Category Archives: Muddled Musings

Florence and the Debris

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Murun-kuren Goldbrown upon the sated flood
The rockvine clusters lift and sway;
Vast wings above the lambent waters brood
Of sullen day.

A waste of waters ruthlessly
Sways and uplifts its weedy mane
Where brooding day stares down upon the sea
In dull disdain.

Uplift and sway, O golden vine,
Your clustered fruits to love’s full flood,
Lambent and vast and ruthless as is thine
Incertitude!

— James Joyce, Flood

You Mean I Didn’t Win Publisher’s Clearinghouse?

 

I recently stumbled upon the above graph, done by some folks at Adobe, the company that wants more updates from me than my mother. Image result for funny adobe meme

Normally I am poll-dubious. And not just for 2016’s bungled projection. I quit putting my faith in them when I learned that almost every major poll service — Gallup, Pew, the major networks — conduct surveys over landline telephones.

Who under 40 owns a landline? How do not contaminate poll results by ignoring entire demographics?

As we learned 20 months ago, you can’t.

But this one was done by nerdlingers well versed in the world wide intertubes. So that’s gotta be right. Right?

Yet I find I’m dubious once more. Consider what respondents considered annoying:

Notice that every “annoyance” contains nary a rude word in it. Most simply confirm the receipt of information. Some include said information, possibly for a second time, just to be sure. One actually begins with the word “Please.” Another “Sorry.” What a new Iron(y) Age we inhabit.

The lesson here: dorks are no better at gauging public sentiment than wonks.

And you know the data is questionable: Not one aggravating email contained the words “horny,” Nigerian prince,” “MILFs” or “IMF Foreign Payment (which came today. Apparently, my Master Card will be credited $10.5 million after a small transaction fee. So long, suckers.)

And, in less dubious news, fellow bitches, just the Factslaps:

  • In the 1800s, ducks were called ‘arsefeet’ because their feet are so close to their bottoms. Image result for duck's feet
  • The world’s billionaires made enough money in 2017 to end extreme poverty seven times over.
  • A male cheetah can make a female ovulate by barking at her. Image result for male and female cheetahs
  • In 1568, the Catholic Church condemned the entire population of The Netherlands to death for heresy.
  • Only 41% of items on to-do lists are ever actually done.Image result for funny to do list
  • In 1932, Winston Churchill went to a hotel in Munich two days in a row to have tea with Hitler. Hitler stood him up both times and the two men never met. Image result for churchill hitler
  • A bird caused the Large Hadron Collider to be turned off in 2009 after it dropped a piece of baguette into it. Image result for large hadron collider
  • There are enough nuclear shelters in Switzerland to house the entire population.

John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018)

 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead.   Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

In Flanders Fields, Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae.