Today in History

Well, it's Thursday, January 3, 2019.  Today in history a large majority of Democrats are going to be sworn into the House of Representatives.  The Republicans, because they totally ignore what America wants, have gone from having a 23 seat majority to being in the hole by 41 seats.  Or is it 42?  Or 43?  I'm a bit uncertain.  I do know that those white, racists Republicans down in North Carolina are probably going to get their asses handed to them by the courts for throwing away, or changing, black absentee ballots.  Oh, and Pelosi has already said "no wall to that racist, moral degenerate in the White House.  Ooops.  Google "wall, polls, or wall priority" and you can see for yourself that about 49% of Americans feel there is a need for more increased border security, only 31% are demanding a wall.  Guess who makes up that 31%... white, conservative Republicans, the Idiot Jerk's base.
On another note, I went to see "Mary Poppins Returns" last evening.  It was good, but not great, not like "Mary Poppins."  My biggest complaint?  The song sequence is exactly the same as in the original, no changes.  In the original Mary arrived and they sang "Spoon full of Sugar" as they cleaned up their room.  In this new version, Mary arrives and they sing some sort of sea song as the kids clean up in a bath.  If you saw the first movie, you will know exactly what type of song is coming up next.  The original had Ed Wynn with a funny song, this version has Meryl Streep with a funny song.  Now, I know a lot of people aren't going to remember this sort of thing... but I do.  I thought Lin-Manuel Miranda was much better than Dick Van Dyke,(no boos or hisses here, but I never thought he was that good.)  I thought there was only one song, "Trip a Little Light Fantastic" in which the magic from the original film burst forth and actually brought a bit of tear to my eye.  For about 4 minutes I was 12 years old again and awestruck.

And finally, I did order a desk.  Kidney shaped.  I believe that will fit better into the room.  There's a little bookcase on the visitor side.  The front drawer is called a 'keyboard drawer' but my laptop will fit easily inside.  100% wood, no MDF which is a big problem nowadays, especially if you're buying cabinets.  They will call them wood, but actually what you're buying is a veneer on top of MDF.  I don't have to worry about that.  Delivery is going to be between 1/16 and 1/31... I can't wait.

And the Jolly Holiday continues

Well, I don't have a cold, rather my Adam's apple appears to be the focal point of this health event... or...in planer words, I have a sore throat.  Glands are swollen.  Which means I'm taking off work for a 2nd day in a row.  I took my temperature and it's a tad below normal which probably means there's no bacterial infection, still around 8 I'll call and see if I can get a doctor's appointment.  Yippey for me!
By the way, the stock market dropped again yesterday - the Fed raised interest rates.  The Idiot Jerk hates this.  His motto has always been "more Money! more Money!"  He wants you to be as deep in debt as possible since that makes his banker buddies lots and lots of money.  A higher interest rate tends to curtail lending organizations who desperately want you to sign away the farm as collateral.
The Idiot Jerk also decided to pull our military out of Syria... purely to satisfy his base, or maybe it was the Russians.  Having our troops there was an expense... and he'd rather have them getting paid to stand around down at the border with Mexico.  The fact that doing so leaves Syria in the hands of the Russians and the Iranians means nothing to him.  For all we know, his focus is still on building that tower in downtown Moscow.
I talked to the director of Greenfield yesterday about not receiving my Mom's last billing.  That's right, I haven't gotten her final bill.  He mumbled something like "... uh... well... I believe it's in this months billing."  I used to manage Account's Payable for International Paper.  His response is unacceptable.  When I told him so, he said "... uh... well... I can call my boss."  Did he call me back with an update?  Now, why would he do something so professional?
And, of course, "Mary Poppins Returns" will be opening in a theater near you in just a few days.  Will I go?  Well, of course.  Back in that magical summer of 1964, when I was 11 years old, I went to see the original twice.  Can we even compare Emily Blunt to Julie Andrews?  I think not.  Julie has a voice and Emily?  Well, she sings.  There are two openly gay men in the cast - Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Ben Whishaw... well, it is a musical, isn't it?  I don't doubt for a second, however, nostalgia will make this a blockbuster.  All those other kids who saw it in 1964 will sit in the audience and cry.

We like to think of those days as filled with innocence.  What so many fail to realize is that in 1964 two American destroyers were fired upon by the North Vietnamese signaling our entrance into an ugly war which killed so many of our young men and women.  I'm one of those few who got watch "Mary Poppins" and go to Vietnam.  How's that for a jolly holiday?

NBC Opening Ceremony coverage sucked!

This is why I didn't really want to watch it, but I did, for about 45 minutes.  What I saw looked fairly chaotic with nincompoop commentators failing to create something cohesive out of a commercial break nightmare.  Every six minutes NBC shoved two and a half to three minutes of commercials down you throat. This is why they paid 1.8 billion to air the 2012 Olympics, not to give you the best possible coverage, but to make money.  They make money selling ad time.  Wall Street loves this.  Me?  I hate it.  When I watch something that has a narrative line I want to be able to discern that narrative line, I don't want to watch shots from fourteen different camera angles which succeed only in creating abstract  images.  Case in point, the entrance of all of those Mary Poppins'.  Dippy Viera said something to the effect of "with all this evil present look to the east," and the next second you saw them landing.  Where did the come from? Did they jump out of helicopters.

Kenneth Brannaugh read something from "The Tempest" and then you saw him wondering around, was there a purpose in his wondering?  Was he supposed to be an observer of the Industrial Revolution?  I kept thinking he looked like Abraham Lincoln without his beard.    

Watching the competitions this AM I noticed commercial breaks have been cut back, some what, they are still way too frequent, usually occurring after eight or nine minutes and they're wasting about 2 minutes of time.  How much time will I spend in front of the TV?  Not very much.  While I find the Olympics entertaining, I don't share the addiction so many others seem to have.  I don't need to win every competition to pet my ego.