Tag: comedy

Frieda’s Wandering Thoughts

I’ve been using a secret weapon to amuse me the last few weeks. Two, actually. Both are throwbacks for me.

Tim Dowling is an American living in the UK. He writes a column for the Guardian. I find them hilarious. I used to regularly read him. Then The Neurons dropped him out of the rotation. I never noticed.

I regularly read news in the Guardian. I like their coverage of U.S. news. So, while reading an article a few weeks ago, I saw a reference to the latest Tim Dowling column. Clicking on that, I resumed reading him, catching up on his past columns by reading one everyday.

He’s sixty years old. Married, with three sons. They have just moved out. He also has a dog, cat, and tortoise. He plays in a band and deprecates his playing. Being an animal lover and very fond of cats, I enjoy the tales relating to his household animals the most. Today, I read his column from September of 2023.

Tim Dowling: we’re moving bedrooms – before the cat kills me

My other secret vice — Well, it’s not my only vice. I have a large list of secret vices. It depends on whose morality is used to judge me.

But this vice is watching an old British science fiction show called Red Dwarf. I recently re-discovered it playing on a live TV channel on Prime.

I began watching that show in the early 1990s. I was assigned to Onizuka Air Station then in the San Jose-San Francisco Bay Area. KQED introduced me to Red Dwarf during their science fiction fund-raising marathons.

Red Dwarf is an interstellar mining ship. It’s principally manned by Lister, Rimmer, the Cat, and Kryden. Dave Lister is the last human alive. He was in stasis as punishment for having a cat onboard the Red Dwarf. He stayed in stasis for 3,000,000 years while the radiation levels declined to safe levels.

That was needed because Arnold Rimmer had an accident. The accident resulted in a radiation link that killed all the crew members except Dave Lister. Because Lister was in stasis.

Rimmer and Lister were roomates and worked together. They do not get along. But the computer, Holly, brought Rimmer back as a holograph as a companion for Lister so Lister doesn’t go insane.

Lister isn’t happy about Holly’s decision.

The Cat is a direct descendent of the cat behind Lister’s punishment. Cats have evolved into a sort of human cat variation. He’s a vain, vapid, and selfish character who intensely dislikes Rimmer and is often Lister’s ally.

All manner of science fiction action happens to the Red Dwarf crew. Others species are encountered. Time travel happens. The mail catches up with them. Rimmer believes in order and is ambitious but inept. Lister likes to party but is intelligent and lazy. They plot against one another. Nanobots stage a revolt. All males, they are hungry for female interactions.

Yes, it’s silly. Full of all gaps, contradictions, and plot holes. But it’s fun. Watching it returns me for a bit to when I was thirty years younger and the future looked brighter.

You gotta do something to get through these days, right?

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Sa’day’s Wandering Thoughts

When I was a child, I asked Mom, “Why are some streets named streets, and some are boulevards, avenues, drives, and roads. What’s the difference?” Mom replied with some vexation, “I don’t know.” Wasn’t my first disappointment with the realization that Mom didn’t know everything.

Needless to say, I was pretty excited when I heard Steven Wright ask, “Why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways?”

Yes! Finally, someone is going to explain. He didn’t answer it, though. Bummer.

I’m always hungry to learn something new. I’m fortunate that my wife has a like spirit, athough hers vectors toward learning about women’s rights, social justice, and sex and dating trends. So she keeps me covered in that area. We share responsibility and coverage on politics, literature, and pop culture. I’m on my own regarding STEM and history.

Over the years, I’ve gleaned insights into streets and all the variations. An e-letter I received, Word Smarts, shed more light on the differences between Interstate, freeway, expressway, parkway, highway, turnpike, and frontage road. It’s a start. Meanwhile, here’s some classic deadpan Wright one-liners.

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Sunday’s Theme Music

Mood: coffeeager, a mood inspired by eagerness fed by a couple hits of coffee

Hello to my fellow Milky Wayers. Another meh day in Ashlandia on Earth in the Sol system. Fog and clouds shield us from sunshine. Rain scurrying toward us. Temperature is 46 F with a high of 52 F drifting in. Could be much, much worse. Nothing’s on fire, no volcanos erupting, no huge, destructive storms bearing down on us. I’ll go with meh.

This is Sunday, February 18, 2024.

Peaceful reflective day for me. I’ll be back to writing in a while but letting the mind wind down a little from last night’s dream first. Jarlsberg cheese was involved. That’s all I’ll say on that.

Tucker continues doing well and improving. Papi continues to insist that he belongs to the night. We’ve lost track of the local cougar; no sightings but domestic animals continue to disappear. Whether that’s the cougar’s work is unknown at this point.

I’m back with Chris Rea again. I played “Highway to Hell” by Rea the other day. Then I watched an old episode of WILTY (Would I Lie to You) last night, where Bob Mortimer mentions Chris Rea and “Let’s Dance” in his story about Chris Rea breaking an egg into a bath for Bob. I always enjoy Bob on this show because he clearly enjoys himself. “Let’s Dance” is on the same album as “Highway to Hell”. (The song is on several albums.) Anyway, once The Neurons heard Bob say, “Let’s Dance”, the song started up in my head and remains in the morning mental music stream (Trademark coming in two weeks) today. I’ve included the video of the WILTY episode for your entertaiment pleasure.

Stay positive, remain strong, lean forward, and vote, please. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Wednesday’s Wandering Whimsies

Do you ever imagine that invisibile beings surround you, watching what you’re doing when you’re in your home alone, commenting on it to each other?

They seem to come in three flavors: aliens from space, time travelers from the future, and deceased individuals — especially family — returned as spirits. What they say and how they watch varies, depending upon which group they’re in, and their intentions.

So, for example, aliens crowd around you in the kitchen as you clean up, remarking upon the cultural significance of your routine, applauding your efficiency (or lack of it), comparing it to their own processes and habits.

No? You never have this happen?

Yeah, neither do I.

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Flair

I wear a hat on most days. It’s an olive green Tilly, my second one. Several pieces of flair adorn it.

I encountered a new young barista at the coffee shop today, Teagan. She told me how much she likes my hat and all the stuff on it. I smiled, replying, “That’s my flair.”

Saying, “Oh, my God,” Teagan began laughing.

“Office Space,” I supplied.

“Yes, yes, yes!”

She and I reminisced about the movie’s big moments and enduring legacy. The red stapler. The consultants. Cubicles. Destroying the annoying printer. TPS reports. She loved the movie, she said, especially the ending.

Yes, it worked for me, too, when it came out in 1999. I’d retired from the military and was working for a startup in Palo Alto, CA, at that point. Written and directed by Mike Judge, starring Ron Livingstone, Jennifer Aniston, and Stephen Root, the movie spoke to me about corporate culture and management. Remembering it now after the convo with the barista, I sit here grinning, ready to break into a laugh.

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Sunday’s Bumper Sticker

This bumper sticker pulled me in because I just finished watching “The Almighty Johnsons” series on Netflix, and Ullr (Mikkel/Michael) was attempting to rule.

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