Patriots all! (click to enlarge)Two hundred and fifty years ago today, a group of men gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and committed the ultimate act of treason against their Mother country– England. They signed a document, called the “Declaration of Independence,” effectively telling King George III and the British government that the “Colonies” were now independent and a new sovereign nation. Enough! Hands off! This was a huge gamble as only a minority of the population, about 40-45%,…
1 Therapist - “I think you should morn the children you’re not going to have… as if that loss was measurable and as tragic as it feels.” Drew - “I am trying to but it’s hard since we still talk.” Therapist - “I fall on your discernment of whether us seeing each other is too hard on you or not.” Drew - “I don’t think I can handle a life without you…” 2 Alison Josephine Mouse (she changed her last name so she would share one less thing with her father). Was looking for a choice that did not…
Conkwell Woods are on the side of the Avon valley below Bradford on Avon. The Kennet and Avon Canal runs through them, between the Dundas and Avoncliff Aqueducts. They're supposed to be the most haunted woods in the country, and you'd believe it if you moored up there on a misty winter's night, when your torch shows you unblinking eyes looking back at you. Never mind if it's only a fox thinking "Put that ruddy light out! You're blinding me!"Here's something about walking at nightSwitch off the…
The minimum radius for one of these Hornby 0-4-0’s could be derived from factors such as: Four inches seems too tight a curve. I think I want to see this and “test”. I’m planning on a trip to the library... Read More ›
The Tiny Awards are returning for a fourth year. The past three winners have been remarkably diverse — rotating sandwiches, a one minute park experience, and a memorial to the fifty thousand names of those killed in Gaza. If you know of a cool, weird, eye-opening, or simply interesting web-based thing launched between July 2025 and this month, consider nominating it for the award. ⌥ Permalink
The future is, apparently, now
Hello again all. It is once again the week of July 4th and so, as is customary here, I am going to use this week’s post to talk about the United States. This is going to be a bit more of an open musing than an argument as compared to previous years (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) because my attention has been turned this way and that over the past few weeks and then just when I thought I’d be able to focus on this, one of home ownership’s many annoyances (a busted pipe) cropped up to consume…
It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. We all start at the same place as other readers, add six books, and see where it ends up. June’s starting point is Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke, which has taken the book-reading world by storm. I started this bestseller about a tradwife but disliked the author’s characterization of Harvard and liked the heroine even less, so I gave it to my sister.Read more »
Don’t just like stuff on the fly. Take a moment to stop & share. It only takes a moment to assert your disdain for the un-human slop of A.I., the invasive data collecting & societal level manipulations of the big-socials, and the ever encroaching enshittification of your whole online experience. Do this: Share the web you want to see. By taking a moment to share interesting posts crafted by real humans you will contribute to an incremental re-wilding of the web. The algorithm cannot stop you…
Happy 250th birthday, United States of America! What a strange moment to mark a birthday, given everything going on in the world. Even so, I believe the U.S. has done enormous good and has served as a beacon for the world since at least... Celebrating 250 years of freedom and unity with fireworks lighting up the night sky above the U.S. Capitol, as the American flag proudly waves in honor of the nation’s milestone birthday. Happy 250th birthday, United States of America! What a strange moment…
Been trying to write all day and, like, it just didn't happen. Or hasn't happened. "Hasn't" feels like a more optimistic word, actually. It hasn't happened but it still might. Better out than in, after all. That's the mantra. It used to be "this too shall pass" but that felt a bit too "live, laugh, love" at a certain point. I don't know what "mantra" means. Not really. It's one of those words whose meaning I might only know by context and culture. Like, I know how we use it, and how I use it,…
I have way more sweat glands than I thought. It's been a week of passive sweating. You aren't actually doing anything, but you're still damp enough that anything passing by sticks to you. Leaves, bugs, dirt, hair, anything really. You become a sort of lint roller for the outdoors. I checked the thermometer in my...Read More
Somewhere out of view, something is doing work I used to do myself.
A discussion over lunch today brought up the fact that additional data does not always decrease the size of a confidence interval. This post will look at this from a Bayesian perspective. In general, new information reduces your uncertainty regarding whatever you’re estimating. The posterior distribution becomes more concentrated as more data are collected. That’s what happens “in general” but does it necessarily happen every time you get new data? Conceivably if you get surprising data, data…
Aperol Spritz, US Open – Flushing, New York I seem to talk a lot about the alcohol available at the US Open in this short series. That may be true. However, today’s image attracted me for the cheerful orange color and festive glow of this Aperol Spritz “garden”. My wife and I didn’t know anything about Aperol Spritz until we saw this at the US Open last year. Though, admittedly, we are not very knowledgeable about trendy drinks. Now that we saw this, we see it everywhere. Looking at its…
Scientists Made Tiny Diving Suits for Cyborg Cockroaches. They Can Breathe Underwater for 3 Hours: Researchers […] have built a soft, wearable oxygen system that lets cyborg cockroaches survive and move through water and low-oxygen spaces. The attempt turns a land insect into something closer to an amphibious robot, one that could someday crawl through flooded rubble, drains or collapsed tunnels after disasters. “Can we? Sure! Should we? Eh.”
I recently stumbled across The Cyclist, a British mystery by Tim Sullivan, among the new books at a local library. I had never heard of it or the author, but figured I’d give it a try. I was very glad that I did. ‘The Cyclist’ is actually the second book in a series featuring Bristol police detective George Cross. I enjoyed it so much that I immediately looked for the first book in the series, The Dentist. Cross has Asperger’s Syndrome. Being on the autism spectrum, he often struggles with…
In today’s mail, a big card from the United States Postal Service; the crucial sentence is bold-faced: Official Change-Of-Address Validation The Postal Service has received a Change-Of-Address order asking us to forward mail from this address for ARNOLD MELCHIOR ZWICKY … The Postal Service utilizes two-factor authentification to verify Change-Of-Address requests. The purpose of this notification is to provide additional opportunity to confirm this request to forward mail is correct. If you are…
A backpack became a day hike due to smoke. Read More ... Continue reading Up in the smoke at PMags.com.
howlcon:ALTHowlCon Panelist & Artist Applications Now OpenALTArtistApply NowSigning up as an artist is the best way to maximize the visibility of your commissions during the con.Artists are given exclusive access to post their wares in our artist alley channels. And, if they wish, to add art streams to our official con schedule.HowlCon is not responsible for any sales that take place. Applications close October 1stALTPanelistApply NowHave an event you want to host? This is what being a panelist…
Every dickover is infuriating, but the worst ones by far are on the websites I’m already paying to access. Go to hell, Gray Lady; what you’re selling doesn’t need an app.
Embers burn under withered skin My pulse go slow and my breath is thin My thoughts run faster than an ostrich If I take the plunge from the highest bridge Each year etched through the moving blood Galactic Mother see how far we've come How many nights awake in unison? Klarvaken Även om det verkar som jag sover Klarvaken Även det verkar som jag sover Embers weld in the eye of sin My lid is glued to the child within My heart burns out faster than the peregrine fly Oh I stomp the mud but at least…
Short answer: you can’t. But the setup gets close enough that it takes real work to find the exact reason it can’t — and that reason turns out to be more interesting than the failed attempt itself. The Paper The setup The Riemann Hypothesis says every non-trivial zero of the zeta function sits on a specific vertical line in the complex plane. Nobody has proven it, but there’s a beautiful conjectural shortcut called the Hilbert–Pólya program: if you could find some self-adjoint operator — the…
I love finding Twin Peaks treasures I’ve never seen, even after three decades of being a fan of this wonderful and strange town. Recently, I acquired publicity photos from Spelling Films International for David Lynch’s 1992 masterpiece, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. The auction lot included a photocopy of what appears to be a press kit... The post Twin Peaks Publicity – Spelling Films International Press Kit for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me appeared first on TWIN PEAKS BLOG.
The eighth volume of the Japan-only ECM Special series marked a shift by dedicating itself to a single artist, a model it would follow for the remaining releases. This installment gathers the art of guitarist John Abercrombie under a single lamp, though the music itself keeps slipping beyond the circle of illumination. From the beginning, he was a musician who seemed to enter a piece from the side door of consciousness, carrying with him some private geometry of hesitation and nerve. The…
It's the 250th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence. The semiquincentennial of the United States of America. To reflect the current President, I'm going to make it all about me. I've been to the USA 25 times. Let me tell you about all of them. 🇺🇸 1) 17th July 1976 (New York and Vermont) I first went to America in the month of the bicentennial. I was 11 and had been given permission to miss my last week at primary school so the family could go on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday.…
What is IM? 1 | a partial/selective life history 1.1 • TFR: the Berkeley years 1.2 • hitotoki: the Maui decade 1.3 • 13 cantos: a prose-poetic statement 1.4 • hitotoki: the Maui decade 1.5 • escarpment: the flowing now [ in progress... as ever. ]
Most of today went to plan. This morning, my younger daughter and I headed into town. Our first stop was to visit my mother which… went as well as can be with her, I suppose. She did try to launch into how my brother basically needs to be her slave because she “gave” him “two … Continue reading Sweetie is back!!!
Happy July and Happy Summer!It's now time for a detailed look at July schedule on Turner Classic Movies.This post is being published a bit later than usual due to a heavy workload ahead of the holiday weekend. There are lots of fun things ahead this summer on TCM!July will feature a "theme month" for the Star of the Month programming, featuring "Singers as Stars." Films with a wide variety of singers, with backgrounds in jazz, rock, country, big bands, and more will be featured on Monday…
I used to watch F1 race and I support a small team called Minardi. This little racing team has never won any race, but many future champions started in this small team. I love this team is because of its fighting spirit. There were just too busy not to be last in the race. I know of friends being cheerful and happy when their team won. The opposite is also true. Yet I wonder why they feel that way? Their struggles and problem do not go away when their favourite team win. Unless the winning give…
