Pawn Stars
A continuation from yesterday's post, which was growing too lengthy:
Besides sports, I only watch Pawn Stars. Shallow you say? Yes, it is, but my office job has become very hard, with the result that I have little energy for reading at the end of the day. I could watch the news, but I agree with Nassim Taleb's paradoxical observation that, in today's climate, the more you know the less you know: news is unreliable and gives wrong information, so you're actually worse-off for watching it. In this climate, I'd far rather say the Rosary, spend time with my kids, read some Epstein essays, and watch sports and Pawn Stars (I just summarized my evenings, Monday through Thursday, with the Rosary mentioned for self-pious proclamation more than actual practice).
When I first started watching Pawn Stars, I thought it was a fraud. There's no way, I thought, that Rick Harrison can know everything he purports to know. And then when his son started showing similar erudition, I knew it was a fraud.
I have since found out that the guy (Rick, not his son) is, indeed, erudite. Since a young man, he has logged serious hours in the library, learning the heroic way (as opposed to attending college). Now, I'm still reasonably certain that he brushes up or researches topics before filming segments, but I'm pretty comfortable that he is a knowledgeable guy.
He's also a sexually-driven guy. I have a friend who was shooting the bull with him last year in Vegas. He asked Rick what was the best part about his show, and he said, "the women" (but he didn't put it that tastefully). He has since married a woman that looks like a model. I don't want to insult Rick's looks, but let's face it, he isn't typically the kind of guy that attracts good-looking women.
The wedding gave rise to this hilarious photo at Reddit:
