It’s not Ireland (never been there) but downtown Seoul, South Korea, from May, 2012.
Thinking about the people of Seoul and South Korea today, reading about how their COVID numbers are spiking.
May we all see a better tomorrow.
Author Archives: momdude
Prepare For Dancing
Similar to last night’s photo. 99% illuminated now, 388,422 kilometers away.
Ignore the little orange streak, that’s just an LAPD helicopter cruising by.
As I commented on a friend’s similar post on social media earlier, it’s almost like there’s a whole other world up there, almost close enough to touch.
Soon it will be warm enough to go out dancing in the moonlight. Grab a partner.
Filed under Astronomy, Photography
Oodles Of Moonlight
It’s very bright out there. I like it. Spring’s almost here, six more days!
Filed under Photography
Insanity & Stupidity On The Upswing – Again
Officially, the United States has over 963,000 deaths from COVID so far. That’s a very conservative number, due in large part to states such as Florida very deliberately undercounting COVID deaths. The actual number is almost certainly more than twice that.
And yet, almost every state has gotten rid of most mask mandates, except for possibly in hospitals and on public transportation. Businesses can still put their own mask mandates in place, but few if any will.
“The pandemic is over!” Bullshit. Anyone who thinks that is a fucking idiot. In the US, while the numbers from the “fourth wave” caused by the Omicron variant are decreasing, we still have something like 1,500+ deaths a day.
A! DAY! 1500!
Boy, we freaked out of our minds over 2,977 deaths on 9/11, didn’t we? But now we’re losing that many of our family and neighbors every 48 hours and no one cares.
What brings this to the forefront and has me so pissed off tonight?
The grocery store yesterday morning.
After over two years of almost 100% compliance with masking requirements, things changed in an instant with the lifting of the mask mandates. It’s been a week or so and last week there were still mostly folks all wearing masks, one or two not, but this week? It’s over folks. Even here in blue California where the loudmouth idiots protesting masks and vaccines were a vocal but very tiny minority, this week the masks came off.
Maybe half of those in the store (besides the employees) were masked. Maybe.
Next week I expect it to be less. And less the following week.
Okay. Whatever. I will continue to wear a mask at all times indoors in any public place, but that’s just me. And a small minority of other sane folks.
For the politicians and those at the CDC who caved to the insane rantings of the vocal minority, I have a question:
Now that you’ve let go of the reins and gone to useless “recommendations” to stay masked, what are you going to do when the numbers start climbing exponentially again?
The genie’s out of the bottle. Pandora’s box has been opened. There’s no going back.
When we’re back to infection rates and hospitalization rates and death rates that make the fourth wave look like a picnic (and remember, we’re STILL at rates that would have horrified us during the first wave), how do you re-start mask mandates and get any compliance whatsoever?
Herd immunity? Never going to happen.
At some point enough people will die, and the health care system will be overwhelmed enough to collapse, and the morons still won’t wear masks, but enough of them will die slow, horrible deaths so that the rest of us can get on with our lives and do what we need to do to stop this.
Until then…
Filed under Death Of Common Sense, Freakin' Idiots!
What DOES Starlight Taste Like?
An unusual quirk of mine – I don’t drink coffee.
(I’ll pause for the wailing and shocked outrage to calm down.)
My caffeine substrate of choice is Diet Coke. I drink a couple a day, which is a lot better than in my youth when I could drink six, eight, ten or more a day. Ah, youth…
I was intrigued when I heard that Coke has a special new flavor for a limited time. “Coke Starlight.”
They had some in the grocery store finally this morning. Okay.
I’m pretty sure it won’t actually taste like space. I base that conclusion on the fact that smell and taste are closely associated, and we actually DO know what space smells like. Short version, a little like cordite or gunpowder, or maybe burnt steak. I’m willing to bet in advance that won’t be what Coke aims for with this.
Let’s give it a try!
Um… probably not going to be my favorite, but not bad. Despite the fact that this version is “Zero Sugar,” it tastes quite sweet. The flavor to me was familiar, but it took a couple of swigs before my brain could ignore what my eyes and hands were doing and filter out just what the taste was.
Cupcakes with vanilla frosting. To me at least, that’ exactly what it tasted like.
So, experiment concluded with acceptable results. Not something I’m going to regret seeing gone if it truly is a limited time special edition, but if someplace doesn’t have Diet Coke, this would be an acceptable substitute for a meal.
And SO MUCH better than Diet Pepsi as a substitute. Bleah! That crap is horrible!!
Filed under Paul, Photography
Movement
I lesson I’ve learned but need to remember and use in times of need has to do with being “stuck.”
Let’s say things aren’t working, or at least, not working well.
Something needs to change, but you’re not sure what.
You’re caught up in the “fog of war,” so to speak.
You’re concerned that you could do the wrong thing and make things worse.
So, you do nothing, which in and of itself could well be making things worse.
What to do?
Move.
Maybe you’re not moving in the ideal direction.
There’s a potential for you to be moving in the worst possible direction.
But if you do a quick gut check, think about what you know and don’t know, and make your best possible decision, the odds are it will be at least somewhat better.
And even if it’s not fantastic, even if it is worse, you can see that from a different perspective and correct course.
Triangulate. Get new data.
Change the variables.
Flip the problem on its head.
Get some tiny part of the puzzle taken care of and set aside, see what new avenues that opens up.
It’s like playing a game where every move affects all other potential moves.
Somewhere in there is a solution, a path.
But if you can’t see that path now, MOVE!
Find a different perspective, the view that will show you the next part of the maze.
Filed under Deep Thoughts, Paul, Photography
Friday At Last, But No Joe
Not Jack Webb, or Dan Ackroyd, but the building you saw in every “Dragnet” episode is still iconic.
Los Angeles City Hall, as seen from the Music Center and Ahmanson Theater.
Filed under Los Angeles, Photography
Play Ball
So, they finally made a deal and Major League Baseball will at last get going, a month or so late. Spring training will start on Sunday and will be about three weeks instead of six or seven weeks, and opening day will be pushed back a week.
But the games originally scheduled for that first week will be re-scheduled, not cancelled, so we’ll have a full season.
A couple of COVID-related rule changes will be abandoned, which I think is great. I was not a fan of having games in double headers only being seven innings instead of nine, and the whole “start with a guy on second base in extra innings” was particularly stupid.
The designated hitter is now universal, which is meh to me. I liked the strategy in having to work around someone who realistically can’t hit (especially since most of them couldn’t bunt or do much of anything else these days) but I also like the offense, so that’s a wash.
Expanded playoffs? Okay. At least it’s not the NHL or NBA where half the league gets into the playoffs every year.
I know that I should be pissed off and I probably swore that I would never go to a game again, but we all knew that was just a temper tantrum with nothing behind it. If they had blown off half the season, or more? Sure, maybe it would have happened. Now? Sorry, I just don’t have the energy or the willpower to turn my back on one of my lifelong major sources of entertainment. There’s too much that sucks these days to give up something I have so much of a connection to, even if they did piss me off.
I’m weak.
Sue me.
But as with this strike or lockout or “work stoppage” or whatever you choose to call it (don’t explain it to me, I don’t care) I have to wonder. It doesn’t matter if it’s baseball or teachers or grocery store clerks or steel workers or whatever. In the end, when you come to a deal and move on, is there one, single compromise or agreement that couldn’t have been made BEFORE the “work stoppage?” One? Anything?
Or did you just waste all of that wear and tear on our nerves, all of that stress, all of that anger, just so that everyone could have a temper tantrum and a glorified dick measuring contest in public?
Filed under Freakin' Idiots!, LA Angels, Sports
Not Just Another Pretty Flower
I spent my grade school years in Kansas City, so sunflowers and I go way, way back.
It’s refreshing and heartwarming to see the new gig that they’ve gotten as a symbol of Ukraine.
It’s good to see them available in the stores to brighten up our kitchens and homes.
Not that it would be easy to forget about what’s going on in Ukraine right now, but having these around to make it even harder.
I think when this is over and the spectacular Ukranian people are rebuilding their cities and their lives and needing some cash to do it, perhaps an influx of American tourists would help.
I’ll buy into that when the time comes. I love visiting Europe. Brussels. London. Prague is one of my favorite places on the entire planet. Time to see Kyiv in person, see the museums in Lviv, see the architecture in Odessa.
And I’ll also have to make sure to find a huge field of sunflowers under a bright blue sky to just stand in and soak up the beauty. (And the pollen.)
Filed under Flowers, Photography, Politics
Another New Spring Start
Yesterday, nada. Zip. Zilch.
Today?
Little white flowers silhouetted against a bright blue sky.
Someone’s got their sap flowing! (If you know what I mean…)
Filed under Flowers, Photography
We Love The Stars Too Fondly 