Reading · The Pedestrian Pundit

When I say I have friends in low places, I mean it in the best possible way—like the one who has season tickets in the lowest place in Fenway Park, aka The Front Row, and who occasionally sends those tickets my way. Which he did on Sunday, for Monday’s game.

Bingo! I must be in the front row!

For more on the backstory of this friendship and my first time sitting in these seats, see #2 here. When I revisited that post from almost exactly five years ago (seriously, five years and 10 days), for the first time since I “published” it, a few things struck me, notably:

Time flies. I can’t believe I’ve been writing here for more than five years, even though I know I have.
The more things change the more they stay the same. But some things change, as the old Beatles song goes, “forever and not for better.”
It’s critical to stay open to people and be open to changing relationships—and this goes both ways. To quote from the same song, “some are gone and some remain.”
I’m appreciative of the reminder, also as the song goes, that these places have their moments. And today finds me grateful for the people and places and moments in my life. I truly do I love them all.

Anyhow, the game was amazing. First off, as it so happened, after offering the tix to my sis and b-i-l, diehard and fun Sox fans, I learned that my sis was going to the game with her daughter, daughter-in-law, and our niece. So I offered the tix to my two nephews to make it a family affair, and since only one could make it, my b-i-l rounded out our foursome. A stroke of good fortune with timing allowed the eight of us to gather for a social on Yawkey Way (sorry, but I can’t call it Jersey Street) before splitting up for the game. Great start to a perfect night at the ballpark, which we captured for posterity (and I got an MS Copilot assist for anonymity—gotta protect my peeps from my nonsense):

In a back-and-forth game, the Sox won by way of a Caleb Durbin (man that dude is growing on me) homer in the 8th but not before Aroldis Chapman gave us a bit of a scare in the top of the 9th.

14th win in a row, longest streak since 1946.

And then yesterday they tied the longest streak of 15 games (same streak, 1946) in an afternoon game rescheduled from Tuesday night, which I watched with my niece who took the train out from Boston and my mom—we had a nice day of socializing, pool, sun, takeout salads, and baseball before the thunderstorms rolled in.

I know. Salad. The explosive diarrhea parasite didn’t even cross my mind. But now it’s *all* I can think about. 🤦🏼‍♀️ I’ll let you know if anything happens over the next few weeks. But the salads were great and the game was even better.

The second game yesterday, though…the night game of the day/night doubleheader was not so great. We had a very ugly start by Eduardo Rivera (who?) who got us into a 4-run hole in the first with the shaky Brayan Bello relieving in first inning. He held his own, thank God, but the bats never came to life and there was no new franchise record to be had. This fan will settle for a tie, as our season has turned around, a wild card playoff spot is not out of reach, and baseball is fun again.

So, other than baseball, there’s been no shortage of other stuff on the brain, so let’s have at it:

Actually, this one is kind of about baseball…I really wish Connor Wong could hit, but even so it’s ok when he gets up to bat because I love his walk-up song, “Forever Young” by Alphaville. That one always catches somewhere between my heart and my throat.
Speaking of music…now that temperatures are a little less oppressive, I’ve been taking my morning coffee and paper outside. That said, I found myself missing my morning album. So I decided that my outdoor music sesh would be vinyl-style, meaning I pick an album and play it from start to finish on Spotify. Not the exact same vibes as actual vinyl, but the same relaxed and focused pace. Albums are a different kind of commitment than playlists.
One of my favorite albums right now (and I think you know this) is Prizefighter by Mumford & Sons. I did recently notice that when I am alone I tend to scream sing it like I’m at the concert. It might be a little weird, but it makes me so happy.
Speaking of my music-filled mornings, I do not regret breaking the morning network news cycle at all. I still stay on top of the news (well, I try to…obvi the lettuce memo did not sink in!) but also work hard to stay out of the propaganda machine that’s eating us alive. A few examples of that:
1. The 🐓🌮🤡🐷👶 president
  1. The recent prime-time, pre-recorded speech, which I I did not listen to but did read the transcript, which I ran by ChatGPT. I got the following, “Bottom Line”:
    1. Factual accuracy: 3/10
    2. Speech quality as rhetoric: 5/10
    3. Quality as a serious presidential address: 3/10
  2. What I have to say about it is this:
    1. Speeches like this should concern all of us. Overall, the danger isn’t so much that every election-fraud claim is false—it’s that real but limited problems are being presented as proof of a vast, coordinated conspiracy, and taken at face value to be true. That resulting distrust will be used to justify sweeping changes to election administration—without first establishing the actual scope of the problem and finding appropriate solutions for them. A few small-but-real systemic problems being conflated with a large-but-false claim that one of the last three elections was “stolen” poses a very-real threat to democracy.
    2. Election security should be pursued. But it should be done transparently, through a complete and thorough collection of evidence, independent verification, bipartisan oversight, and auditable procedures. Blustery demands by the president and his cronies that people accept their conclusion because questioning it proves they want to cheat is not how democracy runs. If people accept the speech wholesale, the real issue is much broader than whether people believe inaccurate election stats—it’s a complete erosion of a shared fact base that is a requirement for democratic principles to survive and self-government to thrive.
    3. People can disagree passionately about policies and candidates. Democracy can survive and has survived that. But I think it will have a much harder time surviving when large numbers of people not onnly come to believe the unproven claim that the underpinnings are fundamentally fraudulent but also that anyone who refutes the verity of the claim actually perpetuates the fraud. The credibility of our elections is a key part of our national infrastructure and a representation of our national security—believing falsehoods about them is a fundamental foundational threat.
    4. Taking everything the president says at face value does not make you a good American. It makes you a stupid one who is actually giving up their rights rather than using the power of them.
  3. The general Truth Social diplomacy continues, as the home-grown social media platform is where we get key source info. Here are a few samples.
    1. Like is this how he communicates policy?
    2. Does he not realize that we too have a wildfire problem (which is not about maintaining forests and brush therein)?
    3. The world cup medal/trophy presentation was funny in a very not-funny way.
      1. First, the boos. I want a president that the world cheers for. It makes me sad we don’t have one.
      2. He had to be dragged off the stage away from the celebration. He made that goofy face and did some weird quasi-dance moves before getting physically removed.
        
        “Get the orange buffoon off the stage, state.” (Photo source, here.)
        Before the WC he bad-mouthed Spain’s leadership and its people (“a wasted cause,” “hopeless,” “bad people.”
        After the WC, when Spain cropped Trump out of the post-match pics, the White House fired back with a series of photos highlighting his presence on the field. So childish. Also not where we need resources directed.
      3. But if you missed the halftime show, be sure to check it out here.
    4. Then he did this weird braggy post. The one day war in Venezuela? What? False comparisons are a problem in general but a post like this after three American deaths is downright distasteful.
2. What in the holy hell is going on with Pete Hegseth’s testosterone testing and supplementing strategy? What the actual f-ck?
  1. Menopausal women fight (often unsuccessfully and often at a cost) for HRT. But military men? Jack ’em up and give ’em a gun. Sure.
  2. This guy should be first in line for the shots. Looks like he could use a double dose.
    
    jamie@gnuman1979
    I did a lot of PT. I ain't never seen no shit like this.
    3:09 PM · Jul 20, 2026 · 1.46M Views
    2.76K Replies · 993 Reposts · 9.18K Likes
  3. Jesse Watters is an absolute tool and anyone who thinks it’s ok that Fox News allows this, well, you confirm why you love Fox News. Stop hiding behind your hate.
    
    Acyn@Acyn
    Watters: Women on base, you better be careful. Port calls, women in Asia, you better be careful. Because these guys are going to be wild animals and you better watch out.
    9:38 PM · Jul 16, 2026 · 9.8M Views
    4.09K Replies · 1.72K Reposts · 6.74K Likes
3. Weekend at Mitch’s. I cannot believe we live in a world where we pretend that old senators are still alive. It’s bad enough that we let half-dead people stay in office. But whole dead ones? Let us see Mitch IRL please.
4. But speaking of dead lawmakers, the fact that the Miss Lindsey is dead news broke in the midst of the “is he or isn’t he?” Mitch McConnell death drama was a strange sort of exclamation point. But not as strange as this “tribute” post. (No comment on the garish gold accents.)
5. Steve Scalise recently gave a ridiculous defense of the SAVE Act, making the outlandish claim that you have to show ID to do all kinds of things at all kinds of places. Like buy a gun. Just kidding. Like order unlimited pasta at Olive Garden. NO LIE.
  1. ICYMI, here you go:
    
    Brian Krassenstein@krassenstein
    Republican Steve Scalise: “If you want to go to Olive Garden and get unlimited pasta, you gotta show a picture ID.” Who here has ever had to show their ID to eat pasta at Olive Garden? I’m pretty sure Republicans have lost the narrative.
    3:06 PM · Jul 21, 2026 · 350K Views
    3.11K Replies · 2.59K Reposts · 10.6K Likes
  2. People are so clever. In the aftermath of his comment I saw several very funny things on social about Olive Garden visits, namely:
    1. A post where someone said they did not have an ID, were arrested, and read their Marinara Rights.
    2. Another poster who said they had no ID and got sent straight to the penne-tentiary.
    3. And a third that reported that to eat there you need to show a Veal ID.
    4. People are punny.
6. Lastly, a comment on the extradition of perv crime bros Andrew and Tristan .Tate. The UK seems willing to take action where the US turns a blind eye. Like in this case and in the case of the Andrew formerly known a Prince. This isn’t about boorish behavior. It’s about fighting crime and arresting perpetrators. That’s hard when you have a criminal in the WH and the people in power aren’t speaking up.
One more on my mornings outside…I swear the birds know when I open my Merlin app and stop “singing” just to f-ck with me.
Ok, so looping back to testosterone, bro culture is real…we see it in politics, we see it in professional spheres. Men go out and drink whiskey and do manly things and help each other out with winks and handshakes.
1. It’s a cycle that needs to be broken because it disadvantages everyone who doesn’t fit the ideal.
2. But also, women are competitive. This male dominated world forces them to fight for scraps…and when they do they get called names, accused of not holding each other up, etc., etc. The ERA still hasn’t passed in America and it shows.
But while on the subject of bros, and I realize this is a controversial take, what is up with all the High Noon, White Claw, skinny can drinking among this crowd? Also if you’re a guy under 5’ 5” and drinking one, nothing separates you and a Polly Pocket doll.
So I mentioned that my mom was here watching the Sox yesterday, and I know I’ve mentioned before that she loves sports, so it’s no surprise that she is the one who broke the Jaylen Brown trade news to me. I still have mixed feelings about it though maybe there is more that lies beneath.
But speaking of that trade, they say private equity ruins everything—and this seemingly strange move supports that claim.
Stay in your lane. Here are a couple of observations from the local roads (when I’ve been driving or walking).
1. It’s summer, which means a lot of people have landscaping services. Which means a lot of landscaping trucks and trailers parked on sidewalks, half on sidewalks, and in the street. If the truck is on your side of the street you have to yield to cars on the free side. You can’t come barreling down the wrong side of the street and then scowl at me for staying in my lane.
2. When you take a left turn, stay in the left lane. Don’t cut the corner so tight you almost clip the front of the car waiting behind the stop line at the red light.
3. Look in both directions for pedestrians.
4. In MA anyway, pedestrians in crosswalks have the right of way.
Speaking of summer service…we recently took a piece of equipment out of our pool plumbing loop because it was leaking. The (new) pool company showed up unannounced and when I said we didn’t realize they were coming (as we headed out of the house for the gym) the reply was “no worries.” I wasn’t worried. But you should have called. Anyway, Kerri had been overseeing this so she skipped the gym and they seemed to do a great job. But honestly, call first.
Speaking of service in general, I recently asked Alexa to please turn on the bedroom lights and despite my good manners was met with some sass: “Aye aye, Captain,” she replied. “F-ck you, Alexa” I muttered. Nothing like getting all riled up on the way to bed.
And speaking of sass…this comic cracked me up…it’s nice to know that my work future in the afterlife is secure, if not in the present one: