Gimme a Hibiki, Baby

Los Angeles, California

By the time you read this, we will perhaps know whether the Dodgers progressed through the post season. What is known is that the regular season is over, so our last 2026 game at Dodgers Stadium is behind us. We don't attend postseason games. They're too important to watch amidst all of the distractions at the stadium, so we watch from home or from our place at the bar in the local restaurant where we often go to watch games.

I got to know the bartender at the Executive Club, which is where we sit at Dodgers Stadium. The seating is only four rows deep and shares the restrooms with the adjacent suites. If you have attended games at Dodgers Stadium you will appreciate this attribute of the Executive Club/Suites restrooms: They are air conditioned! They are also empty, which means no lines. Also no lines to contend with at concessions. We are served in our seats. I do, however, prefer to go to the bar to get my Ride On IPA from Bradley.

It was our last game and for the first time at the games we attended this season, we were losing, so I decided to have a nightcap. Since Ohtani has come to play for the Dodgers, the Executive Club stocks Hibiki scotch. I discovered Hibiki when I was refugeed out to Todd and Christopher's home during the January 2025 fires. That first night driving there, I was beyond stressed, so once I arrived they kindly offered me a whiskey. Once the threat was over and I returned home, I purchased a bottle of it at Costco. It is a very lovely scotch.

So on that last Dodgers game for us, I decided to treat myself to a Hibiki when we hit the seventh inning. As I was not quite sure of Bradley's age and knowledge of classic films, instead of just saying it, I explained what I wanted to say to him: Give me a whiskey, baby. And don't be stingy. I told him that I wasn't sure he would get the reference. He laughed. I get it. Greta Garbo, right? Right!

The Dodgers did lose that night. It was our sixth game during the season and the only one of the six they lost. I used to go to Dodgers games with a friend who had season tickets. When we would walk in for the first game of the season she attended, she would stop, take stock of the atmosphere of the stadium and sigh. She was back to a place she loved. I don't exactly love the stadium, but I do love attending the games there with Joel. So my farewell to the stadium for 2026 was capped by Bradley giving me a whiskey. And he wasn't stingy, baby.

Oops

Los Angeles, California

I was enjoying brunch time with an amiga especial. This longtime frister is so busy in her life that time spent together is indeed special and rather rare. A lovely time was had, catching up on our very different lives, commiserating a bit, and sharing the inevitable exchange about current events. Some topic we were touching on reminded me of something I had seen discussed on Real Time with Bill Maher. I enjoy watching this show (in fact, have attended many tapings of it here in LA). I don't always agree with everything I hear on the show, but I often come away more informed as I often feel the depths of the discussions illuminating.

I also find it somewhat enlightening to try to understand why so many of my friends have stopped watching him. For some, the dinner with Trump was the killing point. Others object to his staunch support of Israel. One friend objected to his complaints about liberals or more accurately, wokeness. On this day, I was surprised that my friend said she had taken a break from watching the show after a comment that he made about Dolly Parton. I asked her if this had been on his show which she confirmed. But as I hadn't heard it, I googled it when I got home.

Yes, he had made an offhand remark about Dolly's physical attributes. We'll leave it at that. The comment was made during his brief stand-up routine that begins each show. It's my least favorite part of the show so I may have left the room to freshen up my cocktail. At any rate, I wasn't aware of it until I read it online. But I will say that I have heard more offensive things come out of his mouth. Still, Dolly is so beloved, and I do get it. You probably shouldn't go after the sacred cows in our culture. Or should you?

I'm not a big a fan of stand-up comedy. Never really have been. I like my comedy situational. I am however a big fan of Marc Maron and also of Garrison Keillor. Granted they are more monologists than comedians (ok, Maron is straddling the line). I have heard Marc Maron make some outrageously offensive comments. But I am too old for cringe, and I find a lot of this, not all but a lot, entertaining. I think comedy is a lot like being in a relationship with a man. Some of it is going to border on intolerable, but all the good stuff provides the reason you stay with him.

Honestly, I think the thing that bothers me about this is how unfunny our world has become because of how easily we are all offended. I came of age in the era of Monty Python, and National Lampoon. I laughed my way through the film Airplane which skewered every racial, ethnic and sexual identity it could lay its hands on. You couldn't make that film today. Really, I don't think Mel Brooks could make The Producers today. When did our culture become so snowflake-infused that any humorous or parody shade thrown is a reason to shun?

And, frankly, haven't we gotten into all kinds of trouble with the hyper vigilant canceling of what we deem inappropriate or offensive? Lest we all forget Al Franken, there is a huge spectrum between the criminal activity of Hamas, Jeffrey Epstein, Harvey Weinstein, and Trump, and the comedians and commentators who might make light of something more deserving of gravitas. I think this is one of the many areas that we liberals have gotten wrong.

And back to Dolly. I do get it. We used to hear that tragedy plus time equals comedy. And clearly no time at all had passed when he made this comment. But, was Dolly's death a tragedy? I don't think so. She lived a wonderful life, beloved by just about all. And since she made so many jokes about her own physical endowments, I'm not sure she wouldn't have had a great retort to Maher's comment. Do I wish she was still here to do that? Of course. We all do. But at the same time, I'm kinda grateful for Bill Maher being here and for the politically incorrect commentary he is still presenting, even with the occasional oops.