Today has been an interesting day. Let’s just go with some humor. Here’s a fun scene from “The Golden Girls”.
Doomsday.
I dreamed about The Doomsday Clock the other night. If you’re unfamiliar with The Doomsday Clock, it is a metaphor for how close humans currently are to extinction or annihilation. The clock is currently at “100 seconds to midnight”, midnight representing doomsday. This is the closest mankind has ever been to midnight. The clock is adjusted once a year based on a number of factors; it’s been at 100 seconds to midnight since January 2020. The clock has been moved forward or backward 16 times since 1947.
There are many factors considered when scientists and scholars set the Doomsday Clock. The website has a lot of information on how this all works. The most concerning aspect is think tank types theorize human kind is the closest we’ve ever been to extinction.
That’s unsettling.
Back to my dream. I dreamed that I had input on the setting of The Doomsday Clock but didn’t know why it was being moved even closer to midnight. I then had visions of horrible effects from climate change (goodbye to Florida and the Gulf Coast) and wars being fought over Climate Change.
Luckily, being somewhat of a lucid dreamer, I was able to wake myself up from this dream without delving into the subject further. When I awoke I found myself on my way to the picture window we have in the front half of our bedroom.
I calmed myself down by looking at the darkness over the Sonoran Desert and the beauty of the Moon.
We should be aware of the message of the Doomsday Clock and everything it represents. Before it’s too late.
Celestial.
Yesterday, Shohreh Aghdashloo, best known to me as UN General Secretary Chrisjen Avasarala on “The Expanse” posted on video on her Twitter account that simply took my breath away. I don’t know if it was the cinematography, the music, or just the general vibe of the piece, but watching the video turned my day completely around and made everything just a little brighter.
In the video Ms. Aghdashloo says, in her characteristic low voice, “Isn’t this celestial”? What a beautiful word with big meaning. Celestial. The word rings a bell in my head and the sound is pleasant.
Technology.
I took this photo while out for walk in the neighborhood the other night. It was taken about an hour after sunset and it was dark enough in that I couldn’t really see where I was walking without a flashlight. Yet, I decided to snap this photo to see if I could get a picture of the surroundings.
Night mode on the latest iPhone is very impressive. The sky was nowhere near that bright. I like the resulting contrast in the photo.
Your Thrift Habits.
I have fallen into a Youtube hole and have landed on “Your Thrift Habits”, a educational film from 1948. I don’t know why I landed here, but I do like the fashions.
Space.
One of the cool things about living in Tucson is the star watching opportunities that abound over the Sonoran Desert. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but Tucson has a light pollution ordinance; many of the side streets in residential areas don’t have street lights (our street included). There’s an ordinance as to how much light can be directed skyward. It makes for some beautiful skies.
I have used stargazing apps on my iPad since my very first iPad 1 back when they first came out. They’re a delight; point your iPad in the direction of the sky and the app will tell you what you’re looking at. It gets more interesting when accompanied with binoculars or a telescope, because you can see that much more in real life as depicted in the app.
I inherited my grandfather’s smaller telescope when he passed away in 2005. I look forward to getting it set up on the roof and really gazing at the beauty offered by our beautiful Universe.
Being The Ricardos.
I lived in Jamestown, New York for a few years in my early 20s. The city wasn’t far from where I went to college the first time, and when I found myself out of the college gig I found a job in Jamestown and settled in for a couple of years before moving onto bigger and better things. At the time, this was the late 1980s, Jamestown was starting to ramp up it’s “All Things Lucy” approach to tourism, after all, Lucille Ball was born in Celoron, New York (just outside of Jamestown) and had frequently mentioned Jamestown on “I Love Lucy” and during interviews and the like.
As a kid I watched “Here’s Lucy” and “I Love Lucy” reruns as they were available at just about any time. I always liked the show and as I grew older I’ve come to like Lucille Ball’s work as an comedic actor and an the head of Desilu studios on a more sophisticated level. When Amazon announced the release of “Being The Ricardos” I was intrigued. We took the opportunity to watch the movie tonight.
The film focuses on the typical week long production of an “I Love Lucy” episode in 1953, the week the news broke out that Lucille Ball had been registered with the Communist party. The film explores behind the scenes drama, how the news had broken out during that week, the courtship of Lucy and Desi Arnaz, and some of the strife of their marriage. Some historic liberties are taken with the script: Lucy’s pregnancy with Desi Arnaz, Jr. is moved to the same week as the Communist Party story (it was actually a year earlier) and the filmed episode in question was changed to the “Fred and Ethel Fight” episode. I feel like the portrayal of Lucy’s input into the production and insistence on creative decisions was accurate, it matches what I’ve read and seen in interviews and the like from other sources.
I’m going to avoid spoilers. I will say that very early in the movie I had to stop trying to believe that Nicole Kidman was Lucille Ball and just go with the flow that Nicole Kidman was standing in for Lucille Ball. With Javier Bardem as Desi Arnaz it was easy; Javier didn’t look or sound anything like Desi Arnaz so it was easy to accept that it was just an actor playing the part. Nicole Kidman didn’t really look like Lucille Ball but there were some cosmetic decisions made to try to herd her in that direction and I found it distracting. Once I figured that out in my head it was fine. There’s a few slips of Nicole’s native accent in the movie that caught me off guard. There were two other lines that pulled me out of the moment, one of them referring to “the taping of the episode” (it would have been the FILMING of the episode in 1953, as taping an episode wasn’t a thing yet). The other line makes a very 21st century use of the word “literally” that felt out of place in the 1953 setting.
Overall we enjoyed the movie and I feel like it did the Arnazes justice. I recommend a viewing experience. It’s available on Amazon Prime.
Caturday.
Chris bought Truman a USB chargeable ball that flings itself around the house. From what I’ve seen thus far it has several different motions, including scurry, wiggle, and jump up and down. There are some colorful LED lights to grab Truman’s attention and when I first put it down on the floor and activated the fun he was inquisitive.
The ball made its way into the neighboring laundry room and he followed it there. I don’t think he quite knows what to think about this little toy yet. We’ll give it another try over the weekend and see if it gives him a digital catnip high.
It Just Works, Part 2.
The saga of the HomePod mini took an interesting turn yesterday. Even though the “Deliver-It” service said they had not received the product from Apple and that only the label had been printed, it was delivered by a person out of the trunk of a Toyota Celica. OK, fair enough. Several hours later I heard from Apple through iMessages, “enjoy your new HomePod mini!”
I looked at the order online and UPS planned on delivering the replacement HomePod mini today. And sure enough, it arrived via UPS this afternoon. Now I have two HomePod minis for the price of one. My credit card wasn’t charged again. This put me in a quandary. Do I return it to the store or arrange for a shipment back to headquarters? I actually wouldn’t mind having a second HomePod mini. I could probably just hang onto it and they’d never be the wiser.
My personal moral compass wouldn’t allow me to do that. I’ve seen too many people screw local businesses in a similar manner of the years and just because Apple is one of the largest corporations in the world doesn’t mean they should receive the same treatment. So I contacted them through the order portal. As suspected I could drop it off at the Apple Store here in Tucson or initiate a return through the online portal. I asked about buying it and the friendly bot on iMessages advised I could call Apple support and discuss it with them.
So I did. After explaining the situation the friendly Apple person on the line looked at the order and said, “Just keep it, you’re all set”.
So now I have two new HomePod minis. This is a welcomed addition to our home, as we’ve been fighting with Alexa a LOT over the past several months.
While I’m talking about Alexa, who thought it was a good idea to have her shoot an ad after every single request?
“Alexa, turn off the ceiling lights”. “Lights off, did you know I can organize your to do list?”
“Alexa, what’s the weather tonight.”. “Here’s the weather…. did you know I can read you a bedtime story?”
One of the reasons I stick with Apple products and pay the premium prices is to avoid ads. I don’t want ads. Ever.
Luckily, these new HomePod minis don’t belch ads at us every five minutes.
