Taking Note of a Few Things: The ‘It Never Ends With Us’ Edition
As they say in Hollywood, “The only bad press is no press at all.” Apparently, Blake Lively, who I only know because, well, because she is attractive, has sued her co-star and director from a film I had no idea existed until their drama hit the fan.
The actor/director in question is someone I think named Justin Baldoni. She has accused him of overstepping the bounds between actor/director and pervert, while he claims she is a Hollywood hussy who loves a Baldweenie. It’s complicated.
Trump sets fire to our governmental practices, a peace treaty in the middle east hangs by a thread, and as soon as we claimed the Gulf of America, it snows in Florida. People are being rounded up and deported in the home of the free, war goes on in Ukraine, and baby penguins might starve to death because of an iceberg headed toward their home. And now, we have a sex scandal, of all things, in Hollywood. Is nothing sacred?
I am not a betting man, but my money is on Blake winning this fight and Baldweenie … err … Baldoni … becoming a porn star who competes in America Had Talent when the dust settles. Let’s face it, if Harvey Weinstein, arguably once the most powerful man in Hollywood, is now turning tricks in prison for his treatment of women, then Justin stands a bald snowball’s chance in the Gulf of a career in Hollywood.
Whatever happens, I am boycotting this year’s Oscars after I failed to get a nomination for Best Short Film in It Starts and Ends With Me In Seconds.
Another major problem confronting mankind is the National Basketball Association has become the National Three Point Shot Association. Games have become nothing more than playground pickup hoops with player after player tossing up three point shots from well beyond the arc. Solutions are offered but nothing that will bring back more passing and team ball.
Of course, I have a simple solution that does not require eliminating the three point line on basketball courts. What I would do is flip the three point rule. Shots from beyond the arc will now be worth two points and shots inside it become the new three pointers.
When I taught middle school PE, I noticed there was always a lack of teamwork and defense played so I made a rule change. Every pass was worth one point. Suddenly, teams no longer wanted the ball hog playing for them and learned to score points in droves unless their opponent played defense. NBA players are not much smarter than middle school kids. Flip the three-point rule and you will see mediocre long-range shooters play themselves out of a job and team players who pass, defend, and rebound become stars.
Here in Chico, it has literally been a dry January. Not only are health conscious people giving up alcohol for the month, but it also failed to rain. Last year, I was considering stocking the shin deep puddles in my backyard with trout. This year is the complete opposite.
So far, Nothing that Trump has done as president has shocked me. He’s actually trying to appear as if he is following through with his campaign promises using his executive orders. Even if they do not hold up in court, they show he followed up on his promises and it provides him with excuses to blame others for him not getting things done.
I am not even shocked when members of his own party or people who voted for him claim they were surprised by something he did. What did they expect? He was pretty clear about his intentions and to think it was just bluster shows what fools his supporters are.
This nation will end because of us and not because of a fat wannabe dictator and his wealthy supporters. Ignorance and apathy are the two biggest enemies we face. Unfortunately, most people don’t know this and the few who do are too lazy to do anything about it.
If there is one nice thing about Trump as president is he is probably at the height of his power. In a month or two, the infighting will begin, fingers will be pointed at one another within his party, and Democrats will be saying, “We told you so.” Rather than telling us so, Democrats would be wise to spend their time reorganizing their approach to elections, who they appeal to, and finding a path forward that will make fence sitters want to return to them.
Other than a few online highlights, I have not watched any football. However, I do follow it week to week and have learned one thing, Americans really do not like a dominant team in any sport. The amount of whining that is posted about the conspiracy that the NFL offices want the Chiefs to win it all is a joke.
Sixty years from now, some nut case of a president will order the release of all NFL documents about the conspiracy behind the Kansas City Chiefs dynasty.
What I find strange is a large number of NFL conspiracy pushers who hate the Chiefs and all things in sports that are dynasties are the same sort who demand America show the world who is really number one. And we wonder why the rest of the world calls us number one with their middle fingers.
We want parity in sports but do not mind monopolies in business. We want a fair shot at seeing our favorite teams win a championship and demand tariffs on our competitors. We build the most powerful military in the world and demand other nations come to the help of Ukraine. We call ourselves the land of the free while our current leaders demand to make voting more difficult.
One thing that ended because of us, my generation, is a work ethic. Ours was the first generation of parents who raised kids where everyone was a winner. We are the generation that handed out trophies just for participating. Ours was the one that insisted our kids get good grades so they could go to college instead of holding down part time jobs. Our males began the culture of toxic masculinity and our women gave the world tramp stamps. We told our schools we were too busy to be bothered with our kids’ behavior or learning problems. We are the generation who instilled a sense of entitlement over working your way to the top. Unfortunately, these traits have not ended with us and are here to stay.
I used to think Trump’s appeal was centered around hate. The more I have thought about it, I have come to realize it is about anger. Just as Hitler tapped into the anger of a nation pissed over its treatment after their defeat in WWI, Trump has tapped into our anger over all white people have lost over the decades.
There was a time when white men with a high school education landed good jobs and worked their way up through the middle class. We are fast approaching the point where people with Masters Degrees, and a lot of debt, are managing a McDonald’s. Housing is through the roof. If you do not believe me, ask my 24 year old cleaning lady. She and her boyfriend had to show a combined monthly earnings six times higher than the $1500.00 rent for their one room apartment.
Rounding up all the undocumented immigrants and forcing another nation to take them is not going to lower the cost of housing, college or trade school, or groceries. It will cause the price we pay to dine out, stay at a hotel, and have a home built to increase. Then again, when a large segment of our lowest educated population, white males, believes they are voting for the smartest guy in the room, what do you expect?
If this nation wants to turn itself around, it needs to just let our whiny class of underperformers stay home and vape their brains out while we allow more folks from other countries to come here and work. It’s the only way things will get done around here.
ICE can raid local businesses and round up twenty somethings with nose, eye, and large ear lobe piercings and send them back to mom and dad and place them under house arrest. They can toss in those with purple, pink, and blue hair. Then replace them with people thankful for the work they have and who can utter complete sentences rather than grunt.
I recently was blessed with new renters next door. The nice woman with three kids and one car who lived next to me did not get her lease renewed. She has been replaced by a clan with three trucks, two cars, and a trailer along with enough pot burning every night to make cats want to remain indoors. On average, each of their vehicles takes fifteen minutes to warm up and their mufflers all seem to be in need of repair. On the bright side, I was able to use the roll of six-foot-tall chain link fencing left behind by the previous owner to keep their monster mastiff in their backyard. If I can get star jasmine to grow along it, I might be able to open the windows in the spring without having to smell the football size turds they can’t seem to discard.
An audiologist was see me so I could get my ears and hearing checked out. It had been over two years since I last saw one in Camarillo. After having a hearing aid cover pulled out of one ear and getting the ears flushed out from wax build up, I was amazed at how well I could hear. Then she sat me down in a booth and tested my hearing before going over my results. Inside the booth with headphones, I could only decipher 50% of the words said to me.
Learning a foreign language was something I never mastered, but apparently, I mastered reading lips. I also managed to never hear what people said about me behind my back after trying to talk with me.
Next, the hearing aids went in and suddenly I was deciphering 75% of what people say to me. The problem is, if I crank up the hearing aids louder, it makes me even more sensitive to sounds. If I go through life as I have without wearing them, I walk like I am drunk because hearing and balance go together. Add in the constant headaches and light sensitivity, I might as well find Dr. Frankenstein and have him switch my head out with someone named Abby Normal.
It appears another thing that will end with us is rock n’ roll. Just look at the top selling/downloaded music and you will find very few artists in the rock category and those who land on the list are groups like The Beatles, Rolling Stones, U2, and Bruce Springsteen. If rock music continues after boomers are dead and gone it will be due to AI being tasked to crank out new songs from these same artists.
When today’s bland algorithm driven music becomes replicated after artists are dead, will it be because of an invention called Artificial Stupidity?
It won’t be long before Major League Baseball revs up. I am sure many of you are like me and can’t wait to see the Los Angeles Dodgers and their $62 trillion-dollar team take on the Sacramento A’s and their $16.87 squad. Of course, since neither team plays indoors, the games will have to be moved out of state since we can expect raging fires and extreme heat making being outside dangerous.
Where are the complaints about a baseball team paying 25 guys more money per season than most municipalities have to fight raging infernos? Am I the only guy who lies awake at night and thinks about this? Not only this, but these sports teams threaten to leave their cities unless tax payers fork over money to renovate old stadiums or build new ones leaving behind even less money to fight Mother Nature. Our leaders really do rely on an ignorant electorate that can’t be bothered with details.
Any city that asks to be granted a professional sports franchise is no different than an individual asking to join the mob. It looks great on the surface, but in the end, you will pay for it in ways you never imagined.
Simulated golf is the newest sport being tossed at viewers. If it has yet to be said, let me say it: The league exists for only one reason — Tiger Woods can no longer physically walk four rounds of golf. Since there is not much interest in televised golf events where Tiger is not competing or in the thick of winning, why not start a league where he doesn’t have to walk? Based on ratings, there doesn’t seem to be much interest in the new league. It looks like golf ends with Tiger.
Why raise your children to become a professional athlete? The odds of them making it are slim, the cost is exorbitant, and unless they become a superstar, most will languish in obscurity. Rather than raising a professional athlete, parents would be wise to raise a professional caddy. In 2022, the average tour event offered $9.1 million dollars in prize money with the average winner receiving $1.67 million dollars.
Caddies are paid between $1,500.00 and $3,000.00 a week for their base salary. They receive a ten percent commission if their golfer wins an event ($167,000.00 on average), seven percent for a top ten finish and five percent for the rest. Compare that to what a welder, first defender, nurse, or accountant makes and you get the picture.
With the recent fifth anniversary of the passing of Kobe Bryant, I was reminded it was also the same date I began working on my book Chronic. Since that time, I still struggle to manage three chronic illnesses: pain, fatigue, and treatment resistant depression. The cures that are offered are neither cheap nor all that effective. For instance, a person might find an effective antidepressant, but chances are it will leave them feeling tired. That fatigue might be enough to keep someone sedentary, which will just make them more aware of their pain.
One other thing I have learned is that chasing a cure is expensive. They are also time-consuming. The person who has a job with crappy benefits might not have either the time or money to get the help he needs. As a result, he may not be the most pleasant person to be around which creates the impression he may be an a-hole. The fact is, he might just be suffering but shows no physical signs like someone on crutches, in a wheelchair, or who is bed bound.
Some folks are luck and just have a bad or off day once in a while. Others only feel good once in a while. If you take the time to feel blessed for how well you feel, try taking the time to empathize with those who do not.

Jim is a life long resident of California and retired school teacher with 30 years in public education. Jim earned his BA in History from CSU Chico in 1981 and his MA in Education from Azusa Pacific University in 1994. He is also the author of Teaching The Teacher: Lessons Learned From Teaching. Jim considers himself an equal opportunity pain in the ass to any political party, group, or individual who looks to profit off of hypocrisy. When he is not pointing out the conflicting words and actions of our leaders, the NFL commissioner, or humans in general, he can be found riding his bike for hours on end while pondering his next article. Jim recently moved to Camarillo, CA after being convinced to join the witness protection program.