Lake, Bake, Wake (Up)

The Schloss-Blog is unfortunately once again having to look at the wake of Kari Lake, even as she gets slapped around by Arizona's courts.

Also, got a gripe with Peacock. And a few other things, as usual.

And congrats to Jordan, my wonderful grandson, on a great soccer tournament performance in Minnesota.

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Kari Lake, the unsuccessful and defeated Republican candidate for Arizona governor, has seen her attorneys sanctioned this past week for, according to the Arizona Republic, "filing a baseless lawsuit attempting to ban the use of voting machines prior to the November election."

Problem is, everything she does is baseless, like her claim that she won the gubernatorial election in 2022 (she didn't), echoing Donald Trump's long-ago proven-false claims about the 2020 presidential election. Lake's claim has been rebuffed in Arizona courts over and over again.

The bitchy little former Phoenix TV newscaster spends much of her time now kissing up to Trump, hoping to become his vice-presidential selection on the Republican ticket. You can tell because her lips are permanently pressed to part of his body where the sun doesn't shine.

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Speaking of Phoenix, it's getting hot and hotter there.

It has been more than 110 degrees hot there for 21 consecutive days as of Saturday, when that record was set. Low temperatures have not been below 90 degrees, with a record "high" low temperature of 97 degrees one night.

Kind of makes me laugh though when I read reports that the area weather is an advantage for those seeking employment there, especially in tech and semiconductor manufacturing.

Maybe A/C manufacturing would work out better.

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Police served a warrant in the investigation of the death of Tupac Shakur, the rapper shot dead in Las Vegas.

Twenty-seven years ago.

Apparently, the man who says he was the only witness, Duane Keith Davis, aka Keffe D or Keefy D, 60, had his residence searched, reportedly for "...computers, hard drives and pictures from the 1990s that apparently show individuals who might have been connected to people directly or indirectly involved in the drive-by shooting." 

Hmm...

Or maybe, is somebody planning on publishing a book on this, what is now the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop?

Ain't no statute of limitations on murder, is there?

Or, as the Jewish rapper, Mickey Avalon says... 

It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder
That God must be one sick mother...
So I bust a nut in the sky
Spend another day waiting to die

No idea if that's relevant. You tell me...

***

Quick takes:

• The United States is experiencing a huge 12 percent drop in homicides, year over year. Republicans are saying it's because of all the guns on the streets and we need more.
• Tony Bennett passed away. Who Can I Turn To...?
• A Fast Company article says there are seven ways to spot an AI-generated resume - I say there's one - it's too freaking good to be true.
• Peacock stole the conclusion of one of the rounds of The Open golf tournament from England. It is also going to have exclusive rights to one NFL playoff game this season. It better not be a Giants game.
• Jason Aldean, are you kidding?

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Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.

 

Fast Company Too Fast, Claire Dederer's 'Monsters' and Congrats, Bruce Miles

The Schloss-Blog likes a lot of the articles we see on Fast Company, but some more than others. Oh dear, the others. And we check in with "Monsters" and "The Franchise," among other things.

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Claire Dederer's "Monsters, A Fan's Dilemma," (Penguin, Random House), reminds us that people we perhaps perceive as evil or just plain ill-mannered also produce great works of art.

Woody Allen? Michael Jackson?

See where this is going?

Is it OK not to love their work or the work of others who have also sinned for all of us to see?

The Schloss-Blog will let you decide that question for yourself. We know how we feel. Dederer clicks off artist after artist though and challenges you to be able to do the same.

You might surprise yourself in this entertaining read.

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Fast Company so often produces articles of insight, aplomb and just plain old logic.

And sometimes not.

An article by someone I never heard of at a company I didn't know existed, says to be a "dream employer" there are certain things to do: provide holistic experiences; provide best in-class tech stacks (huh?); and produce a culture of agility (so, hire gymnasts?). In another article, another such author explains things to avoid telling new graduates: to be or have fallback assets; to cut your screen time; to not sweat the small stuff; and to always work for a big company. 

I've had books telling me all that (OK, not the tech stuff) since I graduated from college. If I'd have listened, I guess I could've written those words of advice for Fast Company. I've had "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" forever.

Maybe Fast Company is not so fast, huh?

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Got to give it up for my friend and colleague Bruce Miles.

The former longtime Daily Herald sportswriter, along with co-author Jesse Rogers, just had "The Franchise, A Curated History of the Chicago Cubs" published (Triumph Books, Chicago, 2023). It is a unique history of the Chicago Cubs, who Miles and Rogers both covered for decades.

This is no chronological storytelling, no sir. Miles and Rogers breakdown the Cubs by star players, headline managers, significant trades (good and bad), the team's "Loveable Loser" years and some oddities that even this veteran sportswriter wasn't aware of.

The stories are told with a first-hand attendance vision and will jog your memory of things long forgotten, especially for long-suffering Cubs fans (run into them all the time in Arizona). Even reviled Mets and White Sox fans will appreciate all this.

The book has gotten nice acclaim and a best-seller tag from amazon.  Bruce is his usual, humble self about the book but took the time to write me a nice inscription when I brought my copy to the gym to which we both belong.

It's always nice to see fellow sports scribes succeed. Bruce has always been someone I admire and his success is something I point to regularly for my former students.

A good storyteller will always find someone who thinks their ability is worth it.

Congrats, Bruce.

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Quick takes:

• Wimbledon matches have mostly been fun and interesting to watch, but the Brits, with their stuffy all-white attire mandate and continued use of real people instead of reliable modern technology to call lines, are dependably passe. This year though, for the first time, they allowed the ladies to wear colored underwear instead plain white. One question: why aren't they mandating men to wear collared shirts? That would seem to be a stuffy British no-brainer. Although Jannik Sinner, the Italian star, was allowed to bring an off-white gym bag from Gucci onto the court with him before matches. The queen just rolled over.
• Seems that Donald Trump just might have had former FBI directors James Comey and Andrew McCabe audited by the IRS. They either weren't loyal enough to only him or they participated in investigating him. And they should have.
• Elon Musk's new company, xAI, will supposedly explore how the universe works. Good luck with that.

***

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson.

More Sunday night, as always on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.

Who's Next For Adidas and Happy Birthday, Joey Chestnut

The Schloss-Blog is wondering with whom will be adidas's next marketing alignment and we're wishing Joey Chestnut a happy birthday, with mustard on top.

Adidas, having already split with Kanye - uh, Ye - has also disassociated with Beyonce, whose line with them was underperforming at best, they claimed.

Who's next? Adidas had a stable of athletes who are well known and solid, from soccer's Mohamed Salah to basketball's Donovan Mitchell.

But where should they turn for a celebrity who's not already contracted elsewhere? Or, perhaps who they could poach? Nike, meanwhile, maintains a boatload of celebrity endorsers to complement its many top-shelf athletes.

Do you make decisions about your kicks based on who else is wearing them, other than your closest friends and associates? Does it matter to you what Drake is wearing? I talked about it all on my rock 'n' roll radio show tonight (Sunday, July 9) on Radio Free Phoenix (dot com).

As for me? Give me my No Bull brand at the gym and on the pickleball court and get out of my way.

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Couldn't help but wonder, as I watched Coco Gauff and Venus Williams play on TV in virtually parallel matches at Wimbledon, was Donald Trump watching? Was Ron DeSantis?

Were they rooting for their fellow Florida residents? Gotta' wonder, because they both seem to favor voting restrictions and manipulations that would make it harder for Blacks and other minorities to vote.

Yes, Coco Gauff and Venus Williams live in Florida now. Venus' longtime support for more Blacks in tennis and equal prize money with men, plus her tearful reaction to George Floyd's death pretty much tells you where she stands politically. Coco has also spoken out on racism discrimination and equal opportunity.

Unfortunately, so have Trump and DeSantis.

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Hey Floridians, how's the water?

Full of sharks, that's how it is.

Sharks were spotted in shallow water in Florida, causing lifeguards to hustle people out of the ocean and for those people to scramble like that shark-bait that they had become.

And did we mention New York as well? Beaches were closed down in some cases because of reported attacks and definite spottings.

I have a lot of friends and family in both Florida and my native New York. I'd like to see them all again, so please, friends and family, use Bat shark-repellent. 

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Joey Chestnut, god bless your stomach lining.

The native Kentuckian won his 16th Nathan's Famous Hot Dot Eating Contest in Brooklyn this past week. He consumed 62 dogs in 10 minutes.

60. 2!

At 39, he's at that age where most pro football, baseball and basketball players have already retired. He looks like he's just getting started.

Women's champ, Miki Sudo, consumed, odd coincidence, 39 dogs in 10 minutes to successfully defend her crown. 39 - Chestnut's age.

Chestnut, by the way, weighs 229 pounds and stands 6-feet, 1-inch. By Centers for Disease Control standards, he is obese at more than 227. He shouldn't weigh more than 181 at his height.

If he wants to be around to win 16 more, he better hit the gym.

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Quick takes:

• Britney Spears says she tapped Victor Wembanyama on the shoulder. His handlers said she might as well have been attacking him. Basically, the rock diva hit herself in the face. It was a nothing incident but the media ran with it.
• Mark Zuckerberg won round one of his fight with Elon Musk, tapping 30 million enrollees for his Threads social outlet, designed to rival Musk's $44 billion Twitter. Musk says Zuck did it with employees he poached from Twitter and is threatening to sue. Those would be rounds 2 and 3 and Zuck would win those too.
• Been watching the Women's U.S. Open Golf from Pebble Beach? The course is winning. And it was difficult to watch Michelle Wie West and Annika Sorenstam, two great champions I admire and respect, struggle mightily, shoot 12 over par and miss the cut.  The U.S. Open is supposed to allow golfers to display their skills, not embarrass themselves, but that's what the USGA and NBC did, especially to Hall of Fame talents Michelle and Annika.

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Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, Michelle and Annika. More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.

 

SCOTUS, Putin and Florida

The Schloss-Blog is looking at court decisions and getting sick.

In Florida, Scot Peterson, an armed resource officer, was charged with failing to protect students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High when the now-convicted Nikolas Cruz, doing life for killing 14 students and 3 staffers, rampaged through and committed his crimes in 2019. Peterson was acquitted on all charges.

Peterson, a Broward County officer, allegedly ran from the gunshots and claimed to not know from where they were coming. Witnesses testified it was clear from where they were coming.

In D.C., meanwhile, the Supreme Court tossed out Affirmative Action in suits against the University of North Carolina and Harvard University. Despite years of precedent upholding Affirmative Action, the Supreme Court's six conservative justices tossed it aside. This was the second time in a year the court had taken to precedent-busting, with the Dobbs decision last year throwing abortion back to the states being the first.

Is it any surprise that in Florida you can skate on failing to protect young lives from bloodshed? And from now on, you will always will, apparently. What's the use, therefore, of having school resource officers?

And it's already tough enough to find equality in the faces of students in classrooms in America's top colleges and universities. Now it will supposedly be even tougher.

Public opinion, as it does for reproductive rights, pretty much leans decidedly toward maintaining college classroom equality.

Don't tell the Supreme Court.

On top of all that, the court dismissed the Biden Administration's forgiving of student loans, inconveniencing millions who were depending on that financial relief.

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Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that in Russia in June and in the United States three-plus years ago, both countries had to survive government overthrows.

Who's next?

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Elon Musk has lost a reported $17 billion for his investment in Twitter. That's $17 billion, with a 'b.'

Now, he has called out jiu jitsu champion Mark Ziuckerberg of Facebook for mano-a-mano in the cage.

My money's on Zuck, both in the ring and on the corporate books.

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Nusrat Chowdhury has become first Muslim female to become a federal judge. The former director of the Illinois ACLU office will sit in Brooklyn.

Can we find a way to get to replace Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court?

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Can't help but think that now that SCOTUS has backed a website designer who didn't want to design for a gay couple on free speech grounds, can grocery stores refuse gay shoppers? Can theaters refuse gay patrons? Can churches refuse gay parishioners? 

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Things tense at work?

Another Fast Company contributor says take a timeout. Reassess yourself. Project your future. To yourself, that is. And according to another contributor, you double down on your strengths. You invest in relationships. You connect however you would to someone or something larger than you (what?). 

Do all that, and you have just become Vladimir Putin.

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Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Happy Fourth of July. Here's to you Florida - you just acquitted someone who apparently let your kids down, and their teachers, and their friends and their families.

More Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.