Thursday, August 04, 2016

In which we ramble pointlessly

The Bronxwegians asked me to post their judging request in various places. Curiously enough, I got more likes on that on Facebook than anything else I’ve posted in quite a while. I hope that means the people are just excited about the whole idea and immediately going to sign up to provide great judging, rather than that I’ve hit the nadir of my posting prowess, where the only thing that gets liked is my hawking the tournaments I attend. Of course, for me great judging is 1) hitting the start button when the round starts; 2) starting the round at the scheduled time; and 3) entering the decision about 45 minutes later. After that, I don’t care if your paradigm prefers whoever serves man (in the Twilight Zone sense of the phrase) best, since it’s up to the debaters to want you as a judge or not based on your preferences. I’m only looking for your efficiency. That’s all that matters in tab. Such is the world of MJP, and my main argument in favor of it. Do you really want me deciding who the best judge for you is? I didn’t think so.

This is the time of year when a lot of Facebook is devoted to people traveling the known universe and not thinking about forensics. I’ve seen posts from Middle Europe, the Iberian peninsula, France, etc., as well as all sorts of USA vacation spots. I have to say, it’s a welcome change from the norm. I obviously like forensics as much as the next person, but only if the next person actually doesn’t give a crap about winning every round and actually has some sort of interests beyond the 1AR. Means to an end and all that. My own travels this summer have been spare enough, including upper New York, the Shawangunks, the spring trip to WDW and eventually a week or so in NOLA (for the first time). I have to admit that while I enjoy the far flung,  I’m also usually quite satisfied with the nearer flung. There’s interesting stuff everywhere, if you just go seek it out. For that matter, I love just popping down to roam NYC on a regular basis. Art, food, hustle and bustle—what else does one need, especially when one’s DJ keeps one’s nose in a book?

Have I read any good books lately? I’d be happy to answer that, but not here. Too complicated. Any good movies? Well, as one might have predicted, buying a TV the size of Cleveland has redirected me from theaters to the family room, so I’m hardly up-to-date. The one thing I saw that surprised me was Ex Machina, which was much better than I expected. Otherwise pretty much what you’d expect. Any good music? I do like that the Olympics have pushed a lot of Brazilian playlists to the fore. I’m good on the basics, but I’m ready to go way deep. On the other hand, no matter what I name my playlists, Alexa always wants to play some other playlist. Bad Alexa! Bad! I’ve found that just asking for an artist (after switching the default to Spotify) is one’s best bet. Alexa, play some Harry Nilsson. You know I’m happy when Coconut comes on.

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