The following is a video I made for my YouTube channel, Jack’s World. It’s the first in what I hope to be a series about the special, often overlooked gems in the world of comics. I plan on making others like it. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!
Going Back To The Gym: Relief And Realizations
I missed going to the gym.
Those are words my teenage self never thought I’d say, write, or think. That makes them all the more satisfying to say in the past tense.
This global pandemic has ruined a lot of things and disrupted a lot of lives. It’s also not done. It’s definitely going to get worse before it gets better. Many of us are already feeling nostalgic for a time when we didn’t have to wear masks, could go to a movie theater, and went out to eat on a whim. That was only four months ago. Let that sink in.
Coincidentally, that was also the last time I went to the gym before this week. Back in early March, I was told by the gym manager, who knows me very well after going twice a week for nearly a decade, that the gym was closing indefinitely. I thought it was only temporary. I’d hoped to be back in a few weeks. Weeks turned to months. We all know what happened during that time.
I was starting to lose hope. I still made an effort to stay in shape. If anything, I became more motivated. Being healthy during a pandemic is an objectively good idea. However, that wasn’t easy without the gym.
I don’t have a lot of exercise equipment of my own. My exercise routine was restricted to doing push-ups, sit-ups, and squats before running along the local trails. That definitely helped, but it wasn’t the same. Plus, I was at the mercy of the weather. If it was cold or rainy out, then I couldn’t do much.
It wasn’t the same and I felt it. I lost some muscle mass and gained some weight. It was frustrating, but that was the situation I had to deal with.
Finally, that changed this past week. I finally got word that my gym was re-opening, albeit to a limited extent. We can only go for hour-long chunks at a time and the capacity is severely restricted, but I can work within those constraints. After these past four months, I’m willing to jump through some extra hoops.
When I made it back, it wasn’t just a relief. It was cathartic. I almost forgot how satisfying it was to make it through a nice, rigorous workout. I also forgot how nice it was to have the luxury of doing something other than running in the blazing summer heat for cardio. I’ll never take that for granted again.
I also realized that I am definitely behind the curve. I still remember where I was, in terms of how many reps and sets I could do at a certain weight. When I tried to go back to where I was four months ago, my body did not cooperate. I had to turn the weight down to get through my sets. It was humbling. It also revealed that my efforts to duplicate the results of a gym were only partially successful, at best.
I know it sounds like I’m making a big deal about this, being able to go to a gym again. Believe me, if my younger self was reading this, he would’ve believed an impostor wrote this. However, the act of regaining part of my old routine, as trivial as it might be in the grand scheme of things, was nothing short of therapeutic.
The world is still in an awful, chaotic state. We’re nowhere close to being back to “normal,” as though that’s possible anymore. However, the fact that I can go back to the gym gives me hope that the effort, struggle, and persistence will pay off in the long run. We can’t regain the lives we lost, but we can push forward.
That will inspire me with future workouts. I hope it inspires others, especially those still living in a state of lock-down. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. It is worth enduring. Just hang in there. Like a good workout, this kind of strain will only make you stronger in the long run.
Filed under Current Events, exercise, health, Jack Fisher's Insights, psychology
New Comic Book Day July 22, 2020: My Pull List And Pick Of The Week
In the age-old debate of quality versus quantity, comics occupy a strange middle ground. There have been times when I’ve left a comic shop with a big stack of comics and feel like I just went on an epic bender with an 1980s heavy metal band. There have also been times when I’ve left a shop with only a few books in hand, but I feel just as satisfied because those few books were just that awesome.
I spent a lot of money in comic shops. I hope I made that clear. I’m pretty sure I put some comic shop owners kids through college.
That said, there are times when quantity doesn’t always make that trip satisfying. Sometimes, that big stack of comics that looks so appealing has a lot of duds in it. Like so many other things, from music to gem stones to whiskey, quality will often determine the success of any New Comic Book Day.
Over the years, I’ve gotten pretty good at sifting through the countless pages of comics and finding which ones offer the most quality. I admit there are times I stumble across it by complete accident, but like fine wine or cars, there’s an art to it. I don’t claim to be an expert, but to all those who love comics as much as I do, I offer my insights so that those who celebrate New Comic Book Day get plenty of bang for their buck.
To that end, here’s my weekly pull list and pick for New Comic Book Day, complete with links to Comixology. It may seem like a lot, but I can attest that in the world of comics, quantity and quality need not be mutually exclusive. Enjoy!
My Pull List
Power Rangers: Ranger Slayer #1
My Pick Of The Week
X-Men/Fantastic Four #4
Filed under Jack's Quick Pick Comic
Why You Should Be Pessimistic About Optimistic News On Vaccines
In general, I’m a pretty optimistic person. I try to focus on the positives, even when I’m surrounded by a lot of negatives. It’s part of my personality. Granted, I wasn’t always like that. As a teenager, I was a pretty miserable, jaded, self-loathing cynic. There’s a long story behind that, but it’s not important right now
The reason I make that disclaimer is because the past few months have killed my sense of optimism. Actually, that’s an understatement. The impact of this massive global pandemic has taken my optimism, shot it five times with a shotgun, and ran it over eight times with a fully loaded pickup truck. My optimism is dead. It will be for the foreseeable future. That’s what this pandemic has done.
At this point, I question the sanity of anyone who has clung to any sense of optimism. Thousands of people are dead. Infections are in the millions. Things are getting worse every day. That’s not an opinion. That’s just basic goddamn math.
Now, I’m not trying to turn everyone into a pessimist, nor am I trying to crush everyone’s hopes. The point I want to make here is that there are just some things that hope cannot help, no matter how many inspirational quotes you read. Yes, hope and optimism can go a long way in many fields. A global pandemic just isn’t one of them.
To that point, I want to highlight the recent “optimism” surrounding vaccine research. I admit I too have been following this closely, too. How can you not? Even a cynic would agree. The best way to end this pandemic and get our lives back is with a vaccine. That’s somewhat distressing, given all the negative press vaccines had leading up to this moment.
At the same time, it’s remarkable how much the world has united behind this effort. I can’t remember a time when so many countries and so many organizations were this unified in their effort to achieve something. I want to find hope in that, but there are still a few intractable problem. This time, it has to do with both math and physics.
Making a vaccine is hard. There’s just no way around it. Even if you know the exact molecular sequence, producing it on a mass scale and distributing it to a large number of people is also difficult. It’s not a matter of will. It’s a matter of resources and logistics, the likes of which can’t be solved overnight or even within a year.
For that reason, when you see a positive story about a vaccine for COVID-19, you should be very pessimistic. Just look at this recent story from the Associated Press regarding Moderna’s vaccine research.
AP: First COVID-19 vaccine tested in US poised for final testing
There’s no guarantee but the government hopes to have results around the end of the year — record-setting speed for developing a vaccine.
The vaccine requires two doses, a month apart.
There were no serious side effects. But more than half the study participants reported flu-like reactions to the shots that aren’t uncommon with other vaccines — fatigue, headache, chills, fever and pain at the injection site. For three participants given the highest dose, those reactions were more severe; that dose isn’t being pursued.
Some of those reactions are similar to coronavirus symptoms but they’re temporary, lasting about a day and occur right after vaccination, researchers noted.
“Small price to pay for protection against COVID,” said Dr. William Schaffner of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, a vaccine expert who wasn’t involved with the study.
He called the early results “a good first step,” and is optimistic that final testing could deliver answers about whether it’s really safe and effective by the beginning of next year.
On the surface, it looks rosy. It hints that a vaccine is getting closer. It may even arrive at the end of the year. They’re even saying that research is moving at record speed. It all sounds so great.
Don’t get your hopes up.
Don’t expect this pandemic to be over by Christmas, either.
Notice that I bolded the phrase “a good first step.” Also, note how few details about the research are actually listed or linked to. It just notes how many people were involved and how many will be utilized in the next step. That’s both a sign and a red flag.
It’s a common problem whenever the media tries to report on science. Actual scientific research, namely the kind reported in journals, is not the kind of thing you can fit into a simple news blurb. You can’t fit it in an article, let alone a tweet. Most scientific research, especially of the medical variety, involves a lot of numbers, intimate details, and chemical constructs that most people aren’t equipped to understand.
It’s not that the news media has to dumb it down for us, the public. It just can only report on the broadest details. Those details often include the various complications and shortcomings of the research. Make no mistake. Those complications are there. If they weren’t, then the scientific research wouldn’t be necessary. It’s why becoming a doctor is so difficult and laborious.
I don’t doubt for a second that most of these doctors want to end this pandemic. Some are probably hopeful that they’re close. However, you can’t be a good doctor without sticking to rigorous science. Breakthroughs don’t happen all at once. Those light-bulb moments we see in movies and TV shows aren’t even close to what happens in real life.
In real life, medical breakthroughs still take years if not decades. The sheer complexity of disease and our methods for treating it preclude easy fixes to big problems. In terms of problems, pandemics are as big as they come. If ending it required only one breakthrough, it would’ve been found by now and thousands of lives wouldn’t have been lost.
That’s why you should never look at vaccine news in terms of a breakthrough. Even headlines that inspire hope in this field can only ever tell part of the story. Unfortunately, science is hard and so is creating effective medicine. You can’t rush it. You can’t encourage it. It’s at the mercy of hard limits that you can’t bullshit your way around. That’s what makes it hard. It’s also why it works.
Remember that the next time you see headlines about the prospect of vaccine research. Don’t assume it’s going to finish tomorrow. Don’t assume a miracle will speed it up. That’s not how science works and that’s not how this pandemic will end. For now, the best we can do is endure, brace ourselves, and retain our sanity until things eventually do change for the better.
Filed under Current Events, health
Jack’s World: Kamala Khan vs. America Chavez: How to Succeed (and Fail) With Female Superheroes
Below is a video I made for my channel, Jack’s World. It’s based on an article I wrote a few years back by the same name. It tried to expand it in a few key areas, but the spirit of the piece is still there. I also added in a few visuals that I hope supplement my points. Enjoy!
Jack Fisher’s Sexy Sunday Thoughts: Sexy Barbecue Edition
A close relative of mine once said that every romantic evening begins with a delicious meal. The nature of that meal varied, but when it was the middle of summer, good barbecue often set the mood. I trust that relative’s advice. I won’t get into specifics. I’ll just say that the success they had in their personal life did plenty to prove that point.
Some foods work better during certain times of the year. I know it’s mostly a psychological quirk, but a good meal involves more than just taste. Like eggnog during the holidays, barbecue during the summer just feels right. Whether it’s burgers on the grill or my dad’s famous flank steaks, it just makes summer feel complete.
It also helps that, unlike other traditional summer activities, a global pandemic can’t cancel the joys of barbecue. You just need a grill, a heat source, and some meat. If you need to wear a mask, you can. It doesn’t make the food taste any less delicious when it’s done cooking. If I can do it in my kitchen with a grill pan, then anyone can enjoy its succulent fruits.
It helps even more when you can find someone special to share these meaty meals with. Good food inspires quality loving on all levels. That’s another lesson my relatives have impressed upon me. A good summer barbecue can make everyone feel fulfilled, among other things. In that spirit, here are some Sexy Sunday Thoughts to help work up an appetite. Enjoy!
“You know you’ve become a powerful man when sex is offered rather than requested.”
“The intensity of orgasms is only matched by the desire to achieve them.”
“When you think about it, sex in front of a mirror is the most primitive form of interactive porn.”
“Women either grossly underestimate or exceedingly overstate how much porn is on their lover’s computer.”
“We’ll never truly know the identity of the greatest faker of orgasms.”
“If love is a battlefield, then ex-lovers are the double agents.”
“When our toilet is clogged, we all have a plumber fetish on some levels.”
This summer has been a bummer in so many ways. I freely admit that. That’s exactly why we need to cling to the things that 2020 hasn’t ruined for us. We don’t have movies, baseball, water parks, or restaurants this summer, but we still have barbecue. If ever there was a year when we deserved some extra sauce on our ribs, it’s this one.
Filed under Sexy Sunday Thoughts
Henry Cavill Building A Gaming PC In A Tank Top To Barry White Music: You’re Welcome
The internet can be a sick, twisted place. Depending on where you go, you’ll lose your lunch, your innocence, or your faith in humanity and not necessarily in that order. However, every once in a while, it gives us something that reminds us just how awesome the world can be.
Ladies, gentlemen, and those of unspecified gender, I give you Henry Cavill assembling a gaming PC in a tank top, set to Barry White music. Trust me, it’s as awesome as it sounds and the rest of the internet agrees. Don’t believe me? See for yourself.
You’re welcome.
Filed under sex in media, sex in society, sexuality, technology, Uplifting Stories
The Catholic Church Got $1.4 Billion In Coronavirus Aid And That Pisses Me Off
Every now and then, you come across a headline that just makes your blood boil. It’s so frustrating that you want to punch your computer screen, kick the nearest brick wall, and bury your face in the thickest pillow you can find. In general, I try to avoid those headlines. There’s enough awful news in the world. Unfortunately, those headlines sometimes find me.
That happened once again this past week. I was just scrolling through the AP news headline while drinking my morning coffee. I almost choked on it when I saw this little gem.
AP: Catholic Church lobbied for taxpayer funds, got $1.4B
The U.S. Roman Catholic Church used a special and unprecedented exemption from federal rules to amass at least $1.4 billion in taxpayer-backed coronavirus aid, with many millions going to dioceses that have paid huge settlements or sought bankruptcy protection because of clergy sexual abuse cover-ups.
The church’s haul may have reached — or even exceeded — $3.5 billion, making a global religious institution with more than a billion followers among the biggest winners in the U.S. government’s pandemic relief efforts, an Associated Press analysis of federal data released this week found.
Now, whenever I talk about religion, which happens quite often, I always try to make a disclaimer. I respect peoples’ religious beliefs. I have people in my family who are devoutly religious. They’re wonderful, caring people who are enriched by their faith. I do not wish to disparage them in any way.
That said, I can’t say anything nice about the Catholic Church these days.
Never mind the fact that their history, as an organization, is wrought with absurdities and atrocities.
Never mind the fact that they’ve covered up and evaded responsibility for the systematic abuse of children.
This is an organization that has no business being bailed out of anything. They’re one of the largest, most powerful religious organizations in the world. They have their own sovereign country, for crying out loud. They pay no taxes and constantly seek exemptions from the law under the guise of “religious freedom.”
On top of that, this is the same organization that has blatantly and unapologetically opposed basic medical provisions for preventing the spread of AIDS in Africa. Even if they changed their minds, they refused to apologize for all the death and suffering that this wholly damaging policy had caused.
Now, they’re getting $1.4 billion in taxpayer money? Money that will likely go to paying off the millions they incurred by covering up scandals that involved the horrendous abuse of children?
Are you fucking kidding me?
Again, if you’re a devout Catholic, this is not directed at you. This is directed at the organization that simply uses your faith to make money, evade taxes, and avoid any kind of responsibility for the atrocities they commit or facilitate.
I know there are two sides to every story, but sometimes something is just plain wrong. This definitely qualifies. I could say more about this, but for the sake of my computer screen, I’ll end this by calling this an unholy justice of the worst kind.
Filed under Current Events, politics, rants, religion
A (Longview) Question For Those Who Fought To Change The Name Of The Washington Redskins
It’s really happening.
I doubt anyone expected it to happen in their lifetimes, but after years of protesting and pushing, it’s finally happening. The Washington Redskins are changing their name. As someone who has followed NFL football his entire life and knows way too much about the history of every team, I am genuinely shocked. I really didn’t think this was going to happen, especially with how stubborn the owner of the team has been.
Shocked or not, it’s happening. The Washington Post announced it and the team made it official. They are changing their name.
Washington Post: Redskins To Retire Team Name
In an interview July 4, Coach Ron Rivera – who is working with owner Daniel Snyder to choose a name – said he hoped the new name would be in place by the start of the 2020 NFL season. Others have said it will be revealed as soon as within two weeks.
Two people with knowledge of the team’s plans said Sunday that the preferred replacement name is tied up in a trademark fight, which is why the team can’t announce the new name Monday.
Many are already celebrating this victory. In the battle against offensive sports mascots, this was the equivalent of Goliath. It’s one thing to get a publicly funded college to change their name. It’s quite another to get a private multibillion dollar sports franchise with an 80-plus years history. It’s a huge feat. Let’s not deny that.
Granted, it’s a feat that only happened once money became a factor. This was not done for moral reasons or because someone made an impassioned plea. This was a business decision done for the sake of doing future business. If there’s any lesson to be drawn from this endeavor, it’s that. Moral arguments do nothing. Money does all the talking.
It’s because of that, I suspect this is one of those issues that will still divide people. No matter what the new name is, people are still going to see them as “that team that used to be called the Redskins” or “that team that used to have a racist moniker.” Even though the team eventually did what some saw as the right thing, they’ll still be scorned because they didn’t do it soon enough.
That’s just the world we live in. The people who protested the name aren’t going to say “thank you.” They’re more likely to say, “It’s about damn time you racist piece of shit. Now, suffer for the rest of your life while we shame you, your children, and everyone you ever associate with and take it with a goddamn smile.”
That might be hyperbole, but that’s the power of outrage. It’s kind of addictive. The idea of turning anger into kindness, friendship, and harmony just feels like a bridge too far. People do get bored with outrage eventually, but only because they find something else to direct it towards.
That being said, I have a question to all those who are celebrating this feat. I want to ask that same question to everyone who passionately protested this name for years, protesting its racist connotations and use of caricatures. It’s a sincere, simple question that I hope people seriously contemplate.
What real, tangible benefit will changing the name of a football team accomplish for Native Americans communities in the long run?
The key word in that question is tangible. I’m aware of the various studies regarding the psychological impact of Native American mascots and caricatures. I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on this. However, psychological impacts don’t always translate into tangible impacts. You can feel and think all you want. If you don’t do anything with it, then the impact never goes beyond brain chemicals.
As I write this, nearly a quarter of Native Americans live in poverty and the unemployment rate on many reservations is around 40 percent. That’s a trend that has not improved substantially in recent years, regardless of how many or how few mascots a sports team uses. The Native American community has a host of other critical issues to deal with that include, but are not limited to:
- Violence against Women and Children
- Native Americans are Less Educated
- Poor Quality Housing
- Inadequate Health Care
- Unable to Exercise Voting Rights
- Native Language is Becoming Extinct
- Limited Financial Institutions in the Native Communities
- Natural Resources Exploitation
These are complex issues. I’m certainly not equipped to discuss them in detail. Some are more urgent than others, but plenty involve real, tangible impacts on a community. A lack of adequate health care, decent housing, and good education all incur tangible impacts. That’s beyond dispute. How will changing the name of a football team affect any of these issues?
I’m not being facetious. I genuinely want to know how much or how little that changing the name of an NFL football team will impact Native American communities in a tangible way. I don’t doubt that some will feel better about not having a football team with a racially insensitive name, but is that the only extent of the impact? Does that impact justify all the time, energy, and resources that went into this effort?
Please don’t answer that question now. Preferably, I’d like someone who is in touch with the Native American community to answer at least four years from now. By then, there will have been enough time for the impact of this event to play out. Whether it’s a decrease in poverty or an improvement in life expectancy, it should be clear by then. If it isn’t, then that poses another question.
Was all that effort to change the name of a football team a quality use of time and resources?
Again, that’s not a facetious question. I ask this as someone who really wants to know just how much a football team’s name actually impacts a large number of people within a minority community. I don’t expect to get clear answers now, but I hope they become clearer in the next few years. I also expect those answers to raise even more distressing questions.
Filed under censorship, NFL, political correctness, politics, rants, sports
New Comic Book Day July 15, 2020: My Pull List And Pick Of The Week
For lifelong comic book fans, like myself, there’s usually one Wednesday in every month where all the major comic publishers drop a glut of high-profile comics. It’s not always predictable. You rarely know when a week like that will drop. Sometimes, you’ll just have weeks that dump a large amount of comics on the market. Those are fun, but like many things, quality counts more than quantity.
Without going too deep into spoilers on this beautiful Wednesday morning, I can safely say that this is one of those weeks. It’s a week where quality, and quantity in terms of new titles, achieves a harmonious balance that would make Thanos himself smile. There’s no need for an Infinity Gauntlet or a snap that wipes out half of all life in the universe. It just happened, thanks to the tireless work of this colorful industry.
It’s another sign that the comics industry, as a whole, is emerging from the many delays and cancellations caused by the global pandemic over the past several months. There will still be effects here and there. I doubt we’ll know the full extent of those effects for another year. For now, though, the comic book world is hitting its first grand slam in months.
We all need good, encouraging news more than usual these days. For comic fans, this might as well be a trip back to the middle of 2019 before we heard of N95 masks and social distancing. I encourage everyone to savor this rare, yet precious iteration New Comic Book Days. We don’t know whether the world will go to shit again before we get another.
As always, here is my pull list and pick of the week.
My Pull List
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #51
My Pick Of The Week
Empyre #1
Filed under Jack's Quick Pick Comic
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