Discovery

Well, it's Friday, outside it's sunny, and I have the day off.  Temps are predicted to climb into the mid 60s (F).  Now, doesn't that sound like a wonderful day for yardwork.  I've a branch on one of my river birch trees that's broken and needs to be cut completely off.  I might even get out the weed wacker.

As expected, yesterday was slow I work.  I did manage to get $2000 vinyl floor tile sale.  That was nice.  I don't expect any of my flooring measures to sell, so that might be all the sales that I get this week.  

I like Star Trek and have been watching the last season of Discovery.  I don't like the one story arcs a lot of TV series have become very fond of over the past few years.  I prefer episodic storylines.  Star Trek dove into the deep end of the story arc pool right from the beginning and, in my opinion, has been struggling ever since.  Each season the Galaxy is about to be destroyed, and they always seem to be up against an advanced technology that always proves to be weaker than the captain and crew of the Discovery.  This year's no different, and I sit there out of loyalty to the series feeling glad that this is the last year.  Discovery is not what Gene Roddenberry envisioned.

Rock and Roll is my preferred choice of music, and that includes what was once called alternative rock.  I also have, possibly some might think it a bad habit, of fixating on one group when I begin writing a new book.  For years it was Fallout Boy.  For The Body in History, I've gone back a few decades to a little known Aussie band called Midnight Oil.  Here they playing one of their little ditties called Sell My Soul.  It should be played very loud.

Since I did work yesterday, I only got to read snippets of the Trump trial in NYC.  There's a great video of him speaking at some point, probably during the lunch break, where he's outside and a gust of wind grabs his hair and lifts it up proving to the world that he wears a wig, or a rug, or whatever you want to call it.  There were lots of mini-bombshells dropped during Pecker's testimony, including the fact that Sarah Huckabee Sanders was in on the payoff.  That should not be surprising to anyone.  She's such a load.

And, as expected, the Supreme Court is going to wait their decision on Trump's immunity until the end of June.  The conservative branch is going to help their god as much as they can.

 

Indictment

 For some of you Friday defines the end of the week and the beginning of the weekend, however for me today is the last of what you might call a mini-vacation, that is if I were a full time associate.  Keep in mind that for the next 3 days I'll be working at the flooring desk.  Sounds like fun, eh?

Yesterday was kind of busy, kind of not.  I got some painting done.  It seems as though I have so much painting: trim, doors, walls, and a final coat on the kitchen ceiling.  Wrote a little. Edited a little.

I'm watching what is purported to be the last season of Picard.  Let's hope so.  I don't if it's because I've watched a lot of Star Trek or not, but so much of this season, which will unite the cast of Star Trek, The Next Generation, seems to be plucking so much of it's storyline from the past several decades.  Last night's episode had the evil Changeling standing on the bridge of the USS Titan and taking command; flashback  to the Wrath of Khan with Khan standing on the bridge of the USS Enterprise taking command.  In this series Picard finds out that he has a son he never knew about, in The Wrath of Khan, Kirk finds out that he has a son he was never told about.  Been there.  Done that.

Otherwise, yesterday was fairly unexciting.  Well.... maybe not.

For all of you naysayers and disbelievers out there... told you so.  And it's only the first.

I'm fairly certain the decision to indict him was made some a while back, Bragg and the Grand Jury just needed to get the timing right.  Having them go on a month's vacation gets them away from the courthouse because the MAGA movement has been brainwashed to react badly to this news.  Overnight there were no MAGA protests, but we must not allow ourselves to get complacent.  There are going to be some very angry people out there.  

Of course, Conservatives are upset.  Lyndsey Graham went so far to call the indictment "bullshit."  Personally, I think many of them are scared shitless.  They've seen the polls. Most Americans think Trump should be held accountable and the Republicans and their MAGA base are in the minority.  Trump was destined to take they down.  They are terrible losers, for that means their deepest dreams are being rejected by the masses.  They do not understand how wrong they are.

Martin Luther King day

The Monday holiday.  I still work this afternoon from 3 - 7.  Business should be slow. 

It is, however, and acronym holiday, mostly because Americans are lazy.  Instead of saying Martin Luther King day, we say MLK.  How much respect is in that?  Not much.  The holiday is for a great man, land it's been reduced to 3 letters.  That's it.  No more.  We no longer have a president, we have a POTUS.  Personally, I think that sounds like some sort of anal disorder.  Can't you picture someone turning the head askance, partially covering their lips, and whisper in a derogatory tone, "he has POTUS."   And believe me, while I don't like Amy Cony Barrett, I do believe she suffers from scotus, and am truly amazed how she manages to cover up all of her itching and scratching.

We had our associate Holiday Party last evening.  Ten 8 foot folding tables were put together end over end to make one 80 foot table.  For a store with 165 associates, around 55 showed up (some with friends, spouses, or other family members).  They bought food for 180.  I brought some home.  The dogs are getting meatballs.  When I go into work this afternoon, I'll have another bowl.  There were supposed to be decorations, it was supposed to be a holiday party, after all.  No decorations.  They had hired a DJ, but there really wasn't anywhere you could dance.  I don't like eating that late, but I did.  By 9:15 PM I was heading out the door since I like to go to bed around 10ish.  Morning person here, remember?

I don't know if it was because I ate so late, but I had a weird dream, sort of a Star Trek version of a Hindi ceremony that was so vivid I woke up repeating one sentence.  I wrote it down for you all to see.  "The one who is chosen is the one who choses to make the sacrifice."  Does anybody have any idea of what that means?

And since today is Martin Luther King day, here's a picture of him.  Give the man his due and say his full name.

For those who missed it, Ronnie Johnson was on the Chuck Todd show yesterday being very evasive.  When Chuck asked him why the GOP was focused solely on Hunter Biden's laptop and not Jared Kushner's $2 billion gift from the Saudi's, Ronnie avoided the issue completely.  He later posted a clip of his interview on line, and that section had been edited out.  Here's a link to the Rolling Stone article.  Ronnie was not a happy camper.  He evidently has chosen not to make the sacrifice.

The Truth Terrifies Them

 Sunday Funday.  Kind of, kind of not.  I am off work.  I also slept in late because I stayed up late (very late) and watched the final episodes of Star Trek, Discover, season 3.  I enjoyed it immensely.  Now I'm waiting for season 4, which is supposed to begin streaming in November.

The large, orange home improvement retailer I work for is going to keep us masked until further notice.  Our Governor, Tom Wolf, said more restrictions are going to be lifted on May 31.  As you might expect, there whines rising from the Republicans.  

On the garden scene, the rose in my front yard is beginning to burst into bloom.  Interestingly enough, the color seems to have changed from an orangey coral, to a reddish coral.  I have no idea how this could happen... perhaps something in the soil?

I'm going to my brother's farm this afternoon for some sort of belated Mother's Day gathering for my sister.  I was going to bake a golden cake with fudge icing until he asked if I could bring either macaroni or potato salad.  So, rather then making something delicious from scratch, I stopped by my local Giant Supermarket and picked up a gallon of each.

And, of course, people are noticing another big Republican hypocrisy:  they shriek and moan about how the left is cancelling things they don't like, while at the same time cancelling the voices who call them out for being frauds and liars.  You don't have to think long to realize this has always been the truth.  Their whole political movement has supported one lie after another while simultaneously attacking all criticism.  Let's be honest hear.  The Big Lie actually began with Reagan's landslide re-election, they decided America was actually Conservative, not Centrist.  For decades they looked for another Reagan and found... no one.  Instead of re-evaluating his win, they turned into the Tea Party, which mutated into the MAGA base they now have.  The Big Lie now blames everything on massive election fraud.  It's so much easier for them to believe that, rather then the simple truth that they're nothing but a group of sore losers.  The truth terrifies them.

Sacrificing Chickens

 I started my one day, mini-weekend this morning by sleeping-in.  I stayed up watching Star Trek, Discovery.  I'm in the middle of a 2 episode focusing on Michelle Yeoh.  It's okay.  I'm not wild about stories that need 'to be continued.'

The Lebanon VA just called to make an appointment in November to check my A1C... on my birthday.  I Googled it and found out the test checks on sugar levels for the past 3 months.  This may not be surprising to some of you, but I've always been borderline when it comes to diabetes, and cholesterol, and blood pressure.  Even my Glaucoma is borderline.  What this means is that I need to exercise more and cut out some of the sugar making carbs.  

I checked this morning and Mr. Toad was gone.

Oh, and as I'm typing this, I'm also putting an iron-on patch on my jeans.  They should last for another year or so.

And, of course, my flowers are beginning to bloom.

Of course, the GOP took revenge on Cheney with a vocal vote.  Usually these votes are secret, but had they done that but they knew doing that would have shown how badly divided their party is.  They did this to kiss the ass of Loser #45.  Warren says the party is eating itself and finding out the meal is poisonous.  The fact that one of their members compared the attempted coup on January 6 to a normal tourist day is an indicator of how far they'll go to disfigure the truth.  They will give the Loser what ever he wants, so prepare yourselves, at some point they're going to start sacrificing chickens, eventually moving on to goats, and sheep, and finally virgins wearing a red hat.

Good News for Centrists

 Slept in again on my day off.  Of course, I stayed up watching Star Trek, Discovery.  I think of it as a little treat.  While I like the Star Wars movies, I've always preferred Trekking through my science fiction.  One series grounds itself in science, the other in fantasy.  One is geared towards adults, the other towards a toy buying younger generation.

Yesterday was very busy up until around 3 PM, then things began slowing down.  That's fine with me.  One of my customers shelled out $4000 for new carpet.  She told me, her and husband have used every stimulus check for home improvements.  "It's what we're supposed to doing," she said.  I banked most of mine, but you better believe it's going to be spent eventually.

I also picked up some veggies yesterday, including an eggplant.  The selection was really rather lame.  I ended up with 2 tomato plants, 2 pepper plants (1 hot and 1 sweet) and an eggplant.  There were a hell of a lot of lettuce plants... not my thing.  I'm not a salad kind of guy.  I like them occasionally, but having one every meal is... well, a bit too green for me.

Anne Marie wanted to see my loaf.  Can I have a drum roll, please?

It has a good taste, but I'll be honest, I prefer baguettes rather then loaves, so this will probably the last time I use the maker for baking French bread.  I have the option for using the machine only for mixing, kneading, and letting the bed rise.   At that point, you can shape it into a loaf and bake it in your oven.

And I did get a chortle when I saw that Republicans are looking forward to the 2022 elections.  They see  themselves has winning back both the House and the Senate because of Immigration and the soaring deficit.  They are so delusional.  Almost 49% of the voters in this country are registered Democrat.  Because of January 6, many Republicans will sit out the next election because they're disgusted with the direction of the party.  These are facts they totally ignore.  Their fatal flaw is only believing what they want to believe.  Only a few will learn when they're proven wrong, which is good news for Centrists.

Bomb This

For those who missed it, the Idiot Jerk in the White House shat a big one yesterday, all steamy and runny, right in the faces of all those Alt-Right, Make America Great supporters who put him into the Oval Office.  He claims their messiah, Steve Bannon, has "lost his mind."  A majority of Americans already knew that, so give me a break, but not those decrepit members who used to call themselves "The Tea Party."  They Love Steve.  They hate old school Republicans like Mitch McTurtle; they are the swamp the Idiot Jerk was going to drain.  And those old school Republicans?  They totally fail to understand the number of voters the Alt-Right messiah brought to the polls, but then they've never really had a strong grasp on reality.  They are too busy running around, patting themselves on the back and laughing "we're in charge, we're in charge."  You would think they would understand that they're going to need to fund the government and their Idiot Jerk leader has just alienated a large percentage of their voting block.  Dumb Shits.
There was also that funny bit about Paul Manafort's attorneys filing some sort of bogus lawsuit claiming Mueller and the DOJ investigations were too broad... which made me laugh.  These bobos don't seem to realize that the investigation is narrowly focused on Manafort's being a traitorous scumbag.  This stinks of desperation.
And the Cyclone Bomb is upon us!!
Being far enough from the Eastern Seaboard to only get steady flurries, and light snow (thought we'll be getting the bitterly cold temps) I consider myself lucky.  Those farther east?  Can you say bombogenesis?  Sounds like something from "The Wrath of Khan," doesn't it?

Oh, wait, that was the Genesis Effect, though they did use a device, which might be construed as a bomb if you want to argue otherwise.  Either way. the bomb is here, both in the shit storm consuming the Idiot Jerk's administration, and the weather.

Beyond Star Trek

Well, I saw  Star Trek Beyond last evening.
And I liked it... a lot.
The reboot starring Chris Pine as Kirk was also very good, the 2nd in the series, the remake of "The Wrath of Khan," was not.  Abrams trampled on hallowed ground with that one and domestic box office suffered.  Beyond is an original screenplay.  The initial writer was dumped about two weeks into filming and Simon Peg and Doug Jung took over.  After filming was complete another character was added and more scenes were added.  This birth was difficult, but worth it.  Totally.

Since the original Star Trek aired the supporting characters have become leads, but originally there were just three prominent characters:  Kirk, Spock, and Bones.  While the supporting characters all play integral parts, the story mostly revolves around... you guessed it, Kirk, Spock, and Bones.  And those three have conversations.

And let us not forget the action.  Directed by Justin Lin, better known the the "Fast and Furious" films, the action practically goes none stop.  The Enterprise gets destroyed (if you've seen the trailer you know this is not a spoiler), and the scenes inside the ship as the attackers rend it apart are amazing.  How much so?  I actually sat there with my mouth hanging open as I realized Kirk was racing down an exterior passageway bulkhead... his feet pounding on the observation window.  If you were expecting an old-school, contemplative Star Trek, this is not it.  How good is Beyond?  I would go see it again.

JJ Abrams pops a wet one

I went to see the latest installment in the Star Trek this past Sunday with more then a little trepidation.  This feeling of unease began to set in when Paramount Studios refused to give the villain an name.  They tried to hype it into a way of building suspense and it didn't work.  What was going through my head was this:  "they have a problem." And indeed they did.  I have no doubts about that.  Millions and millions of Trekkers would have stayed home if they'd known JJ Abrams had chosen to remake "The Wrath of Khan."  Believe me, they would not have spent their hard earned dollars on such a thing.  I have no idea why Abrams decided to do this, maybe it was a combination of arrogance and ego.  Maybe he thought he'd turned into the Pied Piper of Trekkers and they would follow him anywhere, they didn't.  Twenty six days into its theatrical release Into Darkness is $12 million dollars poorer then the reboot of Star Trek.  That's a lot of lost ticket sales, and that number is only going to grow as time moves on.  I bought the reboot on Blu-Ray, I will not by Into Darkness, and I suspect there are a lot of hard core Trekkers out there who will not buy it either.

Crash landing time

The first twenty minutes was good, but then problems began to develop.  I knew what was going to happen 5 or 6 minutes before it happened.  This is not a good thing.  About 70 minutes into the film the entire movie goes down the shit hole.  Abrams brings in a wizened old Spock to tell his younger version how to beat Khan.  I sat in my seat completely dumbfounded.  It was almost as if JJ Abrams thought he could bend over and fart at the audience.  His only problem?  He popped a wet one, and it stinks.  The lesson to be learned?  Know your audience and give them what they want.  There's an old adage in Hollywood: keep 'em coming back.  That's not really happening with Into Darkness, and it's showing up in the box office receipts.  What should have been a really good sequel seems to have been nothing more then ego at work.