Idols and Vices

Berkeley, Thursday, June 18, 2026 3:07 AM

This post is not about idols, it might be about vices. It accounts some distractions, and a part of the title name touch on a not so far along conversation with a friend.

Well, I fixed the conversation. And I recalled the initial intention, which I fixed now.

I deviate from the title now.

Bad Bunny has a song named Andrea, which he sings with Buscabulla. The Buscabulla couple was here in Berkeley a month ago. Benito sings in the song: “Lo malo siempre se sabe y lo buena nunca se cuenta”. [1]

Great qoute.

Similar quote is in the great Fiddler on The Roof play, by Joseph Stein. In scene four, in the conversation between Lazar and Tevye:

Lazar (pours a drink) and ask to Tevye:
So how's your brother-in-law in America?
Tevye: I believe he is doing very well.
Lazar: He wrote you?
Tevye: Not lately.
Lazar: Then how do you know?
Tevye: If he was doing badly, he would write... [2, pp. 46-47]

Tradition!. What a great film.

In another note, because I might have lost my train of thought and accounting a few distractions.

I got terrible schedule sleeping in the last 4 days or so. At least in the last three all were my fault. I lacked of discipline of placing my phone out of the bedroom, as i usually have done for years.

in several cases, were for a quick laying on the bed, checking either the world cup distraction catch up, or news, but as soon as I started I felt asleep.

I am glad I have not broken my glasses yet. In general, good products last. It seems somehow I have been careful to place them next to me, and/or not to roll over them.

Well, football or soccer as many things are an art. The thing is to find those artist. So, I had a bit of catch up.

A problem is was mainly by videos, interviews, narrations. Narrators are also quite good artists. As well some in depth commentators, who might go beyond the obvious, or that you can see that they are thinking, finding solution, looking for next steps, or just critiquing, but not just making some noise which some times happens.

Anyways, I connected after listening to the truth, somehow body and spirit stories and narrations that El Pibe Valderrama (Carlos) says. One can sense the joy and understanding from the art.

I got the same from a player I quite admire, I could say use to admire, but I still admire, El Kinito Mendez, or Edison Mendez.

Recalling from memory now, to see how much time I wasted. I learned from the great Romanian player from the 1994s Hagi, and a bit from the Bulgarian player from that generation as well, golden boot, or ball?, any ways, I think is ball. Ballon d’Ore: Bulgarian Hristo Stoichkov. I learned a bit from the Yugoslavian, now Serbian player: Dragan Stojkovic. At the end, the great football times in Ecuador came from someone who brought his knowledge from that region in the late 1988: the great Dusan Draskovic.

I learned about Teófilo Cubillas. And briefly read about the not too long ago deaths from Cabañas and Freddy Rincón.

I have not checked the Diablo Etcheverry (Marco). I recall he was a great Bolivian player. But now Bolivia has a very good Bolivian player in Liga de Quito.

Of course, I briefly listened to the Profe. Pacho Maturana, who was the head of great Colombian squad in the 1990s.

I listened to a bit of funny payasadas del Tino Aspirilla, and bit of the respectable Oscar Cordova. Both of them, or all of them of course respectable.

I briefly watched the highlights of the 1994 game of USA and Colombia, in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The autogoal from Escobar. He was shot then in the parking lot of a bar called El Indio, near El Poblado in Medellín. To sad. That story always make me sad. But El Pacho, said wrong place and wrong time, disconnecting this a bit to his autogoal. There might be some connection, but he also was at 3 am on a parking lot, and entered into a discussion with the Mafia cartel related folks who shot him. Although, I think I read he was shot the number of times the assassin listen to his goal being chant. There was a story about the early morning locker room pressure and silence in that very charismatic Colombian squad before the 1994 game. The story goes on that El Profe Maturana benched someone, after he received a threaten call. Those were turbelents times in Colombia. I hope it is not the similar case elsewhere nowadays.

I learned a bit about Cameroonian player Roger Milla, and his wonderful world cup in Italy 1990.

I checked a bit from Enner Valencia, who I still back him up, because of his motivation, skills, integrity, and see all these stories and age of players elsewhere.

I hope the Ecuadorian will lift up their spirits. I was a bit surprised that they choose Columbus, OH to train, instead to a place in Philadelphia or New Jersey, or New York. I think they will play one game in Kansas, but other than that they mainly will be on the East Coast. Commuting is always something that might take a toll in the familiarity to the place one has to perform.

I listened a bit to the, also brief, analysis from Eduardo de la Torre Menchaca (yayo) about the match between Portugal and Democratic Republic of Congo.

DR. Congo is also in the equator, same as Ecuador, Uganda, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Brazil, Colombia, Somalia, Indonesia, and might be other countries.

The African teams are doing great in this world cup. Players with a not so far ago African ascendency as well. But theory says that all of us came from Africa at some point.

What else?

About 10 days ago, we, five of us, had a good diner, I believe, despite my mind, and body being tired by that point with additional things to pay attention. I received interesting gifts, which also stayed as leftovers, which include about 6 chocochip cookies or so, baked by a friend. About 5 or 6 ice cream sandwiches. About a 20% of a pita chips bag, which would be about a portion of about 400 grams. And about half of an array of fig cracker snacks, which were my own. Well, it has taken me about 9 days to eat those. I think that is not too bad. Reference [3] says that about 10% of the daily food consumption might be ok for added sugar or about 36 grams for men.

Received food is fine in general. It could have been an opportunity to knock each neighbors’ door, and bring them food. Consumption has been ok, might be around that limit, which is another still, young lesson, from this experience. However, not the only factor though, it might have had a bit of a toll, on efficiency, attention, sleeping. Something else to learn. I wonder what the Ecuadorian players and the managing team area eating on a daily basis now. [I left the desk for a bit to pay attention to the labels of sugar things I eat on a daily basis]. But I see that my honey bee does not have those facts, which great on one hand, but some data might be helpful. It does not had added sugar, but honey is sort of sugar, or definitely glucose itself. Plenty to learn on this as well. Also, the 36 grams or less are of added sugar or of the product. Are of total sugars or of the product itself? I mainly eat dark chocolate and honey, plus the sugar than fruit, yogurt, milk, might some vegetables provide themselves. So, let’s say total sugar. OK. In another, still local honey bee bottle, it says that out of 21 grams of a serving, 17 grams are sugar. How many grams of honey fit on a large, or sometimes medium spoon? OK. That is what fits on a table spoon. I eat that or less. I should have broken this paragraph, on my own daily analysis, and the other things I recently ate, which have brought me to this analysis. It is always interesting to see the paths or roads though. OK. 3 pieces of 86% cacao dark chocolate, because in the Bay Area, I have not found affordable, and actually not found at all, 100% fine raw cacao chocolate, which is for eating not only for baking. The one for baking is terrible to eat as a snack. At least the one I have found. I use to eat that. But there is one formidable unbeatable 100% raw cacao snack chocolate… Anyways, I have stick with the 86% for years now. I see that there are 4 grams of added sugars for each 3 pieces of chocolate, of this chocolate I eat. Those are big pieces. So aiming at 10% of a 2,000 calories per day, which would also need to learn. Although, I mainly go with those things by feeling, energy, activity, brain, weight, and so I adjust as needed, as as felt, and of course there are those intense needs or sweat at times.

So aiming at around 20 to 30 (up to 36) grams of “added” sugar per day. I also would need to break down that in the context of other foods, and natural sugars. Well I am not sure, I the New York Times article went into those details. But learning the limits, once, and also doing my own calculations, helped me to understand what is moderate drinking within what is healthy or not too bad, per alcohol type, and what the liver can process in an hour, which is a standard drink, and advised to not drink more than two standard drinks on a day (night or late afternoon to be more specific).

Ok. So the base line of my sugar are the 16 grams of honey bee. Then, a 510 grams of 86% chocolate cacao bar, which I consume has 8 squares. Each bar has a total sugar of 10 grams, if I understand well the break down of the items, because there are total sugar, and included added sugars, so I did not added both. Only picked up the total. Then, each chocolate square would have 1.25 grams of sugar. In theory, I would be ok if I ate two whole bars on a day, but that will likely make me dizzy. In depends also on the timing. I kept the last sentence before making a change, or checking my calculations, because that was the easy total sum from the totals of two chocolate bars, plus the table spoon of honey bee, which would be 36 grams. It seems that I can eat the whole bar, and I still will be fine. I guess the reference of 1 square of the chocolate I common eat has about 1.25 grams of added sugar is helpful. About a bit more of 3 squares would be 4 grams of sugar, because 3 squares are 3.75 grams. I think that would be a good reference to aim on a normal eating day.

Then, I need to learn of the content of the other things. But there you go. A bit of actual productive, hands on, useful learning, at least to my day by day. Aiming then to learn more about cause effects, and particular strategies.

Professional cycling teams have plenty of research on it. So the racers can climb at full power those gigantic mountains or at least steep hills after being cycling at a high speed for about 180 km. They might focus on what they can digest to provide energy, but not sending them to the toilet for a number 2 stop, in the intense daily cycling. The ground tours have about 21 days or 22 days of of racing with two two days of rest, around day 7 and 14. I am sure they focus a lot in the pooping strategy as well.

References:

[1] Martinez Ocasio, Benito (Bad Bunny) and Buscabulla, 2022. Andrea. Un Verano Sin Tí. Rimas Entertainment.

[2] Stein, Joseph. 1964. Fiddler on the Roof. Pocket Books. New York, NY.

[3]