Author: Eric

INTJ personality. Jack of many trades, master of some. Former banker, consultant, technical writer, marketing manager, infopreneur and communications manager, now retired. Eclectic and sometimes eccentric. Cynical and often critical.

Pickleball Musings

One can often get a feel for how competitive a team or players are by viewing how they warm up.

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Few things unnerve your competition more than when your games and shots become unpredictable and they are unable to adjust.

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Marketing ploy or good advice? Replacing paddles older than one year to take advantage of new technologies to generate increased power and spin.

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Coincidence? Most winning doubles teams share long histories of competition and practice together. (Nationally: Johns Brothers, Ben and Anna Leigh, Locally: Troy and Kristin Clemmer, Manny Lai/Alex )

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Expand your game and shot selections after mastering the basic shots. Keeping improving your game by changing your game and grips. (View YouTube videos of the two handed forehand volleys and groundstrokes by Riley Newman and Troy Clemmer).

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Networking (meeting/playing new people) improves your career prospects and your pickleball game. 

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Due to the increased volley speeds generated by newer paddles, avoiding hitting “out balls” has become an “unforced error” to mindfully minimize.

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Due to the increased volley speeds generated by newer paddles, wearing eye protection is a must. (I don’t play at an advanced level generally, but I’m amazed at the increased speed of volleys and have barely avoided injuries when standing at NVZ at intermediate play. A lot of power generated from Joola and Gearbox paddle models).

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The greater pickleball player of all time is not playing yet.

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The new attempts to eliminate or revise the drop serve at the professional level seems as wise as the attempt by the NCAA in the 60s to eliminate the dunk in college basketball. (50 extra IQ points to those readers who understand this reference.)

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Review: The Harding Affair: Love and Espionage during the Great War by David Robenalt

The Harding Affair: Love and Espionage during the Great War by James David Robenalt

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The affair between Warren Harding and Carrie Phillips was actually very boring. Evidently there were lots of love letters and correspondence between the two. And I do mean boring love letters and boring correspondence. I pretty much skimmed over those that were published in the book. The book contains some interesting history about Republican politics in the years of Taft and Theodore Roosevelt. Harding found himself caught in the middle of that political squabble. There is also some interesting history and commentary regarding the United States entering World War I. Just like World War II, there was great antipathy on the part of the American public to be involved in the war. In addition, there was a great deal of sympathy for Germany.

Based on the book, Harding appears to be a capable senator, hard-working and capable of compromise. He was a very good speaker and in demand for his abilities. However the shameless way that he pursued Mrs. Phillips does not present him in a good light. Given that his wife was constantly in bad health, one could understand his need for female companionship. But Mrs. Phillips was a needy and manipulative woman. The book covers allegations that she was a spy for Germany in World War I. Based on the book, it appears the only certain thing that could be alleged was that she was very sympathetic for the German cause and attempted to persuade Harding towards that end.

I slogged through the book more for the historical morsels around the time of World War I than for the less than sordid details of Harding’s affair(s). This book did provoke an interest in reading a book written about the Harding presidential administration.



View all my reviews

Mental Burps

I’m not sure what would be more frightening – – a huge asteroid headed for a crash landing on earth or the prospect of a Trump re-election in November?

Looks like Sports Illustrated is going out of business. It was the premier sports magazine in my youth and early adult life. The swimsuit issue normally published in the beginning of the year always generated some controversy and interest. And there were some great sports writing and photography in the magazine.

I used to love to buy magazines like Playboy, US News and World Report, Tennis, Money, Runners World, Men’s Health etc. I can’t remember the last time I went into a bookstore to buy a magazine. I can’t remember the last time I went into a bookstore to look at magazines.

John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster and Sam Houston were cited as Profiles in Courage in the book by John F. Kennedy. Tim Scott, the senator from South Carolina, will never be cited for his courage. How low must the performance, moral and integrity bars for Senator Scott to endorse Donald Trump?

One past regret in my life: that I did not take measured risks in my early adult years.

Books Reviewed

Brief thoughts and comments on books and reading…

My tastes are changing as I have become older. I want to be more entertained, less provoked and upset. More fiction, preferably historical fiction, less politics.

Speaking of books that provoke and upset, I have no interest in reading any more books about the Trump presidency. I get it after reading about a dozen books on his administration: he was an awful President and a horrible human being.

In fiction, I continue to read stories where the main character is a man in his 60s and 70s.

My sources for reading material: My Library, Kindle (less than $5 books) Barnes and Noble… I now belong to a new library that will hopefully provide me more opportunities to find books that I am interested in reading. I haven’t bought a book at Barnes and Noble for about time months. Price of their books are often too high and often not worth the price.

How I scout books before I read them? I read reviews from Goodreads, Kirkus, and Amazon. Sometimes books are previewed (maybe the first chapter) and I’ll read the previews to see if it catches my interest. If possible, I try to see the Table of Contents for a book. Often that provides a preview of the contents of the book and if I may find interest in topics covered.

I rarely read non fiction books cover to cover anymore. I tend to skim through sections of a book where I have no interest, am already familiar with the content or bored.

I enjoy collecting aphorisms and seek books about aphorisms. If I am to write a book, it will be aphorisms that I create about life, aging, religion, money, marriage, friendship, etc.

I prefer to read books less than 200 pages. Reading a book that is more than 500 pages is a mental marathon that I can rarely finish.

My universe of reading topics continues to shrink. There are so many things now that I have very little interest in, including politics, self help, health issues, money and finances, Trump etc.

I really don’t need most self improvement books. At 71 1/2, if I haven’t figured things out by now, I never will.

2024 Predictions

Alabama will win the National Collegiate Football championship beating Texas. Jim Harbaugh will resign as Michigan coach and become a NFL coach (San Diego).
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No Kansas City – Philadelphia reprise for 2024 Super Bowl. 2024 Super Bowl will be Baltimore vs. Detroit. Baltimore will win 38-17.
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Kentucky will beat Kansas in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
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No Biden – Trump reprise in November 2024. Biden will withdraw from race. Due to legal issues, Trump will also withdraw but will receive conditional pardon.
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Both parties will choose current elected and active governors. Republicans will not choose Ron DeSantis.
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Ukraine-Russia war winds down to negotiated cease fire by May 2024.

U.S. needs to act militarily to aid in Israel’s defense. Benjamin Netanyahu replaced. Very few additional hostages released or located.
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AI serves as a very effective propaganda and distortion tool in 2024 elections. Many voters are duped to believe just about anything to support their narratives and beliefs about politics.
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Twitter goes dark in 2024 due to loss of advertisers, disinterest by members and huge operating losses that Musk no longer wants to fund.
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Taylor Swift will not marry Travis Kelce.
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76ers make Eastern Conference Finals but lose.

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The Top 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time (Variety)

https://variety.com/lists/greatest-tv-shows-of-all-time/

  1. I Love Lucy
  2. Mad Men
  3. The Sopranos
  4. The Simpsons
  5. Breaking Bad
  6. Sex and the City
  7. The Wire
  8. Seinfeld
  9. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
  10. Roots
  11. Cheers
  12. Sesame Street
  13. Succession
  14. The Twilight Zone
  15. Saturday Night Live
  16. All in the Family
  17. Oprah Winfrey Show
  18. The Golden Girls
  19. Playhouse 90
  20. 60 Minutes

I listed the Top 20 by Variety. My choices for my Top 20 would only include Seinfeld, Cheers and All in The Family. Mad Men may make my Top 25. I watched I Love Lucy when I was a kid but more because my mother watched it and we only had one TV back then.

MASH was #24 on Variety’s list but it is on my top 5. West Wing was ranked #25 by Variety but I would probably have it 10 or more spots higher on my mine.

The Sopranos richly deserves its high ranking. The Tonight Show was ranked #52 but I feel it is undervalued given the cultural influence it had on the country when Johnny Carson was host.