This post had better be dripping with sarcasm, or I'm going to think your mind has been invaded by Berzerker.
Random Thoughts XI: Listen to the Whispers
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The most trending phrase in greek twitter is the surname of the prime minister, followed by "f/// yourself".
Not very surprising. He is another useless and entitled pos.
The phrase unexpectedly was first heard on a greek tv channel, during an interview with a member of the public, and then gained traction.
A problem is that even if this government will gtfo in the next elections, it's not like anything serious will replace it.
Not very surprising. He is another useless and entitled pos.
The phrase unexpectedly was first heard on a greek tv channel, during an interview with a member of the public, and then gained traction.
A problem is that even if this government will gtfo in the next elections, it's not like anything serious will replace it.
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John Conway (died last year) likely wasn't that friendly a personality, but there are some interesting things in his biography. One of those is that when he was a child he used to cheat while playing the guessing game (where you are thinking of something, like an animal, and the others ask questions to find what it is) by switching the object when the others started to near the answer; being mindful, of course, that every answer up to then was factored in and could still define the new object.
Unfortunately this type of calculation wasn't sustainable after a number of given answers. But in one of his theories (about free will) he imagined that nature itself might play the guessing game and cheat, without any bound - he tried to present the quantum phenomena as a result of that.
Unfortunately this type of calculation wasn't sustainable after a number of given answers. But in one of his theories (about free will) he imagined that nature itself might play the guessing game and cheat, without any bound - he tried to present the quantum phenomena as a result of that.
Actually, some of the news we've been getting here about Greece is the fires. Are you reasonably safe where you are?
amadeus
Bishop of Bio-Dome
Anyone ever notice how tariffs are always slapped? I'm imagining some customs agent actually slapping a sticky yellow or pink sheet of paper to a palette of goods. Probably wearing some kind of uniform and cap.
Unfortunately, there are no known stock photos of exactly this behavior.
Unfortunately, there are no known stock photos of exactly this behavior.
Sales taxes are "slapped" as well.
I remember the first craft fair I sold at after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced in Canada. I did some checking and people who make less than $30,000/year don't have to remit it. So I have never applied for a GST number, as none of my home businesses ever brought in $30,000/year.
Anyway, a little girl maybe about 6 or 7 years old came along, looked around at the stuff I had on offer, and asked, "Do you charge GST?"
That's depressing, that a kid that young would feel the need to ask if I was charging tax. It's always best to keep craft fair items priced in whole dollar amounts, to avoid having to fiddle with too much change (I did have some small things priced at 50 cents). And since parents often give their kids $5 at these fairs so they can go buy a couple of things, I tried to keep the kid-friendly stuff priced so they could easily figure to spend a few dollars and get some cute bookmarks, magnets, or animal-themed kissy-faces that had a Hershey kiss or piece of candy in them.
So I told her that no, I didn't charge GST and kept my reasons to myself. The federal government we had back then was run by Lyin' Brian Mulroney, and he and his finance minister were so in love with the GST that they figured that 12-year-old babysitters and people who held garage sales should be collecting and remitting this tax.
"GST" has a number of nicknames. The mainstream one that stuck was "Government-Sanctioned Theft" and the SCA version was "Goats and Swine Tax".
At least we didn't have to charge it for SCA feasts. As the shire's Exchequer, it was my job to look into that, and the person at Revenue Canada I talked to on the phone asked if we made over $30,000 by holding medieval feasts and tournaments. I nearly fell off my chair laughing, and told him that we considered ourselves rich if we made 30,000 cents, never mind dollars. So he told me it was okay, we didn't have to charge the tax.
amadeus
Bishop of Bio-Dome
Tele-phone? Doth thou intendeth to blaspheme Thy Lord by suggesting it possible to speak through the shaking of a common piece of metal wire taken from thine rooster nest?
And furthermore, of what are these "dollars" to which you contend the Tax Collector so seeks? Are you a pirate, or a Moor? Surely thou art familiar with the proper Currency of His Majesty's Realm.
Seventy buckles to the tweedle,
fifteen tweedles to a bushel,
ninety-two bushels to the clove,
and seven cloves to a dingham!
And furthermore, of what are these "dollars" to which you contend the Tax Collector so seeks? Are you a pirate, or a Moor? Surely thou art familiar with the proper Currency of His Majesty's Realm.
Seventy buckles to the tweedle,
fifteen tweedles to a bushel,
ninety-two bushels to the clove,
and seven cloves to a dingham!
The SCA is alternatively known as the "Current Middle Ages." Among other things, that means using mundane currency that is formally known as 'dollars' but ever since the dollar coin was introduced in 1987 and the paper dollars were phased out as people spent them and they were turned into the banks, we refer to our dollars as "loonies". I even have a "loonie bank" - a 'piggy bank' in the shape of a loon.
And since SCA monarchs change every 6 months, there really isn't much time for them to do too much social damage, though a few have tried to get really dictatorial over what we were allowed to do or say (it's not always a King who rules; since this is also the Equal-Opportunity Middle Ages in which women are allowed to make armor, learn to fight, and enter the lists at Crown Tournaments, it's possible for a woman who's a good enough fighter to become Queen in her own right).
Mind you, this was back when Red Deer's branch (the Shire of Bitter End) was part of the Principality of Avacal, which in turn was the Canadian portion of the Kingdom of An Tir - one of only a few kingdoms that crossed international mundane borders; it included Oregon, Washington, part of Idaho, BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the Territories), and we sometimes received decrees from the American King and Queen that clashed with Canadian law (something I had to fight with them about during the years I served as the Shire's Exchequer, explaining to them that they could not demand that Canadian branches conform to American banking rules, as it was either against our rules, or was simply not possible for other reasons. Avacal is a kingdom now - a completely Canadian kingdom, so those problems wouldn't be problems anymore).
As I recall, there were times when we'd receive these American monarchs' decrees either by letter from our Principality or Kingdom officers (those of us who were local officers), or in the monthly or quarterly newsletters. Chances were, they were stupidly dictatorial (come on... nobody is going to mundanely refer to their cars or trucks as "wagons" and a costume is a costume; don't tell me to call it "garb") or even draconian.
Seems that there was an event held somewhere in Florida, where a group of Wiccans held a public ceremony that offended some local non-SCA people (aka "mundanes") and there was quite the hullabaloo about it. So the Board of Directors in California issued a Society-wide decree that from now on, religious ceremonies at camping events or anywhere else were strictly forbidden.
Well, worship services were already supposed to be held in a quiet, private area as the Society is religion-neutral. But the decree also forbade weddings, and that was going too far. Society weddings, whether the couple was really getting legally married or if it was a commitment between two people who lived together who either didn't want a mundane wedding or had already had one but wanted a Society wedding as well, or even just a bit of theatre, are special events, they're fun, and can get very emotional. So when we read about this, we all looked at each other at the next business meeting, said "Screw California and the BoD (Board of Directors); we're going to keep holding weddings anyway."
My brother and his family are on holiday in Scotland atm.
So far the highlights of the holiday, according to my niece and nephew, have been enormous ice creams and delicious burghers and pizza!
So far the highlights of the holiday, according to my niece and nephew, have been enormous ice creams and delicious burghers and pizza!
I will have to write a third seminar - actually, it is a part 2 of the 85.000 word first seminar. For $$$.
I hope that I can reach an agreement to be paid a bit more for the other two. I was offered - once - to become a partner at the firm, and might end up as that, if it means better monthly income.
Money sucks. Life costs too much.
I hope that I can reach an agreement to be paid a bit more for the other two. I was offered - once - to become a partner at the firm, and might end up as that, if it means better monthly income.
Money sucks. Life costs too much.
amadeus
Bishop of Bio-Dome
That Alan Smithee guy sure makes the sucky movies.
Alan Smithee is a pseudonym used by directors who don't want their own names associated with a movie.
Any time you see the name Cordwainer Bird associated with something, it means Harlan Ellison wrote it, but got pissed off with the producer, director, and just about everyone else, and took his own name off it.
amadeus
Bishop of Bio-Dome
I was clicking around on Google street view just for fun and I was in Vietnam. I look down and see that a company has put its logo where you usually see the blurry outline of the top of their car. Well, I go on to the website and want to read the English page so I click on the little UK flag at the top of the page... and it's not hyperlinked to anything.
Ατ λεαστ I returned to writing stories. Wrote 2500 words yesterday, half of a story I imagined. But likely I won't finish it.
One needs to flex a little before actually being in a position to write, but I hope it will happen
One needs to flex a little before actually being in a position to write, but I hope it will happen
OVERHEARD
For most of the world, this weekend started with Friday the 13th; in Hastings, Neb., it was also National Kool-Aid Day. It was there in 1927 that Edwin Perkins invented the sugary beverage now owned by Kraft Heinz. It became the state’s official soft drink in 1998 and is celebrated every August.
A town embracing its claim to fame isn’t surprising, but the fact that Kool-Aid has lasted so long is. Marketed to children since the 1950s with an anthropomorphic jug who bursts through walls, it would have
a less-wholesome association in the ’60s with the publication of Tom Wolfe’s “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test,” the true story of how the beverage was laced with LSD by the “Merry Pranksters.” Far, far worse was what happened a decade later when either Kool-Aid or a similar drink—reports vary—was laced with poison in the mass suicide at Jonestown in 1978.
The phrase “drink the Kool-Aid” has since developed less-sinister connotations, none of them positive. More to the point, actually drinking even unadulterated Kool-Aid, now marketed disproportionately toward minorities, still isn’t very good for you. “Long-term consumption may increase the risk of obesity, diabetes, and even cancer,” says Isitbadforyou.com.
Oh, yeah! Happy Kool-Aid Day.
For most of the world, this weekend started with Friday the 13th; in Hastings, Neb., it was also National Kool-Aid Day. It was there in 1927 that Edwin Perkins invented the sugary beverage now owned by Kraft Heinz. It became the state’s official soft drink in 1998 and is celebrated every August.
A town embracing its claim to fame isn’t surprising, but the fact that Kool-Aid has lasted so long is. Marketed to children since the 1950s with an anthropomorphic jug who bursts through walls, it would have
a less-wholesome association in the ’60s with the publication of Tom Wolfe’s “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test,” the true story of how the beverage was laced with LSD by the “Merry Pranksters.” Far, far worse was what happened a decade later when either Kool-Aid or a similar drink—reports vary—was laced with poison in the mass suicide at Jonestown in 1978.
The phrase “drink the Kool-Aid” has since developed less-sinister connotations, none of them positive. More to the point, actually drinking even unadulterated Kool-Aid, now marketed disproportionately toward minorities, still isn’t very good for you. “Long-term consumption may increase the risk of obesity, diabetes, and even cancer,” says Isitbadforyou.com.
Oh, yeah! Happy Kool-Aid Day.
The Kool-Aid guy has always freaked me out. I must have had a bad experience in the childhood that I mostly don't remember.
No need for that; it doesn't really look charming even if one hadn't seen it as a child.
Mankind has put a significant amount of the effort it has put into anything into creating really nice drinks. Thge got to pick only one to celebrate the great state of Nebraska. They choose Kool Aid, which is just sugar, citric acid and some chemical flavouring. Now I know nothing about Nebraska, but I am going make some assumptions now.OVERHEARD
For most of the world, this weekend started with Friday the 13th; in Hastings, Neb., it was also National Kool-Aid Day. It was there in 1927 that Edwin Perkins invented the sugary beverage now owned by Kraft Heinz. It became the state’s official soft drink in 1998 and is celebrated every August.
A town embracing its claim to fame isn’t surprising, but the fact that Kool-Aid has lasted so long is. Marketed to children since the 1950s with an anthropomorphic jug who bursts through walls, it would have
a less-wholesome association in the ’60s with the publication of Tom Wolfe’s “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test,” the true story of how the beverage was laced with LSD by the “Merry Pranksters.” Far, far worse was what happened a decade later when either Kool-Aid or a similar drink—reports vary—was laced with poison in the mass suicide at Jonestown in 1978.
The phrase “drink the Kool-Aid” has since developed less-sinister connotations, none of them positive. More to the point, actually drinking even unadulterated Kool-Aid, now marketed disproportionately toward minorities, still isn’t very good for you. “Long-term consumption may increase the risk of obesity, diabetes, and even cancer,” says Isitbadforyou.com.
Oh, yeah! Happy Kool-Aid Day.
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