Any Kind of Magic

Serena Williams played her final professional tennis match tonight.

From The Athletic: A reporter once asked an 11-year-old Serena Williams which tennis player she aspired to be like. “Well,” she began, a smile on her face and her hair in beads, “I’d like other people to be like me.”

Goal accomplished!

September 2, 2022

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Ahhh, velociraptor pranks. A must watch!

https://youtu.be/gmxQSwwTRqU

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I got this email from our Verizon rep: "the plan is still $35, the new price of the device payment for that phone is $16.88. the two ear contract is $199.99, so either-or."

I responded, "We don't need phones for both ears, one ear will be fine. Will that change the price?"

Or at least I wish I that was my response.

September 2, 2021

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If you engage with Trump voters, you'll find that a significant percentage of them believe that he has a 100% chance to win, not a 99% chance, a 100% chance. 

One told me that all of her boating friends were supporting Trump. She saw zero support for Biden among boat people, so he has to win. Sure, I'll give her the boaters! Now what about the other 99.9%? Talk about living in a bubble!

The president is one of those supporters, believing that he will either win, or Biden cheated... and you might have seen that many treat his words as holy pronouncements.

So explain this to me with data... Trump won the Electoral College with 80k votes between Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania... and now, out of a million new registered voters in Pennsylvania alone, Democrats have a 130k advantage. How does that translate into a 0% chance for Biden? 

So when you hear Trump say that either he will win the election or it is rigged... it just means, "I really, really, really want to win!" It also means that Trump will declare himself the winner, along with a significant percentage of his supporters, no matter what happens. 

Afterward we can investigate any inconsistencies we like, but the will of the voters is paramount and has to be accepted both ways. If not, this is no longer a democracy. 

Sure, Trump and Biden can both exude confidence, but there's a critical difference. At this point only one of them is effectively saying that the will of the voters is meaningless. So it's not even that Trump WILL declare himself the winner- take a look and notice that he already has declared himself the winner.

September 2, 2020

Massive comments.

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Labor Day tomorrow- a day to celebrate the 40-hour work week, the end of child labor, social security, safety in the workplace, anti-discrimination, and the minimum wage (although it would be way higher if adjusted for inflation.) 

In short, a day to celebrate our altruism, especially the altruism of those who fought for, and passed laws, forcing the un-altruistic to live in an altruistic society. I like to imagine that the first Labor Day was the day Ayn Rand died.

September 2, 2018

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Simply shocking how tiny a baby is. This little Zuzu is like a four hotdogs stuck on a butternut squash with a navel orange on top. How could this be a person???

September 2, 2015

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Just read Trinity, a graphic novel on Oppenheimer's role in the creation and use of the first atomic bomb. His reflection on his creation should be taught in every school. The key lesson- we shouldn't ask "can we?" but rather "should we?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8H7Jibx-c0

September 2, 2012

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The Great Fire of London broke out on this day in 1666. It burned for three days, destroying 10,000 buildings, including Old St Paul's Cathedral.

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Roman Holiday was released on this day in 1953.

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Novelist, Allen Drury, was born on this day in 1918, and left us on this day in 1998, his 80th birthday. From Advise and Consent:

"Son, this is a Washington, D.C. kind of lie. It's when the other person knows you're lying, and also knows you know he knows."

Also from Advise and Consent:

“Democracy is the most fragile thing on earth, for what does it rest upon? You and me, and the fact that we agree to maintain it. The moment either of us says we will not, that’s the end of it. It doesn’t rest on anything but us; it doesn’t rest on armed force, the moment it does it isn’t democracy. It isn’t something to kick around or experiment with.”

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Jimmy Connors was born on this day. As they say, you can't put him away.

https://fb.watch/n-_11sAhsW/

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Tony Alva was born on this day in 1957. In 1975 he held the Guinness book of World records record for barrel jumping on a skateboard. Not sure they still have that record these days.

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Ho Chi Minh, the first President of Vietnam, left us on this day in 1969., Vietnamese politician, 1st President of Vietnam (b. 1890)

"You will kill ten of us, we will kill one of you, but in the end, you will tire of it first."

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J. R. R. Tolkien left us on this day in 1973.

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king.

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Bob Denver, of Gilligan and Maynard G. Krebs fame, left us in 2005. 

"Gilligan's Island is wherever you want it to be in your mind."

"When I was doing Dobie Gillis, I got blasted off to the moon with a chimp in a rocket, and I landed on a deserted tropic island. That should have told me something was coming."

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Other notable birthdays- Keanu Reeves (1964), Salma Hayek (1966)

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The Onion- Abusive Father Can't Wait To See The Art He's Inspiring His Kids To Create

I read some of this, then complimented Gretel for finding a neat button, then read more, and she showed me another button which I complimented, etc.

http://onion.com/1EA89CC

September 2, 2015

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Taste of Cinema- 10 Great Movies With The Most Enjoyable Conversations

From Before Sunrise- “If there’s any kind of magic in this world it must be in the attempt of understanding someone sharing something”.

http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2016/10-great-movies-with-the-most-enjoyable-conversations/

September 2, 2016

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Think Progress- White House walks back promise about Trump donating his ‘personal money’ to Harvey victims

The president is a bad guy. There are 1000 reasons, but if you need one, he bragged about walking in on beauty pageant contestants as they changed and was accused of exactly that by contestants of the teen beauty pageant. That's a bad guy! But don't let that one example detract from the other 999. Wait, in the time it took me to write that, it's back up to 1000.

I saw news of the president giving $1 million of his personal money to the hurricane victims and actually believed it somehow. People were posting it. Seemed odd, but I figured he thought it would help his brand or something.

Then it hit me, he's full of crap. There's no way to prove you gave to charity. If you say you did people will think you did. What kind of person would say they were going to and then walk it back? A psychopath?

Well yeah! Or the world's greatest con man. The type of guy who thinks that owning a teen beauty pageant means he can walk in on them while they are changing. The type of guy who would take people's money through a sham university. The type of guy who would hop up on stage for a photo-op at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a children's school that was serving kids with AIDS, surprising the organizers of the event, since he never gave anything.

So of course after this dawns on me the next article I happen to see is this one. His spokesperson walked back his claim the following day, said effectively that it might be his charity's money he gives. He's getting $1 million worth of good PR while others foot the bill.

It's great that his foundation is giving the money, don't get me wrong. In fact, it's unfortunate they can't give more, but they spent $30,000 in portraits of him.

But what does any of this matter, right? At least the money is going toward the problem, right? Right! But...

"(His proposed environmental and disaster relief programs), which will be considered this month as Congress tries to set a budget, include an $876 million cut in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief account, a $200 million cut to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration programs that help coastal states brace for future storms, and a $2.6 billion cut to the Environmental Protection Agency, among others."

That's what a bad guy would propose!

https://thinkprogress.org/white-house-walks-back-trumps-promise-to-give-1-million-of-his-personal-money-to-harvey-victims-4691cf5e6dd6/

September 2, 2017

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The Atlantic- Scott Adams's Nihilistic Defense of Donald Trump

This podcast has been haunting me for a month. Thanks to the Atlantic for breaking it down and putting my frustration into words. From the article:

On Adams' pattern of defense, "Harris offers an indictment of Trump; Adams tries to undercut it; Adams fails; Adams asserts that he has been misleading us about his real views in the course of doing so; then Adams grants the original indictment, but insists there are mitigating factors."

"My point is that Harris had been using his podcast to discuss Trump with an ideologically diverse series of anti-Trump guests who believe the president is a vile huckster—and then, when he agreed to host the pro-Trump guest who his pro-Trump listeners flagged as Trump’s most formidable defender, that guest essentially conceded that Trump has done all sorts of vile things and rose to power via lies, but that it’s all for the best because he has an incentive to do a really good job. To accept all that would be to cede any grounds for objecting to future politicians who behave immorally, inject cruel policy proposals into the national debate, and lie to get elected. If Adams truly is the most formidable defender of the Trump presidency, then the best defense of the president is grounded in corrosive moral nihilism."

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/a-cartoonists-nihilistic-defense-of-donald-trump/537297

September 2, 2017

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NBC News- Trump encourages North Carolina residents to vote twice to test mail-in system

When Trump heard that it's the responsibility of the executive branch to execute the law, he thought that meant he was supposed to KILL the law!

A fun thought experiment for anybody pedaling the nonsense that Trump has the right to pardon himself... I guess that would also mean that he has the right to pardon anybody for voting twice, after he encouraged it, right? I guess they could vote a hundred times, right???

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/trump-encourages-north-carolina-residents-vote-twice-test-mail-system-n1239140

September 2, 2020

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Dawkins' immortal words- "The idea of immortality itself survives and spreads because it caters to wishful thinking. And wishful thinking counts, because human psychology has a near-universal tendency to let belief be coloured by desire."

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Carl Jung- “I have done without electricity, and tend the fireplace and stove myself. Evenings, I light the old lamps. There is no running water, and I pump the water from the well. I chop the wood and cook the food. These simple acts make man simple; and how difficult it is to be simple!”

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Tig Notaro- "I went on a hardcore drinking and smoking binge. It lasted right about 9 months. And then as soon as I was born I was like, "Do not go in there.""

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Norm Macdonald- "I once walked in on my parents having sex. It was the most embarrassing 30 minutes of my life."

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From Roger Ebert's Blog- 100 Greatest Moments from the Movies

Hannibal Lecter smiling at Clarise in "The Silence of the Lambs."

Jack Nicholson trying to order a chicken salad sandwich in "Five Easy Pieces."

"Rosebud."

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John Mulaney- "My vibe is like, hey you could probably pour soup in my lap and I’ll apologize to you."

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Studs Terkel- "How come you don't work fourteen hours a day? Your great-great-grandparents did. How come you only work the eight-hour day? Four guys got hanged fighting for the eight-hour day for you."

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William Least Heat-Moon, Blue Highways- "A car whipped past, the driver eating and a passenger clicking a camera. Moving without going anywhere, taking a trip instead of making one. I laughed at the absurdity of the photographs and then realized I, too, was rolling effortlessly along, turning the windshield into a movie screen in which I, the viewer, did the moving while the subject held still. That was the temptation of the American highway, of the American vacation (from the Latin vacare, "to be empty")."

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H.P. Lovecraft- "I like coffee exceedingly..."

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Howard Zinn, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train- "The power of a bold idea uttered publicly in defiance of dominant opinion cannot be easily measured. Those special people who speak out in such a way as to shake up not only the self-assurance of their enemies, but the complacency of their friends, are precious catalysts for change."

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Stephen Fry- "People who can change and change again are so much more reliable and happier than those who can’t."

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Truman Capote- "Life is a moderately good play with a badly written third act."

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Johann wolfgang von Goethe- "A person hears only what they understand."

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William James- "Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action."

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William Saroyan- "It takes a lot of rehearsing for a man to be himself."

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Mary Shelley, Frankenstein- "Even broken in spirit as he is, no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature. The starry sky, the sea, and every sight afforded by these wonderful regions, seems still to have the power of elevating his soul from earth. Such a man has a double existence: he may suffer misery, and be overwhelmed by disappointments; yet, when he has retired into himself, he will be like a celestial spirit that has a halo around him, within whose circle no grief or folly ventures."

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A keeper in Hamburg's great zoo 

Tried to have a young girl kangaroo. 

But she zipped up her pouch, 

And the rascal said, "Ouch!

You've got half a peter in you."