Adam’s Rants

Popeye’s Chicken Sandwich Strikes Again: NAPODPOMO-Day 5

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Day 5 of NAPODPOMO brings us to The News…

It’s Day 5 of NAPOPOMO and it’s time for some “BS From The News:”
(Trigger warning pssshhh: I use a looootttt of F-bombs in this rant. You’re welcome.)

Man Stabbed To Death Over Popeye’s Chicken Sandwich

A Maryland man was stabbed to death during an argument outside a Popeye’s restaurant. A large line had formed of people wanting to get the, now infamous, Popeye’s chicken sandwich. Apparently the argument began over somebody cutting in line and escalated to the point of one man stabbing another. Authorities attempted life saving measures, but the man later died at a local hospital.

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By Odd Dad Out, ago
ODO 114

Summer Vacation and The Return of Sunshine: ODO 114

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I’m back from our regular summer vacation, and I think I need another one. We always a good time, but, let’s just put it this way, would you want to spend 20 hours in a van with 4 screaming boys? But now it’s time to get back to work, back to business, and back to talking about myself because that’s what I do here. Well, not just about myself. It’s also time for another Sunshine Summit!

 

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By Odd Dad Out, ago

Support Hello Cancer WTF

Support Hello Cancer WTF

 

Support Hello Cancer WTF

Support Hello Cancer WTF

Recently, good friend and fellow podcaster, Perry Johnson from Hello Life WTF and the Pod Stuff was diagnosed with an inoperable form of stomach cancer, which has spread to his liver and the lymph nodes in his throat. They have chosen to fight this cancer to the end and he has begun preparations for chemotherapy. This recent development only adds to the strain on this family. As the sole income earner in his family, Perry’s inability to work through treatment makes things that much more difficult.  Please support this amazing family in this time of need.

https://www.gofundme.com/hello-cancer-wtf

By Odd Dad Out, ago

Adam’s Rants: I’m Not THAT Young

I have, what I think is, a common situation with my wife. I am older than she is. Specifically, I’m about 4 years older than she is. I could be completely wrong about this, but I think that it is fairly “normal” for the man in a  relationship to be slightly older if the couple aren’t essentially the same age. Anyway, I mention this because I have been cursed with eternal youth and to this day still get carded any time I have to purchase anything that may require ID (primarily alcohol.) My wife on the other hand never gets carded for anything. It’s not like she looks like she’s older than me or something. She doesn’t. She doesn’t really even look her age, at least to me. But she does look like she’s older than 21. Come on! We have 4 kids! Our oldest is a 3rd grader. Mathematically we would have to be over 21. My wife gets horribly upset when she decides to buy wine and she doesn’t get carded for it. I on the other hand get carded every single time, and I’m 4 years older than she is.

  I’m not one of those people who gets hung up on age. I am one of those people who thinks that age is really just a number, and legit believes it. (Not in a pervy way of course.) Again, my siblings and I have been cursed with eternal youth. I think we come from some long lost line of Irish vampires or something. Not one of us can pass for our actual age. In some respects that’s great. In others it’s kind of annoying. Aside from the previously mentioned carding for everything. There is a serious tendency of people to disregard me professionally because of my apparent age. In 13 years as a restaurant manager, nobody ever took me to be the person in charge. People always assumed that I was just some other member of the crew. Every time someone would ask for a manager I would get a sort of scowl from them when they realized that the skinny young guy was the one in charge. Then I would get the most obnoxious question ever, “where’s your manager?”  Every time I would have to fight back my Irish temper to not punch them in the throat as I tell them, “I am the fucking manger bitch!” But then I remember that I’m actually good at my job and a professional. So I climb out of my, JD from Scrubs, fantasy of throat punching and inform them that I’m the GM, and on with the interaction.
I say I’m cursed with eternal youth because interactions like that have plagued me for my entire life. Just for reference: I’m 33 years old, I’ve been married for 9 years, have 4 children, and was a restaurant manager for 13 years. But to this day, I still have to deal with people in the world talking down to me like I’m some dumb kid. Just the other day I was picking up food from a drive thru, and the guy handing me my food said, “Here you go young man.” Again, my brain goes to throat punching. “Don’t young man me. You are maybe, 5 years older than me at best,” I would have said if I were a more confrontational person. But that’s completely normal in my life, but as I get older and it keeps happening, it’s really wearing more and more on my patience.
  I never thought I would look forward to getting old just so that I wouldn’t have to show my ID to buy alcohol, even though I’ve been able to do so legally for 12 years now. Maybe some day I’ll be able to take my wife out to dinner and neither of us will get carded for our adult beverages. I just hope that day comes before my boys have to worry about this curse as well.
By Odd Dad Out, ago

Adam’s Rants- The Objectification Objective

The Objectification Objective

 

 I was listening to the radio in the car and a familiar song came on, Ex’s and Oh’s by Elle King. You know you know it. It’s that song where Rob Schneider’s daughter sings about how she’s so great in bed that all the guys she used to bang are constantly hunting her down for more. Wait! What!? You didn’t know that’s what it’s about? Tic Tac Toe you say? That there is part of the problem. People don’t pay attention to lyrics, even when they like the song. The only ones paying attention are the whackos looking for a reason to be offended. But that’s not the  point. The point is that this is just one more song that shows a blatant double standard of objectifying men in music. Ex’s and Oh’s is catchy as hell, but if the genders were flipped and a man sang it, it would be  crucified as sexist and derogatory and probably result in a boycott. But if it’s done by a woman it’s feminism and strength.

  
Looking back, the music world is full  of male objectifying songs. Salt n Peppa probably had the most iconic example ever with “What a Man.” Great song. It’s a classic, no doubt, but all it talks about is how attractive this guy is and how great he is in bed. Even more recently, Christina Aguilera had “Candyman.” Super upbeat, very swingy, dirty as all get out. The entire song is devoted to describing the guy all the girls wanna fuck. No romance, just talking about tongue skills, panties dropping, and a real big “moan…”
 I’m not saying men don’t make these same songs about women. Hell, you’ll find at least one on every rap album ever made. That’s not the point. The point is that when a man does it, it is called out for what it is. When a woman does it, it is labeled as some form of female empowerment or feminism. So to that I call bullshit. Man or woman, objectification is objectification. Don’t tap-dance around it.

 Here’s the twist. I’m not complaining about objectification. In it’s own way, objectification is a personal goal of every person on Earth. You’d be hard pressed to find a person that wouldn’t want “somebody” to stare at them thinking, “I want a piece of that.” No, not everyone, but at least that special someone. Even in that capacity it is still objectifying someone. Why do women wear sexy clothes, so others will look at them. You may get the excuse of ” it makes me feel better about myself.” Well you don’t feel better if nobody is looking. You don’t wear the wonder bra for your personality. On the same token, a man will go to the gym, and primp and groom, and show off just so women will look at him and fantasize about sex. People don’t stare at brains. Objectification isn’t all bad. There’s an entire industry based on it. It’s called “modeling.” The point is that everyone wants to be seen as a sexual object to somebody at some point. Man or woman, it doesn’t matter. Just don’t bullshit about it.


By Odd Dad Out, ago

Am I a Nerd or a Geek?

 Am I a Nerd or a Geek?

 So, if you actually know me, or have listened to my show for very long, you may have figured out that I am kind of a nerd. Or am I a geek? That is the question at hand isn’t it.
Not that it’s an idea that has plagued me or anything, but once a thought pops into my head it is difficult to kick it until I think it through. Such is the case now. I’ve always said that I am kind of a nerd. I was good in school. I picked up a few college credits early. I aced every class with hardly any effort. By most interpretations, I would be called a nerd. I’ve also been a video game fan, and comic fan, and movie fan… I guess I’m not really helping the nerd argument here.

Nowadays there is quite a dividing line between what is a “Nerd” and what is a “Geek.” Honestly I never really knew or cared that there was a difference. But, since the thought popped into my head, I just had to look it up. I had to see where I actually fall in the whole nerd-geek spectrum. So, I looked into it and according to Urban Dictionary a “nerd” is somebody who is smart but not very social. They don’t talk much and have few friends. They are generally nice but lack the social skills to go out and make friends. This sounds a lot like me. “Geeks,” on the other hand, socialize but it is usually based around some passionate obsession. Comic books, video games, Dungeons and Dragons, and other such groups come to mind.

Honestly I’m not really digging these definitions. I found a couple infographic things to try to make more sense of it, but they just made things more complicated.

 

To break this one down for me, I personally can go either way with coffee or soda, maybe more toward coffee. But then I live in t-shirts and sneakers and have played guitar for 17 years. But I also am both a cat and dog lover. So I’m leaning more geek on this one.

So in this one I do have a particular interest in academics, but my knowledge also has that mundane to encyclopedia thing going. I am absolutely introverted and generally socially challenged despite being quite long winded and hosting a comedy podcast. On the nerd side, I absolutely have a wide range of generally impractical skills just because of my interest in everything, but that blends into both having an interest in movies and games. I’m absolutely a fan of new gadgets. They are like new shiny toys. I don’t even know how to call it on this one. I’m once again pretty split on where I fall.

So what have I learned here? Apparently my chronic indecisiveness extends even to this most superficial element of my personality. It’s bad enough that I can’t pick out what I want to eat at a restaurant easily, but now I can’t even figure out if I’m a nerd or a geek. But really does it matter? Yes it’s both a very profound and utterly stupid question. I don’t require a personal definition of what I am. I don’t have to fit into one particular category. Honestly I feel better not being one or the other.  Nobody should be just one thing, or obsess over labels. You be you and I’ll be me, in all my smart-assed indecisive geeky nerdom.

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By Odd Dad Out, ago