dinsdag 31 juli 2018

dinsdag 31 juli 2018 Look up! Mars is closer to Earth than it's been in 15 years... just 35.8 million miles away.

Astrum's video about beautiful Mars. Sand dunes, polar caps, and moons. Look what I found! My Favorite Martian - Season 1 Episode 01. Are we falling out of love with Seattle? I read with much interest Tyrone Beason's essay I Hate You, Seattle: A Love Story. Seattle became my love back in the early 80s, so I know more how Seattle has changed. The city is 90 miles away, but I enjoy and appreciate my time there when I visit. It rains more in Bellingham.

Heat Wave Ends After 2nd Hottest July On Record.

maandag 30 juli 2018

maandag 30 juli 2018 I've been having weird dreams lately. Usually, I get lost in a maze of strange houses and apartment buildings, looking for my own place. It's because This Is Not My America. Back in the 90s, Sliders was one of my favorite programs. Quinn Mallory and his friends would get lost in alternative universes... have adventures in different realities. But they all wanted to go home. One of these days, I think that the Space-Time Continuum will crack open, and President Hillary Clinton is giving the State of the Union address to the people. "We are building a safe, strong, and proud America for everyone!" Actually, this is Cold War World. The Russians have won. Trump composes the most elaborate thank-you note in history for Putin. This is our strange new world. Step one: Can you say спасибо?  Trump voters thanking Russia for its help in 2016.

Just a friendly tweet from Will Winston. (Learn Russian.) Since it is obvious that my country is under Russian control, let me first say that I am happy to be part of the homeland.

In Bellingham - 82°F and sunny. We're not burning up like the rest of the planet. I see some news of wildfires east of us, but it's not here. And it is 75° in my apartment. Not bad. (No AC) It could be worse. I found the Alexander House which records weather data for Elizabeth Park.

zondag 29 juli 2018

zondag 29 juli 2018 The sweetest French song wakes me up - Martha Wainwright sings Édith Piaf's classic Adieu mon cœur.

Adieu mon cœur. On te jette au malheur. Tu n'auras pas mes yeux pour mourir... Adieu mon cœur. Les échos du bonheur font tes chants tristes autant qu'un repentir. 

Sunday Mariners baseball in Anaheim. I walk in the Columbia neighborhood and listen to the game on my radio. The M's get an early lead. Whew! It's a blazing hot 94°F (34°C) at Angel Stadium.

I like the house with all the birdhouses on Park St. How many? 9?

I finish the amazing 8th season of Shameless. Wow! Ian confronts a pastor preaching gay conversion, and I think that Ian becomes part of the evangelical left. Long live The Church of Gay Jesus... I guess.

zaterdag 28 juli 2018

zaterdag 28 juli 2018 'Blood Moon' lunar eclipse lights up the sky. It wasn't visible in the U.S., but it could be seen from places like South America, Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. CBS video... Watch DVD - I Am Not Your Negro. Director Raoul Peck uses the writings of James Baldwin to make this documentary. The film explores the history of racism in the United States through Baldwin's reminiscences of civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr, as well as his personal observations of American history. The DVD needs to go back to BPL.

We return to 2119 S Homan Ave, Chicago IL. Lip and Fiona share an early morning (5:39 am) cigarette. Season 8 of Shameless starts this weekend. What... Who is Frank?

vrijdag 27 juli 2018

vrijdag 27 juli 2018 Let's watch Pose now. Elektra Abundance is annoyed. Defeated by Blanca in the Legendary Runway category.

Damon learns the truth about love and sex when he is asked on a date. Look at those adorable puppy dog eyes. He's falling in love with Ricky.

I went down to see the Children's Craft Fair. Enjoy a wide array of crafts and baked goods made by children at registered booths. Fun for all ages! This kid had on a cool Spider-man costume (with muscles).

donderdag 26 juli 2018

donderdag 26 juli 2018 Collusion: secret or illegal cooperation or conspiracy, especially in order to cheat or deceive others. The evidence doesn’t prove collusion. But it sure suggests it. Scary old movie: Kronos... in glorious black and white.

I don't have tolerance for the heat. It's 85° F and sunny with 45% humidity. It could be worse.

woensdag 25 juli 2018

woensdag 25 juli 2018 Midnight movie - MST3K: First Spaceship to Venus. International astronauts go to Venus and find remnants of a race that destroyed itself. The Venusians are gone, but their machines remain functioning, including the radiation-bombardment machine intended for Earth. Naughty aliens!

Video of the real Venus by Astrum. Photos and videos taken by the Magellan, MESSENGER, Venus Express and Venera spacecraft. In other Space News - Liquid Water Found On Mars. Italian researchers suggest a subglacial reservoir of water exists far beneath the southern polar ice cap of Mars. I'm not exactly surprised.

Back here on our crazy planet... Malcolm Nance chats with Stephanie Miller about how close Trump's war on truth achieves Orwellian proportions. I can't wait to get my hands on Nance's book - The Plot to Destroy Democracy. Anti-Trump Protests Still Raging At The White House.

dinsdag 24 juli 2018

dinsdag 24 juli 2018 1968 vs 2018. 50 Years ago Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In was my favorite TV show. Zombies - Time Of The Season. Time Of The Treason - a modification of the Zombie's psychedelic song... Happy Treason Tuesday everyone! The End of All We Hold Dear: What Happens When Democracies Fail: A Brief Synopsis. # 13 - The last episode. Laurel and Gareth finally... Well... You find out for yourself.

maandag 23 juli 2018

maandag 23 juli 2018 At midnight - American political satire sci-fi, comedy-drama television series BrainDead. Space bugs invade the earth - cute-little ants. In the middle of the night, they infiltrate people’s brains... especially the brains of DC politicians.

What a very clever show! And it's difficult to describe it. To contribute to the conspiratorial undertone, that song You Might Think by The Cars plays a major role in the plot. This Musica Universalis comes from light-years beyond in the Draco constellation. I wake up to real political insanity. Are we declaring war... again? Trump tweets a furious, all-caps message aimed at Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. TRUMP FREAK OUT THREAT ON IRAN.

In earthquake news... Tremors move parts of Washington westward. They started back in May. Here comes the big one!

zondag 22 juli 2018

zondag 22 juli 2018 Up at 1 AM. Let's watch The Paperboy. It's been a while since I saw this 2012 American sexy, crime, drama, mystery film. Nicole Kidman Forced Zac Efron To Dance In His Undies.

How to survive the Tour de France, according to its last-place rider. Lawson Craddock (26) is still racing in the Tour de France despite a broken shoulder. Tour de France is entering its final week. Craddock has six more stages and about 500 more miles to go.

Ant-Man & The Wasp Review: Marvel's Smallest Heroes Steal The Spotlight. I almost didn't recognise San Francisco... at first. Then, with the chase scenes, they show Coit Tower often, Lombard Street and Fisherman's Wharf. I know you!

zaterdag 21 juli 2018

zaterdag 21 juli 2018 Orphaned teenager Wade Owen Watts (born August 12, 2027) is our virtual avatar, real hero in the movie Ready Player One. Wade names his OASIS character Parzival after Percival, the Arthurian knight famous for his quest for the Holy Grail.

So much music from the 70s and 80s. I wonder if the youngsters in the audience would appreciate the references. They give us You Make My Dreams Come True by Hall & Oates at the end. A leisurely bike ride to the Granary Building on the downtown Bellingham waterfront. I have the beach to myself... except one heron bird. What is it staring at?

The Acid Ball is over 438,000 pounds. Pose! Everyone seems curious about it. How did they move this thing? Check out this YouTube video by some B'ham officials... The Bellingham Acid Ball Move.

I seem to mourn a little when I finish a book... a really good book. But I need to give back Michael Dyson's What Truth Sounds Like. What I gathered is that Truth sounds bold, courageous, sometimes disruptive... but mostly humanitarian. The book looks into the lives of historical persons like Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, James Baldwin. Dyson explains how today Colin Kaepernick, LeBron James and many more carry the words of truth forward.

vrijdag 20 juli 2018

vrijdag 20 juli 2018 It's Mueller Time! I'd love Friday to be "indictment day" just to ruin Trump's golf weekends? Stephanie Miller is wearing her It's Mueller Time t-shirt.

Chris Cornell would be 54-years-old. Today is his birthday. Statue honoring singer Chris Cornell to be erected in his hometown of Seattle.

My favorite gay dads - Matt + Blue - post a new video.

donderdag 19 juli 2018

donderdag 19 juli 2018 Midnight - catching up with the extra episodes of The Fosters. Callie helps Ximena hide out from ICE by claiming sanctuary in Noah’s mom’s church. Let's watch Sanctuary.

Restless night with strange dreams. Up early. It's a measly 61°F in Bellingham. I was getting use to the warm weather. The clouds and cool breezes are a shock to my system. While it's 86°F at my mom's house in Ohio. WTA is offering free rides today (and tomorrow), so I take advantage. FREE RIDE!

woensdag 18 juli 2018

woensdag 18 juli 2018 Happy Birthday, Nelson Mandela! Thousands of people gathered in Johannesburg to celebrate the century since Nelson Mandela's birth. Barack Obama spoke of Mandela as an example of a great statesman. France 24: Mandela Commemorations.

Falling asleep while watching Free Speech TV, I have a dream where Malcolm Nance (who's a skinny, scrappy teenager) is talking with Stephanie Miller about the Russian hacking thing. Steph is young, chasing Malcolm around the house with her microphone, trying to catch his words. This is the interview which passes into my subconscious. Yay for Brewingham! We have Aslan, Boundary Bay, Kulshan, Melvin and soon Seven Sisters. Brewery scene booming in Bellingham.

My goal today: biking up and down all the lettered streets - 'A' to 'J' - of the Lettered Streets Neighborhood.

dinsdag 17 juli 2018

dinsdag 17 juli 2018 Captain Jim Holden takes a dramatic trip through the space/time continuum in The Expanse - Dandelion Sky. It's trippy for me, too. We get a re-play of the Eros Incident. In Space News... Oddball Among 12 Newfound Moons Discovered Orbiting Jupiter. And I found Uranus at State & Magnolia.

After the Trump-Putin Summit, the world is in an uproar. Some Dare Call It Treason. I guess that #TreasonTuesday is a "thing" now on Twitter. Obi-Wan Kenobi sez It's as if thousands of Trump supporters... suddenly shut the f#$k up!

I sit under a tree to read my book. The grass has no dew on it in the morning. (No dew is weird.) Humidity is 44% and it gets up to 81°F in Bellingham. What are those yellow butterflies with the black tiger stripes? Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutulus).

maandag 16 juli 2018

maandag 16 juli 2018 Midnight in Paris. The French are celebrating victory, partying in the streets into the wee hours of the morning. Messages of appreciation are beamed 50 meters high on the Arc De Triomphe. I love this photojournal report from The Sun - Paris streets PACKED with fans as France win World Cup 2018.

Midnight Pacific... 9 hours behind Paris... I'm watching The Expanse. The theme song gives me goose bumps. It's such an adventure! In 200 years, humans colonize the solar system. This is a realistic picture of that future. The Expanse is the best show on TV that no one is watching.

I'm not ready to believe that The Ring is a sentient wormhole. My hero - Captain Jim Holden - is going to investigate.

Off to the park to read my book - What Truth Sounds Like.

I found Jupiter at Maple & State. The Great Red Spot looks wrong.

Evita is playing on HBO starring Madonna as Eva Perón. What's new Buenos Aires? I'm new, I wanna say I'm just a little stuck on you. You'll be on me too. I get out here, Buenos Aires. Stand back, you oughta know whatcha gonna get in me. Just a little touch of star quality!

zondag 15 juli 2018

zondag 15 juli 2018 Midnight movie - MST3K: The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies or TISCWSLABMUZ. Filmed in Terrorama!

Turn on France 24. The French are keenly anticipating the World Cup final. Les Bleus are the favorites but are likely to face tough opposition from the Croatians. To be in Paris! People chanting Allez les Bleus!

Why is Paris called "The city of love"? France in Focus responds. Paris has the romantic settings - the Eiffel Tower, Montmartre, Île de la Cité, the Pont des Arts, the charming cobbled streets, the champagne... The Fan Zone at the Champ de Mars is absolutely packed! Coupe du monde: à Paris, la fan zone du Champ-de-Mars déjà pleine.

FÉLICITATIONS AUX FRANÇAIS! CHAMPIONS DU MONDE! FRA 4 - 2 CRO.

C'est la folie furieuse dans les rues! "On est champion!"

Les joueurs magnifiques! Mandzukic, Griezmann, Pogba, Mbappé, Varane, Pavare, Lloris, Giroud, Umtiti, Kanté, Hernánde, Matuidi...

zaterdag 14 juli 2018

zaterdag 14 juli 2018 Up for The Takeout with Major Garrett. He interviews David Sanger - Nat'l Security Correspondent at the NYT. He warns us of a cybersecurity threat to our November midterms. More hacking. Scary! Sanger wrote The Perfect Weapon. These guys are eating at the clubby-looking Rare Steakhouse.

Earth strategizes a costly ploy to gain advantage in the war against Mars in The Expanse: Assured Destruction. They're using the protomolecule on children to weaponize them. This storyline reminds me of Supernova where 9th-dimensional matter mutates people. It enables a subject to acquire super-strength and supernatural healing abilities.

Saturday is a Hal Sparks day. His show - I got 99 problems and 12 Russians Ain't 1. Life in the USA: cornflakes, conspiracy and collusion! Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to meet in Helsinki on Monday. I'm with American billionaire, philanthropist, environmentalist and liberal activist Tom Steyer. As Mr. Trump heads to his meeting with Putin, 35 indictments surround Russian interference in our election. We know that Trump’s team met with Russia—and lied about it. These are real attacks on our democracy. If Trump doesn’t defend America now, he is not fit to serve. Period.

Bon 14 juillet! Ils sont toujours spendide, le défilé aerien.

vrijdag 13 juli 2018

vrijdag 13 juli 2018 Midnight movie - Interview With The Vampire. The film opens in a rundown area of San Francisco - 6th & Market. Is it still rundown? I remember seeing this film with my roommates in San Francisco on cable TV. Kirsten Dunst makes an amazing appearance as a 10-year-old vampire. Kirsten Dunst was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film.

It's a lovely, sunny day in Parliament Square. Protesters converge in London. 'Baby Trump' Takes Off. Love those Brits! Long walk on this gorgeous day. It's still cool but warming up fast. Rest at Memorial Park while listening to Stephanie Miller. Down toward the Co-op for a snack. Watching CBS coverage of the London protests. Thousands of protesters at Trafalgar Square. A baby Trump Baby!

This little gem by Len was on the radio. Steal My Sunshine (July 1999). One of my favorite summer songs. Do you miss the 90s?