HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Once in a while I end up with lots of odds and ends, none of which is worth a whole post on its own. So I throw them all into one big post and call it a grab bag.
How to Dry Tennis Shoes in the Dryer
Want to dry your tennies but can’t stand the BAM-BUMBLE-DUM-THUNK? Tie your shoes together with one big fat bow. Hang them over the dryer door, shoes on the inside, bow on the outside. Hold them in place as you gently close the door on the laces. The knot will keep them from slipping down and banging around. Works like a charm.
Rock-Paper-Scissors
Scissors cut paper and paper covers rock. And yet rock smashes scissors. Kind of like the way Hillary beats Bernie and Bernie beats Trump. And yet Trump smashes Hillary. While you ruminate on that for a minute, consider that Bernie Sanders is the first candidate to say on national TV that the biggest problem facing the world is climate change, which means that’s he’s the only candidate with enough sense to pour piss out of a boot. And then make sure that you, and your kids, and grandma and gramps (who haven’t voted since Eisenhower, for god’s sake), and anybody else you can possibly persuade, all go out and vote for Bernie in the Democratic primary. Seriously.
Good Movies I’ve Seen Recently
You are not going to believe me, but I’m telling you that American Ultra was actually a very original and entertaining movie. I thought it was funny and yet touching, silly and yet intelligent. The only thing I found annoying was the 3 minute epilogue, which contradicts the anti-establishment message of the previous 90 minutes and spoils the mood. Ignore that and it’s 7/10 stars.
I really enjoyed the SyFy original series Childhood’s End. It’s more or less faithful to the book by Arthur C. Clarke, warts and all. In other words, neither the book nor the series is perfect, but if you’re an armchair philosopher you’ll love it. If you’re a Doctor of Philosophy, you’re going to pick book and/or movie apart, so just go watch 2001: A Space Odyssey instead.
Singing About the Flood in Ancient Sumerian
“The Flood is the self-described “first-ever CD of new music sung entirely in Sumerian and Babylonian” by the Lyre Ensemble, a collaborative project by composer and singer Stef Conner, instrument builder and harpist Andy Lowings, and producer Mark Harmer.”
(I saw it first on Chas Clifton’s blog. Thanks Chas!)
Robert Mitchell Jr. 