More fun with wombats and ice cream on Souther 2026

Happy Souther, the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Summer Solstice, a holiday created by John Michael Greer, who also designated the wombat as the animal mascot. Since the first Souther fell on National Ice Cream Day and usually occurs during July, National Ice Cream Month, the food for today is ice cream. Last year, I found a cartoon wombat who likes ice cream, so I'm returning to him and his friends in Work it Out Wombats Ice Cream for Breakfast Song.

Episode: Jun-Jun's Wake Up Call - From: Work It Out Wombats: PBS Kids Video

Work it Out Wombats is owned by Marcy Gunther, Robby Hoffman, Kathy Waugh, Marisa Wolsky, Pipeline Studios, GBH Kids, and PBS.

Ice cream for breakfast? I wish!

Since no actual ice cream appeared in the clip, I'm embedding National Ice Cream Month | July - National Day Calendar to make up for it.



July is National Ice Cream Month!
Ronald Reagan is associated with National Ice Cream Month but not National Jelly Bean Day? Surprising, given his love of jelly beans.

I close with Ice cream- The Wombats, the song for today.

That's a wrap for today's faux holiday. Stay tuned for something I can share in August, since the blog passed its page view goal for July yesterday.

Fun with wombats and ice cream for Souther 2025

Happy Souther, the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Summer Solstice, a holiday created by John Michael Greer, who also designated the wombat as the animal mascot. Since the first Souther fell on National Ice Cream Day and usually occurs during July, National Ice Cream Month, the food for today is ice cream. I managed to find a cartoon wombat trying to get an ice cream cone to a friend in Chutes and Ladders | Work It Out Wombats! on PBS KIDS.

Sammy is sick and in need of ice cream! Can his best friend Malik travel across the Treeborhood before the cold treat melts?

I've found a cartoon for Souther just like Grizzy & the Lemmings for Norther, another fake holiday Greer created. Yay! More relevant content!

The fake holiday even has a theme song, "Ice Cream" by The Wombats. Watch The Wombats "Ice cream" @ Le Trabendo Paris - 05/02/2019.


That concludes today's celebration of a fake holiday. The next fake holiday is Wester, which inspired Greer to create both Souther and Norther, on October 12th. In the meantime, stay tuned for Bastille Day, the third patriotic holiday I celebrate during July.

Colbert, Kimmel, and Lydic look at this week's 'shock and awful'

I'm returning to reality filtered through comedy as the shortest month of the year ends, beginning with Stephen Colbert's monologue from last night, MAGA Gets Buyer's Remorse | Coffee, Eggs, And Potato Chip Prices Spike | Anti-Aging Pill For Dogs.

Some Trump voters regret sending him back to the White House because he's doing nothing to lower prices on everyday items like coffee and potato chips, and there's a new medicine that might extend your dog's lifespan by years.

"Shock and awful" — that's the perfect phrase to describe the circus of tariffs, Musk taking over government computers, mass deportations, Trump's wild idea about Gaza, and his designs on Greenland and Canada, so I'm borrowing it. Add to all those the fallout from bird flu Should Have Killed One Billion People' as well as potentially mishandling seasonal flu and things could get even worse. Ugh, RFK Jr. He got an even bigger boo than the Secretary of Agriculture, who was booed just because she was in Hoover Cleveland's administration. People know who he is!

Jimmy Kimmel examined even more in Team Trump Screws Up Epstein List Release, Donald Hocks Golden Dollars & GOP Complains About Elon.

Elon Musk is still going with his Chainsaw Massacre of our federal workforce, Guillermo lists the five things he did at work this week, a group of Republican Senators met privately with the White House to complain about Elon’s impulsive and haphazard cuts, companies owned by Elon Musk have been the recipients of more than $30 billion from our government, Trump is now hocking dollar bills made of gold, and he is meeting with President Zelensky of Ukraine to discuss what is being called a “reconstruction investment fund,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced that a list of Epstein clients and his flight logs would be released today (they were not), instead they released a binder full of information everyone already had, people keep forgetting that Trump and Epstein were good friends, and in honor of the Oscars we took to Hollywood Blvd for a new edition of “Breaking the News.”

"Elon Musk's...Chainsaw Massacre of our federal workforce" — that's another phrase worth stealing! Speaking of stealing, I wish I were surprised that the FAA may cancel a contract with Verizon and replace it with Starlink. That's the kind of conflict of interest having Musk involved with DOGE his critics feared. Time to recycle my comment on May 2022 Open Post at Ecosophia.net.

You pointed out four years ago that Elon Musk's fortune and the success of his companies were both built on government subsidies. American liberals may not have liked Musk for being a billionaire, but they generally quietly ignored what you pointed out as long as they thought he was on their side. Now that he is trying to buy Twitter, potentially ruining their venue for activism and entertainment, then announced that he wasn't on their side, they are all over that fact. They've also called into question the purported technological achievements of his companies and realized a lot of their value springs from faith in Musk himself. His companies' stock prices are now collapsing, which was one of the "black swan" events Lathechuck postulated in the comments four years ago. I don't suppose you are surprised by any of this, are you?

He wasn't. In fact, he joked that he was bored by it. Just the same, liberals and progressives were right about his effect on X, the site formerly known as Twitter. It's one of the main reasons we've moved to Bluesky.

Jimmy K's using Lauren Boebert's misspelling and misunderstanding of disdain to call for not eliminating the Department of Education, one of Project 2025's goals, reminds me that I haven't mentioned that Boebert has a GED, not a regular high school diploma before. It shows.

It also reminds me of what I wrote in I ask The Archdruid and his readers 'Can you show us on the doll exactly where the educated professionals hurt you?' A Festivus airing of grievances.

[O]ne of the recurring themes in the comments to No More Mister Nice Blog, particularly from Yastreblyansky at The Rectification of Names, that a lot of the "working class" supporters of Trump based on their educational levels are actually small business owners, the petite bourgeoisie. Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene come to mind. Both were small business owners before being elected to Congress, which adds new meaning to "petty bourgeoisie."

Speaking of Greene, she makes a cameo in Are Democrats Taking the Rizz Out of Resistance in Their Opposition to Trump? | The Daily Show.

Desi Lydic rates the Democratic Party's methods of opposing Trump on the cringe-o-meter: from off-key protest chants to interpretive dance to podcasts. Plus, with so many Dems saying "F**k Trump," Grace Kuhlenschmidt thinks that might just be a great idea.

As silly as it looks, I'm not surprised the most interesting grassroots protest was by dancers at the Kennedy Center; Silly and serious closer looks at Trump taking over the Kennedy Center was the most popular post this month. As I repeated then, "the surest way to get Americans to act is to mess with their entertainm­ent" and "America is quite clear about its screwed up priorities­." Speaking of screwed up, or just plain screwed, Grace Kuhlenschmidt might be onto something, except I don't think that will make Hoover Cleveland treat Democrats any better, just keep him busy. Besides, his supporters might get off on it.

That's a wrap for February. Stay tuned for an Oscars post to kick off March.

I ask The Archdruid and his readers 'Can you show us on the doll exactly where the educated professionals hurt you?' A Festivus airing of grievances

Happy Festivus! I promised an airing of grievances yesterday for Festivus and do I ever have some grievances to air!

I begins with a regular commenter at No More Mister Nice Blog asking a rhetorical question of Trump voters, "Can you show us on the doll exactly where the educated professionals hurt you?" He meant this as mockery, but I saw an opportunity.

I know exactly the group to ask this question. They'll take it seriously and give a lot of outraged responses. I'll report back next month on the results.

I followed through in the second comment to November 2024 Open Post at Ecosophia.net John Michael Greer's main blog.

A commenter on a liberal blog responded to the election results and particularly the educational levels of Trump's voters by asking "Can you show us on the doll exactly where the educated professionals hurt you?" He meant it as a joke, but I think it is worth taking seriously. I know of no better forum to get answers than here, so I'm throwing it open to you and your readers.

I begin with the answer from The Archdruid himself.

Neon Vincent, I can indeed. The site of the injury was in the pocketbook. The professional-managerial class presided over, profited from, and gleefully cheered on the process by which a hundred million working class Americans were driven into poverty and misery. I’ve noted before that when I was young, a family of four could get by tolerably well on a single working class income. The collapse of working class incomes and the soaring prices of housing, health care, and most other necessities over the last fifty years didn’t happen by accident, and nearly all the benefits of that process accrued to the professional-managerial class. If the person who asked that question really wants to get into the details, my book The King in Orange covers it in quite some detail.

Greer the Archdruid certainly lived up to my expectations by taking the question seriously and giving an outraged, if still measured, answer. That written, I think he's reinforcing a scapegoating campaign that began when the upper-middle class of educated professionals, which Greer and his readers call "the professional-managerial class," began leaving the Republican Party for the Democratic Party. Before then, conservative thought leaders, who I think came up with the idea before Greer, didn't appear to care about the benefits accruing to educated professionals; as long as they were voting for Republicans, they were fine with the situation. Afterwards, they began to go after the people leaving the party, particularly once not yet convicted criminal Donald Trump took it over. I think it's a case of getting revenge on people who are now safe to attack; Republicans aren't getting their votes anyway and blaming them for the troubles of the working class helps to get their votes, which the GOP are now courting.

By the way, Greer and his readers calling educated professionals "the professional-managerial class" is both a tell and an odd phrase for a bunch of conservatives to use. The term has origins in Marxist analysis for "a social class within capitalism that, by controlling production processes through occupying a superior management position, is neither proletarian nor bourgeoisie." The working class would resent them for being their supervisors and the small business owners would resent them for being rivals to be second banana in the social-economic order; one of the recurring themes in the comments to No More Mister Nice Blog, particularly from Yastreblyansky at The Rectification of Names, that a lot of the "working class" supporters of Trump based on their educational levels are actually small business owners, the petite bourgeoisie. Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene come to mind. Both were small business owners before being elected to Congress, which adds new meaning to "petty bourgeoisie."


So Greer's thesis is that the election and re-election of Trump were acts of revenge by the working class against the educated professionals. I buy that. As an attempt to improve the material situation of the American proletariat, I have my doubts. Seeing the educated professionals humiliated might improve the spirits of the working class, but I think the main material and political beneficiaries will be business owners, both stockholders in large corporations and proprietors of small local businesses. Only to the extent that the power and prosperity of business owners results in hiring more working class employees will it help the working class materially. Will it result in higher wages? Maybe, but I have my doubts. "Trickle down" hasn't worked that way for the working class over the past 40+ years. Why would it work now?


By the way, Greer's recommendation of his book The King in Orange should get the attention of fans of True Detective. "The Yellow King" was the main antagonist of that show's first season and the finale took place in Carcosa. Both of those come from The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers, about "a forbidden play which induces madness in those who read it," although Chambers borrowed Carcosa from An Inhabitant of Carcosa by Ambrose Bierce. Listen to The King in Orange: The Magical and Occult… by John Michael Greer · Audiobook preview to hear Greer quote Chalmers mentioning Carcosa. Since Google Play Books has disabled embedding, I'm displaying the book's cover.


Greer's premise/conceit is that Trump is like The King in Yellow and drives mad all who oppose him. I'd say he drives just about everyone mad by giving them permission to be their worst selves. Does this include Greer? If so, all of us, including Greer, should consider ourselves lucky his worst self isn't that bad, even if I think he's giving Trump way too much credit beyond his feral instincts for self-promotion, dominance, and survival.

Follow over the jump for the responses from Greer's readers.

John Oliver on UFOs for World UFO Day

Happy World UFO Day! I'm pulling a slightly fast one today, as I wrote yesterday "This concludes the string of holiday entries that began on Juneteenth. Stay tuned for an evergreen post that I can share in July." Change of plans with one more holiday post to add to the string. However, I can still share this on the second UFO Day in July, which is the one I usually observe. Without any further ado, watch John Oliver examine UFOs.

John Oliver explains why we need honest inquiry into UFO sightings, and why those inquiries should be data-driven, fact-based, and – crucially – boring as fuck.

When I wrote "UAPs are an ongoing subject of Congressional hearings and public interest, so I'm sure to return to the topic" last year, I didn't think I would do it through comedy. Surprise! Making the story funny makes it more likely that people will remember the information. That written, I agree the subject should be taken more seriously, to the point where most people would find them "boring as fuck." We might actually get closer to the truth.

Speaking of getting closer to the truth, I'm repeating what I wrote three years ago.

If many UAPs are secret weapons programs, especially foreign ones, that's a cause for concern.

John Michael Greer thinks that UAPs being secret weapons programs is the most likely possibility, stating so most recently in last month's Toward the Breaking Point. In fact, he thinks it's a cover story for U.S. weapons development. While I'm not sure about the cover story part, I do think secret weapons programs are a likely explanation for many sightings.

Reconnaissance flights aren't actually weapons, but as top secret military and intelligence projects, they come close enough.

I might return with another John Oliver video for tomorrow's post that I can share next month. Stay tuned.

Stephen Colbert returns after his illness with Liz Cheney

I opened Meyers, Kimmel, and 'The Daily Show' take closer looks at Santos being expelled with a program note and well wishes.

I closed 'Bankrupt - Ruby Tuesday' by Bright Sun Films, a tale of the Retail Apocalypse by telling my readers "Stay tuned for comedy tomorrow, when I expect 'Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, and especially Jimmy Kimmel will run a victory lap as they dunk on his departure while mourning the loss of a great subject for comedy.'" I got two-thirds of my wish, as both Meyers and Kimmel featured George Santos in their sketches and monologues, while Colbert is at home recovering from a ruptured appendix. Get well soon, Stephen! Your fans miss you!

Stephen returned Monday night. Yay! Welcome back! Watch Monday's monologue, If Trump Gets Unlimited Power He Won’t Be Giving It Up | George Santos Cashes In On Cameo.

The former president doubled down on his assertion that he would only be a dictator on day one if elected again, and former Congressman George Santos already has a lucrative new career.

Hearing Stephen quote others calling Trump "Julius Caesar" and "Orange Jesus" reminds me that John Michael Greer the Archdruid has been calling him "Orange Julius" since at least 2017, if not earlier. I rather like that and if my wife hadn't already likened him to The Penguin running for Mayor of Gotham City, I'd use it as his label. Instead, I want both Greer and his nickname for the 45th President to become better known among the American Left. If he becomes more widely disliked, so be it.

Stephen returned with The Story of Stephen Colbert’s Ruptured Appendix.

Stephen shares the frightening details of his emergency surgery for appendicitis, and thanks everyone for their support during his recovery.

Evie literally made the right call to get Stephen to the hospital. Thank you, Evie!

Follow over the jump for Stephen interviewing Liz Cheney and a bonus cold open.

I begin Spooky Season with the 2016 Academy's 'Drum Corpse Bride' for a drum corps Halloween

I foreshadowed today's post in a footnote to Drink to 1988 Santa Clara Vanguard playing 'The Phantom of the Opera' for a drum corps Halloween 2021.

Courtney also has a reaction video to The Academy's "Drum Corpse Bride" show. If it's still up next year and none of the 2021 or 2022 shows inspire me, I might use it.

I posted Kicking off spooky season with 2014 Cavaliers 'Immortal' for a Drum corps Halloween instead last year, but I'm an environmentalist; I recycle, so watch New Zealand Girl Reacts to DRUM CORPSE BRIDE - The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps 2016.

Hi everyone welcome back to another video!!! Big thank you to Nick for sending this one through!!

I always find Courtney's naive reactions fun to watch. Besides, she's preserving shows that would otherwise disappear from YouTube.

Speaking of preserving things, I first wrote about this show in The Archdruid and I talk drum corps.

@JMG: "drum and bugle corps (corpses? How do you pluralize that?)" Both the singular and plural are spelled "corps," but the s is silent in the singular but pronounced in the plural; the word is French and the original rules sort of followed along. Coincidentally enough, a corps played on that very confusion by calling their show "The Drum Corpse Bride." The program could have been very pretentious, but it ended up being a great crowd pleaser.
...
That show was good enough to place eleventh, ahead of Boston Crusaders and Madison Scouts, who didn't even make the final show of the championships.

Drum Corps International played along, too, as it's among the first of 5 reasons “Drum Corpse Bride” is everything you need for Halloween.

The Academy's “Drum Corpse Bride” trick or treated its way into the hearts of fans as one of the most charming shows to hit the field during the 2016 Drum Corps International Tour.

LOL, "Drum Corpse International."  I'm glad to hear that the announcer has a sense of humor.

Follow over the jump for a bonus show video and a drink.

'100 Foot Wave' has the most nominations but experts think 'The U.S. and the Holocaust' and 'The 1619 Project' have best chances to win Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series at the Emmy Awards

I'm returning to the Primetime and Creative Arts Emmy Awards to examine the last categories with nominated wildlife documentaries for World Conservation Day as I suggested yesterday. Here are the nominees competing against "Secrets of the Elephants" for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series.

Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series (Area)
Dear Mama (FX)
100 Foot Wave (HBO)
Secrets of the Elephants (Nat Geo)
The 1619 Project (Hulu)
The U.S. and the Holocaust (PBS)

100 Foot Wave has the most nominations with six, followed by The U.S. and the Holocaust with three at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards and one at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards for a total of four, The 1619 Project with three, and Dear Mama and Secrets of the Elephants with two each. Before I handicap the nominees with the help of the experts at Gold Derby, I'm sharing their trailers from the most nominated to the least, beginning with 100 Foot Wave Season 2 | Official Trailer | HBO.

Legend Garrett McNamara, his world-class surfing peers, and some surprising newcomers continue to push the boundaries of their sport and the limits of their minds and bodies. The one constant for these extreme athletes is contending with the highs and lows of their perilous and unpredictable lifestyle in which every big wave has the potential to write a dramatic new chapter in their personal stories. With a mix of intimate interviews, verité scenes and personal archive, as well as stunning aerial, water-based and underwater footage from the Emmy®-winning cinematography team, the series captures a world unlike any other.

Watching this trailer reminds me that today is also National Waterpark Day, which I observed on this blog five years ago. This is better than any waterpark!

Next, The U.S. and the Holocaust | Official Trailer | PBS.

The U.S. and the Holocaust, a new documentary by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein, examines the rise of Hitler and Nazism in Germany in the context of global antisemitism and racism, immigration and eugenics in the United States, and race laws in the American south. Premieres September 18.
...
More about the production:
THE U.S. AND THE HOLOCAUST is a three-part, six hour series directed by Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein, that examines America’s response to one of the greatest humanitarian crises of the twentieth century. Americans consider themselves a “nation of immigrants,” but as the catastrophe of the Holocaust unfolded in Europe, the United States proved unwilling to open its doors to more than a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of desperate people seeking refuge. Through riveting firsthand testimony of witnesses and survivors who as children endured persecution, violence and flight as their families tried to escape Hitler, this series delves deeply into the tragic human consequences of public indifference, bureaucratic red tape and restrictive quota laws in America. Did the nation fail to live up to its ideals? This is a history to be reckoned with.

The series is narrated by Peter Coyote; Voice Actors Include Liam Neeson, Matthew Rhys, Paul Giamatti, Meryl Streep, Werner Herzog, Joe Morton, Hope Davis, Bradley Whitford and Helena Zengel.

The subject of this series hits me personally. I grew up in a Reform Jewish neighborhood and the mother of my high school crush was a concentration camp survivor, so I know people who have experienced this story. Watching the trailer while thinking about the resurrection of Fascism made me wonder what are we doing now and if we would avoid repeating the mistakes of 80 years ago.

Speaking of mistakes of the past, here's The 1619 Project | Official Trailer | Hulu.

From Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones comes the greatest story never told. The 1619 Project premieres January 26th only on Hulu. #1619hulu

The 1619 Project is a Lionsgate Production in association with One Story Up Productions, Harpo Films and The New York Times. It was executive produced by Nikole Hannah-Jones; Academy Award®-winning director Roger Ross Williams; Caitlin Roper, an editor of “The 1619 Project” and The New York Times’ executive producer for film and television; Kathleen Lingo, The New York Times’ editorial director for film and television; and Oprah Winfrey. Peabody Award-winning executive producer Shoshana Guy served as the showrunner. Watch The 1619 Project on Hulu!

ABOUT THE 1619 PROJECT
Hulu’s six-part 1619 Docuseries is an expansion of “The 1619 Project” created by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and the New York Times Magazine. The series seeks to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.

This is probably the most controversial nominee. For starters, I follow Nikole Hannah-Jones on Twitter and have read lots of negative replies to her tweets about the New York Times series. Even John Michael Greer has made several snide asides about it. Greer famously does not watch television, so he hasn't commented on the TV series, but I'm sure he'd be just as dismissive of the series if he did.

Dear Mama: The Saga of Afeni & Tupac Shakur Documentary Series Trailer from Rotten Tomatoes TV portrays a more contemporary and personal picture of the same struggle.

Check out the new Dear Mama Documentary Series Trailer!
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Synopsis: Afeni had a revolutionary story, Tupac helped her tell it to the world.

From award-winning director Allen Hughes (The Defiant Ones) comes FX’s Dear Mama, a deeply personal five-part series that defies the conventions of traditional documentary storytelling to share an illuminating saga of mother and son, Afeni and Tupac Shakur. Their story chronicles the possibilities and contradictions of the U.S. from a time of revolutionary fervor to Hip Hop culture’s most ostentatious decade.

Finding out that Tupac was connected to the Black Panthers made me take him and his music more seriously.

And now the final trailer, Secrets of the Elephants | Official Trailer | National Geographic.

“Secrets of the Elephants" Executive produced by James Cameron and narrated by Natalie Portman, the four-part series premieres Friday, April 21 on National Geographic.

This trailer wasted no time in pointing out it was a sequel of sorts to Secrets of the Whales, which won this award two years ago. It also touted that it was produced by James Cameron and narrated by Natalie Portman, two Oscar winners, although it neglected to mention Portman's Oscar. That's a missed opportunity in self-promotion. On the other hand, this series is the reason I'm examining this category today, as it fits the theme of World Conservation Day. It's also one I have recommended to my students. Welcome to blogging as professional development.

Based on the total number of nominations as well as being a previous Emmy winner for its cinematography, I'd rank 100 Foot Wave as a favorite. Based on Secrets of the Elephants being a sequel to previous winner Secrets of the Whales, I would consider Secrets of the Elephants to be a favorite, too. The experts at Gold Derby disagree, thinking these two have the weakest chances. Instead, they are split between The U.S. and the Holocaust and The 1619 Project, at three experts each. The odds currently favor The U.S. and the Holocaust, but The 1619 Project had the better chance through yesterday. I wonder if the News & Documentary Emmy nomination for The U.S. and the Holocaust tipped the odds toward it or the controversy around The 1619 Project finally caught up to it. Either way, this will be an interesting category to watch.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the nominations for these nominees.

Animalogic on wombats for Souther plus ice cream cone sugar cookies for Sugar Cookie Day

Happy Souther!

Today is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Summer Solstice, so it's Souther, a holiday created by John Michael Greer and entrusted to me. He also designated the wombat as the animal mascot for the holiday.

I telegraphed my ideas to celebrate today in Celebrate American Eagle Day with an ice cream soda when I wrote, "I plan on using the channel's video about wombats for Souther on July 9th." Watch Wombats Look Like Real Life Ewoks.

Wombats are the heroes of the bush fires, the stealer of hearts, and the knights of the most adorable joust in the world.

I found this video to be even more informative and entertaining than I expected, although it's almost too cute for its own good. "Mortal Wombat...Fight!" LOL. While I anticipated Danielle Dufault describing the wombat's cubic poop, she surprised me by mentioning that engineers are studying how the wombat shapes its feces so they can imitate it in manufacturing. Consider this to be another example of "Nature knows best," one of Commoner's Laws.

By the way, Animalogic uploaded this video on July 17, 2020, the Friday after that year's Souther on July 12, 2020. I'm adding it to the rest of the coincidences around Souther, wombats, and ice cream that have occurred since Greer created the holiday and I started maintaining it.

Just like last year, Souther shares its observances with other holidays. Follow over the jump for today's, National Sugar Cookie Day.

PBS Voices asks 'Why Is the Government Taking UFOs Seriously Now?' for World UFO Day

Happy World UFO Day! For this year's observance, I'm sharing the companion video to the one I featured in Monstrum examines aliens for World UFO Day, "Subcultured" on PBS Voices asking Why Is the Government Taking UFOs Seriously Now? (feat. Dr. Emily Zarka).

Interest in aliens, UFOs, and UAPs is on the rise after, especially after a 2017 report revealed the details of a secret Pentagon program. But WHY are we so fascinated with life outside Earth?
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In this episode of Subcultured, Josef Lorenzo meets with members of the UFO community to find out why humans are so fascinated with aliens in the first place. We talk to UFOJane, a UFOlogist who studies sightings in Texas; Dennis Sant, who has had a UFO experience himself; and discuss advocacy with Luis Jimenez, who is pushing for more information on UAPs from the government. Dr. Z from the PBS @Storied series Monstrum also stops by to talk about what drives humans to ponder extraterrestrial life. Why have UFOs gained mainstream traction?

I didn't see this video in time to include it in last year's post. As I wrote at my Dreamwidth journal, " If I had, it would have been the lead video and the post would have a different title. Darn!" I'm getting my chance this year.

Based on Lorenzo's reporting, the answer to the question appears to be a combination of increasing public interest or at least belief in alien visitation, and a sense of real threat, which harkens back to what I wrote two years ago.

If many UAPs are secret weapons programs, especially foreign ones, that's a cause for concern.

John Michael Greer thinks that UAPs being secret weapons programs is the most likely possibility, stating so most recently in last month's Toward the Breaking Point. In fact, he thinks it's a cover story for U.S. weapons development. While I'm not sure about the cover story part, I do think secret weapons programs are a likely explanation for many sightings. For example, the one UAP sighting I had almost certainly was one of an Osprey flying at night while it was still being tested and developed — nothing extraterrestrial or paranormal about it, although it certainly might confuse people unfamiliar with the aircraft. Here's an image of an Osprey at night to show my readers what I mean.

The image I embedded two years ago has disappeared, so here is a new one.

What would you think if you didn't already know what this was?

Just to drive home the point, the caption for this image states "This is not a flying saucer but a CV-22 tilt-rotor aircraft at night - The Aviationist."

As for the possibility that UAPs can bridge left and right, I wish. The partisan divide in responses to the pandemic makes me skeptical about that happening.

UAPs are an ongoing subject of Congressional hearings and public interest, so I'm sure to return to the topic. In the meantime, I'm planning on posting a postponed entertainment feature tomorrow, so stay tuned. Television Critics Association Awards nominations, anyone?

Happy National Ice Cream Day, World Emoji Day, and Souther! Souther? Yes, Souther

Happy National Ice Cream Day! HLN (formerly CNN's Headline News) celebrated the day in 2015 by telling the channel's viewers Raise a spoon: it's ice cream day!

Summertime is the perfect time for a frozen treat! President Ronald Reagan named July National Ice Cream Month back in 1984 and he established National Ice Cream Day as the third Sunday of the month. Americans eat an estimated 22 pounds of ice cream every year! Lynn, Coy and Ivan didn't eat quite that much today, but they did share their favorite flavors with us (Graeter's, Dulce de Leche and Turkey Hill Butter Pecan, respectively).

I like this video because it includes both the history of the holiday and a food fact, has engaging hosts, and is from a mainstream news source, although it is not longer the hard news outlet I watched regularly during 1989-1991 when it was Headline News. It also isn't a stealth commercial for a local ice cream store or manufacturer, as it featured three flavors from different sources.

One of my holiday traditions is to share drink recipes for the day. Fox 13 Seattle provided some in Drinks for National Ice Cream Day.

Joe McRae with Bevmo joins Good Day Seattle to prepare some fancy adult beverages to honor national ice cream day.

I'm beginning to wonder if "It's always five o'clock somewhere" means 5:00 P.M. or 5:00 A.M. to morning show anchors who drink as part of their job. I hope they have designated drivers!

Follow over the jump for the celebration of two more holidays, including one that was created for me.

Monstrum examines aliens for World UFO Day

Happy World UFO Day! For this year's observance, I'm embedding Monstrum on PBS Digital's Storied featuring Josef Lorenzo asking Alien Abduction and UFOs: Why Are Grays So Common?

Grey Aliens, sometimes called Zeta Reticulans, Roswell Greys, or just Grays, are defined by their humanoid forms, long limbs, large black eyes, small noses, thin mouths, and of course, gray skin or gray clothing. They are some of pop culture’s most recognizable representations of extraterrestrial life. But where did this depiction of extraterrestrials come from, and why are Grays the ones mostly responsible for all the abductions?

Special thank you to Josef Lorenzo and the entire Subcultured team for the delightful conversation and invaluable contribution to this episode.

This is a very materialist explanation of a phenomenon with a history that extends much farther into the past than 1947, when the two events commemorated by World UFO Day happened. Dr. Emily Zarka pointing out the similarity of alien encounters to interactions with fairies is one that John Michael Greer has made as well.* In that case, it's an old phenomenon in modern guise.

Part of that modern guise comes from psychological and social forces, including anxieties over social and technological change and foreign competition during the Cold War. Another part came from popular entertainment. This comes as no surprise to me, since I mentioned it last year.

As for science fiction influencing how people interpret what they see, I'm all in favor of examining that. It's one of the reasons why I cover entertainment as much as I do.

I enjoyed Dr. Z doing just that for my readers and me. I hope my readers did, too.

*I'm having trouble finding it on his Ecosophia blog. I suspect I'm remembering a response he made to a comment on one of his Magic Monday posts at Dreamwidth. In that case, good luck finding it.

'Grizzy & the Lemmings' explain social distancing and masking for a late Norther

Yesterday was the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Winter Solstice, so it was Norther, a fake holiday created by John Michael Greer the Archdruid and kept alive by me. Greer decreed the lemming the animal mascot for the holiday, which I've run with. I'm going to continue that today with some bonus pandemic content from "Grizzy & the Lemmings," Even Grizzy & the Lemmings social distance and apply protective measures.

Grizzy & the Lemmings are also applying social distancing and protective measures against COVID-19!

Ha, ha! That's one way to make protective measures funny. Also, I think I've found a source of videos for Norther from now on. Since there are currently 172 other videos on this channel, I will never run out as long as the channel is up.

For some adult content, I'm embedding Johnny English Strikes Again Exclusive Movie Clip - Olive Slip (2018) for the source of the London Lemming.


That drink sounds even more stupid and bad-tasting than in the Tipsy Bartender video that Skyy took down. Too bad we didn't see Rowan Atkinson's character actually drink it. That would have been either hilarious or disappointing.

So much for the return to reality I promised yesterday. At least it was short. Oh, and a belated happy Norther! May I not be late next year, when it falls on January 8, 2023.

Reactions to the U.S. Government report on UAPs for World UFO Day

Today is the second of two World UFO Days. Why two? National Day Calendar explains.

World UFO Day commemorates two separate dates. The first, on June 24th, recognizes the first widely reported UFO sighting on this same day in 1947 by aviator Kenneth Arnold. On July 2nd, the date commemorates the incident that took place in Roswell, New Mexico, in the same year.

I can see why two different UFO Days; both are important in the early history of the phenomenon and should be recognized. National Day Calendars singled out today's observance by writing "The creators of the July 2nd event launched it to raise awareness of UFO sightings and remove speculation from them." That makes me feel better about postponing my observance from June 24 to today, which I based on reports that the House Intelligence Committee's report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs) would come out later that week. It did, as CNET reported in The Pentagon UFO report explained on June 26.

Are they aliens? Spy planes? What *are* those unidentified aerial phenomena we've been seeing lately? We break down the report commissioned by Congress to get to the bottom of UAPs and the people who report them.

CNET not only presented a good summary of the findings, but also an excellent timeline of how and why this reported ended up being produced. For some reason, I'm not surprised it started off with Marco Rubio adding the request to a budget bill. His doing so adds to the ambivalence I feel about the subject.

On the one hand, I feel the same about addressing the official interest in UFOs as I do about "Fauci's emails and...the Wuhan lab-leak hypothesis, two narratives that I want to give as little attention to as possible." On the other, I have described this blog as having a "science fiction slant" on its Facebook page, so writing about the topic is on brand.

I hope this is a case of a stuck clock still being right twice a day, just as Senator Rubio is on Daylight Saving Time. On the other hand, it might end up being like his positions on gun control and Cuba, which I disagree with. Only time will tell, although the kind of supporters the report has makes me wonder and worry.

Follow over the jump for more news reactions to the report.

Wombats and ice cream for Souther on National Ice Cream Cake Day 2021

Happy Souther!

Today is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Summer Solstice, so it's Souther, a holiday created by John Michael Greer and entrusted to me. He also designated the wombat as the animal mascot for the holiday. Since the first celebration fell on National Ice Cream Day and the holiday usually happens during July, which is National Ice Cream Month, the activity to celebrate the day is eating ice cream.

Yes, wombats and ice cream! Once again, here are The Wombats singing "Ice Cream."

Love this song from the album "Beautiful people will ruin your life"

I almost couldn't believe the song being released after I paired the wombat with the activity, as I told Greer two years ago.

A belated Happy Souther to you! When you first suggested the day and its wombat mascot, I wondered what the wombat would do on its day. Well, the first Souther fell on National Ice Cream Day, so the mascot would eat ice cream. This year's fell on National Ice Cream Day as well and I found a song for it. Last year, a band called The Wombats recorded a song with the title of "Ice Cream," which is now the theme song for the holiday. I couldn't have asked for a more fortuitous piece of music.

I'd have used it last year, but the cable carrying broadband to my house came loose, so I had to post using my smartphone with text only, no links, images, or videos. Sigh.

Moving from the band to its namesake animal, Bizarre Beasts uploaded How The Wombat Poops Cubes earlier this month, which I saved for today.

Wombats are chubby, adorable Australian marsupials with a lot of great adaptations for their specific environment and lifestyle, and that includes pooping little cubes.

I couldn't resist the science lesson, even if today is about what goes into wombats, not what comes out.

Follow over the jump for a younger, if more widely known national day.

'For entertainment purposes only' — The Archdruid and his readers discuss laws regulating fortune telling

I managed to post the first comment on The Legacy of Luxor at The Archdruid's current blog Ecosophia.net.

"In 1932...Los Angeles passed an ordinance banning the teaching and practice of astrology" — How long did that last? Not past the 1970s, when the Los Angeles newspapers had astrology columns, which they labeled "for entertainment only." I even wrote a parody of one for the November 1980 UCLA Band newsletter in which I jokingly forecast that people born under my sun sign would find romantic companionship, writing "If you're a saxophone or clarinet player, you will find someone to wet your reed. If you're a trombone player, you'll find someone to grease your slide." That night, I went out with a trombonist, a date I did not have before I wrote the parody. Coincidence or wishful thinking come true? It certainly wasn't astrology, as I didn't cast a chart.

My comment started off a discussion about that law in particular and laws regulating divination in general beginning with John Michael Greer's response.

I suspect it was overturned fairly quickly. Astrology and other forms of divination faced quite a bit of this kind of harassment in the early 20th century, but none of it seems to have stuck.

That turned out not to be true, although it may as well have been. Follow over the jump, where the conversation continued between Greer the Archdruid and the rest of his readers about laws governing practices with the disclaimer "for entertainment purposes only," which is why I am posting it as a silly and serious Sunday entertainment feature.

Happy Souther 2020!

Today is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Summer Solstice, so it's Souther, a holiday created by John Michael Greer and entrusted to me. He also designated the wombat as the animal mascot for the holiday. Since the first celebration fell on National Ice Cream Day and the holiday usually happens during July, which is National Ice Cream Month, the activity to celebrate the day is eating ice cream. If I were composing this entry on my desktop, I would be embedding a video of The Wombats singing "Ice Cream" and another video from Tipsy Bartender of an ice cream drink, but my home broadband is out again, so I am writing this on my smartphone. Sigh, no videos, no links, and no preview images.*

Here's to hoping this gets fixed soon. In the meantime, Happy Souther!

*ETA: No tags, either. I just fixed that now that my home broadband is back up.  The rest of the absences remain.

Drink a London Lemming for Norther

Happy Norther!  To explain, I'll be a good environmentalist and recycle.

What is Norther?  It's a fake holiday created by John Michael Greer the Archdruid in response to my telling him about Wester and its animal mascot, the Wester Squirrel.

Druids would likely demand a Souther and a Norther, too, with a Souther Wombat and a Norther Lemming as animal mascots; I'll leave you to decide what if anything they do with goodies.

Ah, but which solstice gets which holiday?  At first, I was not amused by your suggestion, as I thought one parody holiday was enough.  Then I slept on it and not only was I OK with it, I decided that Norther would come after the Winter Solstice and Souther would come after the Summer Solstice.  Why would a lemming visit in the middle of summer?

As a result of that conversation, Norther takes place on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Winter Solstice, which is today.

I added another tradition to the holiday in Feats of animal strength for a Blue Norther on Festivus, when I wrote "Of course, it isn't a complete holiday post of mine without a drink for it...Tipsy Bartender just happened to have created the perfect one for Norther, The London Lemming."*

All great spies have their own drink. Of course, so does #JohnnyEnglish! Indulge in Mr. English's signature cocktail "The London Lemming".

I think the drink is better than the movie.

That's it for Norther until January 3, 2021, the next Sunday after the first full moon after the Winter Solstice.  Stay tuned for an entry analyzing the television nominees about government and politics at tonight's Critics' Choice Awards.

*ETA: Tipsy Bartender took down the video, so that's now a dead link, but I found a screencap of the preview screen as a substitute.

Drink mulled cider and watch a squirrel carve a pumpkin for Wester 2018

Happy Wester!  For any new readers who don't yet know the story of Wester, I'm quoting For Winter Solstice 2016, the Archdruid and I discuss Discordianism and fake holidays.

[Me:] Oh, I'm familiar with Discordianism.  I'm single-handedly keeping alive a fake holiday called Wester, which is the first Sunday following the first Full Moon after the Autumnal Equinox.  When I first posted about it, my Discordian friend claimed it for Discordianism.  As far as I'm concerned, it's still a Discordian holiday.
...
[Greer:] Pinku-Sensei, yes, I thought I remembered you were a closet Discordian. Wester is funny; presumably that was the day that some messiah or other descended from the living?
...
[Me:] I agree, Wester is funny.  As for an anointed one descending from the living, sorry, that wasn't part of the Wester story that I heard.  However, the holiday has its own animal mascot, the Wester Squirrel, which goes around and gathers goodies to hide instead of hiding goodies to pass out like the Easter Bunny.

Hence my telling my readers at the end of yesterday's National Coffee Day entry to "Stay tuned for a celebration of Wester, squirrels included" — since one of my readers suggested the mascot, the fake holiday is now associated with squirrels.

Wester is a fall holiday with a squirrel mascot and one of the symbols of fall is the pumpkin, I have a hard time thinking of something more appropriate than watching a squirrel carving its own pumpkin.

Squirrel Carves A Jack-O-Lantern | This SQUIRREL is about to carve a face into a pumpkin to make his very own jack-o-lantern.

How cute, although the squirrel isn't a clever as this video makes it out to be.  Some of the viewers think that peanut butter or maple syrup was smeared on the pumpkin where the squirrel chewed out the eyes, nose, and mouth, and I agree with them.  Still, it was clever on the part of the people involved and make for a fun video to watch.


Today is also National Hot Mulled Cider Day.

National Hot Mulled Cider Day is observed annually on September 30.
Fall welcomes warm mugs of mulled cider wrap our chilled hand around. Such a cozy way to spend an evening, sipping a tart, spiced beverage on a chilly evening while gazing at trees ablaze in crimson, gold, and orange.  It is the perfect time to celebrate this holiday and enjoy this delightful drink.
Hot Mulled Cider is a traditional fall and winter drink made by heating cider to almost boiling and adding cinnamon, orange peel, nutmeg, cloves and other spices and then simmering it. Just the scent of it steeping on the stove will warm the home and lift the spirits of everyone in it.

Since this is a non-alcoholic drink, Tipsy Bartender is not the appropriate source.  Instead, watch Jamie's Mulled Cider | Jamie Oliver.

If you're looking for something a bit different to the classic Mulled Wine, have a look at Jamie's Mulled Cider.

It's a little too sugary for me to drink because of my diabetes, but it looks and sounds delicious.  May my readers enjoy drinking it even more than I did watching it!

I hope everyone had a happy Wester.  The next fake holiday I plan on celebrating will be a blue Norther on Festivus.  Feats of strength and airing of grievances around the Festivus pole!

Facts and fancy about feisty lemmings for the first Norther of 2017!

Happy Norther!  What is Norther?  It's a fake holiday created by John Michael Greer the Archdruid in response to my telling him about Wester and its animal mascot, the Wester Squirrel.

Druids would likely demand a Souther and a Norther, too, with a Souther Wombat and a Norther Lemming as animal mascots; I'll leave you to decide what if anything they do with goodies.

Ah, but which solstice gets which holiday?  At first, I was not amused by your suggestion, as I thought one parody holiday was enough.  Then I slept on it and not only was I OK with it, I decided that Norther would come after the Winter Solstice and Souther would come after the Summer Solstice.  Why would a lemming visit in the middle of summer?

As a result of that conversation, Norther takes place on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Winter Solstice, which is today.

Enough of the salutations -- time for the celebration.  In lieu of the Norther Lemming dropping off presents into the ocean, I'm taking a cue from Silly Squirrels for Happy Wester 2017!  Here are three videos showing lemmings being entertaining, although 3 Facts About Lemmings from SciShow does more telling than showing.

Lemmings are small, thickset vole-like animals that live in the Arctic tundra. They live in a harsh environment, are super-cute, kinda mean, and totally misunderstood. But here at SciShow we're going to set the record straight with 3 Actual Facts About Lemmings.

SciShow didn't explain how lemmings are "kinda mean," but Fearless attack lemming - World's Weirdest Events: Episode 2 - BBC Two does.

The humble lemming isn't exactly known for its ferocity. Yet this particular rodent will try to fend off all predators. Chris Packham takes a closer look at this very unusual creature.

Wow!  That's one fierce little animal!  Perhaps that's why lemmings took on the roles of warriors in Norm of the North.



This is still Sunday, so count this clip as the entertainment feature for today.  Yes, Entertainment Sunday still exists, even though I'm doing much more searching for a good fantasy than dealing with reality these days.

Also, I called today "the first Norther of 2017."  Why?

The next Norther will be January 7, as the full moon falls on New Year's Day, so there will be a Blue Moon on January 31.  Speaking of blue lunar holidays, the first full moon after the 2018 winter solstice will fall on Saturday December 22nd, so there will be a second Norther on December 23.  Blue Norther on Festivus!

That's why.  I get to do this all over again in 11 months.  Maybe I can find a video about a lemming feat of strength or airing of grievances by then.

Once again, Happy Norther!