Categories
life

Covid Test

I woke up with a sore throat this morning and pulled the trigger on getting a Covid test. I didn’t want to because, as everyone knows, once you sign up for a test you’re legally obligated to quarantine until results are back. So no playdates with the kids and my friends’ kids (at least not with me, Ange took them out to the park). And the big stress of the day became whipping up sub plans and trying to find someone to go in for me tomorrow.

Luckily enough, I couldn’t find a sub right away and before I had someone booked (less than 12 hours after the test) the relieving negative result arrived via text message.

On the other hand, I was already starting to look forward to a day in bed watching the Apple event tomorrow. I’m strongly thinking about getting a new MacBook Pro and I’ve been patiently waiting for this day since the rumours first started circulating in 2018. I guess I’ll just have to catch it on the replay.

Categories
video

Ted Lasso perfectly balances absurdity with simplicity

I quite enjoyed season one of Ted Lasso. I haven’t finished season two yet but my friends tell me after a couple of rough episodes the final episodes recover and it’s worth watching.

(Via Cynical-C)

Categories
opinion

New Rule: The Slow-Moving Coup | Real Time with Bill Maher

(Via Cynical C)

Categories
crime ethics Politics

Lawyer wants inquiry into alleged threats of retaliation against MLA and CBC journalist by Lethbridge police

A Calgary defence lawyer is calling for a public inquiry into allegations that members of the Lethbridge Police Service have threatened retaliation against NDP MLA Shannon Phillips and CBC journalist Meghan Grant for exposing misconduct within the force.
— Read on www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/lethbridge-police-threats-public-inquiry-1.6195354

Previously

Categories
article

Misquoting Einstein

Reading this short piece about digging up the author of a quotation misattributed to Albert Einstein hit me just right. Which led me to this Business Insider article of 12 commonly misattributed quotations.

I’ve listed them below, but if youre curious to find accurate attributions, I recommend checking out the article.

“Let them eat cake.” — not Marie Antoinette

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” — not Voltaire

“Standing on the shoulders of giants” — not Sir Isaac Newton

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” — not Nelson Mandela

“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” — not Mark Twain or Jack Benny or Muhammad Al

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.” — not Dr. Seuss

“Well-behaved women rarely make history.” — not Marilyn Monroe

“There’s a sucker born every minute.” — not P.T. Barnum

“If you have to ask how much they are, you can’t afford one.” — not J.P. Morgan

“If you’re not a liberal when you’re 25, you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative by the time you’re 35, you have no brain.” — not Winston Churchill

“The ends justify the means.” — not Niccolo Machiavelli

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” — not Albert Einstein

Categories
pandemic

Boosters for the Vaccinated

Donald McNeil, formerly of The New York Times, has written his opinion on whether vaccinated Americans should receive a third booster shot before many around the world get their first. His acceptance of the idea surprised me.

Categories
pandemic

The Covid-19 Virus Explained

Covid-19 Explained by PHDcomics

PHDcomics has a great explainer on Covid-19.

Speaking of Covid-19, I just got a third vaccination the other day because I was in the age group of Canadians that had a mixed variety of vaccines and if I want to travel to the USA I need to have two doses of an approved (down there) vaccine. Now I’ve had an AstraZeneca and two Moderna shots. I felt a bit of a headache after the third shot but overall it was less intense than the first two, and also I didn’t preload up on ibuprofen like I did previously.

Categories
article

Remembering September 11, 2001 — 20 Years Later

If you only read one article published for the twentieth anniversary of the September 11th attacks, I recommend Jennifer Senior’s story in The Atlantic, What Bobby Mcilvaine Left Behind.

Heart wrenching.

Categories
Music

Foo Fighters Play with 11 year old Nandi Bushell

The Foo Fighters “Everlong” with 11 year old Nandi Bushell:

Last year Dave Grohl saw her videos going viral on Youtube and challenged her to a drumoff.

Categories
design movie

DeLorean Time Travel Consultant

A couple of weeks ago I watched the movie “Driven” about John DeLorean and his run in with the law. It was an ok movie but not as exciting as I had hoped. I still liked it but I was hoping for something more like Ford vs. Ferrari.

Anyway, last night I happened to watch Back to the Future and felt particular appreciation for the genius idea to use a DeLorean as the time travel vehicle. It was perfect, right down to the fact the DeLoreans were/are notoriously unreliable which added to the suspense as lightning is moments away from striking and Marty can’t get the car started.

Anyway, after the movie was over I was grooving on Huey Lewis’ “Back in Time” and watching the credits roll when I noticed the name Ron Cobb beside the words, “DeLorean Time Travel Consultant”. What does that even mean? I did a quick search and found Ron Cobb’s website and wikipedia entry. It turns out he designed the concept for the DeLorean Time Machine. I also learned that unfortunately, he died just last year on his 83rd birthday, from complications of Lewy body dementia. From Wikipedia:

Ronald Ray Cobb (September 21, 1937 – September 21, 2020) was an American-Australian artist. As well as being an editorial cartoonist he worked on numerous major films including Dark Star (1974), Star Wars (1977), Alien (1979), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Conan the Barbarian (1982), Back to the Future (1985), The Abyss (1989), Total Recall (1990), and Southland Tales (2006). He had one credit as director, for the 1992 film Garbo.

It’s really neat to see the prop schematics for the DeLorean Time Machine. It’s extra fascinating to read all the names of the different time travel components. Be sure to check out the original design of the flux capacitor.

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