Month: February 2020

There probably are as many different types of living arrangements as there are different types of people. My wife and I get to spend maybe 10 days a month together these days.  The rest of our time is divided among the various places we own (2) or rent (1). Our kids (3) are scattered across the globe, and live in a variety of housing situations ranging from shared housing with friends, to living with a significant other in quarters overseas, to a single apartment-dweller soon to become a first-time homeowner. So, the article from curbed.com about “Couples Living Apart Together” – here – should come as no surprise to anyone who knows us well.

 

 

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For everyone else?

I guess the news comes just in time for Valentines Day.

 

 

Hey, nobody ever said chocolate and roses were reserved only for one type of living arrangement. So, where ever you hang your hat, get out there and make your local Hallmark-store/chocolatier/florist happy.  Even if the treat is just for you.

 

 

But whatever you do, better do it quick,

because Valentine’s Day is tomorrow!

For a quick history refresher on V-Day, see last year’s post, here.

Those of you of a certain age – you know who you are – will remember TV’s Bronze Age. Not TV’s Golden Age, mind you. That would be Ed Sullivan, The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy, and maybe Gunsmoke. But TV’s Bronze Age was the late 60’s, when I was a grade schooler coming home mid-afternoon with two precious hours ’til suppertime.  There were certain shows not-to-be missed. Lost in Space was one. Batman, of course. Hogan’s Heroes. And the crown jewel: The Wild, Wild West, starring Robert Conrad.

 

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Known for tough guy roles, Conrad played a secret agent in a mid-1960s television series that transplanted James Bond-style plots into an Old West setting. His character was James T. West, dispatched on various secret missions on behalf of the government of President Ulysses S. Grant. West had an arsenal of quirky gadgets — exploding billiard balls, a pistol on a track hidden up his sleeve, a compact acetylene torch tucked into the heel of his shoe….

 

Little known fact: He did (almost) all his own stunts.

And usually ended up splitting his (too-tight) pants.

 

Mr. Conrad took delight in the fact that, thanks to reruns and retrospectives, “The Wild Wild West” attained a certain cult status with fans who weren’t yet born when it was originally on TV.  “The show that wasn’t supposed to work, works,” he told The L.A. Times in 1994… “I feel like the battery I used to represent. I feel like the Energizer: I am going on and on and on.”

 

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Robert Conrad died last week in Malibu, CA.  He was 84.

The full NY Times’ remembrance is here.

The actor, hilariously hawking Energizer batteries, is here.

 

 

R.I.P. Agent West.

They just don’t make ’em like that anymore.

You think Tom Cruise does all his own stunts?

You think Will Smith does? Think again.

Bonus content for those with too much time on their hands, here.

Listen for the background theme music about 7 minutes in.

Then, I dare you not to go around humming it for the rest of the day.

You been warned.

 

Today, no words, just a picture. That is all.

Enjoy the silence. And the snow.

 

 

Aw, what the heck. You’ve been good.

Here’s a bonus photo.

 

 

Hey, guys?

You do know there’s a perfectly good indoor arena suitable for playing ice hockey just a short distance away, right?  Just sayin’.

Now, get back to work.

 

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More DP snow photos, here.

Yer welcome.

And yes, I know:

That’s a whole lotta words for “no words.”

So sue me.

Someone told me a week ago that I should do a post on this NY Times story. It’s about albatrosses being outfitted with GPS trackers. Attracted by high concentrations of fish, the big white birds then are used to identify fishing vessels operating illegally (with radar turned on, but sans the required transponders) out on the open sea. It’s the kind of creative marriage of high-and-low-tech for law enforcement purposes that makes for a fascinating read and an inspiring story. You know, where the bad guys get caught and the good guys win and the birds sail off into a South Seas sunset.

But alas, things got busy at work this week. And then – what with the post-Super-Bowl let-down, and the post-impeachment let-down – well, the week kind of got away from me. But, never fear, folks. I’m back on track now.  The weekend is upon us. And the albatrosses are out there patrolling. And the illegal fishermen? Well, you know:  You can run, but you can’t hide.

 

 

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Now if we could only do something about the U.S. Senate – but that’s another clean-up operation for different day.  I will say this much, however: Cory Gardner, if you decide to go fishing come November after Hick cleans your clock in the Colorado Senate race, better keep your transponder on. ‘Cause we got albatrosses and they seldom sleep.  You can run but you can’t hide, Cory. You been warned.

Since I’m now part of the music industry – or at least part of IT support for physical supply chain (CDs, vinyl, trinkets, Beatles t-shirts), I am now duty bound to take notice of articles like this one, from qz.com.  It’s about how the new MIDI 2.0 protocol is going to change the music streaming business forever. But first, before we revolutionize things too much, a word from the dim mists of the musical past.

 

 

Truth to tell, I wouldn’t know Drake from Usher from Granny Goose.  But I did pop a TobyMac CD in the player of my vintage Chrysler 300 the other day.  Which maybe tells you as much about my aging ride as it does about my changing taste in rap artists. But as you’re watching J. Lo – another dinosaur from long, long ago – perform at halftime today, consider the advice of her Super Bowl predecessor on how best to weather the coming technological storm:  No Lip Syncing!

 

 

But back to MIDI 2.0.  Here’s the start of the qz.com article.

 

 

A lot of big things happened in music in 1983. It was the year Michael Jackson’s album Thriller hit number one across the world, compact discs were first released in the US, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers formed. Yet there was one obscure event that was more influential than all of them: MIDI 1.0 was released. MIDI stands for “Musical Instrument Digital Interface” and, after 37 years, it has finally received a major update. MIDI 2.0 is live, and it could mean the end of the keyboard’s dominance over popular music.

 

How so, you ask?  Sorry, Charlie.  For the rest, yer on yer own. Click and be enlightened about the expansion from 7-bit values to 32-bit values. Or, just tune in at half time tonight and enjoy the show.

 

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You know, right after the dueling $11 million paid political ads…

but I digress.

 

 

But whatever you do, always remember LadyGaga’s dictum:

NO LIP SYNCING!

 

From the current New Yorker comes a hilarious piece on the travails of the scions of the House of Sussex and when we can expect to buy some of their branded merchandise. The article appears here and contains the phrase “hard Megxit,” which I absolutely adore. In fact, I consider it a stroke of journalistic genius. It starts off like this:

 

In the past couple of weeks, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s fate has been sealed: It will be what the British tabloids are calling “a hard Megxit.” They’ll cease to be working royals and will no longer go by His and Her Royal Highness. What’s less clear is the fate of their brand, Sussex Royal, which currently encompasses both a Web site and a very popular Instagram account. The road to “financial independence,” the couple’s stated goal, appears to run through the land of branded goods. As for what kinds of goods, people have been looking for clues in the couple’s trademark application, which includes product categories such as stationery, toiletries, and sporting goods. The Daily Mail, reporting on the filing, dubbed the couple “The Royal Cash Machines!”

 

 

“People want to be like Meghan in their everyday lives. They want to feel like a duchess going to the grocery store, or picking their kids up from school. They want a little bit of that royal magic.”

 

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Far be it from me to cast aspersions on the uber-wealthy or the previously-royal. I mean, hey, I’m all for the likes of Aaron and Danica settling down in their place on Malibu beach –  I even wrote about it here.  So why not let Harry and Meghan have their moment in the West Coast North American sun too, right? I guess the urge to make fun of royals (ex-royals, wanna-be royals) runs strong – at least here in The Colonies. And that is true even with so much media bandwidth being monopolized by the Super Bowl and the impeachment imbroglio lately.

 

 

It’s all complicated by the fact that today Brexit takes full effect as the UK pulls out of the EU.  My guess is that few Americans care.  Fewer still will want to read about it, here or here.  But bottom line? Well, I guess you better get your Harry and Meghan memorabilia while you still can.  You been warned.