It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

...at the beach!

Moral Priorities of the Rich and Famous

These days most people have twigged to the fact that The Babylon Bee is a parody site, but that hasn't slowed them down. 

 

 

Because that would do it. According to our elites, conservatism bad, child porn references A-OK! I wonder if any stores have indignantly decided to stop carrying Balenciaga yet. Probably not.

It took Kim Kardashian, who has a deal with Balenciaga, days to even make a statement expressing concern. Not run from them screaming while cutting all ties, but just express concern. It made me wonder why she didn't just blow them off if for no other reason than public perception, seeing as she has made millions if not billions from a freaking piss tape! She can't possibly need the money. On the other hand, I think I just answered my own question. If getting famous for being urinated on and then the world seeing footage of it doesn't make you hide from said world out of extreme unbearable shame, then this photo shoot probably doesn't bother you...even though you have freaking children of your own!

 

Whether you buy into the child porn imagery, there's the fact that there's nothing really appealing about these photos, but someone still thought this was the best way to promote their product. They were perfectly happy to go with that until people started complaining.

Balenciaga had just survived a small scandal involving another controversial ad campaign that featured children alongside bondage materials, but the MyPillow scandal is threatening to sink the fashion company once and for all.

"Child abuse is one thing," said progressive activist Asher Carroll. "But being open to conservative viewpoints and buying a pillow from someone who supports the January 6 rioters, that is truly unforgivable."

Gotta love The Babylon Bee.

November Words of Wisdom

Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them. --Marcus Aurelius

 

If we did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves. --Thomas Edison

 

The truth, manfully spoken, can never be unwholesome. --Robert Dabney

 

Tradition is the means by which the vitality of the past enriches the life of the present. --T.S. Eliot

You cannot heal the physical without also still working on the mental, and the emotional, and the spiritual. --Kristina Carrillo-Bucaram

 

We are the most informed people in the history of civilization - and yet the most confused. Though our heads are crammed with knowledge, our hearts are empty. --Billy Graham 

 

Don't blame a clown for acting like a clown. Ask yourself why you keep going to the circus. --Unknown

Liberty does not exist in the absence of morality. --Edmund Burke

Civilization is not an endless succession of inventions and discoveries, but the task of ensuring that certain things endure. --Nicolas Gomez Burke

 

Famous idiot makes stunning and brave vehicular statement

A number of celebrities have been getting their panties in a wad over Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter because apparently they equate free speech with fascism, white supremacy, and various other imagined evils that are the opposite of their warped idea of freedom. Whatever. 

 

The point is when self-righteous celebs get on their high horses, you just know hilarity is gonna ensue. Most of the entertainment has been provided by blue-checked types announcing their departure from Twitter, then hanging out to see the reactions rather than following up by actually, you know, departing Twitter. I just have one thing to say about that:

Seriously, if you don't want to be on Twitter, just go. I did a couple years ago because Twitter had become a one-sided cesspool. Too many interesting accounts were being banned simply due to a difference in politics and it just wasn't fun anymore. I closed my account and never missed it. When the Musk purchase was announced, I decided to give it another shot and guess what - it's fun again! If someone or something offends me, I can simply block them. It's not like you're forced to read stuff you don't want to. 

Which leads us to this: Actress Alyssa Milano decided to make a big fat statement (while still retaining her Twitter account) about how despicable Elon Musk's Twitter is by announcing that she could no longer in good conscience drive a Tesla (but still retain her Twitter account, because without it, how could she make her super-informed, holier-than-thou opinions known to the great unwashed). 

So she stunningly and bravely traded in her Tesla for a Volkswagen EV. 

Why a VW, I have no idea, but if she was trying to make a humanitarian statement (and she was) it backfired on her spectacularly. 

This is what happens when you don't study history, kids.

 

From Wikipedia:

So in other words...

 

 

Enjoy the comments! 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

 

 Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

 

And gas stations, I'd sit in line all day for that...

...especially with gas prices in California.

These are some bargains I could get into.

Four down, five to go

This popped up on my Facebook feed the other day, and boy did it hit home:

 

There have been four occasions when I was sure Sophie was about to shuffle off to Kitty Heaven:

• November 2020 - Just a couple of days after dental surgery, she became so lethargic that she could barely stay awake or raise her head up. It reminded me of watching my previous cat Wilma fade out at the end and I was convinced Sophie was on her way out as well. Fortunately, it turned out she was fine. She hadn't been metabolizing her post-surgery meds and as described by the vet, was "high as a kite". It was actually funny, once I realized she was okay. The vet told me that when they shined a light into her eyes, her wide open pupils didn't respond at all, prompting his assistant to ask, "Is she high?" The answer was yes. They gave her some fluids and she was back to normal by the time we got home.
  

• Christmas 2021 - Sophie's first visit to the 24/7 emergency veterinary hospital in West L.A. as described here. Was better by the time we got home.
  

• April 2022 - Trip to the emergency vet with the same symptoms as Christmas, except it took her about five days to really bounce back. I was pretty much resigned to her dying at this point because I couldn't imagine that she could recover after barely eating for almost a week. I'm still boggled (and greatly relieved) she got through that.
  

• July 2022 - Trip to the emergency vet with the same symptoms as Christmas, bounced back quickly after vet visit.

And (knock on wood) she's been doing great ever since. I know her kidneys are crap at this point, but as long as she's acting like herself and not in distress or pain, I'll just enjoy her company. 

 

Holy moly - "Twilight Zone" episodes as old time radio dramas!

This just popped up on my YouTube feed - a channel with Twilight Zone episodes performed as radio dramas! How have I never seen these before? And it kicks off with "To Serve Man"? AWESOME!!!

From the channel's description:

The Twilight Zone is a nationally syndicated radio drama series featuring radio play adaptations of the classic television series The Twilight Zone first produced for the British station BBC Radio 4 Extra in October 2002, with the final show released in 2012 for 176 episodes in all. 

 

Many of the stories are based on Rod Serling's scripts from the original Twilight Zone series, and are slightly expanded and updated to reflect contemporary technology and trends (e.g., the mention of "cell phones" and "CD-ROMs" which, of course, were not around when the television show aired in the 1960s) and the lack of a visual component. 

 

In addition to adapting all of the original episodes aired on the 1959-1964 TV series, the radio series has also adapted some Twilight Zone TV scripts which were never produced, scripts from other Serling TV productions, and new stories written especially for the radio series.

Stacy Keach does a wonderful job of stepping in for Rod Serling as the radio show's narrator. So far I've only listened to "To Serve Man" (Blair Underwood plays Mr. Chambers) and it did not disappoint. There is a glitch in the audio near the end, but it corrects in time for the big reveal. Check it out!

Recent reading: "Lord Edgware Dies"

Lord Edgware Dies by Agatha Christie

Read by Hugh Fraser

Insomnia! That's how I got through this one so quickly. All in one day (and night) in fact.

American-born actress Jane Wilkinson, who thanks to her marriage to an English nobleman is also Lady Edgware, begs Poirot to persuade her husband to give her a divorce. The Edgware marriage went south quickly and now Jane has a wealthy duke willing to marry her if only she can escape her loathsome spouse who is refusing to cut her loose. But of course, things are not as they seem. Not only has his Lordship been agreeable to the divorce for some time, he quickly ends up a murder victim. There is no shortage of suspects and it's up to Poirot's famous "little grey cells" to sort it all out. And there is a lot to sort out in this one.

Bonus points for this being the first time I got to hear Fraser's impersonation of Philip Jackson's Inspector Japp, in addition to being able to continue to enjoy his terrific impression of David Suchet's Poirot. It was kind of weird though, that in the novel the trio of Poirot, Hastings, and Japp weren't as sympatico as portrayed in the series, but probably more realistic - they are three very different types. But the differences between the novels and the beloved series, they continue...

Recent reading: "Dumb Witness"

Another YouTube audio book!

 

Bob and his beloved ball.

 

Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie

Read by Hugh Fraser

 

Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings investigate the death of an elderly woman who is initially believed to have died of a perfectly innocent illness. Everyone believes so except Poirot, who is of course correct: wealthy Emily Arundell was murdered for her fortune. But when her will is read her supposed heirs - a nephew, Charles Arundell, and two nieces, Theresa Arundell and Bella Tanios - have been disinherited in favor of Aunt Emily's mild-mannered companion, Minnie Lawson. And it will be man's best friend - Aunt Emily's pet dog Bob, the supposedly dumb witness of the title - who will help Poirot crack the case, at least in the TV version. Sadly, Bob kind of disappears from the case in the novel. Still, the resolution of this case is one of my favorite Poirot reveals.

Dumb Witness was the first ever episode of the Poirot TV series I watched. My Mom, who had been a fan for years, accidentally ended up with two DVD copies of this episode and gave one of them to me. I've been hooked ever since. It doesn't hurt that the fox terrier who played Bob in the show was untrimmed, making him adorably floofy. As mentioned before, there are differences between the novel and the episode, but in this case (unlike my dislike of the changes made to the episode of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd) everything works. I also really liked that in the novel Hastings ends up with Bob, rather than leaving him with a couple of supporting characters as was done in the episode. Maybe the producers made the change so that viewers wouldn't wonder about Bob when he didn't show up in future episodes.

RIP Julie Powell

 

It was announced today that author and food blogger Julie Powell died October 26 at the age of 49.  Her cause of death was given as cardiac arrest.

Powell became famous in the early 2000's when she blogged her experience cooking all 500+ recipes in Julia Child's classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking. That blog led to a book deal and that led to the 2009 film Julie & Julia, which combined Powell's book with Child's autobiography My Life in France and is one of my all-time favorite movies.

Although the news was unexpected, apparently she had been ill, including having had COVID recently. These are recent posts from her Twitter account:

 

I went all the way back to April and she was having all sorts of weird issues. 

Powell's second book, Cleaved, was not a success and she hasn't published another book since. I don't know what's been going on with her in the past few years, but she complains about being depressed and broke in a lot of her tweets.

I do wonder what brought on the cardiac arrest. I assume there will be an autopsy to find out what caused it. She seems to have had undiagnosed issues going back a while, but it's just not normal for a person her age to die suddenly like this.

October Words of Wisdom

Why I post these every month:

Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for. --Socrates

 

Two words should be taken to heart and obeyed when exerting ourselves for good and restraining ourselves for good and restraining ourselves from evil - words that will ensure a blameless and untroubled life: persist and resist. --Epictetus 

A man who does not think for himself does not think at all. --Oscar Wilde

 

I'm not the hero you wanted. I'm the monster you needed. --Unknown

I just got to the point where I decided that I want to live an unbullshitafied life. --Steve Maraboli

 

Don't be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams. --Ralph Waldo Emerson

Keep winning in private. Not everyone deserves to know what you are up to. --Unknown

 

The love of learning, the sequestered nooks. And all the sweet serenity of books. --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 

 

I cannot comprehend how any man can want anything but the truth. --Marcus Aurelius

I learned that every mortal will taste death. But only some will taste life. --Rumi

 

It doesn't matter how many times you get knocked down. All that matters is you get up one more time than you were knocked down. --Roy T. Bennett

No man is free who is not master of himself. --Epictetus

It is so easy to break down and destroy. The heroes are those who make peace and build. --Nelson Mandela

 

Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something. --Plato