These fellows hold court upstairs at the Cosmopolitan.
I wonder what they’re talking about.
Music Monday: A Late Valentine
Shorties Forever
Hi folks! Late next week I should have another one of my semester end roundups, but for now, enjoy some freshly dismembered Shorties for Valentines Day.
Speaking of St Valentine: He was beheaded on this day around 270 AD.
Like Sand Though the Hourglass: A picture of sand under a microscope. Pretty cool, huh? Here’s the source.
Hillaryvision: Hillary had a pretty bad week by most measures. Even things that were supposed to help her — Kissinger advised her! Albright not patronized us but matronized us! — weren’t helpful. But at least she realizes that people on Social Security won’t vote for her unless she promises not to slash their benefits.
In Other Research, Water is Wet: “Hospitals with more registered nurses and doctors per bed can reduce patient death by as much as 20 percent….”
News from Harvard: The United States can’t control encryption.
News from Princeton: He who counts the votes controls the election.
Bundy: Would the whole thing in Oregon have gone on as long as it did if the Koch brothers weren’t involved?
On Welfare: Some interesting facts.
And Finally some Good News out of Washington: Budget Surplus!
Odd Vegas Tourist Attractions
Yes, this is actually the wall from the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. It has been reassembled in the Mob Museum.
Forty Days
It is the 40th day of 2016. Mardi Gras, in fact.
Forty days.
We’ve already lost musicians Glenn Frey (of The Eagles), Maurice White (of Earth, Wind, and Fire), and David Bowie (The Sovereign — is anybody else concerned that Dean is now in charge of the Guild of Calamitous Intent? Or is he?). Over and above that, we’ve lost impressario René Angélil, conductor Pierre Boulez, and producer Robert Stigwood.
In addition, we’ve lost actors Alan Rickman (Severus Snape), Dan Haggerty (Grizzly Adams), and Abe Vigoda (Fish) — this time for real. Oh, and voice actor Joe Alaskey.
And truth be told, that’s just a few of the people who have already left us in the last 40 days.
So hey, all you great actors and musicians out there: Be careful.
Happy New Year!
Chinese New Year, that is.
Save a Life or Two
One donation of whole blood gets processed into both packed red blood cells (RBCs) and plasma, often also other important blood products as well. An hour of your time may mean a lifetime to somebody else.
In Closing: sex sells, but more slowly; construction revolution; the freaking TPP has been signed but not ratified (still time to call your Congressmice); Sesame Ventures?; Bleeping New Yorkers freaking out over the bleeping crane falling into the bleeping street; Hillary wants to help; Kitty!
The Original One Cup Coffeemaker
No electricity required. No proprietary pre-filled cartridge systems. Use any grounds you like. Filters are biodegradable. Environmentally friendly! Both filters and the units themselves are inexpensive — just a fraction of the cost of one of those big fancy cartridge coffee makers. Dishwasher safe.
And it makes a good cup of coffee!
Music Monday: Winter
The wind is blowing like mad here, there’s been rain and there may be more coming. Up on Mount Charleston there’s snow.
What is the Long Game?
When WalMart announced it was closing 269 stores, local news included the fact that it was closing one store in Vegas. The closure of this store was no surprise to me. In fact, I was surprised it was still open at all. It was the Walmart where this happened. When there’s a shootout with cops in your store, you really ought to reconsider that location.
Now, it has since been pointed out that there’s not another full grocery store for 5 miles. Think about that for a minute: an urban area, near an Air Force Base, that can’t support one single grocery store. That’s mind boggling.
Even more mind boggling is that WalMart — traditionally, a retailer that would go into rural towns where KMart didn’t want to be — can’t seem to make up its mind concerning small town grocery stores. First, it opened up a bunch of grocery stores in small towns. The local grocers that had been serving those areas could not compete and went out of business. Now that WalMart has an effective monopoly, they are closing those stores!
So does WalMart have some sinister long game? Or is management simply incompetent?
In Closing: return of the Cat Film Festival; a recipe that looks great, but who am I kidding I’ll never make it.