Open Thread - 7/7/23 - It ain't just younguns who are goofy
We oldsters can do some wild and crazy things, too!
Not to let the 4th of July vacay at Gulf Shores, Alabama go by without doing something dangerous enough that we had to sign a big bunch of waivers before taking the little ride, we got on a bouncing yellow raft, called a banana boat. I didn't fall off, but came close. Like some others on the damn thing. We were pulled across waves by a bad ass jet ski, bouncing up and down, came up to a boat.
Credit: Ike's Beach Service Gulf Shores, Alabama
Once there at the speed boat, we were put in a harness, told to slide on our butts to the dangling harness connections from the sail.
And then, the boat took off, up we sailed. Out, out over the waters, looking for sharks, hoping the rope tethering us to the boat was in great shape. Cool breeze, quiet, surreal, not thinking about how we weren't told how to disconnect from the boat if it flipped and sank.
This is a crappy quality phone video, but it shows a parasail and banana boat (It's not us, but it was taken from our balcony).
1:37
I can't wait to do it again!
Lots of young people lined up to go. Only two oldsters. Us, 69 and 71.
Below is a lovely video of the July 3rd full moon on the beach. I forgot my camera, this is a phone camera. Apologies, but you will get the drift. Video taken from the balcony of the condo we rented. Check out the people walking on the beach with flashlights.
1:31
The "holiday" celebrating the prelude to war is done, but not my vacay. A taste of what is an hour and 20 minutes away, the band we will watch this Sunday in concert on Taylor Bayou Labelle, Texas:
4:45
What is going on in your world? Should you be old, have you still have adventures ahead of you? Will you ever quit?
I won't. We won't.
Let it all hang out.
And, Open Threads are for all things.
Comments
Good morning, everybody!
I hope this OT finds you happy, healthy, and wise!
What's going on in your neck of the woods?
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Have fun...
Our line is, we ain't 20 anymore, but we can pretend.
Y'all missed the Mullet toss at the Florabama I'm afraid. (They usually have a good bands all the time though). The bar/eatery is half in FL and half in Alabama.
You typically can find pretty good music all year down there.
Enjoy!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Sounds like fun!
Glad you brought it to our attention!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Woke up "not dead"
again this morning, and my early check of the radiation map for Ukraine shows that all the glowy bits are still more or less safely ensconced in their glowy-bit-places. So there's why.
https://www.saveecobot.com/en/radiation-maps#6/49.781/29.740/gamma
So now, we wait. Will it be today, or tomorrow? Enquiring minds want to know.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
I gave up worrying
about it, since it is completely beyond my control.
We all die, after all.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Hey kids at heart
not sure whether to play 'riders on the storm' or 'wipeout'
in honor of your youthful adventures
thanks for the zydeco!
question everything
There's this:
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
I am very close to the Louisiana state line.
The Cajun and zydeco music trickles over to Texas. I have had neighbors who were Cajun. I have had friends and family work the oil patch in Louisiana. Brother lived and worked there for 2 years.
My Mom's family is Creole.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
yeah, used to cross the line
twixt Morgan City and Greens Bayou
a similar mix of swamp
and cowboy cultures there
question everything
Why Counterpunch is a joke
From this blathering "colloquy" on Counterpunch:
I'm imagining Russians telling Richard Falk: "Keep saying that!" (Russians to everyone else: don't breathe a word!)
The ruling classes need an extra party to make the rest of us feel as if we participate in democracy. That's what the Democrats are for. They make the US more durable than the Soviet Union was.
I unsubscribed to Counterpunch
a few years ago. It is mostly drivel.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Our adventures are more mundane (less thrill seeking)
but they're still continuing. Next up (later this month) is a few days at Cambria at a place on Moonstone Beach Drive. Cross the road and you're on a boardwalk paralleling the water, connecting assorted coves and beaches, a park and, of course, the Pacific. It runs into a good sized cliff top preserve with a variety of habitats, including marshland, forest, and grassland. Good place for watching birds, terrestrial critters and marine life, tidepooling and all that. There is plentiful supply of nature and beaches from slightly north of town all the way to slightly south of Pismo, plus a fair handful of wineries further inland, and a working harbor with great fish tacos at Morro Bay, along with a huge wetlands preserve.
be well and have a good one
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 --
It's all good
some other quirky 'hep' sayings:
I'm on it
no problem
absolutely
you got it ..
language learned in the twit-o-sphere
how to expand youthful sound bites into
something like reasoned response?
apparently, engaging the mind takes too long
question everything
Word!
n/t
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
whatever happened to copacetic?
be well and have a good one
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 --
And, while we're at it,
What happened to "You're welcome"? These days, when I say "Thank you!" to a person younger than a certain age, the response is "Of course", not "you're welcome". That grates on me for reasons that I simply can't put a finger on.
Language is ever-evolving: but it seems to this very cynical older reporter that it is evolving away from politeness as a valuable concept... Sigh. To me, anyway, manners still maketh man.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
In the land of the present make-believe
language and thoughtfulness
made their escape velocity
several orbits ago
eschewing the most current
mindless responses seems
to be an attempt at
communication?
question everything
My wife and I
made a short trip to the swimming pool at our apartment complex over the 4th. We didn't stay long, as it was overrun by badly behaved tweens. However, one thing really stuck with both of us: one roughly 12-year-old boy in the pool yelled at his mother "Mom, I want my goggles. NOW! NOWWWWWW!". And damned if she didn't dutifully stand up, walk over, and bring them to the little bastard, without a word.
We both looked at each other as we were walking away, and agreed that, had either of us demonstrated the sheer effrontery to utter such a thing to our parents, and in that tone of voice: we would have been instantly fungoed into next week, and I don't mean maybe.
This is the reason that we decided to never have children. If we had, we'd probably both be in prison by now.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Hmmm. USAians seem to have become, overall and
in all things, less considerate and more inconsiderate.
That said and/or aside I've never really been much of a "you are (very) welcome" or even "y'r welcome" type of guy but more of a "my pleasure" or "de nada" type. I think it may have to do with "welcome" being very much the wrong word, to my way of thinking, but I really don't know. Truth be told, I've always had a bit of a problem with "manners", too close to "mannerisms" for me. Courtesy, especially common courtesy, while linguistically no doubt just as corrupt, is a different matter. I think it has something to do with the artificiality of "manners", "being polite" having been reduced to a whole shitload of pointless artificial strictures codified and/or invented by the likes of Emily Post. Superficial and superfluous, demonstrating nothing more than that one has learned these behaviors. "One simply cannot wear white or linen before some pointless date or after some other pointless date" pfah! Give Lady Astor my regards, but, no. The whole subject always calls Miss Otis to mind.
be well and have a good one
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 --
Good point on the "welcome",
It really is the wrong word, isn't it? But it's the one enshrined in the collective memories of a lot us... And it's funny: "my pleasure" and "de nada" both work just fine for me as well.
After some thought: I think my issue with the whole thing is that my upbringing is to complete the conversation. Offering thanks is a very sincere form of compliment, after all, and only a complete ingrate would fail to respond with some form of returned greeting, generally implying and/or accompanying a smile.
Which brings me to "of course". That's not a completion of the conversation. Where that grates on me is the unspoken subtext: "Of course you'll say thank you, you sap, you have to. But I don't have to issue anything more than an equally meaningless dismissal."
No acknowledgement that thanking the person was an entirely optional nicety. The tacit assumption appears to be that I must say it, and therefore the gesture (and indeed the entire interaction) was intrinsically meaningless.
Oh, well- I know that I'm farting in the wind, and I'm probably just makin' shit up anyway. Must be like our parents felt when the damned Beatles showed up...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Heh -
be well and have a good one
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 --
Age appropriate behavior
that is governed by the penal code is strictly observed. Otherwise, we do as we damn well please.
Enjoy your sightseeing.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Last time we were there we saw a pair of Ferruginous
Hawks in the preserve, hunting the forest edge. I had to check to verify that they hung out there, because they're not that common. Morro Bay, if we pop down there, is always full of otters, if nothing else. I won't tell you about the winery tasting room with the great wood fired pizzas.
be well and have a good one
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 --
They haven't outlawed
wood fired pizzas there? What's wrong with Newsom!
The hawks and otters sound way cool.
We only saw one dolphin from the balcony. We normally see 4 or 5.
We meant to take a birding habitat drive, but got busy with other things. We will catch it next time.
Behave yourself at the winery.
I admit to skipping the luxury wineries with their resorts, spas, and top tier chefs in the Texas Hill Country. Neither of us drinks wine.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Imagining you flipping through the waves after the boat collapse
yeah that would have been one of my questions. I’ve always wanted to go parasailing. Closest I’ve gotten to it is the giant swing in Vegas. Strapped into a harness and hoisted lots and lots of feet into the air and then let go. I at first thought no way until my friend tried to freak me out and after telling her I wasn’t afraid, I wasn’t. Bummer tho that one of my feet slipped out and I thought it was going to hit the sign going 70 mph and be ripped off…I’d do it again.
Brutal!
Putin isn’t going to make you homeless or kill you or deny you health care.
Your government will allow it to happen though.
the White House powder room
with fainting couches
and splendid portraits
of dead white folks
question everything
Sounds like
you survived it.
Hunter, the coke addict, who doesn't go through a security clearance, is being cruelly accused of bringing his stash to the White House.
People are jumping to illogical conclusions. s/
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Just a heads up. This could be very interesting.
Thanks for that.
I will be sure to watch it this afternoon.
I want his opinion on smart cities and our commitment to support Israel, as Israel slaughters Palestinians.
We shall see.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Are we being pulsed?
Over the last few weeks, several black boxes in my equipment have failed.
Coincidence or EMP? Maybe a warm-up for more-focused beams to come?
Personally, I'm pissed. Freezing the operation of refrigerators,
washers, dyers, tractors and other stuff is mostly an inconvenience
at this point. Expensive to fix as the techs are swamped with this shit.
question everything
Well, we're getting near
a solar max, and the flare activity has been picking up. I don't think that we're being pulsed, but I do know that the national power grid is not immune to nightwierdies from planetary-level events like big flares. It is hard to do a small EMP, after all (Project Atlas-1/Trestle comes immediately to mind). And I don't think that any of us would miss a big one...
Here at my nerd day job, we've logged a larger number of power excursions (both surges and sags) than usual. They don't look qualitatively different, there are just more of them. And given the rate of building and development, I shouldn't be surprised- the electrical infrastructure here in the Denver area is not keeping up with the load.
I can't find any online power grid ground-current monitoring resources (no surprise- they're probably classified). But this very stale and boring paper covers part of what I pay attention to at my day job: https://www.energy.gov/ceser/articles/geomagnetic-disturbance-monitoring... . And if I get any inkling of anything in that vein, you can believe that I'll scream bloody murder...
My gamma monitoring station is up and running, and developing its baseline. I've got my ears perked up, for sure. I just hope that it stays boring watching the graphs.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
I hope you're not sharing any of that kind of stuff
with Texas, they desire to be totally divorced from the grid. Also, maybe you know. is Rosie really "the Queen of (the) Corona"?
be well and have a good one
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 --
Hah!
Only if she was really old, and went a little further afield and hung around Shoreham when Wardenclyffe was a thing...
Seriously, I hadn't heard that one, and it is probably much more solar-physics driven. Fill me in!
On edit- if you are in the higher latitudes, the night of the 13th into the 14th may (emphasis on the *may*) be a good night for watching out for the Aurora Borealis. Pretty good coronal mass ejection from July 5, I think it was. Last prediction I saw was that they might be visible as far south as Casper, WY- which means that there's a decent chance we'll even be able to see 'em in Denver. Keep an eye on Spaceweather.com and https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-30-minute-forecast as the date gets closer.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
does earth have the power
to deflect the solar flares?
disintegrating ozone does not
portend well in this instance
thanks for your insights
question everything
Unfortunately, no.
The magnetosphere can deflect some of it, the atmosphere can diffuse some of it, but a really big flare could cause havoc, and a coronal mass ejection that bullseyed us would be a bad day all around. The chances of either are relatively small, but nonzero.
From that paper I linked previously, here are some historical occurrences:
This is another one of those things that we can't do much about, other than monitor it and shut down what we can ahead of time should it occur...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
It does in part by the magnetic field...
Auroras are charged solar particles being pulled into our magnetic field. Large solar storms do affect our planet and grid.
An enormous solar storm could short out telecom satellites, radio communications, and power grids, leading to trillions of dollars in damages, experts say
An artist’s rendering of the solar wind interacting with the Earth’s magnetic field. Image via NASA
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
There are work-arounds, but then you're forever looking
for a 6AU6 or somesuch.
be well and have a good one
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 --
6CW4, bay-bee:
if you ain't a Nuvistor, you're just hopelessly behind the times...
Pentodes are for people who just don't like the smell of melting Tolex, after all.
That reminds me: I lost at least two dozen 6L6s and EL34s in the house fire. Forgot to claim them on the insurance. Shee-it...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Eh, I'm down here at 37.6955° N, 122.0739° W, around
500' elevation and about 9 miles for the bay. If it were visible, there's at least a 50% chance of fog or clouds 365 days of the year.
Paul Simon
otherwise, either tower would work. Knew a kid in h.s. who built a 12 foot jacob's ladder, screwed up all kinds of reception for miles around.
be well and have a good one.
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 --
Corona's only about
45 miles from Shoreham as the crow flies, so Rosie could just possibly have drawn an arc that long... Just whisper some more sweet nothings into Nikola's ear.
It's funny, because Paul Simon never has said just exactly what it was, what the mama saw.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
If Biden doesn't make it to election day
for whatever reason, Harris is the nominee. She's female and she gets to check the "woman of color" box. She would lose, and the Republicans aren't running any rock stars. Based on his statements and policies I'd think Newsome not viable, but I'd have to see how he does on TV.
I've learned never to under rate someone just because I disagree with them on issues. You don't have to speak like Obama or Bill Clinton in fully formed compound sentences woven into paragraphs. Look at Bush. Reagan was very good and he didn't like to read.
Reagan was very good
at what?
acting maybe
until he got to the biden
level
then
question everything
Reagan convinced a lot of poor
people and working poor that the trickle down theory works. Lots of them believe it to this day. Honestly, giving corporations and the rich tax breaks somehow winds up in the bank accounts of the laborers? Maybe the slave laborers in India. Clinton loved him some NAFTA. He really liked trickle down.
Funny. When Democrats mention he had dementia, Republicans are incensed.
Now, we go through demented president parties split again. Democrats can't allow Republicans to question Biden's mental health.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
yeah, but
somehow the mental health of the potus
is tied into the nations mental health as well
if the chattering class can not recognize
the lack of mental fitness of the ruling
class, it is a non-issue? strange that people
can't recognize the signs of failure
question everything
I actually watched a video of him
this afternoon, making a joke of he and his brothers being able to hear "restlessness" because his parents' headboard bumped against the boys' bathroom wall.
Just what I need to hear from the most powerful man on earth. That his parents fucked.
The audience laughed.
I didn't.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Good evening, ban nock
I rate candidates as to how entwined they are with the WEF.
Hope you enjoyed a July 4th celebration or just time away from work.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
@on the cusp Not sure what WEF is.
Not sure what WEF is.
I rate them on how likely to be elected. That's different than my opinion of policy.
World Economic Forum.
"You will own nothing, and be happy."
Read up on it. Surprised it has not come across your radar.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981