I can't exactly say why, but I've been listening to a lot of city pop recently.
17 thoughts on “October 14, 2021: City Pop”
If anyone was ever going to outrun death forever, Gary Paulson seemed like a natural choice. A real giant.
I'm going to reread Harris & Me in memoriam.
I remember reading Tracker in addition to Hatchet. Not too heavy for a kid, but I recall it being intense in a different sort of way that stood out at the time.
I like a lot of his autobiographical/semi-autobiographical stuff. The guy lived a life, that's for sure. For animal lovers, check out My Life In Dog Years. And everyone should read the aforementioned Harris & Me.
But it is reality that in order to be in New York City, in order to be on a team, I have to be vaccinated. I chose to be unvaccinated, and that was my choice, and I would ask you all to just respect that choice.
I am going to just continue to stay in shape, be ready to play, be ready to rock out with my teammates and just be part of this whole thing. This is not a political thing; this is not about the NBA, not about any organization. This is about my life and what I am choosing to do.
On some levels, he's right. This is his life and what he is choosing to do. But, there are significant consequences for his actions. From a basketball standpoint, the Nets organization has gone from a prohibitive favorite to win the NBA title to one of the favorites. He has let his teammates down, some of them being all-time great players (Durant and Harden). He's let his employer down. As a public figure, he's carved out an extremely poor example for others, probably influencing people not to get the vaccine and maybe leading such people to an unnecessary early death.
So, no, Kyrie, I do not respect your choice. You are a fool. And even if your own life isn't in danger, you are part of a movement that is hurting others and indeed our entire society. And you have become what is known as a "useful idiot" for the forces that see advantage in discouraging vaccination among the general population even as they themselves are vaccinated.
He might just be the stupidest professional athlete of all time.
Imagine a world where JR Smith isn't considered LeBron's stupidest ex-teammate. You don't have to imagine it, because he's off in college now and Kyrie is sabotaging his own career.
I commend him for sticking to his beliefs. He's got tremendous pressure to get the vaccine to satisfy his teammates, his fans, etc. And he's sticking to his guns. He's fortunate that he can afford to do so. I don't follow the NBA, but I get the sense that the team needs him more than he needs to the team, so it's an interesting standoff.
If this were a choice that were purely personal, then maybe. But in this case, it isn't. I don't need or want to "respect his choice" (to echo his words). Some choices don't deserve respect. Some beliefs don't deserve respect.
I just don't understand him and his stance. He has some really oddball "beliefs" (e.g., the earth is flat) that tell me he's a nutjob who happens to be talented at sportsball.
He sabotaged LeBron's Cavaliers. He sabotaged the Celtics. He's sabotaging the Nets. He's got all-world talent and a $0.50 head. Set aside all his other harebrained ideas. He's actively undermining his basketball legacy.
Like perhaps the choice to force someone to inject something into their body that they're not comfortable with?
He wasn't forced. He made a choice, a very, very bad and harmful choice. And he's gonna have to live with the consequences. Unlike almost everyone else, Kyrie Irving, who has drawn $160 million in salary playing in the NBA, can afford to embrace his nutjob conspiracy thinking without any consequence to himself other than future glory on the basketball court and millions and millions of dollars that he doesn't really need.
The problem, of course, is that he has given absolutely no thought about his actions affect those around him, including his teammates, and society as a whole, who might be influenced by his nonsense. If everyone thought like Kyrie Irving did, our society would collapse.
I would commend him much more if he altered his beliefs to align with the overwhelming evidence and public health needs.
Take all of my WGOM bucks.
And... my main dining manager who left 2 weeks ago to get married in Florida called today and has Covid. Stress level just went from a 1 to a 4. Dagnabbit!
We learned from the school that someone on Honest Abe's school bus last week tested positive, so we held him out of school to get him tested. Within 30 minutes of getting his negative results, we get an email from school that he was a close contact in a different setting and HAS to self-quarantine until October 23. The school has provided pretty much no resources for him to do at home (I picked up some worksheets that the teacher apparently thought would last him 2 weeks, but on closer inspection, they are likely to only take him a day or two).
Approval for ages 5 and up can't come fast enough...
Ugh, you have my sympathies, Pirate. I keep bracing myself for a similar call from the Poissonnière’s school. We get an email from them probably every couple of days saying “at least one” child has had a positive test result.
If anyone was ever going to outrun death forever, Gary Paulson seemed like a natural choice. A real giant.
I'm going to reread Harris & Me in memoriam.
I remember reading Tracker in addition to Hatchet. Not too heavy for a kid, but I recall it being intense in a different sort of way that stood out at the time.
I like a lot of his autobiographical/semi-autobiographical stuff. The guy lived a life, that's for sure. For animal lovers, check out My Life In Dog Years. And everyone should read the aforementioned Harris & Me.
Kyrie Irving:
On some levels, he's right. This is his life and what he is choosing to do. But, there are significant consequences for his actions. From a basketball standpoint, the Nets organization has gone from a prohibitive favorite to win the NBA title to one of the favorites. He has let his teammates down, some of them being all-time great players (Durant and Harden). He's let his employer down. As a public figure, he's carved out an extremely poor example for others, probably influencing people not to get the vaccine and maybe leading such people to an unnecessary early death.
So, no, Kyrie, I do not respect your choice. You are a fool. And even if your own life isn't in danger, you are part of a movement that is hurting others and indeed our entire society. And you have become what is known as a "useful idiot" for the forces that see advantage in discouraging vaccination among the general population even as they themselves are vaccinated.
He might just be the stupidest professional athlete of all time.
Imagine a world where JR Smith isn't considered LeBron's stupidest ex-teammate. You don't have to imagine it, because he's off in college now and Kyrie is sabotaging his own career.
I commend him for sticking to his beliefs. He's got tremendous pressure to get the vaccine to satisfy his teammates, his fans, etc. And he's sticking to his guns. He's fortunate that he can afford to do so. I don't follow the NBA, but I get the sense that the team needs him more than he needs to the team, so it's an interesting standoff.
If this were a choice that were purely personal, then maybe. But in this case, it isn't. I don't need or want to "respect his choice" (to echo his words). Some choices don't deserve respect. Some beliefs don't deserve respect.
I just don't understand him and his stance. He has some really oddball "beliefs" (e.g., the earth is flat) that tell me he's a nutjob who happens to be talented at sportsball.
He sabotaged LeBron's Cavaliers. He sabotaged the Celtics. He's sabotaging the Nets. He's got all-world talent and a $0.50 head. Set aside all his other harebrained ideas. He's actively undermining his basketball legacy.
Like perhaps the choice to force someone to inject something into their body that they're not comfortable with?
He wasn't forced. He made a choice, a very, very bad and harmful choice. And he's gonna have to live with the consequences. Unlike almost everyone else, Kyrie Irving, who has drawn $160 million in salary playing in the NBA, can afford to embrace his nutjob conspiracy thinking without any consequence to himself other than future glory on the basketball court and millions and millions of dollars that he doesn't really need.
The problem, of course, is that he has given absolutely no thought about his actions affect those around him, including his teammates, and society as a whole, who might be influenced by his nonsense. If everyone thought like Kyrie Irving did, our society would collapse.
I would commend him much more if he altered his beliefs to align with the overwhelming evidence and public health needs.
Take all of my WGOM bucks.
And... my main dining manager who left 2 weeks ago to get married in Florida called today and has Covid. Stress level just went from a 1 to a 4. Dagnabbit!
We learned from the school that someone on Honest Abe's school bus last week tested positive, so we held him out of school to get him tested. Within 30 minutes of getting his negative results, we get an email from school that he was a close contact in a different setting and HAS to self-quarantine until October 23. The school has provided pretty much no resources for him to do at home (I picked up some worksheets that the teacher apparently thought would last him 2 weeks, but on closer inspection, they are likely to only take him a day or two).
Approval for ages 5 and up can't come fast enough...
Ugh, you have my sympathies, Pirate. I keep bracing myself for a similar call from the Poissonnière’s school. We get an email from them probably every couple of days saying “at least one” child has had a positive test result.