Quotes for Today

 Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

"The secret of change is to focus all your energy. Not on fighting the old, but on building the new." - Socrates

"There is only one god, and his His name is Death. And there is only one thing we say to Death: 'not today.'" - Syrio Forel

"Relax. You'll live longer "and" perform better." - Naval Ravikant

"Think of each single day as a single life." - Seneca

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

If I were a billionaire I'd hire the actor from Game of Thrones to follow Nancy Pelosi around at all public appearances, ringing her bell and saying, "Shame! Shame!"... I may be an awful person but I thought this was hilarious... Have you ever noticed that the same people who say they would never step foot in a Walmart because of how Walmart treats their employees, "the people of Walmart" or what Walmart did to small businesses in small towns also seem to be the same ones who get almost daily deliveries from Amazon Prime? Some serious cognitive dissonance... Sacred Drunkenness would be a good name for a band (or a new religion)... Here's a business idea for Big Pharma - why not just combine the COVID vaccines with heroin? Really get people addicted to "booster shots." Imagine what that would do for the bottom line... Random admission from a middle-aged guy: all my FaceTime calls from my iPhone are either butt dials or calls with tech support... BTW I have nothing against either Walmart or Amazon - just not a fan of hypocrisy 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Growing up in the 1970's we believed many silly things like quicksand being a huge danger (and plot device for almost every TV show) and that evil geniuses would build their lairs under active volcanoes but probably the most insidious belief it turns out was that pubic hair was natural and acceptable... So HBO Max thinks an Amy Schumer docuseries is a reason to subscribe to the streaming service? Really? Good luck with that... "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." - George Bernard Shaw... Meat Whistle would be a great name for a band... The new season of Porlandia is going to be on FIRE!!!... 2020 has had so many twists, turns, deaths and unexpected outrageous situations that nobody will care about what George RR Martin's imagination can cook up for the next Game of Thrones book (as if the lousy final season of the HBO series didn't already kill any interest in the new book)... "As I know more about mankind, I expect less of them." - Samuel Johnson... 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

So what if that Russian app company sells all those photos and personal data to an Asian company that makes sex dolls? They could create a whole line of "Mouth F*ck a Stupid American" line of  life-like dolls and it would serve you right!... I hope the next big movie is an It and Top Gun crossover like what they did with Alien vs Predator... I laughed way too much at this... It would be cool if TV shows could trade actors the way MLB and NBA teams trade players... Cool stat from Tim Kurkjian, "Ted Williams' career OPS (1.116) is higher than the best single season OPS of any active player." That's how great Ted Williams was!... I laughed way too much at this too... Imagine doing business with someone on the other side of world and while they may seem so obsequious on the phone but at the same time they could be doing unspeakable things to a sex doll with your specific likeness. That's the future!.. George R.R. Martin says that Game of Thrones backlash won't influence his writing. But it will influence his book sales because there are many like me who are just done with the series. I read each book twice but I won't touch his new book. To paraphrase the words of Eric Cartman "Screw that guy!"... How soon before the nickname "the Squad" morphs into the nickname "the Useful Idiots"?...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

The offseason addition of backup goalie Jaroslav Halak may have been the key move in getting the Boston Bruins to the Stanley Cup finals. Without Halak playing all those regular season games Tuukka Rask wouldn't be so rested and sharp plus without Halak winning so many of those regular season games the Bruins wouldn't have home ice during the playoffs...  Heh heh... Stunt Custard would be a good name for a band (or a fantasy football team name)... When you watch hockey fights from the 70's and 80's you realize that today's NHL has basically gotten rid of fighting... Underwater Yodeling would also be a good name for a band... Interesting statistic - with 13.6 million live viewers watching the finale of Game of Thrones that would have made that broadcast equivalent to the 71st highest rating NFL game this past season. Not sure if that 13.6 million included all the people who started streaming on HBO Go five minutes after 9:00 EST last Sunday.  One observation - it seems like every person who watched the Game of Thrones is on social media whereas of the fans watching that 71st rated NFL game very few would have been Tweeting about it after...

Game of Thrones Season 8 (Spoilers)

The Pitch Meeting does a humorous job of explaining some most of the failings of Season 8. (If you're not familiar with the Screen Rants Pitch Meeting videos - do yourself a favor and dive in.)

As for me the whole progression of Season 8 and the waiting for the sixth and seventh books from George RR Martin has been a bit exhausting. I own copies of all five of the current books on my Kindle and also a box set of the books. I've read each book at least twice but after Season 8 of the HBO show and years of waiting for the next book to come out I'm pretty much done with Game of Thrones. I can see myself maybe picking up the new books in a decade or so (if they ever come out) but definitely not anytime soon.

I have to think David Benioff and DB Weiss the TV producers and showrunners have to be privately pissed off at George RR Martin. When they started this project 9 or 10 years ago they had to have thought Martin would have at least the next book in the series done by now. But nope! Benioff and Weiss had to basically just wing the past two seasons and most of the show's fan's displeasure has been focused on them when I think George RR Martin is where the blame should really rest.

Think of it - if George RR Martin died tomorrow the first line of his obituary wouldn't say he was the author of the Game of Thrones series but that he failed to write the final books!

One minor detail that I'm curious about was if casinos and betting sites had a prop bet for who would sit on the Iron Throne at the end of the season - did they pay off for Bran or for no one? Technically Dany touched the Iron Throne but didn't sit on it before Drogon melted the damn thing. The Iron Throne ceased to be before Bran became king.

I'll just add that to the long list of things that were never resolved or explained.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- 50 things no man over 40 should own. Good list but do have some minor disagreements like #8, #10 (my wardrobe is at the point where every day is casual Friday and I like it that way), #14 (I have a pair of leather LL Bean sandals that I wear constantly during the summer) and maybe #16 (thinking of getting an American flag one to wear at the beach to make others uncomfortable as a joke). Via Cultural Offering

- Of the 70,083 abortions in Florida in 2018 less than .05% were for incest, rape or the life of the mother being in danger.

- Amelia Earhart on motivation, education and human nature in letters to her mother.

- Heh Heh

- NASA's full Artemis plan revealed: 37 launches and a lunar outpost. The big question is going to be "How are we going to pay for this?" Legitimate question - keep in mind that the Democrats wanted to kill the space shuttle program in 1968 because of the costs. The election of Richard Nixon is what saved it.

- Heh Heh - these are pretty good.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Is this heaven? No it's Stockholm.

- Five reasons capitalist Chile is better than socialist Venezuela. There's a lot more than five reasons but the data here is pretty eye-opening.

- Heh Heh (related from VDH)

- I've gotten so confused about Brexit. Shouldn't England be out of the EU by now?

- Interesting - the Air Force wants a flying taxi to retrieve soldiers trapped behind enemy lines or in bad situation. That's the first step - the second step is to use flying taxi's to ferry robot super soldiers to and from battle.

- These actually fit pretty well

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Technically nobody ended up sitting on the iron throne. Dany touched it but never sat on it. So I wonder how the casinos treat that prop bet. Was there an option that nobody would end up sitting on the iron throne?... This guy is awesome!... Maybe Bernie Sanders is so against millionaire baseball players because A) he doesn't know how the economy works or B) they didn't play baseball in the Soviet Union. Can you imagine how racist he would have come off as if he complained about millionaire NBA players?... Heh Heh... If Mel Gibson announced he was running for President as a Democrat would his antisemitic views now be considered "mainstream" or "progressive"?... Can you imagine the number of wedding proposals this woman received. And the types of tattoos the guys proposing were sporting?... Pretty sure that the Boston sports teams have been conspiring for the past 20-years to murder my liver... 

Heh Heh

Via

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- I would so watch a Tormund and Ghost adventure series.

- Broccoli sprout compound may restore brain chemistry imbalance linked to schizophrenia. maybe time to get some sulforaphane extract?

- Heh Heh

- As a Celtics fan the dysfunction of the Lakers does bring me joy. I'm a flawed human - agreed.

- This is so cool

- Super soldier contact lenses - cool

- So the Trump tax cuts brought in about $14 billion in extra tax revenue. Cut taxes and raise tax receipts? Win-win!

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

On the bright side - there no way I can lose any more money betting on the Celtics this NBA season... A cure for Lyme Disease? Faster please... Dunkin Donuts should counteract all the free advertising Starbucks got this week by hiring Tormund Giantsbane as a spokesman... This article gives a good rundown on most of the questions facing the Celtics this offseason... "Life punishes the vague wish and rewards the specific ask." - Tim Ferriss... This story is sad and uplifting at the same time. God Bless America indeed!... Thinking of changing my religious affiliation from the Flying Spaghetti Monster (blessed be his noodly appendages) to the Church of Tuukka Rask. Go Bruins!...

Game of Thrones (Smooth Jazz) Theme Song

Time to lighten up a bit after last week's "dark' episode.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- How the news took over reality. Long but interesting read in which the bottom line is step away from your phone and other screens. For your own good - step away from the screens.

- Heh heh - what do we say to Socialism?

- Pat Forde handicaps the Kentucky Derby

- How darts became the second biggest TV sport in England. I'd watch darts all day!

- Is nuclear fusion about to have its 'SpaceX' moment?

- Fascinating look at the recruiting and training of our Special Forces - the Green Berets - the Quiet Professionals.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- When Earth Day predictions go predictably wrong. Even Reason is saying it's time to stop freaking out about the world's imminent demise.

- A reminder from a year ago that the stamina of President Trump is pretty impressive

- 10 Principles to living an "Antifragile" life

- I truly want one of these

- Game of Thrones: Battle of Winterfell. Two military experts explain Jon and Dany's sloppy plan. (Spoilers)

- Wired also has a tactical analysis of the Battle of Winterfell (Spoilers)

- Russ Roberts (tongue in cheek) asks if Bill Belichick is just lucky. Yes this is from 2-years ago but I'm just finding it now.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Sorry but I can't help but think that Iron Man would make short work of the Night King and the army of the dead. Maybe half-hour worth of work tops... Heh Heh...  Remember when Adam Schefter wrote "Robert Kraft is 'not the biggest name' involved in prostitution bust"? Well Adam we're all still waiting... "If you don't know what your top three priorities are, you don't have priorities." - Donald Rumsfeld... I too would want this as my reading room... Fact of the day - Alaska is so big that t could fit the state if New Jersey into it 75 times... My guess is that the one thing the people on Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2019 all have in common is that none of them subscribe to or read Time Magazine... 

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Heh Heh

- So those Game of Thrones characters are dead for sure - right?

- All mental models are wrong. The map is not the territory (yet some maps are pretty damn useful).

- What if you used dynamite?

- 3 key facts that demonstrate Amazon's retail dominance.

- Autophagy is going to be one the key words to know when it comes to medicine and health in the next decade

- This is an example of why I think Howard Schultz running for President is a good thing. And for the record I'm not a Republican.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

With some many different players contributing to the Boston wins - if the World Series MVP had to be chosen today it would probably have to be Craig Kimbrel... This Boston sports fan speaks for all of us Boston sports fans... When I was a kid we used to call someone a "skid" when we needed a word for "loser". "Skid", of course, is short for skid mark.  We should bring back "skid' into the common vernacular... For Halloween I may dress as Hodor from Game of Thrones but instead of saying just "hodor" I will say "hey baby" and only "hey baby"... Not sure why I chuckle so much at this photo... Of all the Greek myths the story of Sisyphus might be the most entertaining. People remember the ending with the rock but the rest of the story would make a great HBO miniseries...  Copious Coitus would be a good name for a boy band... 

Libertarian Game of Thrones

Heh Heh

Just Saying

I'm pretty sure Iron Man could beat all three dragons from Game of Thrones single-handedly. Pretty positive about it.

Also pretty sure that even if Iron Man somehow fell under the control of the Night King - he wouldn't be that dangerous. Part of what makes Iron Man great is Tony Stark's brilliance and I'm guessing zombie Tony Stark would be pretty stupid. Like Wolf Blitzer on Jeopardy-level stupid.

Just saying.