IT’S ALL HAPPENING!

by John Walters
https://mediumhappi.org/?p=7654

by John Walters

Tweet du Jour

Starting Five

They Put Out The Damn Paper

The War on Civility found a new front yesterday, as a gunman walked into The Capital Gazette, an Annapolis, Md., based newspaper, and gunned down five employees. And then the staff still went ahead and put out today’s edition.

And while the gunman had his own issues with this particular staff, it’s disingenuous to pretend that a president who calls the press “the enemy of the American people” at every opportunity, including just two nights ago, is not an accessory to this crime.

2. Oregon Statement

One week shy of July 4th, and the NCAA is still staging championships. That all ended last night as Oregon State took down Arkansas in the College World Series. Last year Pat Casey’s team went an astounding 56-6 but lost to LSU in the CWS. This year the Corvallis-based Beavers faltered some (55-12) but beat the Razorbacks two straight after losing the first game of the double-elimination final.

A YUGE subplot of this team the past two years has been pitcher Luke Heimlich, who last season went 11-1 with a 0.76 ERA and this year was 16-3 with a 2.92 ERA. A few years ago Heimlich pleaded guilty to sexually molesting his 6 year-old niece. And now you’re in the midst of a land mine field…

Another Beaver hurler, freshman Kevin Abel, was the star in Omaha. Abel pitched a two-hit shutout in last night’s decisive game and also got credit for the win Wednesday, coming on in relief. He won a record-setting four games in Omaha during this CWS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nazUHZaOgc

What this CWS may best be remembered for, though, is a near-Bucknerian collapse by the Hogs in Game 2 of the series Wednesday night (we’ve already taken the switch to MH’s College Baseball intern for missing this): Arkansas had already won the first game and had a one-run lead with two outs in the top of the ninth when OSU’s Cadyn Grenier hit a foul pop close to the first base stands. Three Arkansas fielders allowed it to drop between them.


Given second life, Grenier followed with a game-tying hit, then Trevor Larnach clobbered a two-run go-ahead home run. The Hogs would not score again in this series.

Casey and Oregon State won the CWS twice before, in 2006 and 2007.

3. Jon Stewart Nails Trump (Again): “Gleeful Cruelty”

Man, do we ever need Jon Stewart and David Letterman more than ever. The former showed up on Stephen Colbert‘s show last night (must have been taped before The Capital Gazette shooting) and reminded Trump that as a nation, most of us are not assholes. And that you can’t turn lying and bullying into a virtue, no matter how often you try.

4. Bye Bye, Cars

If you live in Manhattan, you know what a panacea Central Park is to your physical and mental health. In the near-three decades I’ve resided here, I’ve always wondered what many of us have: How much more salubrious would CP be if cars were not allowed to traverse through?

After years of incremental steps, Central Park finally became a totally car-free zone this week (although I’m sure the cops will still zip through it whenever they like). Vehicles NEVER belonged here and the canard about how it made the flow of traffic all over the city easier was bogus. There’s only one horsepower that belongs in CP, and it’s attached to a buggy (and we’re not even crazy about that, for the horsies’ sake).

The closer all of Manhattan gets to being an auto-free zone, the better. We’d start with only allowing taxis, delivery trucks and mass transit. No more personal-use vehicles allowed in the city.

5. Whoa-oooooh, We’re Halfway There!

It’s a Friday and also the last day of June, which is the sixth month of the year and while July 2nd actually marks the year’s midpoint, we thought we’d have a little fun with superlatives/predictions/a look back.

Best Sports Moment Thus Far: Many to choose from, from Alabama’s championship-winning touchdown pass in overtime (ballsy call, Nick) to that crazy Hail Mary-ish pass in Minnesota that got the Vikings through to another round, to that NCAA women’s 4 x 400 final in which that USC sprinter redeemed herself from a year ago, but we’ll go with UMBC’s upset of Virginia in the opening round of the NCAA’s. A 16 had never beaten a 1 and the entire second-half gave us goosebumps.

Best TV Moment: We told you earlier this week. James Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke” with Sir Paul McCartney. If you still haven’t seen it, find it. It’s all over YouTube.

Worst Horror Story: Believe it or not, totally unrelated to anything with Trump. For me it was reading about the six people who climbed into an open-doored helicopter for a scenic sunset tour of Manhattan. The chopper lost power, plunged into the East River and the six young passengers (but not the pilot) were so securely strapped in that they drowned. All were consciously and likely fine as they hit the water and then all sat next to one another as they drowned in the cold, murky water, just a few feet below the surface.

Worst Stock Picker: Me. This year’s stock pick, Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC), started the year around $27 and is now at $8.37. Oh, you didn’t realize I meant that you should short it? Anyway, other MH stalwarts, such as AMZN, NFLX and MCD, are all doing well. We shouldn’t have gotten cute.

Reserves

Shanghai Noon


It begins with an under stable request from Pablo, but ends with an excellent point from Bomani (Have you ever asked a black man, “What country do you think you’re from?”)

Music 101

Prayer For The Dying

In one year in the early Nineties Henry Samuel, a.k.a. Seal, had three near-death experiences: he walked away from a nasty car wreck, came down with double pneumonia, and was standing right next to someone as they were fatally shot. The experiences caused him to ruminate a little on mortality, which produced this tune off his 1994 album, Seal (both of his first two albums were titled Seal), which went to No. 21 on the Billboard chart. We’ve always thought of Seal as Peter Gabriel’s English world-music soul brother. No?

Remote Patrol

SATURDAY
World Cup

Argentina vs France

10 a.m. Fox

I don’t care what you say, Olivier Giroud is not THAT handsome. He’s just NOT. Okay? He’s not “Jerry, it moved” dashing and I’ll hear no other arguments on this issue. Lionel Messi and friends try to drive the Frogs back across the Maginot Line. Will they fare better in Eastern Europe than Napoleon? It’s knockout round time.

7 thoughts on “IT’S ALL HAPPENING!”

  1. For those keeping track at home, the streak continues.

    What streak, you ask?

    The College World Series, only based on my own recollection, has only been mentioned once before in this blog (http://mediumhappy.com/?p=5436), which occurred during the last World Cup. This year, as you know, is the World Cup.

    I look forward to reading about the CWS in 2022.

    Reply

      • 1) I wrote IAH! that day

        2) This is the only site I’ve read everyday since its inception. I’ll recall something and then will go back to a month I think it occurred. More often than not, I’ll find it.

        3) If I ever find the time to do it (more like if I ever find the time to not be lazy), I think it’d be cool to review every IAH! post on this site and then have a power ranking on which post was the most creative/impactful/insightful, etc. This would have been great for the 5-year anniversary, but could suffice for a 6-year anniversary. This can serve as the unofficial call for submissions.

        Reply

  2. Is Jameis an alcoholic, just unbelievably stoopid or ‘merely’ an indulged, entitled, enabled asshat for the last 15 or so years since he 1st showed “athletic promise”? After escaping a rape conviction (justifiably IMO as his accuser changed her story repeatedly & actually verifiably lied on several points) just a few years ago (AND other marks against his “character” such as shoplifting & public indecency/moronity (um, word? 😉 ) , you would THINK he’d not do a damn thing to jeopardize his MILLIONAIRE cushy life. Besides “removing alcohol from his life”, he needs to get a new set of so-called friends. IF he really was at a club with “friends” & drank to excess & became “unruly” (a quote), WHY would his “friends” put him into an Uber in the FRONT passenger seat with a female driver & NOT GO WITH HIM to see that he got home “safe”? If he was so out of control at the club, did they think he would suddenly sober up in a freakin car with a stranger? Yes, Winston is the culprit, but damn, with “friends” like that you wonder how he’s been this enabled all these years.

    I should be more outraged at Winston or at least disgusted, but when our ENTIRE FREAKIN COUNTRY IS BEING TORN APART EVERY GDAMN DAY BY THE SOCIOPATH IN THE WHITE HOUSE & HIS LAPDOG NAZI GOP ENABLERS IN CONGRESS, this isn’t even in the ballpark to raise my ire these days.

    Sorry about your ‘stock’ pick. I actually have an investment question for you & you’re the guy I want to ask because unlike myself, you like a “compact” portfolio of less than 15 or so stocks I believe. So, how do you handle when just a few stocks are suddenly 40% or more of your portfolio’s total worth? Doesn’t it make you nauseous that it’s so concentrated? As mentioned here, I own around 50 stocks & most of my positions are VERY small (I usually only invest between $2k-$3k in each, some a bit more & some a bit less), & currently just 3 of my stocks are over 40% of my total. While I’m thrilled with the gold-medal performances of my, er, “Big 3”, it’s making me nervous. I do not plan nor will I sell any of the three as I believe they still are on the way up, up, up. But man, this boat is listing! So, how do YOU handle it? I guess in your case, it would have to be just one stock (not so) suddenly being worth 65-70% of your total. Would that make you queasy? I’ve just been putting my money into OTHER stocks over the past 3-5 years, trying to “even out the boat” but, damn, these 3 just keep on tipping it! 🙂

    BTW, I hope you bought back into MU as it sure has been on a tear this year. I wish I had bought some.

    The Swiss goalkeeper is cuter! 🙂

    Reply

    • Susie B.

      I’d never impose my investing strategy on you or anyone else. It killed me in ’08 but it’s got me up 100% or so in the past 18 months. Basically, risk what you feel comfortable risking. At 15 stocks, for me, you’ve basically got an index fund. If the market’s up, you’re up. If it’s down, you’re down.

      Nothing wrong with that, long-term. Safer, smaller gains. If I had a million in the bank, I’d probably do that, too. But I don’t. Think of this as my spread offense to counterattack Alabama’s massive size up front and plethora of five-star recruits.

      Reply

      • jdubs, do you really think owning positions in just 15 stocks is “basically an INDEX fund” or are you just trying to wind me up? Granted, my 50(ish) is a tad extreme & kind of close to a MANAGED MUTUAL FUND (not an “index fund” however) but 15? Also, my results do NOT mirror the DOW or Nasdaq; sometimes I’m up far more, sometimes down when the D & N are up & SOMETIMES I’m about the same. It all depends on what you own. Back in 2015, I was clobbered because of being relatively heavy in the energy sector & in fact, my overall return is still held down because of those holdings. But I believe all will come round. Eventually.

        What fascinates me is that we can hold such very different investing philosophies & yet be invested in some of the same stocks. 🙂

        Question, do you invest in mutual or index funds too or strictly individual stocks? Even your 401-K or ROTH? The bulk of my investments (& ALL of my retirement monies) is in various mutual funds of my choosing. Mutual funds do not protect you from a market crash of course but I’ve never had a fund go bankrupt & lose all my money like a stock. I do get a huge thrill in owning individual stocks & then reading about/keeping up with them. Hence, why I own so many! 🙂

        Reply

  3. So, LeBron has opted out of his current deal with the Cavs & is embracing the free-agent life. This was EXPECTED so I’m not reaching for the Valium or cyanide pill. YET. And sure, there was an “ominous” sign singing to me on the radio as I drove to work this very morning (“You’re just somebody that I used to know….”. Argh, can you believe it?!) & then there was that CLIFF JUMPING video to remind me that he is literally jumping off a cliff into the unknown/outta my fan life.

    “Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
    Blockin’ out the scenery, breakin’ my mind
    Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?”

    And THEN, jdubs just HAS to tweet about the Hollywood SIGN?

    Quick, anybody got a few million to spare to buy Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers & Fed-ex ’em to Sweet Pea? THERE’s NO PLACE LIKE HOME! 🙁

    Reply

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