Here were some other ideas I had for the comic, let me know if you think which one’s your favourite or is it good as is.

1. End at panel 3.
2. Do the shifty eyes monkey meme with the Carebear in Panel 3.
3. Keep the flower power belly on the grizzly bear.

My wife calls me her “chess lad” ever since I re-started playing. I was part of the chess club in high school, but things were different back then. We were about a dozen filthy casuals, playing the odd game and doing a few mate in 2 puzzles once a week after school. Mr. Rosen, the math teacher, officially was in charge, but unofficially, Mr. Brown, the greatest supply teacher ever, held the reins.

I used to have this notion that the purest games of chess was played between two novices who barely knew how the pieces moved because then it was a battle of pure wits, rather than whomever memorized more lines of prep would emerge victorious. I even took a lot of pride in the fact that I had won the club’s first in-house tournament in that fashion – with zero knowledge on opening theory except on how to avoid scholar’s mate.

I now realize in retrospect how foolish I was. That’s like saying the best games of basketball are played between elementary school kids learning to dribble for the first time. Admittedly, I might have came up with that idea to protect my own fragile ego. If I beat you, it’s because my raw intellect was superior and if you beat me, you were probably some nerd who took lessons and read chess books. Ironically, after I won our one and only in-house tournament, Mr Brown gifted me a book from his own personal collection. “My Best Games of Chess” by Alexander Alekhine.

He explained to me that Alekhine was one of the greats, and the former reigning World Champion of chess. That summer, I remember trying to play through the games on my own. I had a chess set from Walmart my brother received as a birthday gift as a child that went largely unused. A pawn was missing, but a AAA battery or a penny would always be around to sub in. Replaying the games on our pink carpeted living room floors, I could never quite understand what made those games so great, despite my best efforts. I pretty much stopped playing chess afterwards, until last December – a 15 year hiatus.

Nowadays, the whole landscape is different because of the computer engines, and the internet and youtube. I’m grateful to be back and learning a lot. Chess is so much better when you know what the H is going on. You have grandmasters giving free lessons on youtube and twitch, chess engines to analyze and replay positions to learn from your mistakes, and millions of players around the world to play against at any given time in the palm of your hand.

Right now, my goal is just to get good enough to surprise my cousin’s son. He’s another chess fiend in the family, having taken years of lessons and played in many tournaments. We played when he was 9 years old and I barely squeaked out a victory. Now he’s just started high school and I hope to dear god I can at least keep up. Being middle aged is just about trying to defy father time by making kids think you’re cool and can still hang.

Shiit Takes: Reviews
The Bear

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Over the past 2 weeks, I watched both seasons of “The Bear”, after hearing all the buzz about it. I didn’t know much about the show. I’d never heard of the cast, but knew that it was about a restaurant, and that it was a dark comedy. The premise reminded me of the chapter on “Bigfoot”, the mythical giant Jewish restaurateur in Anthony Bourdain’s book, Kitchen Confidential, who ran his establishments with the deft and cunning of a dictator. I absolutely loved that book. I don’t reread many books, but I reread that one.

Now back to the show.

The show kicks so much fucking ass. I’ve a bone to pick with some parts of the writing, especially the first few episodes of season 2, but overall, it’s very tight. The Bear’s premise features Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (portrayed by Jeremy Allen White), a prodigy chef who leaves the world of fine dining to come home and run his dead brother’s failing mom and pop Italian sandwich shop in Chicago, “The Beef” (which is actually based off of a real restaurant in Chicago called Mr. Beef). At first, I thought it was going to be another show about a misunderstood, misanthropic, autistic, genius a la Sherlock or House, but the whole cast gets to shine and the show is much better for it. You become so invested in everyone’s stories because the writing gives such dignity and depth to working class people without devolving into poverty porn, or complete bullshit melodrama.

The cast is phenomenal and it’s baffling how many good actors are out there, living in obscurity. I’m glad these ones are able to get their shine. Ebon Moss-Bachrach plays my favourite character, Richie. Richie’s a divorced, 45 year old, insecure, and obnoxious man-child who is holding onto his last shreds of authority as the manager of his dead best friend’s Italian sandwich shop. His vibe is “I peaked in high school and never left his hometown” and spends his time holding court in the kitchen, retelling old stories from his glory days of getting trashed at bars and running into Bill Murray. He’s a fuck up and a loser, and watching his redemption arc in S2E07 – “Forks”, was one of the most satisfying television moments I’ve ever experienced. It made me so genuinely happy for this television character, that someone can turn their life around and just start giving a shit and having some self respect and having pride in one’s work.

“How you do anything is how you do everything.”

The cinematography and editing is pure artistry. In the climax of season 1, S01E07 “Review”, the whole episode is shot in one take. 20 minutes of pure, escalating carnage that really makes you feel claustrophobic and anxious. The tension that builds up as the kitchen and people’s lives implode is almost unbearable, and the release is just as fiery. In other instances, you’re treated to beautiful shots of Chicago, Copenhagen, and delicious food being prepped and eaten.

S-2E06 – “Fishes” was their Christmas special. It’s probably one of my favourite episodes of television ever, up there with Better Call Saul’s, “Five-O”, and “Pine Barrens” in The Sopranos. It’s also so uncomfortable to watch, that I don’t know if I can sit through a re-watch. It’s the best depiction of family dysfunction, and generational trauma on television and might resonate too deeply for some people. You get to see why the Berzatto siblings are such fucked up, damaged people, and how the shadow of their mother, Donna (played by Jamie Lee Curtis), looms over their lives, like a dark cloud you can never outrun.

Now to nitpick, I felt the writing in the first few episodes of the second season were a bit weak, with some monologues feeling very contrived (e.g. Carmy at an AA meeting: “I googled the word “fun” the other day”), and delivering too much exposition. The scene where Carmy meets his childhood friend and love interest, Claire, was unnaturally smooth and a bit corny.

In the season finale, Carmy is trapped in the walk in fridge of his restaurant and losing his mind on opening night during dinner service. He starts to monologue about how he shouldn’t have been chasing skirts because it caused him to lose focus and feels awful about letting his team down and letting himself down and that it wasn’t worth it. He thinks he’s talking to another chef, Tina, but Claire comes in at the worst time and hears this and is hurt and leaves. This use of the “I didn’t realize you were there” trope cheapened the finale. It would have made for better writing if instead of pushing her away by accident while caught up in the moment and letting his emotions slip, that they would have written Carmy as a crazy self-sabotaging fuck and says those things intentionally, knowing she’s there.

Overall, I fucking love this show and can’t wait for more and hope the SAG and WGA strikes end soon so they can make more. You can really tell the love that went into making the show.

I give it a 9/10.

What’d you think about the show? Let me know below!