-invaders or drug deals, folks.
I wish I had an answer. Truly. Although, if someone did have a moderate answer at this time, could they get it through this divided political climate? I ask in earnest.
I have no words beyond a plea for better, because this time of year should be spent planning our kids a fun summer, not a kid’s funeral service.
Braves battle back
I hope this can be a springboard moment. Hope.
Cue Andy Dufresne: “Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things.”
A tight game against a good starting pitcher with the Braves relying on Max Fried went into the ninth with Atlanta holding a 4-3 lead.
A Kenley Jansen hanger became a Bryce Harper moonshot and the Phillies grabbed a 5-4 lead in the ninth.
William Contreras’ walk-off hit capped the Braves’ rally Tuesday that was Dickensian on a lot of levels and Shawshankian on the opposite sides of whether hope is good or not.
Good: Manager Brian Snitker is looking for ways to juggle a lineup that assuredly needs juggling and some energy. Hopeless: No matter where you put Adam Duvall right now, it still means he has to go to the plate for his 1.5 Ks per night.
Good: Fried still has the appearances and assortment of pitches to be right at the No. 1 starter level. Hopeless: Conversely, the Braves would be best served over the long haul to realize that Fried would be among the best No. 2s in baseball.
Good: AJ Minter continues to be a dude, and that Spencer fellow with the great state is awesome.
Hopeless: I trust Jansen about as far as I can throw his 280-pound body. (Side question: Seriously, how long before Kenley’s time as the closer needs to be discussed?)
Good: Matt Olson homered last night. It was his fifth.
Hopeless: Olson is hitting .192 in May with 20 Ks in 78 ABs.
Good: Ronald Acuña. Yes, that’s it.
Hopeless: Nothing. It’s all good man.
It’s all good – almost
OK, if you are still tardy in your “Better Call Saul” duties, well, skip to the ‘This and That.’
See you in a few.
The finale of the first half of the finale season was Monday. And in some ways, while having two halves of a final season seems needlessly convoluted, it makes clear sense with the divide story arcs on BCS.
There’s the Lalo-is-ticked-at-everyone-especially-the-chicken-man story line; there is the ‘Pants Howard’ arc.
Monday they collided like a bullet to the brain. Howard’s brain, that is, as Lalo executed Howard in Jimmy and Kim’s apartment to close the series.
It was the exclamation point – and in all caps – behind the final word on the Howard story, which I have said for weeks now was dragging. Well, they invested a ton of time, and the pay was as most of us thought, not worth that investment, but the final scene made it closer than I expected.
Howard was humiliated by the litany of traps and set-ups from Jimmy and Kim. He showed up at Jimmy and Kim’s and offered a soliloquy that connects the clues – from early days of Kim and Jimmy scamming people at the hotel bar – and clearly states that they enjoy the behind-the-scenes shell games. He called them sociopaths, and as Vader has noted for weeks – if not longer – Howard directly blames Kim for being behind all of this.
That likely will be forgotten in the grand scheme of things, because when Lalo entered the room – few people steal scenes in TV history like Lalo Salamanca friends – everything changed. And it changed everything. Because whether Lalo realized it or not, killing Howard there is immeasurable leverage on Saul Goodman. Jimmy and Kim did all of this – and we invested all the time watching them – and have countless loose ends that helped them ruin Howard. Now he’s lying dead on their floor, his brains scattered around the living room and DNA evidence everywhere.
Maybe they bring in Winston Wolf to clean up the mess, but either way, this just went from embarrassing prank to playing a long part of motive for murder. It was the hammer we have come to expect from the BCS-“Breaking Bad” creative minds.
Other thoughts while we’re here. This show continues to be exquisitely filmed. The images and set up to get the pay-off of Lalo’s face in the sewer across from the laundry place was perfect.
Lalo’s rage-fest outbreak when he heard that his uncle’s phone was tapped was also great, because he has navigated so many things – and so many thousands of miles – to get this close.
Think of the acting range of three of the main pieces in this TV treasure. Bob Odenkick (Jimmy/Saul) was doing group comedy before this and had a long running and hilarious run on “The Larry Sanders Show.” Michael McKeon (Chuck) was Lenny go Lenny and Squiggy fame in “Laverne & Shirley.” And Ed Begley Jr. (Clifford) was a regular player with the tremendous comedy crew that brought us, “Best in Show” among other classic farces.
I’m torn about whether I should want another spinoff. Third time could be “Godfather 3” after all, because the first two Vince Gilligan creations have been masterpieces. And, unless you are going deep into the cartel – Salamancas, the cousins (and their boots), et al. – I’m not sure there is a character that could produce the depth. (Although I would be intrigued by Hank’s early crime fighting days before getting to the DEA.)
I actually read something that they approached Odenkirk for this role – his name was originally going to be Saul Goode, as in “It’s all good” – and when they did they started adding different things and details about SauL Goodman to the point early on, they believed he had a great back story.
And it turned out to be better than that.
It’s all great, man.
This and that
– One more thought about the Texas school tragedy, cue the far-right talking points of ‘arming teachers’ in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Which would directly mean that far-right folks do not want trained educators to be able to decide what to educate our kids on when it comes to critical race theory and other decisions but would want them, when called on, to grab a .357 from the top drawer and be able to flip a switch and become a mix between Dirty Harry, John Jay Rambo, The Equalizer and Lenny Briscoe from “Law&Order.” So there’s that
– Georgia won Tuesday by voting David Perdue back to the farm. Can’t help with MTG. She’s a piece of work. (Side note: And I meant to include this much earlier in the campaign but I really try not to think of MTG all that often, but her radio commercials were 1950s fear-mongering. I think Stacy Abrams is full of it too, but at least her load of bull was traditional blow-hard self-importance. Man, we got to find better ways to find better candidates. From both sides.)
– Speaking of the Georgia race for governor, I like many of you would have supported Kemp if I lived further South. But here’s a real threat that the Trump divide in the Republican Party has created. The best chance for the nightmare scenario of Abrams winning would be for the Trump-or-nothing faction to sit out the November election in a state that is still Red, but faces a united Blue opposition.
– Wow, this makes perfect sense but it smacks a lot of us right in the wallet. If you have stayed at your job during the ‘Great Resignation’ of the last few years, your loyalty has cost you close to 10% in earnings, according to Business Insider. (Side note: It’s a paysite, so there’s that.) Wow. Now loyalty is a detriment. Perfect.
– So Ricky Gervais is under fire. Again. Because of a special on Netflix, which also is under fire. Again. It’s for transgender jokes. Again. I actually don’t think the jokes are all that funny, but it’s stand-up comedy, which by definition of the situation and the words means these are jokes. This is not someone saying something into a hot mic and then trying to say they were only kidding. Stand-up comedians tell jokes for a living at stand-up comedy shows. They may not be funny but they are jokes by definition, and the one thing Gervais nailed was his description of the upcoming controversy in a radio interview before the special hit the streaming service. “Here’s the thing about comedy. I can list 20 taboo subjects. Everyone in the world laughs at 19 of them, and hates the one that affects them.”
– So from the headlines you have to click on file, where’s this one “Pediatrician with Disney-themed office arrested for allegedly trying to hire hitman to kill ex-husband” rank? Pretty high right?
– OK, one final sports item in a heavier-than-normal 5-at-10: Paul Goldschmidt is the hottest hitter over 15 games in, well, in the history of modern stat-keeping. According to Stats by Stats, during his 15-game hitting streak, the Cardinals first baseman has 28 hits (28-for-64, which is .438), 12 doubles, five homers and 22 RBIs, and no player has reached all of those milestones in a 15-game stretch since RBIs became an official stat in 1920. So there’s that.
Today’s questions
Which way Wednesday starts this way: Which Disney character would make the best assassin?
With all the success of prequels – “1883” and BCS to name but two – which showrunners of which TV franchises should be exploring and pitching prequel avenues right now?
Which BCS character takes a dirt nap next?
Which would say is true about your Braves’ fandom this season compared to lats: About the same, more interested in them, less interested in them?
As for today, May 25, let’s review.
George Floyd died on this day two years ago.
Mike Myers is 59 today. Yeah, that one made me feel old. Wonder how many former SNL players have a full Rushmore of reoccurring on-air characters, and do any of them have a better Rushmore of characters than Myers? Probably not since he had Wayne, Dieter from Sprockets, Simon, he was one of the Bears superfans, Middle-age Man, Linda Richman from Coffee Talk (no big whoop), and a few others.
Ian McKellen is 83 today. He played Gandolf in “Lord of the Rings.”
Rushmore of Wizards, and be creative.
Be safe friends.
Jay Greeson