tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327426842024-03-18T23:22:01.895-05:00From the SidelinesReviews of movies, anime, and the occasional TV show mixed with warnings on Blogger spam. Also to be found are musings on whatever I am thinking about - all from the point of view of being left to watch everything from the sidelines of life.Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.comBlogger1073125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-87159123138222817012023-08-31T09:34:00.001-05:002023-08-31T09:34:30.468-05:00<p> Looking at the calendar, it has been well over a year since I last posted on the blog. This is due to a variety of reasons with a lack of interest being the primary reason...</p><p>When I first started From the Sidelines, it was intended mostly as a journal of sorts rather than trying to start a paper one yet again. Those prior attempts never lasted long due to there rarely being anything positive to report leaving constant bad health for entries. At some point, abandoning doing the same on the blog had to happen as nobody (me) wants to read a litany of woe.</p><p>Over the years, the death of Live Writer and Open Live Writer straight up killed the formatting I liked to use for posts containing images leading to a reduction of my interest in photography as an unwanted side effect. Simultaneously, the Internet became a short inflammatory text message or video oriented format as the race to the lowest common denominator of human behavior took over. The failure of search engines in recent years turned the new frontier days of the World Wide Web into a corporately homogeneous dull pastiche of assorted inanities with no place for anything remotely thoughtful or creative.<br /></p><p>In short, it all ceased to be even remotely fun.</p><p>At one point, I thought the site would at least be preserved for posterity, after all everything is permanent on the Internet as it used to be said. Time and reality have proved otherwise with vast tracts of data, personal sites, and even large web sites vanished into the ether. While the Internet Archive project is a valiant attempt to preserve things, it is under threat of being sued out of existence. </p><p>The fragility of digital data has become very apparent of late and the things we take for granted today will be gone without a trace, unlike tangible objects such as books, documents, paintings, and buildings. We, the denizens of the modern West, have built a house of cards at the end of our civilization that most people will be shocked by when it collapses.</p><p>So I find myself questioning why I bothered with creating From the Sidelines in the first place. 20/20 hindsight is at play, of course -- but I can't remember the feeling I had starting it up and adding to it in the early years. That was a time I still had hope for some kind of life in mortality and those kind of delusions are now long gone.</p><p>The blog is a relic of the past at this point, I think. <br /></p><p><br /></p>Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-35326499006516754102022-03-03T18:57:00.000-06:002022-03-03T18:57:16.720-06:00Blind Men See More Clearly Than This<p> Since my last post, Russia invaded Ukraine and most of the world decided they suddenly loved Ukraine resulting in an outpouring of outrage and a proliferation of blue & yellow avatars on social media accounts. Suddenly, a clash between completely corrupt countries became the most black and white war ever seen. Any criticism about Ukraine or its leader Volodymyr Zelensky<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></span> was heresy, Nazi supporting, and Putin adoration worthy of being burned at the stake.<br /></p><p>Well, that's on one side. </p><p>The other side extolled the virtues of the one true defender of Christianity, free speech, and capitalism: Vladimir Putin. Righting all the wrongs done by Biden, Hilary Clinton, and the Krampus, anything said against him was heresy, Neo Nazi supporting, Zelensky adoration worthy of being burned at the stake.</p><p>Any attempts by individuals at being a voice of reason has resulted in said voices being shouted down for being a villain supporting one side or the other depending on the stance of the denouncer. Usually keeping a cool and objective perspective is desired, but not in 2022 as raging emotionalism has become the only form of public discourse allowed in the modern West, not just the United States of America.</p><p>We didn't need that added to the already murky fog of war, yet here we are.</p><p>This post is an attempt to record my thoughts in extremely broad strokes for future posterity. There is no way I could document all that I've read and researched over the years without writing a lengthy book, so this is more for my consumption/memories than anything else. </p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p></p><p>Sigh. The idiocy permeating all reporting, opining, and political posturing over the tragedy unfolding in Ukraine exacerbates my having lost all faith in humanity over the past two years.</p><p>The stakes couldn't be higher since I'm getting the sense that some kind of use of nuclear weapons is now a probability rather than just a possibility. For all the noise being made in support of Ukraine, only small arms are being provided by supporting countries, mainly out of a rightful fear of provoking World War III, Yet demands to do more keep popping up including an abortive attempt to supply fighter jets, implementation of a no-fly zone, or even providing boots on the ground. None of these are good ideas.<br /></p><p>People wish to believe the Russians are merely sabre rattling about using nuclear weapons or expanding the war to remove N.A.T.O. from Europe. Yes, that was one of their demands during negotiations last December and no Putin did not offer that as an initial high ask. Go check out Macron's latest phone call with Putin for reference. It was an eye opener for the French leader, to say the least.<br /></p><p>Going back to what happened during the Cold War, one shocking thing to me was discovering the vast majority of Soviet leaders, military and civilian, really believed the U.S. and N.A.T.O. were determined to invade and destroy them at any moment. Astounding levels of paranoia and feelings of persecution are ingrained in Russian culture, most likely due to their being invaded repeatedly for many centuries by foreign powers. Hey, the United States invaded Russia and held territory briefly during World War I!</p><p>That was never taught in school here. <br /></p><p>Years ago, I talked to someone who served a mission in Russia and he described the people thusly: "It's like they were all dropped on their heads as babies." He clarified that it was his feeling after witnessing the highly emotional and self destructive tendencies running through the population at large. There's something about their culture that is intrinsically screwed up.<br /></p><p>Consequently, violence always has been the solution for most problems there and in dealing with foreigners. Back when the Berlin Wall fell triggering the dissolution of the U.S.S.R. a few years later, I thought expanding N.A.T.O. was a very good move and even hoped that Russia might be brought in eventually. It was a beautiful dream. However, once Boris Yeltsin was out of power things slowly grew frosty again.</p><p>As time went by, I viewed the adjoining countries to Russia as very poor candidates for membership since it is clear their joining would only revive the paranoia of being invaded by us. Of course, this opinion was informed by the new information previously mentioned about Cold War beliefs. Even so, I felt as long as the expansion didn't go past that of 1999's admission of Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary everything would be fine.</p><p>Well, since then, one country after another has joined with multiple directly on the border with paranoid Russia. Eleven more from 2004 to 2020, plus France officially rejoining, to be precise. With Ukraine, Sweden, and Finland becoming possible members, Putin surely felt his paranoia was justified and N.A.T.O. led by the United States thought they could take over by diplomatic/economic means.</p><p>It isn't like we didn't know this. The annexation of Crimea in 2014, the Georgia invasion, and constant probing of air defenses by Russian war planes into American and allied areas has been steadily ramping up.<br /></p><p>Yet corrupt politicians of both major political parties have continued to get rich off of foreign aid to Ukraine in the form of kickbacks and bribes. Most people know nothing of Ukraine, but I've been aware of its unmatched corruption for many years -- no wonder it has soaked up hundreds of millions in aid year after year and somehow remained the second poorest country in Europe. As is traditional in corruption, most is done through family members of powerful politicians: brothers, sons, daughters, or even close associates.</p><p>Why? Plausible deniability. After all, the politician him or herself didn't take the bribe personally so they aren't lying by denying wrongdoing when confronted. This is the way of lawyers where splitting hairs determines guilt or innocence -- isn't human made law wonderful?</p><p>Here in the United States, the following political families have made millions off of Ukraine, much related to the gas firm Burisma: Clinton, McCain, Biden, and Romney. There are others, but those are the big fish. As for European leaders, I've not informed enough to say, but the incredibly fast reaction of European countries to move to sanctions against Russia is abnormal. Normally they stall and move slowly due to a lot of Russian money involved in their economies.</p><p>So it is no surprise that Putin invaded under pretenses of saving ethnic Russians (yes there are genuine Neo Nazi's in East Ukraine) in order to thwart N.A.T.O. and regain control of the mismanaged natural resourced found in Ukraine (hey, they grow 25% of the world's grain, large reserves of oil/gas) while re-establishing the greater Russian Empire. When Joe Biden gave him the green light to go ahead and take the breakaway regions of Ukraine in a speech indicating they wouldn't consider that a major provocation, I imagine Putin smirked as the open weakness of the Biden administration meant taking even more was now on the table.</p><p>Bizarrely, while the weakness was on display, elements of the administration if not all of it, were showing signs of wanting a conflict with Russia over Ukraine. Possibly it was sabre rattling based on the idea that we are scary enough to deter Putin into doing nothing or a limited war. Maybe the military industrial complex wanted an atmosphere conducive to more arms sales. Another motivator might be the desire to make sure the kickbacks weren't exposed and to keep the gravy train going. </p><p>How about sheer incompetency like with everything else involving the Biden era?<br /></p><p>No matter the reasons, the end result was an emboldened Putin. The refusal by Biden's handlers to sanction Russian oil and gas indicates just how serious they are about punishing Putin...<br /></p><p>Given the latest battlefront news, it is clear the invasion is about taking all of Ukraine. Russian propaganda is now stating that Russians and Ukrainians are the same people. While not going as quickly or smoothly as Putin's generals told him, advancement is steady in the south and west at the cost of heavy losses by the Russian military. Numerous civilian lives are being lost with one million refugees fleeing the country as the classic Russian brutality has emerged in reaction to the impressive resistance of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians.<br /></p><p>Aside from that, all news is questionable since both sides are telling outright lies for propaganda purposes. That's frustrating for me for many reasons with the least being a military weapons buff trying to figure our which weapons systems are proving or disproving their effectiveness. </p><p>Of course, that's exceedingly minor given the cost of human lives ongoing and the potential for things to simply get out of hand. And by out of hand, I'm talking about a third world war. Russia has threatened the use of nuclear weapons against anybody who intervenes then threatened Finland and Sweden if they join N.A.T.O. </p><p>The previous two world wars didn't start all at once, instead they began with a small match being lit that spread the fire of war from nation to nation via the cords of the mutual defense treaties until the world was ablaze. If it happens again, the fire will be different -- a radioactive fire bringing suffering unimaginable.</p><p>Reports are filtering in from European and U.K. newspapers that some of the Russian oligarchs are now objecting to the invasion. Maybe the sanctions are working or maybe the incredibly bad PR for Russia in general has had impact. If this is happening, Putin's isn't as secure domestically as most would think.</p><p>A little internal regime change in the offing? Hopefully.<br /></p><p>All one can do is pray that cooler heads prevail.<br /></p>Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-1734501534885237512022-02-17T16:58:00.002-06:002022-02-17T16:58:45.339-06:002022 Is Strange and Not in a Good Way<p> From growing authoritarian tendencies being exhibited by various Western governments (Australia and Canada being the worst), an economic collapse underway in the U.S.A., to the extreme desire for war with Russia emanating from D.C., this year is showing signs of wanting to compete with the previous two for making life miserable for us plebs. <br /></p><p>It all feels like being an NPC (Non Player Character) or an unnamed side character in a really badly written game or novel. If the theory we are all in a vast computer simulation is true, the company responsible for it must be the pan-dimensional version of EA or Blizzard Software -- especially if the unadulterated nuttery going on in Western culture is considered.</p><p>Having survived the Delta variant of COVID-19 back in November (not mild, but not severe, still generally unimpressive), I'd hoped for a little more normality sooner rather then later. Silly me. </p><p>I have to say, World War III was not on my list of probable events when the new year arrived!</p><p>A nuclear war would be inconvenient as I'm still upscaling DVD's from my collection to HD and am nowhere near being done. The most important movies have been rendered and the halfway point on anime discs has been reached. Following completing that genre, the daunting task of TV series begins at a much higher level of difficulty due to arcane mastering issues involving mixed frame rates, interlacing, and the sheer volume of episodes.</p><p>More time is required, therefore a massive war resulting in most of humanity dying would be problematic since the electricity would be cut off.</p><p>Hey, I have my priorities.</p><p>Meanwhile, it has been a cold, if delayed winter, which somehow has been fairly dull despite a few minor snow storms here and there. The main hardship has been a roller coaster pattern to temperatures which is not the best thing for arthritis or cats. Both have been painful in different ways plus the added entertainment of constant feline confusion whenever I open the door to let them out. Top Cat looks at me with an accusatory stare when confronted with a chill blast, obviously blaming me for the situation.</p><p>When informed that weather control is above my pay grade, he shuffles off.</p><p>Only to demand being let out fifteen minutes later. </p><p>With the same results.</p><p>I get no respect. <br /></p>Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-89160298216917055972021-01-27T15:32:00.003-06:002021-01-27T15:32:50.812-06:00Looking Forward<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmaSruNJ9ze4cpYqecwG9IbjA77Q05Ev8UMu2WmFgSXMAXeVzK38IcTp3IJoFofWUBeC8QB5cnN4isg3scRQqExxdx0YozixnKFRGe0rNcdWPMx8VaJUprr1EBgNYVLyYBu9HFjw/s1440/Looking+forward.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmaSruNJ9ze4cpYqecwG9IbjA77Q05Ev8UMu2WmFgSXMAXeVzK38IcTp3IJoFofWUBeC8QB5cnN4isg3scRQqExxdx0YozixnKFRGe0rNcdWPMx8VaJUprr1EBgNYVLyYBu9HFjw/s320/Looking+forward.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>For those who have hope, looking forward is a natural mode of behavior. For those with dashed hopes, looking backward to some mythological golden age is likewise natural. For those with absolutely no hope the perils of falling into apathetic depression or violent madness that desires to burn things down are again natural outcomes.</p><p>Here in the United States of America and many other places, choosing one of those three paths at the crossroads of 2020 was something that couldn't be avoided. Sadly, the last one has been chosen by enough to create a 2021 that may make the previous year look fantastically good by comparison. Anything that can go wrong is with no light in the tunnel in sight. </p><p>One of the worst things is how acceptance of corruption and violence has grown, not shrunk in response to the challenges of a pandemic. Complicating the civil unrest is the now open resentment of the very existence of working class people of all races, creeds, and religions by the upper classes and a good chunk of the wealthier middle class. Divide et impera -- divide and conquer has been very successfully employed on an ignorant and self absorbed populace. <br /></p><p>While the world is apparently bent on living a new normal of mandated isolation, corrupt tyranny, and hatred it is hard for people to be hopeful. Despair is growing, along with addictions and suicides, as jobs, income, and socializing are lost. Not exactly conducive conditions for growing hope in one's heart, are they?<br /></p><p>My perspective on all of this going to be unusual. Personal circumstances of age, health, wealth, and lack of family have given me no hope for better times in the mortal sphere for some years. Frankly, generations of people are looking at the same fate, or soon will be when they realize far too late what all has been happening. Dealing with loss of what I'll call mortal hope is much more difficult when caught off guard with the ensuing problem of simply not having enough time to prepare for it.<br /></p><p>Even so, I do not prescribe mortal hope. Often based on human expert opinion it is all too fallible and you are bound to always be disappointed. It is due to the bitter fact that the most brilliant human is still a barely functional idiot in the grand scheme of things. The failure of our governing, scientific, cultural, and educational leaders to be as brilliant as they claim to be has resulted in a slow rot of the faith of the masses in any of those institutions. </p><p>This loss of faith has been happening for some decades although many do not realize it, especially the members of those institutions blaming the ignorance and stupidity of the masses. The real problem is that those lesser beings called the masses have begun noticing their betters have adorned themselves in The Emperor's New Clothes. Conflict is inevitable when madness reigns.</p><p>Not a cheerful thing to contemplate, is it?<br /></p><p>It's a good thing that I consider myself just a visitor passing through on my way to a better world or I'd be trapped into one of the destructive modes of thinking outlined in the first paragraph. This, of course, doesn't make things blissfully easy as the world intrudes no matter how isolated or divorced from it you are. That said, letting go of worrying about the outcome for the entire planet or even the country I live in has been a good lesson in humility. </p><p>Most of my life has been spent worrying on the behalf of others accompanied by inability to actually affect things on even a small stage as years of involvement in politics proved. Perhaps disability played a part, since so little of my own existence is under my control and so I looked for distraction in the form of civic duty, however it is no excuse for frittering away hours, perhaps years of my life. An ant trying to shove an elephant around never can succeed, after all. </p><p>Rather than despairing, it is liberating to let go of responsibility that was never really mine in the first place. Taking on the burdens of the world is the Lord's duty, not mine, as I've thoroughly learned the last few years.</p><p>Where does that leave me in these broken times? </p><p>My path has to be spiritual for the most part given my limitations. Choosing to do so while letting go of more worldly things is a way of putting one foot in front of another even if a slow shuffle. The important thing is actively keeping moving which should be easier having let go of the unnecessary weights slowing me down. </p><p>It is ironic that this post was not started with any spiritual message intended yet keeps coming back to my faith in Christ. Is that itself a small step forward? Time will tell.</p><p>In the meantime, working on my health, learning video encoding (and eventually editing), and reading all those books I've accumulated over decades will keep me busy. The world is on its own.<br /></p>Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-48823821965503626222020-04-22T11:59:00.000-05:002020-04-22T11:59:15.661-05:00UncertaintyWith far too much of the world gripped in a panic induced by a pandemic, I've been contemplating how poorly the vast majority of humans deal with uncertainty in life. The following ramble came out of that exercise.<br />
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Fear of the unknown has been considered the most potent of fears experienced by humans. A microscopic virus cannot be seen by the unaided eye with only its casualties left behind to be witnessed as evidence of its passage -- unless you work in a lab analyzing test samples. For all intents and purposes it is almost supernatural to the lay person, resulting in an intense primordial fear being felt by more than a few and far too many.<br />
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The most dangerous problem with intense fear is that it is intrinsically irrational and furthermore generates deeply irrational reactions that really can't be called thoughts. Feeding into that is another fear that is common and lurks below the surface in a constant fashion: uncertainty. Often manifesting as anxiety over change, it can be debilitating all by itself.<br />
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Now add the normal fear of death and you have a cocktail of genuine madness that is capable of being spread more quickly than any virus. If that wasn't enough, the continued political actions based on Rahm Emmanuel's famous line, "You never let a serious crisis go to waste," has generated genuine fear of government infringement of civil rights here in the United States. Since the upper middle class to wealthy so far aren't affected by job loss the way middle and lower class voters have been, a huge disparity in economic impact is exacerbating the situation.<br />
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There is a terrible social and economic disconnect between the highly educated classes and everyone else being fully revealed by this. Not only is there no empathy, there is zero sympathy exhibited toward the struggles of the poorer as they suffer economic devastation. Instead, vilification is the order of the day as the lock down turns into an open class struggle.<br />
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When people are oscillating from fear of death to fear of losing their homes to fear of having their rights taken away to fear of anyone disagreeing with them, you have truly reached uncertain times. The uncertainty is inescapable, not even through binge streaming television as has become the big thing to do -- with so many trapped at home now.<br />
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It's driving people crazy and making them meaner.<br />
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Extremes were vogue before COVID-19/Novel Corona Virus/Wuhan Flu/Insert Fad Name Here locked down more than half the planet, but now they are a wee bit more angry than previously -- yeah, hard to believe it could get worse, but it did. So much for pulling together in a crisis, that era is gone in the United States.<br />
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The hysteria being promulgated by the media and multiple state governments isn't helping things one whit. Ever moving goal posts are not confidence building nor improving social stability as projection after projection fail to live up to hype. Changing shelter at home's (or whatever verbal variant employed) intention reveals a great deal of dishonesty from authorities.<br />
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Remember, flattening had little to do with saving lives as it did with keeping intensive care units from being overwhelmed. Here in Minnesota, models projected we were going to have 50,000 dead by April 10th <u>with</u> shelter at home. A week and a half later on the 21st, only 160 have died in total with half of them 84 and older. That works out to a 0.062 % fatality rate for those tested positive.<br />
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That's out of a population estimated to be 5,639,632 in 2019 by the U.S. Census Bureau. So the death's out of all Minnesota residents is 0.000028 %. The number will increase, but won't ever get near shouting distance of one percent.<br />
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Yet now being semi-quarantined at home is all about saving many lives if you listen to the news. That is simply a falsehood as the whole point was to delay deaths, not prevent them. Perhaps being honest about that was considered too risky, however it is the reality of such measures. Meanwhile, death statistics have been fudged carefully to inflate them thanks to CDC guidelines that are overly broad. Also an ugly issue is that medical institutions only get full federal funds when a death is ruled to be from COVID-19 and they are desperate for money right now.<br />
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More uncertainty is the result of such things.<br />
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Adding to the problem is how badly New York has been skewing national statistics. Between the failed leadership there, being a foreign traveler destination, the subways, and living like sardines in a can it has become a dire outlier for both infection and associated death. One size policy does not fit all and Minnesota should not be subject to the same rules as New York City. So economically punishing sections of the country that aren't as densely populated as Gotham and its neighbors is bound to stir up resentment.<br />
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Economic destruction is real and already happening due to small businesses failing along with a dramatic increase in unemployment. Some industries may never recover, such as movie theaters and publishing. Though deaths from economic privation aren't going to be immediately obvious, they will happen in time especially if hospitals fail -- the prospect of should strike you with legitimate fear. Trading off fewer deaths now for more later is not a rational trade off. Time is running out even as it is apparent the curve has been flattened successfully.<br />
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As time goes by there is now more uncertainty due to economic woes than infection. Sigh.<br />
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While I completely support the spontaneous demonstrations for opening up various states for business again, some things do need to remain shutdown. Given how the vast majority of deaths involve senior citizens in congregated living (is that the most bureaucratic name of all time or what), nursing homes and assisted living need to stay locked down. Mass transit services in large cities need to be completely shutdown including New York City's famous subway system that has been a chief spreader of COVID-19. Hot spots need to continue to be socially limited to without Big Brother levels of surveillance.<br />
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All of this is fraught with, you guessed it, uncertainty, because nothing is guaranteed to succeed. This normal human condition used to be acknowledged, but has somehow becoming taboo to talk about. Much, if not most of the events in our lives aren't controlled directly by us. Accepting that and taking responsibility for what we can control used to be a hallmark of adulthood.<br />
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The perpetual adolescence of our society is a liability. From what I remember from my teens, constant uncertainty was a hallmark of that period of growing up. I do not miss it and often wonder why so many desire to be so emotionally arrested.<br />
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There may be one silver lining out of all this and that has yet to pass. If extensive antibody testing for COVID-19 is done throughout the States, it would be the biggest accumulation of data on a virus pandemic ever done. For research on spread, infectiousness, and many other factors it would be of great benefit for the future. Understanding of such things is still primitive as the incredibly inaccurate computer models have demonstrated. We need to understand far more than we do when it comes to viruses.<br />
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But most of all, we need to stop fearing uncertainty and simply live our lives without crushing fear.<br />
<br />Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-23541726938656847442020-02-15T17:19:00.002-06:002020-02-15T17:19:22.187-06:00That Which is Given, is Quickly Taken AwayI haven't been this upset in some time and typing this post is surprisingly difficult.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg71nWkEPHeIaF-hbpHlmkw4V9tvgZu4M3v1nDzwZbCJHqrnKNY9Cil9QoSti_IOK2NZl9ZR77k9gBiTH_Alf8lDCo5Kk8-aDVBFb28LED2dV1pxAxwJHj4cIso1fSAQ3RWz5kpAA/s1600/Merry+on+the+Desk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg71nWkEPHeIaF-hbpHlmkw4V9tvgZu4M3v1nDzwZbCJHqrnKNY9Cil9QoSti_IOK2NZl9ZR77k9gBiTH_Alf8lDCo5Kk8-aDVBFb28LED2dV1pxAxwJHj4cIso1fSAQ3RWz5kpAA/s320/Merry+on+the+Desk.jpg" title="Meriadoc the Kitten" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXaaNHP03ZbTU8DYxDTldFVQjwRmQVQtp8ZApOewL8Qo-f4jON5eMUmj3lTeZe1I52YyGyWKfG9EOBKjCbK5kZATxKBXdwBT8BWGqF0C8xfpIAQe6BlI38qU7tY_xcrBR5fXwImg/s1600/Merry+and+Top.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXaaNHP03ZbTU8DYxDTldFVQjwRmQVQtp8ZApOewL8Qo-f4jON5eMUmj3lTeZe1I52YyGyWKfG9EOBKjCbK5kZATxKBXdwBT8BWGqF0C8xfpIAQe6BlI38qU7tY_xcrBR5fXwImg/s320/Merry+and+Top.jpg" title="Merry and Top" width="320" /></a></div>
Just over three years ago, I wrote a post about <a href="https://from-the-sidelines.blogspot.com/2016/12/modifications.html">a kitten I'd gotten</a> to help another cat get over his depression at his brother's disappearance. Meriadoc was a little bundle of pure joy who more than accomplished his assigned task. Top adopted Merry as his new brother with the younger cat adoring him.<br />
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Along with a neighbor's cat who arrived in a snowstorm and refused to leave, the cats became very tight companions. So tight that we referred to them as "the Three Musketeers" due to their running around outside as a unit. They were so much fun to watch together, mainly due to the fact we'd never seen male cats bond like this before.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirB0RKK6QQrsqRzNzSOZCVhuCaXS5Zqp5T3ohDmUU8FrXQKU6nPntlD1PPAfDqHQ2rhGIUOkVZCqsSMQAhiPMj8IJuJKwAPzDSxqNbsG6TWOystaubwwayQlEddm1NaKHSemrOQg/s1600/Morry%252C+Merry%252C+and+Top.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirB0RKK6QQrsqRzNzSOZCVhuCaXS5Zqp5T3ohDmUU8FrXQKU6nPntlD1PPAfDqHQ2rhGIUOkVZCqsSMQAhiPMj8IJuJKwAPzDSxqNbsG6TWOystaubwwayQlEddm1NaKHSemrOQg/s320/Morry%252C+Merry%252C+and+Top.jpg" title="The Three Musketeers" width="320" /></a><br />
Two weeks ago, Merry went missing during high activity by local coyotes. Multiple nights they could be heard nearby taunting the neighbor's dogs. With no sign of him, we wrote him off as yet another cat taken by local varmints. We found ourselves missing him greatly.<br />
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Then this past Wednesday, I heard a rusty hinge of a meow from the dining room. Not believing my ears, I went to see if I was mishearing things. No, it was a beat up and very happy to be home Merry who begged to be picked up. Suffering from a slight weight loss and scratches from a fight with another cat, he was very much alive.<br />
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Over the next couple of days, he was in and out, demanding and getting extended holding sessions. His bowels weren't being kind to him, but I held him despite the pungent aroma he exuded while watching a DVD Friday night. I was so very grateful for his return that it didn't matter.<br />
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Little did I know that would be the last time I'd get to hold him alive.<br />
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Dad and I decided to go see a movie and as we turned on to the county road, I saw a black cat lying still in the middle of one lane. It was Merry. He'd been run over and his corpse was frozen without a hint of damage.<br />
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As I'm typing this, we have a fire going over a small patch of soil in an effort to soften it enough to bury the plucky black cat who gave us so much happiness. It wasn't just Top's heart that had been mended by Merry's presence, but those of the humans in his household.<br />
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Right now I'm fighting for self control. When I'd thought we'd lost him earlier, it wasn't like this. Losing him so soon after getting him back is unexpectedly excruciating. I'd thought I'd gotten used to the constant loss that defines my life.<br />
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Merry won't be and can't be replaced.Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-71583356921731788102019-11-02T13:22:00.001-05:002019-11-02T13:26:08.085-05:00A Lack of MotivationIt has been just over five months since I last posted here. Between struggles with health and not a whole lot to say, there hasn't been a lot of motivation to put together content for the blog. However, there has been an additional demotivating factor affecting my attitude.<br />
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The death of Open Live Writer's ability to work with images. Since the built in Blogger editor has always been twitchy, not to mention inconvenient to work with by comparison, it has made posting difficult.<br />
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One of the things that has made aging a melancholy process for me is the ruination of so many things I enjoyed or used faithfully over many years. From movie franchises to books to stores to tremendously helpful software, the downward spiral has been unavoidable. Here and there a replacement has been found that works, yet all too many have fallen prey to creative destruction -- minus the creative part.<br />
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So rethinking the blog is in order. Movie and anime reviews will not continue, though the old ones will stay. I had enjoyed the process of composing them but formatting has become an onerous task. A return to the more journal like aspect of the blog is probably in order with the added complication of my disliking writing about the unhappy things in my life. Living through them is enough pain in the first place. The human desire to dwell endlessly on unhappiness is not something I approve of -- especially where <i>I'm</i> concerned.<br />
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Since my other blog, Mamie's Life is permanently discontinued I have to wonder if this is an end to an era on the Net for me. Output steadily decreased over the years has dropped the blog in priority to somewhere in the negative numbers on my To-Do list. Earlier in the year I posted about a lot of other factors souring me on blogging including the decline of civilized behavior in general.<br />
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All in all, I can't find any motivation to continue <i>From the Sidelines</i>.<br />
<br />Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-67790106400116000452019-05-24T13:15:00.000-05:002019-05-24T13:15:32.694-05:00Not a Tornado or Even a ThunderstormEarlier this morning minor storms passed through leaving more rain than fury. However, after they had vacated I noticed the freshly repaired flagpole bending in the wind which kept escalating. Nothing was on weather radar, so this caught us by surprise.<br />
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Dad went out to retrieve the flag despite my warning him, as it was not looking safe and I’d had a dream of being crushed under a falling object the night before. Moving faster than his elderly body normally does, my father successfully retrieved Old Glory while the wind continued to blow east to west which is the exact opposite of normal.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXGKg6scZxddWjP4H_uiljwfZIpub3KSJeh7qS2tyTGZepQf3jx-SUZ0fFMLV1-f1ts04VKyWsKkjI7XC6BZpEgLewikafQYlxrfQRQOhyGDFND8UCJnFL9wBhy3qDyu0ScdrChA/s1600/Fallen+Willow+Tree+02.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXGKg6scZxddWjP4H_uiljwfZIpub3KSJeh7qS2tyTGZepQf3jx-SUZ0fFMLV1-f1ts04VKyWsKkjI7XC6BZpEgLewikafQYlxrfQRQOhyGDFND8UCJnFL9wBhy3qDyu0ScdrChA/s320/Fallen+Willow+Tree+02.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3EkM4fNKN4CU3bwKhG4KES1RHk326a8JSg40SVkzQldt0P-tTuAsT97hoGwgPwqeauikfx7YdgN8NMScWYMiBVOHeKk2QC_DxjLXiSVFVZhr3aagUGEFK8fENn9W6dnCd-5GoCw/s1600/Fallen+Willow+Tree+01.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3EkM4fNKN4CU3bwKhG4KES1RHk326a8JSg40SVkzQldt0P-tTuAsT97hoGwgPwqeauikfx7YdgN8NMScWYMiBVOHeKk2QC_DxjLXiSVFVZhr3aagUGEFK8fENn9W6dnCd-5GoCw/s320/Fallen+Willow+Tree+01.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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Discussing how strange all this was, I looked out the windows and as I watched, my beloved if unhealthy willow tree tore out of the ground dramatically keeling over in slow motion. A mere couple of minutes later the power went out at which I said the dead cottonwood planted by my late mother had fallen.<br />
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Sure enough, it had taking the power line with it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqMEQrbyhUJ5k1NFKD9l_JQT5EFalVZJhM_zoiX_frdZEk2QoLy6l8-UkVFYjVFgQgDMukltucDyNW_ZY_37_1m-3yq2mAGGzpS9JDzv-hllrEGAE0tsUwEm25YWNELBUx-qqFRA/s1600/Fallen+Cottonwood+Tree.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqMEQrbyhUJ5k1NFKD9l_JQT5EFalVZJhM_zoiX_frdZEk2QoLy6l8-UkVFYjVFgQgDMukltucDyNW_ZY_37_1m-3yq2mAGGzpS9JDzv-hllrEGAE0tsUwEm25YWNELBUx-qqFRA/s320/Fallen+Cottonwood+Tree.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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Been a hard May so far. The Subaru had the power steering pump start failing Sunday and we only got the replacement part yesterday. We’ll see how long it will take to get it in and repaired. Power steering fluid boiling over its reservoir is something new for me, but so are random winds blowing over trees.<br />
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Weather reports state wind gusts from 45 mph to 54 mph in the area. This was closer to a sustained wind in my opinion that was more powerful since I’ve seen winds in that range before. Given the shape of the valleys intersecting here, it may well have been higher than 54 mph in our little corner of Yucatan Valley.<br />
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Thankfully the power utility crews did a great job very quickly in getting things rigged up again.<br />
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Which is more than I can say for Open Live Writer, which no longer can post images. Sigh.Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-88210632017367262592019-05-02T12:03:00.001-05:002019-05-02T12:03:53.278-05:00The Long Winter<p>With an unsubstantial winter storm last week that failed to live up to predictions of nine inches of snow (the snow melted the moment it hit the ground), spring has been elusive here in the upper Midwest. Only today are seasonal temperatures arriving, though we did have a few tantalizing previews that flitted in and out again to make the wait more torturous.</p><a name='more'></a><p>Things have been difficult other than enduring the long winter, with health and financial hits coming one after another. The Ford Freestyle became more and more of a problem child last year, finally becoming too expensive to be worth repairing early this year. A mad scramble to get a new used car has made money more than tight with the saving grace being that a used 2006 Subaru Outback with only 100,000 miles on it was obtained. </p><p>It turned out to be well needed given the amount of snow and freezing rain we’ve had in 2019. There was a series of bad luck involving the car and I’m still working on repairing some damage to the bumper cover and fender liner after a failed attempt to get up the driveway. Said damage manifested over time when high winds actually ripped out the front flap of the liner while driving and forcing it down into the road. </p><p>Eventually it will be replaces, but zip ties are holding for the moment. Other issues with the Subaru have been easier to take care of, if expensive when the tires had to be replaced.</p><p>It is a joy to drive like all Subaru’s and I’d missed the experience. The Ford was a good car that lasted far longer than most 2005 Freestyle’s have. When you can hit 250,000 miles on a first generation CVT you have been most fortunate.</p><p>I did make it out to see Avengers: Endgame on the premiere night at the local Spring Grove Cinema. Widely praised and record setting in box office takes, it is still a bit of a mess that feels like several movies were jammed together with only the barest amount of coherency. Most people will adore with the exceptions of those who dislike fantasy or feel that movies should be well made.</p><p>Given the amount of control Disney has over the productions, I don’t believe we’ll ever see a great Marvel movie again and certainly not a brilliant one. The movies have been going downhill for some time, the next phase is dedicated to social justice themes, and eventually there will be super hero burnout. </p><p>What will the next big type of movie be? I haven’t a clue, though the western genre isn’t going to be it. Meanwhile, I have vastly more important concerns than whatever fad hypnotizes the masses next. </p><p>Severe obesity is making life difficult. Attempts to lose thirty pounds of weight resulted in <em>gaining </em>thirty-five pound over the past two years. Finally tackling my health problems after being completely focused on my father’s netted visits to a nutritionist for that issue and a physical therapist to map out what exercises I should and shouldn’t do thanks the arthritis in my back, neck, and sternum.</p><p>Evaluating my normal caloric intake was sobering. At my size, age, and weight, the threshold for losing weight is 1900 calories. For the past two years, I’ve been eating something close 600-800 calories a day with higher exceptions several times a month. This wasn’t completely intentional, as there had been no calorie counting going on. </p><p>And still gaining weight.</p><p>For years before that, I’d been in the 1200 calories a day range. Lately, I was down to one meal a day, sometimes two, sometimes none. Thyroid and other tests show me in normal ranges, so there is something very strange going on with my metabolism.</p><p>After hearing I wanted to go to eating one meal every other day, the nutritionist looked alarmed and suggested I increase the amount I eat gradually, with a goal of eating three meals a day to try to jump start the body burning calories. Skeptical, I took the advice.</p><p>That turned out to be supremely difficult since when I change my diet, I change it permanently. No fads or short term changes allowed.</p><p>The ramp up of eating more was one of the most difficult things of my life. For the first two weeks, it became obvious my stomach had shrunk with no capacity for what was being consumed. Heartburn bordering on reflux was a near constant making for a miserable time.</p><p>Now almost two months later, three meals are doable, if they are small. Even so, it feels like the body doesn’t want it. Weight hasn’t been lost, but it hasn’t been gained. Frankly, if I never ate again I’d be ecstatic since eating has become such a chore.</p><p>One byproduct of all this is that hunger happens, something only experience once a month or so over the past five years. At first it wasn’t recognized as it wasn’t familiar. This is so contrary to most humans behavior that it makes me feel even more of a stranger in a strange land.</p><p>Sigh. I want the pounds off so the blood pressure will go down, flexibility return, and the aggravation of the arthritis reduced. The nutritionist warned I might never be able to lose the weight and it was something I might have to face. Further tests are most likely not covered by Medicare or MA, so that’s not an avenue to be explored.</p><p>I’ve entered the winter of my life and it is not going to be fun.</p>Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-76570466491166730022019-01-31T09:00:00.001-06:002019-01-31T09:00:14.966-06:0038 Degrees Below Zero<p>The title says it all, we hit –38 F overnight with windchill taking it down another ten degrees below the base temperature. I thought thirty below the night before was bad enough, but this was impressive – however it still was topped by 1996 when our property crossed the forty below line.</p><p>Our new used 2006 Subaru Outback refused to start yesterday until some hours of having a space heater in the engine compartment took effect in the late afternoon. The car ran well for a short jaunt to check on a neighbor but a puddle of transmission or power steering fluid was apparent when we parked again. I’m hoping that it is simply shrunken seals due to the cold, but a mechanic will have to check it out once the thaw comes.</p><p>We’ve kept ahead of the cold and done fine with the only casualty being the plastic grill over the speaker in the driver’s side door. A tap with a booted foot instantly cracked the frozen plastic. Frustrating since we’ve only had the car for just over a week.</p><p>Final thought: Modern thermal longjohns are the best invention since sliced bread.</p>Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-13031543121705275642018-09-17T10:58:00.001-05:002018-09-17T10:58:59.428-05:00To Blog, or Not to Blog, that Is the Question<p>For some time now I’ve been dealing with my evolving view of the Web and in particular its benefit to mankind. What began as a wonderful way to freely put out and find information, it looked like one of humanity’s greatest inventions, perhaps even something that would bring the world together.</p><p>Alas, it has turned out to do the opposite more often than not.</p><a name='more'></a><p>Division, mental illness, perversions, narcissism, intolerance, bigotry, and general “othering” of anybody not conforming to one’s self identified peer group has proven that the World Wide Web is indeed a sticky death trap. After we, the users, became the product, things changed to it primarily existing for our lives to be sucked dry of data by the spiders of big business and government until only the hollow angry shells are left.</p><p>Where did it all go wrong? </p><p>The birth of the Web 2.0, aka social media, and its accompanying hardware the ever present smart phones. Information became reduced past the absurdist level into a brave new world of superficial selfies, drive by twitter political rants, snapshots of food, and endless cute animal videos. Even the bane of Usenet, flame wars ceased being epic arguments, instead devolved into short, snide attacks that violate every norm of civil behavior, spelling, and grammar. Thinking things out before typing turned into thumb twitching hot takes removing all intellect and relying purely on emotional… I was going to type “arguments”, but that isn’t accurate. Perhaps, “spewing” is the word required.</p><p>The worst part of it is how the behavior has spread into every aspect of society, leaving it hopelessly divided, hostile, and ever more misanthropic. This has lead to growing censorship rather than freedom of speech with a severe political bias to the left informing the censors actions. That is a wonderful way to successfully build up resentment, thereby fueling the cycle of anger that appears to have achieved perpetual motion today.</p><p>Sigh.</p><p>As the years have gone by, I have ended up rarely use social media, preferring to blog where complete thoughts can be communicated coherently. In fact, Facebook is only kept for occasional or emergency contact. Even a casual glance at the wall there makes me wish to never return again, since there is nothing intellectually or spiritually inspiring in the superficial. I really do not care what you are eating right now.</p><p>With the left side of the political spectrum dominating the tech companies, a very distorted view of the world is being promulgated on an international scale with little tolerance for any opposing or critical view. The great irony of it is that people on the left themselves are becoming a target of their own destructive side when simply allowing all ideas to be presented fairly would be of benefit to them in protecting their freedom of speech. </p><p>So what does this have to do with the title of the post?</p><p>With growing censorship and intolerance, the possibility that this blog might be taken down for something innocuous grows simply because I’m not a leftist. Automated bots and self aggrandizing human censors can and do take down sites unfairly these days. While the latter source is maddening, the former is more likely with algorithms being, shall we say, less than reliable at discerning intent, much less what constitutes hate speech (which never should be censored, even if it is real hate speech – better to know who is an idiot than kept wondering), an ever changing list based on conformism that often eats its own.</p><p>For some reason, the risk of having the blog taken down and permanently erased at the whim of an automated script or social crusader makes me question the merit of continuing to post. The ridiculous DMCA take downs on the Squid Girl reviews that had been up six years was a wake up call to me that things are only going to get worse across the board.</p><p>Being a nobody with no future, no way of leaving even a small mark on the world, and no posterity this blog is one of the few things around that even shows I ever existed. It would be nice if it continued to exist just as a grave marker, but my motivation to keep posting has taken another hit. Not being a narcissist, it takes actual effort to put things up – in fact the declining rate of posts is a direct indicator of how much I desire to throw things up on the Web.</p><p>Having other blog based projects focused on people other than myself in mind for the future, I really don’t know how much or if I’ll post more on this blog. </p>Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-58195489929730762712018-09-04T13:58:00.004-05:002018-09-04T13:58:49.689-05:00Squid Girl Episode 3, Season 1<i>UPDATE September 4, 2018</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>More DMCA take downs have hit the blog despite screen captures long being considered fair use. Due to my not being able to afford a lawyer, I have no choice but to remove them or have the blog suspended. Only the words will be left.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>TVTokyo is proving to be foolishly draconian in targeting posts meant to get people interested in seeing the Squid Girl anime and perhaps even purchasing it on DVD or Blu-ray. Being anti-piracy myself this is infuriating that they are targeting posts I wrote hoping to encourage people to try out a delightful show.</i><br />
<br />
Another trio of stories explores Squid Girl’s adjustment to the surface world and introduces another regular character. Surprisingly, there is a common theme running through all of them – fear. Don’t be afraid, come on in, the water is fine...<br />
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<strong><em>Aren’t You a Scaredisquid?</em></strong><br />
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The first story gets going with a satiric shot taken at ghost hunting “reality” shows, which Takeru loves to get scared by. I had to love Squid Girl’s reaction to the show and we find out she is a skeptic on anything that can’t be seen. That leads to a moment of evil inspiration for Eiko, who decides she will find a way to scare the ink out of Ika.<br />
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In Japan, there is a tradition amongst the school age kids of having tests of courage involving things such as going to graveyards at night. Used to be that kind of thing was done here, but it seems to have fallen by the wayside. Anyway, Eiko’s plan goes awry, despite bringing in other friends Goro and Sanae. Or perhaps, because of it…<br />
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The madness of Sanae is on full display here, which is expected. Goro’s behavior – not so much. Way to go, Mr. Lifeguard! Of course Squid Girl is not afraid of the inky darkness and soon gets separated from the others. Not happy to have gotten lost, the ever confident squid takes unique measures to find them.<br />
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<br />
The horrors of the graveyard are fully revealed and the big question is whether or not Squid Girl will be able to find her way home. Fear, surprise, and an almost fanatical devotion to sea life puns follow.<br />
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<strong><em>Isn’t That a Squid’s Natural Enemy?</em></strong><br />
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The miserable revelation that it will take years to pay off her debt demoralizes our young inkvader. But that is not her biggest problem. Acutely conscious of her place in the food chain, the sudden appearance of killer whales off the beach has Squid Girl paranoid. <br />
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We also find out Ika see’s the world differently from everyone else. Very differently, as her fears get the best of her. This is bad, because it nearly leads to Takeru drowning. Time for Chizuru to turn on the charm and sucker Goro into teaching her brother to swim.<br />
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The pride of squid everywhere is at stake and Squid Girl will not allow some puny human to teach the boy! But what about the killer whales? Sheer silliness, fear, loathing, and tentacles are the highlight of this segment.<br />
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<strong><em>Who’s the New Fish?</em></strong><br />
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A new waitress surfs onto the scene at Lemon Beach House as we meet Nagisa, a tomboyish surfer girl. Things go swimmingly until she sees Ika Musame and panics. Finally, a natural reaction to a tentacled monster from the sea! However, Nagisa is the only normal one amongst a bunch of weirdo’s as she soon surmises.<br />
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Nagisa’s terror is the sweetest sound to Squid Girl’s ears for she finally has scared someone. But Chizuru and Eiko are determined to show how harmless she is to the new girl. That must be countered if Ika’s dreams of world domination are to pass!<br />
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Extreme cuteness, fearful determination to save the world, and squid fishing make this the most amusing of the segments.<br />
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<strong><u><span style="font-size: x-small;">Thoughts</span></u></strong><br />
<strong><u><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></u></strong>
The gentle yet often sharp humor that makes this fluffy series so much fun is on good display across all three vignettes in the third episode. Already the series is hitting its stride, which is a good sign. Welcome social satire shows up from time to time to add an edge to the slice of life stories but it never undermines the sweetness at its heart.<br />
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Using fear as a common theme through the three stories was clever as we got to see different kinds on display. As always, it is Squid Girl’s reactions that get the biggest laughs. Fortunately, the supporting cast all get their moments too.<br />
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As always, I come away in a better mood after having watched Squid Girl. With season two’s new episodes streaming at <a href="http://www.crunchyroll.com/squid-girl">Crunchyroll</a>, I find myself smiling a lot lately.Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-23107963444635764762018-09-04T13:56:00.000-05:002018-09-04T13:56:14.327-05:00Squid Girl Episode 6, Season 1<i>UPDATE September 4, 2018</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>More DMCA take downs have hit the blog despite screen captures long being considered fair use. Due to my not being able to afford a lawyer, I have no choice but to remove them or have the blog suspended. Only the words will be left.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>TVTokyo is proving to be foolishly draconian in targeting posts meant to get people interested in seeing the Squid Girl anime and perhaps even purchasing it on DVD or Blu-ray. Being anti-piracy myself this is infuriating that they are targeting posts I wrote hoping to encourage people to try out a delightful show.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
What happens when you mix a Kamen Rider spoof, higher math, and a love quadrangle? You get unadulterated silliness of course! Episode six goes exclusively for the laughs while portraying the battle between Squid Girl and everyday life.<br />
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<strong><u><span style="font-size: x-small;">What’s a Squid Doing in a Hero’s Show?</span></u></strong><br />
<strong><u><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></u></strong>
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The madness begins with a spoof of children’s traveling shows that mixes <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noh">Noh theater</a> with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamen_Rider">Kamen Rider</a> to create the twisted Noh Mask Rider. One has to applaud the warped mind that came up with this and that mind belongs to Masahiro Anbe, the creator of the manga. Imagine combining Shakespeare with <em>Sponge Bob Squarepants</em> and you get an idea of how wrong this is.<br />
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I cannot blame Squid Girl for her reaction to the show, for I find the whole concept hilarious too. But hey, the kids like it and there is a place for everything I suppose. The appearance of the villain gets her attention, for he is Demon Squid and he is out to punish humanity for mistreating the oceans!<br />
Now where have we heard that before?<br />
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Soon she is rooting for the villain and the cast of the show are afraid they will have a riot on their hands. The diminutive blond in particular shows an inappropriate coping mechanism as things spiral downward.<br />
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A costume theft, adoration from the crowd, and radical deviations from the script ensue. You know it cannot end well…<br />
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<strong><u><span style="font-size: x-small;">Is Studying for the Fish?</span></u></strong><br />
<strong><u><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></u></strong>
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Eiko may be the voice of reason, or at least normality, but when confronted with an implacable enemy she begins to crack. I speak of mathematics, of course. Noticing her outbursts while studying, Ika-chan can’t understand why the high schooler is having problems. To Eiko’s shock and dismay, it turns out she is a squidding genius!<br />
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Neither one of the girls handle this revelation well. Some very creative imagery reflects their inner emotions and thoughts, which are all a tad insane. While I can remember some frustration with homework those many moons ago, I don’t recall have a psychotic break over it. Nor did I have delusions of grandeur like Squid Girl, who thinks she has found her ticket to world domination.<br />
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It is one thing to be a math genius, it is another thing entirely to use it in the real world as our feisty hybrid finds out at the beach. But what is Eiko scheming and why does she have that evil smile on her face?<br />
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<strong><u><span style="font-size: x-small;">Is This Gilly Love?</span></u></strong><br />
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In the final segment, Nagisa takes a starring turn after nearly drowning. Saved by Goro, her gratitude gets mistaken for something more by Eiko. Meanwhile, Squid Girl continues to torment the paranoid surfer girl since she is her “favorite prey.”<br />
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Eiko does her part to fan the flames of misunderstanding in the hopes of generating a soap opera at the beach. Actually, most of the misunderstanding is on her part as she reads just about everything wrong. This does not help Nagisa’s precarious state of mind one bit as she worries about the squid invasion and Goro.<br />
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Ika has her own worries about the situation brewing and soon a romantic farce breaks out. In the end, it looks like Nagisa’s prior observation about everyone being weird is turning out to be true. Will any of the relationships work out?<br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: x-small;"><u>Thoughts</u></span></strong><br />
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This is a particularly good episode in the series and left me wanting more, which is aggravated by the delay of the second set of DVD’s until December. Cultural satire is the focus of the stories and they have a nice edge to them rather than being soft on their targets. Kid shows and soap operas are such universal fare throughout the world that the humor translates out very well.<br />
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The math story is also a winner, but mainly due to the imagery which is amongst the most creative shown to this point. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong><u>Bonus: Noh Mask Rider</u></strong></span><br />
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The first segment is a classic in the series and still has me amused as I write this. Capping off the lunatic story is the opening title sequence for the Noh Mask Rider show complete with theme song. <br />
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The overwrought lyrics are hilarious, especially the origin ones. Ridiculous amounts of emotional angst centered around the superhero character makes for a fantastic lampoon of the genre. I would love to see a Noh Mask Rider OVA one day.Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-18547629824121256382018-08-27T22:45:00.000-05:002018-08-27T22:45:12.978-05:00Squid Girl Episode 10<b>UPDATED: August 27, 2018</b><br />
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<i>After being up for six years, an incredibly vague DMCA notice to Blogger from MX International Inc. caused this post to be taken down. </i><br />
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<i>Specifically, it stated: "The original works are copyrighted Japanese anime television broadcasts and translated releases by MX International Inc. Pursuant to 17 USC sec. 512(c)(3)(A)(ii) the official website for 'Squid Girl' includes a representative list at the below url" Said redacted URL was for TV Tokyo's website. </i><br />
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<i>Other blogs hit in the same notice look like they were hosting pirated videos. It appears Fair Use of screen captures may be going away since there was <b>no video</b> content in this post. All images have therefore been removed from the post and we'll see if it gets removed again.</i><br />
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<i>Original post follows:</i><br />
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A rainy day brings out artistry in the Aizawa home, Sannae finally realizes she may have a problem, and a baseball game tests Squid Girl’s athletic abilities. From horror to the despairs of addiction to the thrill of competition, a lot of silliness happens -- but there are some surprising moments of angst to be found amidst the comedy this time out.<br />
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<strong><em>Rain Rain, Gill Away?</em></strong><br />
When a typhoon hits Japan, the normal summer fun goes out the window thanks to the associated torrential rain. A frustrated Ika Musame is taught all about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teru_teru_bozu">teru teru bozu</a> making by the Aizawa siblings and a nice little lesson about Japanese culture is explained to the rest of us. Personally, I love these moments in anime because they offer a glimpse at everyday practices in Japan.<br />
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Events take a detour midway through the story when Takeru is made to do his homework, which involves drawing a family member. A sweet statement by Chizuro leads to the boy acquiring his model, Squid Girl. Never one to be patient, things do not go swimmingly. In fact, Ika gets frustrated enough to try her hand at drawing the would be artist in retaliation. Let us say that she shows very little talent.<br />
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But wait! She was using her hands and as previously established, she is not good with them. Colored pencils in tentacle, the inkvader from the sea proves to have an alarming amount of talent for someone untrained. Yet there is a catch and that is her tentacles draw what her emotions perceive.<br />
While Ika perceives Takeru as ordinary (which depresses the boy), her renditions of the other regulars are hilariously bizarre.<br />
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Inspired by her work, Takeru does complete his portrait of Squid Girl. A little knock upon the fourth wall makes things amusing in the dialogue. Also implied is that the character see each other as real humans and not cartoons, which is a small touch I liked.<br />
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When the story veers back to the rain and teru teru bozu making, truly horrific things begin to be seen. Not to mention strangely familiar faces to web denizens… But what could terrify Takeru so much to make that face?<br />
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<strong><em>Maybe She Inks You’re Annoying?</em></strong><br />
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This Sannae centric story starts out with a breezy self narrated introduction by the stalker girl herself. It quickly goes from cute to brutally wrong, as her repeated attempts to hug Squid Girl result in a great deal of cartoon violence. Upset with the whole thing, Eiko takes Sannae aside to tell her to stop pursuing Ika. Aghast at the idea, she slowly comes around to understanding she needs to stop acting the way she does.<br />
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Only half hearted in her attempts to give up on romancing someone who despises her, Sannae begins a slow spiral into madness as she attempts self restraint. Only when hallucinations begin does she face the reality that she is a Squid Girl addict. So begins a true test of her mettle… and sanity.<br />
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Desperate times require desperate measures by the troubled teenage girl. But will they be enough?<br />
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<strong><em>How’s Your Throwing Arm?</em></strong><br />
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Any time Ika’s friend Kyomi is in a story, you know it will be a good one. Throw in an underdog baseball team plot and there is no way it can go wrong. So when Kyomi has her ace pitcher go down with a fever, Squid Girl gets introduced to Japan and America’s mutual national pastime. Eager to help her friend’s baseball club, Ika is in over her fins because she doesn’t know a squid about the sport. <br />
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One quick tutorial turns her into a superstar player. Actually, it does not. Ika can’t hit the ball or catch it, so she is relegated to the outfield to do the least amount of damage. That does not go so well facing a team that is nationally ranked, but somehow they stay in the game. It turns out that Kyomi is one gutsy little player, in my opinion.<br />
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Can Squid Girl make up for her mistakes? Can the team rally when an injury causes even more trouble? And just what is going on with the opposing team captain?<br />
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<strong><u><span style="font-size: small;">Thoughts</span></u></strong><br />
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Episode ten is very solid episode throughout. The first story, while a tad slow, builds to a mean spirited punch line that shows the edge hasn’t been lost as the season winds down. The art by Squid Girl is great fun, while conveying what she thinks of each character.<br />
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Sannae is a character I am on record as finding very annoying. But the makers of the show managed to do something I thought impossible and that is making me feel sorry for the girl. While played for laughs on the surface, there is a darker and sadder undercurrent to the riff on addiction shown. If there was any doubt she was insane, there can be none after this.<br />
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Finally, the baseball segment was just wonderful. While covering all the usual bases in storytelling, the way it is executed actually generated some tension. The friendship between Ika and Kyomi feels genuine and real, which is a nice trick given the concept of the show. <br />
All in all, a great little episode.<br />
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<strong><u><span style="font-size: small;">EXTRAS (from Ika Musame’s Art Gallery)</span></u></strong><br />
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<strong><u><span style="font-size: small;">BEWARE!!! HERE BE A SPOILER!</span></u></strong><br />
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The ending was too cute not to put up.</div>
Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-79701752300505918622018-07-14T20:07:00.001-05:002018-07-14T20:07:51.530-05:00Webcam Blackmail Email Spam<p>The latest, greatest attempt to get money out of people on the Net has been making the rounds in different variations, the essence of which are threats to release a webcam video of misbehavior committed while watching pornography online. I bothered to check the latest one out because it actually was addressed to me with the correct email address AND my old LinkedIn password in the subject. </p><p>Fortunately, that was a unique one not recycled due to my personal distrust of any social media service. The 2012 hacking of LinkedIn exposed 117 million passwords which were sold off to various criminals looking to commit cybercrime. They did get around to notifying users to change their passwords (I did long ago) but tried to conceal the size of the security breach.</p><a name='more'></a><p>Here is the text, minus my personal information. Best thing about this is I haven’t used a webcam in fourteen years…</p><blockquote><p>I will directly come to the point. I am aware [password] is your pass word. More to the point, I know about your secret and I have evidence of it. You don't know me personally and nobody hired me to examine you.<br>It is just your misfortune that I found your blunder. Actually, I actually installed a malware on the adult video clips (adult porn) and you visited this web site to have fun (you know what I mean). When you were watching videos, your internet browser initiated functioning as a Rdp (Remote desktop) that has a key logger which provided me with accessibility to your display screen as well as web cam. Right after that, my software gathered all of your contacts from messenger, facebook, and mailbox. <br>Next, I gave in more time than I should've looking into your life and made a two screen video. 1st part displays the video you were viewing and 2nd part displays the video of your web camera (its you doing dirty things). <br>Honestly, I am willing to forget all information about you and let you continue with your regular life. And I am going to give you two options which will accomplish this. The two option is either to ignore this letter, or simply just pay me $ 1900. Let us investigate those 2 options in more details. <br>First Option is to ignore this e-mail. Let's see what is going to happen if you opt this path. I will definately send your video recording to your contacts including family members, co-workers, etc. It will not save you from the humiliation your self will face when friends and family find out your dirty details from me. <br>Second Option is to pay me $ 1900. We’ll name this my “confidentiality tip”. Now let me tell you what happens if you choose this path. Your secret remains your secret. I'll delete the recording immediately. You move on with your daily life as though nothing ever occurred. <br>Now you must be thinking, “I'm going to report to the cops”. Without a doubt, I have covered my steps in order that this email can't be traced back to me and yes it will not stay away from the evidence from destroying your health. I am not seeking to dig a hole in your pocket. I am just looking to get paid for the time I placed into investigating you. Let's assume you have chosen to create all of this disappear completely and pay me my confidentiality fee. You will make the payment by Bitcoins (if you do not know this, search "how to buy bitcoins" in google) <br>Amount to be sent: $ 1900 <br>Receiving Bitcoin Address: 1DDduNYswFXGpnZW1onqZQs62G5v4s5kHH <br>(It is CASE sensitive, so copy and paste it carefully) <br>Tell no-one what you will use the bitcoin for or they might not sell it to you. The process to acquire bitcoins may take a couple of days so do not delay.<br>I have a special pixel within this email, and at this moment I know that you have read through this e mail. You now have 1 day to make the payment. If I do not receive the Bitcoin, I will, no doubt send your video recording to your contacts including friends and family, coworkers, and so forth. You better come up with an excuse for friends and family before they find out. However, if I receive the payment, I will destroy the video immediately. It's a non negotiable one time offer, thus kindly do not waste my personal time and yours. Your time is running out. </p></blockquote><p>Other than being poor and not having engaged in the behavior described, I must be the perfect target for this kind of blackmail… Or the person doing this is lazy and gambling on the high odds that enough people do commit this kind of behavior to fall for the con job.</p><p>I can see some people being terrified by the threat and am posting this a public service for those who’ve become alarmed after opening such an email.</p><p>Can you imagine the productive societies we’d have if criminals put this much effort into doing good? Rather tragic, in my opinion.</p>Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-78001582847180624042018-04-16T13:05:00.001-05:002018-04-16T13:05:11.617-05:00Okay, Enough with this Winter!<p>This is only a short rant/documentation about the latest winter storm to hit here in Minnesota. An entire weekend gone to freezing rain, sleet, hail, and anywhere between four inches and a foot of snow depending on location. </p><p>WAIT! And there’s more! </p><p>The weather forecast states we’ll be getting another wave of the same for Wednesday morning. Some middle of April we are having here with Spring being AWOL. </p><p>April showers bring May flowers… So what do April blizzards bring?</p><p>May lizards? May gizzards? </p><p>For some reason, I don’t want to know.</p>Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-35017164590713378222018-02-19T15:16:00.001-06:002018-03-17T21:00:23.095-05:00The Discontent of My WinterIf you go by my posting, I pretty much fell off the edge of the world once the temperatures dropped. In some ways, that’s how things have felt simply because what energy I’ve had has been used on more necessary things without an iota of excess available to do what anything desired – or fun.<br />
Aging and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome do not mix well is something that has become very apparent this past year. Having to face that things will never improve and only get worse is something all of us must do as the decades begin to race by, however this is more dramatic when a chronic illness is involved. Motivation levels do not matter one whit as one can strongly want to do something and simply be unable too.<br />
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I’d hoped to be reporting on my winter speaker rebuilding project with photos of the finished product. That isn’t going to happed since things have moved at a snails pace. Movie reviewing has flat out been dropped thanks to “brain fog” intensifying with the increase in pain and fatigue. <br />
Frustrating doesn’t begin to touch the feelings experienced the past year or so.<br />
Hopefully something, anything, will go right in the near future. All that can be done at the moment is endure.Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-72899749571716804672018-01-03T14:38:00.001-06:002018-01-03T14:38:23.330-06:00A Lifetime of Service Ends<p>President Thomas S. Monson passed away last night after more than seven decades of service as a leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His was an amazing life of dedicated service to others, beginning in earnest with being called as the bishop to the largest ward in the Church at the very young age of twenty two. Many were the blessing he helped bring to people around the world and he’ll be dearly missed.</p><p>For most of my membership in the Church he was the prophet at its head whose sermons were always warm, inviting, and humane. A constant sense of humor, abetted by great humility, in his delivery was endearing to say the least. There was never any doubt about how much he cared about others or his love for the Savior.</p><p>I can’t say I’m saddened by President Monson’s departure from the mortal coil for his health had visibly deteriorated over the past few years dimming his trademark energetic engagement with all around him. Knowing that good man can now rest for a bit in the company of his earlier departed wife is a relief. If any mortals can be said to deserve paradise, Thomas S. Monson would be at the head of the list, at least in my book.</p>Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-70958667920522822852018-01-01T13:27:00.001-06:002018-01-01T13:27:37.101-06:002017<p>In many ways, 2017 was personally a lost year with health issues consuming far too much of my life. Nearly everything planned fell apart or was left incomplete once started, so it is without fondness that I bid the annum goodbye.</p><p>The one silver lining to the past twelve months is that my father is now able to eat solid foods again. He even gained weight during our one week stay at my sister’s house!</p><p>At least there were concrete improvements to government and foreign relations for the country despite the petulant whining of those invested in the current power structure and worshipping pop culture. As I’m writing this, a true resistance is trying to become a revolution in Iran against a genuine dictatorship in direct contrast to the histrionics here in the United States making me wonder if sanity has become a rare commodity in our decadent society.</p><a name='more'></a><p>Being a year of disappointments in the narrow range of events that is my life, it is no wonder I find the outside world more interesting. Sadly, domestic entertainment was also a place to find discontent as television series I used to enjoy have deteriorated into repetitive storylines punctuated by social justice nonsense in a desperate bid to signal virtue where there can be none, for they originate in Hollywood, land of sexual harassment, abuse, and prostitution. </p><p>A few bright spots on TV were found, mostly from foreign origin. In no particular order, the following entertained me:</p><ul><li><em>Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency</em></li><li><em>Stranger Things Season 2</em></li><li><em>Erased (Netflix live action)</em></li><li><em>Kemono Friends</em></li><li><em>Sakura Quest</em></li><li><em>Alice & Zoruko</em></li><li><em>Kino’s Journey –the Beautiful World-</em></li><li><em>Recovery of an MMO Junkie</em></li><li><em>Gotham</em></li></ul><p>Movies also underperformed as Marvel’s formula has become trite and threadbare now reducing everything to a comedy or an overstuffed mess. Unfortunately, Warner execs decided that <em>Justice League</em> needed to be reshot in that vein, making what could of been a great film into something that was only okay. Since most movies I liked this year were actually released earlier, the list for 2017 is going to be short:</p><ul><li><em>Dunkirk</em></li><li><em>Kong: Skull Island</em></li><li><em>In This Corner of the World</em> (released in the USA in 2017)</li></ul><p>As you can probably tell, the entertainment industry isn’t entertaining me very much these days. </p><p>This situation may explain why I’m listening to my music library more than ever while rebuilding and tinkering with speakers. Slowly moving from simple replacements to building passive crossovers will graduate to more complicated physical rebuilds of cabinets to start the new year. Some blanks for new baffles have been cut and the circle cutter on the Dremel motor tool will get used for its intended purpose for the first time. </p><p>Lacking a workshop, the living room is not really suitable to live in at the moment. Before the cutting of circles begins, I’ll be cutting and gluing speaker grill fabric to replace some I badly damaged in an experiment earlier. Down the road learning to apply vinyl wrap will occur since there is no way to paint or stain during a harsh Minnesota winter (due to fumes having nowhere to go). However, a heat gun is safe and a little extra heat is something we could use with the sub zero temperatures outside.</p><p>Hopefully all of this will culminate in some building enclosures from scratch in a project aimed at having ridiculous high quality portable sound out of small drivers. That exercise will most likely involve a 3.5” subwoofer driver along with 2” drivers for the stereo. Finding a small amplifier to drive all three is competing with using a mono amp on the subwoofer and a separate stereo amp for the satellites. </p><p>Anyway, I hope 2018 is better for me than 2017 was.</p>Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-3243438882951875972017-09-22T09:37:00.001-05:002017-09-22T09:37:30.255-05:00Relief<p>The molar is finally out thanks to a dentist much closer than the Twin Cities taking mercy upon me and doing the extraction yesterday at a discount. Fortunately, the removal went smoothly with the offending tooth coming out mostly intact leaving just one root behind that didn’t put up a fight when subsequently yanked out. While the socket hurts and the associated swelling is there, it is nothing compared to what it was like before. Being able to breathe properly while sleeping is a wonderful thing.</p><p>Since the tooth was right on a nerve, there was risk in the extraction doing nerve damage, however it was already manifesting symptoms along that line so it needed to be done. For the past week I’d experienced what can only be described as a mild paralysis along the left side of the throat into the bronchial area accompanied by a slight numbness in the left corner of my lips. The morning after the procedure revealed that breathing in general had been affected by the infection as well, much to my surprise. </p><p>Once this heals up, it will be time to try to get something done about a large cavity. While I hope I can get the clinic in Rochester to do that so it is covered by UCare, the missed appointment put me months back in the queue. At this rate, selling belongings or borrowing money may be necessary for a cash payment at a closer dentist. </p><p>Oh well, one problem at a time.</p>Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-71729541900366519982017-09-14T12:15:00.001-05:002017-09-15T12:51:34.197-05:00Pressure Points<p>Events haven’t been going terribly well for me lately. Another tooth needs extracting and finding an oral surgeon who accepts the dental insurance provided by the state of Minnesota is proving to be difficult. It is bad enough that the only regular dental clinic that I could find for basic care is 40+ miles away in Rochester, but UCare Connect (Delta Dental Civic Smiles) isn’t being accepted by the places listed as accepting it online. If the support team doesn’t find me a place in 48 hours, I’ll be back to calling numbers which usually reveals they stopped accepting it within the past several years.</p><p>Adding to the woes is a missed checkup appointment this week due to Verizon delivering all my voice mails from July, August, and early September on the day before the appointment. Since I don’t get out much, the push queue seems to delay me getting them dramatically. In August, I received messages from May and July along with one from 2016! </p><a name='more'></a><p>Because I didn’t reply with a confirmation before Noon, the appointment was canceled becoming the first of two allowed strike outs before being black listed at the clinic. The messages showed up for me at 12:04 when I walked out of the church meeting house from volunteering at the family history center. My phone call a minute later was too late.</p><p>Since I have other teeth in dire shape, this appointment was a must and now it may be months before I can get another. At least I got them to give me an emergency appointment for the molar causing me to lose sleep. </p><p>Diagnosis was that the tooth needs to come out within days due to a large cavity under the filling. With it being near a major nerve, an oral surgeon was required and they couldn’t pull it at the clinic. Antibiotics were prescribed and a warning given that if my face swelled to the point of blinding my left eye or closing off my throat that I was to call 911 or get to an ER.</p><p>Last night was difficult, not just due to the pain, but because the left side of my throat slightly swelled and felt partially paralyzed. Thankfully, the penicillin kicked in and breathing became easier after 2 AM. </p><p>The pain is not subsiding, however.</p><p>So I’m sitting here, periodically jabbing fingers into pressure points on my jaw to alleviate the pain spreading throughout the left side of my face while contemplating how bad health care given to the disabled has become since the ACA was passed in 2009. It is reminding me very much of Eastern Block countries during the Cold War, so the idea that single payer will fix all of this is frankly ludicrous. The waits for help will continue to increase while the amount of ailments treated will likewise decrease. As messed up as things were before, at least they worked after a fashion.</p><p>I just hope I don’t have to travel all the way up to the Twin Cities to get this tooth removed. The expense of travel is already punitive just going to Rochester.</p><p>UPDATE:</p><p>Got the call back on finding oral surgeons. </p><p>Only three oral surgery clinics accept Delta Dental and they all are in the Twin Cities. One is very hard to get into and requires a consult on top of the referral, so two trips mandated there. Another only uses general anesthesia (gas) and that isn’t covered at all. With going rates being over $200 for that… well. The final option looks to be the only option though it sounds like wait times of at least a week of work days is involved.</p><p>This is not going well.</p>Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-57215164261862715272017-07-10T13:34:00.001-05:002017-09-15T13:13:12.794-05:00Something in the Air?<p>Lately I’ve been seeing people flip out on others online to a degree worse than usual. Being a target of it out of the blue a couple of times myself, it has been an exercise in Christian forgiveness followed by deliberate avoidance since the attackers persist no matter how much you explain yourself patiently. This is nothing new on the Net for I remember the flame wars on Usenet decades ago.</p><p><br></p><a name='more'></a><p>Yet it is the random nature of the attacks lately that has me wondering if there is something going on in the greater world that I’m not noticing. Instead of being passionate ideological/opinion based positions the attacks follow a variant of normal flaming:</p><ol><li>Someone posts something innocuous or trivial that is <u>completely uncontroversial.</u> </li><li>Second person with no prior contact replies with something mocking or overtly hostile.</li><li>First person assumes there is a misunderstanding and tried to clarify.</li><li>Second person ridicules the first in insulting fashion, then declares their expertise in the subject and/or personal superiority to the first.</li><li>First person tries again or quits the discussion (the latter is the wise thing to do).</li><li>Second person ups the ranting, often with a wall of text declaring their superior knowledge and status while continuing to personally belittle the first person.</li><li>Discussion dies or goes nuclear, eventually resulting in warnings from moderators (if there are any) or somebody quitting the site, usually the one who posted first.</li></ol><p>All of this is over something… utterly unimportant. Not that I’m condoning political rage fests, but at least that is somewhat understandable. As are sports team and movie franchise rivalries, though they are still superficial causes. This is something newer and disturbing with people getting weirdly quick to be offended or to attack others just because something trips their trigger.</p><p>So why is it getting worse now?</p><p>Societal stresses may be a contributing factor as cracks have become chasms politically and culturally. Far too many have gone clinically insane over President Trump being elected and that includes people on both the Left and Right. With the media proving completely untrustworthy, people who believe them are panicking from being fed constant tales of dictatorship and oppression. </p><p>On the other side the distrust of news has put people on edge too. Why? Because there is constant uncertainty as to what is true and what isn’t and most people don’t handle uncertainty well at all.</p><p>That makes for a lot of jumpy people.</p><p>Adding to the problem is there seems to be a growing number of individuals unable to control their anger while simultaneously wanting to be looked up to. Insulting and attacking others boosts their self esteem just like the typical school yard bully. Incapable of being polite or considerate, yet demanding those very things of others is associated with this behavior. Of course this brings forth the question of how these individuals would act if they didn’t have the virtual walls of the Net to hide behind. </p><p>The intrinsic growing narcissism of modern western culture is manifesting itself rather clearly here and may be the largest contributing factor. Only associating with like minded others fuels the narrow and narcissistic viewpoint with empathy or true tolerance becoming the first casualty in online interactions.</p><p>Consequently, it seems the worst of Internet based behavior has spilled over into, well, everything now. May God genuinely help you if you try to be the voice of reason these days, because nobody else will. Perversely, support is more likely to be given to the aggressor than the person attacked.</p><p>Is this the end result of the Web 2.0 as social media was once described? People getting ruder and often downright vicious over even the smallest of things? Anger turning to mindless hate over any disagreement? Are people showing who they really are knowing there can be no immediate punishment for bad behavior?</p><p>These questions aren’t ones I wanted to be asking.</p><p>Alas for me the initial promise of the World Wide Web has turned into one of the biggest disappointments of my life – which given how lousy that has been is saying something. Disengaging from the virtual world is more and more what I wish to do.</p><p>Having long ago abandoned Facebook except in times of emergency along with the recent retreat from online gaming, I’m now considering the additional measure of no longer rating or reviewing products at retail sites. Between people having gone nuts there too and the staggering amount of paid fake reviews (positive and negative), I question what good I’m doing anyway.</p><p>This is an odd position for me to be in, by the way. Due to my only having somewhere between 10 and 15% of the energy/capability of a normal person due to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (oh how I can’t wait for that name to change), having a life in reality is pretty much minimal. Being able to “live” online was very appealing when I was younger due to a belief that it could make up for what I couldn’t have in the real world.</p><p>Except the experiences over time soured with the negative ones far outweighing the positive ones. With the cost to benefit ratio being very unprofitable, it isn’t worth my time and energy.</p><p>Hah, I just realized I’m close to declaring myself a virtual hermit aside from my blog posts. On reflection, it sounds awfully good to me.</p>Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-27783126270344396962017-07-10T12:26:00.001-05:002017-07-10T12:26:49.837-05:00Catching a Break<p>I wish this was a positive break, however it is not. The filling on the tooth that broke earlier this spring cracked while eating soft ice cream much to my ire. frustration, and baffled amazement. Since that filling was placed, other teeth have had smaller old resin fillings break as well so I’m wondering if resin is all its cracked up to be, no pun intended.</p><p>Sure enough, a little research online reveals them to be more prone to cracking and fracture then metal. Lovely. </p><p>Given the tooth location, I wonder if metal is even an option. While hoping extraction is not on the boards, it is only a matter of time before I become one of those people missing teeth up front. Medical Assistance simply doesn’t cover much anymore and dental work is incredibly expensive. $1400 for a cap is impossible for someone who is as far below the poverty line as I am. </p><p>With multiple teeth hurting to some degree, it is hard not to be pessimistic about the situation. I really miss the days local dentists accepted MA so that traveling for over an hour wasn’t adding to the difficulty. Not to mention it was a lot easier to get in for an appointment.</p><p>Sigh. Part of this is I’ve had to neglect my health during my father’s cancer battle and ensuing complications. Now that he’s doing much better, I’m falling apart. I don’t even have a regular doctor and will have to change healthcare systems it appears. </p><p>Something is going to give way soon, I fear.</p>Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-3268665858887988012017-07-08T14:53:00.001-05:002017-07-08T14:53:42.711-05:00Not Dead Yet<p>The title of the post is what I yell out to turkey vultures hopefully circling overhead whenever I notice them stalking me. Likewise, the blog is still going though I seem to have missed posting for an entire month again.</p> <p>Believe it or not, the multiyear delayed Godzilla review has advanced slightly, in that I’ve got most of the screen captures ready for editing. Now if the notes taken on the Blu-ray release turn up real progress might be made.</p> <p>Lots of little things and unusually low amounts of energy even for me have kept me from doing anything interesting since May. My sister’s family visited over the Independence Day weekend, so the back half of the week had me bed ridden most of the time. </p> <p>Dad has done well with eating more solids along with liquid food that normally is pumped in. Apparently the Nestle kind is palatable enough to consume by mouth, or so he says. Dealing with a big change in food consumption has been challenging, since we’ve both forgotten how to cook over the last three years of his paralyzed stomach. With it working again, my solitary diet of rice and eggs/chicken can no longer be the norm.</p> <p>As for me, the rest of July looks… challenging. August doesn’t look much better and I find myself dreading all the energy expenditures involved. More than likely I will have to disappoint someone or more than one if my energy levels don’t improve. </p> <p>In the meantime, there may be some short posts coming up featuring some oddball acquisitions made over the past few months. </p>Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32742684.post-18023617535847096092017-05-22T21:00:00.001-05:002017-05-22T21:00:47.290-05:00May Brings Changes<p>It is said the one constant in life is change, so the events of this unfinished month are not surprising except when nature takes its course.</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CeKgcooIvl8/WSOXqgY7UiI/AAAAAAAAcY0/M8otz7eAXY0IQyhTjsra-xv6oeJ_sDAqACHM/s1600-h/After%2Bthe%2BStorm%2B02%255B10%255D"><img title="After the Storm 02" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="After the Storm 02" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vJ7oS06-Mrs/WSOXrLDKVjI/AAAAAAAAcY4/y0ariwGc5PMsKZtzfNNAyi30tCNlUPXRwCHM/After%2Bthe%2BStorm%2B02_thumb%255B7%255D?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184"></a></p> <p>Storms have roiled the area and saturated the soil much to the disappointment of farmers trying to get their crops in. While we were spared the violent side of the weather, others were not including a fatality along with $10,000,000 in damages over in Barron County, Wisconsin. The same system left behind a beautiful sky that prompted me to get the camera out.</p> <a name='more'></a> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yb8ImXcsqCA/WSOXrqGmVII/AAAAAAAAcY8/5gY619bZKuEImAtld9ez-2x5fVvbeWPnQCHM/s1600-h/After%2Bthe%2BStorm%2B01%255B8%255D"><img title="After the Storm 01" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="After the Storm 01" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XSq8VpUeMNM/WSOXsI0GnNI/AAAAAAAAcZA/wUcaUgitdIMY609t17JsAuyx0WZOcoWwgCHM/After%2Bthe%2BStorm%2B01_thumb%255B5%255D?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u5vwVEsZc-I/WSOXslHHKCI/AAAAAAAAcZE/vd7jpu-YCPIsPk5zTrYzY2xJYzAy7y5RQCHM/s1600-h/After%2Bthe%2BStorm%2B03%255B8%255D"><img title="After the Storm 03" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="After the Storm 03" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-n_jDpguvY0A/WSOXtFBTEcI/AAAAAAAAcZI/GdZ5LbihTeIOauddL472kM9ZNf3p5x8CwCHM/After%2Bthe%2BStorm%2B03_thumb%255B5%255D?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184"></a></p> <p>A glowing orange light filled my room and looking out to the West revealed a spectacular sunset underway. Part of the recent change here has been the destruction of the surrounding farm buildings which has opened up new vistas. The lonely antique water pump in the above left photograph is the sole remnant of the old pump shack. Behind it used to be a storage shed that collapsed over the years.</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pku_VNEYs0s/WSOXtw7eYJI/AAAAAAAAcZM/gwGzLiZulcc8rPLPBYOBhI1UzQ157gqYQCHM/s1600-h/Changed%2BView%255B8%255D"><img title="Changed View" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; padding-right: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Changed View" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IrryX8UN7Ho/WSOXuepuYmI/AAAAAAAAcZQ/8936oKHgii0SEJBi2RRdqLrBxitlz3VcgCHM/Changed%2BView_thumb%255B5%255D?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184"></a></p> <p>Before I took those colorful pictures, I had an opportunity that couldn’t be passed up once exiting the house. But before that, a shot showing where there used to be a chicken house, extensive fencing, and trees. All are gone and plowed over now.</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7RD2ZzSfp74/WSOXvKb4LSI/AAAAAAAAcZU/uQOVyVkXmcQ0fsLKiCc7Rq4qIxokJWB4gCHM/s1600-h/May%2BPost%2BStorm%2BRainbow%255B8%255D"><img title="May Post Storm Rainbow" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="May Post Storm Rainbow" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bpENxIRKKpg/WSOXvbIYy7I/AAAAAAAAcZY/aoVi9eVxSsIt0SPViNKKDuLsWqISHl8tgCHM/May%2BPost%2BStorm%2BRainbow_thumb%255B5%255D?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_pnQxU8b1DM/WSOXwb6UCZI/AAAAAAAAcZc/m-eVCHrU0Isb9qgT9SGkfRVTT_AU_1XQgCHM/s1600-h/May%2BPost%2BStorm%2BRainbow%2B02%255B8%255D"><img title="May Post Storm Rainbow 02" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="May Post Storm Rainbow 02" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-E7EOlU03w4U/WSOXwpqn9sI/AAAAAAAAcZg/HR9Q3v1dyiwD4vXemjDUQRxI_BtJVK_IACHM/May%2BPost%2BStorm%2BRainbow%2B02_thumb%255B5%255D?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184"></a></p> <p>Above the car was a glorious rainbow arching over the Yucatan valley. With no barn and no granary to block the view the right hand shot was made possible. </p> <p>It has been a melancholy experience watching the buildings being torn down and burned. They were hazards slowly falling apart, however they were part of the environment if not charm of living here. Absent their presence, the property feels naked.</p> <p>Maybe that will fade with time.</p> <p><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PVQnlADgJKs/WSOXxhLgY2I/AAAAAAAAcZk/ujy7jQVZ34g5br4etwHJWRL8spbhvuNiQCHM/s1600-h/Top%2BCat%255B8%255D"><img title="Top Cat" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Top Cat" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4Rb9FC8FB90/WSOXyJD1AzI/AAAAAAAAcZo/gicvHE5NFkU5BC3yEOIf_CNgVc1G7hRgQCHM/Top%2BCat_thumb%255B5%255D?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184"></a><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oVINWq1l2n8/WSOXzTRlibI/AAAAAAAAcZs/3osf8TcfvQY2AARqoP5axc51luN_CBUcQCHM/s1600-h/Merry%2Band%2BTop%255B8%255D"><img title="Merry and Top" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Merry and Top" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-k8Tnp4dI3XY/WSOXzuf8sQI/AAAAAAAAcZw/V7SMobrteTEeiwebgRJdiYMNQAXvX3GkgCHM/Merry%2Band%2BTop_thumb%255B5%255D?imgmax=800" width="244" height="184"></a></p> <p>In the meantime, some cat photos since the Net only exists to pass them around. The little kitten Merry (short for Meriadoc) was obtained in December to help Top Cat get over his depression after his brother Baron vanished. That plan worked out perfectly with the two becoming very close as the second photo illustrates. </p> <p>Taking photos of Merry has proved difficult since he rarely stays still for any amount of time. Top on the other hand is as laid back as can be these days. Yes, he really is bigger than that oversized keyboard. Typical of cats, he can’t resist a mess.</p> <p>Not pictured is Morry (short of Moriarty) the third Musketeer of our male cats. Formerly the outdoor cat of our neighbors, he voted with all four feet to live here with our cats. The three are great friends and pal around quite a bit. Morry has turned into our most social cat, getting on complete strangers’ laps and accompanying us on walks.</p> <p>One of these days I’ll get a photo of him.</p> <p>May also brought the latest cancer checkup for Dad. He’s still in remission and there has been initial success in dilating his Pyloric valve after the amazing return of peristaltic movement to his stomach. A very slow increase in eating solid foods is underway with good results.</p> <p>Now that’s a welcome change. </p>Patrick D. Boonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01829764615798275775noreply@blogger.com0