This blog is dedicated to the memory of David Weintraub, who took on insidious astroturfers and won.

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Go on, be a Tiger

               (this donkeytale article was originally posted at FDL on JUNE 16, 2011)


Tiger Woods’ career went into the ditch about the time he drove his SUV into one, with his wife enthusiastically chasing him from behind, swinging a nine-iron through the rear window more effectively than had any of his on course pursuers during his heyday.
My own theory is that Tiger’s dominance became as dependent on illicit sex as he himself had become on illicit sex during the uhhh, Bush years. After all, what enhances a man’s swagger more than knowing that he is desired by persons other than his wife and can have them all, including his wife, whenever he decides to pull his putter out of his bag?
Tiger Woods was the all-time all-confident, expressively charged, alpha male ruling the sports world as well as the PGA tour as it had never before been ruled by those genteel, one-woman legends in the previous decades before the era of the Tiger, those old-school gentlemen named Nicklaus, Palmer, Nelson and Hogan.
I’m sure his opponents could sense, perhaps even smell, the sexual dominance oozing from the Tiger as he strode down the fairway, the master of all things golf, and this subconsciously worked to his advantage on the course. Golf is the most exacting mentally and emotionally focused of sports.
You have to exist in a very delicate zone, a zenlike state, in order to play so consistently well. Just the slightest bit of imbalance, self-doubt, or distracted worry at the edge of your mind can be all it takes to get out of rhythm and throw your shots wildly into the trees or pull your four foot putts offline just enough to miss and kill your score.
Once Tiger’s self-image took a hit and his bravura deflated,  so did his game. This is not so very shocking a psychological phenomenon. I recall my own rather less celebrated experience with cheating and golf many years ago during the reign of another famous cocksmith, from the neighbouring state of Arkansas.
This was during my second marriage before children came along to mar the erotic vistas of a rather cocky young man.  I participated in a short-lived fling with a much younger woman who I had met through work.
We would get together at her place on weekends whenever possible, my excuse to the wife being that I was “going to play golf”.  The actual game I was playing required balls, alright.  Golf required 5-6 hours and you could come home believably drunk and slightly worn out.
Soon enough, the delicate balance between wife and lover that had ever so momentarily made me feel like the king of the jungle was shattered.  I remember getting the phone call one day while I was actually out on the course with a client. It was a weekday,  which were always the best days to play the game, at least in those quainter,  more physically active times before blogging became the preeminent American worklife time waster.
She had some news.  She wanted my reaction and advice on how she should handle it and was careful to say that she was comfortable with my decision either way, and wouldn’t demand that I divorce and marry her, nor would she even be requesting child support. What a great woman she was. Hopefully, somewhere, she still is. I’m sure of it, in fact. I have long since paid back all the bad karma dues for the both of us. Willingly, if begrudgingly.
Bet on it.
Lets just say that I don’t remember a single shot from the rest of my round, much less my score or whether I pressed the bet on the back nine. One thing I know for sure, I lost the bet that day, any way you slice it.
But I definitely cemented for eternity my pro-choice bona fides.
And from that point forward in our relationship, whenever my girlfriend suggested that we hook up on a weekend,  I would explain that I couldn’t make it over to her apartment….because I was going out to play golf….and then I went out and actually played golf.
Now, I hear that Tiger and his wife may be getting back together for the sake of the kids.
Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren Spotted Kissing

An older, wiser, chastened donkeytale wishes the Woods family all the best.

95 comments:

donkeytale said...

This masterpiece from 2011 Firedoglake, but today appropriate as an entry given the US Open which concluded stunningly yesterday amidst much shadenfreude (schtick-theft alert schtick) when Dustin Johnson, well-known majour almost champion gagged another one away on 18 handing the win to none other than Dallas-own 21 year old phenom Jordan Spieth, who now, remarkably, is halfway to a true grand slam, something that has never been accomplished in the modern era of the PGA and only once in the paleolithic era by one Bobby Jones, MD in 1927.

Jones created Augusta National and the Masters in the 30s before dying tragically young. He was sort of the Lou Gehrig of golf.

I think the Grand Slam back then included the US and British Opens, the US Amateur and breakfast at Denny's.

Six players in the professional era have attained the same level of slamming as Spieth, names such as Palmer, Woods, Nicklaus, Hogan, Sarazen and Wood (something about that name I guess). And one of them, Fort Worth's own Ben Hogan actually accomplished the feat twice and even won 3/4s of the Big Ones in one year but then didn't bother going across the pond to wrap the deal, probably because the concept of the Grand Slam didn't exist in anyone's mind at that point.

I guess he was happy enough to get his free breakfast and stay home. Hogan is considered by many the best golfer in herstory, at least over a condensed part of his career, much like Koufax is considered the greatest in beisbol.

"What Hogan would do from 1950-1953 is nearly unfathomable. He won six major championships in only nine total starts. In 1953 he won three majors in three starts. The British Open and PGA Championship had conflicting schedules, so Hogan was unable to attempt to win the grand slam."

The GS concept is today credited to the charismatic Camelot-era superhero Arnold Palmer when he won the first two in 1960 or thereabouts and mused that he could win them all.

Tokyo Shemp said...

I agree with you. Contrary to ESPN's current analysis, Tiger passed a tipping point many years previously.

I covered this on a Celtic's blog that was basically myself and two other guys. It got scrubbed. I think what motivated me was a Bob Ryan article titled, "Can’t think of Tiger in normal terms." His big line was citing Bill Parcell's concept of a jag, just another guy. That was published September 3, 2010.

I kept following Tiger Woods for the ensuing years. One of the other guys said he's been injured.

I am not sure which factor hurt him the worst. Golf is 97% mental. Though like you said in the other thread, injuries can bring down the greatest or to that effect.

So part of it is having to deal with pain and limitations on his past greatness. There is also the factor of his whole soiled past being out there for all to schadenfreude over.

Colin Montgomery had some skills. But his skin was so thin. I used to like watching him to hear the razzes from the peanut gallery. The Shark Greg Norman was also fun to watch in a Phil Mickelson way to watch them choke. Norman by the way had terrible back issues, as did Freddie Couples.

The picture above is a screenshot. It took some maneuvering to snap it at a good moment. I will watch it now, but my initial impression is that Tiger Woods is a cry baby.

Tokyo Shemp said...

The video from that link might lead to Gary Player being interviewed. He said basically that Tiger is disrespecting the golf gods. He says Tiger is the most talented player to ever live, that he can make a turnaround..... But, that he needs an old-school coach to set him right. He mentioned Hogan, Snead, Nicklaus, Tom Watson as players who did everything the right way.

I am now watching Wilbon and Bob Ryan discuss it. I am not sure where the Tiger Woods press conference went to. In the few moments I watched, he looked very disgruntled and lost. I think Player even used that word, that Tiger is lost. He also stood up for Tiger in a by the grace of golf gods I shan't walk the same way. Player made a lot of sense. We are human. We are all vulnerable to getting off track (his words again about Tiger simply being off track).

Sports is a good release. It does fall in the Venn diagram for academics/society sometimes.

Dwight Howard has started a new group to help us all cope with the massive amounts of bullshit we are hearing about cops. He tells us we need to keep breathing.

I like Dwight, though he is a religious person, and that is at the heart of his new campaign. I'm not going to dog him for it. He obviously cares.

I guess cell phone cameras have saved the day. They have brought awareness and movement to the losers that have always claimed leftier than thous are hyperbolic commies.

On a different note, I came across a DKos entry of someone who quit FDL (someone lured there with front page status). He was upset that Hamsher was spitting venom at Obama.

Then I did my thing. I searched quickly for any links that could be twisted to serve my agenda. I tweeted the guy. I linked to an article he wrote lambasting charter schools. The problem is he is attacking someone for holding Obama's feet to the fire, while the truth is just another Obamabot has been exposed for hypocrisy. Obama named Arne Duncan education chief and who the heck do these fake leftists think they are fooling?

Yes, Republicans suck even worse. I am a lesser of two evils kind of guy. However, there's something about these political operative hypocrites which makes my blood boil, even if on the surface I should be supporting them.

donkeytale said...

Tiger got too muscled up. He always had a ferocious swing even as a youngster but when he was limber it still retained that balletic motion that rhythm that is required to stay in synch over the long haul.

When he became bulked up it seems like he became much more prone to injury. Some have whispered PEDs for Tiger. Nicklaus was a fat fuck and suffered a bad back too for many years before he became fitter during the sideburns and doubleknit 70s. He was not competitive for long stretches of years in the majours, until he came back for a stunning win out of nowhere at teh US Open around 1981 and of course the Masters win at 46 or wtf in the 90s. So injury is not an excuse, and to his credit I don't think Tiger is using it. He definitely needs a new coach. he probably already has the cocktail waitress or four.

It may just be that these new kids out there are also in great physical condition can hit just as far more fluidly and are just as nerveless in the moment.

Gary Player is one of those blowhard pontificator types (projection alert) who make excellent bloggers but probably should just STFU about Tiger now that he's been retired since forever and who cares what he has to say? He was one of the first golfers to get himself in tip-top physical condition, a trend that Palmer also seemed to follow but Palmer smoked out on the course too, at least in his hey day. He was a dashing gent, very exciting especially to the ladies, as I recall. He transcended the game at a time when nobody besides rich people cared much about it. Injury free I believe but it became clear fairly early that fat Jack Nicklaus was the better golfer and Palmer soon faded away into the legend that he remains to this day.



donkeytale said...

I have nothing against Howard either, it's just the concept of the Center seems out of date and he doesn't have enough offensive game to make it work very well. Plus, he can't shoot free frows.

Harden is good but not enough to take a team on his back and go all the way.

Houston needs more dependable players around these guys. I guess they also succumbed to the injury bug to some extent.

The story for 2016 should be the movement of the electorate shifting left as the pendulum starts to return in that direction. Obama should gather some credit for the sea change but much like Nixon, will not until many years from now if ever.

Sure, Obama could have been leftier but indeed the Congressional obstructionism was at its all time worst and I think he dealth with it fairly well all in all.

Yes, he is a sell out to the MIC and Wall Street. We'll see if President Bernie can run, win and govern from that place of progressive purity. He's got my vote at the moment. No way I will ever vote for Hilary.

donkeytale said...

And yes, outstanding screenshot. I was hoping you would come up with something anything but Happy Gilmour or Joe Dirt. Thanks for this. By his eyes looks like Tiger blew a jay right before the interview.

in fact, Tiger could probably benefit well from smoking some good weed. Here is my advice: sell your boring Orlando McMansion and move back to California to get your medical card. No problem with that back, dude. Sure there are state income taxes in the formerly Golden State, but c'mon man, how much do you really need?

Tokyo Shemp said...

He was a mess. He was me a couple years ago wallowing in a big bag of fritos. I don't want to defame anyone. I believe in truth staple guns that are effective against the vile and menacing. But he looks like he's on meds or just not eating right. I have no medical background, so this is basically trash talking based on the eye test.

I wouldn't be surprised if he's been on steroids. I'm unclear on the difference between HGH and steroids. I know the former are effective as Sci-Fi medicine. Didn't Dr. McCoy have some tool that could heal anything? Yet it must be noted that damn it Spock, he was a doctor, not a basketball player.

I don't want to defame KG either. I did find it curious how he seemed to get a second wind to his career. While Pierce and Ray were showing their age, KG still had it. That's how Ainge was able to sucker Brooklyn. I wonder about LeBron and he's up there with Tiger for the rumors.

I am not a big fan of Hillary either. It appears we are going to see a repeat of Bush-Gore, rather than McCain-Bradley. I mean, for all the words and money that will be spilled, when all is said and done, isn't it obvious it will be Jeb Bush against Hillary? Then wouldn't you have to vote for her?

I'm not saying you're wrong that the Republicans have blocked Obama at every turn. I think Obama will not look good in 50-100 years unless the same corrupt, shallow social structure is in place.

I had forgotten about Joe Dirt. I still remember Johnny Cash. Schticks are like venus fly traps. As one decays and wilts, a new schtick sprouts up in its place.

I may have found a good moment to quit Twitter; to end with an attack on a KosKop drenched in contradiction and too cowardly to sincerely respond.

Why couldn't he say, yeah, Obama is no good on education. He can't. He has to mock me instead because my intuition was correct that he is a tool.

Both sides suck. Hamsher of FDL sucks and so does the KosKop Netroots clown who loves Obama and hates charter schools. That is not possible. Or maybe it is. And if so, he would have come up with a better response than trolling this blog and seeing the I quit twitter entry.

Think about it. Instead of engaging with the question, he comes here in a who the f is that guy move.

I know I am 100% correct on TFA and charter schools. The thing is the teachers are actually busy doing their jobs and aren't on social media. I hate to sound arrogant, but there is no there, there to the internet. I like and respect many people in this world, but I'm not seeing it on the web that much. I see newbies getting their feet wet, new to the social media craze, smart and sincere, but the curve they have to learn is the one you figured out eleven years ago. The biggest loss might turn out to be My Left Wing. I don't mean their last couple years. A lot of Meta happened there.

Tokyo Shemp said...

I have this idea for a start-up. All accessible knowledge of reincarnation should be aggregated and researched. I am thinking of those kids who apparently were reincarnated. It sounds kooky, but there are a lot of stories out there. Is everything a hoax? If it's happened even once as legit, that is the key. The goal is to cross a dimension. Is it possible for someone to reincarnate with full knowledge of the past life, to say carry on struggles for social and environmental justice. If that is too bold, it could still be material for a decent movie script or cult.

Tokyo Shemp said...

"child knows of past life reincarnation" gives a lot of results. NBC has even covered it.
Proof of reincarnation? Boy gives incredible details of past life as Hollywood extra

It's weird and mysterious.

Tokyo Shemp said...

It's quite ridiculous to watch the t.v. personalities at the end gushing and blushing. One said, "You're freaking me out."

From the eye test, that panel is full of not very evolved spiritual beings. I should blog on that and other weird stuff that somehow interests me.

The Theresa Duncan entry made it to the top. That was fun. I found the satanic panic to be a very satisfying topic. I do feel differently, though, and empathise with the feeling that writing is not a faucet.

Oh, those little kids eventually forget about it. I wonder what that is. Is it God nudging us on to stand our ground with truth staples?

Tokyo Shemp said...

Reincarnation stories could become my new obsession.

http://pix11.com/2014/11/11/is-my-child-haunted-mom-seeks-help-sorting-out-4-year-olds-suspected-past-life/

Tokyo Shemp said...

I found the Oklahoma kid's imdb page from his previous life. The thing is Marty Martyn died in 1964. This kid must have born around 2005. We're missing 41 years.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0554421/

I need to pull a Razor's Edge, Tyrone Power styled, go to the highest of mountains and find me a holy man and some answers. Knowing my luck, I'll end up in Nightmare Alley.

Tokyo Shemp said...

This has tons of info in it on the specific story: http://comesitaspell.weebly.com/reincarnation.html

donkeytale said...

Intersting. Yes, you should always follow your intersts no matter what.

Frau Tale talks sometimes about reincarnation and the spirit world. She's of the Buddhist background and believes that we keep coming back until we become Buddhas, then I guess we finally go to Buddhaland where we remain in a state of bliss forever and ever. She never really defines the final stage.

And she tells me that I am so far, far from that state that I it's a waste trying to explain. I will just go off the rails with the info. She of course has only a few more laps to go or maybe this life is it for her. She's not sure but she knows she is close.

I suppose if she can retain her holiness through being married to me she certainly deserves all the good things the after life has to offer.

Trouble is, she makes out the spirit world, which I gather is some temporal temporary holding cell between lives, as a rather bad place to be. We are guided by our emotions trapped inside emotions that locked onto us in the prior life and we have a hard time letting go of people and places that we inhabited and loved.

In particular, she has made me aware of the value of certain dreams. You know, sometimes we have these vivid, seemingly impactful dreams that become somehow more emotionally involving than others? Those are our spirits trying to communicate and steer us in a certain direction. And they can be deceiving as well as helpful. Not all spirits are happy or giving. We
must try to remember the concept and the emotional underpinning of those dreams when we wake to determine what they mean.

Sometimes that is easy but more often quite difficult and confusing.

She also states that when people close to us die someone else in their circle will often also die unexpectedly very soon thereafter.

Frau says the newly dead spirits come and claim those people because they are frightened and lonely.

I have seen something like this happen with both my mother and father. My mom's brother died within a week of her passing, out of the blue.

My dad's step daughter, ditto, like a month later.

One other weirdness I can expose, once my wife came to me said she had a dream where a 4 digit number appeared clearly. I joked maybe we should play the daily 4. She told me the number and urged me to go buy a ticket for that night's game. I blew it off because I was lazy and watching a game or wtf. probably blogging a masterpiece.

You know what happened next.

Scared the shit out of me more than depressed me to loose an $11,000 jackpot. I kept begging her for weeks after to have another numbers dream but she just looked at me like I was an idiot and called me a looser's looser's looser.

There are all these weirdnesses. Not the least of which is the reaping what you sow schtick. This one also works out time and again. I have seen this one personally hit me both ways many times. When I go off the rails and get full of myself, partying, carrying on, indulging, blowing off family, etc. things go badly. Ever. Single. Time.

When I buck up, take responsibility, confess, pray for forgiveness, invariably things will get better.

This could all be a psychological and emotional game we play on oursleves. whatever, it works. It could also be something else. I am open to all of the possibilities.

Tokyo Shemp said...

You hit the nail with the peen.

I don't read much. I did though back in the day, huge amounts. I was completely innocent and naive. It was privilege compared to Somalia, you name the tough incarnation assignment. It was rough for certain kind of personal events like parents divorcing. I am using a generic example because I don't believe we need to tell everything.

We are not narcissists. I am sure of that. We are not sociopaths nor psychopaths. We do not suffer from depression. 18% of the population apparently suffers from anxiety disorders. I'm watching a documentary on youtube. We are experiencing "excitable amygdalas."

We can't separate that relatively benign disorder from Sociology and other interdisciplinary studies. Location, location, location.

This world is run and explained by sociopaths, psychopaths, narcissists, etc.. And extroverts. Authoritarian personality disorder refers to the Ned Flanders.

The introverts are often labeled as kooky or anti-social.

There is also something called the repetitive, regressive compulsion. We are reliving traumatic events. We might be mad at that fella, when we are probably actually frustrated from something earlier in this life or from a previous one.

If the scientific studies on reincarnation are true, and the Oklahoma boy seems to be the best bet, what's the point? The memories are fading. Does it prove reincarnation is truth? That would seem to have tremendous meaning.

I also read that a lot of those cases involved someone who had a traumatic death. I heard people can have birthmarks in the next life from say a bullet from the last.

I guess the kid was someone else in between and only lived about 40 years. I figure the Hollywood life was so much more interesting than the in-between one, that it's poof gone.

There doesn't seem to be much to gain from this story other than the fact it lends gravitas to a "kooky" reincarnation theory.

There are some things we can never know. But can we at least know that reincarnation has been proven?

Forgiveness is the green tea for the soul. But we could go on and on in circles and we probably have for thousands of years or I'm no expert and that is one of the things we can't know anyway. Nothing new under the sun. What kind of God could allow such a mess (theodicy)?

I am pretty sure you are at a decent level for consciousness. Dwight Howard is right. We need to remember to breathe. The feeling of being trapped is where all the problems arise. Many more than 18% feel that way. When people overreact or feel doomed, when their self-awareness is one of feeling spent and done, that's when life gets brutal. We are seeing it with the young white men freaking out and turning into mass murderers. Dylann Roof is a scumbag, no doubt. But a week ago or before when that shooting happened, he was a free man except for the weird trespassing situation. It's been building up with that person.

Regular guys have different issues. When we hit our tipping point, we don't kill people or take heroin. We start to exhibit signs of bitterness. We lose our gumption. We might lash out a little, then feel guilty about that and feel doomed. I don't think Mrs. donkeytale can know you are far, far away. She might have a more buddhist than thou attitude than necessary. That's sort of a mean thing she said to you. We can't change the past. No one should ever feel condemned. The best thing would be for Dylann Roof to have to sit in prison for his whole life to think about what he did. But no one should worry about past transgressions. We've all done them. Now for the people who do that and feel no guilt, they are psychopaths. I am no scientist and don't know how they can be helped.

(continued)

Tokyo Shemp said...

I hate feeling nervous, but now I realise that's part of my INFP makeup. I was mean to a guy earlier today. I admit to not being a nice guy sometimes. But in those instances, I have felt morally justified or have felt enough remorse to try to become better at it.

Malcolm X was a creep. He destroyed that 24 year old woman before he grew up? I forget. But I do remember that did happen and he felt bad about it. And he tried to change. And he did.

It is what it is. It's 2015. The internet has been around basically since 2000. That's 15 years. That's not many years. Yeah, it started earlier than that, but I don't think it kicked in before 2000. So we are in new territory. I don't think anyone knows whether we are striving for the end game of Heaven with nice food and chicks (no sexism), see i just sinned again. Am I doomed because yet again I took a dump on the zeitgeist's carpeting? Not at all. People can make good points, once in a while have a hissy fit, and still not be doomed. Then again the system sucks and make a lot of people feel doomed and like garbage. There are degrees of responsibility. There are degrees to anger. Is John McEnroe doomed? He was quite the asshole and quite often. I doubt it. And I saw him once on 60 Minutes explaining that that's how his family communicated. It was like George Costanza's parents. Maybe Morton Downey Jr. was condemned, but again I doubt it. Again, Dwight Howard might be onto something. I don't mean with basketball. You are correct the game has passed him and Rondo. He's decent, like you say, but the big goofy centers are being exposed by crafty small forwards and power forwards. Probably the three point shot is most to blame. On the other hand, there are always up to around five traditional centers who the other 25 teams wish they had, including Howard, but to a point.

He puts up good efforts despite his flaws. The problem is the amount of money he makes. And Harden might be overrated too in that respect. For the money he makes, is he really worth it? Does he make his teammates better? LeBron exposed himself on the court and in comments. I am not surprised he has had less success in the league than ESPN anticipated. It will be interesting to see what he comes up with as a general manager.

He is a ball hog, but if he is able to put quality stars around him like in Miami, he is greatness. That is the current fight. LeBron is Tiger Woods before the downfall. Does he overcome his narcissism and trying to do more than he should or does he open up his heart to greater possibilities?

There will be immense pressure on certain teams next year. I am thinking of Cleveland and the Clippers. Oh, and Oklahoma also seems on the clock.

That was what the basketball gods should have provided, Oklahoma versus Golden State with the winner against Atlanta. The basketball gods forgot to keep an eye on the cops and they injured Sefolosha. Cops are an interesting story. Despite how prescient we think we are, things still tend to come out of the woodwork. No one predicted the internet. No one predicted cops getting hoisted by their petards.

Tokyo Shemp said...

There's one sentence in there I wish I proofread. And I was looking at the four blog entries in one and now I am questioning my facts about which and which wasn't a pre-code. They had to come out in July 1934. Anything before July 1934 was good to go with none to little censorship.

We are always trying to catch up. I uploaded a Walter Brennan public domain movie. This is not a spoiler, but during a kids' masquerade party, one of them dressed as Aunt Jemina. That was 1949. That wasn't Al Jolson in 1928 which was bad enough.

This planet's been around for millions of years and this is the best we can do? How can one maintain dignity in such a world. This planet and the social structure has very choppy, spiritual waters.

Tokyo Shemp said...

documentary on social anxiety

I'm done.

donkeytale said...

Context is everthing. There was a time when I was highly offended at some of Frau Tale's comments but I have come to see that she is honest, brutally honest at times, and walks the walk. She is right. I am at best a spiritual adolescent, mostly enthralled to my emotions and what others think is best for me. It is only in the late stages that I've experienced an awakening, and it has been limited and subject to environmental factors.

It is during the tough times that we learn. Perhaps I need a stint as a girl in Nigeria, or wtf in a coming life.

By the way, reincarnation also encompasses animal lives, possibly even plants and the experience can spread over many thousands of years, maybe even millions of years. As humanity extincts itself we will pay the price by having our next lives limited to being cockroaches or weeds, whatever is left alive after a nuclear or environmental catastrophe.

Frau Tale posits that there is only one correct way to live and each of us must reach that point. Buddhism is not necessarily a laid back phemomenon for the serious practitioners, it is hard, takes immense courage and discipline to stay the course in the face of adversity.

Americans mostly don't get it, perverted as we are by our easy lives and the media into believing one need only say "Aum" over and over again and practice some stretching exercises and thats all there is to it. Be kind to others even when the others deserve (and need) some comeuppance to have their eyes opened to what is really real.

That is what the Frau has done for me. I used to resent it but now I get it and mostly she has backed off. I live in the now more than ever. I see what is in front of me and I tackle it with as clear a mind and intent as I can muster.

But it is a very difficult road to maintain on the correct side of it with all the distractions and others trying to push and pull me into different directions.

At the end it is all about us and it is all about our nothingness. Life remains unfathomable and only invested in the meaning we can create within it.

Tokyo Shemp said...

You're lucky to have a great wife, someone to make sure you don't succumb to the charms of Satan. Haha, you know that was a joke, but people who don't know me were probably like, what, Satan?

I just finished that documentary on social anxiety. I know we all hear about symptoms for just about everything and sometimes we go uh-oh, that's me. Or like with being INFP for personality type. One can be biased and read into something anyway they like.

I thought I'd turn out to be a thinker rather than feeling. The worst part of life is how memory fades. I am constantly googling words to check on spelling or googling to verify every fricken word and point for confirmation. I do not make mistakes on purpose, let's put it that way.

Social anxiety made sense to me, but I am not at all shy. Though that does come down to context. This is why people need to stay humble and read books. They need to have discipline. I think we have always gotten along well for the most part because we come from similar philosophical backgrounds. There are gaps in age, occupation, etc.. But we both went through the same kind of education with the same kind of open-mindedness.

Living in Ireland from 18-23 was very helpful. They got a double whammy for identity bashing. They were originally good guy pagans. They took it on the chin from the British and the Church. They tend to be insecure. A shy or awkward American becomes an extrovert in that country.

There is a spectrum. I hope Irish people forgive me for generalising.

Uhm, I don't have the shyness. I do get the knots in the stomach as described in the documentary.

Oh, I gotta wrap this up, but I do like when t's are crossed and i's are dotted.

Because I wasn't shy, I never considered that I was different. I never thought about introverts versus extroverts. Later on I would never understand why the teacher interviews were so horrifying. Now I do. And I am glad that I watched the documentary. The people involved were regular folks and nice. Someone on the show said that we are some of the most thoughtful and sensitive people in the world.

I get where you're coming from because it is an angle I too inhabit. Who the f--- would want to be a sociopath or psychopath? Who the triple F (inside baseball) would want to be a narcissist?

All we are doing is writing. No one is forced to read it. They can add comments if they like. I made a lot of mistakes as a moderator before, but I have been at this for nine years. You showed up in 2004, myself in 2006, I mean for stepping into the fray.

I dabbled a bit from 1999-2001. I remember being in the UMASS/Boston computer lab and going what the heck is going on? I was watching people doing for the first time what now most everyone is taking for granted. The internet. Boston. Education.

(continued)

Tokyo Shemp said...

I had a teaching job explained elsewhere. I was getting it done during 9/11. I didn't give up for quite some time even when that first big stage job didn't pan out. 2006 was the year my mom died. 2006 was the year I dove into the internet. It was the year I finally said fuck it, who cares?

But I did get the teaching job. I was a professional. It's like making the NBA but only being in it a year or two. But I still made it. And I was a substitute teacher for a bunch of years. I saw a lot of schools and met a lot of teachers and students.

I had a great life despite some first world issues. I never went hungry. I never had trouble making close friends and getting dates with cutie chicks. I wasn't shy. I wasn't full-blown space cadet. I'd like to learn more about people who aren't shy but experience social anxiety.

For me it's not being shy. It's something different. I don't think I'm capable of hate except for Hitler and cops, those types. But I used to get very frustrated or get a little disoriented/shy at times, things like interviews. Or like the guy in the documentary, I do not like going to supermarkets. But I can avoid that problem by going during off-hours.

On the internet, there are not many safe places to go to be one's self. I will say that joining the old movie lover community at YT had a good influence on me. Unfortunately, Youtube got changed. They made it so such a community could no longer exist. They want us to have our individual pages and that's that.

I think FDL got fed up with people like fakeleft dominating their blog. Lots of newspapers have gotten rid of comments all together. The big boy forums of the 2000's are cooked. I imagine ourselves and the other supertrolls had a lot to do with that. Dave Weintraub was like Tiger's latest US Open. The tipping point had already occurred in 2006 (e.g. see Holland, Francis, h/t stu piddy). So from 2006-2008 big boy forums started a precipitous decline. It was like Rumble in the Jungle. The ones before DFQ took the body blows and wore down Markos Foreman, then Dave Ali came in and gave him the anchor punch to end it. I imagine we are the last two standing from that era ever talking about it.

There was much, much more to Meta herstory, but the natural mystic in the air does that justice.

Tokyo Shemp said...

I should really proofread. I went junior year abroad in 1986. I listened into the wee hours the epic Red Sox choke on Armed Forces Radio. I was in Ireland the year U2 produced The Joshua Tree.

I was there in total about four years, that one, and three more doing the Masters in Social Theory. That must have been early 1989 to 1992. I also lived in Berkeley for one year and worked for Greenpeace out of SF. You said you were in Boston a bit, myself in California. More similarities. You come across as being a Creedence Clearwater styled hippie, myself more of the kumbaya species.

Oh, Donny Osmond narrated the doc and at the end he explained that he too experiences social anxiety. And no, I am not preparing one of those new age self-help books and trying to land a spot on Oprah.

Tokyo Shemp said...

I retract the faucet theorem. Writing is like a faucet. Just turn it on and move your hands. Just look at it as a rough draft. I'm speaking in general and not to anyone specifically. I was very good at teaching writing. That was my specialty. Teaching and herstoric academics are noble and indispensable parts and parcels of social reality morsels.

donkeytale said...

I spent 8 years in Boston and loved it. My daughter was born there. I met my second wife there and partied legendarily through the early 80s AIDS crisis living in the newly gentrifying South End.

In retrospect wished I had remained there. My best friend from those times recently passed away. We didn't stay in touch. I googled him and found an obit. We had formed a soul review with two chicks and did pantomines of Motown, OJays, etc at parties. He knew all the dance steps and we used to go second hand and put matching costumes together. Fun times.

I suffered greatly from anxiety as a pre-teen, I can recall being bent over for a time with severe lower back pain that was psychosomatic. They finally took me to the doctor, who berated my father as I recall for putting too much pressure on me to be the beisbol star that he was denied by the depression and a father who ignored him growing up.

Thing was, I loved beisbol and lived for it as a kid and most of the anxiety and all of the pressure were self induced. I remember sleepless nights before many games. I remember getting nervous tummy and having stomach upsets before games.

I didn't blame dad. He was a great teacher of the game in his own way, allowing me to take a limited physical ability (weak arm and very average foot speed) and parlay those into a successful career through high school. The problem was I never gave myself proper credit for my own contribution to my success and always self doubted my way along the path.

Later I had some success in Reno youth leagues when my parents split up and I tried out, made a team and became an All-Star all without any input from dad. That was a huge year for me psychologically, mainly because the level of competition was well below the LA youth leagues which were legendary back in the 60s-70s as hot beds of future majour league talent. I batted something like .550 and ran circles around my peers defensively.

D was the name of my game.

The best way to overcome social anxiety I have found is simply to find a means to overcome your fears and stand up to them.

For me, discovering that I had a sense of rhythm and that playing basic guitar was relatively easy was huge. Standing in front of a crowd, knowing you suck but getting over was an early way to combat social anxiety. Public speaking another way. Everyone with anxiety is too self conscious and self critical.

Once you get inside and inhabit the act of what you are doing and loose the self consciousness and worry about whether you suck or not all the anxiety evaporates.

That is the key element. Inhabit yourself and the moment and forget the rest of the extraneous thoughts. In singing it is concentrating on the soound of your voice and not worrying about how that sound is received. Flubbing it and realising it's not the end of the world, in fact most non musical people wont even recognise a flub if you keep going and they still dig it and admire you for having the guts THEY mostly lack was an important part of the learning curve.

donkeytale said...

Stealing me mummy's valium also helped. A bit of the anti-anxiety meds can play a very useful role in combatting the problem.

Just dont become addicted. It's not fun to kick that habit. And don't ever mix with alcohol. Trust me on that one. Black out time. To this day I am not sure how i Survived many of those bouts with drinks and tranqs. And those over a period of years up til less than about 10 years ago.

I have now done enough public speaking, making presentations, being on the hot seat in front of upset clients, etc that I no longer feel even a twinge of nervousness beforehand.

And this was something I fretted for days before speech class in school or early work career.

Now I wing it and it flows and I dont give a shit what "they" think.

Some of that comes with age and repeated experience and realising you are never going to be Lincoln at the podium and no one expects you to be. Plus, HA! Abe himself suffered no small amount of social anxiety and surely thought he flopped at Gettysburg too.

Besides, social anxiety can be a natural protection. People who get involved too easily can end up dead if they fall in with the wrong crowd at the wrong time.

donkeytale said...

The Red Sox choke was sickening, especially as it came on the heels of the angels choking to the Red Sox. Donnie Moore killed himself. Buckner probably could have done same.

That is the problem with beisbol from an anxiety standpoint. It is a team game but the plays themselves are totally individual. One guy can screw it up all by hisself. And as an infielder, when the pressure is highest the hard hit ball to which you purely react is the best. The dinker that doesnt really bounce and has weird spin like the one Bill Bucks misplayed at first are most difficult.

I was rooting for the Angels against Boston and for the Sox against the Mets, so maybe my bad karma jinxed both. But yeah, that was a historical bummer year.

The antidote was the Gibson-Hershiser heroics two years later when the Dodgers swept the heavily favoured A's. Orel was immense that season. Unhittable.

The Gibson limp off pinch hit homer one of the alltime WS moments that keyed the entire series for LA.

For the record, not a Creedence guy, although the band did have a couple of their songs in the repetoire, mainly because they were crude and very easy for no talent amateurs to play and sing.

But your overall thesis is correct, CCR were HUGE at the time, especially at dances because they were one of the few white rhythm soaked bands. Ditto the Stones, whom I much preferred.

Tokyo Shemp said...

The overbearing parent/coach of young athletes is one of those topics that falls into the Venn diagram connecting sports to meaning. I doubt in the big scheme of things it truly matters why Dwight Howard sucks at free throws. Your story reminds me of that gymnastic coach of Nadia Comaneci. Did you see the Great Santini? That was when I finally said okay, Duvall is greatness. I remember him slamming the basketball on his kid's head.

Macho coaches.

And yes, that 1986 baseball season including the Boston-Angels clearly drops into the significance column for introspection. I felt so bad for the Angels' pitcher. Dave Henderson was the original Dave Ortiz for clutchness. Buckner wasn't even supposed to be in the game. Stapleton was meant to be there for defensive purposes and he was arguably not that bad a hitter. Buckner must have been cartilage on cartilage at that point. Not. His. Fault.

Bob Stanley was the other goat. But it's tough to blame him too much because he was nasty with the sinkers. He was not a traditional closer. You're kind of asking for trouble putting in pitchers who are more likely to throw a wild pitch. Yet this is the kind of discussion that will turn off the non-sports fan. But where they should care about Donnie Moore. 1986 was also a bookend for 1978 in terms of cementing a feeling of being cursed. That might interest some folks not into sports but into psychology.

I definitely remember 2004. I do remember Kirk Gibson too. That was true drama. But nothing matches the Red Sox winning four in a row against the Yankees. Nothing.

Even non-sports fans in the area were drawn into it. They experienced the change in personality of the sports fans in their lives.

Maybe that's not too important, but it's a look at human nature. I was a front runner for 2007 and the third one from a couple years ago. 2004 ended baseball history, imho.

The whole identity of being a Sox fan had changed for eternity. I also liked the Grand Slam element for Boston. The Patriots were huge in 2001. They got the party started. I front ran with the Bruins to complete the slam. The Celtics of course I followed them for 2007 with Pierce and KG. I felt very lucky to have gotten to watch him while he still had it.

There are tons of rumors flying around about my favourite team and sport. If it happens, that will be fun to read all the articles. I read Toronto might be doing a fire sale. That means the Celtics could be in line to easily win their division. Not that that matters too much. But maybe Danny figures Cleveland is the only team to worry about in the East, so he is getting ready to start some fireworks. Cleveland looks tough, but not the no way we are all doomed until LeBron retires tough.

Tokyo Shemp said...

One scientist says we will be starting the 6th extinction in 100 years. I tweeted that myself and you might have to chill out as cockroaches for a few million years, but then when all was said and done, we'd emerge with a superblog.

I did what the academic gods would have wanted me too. I reconstructed your schtick. I did not reinvent the wheel. Then I added something to it.

Yes, the actual music of CCR was not was I was driving the zeitgeist bus towards. The point was there ae two kinds of hippies, deadheads and the less touchy-feely variety. "Are you going to San Francisco" versus "Hey, you, get off of my cloud." Or to use the band I mentioned, "Have you ever seen the rain."

The Beatles were chameleons. They could chill with gurus and sing, "All you need is love." Other days they could say fuck that and "Helter Skelter!"

They also could delve into surreaism with "Number nine. Number nine."

I am not sure if this is a digression or on point. I still need to do more research on the excitable amygdala.

Tokyo Shemp said...

Oh God, there are some crazy sentences I wrote. I got back from a good walk and am still cooling down. I'm getting off my internet addicted arse more, so the blood is circulating. I've stepped up my irl game.

Twitter was actually more fun than usual today. Reading up on social anxiety has kicked in.

It's not a bad place to be able to get quick news. You have to, the word is ... (Groucho- today's magic word is curate).

So I've got my various sources. PINAC is looking good, but you have to search for Carlos Miller written material. He's been at it a long time. The others are copying and pasting.

We are in the copy/paste era, where it doesn't matter what you say, it matters who you are in regards to status. If you have the status, say like the Daily Mail, go on and plagiarise! Just take the work of others. Ugh. Done.

Tokyo Shemp said...

Weed is definitely good for me and my propensity to overreact. I need to google marijuana and amygdala. I googled that fricken word anyway. It's right behind the eyes. So next time some sudden noise or whatnot gets your panties in a bunch, pay attention to that area.

It's better for folks to confront whatever internal problems may be occurring.

There are some interesting things in my twitter timeline. It's kind of too much work to repeat here. I am still thinking about the kid who sold bow-ties and assaulted Asian women. The guy snapped. He was innocent by means of insanity. And he's dead anyway. He killed himself in the most gruesome yet perhaps clever of manners. It was textbook death by internet.

Another story I found intriguing was the one with the lawsuit against former homeowners and the deed/title company for not disclosing some manian has been stalking the house. Yes, it's unbelievable. It sounds like The Shining.

All they have are letters from some creep calling himself The Watcher. I thought maybe it was Neal Rauhauser, but he had some hoax a few years back with The Protectors.

I would love to get a photographic memory for my next earth gig or whatever planet I get assigned to. Who knows. We may all be getting evicted soon.

But with the photographic memory probably also comes with a pencil up one's butt. Howard Gardner talked up that there are multiple routes to intelligence. He is a Harvard professor. He is a good guy, so to speak. If he had power instead of Arne Duncan, we would not be in the mess we are in regards to public ed and charter school crap.

I done good with that campaign. I got vindicated. And I bailed out at a good point once the right wingers started attacking Deray.

I think there is a way to search people's tweets by dates. I'm not sure how that works. I could always request all my tweets from Twitter and then repost them at a second blogger to link to. Maybe I don't care that much. Twitter is sort of that free speech zone in Berkeley where all the characters come out to play.

I kind of want to tweet Jane Hamscher and see if the three of us might want to put together a film.

Not sure why, but I will end this with a reference to White Man Falling. At the time it was seen more as entertainment, but gosh darn it, Wally, it was prescient.

"I don't want lunch, Rick. I want breakfast."

A plane had to be diverted to Ireland because an alleged unhinged man demanded more snack nuts.

"I am not economically viable."

That goes without saying for a lot of people and probably much more as we `globalise'.

I hope Bernie wins, but I am cynical.

People forget Hillary runs a cult like Obama pulled off.

The Democrats are like the Cavaliers with no competition because the Republicans are such lunatics.

I predict the Democratics better get dirty (socratise) Republicans with truth staples once they get to the Finals.

Bernie is very good with those, but is America ready to elect the guy who created Seinfeld?

Tokyo Shemp said...

How'd I forget the worst of the worst, Calvin Schiraldi?

1986
The Boston Globe
One strike away: The standard for booting victory is set
by grumpy Dan Shaughnessy

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2004/10/22/one_strike_away_the_standard_for_booting_victory_is_set/

Tokyo Shemp said...

Sorry for more dumb mistakes. I must be regressing like the flowers for algernon dude. It's called Falling Down with Michael Douglas. Duvall was also in that and so was Barbara Hershey who seems to have had a bit too much plastic surgery. Here's some free advice for actors and actresses or any other people into plastic surgery. Don't. Do. It. Hollywood.

Tokyo Shemp said...

It's not the greatest excuse for my 10th grade writing level, but I'm jonesing.

donkeytale said...

Yes, I saw that blatent "cockroach" schtick theft, no need to own up to it just repeat it a few times and where good. I take it as the highest compliment that I know that you know that I know in spurts.

donkeytale said...

Yes, I saw that blatant "cockroach" schtick theft, no need to own up to it just repeat it a few times and all good. I take it as the highest compliment when you acknowledge when I know that you know that I know.

donkeytale said...

I love my dad. He meant well and his intentions were good even if his heart was impure.

Amen, I loved that man and he did the best he thought it could.

As it stands all these years later, I am forever eternally grateful, if not longer.

donkeytale said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Beda3kFNjo

Tokyo Shemp said...

Yes, that tune. Precisely.

Tokyo Shemp said...

Good save. You bailed me out. I was just hanging there, rambling. I know what you did there. I almost deleted one of those. It's a writing lesson. You did that for the kids just setting out into the world with their writing chops.

I just tweeted that tune. I ain't no fortunate triple f. Again, precisely. That was the song.

donkeytale said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjN8huzS2Nc

Tokyo Shemp said...

That tune is not so precise. :/

donkeytale said...

LOL. Feeling melancholy last night. I love that Chi-Lites tune. Reminds me of a girl I once loved long ago with all my heart....but her ardor did not match mine and she ended up with someone else.

Music allows me back inside those memories rendering them elegiac and warm instead of depressing.




donkeytale said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwNuQulK6N0

Tokyo Shemp said...

It's not a bad tune, and even better with higher quality (some yt videos being more equal than others). I am listening to the new CCR video you posted. It sounds good.

I have been busy trying to figure out targeted individuals. I know that you know it is all over the place, especially in Greenwald comment sections at The Intercept.

They came out with a new Snowden doc release, perhaps that was on Monday. It is sort of like a sequel to the "Cyber Magician" doc that hit the cointelpro spot.

I am talking about total vindication for my cointelpro schtick.

Apparently according to their own leaked docs (hat tip Edwardo and Greenie), JTRIG loves to produce idiotic, "conspiracy story" videos.

Vindication is sweet.

Tokyo Shemp said...

I had to google the meaning of the song. Fogerty's parents got divorced. Pops said someday he'd understand. It never happened. Then Fogerty repeated the activity with his own son. But I assume somehow you already knew that or maybe not.

Fortunate Son was precise. This one not so much. A+ for Fortunate Son. This one a C-.

donkeytale said...

The meaning of precision is itslef imprecise.

For me, it is in the perfect blending of the emotive vocals, the expressively rhythmic musical accompaniment and the words.

Sometimes clearly rendered words aren't even necessary. The Stones picked up on an old blues trait which may have begun accidentally because of the poor quality of the recording equipment used in the Jim Crow era. Here is Elvis version of a Jimmy Reed song. Reed was a huge influence on the Stones, as of course was Elvis hisself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDjY2VcLq7o

Many Stones songs blend the vocals inside the musical track where they become one more rhythm instrument in the mix as opposed to layering the vocal over the top of the music or in front, if you will.

Otis purposefully mixed his vocals inside the rhythm section. Posthumously, his signature hit "Dock of the Bay" was remixed and the result was his greatest hit.

The Chi-lites tune is one of the most precise renderings of an universal emotion that I can think of. It is more complex rhythmically than anything Creedence did, and the song builds gorgeously through the meandering slow tempo, as more instruments are added and the harmony vocals build behind the great tenor lead of Gene Robinson.

"Fortunate Son" is my favourite CCR number and it is different than most of their songs, a full out rocker with a slashing rather than "rolling" rhythm. But what makes CCR is the emotive blast of Fogerty's voice above the elemental, one can say crude, rhythm section.

"Rolling on a River" perfectly describes the guitar playing in 95% of CCR songs.

But listen what happens when more instruments are added and the song rocks out with horns and shouting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UyCb2FHt_w

Similarly, listen to Otis workout of "Satisfaction." Keith stated that he was blown away because this was precisely what he had in mind for the riff when he conceived it, horns.

Ike and Tina went mainstream largely through touring the US with the Stones in 1969.

Otis recorded "satisfaction" as a nod to Mick and Keith for including one of his songs on one of their early album which brought him royalties but more importantly put his name in front of the boomer teen white audience, from where he became one of the best known performers during the Summer of Love, a status he achieved while still remaining popular on the R & B charts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya-X68xDJzs

Say what you want about the boomers, the sixties, the rip off of black musicians by white that characterises rock n roll, but the widespread interplay between the races was borne of the shared appreciation of and different approaches to the popular music form that underscored the 60s rock and soul music era.

Otis became a cross over star at Monterey Pop Festival, 1967.

His guitarist and song writing partner, Steve Cropper, was a southern white boy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmnZRBTPzg0



donkeytale said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMMTPt4OtG4

donkeytale said...

This concludes todaze fake musical expert commentary and classic rock formatting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMMTPt4OtG4

donkeytale said...

LOL. Wrong tune.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIPan-rEQJA

Also the name of a good movie based on an even better novel by Robert Stone.

"Dog Soldiers"

Tokyo Shemp said...

I switched the diary leader board back to the last seven days. You are at the top with a repeat from 2010. Only in Amerikkka.

I haven't seen Dog Soldiers yet. It has a good rating, so I'll probably watch it if it comes to my youtube attention.

I mentioned CCR in regards to how our hippie quotient differs. Fortunate Son was a manly way of saying fuck you with bad wars.

Someday never comes kind of had nothing to do with it.

A student can write the most fantastic stuff, but if it doesn't answer the question, the essay is going to be docked points.

The song you selected was okay but broke that rule.

The chili doves or wtf was also a good tune, but also off-topic, and the yt upload seemed a bit scratchy or not of the best quality. Hence you got the C-.

Now since we are daydreaming perhaps into 'Nam days, that C- was grade inflation to help you avoid dropping out and being sent to Vietnam or Canada.

I think I'm ready to do a blog entry. It will be on targeted individuals I suppose, but much, much more. I skimmed through my old Theresa Duncan entry yesterday and can see some merit to marathon-styled long form.

I feel a bit tired and cranky today. I feel like Danny Ainge.

I'm not in the mood for Twitter. I'm not in the mood for you dominating the top spot on the leader board.

Just kidding. But seriously, there is nothing better than writing something and hitting publish. Plus, Tiger Woods is probably triggering bad reactions in the delicate flowers and spy factory personnel who seem fixated on the kookier elements of this blog.

So in conclusion with good faith and forthright homage to the blog gods, it is time to take things up a notch or at least mail something in to keep pressing forward.

donkeytale said...

The movie version is called "Who'll Stop the Rain". Dog Soldiers is the novel upon which it was based. The movie "Dog Soldiers" may in fact be a different flick.

I think Twitter tends to increase peoples' anality. Something about the rigid format.

Not you of course. What was up with Boston drafting all those guards. Well, I guess Ainge had to do something with all his picks, since nobody wanted them in a trade.

Nice to see my oldies still charting. Nothing like yours of course. You are the dark side of the moon of the DFQ2 charts

Tokyo Shemp said...

On Twitter, just based on my experience, it does feel like walking on eggshells. Perhaps this is due to knowing that the people on your feed are going to keep getting your tweets. It turns into a please pardon my indulgence schtick.

The good thing about Twitter is you can send direct messages to anyone on it in the form of public tweets. I am using a different definition for dm's. I know, those are private.

The flip side to that is the block button. Unless one is willing to start over or not piss people off ever, those opportunities dwindle. E.G., you get one crack of the bat against Glenn Greenwald, then you're done. You're blocked.

On the Celtics' drafting: I probably looked like a dumbass on Twitter last night mentioning Philly taking too many centers. I guess they never heard of Asik and Dwight Howard. When you have too many of one position, potential trading partners know you have to get rid of one of them. The bargaining power is defeated from the get-go.

There is no reason for Celtics fans to blow a gasket. I heard Danny explaining last night that of course there is no way all these players can stay on the roster. He mentioned the Euro stash market, maybe the D-League.

The Celtics appear to be in the driver's seat for getting a couple free agents. The current rumour is Robin Lopez, Kevin Love, and Paul Pierce. I would definitely do that if possible. Tanking sucks. Yeah, let's waste a year or years of our lives watching GM's force their teams to lose. No thanks.

Danny will take a beating if things stand from yesterday. He won't from me. I realise even if the team stays steady at around 40-45 wins, that area, it's okay. Patience is a virtue.

Danny says the teams with the higher draft picks were being ridiculous in what they demanded in return.

I was against Kevin Love, but what the heck, sign those three guys up. They would cost nothing as they are free agents. Even if their former teams do sign and trade to you, that price is never too high.

I am starting to think Love will join Boston. It would be his team. HIS.

The C's closed out the season 24-12. If you add on Love, Lopez, and Pierce, while resigning Crowder, that team will instantly become the favourite to get the #2 seed behind Cleveland. That would be a remarkable accomplishment for a two year rebuild. The best part of that would be the C's would still have all those future, unprotected draft picks from Brooklyn and one from Memphis for 2019.

Life is too short for tanking. Yet, one doesn't want to give up 80% of the assets to get one guy, say DeMarcus Cousins.

I remain "In Danny we trust," at least for a year or two. He had a remarkable GM season last year. Look it up if you don't believe me.

The roster when Stevens first came here was steaming hot garbage. This was an amazing turnaround in culture by him, Ainge, and the players.

This is not the time to move backwards. It is also not the time to get fleeced.

Mike Gorman the t.v. guy and Scalabrini both said that Danny's success with the KG trade and those trades last year have other GM's fearful he will bamboozle them. Scal used that word. I bet he reads this blog and stole that from me.

Tokyo Shemp said...

There is a jazz vocalist named Carole Troll. Her username is @Thejazzchick. I thought no way could that be true, but apparently it is.

This reminds me of an episode of Hill Street Blues where this dude lamented having the name Vic Hitler. He was asked why not just change it. He said it's his family name and it seems unfair. It was a bad place for him because as a comedian having the last name Hitler didn't exactly inspire chuckles.

donkeytale said...

I have no feel for Twitter or desire for it. Literally, you are the only one I watch. And I'm blocked, BTW. I can only get there in incognito mode or cell phone. LOL.

It's been a heady few days for Obamabots. The Presidit even sang at the funeral in Charleston, slightly off key with Amzing Grace but hey, he was acapella. It's hard to find the spot without musical tones to guide you and certainly he's no professional.

But I mean, could you picture Dick Nixon whipping through his version of "Brown Sugar" back in 73?

And now we have legal weed and legal gay marriage. States rights seems to be more more on the down low.

Sanders is raising cash and looks strong in NH. The post-Obama roll to the left that I predicted seems to be developing. Hillary is beatable and she will have to move left to remain viable.

Interesting times. Sanders weakness is among minourities. He is Mr. Whiteysphere. I he can chip away some the coloured voters he standds a good chance. Bernie;s schtick seems to be we are in a class war not a race war. Ideally this is true, however, he needs to reach out and address the fact that there is both class and racial privilege at work in this country and it is insidious.

He can win but he has to play his cards well.

Tokyo Shemp said...

Aaah, I see you did read my tweets. I said legal weed, legal gay marriage, then why not aim higher with of course the non-violence disclaimer so I don't get SWAT detention.

Did I block you? What's your username? I'll unblock it. If someone is following you and you don't want them to, you have to block them to get rid of them.

In my mentions I got a response from a Dallas chief or wtf. I had linked to a local story and asked for info. I haven't looked yet at what he wrote.

I am already formulating my response. Maybe you can help me. I'll bring in the Baltimore ex-cop who's telling all about the BPD. You only get 140 characters, though there's no law against making more than one tweet. It is another opening that I described above.

Any ideas. You can see who I'm talking about through my Twitter page. Hit conversation to see his response(s). I'm afraid to look!

I have respect for the liberty kooks filming cops. Unless if I find out they are like a form of Alex Jones selling, gold, bitcoin, etc.. I feel it is safe to go out on a limb that the PINAC guys are not cointelpro.

Yes, a hard left turn is taking place. I am not going to confront cops with video phones. Maybe I will figure out how to do that just in case. But I can tweet those guys.

Anyway, any advice on how to proceed will be taken in account. You are the Bobby Kennedy voice of left center reason to Jack Kennedy's living the good life until that fateful day in Dallas. This is Walter Cronkite. Good night and may all the news be good.

Tokyo Shemp said...

I bet John Chancellor could be a mean bastard after a few whiskeys. And I made up that fake quote from Cronkite.

Tokyo Shemp said...

We have a Black president. Police mayhem is finally getting coverage. Legal weed. Lots of free stuff from entertainment to news to open ocean bloviating from anyone who wants to. I am seeing a sharp increase in death by internet. I mean, I am seeing more stories that resemble that topic we pioneered to be placed in the academic god textbooks for truth. Dave was death by internet. Bouldin made Dfq feel bad about his weight. He took it off too fast.

Annette Appollo from Democratic Underground, she was another story. There have been many deaths that can be directly attributed to the internet.

I hope my next blog entry comes easy. For a preview people can check out the Myron May story. That is another one.

The problem is there are a million stories out there. And we are unpaid.

There's not much incentive to make epic blog entries. Even the small ones are draining.

I am now remembering an 80 year old professor who covered the sociology supplement to a course. He was prescient. He would put everyone to shame nowadays including us, or maybe not that good.

Anyway, this must have been 1985. He talked about how all the info for receipts and eventually everything was being recorded and collected and that was a dangerous thing. I forget his name. But it was real. It was mind-blowing. They don't make enlightenment like they used to.

Tokyo Shemp said...

I just thought it'd be cool to get him to join a police reform movement. We then petition to get a contract put into law that every cop must sign. They will get fired and arrested for any crimes.

E.G. I will never be rude. No intimidation. People have right to film. No steroids. What if you made all cops take steroids tests and often with those on them being fired immediately? That is definitely a part of the problem as I recently learned.

Tokyo Shemp said...

I have discovered a new condition to be coined as amygdala on fire. It is centered right behind the eyes as repeated four times by now. I believe enlightenment can only be attained through the amygdala. Think about not being baked. Then think about being baked. Where does the head rush take place? Research is still in the early stages.

Tokyo Shemp said...

Hey! I could hook him up with the nasty blowhard sheriff from Milwaukee. I could pull a Frank Burns Rauhauser and try to social engineer a fight between them.

Tokyo Shemp said...

divide, deflect, dingleberry, douche, disabuse, denigrate.... Have you seen any of those Snowden docs? There are new ones. I will provide the links in my new entry. The Spy Factory are fixated on the letter D.

Sooner or later all that has to be crushed. This is not being prescient. It's common sense. This wackadoo shmenauschken is straight out of George Orwell.

Anyway, Erich Fromm is looking prescient. Same with Marcuse.

Tokyo Shemp said...

Oh yes, I almost forgot. Tell me what to tweet Bernie Sanders. 140 characters a pop including usernames. I'll start it with donkeytale asks or however you like it.

donkeytale said...

I don't know. Do the spaces count in the 140?

"You rock, sir. What's your plan to attract minourity voting blocks aligned with Hillary? Needed to win nom"

donkeytale said...

Look, Dallas police are generally benign. I grew up in LA. I know bad cops when I see them. Now, the State Troopers who patrol the highways...those are the assholes in Texas. They pull over a preponderance of blacks and search their cars all the time without suspicion.

But the problems in Dallas in the criminal justice system stem mostly as a legacy from the 80s and earlier times. Many railroaded into prison terms in those days. Several have been released through Innocence Project (I'm a supporter and know both some of the attorneys involved and even one of the more well known of the exonerated victims) but this is a painstaking process and takes decades to unfold for these cases.

The big cities in Texas aren't even identifiable as "Southern" as most of the residents are transplanted from everywhere else. And they are, slowly to be sure, becoming racially integrated in time as a rising economy lifts all boats.

Most of the overt racism where it still exists is in the rural areas and even here the fervidity has mostly died down.

After all, Texas is home to a swelling Latino population both urban and rural all over the state and the people are for the most part open and welcoming. This isn't Arizona.

You saw the incident with the cop in McKinney. He was kicked to the curb immediately, disgraced and de-badged. Yes, there were some stupid whites who didnlt like the fact that black kids were whupping it up in the community pool but the fact that this is a wealthy suburb and there are even enough black kids living there to hold a pool party says something about racial progress in Dallas, however bumpy can be the specific incidents.

donkeytale said...

In fact the pool party was integrated.

My son goes to University in Dallas that is heavily integrated, whites may not even hold plurality status in fact as the school specialises in high tech.

He literally doesn't even recognise racial composition and I gather most of his friends of this late millenial generation do not. And he and they regards themselves as libertarian and economic conservatives.

He dates interracially more than he does white girls (chip off the old block there). He hates the criminal justice system, racism, NSA, gay bigotry, etc.

It is still my belief that racial differences attract more than repel and the world is inexorably loosing the ability to make racial distinctions. What we are seeing with the nut cases on the fringe is the reaction by a dying breed.

Much like the current conservative opposition by old people as represented by the fossilised but still large Tea Party and conservative GOP.

donkeytale said...

Francis X Holland should take sustenance from the attitude of many perhaps most of todaze kid.

Cracks me up that you got crosswise with Francis.

donkeytale said...

The amygdala is the lizard brain, correct?

Perhaps this is the location of the Id?

The Id must become more evolved and people must gain consciousness of our impulses before we can allow them enough space to let go before we act on them.

I think that was the essence of the teaching of the Buddha.

But I could be wong.

Tokyo Shemp said...

I just tweeted Bernie with your question. It is a good one. He is definitely a David from Queens fighting against the establishment Goliath.

I googled lizard brain with amygdala and you're correct. Early results seem to be the same old, same old of pushing sublimation and conformity. But I am feeling extremely lazy today. I could spend hours becoming fixated on this lizard brain meme.

Though I do agree there is something to be said about avoiding negative, reactionary impulses.

I'm just saying people need to be careful and always consider the source.

The worst thing people can do is always look to others for answers. There's simply too much deception, bias confirmation, and self-promotion in this world.

Paulo Freire figured it out. It's all about language. Are we going to be active subjects or listener objects? This is a major problem. The wolves are running the hen house and telling us what words mean, what reality is.... I am obviously quite fascinated by the West's ambitious program to militarise the internet through conspiracy stories.

This stuff is now out there. It's kind of funny, this feeling of vindication. I mean, my schtick early and often evolved into how the ones promoting conspiracy theories were full of shite rather than being sincere kooks. Even though this vindication only applies to me and it is an unknown vindication, it is bittersweet.

I woo have a good guy fetish for the Black race. Skin colour is only on the surface. Race is clearly a social construct. And you are spot on that Bernie is spot on pointing to class more than race as what should be the point of departure for saving American society.

Yet, yourself, me, myself and Irene, and Bernie must know that race does matter. I see it as America is bleeding and in pain and a lot of if not most of that is located with African-American suffering. Thus, it really is a conundrum. It's nuanced. It takes some work to piece together social reality. But sorry to sound arrogant, this is speaking to the small choir of the enlightened. Unfortunately, too many are way behind in gaining authentic consciousness.

Bernie really does need to figure out how to win the Black vote. They have been the most reliable Democratic Party demographic for a long time now. Black people truly represent the leftier than thou movement. But they also represent just another group to be exploited by mainstream DINOs still dominating the party.

Just because someone is Black, it doesn't mean they know everything or are not also susceptible to being bamboozled (see Ainge, Danny and Brooklyn).

Great question. Very pragmatic. Great advice. Maybe Bernie can make this a race (no pun intended) after all. But he has to take risks. He has to strategise like a Bill Belichick. He has to be like a George Costanza and do the opposite of what's expected. He has to cross the status quo dimension and actually get the votes that Hillary assumes are in her back pocket.

Bernie could get the libertarian vote. He could have them register Democrat. I am not a conspiracy theory freak to the point of saying we are doomed to an eternity of iluminatti control. I refuse to get that kooky.

As for the Francis X scandal, that was very painful in real time, to have to come to terms with one of my heroes turning out to be in the back pocket of DINOs. Speaking of which, I was a big fan of Dino Radja. Once a Celtic, always a Celtic. Bring back Paul Pierce. Put Bernie in the Oval Office. The struggle continues.

Tokyo Shemp said...

Danny didn't do too badly. I just watched video highlights of #33 pick Mickey Jordan. He could be the poor man's Bill Russell with better offense. Is he tall enough to play center. He is only a bit shorter than Cowens/Russell.

I think he is the rich man's Brandan Wright.

I've been tired all day. Maybe some coffee will wake me up. It's weird to hit enlightenment and still have to fill out the rest of the life schedule. That's what it feels like.

People say there is always something left to learn. Like what?

And I am not saying it has always been that way for me. I only got to this point over the last year or two.

It's like we're born alone, we die alone, and we blog alone.

I did see that the amygdala might be the victim of discrimination. People say it is the fear and distraction zone. They call it a lizard. But I also saw it is the emotional zone. It is the center by which morality and ethics form. It is a reward zone.

Maybe I am reading too much into the early research. Maybe I won't be doing any more on it. Ringo Starr said, "It's all in the mind." Now that makes sense.

I guess one great thing about the internet is that it has given us the ability to stop pussy footing around and just spit it out, of course hopefully based on good sources and being reasonable, using critical thinking, making it readable, etc..

donkeytale said...

Well, its an interesting part of the human psychology but yeah a few people have mined that vein, such as Buddha and Freud to mention a few.

I'm guessing you could still do it justice in your inimitable fashion.

Well, the jury is out on Ainge the GM. In two years it will have been a decade since the title that was wrought through free agency and/or sign and trades.

The word I heard was he tried frantically to move up but that's the problem he faces....a slew of draft picks no one wanted, which is why he has them in the first place. He traded players no one really needed for picks no one really needed, everybody hoping to get lucky in the process.

So, we'll see if any of these guys, any of em on each team from #1 on down develops. The NBA draft is always a crapshoot and not that many stars are ever born who truly change the course of NBA herstory.

He probably waited too long to break up the championship team but hindsight as they say is like x-ray glasses.

At least he got one ring and still has a chance for more. However, the drafting track record for the Celts isn't that great the last several years. Very few legit diamonds in the rough have emerged into greatness, maybe none in fact.

You will always say the glass is half full with Ainge so that's factored into your analysis.

FWIW, 9 out of the last 10 San Antonio top draft picks have been foreign players. In fact, Duncan himself was a foreign born player from Jamaica-mon, but of course he played his college ball at Wake, back in the day college players stayed in school.

I think it would be better for both the college and pro games if they stayed in school at least 2-3 years before becoming eligible, or reach the age of 20 or something.

There is always free agency....



Tokyo Shemp said...

Brad Stevens says there are four positions he thinks about:

"I look at ball-handlers, wings, swings and bigs."

Basically you need one guy on the roster just in case who is a truly big big. If you don't have one, you can still win. Bogut was still needed to get by Houston?

I've seen Russell on video. He was not only a genius at blocking, but also with keeping it in play.

Add D. Howard's lack of much growth as a Russell force at shot blocking to go with his lousy free throws. Jordan can also hit jumpers. I think McHale had very long arms too. This guy is athletic like Bill Russell. He may be the consensus steal.

I admit the #16 Rozier pick was a big risk by Danny considering he is redundant and not a good shooter. You can only have so many Tony Allens in the rotation.

The last pick Marcus Thornton wasn't even rated to be drafted. I think around 85 he was predicted. Rozier at 25-30.

The second pick from the Doc coach move seems like another Gigi Datome type of selection. Not the fastest, but crafty and can shoot.

These things are crap shoots. Marcus Smart is greatest at defense, the best one in the league pound for pound. But then there are the other parts of the game he can't suck at. We have this guy James Young, very young to go with his name. He can shoot lights out. His basement to ceiling is literally out of the league in one year to hall of fame. There's no way to tell.

There is turmoil in Sacramento and New York. The Lakers seemed to make a crazy selection too for the #2 pick. But I admit I'm provincial and some of my stuff will require a grain of salt. Like saying Jordan can play center. He can if the other team doesn't have much for that position, the traditional big big.

This has to mean Bass is gone. We have Olynyk and Sully. Jerebko must be gone. But this is where speculation is pointless, like with all the hype with the draft. Actions speak louder than conjecture.

Trades and free agency is next. It is unpredictable. The only thing one can predict is that if nothing happens, certain guys are gone based on being free agents or not having guaranteed contracts.

People are flipping it out and it is so pointless. Oh, and Michael Jordan is under the gun for reportedly turning down a Celtics Godfather pick for their #9 pick. All this stuff will be very fascinating..... at some point in the unknown future.

Tokyo Shemp said...

I didn't see you posted. I'll read that, thanks.

Tokyo Shemp said...

a godfather package is what they call it.

Tokyo Shemp said...

I'll clarify my position on Ainge. He was brilliant for 2008 winning the title. You can't put together a more cupcake styled title winner. Doc was good for the karma, but many believe it was Thibodeau's defensive prowess that got it done. And just look at that roster. It would have cleaned the floor with Golden State. Bet. On. It.

The league is mediocre in a historic comparison, imho.

We can't really blame expansion because that happened many years ago it seems. It has to be the draft/college system. I agree. And the contracts are now shorter. LeBron is now playing head games with the Cleveland owner/GM. Do they even have a GM? We know Blatt because you can see him on the sidelines.

LeBron is out of control!

There are definitely a lot of free agent bigs on the free market. Some teams are stacked at center and need guards, the opposite of the Celtics.

I do agree those picks are overrated. But give it a half year. What if Brooklyn ends up one of the worst teams? It's possible.

Danny is definitely overrated by some. Few teams have won a title though, so it's like winning a Major and you get an exemption no matter what for years to come.

Danny did wait too long to break up the Big Three party. He was also incompetent at keeping the thing together the way San Antonio did around their aging core.

Though if Shaq could have held up one more season, that was going to be a title.

Danny is a homerun hitter. Hinkie is a pussy. Danny may strike out a lot, but he got a lot of taters and ribbies. Now he is being pitched around by the opposition. They'd rather give him a free base than throw some Kentucky juice over the plate.

Danny waited too long, but he got bailed out by Brooklyn.

I think he's going to pick up a couple free agents which will shut everyone up and make hysterical panties in a bunch Celtics blowhard fans wet themselves.

I like the way we discuss it and I had another friend we talked like this. It's too early in the process. These other people are obsessed and never stop whining.

Say the C's are better than everyone else says and on a trajectory ceiling of 50 win credibility? I'd take that. Kudos to GS for winning 66 or 67 games and other teams who do that. I also remember Howard on Orlando never winning anything despite being near that level, nor Cleveland with LeBron part one.

There are a lot people running around like chickens with their heads chopped off trying to be prescient, like their lame posts will be vindication gold to be used during later posting frenzies at some future date.

This is the first time the Celtics have ever had this kind of cap space to compete for free agents. All the C's need is one to instantly be near Atlanta and Cleveland.

These people I lurk at the CelticsBlog forum are so cynical, from thinking we are in no man's land to complaining about the lack of tanking, to praising Philadelphia.

It gets so lame I am at the breaking point and may stop visiting to read that gigatic depository of verbal diarrhea. I'm done. I'd rather get back to a monster jigsaw puzzle than to read any more of these emotional, lizard breath posts concerning basically a game. They need to get a life. Maybe I do too, but I'm referring to them.

donkeytale said...

Russell was the best alltime. If his gazillion NBA rings isn't convincing enough his 2 NCAA titles with the traditional powerhouse U of San Francisco (wtf?) does it for me.

His quick outlet pass springing the fast break off the defensive rebound was a thing of beauty. He is also a great man and character.

Walton comes in as No 2 alltime center for both his college career and his great skill also at triggering the break, His passing in general was purely great and his offense beter than Russell. Lack of longevity hurts his cause along with overrating Wilt and Jabbar.

Like Hogan and Koufax, there can be no disputing the short burst of phenominalit of the short season and 3/4 he played in Portland before the injury.

Champs as huge underdogs the one year and then coasting along at 50-10 the next year when he fractures the foot, subsequebtly has a botched surgery and the foot never healed right which wasn't talked about as medical malpractice but as "white men are too fragile".

Shame.

donkeytale said...

http://www.si.com/vault/1978/08/21/822902/off-on-a-wronged-foot-bill-walton-quit-the-blazers-after-a-dispute-over-team-medical-policy-and-headed-for-golden-state

Tokyo Shemp said...

I agree Bill Walton should be considered the greatest or one of the top five centers of all time. I am reading the article. I had thought Walton had the tall man foot problem, like Yao Ming, Oden, and Ilgauskus had it. Embiid has it.

Malpractice ruined Bill Walton's career?

He had just enough left in the tank to be a force in the rotation for perhaps Boston's and the NBA's greatest team of all time.

McHale's career was also cut short from that macho ball. It seems Walton could have sued Portland and ended up owning the team himself, but that his friends were the ones to blame, so he just demanded a trade.

That's according to the article, imho.

I was also surprised to learn Portland was so backwards about his long hair and groovy ideas. Kelly Olynyk gets a lot of comments about his hair. People making those comments are full of it and probably on one of the lowest tiers for consciousness. You're going to make fun of a guy for having a preference to let it grow? What kind of conformist pig thinks such thoughts?

Tokyo Shemp said...

The Brooklyn Nets are the gift that keeps on giving.

http://deadspin.com/we-need-to-talk-about-that-dumb-trade-the-brooklyn-nets-1714229372

Portland gets Plumlee as insurance for Robin Lopez.

The rumour of Lopez, Love, and Pierce to Boston makes so much sense.

Except for Pierce, it would be a very young team with stars and still tons of assets.

Ainge is a genius. To even get this close. You know what it is? It's that Billy King clown from Brooklyn. I wonder why the league even let Boston-Brooklyn make that trade. There must be a clause forbidding totally lopsided trades.

Pierce was cooked. I saw it. Jason Terry was/is not good. He was. He's a Rondo. Might as well start watching Norman Lear reruns while we're at it. KG still was okay. He definitely fell apart in Brooklyn. Nonetheless, he was always on a time limit, usually capped at 30 minutes a game. We got James Young for the first pick. Now we have their pick three straight years. It was a total bamboozle.

The only penalty was Gerald Wallace's contract. Ironically, that Wallace debt anchor with only one year left has become or will eventually be a potential asset.

And I think I'm finally done with Twitter. I busted a paid troll tonight, totally exposed them. It's on the timeline. It was bizarre. And considering the kind of stuff I post, I believe we can assume it was the proverbial paid fake.

donkeytale said...

This is probably a dairy worthy topic in itself:

How much online cointelpro is there really vs. how much is coincidence and herdist thinking?

As an example, we could now be considered part of a MSM conspiracy. Look at this timeline from yesterday:

1."You rock, sir. What's your plan to attract minourity voting blocks aligned with Hillary? Needed to win nom"

June 27, 2015 at 8:25 AM

2. w.c. fritos ‏@Prepostericity 21 hours ago
(ed note: approximately 11:00 AM)
Donkeytale asks: "You rock, sir. What's your plan to attract minourity voting blocks aligned with Hillary? Needed to win nom" @BernieSanders

3. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/06/27/sanders-says-he-will-significantly-step-up-his-outreach-to-minority-voters/

(ed. Note- posted 2:20 PM EST - about 18 hours ago)

Are we connected or are we prescient.

Let the reader decide

donkeytale said...

I may have disremembered the facts surrounding the Walton lawsuit but it was for malpractice against his good friend the team doctor. However, it may not have been for botched surgeries but rather for masking his true condition and shooting him up with painkillers so he could continue on through a season, thus prematurely halting his magnificent career. Walton did endure almost a surgery per year throughout his career and I though I recall fairly recently that he did receive a malpractice settlement in the millions. However, a Google search has yet to turn that up. However, other stuff:

http://www.apbr.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3487

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1926&dat=19810224&id=71srAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jtkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5220,3172778&hl=en

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19820605&id=F4osAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5M4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=5250,730728&hl=en

And recently Walton also had a major spine issue that kept him bedridden for a long time.

So, maybe he is just a freak. His size and small forward basketball skills combined with all out physical play may indeed have been unique.

Although now there are whispers that Kevin Durant has basically the same foot injury that chilled Walton's career when he was at the top of the zeitgeist.


Yes, there was the comeback title with the Celtics who are probably the second best team of the decade in the 1980s (also considering the Lakers and the Pistons, all three teams were stacked talent wise and can stake a claim for best alltime. Probably charitable to call it a draw, although the Lakers won the most titles in the era and held a 2-1 finals advantage over the Celts. Definitely the most competitive team era in herstory).

It is impossible in all sports, especially basketball, to compare teams from different eras. The game has changed and continues to change from era to era. I rather like this current era which relies on crisp passing and spread offenses ("spacing" in the current hip cliche) instead of ball hogging point guards and dominant low post players.

Certainly, Golden State does not contain the legendary names that these 80s teams do, or even the Jordan Bulls of the 90s. Let's just say for this year its seems with a top ten best alltime 67 wins and a decisive run through the playoffs the Warriours are probably the best team of the last several years, in close competition with the LeBron Heat and the Popavich Spurs).

Alltime? You have to go with the Bill Russell Celtics. Hands down winners.

Other contenders: the Frazier-Reed-DeBuschere-Monroe-Lucas Knicks of the early 70s, the Wilt-West-Goodrich-Baylor Lakers of the early 70s (33 straight regular season wins), the late 60s 76ers with Wilt, Greer, Jackson, Walker, Cunningham, (Walli) Jones.

Tokyo Shemp said...

Sure, I can dig that. If someone's schtick is inorganic, there are only so many possibilities.

1) Paid Fake

*** cointelpro/Hal Turner
*** political operative
*** some other kind of nonsense to do with money/undefined

2) Useful Idiot

*** JAG: just another goon
*** who knows and who cares

When military spokesturds mention that Edward Snowden's treason has put many operations in danger, one of those programs includes the name Hal Turner for reference. "Conspiracy Stories" dominated the 2000's. They were called conspiracy theories. It was the greatest strawman created of all time. It was one heck of a Chinese finger hold psyop.

The United Kook Party was able to hold its ground. Yet, it was a tenuous grasp. It was rope-a-dope by people without the power and intelligence of a Mohammed Ali. It was the difference between Dwight Howard and Bill Russell. They were easily herded into the pigeon-hole project. Markos Moulitsas even made some nonsense kind of declaration around the time he was exposed as being pro-CIA.

The Trans Immigration activist is a great analogy. She was invited to Obama's shindig celebration of Democratic greatness at securing the rights of the LGBT Americans. It was really not much different from the GW Bush or other Republican type speeches. Who could get in and ask questions was very controlled. Two words: Jeff. Gannon.

Even Scientology had mastered the public relations schtick of controlling its congregation and anyone who left. Of course that backfired. One word: Anonymous.

Anyway, back in the day the United Kook Association could say, well, what about the grassy knoll, Netvocates, Advantage Consultants, the Rendon Group, Kos kissing CIA butt, Hal Turner et al. There was a limit to what one could fire back with.

Now all a kook needs is the ability to click on Greenwald's monetised Snowden documents on online covert action Cyber Magicians or the new one, which is frank burnsly, tough for the paid fakes and useful idiots to dismiss.

These are the dark ages for internet truth and enlightenment. One can't even get a discussion started with these cult people, hence there became a need for the born alone, blog alone, and die alone schtick.

The JBJabroni guy turned out to be a random kook rather than cointelpro. He's the NJ pharmacist who got trolled irl by the Tor people. Kooks do exist who may resemble Hal Turner or one of the nicer manifestations of a cointelpro agent. Yes, coincidences do happen. Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary proof. Or that's what Moulitsas said. How about just proof? Why does the proof have to be extraordinary. That's where the MIC's conspiracy stories came into play. They defined what alternative media was by flooding the net with hogwash (see Magoo, Mr.).

Tokyo Shemp said...

If there is not much out there for the Walton story, then yes, that would make a good topic. Not everyone would care, but certainly basketball fans would appreciate it.

The Lakers did win the 80's over Boston. I admit it. I think they ended up 5-3 in titles. My argument is that the specific 1985-86 Boston team (I think that was the year) could be the greatest basketball team of all eternity.

I totally appreciate your saying how it is difficult or perhaps impossible to compare eras.

A lot of people seem to think Bill Russell would be just another guy if he played today.

I lurk one more Celtics forum to go with the other one I mentioned. It is a bunch of old-school Celtics fans. I am not talking about the psychotic Boston Globe forum. They have massive fights about this.

I will not get into specifics.

Perhaps before this center-less revolution, Russell would have been forced to the power forward position. I am not sure of that, but it makes sense.

But right now? Bill Russell would destroy the league as a center. The only drawback would be his offense, if that.

It's the three point line. It's the pressure put on tall men's bodies. It's how most of them are too muscle bound or slow.

I admit I was late to the game of realising the center position was being abolished. I was being a grouchy codger. I was too stuck in my ways. If there are only one or two great traditional centers or up to five of them, the odds are not good to get one of them. I don't see any Shaq's ripping up the league with cheating talents no one can stop. I should have noticed how easily and effective a kid like Kevin Garnett was able to shift to the Center position later in his career. Or even how a healthy Perk was never needed for more than 25 minutes a game.

Or perhaps how no one seems to think a Hibbert is worth much in today's game.

It used to be that one had to be good at shooting to take three's and how they were to come in the flow of the game.

Now even Aunt Hilda is expected to toss them up from way deep.

When seven footers such as Olynyk are hoisting them from the three line and being good at that, it kind of neutralises the old-school center. Now the problem with that is there are two sides to the court. Olynyk will not be able to stop the traditional centers when on defense.

He is a young kid, perhaps old in terms of the very young. He must be near 24 or 25. An Olynyk-Kevin Love combo would generate a lot of offense. Yet on the other end, they would be abused.

Perk-Garnett worked because they complemented each other watching backs so to speak.

Hence I coined the hybrid MLW username of Kendrick Garnett. Or was it Kevin Perkins? No, Kendrick Garnett.

A man has to know its limitations (see Eastwood, Clint) and great teams tend to be better than the sum of their parts. Then there are the injuries. NBA players get guaranteed contracts, so if your stud gets hurt, you are simply fucked up in the end, like Portland with Walton and perhaps Philadelphia with Joel Embiid. Didn't Portland draft Oden? So they know better than most how fragile a team's potential is. They know how fleeting it is to put together a historic team.

I did not know Durant had the same problem as Bill Walton. Now I am curious what that is and how it compares to the foot injuries that fell Oden, Ming, and seemingly Embiid.

Cleveland's run this year showed how important it is for players to stay healthy.

Free agency starts Wednesday.

Tokyo Shemp said...

Not just saying it, but during Hillary's big speech a few weeks back or whenever, I thought how the triple F could Bernie Sanders disrupt and deny the DINO cult.

I didn't mention it, and people will have to take my word for it, but I did wonder about the Black vote. I do see the Uncle Toms are out there. I am not sure if Blacks are still voting 96% or wtf for the Democratic Party.

That's why I went bitter and said the primaries looked rigged.

This election will be a litmus test. Bernie Sanders would be the front runner in an ideal world. It would be awesome if Republican operatives decided to flood Dem primaries to help out Bernie, thinking no way will that commie ever win in the general election.

No one wants to be Charlie Brown and play the chump over and over again.

I would love for Bernie Sanders to become president. I would still be cynical even then, like what can he do? But that is silly. With the executive order dictator clause, it'd be nice to have someone more benevolent than thou making those decisions.

donkeytale said...

Poor black people are living on the edge of if not already imprisoned. They are f'd by both parties. However, a plurality of blacks, like latinos, are in boats being lifted by a rising tide.

These are admittedly not yachts but row boats. However, they do not have the luxury to simply throw away the oars and life preservers and go with the flow. It is an unwittingly racist construction to point out "alternative" or "third party" options.

That is why I think we come from a less than authoritative place when speaking to black people about their motives or reasons for doing what they do.

We have dozens of options in front of us as educated white folks everyday we never even think about that are denied to blacks and latinos. It doesn't matter so much to our lives and health if teh GOP takes over all levers of govt. It does matter to the coloured udnerclasses very pragmatically.

They have a narrower line which to toe.

Sanders has a lot of work cut out for him if he is seriously going after this demographic to win. Frankly, he is probably too late to the pool party but let's give him some room too move before we write him off.

Say what you will about the Clintons but they have lived it all their political lives, albeit in deft calculation more than substance. They began in Dem politics by organizing in South Texas for McGovern.

Hillary had about a 66-34 share of the latino vote in Cali and Texas over Obama in the 2008 primary. Latinos will pose an even larger by sheer voter volume problem for Sanders, since Obama held serve among the African American bloc and was more popular among limousine liberals and youths.

http://www.pewhispanic.org/2008/03/07/the-hispanic-vote-in-the-2008-democratic-presidential-primaries/

Sanders has a background in the black Civil Rights movement but that was like 50 years ago and he's been living the good white country life in Vermont since. He will come off as fake now unless he backs it with some real get down and get funky moves within the community. Not even sure how he goes about that in the short time allotted. Warren has the same issue that she will need to address when her turn comes up.

Its great that Bernie is trying to bring some of the Brooklyn back and recognise he has a problem to solve with the minourity community if he wants their vote. We'll see what he does about it.

donkeytale said...

You may have missed the less centerifical forces emerging in the NBA because it occurred predominantly in the West and then really only among two teams....Golden State and San Antonio. I guess Atlanta this year too.

Their coach won coach of the year. I guess this is recognition that the Warriours makeover began a few years back and Mark Jackson actually started their ascent last year (arguably it is more difficult to learn a losing tradition around than it is to take the resurrection to the next level) but got crosswise with the owners or something.

I have two words for you when you start bandying about great front office executives. Jerry West.

SA of course has a center and a PF in Duncan but they really went to that passing movement perimeter game in a big way with Kawhi Leonard's emergence. Those shooting guard/small forward lineups totally flustered Miami and led to blowouts once Pop figured it out after like game 2. Similar to how GS simply dominated without even playing that great once they went small games 4-6.

donkeytale said...

And yes, I realise the beginning of the police state occurred during the Clinton years that began the frog march of black men mostly into privately operated prisons. Ironic and complex.

And yes, I am not endorsing Hillary because I am not voting for her, just pointing out the sticky realities that face Bernie, who I will support in the primaries.

You say Uncle Toms but many blacks tend to be personally conservative. Again they are less free to be you and me. Many have something but harder come by and less than what we have and so cling to theirs ferociously. I know that many blacks and Latinos as well as whites applaud the vast reduction in crime that has accompanied the Great Imprisoning of the prior two generations.

It is difficult for us to fathom because most of the crimes committed by blacks are against other blacks. We are relatively untouched by either phenomenon.

Tokyo Shemp said...

Free to be, you and me. I remember that one.

I don't think it is too late for anything. The primaries don't start until February. There will be debates.

It may be too late for Bernie if he doesn't win this time.

There is some kind of porn-lite scandal in his background. But I think it would actually help him, make people see he too can be a wild and crazy regular guy in spurts.

Some clown reporter I attacked, this guy supports Greenwald. He linked to an article on Bernie which made him look insane to both parties, something about saying stopping growth is not bad. But the average schmoe is not sophisticated to know what that means. The same hack reporter also linked to an article on Jill Stein entering the fray. That one seemed more positive, in that we at Al Jizzera are not afraid to cover Ms. Stein's greatness.

Whatever.

This Tiger Woods story you wrote was pretty good. I actually finally read it completely. It is clearly an A grade. And even though it is four or five years old, it was more informative than the recent mailed in ESPN coverage of Tiger.

ESPN is the last to know that Tiger is done, done.

I didn't do a double tweet last night. It hit me while I was firing back and forth with a fake trans calling out the read deal Trans lady who had concerns for Obama, that this was Perry Mason time.

I asked, "How did you find my tweet." Crickets. Then I repeated it and caught the loser fake account in a lie.

I am pretty sure I am finally done with Twitter. I am not one to stay in a milieu if it's creepy at my expense. I bailed out of FSZ. I bailed out out of Pffugee. Which by the way, did Laura give any heads up she was shutting it down?

I'm tired. I go for these walks and unfortunately I am developing old man legs. I'm hoping at some point it gets easier. I have dropped way down from the 300 pounds Rauhauser said I was.

Blacks have it tough no doubt and I need to be careful to not be such a douchenut throwing around Uncle Toms. It's like the word Hitler. If you use it too much, it loses its meaning.

Tokyo Shemp said...

Or MattyJack banned me with Lord Byron. I could have sworn I was hardly there if at all when this so-called banishment occurred.

Tokyo Shemp said...

I know you'll like this, if you haven't heard of it yet. Apparently, RT will be the first Russian entity destroyed in the three way war between the US, Russia, and China.

I remember dumbasses always saying war with Iran was imminent. It never happened.

And I doubt the US military is that concerned about Russia Today. I bet they like it and all who visit are placed on the surveillance target list.

We have to find a way to get some new entries in here. Maybe if we did one good one a month, it would keep the public off our backs. I noticed an uptick in views. People seem to be hungry for the kind of unpaid content we supply at DFQ2.

bonus dumbass thought: Too bad Dave wasn't from Brooklyn. Dave from Brooklyn sounds a lot stronger. But then again, who doesn't like the King of Queens? That show was sweet. In fact, I should make a pinned video of myself in a UPS type outfit going home to Carrie Heffernan. My back is getting heavy. My fingers tight as I drive over the Pepperidge Farm Bridge tonight. Cause all I want to do, is get right home to you and some fritos. and some weed.

I had forgotten about fritos until you called me out for my avatar. I think it worked. It was a lot better than I had before. Plus it allows the Prepostericity brand name to have more prominence. That's who I was at DKos. That was my ticket into the soapblox milieu, now scrubbed. And it was the impetus for this blog.

Tokyo Shemp said...

I weighed 118 pounds in my prime. I could have been a runner or whatever. Freshman 15 and whatnot through the years brings one to 130-135. I've never been much more than 140, maybe 145 my whole life. But the dude wanted me to feel like shit. He said I weighed 300 pounds. That guy is deranged. They tried to gaslight me or wtf. My next entry, again, has me curious about the targeted individuals. That's what that is. It is cointelpro going after paranoid schizophrenics. And like you ask, how is one to be able to discern between a paid fake and someone sincerely lost?

Tokyo Shemp said...

Oh wait, didn't you and I bust him on something and wouldn't let up? I screenshot him. Noom was involved egging us on. I am not going to research it again. I remember MattyJack going to MLW with some sort of convolution. He was quite a creep. Fine, sabotage your own place, but he stole the Peeder milieu. I remember that also.

Pffugee was pretty good for a while, but the losers at FSZ decided hey let's hang out at Pffugee where the people we banned are. That's why Pffugee was created, on the surface for myself and Byron, but also to get away from the stinking cesspit which was FSZ.

I wonder if they even still have that crappy FSZ blog they made after boarding up FSZ. Maybe I don't really care and it's stupid of me to even go there.

It's just still on my mind how so many posts and pages from those places are poof gone. There was a big forum also in the 2000's with the Randi Rhodes cult. I don't know if you ever saw that one. It got deleted also. They went elsewhere, but it looked pretty stupid in comparison.

That place was also infested with paid fakes.

Tokyo Shemp said...

A runner or boxer, too small for basketball.

donkeytale said...

Nice.. A boxer is a runner. Roadwork.

I read over a few parts of your "Thrilla in Manila" and was highly impressed. I might edit down some of teh cinema verite and re-post that.

I'll follow up with a chapter of Troll Wars and we are off to the races.

I am thrilled that my FDL oeuvre has re-appeared.

Thank you Ms. Hamsher.

I'd thank her on her blog but then she might recognise this as a bug and have me disappeared again.

The MLW loss is huge. And you are very perceptive to recognise the quality there.

Too bad MSOC didn;t either.

Tokyo Shemp said...

The internet consciousness can only absorb so many scrub jobs. Soapblox is quite the joke. They charge money, then delete when the agreement ends. Uhm, er, uhhh, flashback to my thrilla in vanilla, but yeah, you and Noom were the original FSZ people eXiled. You and Noom camped out at MLW. It was to quote him hiilariiiiose or however he spelled it. Curmudgeon and others were pissed off at you because that one thread was more entertaining than anything else on the website.

That's all gone. The DFQ stuff from FSZ is gone. I was mad at Antoinette fr scrubbing Dave's blog, but then I saw it returned. I am not sure if it is still available.

MattyJack with the tough guy schtick and I think that's where the regular guy schtick formed, no?

ThereIsNoSpoon stuff, uhm, Armando meta, Peeder, fricken shadowthief curmudgeon... all gone. all historically important despite on the surface seeming like goofy meaninglessness.

Oh, I tweeted Jane but she's been gone from Twitter since last November. Her MediaAstroturf company went into bankruptcy. I'm pretty sure you were the one who outed that stuff or copied and pasted from elsewhere. The memory is a fragile thing.

I figured out who you are. You are the reincarnation of French painter Henri Rousseau.

Yes, MLW was a huge loss, the biggest.

If I could change one thing, I'd get rid of the uhms and er's from my transcript of my showdown with the Speedway Bomber. Though I recall you said that was okay, made it more realistic, or someone else said it.

Yes, you were just about the only one who in public engaged with my story. usually it was more like guys like Melvin mocking me for busting Alexandrovna over the mailbox discrepancy.

One of your troll wars blogs is on here. I think v. 7.777 or something. I fished it out of cache.

My guess is FDL went back to a free version of a blog. I think that's wordpress which like Blogger never seems to charge fees or delete.

Tokyo Shemp said...

I will try to finish up the new entry soon. The targeted individual stuff is very depressing, so I might throw that together quickly and not dwell on it.