Ron Obvious
Ron Obvious's JournalClaudio Ranieri: We're in the Champions League, man!
This is great. Claudio Ranieri finally abandons his cool reserve and admits they're going for the title.
I was just listening to the BBC's 5 Live Daily, and they had a different take on this interview. They thought this was actually planned and deliberate on Ranieri's part to settle the mood at LCFC. I think they might be right: there was very noticeable tension last week against West Ham after Vardy was sent off, which didn't lift until the equalising penalty. Terrific management by Ranieri!
What a great story this is. I've been trying to explain how big and unlikely this whole thing is to people who aren't fans of this sport, and I just can't think of an American equivalent -- a #16 seed winning the NCAA? No, that's just a tournament.
Redbone - Come and get your love
This song has been featured in a recent Sky Fibre ad. I knew I recognised it but couldn't place it. It turned out to be a Redbone (remember them?) hit from 1974 and also featured in the recent Guardians of the Galaxy movie (which I didn't see).
Catchy little song, though I'm having trouble making out all the words ("what's the matter with your hair" ? 
)
A talk with a hospital chaplain
I was in hospital in San Diego a few months ago and was asked if I wanted to talk to a counsellor. "OK", I said, keeping the comma carefully outside the quotation marks, "why not?".
"The counsellor will be a chaplain; will that be OK?", they asked.
"Well, I'm not religious and don't want any proselytising, but otherwise that's OK", I answered.
So a very nice woman came by my room and we had a friendly chat lasting about 15 minutes. At the end, she asked if I had any objection to her saying a prayer for me. I don't know how most of you would feel about that, but I said it was OK, and got a brief, non-denominational prayer telling God what a lovely chap I was and to please push back my expiration date a bit further.
I thanked her and she left me with a smile and a piece of paper requesting a charitable donation to her organisation which I then promptly lost in the confusion afterwards.
I didn't think anything of it, but it turns out my wife had tried to call me during that time and was told I couldn't be disturbed because I was talking to a chaplain. She panicked because she quite reasonably assumed I'd either gone soft in the head or was otherwise receiving last rites. It didn't help that the cell phone service went out around that time and she couldn't get a hold of me for several hours during which time she assumed the worst. We had a good laugh over that later and that's not why I'm writing this now.
I opened (yet another) bill pertaining to that visit this morning and saw that I had been charged $400 for my 15 minute conversation with the chaplain! 
I don't know if I should object to the charge (the insurance passed on paying for it) or what, but this was certainly an unpleasant surprise. I assumed I'd been talking to a kind-hearted volunteer. Frankly, I was just being polite! Shows you how naive I am, I suppose, and what being polite gets you these days...
Who did God like better -- Moses or Abraham?
"Abraham," the Zaddik said.
"But Moses led the Israelites to the Promised Land," said the disciple.
"All right, so Moses," the Zaddik answered.
"I understand, Rabbi. It was a stupid question."
"Not only that, but you're stupid, your wife's a meeskeit, and if you don't get off my foot you're excommunicated."
Here the Rabbi is asked to make a value judgment between Moses and Abraham. This is not an easy matter, particularly for a man who has never read the Bible and has been faking it. And what is meant by the hopelessly relative term "better"? What is "better" to the Rabbi is not necessarily "better" to his disciple. For instance, the Rabbi likes to sleep on his stomach. The disciple also likes to sleep on the Rabbi's stomach. The problem here is obvious. It should also be noted that to step on a rabbi's foot (as the disciple does in the tale) is a sin, according to the Torah, comparable to the fondling of matzos with any intent other than eating them.
"Rabbi," the man asked, "where can I find peace?"
The Hassid surveyed him and said, "Quick, look behind you!"
The man turned around, and Rabbi Ben Kaddish smashed him in the back of the head with a candlestick. "Is that peaceful enough for you?" he chuckled, adjusting his yarmulke.
In this tale, a meaningless question is asked. Not only is the question meaningless but so is the man who journeys to Chelm to ask it. Not that he was so far away from Chelm to begin with, but why shouldn't he stay where he is? Why is he bothering Rabbi Ben Kaddish -- the Rabbi doesn't have enough trouble? The truth is, the Rabbi's in over his head with gamblers, and he has also been named in a paternity case by a Mrs. Hecht. No, the point of this tale is that this man has nothing better to do with his time than journey around and get on people's nerves. For this, the Rabbi bashes his head in, which, according to the Torah, is one of the most subtle methods of showing concern. In a similar version of this tale, the Rabbi leaps on top of the man in a frenzy and carves the story of Ruth on his nose with a stylus.
From "Hassidic Tales, with a guide to their interpretation by the noted scholar" -- Woody Allen
Why would I take medical advice from my insurance company?
I've been getting a lot of calls lately from my Health Insurance company wanting to impart vital medical information to me. They leave messages imploring me to call them back to hear this vital information (though they don't say what it's about on voicemail, of course).
When I answered in person this morning, I told them I only take medical advice from my doctors, not from people who work for an insurance company that only wants to keep my costs down (and the premiums rolling in, presumably). This is self-evident to me, but they seemed rather offended.
I won't mention the name of my insurance company here, of course, but it's Regence Blue Shield if you're curious.
I don't get the whole US medical set up in the first place, but this was a new one to me. Is this commonplace nowadays?
Peanut Butter & Jelly flavoured soda, really?
This is just wrong. I'm not real up on the Bible, but I believe this is one of the signs mentioned in the book of Revelation. Clearly we're living in the end times and frankly, we deserve no better, pack of degenerates that we are.
Disclaimer: I'm genuinely appalled and not associated with this company. Hate to raise the profile of this vile concoction, but right-thinking people must be warned of this threat to our civilisation and way of life.
Yet another adaptation of Maigret, starring.... Rowan Atkinson (no, really!)
We watched this last night, and it was pretty good!
I confess that it would never have occurred to me to cast rubber-faced Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean, Blackadder) as the passive, inscrutable Maigret, but I think he pulls it off quite well.
The pacing is right (slow), and the casting and production values (Budapest stands in for 1950's Paris) are marvellous.
It's lacking something, but I haven't been able to put my finger on what exactly yet. It might get addressed in future episodes/movies, which we'll definitely keep an eye out for.
Recommended if you like e.g. Morse, Endeavour, Touch of Frost, Midsomer Murders, that sort of thing.
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Name: RonGender: Male
Home country: Middle Earth
Current location: Seattle
Member since: Tue Dec 13, 2011, 11:37 PM
Number of posts: 6,261
