Meat hits the grill, thunderous deluge instantly falls from the sky because of fucking course it does. I don't care. Golf umbrellas I stock up on, God isn't fucking with my top sirloin.
You're lucky you didn't get the hail I just got... uploading a video now... but I was a bit lucky... just as I shut the grill off and came in the wind and rain whipped up. Then the fucking hail hit.
In other news... the cat has PTSD and won't leave my side... he was stuck outside during the hail, and I think he's never experienced it before. Snow, yes... but that was fluffy and chaseable.
Surprisingly enough, the garden survived... tomatoes and herbs are intact, and only the geraniums got beat up.
No hail in my corner, but I was treated to horizontal rain and thunder that made the dog coil up like a snake while out on the patio.
We just finished up with a tropical storm. It hasn't stopped raining for more than 2 consecutive days in about 5 weeks.
Watching UFC re-runs, it astounds me that this sport isn't bigger than baseball, golf, hockey, those major sports that aren't spectator friendly. And I read something recently about how they're going to bring out stats and graphics to really up the quality of the broadcasts. What they really need to do is get the youth leagues going with head, arm, leg protection for the fighting sports. Get the talent pool growing.
One of my favourite things to do on a "couch weekend" is to re-watch the first 10 UFCs. Like, UFC 1 thru 10... before Rogan and Goldie, before Dana White... it's fucking entertaining as hell. If you like MMA, you owe it to yourself to find them and watch them.
Shamrock was only in his fifties then. I love the hilarious weight msmatches and the Cobra Kai fighting outfits. You could also jack uys in the back of the head with elbows and forearms if he didn't open up on the mat, too. Back when only the BJJ and judo guys knew the importance of the ground game.
In Big John's book he talked about the early fights... he was an off-duty cop hired as security, and they found out he was a hand-to-hand instructor so they asked him to be a ref. He said the only way he'd do it was if they'd give him the authority to stop a fight. Up until that point the only way to stop a fight was for a fighter to get knocked out, quit, or have his corner throw in a towel. Most of the fighters told their corners, "if you throw in that fucking towel, I'll kill every one of you". So hardly any corner ever threw in the towel, and he was amazed that nobody was killed or seriously injured.
Well...good for him then, if that's true. He probably saved lives (and expanded many), because that bordering on John L. Sullivan-style shit.
It's important to stop fights. I remember watching that fight between Merciless Ray Mercer and Tommy Morrison. Morrison was undefeated but Mercer was an absolute fucking hellbeast and he almost killed Morrison with an unreal combo of straights because the ref wouldn't stop it. Sickest, scariest most disgusting knockout I've ever seen on TV. We thought we watched a man get murdered.
Am I a pussy for being nervous about water skiing/wake boarding in the intracoastal/ocean waters? It's just when you've seen gators in there 1000 times it's kind of hard to get it out of your head. Sure, the odds of an attack are incredibly slim, but still, you know they're in there. I think today I'm going to stick with drinking beer and driving the boat. I keep thinking at some point I'm going to get over my salt water phobia, but it never happens and I guess at this point I never will. I also almost hope somebody else gets eaten (you know, not the people I'm with, but somebody nearby or something) so that my irrational fears feel justified. Spoiler: graphic