Tag: coronavirus

That’s one way to make AEW more interesting

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Unfortunate: Jon Huber AKA Brodie Lee in AEW, Luke Harper in WWE, passes away at the age of 41, due to alleged non-COVID related lung disease

Firstly, I genuinely do feel bad to hear about this story, because Jon Huber was an extremely good wrestler, and it is always a tragedy to hear of a guy leaving the world this soon, especially when he’s leaving behind a wife and two kids.  At 41 years of age, he’s not much older than me, and many of my current friends, which is also very harrowing to hear of.

I had a high opinion of Jon Huber, and it was a running joke between one of my friends and I that he was a picture-perfect future IWGP World Champion if he ever decided to cross the ocean and go to Japan, because the mold of the evil foreign white man that NJPW loved to use to have their heroes pursue for championships was basically built off of guys like him.

Instead, he went to AEW, where he briefly enjoyed a modicum of success, being unveiled as the leader of the Dark Order, having one World title shot at Jon Moxley which he lost, but then squashing Cody Rhodes for the TNT Popeyes Championship, before losing it back to him a month later.  To my knowledge, that was his last appearance, and he never appeared again on television until the news of his passing.

Here’s the thing though: the news is still fresh, the grief among the industry and the fandom is still outpouring, but I hate to be the guy that wades through all the sadness to wonder just what really happened.  From what I’ve heard, Lee passed away from an unnamed “non-COVID” lung issue, but I can’t help but feel all sorts of skepticism for these vague circumstances.

Continue reading “That’s one way to make AEW more interesting” →

I’m going to be screwed when/if the pandemic ends

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

As is often the case, I struggled immensely to come up with things I wanted for gifts for Christmas.  In the end, my general listed pretty much revolved around all sorts of sweats, compression gear and athletic apparel, and I was fortunate enough to be thought of by enough people to have gotten quite a good bit of it.

That being said, since none of this stuff really serves me much purpose outside of the gym, or at home, or while working out at home, when and if the pandemic ever ends and I have to start going back on-site to work, I’m pretty much going to be screwed as far as the usefulness of all this stuff is concerned.

I’ll definitely be better equipped for the gym, outdoor running, or when I feel like feeling like a sausage at home, but in the grand spectrum of time spent in this kind of stuff is going to pale in comparison to the kinds of clothing that I’ll be expected to wear in the workplace, or going out for societal functions again, not that I couldn’t just be that guy who always wears athletic gear everywhere he goes.

It’s just kind of funny though, since this just feeds the narrative that as we get older, the more and more practical our gift choices become, and how ecstatic we are to get things like socks, accessories and mundane clothing.  Because this isn’t in the least bit facetious or resentful for my gift haul, I couldn’t be any happier with all the things that I got, because they’re all things that I’ve wanted, but been too cheap to spend my own money on, and now I don’t have to, but can have all the athletic gear I always wanted in the end.

Advent Beer #20: Märzenbier by Hösl

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Earlier in the day, I went to the grocery store to pick up some food stuffs to feed my infant throughout the week.  There was an unnerving amount of anti-maskers there, in spite of the fact that the entrance of the store explicitly says they are required.  Obviously, nobody wants to get into any altercations or get assaulted over mask policies, so this always slides, no matter where you go.

This is where I wish there were Luke Cages all over the place to enforce mask policies, and nobody could fuck with them or even hurt them, even they tried.  Get on that shit, Publix.

Coming home, there was a house with no less than eight cars out front.  I’m assuming someone was having a football party of some sort.  It’s not like coronavirus numbers aren’t on the rise, and large gatherings don’t have something to do with it.

The night prior, there was a house near me that had at least 16 cars parked out front.  The fuck is wrong with everyone?  I hope every anti-masker and every person who arrogantly is helping prolong this epidemic gets fucking coronavirus.  They seem to want it so badly, I think the world owes it to them to oblige them.

Anyway.  Twenty beers down, four to go.  My first impression when I pulled the can out of fridge my first impression was that this looked like the most German can that I’ve seen over the last three weeks.  With a font choice that makes me think of Wolfenstein 3D, and a crest that seems to have lederhosen with an H worked into it, it’s basically the most German design there’s been.

As for the beer itself, it was a nice dark caramel color, and I was beginning to wonder if I was going to get yet another dunkel, which made me excited.  The first sip was met with a toasty flavor, and I thought that perhaps I was getting another dunkel.  The snobs at BeerAdvocate however classify this as a lager, and I’m brought back to earth at how much of a novice I am at being able to classify my own beers.

Holy shit, that finish to TLC – Randy Orton just attempted murder on the Fiend, thus furthering the narrative that he’s completely incapable of putting anyone over, and the company remains implicit to his long-standing dominance.  Better punish that attempted murder with another title shot.

Anyway.  But the fact that I thought this was a dunkel was to say that I thought it was good.  The flavor reminded me of a dunkel since it was kind of toasty, kind of caramel-ly, and not too bitter.  But I guess the revelation that it was not a true dunkel crashes its rankings with me, and compared to all the ones above it, it doesn’t bring enough to the table to overtake.

Regardless, it still sits comfortably in the upper half of the biers, and this is one that I wouldn’t mind having more of again in the future should I come across it.  After all, I’d only have to look for the bier with the lederhosen in its logo.

Current Rankings:

  1. Jubilation Suds (#18)
  2. Bären Weisse (#16)
  3. First Coral (#2)
  4. Kirta (#5)
  5. Turbo Prop (#6)
  6. Schwarze Tinte (#13)
  7. Perlenzauber (#9)
  8. Loncium Vienna Style Lager (#12)
  9. Märzenbier (#20)
  10. Jubiläumsbier 333 (#7)
  11. Zwönitzer Steinbier (#4)
  12. Alpen Stoff (#17)
  13. Erl Hell (#19)
  14. Grandl (#11)
  15. Altbairisch Hell (#15)
  16. Hell (#1)
  17. Tannen Hell (#8)
  18. Tradition (#10)
  19. Hallertauer Hopfen-Cuvee (#14)
  20. Käuzle (#3)

Advent Beer #10: Tradition by Herrnbräu

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Ten days in, two weeks left until Christmas, and that many more beers to go.  So far, so good.  I’m at that point in my Christmas shopping where I’ve gotten almost my entire list taken care of, but now I’m where I feel like I haven’t gotten enough for some people, and am kind of scrambling on trying to think of more things to get without breaking my back or my wallet.

I also want to go out to some stores, but I hardly have time because of baby and pandemic, so I have to show some restraint.  Besides, if I go to some stores, they’re likely to be full of people who don’t seem to grasp that we’re still in the middle of a pandemic, but then again I’m also wanting to go out and get some fairly frivolous things myself.

Speaking of pandemic, you’d think the world were completely normal, based on how many fucking people were outside my home today.  Surveyors from the county were in my neighborhood, my next door neighbor had landscapers tending to their neglected property for like two fucking hours, and then I had UPS, FedEx and the always last USPS coming and going all throughout the day, and whenever they’re near my house, my fucking dog loses her shit, and this especially sucks when my child is down for her second nap of the day.

Why the fuck aren’t people staying the fuck inside??

I digress, because at this point it’s pointless to even speculate, despite the fact that everyone already knows the answer to such redundant questions: because America sucks, and it makes me sad to acknowledge that, but it couldn’t possibly be any truer to state.

SO, I result in drinking in the evenings, not just because I have a goal in mind, working my way through 24 days of this advent calendar of beer, but because on days like today, it just seems appropriate to wind down the day with a nice cold one.

Unfortunately, Tradition by Herrnbräu, is about as forgettable as they come.  Classified as yet another new category, festbier, it makes me think it’s supposedly supposed to mean “festival beer” in which I guess it’s not an inaccurate description of Tradition, because it is the kind of light-bodied, sort of short on flavor swill that would be made in huge batches to be enjoyed at festivals, but when the day is over, really is kind of forgettable.

It tastes like a generic lager with a slightly metallic taste at the very end that I find a little off-putting, but because it’s so light-bodied and not that over-flavored, it’s easy to drink in heavy pulls, and finish fairly quickly and set myself up for a refill.  This is an easy bier to get buzzed on as a result, and I drank mine fairly quickly because I started later than I normally like, and that it was easy to drink.

Anyway, I do not rate it very high because it’s pretty forgettable in the grand spectrum of the beers that I’ve drank so far, and I’m hoping as the weekend approaches, there are some really good ones in the cache, and I would really tip my cap off to Costco or whomever put this together, if they actually paid attention to the calendar when establishing the lineup for this advent calendar.

Current Rankings:

  1. First Coral (#2)
  2. Kirta (#5)
  3. Turbo Prop (#6)
  4. Perlenzauber (#9)
  5. Jubiläumsbier 333 (#7)
  6. Zwönitzer Steinbier (#4)
  7. Hell (#1)
  8. Tannen Hell (#8)
  9. Tradition (#10)
  10. Käuzle (#3)

Talk about missed opportunities

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Reason #786 why it’s stupid to have a season of any sport in the middle of a pandemic: Denver Broncos lose all eligible quarterbacks due to coronavirus prior to game against the Saints

I’m not just saying this just because the Braves didn’t win the World Series, but because it really is stupid and foolish to have professional sports seasons in the middle of a pandemic that’s claimed over a quarter million American lives.  And this past weekend was just more reminders of just how stupid everything sports really are, and how wholly unnecessary they really are in the grand spectrum of trying to live in ‘Murica.

On Saturday alone, regardless of the fact that I don’t really watch much college football much less television in general, I still am curious to see who’s winning and who’s losing on any given day because I’m fascinated with how a ranking system even happens and Ohio State is somehow ranked #4 in the nation despite playing in like, four games total, because of coronavirus and all the cancelled games.  And then in the top-25 filter alone, I see that five games are cancelled/postponed due to coronavirus issues, and I’m left wondering how there’s any sort of credibility at all this season, when just about every team has played an uneven number of games, so I have no earthly idea how there can be any sort of ranking system that doesn’t have more holes in it than Swiss cheese?

I guess it doesn’t really matter though, because when the day is over, it’s still going to be Alabama and Clemson in the playoffs, along with whatever always-runner-ups like Ohio State and Notre Dame to job to Alabama and Notre Dame, setting up yet another Alabama vs. Clemson National Championship.

But then I see this interesting article (above) about how the Denver Broncos have inexplicably lost all three of their main roster quarterbacks due to coronavirus exposure, and my interest is immediately piqued by the idea of wondering what the fuck an actual NFL team would do in the event there were no available QBs.

Obviously, the team would call up whatever scrub they had taking snaps on the practice squad, but I really do feel like the No Fun League really let the Broncos and all sports fans down by shooting down all other potential ideas that were floated around out there, like letting an assistant coach start the game at QB, or my favorite idea of them all, letting linebacker VON “ELWAY” MILLER start the game as QB.

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I need to just not leave my house anymore

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Today, mythical wife and I went out so she could find some holiday decorations for the house.  As it is our child’s first holiday season, she felt it was important that we make the house somewhat festive and relevant to the seasons, and I’m okay with that idea.

While we were driving to our destination, you’d think there was no pandemic still going on, based on just how slam-packed the shopping centers and surrounding streets were.  Parking lots getting backed up, because the access roads were being congested by the volume of cars getting stuck at lights, causing this colossal domino effect of typical traffic that I’m appalled but not surprised is going on given the whole pandemic thing that’s supposed to be encouraging people to be staying home when necessary, but we are in the midst of the holiday shopping season, and coronavirus or no, people are absolutely out and about.

When we got to the store, naturally my daughter shit her pants in the car, as is the usual routine, and it seems apparent that for the first years of her life while she’s still in diapers, that I’ll have to build in an extra ten minutes to any car ride at all, to account for the inevitable deuce that happens like clockwork whenever we go anywhere.

But anyway, when we got to the store, it took all of five seconds of being inside of it, did I spot the first no-maskers milling about, acting like nothing at all was wrong with ‘Murica and the air they breathed was as clean and pure as it probably is at the highest altitudes of the Appalachian trail.  Not long afterward, their shithead sons joined them, also wearing no masks, and the feeling of disgust immediately began bubbling up within me.

And while we were there, this one family was hardly the only cluster of people not wearing masks, and I saw several other individuals and families also shopping sans masks.  The ones that bothered me more than the no-maskers were the people who were wearing masks; around their necks as not on their fucking faces, obviously having said “I wore my mask to avoid scrutiny coming in, but now that I am inside, off with it until I’m reprimanded.”

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How easy it can be to forget

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

During lunch, I ran out to run a few errands.  It was a beautiful fall afternoon, and cool enough to where it was appropriate to wear one of the numerous hoodies that I own because I like hoodies.  I drove out of my neighborhood, admiring the beauty of fall leaves and colors everywhere, and the gratification in knowing that my own property no longer needed to be raked anymore, due to my hard work.

I parked my car, and popped the hatch and grabbed the garbage bag full of baby clothes that I was going to drop off at Goodwill.  I was two steps walking towards the building when it hit me that I wasn’t wearing my mask yet.  Annoyed at the brain fart, I set the bag down and quickly retrieved my mask from the driver’s seat console and put it on.

Eight months into the global pandemic, and here I am forgetting to put the mask that all people with a modicum of intelligence and/or courtesy make mandatory of themselves.  It’s like, the day felt so pleasantly ordinary for 30 seconds that I forgot that we’re still in the middle of the aforementioned global pandemic, and the dreadful reality that there’s literally still no end in sight.

Scary how the world can look and feel so ordinary, so back-to-how-life-used-to-be, but still be the arena where an easily-preventable but still devastating disease is always wafting around all over the place, indiscriminately waiting on some idiot with no sense or too much freedom to latch themselves onto, and keep the cycle of spreading alive for yet another victim.

Such a reality check was enough to reel me back from feeling pleased with the weather to feeling the need to be weary about the people around who may or may not be as CDC-compliant as I try to be with myself, and that the world is still a scary fucking place.  It’s scary just how easy it is to forget it sometimes.