Monday, September 30, 2013

Pic of he Day: Sept 30; Yale 4

 This is the detail of above the entrance tothe Library.  It is scholars and different styles of writing.  Gorgeous.
Bonus pic of the library detail under one column.

Quite a Fun Day at the Model Village

Never been to the Model Village before. It was great fun and a beautiful day. 

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Watched Vikings Win at Wembley in UK

Had a great time at Wembley. The Vikings won and it was a good time with friends

Pic of the Day: Sept 29 Yale 3

One of the commons.  Members of the football team are playing in the yard.  In the background is the Library.

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Tyler Green's Duck Pond

Pic of the Day: Sept 28: Yale 2

On-going series of Yale Pictures of the Day while I am in London.
A floor mosaic and statue in the new hall.  The back ground windows look into the old chapel.

Friday, September 27, 2013

Barilla Pasta doesn't want my business

So, if we (or any gay or lesbian friend) comes over for dinner, please don't serve Barilla Pasta. Not so much that we are boycotting (although we will), but Barilla would prefer not to have "the gays" eating.
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The world’s largest pasta company found itself in hot water this week when chairman Guido Barilla did an interview on the Italian radio show “La Zanzara” Wednesday in which he declared, “I would never do an advert with a homosexual family.… I would not do it but not out of a lack of respect for homosexuals who have the right to do what they want without bothering others … [but] I don’t see things like they do and I think the family that we speak to is a classic family…. if [gay people] like our pasta and our message they will eat it; if they don’t like it and they don’t like what we say they will… eat another.” And then, just to put the sauce on the ziti, he added, “Everyone has the right to do what they want without disturbing those around them [but] I have no respect for adoption by gay families because this concerns a person who is not able to choose.” Great, so we can now add Barilla pasta right next to Russia on our list of things that people who care about basic human rights should avoid.
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Well, given that I certainly don't want to upset the CEO / founder.

I am a little ... Judgmental

I don't know if you know, but I can be a little judgmental.
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And, in some cases, a snob.  Not in reference to many things.  I am not a movie or theater snob (or I would have spelt it "theatre").  But with books - yeah, a little.
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And so I have never read Dean Koontz.  Dean Koontz with the 12 million titles because he churns them out like ice cubes.  No one, I assumed, could write so much and write well.  Somehow E.F. Benson escaped this judgment, possibly because he has been dead since the 1930s and his 100+ books were written before TV.
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And yet. I stand corrected.  He may be a horrible writer, or a hack, or whatever, but I sat in the tube a read a book left by a house guest (thank you Muffin) and I am totally digging it.  Odd Apocalypse.   I find his hyperuse of language wonderful.  His florid phrasing, his pages to describe a wave, his off kilter filter - which seems no filter at all.  I like it.
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And so I say, whoops - my bad.

Pic of the Day: Sept 27 Yale 1

Eddie and I are out in London for a Football game for a few days (with Ed's Brother and Sister) - so I have queued up some Yale Pictures from New Haven as Pictures of the Day.
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 This is part of a beautiful Greek floor mosaic they found in a joint Yale / Nat Geo excavation.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Fascinating....

From Popular Science... (LINK)
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Comments can be bad for science. That's why, here at PopularScience.com, we're shutting them off.
It wasn't a decision we made lightly. As the news arm of a 141-year-old science and technology magazine, we are as committed to fostering lively, intellectual debate as we are to spreading the word of science far and wide. The problem is when trolls and spambots overwhelm the former,diminishing our ability to do the latter.
That is not to suggest that we are the only website in the world that attracts vexing commenters.Far from it. Nor is it to suggest that all, or even close to all, of our commenters are shrill, boorish specimens of the lower internet phyla. We have many delightful, thought-provoking commenters.
But even a fractious minority wields enough power to skew a reader's perception of a story, recent research suggests. In one study led by University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Dominique Brossard, 1,183 Americans read a fake blog post on nanotechnology and revealed in survey questions how they felt about the subject (are they wary of the benefits or supportive?). Then, through a randomly assigned condition, they read either epithet- and insult-laden comments ("If you don't see the benefits of using nanotechnology in these kinds of products, you're an idiot" ) or civil comments. The results, as Brossard and coauthor Dietram A. Scheufele wrote in a New York Times op-ed:
Uncivil comments not only polarized readers, but they often changed a participant's interpretation of the news story itself.
In the civil group, those who initially did or did not support the technology — whom we identified with preliminary survey questions — continued to feel the same way after reading the comments. Those exposed to rude comments, however, ended up with a much more polarized understanding of the risks connected with the technology.
Simply including an ad hominem attack in a reader comment was enough to make study participants think the downside of the reported technology was greater than they'd previously thought.
Another, similarly designed study found that just firmly worded (but not uncivil) disagreements between commenters impacted readers' perception of science.

I fear he speaks to the converted.

Why Did Ed SO Dislike Big Fish on Broadway

Well, we went to see Big Fish last night on our legal anniversary (5 years legally married - now in 10 states or so).
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Anyway, Ed did not like it one bit.  I mean, so much so that he left at intermission.
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I stayed, I didn't mind it - and in fact loved Bobby Steggert and Normal Leo Butz.
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Why the annoyance? you ask.
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 Well, let's say much of it was due to Jerry Mitchell (my father - not the musical theater director).  Edwin Bloom - the father - is a compulsive exaggerator (read liar); much like my father was a compulsive liar.  And, like my father, he did it for no good reason - even when he son simply begged for the truth.
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Edwin from the movie
Now, in film version there is the quick cut away from Albert Finney (as old Edwin) to Ewan McGregor (as the young Edwin).  And in the flash back, the young Edwin seems somehow inncocent and wide-eyed.  He stories play almost as the truth - which no one else can see  Where as in the Broadway show, Norman Leo Butz plays both - and the lies are all too apparent.
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And yet somehow, somehow, one is suppose to feel and think that  all this lying was done for some "pure" reason.  Maybe to bond with his son - although he doesn't bother to bond.  To make their time together more special - when the son really just wants to talk and maybe throw a ball.  Or to spark his imagination.  Dad is on the road all the time - and when he is there, he isn't there mentally.
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Clearly this was written by some absent father looking for a get of jail free card - or a son who really really needs more therapy.  Big Fish worked on screen as a fable, a fairy tale.  It fails on stage because the lead character is a charming, emotionally distant liar (and the Jerry Mitchell connection becomes clear).
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Having said that, Norm Leo Butz was amazing.  He is on stage nearly every moment.  And Bobby Steggert has the vocal chops for anything.  That's the pros.
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The negatives - aside from the lying, absent, worthless father... Edwin spends a long time dying.  A really long time.  An Evita (on stage - not the movie) amount of time.
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Dad ruins the wedding with inappropriate remarks after being begged to stay quiet.  He was a dick.

And a criminal misuse of Krystal Joy Brown as the wife of Bobby Steggert. I mean, good for casting a beautiful woman of color.  Shame for not letting this gal rock at least 1 song.  I saw her in Leap of Faith and she rocks.  Instead she literally (and I mean it literally not figuratively) says the message with a line like, "Can't you see Will, your father joined the circus to find love?" right after the circus story.  Painful.

ObamaCare is SO BAD... it would have Cut Lynn's Bill in half.

So a lot of people are looking at Obama care and seeing the cost of a monthly insurance.  These are pre-tax rebates costs - and people are freaking out.  Those people have never tried to buy individual health care.
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Our good friend Lynn was self-employed and an  extremely health woman in late 40s when she had to purchase Health Care on her own.  She was an independent contractor before it was cool (i.e., before people started ONLY hiring "independent contractors").
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As a healthy woman in her 40s, with no major existing conditions, the LOWEST premium she could find in California was $750 a month.  You read that right.  Health care costs are fucking crazy.  And this was over a decade ago - so who knows now with pricing raises.
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Now with ObamaCare - the lowest will be less than $300 a month.  You and I may think - absent of a benchmark - that is a lot.  Trust me, for someone who has had to buy single payer insurance on the open market - it is great.
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If Only There was a Plop Plop Fizz Fizz for National Nincompoopery

If only there was a “plop plop, fizz fizz” for idiots.  And in September, Idiocy, thy name is Republicans.
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Let us count the ways, shall we.   (Note - LINKS are listed because some of this is so asinine you wouldn't believe me without back up.)
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First President Obama painted himself into a corner on Syria, defining a red line then dithering over how to implement it.  Ultimately he went to Congress, which was (and rightly so) called out as an act of desperation.  
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But Republicans, eager to twist the knife, couldn’t decide how to do it.  Should they attack from the right (“Obama is weak by coming to Congress”) or the isolationist left (“Obama is a dictator by committing to war”). 

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Ultimately they decided to do both; with the McCain / King contingent going beating chest crazy and the Paul / Cruz group going ostrich head in the sand crazy.  The Crazy Kremlin President, Putin, actually proved more helpful than our elected representatives.  And nicer! – his single snotty Op Ed  was a veritable whisper compared to the reams of feces throwing by the right wing monkeys.
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And what of Obamacare, which kicks in next month? Well the Republicans voted in the House to defund it (votes 41 and 42 on the subject this year – both as useless as ever).  
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Republicans launched a weirdly creepy series of anti-Obamacare ads urging young people NOT to get health care.  The highlight was a Gioant Uncle Sam puppet head giving a gyno examine. (don't worry there is a prostrate exam one  too - Republicans have a fascination with anal intrusion and Obama - don't get me started). 
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And Senator Ted Cruz staged a 21 hour talk-a-thon, which wasn’t a filibuster because no vote was contingent on it.  He said he would talk until they carried him out to silence him, but then refused the extra time Senate leader Harry Reid offered him because – well he had interviews to give about how Democrats wouldn't let him talk.
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If you are not from America you might ask what this is about.  
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I will explain but you would swear I am making it up.  The Republicans object to provision that prevent health insurers from covering everyone (regardless of pre-existing conditions), keeping university students on their parents coverage until age 26, and lowering self-purchased coverage. 
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Now, to pay for this, they require everyone to have health insurance, since hospitals must provide health care to everyone regardless of coverage.  Republicans are trying to torpedo it by encourage young people not to sign up, therefor bankrupting the system (although the system is backed by the United States Government, so they are encouraging – well who the fuck knows...  They are just mad as hornets).  Does it effect those people who have health insurance now?  No.  Nothing changes if you have health insurance or Medicare – which is why Republicans – the party of the white and well off – object to any help of anyone who is not them.
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The new President of Iran is speaking reasonably any responsibly – and so Republicans are responding in a like manner – reasonable and measured.  
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Psych!  First person to find an elected officials on the House or Senate that has a measured reasonable response (in full –not just the sound bite) wins a unicorn.  
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Actually on this, both the Republicans AND the Democrats are nuts.  The Republicans because of the daffy Tea Party and the Democrats out of a deep seated fear of appearing soft when it comes to Israel’s security.
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The new Pope came out and said the church should start focusing more on serving the people and the poor than spouting right wing talking points (I love Pope Francis).  
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Peter LaBarbera - Republican crazy President of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (and frequent right wing evangelical speaker)- understands why: According to LaBarbera,  “Satan’s earthly minions” concocted a plan to bring gay men into the priesthood so they can “seduce and molest” boys in order to discredit and weaken the Church’s authority to condemn homosexuality. LaBarbera now fears that the Pope is giving ammunition to “pro-homosexuality and pro-abortion militants” to further their goal of bringing “corruption and destruction to many institutions.”LINK
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E. W. Jackson, Official Republican Candidate for Lt. Governor in Virginia this November lashed out at the Pope, proclaiming that he knows more about how awful gays are than the Pope and he was called by God to run for Lt. Governor.  LINK
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Anything else Scott?  These are a little mundane.”  Yes, international relations and health care for the uninsured and some foreigner with a big miter - they are not something that we really care about.  Let’s see.  
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Deadbeats
Well... the Republicans cut $40 Billion out of Food Stamps (money for the working poor that is only allowed to be used for food) to save money.  Of course they raised Agri-business subsidies by over $100 Billion, so that money (which goes to corporations and corporate farmers) had to come from somewhere.  
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A Republican (Ken Blackwell of Ohio) says “nothing more Christian” than “not locking people into a permanent dependency on government handouts, but making sure they are participants in their own upliftment and empowerment so that they in fact through the dignity of work and can break from the plantation of big government.” LINK  So not feeding the poor is like being a good Christian and freeing the slaves.
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And remember last year when the Republicans in the House complained that the Senate hadn’t passed a Budget in 4 years because they were afraid to go on record on their spending – well in answer the Senate promptly passed a budget.  But the House won’t pass a budget now because – HONESTLY – they are afraid that when the 2 different budgets go to committee, they were will be a conference and they might have to compromise – like the Constitution says.  So they haven’t bitched about that in a few months. LINK
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Now NSA can spy on you via your computer, your phone, and your email.  They can lock you up, keep you off a plane and detain you without charges if you are an enemy combatant or possible terrorist.  
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However we can all feel safe... because even if you are on the terrorist watch list, you can purchase a semi-automatic rifle and all the ammo that the Great and Powerful Oz tells you to.  
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You can’t fly, but you can by a semi-automatic weapon  
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This year, North Carolina finally joined progressive states like Texas and Yemen - and repealed those pesky laws that prohibited guns from schools, church’s and bars.  So go have a drink after Sunday School (oh yea, the NRA is fighting to lower the age limit on gun owners).and enough ammo to take out a theater, school or Naval facility.
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Starbucks asked people, politely, not to bring their guns to Starbucks (he didn't ban them, just requested - LINK). The response was "I'll bring my guns where ever the hell I want."
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And that was September for the Republicans.
I need a cigarette now....

Pic of the Day: Sept 26

Continuing the theme of animals in picture of the day.  This is a herd of elephants with juveniles and one very small baby.  We watched for almost 30 minutes as the baby learned (or tried to learn ) to use his trunk.  It was like watching a some use chopsticks to eat soup.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Murder For Two Gets a (new) Life at New World Stages


Pope Goofus and Pope Gallant

Remember Goofus and Gallent - if you didn't read Highlights ® you might not. ( FYI - I read Highlights ® for years when I was little and thought ® was just part of the name - I didn't know it was a registered trademark item.. but I digress).

If you don't remember, here is an example.

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Why bring this up, you ask?  Because we now have Pope Gallant (Francis) and Pope Goofus (emeritus Pope Benedict).  And while Pope Gallant is  building goodwill for all, and reminding people why the church is a wonderful thing, Pope Goofus just can't keep his big Hitler Youth trap shut.
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Pope Gallant
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Pope Gallant thinks dwelling on political issues takes away from the church's mission to the poor, the needy and those looking for spiritual comfort. 

Pope Goofus
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Pope Goofus says "We didn't touch them that much."