Cold water, applied suddenly, can be inspirational. I was reminded of this Friday morning when, mid-shower and all lathered and shampooed, the gas ran out. It wasn’t a matter of jumping out of the shower, either. I had to rinse it all off first. So I wasn’t just surprised by the icy blast. I had then to deliberately submit to it.
For as long as people have had fears, we have been afraid of things falling from the sky. Palentologists of comedy tell us that this particular danger may have been discovered by a researcher named Og, a colleague of the late Thag Simmons, when a flock of prehistoric pigeons flew over on a day he was late to an important meeting, though if challenged they admit that this is surmise.
Many years ago a radio network colleague came into the newsroom one Friday night all excited. She and her well-known musician husband, confirmed city dwellers, were going to rent a car the next day and explore the countryside. On Monday, I asked how the excursion had been. Her always cheerful expression turned into a horrified scowl. “We turned around and came right back. The rats up there are three feet long!” They had seen one crossing the road at night.
If one is observant he gets used to spotting things that oughtn’t be there, even if they are fairly small. I guess I’m observant, because the other night, as I sat on the dark brown couch in the dimly lit living room I noticed an inch-long mostly very dark brown insect on the couch a few inches away from me. Before I sent it to its eternal reward I looked at it, and was filled with dread.
Nuclear war was invented 80 years ago today. It was tried again three days later. Perhaps unfortunately, it worked.
NHK, Japan’s equivalent to our PBS, makes much of the American atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As you would expect, it is unreservedly condemned.
When we learned Sunday of the death of Tom Lehrer, my reaction was that I suspect was that of many: He was still alive?
For being as young as it is, all-news television has been through a lot of changes, most of them for the worse.
It’s not to everyone’s taste, but a substantial group of humans who are free to roam the earth like to collect stuff. Some focus their collections — stamps, coins — but others of us are not prejudiced. We collect anything that is interesting.
There’s been a lot of news lately, as you might have noticed. You might, too, have noticed that getting actual, accurate news coverage seems all but impossible.
We need to define terms. Our culture is always ready to debate and toss accusations, but we fail to stop and see if we even mean the same things by the words we hurl. No wonder we never settled anything.