[Warning: Spoilers]

Well, the Devil went down to Georgia, he was looking for a soul to steal,

But he stopped himself at a greasy spoon to gobble up one last meal.

There he came across a bus boy slopping up crumbs with a filthy rag,

And said "See, boy, I bussed myself; cleaning up is in my bag!"

The bus boy shrugged, handed him a tub with a shake of his floppy mane,

"I dealt with the cook, I dealt with the host, dealin' with the Devil is no real pain."

So Beelzebub, he grabbed that tub; the lad's eyes glowed with joy,

The cook came out and ripped a belch and shouted GET BUSSIN' BOY!

The plates went a-flyin' and the Devil he was tryin' to find in a boy a wedge,

But the plates kept a-comin' and the Devil got stuck on a crusted table ledge.

"If I can be so bold, I'll win your tub of gold," the boy said with a mighty sneer.

Then the fat men shouted for another round of pie and the Devil, he knew fear.

The boy set to scrubbin' while the Devil began blubbin, the boy's rag as fast as wind.

With one last swipe the boy showed his might -- then said the Devil with a voice of tin:

"You won my tub, you lanky schlub, but the Devil will have his due!"

Then the host smacked the Devil with a greasy copy of the slop shop's menu.

POOEY ON SURGE PRICING

News Item: In 2025, Wendy's will begin experimenting with surge-style pricing, increasing prices on menu items as demand increases throughout the day.

In response, I offer this scenario, suggested by the 1980 film Popeye:

Popeye: Bunch of carrots?

Mr. Geezil: No, no.

Popeye: You ain't got to carrots? What are those, prunes?

Mr. Geezil: POOEY ON CARROTS. Canned broccoli.

Popeye: I am in the mood for carrots. I need me vitamins.

Mr. Geezil: POOEY ON CARROTS. Take spinach.

Popeye: If I wants spinach, I'll axe yez for spinach.

Mr. Geezil: So, why didn't he say so? For you, each a dollar.

Popeye: How much is the broccoli?

Mr. Geezil: Nickel, maybe dime.

Popeye: And the spinach?

Mr. Geezil: Dime, maybe quarter.

Popeye: Then how come carrots is a dollar?

Mr. Geezil: Dollar fifty. You buy what I don't feel like selling, it cost you two dollars.

Popeye: [Begrudgingly takes offered carrots, tosses a coin.]

Mr. Geezil: Uh uh uh uh, no, no, this is a nickel!

Popeye: I pays what I feels like payin'.

Godspeed, Future Disintegrator

The J.C. WIlber building was built in 1892 and replaced in 1955 by the Tregoweth Brown Building.

The cornerstone of the building, as we know, was the home of Michigan J. Frog, until he was discovered by the nameless, hapless fellow who thought a singing frog would bring him fame and fortune, until near insanity and poverty drove him to hide the frog, case and all, in the cornerstone of the Tregoweth Brown Building.

It's now 2024. The Tregoweth Brown Building is set to be demolished by the ACME Building Disintegrators in 2056, only 32 years from now.

So it's a fair bet that Michigan J. Frog's next handler has already been born.

Godspeed.

As usual, Dennis' response on Facebook is perfect:

'Tis Done

There's a lot to write about, of course. And I should do it now. But these two are just starting their adventure together.

So more later.

Don't Let this Be You, Instructors

 

Honestly, this could have been me earlier this semester. And by me, I don't mean me as a student, but me as an instructor.

Turnitin flagged a student essay as likely partially created by AI. I gave her a zero but decided I wanted to hear from her before going any further.

Turns out she had used Grammarly to check her work. I had her turn in her un-Grammarlied essay and graded that one -- which netted her a 98 percent score on the paper. She used Grammarly because English is not her first language -- something I completely understand. But clearly in reading her draft, she has enough talent as a writer that the problems she has with English aren't a major concern.

No report to the academic integrity office. I wanted to hear from her first, and to find out the extent of the AI use.

So, I'm going to emphasize this: Talking with students about AI use, especially when papers are flagged as AI, is important. I'm not sure if the student in the news story had a talk with her instructor, but clearly the result was a zero and academic probation. Knowing what's going on, and helping a student see the pitfalls and concerns, will go a lot further than automatically slapping on the penalties, especially on a first offense.

Visualizing Artificial Intelligence's Shortcomings

Though this fellow talks about the advantages and disadvantages of artificial intelligence, specificallly ChatGPT, in a programming context, what he says has wide application as we try to figur eout how to use AI in English composition and the pitfalls it can present to our students.

The crux of his argument is that ChatGPT has helped him bridge small knowledge gaps, but poses problems when he relies on it to help him bridge larger gaps in his knowledge and experience.

First, he says through judicious use of ChatGPT, he's been able to unlock "skills and opportunities that might not have been possible without it." He quickly learned that when he encountered a gap in his programming knowledge, ChatGPT was a quick way to get hints on how to fill the gaps. The AI hints also prompted him to learn more to fill in the gaps he noticed in his knowledge. The hints from ChatGPT worked in tandem with the knowledge and experience he already has as a programmer to fill in those gaps: He could see how ChatGPT's suggestions worked.

So, good use of AI here, which he illustrates thus:

He adds: "You might know most of what you need to build something or achieve some task, but maybe there is some part you are lacking that completely blocks you from getting it done. ChatGPT can help break through those barriers quickly and poit you in the direction you need to go."

He goes on to say: "Where I think it is not as healthy is where you are relying on it to substitute for large gaps in knowledge."

He illustrates these "traps" as follows:

When confronted with a programming problem he had some familiarity with but not near enough knowledge to tackle, he presented the problem to ChatGPT -- which provided a solution that didn't work. When he "pressed" ChatGPT that the provided solution didn't work, the AI suggested a different approach that would have meant sweeping changes in the overall program and customer interface.

It was then he realized he had more context for the problem and impact of the suggested solutions than ChatGPT had. He set to work without AI and found a solution that worked without the sweeping changes ChatGPT suggested. He asked ChatGPT about the solution he came up with, and asked why the AI didn't come up with the idea: "It said essentially that my approach is tailored to this specific situation, whereas ChatGPT was generally going to go for a more general solution."

"Having context of the problem and the system in general allows you to search for solutions where a coding assistant might miss them," he adds.

His experience has application to use of AI in English composition. We have artificial intelligence assistants in place already (spellcheck, Grammarly, predictive text) that can help us fill in the little gaps. Often enough as we use these assistants, we decide it's easier to learn the logic behind the suggestions and get things right the first time. I used to misspell antenna on a consitent basis, with spellcheck helping me out. It wasn't until I wrote the word out a hundred times longhand that I trained my brain to spell the word correctly. So using these simple AI tools to help us fill these little gaps is useful, and leads us to learn so we avoid making the mistakes in the first place.

When it comes to using AI to write outlines, or to help brainstorm, I see that as an acceptable application. We still have to look at the outline and see how it works with the assignment requirements, or look at the brainstorm suggestions to see what makes sense in context. But when we or our students rely on artificial intelligence to bridge bigger gaps in our knowledge, we see ChatGPT and the like stumble, and often stumble bigly. Even worse -- relying on AI to fill those larger writing gaps robs us of creating more elegant solutions we could come up with if we put in the effort ourselves. But that means researching, vetting the research, brainstorming and outlining and writing and revising on our own. That initially can take a lot of time, and maybe we don't have the time. But if we rely on AI as a time boost, we lose in the learning department. We don't become better writers, who become more familiar with common pitfalls and problems and solutions and aren't able to recreate them on our own.

Kudos to YouTuber Joshua Morony for this content, and inspiration as I look to fill my tiny knowledge gaps as I try to help my students -- and myself -- avoid those big traps.

I Give You MALK!

From the "I Saw This Advertised on YouTube and Thought it Was A Joke" department, I give you actual MALK.

Not a joke.

But clearly branded and advertised by an entity unfamiliar with the health benefits of Vitamin R.

I realize, of course, as an older, out-of-it COW MILK DRINKER that I am not their target audience. And that's okay.

But there are almond and oat milk drinkers in my family. Who might laugh at buying actual Malk, but that's beside the point.

Of course, I have to realize this episode aired in the far distant past -- 1995 -- so why I thought they might hesitate at branding themselves MALK seems silly now. 1995 is ancient history.

Or maybe it's a clever bit of marketing? Getting oldies like me laughing about Malk until I buy some and discover its qualities and then spread the word to my fellow oldies?

Nah. Someone just said "Malk. That's a good name."

Careful: Humor May Be Dangerous

So our daughter is getting married next Saturday. I've been doing a social media countdown, using mostly marriage-related bits from The Simpsons.

This was Saturday's seven-day warning. Which prompted a little concern from our future son-in-law:

I don't think he was offended, but it's a good reminder that what I think of as funny may not translate to his family. So I'm going to have to be on better behavior.

For the curious, Lisa is marrying a carrot because the kids are teasing her about becoming a vegetarian:

Edward R. Murrow: In Other Words, Shaddap Shuttin' Up!

NOTE: I'm getting a lot of mileage out of this book I'm reading on Edward R. Murrow.

At a career nadir, Murrow delivered in part this speech at the Radio-Television News Directors Association in Chicago in 1958:

"I have no tecnical advice or counsel to offer those of you who labor in this vinyard that produces words and pictures. You wil forgive me for not telling you the instruments with which you work are miraculous, that your responsibility is unprecedented, or that your aspirations are frequently frustrated. It is not necessary to remind you that the fact that your voice is amplified to the degree where it reaches from one end of the country to the other does not confer upon you grater wisdom or undestanding that you possessed when your voice reached only from one end of the bar to the other . . ."

I think, right now, it's necessary for that reminder, particularly to those shouting the loudest on the internet.

There are times to speak. But most of the time should be spent shuttin' up and doing some hard listening. And not listening to react, but listening to understand.

No More Giants

I'm reading in Bob Edwards' biography of Edward R. Murrow, "Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism," and came to his report on the Buchenwald concentration camp.

Part of it is on the universal praise he heard of President Roosevelt from those at the camp, and others:

If I've offended by by this rather mild account of Buchenwald, I'm not in the least bit sorry. I was there on Thursday, and many men in many tongues blessed the name of Roosevelt. For long years his name has meant the full measure of their hope. These men who had kept close company with death for many years did not know that Mr. Roosevelt, within hours, would join their comrades who had laid their lives on the scales of freedom.

Back in 1941, Mr. Churchill said to me with tears in his eyes, "One day the world and history will recognzie and acknowledge what it owes your president." I saw and hear the first installment of that at Buchenwald on Thursday. It came from all over Europe. Their faces, with more flesh on them, might have been from anywhere at home. To them the name "Roosevelt" was a symbol, the cvode word for a a lot of guys named "Joes" who are somewhere out in the blue with the armor heading east. At Buchenwald, they spoke of the president just before he died. If there be a better epitaph, history does not record it.

What his tory also doesn't record is that we've had a president of the United States who could fill Roosevelt's shoes in the last twenty years; perhaps even longer. Hearing former President Trump yesterday denigrate the alliance that came out of World War II and would leave countries open to invasion and perhaps annihilation if he's re-elected, is something I hope others will remember.

I understand this is a recording of Murrow's report, delivered by Murrow about two years after the original radio broadcast.

With Apologies to Neville Chamberlain

News item: Former President and current presidential candidate Donald Trump would let Russia "do whatever the hell they want" to a NATO ally if that ally didn't allocate 2% of its GDP to defense, gutting the mutual defense core of the pact.

Trump, of course, sees no problems if he's got bills to pay and doesn't pay them.

Hand me My Patching Trowel, Boy!

I used the word "sparge" in a technical context today, which of course made me think of Homer Simpson sparging the lath in his basement.

And here, the Frinkiac has a rare error: Troy McClure advised viewers of "The Half-Assed Approach to Foundation Repair" to "barge the lathe," which is something completely different.

Now, hand me my patching trowel, boy.

Laman, Lemuel, and the Three Spirits that Haunted Ebenezer Scrooge

STAVE 1: The Ghost

Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever, about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to.

Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.

Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail.

Scrooge knew he was dead? Of course he did. How could it be otherwise? Scrooge and he were partners for I don't know how many years. Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole assign, his sole residuary legatee, his sole friend, and sole mourner. And even Scrooge was not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event, but that he was an excellent man of business on the very day of the funeral, and solemnised it with an undoubted bargain. The mention of Marley's funeral brings me back to the point I started from. There is no doubt that Marley was dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate.

That is, of course, the beginning to Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," that delightful tale of holiday haunting and redemption with which Dickens chose to beat a populace that wanted to ignore the plight of the common man.

Later in the tale, of course, the ghost of Jacob Marley does show up to haunt Scrooge and to warn him of the arrival of three spirits, meant to show Scrooge, possibly, how to avoid the fate Marley suffered: burdened with chains and lock-boxes symbolizing his own guilt of not helping others ease their burdens.

But a close reading, paired with another prophet's description of burdening chains, brought the mission of Marley into new light for me today. Probably old ground for others, but certainly new for me.

The other prophet is Lehi from the Book of Mormon, weary of warning his two sons Laman and Lemuel about the fate they would suffer if they continued the path of ignoring the commandments of God.

From 2 Nephi, Chapter 1:

21 And now that my soul might have joy in you, and that my heart might leave this world with gladness because of you, that I might not be brought down with grief and sorrow to the grave, arise from the dust, my sons, and be men, and be determined in one mind and in one heart, united in all things, that ye may not come down into captivity;

22 That ye may not be cursed with a sore cursing; and also, that ye may not incur the displeasure of a just God upon you, unto the destruction, yea, the eternal destruction of both soul and body.

23 Awake, my sons; put on the armor of righteousness. Shake off the chains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust.

24 Rebel no more against your brother, whose views have been glorious, and who hath kept the commandments from the time that we left Jerusalem; and who hath been an instrument in the hands of God, in bringing us forth into the land of promise; for were it not for him, we must have perished with hunger in the wilderness; nevertheless, ye sought to take away his life; yea, and he hath suffered much sorrow because of you.

Chains, of course, a common symbol in Christianity for the woes of sin. But there's more here. Lehi urges his sons in verse 21 to "be men," to cast aside their pride and their doubts and be united with Nephi, their brother, mentioned in verse 24.

They have their own agency, of course. They can act and think for themselves. But he pleads with them to consdier: You have seen and heard angels. You have seen the fruits of obedience. And yet more than once your pride and your doubt have caused you to put your brother Nephi to harm, even to try to kill him.

Back to Jacob Marley:

"How it is that I appear before you in a shape that you can see, I may not tell." [Marley tells Scrooge.] "I have sat invisible beside you many and many a day." It was not an agreeable idea. Scrooge shivered, and wiped the perspiration from his brow. "That is no light part of my penance," pursued the Ghost," I am here to-night to warn you that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate. A chance and hope of my procuring, Ebenezer."

The emphasis here is mine. Marley knows he cannot escape his fate. He also says that watching Scrooge forge his own chains "is no light part of [his] penance," a fate Marley can no longer escape. But for some reason, he says, he is allowed to appear to Scrooge on that night, in the hope to help Scrooge avoid Marley's fate.

That Scrooge is on the same road as Marley the ghost makes clear:

"I wear the chain I forged in life," replied the Ghost. "I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?"

Again, emphasis mine. But Marley, in saying "Is its pattern strange to you," implores Scrooge to consider the length and weight of the chains and Marley's own willingness to forge them and wear them as a sign that Scrooge is indeed doing the same thing.

He goes on to say:

"Or would you know," pursued the Ghost, "the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself?  It was full as heavy and as long as this, seven Christmas Eves ago.  You have laboured on it, since. It is a ponderous chain!"

Scrooge glanced about him on the floor, in the expectation of finding himself surrounded by some fifty or sixty fathoms of iron cable: but he could see nothing.

"Jacob," he said, imploringly.  "Old Jacob Marley, tell me more.  Speak comfort to me, Jacob!"

"I have none to give," the Ghost replied.  "It comes from other regions, Ebenezer Scrooge, and is conveyed by other ministers, to other kinds of men.  Nor can I tell you what I would.  A very little more, is all permitted to me.  I cannot rest, I cannot stay, I cannot linger anywhere.  My spirit never walked beyond our counting-house -- mark me! -- in life my spirit never roved beyond the narrow limits of our money-changing hole; and weary journeys lie before me!"

Lehi warns his sons of walking in more than the narrow limits of their "money-changing hole." He wans them to be men:

Again, 2 Nephi 1:

14 Awake! and rise from the dust, and hear the words of a trembling parent, whose limbs ye must soon lay down in the cold and silent grave, from whence no traveler can return . . .

15 But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my sould from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about enternally in the arms of his love.

Lehi again and again offers his two oldest sons the hope Scrooge longed to hear from Marley; he was the other ministers which conveyed the comfort to other kinds of men. Marley can't even deliver the full message he had hoped, as his journey of penance has to continue. Even Marley leaves on the hope that his penance need not include the life of his partner Scrooge, if Scrooge can be turned to see the light.

Whether Dickens believed in an afterlife, and in a life lived now where penance could be accomplisehd to break such abominable chains, I don't know. But he certainly understood how to talk to an audience that expressed Christian charity but in the same breath denied help to Ignorance and Want, looked to the workhouses or the prisons to help those in need and not being the "ministers that conveyed the comfort to other kinds of men."

I'll ponder this more, and see where I lack, lest one night a crumb of cheese or a blot of mustard visit me to proclaim "You will be haunted by Three Spirits."

But even then, for Scrooge, there was hope, as with Laman and Lemuel, if they would grasp it:

"That is no light part of my penance," pursued the Ghost.  "I am here to-night to warn you, that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate.  A chance and hope of my procuring, Ebenezer."

"You were always a good friend to me," said Scrooge.  "Thank `ee!"

"You will be haunted," resumed the Ghost, "by Three Spirits."

Scrooge's countenance fell almost as low as the Ghost's had done.

"Is that the chance and hope you mentioned, Jacob?"  he demanded, in a faltering voice.

"It is."

"I -- I think I'd rather not," said Scrooge.

"Without their visits," said the Ghost, "you cannot hope to shun the path I tread.  Expect the first tomorrow, when the bell tolls one."

BSA Citizenship in the World Merit Badge: Due for an Update

So I'm a counselor in the Boy Scouts of America  for the Citizenship in the World merit badge. Second session with the Scouts tomorrow, and I'm not looking forward to it.

It's a bit of a sleeper for the Scouts.

So, in the spirit of Vyvian from The Young Ones, I thought I'd do a few things to pep it up a bit. (Note: I'm sticking with the current requirements for the Scouts tomorrow; this is just a thought experiment.)

I think these changes address two major sticking points with the badge:

1. It takes the United States out of it a bit. We already have the Citizenship in the Nation merit badge; we don't need more US-centric aspects in this badge.

2. It encourages more thought and active participation from the Scouts, taking this (I hope) from a boring social studies lecture into something that shows how world events impact them, and how they could potentially impact the world.

Some of these changes will prompt a Scout's natural curiosity about the world around them, and initiate more in-depth discussions on how what happens in the world affects them. They're already curious about things they see in the news or hear their parents discussing; let's bring that into the badge.

So here are the requirements below. Text in black remains. Text in red strikethrough is being cut. Text in blue is being added.

1. Explain what citizenship in the world means to you and what you think it takes to be a good world citizen. Compare your idea of world citizenship to the tenets of the Scout Oath and Scout Law.

2. Explain how one becomes a citizen in the United States, and explain the rights, duties, and obligations of U.S. citizenship. Discuss the similarities and differences between the rights, duties, and obligations of U.S. citizens and the citizens of two other countries. NOTE: I'm not proposing eliminating this requirement; parts of it are included in other requirements below.

32. Do the following:

(a) Pick a current world event. In relation to this current event, discuss with your counselor how a country's national interest and its relationship with other countries might affect areas such as its security, its economy, its values, and the health of its citizens individuals and governments could react or are reacting to that event to help resolve conflicts inherent in the event.

(1) Discuss the concept of intervention and when it might or might not be in a country's best interest.

(2) Discuss how the event is affecting you or your family.

(b) Identify a world-shaping event from the past and discuss with your counselor how governments and citizens of at least five nations reacted to the event. Discuss how intervention helped or hurt during the event, and how events in distant places could end up affecting you where you live.

(bc) Discuss how world events impact individual and national values, for both good and bad. Select a foreign country and discuss with your counselor how its geography, natural resources, and climate influence its economy and its global partnerships with other countries.

43. Do TWO of the following:

(a) Explain international law and how it differs from national law. Explain the role of international law and how international law can be used as a tool for conflict resolution.

(b) Using resources such as major daily newspapers, the Internet (with your parent or guardian's permission), and news magazines, observe a current issue that involves international trade, foreign exchange, balance of payments, tariffs, and free trade. Explain what you have learned. Include in your discussion an explanation of why countries must cooperate in order for to promote world trade, and global competition, and political and military stability to thrive. 

(c) Select TWO of the following organizations and describe their role in the world.

(1) The United Nations, and UNICEF, or the World Health Organiation

(2) The World Court

(3) Interpol

(4) World Organization of the Scout Movement

(5) The World Health Organization

(6) Amnesty International

(75) The International Federation Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

(8) CARE (Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere)

(96) European Union

(7) The Organization of Petroleum-Exporting States (OPEC) or a similar global trade group

(8) The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) or a similar global military alliance

(9) CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere) Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, or a similar non-governmental organization (NGO).

54. Do the following:

(a) Identify five countries on a map you’d like to learn more about.Discuss the differences between constitutional and nonconstitutional governments.

(b) Name at least five different Identify the types of governments currently in power in the world countries you selected and discuss the similarities and differences of those governments compared to the country where you live. Include differences and similarities in rights, duties, obligations, and privileges of each country’s citizens in your discussion.

(c) Discuss the economy, climate, and natural resources, of the five countries you’ve identified. Discuss how these impact their relationships with their neighbors and with any global partnerships they may be involved in. Show on a world map countries that use each of these five different forms of government.

65. Do the following:

(a) Explain how a government is represented abroad. and how the United States government is accredited to international organizations.

(b) Describe the roles of the following in the conduct of foreign relations.

Ambassador

Consul

Government-sponsored organizations

Non-governmental organizationsBureau of International Information Programs

Agency for International Development

United States and Foreign Commercial Service

(c) Define the following terms: Propaganda, bias, jingoism, nationalism. Discuss how propaganda, bias, jingoism, and nationalism can affect international relations.

(cd) Explain the purpose of a passport and visa for international travel.

76. Do TWO of the following (with your parent or guardian's permission) and share with your counselor what you have learned:

(a) Visit the web site of the U.S. State Department. Learn more about an issue you find interesting that is discussed on this web site. Learn the Scout Oath, Law, Slogan, or Motto of a Scouting movement in a foreign country. In a language not your own, or if you speak a foreign language, recite the Scout Oath, Law, Slogan, or Motto of the Scouting movement you learned about.

(b) Discuss how learning a new language or learning about a culture different than your own can help you better understand others.

(bc) Visit the web site of an international news organization or foreign government, OR examine a foreign newspaper available at your local library, bookstore, or newsstand. Find a news story about a human right realized in the United States that is not recognized in another country. Identify what rights are discussed and whether they are being upheld or abused. Discuss how propaganda, bias, jingoism, or nationalism could distort information presented by news organizations or governments.

(cd) Visit with a student or Scout from another country and discuss the typical values, holidays, ethnic foods, and traditions practiced or enjoyed there.

(de) Attend a world Scout jamboree.

(ef) Participate in or attend an international event in your area, such as an ethnic festival, concert, or play.

More Bull Cookies

 

One: This post has 75 comments.

Two: I've selected the option to see "all comments."

Three: Facebook tells me there are nine comments to the specific response, but flips to this when I click to see the comments.

So I can conclude there is one comment on this post, and the rest argue with or refute the post and its contents, leading me to believe the post and content provider are shoveling bull cookies onto the Internet, else why they hide everything?

Conclusion:

Way too Late at the Movies: Tower

I've wanted to see 2016's documentary "Tower" since I first saw trailers for it.

But as I grew up without cable, I didn't really see a reason to jump on the streaming bandwagon, so it did't happen.

What attracted me was the unusual decision to use animation -- specifically, rotoscoping -- for a major portion of the film, as seen in the trailer:

The film does use the standard documentary elements: Footage from the event, interviews of those involved -- but all the recreations are done with rotoscoped animation, which brings a unique perspective to the documentary. They are, at times, able to show the events from the same point of view as those who were there, and that adds an incredibly visceral element to the film.

The documentary focuses on the shootings at the University of Texas in Austin, in 1966.

At one point, they use Claude Debussy's "Clair de Lune" as part of the soundtrack. It's one of my favorite pieces of music, and at first I objected to its use. But they used it so well, paired with image and voice, that I forgave them.

Little is said about the perpetrator of the shootings -- and I think that's another brave choice. As the shooter was killed 96 minutes into the event, anything they could say about his motivations or emotional state would have been conjecture anyway.

A Weird Little Memory: Not Seeing Candleshoe

Flashback to sometime in the summer of 1977. I would have been about five years or so old. Standing in line at the Mann Theater in Idaho Falls, waiting to get in to see a movie.

I imagine I had older brothers or sisters with me. I don't remember a lot about it. I do remember a theater employee poking his head out of the building -- the line was out the door -- to say that the movie we were there to see, Candleshoe, was sold out.

Maybe we went home. Maybe we did something else. I don't remember. I just remember them shouting that the movie was sold out and we left the line. I probably didn't even know what movie we were there to see.

I have no recollection of the film at all, so I'm sure either we didn't go back to the theater to see it, or it was so unmemorable my young mind just blanked out on it. It's just weird that I have that "movie's sold out" memory stuck in my head.

For a while, I thought the movie I'd been denied a screening of was Sixteen Candles, but as that came out in 1984, that makes a lot less sense. Candleshoe it is.

Also, I know I've never seen Sixteen Candles.

I'm watching a few scenes now just to see if they trigger any memories. I thought for a second the "train chase" was going to connect to a game I used to play in the sandbox, with an old-fashioned car crashing into a ditch over and over. But nothing.

Nothing at all. I don't think I ever saw this movie. But I know we were in line once when it was sold out.

Ding Dong, the Bells are Gonna Chime

This is happening, adding to my happiness and also somewhat to my disconnect from reality, as I'm not sure I'm old enough for this to be happening.

Negative Reality Inversion, or NO ONE COVETETH MY ICE CREAM BAR

This is why sometimes I come to my blog, which no one reads, to do my shouting.

Yesterday, after a rather nasty work-related dream, I awoke feeling rather down on everything.

Circumstances yesterday led to bits of good news after bits of good news in several facets of my life, so today I'm doing a bit better. Can't let that negative mindset rule everything. Or at least try not to let it, too much.

I try not to be a negative person, but sometimes circumstances arise where the negative is what I want to dwell on, and that's not healthy. So many examples out there of people dwelling on the negative. I think about Laman and Lemuel, of course. They stacked up reason upon reason to be upset with their situation when Lehi said God had told him to take his family and flee into the wilderness. They lost their inheritances, their comfort, and at times were wandering the wilderness rather on the hungry side. They didn't believe that their father was indeed in danger for his preaching, or communicating with God in any fashion. Maybe they had glimpses, but rather chose to focus on the negatives, and let those negatives pile up as they collected them like neat rocks from the ground.

It's so easy to do, to collect the negative stuff. I see it every day in people I interact with. I don't want to be part of that world, because it ends in tears.

It's cliche to look at the positives. But that's just the adversary saying it's cool to be negative and to concentrate only on the negative because THAT'S ALL THAT'S GOING TO COME BETTER STRAP IN.

So I'm feeling better about things.

Warning to Wannabe Adults, or YOU COVETETH MY ICE CREAM BAR!

Just don't. Don't aspire. But since time marches on and there's nothing you can do to stop it, I guess be prepared.

If you think you'll get to do more of what you want to do when you're an adult, all I have to say is HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

If you think you'll get away from pettiness and popularity contests, well, see the response above.

I'm dealing with some things right now that I don't really want to enumerate here. Suffice it to say I'm looking for greener pastures careerwise -- and what aspect of career I'm not going to discuss.

I'm looking to exit some things, but to do that, first I have to find people to onboard and disguise my wanting to do this as soon as they're settled:

I think it's fair to say that a good portion of adults you see ambulating about today are only one stolen ice cream bar away from losing it totally. So be warned.

Soon

The house we grew up in, in which we lived until I went on my mission in 1993, is being torn down.

When I came home, Dad had built a new house a few streets over, which was fine. Many happy memories there.

But so many more at the old house.

Albert, my oldest brother, stopped by there today to take some photos. The house is a pretty sorry sight, and actually has been for years. I think it's ready for a rest.

Two sheds that Dad built, the small one first on the right, then the "Pioneer House," which included a built-in bed, wood stove for heat, and other little amenities. It had been a workshop and chicken coop for years before that.

Al in front of the house, with the front door behind him. Not an original tree left in the yard.

Back of the house, with the garage on the left, back door and then on the right the extension Dad built on the house I think either when I was very young or maybe before I was born. Big pine tree, or at least the stump of one, where Dad planted it, along with the cobblestone path to the Pioneer House.

Garden patch, where we pretended to weed and played a lot. I buried a sock full of marbles in there somewhere. Never did find them.

Another shot of the back of the house. Dad built a bedoorm here for he and Mom, along with the "family room," with vaulted ceiling and green carpet. I took over the bedroom for a while. It was nice and quiet there.

Brick wall between the two garage doors, with the weeping mortar worn smooth by many of Al's basketball tricks, "running" up the wall to make a shot.

Full shot of the Pioneer House. When he built it, he used windows from the old church on Lincoln Road where we went to church. These aren't it.

House from the front, with the bedroom wing on the left and kitchen/garage on the right. I wish I had a garage that deep on my property now.

 

Re di Tutto, Ken Mattingly

I've been watching documentaries on the Apollo missions, and they keep using NASA publicity photos like this one of Ken Mattingly, with the astronauts in their spacesuits sans helmets.

I couldn't help but think I'd seen something like this before, and then it hit me: Robin Williams in Terry Gilliam's "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen," from 1988.