Oddities

Dottie, a Texan, photo by Robin de Puy, posted at theguardian.com:

Drat! Headline from nypost.com: “Scientists teaching rats how to drive discover that the rodents have a need for speed.”

Love this, from NYP: “‘SNL’ Senior Moment: Alec Baldwin Forgot To Zip His Pants During Goodbyes.” Employees must wash hands before exiting. Back in the day we’d say: “Are you a pilot? You’re losin’ altitude.”

Is this irony, paradox? From NYP: “People are getting more bored despite endless entertainment content: study.”

Last line of an NYP editorial: “As Steven Brill once observed: ‘When it comes to arrogance, power, and lack of accountability, journalists are probably the only people on the planet who make lawyers look good.’” No argument from me. Then again, it’s a stretch to call many journalists.

From an article by Ellie Harrison at msm.com, edited by yours truly: “The Hum is a mysterious global phenomenon thought to affect as much as four percent of the world population. The earliest reliable reports of it date from the ’70s when numerous Bristol residents complained about the noise, which has been compared to the sound of an idling truck or thunder –- and is different from tinnitus… It has left many ‘hearers’ anxious and depressed and has been linked to several suicides. Many theories have been posed and investigations conducted, but there is no clear consensus on the cause. It provided inspiration for a novel, The Listeners by Jordan Tannahill, which has been adapted by the BBC.” Scary stuff. Hope it never happens to me. Photo from Amazon/Google Images:

Headline from foxnews.com: “America’s northernmost town enters polar night as sun won’t shine again until January.” Utqiavik, Alaska, population 4297 as of 2020. It is not completely dark. There is a period of twilight each day. Residents take Vitamin D to fight off depression. Just thinking about it gives me the creeps.

Could this have been the cause of the recent maddening performance of my PC? From FN: “T-Mobile hacked by Chinese cyber espionage in major attack on US telecoms.”

Not much action at the Anti-Inflation Book Shop on this beautiful day. My thanks to Sam and Gordie, who donated three books between them, and to Ira, who bought a Sotheby’s pictorial; and to The Quiet Man, who purchased Magyk by Angie Sage.

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