“I’ll look it up in the encyclopedia.”
A common phrase from about 1911 until about 2000. Now the encyclopedia has been replaced by Google and the phrase sounds archaic. I call the smart phone the Knows Everything Machine.
Photo is of my historic encyclopedia. It is from 1914.
At home growing up in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s we had the Encyclopedia Americana. My parents bought it on the installment plan. I remember spending hours reading arcane articles.
Sir, We have a problem.
“Can it be solved”
“No sir”
“Then we don’t have a problem, we have a condition. Manage it or adjust to it.”
This is the corollary to the problem that can be solved with money that I published a few months ago and credited to Brock Siegel.
Another of the beautiful Bonsai on display at the Huntington Gardens.
“Some ideas are so stupid only intellectuals believe them.”
An idea that probably fits this definition is that we can stop the spread of “invasive species.” The photo shows the sign showing the area near Chicago where they have electrified the Industrial Canal in an attempt to keep the Asian Carp from reaching the Great Lakes. It will fail but only after a lot of money has been spent.
“The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you”
Neil deGrasse Tyson
The image above is the new mural by Thomas “Breeze” Marcus at the S’edav Va’aki Museum.
Which is why we need artists.
The museum had a very nice ceremony on Monday to celebrate the new name and to ritually unveil the mural. They gave out swag bags with a new postcard and a very nice pen and many other things that say S’edav Va’aki.
“There are good ships and wood ships
And ships that sail the sea,
But the best ships are friendships,
May they always be!”
The Loopers Toast
“Loopers” are boaters who sail (usually in power boats) around the Eastern US in a “great loop.” Up the East Coast and the Hudson River then through the Great Lakes or Ontario, Canada to Chicago. Then down the Mississippi basin to the Gulf of Mexico. Finally completing the loop by sailing around Florida. The people that do it are self selecting as fun-loving adventurers who like to talk about boats. And when they meet up they have a delicious drink and say this toast. They also introduced me to the term “docktails” a portmanteau of dock and cocktails.
I know about this because my long time friends Gene and Carole B. have the power catamaran you can see, moored outside in the above picture. They have done the Great Loop twice and I have had the good luck to be the last mate on several segments of the trip. It is a wonderful experience, both relaxing and energizing. The photo was taken in Joliet, Indiana a couple of days into our recent trip from Chicago to St Louis.
Other sources call this toast an “Irish Proverb” and they could be right. It can be both and in my mind it is still the Loopers Toast.
TV “news” is mostly gossip, I try not to watch much of it.
Gossip is defined as: casual conversation or reports about others, typically involving details that are not confirmed as being true.
News is defined as: newly received information, especially about recent or important events.
There is news in amongst the gossip that TV news reports as news. But it is intended to alarm, anger or titillate more than it intends to inform. This came up because Hamas started a new war in Israel and I, like millions of others, wanted to know how a country and people I am deeply connected to are doing. Watching TV is the best available way and it is awful.
Another beautiful rose from the late bloom at the Huntington Gardens.
The two million people in Gaza sounds like a lot. But as a percent of the worlds population (approx ten billion) it amounts to 0.02%. Why don’t we allocate them among the countries who have expressed deep concern about their plight and let them move. The USA can supply the transportation and can take a number of asylum seekers proportional to the number of pro Hamas protesters we have. I suspect that Iran would take more than half of the Asylum Seekers since they deep sympathy for the plight of the Palastinians.
Problem solved. You’re welcome. John Kerry can figure out the details.
“Are you on a ride or in a race? On a ride you enjoy the experience. In a race you’re trying to win. Which approach you choose makes a big difference.”
On this week’s blog we will be featuring some of my favorite photos from this excellent trip to Italy. This one is the river in Trento with a ubiquitous church.
Ethanol mandates and subsidies exist because, for thirty years, Iowa has been the first state in the quadrennial US presidential primary season. They have leveraged that position into wealth for Iowans and expenses for others using ethanol as the transfer agent. President Biden is to be commended for his attempt to move Iowa out of its first mover primary spot.
Look here if you want a refresher on why ethanol mandates and subsidies are a terrible thing for the working class and the poor. This rant was brought on by a discussion of why gas prices are over $5.00 a gallon in Arizona and over $7.00 in California. Ethanol is part of the problem.
SEE IT
SAY IT
SORTED
The British Government is attempting to get the British public to speak up when there is a problem. In this context what does SORTED mean?
