The Schloss-Blog is going to Be Real today, all too real...
As in BeReal, the app.
This is where the kids today are running, to BeReal. Why?
Once a day, at a time unbeknownst to them, they get an alert to post on the app. They have 2 minutes to do it - one selfie and one of their immediate surroundings, whether it be at school, commuting, showering (yikes!), dining or even making breakfast for your evening's paramour.
Seriously.
No "likes" to click on, but you can comment on your friends' posts.
Then, your 2 minutes come and gone, on to tomorrow.
Gonna' try it? I doubt it. This is where your kids and grandkids are running to now that we old-timers have invaded Facebook, Twitter and all-too-friendly Instagram. This is the next place they are going where we aren't yet so we can't spy on them or make believe to be cool like them.
What am I gonna' do? Me, I'm gonna' BeReal. Well, where are you reading this? Let's be real, not on BeReal.
***
Speaking of being real, the Schloss-Blog can't help but think that all the Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, after heaping praise on the credentials of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, all voted against her nomination.
Why would they do that?
Maybe because she's not Amy Coney Barrett or Neil Gorsuch or Brett Kavanaugh, all three of whom are going to vote the United States back into the Stone Age.
Or maybe because they are predominantly aging, gray-haired white guys who don't like a qualified Black woman moving into the neighborhood.
***
Who thinks that the economic sanctions levied on Russia and rich Russians are going to stop Russia's bombing of and slaughtering of ordinary Ukrainian citizens?
Me neither.
***
There was a mass shooting in Sacramento last week. One dead, at least six wounded.
Mass shooting, with defining variations depending on the source, is set as an event in which 4 or more people are shot - be it killed and/or wounded. Or as many as three or four dead, and that many or more wounded.
So far this calendar year, Wikipedia says there have been 142 mass shootings. News Nation says 119 (like I said, varying definitions).
In Washington, Congress still refuses to take legislation action to curtail mass shootings, like stricter I.D. laws and gun show-purchase loopholes. Too many states have open-carry laws - no license - and it could be a deadly weapon, like a semiautomatic AR-15.
We're on pace for more than 500 mass shootings this year, but primarily Republican legislators refuse to take action and the gun lobby says Democrats are coming for your guns.
No, they're coming for your unregistered AR-15s, not the licensed, registered weapons of collectors and responsible hunters.
Before the next Kyle Rittenhouse shows up, let's do something.
***
Did you watch the NCAA basketball tournament? There were some compelling storylines, especially Coach K's last ride and the ultimate underdog in tiny Saint Peter's.
But can you name three great players you tuned in to watch, the next great NBA prospects?
Me neither.
There was no compelling player I wanted to see. No, next one-and-done who will be the first pick in the NBA draft.
They're all still in the transfer portal. Guess what, New Jerseyans - Saint Peters' three best players are already in the transfer portal for next year. Speaking of one-and-done, Saint Peters is one that's done.
Champion Kansas had maybe one NBA legit prospect, runner-up North Carolina maybe two. Maybe.
The championship was a good game, but I didn't see the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft on the floor, like I did in the women's NCAA Finals (Aliyah Boston of South Carolina).
Plus, there was a great Black coach in that game - Dawn Staley - who has turned down offers to head up men's programs.
And the women - guess what - they play defense, box out on the boards and set picks. They make the extra pass and look for the open shot, not for the ESPN Sports Center Top 10 shot.
One thing for sure - the men's NCAA tournament has changed. Because of the lost COVID year, injuries and transfers, there were players out there in their sixth year of eligibility.
In what would've been his sixth year of eligibility, LeBron was already the best player in the NBA.
This year's No. 1 pick, meanwhile, is probably going to be a one-and-done from Duke or Kentucky.
Do you know his name, their names? Or do you know that Coach K has had his last ride?
As has Saint Peter's.
***
It is the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the enactment that mandates equal opportunity and facilities for men and women at schools that receive federal funding, be it for academics or athletics.
When it was enacted, 50 years ago, 30,000 high school girls played varsity sports. Now some 33 million do.
Yet, states are out there passing and proposing laws that girls play girls sports and boys play boys sports.
How about we just have sports, huh?
***
Finally, speaking of the Oscars, Timothee Chalamet showed up in a tuxedo - without a shirt.
I'm going to do that to the next black-tie party to which I get invited.
And we'll see if I get asked to leave. Timothee Chalamet was not asked to leave the Oscars.
Will Smith should've left when asked.
***
Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.
More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.
No comments:
Post a Comment