Selfish, Ignorant Leaders, Plus Miscellany

I strained my quad really bad playing kickball about two months ago. I couldn't play racquetball, and I think that made me start to fall apart a bit.

I started having terrible sciatica pain for the first time in my life. 

I recovered enough to play kickball again, but then got an elbow to my neck during a game. A week later it became so intolerable I couldn't sleep at night. 

Then I pulled my groin during practice. 

I have scabs on my knees and elbows. 

It's been a rough couple of months! So what what is to be done in a case like this? 

I think of Dylan Thomas, reminding us to rage against the dying of the light. I think of Victor Frankl, reminding us that we're not supposed to live in a tensionless state, but we must strive for something. I think of Bob Dylan, reminding us that someone not busy born is busy dying.

So in that spirit, I decided to run two miles earlier with the heat index at 103, haha. (Two miles, I call that a 13th of a marathon.) No worries, I ran slowly, but it wiped me out. If I don't pull through, put this on my gravestone- "He who is busy not dying by being born running in the heat, sometimes is indeed actually busy dying."

Not much of a ring to it, but it should get the job done.

I do enjoy battling against seeming limitations. Sometimes the worst thing you can do is baby your injuries. I've recovered from many injuries by ignoring them. It does seem that in a strange way sometimes our attitude towards something can define reality.

June 22, 2024

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I saw Bill Burr tonight in Hershey, which happened to be the 15th anniversary of George Carlin's death. Bill has kept his torch alive, a true genius, offending everybody and making everybody laugh at everything.

June 22, 2023

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This image has really captured my imagination. At first I thought it was doctored, then I thought some crafty photographer snuck it, but the guy actually strode out of his helicopter all disheveled like that for all the press to see, a big pouty-puss. To call his thumbs up half-hearted would be a gross exaggeration. I think he still has an excellent shot at winning the election, but by the looks of it he thinks his substandard rally attendance was his own death knell. And that's dangerous for him to feel that way! So what did he do all day today? Tried to undermine the legitimacy of the upcoming election, screaming about non-existent fraud... or in other words, hedging his bets. Even if he's the loser, he won't let himself be the loser- "RIGGED!"

June 22, 2020

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On this day in 1997, Norm Macdonald delivered a raunchy set during a family-friendly event in iowa, and the governor kicked him out of the state! Now that is a comedy legend! 

It was about women having sex with pigs. Hey, the guy was a gambler.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/entertainment/2021/09/15/norm-macdonald-1997-university-iowa-performance-apology-profanity-laced-raunchy-snl/8345949002/

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Some idiots are saying that they identify with their Confederate heritage. Wouldn't that be awful if you identified with the Confederate heritage??? The heritage of the United States, is that of destroying the Confederacy, and the not-very-fine Nazis too for that matter.

June 22, 2020

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Gretel and Zuzu have been reading a book lately called Spooky Tricks. It's from the 40s or 50s and explains how to do creepy party tricks. This morning as they we're looking at it I overheard one say to the other, "but then we'll be alive, and dead." I asked them what they were talking about, they said it was none of my business, and for some reason I accepted that as a reasonable answer.

June 22, 2019

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Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century- "The best advice I could give a fifteen-year-old stuck in an outdated school somewhere in Mexico, India or Alabama is: don’t rely on the adults too much. Most of them mean well, but they just don’t understand the world. In the past, it was a relatively safe bet to follow the adults, because they knew the world quite well, and the world changed slowly. But the twenty-first century is going to be different. Due to the growing pace of change you can never be certain whether what the adults are telling you is timeless wisdom or outdated bias."

June 22, 2019

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George Carlin, gone 10 years. The guy who said, "In America anyone can become president. That's the problem!" The guy who said, "What we need is a king, and every now and then if the king's not doing a good job, we kill him." The guy who cheered, "Rat shit bat shit dirty old twat, sixty-nine assholes tied in a knot. Horray. Lizard shit. Fuck!" He wasn't very high-brow. Three people whose take on 2018 I wish we had- George Carlin, Roger Ebert, Christopher Hitchens.

June 22, 2018

Postscript- I think about him everyday. We agree that we are a government of the people, and that when we have problems with the government we really have problems with ourselves. He summed it up this way.

"If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you’re going to have selfish, ignorant leaders."

Maybe the best thing about him is that he made very valid points that hold up decades later, and he made those points with jokes. It's like Wittgenstein said, you could write a valid and good philosophical paper entirely out of jokes. 

I'm going to post a point that he'd made with a joke each day over the next couple weeks.

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I'm listening to Sam Harris's podcast on universal basic income, a stipend the government would give to everybody no matter what their circumstances in order to cover basic needs. The idea behind it is to create a new economic paradigm that will insulate us from losing all of our jobs to automation. Shocking statistic, 44% of all jobs are susceptible to being lost due to automation. It's not just unskilled workers, a software update could wipe out the field of radiology. Computers could do it more effectively. My jury is still out but it's an interesting idea.

June 22, 2018

Postscript- the podcast was with Andrew Yang, but before I ever heard of him.

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Ricky Gervais- "The Bible is as true now as it ever was. (Finally, a post that literally everyone must agree with.)"

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What self-respecting sport allows ties??? There is a loser when you think about it, anybody who watched it to see who would win.

June 22, 2014

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Meryl Streep was born on this day in 1949. She's a good actress! But she's no Juliette Lewis.

She played a president, and was born the same day as Elizabeth Warren, who could never become president.

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Ahhh... found my xeroxed copy of In Other Words by Christopher Moore, a book that is something of a dictionary of untranslatable words and phrases from other languages. I've been looking for it for a while. From the forward: 

"And then I find myself drifting dreamily in agreement with him, back to my beloved East, and wondering, indeed, how on Earth it can be that we speak a language that has no equivalent for the most subtly delicious of all Japanese phrases: mono-no-aware, which means no more and no less than "appreciating the sadness of existence." You see the cherry blossoms on the trees in Kyoto in April and you love them, but you love them most of all because you appreciate, so sadly, that soon they will all be gone. Mono-no-aware: a phrase, which like all Japanese words has every syllable pronounced, which serves as a reminder that the understanding of tongues other than our own offers us a chance to come to a better understanding of peoples other than ourselves- an understanding that can only be for the betterment of all of us."

June 22, 2014

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A dude at the liquor store just asked where they have the "calbernet, the big bottles." Amateur.

June 22, 2013

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From Skeptic Magazine

Top 10 myths of popular psychology

Myth #8: People with Schizophrenia Have Multiple Personalities

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In 1651 Thomas Hobbes said " Every man is presumed to seek what is good for himselfe naturally, and what is just, only for Peaces sake, and accidentally." If we are indeed motivated to seek peace for its own sake, God and religion are unnecessary variables in the morality equation.

June 22, 2013

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Bought a quart of red beet wine today from one of our farmers. I pointed out the dead fly floating in it. He tried to pick it out with his dirty fingers. What do you think is worse- the fly or his fingers?

June 22, 2010

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On this day in 1633, The Holy Office in Rome forced Galileo Galilei to recant his view that the sun, not the earth, is the center of the universe.

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On this day in 1918, The Hammond Circus Train Wreck killed 86 and injures 127 near Hammond, Indiana. From Wikipedia:

The Hammond Circus Train Wreck occurred on June 22, 1918, and was one of the worst train wrecks in U.S. history. Eighty-six people were reported to have died and another 127 were injured when a locomotive engineer fell asleep and ran his troop train into the rear of a circus train near Hammond, Indiana. The circus train held 400 performers and roustabouts of the Hagenbeck–Wallace Circus.

Five days later, fifty-three of those killed were buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, at the intersection of Cermak Road and Des Plaines Avenue in Forest Park, Illinois, in a section set aside as Showmen's Rest, which had been purchased by the Showmen's League of America only a few months earlier. The section is surrounded by statues of elephants in a symbolic mourning posture.

Only five of those buried had been formally identified, so the graves of most of the casualties are marked "Unknown Male" or "Unknown Female." One grave is marked "Smiley", one "Baldy", and another "4 Horse Driver". The more recent graves at the location belong to people who traveled with the circus and wanted to be buried there after they died.

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The Pledge of Allegiance was formally adopted by US Congress on this day in 1942. Yep, nothing like a little old indoctrination, I mean patriotism. Patriotism is not patriotism at all when it is compelled.

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The Cuyahoga River caught fire in Cleveland, Ohio, on this day in 1969, drawing national attention to water pollution, and spurring the passing of the Clean Water Act and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. Thanks Nixon!

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John Dillinger's birthday, born on this day in 1903.

"My buddies wanted to be firemen, farmers or policemen, something like that. Not me, I just wanted to steal people's money!"

I can't help but love the guy! I wrote a screenplay about him. Robbing from the banks when the banks were robbing from the people, giving $100 tips, scheming, busting out of jail, what's not to love?

Here he is posing with his prosecutor, Robert Estill, at Crown Point, motioning for anybody watching to smuggle a gun into prison for him. This ill-advised photo op cost is Estill his job.

He spent his 31st and final birthday at the French Casino nightclub with Polly Hamilton, as the FBI officially designated him Public Enemy #1.

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On this day in 2021, I bought five juvenile hissing cockroaches. Three years later, four are still alive. Four years later, three are still alive.

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Austrian-born American director, Billy Wilder, was born on this day in 1906, director of Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot, Seven Year Itch, The Apartment, and so many more.

"The Austrians are brilliant people. They made the world believe that Hitler was a German and Beethoven an Austrian."

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Kris Kristofferson, songwriter of the highest echelon, was born on this day in 1936. From The Pilgrim Chapter 33:

See him wasted on the sidewalk in his jacket and his jeans,

Wearin' yesterday's misfortunes like a smile

Once he had a future full of money, love, and dreams,

Which he spent like they was goin' outta style

And he keeps right on a'changin' for the better or the worse,

Searchin' for a shrine he's never found

Never knowin' if believin' is a blessin' or a curse,

Or if the goin' up was worth the comin' down

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Elizabeth Warren was born on this day in 1949. I've been quoting Elizabeth Warren since before it was cool!

"There is nobody in this country who got rich on their own. Nobody. You built a factory out there - good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn't have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory... Now look. You built a factory and it turned into something terrific or a great idea - God bless! Keep a hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along."

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Cyndi Lauper was born on this day in 1953. The YouTube video of her singing Girls Just Want to Have Fun during a delay at the Buenos Aires airport is one of my favorite YouTube videos of all time. I happened to see it for the first time in the middle of the night when I was taking a lot of post-surgery painkillers and it made me cry.

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Maradona's Hand of God goal scored by Diego Maradona on this day in 1986, in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup match between Argentina and England, igniting controversy. It was followed later by the Goal of the Century. Argentina won 2–1 and went on to win the World Cup.

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Another notable birthday- Freddie Prinze (1954)

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Judy Garland died on this day in 1969 at the age of 47, the same day an F3 tornado with wind speeds of 158 to 206 mph hit rural Kansas.

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Other notable deathdays- David O. Selznick (1965), Fred Astaire (1987)

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Friends, I'm afraid I must insist you take this seriously. There's too little joy in your life. I too was once lost, but now I am found. Please watch this collection of 25 five-second films.

http://www.cracked.com/video_18592_25-funniest-5-second-films-ever.html

June 22, 2013

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The Onion, June 22, 2015, South Carolina Refuses To Remove Confederate Flag From Capitol Trailer

http://onion.com/1N1Jbva

June 22, 2015

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It's easy to forget sometimes that Nicolas Cage was in a Herzog film. "Shoot him again, his soul is still dancing."

https://youtu.be/oVOTx4Lx3pY

June 22, 2018

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Holy mackerel, that's a great headline:

Esquire- Toy Story 4 Elegantly Captures the Existential Terror of Being Alive

http://esqr.co/Y89CbVs

June 22, 2019

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The rulings from the 200 dipshit judges the Trump appointed can still be appealed... but there's real trouble if he gets another Supreme Court seat.

June 22, 2020

Postscript- He did.

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"A team of investigative journalists in 2012, for example, funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Knight Foundation, found an “infinitesimal” number of fraud cases in elections between 2000 and 2012 — a total of 2,068, which equates to about one case for every 15 million eligible voters."

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/mail-in-ballot-voter-fraud/

June 22, 2020

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Zuzu was so proud of her drawing of Queen Amidala she wanted a series of 5 pictures taken of her holding it- big smile, regular, regular smile, creepy, serious.

June 22, 2020

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Gretel just did more weeding than I'll do all summer.

June 22, 2014

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Pepper gets a trim.

Meanwhile Emma is at 20 weeks.

June 22, 2013

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The Ultimate Warrior- "I WAS SENT IN A CAPSULE FROM A PLACE NOT FROM HERE AND I CAME HERE FOR ONE REASON: TO ATTACK AND KEEP COMIN'. NOT TO ASK, BUT JUST TO GIVE. NOT TO WANT, BUT JUST TO SEND."

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I'm reading a book on the history of comedy and as an example of his quick wit, a friend of Woody Allen's relayed this tidbit of the two of them walking through Manhattan and seeing someone they both knew:

Woody- I heard he went through a rough divorce.

Friend- Didn't he used to have a mustache?

Woody- His wife sued for for his whole face but settled for his mustache.

June 22, 2021

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The Shirky Principle- "institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution."

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Jokes from 300-400 AD, attributed to ancient Greeks Hierocles and Philagrius, from their joke book, Philogelos (Laughter-Lover)- 

"Asked by the court barber how he wanted his hair cut, the king replied: 'In silence.'"

"When the donkey died of hunger, he said: 'I've had a great loss! Just when he had learned not to eat, he died'."

A scholar ordered a silversmith to prepare a lantern. When the latter asked how big he wanted it, he replied "Like this, for eight people!"

It was a different time.

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I realize that I don't really believe in multiple universes, but my mind is arranged in a way that I act like they're true. When Gretel was born she wasn't crying and had to be revived since. It's only now, 10 years later that I realized... she was dead. I feel like I'm living in the universe in which she was able to stay alive, and some other universe I carry a sadness wondering what she would have become. In this one I get to actually see. At the same time, there's another universe where Emma and I have 16 year old twins.

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A person at a Dolly Parton concert yelled, "I love you." She said, "I love you too but I told you to wait in the trunk."

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Prayer from Monty Python and the Meaning of Life. If I'm ever called on to do a prayer, hopefully I can remember this one. I'd like it read at my funeral.

"Let us praise God. Oh Lord, oooh you are so big. So absolutely huge. Gosh, we’re all really impressed down here I can tell you. Forgive us, O Lord, for this dreadful toadying and barefaced flattery. But you are so strong and, well, just so super. Fantastic. Amen."

Here's another:

"O Lord, please don't burn us, Don't grill us or toast your flock, Don't put us on a barbecue, Or simmer us in stock, Don't braise or bake or boil us, Or stir-fry us in a wok. Oh please don't lightly poach us, Or baste us with hot fat, Don't fricassee or roast us, Or boil us in a vat, And please don't stick thy servants, Lord, In a Rotissomat."

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Shakespeare:

'Tis very pregnant

The jewel that we find, we swoop and take't

Because we see it; but what we do not see 

We tread upon, and never think of it.

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Kant's motto of the enlightenment- "Sapere aude!" Have courage to use your own reason!

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Carl Sagan- "You go talk to kindergartners or first-grade kids, you find a class full of science enthusiasts. They ask deep questions. They ask, "What is a dream, why do we have toes, why is the moon round, what is the birthday of the world, why is grass green?"

These are profound, important questions. They just bubble right out of them.

You go talk to 12th graders and there's none of that. They've become incurious. Something terrible has happened between kindergarten and 12th grade.

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Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments- "Never complain of that of which it is at all times in your power to rid yourself."

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Albert Einstein- "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."

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Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections- "As a child I felt myself to be alone, and I am still, because I know things and must hint at things which others apparently know nothing of, and for the most part do not want to know."