Barbers

I got a long overdue haircut today.  And I went to a neighborhood barbers that I'd never been to before.  And I feel like I'm still looking for my regular haircut place.  It's not that this barbers was that bad, but it just wasn't particularly welcoming.  I want to go somewhere that's friendly, with a barber that gets to know me and knows what haircut I like and will best suit my rapidly deteriorating hairline.  Which is why going to get my haircut is starting to become an increasingly nerve-wracking exercise.  I don't know what to ask for - but judging from my last few haircuts, it seems that the comb over is best for me.  Though, fortunately, I have enough hair at the moment that it's not quite that Bobby Charlton/Hamlets Cigar guy look yet.     

Public Health

As I'm scrolling through the headlines on the internet, I can't help but get really depressed about the ongoing pandemic: "Washington State Patrol troopers, corrections workers and others sue Inslee over COVID vaccine mandate"; "QAnon guru dies from COVID-19 as her followers harass hospital staff";  "Face-mask confrontation sees mom allegedly encouraging child to punch school bus monitor"; "Mu variant, which may be vaccine resistant, in all 50 states after Nebraska case"; "What happens if you use a fake vaccine card?"; "Most people don't need a COVID-19 booster vaccine, new review says"; "Conservative radio host who fought COVID restrictions in court dies of COVID"; "Florida governor threatens to fine state counties and cities over vaccine mandates".  And this is just a very small snapshot of the headlines I just found - if I refresh the pages, I get a whole bunch of new but similarly frightening headlines.  It's nasty.  It's vitriolic.  And it feels like it's never going to end.  Much like so many other hot button issues in the US, it has become highly politicized and polarizing.  And I feel like there is no middle ground - you have to take sides.  Which is just ridiculous when we are talking about a pandemic and a public health issue that affects everyone, regardless of race, sex, age, creed, economic status, political persuasion or anything else.  It's a poor reflection of us as a species - perhaps we deserve to get wiped out by a virus.    

Coins

Here is a quick look at the overpriced coin set that I am currently procuring:

 

And yes, that is an extremely small gold coin I purchased in addition to all the silver coins.  I should have paid more attention to the dimensions...

9/11 Anniversary

With it being the 20th anniversary of 9/11, naturally there are gazillions of documentaries, retrospectives, TV series, movies, etc about the attacks that have been airing today and over the last few weeks.  It's difficult to know which ones are worth watching and which are not.  A lot of the same iconic footage tends to get recycled.  But I have decided to watch or DVR a couple of them.  The event is not as triggering to me as it is to most Americans, but I don't think I'm very informed about exactly what happened.  I remember where I was when I first heard about the attacks (in the office in Sheffield), and I have been to New York and Ground Zero since then.  But the inner historian in me wants to know more about one of the most important historical moments of our lifetime.  This week I watched the 2002 film 9/11, featuring a documentary crew who were following New York firefighters when the attack happened.  It includes fascinating (and devastating) footage from the ground, and from inside one of the towers, that I had never seen before as they follow some of the first responders.  I've also been recording a couple of series - the Nat Geo 6-part series called 9/11: One Day in America, that seems like quite a comprehensive look at what happened on this day 20 years ago; and the 4-part Spike Lee series called NYC Epicenters 9/11 -> 2021 1/2, which seems like more of a New York-centric look at 9/11 and beyond.  I'm honestly quite surprised that the US hasn't made 9/11 a national holiday.           

Frustration

I know that at least one person who reads this blog plays, or played, Ring Fit Adventure on the Nintendo Switch.  As summer comes to an end, the days get shorter and the weather takes a turn for the worse, I think I shall be playing it a bit more regularly once again as a form of exercise when I'm stuck inside.  However, I'm hitting a roadblock in the game and it's driving me crazy.  It's the missions that require you to complete a level without battling monsters.  Which basically requires you to double jump over them when you encounter them on the level.  But I'm finding that it's practically impossible to time the jumps accurately every time.  So I've spent way too many attempts trying to complete one of these fricking missions.  I mean I could just move on to the next world and forget about it, but I'm determined to complete the mission before then.  But the more attempts that end in failure, the more frustrated I get, and the less inclined I am to play the game again.  Curse my stubbornness.      

Season Opener

It was the (american) football season opener today, and I can honestly say I don't care one bit.  It's kind of interesting how my sporting tastes have evolved.  For a long time american football was my favorite US sport, but it most definitely is not now (behind both basketball and ice hockey).  Maybe because I don't like the way the game has evolved, maybe it's the overbearing coverage, maybe it's political because of the monstrous NFL owners, maybe its the repellent local Seahawks fans, maybe its because my team (San Diego Chargers) no longer exists.  Either way, I didn't watch any of the season opener and now I've got to endure loads of post-game analysis of this instead of the much more interesting tennis coverage.  So my major indifference over baseball is now going to get extended to american football.  At least it's only a month until the ice hockey season starts, featuring the debut of the Seattle Kraken!       

Song of the Week #74

There was a community event going on in one of our neighborhood parks this evening, including some live music.  So I popped over there in the hope of finding some inspiration for this week's selection.  In a way, I was successful.  Let me start by saying that the live music was insipid - cheesy country music.  Not my bag.  And surprisingly not that loud - you'd expect the music to be booming round the neighborhood, but you could hardly hear it until you actually got into the park.  And this is a small neighborhood park.  This was really just an excuse to go for an early evening walk (the "local" park is still a 15 minute walk away, and I did a couple of laps round the park just to get my step count up).  I didn't take my wallet, but regardless I wouldn't have gone to one of the food trucks there because the queues were massive.  There were a lot more people than I was expecting - perhaps due to the lovely weather (we weren't supposed to have any more heatwaves this summer, but I've been wearing shorts again for the last few days).  I did stop to listen to a few songs, but I was done when they started to play a countrified version of a Led Zeppelin song.  So let me include the original here, to cleanse the palate from the monstrosity I just heard (think a lot more banjo instead of guitar).