Author: Chris

A Mossy Church and Trump has a Heat Ray: What I Learned Today – Thursday, September 17

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I’m pro-vaccine. That anybody would be against vaccines is just so bizarre. Anti-vaxxers are creepy to me. Hey, medicine that will stop my child from a variety of diseases that cause death or paralysis?  Nah, gonna listen to the prophet Jenny McCarthy and roll the dice with polio.

Republicans are now trying to cast anybody who has some misgivings over a Trump-rushed vaccine into the same camp as anti-vaxxers. To say this is disingenuous would be an understatement. Virtually everything Trump has ever spewed from the Oval Office (and before!) has been a self-serving lie. His promises that a vaccine would be available by October is just another lie, designed to get himself 4 more years of watching Fox News from the White House. But, don’t take my word for it. Let’s see what the CDC has to say:


Trump has decided to just ignore science, again, and try to push through this by saying the CDC director was wrong and misspoke. For all we know Trump could be using a heat ray on him right now to get him to change his story.

So what does this all mean for me? Well, I for one will not be heading out to get a Trump-rushed vaccine anytime soon. At least not in 2020. I think I’ll wait to see what science has to say than a game show host. Trump has proved time and time again that his word is completely worthless and we need to be skeptical of everything that he says or does. It’s sad that it has come to this but here we are.

A Maine wedding has been linked to 7 deaths (of people who didn’t even attend the wedding) and at least 170 cases. I know, people just want to go back to normal, and there is tremendous peer pressure coming from Trump on down that it’s not really dangerous, but you are taking people’s lives into your selfish hands when you do just that.

Who would have thought that Texas was juking their covid stats? I’m sure Florida’s is on the up and up though.

Trump wanted to use a heat ray on protesters. Oh, it’s too early in the morning for this kind of shit. He’s moved into bond villain territory now:

William Barr wanted the mayor of Seattle arrested for allowing a police-free protest zone. Barr is far more than your usual Trump sycophant. He’s a tyrant himself. Barr is also comparing the lockdown to slavery. Because a forced lockdown in an attempt to save hundreds of thousands of lives is exactly the same as buying and selling human beings. These fucking people.

Do you think Susan Collins is concerned about this?


Oh and that Lindsey Graham poll.  I don’t want to get too excited about it because he’ll most likely pull through (I mean, it’s South Carolina), but the fact that he is sweaty right now about it fills me with some joy and I’ll take any of that I can get right now.

This is still really bleak:

From Reddit: An old church in France. There’s a debate in that thread and another reddit thread as to where this church is located and what the current state of it is. The two candidates are between Church of Saint-Étienne-le-Vieux in Caen and La chapelle du Domaine de Vic in Conques sur Obiel, Aude.

Not since keyboard cat have we seen such feline virtuosity:

Blue Moons and a Storrowing Happens: What I Learned Today – Wednesday, September 16

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This week is a bit busy so forgive the smaller than usual posts.


Oooh, Halloween this year will be a rare blue moon.

Over 200,000 Americans have now died from Covid-19.

Trump had a town hall last night.  It did not go well. There are a million clips of it on twitter and YouTube, each more crazy than the last, but this is the one that I just can’t get over.  Trump is blaming Biden for not leading the country through the pandemic.  Let’s repeat that. The President of the United States, is blaming his opponent, a man who is currently NOT president, nor even in office in any capacity, for not passing any laws or leading the country during a pandemic when Trump is President. It’s like me blaming YOU for doing a shitty job on the material being posted to this blog. DO BETTER READER!

Scientific American has been around for 175 and has never endorsed a candidate for president.  Until now. They are endorsing Joe Biden.

 

A train a tad too high meets a bridge a tad too low and a storrowing occurs.

And “storrowing” is named after the memories of so many once healthy trucks that decided to take a jaunt on Boston’s Storrow Drive and became insta-convertibles.  Here’s one from yesterday:

Christine McConnell bought an old spooky Victorian house in New York without stepping foot in it, and just posted a video of her moving across country along with her first moments receiving  the key and stepping inside the assuredly haunted foyer.

Didn’t she have a Netflix show at some point? I remember watching the first episode and I forget why I didn’t watch more. (Just logged in, found it; The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell, and added it to my Autumn watching list)

 

STFU Already JK Rowling and Baby’s First Waterfall – What I Learned Today – Tuesday, September 15

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It’s Tuesday.  Let’s do this!

Just listen to Oscar the Grouch please.

Or Paul Rudd:

Maybe, just maybe, we should aspire to something a little higher in the leadership of our country  than having the former Fear Factor host, moderate a debate with the former Apprentice host.

Ummm, can we get a little more info on this story about ICE performing mass hysterectomies on detained women? This sounds like nazi level Dr. Mengele type of bad.

The GOP lost a bid to keep Green Party candidates on the ballot in Montana. I understand the sentiments of those liberals who vote Green Party, but your attempts to start a more liberal party have done nothing but create a more conservative United States.

The amount of stupidity packed into this 1 minute and 39 second clip is astounding and soul draining. And that also goes for the reporter who just parrots the covidiots’ QAnon talking points without interjecting the word “mistakenly” or “deluded” or “opposed to all available science” or “fucking crazy” at any time during the report.

JK Rowling has found the hill she wants to die on and it’s called Mt. Transphobia.

A baby seeing a waterfall for the first time and it’s a wonderful and pure moment:

I missed the 25th anniversary of the Windows 95 launch dance party. In case you have never seen it, this guy does an analysis of the video which is spot on:

What I Learned Today – Monday, September 14

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Practically nothing. Not enough stuff today to put into Otherwise, but I did find out a few new things.  Hope everybody’s week has gotten off to a not too horrible start.

No masks, no social distancing, and an awkward race to be in a crowded arena to watch Trump go on and on about himself:

One doctor has called this rally, “negligent homicide”. Difficult to not agree with that considering what we know about how covid spreads now, especially indoors.

And Trump isn’t concerned that HE will get it during these rallies:

A recipe for flan pâtissier. I only allow myself to have dessert on the weekends. Last weekend were the half moons, (which turned out really well) and the week is young so I may not be in the mood for these come Saturday, but flan pâtissier is already a strong contender.

As Promised, I Made the Half Moons

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I mentioned this morning that I was going to try the half moon recipe. I did! I did!  My icing smoothing skills are lacking but they taste amazing.  If you hate frosting then this isn’t your thing (Mrs. C stayed away) but that’s your problem.

Only thing was the recipe said to flatten them down a bit before you put them in the oven and I may have flattened them a bit too much.  They needed to be a bit puffier and not so much like a disk. But notes have been made, and next time will be better.

Half Moons and Covid Tourism: What I Learned Today – Friday, September 11

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Half moons! There is a bakery close to my house that makes these. They look like a black and white cookie but are more like a mini-cake with buttercream frosting. I haven’t been to the bakery at all this year (thanks covid!) and am craving one big time.  I did some googling and found this recipe which duplicates the original half moons made at Hemstrought’s Bakery (now closed) which was located in upstate New York. This recipe makes 30 cookies so I think I should cut that in half. I’m thinking about giving these a try tonight.  Why not?  It’s Friday.

France’s covid numbers are starting to shoot up. 10,000 new ones yesterday.

Trump had a rally last night.  Virtually no masks.  No social distancing. Never have I seen a person go so far out to try to kill his supporters.  We’re living in surreal times:

I don’t even know where to start with this one:

And DeSantis is reopening Florida’s bars.

Trump has more free time than the people I know who are currently unemployed.

Twitter is raging about the clip of Kansas City fans booing a moment of solidarity against racism. And yeah, it’s terrible, but wait, there are fans in the stands now?


So the stadium isn’t packed but how is this still a good idea?

A 45 mile two day hike through Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.  Stunning!

Lost Architecture and RIP Diana Rigg: What I Learned Today – Thursday, September 10

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Let’s try a Trump/Covid free version of this today. Even though both are currently devastating everything they touch, I’m going to try to take a break from it, even if just for my own sanity. And it’s so humid right now that I’m basically air swimming so I need some pleasant things. I’m sure you understand.

Places on the web I can get lost in for days at a time.  Reddit’s /r/Lost_Architecture:

Pictured here is the Salem train depot from Salem, MA (Yes, that Salem), which was built in 1848 and torn down in 1954.

Or the Cincinnati Public Library, torn down in 1955.  What a beautiful interior with the spiral staircase.

A homemade hummus recipe. One thing I really like about this recipe is how he prepares the garlic oil and garlic which both can then be used in other recipes as well. (Roasting garlic and infused garlic oil is just so amazing. It cuts out the sharpness in raw garlic so that you can enjoy the rest of your day/night without scaring off anybody who comes closer to you than 15 feet)

RIP Diana Rigg. She stole every scene in Game of Thrones and when people talk about the Avengers, it takes me a bit to realize they are talking about some CGI superhero shit show and not the one with Emma Peel:

Inspired by yesterday’s video, I think this will be my first venture into a new type of breakfast for my palate.  Tamago Kake Gohan. Although I may wait until I have better quality eggs then the one currently in the fridge.  Developing!!