Elec-tion-tricity

This is a first for me, posting with my phone over the cellular network. The power is off here, due to a long-delayed utility project in the center of town. Scheduling work on this election day shows some very poor judgment.

Update: I’m using my phone as a wi-fi hotspot for my laptop PC, which is something I have done before. The power is supposed to be on by 10 AM and it’s 8:30 now… and just a few minutes later it’s back.

You know how people get with giant lottery jackpots? “You can’t win if you don’t play” is their logic. But on election day those same people have the attitude, “Why bother? My vote doesn’t count.”

Mother Russia Music

I consider Trump’s bromance buddy Putin to be so bad he’s something of a throwback to Stalin. Soviet-era composer Dmitri Shostakovich, after falling out of favor with Stalin, got back in Joseph’s good graces with his fifth symphony. It’s a favorite of mine, so I have that much in common with a brutal dictator. I wonder if Vlad the Invader likes it, too?

Fred Rogers, Communist

I became aware of the John Birch Society almost sixty years ago when, as a child in Norwalk, Connecticut, I saw the conspiracy-obsessed organization participate in a 4th of July parade. There was a Bircher chapter in nearby Bridgeport, as mentioned in this NPR report.


NONE of the crazy assertions made by the John Birch Society came to pass. A rational person would eventually realize they’re on the wrong side of reality, but fanatics aren’t rational.

Following the Fellowship

Illustration by J.R.R. Tolkien

Brian Sibley’s 1981 adaptation of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings for the BBC garners well-deserved praise on Screen Rant.

https://screenrant.com/lord-of-the-rings-bbc-radio-adaptation-overcomes-trilogy-problem/

With Archive.org recovering from its recent hack attack, you can now listen to Brian’s radio play.

https://archive.org/details/lord-of-the-rings-10_202401/Lord+of+the+Rings+01.mp3