A new definition and a little shameless self promotion.

Look, I don't make any bones about it, I like to write. I like calling myself a writer, even though most of us can write, and don't make that big of a thing about it. So I started this blog. It is important for bloggers to immerse themselves in popular culture. It gives them something to write about.

Here is where I fail. I can't keep up. I have never watched a single episode of Game of Thrones. Not one. Apart from dragons, and violence I am not even sure what it is about. I have been told that it is almost a Lord of the Rings for adults. But, I thought Lord of the Rings was grown up enough for me. I don't really know enough to say I want to watch, or not watch.

The same is true for Doctor Who. I have seen a few bits and pieces scattered across the years. It has been around for a long time. Never watched a whole episode, though. I don't even have a favorite doctor. I always thought Basil Rathbone would have made a good doctor. He made an excellent, if drug free Sherlock Holmes.

So there are my failings. I did just get an iPhone7 Plus. Which is very pop culture. Of course it leaves me open for two years of the iPhone for seniors accusation from my lovely, kind, and slightly toxic wife. Being cool is not without costs though, so I pay for my ticket and don't complain.

And I am all up to date on The Walking Dead. Or as I like to call it, the Never Ending Dead, or the show least suited for dinner time. And I am only a couple of seasons behind on Supernatural. And it is amazingly enjoyable. I like family driven angst, and guilt mixed with mostly malignant angels, uncooperative, but occasionally useful demons and monsters old and new. It reminds me of holidays at mom's. If you leave out the occasionally useful part. Just kidding. Sometimes they were occasionally useful.

Anyway, if you want to read more of my writing it is here, and here. And of course on this blog, as well. And a couple of other blogs, and I now have a wordpress site, but I am not sure why. Sometimes I get carried away.

Damn Those Patriots.

Until recently the I cared very little for the NFL. Oh sure I would always pick a team to root for, normally right after the Super Bowl. Man, I was on a roll there, my teams were kicking bottom, It was a great system.

It was an ill wind that blew in from the Northeast. There was a group of men, who had the audacity to call themselves patriots, and even invoked the image of the Minute Man, cheating. And not just cheating either, you know grabbing a little extra jersey, or poking a guy in the snoot at the bottom of a pile, or saying heinous things about an opponents Mother when lining up against him, they all do that, it is an accepted part of the game.

And it wasn't just the garden variety schmoozing of the referee, in an effort to distract him, or "accidentally" stepping on the quarterback while he is laying on the ground, or the greasing of the uniform with slippery silicone to make yourself more difficult to tackle, or having the person with the down marker distract the coach by chewing gum and popping bubbles as annoyingly loud as possible, everybody does those things. That is just strategy.

No, this was much worse, it was so bad even the NFL and the Super Fans who anchor the shows on
ESPN and Fox Sports had to say something. That is how desperate it has become. It seems that the quarterback deflated some footballs that were used by the other team.  It was so bad that the NFL suspended him from four games. But, the American Judicial system in its zeal to mete out justice overturned the suspension. Justice at work, an American Symbol.

During the opening game between the Steelers and the "Patriots" (don't make me laugh) the Line Judge called a False Start on the right tackle of the New England team, and was about to assess a five yard penalty, but the Judge came out on the field and overruled him. He actually called an encroachment on Pittsburgh and gave the five yards to New England. The Pittsburgh coaching staff was livid, and were almost charged with Contempt of the Court. It was so close.

Thank goodness they had soothing music being piped into all of their communication gear, or it could have gotten ugly.