(no subject)

1. Most of the news is just frustrating, rage-inducing, triggering, and depressing. As Lando recently told me, it appears in this society that you have to possess a narcissistic personality disorder to become successful. But I did find a few interesting tid-bits in my scroll through:

* Why Reading Aloud Helps You Remember More Information -- hee. I now feel validated for reading stuff aloud.

* Ancestry DNA Tests - How Reliable Are They

Apparently, it depends on what you are looking for.

Question: Will my DNA test tell me which country my ancestors came from?

Answer: No. DNA traces to geographic areas, not to specific countries or states. For example, it can link DNA to eastern Europe or Scandinavia, but it can't tell you if your ancestors were born in Germany, or Arkansas, for that matter. But records can help pinpoint those locations.

Q: What else will the ancestry test show me?

A: You will get a list of relatives who have tested with that same company and a general estimate of how you are related (such as first or second cousin, distant cousin).These lists can be lengthy.

Q: Once I do a DNA test, can everyone see my results and any other information on the company’s website?

A: You can mark your information private or public. A public setting would show your ethnic information, the family tree you build and your contact information. People can’t see your personal information unless you give them permission.

Q: What does the DNA testing company do with my information?

A: The companies all say they keep your raw DNA data secure. Read the company’s policy prior to testing to be sure you are comfortable with it.

* The Complicated Legacy of a Panda Who Was Really Good at Sex (yes, my thoughts, exactly. And no, the article isn't as interesting as the title -- unfortunately.)

* Voyager Fires Dormant Thrusters for First time in 37 Years

The set of four small thrusters came online Wednesday after NASA engineers noticed the spacecraft’s attitude control thrusters had been degrading for several years. Those served to make minute adjustments to the craft’s orientation to keep its antenna pointed back at Earth and maintain communications with us as it flies through space. Thankfully, Voyager also has another similar set, called trajectory control maneuver thrusters, that were used in the years after its launch to guide the craft around the various planets it passed on the way out of the solar system.

Past Saturn, though, those thrusters were no longer needed and they went cold. Now, almost four decades later, they’ve come back to life without a hitch to take over for the failing attitude control thrusters. The feat required engineers to unearth data from decades ago, as well as refamiliarize themselves with an outdated computer language. Using the thrusters will take some extra energy, a precious commodity for the aging spacecraft, but NASA says the maneuver will add a few years to the mission’s life.

Traveling at almost 40,000 miles per hour, Voyager 1 is one of the fastest things we’ve ever put into space. It’s currently over 13 billion miles away from our planet and passed into interstellar space back in 2012. Data still flows from Voyager to Earth, though it takes around 19 hours to make the trip. That trickle of information will stop in 2025 when the radioisotope thermoelectric generators cease to provide enough power to run any instruments. But for the moment, we’re still in contact with humanity’s most distant envoy. And, it seems Voyager’s still got a few tricks up its sleeve.

[If only other things in our society were this efficient.]

2. Read Entertainment Weekly...

* Ridely Scott (the director behind Alien and Bladerunner) just erased Kevin Spacey from his film, All the Money in the World (based on the true story of the John Paul Getty III kidnapping), and inserted Christopher Plummer. He did it in a months time, re-filmed key scenes, and re-edited. So Kevin was never in the movie, he's been completely deleted from it. When asked why, Scott said he felt it was the right thing to do. What Spacey did should not be tolerated and he should be penalized for it, but not all the other people associated with the film who worked hard on it. Solution? Delete him.

I honestly think this is a game-changer.

* Crazy Ex-Girl Friend is filming an episode with a 100 hit songs...and one of them is about how romantic love is selfish and we're better off without it. LOL!

I did read in a previous EW issue an interview with Rachel Bloom (creator, writer and star of the series) who stated what her intent was behind it:

This is my favorite season. This has been the season I've always wanted to do. In my head, it always did feel like the first two seasons were a prequel. This is the promise of the premise of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - the idea of someone who is fully becoming this trope, but we examine it from her point of view. It's the full exploration of that premise.

This actually explains a lot about the series. It really is a satirical exploration of a trope. The title is meant to be taken literally.

Reminds me a little bit of what Joss Whedon was doing with Buffy the Vampire Slayer -- exploring a trope, and satirizing it at the same time. Just about every name in that series is a play on words.
Or an ironic take on it.

Except Crazy Ex isn't meant to be taken ironically or metaphorically, it's more literal. So subverting the trope by just embracing it fully?

* Films that look interesting:

- Star Wars: The Last Jedi -- it looks like it may be a game-changer. Also appears to be going rather dark? With Luke being set up as an anti-hero?

- The Shape of Water -- sort of the Creature of the Black Lagoon meets Children of a Lesser God via some government conspiracy flick?

- The Great Showman -- I like the trailer. It's the PT Barnum story about building a circus set to music.

A friend of mine has seen Justice League twice now and told me it was wonderful. She loved it.
That if you ignore the backstory, it's a great action flick. Does it's job and is surprisingly hopeful. However...she hates most of the Chris Nolan Batman flicks. Couldn't re-watch them, found them boring. But her favorite Marvel flicks I agree with - Civil War, Winter Solider, Iron Man 1 and III, Thor:Raganorak.

I don't know. Current plan is to see "Lady Bird" with former best-friend on Friday.

(no subject)

While laughing at the Carol Burnette 50th Anniversary Special, I got curious about the Kevin Spacey allegations and fell down the proverbial rabbit hole. (ie. I found out more than I wanted to, and just enough to realize I'm not going to be able to watch this man in anything without it in the back of my head. He joins Mel Gibson, Bill Cosby and Woody Allen in that...arena.)

( warning content can be triggering )

2. The Carol Burnett show aired mainly in the 1970s. I remember watching it in reruns and on Saturday nights as a kid. Along with the Saturday Night Western. We didn't watch it all the time, since my family isn't really into sketch comedy, we preferred the more witty British series.

The Carol Burnett Show (also Carol Burnett and Friends in syndication) is an American variety/sketch comedy television show starring Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, and Lyle Waggoner. In 1975, frequent guest star Tim Conway became a regular after Waggoner left the series. In 1977, Dick Van Dyke replaced Korman for much of its final season (but he left the show by Thanksgiving, on friendly terms). The show originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in the fall of 1991. The series originated in CBS Television City's Studio 33, and won 25 primetime Emmy Awards, was ranked number 16 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time in 2002, and in 2007 was listed as one of Time magazine's 100 Best TV Shows of All Time.

It was live and had a lot of improvisational comedians, specifically Tim Conway, who often did things that no one knew he was going to do ahead of time. One of the most famous is below:

Everyone loses it, including Dick Van Dyke who falls off the couch.

( Tim Conway's Elephant Story )

3. Super's wife, Monica, stopped by, she speaks rapidly and in a thick Polish accent and is holding a clip board with a pen that barely works.


Monica: Is your apartment cold or hot?
ME: Well the air conditioning is currently on, so hot.
Monica: Are you sure?
Me: Yeah. It's too hot in the bedroom and sometimes cool in the living room, if windy.
Monica: Someone upstairs has contacted a lawyer and is complaining about it being too hot, but we spent up until 11PM fixing the boiler and if they turn down the heat everyone is cold, 50 some tenants complained last time, and and the management company would be fine about turning it down, saves money...
Me: I have the A/C on. Want to come in and see for yourself?
Monica: No, no. Tell the truth if you must, if you could write it here. People next to you are fine.
Me: Depends on where you are located. If you are facing the courtyard or backyards, too hot, if you are facing the street too cold.
Monica: if you could write here?
Me: Okay. (it's close to impossible the pen doesn't work. So find another one, it doesn't either...apparently it's the paper? Very weird.) Here it is.
Monica: Bad pen? Too many people using it?
Me: OR bad paper.
She looks confused and wanders off to the next door.

I put on the fan.

So now I have the fan and the a/c on, while the radiators are hissing to life. LOL!.

Sigh, what can I say, NYC apartments and radiators.