830AM and 85F with 75%RH. Gonna be hot here in the swamp.
So of course we have a swim meet where we need to set up our team on a tennis court. The host team has warned that our kids should wear shoes “so they don’t get blisters” from the surface. That is gonna be HOT. One of the many things on my list today is therefore to scout the location and see if I can get a big fan plugged in somewhere, and see about hanging some shade.
Speaking of shade, anyone notice the propensity of some parts of the culture to have as many words and nuances of disrespect as eskimos have for snow? “Throw shade” “dis” and a variety of other concerns. It’s a feudal, tribal, “face” based culture, pretty much the antithesis of western high trust culture. Also common amongst a certain pedophile worshiping cult….
n
Speaking of shade, anyone notice the propensity of some parts of the culture to have as many words and nuances of disrespect as eskimos have for snow? “Throw shade” “dis” and a variety of other concerns. It’s a feudal, tribal, “face” based culture, pretty much the antithesis of western high trust culture. Also common amongst a certain pedophile worshiping cult….
The situation is more like the “Star Trek” episode where Kirk and Spock beam down to a planet where a previous starship crew accidentally left behind a textbook about Chicago mobsters and the locals adopted the text as the model for their society.
In this case, the last 30 years of rap, produced mostly by white record company execs who saw too many repeat screenings of “Scarface” and “The Godfather”, has been taken to heart by the parts of the culture you mention. Much like the textbook in “Star Trek”, the material was supposed to inspire debate and generate income, but the Iotians were more imitative than intellectual so a violent culture endlessly battling over perceived insults was the end result.
BTW, “Scarface” is getting a 30th anniversary release next month. Check your local theater’s schedule.
I loved Scarface, and tried to watch it again, but…
I’ve been reprogrammed by media. My tolerance for long scenes without cuts is much lower than it was. I’ve noticed this with other classic movies from that period and a bit earlier too.
MTv and the quick cuts of advertising have rewired a couple of generations’ brains.
n
Today is International Bath Day and National Bourbon Day.
So draw yourself a warm bubble bath and pour some good bourbon over metal “ice cubes”, don’t wanna dilute the good stuff. For me it’ll be some Jack Daniels Single Barrel Select.
69º and sunny today. Running buddy called off for today, so I get to go out by myself at lunchtime. Truth is, I’d rather run alone, but he showed up one Thursday & just keeps coming back. He holds up both ends of the conversation, so I can’t complain too much. Good guy.
Picking up another race in July. It’s a big race, with a lot of details, so the pay should be adequate. It pays to be known in the area, so when others ask around, your name gets mentioned.
I have noticed my behavior has changed over the years. Cell phone is a big part of that. So big that we have rules about it. No cell phones at meals. No phones or tablets in hand during conversations.
I’ll have to watch an older movie with long scenes & see what happens. I know one of my favorite shows – the Woodwright’s Shop – has very long scenes with few changes. You get to see him making things almost realtime.
I’ve been reprogrammed by media. My tolerance for long scenes without cuts is much lower than it was. I’ve noticed this with other classic movies from that period and a bit earlier too.
Comedy is much different than 40 years ago. See if you have the patience to endure the slow burn of this piece from “The Groove Tube”, the flick that launched the careers of Chevy Chase and, to a lesser extent, Richard Belzer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBvpj0cCHLA
Yes, Chevy Chase had a career before SNL. He actually didn’t last long as part of the cast before going back to movies.
If “Koko” looks familiar, that’s because the same director made Chevy Chase’s “Modern Problems”, and the clown makes a cameo appearance on the TV in the break room of the air traffic control center.
Here’s a guy carving a serving spoon, real time, no talking, from green wood–
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRkXH4618yI
Primarily with a hatchet!
n
liked the woodwright a lot.
Never understood why Belzer was considered funny…
n
Nope didn’t have the patience. Skipped forward to the part where he sits down, then back for the setup….
n
Regarding the compromise of this site (and Barbara’s) a few days back:
I had submitted the hack details and relevant files to the folks at Internet Storm Center – who have much better hack forensic skills than me. They helped analyze the intrusion.
For those that are interested, they wrote up a ‘diary’ entry that analyzes the hack here: .
Note that there is no information specific to this site, and I didn’t share the WP database with them. I did share the compromised files, and a few day’s worth of access logs.
The conclusion is that the attacker got in via weak passwords using the xmlprc.prg file, which allows multiple POSTs to try to authenticate. Which is why all the passwords of the admins were reset as part of the recovery.
I just took a look at both sites; no ‘bad files’ are here to allow hacker access. And the vulnerability of xmlprc.prg file has been mitigated as I mentioned in my analysis of the hack.
So, all is well, AFAIK.
Never understood why Belzer was considered funny…
“The Groove Tube” is a cult classic. Belzer also co-starred in “The Wrong Guys” which, despite being an iffy flick, was a sincere effort that kickstarted Louie Anderson’s career.
The John Munch persona has been on TV in various forms since “Moonlighting”. IIRC, the “Munch” character named as such holds a record for appearances by the actor in the same role on different TV series.
I’m old enough to remember when Belzer was one of a dozen or so young comedians field tested in the 80s on cable and syndication to replace and/or compete with Carson before Leno emerged from the pack as the victor for that chair. I figure his standup act must be decent, but being Henry Winkler’s cousin probably didn’t hurt when competing in that genre.
(Geesh, I’m old. I was watching the night Hulk Hogan nearly killed Belzer on the latter’s Lifetime talk show ~1984.)
Took a road trip to Bosnia. Interesting border situation. Passport got stamped by Croatia as leaving the country. Bosnia did not care. Looked at the car and waved us through. Same leaving the country. Had to get stamped by Croatia as coming back in. Bosnia is for the most part a country that I would not want to visit again.
https://www.ttgnet.com/journal/category/rats/
YUUUP, and even 40 years ago, I refused to watch so called “Sitcoms”. If they were funny, why were laugh tracks inserted? Realizing the possibility of non-funniness, the hollyweirdos stuck them in.
“‘We’ll stop’ Trump: Justice Department inspector general says texting FBI lovers talked about keeping Trump from becoming president – yet insists there was no ‘political bias’ in Hillary Clinton email probe”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5842335/Inspector-generals-bombshell-report-Clinton-email-case-released-today.html
Why is FBI Special Agent Peter Strzok still employed by the FBI ? Advocacy of treason by an FBI agent is extremely unconstitutional. And conspiracy is against federal law.
Ok for me but not for thee….
n
I just took a look at both sites; no ‘bad files’ are here to allow hacker access. And the vulnerability of xmlprc.prg file has been mitigated as I mentioned in my analysis of the hack.
So, all is well, AFAIK.
@RickH, thanks for the fix and the cleanup !
This is the time of year when the lawn really needs cutting 2x a week. So I did. Might sound nuts, but right now, almost all of the yards are in shade due to sun angle. Later, the back will be hotter, while the front will be about the same.
Didn’t take long, didn’t get soaked thru.
n
This is the time of year when the lawn really needs cutting 2x a week.
I don’t miss that about Florida. The grass goes dormant again in Austin this time of the year.
Rain on Father’s Day will kinda suck, but the yard needs the water.
Big storm just blew in. Thunder, lightning, lot of rain. I disconnected the antennas.
I guess we’ll see about the swim meet. The way Houston works, they could be dry….
N
Had to fill in credentials to post from my phone. Small inconveniences.
N
This crap with the FBI investigation is an awesome example of the bias from one network news company to the next. Just go to Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC and read how they have the headline.
Big storm just blew in. Thunder, lightning, lot of rain. I disconnected the antennas.
I was driving down I-69 at the time, just outside 610, to visit a friend in the med center who had a triple bypass and aortic valve replacement in May. In four inches of water on the freeway. The rain was so hard that I had my wipers on max. The people in the econoboxes were getting nervous. I was not nervous in my Expy.
I found my friend in the dialysis unit in St. Lukes. His kidneys have shutdown for the time being but, he has good spirits. He is feeling well now, just tired as his body heals. He is having to go through dialysis three times a week for four hours each session. Hopefully, his kidneys will restart, the doctors do not know if they will.
The dialysis machinery reminded me of giving platelets twice back in 1995 ? at M. D. Anderson for a friends father who was fighting leukemia. Three hours of getting your blood filtered (the new machines are way better). There is a special place in heaven for those people who do that weekly, year after year. Me, I was ready to go take a leak after two hours and counting down the minutes.
Yes, the senior lady across the street is taken for dialysis each M, W, & F. Gone for about 4 hours. Sheesh, I rather use adult diapers rather than have dialysis.
Man, I can tell we had a hot May. The house electric bill went from $190 in April to $290. The office electric bill went from $300 in April to $400.
Looks like we are going to get it late this weekend. Some parts of Houston might get up to eight inches of rain. Or not.
https://spacecityweather.com/tropical-moisture-will-surge-into-texas-this-weekend/
Sheesh, I rather use adult diapers rather than have dialysis.
Unfortunately, one is not given that choice.
And if you are truly lucky, you could get both !
[snip] some parts of the culture to have as many words and nuances of disrespect as eskimos have for snow? [snip]
And, as the old joke goes, Sherwin-Williams has 147 different words for “white”. 🙂
[snip] BTW, “Scarface” is getting a 30th anniversary release next month. [snip]
My Beautiful Niece #1’s fiance is the Deputy Chief at a mid sized city PD here in FL. I’ve heard him say that an amazing % of the places where they conduct serious drug raids (trafficking weight, not just Joe Bob with a roach or two) have homages to Scarface.
Well, our host pool was in fact dry, so we had a good meet. Hot as hades and twice as wet as a dolphin’s willy….
Rain gauge says 1.43in here at the house, but the buckets are half full. I need to look at the physical gauge in the morning.
Tomorrow is movie night at the pool, so I hope for dry and cool, or at least not so much rain it messes up the pool chemistry.
I guess we’ll see.
n
No one mentioned this? Congrats to the German team…
The dance around the “seeds” not wanting to say how common the “seeds” are I guess.
Anyway, raise a glass to someone’s secret police.
n
My Beautiful Niece #1’s fiance is the Deputy Chief at a mid sized city PD here in FL. I’ve heard him say that an amazing % of the places where they conduct serious drug raids (trafficking weight, not just Joe Bob with a roach or two) have homages to Scarface.
“Scarface” inspired so much poor behavior across all socio-economic lines.
At GTE I worked for a little Columbian guy whose management style was to channel Al Pacino in “Scarface”. It worked for him in the late 90s in Tampa, but, post-Verizon, merger, he ended up getting canned and slaving for a bottom feeder tech company on the second floor of a strip mall that used to house the ITT tech in Fort Myers.
Aloha Snackbar!
Part of the problem in society is the normalization of antisocial or asocial behavior. When you glorify violence, you normalize it for the audience. Is it any wonder?
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen Scarface. I tend to avoid bad-guy movies. Even good-guy movies that lean towards violence I don’t care for.
First amendment? Came before film & video. Perhaps we should limit what is portrayed in a video?
Holy utility belt Batman, these roads in Bol Croatia, well actually all of Croatia are narrow. Got into one place where our Ford Fiesta would only fit if we folded the side mirrors. Narrow, narrow, narrow. And it was a two way street. Met a motorcycle that had to pull into a doorway so we could pass. Getting around is interesting to say the least.
People just park anywhere it is not forbidden. That includes in the road in a lane of traffic, especially around the stores. We have found a small (well, they are all small) grocery store. About the size of my living room and kitchen combined. Tiny, tiny. Limited selection but they have what we need, mostly cheese and water with some meat. Bread we get at a bakery we found not far from the apartment.
Went to the “best beach in Croatia”. It was mostly small pebbles rounded by the actions of the waves but still rough on the feet. Took a wrong turn when we took the stairs down to the beach and wound up in the naked people part of the beach. Mostly old people and no young hotties. We went the other direction as soon as became obvious we were in the wrong location. Had a couple of hotties been there I might have stayed. But boobs down to the knees and enough wrinkles to hide the pages of a newspaper was not something I needed to persist in my brain.
Apartment is OK, small, but better than a hotel room. Brides uncle owns them and is letting us stay for free. A bargain. And the A/C works but only in the bedroom which is good for sleeping.
Wedding is tomorrow, looks to be an all day affair with something at 12:00, wedding at 16:00 and reception at 18:00. They will be using a bus (actually a van) for some of the guests such as myself to transport us so no driving worries about getting lost (something I have done multiple times already).
This trip has not been particularly fun, at least not like the last trips. Too many places and too many travel issues. I will be glad to get home and get in my own bed. However, I will not miss the weddings of our exchange students so I endure. Maybe I am getting old and crotchety as the years pass.
When I get back I will create a website so y’all can see the images. But I deleted the naked people images so relax as you will not have to suffer what my eyes suffered.
Thanks, Ray. When I was younger I spent some time in Berlin. One weekend we went to the beach, and I found that experience rather titillating. After about 15 minutes I realized that clothes actually help. Never went there again.