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| A view from the hike |
Just before Christmas, Eddie and I took a wander on the back hikes at the Living Desert. We have season tickets for just this reason. We can decide to take a wander easily. Here are some pictures.
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| Part of the Hike |
We also saw some animals on our way to the hiking areas in a part of the zoo we haven't been to before.
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| Cougar napping in the sun |
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| Mexican Wolves |
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| Big Horn Sheep |
... both New York and Palm Springs have a terrible problem with Canada Geese. Just FYI, you ever want to piss off a Canadian who is a grammar nazi, called them Canadian Geese, not Canada Geese.
But I digress. They are just horrible creatures that have exploded in population because, well I don't know, but for some reason - maybe we killed off their predators? Anyway, they are awful. The poop everywhere, and their poops are larger than Trevor's were. They have caused more than a few plane crashes due to being sucked into an engine - including the "miracle on the Hudson" crash.
Many airports have had to use dogs to flush them off runways. But they just go somewhere else until the dogs go to bed.
I thought they had a positive effect by using their down in Canada Goose jackets. But they are not, and so I found myself once again with few options to get rid of them. I had humorously thought of this solution. I want to know how it works, but this is a good idea.
This is kind of cool as to what people were interested in by month per Google searches. You can select to increase to actual size.
Winning a National Championship is always nice. Beating SC to do it is just the icing on the cake!
But I did see her on Broadway and she was fantastic. At her age, she was mainly portraying tough-as-nails women with a protected heart she shared only in layers until she was metaphorically naked on stage. After dismissing her talents from Alice, I changed my opinion when I saw her on stage. Dismissing her on Alice was my limitation.
All this to say, it is sad when someone moves on. I didn't know Linda Lavin (obviously), but I admire her tenacity and talent. Those will live on.
Did anyone see Conclave? It is a movie starring a bunch of American and English actors as a potpourri of nationalities and fealty to the Catholic Church. Now, if you are expecting any discussion of ideas or the future of the church and you see this movie - boy, did they trick you.
Or maybe you are like me and saw the scene above from the ads and thought that with Rafe Fines and Stanley Tucci means be great in a movie acting. Someone even said it was like Mean Girls set in the Vatican.
It is none of these things. The acting is as layered and complex as the Dudley Doright cartoons. The Mean Girls comparison is only valid if you add "Mean Girls at the Vatican on Xanax". The basic ending was guessed at in the first few scenes. The big twist is so stupid it ventures into parody territory.
I've heard it might get nominated for an Academy Award, but you don't have to wait for it. It is already streaming and worth every dollar I did not spend on it.
PS - No mention of the church's problems with pedophilia in this movie. Which is good. If you're going to make a parody, stay away from the hot topics.
From my Eddie. With a hat-tip to Suzanne who gave him the heads up from Land's End.
Iceland adopted Christianity in the year 1000, so they have been Christian (mainly Lutheran) for over 1100 years. But, like many nations, they have incorporated some of their own traditions too.
So, it's Christmas Eve get ready for the Yule Cat! You need to get socks or underwear or she will eat you!
And the other yule lads might have already visited or are coming tonight. Protect your sausage and skyr.
I just have to share this. With a lot of "feel like shit" moments for women, let's applaud this.
I have seen a few plays in the area called "Theater of the Absurd." Theater of the Absurd was a post-WWII construction where words meant different things, logic fell to illogic and plays proceeded forward but often ended right where they started.
I love some it, admire more of it, and find that often, these absurd movements reflect real life too much instead of not at all.
What I am trying to say is that actions can be multiple things at multiple times. And these new pronouncements are of the type that are funny and stupid at the same time, with a touch of delusion. What can I be discussing?
Remember when our past and future President tried to buy Greenland in his last administration? He has just announced a new Ambassador to Denmark. In this announcement, he also said;
“For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.”
He is like an old dog with a bone. Here is his announcement (on social media, where his mind can wander at will).
But he has been on a kick for new nand for a while now. Over the weekend, he demanded Panama give the USA control of the Panama Canal, or we would "take it back*." We never owned it, but okay.
The President-elect also spoke with Canadian PM Trudeau about tariffs. At the end of the meetings, he made fun of Trudeau as the Governor of Canada, and said Canada would make a nice 51st state.
Prior to Canada, he met with the President of Mexico. After their meeting, he said that the Mexican President agreed to stop immigration and let the US patrol inside Mexico. She immediately called that out as untrue.
He and his team have elevated Theater of the Absurd to Reality of the Absurd. Ain't life grand.
*Technically, we never owned it. It was a lease trade. The United States would control the canal for 100 years from 1903. The treaties Jimmy Carter began ensured a steady control and handover to Panama by 1999, which occurred
I try to understand stoic philosophy from writings - all male - or from current adherents - usually male. Her is a video from a woman that makes the same points but sounds less like mansplanning.
Ed and I have been to the Living Desert a few times since we have lived here. So much so that we purchased Yearly Passes a couple of times ago. We went yesterday to hike in their hiking area. Before we found the entrance, we visited a part of the zoo we rarely visit. Here are some images.
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| The Colorado Desert "Garden" |
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| A Burrowing Owl from the Praries |
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| Cougar, sunning himself |
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| Two Mexican Grey Wolves. |
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| These are from the Sonoran Desert - their are a relative of Joshua Trees |
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| Big Horn Sheep |
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| Desertscape on Trail |
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| More from the trail |
Don't forget to make your list of grievances ahead of time. No one wants to forget a grievance at this, the most festive time of the year!
I took a look at "Queer" in the post below and I said I was so happy not to live in that world. In cleaning up old pictures I saw these from a time after 2006, but before gay marriage was legal. new York was pretty liberal back then.
It is a very visual, quiet, introspective, and symbolic movie. It tells the semiautobiographical story of a man in the 1950s who moves to Mexico to escape criminal charges in America. The man is gay but older—Burroughs himself was 47 at the time. He is an alcoholic drug addict. Combined with this, the character is gay in Mexico City when gay bars where primarily places for men to meet others and often prostitutes.
Daniel Craig is fantastic in the role, which is a world away from 007. There is a lot of gay longing, and some very restrained gay sex implied, but nothing offensive. Crazy and illogical but not offensive.
The object is his desire in this movie is a very buttoned-up younger man, who may or may not be a prostitute. He is played by Drew Starkey - an actor I didn't know. He plays one of the "kids" on Outer Banks. He is stunning. His switch from aloof object of desire to a man in love with "Will" is a subtle work that is all the more impressive due to the limitations of the emotion of the role.
I loved Queer, but I hesitate to recommend it. It is a slow burn. The last 1/4 takes place in Ecuador, trying to find the drug Yāga - ayahuasca as it is known now- and and then following the truths it reveals. It ends dreamlike, drowning in symbolism. But both Ed and I enjoyed the move.
I am also so glad I don't live in a world like that. My Grandfather was apparently very worried I would grow up unhappy if I was gay. This was the quality of life for gays back then, I understand his feelings.
Actually, they are not cannibals since they are eating voles, not squirrels. Be still unique.
Very little green as there has been no rain for a long time. But still, a lovely little walk.
Ed, a friend, and I wandered over to the Modern Art Museum one Thursday night. The art is fine - art is expensive and the Palm Springs Art Museum is not rich - but this was cool.
I think it is just a polyhedron made with lights inside and one-way mirrors, but it was so cool.
I have stated that Hungary followed the same trajectory as Putin's Russia regarding the Press. In Hungary, there was a slow takeover of the press. Either you agreed with the ruling party, or the party forced your company to sell the assets (paper or TV) to more compliant and friendly owner.
The United States is following a similar trajectory but with a nice "free enterprise" twist. Our press is bending to DJT super early. Consider these different but complementary trends.
Fox News already follows the Trumpian line. So do the much smaller Newsmax and OWE TV. As does most of talk radio and a majority of the "bro" podcasts. That is not new.
Then, right before the election, two previously independent newspapers, the Washington Post and LA Times were directed by their billionaire owners to strike endorsements of Harris. It seemed a hedge against Trump winning. And - if you looked for it -the first step in acquiescing to Trump's view.
After the election, NBC decided to drop the MSNBC news site, which was very liberal.
During the election, Trump sued ABC's George Stephanopoulos for stating Trump had been convicted of rape. In fact, he had been convicted of sexual assault - twice. The lawsuit would have been an annoyance, but ABC would have won.
As you may remember, a jury last year found Trump civilly liable for sexually abusing the writer E. Jean Carroll. In a memorandum, the judge in the case explained that while a jury didn’t find that Trump had raped Carroll, it was operating under New York criminal law, which defines rape solely as “vaginal penetration by a penis.” It did find that he’d forcibly penetrated her with his fingers.
“The finding that Ms. Carroll failed to prove that she was ‘raped’ within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape,’” wrote the judge. “Indeed, as the evidence at trial recounted below makes clear, the jury found that Mr. Trump in fact did exactly that.
Instead, ABC settled for $15 million last weekend. The "news" organization greed to give the President $15 million and retract the statement - NOT correct the text from "rape" to "sexual assault", but to expunge the entire thing and apologize. The ABC News nose is quite brown. This was not a financial decision, ABC has won similar cases in the past. It was a uniquely political decision.
Trump and his cronies have not threatened to sue anyone who posts negative things about them, true or not. With his ABC win, he promised to sue other media outlets that opposed him in the race. Today, he followed up by suing an Iowa pollster that projected a win for Harris in Iowa. He has sued her for election interference for getting her polling wrong. This is just intimidation and using the courts to bankrupt the media.
Neither the Washington Post - a world-respected newspaper - nor the LA Times can find a new head of The Editorial and Opinion sections that are respected and still will suck up appropriately.
ABC News' kissing of the ring was a major second step of suckery.
And now, back to your regularly scheduled amusement.
*Based on the saying, history doesn't repeat, but it rhymes.
