Random Thoughts: Winchester’s First Birthday

I never played the first one (I’ve always been a Nintendo and PC gamer and it never came out for PC), but Red Dead Redemption 2 might make my list of all time favorite games.
The open world gameplay was great, but I was really pulled in by the writing and acting. I was surprised that I didn’t recognize a single actor’s name; I guess there’s number of good voice work actors out there.
For some reason, RDR2 on PC got absolute creamed in the user score on Metacritic. It seems to be from launch day bugs. I didn’t run into a single problem with it (after I updated my graphics card drivers on launch day).
I happened to get a new laptop for work just in the time for RDR2 that had a RTX 2060 on it. Was able to run it on ultra settings at 60 fps at 1080p resolution. Beautiful game.
Too much to do to play a game that engrossing that often. I have the new Star Wars game just sitting there, but I think I’ll have to wait a couple months before I start to have any time for it.

People, I’m an officially licensed satirist. I had to take government certified courses to make sure that my satire doesn’t accidentally become fake news. Please leave the satire to professionals like me.

It’s alarming to hear people say they want socialism, but often you find out they just want a few more welfare programs. It’s a bit like people going around saying they want Nazism but then you find out they just mean they want military officers to wear snappier uniforms.

Did we ever get an explanation of why we’ve even heard of Great Thunberg?
“So, you wont listen to random scientists, but I bet you’ll listen to those same arguments from a privileged foreign girl!”
“Wha… why would you think that?”
“Isn’t she the greatest?”
“Are you high?”

Is there any evidence Greta Thunberg has convinced anyone who didn’t already agree with her?

I moved my Fun Day Clock 10 seconds closer to midnight. We’re all really close to having a super fun day!

I’m three episodes into the show Legion. Now there is a show you need to pay close attention to or you’ll be completely lost.
I used to surf the web while watching TV, but I also used to watch a lot of junky shows. I have time for maybe one show a week night and there is so much out there I stick now only to shows worth paying full attention to.
BTW, I picked Legion because it’s has the same showrunner as Fargo. I decided I need to pay more attention to showrunners. For instance, I really like Justified so I guess I should eventually check out Sneaky Pete.

What would be funny is if they tried to make the Doomsday Clock more accurate by making an Atomic Doomsday Clock and then it exploded and killed everyone.
“Oh no! We changed the results by trying to measure them!”

MY BRAIN: “Impoochment!”
ME: “Huh?”
MY BRAIN: “It’s like impeachment, but for a dog.”
ME: “Eh… that’s almost something. But who would be ‘impooched’?”
MY BRAIN: “The President’s dog.”
ME: “He doesn’t have one.”
MY BRAIN: “Impoochment!”
ME: “Leave me alone.”

Home ownership is the most accessible way for the average American to become a crony.

Warren’s loan forgiveness plan is an unserious proposal from an unserious person. If you’re not as angry at her as that one father, it’s because either
A. You’re willfully being an idiot
B. You don’t think she serious about it

I mean, the problem are skyrocketing college costs and her solution is to start forgiving loans and remove any incentive to worry about costs? That makes Trump wall seem like Founding Father level well-thought-out in comparison.
And don’t get me started on Bernie’s national rent control. I don’t know how anyone can pretend he’s a serious person after that. The average monkey has better economic sense than that.
Of course, we demonstrated the Republic can survive an unserious President. We just have to make sure things are set up so they’re impotent to enact their stupid stupid plans.

I see a lot of people angry at Kathleen Kennedy for what’s happened with the Obi Wan show, but did she get any credit for The Mandalorian? Or is that like Mr. Burns taking credit for Daryl Strawberry hitting a home run?
“I told him to do that!”

Are the far left saying Joe Rogan is more bigoted, hateful, and close-minded than they are? Because that sounds like hyperbole.

college costs skyrocket for years way past inflation and any other industry
“Know what’s the problem: We have to pay these big loans!”
The whole college debate makes me feel like I’m in crazytown.

This whole student loan thing is like people are getting hit over and over in the face with a bat and their main complaint is bandages cost so much.

Winchester is one years old now! Here’s a rare picture where his three siblings aren’t all over him. He is the sweetest little guy and a constant blessing.

The fact that he has Down Syndrome hasn’t seemed like too much of a factor his first year other than he’s a bit small and we have therapy visits (all that early development is very complicated when you try to break it down like that). We’re ready for the adventure ahead, though.
One of the things I’ve found from fatherhood is the constant fear of failing your kids. They all have their unique needs, and you want to be up to whatever challenge they can give you. Each day is a lot of praying. I’ve had to grow more than I could imagine.
But, man, four kids. It’s a nice big family. Each day I feel so wealthy.

I’ll never forget SarahK’s reaction when she was told Winchester has DS right after he was born.
“I have some news: We believe he has Down Syndrome.”
“Okay. Can I see him?”
“I want to make sure you heard me; I just dropped a bomb on you.”
“Yeah, I gotcha. Can I see him?”
With our 3rd child, the genetic test was positive for trisomy 13. With that, she most likely wouldn’t live a year. Would have loved a trisomy 21 diagnosis instead. That’s the worst thing in my life I dealt with. Nothing you can do but wait and pray and hope you’re strong enough.
It ended up being a false positive, though. So with our fourth, we didn’t get the genetic test. Better to just not stress about and what will be will be. And so while Win having DS was a surprise (no indications in ultrasound), it didn’t feel completely out of left field.
Anyway, we’ve had some scary time and some stressful times, but we don’t go forward alone and all these blessings are certainly worth that price.

Of all the people in the world to give welfare to, why are we settling on people with high-end college degrees?

The goal is to treat all human life as precious in and of itself. The worst ideas on the both the right and left have one thing in common: They treat certain lives as problems to be managed.

Is Jennifer Rubin doing a bit? That’s the only way I can comprehend her. I mean, I can understand the extreme right and the extreme left who have lost their minds, but whatever she is baffles me.

I don’t know much about Joe Rogan, but I haven’t seen anyone condemn him as a nazi or whatnot who didn’t come off as way more irrational and hateful.

I’m getting a headache just imagining watching Birds of Prey.
“This looks like complete and utter garb… Ooh. Ewan McGregor.”

We had Winchester’s birthday party on Saturday.

The theme was “Baby Shark” because you need a theme but he isn’t really into anything yet. SarahK got a bit stressed on what to get Win, but he’s also not very materialistic yet. He just likes attention.

We found out he does not like getting frosting on his fingers.

He also does not like having a mustache. Who knew?

By the end of the day, he was quite tuckered out. Here’s to many more years for him.

MY BRAIN: “Hitler Sonic Youth!”
ME: “Come on.”
MY BRAIN: “It’s a combination Hitler Youth and—“
ME: “I get it, but what am I supposed to do with that? And what’s it with you and Hitler?”
MY BRAIN: “Hitler is funny.”
ME: “He really isn’t.”

ME: “Do you even know who the Sonic Youth are?”
MY BRAIN: “I think they’re a band from the 90s.”
ME: “You’re so useless.”

I’m thinking of being a political grifter. Is there any complex issue you’d like to be made extra angry about? I’ll do so for a moderate fee.

I don’t get taxpayer funding for NPR. When Firefly got canceled, the government didn’t swoop in with funding. And nothing on NPR is as good as Firefly.

“I have one question about these mutant ninja turtles you’re pitching: How old are they?”

Rico will return… soon.

The new cover for Superego is by Allison Barrows and Romas Kukalis (http://midsizemedia.com). The cover for the sequel is currently being painted.

If I was president and got impeached, I’d be like, “You can’t impeach me! I quit!” but before I’d quit, I’d mess up the WH direct deposit so I still got paid.
That’s right, I’d still get paid to be president but not even have to do the work. Suckers!

The best pitch I’ve heard for Bernie Sanders is that he’s authentically as dumb as a post. Authenticity in politicians is so rare these days and I value it highly.

Man, I really don’t care who wins in 2020. I think the least interesting scenario would be Biden wins the primary and then loses the general since there aren’t a bunch of Biden stans that will have an entertaining breakdown.

My wife is a great cook, but I have to be careful with her. I once tried to give her some constructive criticism on the mashed potatoes she made, and she didn’t make me mashed potatoes again for ten years.

I found that CNN clip kind of endearing because they’re now like “No one is even watching us; we can do whatever.”

Without looking it up, my assumption is that flying in a helicopter is statistically safer than driving in a car.

Was reading the Old Testament to my kids and I came to a section that threw a bunch of names and places that meant absolutely nothing to me, and my thought was “This is almost as bad as The Silmarillion.”
The passage was Judges 4:11, BTW. It was cute, because while I was reading the chapter, my 4yo came over to look at the Bible because she wanted to see a picture of Deborah. Maybe she can obsess on her instead of Rey.
Rey is fine, though. We’re planning a Disney World trip later this year and will give the kids a choice on the things that cost extra. When asked to choose between a princess makeover or build a lightsaber, she didn’t even have to think about it. “I want a lightsaber like Rey!”

It doesn’t matter how bad Trump is if the other side makes it clear they despise half the country and wants bad things to happen to them.

If Hollywood types want to demonstrate how much they believe in saving the planet, they should do the entire Academy Awards show over Skype.

I learned not to make political predictions after the 2016 presidential election, but I’ll make one for 2020: If Trump wins reelection, regardless of what the margin is he’ll claim it’s the “biggest landslide ever.”

The risk with Bernie is he’ll be McGovern 2.0 and give Trump a Nixon-esque landslide victory… except that if it’s found out in Trump’s second term he covered up a burglary, we’d all kind of shrug and go “Sounds like Trump.”

I lived through a booming economy in the 80s in my early childhood and another in the 90s just before I entered the workforce. This is the first one during my adult life. It’s not bad.

My mom got me a weighted blanket for Christmas but I’m really really strong so it just feels like a normal blanket.

The Trouble With Peace

Give peace a chanceI saw something on the news about President Trump’s Mideast peace plan. Not much, but a little bit.

The news has been mostly a dead basketball player and the Democrats’ attempt to remove Trump from office.

And that’s the trouble with peace. Nobody really cares about it. Well, nobody in the news cares. Peace means people not killing each other. Peace isn’t good for selling ads, or posting clickbait articles, especially when it risks throwing a positive light on a Republican.

Not all of the countries in the area are in favor of Trump’s plan. Jordan and Turkey don’t like it, but Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and UAE all are in favor. But none of that matters if you can’t use the news to sell fear, or otherwise cast Republicans in a bad light.

The Republicans do enough on their own to make themselves look bad. They don’t need the “media” helping.

Whatever happened to “give peace a chance?” For some people, it’s a 50-year-old song played on old people radio, and nothing more. Other than royalties for Yoko Ono, there’s no money in it.

How’d Err You?

Apparently the science is settled — to the bottom:

Red Sea Huge Source of Air Pollution, Greenhouse Gases: Study
Phys.org / 1/28/2020 / Patrick Galey

Hydrocarbon gases bubbling from the bottom of the Red Sea are polluting the atmosphere at a rate equivalent to the emissions of some large fossil fuel exporting countries, researchers said Tuesday.

The gases [are] seeping from the waters—which are ringed by the resorts and ports of several countries, including Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia . . .

(“Saud DARE You!?!”)

During a 2017 expedition around the Gulf, researchers at the Max Plank Institute for Chemistry noticed that levels of ethane and propane in the air above the Northern Red Sea were up to 40 times higher than predicted, even accounting for regional manmade emissions.

The team analysed possible sources for the gas emissions, including traffic, agriculture, burning of biomass, and power generation from hydrocarbons.

They came to an unexpected conclusion: the two gases had to be seeping out of the sea bed after escaping natural subterranean oil and gas reservoirs.

I’m sure this is the only place on earth this is happening. I guess volcanoes and farting cows will just have to wait and see.


Red China Flu

The State Department suggests not going to Red China, because of the flu that’s killing people. They aren’t so much worried about you going to Red China and dying there as they are about you going to Red China, getting the flu, then coming back with the flu and giving it to everyone else. Like in one of those movies where Bruce Willis the kid watches Bruce Willis the adult die in an airport.

Anyway, they really aren’t concerned if you die over there. They don’t want you causing people to die over here by bringing the flu back with you.

So, as long as stuff from Red China stays in Red China, there’s not a problem, right?

Have you looked at your cell phone lately? Or your TV? Or your computer? Or most everything else in your house? All made in Red China. All ways for

Suddenly, Trump’s trade war with Red China isn’t looking so stupid, is it?

See you at the polls in November.

Batter up! Madlib league results

With All-Star voting. Who is best?

Batting Leadoff…

Bob B

Ladies and gentlemen, this is Heliotrope.Barber, your sportscaster,
bringing you the last inning of the game between the Cleveland
hippopotami and the Tawdry Yankees. Paris Hilton is
pitching for the Yankees. Here’s the pitch! It’s a low Supercilious
ball that just cuts the inside of the wood for a strike. That
makes the count 17 strikes and 10,000 balls. Now
here’s the next pitch. The batter swings and connects. It’s a long, high
fistula out to Enormous field. But George Clooney
is coming up fast and has it for the second out. The next batter up
is Carrot Top, the Cleveland Flatulent-stop. Here’s
the pitch… and it’s hit… a short ground ball to third moon.
Andy Dick scoops it up and throws it to first base for an out,
and the game is over. And the Yankees move into second place in the
small League!

In the 2 hole

Tankdemon

Ladies and gentlemen, this is Mauve Barber, your sportscaster,
bringing you the last inning of the game between the Cleveland
Rock and the colossal Yankees. Morgan Fairchild is
pitching for the Yankees. Here’s the pitch! It’s a low moody
ball that just cuts the inside of the automobile for a strike. That
makes the count 15 strikes and Pi balls. Now
here’s the next pitch. The batter swings and connects. It’s a long, high
spatula out to harsh field. But Brad Pitt
is coming up fast and has it for the second out. The next batter up
is Beyonce, the Cleveland dire-stop. Here’s
the pitch… and it’s hit… a short ground ball to third stroller.
Mark Cuban scoops it up and throws it to first base for an out,
and the game is over. And the Yankees move into second place in the
presumptuous League!

Our best hitter at No. 3

zzyzx

Ladies and gentlemen, this is Purple Barber, your sportscaster,
bringing you the last inning of the game between the Cleveland
friends and the crooked Yankees. Corn Pop is
pitching for the Yankees. Here’s the pitch! It’s a low arrogant
ball that just cuts the inside of the book for a strike. That
makes the count 10 strikes and 1000 balls. Now
here’s the next pitch. The batter swings and connects. It’s a long, high
cow out to worried field. But Pee Wee Herman
is coming up fast and has it for the second out. The next batter up
is Mae West, the Cleveland thundering-stop. Here’s
the pitch… and it’s hit… a short ground ball to third zoo.
Chico Marx scoops it up and throws it to first base for an out,
and the game is over. And the Yankees move into second place in the
crazy League!

Clean up #4

cayleygraph2015

Ladies and gentlemen, this is Red Barber, your sportscaster,
bringing you the last inning of the game between the Cleveland
Models and the resplendent Yankees. Kurt Godel.is
pitching for the Yankees. Here’s the pitch! It’s a low associative
ball that just cuts the inside of the codomain for a strike. That
makes the count 2 strikes and 24,601 balls. Now
here’s the next pitch. The batter swings and connects. It’s a long, high
type out to creative .field. But Emmy Noether
is coming up fast and has it for the second out. The next batter up
is Georg Cantor, the Cleveland innumerable-stop. Here’s
the pitch… and it’s hit… a short ground ball to third cardinal.
Emily Post scoops it up and throws it to first base for an out,
and the game is over. And the Yankees move into second place in the
low League!

#5 protection

Combined

Ladies and gentlemen, this is Orange.Barber, your sportscaster,
bringing you the last inning of the game between the Cleveland
Oxen and the Hairy Yankees. Andy Griffith is
pitching for the Yankees. Here’s the pitch! It’s a low slimy
ball that just cuts the inside of the Ego for a strike. That
makes the count 999 strikes and IV balls. Now
here’s the next pitch. The batter swings and connects. It’s a long, high
shock out to traitorous field. But Minnie Pearl
is coming up fast and has it for the second out. The next batter up
is Bob Hope, the Cleveland barbarous-stop. Here’s
the pitch… and it’s hit… a short ground ball to third Nouns.
Jack Webb scoops it up and throws it to first base for an out,
and the game is over. And the Yankees move into second place in the
voluminous League!

Vote early, vote often.

While You’ve Been Grooving on Fiction About Tatooine, NASA’s Been Doing This . . .

Cruising asteroids . . .

It’ll only touch the surface for a short period of time—about five seconds—which is long enough to collect a sample. It collects a sample by blowing nitrogen gas onto the regolith, sending fine-grained material above the surface, to be captured by TAGSAM. It’ll then measure the amount of material in the sample to see if it’s enough. NASA wants to collect a 60 gram (2.1 oz.) sample.

NASA has a novel method of weighing the sample. Once they’ve collected a sample they’ll fire the thrusters to back away from Bennu. Then, with the TAGSAM extended, they’ll spin the spacecraft. They’ll measure the inertia and compare it to a previous spin with the TAGSAM extended, but empty.

Cruising Mars (eat your heart out, Spielberg) . . .

And cruising comets . . .

Rosetta was launched in 2004 and took 10 years to reach its target, Comet 67P. It spent about two years studying it before ending its mission by crashing into the comet. Rosetta also dispatched the lander Philae to the surface, and in spite of a difficult landing that crippled its mission, the lander was still able to take images from the comet’s surface.

Just another Madlib Monday

Here is the concept. I hope all of you have at one time or another in your life played “Madlibs”. Basically a story has several nouns, verbs, adjectives etc. removed from it and you, the participant, provide some. All without knowing the story. Shall we give it the ol’ college try?

What I want is that each person post one word from the required list. Once the list is complete I will release the story so you can see the results. No double dipping on entries, we want as many participants as possible.

So that is your mission should you decide to accept it. Good luck Jim.

Adjective #1:

Adjective #2:

Adjective #3:

Adjective #4:

Adjective #5:

Celebrity #1:

Celebrity #2:

Celebrity #3:

Celebrity #4:

Color:

Noun #1:

Noun #2:

Noun #3:

Number #1:

Number #2:

Plural Noun:

The result will be updated here when complete and I get home from work.

 

To The Moon

MoonJapanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa is going to the moon. Well, he plans to go to the moon. He’s suppose to be a passenger on a spaceship that Elon Musk is planning to send around the moon in 2023.

He’s not going alone. He wants to take artists to the moon with him. I think he’s bringing them back, though, so the Earth won’t be shed of them, so don’t get your hopes up.

He also wants to take a girlfriend with him. Only, he doesn’t have a girlfriend. So, he’s doing a TV show to find a girlfriend to take with him.

Let’s think about that for a minute. He’s a billionaire. He’s a huge Twitter star. He has his own TV show. And he does crazy stuff. Sounds like Donald Trump, right?

Well, Donald Trump has been able to get hot women. Yusaku Maezawa has to go on TV to find a girlfriend. Trump didn’t need to find a hot chick on TV, they came flocking to him.

How big of a jerk must this guy be to have billions of dollars and not be able to get a girlfriend without a TV show?

Say what you want about Donald Trump, but he’s been a rather effective president, and knows how to get the hot chicks.