Telescoping

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

I know I say this a lot, but I feel like I must say it again: we are all soaked in story, drenched in it. More so than any other generation or people in history.

I was lucky — eh — to live in a very old fashioned time, in a backward place until my teens, and not to have been particularly affluent.

How not particularly affluent? Well, there wasn’t much money for books. There was some, mind you. Just not much. And until I was eight we didn’t even a television, and the first time I went to the movies I was 12. Oh, there were other things. We did watch TV at friends and relatives places (which is how I loved The Saint.) And there were… radio soap operas. I couldn’t really listen to those regularly, because they usually were on over lunch, when I was either just arriving from school or just getting ready to go to school. (Due to lack of physical buildings enough for all the students (none had been built since my parents’ time, and there had been a marked migration from the provinces to the big city and big-city-adjacent (where we were. The village is now essentially part of the big city. Back then and through my life we became more and more of a suburb)) school was either 8 to 1:30 or 2 to 7.)

Even then, soap operas were so universally listened to, and so loud, to be heard over whatever else was going in the (usually very small) houses that while I was in intermediate school to which I took the bus, and walked down and up the village main street, I absorbed most of the story through just walking past door after door. And linked in the bits in between, because I couldn’t help it.

But still, there were vast times without story, and there was marked story-craving. I re-read books, a lot. I read everyone else’s books, including school books. I read old Reader’s Digests. I read everyone’s comic books. I read my older cousin’s romances. Yes, I read instructions for things I’d never owned and never would own. And I read the instructions for medicine I’d never take. As I’ve said before, I have a problem, and it is bad.

Even so, there were vast moments without stories and without words. Times when I had to cobble together stories in my mind, either of fantastic worlds, or of things happening in the village. This was not exactly gossip. I have a problem with names and faces, and older people (Really old people, like over 25) didn’t interest me at any rate. I just took pieces of their stories, and tried to figure out why, and what happened next.

Here’s the thing, even then, I was abnormally soaked in story. Because I probably spent a few hours each day listening to/reading/watching stories that I didn’t tell myself.

Evolutionarily I think this is crazy high for humans. Think of hunter gatherers (and remember that even that, evolutionarily is yesterday for our species. Okay, maybe last week. Agriculture is yesterday.) For most of human history, humans knew maybe five or six stories, which got told and retold, and sometimes “fixed” certain ways.

I know that at some point someone did um… Paleo-linguistic work on fairytales and found that Cinderella dates back to pre-history, as do a dozen others. Now, whatever you think of their methods, etc, this is not surprising. If you know more than a couple of cultures, even ones that supposedly were apart for a long time, you start picking stories or story elements that are the same.

Stories are part of what made humans very successful. Like, grandma’s told stories, so kids didn’t go traipsing in the woods and get eaten by a saber tooth, so they had kids and they told them stories, and their kids–

By substituting for experience, in a way that our brains seem really confused about — study after study indicates that we remember things we heard and PARTICULARLY watched as having happened to us and imprinting there with the emotion attached to it (which competent stories do) — stories can spare us dying in horrible, messy ways by showing “here be tigers” (Or really bad people. Or whatever.)

Also epics can sell a civilization. There’s reason to be Indo-European was not so much a blood tribe as a culture, sold through vast spoken sagas about how great the people were. Other people wanted to be part of that and imitated the culture and learned the sagas. Anyone who’s been abroad knows America as a leading purveyor of cool stories has the same effect. But because our stories aren’t always as high on America as they should be if it were a sane world, the rest of the world gets very funny stories about us. Stories that are completely wrong. And they still think we’re cool, so they try to imitate them.

No, seriously, there are probably gansters in Africa trying to wear their pants falling down their butt. And there are probably people who are criminals because they were sold by our music and movies that being criminals is cool. Such the power of story.

Because our main stream media is also a narrative, and a really loud one, and because it’s largely fiction and obsessive, there were BLM riots abroad in 2020. In some countries that are more minority-impaired than others this was particularly funny.

Also, I like to did myself violence laughing — and quoting Mr. 11B, “Had to go and breathe into a paper bag for a while” — when I ran into reports of people in Portugal having demonstrations after Trump’s election and screaming “Not my president.” Because… well, self obviously true, but why did they feel the need to get together in the middle of the street to yell it? Much less in front of the American Embassy? I’m sure the embassy knew it too. They didn’t need to be told.

I mean, guys, level-setting, we don’t even know — not even me, and I still have family there — who the three times refargin Portuguese President is. And if I knew and had some vague memory of his or his family, I might go “Oh, that sh*thead” but I wouldn’t feel the need to run around telling people “not my president.” As for the rest of you…. uh, except for some notable figures like Thatcher, say, do you even know who the BRITISH PM is? And mind, they’re closer to us culturally than anyone else around. I mean, I know Castreau is the — Premier? President? Prime Minister? Secretary general of affairs between middle-aged, married people? I don’t remember what they call their sh*thead in charge — Honcho is specialness in Canada. But honestly, I only know it because he pisses me off, and someone needs to draw a Hitler mustache on all his pictures. No, seriously. Including those in his family album. And I know Micro-Macron is in charge in France, because he’s unusually crazy even for a Frenchman. And don’t get me started on Obrador, in Mexico who is rapidly approaching “What if we shoved his nose in?” levels of annoyance. (Incidentally Obrar is the polite slang for “shitting” in Portuguese, so you know, in Portugal Obrador would be Shitter. I know, in Spanish it’s worker. BUT all the same, it pleases me in that indefinable way that linguistics sometimes do.)

However not ever, in the eve of ever, have I felt the need to shout: Not my president/premier/head honcho/idiot in special, much less in the streets.

Why did they do it? Because the narratives about the US are so special and compelling. (Also quite possibly the worst thing ones own citizens can say about a country, i.e. ficticious and slanderous, being produced by a minority that is oikophobic, Marxist and brain dead. But that’s something else.)

I mean, when I was little, in a place where (back then) an apartment building with four stories, the only one in the region, was known as “the high rise” I knew I had to grow up and live in a high rise. A real one. Because that’s how Americans live, and that was the future. (I told you they lie.)

And that was then. Now we’re really super-soaked (like a super-soaker with a back-pack) in story, to the point that we rarely pop out of it. I’m sitting here, typing this post, and ignoring the stories blaring over my husband’s computer. Because most songs are stories too.

More importantly, the primary forms of story, consumed by most of the US population, and what creates the texture of our minds are movies and games.

Look, even books have changed. And the books I like have changed. And what I require from books had changed.

Some of that is normal due to age, yes. But not all. And while I’d like to say I have gone towards wanting to consume more complex stories — bah, this isn’t true. On the contrary, I want my stories to go very fast.

Now there is nothing wrong with this, and there were always fast, quick-delivery tales.

However if you read stuff 20 years old, then 60, then 100, you’ll find it moves slower. The story moves slower. There are more things that are at least implied to happen in between the beginning and the satisfying (ah!) climax. The cigarette moment afterwards takes its own sweet time, too.

In stuff 100 or more years old, you often find entire mini novels or novellas in the middle of the novel, because someone sits down and tells a story that is transcribed in full. And yea, sometimes it applies to the main novel and sometimes it’s just…. local color? It’s bewildering.

This is because life felt slower, but more importantly, because people didn’t consume so many movies/games.

Movies and games telescope story. They have to. Movies particularly. Look, my favorite visual of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (a slim and relatively low-event book) is the six hour A & E mini series.

Because telling a story visually takes a long long time to do it justice. Most movies can’t do that. Or we’d routinely go and sit in the theater for 14 hours at a go to see a movie of our average thriller novel.

What movies do instead is take short cuts and telescope things. And they use short hand. One of the short-hands is something happens “and the people all rise up.” (Happened never, in the history of ever. The closest is the Romanian Merry Christmas and even that was first slowly, then very fast. Unimaginably slowly, so most people in and our of the country didn’t see it happen.) Another, for romance — which to be fair, romance novels also use — is the look that binds them forever or the kiss that’s like no other kiss.

Movies gallop from “first indications that” through doing something about it to rushing to climax big fight, dropping into bed, whatever, to solution.

But real life is not like that. And because particularly movies get in the back of our brain as “lived experience”, we expect life to be like that. We expect the shortcuts to work. (The number of young women, starting when I was one, who aren’t sure they’re in love because his kiss isn’t electrical. Leading me to point out they’re not eels. And that storytellers lie. (More the first when I was young. I was a sarcastic little thing.))

It’s worse for movements that involve “all the people.” Heck, even if we ever got to the point of all marching “shoulder to shoulder” it would take decades to get there.

Let me see, the oppressed people and the evil rulers plot. You see the oppression, you see something outrageous like persecuting a folk hero. People start giving pissed looks and going armed. A popular ditty propagates about how the ruler sucks… toes. And suddenly revolution!

Never happened. In the history of ever.

Even in a small kingdom it would take 20 or 30 years from death of the folk hero, to “go.” And the “go” would involve multiple uncoordinated “gos” and about 90% of them would die aborning, or be stomped down.

In something the size of our nation-continent? Yeah. Look, I saw the crisis in commercial real estate coming 35 years ago. I could predict it. But obviously most people didn’t, because as in the time of Noah, they were marrying and being given in marriage, building increasingly ginormous and more expensive corporate headquarters. Without the Covidiocy they might not have been wrong, even, as it would probably only have landed 20 years from now. Instead, they are now shocked, shocked, shocked that there is a commercial real estate crisis. This is more the speed things happen.

The thing to remember is how even the history you learned in school is telescoped. The abuses and infringements leading to the revolution took a long time, and in the end only a small minority fought.

Why am I saying this? Because if I see another of those “my homies and I would already be stacking bodies” I’m going to come through the screen and slap someone. And no one, not even I, wants that, right?

But also because you need to remember the other side is just poisoned with story. More so than us, at least most of them, because most of them don’t read history, though they might sometimes watch “documentaries.” But those are really telescoped, too. On top of which they believe, even often without realizing it, in a prophetic narrative of “how things are supposed to go” which means they believe that you know “shoulder to shoulder, the people will win and establish the dictatorship of the proletariat.” They believe in it so much that even their own AstroTurf movements get eaten up whole as “signs of things to come.”

We’re jumpy, impatient, and those of us who are political addicts, are tired of the many infringements and abuses we see happening twice a day and three times on Sunday.

But they’re really jumpy, really impatient. The prophet is supposed to have wakened in his well, second coming of Marx is supposed to have happened. the dictatorship of the proletariat is supposed to already be in place. And those of us who are against them, are supposed to already have died off because we’re all so old (they really believe we’re all my dad’s generation, at least, maybe older.)

Instead, we’re getting more and more uppity. And we pretend to be much younger than them, how dare we. And no matter how many times they “shut up, they explain” we just talk back louder.

And they’re exasperated, enervated, sure of their eschatological truth, but not sure how to get there, much less how to interpret growing resistence. They’re the good guys. Don’t we want Utopia? How very dare we not only exist but remind them more of that every day?

This is why they’ve gone nuts, trying to retcon history, and change anything that doesn’t accord to their rather insane ideas. This is why they’re coming with crazy stuff like erasing the borders.

It’s not fraught because they’re winning. It’s fraught because we’re talking/fighting back, and that drives them out of their story-drunk minds. This is not how they ever thought it would go. they want to fix it, but they can’t, because reality can’t really be rewritten. Their efforts at “fixing things” only meet with more resistance.

Ladies, Gentlemen and small devious octopi, this is why it’s going to get very very bad. They’re reaching for everything they can think of, and most things no one would think of. I mean, most of them are movie tropes and complete insanity.

But they will do it. Like Jan 6th, was supposed to set off a minority (in their heads we’re a tiny and old minority) rebellion, easily put down, that would end all resistance. Instead, look at the mess they made…. For that matter, Covidiocy was a movie script from end to end, and if it had worked as in a story, right now they’d be receiving the thanks of a grateful populace. Instead, they’re mumbling about amnesty AND trying to restart it, and having no idea why none of it WORKS.

And instead of people marching shoulder to shoulder, they believe them less and less. How very dare? Stompy stompy stompy.

It’s going to get crazy. No, I mean, crazier than that. And a lot of it will hurt. Us and particularly people abroad. Because when America sneezes, the world will catch pneumonia.

But it will fix itself, because reality does that. Hopefully without it tipping into a “great simplification.” Maybe. Almost for sure without shoulder to shoulder, though a Romanian Merry Christmas is always possible.

First very slow, then precipitously fast. And everything they do makes the fast come closer.

Prepare, prepare prepare. And be not afraid.

We win, they lose.

216 thoughts on “Telescoping”

  1. I’m hoping
    For a Romanian Christmas
    Just like when they shot Ceasceau
    (Sing it to the tune of “White Christmas”) :-)

    On a more serious note, it took eight years for the situation in British North America to go from the first political disputes to a shooting war…and that was fairly fast.

    Of course, I’ve got an advantage. Engineering is one of the traditional upward mobility professions. What you know, what you can do, can get you promoted. Unlike our so-called “betters”, where your connections are everything. We’re a cranky bunch, unwilling to bend the knee to people not competent to carry our helmet bags. So treating their whims with the contempt they deserve comes naturally.

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      1. True, but they were limited to horses carrying physical messages. Today we can send messages to millions of people instantly. We can watch our ‘leaders’ parade their stupidity and corruption in real time. Those and other factors speed things up considerably.

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        1. But it still takes time to build networks, to organize informal groups that might, might, kick in to take over local government and oust the royal officials. Back in the 1700s, those networks actually started with the traveling preacher George Whitfield and his supporters who wrote to like-minded churches in other colonies. After the First Great Awakening got going and then faded a little, the networks became the committees of correspondence. Out of little acorns, and all that … Even today, it builds more slowly than we often assume.

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          1. Also, while news can travel faster, it still takes the same amount of time for people to mull it over and come up with conclusions about what it all means.

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            1. YES!
              Especially with the media and entrenched “experts” telling us that paying attention to our vague concerns is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.
              And, Fascist, Ray-cist, and just generally a TERRIBLE way to think.
              Most people will backtrack, saying, “I just was wondering…”, eager to deflect the hideous attacks they have been engulfed in.
              Most people will get the heavy-handed hints, and drop it.
              For now.
              But, they will have that vague feeling back in the primitive part of the brain, that these situations are not good things. And, when they happen to meet normal people, who are further along the way of Seeing What is Happening, they will be more receptive to the message.
              That is why it’s important not to flood people with what you know. Put it into bite-sized info-bits. Don’t lead them along the road to the next step – let THEM come to you with their concerns, and offer assistance in seeking out more info.

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        1. antiestablishmentarianism was in the DNA of the vast majority of the colonists.
          …………………….

          From the first step of not explorers but colonists on the eastern shores. They didn’t come because of thrills and giggles. They came to get away from “there” and “them”. They came to get have religious freedom. They came to get ignore the manor and castle folk, so they could claim their own food grown with their own hands, and harvest the forest bounty for food and warmth. They didn’t run away, they ran to something better. Things were fine as long as “them” stayed “over there”. But as “them, over there” thought and acted like they got a say, just like if the move had never happened? Ultimately the only answer was “hell no”.

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        2. Oh, by the way, you could probably consider me even more “broken” than yourself as a child. To this day, I could probably recite the ingredients in Heinz Ketchup and French’s Mustard with very little effort. I read those entire “stories” more often than my sister’s Oz and Bobbsey Twins books. I even made up stories about working in their research laboratories to come up with better formulas.

          Liked by 1 person

    1. And the Left are borrowing from Dystopias yet again

      “Simpletons! Yes, yes! I’m a simpleton! Are you a simpleton? We’ll build a town and we’ll name it Simple Town, because by then all the smart bastards that caused all this, they’ll be dead! Simpletons! Let’s go! This ought to show ’em! Anybody here not a simpleton? Get the bastard, if there is!”

      A Canticle for Liebowitz is NOT somewhere I want to go even if it seems to include the (warning spoiler for 60+ year old novel) Second Coming…

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  4. Ah, yes, stories.

    My daughter lives in Istanbul. When I went to visit her some years ago the locals I met would congratulate me on having her move somewhere so much more safe than the US. Keep in mind that every mall, tourist area, and mosque was patrolled by machine gun carrying soldiers. You had to have your bags run through a scanner every where you went.

    But they had seen Cops and other shows so they “knew” how it really was in the US.

    And, of course, explaining that we were from a small town in the west didn’t help because they had also seen Gunsmoke and various spaghetti westerns. They really didn’t believe that I had never seen a gun battle between Cowboys and Indians.

    Meanwhile, everyone here is convinced she is in mortal danger there because…. Well just because, since no one here really knows what Turkey is like.

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    2. I’ve been watching some of the older/newer police dramas that I missed before, based in LA, one in Oregon (okay I followed Grimm). One thing that is tickling my funny bone is when in interrogation and gun ownership comes up, particularly handgun, the question always asked is “Do you have a permit for that?” Note, the handgun is rarely on the person let alone concealed on the person. Just stored at their home (maybe not particularly safely, but none the less, stored). I really don’t know about NYC or Florida (other places this comes up in dramas), but I know damn well that there is no requirement for gun ownership to have a permit in California anywhere, let alone in Oregon. They require a background check to buy one. But there is no such thing as a permit for gun ownership. Not even (still blocked) OR 114 does that. (Acknowledged PTB want it that way. But it isn’t.) To carry concealed a permit is required in Oregon, California, and Washington, but a lot of states that is not true, and a lot of states, where a concealed permit is required are going to “must issue” requirements, even Oregon. How does this tie to the post? The stories. The dramas make it seem that to own a gun in America a permit is required. OTOH European dramas come across as “no one can have a gun, not even police”. Never mind whether there is any truth.

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      1. Illinois requires getting an FOID card before you buy the gun. I believe NYC does too, but post Bruen keeping track of what was struck down, hasn’t been struck down, and what’s still making it’s way thru the courts is more than anyone can keep up with.

        But yes, if they can implant the idea that a permit is required, a lot of otherwise law-abiding won’t bother.

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        1. yes, if they can implant the idea that a permit is required, a lot of otherwise law-abiding won’t bother.
          ……………

          Which is why, thanks to ANTIFA antics, the, lets say, more liberal now terrified, left of right, who have gone in to purchase a firearm (handgun or otherwise), have been shocked on how easy it is, yet surprised on how hard it is. Shocked, because, at least Oregon, no permit required (yet, despite OR-114), but paperwork and thumb print are, *payment up front, while clearance occurs. Clearance is not generally speedy. If one does go into the queue, then it can take months. Good luck if you really do need a firearm.

          If you are then approved after months, by law, any application is void after 30 days, so must refill out paperwork, thumb print, again, and go back into the system, again. Only now the prior “approval” influences the new one, so “instant” approval occurs. Since 2020, seen one instant approval (very limited personal sample, 20%, but the store staff was surprised). Yes, I did hold it over hubby and son :-) Probably should have gone out and bought lottery tickets.

          OTOH BIL and nephew-in-law say they do not have any problems (BIL was shocked he had to wait 3 hours. Shocked! On the day mine was instantly approved, hubby went into the queue for over 3 months!) Both have concealed carries. BIL does trade shows and buys/sells all the time. Used to have a dealer license, but never did this professionally (could ship/receive firearms directly). Nephew-in-law packs because of job (not law enforcement, military, or security), has something beyond the concealed permit.

          FYI. Should it ever go into effect, OR 114 will do nothing to change the “approval” wait times if an application goes into the queue. It will only effect whether or not one can even purchase a gun and fill out the application to start the process. There were a few gun shops willing to do the 3-day and no response option. All have now closed shop and left the state.

          (*) Technically if application is denied, one gets the cost of the firearm (but not the application fee) credited back. But please tell me that most can afford a $600 charge/cash (including sales tax, if applicable), for 3 or more months? Most can’t.

          Liked by 1 person

    3. Claire Berlinsky lived happily in Istanbul for years before, for safety reasons, removing herself to Paris from where she blogs intelligently today. (Choices. Who can explain?)

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    4. Hmmm.

      Istanbul was Constantinople
      Now it’s Istanbul, not Constantinople
      Been a long time gone, Constantinople
      Now it’s Turkish delight on a moonlit night
      Every gal in Constantinople
      Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
      So if you’ve a date in Constantinople
      She’ll be waiting in Istanbul
      Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
      Why they changed it I can’t say
      People just liked it better that way
      So take me back to Constantinople
      No, you can’t go back to Constantinople
      Been a long time gone, Constantinople
      Why did Constantinople get the works?
      That’s nobody’s business but the Turks
      Istanbul, Istanbul
      Istanbul, Istanbul
      Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
      Why they changed it I can’t say
      People just liked it better that way
      Istanbul was Constantinople
      Now it’s Istanbul, not Constantinople
      Been a long time gone, Constantinople
      Why did Constantinople get the works?
      That’s nobody’s business but the Turks
      So take me back to Constantinople
      No, you can’t go back to Constantinople
      Been a long time gone, Constantinople
      Why did Constantinople get the works?
      That’s nobody’s business but the Turks

      Istanbul
      They Might Be Giants

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      1. The song is rather older than TMBG. According to the always-reliable (Hah!) Wikipedia:

        “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” is a 1953 novelty song, with lyrics by Jimmy Kennedy and music by Nat Simon. It was written on the 500th anniversary of the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans. The lyrics humorously refer to the official renaming of the city of Constantinople to Istanbul. The song’s original release, performed by The Four Lads, was certified as a gold record. Numerous cover versions have been recorded over the years, most famously a 1990 rock version by They Might Be Giants.

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          1. Not so much recyclable as resurrectable. I count at least 3 times (Lights of Zetar, the Changeling and Who Mourns for Adonis) he gets offed and brought back (he is a red shirt mind you) and I’m probably missing some. Probably you have to be that tough to survive through being a Lieutenant as a red shirt…

            Liked by 1 person

            1. He made it all the way to TNG (Relics) after being trapped in a transporter beam for… 75 years? 100? That could count as a resurrection itself, considering the alternative.

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  6. Another factor, to which you have spoken in prior postings, is this is America and it’s not what “they” think it is. It is huge, very distinct, varied and a lot more complex than the movies running in TPTB heads.

    I was listening to music just a bit ago from fifty plus years ago – and that was rock and roll. The changes that have happened are still in progress which is another issue for anyone who thinks they have a clue. I do not think we will have a spicy Christmas but… I do think that October/November of next year will be very interesting. As the old saying goes, time will tell. So, we should all plan to follow your ongoing advice and remember we win & they loose.

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    2. Waaalll, lessee, 50 years ago…that’d be 1973. What were we listening to in 1973?

      Aerosmith’s 1st album
      Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s first 2 albums
      Kansas 1st album
      Eagles Desperado
      Elton John Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
      Fleetwood Mac Penguin, and Mystery To Me
      Alice Cooper Billion Dollar Babies, and Muscle Of Love
      Chicago Chicago VI
      Seals & Crofts Diamond Girl
      Electric Light Orchestra On The Third Day
      Emerson Lake & Palmer Brain Salad Surgery
      Led Zeppelin Houses Of The Holy
      Pink Floyd Dark Side Of The Moon
      Blue Oyster Cult Tyranny And Mutation
      REO Speedwagon Ridin’ The Storm Out
      Steely Dan Countdown To Ecstasy
      Steve Miller Band The Joker
      Billy Joel Piano Man
      Styx Styx 2, and The Serpent Is Rising
      Joe Walsh The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get
      Frank Zappa Apostrophe’

      Those are just a few of the albums from 1973, plus of course all the ones from before then.

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      2. Yup! You have a great list! I was also, as a high school kid, working the local AM radio station and got to “spin records” on weekends and over holidays. I worked with a lot of stuff then from ’68 on. My sister was eight years older so I got a lot of music exposure from the late ’50s on due to that. Funny part is if you asked for my favorite song it would be “My Way” by old Blue Eyes. ;-)

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      3. I seem to have more memories of albums slightly before ’73, though I have EL&P and the Pink Floyd. Probably have the Elton John–LPs were pretty affordable–it helped to have a crappy car that I could maintain on my own.

        (OTOH, before ’73, I got to see REO Speedwagon when they had a gig at one of the college town bars. That was rather fun.)

        Playing memory tapes of the era, I suspect I was getting into non-rock music. Folk, Steve Goodman. Myriad classical music pieces. That, and the course load was high enough that I needed to spend more time studying, and the stereo was in the living room. The college station played a lot of jazz at that hour. I sort of got into Chick Corea, but Herbie Hancock was a bit tough to digest.

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    4. This very much true.

      I have lived in four parts of Texas, Wyoming, Florida, three parts of Connecticut, South Carolina, and Georgia since 13.

      Except for two of the parts of Connecticut each had its own feel and rhythm.

      And none matched the American TV or movies, which seems to have three settings: generic NYC (all big cities on TV), fashionable LA (all less urbanized cities), and generic suburbia (source of all evil and boredom).

      Again, none even remotely resembled anywhere I have lived. Oh, there are trends and common touchstones, but TV never gets the sense of anyplace I have lived even when it claims to be set there (there is a series set in Atlanta I have yet to watch which other.locals says is close). Movies occasionally do better.

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      1. I have less variation, Connecticut (rural), Massachusetts (Urban, Suburban, rural/suburban) NH (urban/suburban) plus Long stays in Silicon Valley (8 weeks + in Palo Alto/ Mountainview), Huntsville AL (2 week+), Dallas TX (2 weeks +). As noted by Herbn there are similarities, Nashua NH and Waltham, Ma felt similar (80’s) , rural New England quickly looks like rural New England for inland areas (Most of VT Northern NH, Northwest CT, western MA, Anywhere ME NOT Portland or down east coastal. Coastal rural areas ALSO seem to have resemblances and rhythms to the life styles. Worcester felt citified (early ’80) although was in clear decline when Younger daughter was there (late 2010s). Boston is nearly unique among US cities, vaguely similar to San Francisco in the 80’s, closer in feel to Montreal or Quebec than say Philadelphia or NYC. TV and movies have captured NONE of these well. They tend to have stereotypes partly because you often don’t shoot in these places much and partly because if it is critical to the story to know where you are you need to whack the viewer up side the head to tell them where they are (the show don’t tell of the media nature and process).

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      2. TV never gets the sense of anyplace I have lived even when it claims to be set there
        ………………

        Grimm isn’t too far off. Rarely see “downtown” (“riot” areas) or the newer neighborhoods. In fact the shows incorporate the “Portland Weird” vibe of the early ’00, early ’10, via the comments made by characters not “in” on what is repeatable occurring. But then one has to realize where they are filming in the Portland neighborhoods. I only know because cousins other grandparent’s home is in the St John area (very old homes, early 1900’s – 1950 construction). Not that the grandparents live there anymore (been gone 50+ years, but suppose the house is still standing). Which is the neighborhood character that was being filmed.

        Anymore what we know of Portland is what can be seen as we drive through on I-5 or I-205. Although I’ve had to drive downtown to an event at niece’s apartment complex (her sister’s wedding shower. Thank God the baby shower was at their mom’s. New (great) niece 08/08/2023.) Can see 405 from where we parked … Parking? OMG. Grrrr.

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        1. I have mostly lived boring places, which is probably part of it.

          I mean, Portland is hip and trendy among the people who are in Hollywood, so I can see them getting it right. That just reinforces how divorced they are from much of the rest of the country and thus give the world a warped impression.

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          1. Yeah… in counter argument, Stargate SG1 got freakin’ Denver screwed up.

            It was hilarious. They put New York style stuff in Colorado.

            So evenn the hip has to be the RIGHT hip and trendy.

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      2. Bill Cosby – Toss of the Coin “What if there was a coin toss at the beginning of each war?”

        Revolutionary war: British lost coin toss. Had to wear red coats and march shoulder to shoulder out in the open.

        Indian wars (feather, not dot): Cavalry (Custer) lost coin toss. Had to sit at the bottom of the hill and have Indians ride down on them. (Not how it actually happened. Ever been to the battle ground monument? Custer died on the high ground. The braves rode up from the village on the very flat ground, near the river, to the battle field. Custer still lost.) Doesn’t make the bit any less funnier; cringing.

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  9. It’s going to be a very interesting few years coming up.
    It’s probably not going to go the way these people want (especially if something happens to the Bidenstein Monster between then and now. Harris has no ability to be elected barring massive fraud…and in all fairness, who could take the position), but it’s not going to be pretty.
    Big cities are going to be bad for a while, until the Money decides that they won’t pay for politicians that will let their properties get burned down or left fallow.
    And if there’s a good, sharp blow that dislodges most of the worst people in DC and in state capitals there might be some serious progress.
    Until then, keeping my powder dry, getting started on a new career, stockpiling supplies Just In Case.

    Liked by 1 person

        1. The question is whether Michelle O wants the job. Hillary wants it desperately, of course. That’s been well-understood since the ’90s. But there’s never really been any indication that Michelle particularly wants the job. If anything, she appears to be content to stay where she is, as a former first lady, raking in the big bucks in speaker fees (she apparently got paid $750,000 for one just recently). And given her age, she’ll be able to keep doing that for a long time if she chooses.

          Liked by 1 person

          2. question is whether Michelle O wants the job
            ……………………

            I don’t get those vibes off of Michelle. Question is does hubby dearest want it for her? Does she have the backbone to tell him “no”, in absolute terms. Luckily the daughters are still a couple of decades, plus, too young, or they’d be on the auction block for presidential puppet.

            Liked by 1 person

            1. Well, Obama has never presented himself as the most energetic person. I can see him being quite happy spending the rest of his life cashing in the fame that he earned from his time in office.

              Liked by 1 person

          4. “The question is whether Michelle O wants the job.”

            As I pointed out back when it was first proposed to run Mooch in 2015 IIRC, it was obvious that the idea was Lurleen Wallace 2.0. “Vote for Lurleen but let George do it” was an actual campaign sign…. and it worked.

            I went to high school with the Wallace kids (Lee Wallace (Dye) was in my class year from 8th grade). Lurleen didn’t want to run either, but was persuaded to, ultimately. We’ll see how that goes.

            Liked by 1 person

      2. Newsome is either pushing himself or being pushed, hard. The media used him as counterpoint (Biden surrogate? He comes across as being 100% for he, himself and him) for the Republican debate, and in another setup he’s congratulating himself for “baiting,” DeSantis into a debate. Ron, he says, has “proven,” he’s totally unqualified for the Presidency by agreeing to debate him, and probably regrets getting in so far over his head. The smarm factor was just oozing out of my tablet.

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        1. “The streets of San Francisco are covered with shit.”

          You’ll not find a more perfect summary of Nuisance’s ‘leadership’ than that.

          Remember 2020? When Demokrat cities were boarding up their windows and barricading their streets in case Trump won the election? They weren’t worried about Trump supporters rioting if he didn’t.

          Now the stores in San Francisco are all boarded up.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. Re Gavin Newsome: It is my belief that he is angling for a high visibility, directorate position in the United Nations. He will play along with the “we’d love to see you as POTUS” crowd as long as it serves his needs domestically and internationally. That will increase his international visibility without the accompanying stink of disasters he has left behind in every position he’s ever held as a “public servant” here dating back from well before his tenure as governor of California.

            Running for POTUS gets very, very messy for him and being POTUS would be just plain ugly for him even with the press in his pocket. At the end of the day he’s a snob, un-American, a wimp, and despite what he might like you believe, lacks Donald Trump’s integrity, backbone. and thick skin. He’s a perfect fit for a big job at the UN where he doesn’t have to believe in or know anything much in particular, he can hob-nob and travel with the global “elite” (snort), and the masses are kept at a suitably safe distance.

            You heard it here first

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            1. I believe you. For one, anyone other than Trump is going to preside over a crash if it doesn’t come before November 24.
              Other than Trump? Well, a) the man has weird luck. b) I think he’s figuring out what to do to stave it off already and in this case business knowledge WILL help.

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                2. This is a very different case. With no showing of harm, the judge went ahead and said “Even though everyone you dealt with made out well and has no complaints, you defrauded them and I am unilaterally suspending your right to do business in this state. Oh, and I will fine your lawyers for arguing that I shouldn’t”

                  Liked by 1 person

          4. Madame Host here I must disagree with you. I can think of SEVERAL states that would vote for Newsome (or Pol Pot, Ceausescu, or Beelzebub himself if they had a D after their name) . CA (he’s already won that at least once), MA, RI, CT, NJ all seem solid Blue and would vote for whoever is the DEM nominee. IL is likely due to Chicago, WA and OR likely due to their cities (and potential manipulation). DE, MD and VA all likely due to proximity to DC, HI is pretty solidly blue. NY is likely due to NYC and environs. So counting I have 175 easy votes for any democrat (even without major fraud). They need 96 more to have the majority. Michigan is likely theirs due to Detroit and potential manipulation there, Minnesota has not had a republican candidate victory since Nixon vs McGovern in 1972. 2020’s 1,700,000 for Biden is suspect as hell and Trump did better than he did vs Hilary (who he lost to in Minnesota). There’s 26 more now we only need 70, PA just switched to a Dem majority due to a interim election in their house, so even their previous gutless actions on verification are likely to go by the wayside. Philly and Pittsburgh will dominate (honest or not, I bet not in Philly’s case) now we’re down to 50. Georgia is likely where there needs to be a BIG push by the Republicans to hammer the Atlanta nonsense or we’re down to 34. Wisconsin is another battle ground that must be fought hard. Again 2020 is screwy Biden got as many votes as Obama did in 2012 and almost as many as in 2008. Donald trump got 200K MORE than he did in 2016 but still lost by about 20k votes. Given Biden was about as exciting as chapter of Numbers in the Bible (likely far less so) something here is fishy. Certainly there seems to have been enthusiasm for Trump, but where did the extra turnout come from? Compare with 2004 and total votes are a little under 3 million. In 2016 there are 2.8 million, in 2020 3.25 million. Thats 10 votes that if they go to the Democrats things are likely sunk. All of this points out that as annoying as he was Tip O’Neill was right ALL politics is local, And Sadly Stalin was write it is NOT who votes but by whom and how the votes are counted. Without control of that a political solution may be effectively impossible.

            Appealing to the rationality and intellect of the American populace (particularly the liberally educated populace) is a task that is now doomed to failure for at least a while as things shift around.

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    2. It seems to the Reader that the sources of Money in the cities has changed over the last couple of decades from the large businesses that have traditionally inhabited them to layers of non profits and government unions. Chicago is a good example. Despite being home (at least for the moment) to the Chicago Board of Trade, the latest mayor was bought and paid for by the Chicago Teachers Union. Said mayor is now pushing for a head tax on employers, and a financial transactions tax as well as government run grocery stores. There does seem to be some business pushback behind the latest politics in Seattle (probably from Amazon) but we’ll see how far it goes. Most of the other blue cities politics appear to be based on a similar combination of government union and progressive non profit funds. The businesses appear to be abandoning the field and running for red areas.

      Liked by 2 people

      2. About a week back, Second City Cop had a post about those taxes. They pointed out that one of the big companies had run a test where they ran their entire trading floor through a duplicate system set up out of Illinois. So it sounds like the traders could pull up stakes at any time and leave Chicago.

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  10. The childhood story you told struck a chord. I know sports means almost nothing to you, but there is such a parallel with America’s homegrown mythology, baseball. It is said that in New York in October during the 1950s, you could walk the streets of a residential neighborhood and follow the progress of World Series games from the radios playing through open windows.

    (Some New York team was always involved in the World Series from 1949 to 1958. Six of those ten years it was two teams.)

    I will consider your counsel, but it feels like I’ve been patient for a very long time already. And if, to revive one of your old metaphors, I keep eating the devil’s bread, I’m going to end up like the tribbles in the grain compartment: stuffed and starved.

    Liked by 1 person

    2. She’s done nothing whatsoever. As much as I detest her, HRC at least tried to make herself into a plausible candidate. Eight years in the Senate, plus four years as Secretary of State.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. She’s done nothing whatsoever
        …………………

        Which is why I don’t think Michelle doesn’t want the job. She had said and done nothing to remotely hint she does. Others on her behalf, yes. But nothing from her. She is not stupid.

        Liked by 1 person

          1. As long as Hillarity! is alive, I would NOT want to be a woman running for POTUS as a (D).
            ……………

            What I was thinking.

            As far a Kamala, she’s just that brain dead, already. She might even be so brain dead as to allow Hillarity to run as VP. Whether her handlers are that suicidal, jury is still out.

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      1. Beyond the spectre of the Lightbringer as Very Special Advisor to a President Michelle, there’s also the rumors about Big Mike. The infamous video of Michelle dancing on the Ellen DeGeneres show with, er, something bouncing in the nether regions has raised more than a few eyebrows.

        Liked by 1 person

          1. I was having a hard time resisting the urge to spell her name that way. Glad somebody did it, though. :)

            Never watched the show, but saw the clip. Yikes.

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          2. I watched ONE of her shows while waiting for older son to come out of surgery a few years ago. What struck me is that the level of IQ to enjoy that show was …. low.
            I kept expecting them to clap because someone knew their own name. That bad.

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            1. This is why I absolutely cannot tolerate watching daytime TV if I’m, say, stuck in the waiting room at the car dealership getting my car fixed. All of the shows, whether it’s Wendy Williams (sadly, not of the Plasmatics) or Steve Harvey or Dr. Oz or “The Doctors” or whatever other crap-level talk show, are aimed at an IQ of about 57. I’d rather watch old reruns of Jeremy Kyle from the UK because at least you could see some good freaks on there and hear some fun brummie or Geordie accents. I mean, I know soapoperas were never exactly high art, but we gave up As the World Turns and Another World for THIS?

              Liked by 1 person

              1. I didn’t have anything but a book and the sound kept breaking in, with my looking up in a “really? You asked someone something that stupid” way.
                I had to stay there because kid has an odd habit of coding under anesthesia and I might be called in at any time.
                And he was … dear Lord 13. Time goes by fast when you’re old.

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                1. Both the Subaru and Honda dealerships are owned by the same outfit, but the Subie center is new, and if they have a TV, it’s used in monitor mode to show various Subaru features. (Not the dog commercials, alas.)

                  The Honda is in an older building and the TV is usually on, but much of the time when I’m there, I’m the only person in the waiting room. So, I get to use the remote to select my favorite channel: “Off”. (If I’m not alone, various other plans. $STD_TAQUERIA is in walking distance in anything better than fowl weather. If the seagulls are flying sideways, I’ll find something else to do.)

                  My last round of surgery was in the midst of Covidiocy and $SPOUSE had to be elsewhere for the duration. The local Oregon DMV was quite cooperative when she went to get the disabled placard. I have a tendency for the procedures to take longer than planned; I should be nicer to my joints. (Recalls quote from TNotB.)

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      2. I just realized who it might be.

        Gavin Newsome. He’s trying to play the “knight on a white horse” with govenatorial time in California and trying to pass progressive policies and legislation that will make him look better.

        Think a lower-rent version of JFK and you’ve got an idea of what Newsom is.

        (I’m from California and he is the best example of the Peter Principal that I’ve ever seen.)

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          1. You know that.
            I know that.
            Your cats know that.
            Do the Democratic power brokers know that? Or care? Or think they can vote enough graveyards to get him in?
            (I think trying to elect Newsom would be the worst mistake made by socialists in the last five years, but then again…)

            Liked by 1 person

            1. They have to continue the trend somehow:

              Carter was the worst president ever — until Clinton
              Clinton was the worst president ever — until 0bama
              0bama was the worst president ever — until Biden

              So next year, they either have to run the turnip again, or find somebody even worse. They may be outdoing themselves with Gruesom. Then again, there’s Cackling Kamela.

              Liked by 2 people

              1. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if they try to get Kamela in as the candidate (having Biden suffer an “accident”), so that they can claim to have the first female president, the first female Black president…and is so far out of her depth that her people can “help” her.

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                1. Uggh I just had two really bad ideas. 1) They dump Biden, heck trip him on the big steps of Air Force one and he’ll bust a hip or neck, then they slide Michelle Obama in as VP under Kamala (sorry for that image). Voila terms 4 and 5 for the Obama team, and maybe more via fortification of voting in certain regions. This gets them a 2 female, 2 minority team, Invigorates the African American Vote (Maybe?) and keeps the neurotic Karen voting block solid. 2) Dump Biden (see 1) and get AOC as VP (she is just 35 before inauguration so legal I believe) Kamala stays as president again 2 female two minority but adds youth and solid (?) socialist. This does NOT excite the black vote as much but keeps them from going AWOL totally like dumping Willy browns side piece would. It excites the Neurotic Karens (NK henceforth) and brings in the idiotic youth/Bernie Bros voters (but I repeat myself) who would likely go AWOL in the #1 scenario. As Kamala and AOC have less brain cell(s) than the whole of the orange cat populace they get run totally by the appointees and Moochelle doesn’t have to give up the lucrative 750K speaking engagements. slightly less control than scenario 1 and if Kamala kicks the bucket they have serious issues as AOC makes The Turnip in chief look controllable and reasonable. As VP she’s just pointless anyhow but in the Presidential spot there are some issues.

                  Liked by 1 person

                    1. I am not sure that the brahmandarins see the approaching cliff. And even if some do see it their concern is power for powers sake. They do not understand that the hoi polloi will roll the tumbrels or set up a Romanian Xmas, Their goal is to win (where win can include a fair bit of fudging that is semi deniable) the next set of elections and hold (or in the case of the House regain) power. As previously noted given a battle of brains between them and a planarian (or the whole of the Orange Feline UniCat) the planarian or the UniCat wins hands (well paws or whatever it is planarian have) down .

                      Liked by 1 person

        3. The Reader notes that the most telling sign that Grewsom is the Democrat’s bullpen for 2024 was his veto of the latest gender identity nonsense out of the CA legislature. The Reader is sure that ‘wink wink’ was used with the progressives there to keep them in line (they had the votes to override it if they really wanted to).

          https://www.foxnews.com/politics/newsom-vetoes-bill-would-require-parents-affirm-childs-gender-identity-custody-battles

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            1. Well, he’s wanting to Grewsome balls… (heh)
              If we have an actual Republican candidate (DeSantos or Trump), he’s got a long record of bad “progressive” ideas to put up on ads a’la the revolving door prisons.

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        4. The Democratic lineup of potential Presidential candidates is terrifyingly thin. At least on the right, there’s Trump and Desantis, and a whole bunch of squishy RINO types in the middle, most of which I wouldn’t pee on if they were on fire. But on the D side, you’ve got The Turnip, The Ho, The Beast (Hillary), The Drunk (Pelosi), aka the American Politburo because they’re all ancient…or you’ve got Newsom, who reminds me way too much of Joel Osteen never mind his politics…or you’ve got a mushbrain like AOC. Were he not Constitutionally forbidden, you know Obama would be running and he’d sweep the field. Nobody on the D side could beat him. Maybe that’s why so many people are pushing Big Mike Obama to run in his place.

          Liked by 2 people

          1. Remember how they hopped every primary to a new candidate in vain hope of someone more plausible than Biden?

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      3. Some things sell, some things do not.
        Let’s a store marks down coffee 50%. That’s gonna FLY off the shelf.
        If the same store (assume generic “midwest” here) marks down Chinese Hot Mustard 50%… nothing much will happen.
        And Hillary? She ain’t even hot mustard.

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  12. I wonder if that story saturation thing also influences our sense of pacing. Like I want the crisis to be over so we can rebuild. I’m too impatient, I suppose also too much of a coward to pray for patience.

    Liked by 1 person

        1. … by presenting your with opportunities to be patient, and situations that humble you.

          Much better to ask for wisdom, and hope you don’t mess it up like Solomon did.

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          2. And I can not recommend asking for patience, no really just don’t. The Author either is trying to teach us patience like unto his (His is clearly infinite witness what He has put up with Humankind and his favored people) or has a very dry sense of humor…

            Liked by 1 person

            1. So very true.

              And although my only hope is that the Author has a powerful sense of humor, He does like to play practical jokes from time to time.

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                1. I’ve been weaving a handspun shawl. Got the weaving done yesterday, but don’t know if I have enough yarn left for fringe. Went back to my remaining (irreplaceable) fiber and started spinning. Spun the remaining roving. Spun up the scraps and funky bits. Got ready to remove the bobbin and put on the plying head….and there’s a small strip of unspun fiber. Pick it up, spin it….and there’s another small strip on the floor. Pick that up, spin it, start to remove bobbin….there’s a third strip on the chair arm to my left. Spin that…oh, look, there’s another bit on the floor.
                  I don’t know if that’s a practical joke or a miracle of abundance, especially given all of the strips were maybe six inches long and the width of a finger. Hope to find out if there’s enough later thus morning.

                  Liked by 1 person

    2. I think the issue is that time always moves quickly after the fact, but moves much more slowly when you’re in the middle of it. It’s easy and quick to read about events leading up to World War 2. But it was likely much slower to those who were adults back in, say, 1936.

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      1. This. I’ve been studying the rise of Hitler (with some disturbing results), and people tend to both compress and jumble together the events leading to 1 September 1939.

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      2. Forget where I read someone going through the cemetery and wondering about the thoughts of the people who died in 42-44, not knowing the end. There’s a lot of living to happen in the “factors leading up to” section before the history goes all maps and arrows. Even in the midst of it, too.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. I’ve always felt particularly sorry for the Brits captured in France in 1940 (and there were a bunch). Everyone else went home at the end of the Battle of France. But the Brits were stuck in German PoW camps for five long years.

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  13. “As for the rest of you…. uh, except for some notable figures like Thatcher, say, do you even know who the BRITISH PM is?”

    I do generally know who the British PM is at any given time. Right now it’s Tory Richi Sunnak (I hope I spelled that right), the rich Indian entrepreneur, who took over after Liz Truss had to step down. I generally know France, as well. I used to know Germany. But I haven’t since Merkel left office. And I have a sneaking suspicion that says a lot about the (in)significance of Germany these days…

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Used to could say Oz, Germany, UK (and Canuckistan), France, and that with a mind that loses names like a flour sifter loses water. Knew Sunnak (though it would be “Um . . . Indian, Dot, not feather . . . . dammit) I had thought El Frenchie had left office in France but saw him mentioned recently , and Merkle the Stasi being gone is a good thing but now it’s “Who?” Oz has had some shuffling of late and whomever it is tends not to pop up often in my Aussie paper headlines lately (too many gang shootings, housing issues, and sports racism scandals for them to appear, it seems)

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    2. The only reason I particularly know of Sunnak is because there were rumors he Didn’t like Larry (Chief Mouser for 10 Downing St). Ms Truss didn’t get on with Larry either… Can’t abide a politician than won’t tolerate a cat, even a curmudgeon like Larry.

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  15. So here’s a thing: How many of you have internalized that every single photo lies to you, all the time?

    I mean, there are little lies, like framing a creek photo to just cut out the backyard of the house to the right. “What a lovely slice of nature,” the photo says, ignoring that it’s sandwiched through the middle of a subdivision.

    Then there are the bigger lies, like the collapsing of the field of view with a telescope (heh) lens at a baseball game, so that the pitcher and catcher look nearly on top of one another like a Norman Rockwell portrait. “But that’s not a lie,” your gut says, even when you attend a baseball game in person and it just doesn’t look right unless you glance over to the Jumbotron. True; it might be called “conditioning” instead.

    Because now that we’re used to the curation of photography and accepting its reality, we are even now forgetting that Photoshop exists, that “generated content” exists, that Deepfakes exist for real-time lies, audio and visual both.

    And that is a scary thing. “Who are you going to believe, me or your lyin’ eyes?” will only work with in-person eyeballs. And once you get away from direct knowledge, Katy bar the door.

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          1. FYI. I had no problem reading the article, through the posted link, without subscribing. Had a “subscribe” banner across the bottom of the screen, but was allowed to scroll through and read it.

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  17. Ladies, Gentlemen and small devious octopi[…]

    Gorram it, you’re not supposed to blow my cover!

    Like Jan 6th, was supposed to set off a minority (in their heads we’re a tiny and old minority) rebellion, easily put down, that would end all resistance. Instead, look at the mess they made…. For that matter, Covidiocy was a movie script from end to end, and if it had worked as in a story, right now they’d be receiving the thanks of a grateful populace. Instead, they’re mumbling about amnesty AND trying to restart it, and having no idea why none of it WORKS.

    And yet, there are so many movies —- classic movies, movies avowed as classics by the left — that should tell them it don’t work like that. Citizen Kane. The Godfather Part II. A Face In The Crowd. Freaking Goodfellas.

    But mostly it makes me think of Abel Ferrara’s underrated 1990 gangster film King of New York. It’s a great (but, because Ferrara, sleazy) film. Christopher Walken gives maybe his best performance as Frank White, a drug lord gets released from prison in the beginning, and sets out to take control of New York’s underworld, largely by having all competition killed. He ends the film in a taxi in Times Square, bleeding out from a gunshot wound, wondering how in hell it all went wrong. (Walken described his performance as inspired by seeing a bird with a broken wing trying to fly, and never understanding why it couldn’t.)

    Even if the film were better remembered, though, the left wouldn’t see how it applies to them. They would see Frank White as a metaphor for Bad Orange Man, and be incapable of understanding that it might apply to them instead.

    Liked by 1 person

  20. One of the great lines, paraphrased by many success coaches, is one overestimates what one can do in a single year, but underestimates what can be accomplished in five years.

    To your point, the telescoping of media has led to the belief that everything happens quickly, can be resolved within a single episode (or maybe two), and is always, completely resolved. Life has never worked like that, and never will.

    Liked by 1 person

  21. Our Hostess said
    A popular ditty propagates about how the ruler sucks… toes.
    What there is somewhere that is ruled by a small Shoggoth? Where is it? It will certainly be an improvement over being (allegedly) ruled by a “popularly elected” rutabaga with issues walking and putting two words together without a gaffe or nearly starting WWIII…

    Liked by 1 person

  22. No, seriously, there are probably gansters in Africa trying to wear their pants falling down their butt. And there are probably people who are criminals because they were sold by our music and movies that being criminals is cool. Such the power of story.

    Ever seen what the modern African Dictators look like? They intentionally model themselves off of our parodies of African Dictators.

    Liked by 1 person

  23. I was watching one of those ubiquitous home selling shows yesterday while waiting for the eye doctor. One of the women looking at properties was gushing about the rural setting of the house when it was clearly within baseball throwing distance (little league at that) of 6 other homes with dozens behind them, suburbia, not rural.

    “The cigarette moment afterwards…” Obviously I need more sex, or watch more romantic videos, otherwise I wouldn’t be asking this question. In this post-smoking world, what takes its place? Seems pretty lame that, ‘They both rolled over and went to sleep’, or “They both got out of bed, showered, dressed, and went to work.’ Yawn.

    RAH liked telling mini stories in his larger novels, usually having his protagonist narrate them.

    Wait until wintertime to kiss me. You’ll be shocked. My kisses are almost always electrical then. Just make it a peck on the cheek though, or my wife’ll be jealous. ;-)

    Interesting timeline of the French Revolution on Wikipedia. They give the dates as 1789-1799 (10 years of revolution!), and only show 1 year as the prelude with the Grenoble, ‘Day of the Tiles’ revolt as the starter. Truth is, the various kings of France repeatedly obstructed parlements for nearly a decade prior, and Louis XVI’s attempts to completely suppress then in 1787-1788 fanned the flames. The Grenoble riot started over poor harvests, high cost of bread (food), and the nobility insisting on continuing high taxes on commoners. (Taxation being raised “to deal with France’s unmanageable public debt.” (Yeah, what does THAT sound similar to?) The Grenoble riot ended up being a confusing mess, several people killed, the usual looting and vandalism, and decisions made too late, and too ineffectual. Point is, that just supports your statement that these things take a lot more time than stories or movies imply.

    I don’t know what the local equivalents of committees of correspondence would be today. I don’t see that in any of the religious groups in town, too many (all?) are on the side of the woke. Local/town GOP committees here are having a hard enough time even being recognized, much less getting membership up. Even the local veteran organizations aren’t likely to take any action. Maybe it’s because there aren’t any exceptional leaders in the county or towns. Shooting is easy. Doing all the logistics and communication in the background to make it happen is hard work.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. In this post-smoking world, what takes its place?

      “Old style, you roll over and go to sleep. New style, you go out for pizza and I never see you again.” — Ivanova

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                1. Deep red, bordering(ish) on brown, but Claudia was a natural redhead. I saw her Playboy spread. Which was done smack in the middle of her B5 run. Her hair just wasn’t orange, is all.

                  And there are pics where Lyta’s hair looks blonde. She’s still a redhead, too.

                  Liked by 1 person

              2. Claudia Christian turned up on an episode of Castle. They either did a really good makeup job or life has not been kind to her. She did a good job with the role, though.
                I wish she’d stayed for the final season of B5. It would have been fun.

                Liked by 1 person

                1. Life hasn’t been kind to her. My understanding is that she, and a couple of others on B5, had various alcohol or substance issues. Enough to make you wonder why anyone would want to be an actor.

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                2. Not seeing any pics of her from that episode, but 2014, and life HAS been a bit rough on her. IMO, she still looks good, but alcoholism takes a toll.

                  Yeah, the final season of B5 would have been better with her in it. But she had an idiot manager or agent who thought he could hardball her to a better payday.

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  24. }}} eschatological truth

    Don’t think it really needs the “e”, when referring to The Left and “Truthiness”.

    US$.02 < —– mine, and worth every penny!

    Liked by 1 person

  25. I purely love stories–books, film, oral history, whatever. But it’s a bit limiting to soak in story all the time. Which I never really understood until I watched the 21st century people enstupidate themselves with their “smart”phones. Put the phone down. Put the book down. Turn the TV off. Go make your own story–in the kitchen, the garden, the workshop, the rehearsal hall, or at your writer’s desk.

    “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.”

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  27. Well, Feinstein has departed this life. Now, nominate Harris to return to the Senate and either nominate Governor Hair Gel to the Veep, or that, “moderate technocrat with no desire to run for office,” I keep dreading? (Because the reason he doesn’t want to run is he’d rather be dictator for life, without the fuss and mess of pretending to care what the proles think).

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    2. Feinstein has departed this life.
      ………….

      Surprised this isn’t all over FoxNews.

      Meme’s have already been hitting.

      Babylon Bee: “Feinstein had died, age 90. Democrats open probe on President Trump over Feinstein’s death.” Responses were not “haha”, more like: “Don’t doubt it.”

      Random: “Feinstein has died.”, “I was taught to always say something good about the recently departed.”, “Good!”

      Would link but other’s experience linking from mewe have been hit and miss.

      (Since I share Feinstein’s first name, not using it. She didn’t spell it the same, still not using it.)

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        1. Based on reports that blackmail ship had sailed. Feinstein has been severely in decline and dementia majorly showing. Staff and aids unable to coverup. She couldn’t get out of politics because she no longer had the competency. Is there a senate equivalent of the executive 25th? Other than removing sitting senator of chair positions on committees? Her caretakers weren’t going to do so. They had no intention of doing what was best for Feinstein, they were just interested in the money and power of Feinstein coat tails. That gravy train has been derailed.

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  28. Site on Twitter reporting China is ordering banks and funds not to sell stocks. Also, the Chinese government has forbidden an American CEO to leave mainland China. That’s per the WSJ, while the stock thing is a, “never heard of it,” site, but anyway what’s going on?

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