2015: Bye, Felicia

So a year ago at this time I finished my third day back at work. The state hadn't called me back after the 2011-12 LIHEAP season ended in May 2012, thanks to budget cuts and my being last in seniority. But out of the blue last December they finally had enough people leave or some more money in the budget.

There is much I dislike about the job. Not in any particular order: the decrepit computer system, the building that is essentially a germ factory, with the HVAC system that often keeps it too cold in cold weather and too warm in warm weather, the mismanagement of the agency, the time it takes me each day to get to and from work via SEPTA...but with no other prospects and my finances in dire straits I had no choice but to go back. But I was determined to spend this summer in an intense effort to find another job.

Then, one evening in April, my face started twitching.

The whole you-had-a-small-stroke-oh-wait-it's-brain-cancer saga and the 6 weeks of daily radiation pretty much wrecked my plan for finding new employment. And then the state called me back to work in September with everyone else. While the pay is a help, I now have some medical bills in addition to my other debt. And I hate my job as much as ever, if not more. And I'm stuck in it until sometime in May, when I'll be free to try again to find something better.

Unless my body betrays me some more.

So basically what I have to say is this:

Dear 2015: drop dead.
Dear 2016: be better than 2015 or else. Don't fuck with me. I'll cut a bitch.

Quick Review: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

So just before Star Wars: The Force Awakens began I posted this question to my Facebook and Twitter: "Star Wars will be a reboot/nostalgia exercise. But will it be great (Creed), awful (Terminator: Genisys) or in between (Vacation)?"

Now, I enjoyed the original trilogy a lot, but I was never that obsessed with it. I never bothered to see Episodes 1 through 3 (especially when I heard about Jar Jar Binks) or got into any of the spinoff products (cartoons, novels, comic books...). So for me the hype for the new installment got to be a little much, and the endless ads touting everything from autos to fast food to jewelry were an extreme turnoff. And the extreme obsession over spoilers! IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS, STAY OFF THE INTERNET! But, because I am kind, I won't post any details that will spoil your experience. This time.

I really didn't want to see it on the opening weekend, knowing the theaters would be crowded and not wanting to seem to reward the previously mentioned ad campaign. But bus and movie schedules, plus my desire to not miss too much of the NFL, combined to put me in one of those crowded theaters.

I look at it as one of those Colorforms sets from way back (and today, as their website makes clear). You take vinyl pieces and slap them on plastic backgrounds. There are many scenes in SW:TFA that are very similar to those in the original, but instead of the original characters, newbies are slapped into their place. And, bit by bit, those originals appear to tie events together and propel the plot towards the next film.

So as for that scale I established: it certainly tapped into the nostalgia. As for updating or bringing a new perspective on things, not as well as "Creed" but definitely better than "Vacation." If you're one of those superfans, you'll love it. Me, as I said, I'm not one of them, so... My grade: B.

My Anger Stages (RE-POST)

(I originally posted this in early August. Even though it was published, the Blogger app on my phone still listed it as a draft. I deleted the "draft." It ended up deleting the post itself. Fortunately, before that I had it open on my desktop, available to copy and paste.)

I came up with some self-analysis this week when I lost my temper while having difficulties straightening out the dispensation of my chemo pills at the oncologist's office over the last two weeks. (Not sure whether it was the pharmacy, who had to give me the initial supply, or the staff handling the transactions, or my insurance company. I won't go into details but I think there will be no future problems.)

As I see it, I have three stages of anger.

Stage 1: I am upset but explaining things in a calm, controlled voice. Example from Wednesday: me to my oncologist: "...when they (nurses/staff) say to me that 'there was a miscommunication' I interpret that to mean that they are placing at least some of the blame on me. Even if that wasn't their intent, that's how I feel."

Stage 2: This is the stage I reached with the nurses/staff 90 minutes after seeing the doctor and still waiting for my week's supply and being told I may have to wait another day: yelling. "This was supposed to have been resolved last week! This is unacceptable after all that happened last week! I am not going through this EVERY WEEK! I AM NOT LEAVING HERE without my meds!"

Stage 3: Similar to Stage 2 but with lots of cursing.

I suppose there could be a Stage 4 that includes physical acts such as throwing or breaking things, or worse. Let's hope we never find out.

More Movie Catching Up...

I actually wrote this on my phone, the same way I took notes at the doctor's office the other day. I actually wanted to just post the note itself, but I haven't figured out to get a full image of it because it's so long.

So some of these movies are more recent than others, obviously. When I went back to work my movie attendance dropped off, but I got to see a few during my recovery from surgery before I went back to work. The older ones...well, they're probably available in some format or other.

The Visit - M. Night Shyamalan with a scary movie...with a small budget and cast with no real "name" actors? But the story of 2 teenagers spending a week with grandparents who turn out to be really creepy is very effective. My grade: B-plus.

The Intern - Robert DeNiro plays a magical elf who shows up and fixes everyone's lives. Well, he's not really an elf but basically that's what happens when this bored, retired widower applies for a senior-citizen internship at a growing e-commerce firm owned by Anne Hathaway. Advice on whether to hire a CEO? Bob's on it. Help young coworkers with dating advice and getting more appreciation from the boss? Bob's on it. Help fix his boss's marriage and even an afternoon babysitting? Bob's...you get the idea. It's not a bad movie but the lack of significant dramatic tension (even comedies need a little of it) doesn't help. My grade: B-minus.

The Martian - It was visually great, well-acted, had some nice character touches...but ultimately lacking a bit in real intensity. There was no doubt WHAT would happen to Matt Damon's astronaut, stranded on Mars and presumed dead after his fellow crew members are forced to prematurely return to Earth. The only question is HOW it would happen. My grade: B.

Spectre - The latest Daniel Craig-as-James Bond outing followed up on events in Skyfall, with a much talkier villain and more backstory for Bond. Neither trend is great. Craig is under contract for one more Bond flick but is said to want out. Kinda hope he gets his wish unless they can come up with a better plot and villain. My grade: B-minus.

The Peanuts Movie - It's basically a greatest-hits collection with modern-day animation, frantically racing through recreations of, or at least winks and nods to, just about every famous joke or scene they've done over years of TV specials and previous films, all serving an updated plot in which Charlie Brown tries to overcome his Charlie Brown-iness and win the heart of the Little Red-Haired Girl. But they did it so well, even if I saw the ending coming from miles away. My grade: A-minus.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 - Upon some reflection, it's good this is ending so Jennifer Lawrence can return to the rest of her increasingly fine career. This was kind of meh, rather bleak, and the split of the final book into 2 movies was poorly executed. My grade: C-plus.

The Night Before - I walked out about halfway through. Unfunny, especially Seth Rogen. And a movie that makes me NOT like Joseph Gordon-Levitt? Unforgivable. My grade: F.

Creed - Superb. They rebooted, or restarted, or whatever you want to call it, the Rocky franchise almost perfectly. Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan), son of the late former heavyweight Apollo, determined to follow in his father's footsteps, moves from LA to Philadelphia and sells Rocky Balboa on training him. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone are brilliant - well, just about everyone is, really. With acknowledgments to the original films and updates to reflect the current day, parallels between young Creed's journey and that of Rocky, the way Philadelphia looks, the diversity...just one or two minor quibbles keep me from a perfect grade. My grade: A.

Krampus - I was a little tired and briefly fell asleep early on, but didn't really miss anything important. Family tensions two days before Christmas causes a boy to lash out at everyone; when he tears up his letter to Santa. Enter Krampus, the anti-Santa, a demon who punishes the naughty at Christmas. Krampus has minions (no, not those Minions), and that aspect gave it a "Gremlins" vibe, which really helped. My grade: A-minus.

Post-Second Surgery #cancerisabitch Update

Previously on "Joe's Adventures in the Medical System..."

Anyhoo...my second surgery ended up not happening until Friday, November 20th due to a combination of insurance company bureaucracy and a primary care doctor's office that was either closed when it's normally open or whose staff is a touch incompetent when turning their phone system on and off. Oh, and on Thursday the 12th, the night before it was originally set, I got a call saying they had to cancel because an important piece of equipment (that helps guide the surgeon to the points he needs to work on) was malfunctioning and had to be repaired. So instead of surgery they had me get another MRI to make sure it was as current as possible. Boy, weren't they surprised when I showed up for work the following Monday!

The surgery went well, and the immediate aftermath (meaning, when they woke me up and took me back to my room in the Neuro ICU) was infinitely better than the last time. Much more comfortable. Also, much (but not all) of what they saw on the MRI was actually scar tissue caused by the chemo pills and radiation treatments during the summer. The next day, after the physical therapist visited and I passed her walking test, the weekend neurologist covering the unit suggested I was well enough to go into the "step-down" unit (as described here). I made it quite clear that it was not happening. I believe my exact reply went like this: "NONONONONONOIWILLNOTGOTOTHESTEPDOWNUNITIWILLSIGNMYSELFOUTIFIHAVETO"

So I was actually moved to a regular room instead, and the next day I was released. Since then I've been at home, resting or going to the movies or doing a bit of shopping when my energy levels allowed. I had the neurosurgeon's office fax a letter to work informing them of my followup exam date (which is tomorrow) and that a determination would then be made as to when I can return to work. (Ugh.)

Meanwhile, today I had followups with both my chemo and radiation oncologists. When my chemo doctor explained what he felt had to be done next, I realized I was not gonna remember all of this sufficiently to inform the family and friends (and whatever strangers happen upon this). I was actually about to ask my doctor for paper to write on! Then I remembered my Galaxy Note 4. The one that came with a pen. He kindly gave me a minute to remember how to write a note on the screen.

Because the tumor did begin to grow again (and the pathology report did again show it was cancerous, BTW), he felt that the chemo and radiation did not work well enough and that, at this time, there won't be a resumption of chemo pills. Instead, in two weeks I will start getting a drug called Avastin. This will be given intravenously every two weeks (So I'm going to be working partial days every two weeks). Avastin, it is hoped, will slow the growth of tumors. The treatments will continue as long as it's working. It doesn't cause any nausea/vomiting but there is a chance of blood clot issues. They will need to monitor that and I'm supposed to try to be as active as I can, but for now I won't have to go on baby aspirin or blood thinners. The chemo doc wants a followup MRI in about 2-3 months. He thinks my neurosurgeon may want it sooner, though. Either way, if the Avastin by itself doesn't produce results, he would then want to add another drug to the mix and that one would have nausea/vomiting side effect potential. So let's keep our fingers crossed.

The radiation oncologist says there will be no further radiation at this time. The current information doesn't indicate it would be helpful. She said that, depending on what happens with the Avastin treatments, there may be some radiation treatments but only on a small pinpointed area. Nothing for now, however.

Further updates as they happen. Or eventually. And, once again, I thank everyone who has been praying and wishing me well and all that good stuff. It is very much appreciated.

The Gay Porn Boxer And "Journalism"

When these stories first appeared in the Philadelphia Daily News a few weeks ago, I said I had to discuss them here. Well, I procrastinated again, so here we go now.

I laughed at the first one and cringed (and laughed) at the second. The first one reported a tale told by a one-time local boxer, Yusaf Mack, who said he was offered money via a Facebook message to do a porn scene in New York. Desperate for money, he accepted the offer and showed up at an address in the Bronx during the summer. He claimed there were naked women walking around. When the time came to start the scene, he said he needed a drink and someone gave him a shot of vodka and a pill. He claimed the next thing he could remember, he was on a train at 30th Street Station being awakened. He didn't remember getting on a train but did find $4,500.00 in a pocket.

Cut to October, when he says people were acting strangely around him, and finally someone told him about a clip online in which he was in a threesome with two men -- no women in sight. He denied it until he got a look at it. He said he had no memory of anything between the time he downed the shot and pill and when he woke up on the train. He aggressively said he was straight: "My whole life, I've been what they call a whoremonger. I love females...the only time I touch a man is when I'm in the ring fighting." He has ten kids and was engaged to a woman.

A week later, after the story went viral, the porn company denied drugging him and reports began to surface about there being possibly more than one scene with Mack and other men, he admitted he lied. He's gay, or bi, or something (his story changed a time or two just in the course of the followup interview), he admitted doing the scene because he was unemployed and need the money to help his ten kids and three grandkids. His fiancee reacted by leaving him. But hey, he got some assistance from one Anthony Cherry, who contacted Mack via Instagram and offered to represent him for free.

The article says Cherry is "a Los Angeles-based hairstylist/crisis public-relations manager" -- so hey, when he's done with Yusaf's PR he can work on the do!

Okay, it seemed fairly likely from the beginning that he wasn't telling the truth. That turned out to be the case. But what is more sad is the tone of the original article. The writer, Jenice Armstrong, seemed to go out of her way to help make the story seem plausible, using a gee-whiz tone that, I believe, belies her own experience as a writer. This portion, in particular, got to me:

But bizarre things can happen when you mix drugs, alcohol and illicit sex. I did some poking around online yesterday and someone pointed me in the direction of GHB (gamma-Hydroxybutyrate), a/k/a Liquid Ecstasy or Georgia Home Boy, a colorless and tasteless so-called party drug that has been known to lower users' inhibitions and also leave them with severe memory loss.

Could someone have slipped it or something similar into Mack's drink? I asked an expert if it was at all possible for him to do something out of character sexually and then forget it.

Of course, the expert said it was certainly possible. But we knew that already, didn't we? How many stories have we heard in the media about date rape? About sexual assaults where drugs and alcohol were involved? How many stories have we heard about women at parties or in bars having their drinks "roofied" by men they met? How many articles has Armstrong herself written about such stories? Hell, just in the last year she's written about Bill Cosby's attacks on women, hasn't she?

Her website says she has over two decades of journalism experience! And here she says she had to go online after hearing Mack's tale to learn about GHB? Come on.

I don't know what her agenda was in writing the story, but she ended up getting burned. Of course, a good portion of what she writes about is celebrity fluff, stories about clothes and hairstyles, local and national celebs, women's issues, African-American culture, and of course, she basically curates the annual Daily News Sexy Singles promotion. (Go search for my posts about that, why don't you?)

Journalism is so loosely defined nowadays.

Cira Green

This just opened, and I went there and took pictures today since I didn't have to go into hell work. I wanted to post these right away so I just uploaded without cropping or any kind of editing. Maybe I'll put some edits on Instagram later. (Or maybe not. I have to go into hell work tomorrow and I'm having my latest brain surgery the next day...update: surgery actually happened a week later.) This includes a couple of skyline shots and one or two were taken through glass panels.

A park on top of a parking garage? What a time to be alive.

Thanks, Bill Cosby

This is a mural that I found on North Broad Street, near Glenwood Ave., when I first started working for the state...

This is the same location now...

This is why it's gone.

Philly Photo Day 2015

So, as I wasn't feeling up to snuff lately and had to work anyway, this is the only picture I took for this year's Philly Photo Day (edited most of it out to turn it into a panorama shot). And I didn't even submit it in time to be part of the exhibition. So here it is.

More Surgery. Yay! #cancerisabitch

I guess the title says it all, so...goodnight, everybody!

(Pauses, notices no one leaving)

I guess not. Oh, well. So after the six weeks of radiation and chemo pills ended, and I had to wait 6 to 8 weeks for the radiation effects to fade before having another MRI, and in between I screwed up the next round of chemo pills because I was supposed to take a dose a day for five days in a row but instead skipped a few days before taking a second dose, I finally got the followup MRI last week and visited my neurosurgeon today.

The MRI showed that there's a tumor that's started to grow in the same area where they removed it the last time. It isn't very large but it's large enough that it can be removed. The doctor said that the aggressive approach is to remove it now. Otherwise we can wait and monitor it with more scans while continuing with chemo. I'm going with the aggressive approach.

But part of me wonders, if it's going to keep growing back, possibly quickly, what would be the point of having surgery multiple times in a fairly short period of time?

So I'll be scheduled for surgery on or about the 30th. That would mean I can't attend the huge Temple-Notre Dame game on the 31st. And that last sentence, referring to a huge football game involving an unbeaten, nationally ranked Temple team, is about as surreal as my life right now.

Sometimes I Love Dumb People

Presented without further comment...from me, at least...

 

The Onion article in question...plus a bonus!

Craigslist Follies! Or, How I Sold Some Papal Tickets

The Phillies gave this card out to
fans one night recently.

(If you're offended by foul language, you should be warned that towards the end of this post, there are a few nasty words.)

In case you haven't heard, perhaps because you've been visiting relatives on the moon, Pope Francis is coming to Philadelphia this weekend for the World Meeting of Families. It's an event I have no interest in. It's been extremely overhyped, whether because of security plans or just because of things like the item you see on the left. And most of the news coverage is either fluff (mostly ignoring the Philadelphia archbishop's extremist anti-gay bigotry or support for child-molesting priests over their victims) or downright useless. There are three public events at which Francis is appearing: a speech on Independence Mall, a Mass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and the "Festival of Families," featuring host Mark Walhberg and performances by Aretha Franklin, among others. After some confusion, it was announced that certain areas closest to the front would require tickets for admission. The tickets would be free, but they would be distributed online.

Although the demand for SEPTA's special weekend passes turned out to be nonexistent, the event tickets were snapped up in minutes. But with lots of clicking on the "refresh" button on my browser window I somehow managed to get four tickets each to the Papal Mass and the Festival of Families.

Having no real desire to be in the crowd for either event or go through security checkpoints, I decided to sell the tickets on Craigslist and see what I could get. Unlike most of the ads, I didn't request a specific price. I just said that people could make an offer and if I accepted, I'd send them my email address for PayPal and email the PDF documents when I received the payment. The first couple of days I got a couple of nibbles but no one followed through. I also had the post flagged for removal a few times by people who either took offense or just wanted to eliminate competition for their own tickets. Naturally, I just re-posted the ad each time.

Today, whoever was flagging them got more intense. At least three times my ad was deleted between overnight and mid-afternoon today. Then one of the people doing the flagging emailed a reply, perhaps by accident, because it seemed to be written to someone else.  He wrote: "Another scam. Will try to shut it down." I decided to reply, and I kind of didn't hold back: "NOT A SCAM, YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?"

He replied with: "i can flag or we can meet to buy the tickets and then i can show you my badge and take it downtown. what will it be?" Yeah. Like he's a real cop or something. I wrote back: "Right. Who's scamming now?" (Interestingly, while in the middle of this my ad was still active and I was making a sale!)

He wrote again: "Stealing from religious pilgrims. Ask yourself if its worth it." I replied: "Not stealing at all. No one's forcing anyone to pay for them, you sanctimonious prick." He wrote back one more time, saying "You took those ticks from others for your own greed. You can't justify your actions." Instead of going back and forth, I flagged him. Each mail sent through Craigslist's relay system includes a link to "Please flag unwanted messages (spam, scam, other)" -- including mail that is "annoying/inappropriate/abusive." Boom.

First, ticks? Ewwwww. Second, there's no law against selling something you legitimately own. I didn't steal the tickets. I followed the process to get them. It's not my fault I was lucky for two out of three events. Third, as I said, I didn't demand a particular price. One woman said she was willing to pay $100 for two tickets ($50.00 each) to the Mass. I accepted (once she used the right email address in PayPal). The other buyer (the one going on during the email exchange) offered $100 for two Mass tickets and two Festival tickets (or $25.00 each) and I accepted his offer as well. And I'm not a bit sorry. I'm far from being in great financial shape, even before the medical bills from the last three months started rolling in, and even the fact that I go back to work for LIHEAP on Tuesday won't dramatically change that.

Hey, even though I'm not placing any more ads on Craigslist -- well, except one more, see below --there's still time to snap up the last two Festival tickets for Saturday night. :)

My Sports Tees And Miscellaneous Caps, Part 5

Two more caps, then four t-shirts -- one from each team, in part for reasons explained below.

On the left is a Camden Riversharks hat I bought last week at a game for $5. They may not be in Camden next year. The cap on the right is pretty self-explanatory.

Also self-explanatory. Took me a while to find one for sale at a good price, though.

Because the NFL has returned, I resume my wearing of an Eagles shirt on game days (I've had this particular shirt for quite a few years). Didn't work out so well last night. That was a really pathetic performance in so many ways, in a game that was very winnable.

A giveaway that's become a regular thing, The home opener (barring unusual circumstances such as a world championship) is a 3:05 pm start on a weekday. After a day off (in case it rains on Opening Day) the next game is often designated "Opening Night" and a t-shirt is given out. Of course, they aren't commemorating pennants now...

One of the few 76ers items I own, bought from the clearance rack at Modells some time ago. Sadly, Moses Malone just passed away. What a rare feat: he was acquired to put the Sixers over the top and win a championship, and he did it in his first season. Even Pete Rose's first Phillies team, in 1979, missed the playoffs before winning it all in 1980. Rest in peace, Moses, and thank you.

Some Recent Street Art Pics

These are pics I took recently on various wanderings around town...

The amazing Kid Hazo installed this, as you can probably guess. Unfortunately, by the time I got there the fake cameras were taken down.

Most of the stickers I spot are in places like Center City. This is actually on Frankford Avenue near Linden, not far from my house.

These next few, including the WRDSMTH works above, are in the vicinity of South Street. (A shame one of them ha been tagged). I was looking for another Kid Hazo work that was there, but once again I got there after it was already removed.

Above is a work from another of my favorites, Joe Boruchow. Sad that it's been tagged by graffiti.

This last one I found on my way to the Fringe Festival's Opera Philadelphia/Bearded Ladies collaboration, "Andy: A Popera."  (Highly recommended if you can get a ticket for any of the remaining shows, but I think it's pretty much sold out.) I don't remember exactly where this fence was but I think it's on Front Street, under the El, somewhere between Berks St. (where I got off the El) and Oxford Avenue (where I turned from Front St. to go to the venue for the show).

The Linc: Dawkins, Turbines

I've been slipping a bit lately on here, so in honor of the start of the Eagles' season, here's another post I'm moving here from the photo blog. In November 2012 I was at a Temple football game at Lincoln Financial Field (hey, Temple finally beat Penn State and they're 2-0 this year!), when I took these pictures. In 2012 the Eagles retired the number of Brian Dawkins...

...and, because I noticed them, I took a pic of the wind turbines atop the Linc...

The Eagles are big on generating their own energy and being environmentally friendly, and since the turbines went up, they've also added a lot of solar panels, many of them in the parking lots (serving as cover for cars as well as pulling in the sunlight).

Neshaminy State Park

Here's something about my Twitter use: I don't "favorite" tweets because I actually like them. If I enjoy them that much I retweet, with or without an added comment. I use favorites as sort of bookmarks to refer to later. If I can't or don't want to immediately open a link in a tweet (for example, if I'm out and there's a link to YouTube and I don't want to play it then, or if I'm trying to catch up on my Twitter feed and don't want to stop to read an article), I make it a favorite and return to it later.

So check out the date of this tweet I favorited:

I saw this and decided I wanted to check out this view.

It took me over a year. I finally managed to get to the park last month. It's not easily accessible by public transit. But with my new status as a morning person who gets out and does things, on a recent Sunday I made the trek. And I did see a view of the skyline, although I'm not sure I was at this Logan Point. I actually walked down to the river and walked along the shoreline.The maps on the park website indicate that Logan Point is part of a paved walkway, while I went right down to the beach. Also, it's so far away that I wouldn't call it "incredible," although maybe it looks different from the actual Logan's Point vantage. Still, it is pretty cool to be able to see downtown Philadelphia from such a distance. So here are some of the pics I took...

I feel like I need to get back there on a less hazy, hot and humid afternoon...and also to find the Logan's Point view tweeted about by Visit Philly.

I'm not sure if this is some sort of art, of refers to these tracks, which I'm guessing were used to launch boats onto the river.

This is a panorama shot I tried. With the river in constant motion, it looks really, really weird.

And here's a look across the river at New Jersey. (Not actually a panorama shot -- I just cropped out everything above and below.)

Back in the park, it turns out the Eagles have helped out with planting new trees and some educational signs.

Near the end of one of the picnic areas, some trees have been carved up.

I'm not quite sure what this project is/was supposed to be, but here are some pics from inside the walls...

Panorama again.

This old place is on the grounds as well...

...and so is this little theater.

Of course, the pool is popular on a hot summer day.