A Variety of Wow Signals

Hahaha, Bible salesman! Man, that's too perfect. And this news breaks on the exact day that Criterion announced that in November they are releasing Paper Moon. Am I living in a simulation?

New York Times- Trump Made $300,000 for Endorsing Bible, Financial Disclosure Shows

August 15, 2024

...

Under the guise of preventing voter fraud, Trump and his Congressional toadies are attempting to suppress the votes of millions. Now here's the key fact... between 2000 and 2014 there were only 31 cases of voter fraud. Are the current leaders making a good-faith effort to discover the will of the voters? 

Let me ask that another way- do they believe in democracy? Would have they put up with this from Obama, or will they admit it's a shameless power grab? Is it the absolute height of un-Americanism, to try to mess with an American election? These are not rhetorical questions. Supporters need to look themselves the mirror and ask them. 

This is an attempt to steal the election, plain and simple. It's never been done before that we know of, other than Nixon. This is swamp-style corruption to the maximum done in plain sight, even with an admission of guilt. If we would see another country doing this, we would not accept their results and we'd cut diplomatic ties.

Is this tribalism to the extreme? How would we know? You can't know the inner-workings of someone's mind, can you? For Trump, of course we know. He admitted it. For some others, we might have an idea.

There was a before-and-after study done after the last election correlating favorability rating of Putin by party. Fifteen percent of Democrats had a favorable view of him in 2015, and 10% in 2017. Republicans had 12%, and then 32%. Huh, a 20% increase in admiration of an autocrat. The other 68% now get to decide whether they dislike autocrats in principle, or only foreign autocrats.

Autocrats attempt to suppress the vote to steal elections, or punish those who vote the wrong way. Others attempt to win elections by having better ideas. So what kind of country are we?

What's the lesson to be learned here, and what do we do about it? I'm not sure! But I know one thing- the person running on the principle of having the better ideas, even if those ideas are disagreeable, is still the better candidate than the one trying to cheat.

August 15, 2020

...

In music history, this was the day in 1960 that Elvis recorded his best song, It's Now or Never, and in 1977 ABBA recorded Take a Chance On Me, one day before Elvis died.

...

With 70-80% of Democrats planning to vote by mail, and only 20-30% of Republicans planning to vote by mail, I'm not seeing the appropriate outrage that Trump just stole the election by slowing down the mail. Despite the national polls favoring Biden, before this I thought Trump had a very good chance to win. If this dirty trick is left unchecked, I'm convinced he'll win, and it will forever be impossible to figure out who really won. He's cheapened his own possible re-election and ensured election chaos. He's also committed a federal crime by stating his intent to slow down the mail.

August 15, 2020

...

I can't believe I saw what I just saw... Bryce Harper hit like a 700 foot grand slam to win the game. They came back from 5-1 in the 9th. I never saw anything like that. Am I crying?

August 15, 2019

...

Sad to hear of the passing of Linda Manz... her performances stick with you.

August 15, 2020

...

Picking weeds in my front yard, felt a stabbing pain in my toe. One in a million chance of stepping on a razor blade just like that!

August 15, 2017

...

That's the Democrats for you... focusing on removing monuments instead of removing the president. They could learn so much from the Republicans. The Hillary Clinton impeachment hearings would have started Day 1 if she so much as looked cross-eyed at a toad.

August 15, 2017

...

King Macbeth was killed at the Battle of Lumphanan by the forces of Máel Coluim mac Donnchada on this day in 1057. He was about as far removed from Shakespeare as Shakespeare was removed from us.

...

On this day in 1914, a servant of American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, set fire to the living quarters of Wright's Wisconsin home, Taliesin, and murdered seven people there.

...

Will Rogers and Wiley Post died in an airplane crash on this day in 1935 due to engine problems during takeoff in Barrow, Alaska.

Will Rogers- "There are three kinds of men. The ones that learn by readin’. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves."

...

The Wizard of Oz premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California on this day in 1939.

...

On this day in 1948, the day before he died of cancer, Babe Ruth told Connie Mack, "The termites have got me."

...

The Beatles played to nearly 60,000 fans at Shea Stadium in New York City on this day in 1965.

...

Woodstock, featuring Sha-na-na, opened on this day in 1969, to commemorate Napoleon Bonaparte's 200th birthday.

...

On this day in 1977, the Big Ear radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) project, receives a radio signal from deep space, named the "Wow! signal."

...

Apocalypse Now was released on this day in 1979.

...

Rose Maddox of The Maddox Brothers and Rose was born on this day in 1925. I love their origin story. They were cotton-pickers in the south, stooped over picking cotton all day. One day the mother noticed the oldest brother Fred standing up straight staring off. Their mother asked him what he was doing. He said he was thinking. Mother alerted everyone, "Hey everybody, Fred's a'thinking. Whatcha thinkin' 'bout Fred?"

"I'm thinking we should be playin' music instead of a'doing this."

48 hours later they were on the radio.

...

English director and cinematographer, Nicolas Roeg, was born on this day in 1928. 

"I like the probability of the impossible."

That's my philosophy to win playing sports.

...

Bobby Helms was born on this day in 1933. 

FRAULEIN

Far across the blue waters

Lives an old German's daughter

By the banks of the old river Rhine

Where I loved her and left her

But I can't forget her

I miss my pretty Fräulein

Fräulein, Fräulein

Look up toward the heavens

Each night, when the stars start to shine

By the same stars above you

I swear that I love you

You are my pretty Fräulein

When my memories wander

Away over yonder

To the sweetheart that I left behind

In a moment of glory

A face comes before me

The face of my pretty Fräulein

Fräulein, Fräulein

Walk down by the river

Pretend that your hand's holding mine

By the same stars above you

I swear that I love you

You are my pretty Fräulein

https://youtu.be/VjEtkAwG3yM

...

Stanley Milgram was also born on this day in 1933, one of the more important social psychologists of our time, who proved that without too much effort 2/3 of us would be willing to follow an authoritarians demand to murder our neighbors. 

...

Jennifer Lawrence was born on this day in 1990, on Ben Affleck's 18th birthday.

...

...

A joy to watch- 25 Greatest Unscripted Scenes in Films

https://youtu.be/cTFQBHBeleE

August 15, 2011

...

Definitely in my top 5 youtube videos of all-time- Fuck the Humans.

https://youtu.be/ez90azx4LKk

August 15, 2011

...

The Hill- Republicans rebuke Trump over Charlottesville remarks

Good criticism from Republicans, but why do they condemn his comments vs condemn him? Our comments are a window into who we are.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/346700-republicans-rebuke-trump-over-charlottesville-remarks

August 15, 2017

...

Will Americans Take To Niksen, The Dutch Concept Of Doing Absolutely Nothing? The Dutch are so comfortable doing nothing, they have a term for it. Could we benefit from adopting it? By Brittany Wong

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/niksen-dutch-word-for-doing-nothing_l_5d37852be4b004b6adb788ff

August 15, 2019

...

New York Times- Bob Dylan Has a Lot On His Mind

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/arts/music/bob-dylan-rough-and-rowdy-ways.html

Question: “I Contain Multitudes” has a powerful line: “I sleep with life and death in the same bed.” I suppose we all feel that way when we hit a certain age. Do you think about mortality often?

Dylan: I think about the death of the human race. The long strange trip of the naked ape. Not to be light on it, but everybody’s life is so transient. Every human being, no matter how strong or mighty, is frail when it comes to death. I think about it in general terms, not in a personal way.

August 15, 2020

...

Washington Post- At 88, He Is a Historical Rarity — The Living Son of a Slave

Quite an article. We would do well to often consider how recently removed we are from slavery.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/07/27/slave-son-racism-george-floyd/

August 15, 2020

...

Quite a Title! This Optical Illusion Will Make You Question Your Eyes, Your Brain, and Possibly Your Life

https://www.iflscience.com/this-optical-illusion-will-make-you-question-your-eyes-brain-and-possibly-your-life-61282

...

...

50 Of The Creepiest Things Kids Have Ever Said To Their Parents

My 5 year old asked me when he is going to be 23- I told him in 18 years- he replied- well, I hope don't die again- cause that's how old I was the last time I went to heaven.

And another...

On my way from work, my 3 year old daughter in the back seat, we'd pass a very old cemetery every day. She used to tell me the people in there were waving to her. I would tell her there was nobody there, and I explained what a cemetery was. She was ADAMANT she saw people, and a school, and a store, and they'd wave to her. This went on for several months, and every day she'd tell me. I was telling this to a co-worker who lived in the area, and was a history buff. He then researched the cemetery, and told me the area was actually the site of where soldiers fought in the war, and they were buried there. They also made a very tiny town for a small time, Samptown, and there was a school, and a little store, and some people lived there. If that wasn't enough to freak me out, one day driving past my daughter told me a lady "in there" wanted her to come in. I found a different route home after that.

...

Trump was indicted in Georgia under RICO laws, and of course he's guilty. He's guilty on the surface. His supporters know he's guilty, but they like it. The worst he has proven to be, the more they like him. They believe that guilt equals persecution. However they decided to worship the consummate victim will forever be beyond me.

...

...

Reservation Dogs Medicine Man, a fortune teller machine- "The journey you are on is never over, but always beginning."

...

Anthony Bourdain- "If I have a side, it's against extremism- of any kind: religious, political, other: there's no conversation when everybody's absolutely certain of the righteousness of their argument. That's a platitude. But it's still true."

...

William Blake- "To generalize is to be an idiot."

...

Flannery O'Connor- "I write because I don't know what I think until I read what I say."

...

William Goldman, The Princess Bride- "Who says life is fair, where is that written?"