Glad I Didn't See That Shit In Person!

So my alma mater's football team lost last/Saturday night.  Got their asses kicked, actually.  They've been underachieving for, well, Decades now, but on paper at least this team should've won.  They didn't, not even close.  It boiled down to three things: Offense, Defense, and Special Teams.

Most of my fellow alumni who live here and who attend the Game-watching events I organize went to Wisconsin to watch in-person.  I declined when I had to make the decision, which, for logistical purposes (when do I buy a ticket?  How do I get there?  Where would I sleep?), was just before Labor Day, and I did so for a myriad of reasons.  I didn't want to think about buying a ticket and getting a rental car and finding a place to stay, especially in this economy and considering the fascistic practices of this government settling in places like, oh, airports.  Also, and this is a bit of a cop-out, I wanted to host the Game-watching event here.  (Turns out that didn't happen because I accepted work last/Saturday night; if I knew, say, in the late summer I would have the opportunity to work last/Saturday night, I would've jumped at the chance to say yes to the gig and no to the trip.)

But my team losing made me realize a deep-seated fear, and probably the real reason I didn't want to go: I ... well, didn't want to see my team lose in-person.  That fucking blows.  And consider everything else that would go into the losing.  You plan everything, buy the ticket, arrange lodging, get a rental or tune up your car, tell all your fellow alumni in Minnesota you're going across the border and/or meet alumni at events in Wisconsin, and then you get there and your team shits the bed.  Sure, there are other things to do there, namely parties that would/should be fun.  But speaking for myself, I wouldn't remember any of that because the point of going is going to the Game and seeing my team win, and if that doesn't happen, I would think all of this would be a tremendous waste of time and money.

I harken back to last Year when my team was in town and lost to Minnesota (the Loss was of the collapse variety, not the blowout variety -- damn, my team loses every which way).  I was only out the (pricey) cost of the ticket, and sure, the pre-Game party was fun, but my team lost, and that sucks royally.  Now, as a counterpoint (sort of, maybe), I went to Las Vegas a couple Years ago to see them play LSU ... and they won!  I took a risk, and I think that if they would have lost, I would be metaphorically hitting myself in the head for holding out hope that they would win.  But there are extenuating circumstances to that trip.  I didn't have to pay for housing; I just went to my parents' condo to stay (and to go through their mail).  They also taught me that I could go anywhere in Vegas via public transportation for $20.  Finally -- and I think I spoke about this here on WAF before -- I defrayed most of the cost of the expensive ticket to that Game because I had a credit through SeatGeek from, if I recall correctly, a ticket to the Frozen Four being held in St. Paul that fell through.  Unfortunately, I was told that I could only use it in one fell swoop, so if I didn't use it all for one ticket, I would lose the rest of the credit.  That is garbage, but it gave me the idea that I could use all that money for a ticket to see my alma mater's football team.  I think I hate wasting money more than seeing my team lose in-person.

So, under those principles, I decided I didn't want to go to Wisconsin.  Don't tell my friends who did go, but ... I made the right decision!

Hottest Babe In The Hooters Calendar: September 2026

A baker's dozen this month, and while I will only point out three (still way too many Hooters women being told to put on a crop top over a bikini top to my liking), those three are way, way above most servers I have pointed out in months past.  In fact, my #1 here may be an all-timer.

In third place is Kianna, coming out of Roswell, Ga.  She is sporting both wavy brown hair and a tiger print two-piece.  She is just about standing straight at the camera, and she's doing that thing where she's pulling up her bikini bottom.  But the most striking thing about her are her impressive abs.  I ... would consent to her do things to me because of her abs.

In second place is, um, Kiana (only one "n"), hailing from Odessa, Fla.  Straight black hair, she is pictured in a pink and deep purple floral two-piece bikini print.  She is sitting poolside, and posing with her right side toward the camera.  She also is slightly pulling her right bikini top.  Not the best pose, but posing almost perpendicular to the camera means we get a shot of her ass ... kinda.  OK, maybe a peep.  See, I can see a smidgen of the top part of the back of her bikini bottom, and from little I can see, it's, well, little enough that I believe that, if we saw her whole ass, we would be able to see, maybe, 80-5% of her ass.  But I'm just extrapolating.  I can't see it.  Now, you may remember that I once had an overriding rule that any Hooters waitress that shows off her ass floats to the top of my list.  You may also remember that I have modified that rule whereby that only holds true if I can actually see that bare ass.  I might be splitting the baby here.  Frankly, I might be giving her too much of the benefit of the doubt.  But the extrapolation alone is enough for me to put her, and her picture, in second place.

In first place is The Main Girl, Camila, of Tucson, Ariz.  She has straight brown hair, and in this photo, it's wet and slicked back.  She's wearing a black two-piece with a sporty bikini top.  She's posing in or next to a shed with a surfboard behind her, and she's grabbing at what looks like an orange on a shelf with another orange just behind the orange she's grabbing at.  It's a weird setting.  But she's posing with her right side at the camera, she's grabbing her bikini bottom with her right hand ... and she's swung her ass enough to the camera that you can clearly see she's wearing a thong.  Her really fine ass is mostly pointing to the left, but you can clearly see both cheeks, and nearly all of her ass is exposed for the world to see.  Goddamn, she's making me hard now. I've been staring at it all month.  I want to take out my hard cock and lance that ass.  Add her come-hither look, and this probably is The Best Picture Of The Hooters Calendar 2026.

So congratulations to Camila, and to the other two girls of September 2026.  I will masturbate furtively to all of you soon.  (Considering how much I love the best picture, why haven't I done it yet?)

The Hottest Babe In The Hooters Calendar: August 2026

A good, solid month.  Of the dozen women posing here, I will point out half of them.  I notice that five of the six I will not point out are wearing tops on top of their bikini tops, and the sixth is wearing a boring one-piece swimsuit.  I don't think that's become an automatic "thing" for me to judge these servers on ... but maybe it is.

In sixth place is Monique, of Albuquerque West, N.M. (is that a city?).  Long, black hair that reaches down to her hips, she's wearing a two-piece bikini that is colored in baby blue and bordered in white.  Nothing remarkable about her pose (well, beyond the fact that her right hand might be clutching onto, um, fireplace pokers), but she's standing straight and almost directly facing the camera.  She's got a bam! body.

In fifth place is Orlando's Ashlyn, whom I swear I've seen before in previous calendars.  Straight, dark brown hair that cascades to her hips, she's sporting a baby blue two-piece.  She is standing up and just a canter from directly facing the camera.  (In that sense, she's a mirror image of Monique; while Monique is slightly twisted to her right, Orlando is twisted to her left.)  Her hitching up the sides of her bikini bottom elevates her a tad.

In fourth place is Ava, hailing from Ontario, Calif.  Straight, dark brown hair that go down to the bottom of her tits, she's wearing a purple two-piece bikini that gets to the bottom of her titties.  She's leaning against a stood-up, girthy bamboo pole (never seen anything like that before), so her left arm is nowhere to be seen.  But her body is facing directly at us, and she's showing off her nice bod and porcelain skin.

In third place is Jess, working out of, ooh, Newcastle, England.  Stringy black hair that gets to her breasts, she is wearing a dark and patterned two-piece.  Nothing quite stands out about her, either; she's got a good body, but her boobs are on the petite side.  But she is facing the cam, and she does the thumb-under-her-bikini top thing that gives her a nonchalant aura in her photo.

In second place is Brittany, from Portage, Ind.  Wavy black hair, she's wearing a two-piece bikini that looks like it's made out of a doily.  She's kind of big compared to other Hooters waitresses you see in the calendar, but she is by no means obese.  Better than that, she is wearing a Hooters baseball jersey that is wide open, showing said doily bikini underneath.  It makes me want to think she unbuttoned her jersey right in front of me.  Oh, and she's tugging the front string between her two bikini tits.

Finally, in first place is Zakyla, out of Clearwater, Fla.  Everything about her is exotic.  Her hair is black at the roots, but died blonde at the ends.  Also, some strands of her hair (which extend all the way down below her hips!) are messily kinked, and some are in cornrows.  What's best on her, however, is her two-piece, which looks like it's made out of yellow surgical masks.  Her top is a bandeau, so that bikini top is quite skimpy -- the "masks" cover just enough of her knockers.  Oh, and she's dug both of her thumbs underneath her bikini top -- fap-fap-fap!!!

So, congratulations to Zakyla, and to all the other Hooters girls I've pointed out here.  I've already masturbated to them, but Aug. '26 is so good, I wouldn't mind jerking myself to this month again!!!

Teeth Things

Yesterday/Tuesday I went to the Fair.  Great time to go, especially since 1) work so non-existent I left an hour early and 2) the forecasters says it is going to be as dry and cool as it will get the rest of the Fair.  (I thought about going today/Wednesday, but, even though the air temperature today/Wednesday will be a few degrees lower than yesterday/Tuesday, the dewpoint today/Wednesday is higher, so that will make it feel hotter today/Wednesday than yesterday/Tuesday.  And I enjoyed myself (more than five hours!!) to the point of exhaustion (that's why I am blog posting now) and getting a stomach ache eating all that I could.  Too bad I started yesterday/Tuesday biting my tongue so hard while eating oatmeal before work that I could feel it my entire time at the Fair.  Shit, man, I feel it now.  Sucks to bite your tongue.

---

Just woke up.  Took my guard out.  It's been two days and already the pads that are supposed that keep my molars from touching and grinding each other are beat up and flattening.  But I also noticed that the right pad seems more worn out than the left.  That's not the case, not usually.  I use them to the point where I break through one of the pads; I replace it only when, like, almost half of the pad is torn through.  That's usually the left one, like I grind more on the left side of my mouth, for some reason.  But looking at the pads, it looks like I'm grinding more on the right.  Maybe something is changing?

Ruined Showers; Times Before And At The Very Start Of Supergirl

So I still don't know when they're coming back.  That's good in the sense that I still have the house to myself and I still have the opportunity to go through my things (even though I probably won't).  The bad news is is that I was hoping they would come home to at least a semi-clean house, but that won't happen till they, well, come home.  In the meantime it's still hotter than hell outside so I have taken a shower in both the upstairs (Monday) and downstairs (last/Tuesday night) bathrooms, thus "ruining" their cleanliness.  They might be coming home to bathrooms as dirty as they were before ****e* came to clean it on Sunday.  And sure, she last came over in February, so everything needed a cleaning, but still.

---

So I also sated my OCD/principles and watched Supergirl again last/Tuesday night, and this time I was able to get to the theater in time to see it from the start.  I timed the beginning of the movie to the point of the movie where I came in last week -- four minutes.  I missed the first four minutes of the movie.  If only I had gotten my ass out off the toilet just four minutes earlier, I wouldn't've needed to subject myself to this again.  However, one thing is irking me.  I timed the preview time, i.e. the listed showtime to the time when Supergirl actually started.  Backdating four minutes, the preview time of the film last week was 20 or 25 minutes.  When I went last/Tuesday night, 25 minutes had passed from the listed showtime and, I swear, they were still in previews.  So does the preview time change from week to week?  I thought preview times shortened the longer a movie runs in theaters because fewer and fewer people pay for tickets to see it and therefore it doesn't make sense to show trailers of upcoming films for fewer and fewer eyeballs.  You mean to tell me that if I were running as late as I was last week to watch Supergirl this week, I would've made it to the start??  (Oh, by the way, last week I also watched Toy Story 5, and even though I was running 20-5 minutes late again, I got to my seat just as that film was about to begin.  To avoid getting bored by trailers, I will keep skirting preview times.)  

On the bright side, it wasn't a chore to see it a second time.  Knowing the general outline of what was going to happen next helped me understand the plot of the movie better.  Sure, it's not as if Supergirl is a deep film, but you know how confusing mass-market movies are these days.  And it wasn't the worst thing in the world to see.  I give it a, oh, B-/C+.

Hour And A Half, Hour And A Half, Hour And A Half

I'm trying to watch as much World Cup as I can as the Matches dwindle.  (Sure, my liver might not make it; I'll talk about that next blog post, hopefully.)  This workweek, last night's USA lost excepted, all the Games are in the afternoon.  I don't mind dropping by this one Mexican place close by work to catch the tail end of one of these Knockout Round Matches.  I have developed (well, maybe my OCD has developed) a principle whereby I try and go to a place at least twice to watch Games.  I've been to this pretty expensive restaurant only once, and since I have my places for the Semifinals and Final mapped out, this week's Matches have to be it.

Ideally, I would be able to drop in on a day where I'm scheduled to work early on a day where the Game is at late in the afternoon as possible.  That's only 3 o'clock.  Is that happening this week?  Nope, not at all.  There are Matches today/Tuesday and Thursday at 3, but I am scheduled for The Third Department.  Even if I can get out of work after eight hours (and that's probably not going to happen), I'll be done at 4:30.  Ninety Minutes of the Game would already be done, so I would have to hope that a Match reaches Extra Time for it to be worth driving to this place for a tequila and a taco or something.  Friday I am scheduled to work until 3:30, but dammit, the Game that afternoon begins at 2.  Same scenario.  Of course.

And yet I am thinking that, barring some miracle where there is no work and I can leave early today/Tuesday or Thursday, if I really, really want to sate my OCD and go to this Mexican restaurant to watch the World Cup a second time there, I would ask my boss if I can come in and leave early on Friday.  I can at most shift up my shift a half-hour, which means I would leave work an hour into that Match.  I might have, oh, less than 30 Minutes to watch a Game that might be over by the time I leave.  Also, not for nothing, I have a house party to go to that will also supply food and drink.  Don't want to stuff my face twice on Friday, but my OCD is barking at me to do this.  For soccer!

Isn't Shohei Ohtani Ruining My Plans?

I have today/Wednesday off.  I have had this day planned off for some time.  I had changed it to going to the dentist's in case I needed to go back a second time this month to fill in all the cavities, but I didn't, so I reverted back to my original reason for taking that day off: To at least catch one full day of World Cup Matches that wouldn't short-staff my co-workers.  (Turns out work has been very light since last week, for some strange reason, so that reason is pretty much moot.  Also, I was going to take the whole week off, plus the back half of last week off, in anticipation of being hired for The Special Olympics, but that didn't happen.)

That was before I remembered that The Los Angeles Dodgers, my baseball team when I was out there for college, was in town and, in fact, in town for a three-Game series Monday through today.  I was going to skip it because hey, it's the World Cup, something I won't see for another four Years (well, at least the Men's; the Women's comes up next summer).  But then I checked the pitching matchup: Today, Shohei Ohtani pitches.  I know Ohtani is probably awesome to watch when he's just batting.  But he's a unicorn in that he's in the Lineup even when he's the Starting Pitcher.  His continued success doing both makes him, according to a growing chorus of baseball experts and fans, The Best Baseball Player In History.  Yes, even better than Babe Ruth.  For that reason alone, I think I need to see him do both in person.  It might be more than four Years before he comes to Target Field and does this again, if he ever does.  And, and this is relatively minor, but Joe Ryan is hurling for the Twins.  Great matchup.

I just convinced myself that going to the Twins Game tonight/Wednesday is the right thing to do.  But I wanted to blog post that I have altered my long-held plan to just plop my butt at a pub to watch soccer all day.  So, in that sense I've, well, usurped myself.  This is not the reason I was taking today off.  And I have to note that the Twins Game is badly timed.  The tripleheader of World Cup Matches are at 2, 5 and 8.  The baseball Game's at 6:40.  Plus, parking might be a bear because of Ohtani pitching.  So the plan I have now -- going downtown early to (hopefully) find parking and pay (ugh), watching the 2 o'clock Matches, then doing ... um, something and then heading to the ballpark relatively early -- has a lot of downtime that can't be filled by watching soccer Games in their entirety, which is something I really, really want to do.  It might not make sense to go downtown early to watch soccer.  So, taking that into account, why take off work?  Why not just go from work to the baseball Game?  If work is light again today/Wednesday, I could even stop at home and change, or even nap.

Eh, whatever.  I have the day off.  I'm going to see Ohtani pitch and hit, and whatever else I have the energy to do, I'll do.

The Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey

#0: United FC (Last Week: 0).  Since getting cucked 6-0 in Vancouver on The Ides Of March, they've been riding a six-Match unbeaten streak.  Better yet, they won both of their Games this Week, shutting out Portland at Allianz Field Saturday by a 2-0 scoreline (even though the Loons had the run of play and could have scored at least two more Goals), then going to down to Dallas last/Wednesday night and pulling out a 1-0 victory when Owen Gene (look how his Game has grown!) found Anthony Markanich, who rebounded his own miss at the 32nd Minute.

They're currently tied for third in Points in MLS' Western Conference.  And they will host the club with which they're tied -- star-studded LAFC in a Match Saturday that was moved up from the nighttime to the afternoon so this could get on network TV.  Then on Tuesday, they play in the Eighth-final of the U. S. Open Cup at San Jose, which currently leads the West in MLS and just scored four Goals in about 11 Minutes late in the Second Half last/Wednesday night to obliterate Austin in Cali, 5-1.

Oh, by the way, I feel like this team is doing quite well right now.  But this past Week was a down Week for local sports, and frankly, since the Timberwolves were stopped in The Western Conference Finals the past two Years, I don't feel as though they deserve a 0.  (A 2-0 lead when you win both Games on the road?  I would think about giving a 0 in that case a lot.)  Then, I rely on my principle of no digit gaps in the WMNSS.  In other words, I don't want to put MNUFC in Positive Numbers and then put the Wolves at -1.  There has to be a 0, and I decided it was going to be United FC backing down.

#-1: Timberwolves (Last Week: -2).  It's only two Games, but damn, what a turnaround after a humbling Game 1 Loss at The Denver Nuggets.  Tim Connelly built Denver, so he knows how to defeat Denver, and even though they won only one Game so far this series (let alone only once in the regular season), the T-Wolves have traditionally had the Nuggets' number.  Now, to hold serve for Games 3 and 4.

#-2: Twins (Last Week: -1).  The fucking worm turned.  They were leading their Division this time last screening Week, but a 1-4 record this past Week, low-lighted by a sweep at home by Cincinnati and then enabling The New York Mets to win and break a 12-Game losing streak last/Wednesday, has dropped them back to earth at terminal velocity.  It's still early in their season, which is why I ranked the Twinks over the teams below them in a very bad Week for local sports teams.  But let's see if they can turn things around visiting Tampa this weekend, then hosting Seattle for three starting Monday.

#-3: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -3).  Should we be glad somewhat that their sweep at #1 UCLA could have been worse?  We shouldn't be counting moral victories, but yeah.  They lost by scores of 4-2, 6-4, and 5-2 -- all not heinous embarrassments.  Take it as a life lesson.  And they quadrupled up North Dakota St. Tuesday at Siebert, 12-3.  They finish a five-Game homestand by hosting Northwestern over the weekend, then St. Thomas Tuesday.

#-4: Wild (Last Week: -4).  I don't think they'll beat The Bastard North Stars because I think God hates me.  Still, I want them to beat the ever-loving shit out of The Team That Was Stolen From Us v.2.0.  And things were good to start off the series, with Minnesota absolutely emasculating Dallas in Dallas, 6-1.  They lost Game 2, but at least they got home-ice advantage ...

... which they lost just now.  Game 3 was at the Gica last/Wednesday night, and since it went to double Overtime and the Game itself started at 8:30, it ended around 1 in the morning and it ended with those motherfuckers winning back home-ice.  So glad I wasn't there.  But we're facing yet another Mild elimination in the First Round, and yet again at the hands of The Team That Was Stolen From Us.  Don't go out like bitches.  Don't go out like that!

#-5: Gopher softball (Last Week: -5).  The hits ... well, they keep on coming in the sense that the Goofer softballers continue to get battered around this season.  They didn't hit that much over the weekend, when Nebraska (ranked either sixth or fourth depending on which poll you go to) swept them.  Yes, the U. baseballers also got swept, but 1) the softballers were hosting and 2) they got mercy-ruled twice, following Friday's 4-0 Shutout with a 17-2 ass-kicking (which, of course, ended after only five Innings) Saturday and an 11-2 humiliation Sunday afternoon that ended after six.  They "rebounded" Tuesday and tripled up North Dakota at Cowles, 6-2.  But the sweep is the true mark of how this squad, and this program, is going -- namely two-thirds bad, with a Big Ten record of 6-12 and an overall record of 15-30.

For the first time I can remember, Minnesota ain't playing Wisconsin only twice in the form of a Doubleheader played mid-Week.  They host the Badgers this weekend, the final three Games of a seven-Game homestand.

I Want To Fight Over Pennies, But Can't

Yeah, I hear that the country would be saving money if we did away with the penny.  I still don't like the idea that we no longer have a denomination of "1," you know?  I think there has to be a currency that counts off one.  Because if now the smallest amount of coin is five, why do we have the number one itself?  (I may not make any sense, or cents, but it makes sense/cents to me.)  And I will do my goddamnedest not to agree with any fucking decision this installed government makes.

But these guys have ended minting the penny, and so stores are beginning to make decisions on what to do if change requires pennies.  Some stores I've been to are going to round the total of purchases I make down to the nearest nickel, which is nice.  But just now I went to the discount food store near me for some stuff, my change was supposed to be $X.XX.X1, and she gave me all the money I was owed except for one penny.  Don't know if she rounds, or is told to round, up to the nearest nickel or round to the nearest nickel, period.  But I'm still miffed.  And before, I swear I would've pitched a fit demanding my fucking penny.  But now, considering this death of the penny, I don't know if I can fight it.  Ah, well.  This is a discount food store; I think I'm getting stuff there for dirt cheap, so maybe the thinking is I shouldn't be fighting over a single penny.  Hrmph.

Well, Thanks For Telling Me, Amazon!

No joke, I spent a lot of the last 24 hours thinking about what I would do after work last/Tuesday night.  Combining my principles (or OCD) of trying to use only cash or credit cards a day and not making four trips in my car a day (three is fine, five is fine, four is not because four is an unlucky number), I was figuring out whether I should immediately drive home after work or go out and get groceries.

Beyond the OCD principles above, the thing that factored into my decision was that the measuring cup I bought that I was going to use as my jigger for cocktails.  Amazon said it'd arrive Monday, but it didn't.  If it had, I would have gone grocery shopping yesterday/Tuesday at the discount food store close by to pick up a lemon and a lime.  I would only go there yesterday/Tuesday because on Tuesdays everything is an extra 10% off.  And since I would have gone there, I would have gone to the ATM to pick up cash, probably get gasoline for my car, maybe get some fast food to eat both last/Tuesday night and a future day, and, oh yeah, buy more cocktail items like ginger ale and ginger beer.

But yet, I got to thinking at work.  Why buy a lemon and lime if I don't have the measuring cup?  What I do is slice one of them in half and squeeze them into the cup.  That does two things.  One, I can see how much juice I squeeze, and that dictates which cocktail I would make for myself.  Two, I hear that you leave out lemon and lime juice sitting out because it tastes better about four to ten hours after you squeeze it.  It's a waste buying them without getting the jigger first, especially since this is (I think) the second time Amazon moved the delivery date of the cup.  Amazon said that instead of Monday, it would arrive Friday, and in fact, if it didn't arrive on Friday, I could ask for a refund.

So why am I doing all this stuff yesterday/Tuesday?  I could do it, say, today/Wednesday.  I get out of work early because I'm cutting.  For fast food, I could go to the last Godfather's Pizza in the state, which is going to close on Saturday.  Assuming I leave early enough (and that may be in jeopardy because we have been asked to work overtime because the shipments are still playing catch-up), traffic both on the road and at the restaurant will be easier to deal with.  Meanwhile, I took out a rack of leftover ribs from the freezer to the refrigerator on Sunday.  I see on the Internet that leftovers in the fridge are good for about four days before they should be thrown away.  Why chance it and just eat the ribs yesterday/Tuesday when, by the way, I can watch an NBA Game on NBC?

So just going home it is!  And then, once I get home, I check the mailbox and see a package.  I was able to push my thumb into its middle, so it was the measuring cup.  It was supposed to come last week, then Monday, then Friday, and then for some dumb reason it came yesterday/Tuesday.  I thought I should check Amazon before I started my car at work, just in case, but I still blame Amazon for not getting the precise delivery date right.

But I stuck to my guns and went inside to eat ribs and watch basketball.  My plan on doing everything I thought I would do yesterday/Tuesday today/Wednesday after work is still mostly intact.  Well, besides getting the lemon and the lime, since it's not Tuesday anymore.  And I guess I can make do with the alcohol I have now, so the ginger beer and ale can wait.  I just hope nothing goes wrong, like me falling asleep at the wheel or getting detained on my way home.

The Sleep Reset I Didn't Know I Needed

I didn't think I would pass out at 10 p.m., but I did.  My body told me I was real tired, so I listened to it, and I woke up around 5:30 and I feel good, even though I also feel a bit out of phase.  I back down to Day 1/10% bonus in Zynga Poker, but for a good night's sleep, I'll take it.

I really, really want to watch the EPL downtown.  I was going to do that yesterday/Saturday morning, but work called.  Also, I don't want to go to the bar on a day when a club whose supporters gather at this pub are playing.  That's most weekends when there is more than one Match going on (and on principle I don't usually don't go on a weekend when there is only one Match going on at a time), but yesterday/Saturday was one of those few times.  The next Saturday, I think I saw, was in mid-March.  However, there are three Matches going on this/Sunday morning, and none of them involve a club that meets there.  I didn't even think of going today/Sunday because they all kick off at 8.  But I'm awake now, so I can go!

But wait -- how about those damn people?  They had a goddamn checkpoint set up yesterday morning.  I don't see one now, so I hope there won't be one when I get back.

One other factor: The snow.  Only an inch fell, but it'd be just my luck if I get into a crash this morning.

Stranger's Shit

When I went to Mariucci Friday afternoon I needed to pee.  Like the arena, but they still have fucking troughs, and I'll be goddamned if I ever have to use one.  Luckily there weren't too many people there, so I just went into one of the open stalls and FUCKING GODDAMMIT, there was floating piece of feces in the toilet.  And it was yellow and brown and everything.  Some motherfucker just didn't care to flush, Jesus fucking Christ.

I'll be honest: It kind of ruined the rest of my day.  I was watching the hockey Games, and I got obsessed with what I wanted to buy there.  But FUCKING GODDAMMIT, I flashed back to that piece of shit in the toilet.  The last time I saw something like that was at Lafayette Coney Island in Detroit when I was there the last weekend Tiger Stadium was open, and my pure OCD makes me flash back to that piece of shit I saw from time to time (even though the water was clear, for some fucking reason).  Goddammit, people are just fucking gross and rude!!!

Was Going To Stay In, But ...

This might be a mistake.  But I went to a couple Games of the World Juniors at Mariucci, and there may be a few things I want to buy.  But the items on sale at that arena seem to be different, if not really different, from the items I saw at the IIHF World Juniors pop-up store at the Mall Of America.  Also, I went in the second Game, when Canada was playing.  The merchandise store at Mariucci was packed.  Now, the store is really small, even if the Game was only half-full, so the idea that things could sell out quickly based on what I went through last night probably is overblown.  Still, that has made an impression me, and add to that the items I thought I saw at MOA but not there has convinced me to change out of my clothes and go out today, to the Megamall, probably to buy some World Juniors stuff.  Other factors factoring into this decision: There are no important Games on TV I can stay home and watch (there are college football Bowls, but they're exhibitions, so they're not important; by the way, I think there are only three top-flight men's Games and one top-flight women's Game today, seriously!); weather's pretty good for driving right now (above freezing, no rain); and, surprisingly, I haven't been asked to come in to work.

I really don't want to drive, but instead I think I'll stay home next Saturday, when there will be a couple NFL Games on free TV.  This plan might blow up in my face, of course.  It's possible I could go down there and everything's sold out, or there are items there that I don't want to buy, or all the stuff there is exactly what I saw at Mariucci last night.  But like I said, the World Juniors ain't comin' around every year, so I might as well experience it while it is.  Let's hope it works out!

What I'm Doing This Christmas Weekend; Christmas Song Review

It's not going to be much of a Christmas holiday for me.  I'm working today/Thursday/Christmas, and then, instead of just vegging at home, I've decided I am going to a few Hockey World Juniors Games, on Friday and Sunday.  I need to stand by my principle that I should go to things that might not come around here for a long time, and the Hockey World Juniors might not be in the Twin Cities ever again, at least not in my lifetime.  In fact, I changed my mind and bought tickets to not one but both Group Stage Games tomorrow/Friday at Mariucci.  I was going to go to Hooters at MOA after the afternoon Game, but as far as I know, Hooters will be around in 2026; the World Juniors will not.  I just need to figure out what I'm going to do inbetween Games.  Oh, and even though there are Games on Saturday, that's when I figure I'll just sleep in.  That's my time to relax for Christmas.

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Before I delve into this Christmas' Christmas song, I have to apologize for doubling up.  I was looking through past Christmas song reviews and didn't realize that I wrote about Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" twice, last year and in 2019.  I don't know how I forgot I did it twice.  Sorry.  I will do better and check beforehand.

My Christmas song for 2025 is a challenging one because it's not originally a Christmas song.  It's "My Favorite Things," from the musical The Sound Of Music.  I'm still trying to understand how it accreted its Christmas meaning after it was made, but let me go through the chronology as I understand it.  I'm using articles from Mental Floss, Billboard, and Wikipedia (two articles) to research this.

The Sound Of Music first appeared on Broadway in 1959, with the song showing up in Act I, completely devoid of its current meaning.  The cast album was released that year and topped the Billboard charts for 16 weeks, then stayed in the Top 10 for the next two years.  Now here's where it gets weird: Julie Andrews, who plays the main character of Maria in the film adaptation of The Sound Of Music, performed "My Favorite Things" on a variety show on CBS called The Garry Moore Show at Christmastime in 1961.  Note that Andrews has no connection with the original stage version of The Sound Of Music.  She was eventually cast as Maria for the film version, but that was made in 1964 and released in 1965.  According to Wikipedia, a man by the name of Ernest Lehman was hired to write the screenplay in December of 1962.

It looks as though the "Christmasifying" (I'm taking that word from the Mental Floss article) of "My Favorite Things" came in 1964 due to, ironically enough, the film version of The Sound Of Music.  The music publishing division of the The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization (Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II wrote the music and lyrics for the stage musical, their last together before Hammerstein died of stomach cancer in August 1960) knew the film adaptation was going to be released in March 1965.  It was being marketed as a tentpole movie (it would go on to win five Oscars, including Best Picture), but that publishing division wanted a song from that movie to become a hit before the movie came out, otherwise they were afraid the movie wouldn't make any money.

Someone from the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization went to a music producer named Mickey Kapp to see if there was a way to get a song from The Sound Of Music into any album Kapp was producing.  He told the representative that he was currently producing a Christmas album for a singer named Jack Jones; Jones, who died in October 2024, sang the theme song to The Love Boat, by the way.  This rep thought that "My Favorite Things" would be a good song for Jones to sing and for Kapp to add to the album, which is called The Jack Jones Christmas Album.

But why "My Favorite Things" for a Christmas album?  Well, that's where you listen to the song and note all the references to winter and Christmas, or at least references that lend themselves to the season and the holiday if you imagine big enough: "Warm woolen mittens"; "Brown paper packages tied up with strings"; "Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes"; etc.  Who knows if Rodgers & Hammerstein picked up on the Christmas allusions when they wrote the song.  But Kapp, sticking to the original context of "My Favorite Things," said it wasn't a good idea to put it on a Christmas album because it wasn't a Christmas song.  To which this promoter said, "Just add sleigh bells."

Well, Kapp did add sleigh bells, and Jones sang the song, and "My Favorite Things" was put into The Jack Jones Christmas Album, and ... it looks like it didn't become a hit, nor could people directly credit that song for people buying tickets to The Sound Of Music, the movie.  But people in the music industry apparently saw "My Favorite Things" as a Christmas song then, and thought it was good, because from then on other artists did their own version of "My Favorite Things" for their Christmas albums, and it then became the standard holiday song it is now.

But I'm not going for Jack Jones's or Julie Andrews's or even the original version of "My Favorite Things."  I love, and I mean love, John Coltrane's cover of it.  It swings so effortlessly, and my Buddha, his playing after the verses lifts me up to the sky.  I shouldn't leave out McCoy Tyner; his revolutionary piano playing on the song is a heaven-sent complement to Trane's virtuosity.  Only in the past year or so have I realized I now have a song that makes me feel happy every time I hear it.

And here's the ironic part of that: The album "My Favorite Things" is on (and the album is named after the song) was released in March 1961 -- a couple years after the stage musical premiered and almost four years before Mickey Kapp and Jack Jones put it on a Christmas album.  It wasn't a Christmas song when Coltrane recorded it, and yet you hear it come Christmastime.  I can't call this "retconning," short for retroactive continuity, but maybe this phenomenon could be called, uh, retroactive meaning-making ... or something?

OK, maybe not.  But here's John Coltrane doing "My Favorite Things."  Get happy, and Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays:

Too Much Fucking Snow

I've said before that I would have the cold than the snow.  I am getting less and less tolerant of the cold, but my preference still holds true.  Especially as the winter has started with much activity, namely frequent bursts of an inch of snow here, a few there, etc.  (Aside: The forecasters saying the La Nina weather pattern out in the Pacific Ocean will mean a colder and snowier winter for us in Minnesota is, so far and unfortunately, correct.)

If you really want to split hairs, those types of snowstorms are manageable, and I understand that the snow we get during the winter replenishes our water supply in the summer.  Doesn't mean it's safe to drive on it, and it gets tiresome to prepare yourself for so many days of driving in risky conditions.  For example, I wanted to go to my local Barnes & Noble last/Monday night and work on my receipts.  But I was blindsided on the snowstorm we had in the evening -- were we supposed to have one?  I needed to send some mail, I bought a Coke, and I tried putting air on my tires.  But the gas station I went to yanked the air hose out, and it was snowing so bad that I decided not to go to B&N and instead went home.

It snowed in the morning, too.  It was the nice, fluffy snow you imagine when you have good memories of Christmas, of being home with family, cozying up to a fire, drinking hot cocoa and unwrapping presents.  It's pretty to look at if you're inside and not needing to go outside.  But like I said, if you do need to go outside, that innocent-looking snow is deadly.

And all this moderation goes out the window because, apparently starting this/Tuesday afternoon, we're getting a big snowstorm, the second-biggest of our young winter if not the biggest.  It's hitting before I leave work, and it's going to get bad quick, so my drive home will probably be dangerous.  Worse than that, I have to get up early for work tomorrow/Wednesday.  There may be fewer people on the road, but I will not relish driving in what could be half a foot of snow early in the morning and in the dark.

Fucking hate this.

Where To See The Women's EUROS Final Today/Sunday

I have it down to two places: Brit's in downtown Minneapolis or A Bar Of Their Own in the Seward neighborhood.  I continue to go back and forth on this.

For the last Women's EUROS Final in 2022, I went to Brit's.  ABOTO wasn't around then.  I don't know my thinking, but it's my usual soccer go-to, plus it is a British pub and England was in the Match against Germany (and England won).

I was going to go there, but ... I wanted to see a Group State Game there on a weekend, but they wouldn't open until noon and the Match started at 11 a.m.  I decided not to go out at all.  Conversely, I made it to two concurrent Group State Matches at A Bar Of Their Own.  Not only was the set-up perfect but they had sound.  ABOTO is committed to showing women's sports, and that commitment was in full force.

This past week, when I took time off from work, I went to both places to watch one of the tournament's Semifinals.  I went to Brit's on Tuesday.  Love the set-up and I love the food (although the fries with tikka masala was deceptively huge and heavy).  I kind of wish they would've turned up the volume a tad, but maybe management was worried that most of the people eating there weren't there to see the Match.  I'm certain that won't be the case today/Sunday.

I then went to A Bar Of Their Own on Wednesday.  It may have been that this took place on a weekday afternoon or there was torrential rain pouring outside, but the place was sparse; only several people were there to watch the Match.  But we had the run of the place and we could see and hear it just fine.

The Final starts at 11 a.m.  I am OCD enough that, when one of these places advertised that they would be open at 11 for a Women's EUROS Game that also starts at 11, I wouldn't go.  I want to see the Match from the beginning, and frankly, rushing in at the top of the hour to find a seat and hope the TV is turned on and tuned to the right channel isn't good enough for me.  And I certainly won't accept it for the championship.  That, at least according to both places, won't be a problem; Brit's says they'll open at 10:30.  Meanwhile, before I left, the server said that even though they usually open at 11, they'll open 15 minutes prior so everyone can get situated before Kickoff.

Then, an attractive woman who sat two seats down from me about halfway through the First Half of the Match said, "See you Sunday."  Honestly, that's the deciding factor.  I'm going to Seward.

I have only a few quibbles.  ABOTO is farther away from me than Brit's.  Parking might be tighter there than in downtown Minneapolis.  The atmosphere might be better at Brit's because I think there should be a sizable contingent of Lionesses supporters who want to watch at a British pub.  Finally, I am going to wear my Tampa Bay Mutiny jersey because I make a point of wearing it and my San Jose Earthquakes jersey at least once a year.  I wore my Earthquakes one to Brit's on Tuesday, and besides Minnesota United FC Matches (and I usually wear my Loons sweaters there), I won't have another occasion to don my Mutiny one, so today/Sunday it is.  I might, just might, get some guff for wearing a Major League Soccer -- read: male -- sweater to a women's sports-only bar.  More likely, though, people will ask me, "What's a Mutiny?"

I hope this is the right decision.

Outdoor Baseball? Mmm, Sorry

I was invited out to a Saints Game that took place last/Thursday night by alumni groups that we are trying to build relationships with.  As much as I wanted to go, I didn't think I could because work would probably make me late for First Pitch, and as a general rule, I don't want to go to a Game when I know I can't get to its very beginning.

I had other reasons I didn't want to go.  Another of my principles is that I will not pay for parking if I can help it, and St. Paul extends their street parking well into the evening.  That meant that I would have to park out of the downtown zone and then ride the light rail in, and that means I would have to figure out, build in, and get out of work at a fairly early time (as it is nowadays) to factor in public transportation and to make First Pitch.  Also, yesterday was a humid day, and I was not feeling hanging out in outdoor stands getting sweaty (and possibly with the sun beating down on me) trying to get to know people in order to organize more alumni events.

So I decided on Wednesday that I probably couldn't attend, and I let the lead organizer know.  And then the damndest thing happened.  I don't know what was up at work, but the heavy workload that I anticipated, and that has reliably been overwhelming ... wasn't there.  As many forms came into the building as it usually has, but apparently nearly all of them had the complete and correct information.

So, did I decide to go to the Game then?  Nope.  I realized that while I couldn't make it to the Saints Game if I got out of work too late, I didn't want to go to the Saints Game if I got out of work too early.  I had no interest yesterday to think of something to do for 90 minutes to two hours before I made my way to St. Paul.  And there was still the weather, which, admittedly, was not as sweat-inducing as I thought it would be, but was in no way comfortable for me to hang out for a 2 1/2-hour baseball Game.

So I went home.  And ate dinner (alone; I thought that since I got home at a not-insane time, my parents and I would eat dinner together, but alas).  And then I fell asleep for about an hour.

I hope these organizations have another shindig I can get to.  I really do want to try and attend one.

Facial Rec For OnlyFans?!?! GTFOH!!!

So I tried logging into OnlyFans a few days ago, and instead of seeing its busy, clunky homepage, I was told I needed to be verified.  The link I clicked on sent me to this third-party site that had a lot of words that I needed to read.  There it said that I need to be verified through, get this, facial recognition.

That shit came at me out of the blue.  I understand that maybe you need ways to identify consumers on your porn site.  But I also have the right to opt out and not volunteer my physical features to a company just so I can beat off to naked women.  So I refuse.  And that probably means I won't use OnlyFans unless they end or even lighten the policy, so I might not ever use it again.

I am kind of crestfallen, but I don't trust a porn site to keep my facial characteristics secure.  For all I know, they'll sell images of me to an artificial intelligence company.  That fear overrides any understanding that this company should know who you are.  Too bad; whenever I needed to see someone naked for a bit, I sometimes went out to OF.  But only sometimes because -- and maybe I need to rant a bit here -- its interface was awful.  I try to press a button and it would take forever to get to the next page.  And it's so picture- and video-heavy (for obvious reasons), yet it had a difficult time reloading and refreshing.  You would think a porn site would fix a loading problem.  But whatever, I can't and won't go there anymore.

On The Hunt For Oral Rinse

I don't remember when, but whenever I brush my teeth (and I confess that it's not twice a day, and in fact it's not daily!), I use this oral rinse.  It's not Listerine, nor anything like that.  It is (I think) referred to as an oral rinse.  Specifically, if you look at what the active ingredients are used for in the back of the bottle, this is an anticavity liquid.  Some time ago, the American Dental Association, in my estimation, really pushed for the use of this formula to combat cavities.  And I, someone who battled cavities since I was a child (partly because I didn't brush my teeth daily, let alone twice a day), could use a magic bullet that would prevent them.

I don't have absolute proof, since my use of this oral rinse more than a decade ago coincided with greater brushing frequency and more diligent trips to the dentist, but I may have developed one cavity since I started using this oral rinse.  I was convinced that this indeed is saving my teeth, so I made it a routine to use it after brushing and, once I used it all up, I would go to Target, find that bottle of green liquid with the ADA logo signally approval and buy it.  This used to be ACT, but once I started becoming price-conscious, I switched to the Target's generic Up & Up brand, which had a similar formula and, more importantly, was also branded with the ADA logo.

And then, maybe a year or so ago, when I wanted to pick up yet another bottle at Target, I didn't see the logo anymore.  Freaked me the hell out.  What looked to be the replacement was not quite right.  I believe it said, instead of "oral rinse," "mouthwash" or "mouth rinse" or something.  I flipped the bottle to see the active ingredients and saw none of what I believe gave this product that seal of approval: Sodium fluoride and fluoride ion.  And it has to be at a certain percentage of those compounds: ACT currently has an oral rinse which I saw have sodium fluoride and fluoride ion in lower percentages in their bottles.  Guess what?  They no longer have the ADA seal of approval.

I ran out of my last Target bottle of oral rinse some time last week, and Saturday, the first time I stepped into Target since I started my boycott against this Trump-cocksucking corporation in early February, I was hoping to see if it was back on the shelves, but it wasn't.  I saw some Internet chatter that other people were wondering what happened to this product, so I began to worry that they just weren't making it anymore.  I can't conclude anything else than that now.

So the ACT oral rinse is now so weak the ADA doesn't believe it can prevent cavities.  Up & Up now touts "mouthwash" that is antiplaque and antigingivitis -- both good things, but dammit, I want something anticavity.  (More online sleuthing makes me think the main difference in what I want and I what I see on shelves is the prevalent use of alcohol.  The anticavity oral rinse I have used for decades does not give you that alcohol burn.  Listerine and I think these other mouthwashes do.)  I finally searched online and, after finding the magic words, it seems as though CVS has its generic brand of oral rinse.  And it's still in shelves ... even though it's not in all of them.  That kind of scares me.  If it's not just Target that's pulling this product, does it mean that there's something wrong with the formulation?  Is it not as anticavity as the ADA thought it was?  Or does this have something to do with a worldwide supply crunch of fluoride or something?

---

Yesterday/Monday morning I couldn't sleep.  I may have gotten an hour overnight, but I was well enough that I got out to the car early enough to buy myself a mocha and oatmeal for breakfast.  I didn't plan on spending any money yesterday/Monday, but since I did, I figured I could spend more.  And after seeing that a ticket to see Dave Wakelin and his version of The English Beat at The Dakota was a bit too rich for my blood (the band seems to tour all the time, so I maybe I'll catch them at First Ave or a larger venue that'll have lower prices than $75), I figured yesterday/Monday was the day to hunt and stock up on this oral rinse.  Having a weirdly light day when I was expecting to be at work for at least ten hours made that decision easy to make.  All I had to do was drive up past where I live to a CVS I've never been to.  They had three bottles -- and, in another instance that makes me think they're just clearing out this product, it was BOGO.  Maybe I should've grabbed that third, but I got two.  And it may be the last two of this formula I will ever be able to use.

But, I have these two oral rinse bottles, so I'm set for the time being.  (It'll help that I'm starting to use the free bottles of Listerine I get with my free toothbrush and floss every time I visit the dentist.  Have to use them at some point.  Hope using them doesn't give me cavities!)  I really hope this is a temporary blip and that this formulation will be back on the shelves.  If not, I would like to see some explanation as to why I can't buy this anymore.  Like I said, I could be wrong, but I think it's a tooth saver, and so I want to keep using it.

Ah!

Yeah, I got down with ****e this/Saturday afternoon, and it was as good as I hoped it would be.  In fact, I think she was willing to do more.  Man, so loving, so seductive ... I was putty in her hand just like that.

Better yet, when I asked her how much for her rendered services, she said, "Whatever."  So, I coolly reached in my wallet and pulled out some money.  I shouldn't have done that.  Actually I should have rearranged my dollar bills before I went to the party, because I just pulled out ... well, the amount I gave her when I didn't want to give her that much.  I mean, ****e is fantastic.  But for what she did to me, I have never given that much.

I get the feeling she is really chill about it.  (I was hoping that we could do this away from parties, but she didn't sound like she wants home visits, shucks.)  But I am afraid that she noticed how much I gave her before and will see that I won't give her that much next time.  And shit, as good as she is, I cannot give her as much as I did, just on principle.  Well, unless ****e wants to go all the way with me. ...