Few Episodes in Lighter Vein and Need For Seriousness

It has been a while since we viewed things in a lighter vein. Let us get to that this time. Even if not the entire post, I will put quite a few topics in the same light. In a sense, the days are quite comical for me. It’s quite apparent to see ‘how’ the days are rolling on for me. We need to put all the ‘ultra serious’ topics aside. A very serious work emanating from a rolling juggernaut dealing with most serious topics will yield comical interpretation to the normal world. We can slide ourselves into those shoes to see some happenings in the light-hearted angle to make ourselves ‘normal’. 

- A few days back I went to a baseball match between Chicago White Sox and Toronto Blue Jays. I know that baseball is quite popular in U.S. and just went to see the experience firsthand in a live environment. More than the game itself, the viewer experience is top notch in these games in U.S. The seating will be such that you can glance at the entire stadium which is a feast for the eyes. There will be no discomfort and the large digital screens in the stadium, coupled with presentation takes you through the immersive viewing experience. I had the same experience at a basketball match too and this is no different from the second outing.

 

The home city team name is ‘White Sox’. Let me pause here. Isn’t it weird to call a team as ‘White Sox’ and there is a team with ‘Red Sox’ as well. Why do you want a team name with the colour of the socks they are wearing or dreamt of wearing. You can also have Black Sox, Blue Sox, Yellow Sox and as many colors as you want for a pair of socks. How the team fixated on the silly ‘white sox’ and playing under the very name is a bit intriguing. To add, the subway station to the stadium is called ‘Sox 35th.’ As I mentioned, there is another team called ‘Red Sox’. This is called ‘soxification’ or ‘soxization’ of the elements bringing under the sox umbrella.

 

If this naming is not enough, the stadium is called ‘Guaranteed Rate Field’. What a weird name once again. What is the rate and what is the guarantee you get. If someone needs a life guarantee, you can pay a visit to this ‘Guaranteed field’. You can at least satisfy your inner self that you got the important warranty you are looking for. I have never seen a stadium giving a guarantee in addition to a game. Leaving at that, the game itself is a bit boring and I don’t understand the craze surrounding it. NBA is good but this one is quite slow and dull. There is nothing but brute force in pitching the ball and hitting it. The moments to reckon are the home teams hitting home runs but those are rare. Cricket is much better sport in comparison and the 20-20 form is a blast with same duration. With the format in place, any match in IPL is highly engaging and entertaining than these low-scoring games. Nevertheless, may God bless the kids and everyone else who are made to play these uninteresting games, surrounding unimaginable hype.

 

- I recently chanced upon Tesla cars. I certainly travelled in quite a few of those which are also plying as cabs but came up close with one of those cars. The vehicle is definitely a wonder by reforming the way cars are built and used for transportation. They bought an EV revolution in cars which also reached a near practical usage in the everyday world. May we transcend from fossil fuels to renewable sources in a practical world. While the EV is definitely a game changer, the car also comes with a host of technologically advance features. For instance, there are no buttons in the car, and everything is driven from a touch screen and also an app in the phone. There are no hardware outlets, and every option is purely driven from software app. Apart from being a transformer, there are also some funny aspects to the way things are rendered.

 

Tesla cars have a feature called "Ludicrous Mode", which provides an incredibly fast acceleration experience. It's so quick that you might find yourself with a case of temporary whiplash or your passengers screaming in excitement. These cars also have a "Romance Mode," which allows you to set the mood with customizable ambient lighting, romantic music, and even a flickering virtual fireplace on the touchscreen. It's a quirky and fun way to create a unique atmosphere during your ride. These vehicles are known for their hidden Easter eggs, which are fun and unexpected surprises. For example, you can activate a "Santa Mode" during the holiday season, where your car's display turns into a sleigh being pulled by reindeer.

 

Tesla introduced the feature of "Bioweapon Defense Mode" in their Model X, which is a high-efficiency air filtration system. Although it sounds quite serious, it's amusing to think that your car could transform into a futuristic, protective shield against any unpleasant odors or pollutants in the air. The "Summon" feature allows the car to autonomously navigate short distances in parking lots. It can be amusing to watch your car slowly and cautiously make its way towards you, as if it has a mind of its own and someone summoned it. Tesla has a feature called "Dog Mode" that allows you to leave your pet inside the car while keeping the temperature comfortable. The funny part is that the car's display shows a message stating, "My owner will be back soon. Don't worry!". These cars with different rules have created storage space in the front portion. It would be a surprise to open the front trunk and find the engine missing. The company CEO is known for his witty and sometimes humorous tweets and the cars must have been made to reflect the personality. All in all, driving an EV vehicle can be a different experience but it has also become funny and humorous one. It can be said ‘are we driving a car or playing a video game’.

 

- After these two funny episodes, let me also tell how the mockery in general sense and lack of ‘seriousness’ has endangered U.S. I had written on it couple of times already, but to tell again the U.S. has a supreme court problem. This problem began at the base or the roots and percolated all the way up to the top of the tree. It just represents an unjust society building an institution to pronounce anti-sagacious verdicts. A decade ago, the idea that a radical Supreme Court would remake this country might have seemed hyperbolic. But that’s exactly what happened. In just the past two terms, the conservative Supreme Court ended women’s constitutional right to an abortion, limited the state of New York’s ability to limit concealed carry firearms, struck down affirmative action in college admissions, squashed the separation of church and state in a school-prayer case, gutted the Clean Water Act, and backed LGBTQ+ discrimination. The winner of November’16 election could potentially make “two or three appointments” and “in effect determine the balance of the court for what could be the next quarter century.”

 

This is not at sane in a great country like U.S. that elected presidents can appoint judges based on the whims and fancies, thereby affecting the whole country in legal terms. We just cannot imagine what affect each of these unpopular rulings will have on this country but the 'Trumpified' judges have outdone Trump himself in radically deciding the direction of the country. This is a funny and serious topic at the same time and reflects the mindset of the common citizen of the nation. The system needs to be cleansed and needs a factory reset at lowest level to obliterate the rulings of the court at the highest level. The constitution needs to protected and these institutions need to be protected without allowing them to pronounce unconstitutional verdicts. This will be possible when funny and eccentric verdicts give space to more sagacious, truthful and widely accepted rulings. Mockery and irresponsibility at the lowest level needs to be stopped to protect truth at highest office.