Friday Links!
Eli 25.0 has a birthday today!
Leading off this week, what an adventure: The Boys Who Ran Away to New York: How Two Dublin Kids Fooled the World in 1985.
This is an incredible, bizarre, tragic story: https://wThe mystery of why Sonia Exelby paid a man to kill her.
An even-handed article on what AI can and can't do in a specific use case: What happens when you put AI to work deciphering lost languages?
From the Texas Monthly archives, and it's terrifically witty: The Hog Chronicles.
Incredibly, it still lives: Nudists, peaceniks and freeloading travellers: the people keeping the Esperanto dream alive.
Strawberries have this problem, too: Gassed Up: Tomato ripening rooms reveal the growing costs of the produce industry’s massive consolidation.
From Wally, and some of these are fantastic: 10 Biggest Lord of the Rings LEGO Sets, Ranked by Piece Count. This next includes two famous science fiction authors and a toaster: The Brave Little Toaster. An interesting read: Who Were the Sea Peoples? Exploring references in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.
From David G., and it will never get old: Lawyer Reacts to the Insane Waterpark That Killed 6 People.
From Chris M., and it's an excellent read: We used to be able to buy things in this country: Locking up toothpaste was a warning sign that our executive class was crazy.
Unspeakable
I will tell the tale.
A few weeks ago, C brought out a pile of screwdrivers. "Something leaked all over them," she said. She cleaned the screwdrivers and put them in a wire basket.
On Sunday, I went looking for a screwdriver.
The purple one, the one in the photograph, was the perfect size. I picked it up and recoiled because it was covered in some kind of oily liquid, and there were purple tears of something along its spines.
I checked the other screwdrivers. They were clean and dry.
Odd, I thought. I washed the purple screwdriver--thoroughly--and used it without incident. Afterwards, it went into the wire basket.
Today, I needed it again. I pulled it out of the wire basket and IT WAS FULL OF PURPLE TEARS again.
The other screwdrivers, once again, were clean and dry. I could draw only one conclusion: the purple screwdriver is weeping.
What unspeakable hell is this screwdriver enduring? Will it ever be free? Or will it weep unto eternity?
I for one, am not encouraged.
Project 56, Starting With a Random Note About Yesterday
I originally called the Skipper "Captain" in yesterday's post. I've lost all credibility.
We have dozens of sports records in our family, all held by myself or Eli 24.11. He's surpassed me in most things by now, but my running records, particularly for shorter distances, are holding.
Mostly because he hasn't tried to beat them, but still. I'll take what I can get.
Last week he announced Project 56, his very brief training period to beat my 440 record (57). That's not fast, for a track runner, but it's not a pushover, either.
Also, the project name. Every attempt to beat a record has to have a cool project name. It's essential.
He has a few advantages. One, he's wearing spikes and I wore regular running shoes (heavy ones back then, too). Two, he's on a synthetic surface while I was running on a red dirt track. Three, the fastest 800 meter runner in Oxford history is helping him train, and is going to pace him during his attempt.
He's become the ultimate "guy who knows a guy" (or girl) for every conceivable situation.
Plus he's running on the same track where Roger Bannister first broke four minutes in the mile. Not cinders anymore, of course, but the same physical location. Epic.
He messaged me last weekend and said he'd done a test at 300 meters in 41.8 seconds. That translates to a 400-meter (440 yards, or very close) time of anywhere from 56.7 to 58.4, depending on his ability to hold form for the last 100 meters.
In other words, it doesn't appear to be a route.
He still has 3+ weeks of speed training to do, so I may be cooked. But he promised to have video of the record, at least, so I can enjoy watching him run that fast.
It's a great feeling when you're running as fast as you can. Nothing like it.
A Three-Hour tour
I've been consumed by a fiendishly difficult exercise this morning: how to map the Beatles to the characters on Gilligan's Island.
I know. It's an intellectual powerhouse of a problem. I'm ambitious.
Paul is easy. He was always far more interested in the business end of music than the other three, so he's Mr. Howell.
John was considered the intellectual of the group, so he's the Professor.
Ringo is the easiest of all. Gilligan, clearly.
Then it gets sticky. Who's George?
The Skipper doesn't really fit. He was gruff but lovable, which isn't George's vibe. Ginger or Marianne? Nope.
George also had a wicked sense of humor (he was involved in The Rutles, This is Spinal Tap, Life of Brian, and Withnail and I, among others). It's impossible to reduce him to a stereotype (although the mystic probably comes closes).
I'm at an impasse, unless we use the Bob Denver Adjacency Factor to consider another series Bob Denver was in. The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, to be exact, and Denver's character Maynard G. Krebs. Wikipedia says "Maynard plays the piano and bongos, collects tinfoil and petrified frogs..."
If any of the Beatles collected tinfoil and petrified frogs, it would definitely be George. And the character is musical. If you want to consider beatniks (like Krebs) philosophical or spiritual, there's another connection.
I think that's as close as I'm going to get, unless one of you has a better idea. Or do they map better to another series entirely?
The Cool Shit Vortex
There's an entire genre of videos on YouTube that should be be titled Cool Shit Happening in New York.
An example is
this guy, who straps an entire DJ setup to himself and wanders around the city doing incredible things (and if you want to see two unbelievable moments, check out the violin player at 3:01:00 and the singer at 3:20:00).
It's incredible.
The last half hour of that stream takes place at an entrance to Central Park, which I've walked past many times.
There are hundreds of other Cool Shit Happening in New York videos. Rappers, singers, subway musicians, all performing in Manhattan in places I walk past all the time.
I've lived here almost a year now and walked many, many miles in Manhattan. And, to be entirely clear, I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANY OF THIS COOL SHIT HAPPENING.
All of this must be happening in a parallel universe.
I exist in the THIS IS REASONABLY COOL BUT ALSO PLEASE CURB YOUR DOG MADAM universe, which is quite fun but doesn't have hip hop violinists and street DJs and nurses with Grammy level voices wandering the streets.
It does, however, have me.
The Music Spreadsheet
You may remember that I discussed creating a spreadsheet with the release dates for albums by the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Beach Boys, and listening to them in chronological order with the same gap between them as occurred historically.
That's a mouthful. I think I need a nap.
This was going to be historically accurate, but not terribly fun because it was going to take 12 years to complete the listening (1963-1974 release dates).
Changing the format to have one month represent each year of releases works much better, and in only a year, Eli 24.11 and I will have listened to all releases by the three groups.
This is all to say that I'm happy to share the spreadsheet if any of you are interested. Just email me.
They Say It's Your Birthday
C's birthday, in this case.
She's like me in that she doesn't want a big fuss. I've tried.
For my birthday, though, all I wanted to do was go to the Jimmy John's in NYC I hadn't visited to see if I could find S-tier Dr. Pepper. We went to four, it took hours, and she didn't mind.
I remembered that and realized her birthday should be exactly what she wants, like she did for me.
A small bundle of flowers. One simple gift. A card. And we're walking to lunch soon.
Surprisingly compatible, her and I.
Have a good day and I'll see you tomorrow.
The Post Office Benefit
An unnamed friend of the program started working temp as a driver for USPS a few weeks ago.
He was a well-respected tech guy who got bludgeoned because of his company and likely his age. Far easier to get someone half his age to do his job 70% as well for 50% of the money, or something like that.
He settled on a job at the post office, as a route driver. A rural route driver.
Since playing organization games already gave him enormous satisfaction, it seemed like a good fit. The pay wasn't great, but it wasn't bad, and he could get plenty of hours.
Surprisingly, there's been an added benefit.
He sent me data from his fitness watch today. His resting pulse has dropped from 61 to 51 at night. He's burning almost 3,000 calories a day from exercise.
It's a stunning leap in his fitness level. When I see him next time he'll look like Thor, only his hammer will be tubs of mail.
A Support Puzzler
Like I mentioned, I've been playing Dungeons of Dredmor quite a lot on the beta branch because it has the latest version.
Tonight, I finished playing for a few minutes with no problem, then had a meeting rescheduled, so I hopped back in a few minutes later. This time, though, the program didn't start because Windows Defender said it detected malware in the .exe and here was the message:
Trojan:HTML/Redirector.PAN!MTB
I know the PAN!MTB just means Windows caught it (I think), but how exactly does that happen when I'd only finished playing a few minutes earlier? I think the program might have had a small update before I tried to launch, but it happened so quickly I honestly can't be sure.
Any ideas are appreciated. Thanks.
Random Notes
1. Fifa is deeply corrupt, Infantino is a goon, and Argentina disgraced themselves in a legitimately terrible final, but the World Cup was great. For an American, it comes at the perfect time: after basketball season and before football season. Every four years, it's fantastic.
2. The reason the stock market refuses to go down, even though it's deeply overvalued, the economy is turning, and we're in a war, is because no one on Wall Street wants it to end. Bonuses are huge, the perks are enormous, and no one wants to lose any of it, which is why bull markets go on so long after they should rationally be over. It's a bit of a con game, really, when the market no longer has any relation to its true valuation.
3. I forgot to mention in the gaming abundance last week that eBaseball: Pro Spirit 2026 was released last week for PC and PS5, and with English translations. I can't remember a Japanese baseball game being released in the U.S. (with English translations) ever. I bought a modded or imported Saturn (can't remember which) in order to play the Japanese version of World Series Baseball '98. Over 25 years later, I can finally buy one on Steam, have English text in the menus, but Japanese commentary. Tremendous.
Friday Links!
Enjoy the World Cup Final, everyone.
A fascinating read: ‘I can sense Sinatra enter my body and exit my lungs’: aboard the celebrity impersonators’ cruise.
Dystopian and interesting: Inside America’s Shoplifting Lab: In the war on “shrink,” big retailers are turning to one Florida outfit to study shoppers and prevent them from stealing. I went there—and saw far too much.
A terrific read: The anguish of choice: In the shattered aftermath of war, Sartre delivered a formidable lecture on freedom and meaning. Its urgency remains.
From Chris M., and it's amazing: Venetian Bridge Brawls in 17th and 18th Century Art.
From D.G.F., a fabulous essay: Has America Crossed the Asshole Threshold?
From Wally, and it's superb: Ayn Rand Reviews Children’s Movies. I don't need to do this, but I can see how some people would: I Regret To Say That GMail is Now a Spam Farm, or, Why You Should Really Get That Dedicated Email Address Now. A strong analysis: How Superhero Movies Lost Their Power. Is it? I kid! ‘It’s more than just fairy smut’: Inside the UK’s first romantasy bookshop. Excellent: The ‘big durian’: one day in Jakarta, the world’s largest city. A long and excellent read: The Grocery Store Where Produce Meets Politics: The legendary Park Slope Food Co-op carries sustainable food, low prices, and New Yorkers’ opinions in bulk.
An Interesting Future
For a long time, weight has been represented in this country as some kind of morality play. Thin is virtue. Fat is shameful. It's a narrative that's been around for a long time.
Much of it probably came from commercial interests who sold products to help people lose weight. Diet plans and workout equipment and whatnot. I'm sure religion was in there somewhere, too.
Now there are GLP-1 drugs available for people who struggle with their weight.
Weight control is no longer a struggle of "good versus evil." It's an injection, or a pill.
I wonder how all those people feel now. A lifetime of good versus evil judgments wiped out with a prescription. Now they can't tell who has willpower and who just takes a pill.
And it really doesn't matter. Who cares? Why did anyone ever care?
I'm sure there's a movement out there proclaiming these drugs as evil or somehow immoral as they see their belief system circling the drain.
Quite a Gaming Week
For me, at least.
On Monday, EA backed off from microtransactions for their college football game.
On Tuesday, I played The Beatles: Rock Band during halftime of the World Cup semifinals and stared in amazement at the charts on expert. I Saw Her Standing There has a note chart so fast and complex I can't play it at 70% speed. It's an amazing chart, though, and I can get better.
This morning I found out that Dungeons of Dredmor, long dead, has been resurrected and is being actively developed. One of the funniest games I've ever played, with great gameplay and music to boot, and it's alive.
I played for an hour or so and it still holds up incredibly well. Right now, the dev work is on bug fixes and infrastructure bits and bobs, but hopefully they'll soon add features like support for 4k monitors. It's from 2011, after all, so there's definitely some modernization needed. What a game, though.
Tomorrow there's a patch for the college football game to fix some of the bugs in dynasty mode (the only mode I play).
Seriously, what a great time.
