Linky Links

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

- This letter is awesome - be sure to read until the end

- Mother Jones - A century of fire suppression is why California is in flames (and this was written a year ago!)

- Trump's sanctions are crushing Iran's job market and potentially destabilizing the regime. Keep the pressure on! That's what you deserve when your biggest export is terrorism.

- Awesome - farting controversy "clouds" dart championship. Let he who hasn't cropdusted while playing Cricket cast the first stone.

- Why you should always take the high road

- Interesting - Lebron James specifically asked Cleveland not to trade Kyrie Irving and especially not to the Celtics

- Outstanding!

Thank You

Cultural Offering kindly listed A Large Regular among 25 Blogs Guaranteed to Make You Smarter. Thank you for that honor.

It's really a list of 26 Blogs Guaranteed to Make You Smarter because Cultural Offering should also be included in any such list.

Only a couple of blogs listed that I follow regularly which means I know what I'll be perusing over the normally slow holiday week.

This Week in Musk World

Mostly good news in Musk World this week.

The SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is certified to launch NASA's top missions. Practically this means the Falcon 9 can now compete with ULA's Atlas V for NASA's big launches. Up next for certification - the Falcon Heavy. It should be noted that both the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy will be much more cost effective for NASA. With that in mind it will be interesting to watch the politics involved here as the Atlas V is a joint venture of the very politically connected Boeing and Lockheed Martin companies.

Tesla shows off the Model 3 in Japan for the first time. Foreign markets being added and production profitable for the first time seems to indicate blue skies ahead for Tesla.

CNBC takes an "exclusive" look inside Telsa's Gigafactory where the Tesla batteries are made.

Perhaps the big news of the week is the Boring Company finished the LA/Hawthorne tunnel. At the LA end of the tunnel will be a watchtower and Elon Musk would like to hire a knight with a French accent to guard the watchtower and maybe taunt you a second time. I hope that really happens!

The Gettysburg Address

155-years ago today.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

The universe has been cooling since the Big Bang. So wouldn't Global Warming be viewed as a sort of anti-aging? Who's against anti-aging?... Heh Heh... Has an American President ever attended an NHL game? Off the top of my head I can't recall it ever happening... Adele should do a cover of the Bee Gees' To Love Somebody - that would be awesome!... Has the show Murphy Brown been cancelled yet? Is anyone watching that show?... 7 of the most bizarre ways to die... Unpopular opinion: John Ford's The Quiet Man was a better movie than Orson Welles' Citizen Kane....

Linky Links

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

- "Too short" Tom Cruise to be replaced in Jack Reacher reboot. Jack Reacher is 6'5" and a beast in the books but I think if Cruise agreed to do a third film Lee Child would cash that check in a heartbeat.

- Giant meteorite creator bigger than Paris found under Greenland's ice sheet. Randall Carlson proven correct!

- Kevin Durant to the Celtics? Actually I believe I had that "hot take" first.

- Cool - how to make 40 different paper airplanes

- Heh Heh

- Iowa Nation Guard soldiers told to return overpaid wages. The soldiers did nothing wrong and if I were a billionaire I would just write a check to cover all of these funds. Isn't there some billionaire from Iowa willing to step up?

- This is the best college prank of all-time

William Goldman

American master William Goldman has passed away at age 87. There was simply none better. His writing touched so many in so many ways.

I have no idea how many times I've personally seen The Princess Bride. It's simply beyond count. To let you know how much my family loved that movie and how much Goldman's writing permeated our lives, whenever I dropped my kids off at school I would say goodbye by saying, "Have fun storming the castle."

Every time.

In his tributes the movies All the President's Men and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid usually get the spotlight.  Mostly because journalists are writing these tributes and obviously All the President's Men is their industry holy grail. And Goldman won an Oscar for Butch Cassidy (as he also did for All the President's Men).

For me, the movie other than Princess Bride from Goldman that has been part of the fabric of my life is Marathon Man. Interestingly enough Goldman wrote both the books and screenplays for those two movies.

In Marathon Man it takes a master to turn an innocent question of "Is it safe?' into an object of terror. Perhaps Dustin Hoffman's best work with an unforgettable performance by Sir Laurence Olivier as the Nazi Christian Szell. Let's not forget excellent supporting performances by Roy Scheider and William Devane.

Pain is one of the main plot devices in both The Princess Bride (the pain machine and the awesome "to the pain" speech) and also obviously in Marathon Man's  "Is it safe?" scene.  Goldman is also well known for the quote, "Life is pain, anyone who says differently is selling something." I like to think this understanding of true pain came from Goldman being a "long-suffering" New York Knicks fan. I think that James Dolan could believably be listed as Goldman's cause of death by an honest coroner.

One last thing - Goldman did not write Lord of the Flies. That was William Golding. Common mistake.

Linky Links

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

- Hover bikes (flying motorcycles) are here but they're basically just really expensive ($150,000) toys.

- Trump with no hair and a beard reminds me of this other famous businessman - Obadiah Stane from the first Iron Man movie.

- Governor Brown blames global warming for the California fires but if he's a big believer in Climate Change why did he slash the fire protection and emergency management budgets?

- And speaking of Climate Change - widely reported alarming ocean warming study is wrong

- Good life advice from Tim Ferris' Tribe of Mentors. Reminds me of the stories of people who stop at every roadside marker/memorial on a roadtrip and how much more they get out of the journey.

- If this was an AMC Gremlin I might think of putting in a bid

- Guitarist Roy Clark has passed at age 85. He may be best known as a country guitarist or as co-host of Hee-Haw but Roy Clark (along with Glenn Campbell) was one of the best guitarists of the past century - bar none.

Creepy Porn Lawyer Arrested for Domestic Violence

"Creepy Porn Lawyer" Michael Avenatti was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence. Proving karma is real - and so is humor.

The photo to the left is actually from his firm's website. So was this one.

Both have been since taken down I believe.

This is my favorite (so far).

The Original Nutty Buddy

An actual product from days gone past. I wonder if they still sell them? Would make great gag gifts for Christmas.

Ideas that Can Change Your Life

Shane Parrish had a recent thread on Twitter that simply said,"Name one idea that has changed your life." There was a lot of gold in the responses. Some of my favorites (other than some of the Farnum Street ones I may have already linked to in the past):

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." - Anne Dillard

"If it takes 2 minutes or less do it now. Don't put it off."

"Money's only value is how it allows you to spend your time."

"You will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do." - David Foster Wallace

"Our expectations and our fears of our future selves are self fulfilling." (AKA "He who says he can and he who says he can't are both right.")

"Easy choices hard life, hard choices easy life." - Jerzy Gregory

One of my favorites in life was not on the list; "It doesn't count unless you do it." - Doug Stanhope. I always hear this in my head when someone says something like, "I was thinking about doing X" or "Doing Y would be a great idea."

Who Did It Better?

Charlie Chaplin in the "original" meme.

Or Stan Lee co-created Mister Fantastic in the updated version?

Linky Links

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

- Interesting profile in the NYT of Shane Parrish and his Farnham Street blog. Forget how I found Shane's blog and podcast but I'm really glad I did.

- Jocko Willink's Veteran's Day message. Should be must reading for everyone.

- Good look at the year Drew Brees is having and how it could change how people look at his legacy.

- Speaking of Shane Parrish - the surprising power of the long game.

- Heh Heh

- 10 amazing facts about Stan Lee

- Speaking of Stan Lee - I think this photo sums up how many of us felt at the news of passing

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Boston sports primer - people who complain about Tuukka Rask taking time off for personal reasons are not Bruins fans, people who complain about Al Horford's contract or play are not Celtics fans, people who bitch about losing to the Titans Sunday are not true Patriots fans and finally people who sing Sweet Caroline at Red Sox games molest collies... Interesting - A bubbling pool of mud is on the move and nobody knows why. Also Bubbling Pool of Mud would be a good name for a Primus cover band or a euphemism for a loose bowel movement... And speaking of bowel movements - sorry but the Chic-fil-A "tonight is nugget night" promotion sounds more like something Danny Thomas or John McAffee would tell their mistress than something geared to make me hungry... Love this photo... Words in a Cunning Order would be a good name for a blog or a publishing company... Don't find someone who looks at you the way Trump looks at the President of Morocco...

Stan Lee

American icon Stan Lee has passed away at age 95.

Interesting interview of Lee by Rolling Stone from a couple of years ago about the origins of the X-Men.

My daughter tells me that the Stan Lee cameos may continue after his death as he reportedly filmed several two years ago when his health was in question. I'm hoping that's true.

Excelsior!

Linky Links

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

- Elon Musk asked Tesla owners what they'd like to see improved/fixed and the responses were pretty interesting. (And no I don't own a Tesla.)

- The US had the largest decline in CO2 emissions in the world. Another example of how the Paris Accords were nothing but a sham.

- Good advice

- Eddie Rickenbacker (a personal hero of mine) on witnessing the end of World War I

- Heh Heh - love Rondo!

- Finally some common sense! The Union of Concerned Scientists becomes the first major environmental group to public support nuclear energy.

- Devastating - the carnage of World War I in two images

The week in Musk World

Busy week in Musk World with a series of comings and goings. The week started auspiciously with SpaceX's Starman, still seated in his Tesla Roadster, passing Mars.

Meanwhile on Earth, Elon Musk walked the distance of the Boring Company's tunnel under LA. The tunnel is scheduled to open December 10th. That should be fun.

And Robyn Denholm was named new Chair of the Tesla Board. Interesting to note that she has a telecommunications background.

That telecommunications background might come in handy to help Musk on Space X's Starlink satellite broadband project. Things aren't going so well there with Musk recently "allegedly" firing several top engineers working on the project.

Of all of Musk's "projects" I feel that the Starlink idea is the least feasible. And it seems I'm not alone in my skepticism.

Veteran's Day

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month an Armistice was signed to end the carnage of World War I. November 11th became Armistice Day cross much of the world but Wold War II caused the day to morph into Veteran's Day instead because what's the point in honoring an Armistice agreement that wasn't adhered to?

There is a point in honoring the Veterans who fought in both these wars and others or who have worn the uniform. Recently saw this description of what makes a "veteran":

"A 'Veteran' - whether active duty, discharged, retired or reserve - is someone who, at one point at his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'the United States of America', for an amount up to and including his or her life."

The men and women who risk or who have given this "last full measure of devotion" are more than worthy of a Day in their honor.

By the way, that railway car used to sign the Armistice in 1918 was later used by Hitler as the venue chosen for the French to sign their surrender to the Nazi in World War II.

US - China Trade Relations

The White House has warned Wall Street executives to stay out of the US-China economic negotiations. I agree with the White House here because the "greed is good" ethic should not extend to enriching yourself or your firm at the expense of what is right for your country. Force the CEO's of these firms to have to register as "foreign agents" if any and I mean any of the firms underlings tries to engage in this sideline type negotiations.

Imagine how the average investor will react if a firm like say Goldman Sachs is constantly referred to as "Goldman Sachs a registered foreign agent of China". Make it so because in my mind when I hear about these executives engaging in these sorts of things all I can think of Ellis from Die Hard. And remember how "helpful" Ellis was in that movie.

The efforts to make China play by the rules isn't just limited to President Trump's tariff. The US, the EU and Japan are also submitting proposals to the World Trade Organization to curb China's "cheating" when it comes to trade.

Finally, the election results on Tuesday also seem to indicate that voters in general are in support of the Trump Administration's battle vs China when it comes to trade. Honestly though I think that support may be overblown for the simple reason that the average voter is either not paying much attention or doesn't care. If they support or oppose Trump their reasons for doing so are pretty much baked in by this point and don't rest on him trying to finally reign in the Chinese.

Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

Happened 43-years ago today.