Showing posts with label black friday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label black friday. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Nasal Imperatives

A phone manufacturer named Nothing has ported Apple IMs to android.
Why, you ask?
Nobody knows, but it was shut down in 24 hours (ok, it was a security issue).

Let's be serious - who wants those stupid bleeps and bloops and ridiculous visuals? Android users are still pissed we have to put up with iDevice 'liked that message' notices. Guess what... I don't care if you liked my text or not. I do not derive my ability to get through another day because you liked my post. Or 12 friends liked it. I'd never do that. Except on my blog.


One of those endless Black Friday promos touted mouse pads.
Mouse pads?
Did Consumer Reports buy a bunch of them and test them? What was the testing criteria? Shape? Smoothness? Reaction from people you steered by them? Funky colors? Use as a tissue?
We've gone nuts.


  • Some picky Australian mosquitoes may target frog nostrils for blood
  • and here we thought they were merely a delicacy..


Deep space astronauts may be prone to erectile dysfunction, study finds

Well, there goes all the ThermionicEmissions reader astronaut job applications 


Study: The serotine bat uses its super-large penis as an arm when mating

So?  Don't we all? Drives the female bats crazy!  


 I got nothing for Thanksgiving. That's ok, I did want anything.

I also got nothing on Cyber Monday. What a stupid concept. Black Friday starts in October, and there are many of them.. they line up, like North Korean government officials, waiting to be shot. Next year, Black Friday will occur in February. Cyber Monday will start on Sundays. Now there's a Giving Tuesday. I like that one - I'm going to give myself a break from all this crap. The xmas trees have been out since July, but didn't fare too well this year due to climate change.

Now that I think about it, I did want something for Thanksgiving: turkey. I don't know what it is but I have trouble getting turkey on Thanksgiving. While some would consider it rude to demand a host serve a certain dish, mine has this fascination for lamb. To the best of my knowledge, the Pilgrims didn't fsck sheep, so I'm going with turkey. Mind you, the dog appreciated the hell out of the lamb, which came home in the appropriately-named doggie bag. Bless them, there was a turkey this year, but we were terrified of what might happen to it - perhaps a turkey stuffed with lamb (or tomatoes), so we had a few large boxes of Stove Top stuffing in the car, just in case. Another guest was from Colombia and brought a traditional dish that involved poorly-cooked yellow rice and stuff. I hear Colombia was pretty mad and sent something else.

When there is no turkey, Mrs. lefty says she'll make a small one at home, then promptly forgets. I decline to remind her because I like my testicles. Mostly, I really want a vat of vanilla buttercream icing, like Mom used to make.

My dish is always dessert. It's usually something chocolate and very heavy to carry (and eat). This year it was a pumpkin pie (with lamb) and a very heavy peanut butter/chocolate pie.

While I got vanilla and chocolate buttercream icing (and a spoon), Mom used to bring the best cake anyone ever had to events. It was a very heavy chocolate cake, with chocolate buttercream icing. Everybody went nuts over it. There was a little coffee in the icing, which only made it better. Mom played a really insidious joke on the family by telling us the cake recipe was on the chocolate tin. No member of the family could make the cake like she did. Mom literally took the recipe to the grave...I have to admit, she got us good.

It's been 3 months since she departed. Her ashes sat next to the table so she got to celebrate with the family. I suggested her ashes could summer at our house next year. 

We all miss her terribly. The grief sneaks out here and there, triggered by a situation or word. Whenever anybody says 'icing,' I'm inconsolable for hours.



Thursday, November 23, 2023

Happy Turkeys

Above all, I hope you have something to be thankful for (aside from this blog).
You may have to look very hard, but find it,

This has been my worst year in recent memory, with the loss of my mother. As I look back, the years seem to be getting shittier and shittier. Yes, I haven't been run over by something with tires the size of me, but that's not entirely one of those things you're thankful for... maybe I can make a list to help myself and others find something to be thankful for:
  1. no airplanes crashed into you or your home (that you know of)
  2. you didn't exercise and die from it
  3. no nuclear war (your city is a primary target, you know)
  4. pr0n finally came out in your area of interest (no, not the donkeys, please)
  5. the doctors said you're clear
  6. you only have to log in once to view ThermionicEmissions - bloody Google
  7. enough shit happened to me to keep the blog interesting
  8. you weren't in any poorly-constructed deep underwater craft when it imploded
  9. you didn't kill that prick who cut you off (the cop behind you helped)
  10. no satellites fell out of orbit and landed on you
I hope that helped.


After turkeys, it's Black Friday. You know, the original Black Friday. Not the ones that seem to have popped up and called themselves Black Friday. I joked that pretty soon, Black Friday would be in February, and it looks like it's on its way. I wasn't sure I'd see the day when games and headphones would be the major items to kill people for in stores. Could you imagine the Eternal Shame of being killed in Walmart, during a Black Friday, reaching for some ear-covering, noise-cancelling headphones, with the option of being able to hear through them? The headstone would be particularly depressing through the ages..

HERE LIES JOHNNY.
HE WENT IN TO WALMART ON BLACK FRIDAY AND NEVER CAME OUT.
1999-2024
Pray for his soul.

It probably doesn't get any better when you die and go to heaven, or that other place that has the strippers (and the lawyers). 

What happened to you? 
I was in Walmart on Black... 
HAHAHAHAHAHA! Sucker! Are you mentally challenged or something? Go sit in the back.  St Peter and his posse will be here soon to individually laugh at you.


Speaking of Black Friday, the NAACP and Jesse Jackson have completely failed to protest the name, as demeaning to blacks (or something). I think they took a payoff from Retail.


  • The bad news: war is ramping up all over the planet
  • The good news: arms sales are through the roof! The military industrial complex never loses!



Reflecting on 20 years of Patch Tuesday - Microsoft

Yup, it just keeps growing and growing...


Asked about Thanksgiving, President Biden said he loved to see all those cute little bunnies on the White House lawn.


Conversations with my dog

Her: I've been thinking.

Me: Uh-oh.

Her: No, it's a good thinking. I want to give back, since you've been so nice to me.

Me: That's certainly a good thing. What were you thinking of?

Her: I'd like to be one of those service dogs for the police.

Me: That's quite selfless of you. But I doubt the police need a tuna-locating dog.

Her: I'll re-think this and get back to you. By the way, got any tuna?


I read that if you look in the sky, under certain circumstances, you can see tools. No, really. During a recent out of the capsule repair mission, a tool bag floated away and has been determined not to be in a dangerous orbit. So if you have a moment, try to locate the Magic Tool Bag.

Because if it had been in a bad orbit, that would have been most unfortunate. The Russian side of the ISS could get a screwdriver through it. Not that this will prove to be a bigger leak than the current ones. In spite of the leak(s), the Russian side of the ISS keeps trying to invade the American side, claiming the Americans started it.



Thursday, November 25, 2021

Turkeys Go Well With Vaccines

 Your love is like  a box-o-spiders, all Black Widows


Q. Are zebras white with black stripes or black with white stripes.

A. Neither. Zebras are green.


Today I identify as  a microphone that everybody walks up to and asks "is this thing on?"


A German State Is Saying Goodbye Windows, Hello Linux

Now, if only our government....


Flying AIDS News  

The new COVID war: Redefining vaccinated

Germans will be ‘vaccinated, cured or dead’, says minister
ve haf zees nice camps for zem  

Dutch police arrest more than 30 amid ongoing unrest

Adults nationwide eligible for boosters this weekend as CDC gives sign-off

Covid in Kenya: Unvaccinated to be banned from public spaces

53.3% of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine

Sweden now has Western Europe's LOWEST Covid infection rate - didn't shut down society




















Europe's lockdown fury: Violence breaks out in Vienna as 10,000 protesters take to the streets and thousands more march in Amsterdam - hours after two people are SHOT in Rotterdam during clashes between activists and Dutch riot police

I don't advocate violence, but people all over the world are starting to wake up and show backbone.


  • Tesla entertains us once again: some Tesla owners were unable to unlock their cars due to server errors.
  • THIS is the problem with the Internet of Things. Anything that needs to contact a server to operate is a no-go. By the same token, Tesla can push software to your car that you did not approve or want. No IoT here, thank you.


A Michigan woman tried to hire an assassin online at RentAHitman.com. Now, she's going to prison.
What kind of world is it when you can't even rent a hitman?



I made the mistake of getting between the dog and her mommy yesterday.
Penny was sitting on my lap, when her mommy appeared.
Penny got so excited, she did a 180 and ran off the chair, splitting my lip with a nail.
So now I have this impressive cut down my lip.
When people ask, I tell them I got it trying to save children from an out of control car.
My life just isn't that exciting.


  • FDA approves first drug for genetic cause of dwarfism
  • the drug is being boycotted "until they refer to us as little people"  




the pedos
the joke was on him - Epstein was Jewish






Black Friday has been going on for a month now. This must confuse the hell out of children.
MOMMY - why is it Black Friday today? It's Tuesday.
I thought Black Friday was after we eat turkey.
Oooh, games!

Next year, Black Friday will be in February.
So, reader-type-people, I need a favor. Can you check in and tell me what, if anything, you want?
I promise not to tell anybody.
Can you also tell me if it's normal not to want anything? The Black Friday sales bore me to death, and I can't think of anything I want for xmas. Or is it just the Spirit of Humbug?
Technically, I'd like Emilia Clarke to babysit me while Wife is out of town, but I feel it unwise to ask Wife for that for xmas.

Anybody?

I generally don't want anything for birthdays or holidays. Well, anything I can afford, like vintage guitars that cost as much as my house.
I actively dissuade anybody from buying me anything. It's not only because I don't want anything, it's because it will inevitably be stupid.
How about some nice, generic cologne?
A hairbrush (for the remaining hair)
Diet candies (good lord)
a sports jersey (for the AntiSports)
animal slippers (not old or female enough to wear slippers)
mowing accessories (let's get him something to complement his most hated activity)
an iPhone  (it sizzles when my skin comes in contact with it)
an iPhone cover  (won't that fit on your phone?)
a sweater  (ugly sweater contest? EVERY sweater is an ugly sweater. Have you ever SEEN me wear a sweater?)
Windows 11  (also sizzles)
A concert ticket (Yay!) to see Ed Sheeran (oof)
a Junior Demolitions Kit (Yay!)  without plastic explosives  (boo)
Do It Yourself Crab Farm
Home STD Kit  (testing or getting?)
Alexa
Johnny Bravo Home Napping Kit  (I can teach a master course in napping)
guitar picks  (yay!) with Justin Bieber on them (boo)

Me: xmas is coming
Her: yeah, I have to find anthrax for my sister
Me: Do me a favor? I love your mother, but could you please tell her not to get me anything?
Her: She tries so hard.
Me: I know she does, and I try to look grateful. It's just that last year's Santa mittens weren't quite me.
Her: You're tough to buy for.
Me: That's why I tell everyone not to buy me anything. You're easy - a gift certificate to a shoe store puts you over the moon.
Her: What do I tell her?
Me: I dunno - tell her I have taken a vow of poverty or I have cancer or something...
Her: Yeah, lemme get right on that. 
Me: What about the family polyanna?
Her: Oh, we took you out of that years ago, after the Plumbing Incident.
Me: Look - all I said was, "This explosive has a waterproof fuse, so you could flush it down the toilet." I'm not around kids. How was I to know they'd actually do it? Why is everybody so sore - I paid for new plumbing for the house.....


Michael Hutchence (INXS) died on this day.
Michael, a real rock star, failed to die a rock star's death (choking on his own vomit due to drugs).
Michael died of autoerotic asphyxiation. This means he strangled himself while having sex with himself.
This is why you should never have sex by yourself. Always bring a friend or three.


Biden and aides tell allies he is running in 2024 amid growing Democratic fears
President Taxit said he expects he'll be running most mornings, and has anybody seen his ice cream? They told him he'd get ice cream after speaking.
Much like the republicans before them, democrats are getting repetitive stress disorder from shaking their heads, sadly.


I got out of the shower the other day and things started to shake and rumble.
Why does this Stuff only happen when I'm in the bathroom?
Years ago, at work, I sat on the toilet, and the entire building shook. It was an earthquake.
Mrs. lefty, who was Out and About, told me it was fighter jets.
The problem is that the only fighter jet base anywhere near closed years ago.
After two days of this, we discovered it was a NORAD exercise.
Why would an organization that looks for hazards (and ufos) coming in over the horizon, need an exercise in the North Atlantic US?


Happy Turkey Day, people.
I am most thankful that you come by and read my rantings.










Thursday, November 26, 2020

Sale: Deep Fried Grease Bits


Your love is like  flesh-eating bacteria


Flying AIDS Emmy?

Los Angeles has gotten really bored or really stoned and bestowed an Emmy upon New York Governor Coumo for his Flying AIDS updates.

New York is a Flying AIDS mess, with all sorts of unconstitutional restrictions and Hollywood sends an Emmy for updates. Watch out - the next update will feature a beat box in the background and Cuomo will win a Grammy. 

I don't know what organ informs Hollywood's decisions, but it's not anywhere in the cranial neighborhood. Perhaps decriminalization of magic mushrooms is taking its toll... Hey man.... let's give an Emmy for something that doesn't get Emmys. Perhaps they expended too much hot air whining about the president and are acting all sorts of funny.  DOCTOR - we need air in here! Get the masks.

An Emmy Award, or simply Emmy, is an American award that recognizes excellence in the television industry.

ThermionicEmissions has information on upcoming Emmys:

  • the chair one of the judges in one of the talent judging shows sat on
  • Anything Biden says on tv
  • Joe Namath's Medicare commercial
  • the most unrecognized people on tv: bailiffs on all the judge shows 
  • the people who make the power cords for the 80" tv's
  • whoever took off those Little House with an Angel shows
  • Oprah's farts


Today I identify as  Jeffrey Dahmer's fork


  • Penny is a shredder, from a long line of shredders at the address. Because of this, she has to be watched carefully, lest she steal something and start shredding it. There is a box with a few stuffed animals in it on the floor. Apparently she doesn't feel this is hers, so she's ignoring it. Instead, she managed to locate a fuzzy, expensive shoe-sock thingie and is chewing that. We showed her the stuffed animal xmas box and she ignored it.
  • Spaniel Math: the desirability of something = how much People need it divided by availability  D = P/A


In the Utah desert, a helicopter pilot discovered a metal monolith.
At this point, there are no primates banging on it with bones, but no one knows what it is. In hysterics at this point are the aliens who gave Arthur C. Clarke the script for 2001: A Space Odyssey. The aliens are a interesting bunch, and have wicked senses of humor, abducting people and putting things up their butts for fun. They also move things around on the Moon to throw off scientific measurements. They get a pretty bad rap, but people who understand their sense of humor get a kick out of them. Something will happen to people who stand near the monolith for too long, I predict. Perhaps flowers growing out of their heads, or turning into Elvis. The aliens are huge Elvis fans, even though they had nothing to do with him. They gave him his own ship after he faked his own death, and he does concerts for them in the Pleiades. The female aliens throw their gargafransens at him. They also love to make Jesus appear on different things, especially toast.

Just don't mistake their sense of humor for benevolence. If you get on their bad side, you could find something very large up your butt. Insurance specifically excludes removal of anything from the butt installed by aliens...


Now you're probably asking yourself how and why a helicopter pilot discovered the monolith. They were counting sheep. You're probably asking yourself why federal dollars are spent counting sheep, in a helicopter, in the Utah desert, on federal land. And I'm here to tell you I have no flipping idea. I can't tell you anything more than we're probably getting charged an astronomical amount per hour for the helicopter, unless we bought it, in which case we paid an astronomical amount for it. Then there's the federal employees required for the job. John is the pilot. John  is that most rare of federal employees: the one who can do his job really well. Let's be honest, you want a John flying your helicopter, unless you want an incredibly high turnover rate, both in personnel and in helicopters. However, in the passenger seat is Bob. Bob is your most typical federal employee.. the kind who has to be awakened to clock out for the day. Now Bob's job is to count the sheep. Unfortunately, Bob can't count past 9-5, so there are a lot of trips. They take off, Bob counts to 9, they land, then they do it all over the next day. Unfortunately, this never results in an accurate count of sheep on federal land. Fortunately, though, no one needs an accurate count of sheep on federal land... they were given patronage jobs by some Congressman, in trade for flying over a Utah resort and counting the number of bikinis.

But before you get angry and start writing letters sending emails thinking very negatively about this, just be glad they didn't use Jimmy to do the counting. Jimmy is a drummer and count count past 4 (1-2-3-4).



Dear lefty  
  • I don't feel really close with my mother. Why is this?
  • When you were growing up, did you have a lot of 'uncles'? 


Finnish Prime Minister says trans people have a right to self-identify.
Ideally, yes, but let's stop and think for a moment... what does any of this have to do with their ability to do the job? I didn't vote for you because you were born in the wrong body: I voted for you because I believe you're the best man woman person for the job. The last guy in the position said absolutely nothing about his bitches and ho's. I don't care if you identify as an F-15, both other voters might say it's difficult to do your job at that altitude.


  • TIPS for safe online buying this season 
  • Don't.

Chess culture is allegedly being changed by attractive women becoming stars.
No it isn't. You'll still have groups of chess nerds, off to the side, talking abut how hot the chicks are, and lacking the courage to talk to them, even about chess.


  • a Space-X rocket to the Moon failed after it got behind a Chinese rocket to the moon. The Chinese rocket was reportedly driving with its turn signal on, too slow for Moon entry, and looked like it didn't know where it was going. The unmanned Space-X rocket gave up and auto-destructed.


Experts, and people who are paid to say Important-Sounding Things, are going on about the ills of isolation during the Flying AIDS. It's a good thing they never asked the lefty household... lefty kinda liked his partial isolation. Mrs lefty was more social. During the Flying AIDS, lefty felt very little ill from isolation and Mrs lefty was heard to say, "You really have something there. I'm not all that fond of people either, lefty." I predict most of us will remain mostly isolated, except THOSE people... the former cheerleaders and used car salesmen. The people you just want to stab when you get within 50' of them. And Aunt Bertha, who still treats you as if you were 4, asking if you want a cookie. The sad part of it all is that you do want a cookie, but you're not braving Aunt Bertha to get one.. You wind up telling the family you have the Flying AIDS so they won't expect you at the now weekly family gatherings. If you really value your isolation, you tell them you're a carrier.


  • Walmart-exclusive routers and other sold on Amazon and Ebay contain hidden backdoors
  • Security researchers sound alarm on smart doorbells
  • Told You So. Avoid IoT when you can. Research anything you plan to buy. Avoid Chinese. Keep firmware updated. Ask questions. Even ask me - comment and I'll respond.


Black Fridays are here. And when I say Black Fridays, I mean any day near Thanksgiving. I'm checking out the deals, and because they're all crap, or because I'm horribly depressed, nothing looks good to me. They seem to consist of largely wireless ear buds, the requisite large tv's (next year they'll be wider than your house), and Smart devices. I can't get my head around people buying devices that spy on them. You're paying $49.95 for a 'Smart' speaker that you talk to, allowing Amazon to build a better profile on you. But it's ok, they're only on when you say, "HEY AMAZON."  Oh? They're on all the time? Oh.

Lest you think I'm some sort of tech Luddite, I have a pair of wireless ear buds (and run a multi-million dollar network). I paired them with my phone, and only the right one actually paired. Since I have the attention span of a pregnant gnat, that was as far as I got. Plus, if you think about it, what use do I have for wireless ear buds if I don't get out much? Sure, maybe food shopping, when forced to. I use the wired ones now. They have a habit of tying themselves in knots right before I turn on some music, even though they were perfectly fine a second ago. My phone has a volume limiter, so I don't go deaf, which means I can't hear the music anyway, and am subjected to "Cleanup on aisle 4" and "Where's the tampons?"

Of course I'm expecting no end of fun when I fire up the ear buds. Whoops - they aren't charged. Whoops, where did I put the left one? Whoops, they fell out and are on the floor of the store, and probably full of the Flying AIDS. So yeah, wired phones ain't that bad. Then there are the noise-canceling phones. Although the FDA hasn't examined these yet, they're a bit of a misnomer. They will not quiet your wife or significant other. Or any noise that's bothering you. They work based upon the principle of Sound Forgettance, where they hope you'll get so into what's coming out of them, you somehow ignore the kids playing Miley at deafness level in the same room. 

But rest assured you'll pay quite a premium for them, especially if they're Bose. Bose, founded by Mr Bose, has created a business second in intelligence to only Amazon. Bose started in speakers, on the principle that you'll hear better audio if the speakers were pointed in the other direction. As audiophiles (or audiophools) started to swallow this, Bose went to Plan B: put a lot of individual speakers into their speakers, pointed in the other direction. This drove the audiophools into orgiastic glee, except for the ones who could hear. You had 1speaker box, with about 8 six inch speakers in it, plus one pointing AT the listener, for some strange reason. At this point, people with any amount of hearing wet themselves with laughter, while the audiophools talked about accurate soundstage, the music realistically disappearing into the curtains, and the king's new clothes being simply boffo. So Bose went into headphones, with a completely proprietary design. 8 tiny little speakers point outside your ear, while 1 tiny little speaker points inside your ear. The noise canceling models cost another $300 and are exactly alike, except Bose hopes the 8 tiny little speakers point outside really annoy the noisemakers, so they go away, hence noise canceling. I just can't take them seriously. ymmv.


  • I dunno about you, but I feel warm and holiday-like. I got an email from all of my local and federal representatives for Thanksgiving.


Something weird happened to audio quality over the years: it disappeared.
People used to be strangely proud of their stereo systems. They'd save up and buy the most expensive, great-sounding components they could buy. There were physical arguments over whose receiver had less harmonic distortion and whose tone arm on their record player was more dead than the others. People were attaching their players to concrete blocks to stop the jiggling. The race was on for wattage: this little thing only had 4 watts, and people laughed at it. Serious stereos started at 50 watts and went past 200. Have you ever been near 50 watts? It's roughly the level of the front row of a concert or a jackhammer (sometimes the same thing). The receivers became larger and heavier.

Then came the real loonies. These guys had the equipment that if you were blindfolded, you'd swear the band was in the room with you. They were loonies only in the amount of money they'd spend on their stereos. These guys went backwards to vacuum tubes. The really far out ones had separate Right and Left amplifiers. These amplifiers cost about as much as a car today. Each. The speaker technology they used was the start of the technology NASA used to send astronauts to Venus.

When the real loonies ran out of money, they got together with the regular loonies and perpetrated a joke so rotten and nasty, it continues to this day: Monster Cable.  These are the cables that are twice the size of your regular hookup cables. They have special oxygen-free insides, gold-plated connectors, and they roll themselves up of there's too much spare cable. They also cost 9 times as much as regular cable. Many a tear was shed in laughter as they watched people argue over the benefits in fidelity using these cables. After a while the joke started getting old, so they came up with Monster Power Cables. You know, the cord you plug into the wall, that goes to your computer. Yeah, that power cable would provide good, clean, oomph for your stereo. Again, laughter ensued, and all was well. Then CDs appeared, and new arguments broke out. Watching audio formats change was a never-ending source of amusement. Until compression, aka MP3s.

The mp3 was a concept where parts of the music deemed unhearable (or unnecessary) were removed from the song, making the file smaller.  Since hard drive space was expensive, this was quickly adopted. Apple, of course, had their own compression. All you had to do was listen to the song from a cd and an mp3 to hear the difference. Plus it would sound a lot better from your home stereo than the computer, which had tiny little plastic speakers on it (and does to this day). 

Now hard drive space is incredibly cheap, CDs are all but obsolete, music files are likely 'in the cloud', and we're seeing a resurgence of RECORDS. Older folks have to keep changing their underwear from laughing at all this. In order to play the records, you have to buy a turntable. There are plenty out there, and most are plastic crap. The people who used the original turntables to play the original records are amused by all this, with deja-vu popping up all over the place. They remember the specific records now for sale because they had them in their collections. The older people who consumed a lot of ... recreational pharmaceuticals... still think it's the 70s and that the albums never stopped being sold. "Wow, man... didja see the new Zep record? Trippy. We can sort our pot on it- get rid of the seeds." The hoarders among them still have their entire record collection, much of which still smells like pot.




I did a thing a while back.
Someone gave me a tube stereo. I looked it over and plugged it in, in place of my regular old receiver. I was flabbergasted - they were right. The difference was night and day. I heard people talk about soundstage and laughed at the word. Damn if I didn't perceive soundstage. And much greater fidelity. This is the way to go, people.

All my guitar amps use tubes too, but for different reasons.
The US can't make tubes anymore, for environmental reasons, but the guitar amp industry keeps the foreign tube industry alive (China + Russia).

If you pick up a map and ask me where China and Russia are, I'll stare blankly at you. But I can sure tell you the 2 countries still making vacuum tubes and why. I am public school education at its best.






if this guy were my neighbor, he'd be by for dinner a lot


Wednesday, November 21, 2018

It's January Already

I'm getting a new phone at work.
I found this out today, while completing a software update. Because everyone knows that when you update the software, it becomes moot because you're getting new hardware. I found this out from the Software People, because the employees apparently don't have a Need to Know.

The last new phone I got was an iDevice. I begged my poor boss to get me an exemption. He's gotten very good at humoring me, like my wife and parents. He said perhaps if I got a doctor's note. Since I couldn't forge get a note in time, I got stuck with the iDevice. It's a silly little phone with only one button, which inevitably does the opposite of what you're looking to do, that could be accomplished with a second button. Like... ummmm... what's that called.. oh yeah - android.  Credit where it's due: it has a nice display and the charge lasts a long time (especially as it sits there, not being used). The first time it rang, I was so shocked I couldn't figure out how to answer it.

Now I'm getting a new one. Either that or we're changing carriers or the color we bleach our nose hair. No one seems to know. No one also knows what kind of phones they will be, although most Techie-Types are hoping for androids. The people who have personal iDevices get 'that look' in their eyes, signifying they're about to go full Judge Judy on me. Knowing the way my employer works, it will be a Windows 10 phone (sound of people leaping off tall buildings).




  • Speaking of phones, our darling dog is displaying all sorts of new, interesting behaviors. She now whines when her mom leaves, which is turning into screeching. No bath poofy scrubby thing is safe from shredding. This is a little strange because we didn't know we had any poofy scrubby things.
  • Her first vet appointment is this week. Her first day of obedience school is next week. I can't go because obedience school is afraid of me.
  • Recently Penny saw her first snow. She came in, shook herself off, and declared she wanted to go back to her foster mom, where it never snows.



Perhaps because of the weather, the inside of the house has been free of ants.
Perhaps because of the lack of ants, there has been a lack of polar bears and the rare Elephant Squid. 




Further chats with our good neighbor have been enlightening. She talks about the time she used to spend with Marshall, even when she wasn't feeding him. Apparently both have cataracts, although hers are getting fixed (and he doesn't have them anymore). They used to sit outside and keep each other company. I had no idea. She misses him too. She was shocked to meet Penny, who isn't black  like the last three. And she has a longer snout, as English cockers do. She says Penny's really nice, but not 'her Marshall.'  I don't even know what to say.



  • After the Australian universities banned sarcasm, the Special SJW Squad came out, in no uncertain terms, against mince pie. They threatened to take the bones out of their noses if the world continued to sacrifice the lives of those poor minces.



Colleges, Identity Politics, Victim Culture, and Safe Spaces
If you think professors are liberal, try school administrators. Op-ed in the New York Times vs microaggressions, understanding white privilege, and the right not to hear anything that upsets you, Victim. This is some sick stuff, and it's happening on your local college campus.




  • The shopping season is here! Remember these tips before you shop online: Don't.



There is something very tasty about network cables. I have no idea what it is: ask the dog. This also applies to phone charging cords.

Speaking of charging cords, newer phones are coming with USB C jacks, which won't allow you to use your old cables (USB micro). Some clever person came up with adapters that use your existing cables. Even better, they come with little attachment bouzokis so they won't get lost. Sheer brilliance (thanks to the Linux People for the idea).

While you're shopping for adapters on Amazon, remember that you can buy products from Oprah's Favorite Things. Because the horribly wealthy ex-talk show host who gave away cars obviously knows what you'll like. You have so much in common. I kid - you just reflexively buy what she recommends, like her book club. This woman is so rich, every time she farts, it comes out as money. She lights her daily breakfast birthday cake with $100 bills because she has to get rid of the small ones. Oprah had a tiny complex built in California (she called it Los Angeles). There was some controversy over the city paying her $100,000 each time the sun came out, but it was put to rest when she assured them it was ok.



  • Black Friday has either come and gone or will arrive early, depending on which retailer claims when. The trend seems to favor the early, with Black Friday being moved up a week, followed by Puce Weekend, and Chartreuse Monday. Christmas decorations went up the day after Labor Day. Next year, Black Friday will see another minor bump, to the first Friday after Valentines Day.



A British gang member started shooting out of an apartment window, declaring he'd never be taken alive. The police and the UK version of SWAT - PWAG (Police With A Gun) arrived and surrounded the building. The bullhorns bellowed and negotiations broke out - "Come out or we'll ask you to come out again!" By the end of the day, negotiations stopped, while all agreed that it was getting dark and everyone should go home for the night to sleep. This continued for two weeks: the British are a patient people, who avoid bad publicity at all costs. Finally the gang member fired at the police, who became slightly miffed, which is the most dangerous state available in police, and ordered him to stop it, this minute. Eager to make a point, the gunman set the apartment on fire and died of a 'self-inflicted' gunshot. The police congratulated themselves on a peaceful operation. At no time did they mention guns, because whenever you say guns, the entire population of England runs around in mass panic, puts a bucket over its head, and says how much safer they are with no guns.

Meanwhile in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, America, city employees wet their pants with laughter, because they'd remedy the situation by dousing the apartment with gasoline and dropping high explosives from a helicopter. Ah, the good old days.



  • I like to watch UK and Canada tv, to make fun of the accents, yeah? Eh?



It's fun to hang out in special interest groups on the net. I belong to a vacuum tube group full of people who are old enough to have invented tubes. I'm kidding, but they were early adopters. There is a lot to learn and no shortage of genius in the group. Having achieved age, there's a ton of other wisdom. Recently there was a discussion on how to make Bakelite, complete with several methods, cautions, and what happens over time. The current topic is heating the room in which you listen with a tube radio. Yes, it started as a joke, but the full engineering crew was out, working on this Serious Problem. They got out their calculators and punched buttons for all they were worth. Someone asked whether heating the rest of the room kept the temperature steady. Not to be outdone, someone else suggested that for the questioner's area (he looked it up), the temperature was 58 degrees, so geothermal might be the way to go. The plan involved digging down 12 feet, running copper tubing, filling it back up, and running water through it to both heat and cool the room. The only small consideration was the hole had to be larger and deeper than a swimming pool. This was simply out of my depth (Pun Alert), as is most tube information.




  • Bulletin for anybody going to Ireland: leave your countersink drill bits at home or they'll be confiscated. Makes perfect sense: you could get on the plane and put it in the drill you're also not allowed to carry. Remember: if you can bring countersink drill bits on planes, the terrorists win.
  • Also prohibited: clear tape dispensers with plastic cutters, personal lubricant, artificial body parts (leave them at home), round food, and Sinead O'Connor.
  • "Ireland: Even Sillier Than the US"



Speaking of Ireland, a civil war is brewing, after the Irish government passed legislation mandating pronouncing 'th'. For example, 'three' must be pronounced 'three,' not 'tree.' Violence was immediate. The IRA changed its name to the IRS. The US State Department strongly discourages travel to tis area at tis toyme.

(Tis is why I don't have more readers)




  • A judge has asked Amazon to hand over home recordings of their Alexa device in a double murder case. 
The court finds there is probable cause to believe the server(s) and/or records maintained for or by Amazon.com contain recordings made by the Echo smart speaker... 
  • In a previous case, Alexa recordings were handed over. They were not conclusive of a murder.
  • The article is remarkable for what it doesn't say: what Alexa records. It is only supposed to respond to “Alexa,” “Computer” or “Echo”.
  • It is absolutely shocking that a listening device installed in your home listens.




Somewhat of a really long time ago (high school?), I fell in with a good crowd, to the surprise of my parents. I met my best friend, who is with me to this day. He was a songwriter and I came onboard (because all the applications for Rock Star<tm> had been filled out). We practiced at his house, where I met his family. His house was a great place because of the people who lived there, most specifically Mom. We spent a lot of time there, because we needed the practice. Mom became a second mom to me; a truly delightful person. Through the years it's always been great seeing her. 

I just received word she was hospitalized and passed today.

Peace, 2nd mom. 
And thanks for all the cookies.








Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Kill the Turkey

Turkey reheated.
Turkey sandwiches.
Turkey soup.
Stuffing sandwiches.
Throw out the bloody cranberry lump that Aunt Joan made to look like it just came out of a can, complete with lines....


  • So the Remaining Royal got engaged. Fortunately there's absolutely nothing else going on in the known universe, so television, news, the internet, and people on the street can be completely absorbed in this great bloody nonsense. 
  • As a Murkin, I'll obviously never understand the Royals and Britain's Royal Fascination. Not to mention the finances and ancient nefarious connections.
  • Out here in the Real World<tm>, it turns out that people get engaged, marry, get knocked up, and divorce all the time.  Not one of us rates a notice, news story, or full Social Media Blitz.
  • Sometimes, before or after engagement, sperm hits its target and a pregnancy results. Again, not so much as two lines on Faceyspaces, with four likes. The morning 'news' program has spent two full days on this. When we got married, we sent out email announcements. Not a single response, because everyone thought we were kidding. Imagine - me, kidding!

WARNING: if you need to wear a shirt with GORGEOUS or sweatpants with BOOTYLICIOUS on them, you're not.

  • But it's ok - for the rest of us, who are sick of Royal News, there is still time to catch the ponderous, endless stream of Dog the Bounty Hunter marathon on A&E.
  • Mrs. Dog, sadly, has cancer. This is not a problem for the show, which smelled ratings!
  • If possible, they are going to livestream her chemo. Yes, the guy whose dog just went through chemo is now making human chemo jokes.

Those of you who survived Turkey Day lived to see Black Friday. This is a manufactured event, in which people are supposed to buy Stuff that's supposed to be on sale. Some of these deep-researching geniuses have come up with the perfect item that must be purchased and wait in line to purchase it, sometimes in tents. Things get interesting when they somehow manage to get inside the store. Things get even more interesting when there are tv cameras there, which document the carnage for the area and the rest of the world, via YouTube, to see. People pushing, people shoving, people taking sharp and blunt objects to each other - and that's in the parking lot. This is a sociology experiment gone really wrong twenty years ago, hence its repetition every year.

So you've pretty much digested your turkey and the alarm went off at 3am, and here you are at [insert generic electronics store that is not at all Best Buy], with the doors just opening and General Unrest rearing his ugly head. The great mass of (in)humanity surges toward the door. Unfortunately, physics dictates that the width of the great mass of humanity go through the choke point of two doors, so humanity goes ahead and chokes. Each other, if necessary. People have died by falling and being Trampled Underfoot (2nd song reference - did you get the first?). After hopefully making it through the doors, you vault ahead, as if shot from a slingshot, to the... I dunno.. where did we want to go?

The Prepared Shopper, whose tent is insulated and has flowing booze, sprints right to their preferred, highly-researched item. Oh, so sorry... the large screen tv that takes up an entire wall and connects to your neural pathways, is not in stock. You discover that there was only one for sale anyway, and that went to Ralph, the manager's girlfriend's special son, the previous evening. Oh well, at least you got to stay in a freezing parking lot overnight.

The Real Hip Genuine 2000s Smart Consumer, who really has her shit together, has also been doing her research, but only for what's coming on Cyber Monday. This is a veritable online orgy of alleged deals from innumerable retail outlets, only these don't require a tent or getting up at 4am, hence it doesn't really count as Family Time. These poor slobs have also been deluded into the false belief that there are some actual deals to be had. While there are no apparent limits on large screen tvs for sale, you will run into them in terms of finding out they're no longer in stock, approximately two days before Christmas

This shit is mandatory, in case you didn't get the email.
The email, by the way, promised deals in every department, backed up by incredibly annoying tv commercials, featuring singing flipping boxes, belting out the worst vomitous soft classic rock tunes from your misspent youth. 
This email is markedly different from the email from a random Nigerian prince, promising you untold wealth, if you'd only send him your banking information. It turns out you can't even pirouette in Nigeria without hitting a prince.

If you happen to be a musician and mysteriously got on the emailing list for Guitar Center, you're in for a real treat. I counted eleven emails over the weekend, all with promotions for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, plus a 25% discount coupon, good on anything in the store, except for two paragraphs of exceptions at the bottom of the email. If you take the time to do the math, you can save 25% on your choice of (new only) guitar picks or those tiny little rubber things that go on the bottom of boxes so they don't slip. This is the package of six tiny little things, not the thirteen piece pack. I expect their manager to be personally knocking on my door tomorrow, asking why I haven't used my coupon yet. He already sent me three emails. When he comes by, I'll ask him about left-handed guitars. The coupon, of course, applies to new lefty guitars, but they happen to be out of them. And when I say out of them, I mean they don't stock them, or happen to be caught naked with two cheapies hanging on the wall, one of which is used, which is not covered by the coupon. For some reason, it would cause grievous bodily harm to order a few lefty guitars for southpaw customers. Perhaps even Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I'd feel terrible if I inadvertently caused this with my selfish demands for a guitar I could actually play.

After you have completed this conspiracy by retail to further separate you from your money, there is a Brand New imaginary invented day: Giving Tuesday. This is the day you're allegedly supposed to give to charity.  The very clever joke here is that this day was also invented by the retail sector. It makes them look great and also disguises the fact that by the time you're done with Black Friday and Cyber Monday, you have absolutely nothing left to Giving Tuesday. It's brilliant in concept and execution. You don't even have room on your credit cards, which were so maxed out, you had to get a few more. If you're in the UK, you can get them in 39% or 59% interest, and payday loans up to the minimally impacting rate of 1239%. Yes, that's right - you read that right (third song reference), 1239 percent.  In fact, as soon as you get the money conveniently deposited in your checking account the next day, Uncle Luigi comes by to collect the vig. If you don't happen to have it the next day, Luigi says that's fine, the amount you owe has been 'adjusted upward' to 2977%. This is grand progress from the days when Luigi would break a few of your limbs. Payday Loans have realized they can hurt you far worse than physically by interest and credit reporting alone.

So if I, for some strange reason, happen to have a few shekels left to divest myself of, I conveniently have an entire inbox of Helpful Suggestions. Even the libertarian party has an appeal. To be absolutely honest, and I am scrupulously honest, as you read several times per week, there's an organization called Oldies But Goodies, which finds homes for older cockers. I'm pretty sure it's tax-deductible. A few hard-earned dollars went there, before our own issues with an even older cocker. Screw the humans - there's no hope for them. Give to dogs (and even cats) whose situation is caused by humans, and can be remedied with a few of your dollars.  Give money, in-person help, pet food, and blankets to your local SPCA. Overbreeding, lack of spay/neuter, and pure human stupidity have landed these poor guys there.

SHIT - I have actually promoted the thing I just got done skewering.

  • My house is weird. You probably just shot your coffee out your nose, all over the screen, and said, "No!"
  • It lags the outside temperature by strange amounts, so that when it's warm outside, it's freezing inside. I don't actually know this until I go outside, and I don't go outside because Bad Things Happen when I go outside.
  • In fact, whenever I open the front door, the neighbors yell at me not to let all my cold air outside and make it cooler for the rest of them.
  • Pretty soon I'll be the only house on the block with windows open after Thanksgiving.

Abandoned Army and NSA Intelligence Sharing System data was left exposed to the public on an unsecured server. These are the people 'protecting' us and 'keeping us safe'. Mostly just spying on us.

  • The UK, long known for systems, spying, and intel, has decreed that porn sites must age-verify, so children under eighteen do not access videos of people performing relatively normal human activities. Just imagine the fun that will ensue once this data gets stolen due to a not-protected server somewhere. Plus, you raise wonderfully-adjusted children when you brand sex 'dirty'.

An important court case is being brought by the ACLU (for people who think they do nothing good, here's an example of why they do). The government, which, as mentioned early, 'protects' us by spying on us, maintains that you have no expectation of privacy when you voluntarily give out information. Information, in this context, is your cell phone's location data, only you haven't freely given it out. The case attempts to overturn a guilty ruling for a person convicted of a crime via location data, obtained without a warrant. The spy agencies maintain that they don't need a warrant to spy on you. You'll note that this is a popular, recurring thing. They will spy anyway, so this is just window dressing to make it look like they're not violating Fourth Amendment protections. Law is ill-prepared to deal with electronic communications and advancements. Use your imagination as to why the government would prefer not to rely on your constitutional rights and protections.

  • Bulletproof Coffee has informed customers that although their coffee is bulletproof, their network isn't. 

Marshall's treatments approach the finish line. The last chemo appointment was last week, stopped one treatment early because he's doing so well. This week, his bloodwork came up just fine. Next week is a visual inspection to see if there are any lesions left. Meanwhile, the New and Improved Marshall is ramping up the annoying of his parents, whining pitifully for everything his little heart desires. This usually takes place when they are doing something important.

No matter how intelligent he is, and he's frightening, he still drinks from the toilet.

  • Here's a great headline: "French president Macron says gender-based insults will become a crime, punishable by law."
  • Countries are criminalizing speech. Spoiled as we are by our First Amendment, this is shocking. Freedom of speech includes speech that you do not agree with - potentially ugly speech, that you'd prefer not to hear. Political correctness (social justice warriors) demands censoring speech with which they do not agree). The fact that this is infecting entire countries is worrisome. It's like a bad nightmare from old science fiction come true.
  • The point of this exercise is "educating the public and schoolchildren about sexism and violence against women."  What this means is that men are not allowed to say bad words about women, but it will be perfectly ok for women to say what they like to and about men. Isn't that wonderful?

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheerios? No.

  • While we're all happy happy joy joy, I'll leave you with this small rant: we recently had our car's windshield replaced. When this happens, the service will give you the piece of the original glass, containing your stickers. All went incredibly well. This was followed in rapid succession by a number of police stops, demanding to know where the stickers were. Fortunately, they were all fielded by Mrs. lefty, who was none too pleased at the opportunity. Once the relevant documents were produced, the police smiled and she went on her way, semi-unmolested.
  • Today's visit with the local constabulary produced nastiness and attitude on the part of the policeman. When the documents were produced, he angrily went on about how this wasn't supposed to be like this. Well, what would you like done and what are the legal specifics on it, Officer?  The kind gentleman then gave her a legal warning. Thank you, Officer Dickhead. There's always one.
  • I suggested keeping the piece of windshield on the dash to avoid aggravation. Wife said this was a good idea, except when stopping quickly, when the glass would turn into a projectile. Well, yeah... there is that.





I gave up trying to find stuff years ago and now just ask


Thursday, November 17, 2016

Cumulus Rocks

You'll notice that I've been publishing more frequently lately. This is indicative of the fact that I've been publishing more frequently lately, plus my renewed commitment to sarcasm and my esteemed readers.


Today's Great Piece of Knowledge comes via the morning 'news', which had a special feature on Thanksgiving. On making the perfect turkey? No. What to bring for the holiday? No. New desserts? No. They want to let us know that if you don't have enough plates, it's ok. Don't you feel better now? You can make little animals out of napkins, because you have heavy cloth napkins all over the place anyway. Now, about that turkey...


  • If you belong to the adult web service Friend Finder (the world's largest sex & swinger community), 412 million accounts have been compromised. No serious information yet from Friend Finder. Of course no ThermionicEmission readers have accounts there. We're not the swinger type. Ok, maybe some of us. You, from Russia-I don't judge.


Whether for work or personal use, don't use Free Wifi. Keep all connections HTTPS and ideally use a VPN. I can walk into any airport or Starbucks and set up a wireless network called Free Airport Wifi (Free Starbucks Wifi). Your phone or tablet will connect to it and I can capture or 'sniff' all your data before it goes out to the internet.

  • Monthly reminder to back up your data. This protects you from ransomeware and most other Data Tragedies. Store the backup offsite, if possible. It will never hurt you to have a backup or even two.


Stop blocking roads, you idiots with Hurt Feelings. You caused a forty five minute detour that killed a man. Protest all you want but don't block roads.

Speaking of feelings, Barnard College is hosting a Trump Coping Event, complete with feminist coloring pages, hot chocolate, and snacks, so the snowflakes can cope with their feelings over Hillary's loss. You can't make this shit up.

  • Here's a concept: Virtual Reality can help shut-ins. Hopefully this ends the Serious Stuff.

I need to reiterate the Taylor Swift Conundrum. The woman is arguably pretty, although she does absolutely nothing for me. One time I heard a small snatch of her music and was immediately hit by the feeling that her audience is 8-15 year olds, mostly female. Until this morning, I continued to remain unmolested by her music. The morning alleged news program ran a snippet of a video, discussing what it's about. It's about music promotion, you local Einsteins. And again, I was struck by the nursery school-like beat and melody.

The same alleged news program spent a few minutes on how to pronounce Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson's name: Dew-Wayne or Dwayne. Ummm... let's be thankful they're not discussing the election (or a Kardashian), I guess. Or world peace.

  • Memory from the past: my musical comedy group had a song that involved basketball, so we mimed throwing a basketball (really?). We already know I'm not a sports guy, and my compatriots kept laughing at my feeble attempts to mime throwing a ball. Only I didn't know my attempts were feeble. They spent the better portion of an hour 'teaching' me how to mime throwing a basketball. Frustrated at their complete lack of patience, I was allowed to go onstage, not being able to complete this 'simple' task. It is said that guitar players are dumb. No alleged slur comes out of the blue. To this day, I have no idea what I did wrong and still don't care.
  • Sort of along those lines, a dear friend's father passed away. My friend's comment was that at least he got to see the Cubs win. Apparently this is a thing.


You know that feeling of sheer joy and relief after the plane you're on experiences an engine fire and everyone gets off safely? Apparently it doesn't last long... 18 passengers have filed a lawsuit against Boeing and American Airlines for the engine fire on the tarmac, when part of the engine failed. Also part of the suit: the American Airlines Lounge ran out of vodka before the flight, creating a hostile flying experience.

  • The Brooklyn Bridge has a long-standing tradition of people showing their love for each other by attaching a lock to it. According to the city's transportation commissioner, this is a Bad Idea. The bridge structure could be compromised.  As of yet, there's no word on the tradition of showing love by parking cement trucks on the bridge.

A US road safety body has demanded that electric cars traveling at a low speed make noise to warn pedestrians. Noises include bicycle horn, muscle car, and totally broken exhaust system.

  • How about that Bono? He has urged Donald Trump to prioritize gender equality. After he won a Woman of the Year award. Let me make sure I have the pronouns straight here. Bono won a Woman of the Year award and called on Trump to prioritize gender equality. Is anything about this odd, suspicious, or believable? Could any of us come up with a more ridiculous news item? Will the president-elect act on the polite and 'correct' request? Finally, there is a women's magazine handing out women's trophies to men. We are living in Upside-Down World.

Apparently they never got the memo about improving race relations: a post on Faceyspaces (so I'm told, of course) referred to Michelle Obama as an 'ape in heels'. Let me attempt to make it so clear that even Faceyspaces readers can understand: OK to Criticize - ideas. Not OK to Criticize - appearance, kids, race, spouse. Yes, it falls under freedom of speech. Yes, they sound like racist idiots.

  • Apple's Big New Product might be smart glasses that would connect to an iDevice to provide information on the glasses. In other words, Apple's is bringing out Google Glasses in 2018 or so.

Got way too much money on your hands and need to spend some for a good cause (you)? There is now a smart oven (uh-oh) that can recognize 'some' foods and 'kinda' cook for you. It is reviewed here. Only $1495, it can recognize and cook 25 items and has automatic settings for another 47. PLUS a Bluetooth app to look inside the device and to let you know when your food is done. BUT WAIT - if you buy now, you get a free puppy, plus the ghost of Billy Mays will visit and sprinkle white Magic Dust on you while you sleep.

    • Moral Relativity? There is a new ransomware that harvests social data and scans for child porn. If found, the malware lists the offending file(s) and scans their social media, threatening to post a message.


Technology has come a long way. From using your 300 baud modem to connect to Compuserve to 2016, when Domino's Completes First Delivery of Terrible Pizza by Drone. This means we'll see delivery of Other Stuff by drone soon, regardless of how easy it might be to hijack the drone. Feel all techy and futuristic now?


  • Netflix will be releasing "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life" on November 25th. Nobody knows why.

Observing the great divide that has appeared after Trumpie won, not to mention the violent anti-Trumpie riots, financially backed by George Soros, It occurs to me that we really need to learn to coexist. Relationships have broken up, fights have started, buildings have been vandalized, and most recently, a man has been shot. I respect Trumpie opponents' right to peacefully protest, but this is getting out of hand.

There was a period of a few days when Mrs leftystrat was considering voting for the republican candidate. In what I consider a sterling example, there were no negative words or emotions present. We didn't loudly disagree or fight over this topic. We fought like mad over most other topics, but not the election. This example should serve as an example to the people destroying property and lives.

  • Mexico's foreign minister announced a plan to help Mexicans get accurate information and avoid deportations in a Trump administration.
  • WHAT?
  • Not only are they allowing their citizens to jump ship, as it were, but they're aiding and abetting by providing help for the illegals.
  • Can you see America encouraging emigration to other countries and providing assistance allowing them to remain there?
  • This is a weird place. Not the blog - the country.

In a Beatle-esque display of bravado and up-yours-ness, Bob Dylan has announced he will not be at the Nobel Literature Prize ceremony, due to "pre- existing commitments". He's picking out wallpaper for that area over the steps leading down to the basement.


  • With Black Friday coming earlier and earlier this year (November 2nd), you might want to know how not to overpay for your purchase. My article in Modern Black Friday suggests the only way to truly make sure you're not overpaying is to not shop on Black Friday. Yes, the alleged Black Friday Economy will collapse, but who gives a shit when you're trying to get that 67" (tangentially-measured) tv for two dollars off?

Let's say you're sitting there, minding your own business, and you suddenly decide that you'd like a quick Tinder hookup with a transgender person. On Tinder, one can now identify as transgender. I don't use Tinder (no, really) but I'd recommend not identifying as transgender unless you're transgender. That kinda surprise can get you assaulted. Good to know.