b1-66er: "Sick of Drinking? More People Are Replacing Booze with Ketamine."
b1-67er: Ketamine does not seem like a smart play.
29.7.23
28.7.23
All you observatory
Suttonhoo: One cold winter in Wisconsin a window cracked at the Yerkes Observatory so they replaced it with a glass plate dupe of a solar eclipse captured through the world's largest refraction telescope. No biggy
<eclipse window pic>
b1-66er: Looks great.
(the ornamentation visible out the other window is interesting.)
S: This place is absolutely brilliant -- y'all should consider a drive by on your next tren adventure
<Observatory through trees>
b1: That's a great shot too.
What takes you there?
S: Curiosity. The cat with the big schnoze is John D Rockefeller. Originally there was a wasp in the cartouche (replicated many times) to allude to how JD got stung bankrolling the construction of the University of Chicago. UofC officials got wise to the joke and had the wasps chiseled out
I like the phases of the moon best
<all other pix>
Pix ©2023 WIndowed Wanderings, Ltd.
All rights reserved
Used by permission
27.7.23
Just imagine what Iberico would be like...
b1-66er: OH!
Any city named after great ham will NEVER be bad...
Major Math: I'm from Parma. Whoever wrote this is high.
Counterpoint...
b1: The members of Scorpion Manor are all laughing.
LOUDLY•
MM: Kinda like Cleveland is the butt of jokes in the national arena, Parma is the butt of jokes in the Cleveland area. Quite literally, Parma is the Cleveland of Cleveland.
Drink, drank, ....
b1-66er: <pic>
Well...
... It was fasting day until Panera was mentioned.
b1-67er: Charged Lemonade is sort of the opposite.
66: That's one way to look at it.
67: ...or are you even allowed drinks?
66: Drinks?
Yes.
Caffeine?
Probably
3x more sugar than an adult male is recommended per day?
WHY DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHO ARE YOU WHAT'RE YOU DOING ON MY PHONE HOW MUCH DO I PAY TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS WHERE EXACTLY WERE YOU WHEN THE CORONAVIRUS STARTED HOW MANY WORDS OF RUSSIAN CHINESE OR FRENCH DO YOU SPEAK?
67: Ok. I think I understand. You already drank the lemonade.
Microwave set to '2 intermittent' for 5 minutes
b1-66er: https://youtu.be/xnG4Mfak-Oc
b1-67er: I saw this. And now, as if there was any remaining doubt, we know America has lost its mind. Get out your tin foil hat.
D4rw1n: Aw hell
Giving whistleblowers a bad name
67: "But I know a guy who knows a guy who says he saw the wreckage!"
26.7.23
"Sparkly" the Tumor
b1-66er: <pic>
Something you don't have.
b1-67er: What the hell is that?
66: THAT is a reasonable question.
It is edible glitter.
For you know, like food.
Like.
Like the kinda food you eat and think, "this just doesn't have enough glitter."
Like.
Think of something simple...
... Yet 'physiologically unreasonable' ...
... Like a donut.
If you dig deep deep into your soul, you'll think: yes, I guess I could've used more glitter on my donut 'that one time.'
67: I see. I suppose somebody has to do carcinogen research.
Name tag of the afterlife
b1-67er: https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/26/us/nyc-crane-collapse/index.html
b1-66er: ¡OH GEEZ!
67: An engineer from [redacted] crane once told me, " One thing about crane failures: they are always spectacular"
66: And now I'm conflicted...
... Do I hate cranes?...
... or love them?
I guess THAT'S why you wear a hardhat.
67: For that accident you need a hard hat with your name on it so they know who you are when they scrape you off the pavement.
25.7.23
Mechanics in The COVID Repair Shop
The Accomplice: Okay! The sun tea is inside (after only an hour outside in >100°F heat and blazing sun). We can safely leave it on the kitchen counter for a half hour or so (I'll set a timer); then we can put it into the fridge.
It's quite dark already, so I don't think limiting the time outdoors will be an issue.
b1-66er [1 floor above all the current the action]: Yeah.
You don't wanna jam that jar in immediately, that's for sure.
Was it too hot to handle?
TA: No. Hot, but not that hot.
b1: The last batch I made was out there for "awhile," I didn't time it, but it came back dark dark dark. (Having cherry as #3 probably helped.)
The jug was hot enough that i carried it in with silicon oven mitts. Set it on a potholder on the floor first and then on the counter making sure it was contacting the back wall.
When I put it in the refrigerator a couple hours later, the counter still had a warmish spot where it'd been sitting.
I drank the last of it with dinner last night because I hadn't had caffeine in a couple days.
Maybe that's where my headaches came from all along?
Maybe that's what's cured me.
TA: Caffeine is an interesting "drug" with some very positive characteristics
b1: That's why I mainline it.
TA: I dabble in it with my "mints"
b1: "Caffeine is brain food...
... make it your MAIN food."
TA: YEAH!
Do re mi fa so la ti om
b1-66er: <bar graphic>
This is a stress self-evaluation tool that's an optional part of my meditation app. Monthly, I'm presented a series of half a dozen (mildly stilted) situations similar to
This month I've found it difficult to keep up with the tasks I have to do
• Always
• Often
• Rarely
• Never
The answers of all the month's questions are conglomerated and given a single bar chart value (like what you see here)
Right now, I'm 13 (highest side of 'low'), 15 is moderate. Two months ago I was graded 5 when The Accomplice and I were doing the train trip. And THAT'S the lowest I've been in the two years they've done this survey ...
The highest was 16 (which they call"moderate"), the same month when I passed out on my tilt table trial.
Although this is a far cry from Mr. Deming's Total Quality Management, I think being able to see the broad trending result is good.
I see having my own bias spread evenly across all the answers, irrespective of mood or immediate conditions, as a +
Assuming these charts play out broadly across a population it must be true that a lot of people perceive themselves as having hard lives, or the people taking this survey is self-selecting [those who bother to meditate (and subsequently takingthe follow-on questionnaire) are not representative of the population as a whole].
Gumburu:
I think most people would rate their lives as difficult. Though that could range wildly depending on what questions are asked. And also how, or in what context they are asked. For me- I would answer "almost always" to "did you have trouble keeping up with tasks...". But in other metrics, I would rate myself as pretty happy. And then an Integral lens would also be fascinating- depending on what level of development a person is at- what determines stress and happiness? At a traditional level, it is "did I follow the rules, and do I belong". Rational level- am I successful/productive/winning. Post Modern- do I have "meaning"...
b1: Believe it or not...
I think of you as being the happiest person I know.
24.7.23
3 Floors + 1 Dimension up
b1-66er:
10:00 second sleep dream
{I'm standing in a conference room with ½ dozen or so men. Everyone's pretty serious}
My brother sez, "This is what we've been working on."
I just got it...This must be something like a design review.
The very first thing I think is, Don't embarrass your brother...Don't embarrass your brother...Don't embarrass your brother.
He gestures for my hand and places a small cardboard model on my extended palm...
...But as I look closer at it, I can see that the object isn't cardboard, it's actually fabricated metal of some kind (maybe 3D printed?).
The entire piece is a burnished bronze and looks something like the top of a British Cruiser tank.
"Can I touch it?" I ask (even though I already am).
He sez, "Sure." but in the most Do. Not. Break. It. voice imaginable.
I'm struck that this is a model for habitation.
Space habitation.
I had no idea he'd been working on this...
And it's filled with points of articulation.
The bottom level of three has a significant amount of piping.
The second has nothing much more than what to look to me to be vents and bolted entry ways.
Although the unit as a whole is octagonal, it appears there're four separate living quarters on top.
I don't think I'd ever thought of dividing a symmetrical octagon in four parts by putting a + through the middle.
The entire top rotates and as you do, the model makes a rattling sound of something heavy being on roller bearings.
I can see a highly stylized item on the outer edge of one side.
I'm shocked. "IS THAT A BARBECUE!?"
67 sez, "Of course. It's not like you can have a swimming pool on the moon."
I'm suddenly completely flooded with emotion. I start crying and hand the model to my brother to keep from dropping it as I do.
I hear one of the guys in the back of the room say, "he's crying." Another sez, "Yeah, he's like that."
b1-67er: I love your moon bbq dream
[EOD]
22.7.23
Kings me!
Smokey: <pic>
Was thinking of you a few weekends ago. We rented a house for the weekend in Point Reyes and there was a book of Haiku
<Pic © 2023 17 Elevated Thoughts
all rights reserved
used by permission>
Never meta plane I didn't...
D4rw1n: <pic>
An airplane-shaped cloud flying over Reagan airport
[pic © 2023 Big Bad Wild Views
all rights reserved
used by permission]
20.7.23
Fear on Barbie!
This is a movie that wants to have its Dreamhouse and burn it down to the ground, too.
--David Fear
The sound of one breath, clapping
The Robot: <conversation screen shot>
b1-66er: Most true thing I've ever said.
Blame the meditation.
19.7.23
(Don't) TASTE IT!
Mr. Awl: <pic>
b1-66er: That qualifies as cute/scary.
I'm very hesitant to ask this next question, BUT...
What the hell IS it?
You and Ms. Butterfly as portrayed in a ______ for ______ .
MA: Bobble head, 15th wedding anniversary
b1: Okay.
THAT'S funny.
And a relief.
(I thought there was a chance it was the World's Most Hideous and Inedible Cake.)
"here, you wanna piece of her arm?"
Pic ©2023 Noddy Wood Prods
All rights reserved
Used by permission
Barpen Road
Special K: <Ed: pic borrowed from some K place b1-66er doesn't know. Used for entertainment purposes only. No ownership rights implied by KTXT, no profit made by its display. [We ARE assuming that Barbie would have been 28 IF she hadn't been caught up in 'that tragic skating incident in CA.']>
17.7.23
Winging it, Awkwardly
b1-66er: Are you familiar at all with
The Pigeon...
series? (Might be animations)
The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog
etc?
Special K: No.
b1: I'm not either. They're on Hoopla and being recommended.
K: Sounds like kid stuff.
b1: No wonder they're recommending it to me.
K: Could be subversive.
b1: I'm sure they have their downsides as well.
K: Ya ha.
b1: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus sounds pretty good.
I'm gonna watch it. Right now.
K: Enjoy•
b1: Review of DLtPDtB
Better than you'd think.
Pretty easy to describe.
The line styling is pretty minimalistic.
No exterior backgrounds.
Opens with complete madness of a pigeon driving a bus.
But, turns out that's a dream.
We're left watching a pigeon and a bus and a bus driver.
The pigeon wants to drive the bus.
The driver doesn't want him to.
The driver takes a break, like bus drivers do. "Will you let the pigeon drive the bus?"
Crowd of off screen children, clearly having a good time, "NO!"
Driver exists, pigeon shows up.
Pigeon: "Can I drive the bus?"
Children: "NO!"
"I used to drive a bus."
"NO!"
"I was pretty good!"
<Even I doubt that's true>
"NO!"
There's some pigeon whining, occasional lying. On every break the kids yell "NO!"
Driver comes back.
"Did you let the pigeon drive the bus?
"NO!"
Bus pulls away.
Pigeon hijacks a semi.
It jackknifes.
You know, standard stuff.
End credits have the bus driver talking with the pigeon about dual knuckle carboration and overhead cams. The pigeon acts as if he's all over it, but he's clearly not.
The End
All this is the brain child of Mo Willems
I STRONGLY suspect you know him from the
Elephant and Piggie
series.
Solid. I rate it 8/10. Worth jumping through the Hoopla.
I had it on loan for 3 days, but returned it in ten minutes because I'm a conscientious citizen of my tax free state.
K: Solid.
Cooked brain food
b1-66er:
Okay Google, what's the temperature?
G: The temperature in Las Vegas right now is 100°.
b1-66er: Oh thank God. The heatwave's broken.
Former Meat Man: Sometimes the blind squirrel finds the nut
Rhymes with 'fetter '
b1-66er: Hope you can see this.
Best COVID-at-the-moment article I've ever read.
Suttonhoo: "they rarely end up in the hospital, they almost never die."
Poetry
b1: Truly.
•••
Deadhead: "Excess Deaths" = Covid's RBI
16.7.23
15.7.23
Skipper on the Game Board!
The Dear Hunter: <pic>
A common checkered skipper
b1-66er: That's a great shot.
I've never seen one of those.
(Great name, too.)
DH: I don't recall seeing one either. It is in my front yard.
b1: I love love love the framing of that photograph.
Feels almost museum diorama-like.
DH: Good green colorization.
b1: Yes.
And the infinite tunnel just to the right of the butterfly...
Making the insect
More bold
&
More delicate
I think of it as a symbol of the delicate sense of nature...
...And whatever the hell that thing is in the upper R corner.
DH: Just a dried up poppy seed head.
b1: AH.
I thought it could be:
a snail
a cocoon
a dead leaf
But for sure whatever it was was a cycle-of-life statement.
Helps round out the picture, immensely.
DH: I went back too see.
I was guessing a snail.
b1: Yeah.
Again, it's a really great shot.
I just sent it to Special K as a present.
<Photo ©2023 Bug U Pix
all rights reserved
used by permission>
13.7.23
Spelling out illiteracy
Special K: I have so many unread books, over 2500. I feel obliged to read them because they're interesting and I already own them. But it's very slow progress.
12.7.23
Forever blowing bubbles
b1-66er: 'A Russian lawmaker says that Gen. Sergei Surovikin, who has not been seen in public since a short-lived mutiny, has been "taking a rest."'
b1-67er: A rest with the fishes.
Advice for the criminally minded
The Accomplice: https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/las-vegas-man-accused-of-driving-96-mph-in-45-mph-zone-while-intoxicated-trunk-full-of-illegal-fireworks/
b1-67er: Only break one law at a time.
10.7.23
When Aliens Make Keychains
b1-66er: This is very skimmable -if you so desire- Concentrate on the "spherules..."
D4rw1n: Loeb makes a living asking these questions without any kind of theoretical work or any kind of testable hypothesis, then whines when people say um prob not. He's published literally hundreds of short papers with the same basic structure: here's a thing. It might be from aliens. Why is the science establishment against me?
66: Yeah.
He gives PhDs a bad name.
I didn't pass the actual piece I wanted to there...
Click on the link in the article to ...
Medium blog post
...toward the end of the writing. There's far more detail and far less whack hyperbole.
(the G news service tracks on the original news entry article and doesn't pass the site you end up wandering to... Hence the bad pass.)
His is
the Moon is made of green cheese
Strategy.
So you go to the moon, bring back a rock...
See? This isn't green cheese!
"No, no. THAT PART OF the moon isn't made of green cheese."
b1-67er: Yeah that guy is 90 percent whacko 10 percent maybe.
One thing is right, the meteorite he's chasing is probably interstellar. The spheres could be micrometeorites from that event..
or other meteors....
or fireworks...
or explosives...
or welding...
all kinds of stuff
8.7.23
5.7.23
Decisions, Derisions
b1-66er: Return of the SS Badger!
b1-67er: I don't know if it's the oily coffee water, or the 100 scorched acres behind the ship that sells it.
4.7.23
The last laugh
b1-66er: <pic> Uhhh...
b1-67er: Maybe too soon.
D4rw1n: Special on squash
Want some fresh squeezed lemonade with that
Help wanted - ability to work in a high pressure environment required
Special promotion - deep discounts
3.7.23
Hey! Could ya bring some ribs back with those Crackerjacks?
10:30
(Second sleep dream)
I'm at b1-67er's place in Salinas and decide it's absolutely filthy... So the obvious Dream Answer is to vacuum the ceiling (where my parents mid-modern guitar plaque is mounted to the ceiling facing downward toward the kitchen table).
The whole time I'm doing it I'm thinking, "my brother doesn't EVEN KNOW how hard this is."
That task seamlessly (and smoothly!) changes to me sitting in the second row, just R of home plate, at a SF Giants baseball game.
EXCEPT this game is in the SJ Giants older stadium.
A well known (to the crowd, not to me) Cuban player has just had a complete freak out at the plate, acting kinda like an uncaged wild animal...
He's (lightly) beaten (in the Moscow train station police sense-of-the-word) by officials and removed from the plate.
"Ladies and gentlemen, our winner of tonight's player drawing, Special K•"
The K goes out (in an obviously used [maybe by him?] uniform and tips his hat [a little too effusively, perhaps] to the crowd.
There's the SLIGHTEST 'positive murmur' from the crowd.
As he steps up to the plate it occurs to me...'this doesn't seem fun, AT ALL... In fact, it seems really dangerous...There's NO WAY he's ever been within 3' of a 90mph baseball.'
I decide that he's the only person who can explain what just happened with the Cuban...
... Which is problematic because he's an airhead. He won't remember what JUST happened, because he'll consider his 'at bat' more important than the discussion
No.
Clearly, the time to talk about it is RIGHT NOW.
I climb over the railing.
"Special K! Special K!"
He turns toward me with the most hateful WHAT-THE-HELL-ARE-YOU-DOING? look I've ever seen from anyone, anywhere, anytime in my life.
No.
No cops. No stops.
I've gone this far, I've gotta POWER THROUGH.
"The Cuban? What the hell just happened there?"
The K pulls a small container out of his baseball pants and kicks the dirt around home plate. He adds what I know to be CASA BONITA BARBECUE SAUCE to the stirred earth for good luck juju.
[EOD]
b1-67er: That dream seems totally realistic except for the Casa Bonita BBQ sauce.
<Ed: 67 has his psychosomatic hat on, no doubt...
... But he doesn't mention that 66 had read this article after 1st sleep:
2.7.23
Suck the red hot until you're white and/or blue
b1-66er: I blame Gumby for this...
Fireworks Have a New Competitor: Drones https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/01/business/dealbook/fourth-of-july-fireworks-drones.html?smid=nytcore-android-share
The light displays are quieter, safer and better for the environment.
Okay. But there's gotta be an upside.
b1-67er: The obvious question is do you want a safer fireworks display?
66: As if bad drinking water wasn't enough to endure...
Fourth of July fireworks postponed in Flint due to rain forecast
The Actore: poor bastards
D4rw1n: Jaysus
66: Hard article to pass to the New Fireworks Council. Includes such lines as ...
There are the fireworks. "It's hard to tell the difference between guns and fireworks, and here there is always something on the news about a shooting or something, so it makes me nervous," she said. "They are also bad for the environment. They release a lot of toxic chemicals."
{I suggest a booze milkshake [preferred] or red white and blue Bomb Pop before reading.}
Whereas this article is absolutely in keeping with the NFC spirit ...
... And I think right now would be an excellent time to tell the Council the first time you ever realized you could read, 67...
Gumby: Only three or four of the fireworks they list ever injured me! Take that, NFC!!
66: {that article also makes an 'interesting' editorial choice...
Firecrackers
Illegal firecrackers
and
Small firecrackers
All reported as separate categories.
The workload at KTLA (or at least their data vacuum suck up and sponge department) must be huge.
Speaking on behalf of the NFC, we wish them a safe and properly percussive 4th.)
I'm surprised sparklers were so low.
My brother and I both believe they're the most dangerous firework, because:
A/ (yes,) we've both had 2nd degree burns from them
-and-
B/ they're the one fricken firework that can damage you after its gone off.
67: My takeaway from that list is that illegal fireworks are safer than legal fireworks.
TA: I'm surprised sparklers were so low.
Also burned by sparkler and had my clothes ignited by a sparkler. Sparklers are the devils candy
67: The first phrase I remember reading was "light fuse. Get away fast."
TA: This ⬆️
66: I can live my whole life...
... make it to my (self-calculated) demise at 97 ...
... and will NEVER have a Life Story Experience better than that.