I’m starting the draft of this Weather Notes post for this coming Friday on Wednesday mid-morning, the day after the mid-term election. That political weather report revealed the shift that has (at long last) occurred in US politics.
It is much as if the raging storm we were forced to try to find refuge from has finally lost its iron grip. The bluster, darkness, and danger continues, but just maybe an end is in sight.
But that’s all I’ll say about that for now. This post is about the actual weather here in Minnesota this past October.
Continue reading
Leave a comment | tags: snow, Weather Notes | posted in Friday Notes
And, of course:
Hope you did, too. I noticed, and folks working at the polling place confirmed, there was a larger-than-normal turnout. I actually had to wait for a few minutes. Hopefully a good sign! Now the waiting begins…
7 Comments | tags: democracy, Democratic Party, democratic society, Election 2026, Election Day, I voted, vote | posted in Life, Politics
A Substack post caught my eye back in early October. It asked whether the BBC series Sherlock (2010-2017) was “brilliant” or “twaddle” (ultimately concluding the show was, in fact, “brilliant twaddle”).
Ever since the series showed up on Hulu recently, I’ve been pondering rewatching it. That post nudged me over the line. Seeing it again reminded me that, while the show had a lot to offer, it wasn’t at all my favorite modern implementation of the belovèd character.
So, yes indeed, “brilliant twaddle” (and sadly, probably closer to twaddle).
Continue reading
7 Comments | tags: Elementary (TV series), House M.D., Sherlock (TV series), Sherlock Holmes | posted in Mystery Monday, TV
Damn, another one down! Patrick Stewart died last Wednesday, so now I need to create a new commemoration meme:
We’re starting from the top this time.
Continue reading
13 Comments | tags: Captain Picard, Patrick Stewart, science fiction TV, SF TV, Star Trek, The Next Generation | posted in Life, TV
Since they were established in 1969, the Milwaukee Brewers have gone without ever winning a World Series championship.
Until last night.
Continue reading
6 Comments | tags: Milwaukee Brewers, Tampa Bay Rays, World Series, World Series 2026 | posted in Baseball
After 26 years as a good and fully satisfied customer I find myself caught in an extended ‘he said; she said’ back-and-forth battle with Bank of America. Though it’s not what he (let alone she) said, but what they claim I did despite clear and obvious evidence I didn’t. In fact, couldn’t have.
What’s aggravating is that the investigators don’t appear to be actually investigating. They won’t contact me or the merchant, so I’m not sure quite what they’re investigating.
This has been going on all summer, since late May…
Continue reading
16 Comments | tags: Bank of America, credit cards | posted in Life, The Interweb, Wednesday Wow
With the passing of Walter Koenig last Sunday, memes like this have been making the rounds:
I made the one above from a good quality photo, but I don’t like how Uhura is hidden behind Spock. For that matter, can’t see much of Chekov, either. So, I made another one from a different photo:
Though this photo isn’t as good as the first one.
Continue reading
12 Comments | tags: Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy, Mr. Spock, Pavel Chekov, science fiction TV, Scotty, SF TV, Star Trek, Walter Koenig | posted in TV Tuesday
Physics geeks are quite familiar with the implications of Einstein’s famous equation, E=mc². Firstly, that energy and matter are different guises of the same thing. Secondly, that the conversion rate between them is astronomical.
To kick off the week, let’s explore that well known equation and its astonishing conversion rate of matter to energy.
Continue reading
4 Comments | tags: atomic bombs, E=mc2, Joule, mass-energy | posted in Physics
I’ve been up to no good lately — if by “no good” we mean reading and watching science fiction. That bad behavior has been a constant all my life. It began in early grade school when I started picking my own reading material.
Prominent in the very first SF books I ever read is the Lucky Starr series, by Isaac Asimov (writing as “Paul French”). The books were written for a juvenile audience, and I was exactly that audience.
Just recently, two of the six novels showed up as e-books at my local library. Nicely, one of the two is the first of the series, and I’m reading it now.
Continue reading
20 Comments | tags: Isaac Asimov, Lucky Starr, John Scalzi, Andy Weir, Daniel Wilson, Matt Dinniman | posted in Books, Sci-Fi Saturday
Contrary to the saying, this old dog learned a new trick recently.
Or rather, this old dog learned he’d been doing the trick wrong all these years and finally learned how it’s supposed to be done.
Learning an error of my ways is good but here I lose a distinction I’ve long enjoyed making between a connoisseur and a gourmet.
Continue reading
6 Comments | tags: definitions, geeks-nerds, parameter space, words | posted in Brain Bubble
You must be logged in to post a comment.