Random Notes, June 2026

 It's summer break and I have a little down time to write:

+ Almost total capitulation. It's almost as if the old man didn't even read the document. Iran received a slap on the wrist, essentially for a war they didn't technically start, and naturally Israel is furious. Granted, when you have buffoons like JD Vance and Marco Rubio doing negotiating on your behalf, what do you expect? The Middle East is much more complex situation than just "let's bomb Iran," especially if the rationale is nubilous.

+ The annual SCOTUS decisions make me more queasy with each passing June. What should've been a clear-cut defense of the 14th amendment only passed by a 6-3 decision, while a scant handful of trans-femme prep athletes have been all but banned from playing sports. 

+ My Royals are foundering and the Vegas oddsmakers say Matt Quatraro will be the next manager fired. Our pitching struggles aren't his fault --our entire Opening Day rotation has seen IL time-- but we're not scoring runs to compensate. What worked two seasons ago isn't working now. Something has to give.

+ With no school until the third week of August, my budget is fairly limited. I took one kinda-sorta road trip to Wisconsin in mid-June and another in early July, but beyond that I can't afford to fly anywhere or do anything particularly ambitious. In the meantime, please follow Stu News and support the Patreon to at least help with some overhead.

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Through a Freshman's Eyes: "Pineapple Express" Edition

Graduation season has come and gone? This year has been a blur of sorts. 

I don't write this every year to make anyone feel old. This is a somewhat arbitrary, sideways perspective thing. I was randomly reminded during this process that most of this year's high school seniors weren't born yet when I graduated college (December 2007, FWIW) so if anything, I feel the shifting sands of time. I've been substitute teaching for 18 years; someone born the day I ran up the stairs at Glenbard West High School will start college this August. 

With that said, if you graduated high school in the last few weeks...

...you don't remember a WGA strike over DVD residuals or Conan O'Brien's first attempt at growing a beard.

...Rudy Giuliani never ran for president. 

...Sarah Palin has always been a nationally known political figure.

...DNA tests have always been available over the counter.

...Hulu, Google Play and Android phones have always existed, and Tesla has always built electric cars.

...you've never rented a DVD at Hollywood Video. 

...no NFL team has ever won 16 games in the regular season.

...you have never seen a Seattle Sonics game. 

...the Detroit Red Wings have never won a Stanley Cup. 

...Jonathan Papelbon never danced in his underwear on a baseball field.

...Luciano Pavarotti, J. Walter Weatherman, Jane Wyman, Joe Zawinul, Brett Somers, Bill Wirtz, Lois Maxwell, Deborah Kerr, Robert Goulet, Joey Bishop, The Fabulous Moolah, Evel Knievel, Ira Levin, Sean Taylor, Verity Lambert, Kevin "Lips" Dubrow, Benazir Bhutto, Oscar Peterson, Ike Turner, Dan Fogelberg, Heath Ledger, Brad Renfro, Suzanne Pleshette, Sir Edmund Hillary, Johnny Podres, Roy Scheider, Barry Morse, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Buddy Miles, Teo Macero, William F. Buckley Jr, Arthur C. Clarke, Gary Gygax, Paul Scofield, Paul Aspinall, Richard Widmark, Charlton Heston, Danny Federici, Al Wilson, Esbjörn Svensson, Dick Martin, Sydney Pollack, Harvey Korman, Bo Diddley, George Carlin, Yves Saint Laurent, Cyd Charisse, Estelle Getty, Sen. Jesse Helms, Larry Harmon, Bernie Mac, Bernie Brillstein, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Isaac Hayes, Jerry Wexler, and LeRoi Moore have always been dead. 

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