Casually telling jokes at Ghost Hawk Brewery in Clifton, NJ. Their lighting matched my Macho Man shirt.
They have good beer. Check them out if you’re into that sorta thing.
Random Thought
I remember being a kid in the 80’s and it was the ending of the Cold War but as kids, we still kinda had this fear of a big war between Russia and America that would end everything. That was the existential threat of that time. I feel like every era has it’s own existential threat, but I think sometimes it’s not as clear as it was back then.
I don’t know or claim to know what everyone else is afraid of. But me personally, I think the modern existential threat is that our lives could fall apart at any moment and nobody would care. I think there’s this slight illusion of a system in place and if things get bad, someone or something will take care of us. But when I look around, I don’t see a lot of evidence to confirm that.
I’m not sure what the solution is. But I don’t think preaching platitudes of, “every man for himself,” and, “it’s a dog eat dog world,” are the solution. The world is tough. I won’t disagree with that. It’s just that I think we could show a little more empathy for one another considering that we’re all in agreement and have stood witness to just how tough the world can be sometimes.
I’ll never understand how we debase the humanity out of the homeless population or how some people don’t think healthcare should be a human right. And I’m not trying to be political here. I don’t think the health and well being of humanity should be politicized in the first place. I think that’s part of the problem.
I guess these are problems as old as time though and maybe I’m just caught up in the zeitgeist of the current politically soaked news cycle. I have no solutions or ideas. I’m gonna vote. I hope that means something. I guess we’ll see. Other than that, sometimes the only thing that makes sense to me is a quote of Patton Oswalt quoting his late wife’s motto:
“It’s chaos. Be kind.”
Movies I Watched Recently
Joker
I finally watched Joker… and it was pretty good. I appreciate the social commentary and the underlying income inequality message going on. I don’t really agree with Arthur’s (that’s Joker’s real name) approach to things. I kinda find him very unlikable. Sure, there’s a couple of times where I sorta feel bad for him. But his personality is grating. And maybe that’s the point? I don’t know. I guess whenever a movie is made where the protagonist is a bad guy, it’s always a morally conflicting experience. I don’t really ever find myself rooting for him and there’s a few moments where I’m sure I absolutely hate Arthur.
There really are no good guys in this movie and maybe that’s the point. Everything sucks and there’s no real solution.
The acting’s really good though!
Fighting With My Family
This is a movie based on the real life experiences of WWE superstar, Paige. I’m a wrestling fan so I feel like this movie is probably a lot more enjoyable for me than it might be for other people. I thought it was mostly good. Kinda cheesy in some parts. There’s other parts that I wish they would’ve delved into more that I think they glossed over (Paige’s NXT run and getting over in NXT before being called up to the main roster- I’m probably speaking pro wrestling and most of you have no idea what I’m talking about).
Also, we get it. The Rock is one of the producers. He’s in this movie and it’s not a major role but it’s also like, wow, there’s a lot of Rock in this movie considering it’s about a wrestler who is probably 20-30 years younger than he is.
I love Paige’s family in this movie. Her parents are flawed but lovable, especially the father. I really like Paige’s brother’s story line (aka Zak Zodiac). This is almost as much his movie as it is hers, and in some ways, his story is more important. Paige had to overcome odds and herself to accomplish something great. But Zak had to lose out on his dream and learn to pick up the pieces and grow as a person. Pretty deep, y’all.
TV shows I’m currently watching
BoJack Horseman
The final episodes of Bojack were released recently and I have now completed the entire series.
These final episodes are really good, quite possibly some of the best episodes of the entire series. BoJack is trying to forge a new path but he can’t outrun his past of being a complete dick and mostly bad person. I’ve always found BoJack to be a lovable dick, but he had a reckoning coming for sure.
The penultimate episode might be my favorite episode of the entire series. And I’m not just saying that because I wanted to use the word, ‘penultimate.’ I can’t even really talk about it without giving something away so all I’m gonna say is that it blew my fucking mind. There’s a part of me that almost wishes they made that the last episode but then the finish would’ve been really weird and I guess the final episode does do a nice job of playing clean up.
I’m gonna miss BoJack Horseman. This was a great series all the way through. It was funny, dark, and twisted. It could be emotional, but not, ‘wishy-washy,’ emotional… more like, ‘kick-in-the-gut,’ emotional. And I feel like you need that sometimes in your life. They created characters that I loved and gave a fuck about… even Mr. Peanut Butter, who I hated at first but totally grew on me by the end.
I’m also glad that it was given a definitive end and they didn’t try to carry on too long. A part of me is selfish and wants more but I know it’s best to leave them wanting more and BoJack accomplished that.
Book I’m Currently Reading:
Acid For the Children / Flea
I finished it this week and it was a really great, fun read. I wish there was more of it to read. Flea encapsulates his youth up to the first RHCP gig. There’s a ton of good stories in here. A lot of it is touching, interesting, and entertaining. The book is funny and sad at times. There’s a lot of family, friendship, and good times but there’s also a lot of heartbreak, loss, and fuck ups along the way. Throughout the entire book, Flea keeps a very positive and upbeat vibe that is sorta infectious at times. Flea’s an interesting dude who’s done interesting things. I’d totally recommend this book to just about anyone, but especially if you’re a fan of RHCP, Flea, or just music in general. Flea is such a lover of music and it comes across loud and clear throughout these pages.
Album(s) of the week
Drive-By Truckers / The Unraveling
My favorite thing about this album may be that it has a sound that you might associate with a stereotype of what a Trump supporter would enjoy but these dudes are no Trump supporters. They’re the very opposite. They cram many current day topics and themes into this album and I don’t think they’ll be voting Republican come November.
I’d best describe the sound as breezy, sorta laid back classic rock with a bit of country flavor mixed in there. It’d make for some solid beer drinking with your buddies in the backyard music. But a lot of the lyrics are deep and powerful and probably deserve to be heard as more than just background noise so it also deserves some solo, downtime listening.
Random sports thought of the week
I was very glad to see the Kansas City Chiefs win the Superbowl this year. Mostly, I wanted coach Andy Reid to finally get a ring. There might not be a better NFL coach ever who before this game didn’t have a ring. Now he’s part of that club which he totally deserves to be a part of.
The Chiefs also feel like a team of the future. It probably has a lot to do with Patrick Mahomes. He’s a baby faced assassin. There’s some young QB’s making a lot of noise now in the NFL and it makes it feel fresh. Brady, Rodgers, and Brees are all great. But how much longer can the faces of the league be men approaching middle age? Time for the youth to take over. Patrick Mahomes may be the best candidate for new face of the NFL.
Random pro wrestling thought of the week:
A few quick quick asides:
-I hope WWE tries to shock the world and book Ricochet to beat Lesnar for the championship at the next Saudi Arabia show.
-If Becky Lynch and Asuka face off again for the title, Asuka can’t lose two times in a row, right? I think it might be time to execute a title change.
-AEW is killing it with the booking of Hangman Paige. I didn’t really care much for him before AEW, but now he’s one of my favorite parts.
-If I were a kid or maybe even a teenager, Darby Allin would absolutely be my favorite wrestler in the world. Even at 40, I have to admit he’s pretty cool with his semi-goth, half face painted, skateboarding to the ring persona.
Weekly Top 5 List: Top 5 Best Wrestling Movies
1- The Wrestler
2- Nacho Libre
3- Man on the Moon
4- No Holds Barred
5- Ready To Rumble
Motivational Quote
“The universe is a cruel, uncaring void. The key to being happy isn’t the search for meaning; it’s just to keep yourself busy with unimportant nonsense, and eventually, you’ll be dead.”
-Mr. Peanutbutter
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@joshaintfunny
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Upcoming Shows
Friday! 2/7 (that’s tomorrow if you’re reading this today, the day I sent this out)
We’ll have the beer. Bring your own snack. I love snacks. I’ll be snacking on something hopefully that night.