Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
On this day, they remind us, Live Aid took place in 1985.
Yes, children, I remember the event, but I believe I didn’t watch it, as I was living in tent city in Egypt as part of Bright Star 85.
In honor of that event, I’m streaming the Boomtown Rats’ “I Don’t Like Mondays”. It’s perfect for Friday, because Monday is always lurking.
Each day, I realize that I don’t know much. I can’t even say that I know much about a particular subject. I tend to know a very little bit about very few things.
Each day, I re-discover things that I’d learned and forgotten. I discover things that I learned when we thought we knew better, but have to learn again because more has been learned. Really, I’m just learning to keep up.
Each day, I learn how much things change between each day and person. I’ve learned that we’re very inconsistent about what we think we know. We like to have what we think we learned validated to verify that we learned what we think we learned.
Each day, I realize how much there is to learn, not just about complicated or esoteric subjects or unfolding scandals, but about myself and the small area of existence that is my world.
Each day, I realize how much I enjoy learning. Sometimes — hell, many times — it wears me out. But with each day, I realize how fragile learning and knowledge really are, and how knowledge can be tortured and twisted.
Each day, I set out, one more time, with a cup of coffee and try to learn just a little bit more.
And some days, I remember it.
Floofiavellianism (catfinition) – a feline employing great cunning or duplicity to achieve their goals.”
In use: “People reading about floofiavellianism often scoffed. Didn’t most cats practice floofiavellianism?”
How ’bout a little ditty about “Jack & Diane”? I always thought I could hear a sneer in John Cougar Mellencamp’s voice when he sang, “Two American kids doing best they can.” The song captured so much of small town Americana and references, how and where they’re hanging out, hopes, dreams, attitude and clothing.
So let it rock.
Is it just me, or does anyone else want to strangle those people who proudly announce that they don’t vote, and have never voted?
Yeah, it’s probably just me.
As I showered today, enjoying fresh hot water, I thought about all the moments leading to that one. I looked back toward Ashland becoming a town and the settlers coming together with a decision to establish a water system. They created dams and cisterns, and channeled water to pipes for homes to tap off them.
Imagine all of that, the thinking and conversations that were held about the idea, and the decisions that had to be made. Someone paid for it, someone oversaw the work, and others did the work.
Then expand, look at our modern areas with their drainage, sewage, and water supplies. The trails, paths, sidewalks, streets, and roads that were built, expanding into higheways, and then augmented with interstate expressways. Look at the driveways, parking spots, parking garages, and gas stations. Look at the new charging stations for electric cars. Look beyond to the communication lines, from telegraphs and telephones to antennas, and cable television and Internet connections to satellite feeds and cell towers.
It is amazing stuff that I take for granted, this infrastructure that I use with little thought, and it’s such a small, small fragment of the entire development that we call civilization. Shame that we have the potential to destroy all of this thought and work by careless thought and activity.
Especially when you consider the more amazing planet upon which all of this is built.
Well, this was a weird stream. I was reading about the FBI’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election campaign for president when I came across the term crossfire hurricane. The FBI used it as a code name for the investigation. The Wayback Machine immediately fired up a stream from a 1969 Rolling Stones hit called “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”. The first line that I remembered went, “I was born in a crossfire hurricane.”
I think the song’s beginning is terrific. One, two.
Let’s pop back to 1997.
The scene is San Jose, California. The group is Smash Mouth. They were the summer’s rising flavor. One song that caught on was a little ditty called “Walkin on the Sun”.
It ain’t no joke I’d like to buy the world a toke
And teach the world to sing in perfect harmony
And teach the world to snuff the fires and the liars
Hey I know it’s just a song but it’s spice for the recipe
This is a love attack I know it went out but it’s back.
It’s just like any fad it retracts before impact
And just like fashion it’s a passion for the with it and hip
If you got the goods they’ll come and buy it just to stay in the clique
It’s just a song, but it something to help you think. Cheers
Michael Seidel, writer 