COVID-19 Day 3

Posted on February 15, 2023 by Steve

Today has been a huge improvement over the last two days and I think the worst of the virus is over, namely, I’m rehydrated. Now I’m trying to not go stir-crazy through the quarantine element. I feel bad for not being on top of the news covering what the newer strains of this crap are. Is it related to anything going around China as Xi has given in, is it weaker, is it faster, what? The doctor said the current strains do spread more easily and the boosters help yet aren’t as helpful as the previous shots I had. No idea if they’re deadlier. Even the corporate media has capitulated to Mother Kapitalism’s demand to stop covering the death toll; I hear more about how the economy is strong for rich people and there aren’t enough slaves…ahem, workers, willing to take shit wages. I can’t wait to test negative for having it, those red pills are rough on my guts.

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COVID-19 Day 2

Posted on February 14, 2023 by Steve

I’m doing somewhat better today. Yesterday and the night before was very rough. Initially, I thought I had the flu given all the symptoms: headache, sore throat, joint pain, etc. It was the annual flu to the letter. But to be safe, I took the test and failed, aka tested positive. The sweat broke yet I have the other annoying crap with the symptoms in decline.

Finally got through to a doctor so I could get the drug of choice, paxlavoid which sounds like a Jerry Lewis noise…pax-LAH-voiden-glavin, nice lady! Due to my other meds, we’re going with these other horse-sized pills called molnupiravir. Better, it sounds more like the estate of a lesser Founding Father…And this is where Thomas McKean lived when not at the Continental Congress, Molnu Piravir. Here he grew cotton and tobacco.

I’m also locked down in the house for a few days, boo. The story of my life, I get the cool kids sickness after it’s no longer in vogue. I hope it helps me shed a few pounds for good.

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@#$*! I got Covid-19

Posted on February 13, 2023 by Steve

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RIP Melinda Dillon

Posted on February 7, 2023 by Steve

I hate it when Twitter informs me of sad, tragic things and I wasn’t expecting the Hanson Brothers (of Slapshot fame) to be the first to let me know this wonderful actress and person passed away. The announcement was delayed as per Melinda’s wishes since she wanted her ashes spread out at a location special to her.

If you’re not familiar with Melinda, most people know her as the mom in A Christmas Story, a role she continued for HBO’s sequel involving the original kids all grown up, namely Ralphie trying to give his children the same magic he remembered from 1939. I’ll probably watch it next holiday season despite the naysayers. I saw the trailer, it looked like it took place in the late Seventies to Early Eighties. I figured by the time Ralphie was old enough to have a family, it would be the late Fifties to early Sixties. I guess he lives in the same universe as the second round of X-Men movies, slowly aging to fit the decade progression required to tell the story.

Back to Melinda some more.

To hockey fans, she has a brief role in which her character tells Reggie about her upcoming divorce from a goalie the Chiefs will be facing in a couple days. The key stuff she spills covered the reason why they’re divorcing and Reggie uses this very personal information to get into the goalie’s head. It results in the Chiefs winning with a garbage goal. But hey, a W is a W. That’s Reggie’s justification. Being a Seventies, R-rated flick, young boys always remember seeing more of her than normal; I remember how ESPN kept the scene by using tech to dim out her chest. Good move. The post-sex conversation Reggie has with her is a key plot point to the overall story.

To Science Fiction fans, Melinda is the mother whose son was abducted by the aliens in a truly frightening sequence in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. This leads her to joining Richard Dreyfeuss along with numerous other people compelled to travel to  Bear’s Lodge (formerly known as Devils Tower) in Wyoming. If you’ve never seen Encounters, make an effort to watch soon. Spielberg’s turn on an “alien invasion” holds up after 40-plus years. Her acting contributed to the film’s excellence.

Thanks for everything Melinda! You were an awesome, funny, sincere and endearing actress. I wish I had a mom like you as per the two movies I mentioned earlier. OK, I could skip being punished by having my mouth washed out with soap. Given how much I swear as an adult, the technique obviously failed!

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The Earth’s core is doing just fine

Posted on February 7, 2023 by Steve

You may have heard some news story(ies) going around about how the Earth’s core/center has stopped spinning or rotating. As always, the COM has it all wrong since they’re not very savvy on Science; we can thank the greedy hedge fund owners gutting the newsroom of talent and expertise.

Thankfully, the great Dr. Phil Plait of Bad Astronomy fame has come to the rescue to elaborate on how COM has no brains. Besides, I know one basic fact about the Earth via Astronomy which dovetails into why colonizing and/or terraforming Mars is a wasted of time; if the core stopped spinning we wouldn’t know nor live to tell about it. The iron in the center generates our magnetic field. The field protects the Earth (and all aboard) from most of the Sun’s lethal radiation (the ozone is a big factor as well) and it keeps the atmosphere in place, otherwise it would be ripped away into space quickly. Setting up Earth-like atmosphere “machines” as per Hadley’s Hope from the movie Aliens would be a complete waste on Mars until the red planet has a field strong enough to buffer the constant solar winds.

I did catch a piece on NPR about the same thing. The geologist they spoke to said it’s not uncommon for the various layers and the core to change up their speed but nothing is stopping. The guest mentioned a camp who believes the core is stationary yet they’re in the minority. I don’t think we’ll ever truly know. You can’t get far under the Earth’s crust due to all the lava. If you could get past the lava, I’m pretty confident there’s something even hotter beneath. Our world is similar to the Sun, the closer you work your way to the center, the hotter and stronger the pressure.

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UGH! This guy at every Austin concert now

Posted on February 6, 2023 by Steve

I love toys, it’s no secret!Some of my fellow Tribe members “collect” action figures. Me, whatever! I just toys are fascinating, fun and something we need to encourage children to engage with and enjoy. Pull the tablets, phones and vidiya-games (Hank Hill accent) away for a couple hours, give them LEGO, Playmobil, etc and their imaginations will get cracking. I bet it’s why I have good shot at not contracting Alzheimers.

Along with conventional, commercially-made toys, I immensely enjoy stuff made as a joke or of an esoteric nature. The latter you can get easily through Super 7. I’ll bore y’all about my collection of them another day. Today, the focus is on the former via this funny guy in Chicago whose handle is Death by Toys. He makes them mostly by hand and much of the stuff I’ve seen is repurposed figures from commercial toys, aka kit bashing. I want to highlight this one which represents an ongoing problem highlighting a horrible side effect of technology known as the smart phone. Alamo resolved my ongoing peeve with assholes talking during a movie and the iPhone/Android took over with morons thinking its their right to be camera operators during the show. Woe to any of you stuck behind them as their fuckin’ phones obstruct your view since, “Oh, my friend couldn’t make it so I’m streaming for them!” Just keep it up dumbasses. It won’t be long before concerts implement this pain-in-the-ass practice I have endured lately with stand-up comedy where the venue forces you to put your phone into a magnetically-sealed case. You get to keep your phone but it’s trapped in the case. Why? The comedian doesn’t want people recording their routine, posting it on YouTube, FeceBook, TikTok, etc. because then others won’t come to see them or buy the album they’ll eventual release. And given how Amerikans especially think it’s their “freedom” or “right” to violate the terms and conditions on the tickets saying, you can’t record the show, it’s come to this. The honor system is for chumps thanks to these people. It’s also not exclusive to Mills and Z, a friend said Boomers were equally rude at an R&B concert. What pisses me off more with the comedy club’s policy is my Apple Watch has to be included in the case. Why? The ignorant staff told me at Joe DeRosa’s set, “You could record a voice memo.” I could. It would probably sound like crap but I respect comedians too much to do such a rude, selfish thing. Plus, the last time I checked, I’m not a douchebag as per the action figure shown above.

So go ahead ravers, wannabe documentarians or in short, idiotic thieves, keep doing this. Just wait until concerts require the same crap as comedy. On the upside, you’ll relearn how to enjoy the performance and be in the moment which is the primary point of seeing the artist live. The downside you’re really going love and I experienced firsthand last year at the John Mulaney show. It wasn’t at Cap City or Cave & Creek or even the Paramount Theater. He was booked at the HEB/CPC where my Stars play. Not an ideal spot for stand-up comedy in my opinion as I’ve never been impressed by the likes of Dane Cook or Eddie Murphy doing this. John was funny and I had a good time until it was time to leave. Thanks to those cases to lock down about several thousand phones and HEB/CPC not having enough staff, I was stuck in the venue for an additional 20 minutes in queue. This bled into the second performance being delayed by at least half an hour as those ticket holders couldn’t be let in until the first were completed. There’s a counter saying, oh they won’t go that far. People with important jobs such as doctors require access if an emergency happens. Uh huh. I know what the security people will counter with and they’re right, “If it’s important, why are you here? You should’ve thought about it before you showed up and gotten someone to cover.”

Meanwhile, I’ll be seeing Death Cab for Cutie at one of their two sold-out shows this week. Can’t wait to kick one of these “ravers” in the shins if they rudely block my view. Fear not, I will have already asked nicely several times before it comes to aggression while concert security sits, twiddling its collective thumbs, not enforcing the contract on the ticket.

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Recent trip to the dentist went fine

Posted on February 6, 2023 by Steve

I need to pay more attention on what I’m actually going in for. I thought it was a routine cleaning but maybe the last person in December said that to keep me from freaking out. Yours truly is waging war on saving his gums again. They don’t call it gingivitis anymore, it’s periodontal something. It’s not very serious since I had made (re)gains today, much less blood in my mouth is how I knew before the helper told me; high five to the Philips Sonic Care system! I’ll be back in May and more importantly, I’ve made enough progress to get rolling on a new set of fillings, ugh. All I could think was the snippet from The Simpsons when Marge tells Bart he had a great checkup, only four cavities!

Above is the ultimate goal after my 2019 accident, it didn’t happen when my car Vixen was totaled. Those four crowns will finally make my mouth no longer resemble David Letterman after 40 years! Not only will my four free teeth be restored to their former, intact glory, they will be straight for the first time ever. My mother was anti-braces from day one when it appeared I would need them at childhood. Allegedly her ongoing issues as an adult were caused by how crude and primitive they were executed in the Fifties (not the ideal, Republican Fifties® which only exists in the imagination of Gary Marshall SitComs). I have my doubts too late in life to realize it was more likely her not brushing adequately as I’ve never heard any such horror stories from Boomers around her age group. My other guess would be her elaborate ruse (a lie) was a dodge so she didn’t have to say our insurance sucked and/or we’re poor.

Now to remember to floss more.

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RIP Cindy Williams

Posted on February 5, 2023 by Steve

Glad for Marquette Day to squeeze in between my catching up on the obits, I don’t want people to think Picayune is always morbid and bitchy. But I can’t forget Cindy who had a big presence in my childhood like her comedy partner Penny Marshall.

Before she landed her biggest role, Cindy had worked in numerous bit parts for TV: Love American Style, Room 222; big roles in a couple successful movies: American Graffiti and The Conversation. The former was a major factor for ABC developing Happy Days and Lavern & Shirley in the new nostalgia for The Fifties®. I think their characters originally had a couple guest spots on Happy Days as older ladies the Fonz knew via dating. They were definitely his backup singers when he performed “Heartbreak Hotel” at Arnold’s.

Years ago I used to have a book on 50 cult movies and Cindy starred in one that came back to bite her once Laverne & Shirley was a hit. The First Nudie Musical was a low-budget, R-rated comedy in the same humor or style as Kentucky Fried Movie. Despite the topic entailing pornography, it’s a tongue-in-cheek thing mocking the Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland stuff in which they put on a show to save the farm or in First‘s case, a failing movie studio. ABC wasn’t thrilled. The film’s producers originally released it in 1976 but it made the rounds by 1978 again with emphasis on Cindy Williams being a key actress. I’ve never had any interest in watching it, the trailer was enough to make the point…and why National Lampoon‘s primary humor was often unfunny and juvenile.

After Laverne & Shirley ended in 1982, Cindy carried on with guest appearances until her passing. She did have one more chance as a lead in a SitCom during the Nineties, Getting By. As per imdb.com it had 31 episodes so I’m guessing it had a season and a half via Fox. Our loss. Cindy had great timing.

Thanks for everything Cindy! You played a great scaredy cat to Penny’s loud, libertine. My brother named a kitten he loved very much after your character in honor of you and during my favorite radio show for WMUR, Sheila and I would do your little ritual dance from the show’s opening as our opening.

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Marquette Day 2023

Posted on February 5, 2023 by Steve

Here’s a tradition I’m getting better at even though I never was and never will be a “patriot” for my alma mater‘s basketball team, the players are 90% spoiled assholes who all think they’ll make it to the NBA. I do like this celebration as a nice get-together to find out there are more graduates from Marquette than I figured in Austin. I’m confident the bigger cities have larger turnouts and especially the further north you go.

The men’s team played Butler again, an even more un-famous private school based in Indiacrapolis; I visited their campus when I was in high school for a science fair thing. They had Butler under control after letting a 10-0 run happen, aka, defense got its act together.

I do enjoy the company of all the different people, their varying lines of work and how each experience is unique: why they went, where they group, what they studied, etc. Some brought their small children, which bummed me a little because I forgot to bring little Playmobil or LEGO toys for them to keep and more importantly, distracted long enough for the adults to converse. Now to help out the latest person handling all the future get-togethers as I’m always full of suggestions: Stars v. Admirals, Pinballz, Geeks Who Drink (Marquette v. Notre Dame!), etc.

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RIP Bobby Hull, the Golden Jet

Posted on February 4, 2023 by Steve

Another great player who changed professional hockey for the better through his play and decisions. On the former, Bobby was a fast skater, hence his nickname (he was blonde too). He also perfected a mean slapshot. I think he’s a major reason why there are restrictions on stick modifications; the puck’s flight via his slapshots were unpredictable, leading to goalie injuries. Sure, it was during the waning days of helmets and masks being optional but these weren’t going to counter a mean, six-ounce piece of vulcanized rubber in the face much.

With the latter, his defection to the WHA’s Winnipeg Jets helped raise the pay of other professional players. I don’t think he was ready to retire from Chicago but they asked, what will it take and he answered off the cuff, “a million dollars!” An outrageous sum in 1972, today it’s $7.2 million, a steal given the packages worked out to dodge the salary cap and how out of control it is with the other pro sports.

Much like his hero Gordie Howe, he had a very talented son we all know as Brett Hull and they share spaces on the all-time scoring records. It’s rare when a fantastic athlete has a child that’s equally gifted. See Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan.

Thanks for all you did Bobby! You had your personal shortcomings (a nasty divorce) yet you were a memorable player with a good sense of humor. When I was watching a special about Gordie, you joked at a farewell ceremony for him, “I’ve enjoyed every slashing moment of playing with you!”

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A couple, local, tough customers

Posted on February 4, 2023 by Steve

To celebrate Caturday this week, here are two cats who live near my house. I often see members of their “colony” around a neighbor’s house but given the super, super cold weather, I didn’t bother trying to pet them. I figured they were all settled in and managing the best they could together. I’m puzzled on why they were in the open, I’m confident their human(s) have shelters set up for them when we experience extremes. You can tell by the looks on their faces, they’re not thrilled to be outside.

If you must know why I was walking about then, I had to run up to the near Circle K to get something Jennifer urgently needed and I forgot to pay for it, ergo, I hoofed it as a form of penance, get a lay on the land on how much damage we were looking at until the thaw.

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It’s been a great 29 years thus far!

Posted on February 3, 2023 by Steve

Amidst the ice and tree damage, I still remember the day I arrived in Austin as if it were yesterday. Hell…the time has gone by so quickly, it could’ve been! The weather was much nicer than today, typical winter day for Central Texas and incredibly warm for me after being trapped in the Midwest over the last eight years of my life.

I wish I were feeling better to have a stronger celebration beyond Jennifer taking me out to dinner. We had a great meal at the nearby chain steak joint. Same kind of meal I ate for my first evening in Austin! Service has improved immensely. In 1994, our waiter quit at some time after taking our order and this was rather typical. Sadly, minimum wage for waitstaff remains the same insulting $2/hour. Nah, I’ll be recovering soon. The new stuff from my doctor is working (the drowsiness is on the money) along with talking to my therapist a little extra. I love catching up with all my friends I’ve made along the way too. Doing little good deeds is another thing warming my heart or joking with the little kids in the area, “Snow Day! Snow Day!”

On to another 29 years? That would be pretty cool despite being in my eighties. Unlike Girth Vader, I will make sure the odor guard on my Depends are always operational!

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Well this is some Groundhog’s Day gift!

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Steve

Nobody was harmed, especially the house. We did hear it snap and fall. I wish it were a juniper tree, those are the real cause of “cedar fever.” When I got some time, I took my chainsaw to it so this would be less trouble after we thaw out. Jennifer pointed out how lucky we were on the major branch not taking out a power line.

Matters were better by the afternoon as huge chunks of ice started falling everywhere. The misting rain accelerated it. Over a quarter million people remain without power in pockets around Austin. Many were starting to blame ERCOT which was incorrect. There wasn’t an issue of no power, it was a local failure of imagination on this much icing. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’ll be discover how much the city and county’s landscaping budget was cut in a few months; for pruning trees they have domain over. The ones on our property, that’s on us but they’re not near the house except a crepe myrtle, the skinny bush we treat as a tree, the Gilligan of forests!

Contractors were already on the make to score some easier money cutting up the fallen trees while they could. I’m confident many used to be “roofers” and “small car-dent repair specialists” when we had the incredible hail storm over a decade ago. The beauty of how swell Texas Deregulation works, giving no recourse to the victims at every level! Somebody already shared a story about an employee accidentally having a chainsaw go through their thigh. Just hearing it made me swallow a little puke. Yeah, my grandma was right, I have a weak stomach unlike Bob Woodward.

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Happy New Lunar Year! Year of the Rabbit

Posted on February 1, 2023 by Steve

Well, the Chinese aren’t the only culture with a moon-based calendar still in operation. There’s Judaism and Islam readily coming to mind. Then I’m stumped after these three. It is odd how none chose to adopt the more accurate 365.24 day setup or figured it out given their love of Science and contributions. With the two wrapped around religion, I can only say their mistrust of the Ancient Egyptians and the Romans who adopted it, overrode the need for accuracy. OR…they developed the additional-adjustable month to compensate sooner than I know.

The Header for Chinese New Year is a collection of rabbits from popular culture (from upper left to right and repeat left to right with the lower):

  • The logo for the VW Rabbit, the US name for the Golf until the Nineties.
  • Jaxxon from Marvel’s Star Wars comics in the Seventies, Lucas hated him.
  • Roger Watterson from The Amazing World of Gumball.
  • Judy Hopps from Zootopia.
  • The Playboy magazine and club logo. There was a time it wasn’t tied to sleaze.
  • Peter Rabbit from the Beatrix Potter books many a Generation X know.
  • The imaginary Harvey from the 1950 movie of the same name.
  • The “beast” rabbit who kills some knights in Monty Python’s Holy Grail.
  • Bongo as Maggie’s toy but was a main character from Life in Hell.
  • Obviously Bugs in the center.

Beyond some superficial changes on the site and stories I wrote with scheduling releasing later (not all), I’ve been sick again as in I encountered difficult with my medication…again. The side effects I fought near the end of 2022 came back, ergo, 2023 already has a word of the year…akathisia. It means I continued to deal with the jitters which usually appeared as my right leg bouncing up and down, sometimes the left. Plus I couldn’t sit still and there was this panic to do something yet no idea what. The doctor and I are trying a different medication. Is it working better? I think so but it needs a bit more time due to half lives and minor lifestyle changes, namely how this stuff can make you fall asleep quickly after ingesting it in 30-45 minutes alongside me actually being groggy in the morning. These days, I wake up 90% of the time like a shot. I hope to get back on track ASAP.

On to the elephant in Texas and it isn’t the logo for the American Fascist Party, the ice storm! In my 29 years of living in Austin, I have never seen it this powerful. Believe me, I remember past ones and they crippled the area for a couple days via the roads. This one generated a slug of ice to pull down power lines and tree branches. Practically half of the city is without power. The roads were only nasty around overpasses. A tree I never liked in the back yard snapped a major branch. Missed the house easily. Good thing I bought a chainsaw last Spring!

The whole mess was supposed to be over today by noon. Then NOAA and others said this morning, whoops! It will be tomorrow by 10 AM. Fingers crossed. I know I won’t have any interest in what the Groundhogs say. The immediate forecast matters more. How much longer Winter will be has to wait until the weekend. I remember how cranky the six-week thing made my dad. He’d always say, there’s always six weeks of Winter remaining on February 2nd! I guess the tradition was trying to say how rough those last weeks will be.

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The 1860 gubmint of Texas shows how “free” speech is

Posted on January 22, 2023 by Steve

My immediate guess is that the Texas Republicans are building up a distraction so the Corporate-Owned Media (COM, my new term because Eric Alterman a NeoLiberal racist and establishmentarian can kiss my Leftist ass!) will not see how the Lege will piss away the budget surplus. With the bingo-card choices via their bullshit Culture Wars, I’m going with their usual…subsidizing billionaires/megacorporations in order to “create” shit-wage jerbs! When in reality, it’s destroying thousands of better-paying jerbs from other states, preferably Yankee ones and sticking Texans with the bill. Past examples, the PBA (Pro Bowlers Association), Toyota and Caterpillar. Man, Dallas, what a hub of high culture The City of Hate is; it’s why many former Toyota employees went back to Cali as soon as their obligations on relocation were finished.

Anyhow, the plan is to widen punishing entities with consciences from landing state contracts; in short, if the contractor/whatever divested from fossil fuels, firearms or decided Israel shouldn’t continue drifting into an apartheid state…well, that’s violating those three’s “Freedom of Speech,” as how the Republicans see it. I love how there’s a loophole allowed for the accused to prove any withdrawals were based upon poor profits. Given how the US is a major exporter of oil now (thanks Obama) and Latin America’s best source for guns, there should be a high hurdle for the GOPs’ buddies to clear. The immediate hope we have for Israel to turn it around and rejoin the liberal democracies of the EU (Amerika too) is to have Netanyahu arrested and put in prison. He’s corrupt and dirty; the majority of Israel deserves a better prime minister. So, I’m guessing building for-profit prisons and settlements in the occupied territories gets a better return than what my 401K is pulling.

You can read more about it here. All part of why the Republicans will fight to the end to prevent Texas from a professional full-time lege like California, New York and Illinois. It’s going so great having a legislature composed of mainly rich assholes who can afford the staggering cost of campaigning given the paltry compensation in return.

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