Author: thependulumswings staff

Laughter, the Best Medicine.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

A quick Google search for Reader’s Digest showed that a) yes the now 10x a year magazine is still published, and b) the circulation is over 3 million.

Long ago one of their monthly features was a compilation of musings of American life titled Laughter, It’s the Best Medicine.  It was (and maybe it still is) so well appreciated that they compiled the best and made them into paperbacks unto themselves.

We looked it up since we find the laughter part in understandably short supply these last several days.  Maybe it is the best medicine right now since the health and economy of the world is a bad joke being repeated in many languages.  Hopefully below makes light of a bit of it all.

At the local overrun grocery store Saturday at 8 AM we turned down one aisle to see a shopper with a buggy that looked like it could hold no more in it nor below.  The stack-up was monumentally well done.  “Crazy times,” she said.  “Crazy times,” I said.  One more glance at the pile and you could see four very large bottles of ketchup.  Four.  FOUR.   I had to.  “Hey, I’m just curious.  Why so much ketchup?”  “My husband loves it.  The last thing he told me before I left was to make sure he didn’t run out.”  Mission accomplished we presume.

Two aisles later were paper products.  An employee was stationed at the toilet paper run as a shopper put the third package of Charmin in her cart.  “Ma’am, as you can see from the limit sign, just two please.”  No response.  “MA’AM, its a limit of two, please.” As she pushed on, over her departing shoulder she said, “Oh, this one is for a friend of mine.” So thoughtful.

Over in dairy yet another employee was staged to help manage the mayhem.  By now, absolutely amazed at waiting in line 45 minutes to shop and witness it all, it was time to lighten things up a bit.  “Excuse me.  Do you know when the hurricane is supposed to make landfall?”  He looked unamused.  “Too soon?”  He nodded affirmatively.   The strong silent type he is apparently.

Meanwhile, Sunday night two nearly octagenarians battled it out appropriately six feet apart in a near-empty CNN studio.  The Democratic Nomination is still there for the taking Bernie believes.  Does he really?  Crazy Bernie screamed “Medicare for All” repeatedly for 90 minutes.  Crazy times.

Joe Biden confused Ebola with the Swine Flu with the Coronavirus with H1N1 with N1H15 with R2D2 and with CP30 at one point.  Of course, this was after he began the debate with a strong cough right into his fist when he was asked what he would do to combat the rapidly spreading virus.  You cannot make this stuff up.

Fox News resident rabble-rouser, Greg Gutfeld, tweeted during the debate “two cranky old farts arguing over who didn’t do what or did do that.  It’s like a Florida condo meeting over who keeps parking too close to the boat dock.”

Maybe the joke is on us.  Trump’s press conferences in the last week needed a standing eight count at times.  One of these two (very very likely Biden) will have a chance to knock him out of the office.   That chance (like it or not) improves by the day as our chance to escape a major disruption to our medical and economic well being is gone.

Maybe, just maybe, laughter is the best medicine.  And, you don’t need to wait for a test that we don’t have to get a prescription for it.  Laughter for All!

Pass the ketchup, please.

 

 

 

 

I Have Yet Another Story and A Moral Therof

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The PGA Tour Championship from Pointe Vedra, FL started normally yesterday.  By mid-round, it was announced that today’s round and the next few week’s rounds on tour would be played sans fans.  By end of the round, the PGA announced that the tour was stopping the event and the next three events on the schedule.

Four years ago next month the third round of The Insperity Open, a senior tour event that passes right by the backyard of BBR’s World Headquarters, was almost played sans one fan.  That fan would be this writer.

A bright sunny Saturday was the perfect opportunity to mingle with friends and family quite near the seventh green.   Quiet for the players turned into more than a stir as six carts, two of them bright, shiny red ones, made their way from hole #8 past the green at #7 and continued down the fairway in the opposite direction of the norm.

And, there they were!  In one of the red carts were the former FLOTUS, Mrs. Barbara Bush, and her driver.  In the other were the former POTUS, George Herbert Walker Bush, and his driver.  They were on a unique meet and greet the pro players mission.  In the other four were a cadre of men, some riding fireman style on back, all wearing dark sunglasses.  Hmm.  Secret Service?

I was on a mission as well.  It’s but a 200-yard walk from there back to the “office.”  Mother Nature called and so did another cold beer (Corona? Nah! Too soon?). As I walked that way the six-pack of carts pulled to the side deep into the rough as tee shots were “fixin to fly.”  Unless you are a resident, it’s a dead side of the course-it has no path to the next or previous hole.

Their rest stop wasn’t but a mere 15 feet from my back gate.  And quite suddenly, there we were. It was a bunch of former and current government workers and me.  The Bush’s were seated in their carts and about six of my new sunglass-wearing best friends were rapidly approaching me.  “Put your hands up!”  And I did, quickly.  “I mean no harm, I live right there, and am just trying to get into my gate.”

A VERY long two seconds passed.  “Ok, go ahead.”  Relieved and a bit emboldened I inquired, “Could I please shake (today we would have to elbow bump, social distancing being what it is.) President Bush’s hand?”    “No!”  That was all.  It was a flat out  “No!”

Hmm.  I decided to wave instead.  Only George’s smile was wider than Barbara’s.  I also decided that entering the gate was now past due.  And, I figured an invite inside for a round of cold ones was out of the question.

By the time I got back outside they were down the fairway shaking hands with the pros.  Hmm.

The moral of the story, you ask?  I guess it’s who you know, or who the Secret Service says you get to know.

Still, it was great to inadvertently get that close to them, and even better that I remained a free man.

 

 

 

This Time It’s….

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

This time it’s different.  Actually, every time it’s different.

On the medical side there has been SARS, H1NI, Ebola, the Hong Kong flu and many more outbreaks, quickly spreading viruses, epidemics, and even an occasional pandemic.

On the economic side there has been The Great Depression, many recessions, runaway late seventies inflation, the Arab Oil Embargo, the dot com bubble, 9/11, the 2008-09 financial crisis,  and many more significant to severe downturns.

And now it’s COVID-19.  It’s the Coronavirus.  It’s the Wuhan Virus.

BBR leadership and its staff make no claims to being a medical expert nor an economic guru.  We do, however, have significant experience in watching human behavior through most of these tough times.

Experience teaches us that this too will pass.  But it sure doesn’t feel like it, does it?

We want improvement.  We want answers.  We want results.  We want to get away mentally.  We want to get away physically.  We want.  We want.

This time it’s the same.  It’s just that every time we get into a very rough patch like this one it feels different.

The problem is we can’t see it.  The problem is that we really didn’t see it coming.  “It won’t affect me!”  And, we won’t know that it’s gone until someone with a white long coat and a tie tells us it’s gone.

Actually this time it’s the same.   Actually every time it’s the same.

We just want to wash our hands and want to be done with this.  And, we should want to-wash our hands that is.

It’s always darkest before the dawn.  The sun will eventually come up.  It always does.

March Mad Mess

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

If you dribble a basketball on a hardwood floor and no one sees it, is it still an NBA game?  It is.  It’s just far less of a moneymaker.

And it just might happen.  These days aren’t normal days.  These days are rightfully consumed with controlling the North American outbreak of the COVID-19 virus.  And, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who has all but embraced sports gambling, is very near needing to push his chips to the middle of the existing arenas.  Or, he could fold the chairs, close the doors, and wash his hands on the way out.

Discussions in the league office occur daily on the best way to continue to play the games, engage the fans, and minimize the risk of being accused of putting economics ahead of players and fans.  Several options are seriously being discussed.

One option is to move games to the city of what should be the visiting team if the risk of spread in that city is far lower than the home team’s city.  Take Golden State.  Please.  The Warrior’s home games gross about $3.75 million.  But the greater Bay Area and its governments might soon dictate that any sporting event played in a closed area be done so without any fans in attendance.

Other cities could soon follow.  Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine recommended that indoor teams in that state play without fans for the immediate future. The Cleveland Cavaliers are on a six-game road trip and don’t return home until March 24.  They have some time to evaluate the recommendation and decide how to proceed.

LeBron James weighed in last week when asked about playing in an empty arena. “I play for the fans; that’s what it’s all about,” James said. “If I show up to the arena and there ain’t no fans there, I ain’t playing.”

Upon further review, James had a beautiful verbal crossover dribble on the subject yesterday.  “If they feel that it’s best for the safety of the players, safety of the franchise, safety of the league to mandate that, then we’ll all listen to it.”  How noble of him to now listen to a mandate. Maybe “adhere” is just a three-point shot away.  And, how nice of him to speak for “all.”  Kings do that.

He also spoke when he lectured Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey back in October.  Remember Morey had tweeted out support for Hong Kong protesters, and essentially against the Chinese government.  Way back then James said that Morey was “misinformed and not educated on the situation.”

Now the day is very near that James and the entire league that all but defended China (and its immense economic effect on the league) might play in empty arenas due to a virus that started in China.  The bats that came home to roost are now in the soup.

And, March Madness is set to tipoff.  We should ask LeBron if we could rename it March Mad Mess.

 

 

Perception May Not Be Reality

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Yesterday we labeled “Tough Monday.”  One week ago most everyone agreed was “Super Tuesday.”   Joe Biden was at first the lone dissenter to that mantra, but after the results came in from about 15 states he quickly changed his mind about the public perception of him.  What will today bring us?

There is perception and there is reality.  When the perception becomes so strong that it changes behavior, a new day has dawned.

Once upon a time it was considered in style, even sexy, to smoke cigarettes.  The surgeon general told us enough times that smoking will kill you.  Our perception of smoking changed to the point where we frown upon anyone who smokes.

Stated plainly, if everyone thinks the COVID-19, aka the Coronavirus, will do them great harm or even kill them, then human behavior is dramatically changed.  If you don’t believe BBR, then head to your local food or drug store.  Try buying hand soap, cough or cold medicines, or egads, toilet paper.  When is the last time you shook hands with anyone?  Check your 401k lately?

Human behavior has dramatically changed until our perception changes.  We cast no judgment.  It’s better to be safe than sorry we heard.

However, we cannot help but wonder if this has reached the point of being a bit overblown at least in the U.S.  We highly recommend that you take three minutes and read this link.  We’ve found it to be the most unemotional, fact-based, and intuitive piece on the virus that we have read.

In the meantime, we cannot help but wonder as well that people would actually (on TV and Twitter yesterday) find the time to debate the “insensitivity” of calling COVID-19 the Wuhan Virus.  Chris Hayes, MSNBC’s resident word policeman, called it a social injustice.

Good Lord people, get over yourself.  What about Peking Duck?  If you don’t want the blame for the virus, you don’t get credit for the duck anymore either.

Was your perception of that insensitive?  We hope it wasn’t.  But, if it was, so be it.  It’s our perception.

Please wash your hands to help keep the virus away.  And, please wash them again of this overblown politically correct BS.

 

It’s a Tough Monday

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

We wonder.  The Coronavirus has the world gripped in fear and firmly in its nasty little paws.

How bad would it be if you were stuck on a cruise ship that has over 50 cases and counting and no cities or states want you?  Oakland stepped up and now you step off of the confinement of the ship into a different confinement with your fellow passengers to see if you will become the latest confirmed case.  It’s a two-week mind game that you hope to not have to play.

How bad would it be if your business was sailing cruise ships?  The US State Department issued a statement this weekend advising all citizens to avoid cruise ships for their own protection from the virus.  Our wild guess is that future bookings might be down 80% or more.

How bad will this entire surreal medical emergency get?  On one hand, it seems (assuming that the Chinese government is telling the truth) that the spread of cases in China has slowed a good bit.  On the other hand, the cases in South Korea, Italy, and Iran seem to be accelerating.

How bad is it in Italy?  Sixteen million citizens are now being self quarantined in Northern Italy.  The plan to do so got leaked.  And with it many citizens rushed to get out of the quarantined zone.  So much for quarantining it.  The plan got leaked and so did the virus.  Italian stocks on the blue-chip FTSE MIB initially failed to open Monday along with other European markets. When the index did open, stocks were trading down 2,290 points, or about 11% lower.   Italy has over 7500 confirmed cases and 366 deaths and counting.

The NBA told its teams to prepare for playing games in empty areas to try to help slow the transmission.  All Italian sporting events will do just that till April at a minimum.  Japan is the host country for the 2020 Summer Games in late July.  There are a lot of yen bet that the torch never gets lit.

How bad is the perception?  In a word, it is terrible.  How bad is the reality?  That’s the unknown and hence the fear which is now bordering on panic.

We suppose as the weather warms, our immune systems do what they do, or if a vaccine were to be developed that this too shall somehow pass.

Why does it feel different this time?

We wonder.

We hope.

Stay strong.

Madden Money Was Once Mad Money

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

And you thought Tony Romo was getting paid well.  News broke yesterday that Peyton Manning met with ESPN officials this week.  What for you ask?

The “for” is ESPN’s attempt to take the one-year Booger McFarland Monday Night Football analyst experiment out behind the barn and put it down in a merciful way.

Tony Romo, after only his sophomore year in the analyst chair in the NFL on CBS booth next to Jim Nance, is set to earn $17 million per year according to sources close to the deal. Now ESPN, who has been shedding aged employees and bloated salaries for years, wants to up the game of who announces the game and how much they get paid to do it.

How much will it take to get Manning?  Will Manning be gotten at all?  He has thwarted several attempts to date to entice him to enter the broadcast industry.   Sources close to this yet to be agreed to deal place the value at $18-$20 million per season.  If true Manning would have Nationwide, ESPN, and a whole lot more cash by his side.

Booger in year one was as forgettable in the booth as Jason Witten’s one and done just one year prior.  One of McFarland’s best/worst quotes was “It’s a run/pass option meaning they have the option to run it or pass it.”  Got that?  Unfortunately, there were too many others.

ESPN needs an MNF spark in the worst way.   THE game has become one of the games available in a busy weekly NFL schedule.  Long, long gone are the must-see MNF TV days of Howard Cosell, John Madden, and even recently departed Jon Gruden.

Madden, the godfather of NFL broadcasts, made $8.5 million a year in his best year.  Adjusted for inflation that equates to $13 million in 2020 money.  This latest round has really upped the ante.

Somewhere Troy Aikman is smiling.  FOX will need to keep up with the Romo’s and Manning’s won’t they?  Or, will they?  The seats are getting full and the opportunities are few.

Are you ready for a Monday Night party?  Peyton Manning will bring the quips and the party favors.  He’ll be able to afford them.

 

It’s a Crazy Time

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Co-host of The View Meghan McCain said, “It’s a crazy time.”

Co-host Whoopi Goldberg had just pitched former President Barack Obama for the vice president slot on the Democratic Party’s ticket with 2020 presidential hopeful Joe Biden.  Goldberg said, “I’m sorry. I’m just going to do my crazy right now.”  Whoopee for Whoopi.

And so it is.

Meanwhile back at The White House, President Trump misses his orange-tinted mug.   “I haven’t touched my face in weeks,” he said. “In weeks. I miss it.”  Coronavirus task force leader Dr. Deborah Birx seemed encouraged.

And so it goes.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) took a dig at Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) after a Fox News segment made it sound as if the Massachusetts senator stood as the last female in the Democrat primary race, referring to her as a “fake indigenous woman of color.”  “Is it because you believe a fake indigenous woman of color is ‘real’ and the real indigenous woman of color in this race is fake?” she asked.  Ouch!  Gabbard has garnered exactly one delegate in the count that is over one thousand at this point.

And on.

Meanwhile, Warren contacted Bernie Sanders yesterday and informed him that she would take the proper amount of time to decide whether she would continue to drive in his lane or fold her tent.  Rush Limbaugh fill in Mark Steyn equated that to ” like someone giving me a tumbler of scotch and a pistol in my parlor, and saying ‘take your time, you’ll make the right decision.'”

And, then there was Joe Biden.

Biden, fresh off of a strong Super Tuesday, gained Mayor Mini Mike Bloomberg’s endorsement for the Democratic Party nomination.  Mayor Mike is 600 million lighter in the wallet after his abysmal failure of a run at the nomination.  Heck, Bloomberg even called Biden a good friend.  It’s tough to beat the smell of newly printed money.  Biden seems to have gotten his sea legs under him after on Monday confusing Tuesday with Thursday, and then on Tuesday confusing his wife with his sister.

The MSNBC crew previewed (promoted) an upcoming NBC Today Show interview.  On it Biden responded to “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s question, “Do you think the president is rooting for Sanders?” “I don’t think the president wants to face me. I will beat him, period. Period. He’s done everything in his power— he’s even risked his presidency because he doesn’t want to face me.”

And so?

What did Wall Street think of the step back that Wall Street basher Bernie Sanders took on Super Tuesday?  It rallied Wednesday in a big way up 1000 Dow points due to the reduced odds that a self-proclaimed Socialist could make the political circus more than the three rings that it already is.

And then?

And then came Thursday, which in spite of Biden’s efforts to label it “Super,” doesn’t seem to have a bright future.  The Dow futures are down 600 points plus this AM.

And finally?

Hopefully, the Corona Virus is greatly slowed or contained soon for obvious reasons.  It would also allow Trump to touch his face again.  After all, his makeup base and his political base know that orange is the new red, white, and blue.

And in America today, crazy is the new normal.

 

Down to Three Approaching Fourscore

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s Super Tuesday.  It’s a super big day for Bernie Sanders, running for his party’s presidential nomination.  And, it’s a super big day for Joe Biden, too, even though he thought it was Super Thursday.

And it’s a big day for the Democratic National Committee(DNC).  Assuming the vote tally process works better in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia than it did in Iowa the DNC will have a much better idea of what else they need to throw at Bernie Sanders to halt the assault from the far left.

Crazy Bernie has no chance in the general election of even coming close to Donald Trump.  You know it.  Your dog knows it. And, the DNC knows it.

And, apparently, that is very bad as it sounds like our time here on terra firma is running short.   Ask Beto O’Rourke.  Last evening while endorsing Biden, Beto shrieked, “The man in the White House today poses an existential threat to this country. To our democracy. To free and fair elections. And we need somebody who can beat him. And in Joe Biden, we have that man.”   Biden embraced far-left anti-gun extremist O’Rourke during a rally on Monday night in Texas.  He declared that the failed Senate and presidential candidate was going to lead Biden’s anti-Second Amendment efforts.   At least the unemployment figures will drop by one.

Most nominee hopefuls call climate change the biggest existential threat.  Tom Steyer was a loud one of those, but no more.  He dropped out over the weekend.  If a tree falls in the forest but no one hears it, is it still climate change?  If he endorses Biden and no one hears it, is it still an endorsement?

No word yet on if Steyer will endorse Biden.  But, the others are lining up and doing their party’s work.  Pete Buttigieg dropped out just in time to try to swing his votes to Uncle Joe.  Mayor Pete endorsed Biden last night.  Biden said that he was surprised that he did that.  Maybe he was as it’s 50/50 that he knows who Pete is.  The DNC wasn’t surprised.  Pete is young and dutiful.   Promises made?

Amy Klobuchar dropped out yesterday.  Whew.  Just in time for Super Thursd, er, Tuesday as well.  She also is expected to endorse Biden today.  Amy isn’t as young as Pete but is as dutiful.

After tonight the DNC will have a better feel for how many more ducks they have to get in a row to prevent that pesky Bernie Sanders from quacking too much in mid-July in Milwaukee.

The party (after Elizabeth Warren realizes it’s over today) of inclusion and diversity will be down to 77-year-old white male Joe Biden, 78-year-old white male Bernie Sanders, and 78-year-old white male Michael Bloomberg.  All would be fourscore and more after one term.

Sanders stayed along for the ride all of the way to the convention four years ago.  It drove Hillary harder and further than the then 69-year-old wanted.  As crazy as it seems he’s riding shotgun again.  No Beto, it’s not that kind of shotgun.  The DNC is trying desperately to play traffic cop.

Meanwhile, get some more endorsements, Joe.  There’s a guy named Obama.  He might stand behind you as you did with him especially if the DNC asks with a “pretty please.”

And, get some rest.

 

Elmira?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

As the calendar flips from February to March the madness of March Madness is nearly upon us.  Two weeks from now, or just 13 weeks removed from the college football bowl season, you’ll tune in to watch a college team you’ve barely heard of taking on another that you know no players on.  And, goodness knows you watched a lot of college football.

But, what about college baseball?  Similarly, 13 weeks from now the college baseball World Series will begin.  Prior to that thousands of games will be played.  Will you tune in now? Then?

It’s hard to tune in now because on traditional network TV none are on.  ESPNU carries a few along the way.  Conference channels carry a few more if you pay a few more bucks for your favorite one.

We wonder.  Why the huge interest in college football, the great interest in basketball, and the indifference in baseball?

Is it because as the weather heats up we choose to head outdoors for fun?  Is it acutely because the north does so? The north’s viewership is an important percentage of the potential TV viewership. And is that because the north doesn’t really play baseball nearly as much as year-round climates like California, Texas, and Florida?  It’s hockey season you know?  Eh?

Is it because the game is too slow?  That theory, which applies to MLB as well, has been advanced for years and years.

Or, is it that college baseball doesn’t allow us to establish a viewer relationship with its players?  What does that mean?  It means that very good and/or very likable baseball players, unlike football and basketball, head to the minors not directly to the NFL or NBA.

In the NFL we soon see which team drafts last season’s success stories.  We watch train wrecks like Johnny Manziel (Heisman to who’s man) in a nearly real continuous-time attempt to take their games to the next level.  We hope for and watch intently 36-month transition, great success stories like the build from Texas Tech to a Super Bowl MVP for Patrick Mahomes.

In the NBA the best ‘one and done” college players hit the hardwood for the NBA fame and fortune a mere six months after they cut down the nets in the NCAA tourney.

In baseball, if you even watched to begin with, the best of the best head to places called Round Rock, Appleton, and Elmira for a year, two, three, or more.  Many never dig their cleats in the major league batter’s box dirt.  Never is a long time.

In baseball we hardly knew you, then you left us.  So it’s harder to make the commitment.

When will I see you again?

Elmira?