2023s
“I had to quit a job because of aggressive nesting geese.” I have rediscovered “Ask a Manager.”
I was having system problems several months ago, the solution for which was to reinstall the operating system. Now the problems are back, so I upgraded to Sonoma, which will either fix the problems or give me ALL NEW UPGRADED problems.
Where does the coyote get money to buy all that stuff from Acme? I don’t know how much a 25 foot tall slingshot costs but I bet it’s expensive.
RIP Mark Goddard, who played Major Don West on the 1960s “Lost in Space.”
Lovely statement from Goddard’s co-star Bill Mumy, who played Will Robinson. Variety:
R.I.P. to Mark Goddard. A truly beloved friend and brother to me for 59 years. I knew this was coming for the past few months. Shortly after a great phone chat he and I had on his 87th birthday in late July, I became aware that I would most likely never see or speak with him again. The last words we exchanged were “I love you.”
The show was initially more of a straight action-adventure, with Goddard’s Major West as a romantic lead opposite Judy Robinson, played by Marta Kristen. But when “Batman” took off in the ratings, “Lost in Space” went for camp and there wasn’t much for Major West to do other than yell at Doctor Smith.
In his 2008 memoir, “To Space and Back,” [Goddard] referred to his space uniform, his wardrobe for the show, as “silver lamé pajamas and my pretty silver ski boots.”
Goddard left showbiz, went back to college, and became a teacher of special needs kids.
Goddard lived a life of service, bringing happiness to a lot of people (including me) and then as a teacher. A good life.
That was a bad idea. I’ve done it several times previously and it was a bad idea those times. I expect I’ll do it again because I want it to be a good idea.
The word ‘But’ asks to not appear in these sentences. Alexandra Petri: “The word ‘But’ has been stunned to find itself appearing in an increasing number of sentences that begin ‘The killing of children is never acceptable … ‘“
The Most Iconic Vintage Dessert from Every Decade
1940s: Bread pudding.
I love bread pudding. I eat it several times a year.
Unfortunately, the last time we got bread pudding it wasn’t great. We got it take-out—a massive brick. I froze most of it, but made the mistake of not breaking it up into individual portions beforehand, further diminishing the likelihood that I will ever eat that bread pudding.
Future archeologists will no doubt wonder at the find.
A 21-year-old computer science student from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln won a global contest to decipher the first text inside a burned, blackened scroll from the ancient Roman city of Herculaneum. The student used X-Ray computed tomography (CT) scanning and an AI algorithm to detect Greek letters on several lines of the rolled-up papyrus. The letters spelled out the word “purple.”
Mary Lou Retton Crowdfunded Her Medical Debt, Like Many Thousands of Others
But unlike the Olympic gymnast, most people don’t raise enough money to cover their costs.
Our healthcare system is a disgrace.
The Progressives Who Flunked the Hamas Test.
Helen Lewis at The Atlantic:
Fitting Israel into the intersectional framework has always been difficult, because its Jewish citizens are both historically oppressed—the survivors of an attempt to wipe them out entirely—and currently in a dominant position over the Palestinians, as demonstrated by the Netanyahu government’s decision to restrict power and water supplies to Gaza. The simplistic logic of pop intersectionality cannot reconcile this….
I donated to the United Jewish Appeal Israel Emergency Fund to support the people of Israel. The fund provides: “Emergency cash assistance for victims of terror. Critically needed trauma counseling. Care for children in shelters. Burial expenses. Funds to relocate people to safer areas.”
Tyler Cowen interviews the fascinating Ada Palmer, Hugo Award winning author of the “Terra Ignota” science fiction series, Renaissance historian at the University of Chicago, musical composer, consultant on anime and manga, and more.
She talks about:
- Why living in the Renaissance was worse than living in the Middle Ages in Europe.
- Why she doesn’t want to go back in time.
- How censorship worked during the Inquisition, and why Enlightenment philosophy and pornography were closely related.
- How sexism by historians gives us a warped vision of history, and why the recent involvement of women in studying history has led to breakthroughs.
and much more
This is a podcast I had to stop listening to frequently, just to think about what Palmer last said.
“I came to realize that my Woody was my impression of Tom yelling at his kids.”
On the Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast: Soundalikes, or voice doubles, “are voice actors who perform as characters that were originally played by someone else.” The soundalike replaces a big superstar like Robin Williams or Julia Roberts for video games, rides, toys, TV shows, etc.
This podcast features an interview with Jim Hanks, a successful character actor and soundalike who specializes in playing Woody from “Toy Story” when brother Tom Hanks is unavailable.
- Go online to make a payment.
- Apple Pay needs me to reenter my credit card
- Go into the house to get my wallet
- See Julie, talk with her
- Remember that we were expecting a check—ask Julie about it.
- Look where Julie says the check is. No check.
- Decide not to bother Julie with it right now
- Make a note to talk with her later
- Notice my dirty lunch dishes in the sink
- Wash them
- Notice clean dishes from yesterday are still on the drying rack
- Put them away
- Pet dog
- Return to my office
- See the notification from Apple Pay on my desktop—I need to update my credit card
- Check my pocket.
- Still don’t have my wallet
Sometimes I want a nice turkey sandwich but I do not want the side order of doggy drama so I eat something else instead.
I was already losing interest in Twitter when Musk took over. The constant arguing and anger were wearing me down. Musk said he saw Twitter as an arena for combatting ideas. The signal I got from that is that he wanted more arguing and anger. So I gradually started doing Twitter less and less until now I only check it a couple of times a week and I don’t post there. I do have a list of meme and comedy accounts on Twitter that I check regularly.
Hard-Core Sleepers Obsess Over Their Snoozing Stats
… for millions, chasing winks with the latest sleep-measuring technology has become a nighttime sport, complete with sleep scores and strategies on how to best sack the competition. … “I can see that on days when I tape my mouth during sleep, I have a 7% higher recovery score…. “
For more than 70 years, filmmakers have been reusing the sound of a particular scream. Many people even know it by name—the Wilhelm Scream.
“The scream is usually used when someone is shot, falls from a great height, or is thrown from an explosion.” It first appears in the 1951 Western “Distant Drums.” It appears in the 1954 “A Star Is Born,” “Star Wars,” “Toy Story” and on and on in many, many movies, TV shows and video games.
The actor who voiced the scream was likely Sheb Wooley, who also voiced the 1958 hit novelty song “The Purple People Eater.”
I listened to this podcast episode about the Wilhelm Scream Friday morning. That night, we watched the 1993 Sylverster Stallone movie “Cliffhanger” and I’m pretty sure I heard the Wilhelm Scream in it.