Brad

Several people were gored there this week. I’ve always wanted to run with the bulls but I’m too old now. I did see a few bullfights in my day when I lived in Spain. My parents were big devotees.

Such is life. Refereeing has never been perfect. It’s more like art. It’s sometimes better to be lucky than good. As Branch Rickey said, luck is the residue of design.

Too much liquor or beer at a ballgame can be a problem although why anyone would buy liquor or beer there is beyond me as the prices are absurd. Everything -- not just alcohol -- is jacked up.

Looks like Serena won't have to worry about beating Barty as the number 1 seed is out.

One of the great films, in my opinion.

Jesus! I've never seen anything like that and I've been going to games for 50 years plus. Maybe the Blackhawks should sign those two up.

The Dutch just didn’t have enough offense to come back from that first goal. I think the gap between the US and Europe (not sure about the rest of the world) is closing but whether it’s substantially closed by 2023 is something we won’t know until then.

Nice one!

Dutch have played reasonably well but haven’t done much offensively. Unless that changes, hard to see how the US doesn’t win.

An underrated Mosaic.

RIP. Descanse em paz.

Sounds like the third place match was interesting today, with Messi getting red carded (as was the Chilean player he tangled with). It’s only his second red card ever. Perhaps his frustration finally boiled over.

Here’s an excerpt from the book that appeared in JazzTimes this week. Kenny Burrell: From Detroit With Love

Rafa, Serena and Barty looked good today. Barty and Serena could be a very interesting match; Barty barely broke a sweat (or so it seemed).

This sums it up for me. As I near 70 and with the size of my collection and the available time that I have, I don't need to hear every alternative take (excepting Bird, of course!) nor do I need to hear it in the most pristine sound.

As Dave notes, optometrist are not medical doctors and I'm not trusting my eyes or any part of my body, for that matter, to anybody who is not a medical doctor; if I had a back problem, I would not consult a chiropractor but an orthopedist. If you guys wish to do so, by all means do so.

Well, there’s this Jay.

She will have her biggest test to date when she faces 7 seed Simona Halep on Monday.

Aside from the sarcasm, how is going to an ophthalmologist misdirection? They're equipped to determine whether your eyes have an issue. An optometrist is not. A few years ago, something in my eye didn't feel right so I called my ophthalmologist and she had me come right over. She detected a problem with the retina and an hour later I was being examined by a retinologist, who corrected the problem. An optometrist doesn't have the equipment nor the training to detect problems with your vision. Dan, you can do what you want but I'm not trusting my eyes to an optometrist or an online merchant.

First off, you should have your eyes examined yearly by an ophthalmologist; an optometrist is not as qualified. Secondly, I'm not trusting the making of my glasses to someone I don't know and can't; I have no idea under what conditions they're being made and where. If you want to trust your only pair of eyes to online vendors, feel free. Me? No way.

One of my all time favorite movies. I must have seen it a dozen times and each is like the first time.

Did you ever see the movie Hugo. That’s when I first became aware of Melies. There are some wonderful scenes where Ben Kingsley (playing Melies) explains how they made movies.

I bet that most Americans wouldn’t do as well on a British citizenship test.

The hardest 10 questions of the possible 100 questions on the citizenship exam. Fourth of July Quiz: Can You Answer the Hardest Citizenship Test Questions? I got 8 out of 10 right. Embarrassing!

You only have one set of eyes and you shouldn’t stint for them, in my view.