OT WED 20 MAR 24 ~ Stories


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Most writers I know are also avid readers. Not staying with a particular genre but
surveying a multitude of themes, memes, styles and eras to expand the
literary experience.

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Enjoying another local writer. This one is Janet Taylor Lisle. Her descriptions of
local yarns are a fun insight into our surroundings. The place names and characters
have been altered (fictionalized history) but the descriptions leave no doubt as to
the whos and wheres for the aware locals.

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Set during prohibition, a description of the activities of bootleggers along our coast.

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A contemporary story about local culture revolving around two young girls.

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The experiences of two young boys at the beginning of WW2.

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Open Thread so share what have you.

Looking for someone to take either the SAT or WED OT please!

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The equinox has come and gone. Yipee!
Sounds like spring has sprung. At least calendar wise.

Some confused headlines today --

- Macron is positioning to be the new Bonaparte
- Disinformation campaign on intermittent fasting (shades of IVM)
- Pentagoons getting desperate for another Ukie bailout
- Nutty yahoo flips off Biden again, will slaughter Rafah
- Trump wins 5 more primaries (no other contenders)
- Experts Warn That People Are Not Listening To Experts (B bee)

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cheers!

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@QMS

On the surface it appears to be pro-library but I'm afraid that it is actually portraying the opposite. The neighbor's choice of books is just as bad as the woke choice.

I have no idea who the "Kelly" is who did the cartoon but I would suspect that after peeling off all the labels we would find a company like KKR. Looks like our current choice for 2024.

I am just finishing my reading of Steinbeck. It is obvious why Grapes was banned, not just in the printed but also the motion picture. I read about 5 pages of Mice and then set it aside. It was too disturbing. I'm just wrapping up his works with Cannery Row.

In all cases where his work has been presented on the screen it was a travesty. Underlying his literary work is a very strong moral compass that deliberately emphasizes choices based on principles and ethics instead of money. That I think was his message. Much like Hilton.

Be well, there be monsters.

Added on edit: Non-monetary motives, altruism.

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enhydra lutris's picture

@exindy

check this short article on the real cartoonist and his work as Kelly:
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/sarah-larson/brilliantly-terrible-the-...

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

@enhydra lutris I'm afraid Poe's Law applied in this case. At the same time it offers an excellent opportunity to examine the issue.

I cannot read the New Yorker, caught behind the paywall. To clarify a little, even if the paywall doesn't involve actual $, the very fact of identifying oneself is worth quite a bit of money these days. Information provided is passed around like a phone number in a pub stall. In any case, long ago I did read the New Yorker. I delivered the NYT on my old, old paper route. Before returning my undeliverables I perused it. I found that it was like so many other periodicals, 90% BS, 9% content, 1% meaningful. Even if it cost only a nickel I didn't have a nickel to splurge.

As for the Onion, I'm afraid it has fallen in with a bad crowd, much like SNL. I haven't looked at it in probably 10 or 12 years. It is now owned by private equity. That means that even its parody might fall into question. Perhaps even a subliminal message.

What all this leads to is that we really have no adults in charge and haven't had one for a long, long time. Our entire society is driven by a profit motive. Enshittification is a real thing.

Please be well...

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@exindy

The point of the cartoon: most publishing houses will not consider manuscripts
unless they are "woke" themed. LGBT & minority leading characters, gender fluid
is good; traditional stereotypes rejected. What is now printed copiously is not so
much about notions of social justice, strength in mass solidarity or other progressive
ideas. The cartoon works because it is a representation of current trends.

Steinbeck is good reading btw.

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I am doing some soul searching, will decide about taking the Saturday OT soon.
That's a fair warning to site members that anyone of them could cut me off at the pass and be spared a lot of drivel by stepping up! Lol!
Up until maybe 15 years ago, I had my head in a book every single day. After I started back accumulating books last year, I realized printing practices had changed, very starkly noticeable after my cataract surgery. The pages of new books are not stark white, the print is small, and not stark black. It gives me headaches to read after 30 minutes. I have zero interest in audio books. I typically read while sitting in a reception room of some office, or while sitting in an airport awaiting departure.
If I insist Dear One read aloud to me, who the hell would do the cooking?
With reading, it's always something...
Thanks for the OT, friend!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

studentofearth's picture

@on the cusp or maybe a little push. I always enjoy your writings, many make me laugh or think deeper about life.

Open threads are about building connections and community. Mine had begun to lack input during the day or follow-up within a timely manner by me. I could easily post a news round-up on Sat published later than early morning (West coast). Still in the habit of bookmarking articles I read during the week which might be of interest to C99 members.

PS. watched the Mercola video. Painful to watch. Lost count on the number of times he read from the transcript contradictory information and advice. the videos I have watched in years past were heavy on marketing his company's products but generally not harmful. He totally lost credibility in this video stating all sugars are the same. Then followed up with the best carbohydrates in the diet are simple sugars. He either does not understand simple biological chemistry or is lying.

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Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.

@studentofearth It would be wonderful for you to drop in your links in an OT Saturday afternoons., After all, they go on all day long, with members dding to the thread whatever they wish.
Now, to which Mercola video are you referring? I am on some email list, get emails daily from him. I read one once in while, have never bought any of his products, have neer followed his protocols. I am interested in links from other sources that he brings to my attention. No dr. is perfect, none is my hero. Some do try to steer us away from Big Pharma, and for that, I am grateful.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

@studentofearth in the WW. I should have explained I didn't watch it, just read the notes accompanying it. I suspected I would not understand the scientific terms, and would not seen or noticed the contradictions that you, lookout, and others, would have caught your attention immediately. I did ask for Lookout's opinion for those reasons, and I am glad you have the skills and knowledge to analyze the BS for us.
As for him misunderstanding or lying, I lean heavily toward lying. In today's medical world, that's where the profits grow.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Lookout's picture

@on the cusp

Snoopy's substack link answered many of my questions.

Don't know what happened, but the deep state was going after him in a big way during the pandemic. Remember the Robeson story with the CIA? They got six ways from Sunday of gettin' you. So who knows?

I continue to avoid sugar and limit carbs. It works for me. YMMV.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

usefewersyllables's picture

@Lookout

the Adult Beverage diet.

I simply drink enough Adult Beverages to allow me to stop worrying about the fact that I'm fat. Works for me! Consequently, I only do sugars after they have been fermented, and perhaps also distilled...

It's like my dear, departed gray-haired mammy used to say to me: "Your liver's like a muscle, son; if you don't use it, you'll lose it". Words to live by! I'm tellin' ya, at this point, my liver is *ripped*.

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Twice bitten, permanently shy.

enhydra lutris's picture

the newest Getty Collection. I grabbed the following, uploaded to Flickr because, as downloaded it was 2.1 meg which is too bi to post here, and downloaded from flickr to post.

G-Yosemite-1

Here's the info on it:

Permission
This image is available for free download and may be used for any purpose under Getty's Open Content Program. Get answers to Frequently Asked Questions.
Caption information
Eadweard J. Muybridge (American, born England, 1830 - 1904), photographer Yo-Sem-i-te Valley, California. The Valley from Pohono Meadows, negative 1867 or 1872; print later Albumen silver print Image: 19.7 × 14.7 cm (7 3/4 × 5 13/16 in.) The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 88.XA.101.26

Zo - The Getty now has an open content section you can access here:
https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/search?open_content=true&from=96

In addition to browsing, you can use as you see fit, though I haven't reviewed all the terms and conditions. The yosemite picture is on page 4. Potentially mucho intereesting and fun.

In other news, we have a shared birthday coming up; "Can't Stop The Macedonian Signal" and JtC, on the 29th. With any luck otc will throw an online party for them should she finish her soul searching by then.

Meanwhile, here's some public art from Prague:

onelovewall3

be well and have a good one

EDIT: CORRECTION- that joint b-day is March 23.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

@enhydra lutris
March 23rd, the big 7-0 for moi.

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@JtC

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

enhydra lutris's picture

@JtC

when checking my calendar, it seems.

be well and have a good one

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4 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

@enhydra lutris

absolutely down with that, if otc is willing and able
have a political meeting and a soccer tournament to
attend that day, so will be MIA anyway.

Hey, ya caint be 69 forever (although am trying).

Thanks for the Yosemite tintype!

Tintype_portrait_with_Cliff_House_and_Seal_Rocks_background.jpg

Seal Rocks and Cliff House San Francisco circa 1900

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What's Up? Praying for a revolution.

13 bean soup with kielbasa and a side of cornbread is going on here Wink

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@QMS I reserve that meal for cold months. Nothing better to warm you up that bean soup with sausage, and a side of cornbread.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

mimi's picture

you all get 70 years old, then I can relax, because I am going to be 76 years old, and God willing my son and I will meet. We haven't met in person for six years, and before that, we met just ... well when God wanted it to be that way, which was unpredictable.

I have nothing TO REPORT but wiggle between the US and Germany and I hate it. It is hard not to be depressed and angry about many things these days.

So I walk with a cane and this German word made me laugh: "Meinungsverstärker" is the newest word for a cane for me, well it means "opinion-enhancer". So beware of old ladies OPINION-ENHANCER otherwise I use my cane in the wrong way.

I hope you all do as well as you can. I watch a lot of "Euronews" and it is full images that would be better not to look at constantly.

I wish you all best of luck, enough to eat, enough money to heat your home when it gets too cold.
I have to say I was an idiot not follow my son to HI. At least you can't freeze to death.

Amen

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@mimi
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Opinion Enhancer.
Thanks for your enhanced opinion.

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enhydra lutris's picture

@mimi

That cane sounds like a shillelagh to me.

be well and have a good one

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3 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --