A blog about societal, cultural, and civilizational collapse, and how to stave it off or survive it. Named after the legendary character "Crazy Eddie" in Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye." Expect news and views about culture, politics, economics, technology, and science fiction.
That's both a patriotic show and a completely modern one, so I'm happy with the concept. I'm not as confident this upload will last. As I wrote in 2012's Christmas in July, enjoy it while it lasts. On the other hand, I'm more confident that NOT the Colts 2026 “American Experiment” 07/02/26 will remain up; it's a rehearsal video shot by the uploader.
Looking for the perfect red, white and blue drink? This cocktail is festive and just the right amount of boozy and perfect for your Independence Day, 4th of July party!
Enjoy! Please drink responsibly and NEVER drink and drive!
John Oliver discusses how the Supreme Court has paved the way for the redrawing of congressional maps across the country, and what it means for the midterm elections. Plus, an urgent update on Gavin Newsom’s summer reading.
As for the Supreme Court's opinion on the Voting Rights Act, I wrote "the conservative majority of the Supreme Court shot multiracial democracy in America in the leg, if not an even more vital part of the body. The bullet is still traveling, injuring tissues and organs on its way." Oliver documents the damage, which isn't done yet.
I close by agreeing that all options should be on the table, especially Supreme Court reform. That might have to wait until 2029, when both houses of Congress and the White House are controlled by Democrats. To get there, "people in favor of multiracial democracy are going to have to vote in large enough numbers this fall and in 2028 to overwhelm the forces trying to send the U.S. back 60 years or more. May we succeed."
I will see a competent psychiatrist and get cured of all extremely unusual phobias and bizarre compulsive habits which could prove to be a disadvantage.
Randy added Pervert Hoover's mental and physical decline to the list. I've stayed away from those, as I've only used the word senile once on this blog, and that was quoting Seth Meyers in 2020: "Seth takes a closer look at Trump trying to paint Biden as drugged up and senile while attempting to steal the election by lying about voter fraud." In retrospect, that strikes me as projection on Pervert Hoover's part. I once wrote about him that "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones," but that has never stopped him.
That written, it will take a lot for the age-related part of Pervert Hoover's condition to gain enough traction to make a difference. That's what Steve M. at No More Mister Nice Blog thinks, too. In May, he asked HOW BAD IS TRUMP'S HEALTH?
I'll believe he's really losing it when he launches into one of these attacks and freezes up, unable to summon up the next nasty word he wants to say. I look forward to that the day, the day he tries to slip the verbal shiv in but can't manage to do it. I hope it happens.
Maybe he's experiencing some form of dementia. But for now, his words, even when they're incoherent, have power. And that's primarily why he's not judged the way Biden was, even though he's probably in terrible physical health, and he knows it.
Pervert Hoover isn't there yet and I'm not holding my breath waiting for it to happen. Too bad.
Watching Randy promote Ground News reminds me that I should still compose a comparison and contrast between Ground News on the one hand and the Media Bias Chart and Allsides on the other. Not today. In the meantime, stay tuned for posts to celebrate the holiday weekend.
This video chronicles the Top 12-scoring percussion sections of junior drum & bugle corps hailing from CANADA under the “tick” system (1983 and prior).
Ranking is by average score of DCI Finals Week, in order to take into account all end-of-season performances.
The scope of this video covers only DCI competition, as access to Canadian contest recaps is limited.
I thanked the uploader.
Good work, Tumour! I'm planning on featuring this video for my Canada Day post next week, so thanks for putting it together. Are you going to make a top 12 Canadian corps under the build up system after you finish the top 12 most legendary drumlines series? If so, I'll feature in next year's Canada Day post!
He answered he would, so I expect to feature his second video about Canadian drumlines next year.
Follow over the jump for corps representing the pre-DCI era, and the decades from the 1980s to today.
66 million years ago a giant space rock crashed into our planet and killed the dinosaurs. In the span of just four decades, we’ve gone from not knowing there was a space rock at all to knowing exactly where that planet-killer came from.
I've been following this story for as long as I've been a geologist, but I still learned new things from this video, or at least was reminded of things I'd forgotten, like Luis Alvarez having earned a Nobel Prize in Physics. I will say I was skeptical at first, but by the time I earned my M.S., I was convinced.
A giant asteroid impact ended the age of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. How did this mass extinction play out, moment by moment? In this video we meet a geologist who has explored the asteroid crater and learn what the rocks tell us about the last days of the dinosaurs. It was pretty bad!
Not only did Dr. Joe Hanson and Sean Gulick describe the details of what we now know about the Chicxulub impact and its effects, Joe concluded with a "so what" message. Unlike the dinosaurs, we have a choice.
That's a wrap for June's blogging. Stay tuned for Canada Day to begin July.
"Patches" with its soaring vocals and soulful energy, and its sad and empathetic storyline about a farmboy from Alabama being given a mission by his dying father, has always been a favourite for us. Sung by the late Clarence Carter - who sadly died just last month, aged 90 - it was written by lead singer of "Chairmen of the Board" General Johnson along with Ron Dunbar in 1970, before Carter turned it in to a blues hit.
We are using it for a much more mundane topic than the affliction of southern rural poverty on a family, which is to reflect on Trump's disastrous ($14m and counting) renovation attempts of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington DC, which will now not be complete in time for the anniversary celebrations. The story has travelled around the world and prompted lots of hilarious online memes and commentaries, being such an accessible and colourful microcosm of his presidency and its impact.
One of my favorite versions of "Kodachrome" is from Simon and Garfunkle concert in Central Park, where they mashed it up with "Maybellene". This song parody turns it into "Algae Foam" to continue making fun of Donald Trump's Reflecting Pool debacle.
The Reflecting Pool hasn't made Patrick Fitzgerald forget about the EpsteinFiles.
That's a wrap for today's musical parody post. Stay tuned for InternationalAsteroidDay, the younger but paradoxically more established version of Apophis Day, to close June, and Canada Day to begin July.
The legend of Paul Bunyan is ingrained in Minnesota history, and his statue is a symbol of local pride to Bemidji residents. FOX 9's Maury Glover takes a closer look at the legacy the statue represents as it nears its 90th birthday.
The first record of loggers telling Paul Bunyan stories may have been in Wisconsin, but the first Paul Bunyan story was published in Michigan in 1906. News Center Maine mentions the date, but not the location, in History and folklore of Bangor's Paul Bunyan statue now on display.
New signage aims to educate visitors about the folklore and history behind the iconic statue.
I learned something new about the importance of timber to Bangor from this video. Any day I learn something new is a good day.
Joel Baker is the owner of American Giants, a company that restores muffler men. Muffler men are 18- to 25-foot advertising giants that were popular in the 1960s and are becoming popular again.
He shows us how his team restores a Paul Bunyan muffler man. This includes patching up cracks on the giant, adding a structure inside, repainting it, and placing it in its new location.
That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned for another post I can share in July tomorrow followed by InternationalAsteroidDay, the younger but paradoxically more established version of Apophis Day, to close June, and Canada Day to begin July.
Americans are back at the movies. Summer blockbusters like Michael, The Devil Wears Prada 2, Obsession, and Backrooms have all contributed to the best first half of the year since 2019. CNBC’s Sarah Whitten breaks down the data.
Movie theaters are enjoying a post-pandemic resurgence, with Gen Z driving ticket sales and helping fuel one of Hollywood's strongest summer seasons in years.
After all the "Millennials are killing" some institution, cultural activity, food or other product I've been reading since before the pandemic, I shouldn't be surprised that news media and popular culture would discover a contrasting feature about Gen Z to report. Gen Z reversing the trend by saving malls certainly fits.
So does Gen Z saving movie theaters. While I'm planning to retire this year, it's not because of my students. I like them and think they're good people (I'm tempted to write kids, but they're adults and deserve to be treated as such).
Food, fuel or inflation? What breaks first? This is possibly the most important podcast we have done to date. I know its a long one and a departure from our normal format, but this is definitely worth your time and we'd love to hear yourt thoughts and ideas...
I first predicted "I fully expect Peak Oil, economic decline, and social upheaval to end the national touring model, which has been around since 1971, by 2020" on this blog in 2012. I came to that conclusion four years earlier, as "I started mourning in 2008, when I quit writing for Drum Corps World and stopped going to shows." I even warned a corps director about it.
Well, the 2020 drum corps season has been cancelled, so the national touring model is in a coma, not dead, but Peak Oil had nothing to do with it. Instead, it was the pandemic that drove what passes for economic decline and social upheaval and that caused there to be no competitive drum corps this year.
The national touring model was still unconscious in 2021, as there were no competitive shows and no national tour, just DCI Celebration, three nights of exhibitions in Indianapolis. The national touring model didn't get out of the hospital until 2022. I was right for the wrong reason, but I'll still claim a successful prediction.
That written, the current situation the panelists at Marching Arts Network are describing is more what I was envisioning beginning in 2008, an oil shortage, although because of war, not Peak Oil directly, and economic disruption and even people in the activity who are not doomers see the national touring model as the problem. I think its return in 2022 will turn out to be a temporary triumph of business as usual once the pandemic receded enough to reinstitute what the activity was doing in 2019 and is still doomed, although I'm not predicting the year of its demise today. I think what I wrote on Christmas 2012 will extend the existances of both drum corps and the national touring model for years after the latter should have ended: "As for drum corps' hopes, they rest on the one thing that makes Americans act, messing with their entertainment. Americans want their entertainment, and will do just about anything to keep it going." So far, that observation has remained true.
That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned to see if I celebrate Paul Bunyan Day or the Sunday entertainment feature early or if I post a compilation of last night's monologues to share next month, which begins Wednesday, Tuesday night according to Greenwich Mean Time.
Josh Johnson dives into the Scottish takeover of Miami for the World Cup, the flock of tourists visiting D.C.'s bright green reflecting pool, Trump’s security escalation to catch possible pool “vandals,” and whether Trump's pool disaster is karma for trashing Biden and Obama’s previous reflecting pool projects. Plus, conservative media can’t stop talking about the pool, while Michael Kosta can’t stop dreaming about drinking it.
Everything Trump touches dies, including the Reflecting Pool. Then he blames someone else.
That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned for a particularly doomy preview of the drum corps season, which begins tomorrow.
