I looked up the definition of "facism" on Bing..."an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization". So henceforth, in light of the attempted coup d'état instigated by Donald Trump and carried out by his personality-cult-transfixed worshippers when they stormed the Capitol during Congress's counting of the Electoral College vote certifying Joseph Biden as the next president, I am now classifying those senators and representatives voting to object to the count and thereby overturn our democratic election as "fascist", no longer Republican. I am also calling Trump, who expressed approval of the defeat of his own party's US Senate candidates from Georgia, a "fascist" along the lines of Mussolini, Hitler, and Franco. But not Vice-President Pence, who in the final hour has demonstrated courage in the face of God knows how much pressure to conform to Trump's dictatorial agenda. Here is a link to the list of who I consider to be fascist traitors...including Kat Cammack, my own newly-sworn in (to uphold the US Constitution) representative and my senator Rick Scott: [Congressional Objectors List]. By the way, a poll recorded that 45% of Republicans at large approved of the insurrection yesterday: they're fascists as well, in my estimation...
Thursday, January 7, 2021
New Celestron Telescope
Melissa gave me a very interesting Christmas present this year: a Celestron Powerseeker 127EQ reflector telescope that promises to open up the nighttime sky in much enhanced detail for me. I haven't yet assembled it, though. I'd like to get more backyard privacy first in order to use it without the neighbors freaking out. Putting it together shouldn't be that difficult, especially with a number of YouTube "how to" videos to assist. January, usually marked by dry, cool weather and clear skies here in northern Florida, is the best month for star-gazing with Orion, the most spectacular constellation of all, high in the southern sky...but regardless of the time or season there should always be something interesting to see. I greatly look forward to viewing the moon and planets in greater detail as well as nebulae, star clusters and galaxies. Stay tuned...
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
Weekly Short Stories: 1967 Science Fiction, Part 3
Tuesday, January 5, 2021
Recap of My List of 100 All-Time Favorite Songs
Monday, January 4, 2021
More About the COVID-19 Vaccination Process
Back in my New Years Day article I expressed some of my frustrations about COVID-19 and the early vaccination process. I'm 64 and "just" too young to make the cutoff for seniors getting priority, and my state's governor is refusing to honor the federal guidelines giving "essential" workers the next round...postal workers are included in that classification which Ron Desantis has decided to deemphasize. So I've basically fallen through the cracks and will need to wait. That may be just as well seeing how disorganized the vaccine distribution and administration process has been during the last several days...hopefully by the time my "turn" comes up they'll have worked out the snags and we'll be flooded with available vaccines. In the meantime I will have to work around many who absolutely refuse to wear masks or socially distance, putting my health and safety...as well as that of my wife...at greater risk. There's a misguided proposal to delay needed second doses of the vaccine...very bad idea, which I've been told will only give the virus much more opportunity to mutate and resist further attempts to control it down the line. I'm not judging people if they choose not to vaccinate for the coronavirus, but they can at least wear masks and socially distance...to me any refusal to do that is an open act of aggression and should be treated as an assault on others...
Sunday, January 3, 2021
Great Old TV Episodes: from the Original Star Trek
Saturday, January 2, 2021
2021 Brings Opportunities for Positive Change
I think many of us are happy to have a "break" in the times with this New Year of 2021...even if it is only artificial. After all, we still have the same old people around us with their same old attitudes to contend with...and we're still the same old people we were in 2020, complete with our own baggage. As for me, I like these opportunities to resolve to do things a bit better...take them to a higher level, I say. Nothing revolutionary, but live my daily life in a smarter way that works better for me and my loved ones. It's always a good exercise to examine one's own life and see specific areas to work on...I have my own and have written them out. Now I need to implement these changes by making habits of them, incorporating them into my daily routine without a lot of fanfare. I hope the coming year brings blessings and opportunities for positive, constructive change to you and your own loved ones...
Friday, January 1, 2021
Quote of the Week...from Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris
Thursday, December 31, 2020
This Blog to Leave Facebook Starting Tomorrow, 1/1/21
My blog URL is wmirwinsblog.blogspot.com. I mention this because starting New Years Day 2021, tomorrow, I will no longer be posting links to it on Facebook or Twitter. I am fed up with these social media platforms for a number of reasons and decided that I couldn't take them anymore...if you can, then the more power to you. I don't know whether or not I'll eventually shut down my accounts, but for the time being I'm done with posting on them, and with no intention to return. For those of you who like to read this blog, and for the smaller number who like to give me feedback, I'm still continuing with it as usual and can be accessed with the above URL. I also welcome comments, which you can make by viewing the blog article in question in web format (not phone app format)...at the bottom is a window to write your reaction, which I'll receive and review before posting it. And with this system, you can comment and request that I don't publish it, and I will comply! When I began this blog project in 2007 I intended it to be a disciplined exercise in daily writing, and my goal is still the same. For the first two or three years I received comments ranging the globe and felt I was a part of the burgeoning community of bloggers. But then Facebook exploded onto the scene and the number of active blogs and bloggers drastically contracted...my solution was to post links to my articles on that social media site, with mixed results. So now I'm off Facebook (and Twitter), but my blog's still out there in the great, wide blogosphere. Wishing all of you a healthy and prosperous New Year!
My December 2020 Running and Walking Report
For December 2020 I ran a total of 92 miles and walked for 118. I missed five running days for various reasons and my longest single run was for 7.5 miles and another one at 6.7...both coming near the beginning of the month. I don't see much change in my running and walking for the near future and don't see myself, in this COVID pandemic environment, engaging in any public races whether they're offered or not. I'm basically in a holding pattern with running and walking right now...maybe in the future after things start to get back to normal I might hit the gym more and try longer distances again. But not right now...
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Weekly Short Stories: 1967 Science Fiction, Part 2
Here my reactions to the next four entries from the retroactive anthology World's Best Science Fiction 1968, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr and covering what they selected from the previous year's works. One of the attractions to these kinds of year-to-year anthologies is the introduction section, both to the book and to each individual story. By reading them you get a better sense of the authors' writing approaches, as well as some suggestions leading to other recommended stories of theirs. Looking back on 1967 in my life, I spent a good part of my time that summer climbing trees...behind my old elementary school near my house they had some Australian pines tailor-made for that activity. Now whenever I walk past a tree in my own neighborhood...or anywhere else for that matter...I feel compelled to appraise it for its possibilities and how high up I could go (at least if I were still ten years old like I was in '67)...
Tuesday, December 29, 2020
Just Finished Reading Empire by Clifford Simak
Clifford D. Simak (1904-88) was primarily a short story science fiction and western writer for about twenty years before he began to tackle the longer novel form...Empire was his third published novel, from 1951. The story's premise is simple and understandable enough...that is, until the author gets bogged down with his presentation of the "science" behind the outlandish discoveries dictating its resolution. Humanity is sometime off in the not-too-distant future and has settled several planets and moons in our solar system. But the kind of explosive progress in space exploration and settlement that could happen is being stymied by one company's monopoly on energy throughout the system. Two pipe-smoking scientists, however, are working on a discovery that promises to revolutionize the extraction of energy and shift the rules of the game away from the monopolist and put them into the hands of the people. Spoiler warning: I'm now going to discuss the novel's ending, so if you're planning to read it you might want to stop here. Empire's characters were okay but the way the two hero scientists manipulate time and distance to defeat their monopolistic foe reminded me of TV shows like Bewitched in which ordinary people are made to look like fools whenever Samantha decides to twitch her little nose. The ending made little sense to me...the way was made open for folks to freely settle the planets and other star systems and establish their mines: for what? For with their "two fields" theory, the scientists can instantaneously provide essentially free energy, instantaneously see and hear anywhere (in the universe), instantaneously go anywhere (in the universe), and travel in time. And they're going to make these gifts available to everybody: sounds like a nightmare scenario to me instead of a happy ending. I like Clifford Simak's writing, with The Big Front Yard and City ranking high among my favorite science fiction short stories and novels, respectively. Empire, though, represented a step backward from his deserved greatness. Still, it's a short read and you might find yourself laughing at it as I did...
Monday, December 28, 2020
My Personal Top Favorite Songs of 2020
Sunday, December 27, 2020
Great Old TV Episodes: from The Twilight Zone
THE OLD MAN IN THE CAVE from The Twilight Zone (1963)
I'm considering today's entry on this blog as the first one in a new weekly series, where I pick a particular episode from one of the old television series I used to watch and discuss it. Before long you might discern that the pool of TV series I draw from is relatively limited...sad to say, in the past thirty years or so I haven't been all that enchanted with what's been offered out there. Still, having grown up a complete TV addict ever since I was a crib-shaking, paint-eating rebellious little baby, I have plenty of material to keep this going for quite a while. For today I picked an old Twilight Zone episode, from 1963: The Old Man in the Cave...
It's ten years after a nuclear war holocaust and one man is leading his small group of people through survival. He goes off and consults periodically with an "old man in the cave" who gives reports of radiation levels and which foods are edible and which are contaminated and deadly. The people want desperately to return to the old "normal" times but grudgingly follow their leader...that is, until three armed renegade soldiers, led by a young, charismatic James Coburn, convince them to overthrow him and eat and drink all their canned and bottled items. After all, it looks and tastes good, so it must be okay, right? The old man in the cave represents the knowledge and authority of science while Coburn's character stands for the demagogues who feed off the fears and inconvenience experienced by the population to lead them astray. The applications of this episode to today's situation with the coronavirus pandemic and those who deny it and refuse to wear face coverings, socially distance, or avoid large gatherings should be obvious...
Next week: another TV episode from the past...
Saturday, December 26, 2020
Sitting at Starbucks Recalling Old Training Run
I enjoyed Christmas yesterday with my family...I hope you're enjoying the holiday season as well. I'm going in to work today, even though it's my "off day"...looks like they're seriously short-staffed: no problem! Right now I'm sitting outside my nearest Starbucks with the temperature here in Gainesville around 40 degrees, a little past noon on what may be the coldest day (and night) of the year. I'm looking at a couple, heavily clad, jogging down the path on the other side of NW 43rd Street, reminding me of my memorable Christmas run ten years ago. That afternoon Melissa had been called in to work, and I decided to go out to see how far I could run. It was around 60 degrees and overcast to the point of being dark even though it was only mid-to-early afternoon when I began the run, which took me winding through one subdivision after another until I was far west of Devil's Milhopper on NW 53rd Avenue...then I made my way gradually back. Through the entire run I encountered almost nobody...it was a virtual ghost town that yuletide day in 2010 with one stark exception: while passing through Felasco Park off NW 43rd Street...just a short walk from where I'm sitting right now...I passed a huge family of people walking the other way: they seemed Middle Eastern or Iranian in appearance as we smiled at each other. By the time I was back in my own home area the skies were turning black with the night...just when I reached my "runner's block" at around 20 miles it began to rain and I returned home soaked. Now that's the kind of training run I long for! I'd still like to try it all again, but I think it would be at a much slower pace, with more walking breaks interspersed. Well, I think I'd better fold up this laptop before my hands freeze off and get on to work...
Friday, December 25, 2020
Merry Christmas
I'd like to take this moment to wish all of you a happy holiday today...Merry Christmas! May peace, joy, health, prosperity, wisdom...and love...all be abundant in your lives!
Thursday, December 24, 2020
Free Pluto TV Has James Bond Channel
Around my family recently the question came up about what I wanted for Christmas...struggling to come up with something, I responded that I'd like a James Bond DVD since I enjoy watching that spy movie series. My daughter Rebecca then informed me that there is a free channel on Roku called Pluto which plays James Bond movies 24/7, with other channels devoted to genre-based films and specific television series like Star Trek and MacGyver. I checked it out and can now confidently state that at any given moment in time (when I'm free to watch TV) I can find myself watching one of the 007 movies, stretching back from the first, Dr. No, from 1962 all the way through Die Another Day, from 2002...it does seem that the most recent ones featuring Daniel Craig as Bond are excluded, though, and you don't pick the movie but rather watch what's been scheduled: that works for me. The channels on Pluto do include commercial breaks, which I am totally okay with...gives me opportunities to run to the kitchen or bathroom! Another channel, Tubi, provides all 17 episodes of the British science fiction series The Prisoner starring the late Patrick McGoohan...and it's also possible to access McGoohan's previous spy series Danger Man, marketed in the U.S. as Secret Agent Man with the famous Johnny Rivers theme song. Not that I have the time to watch all this stuff, but it's nice to have this option with the Bond flicks. Now all they need to do is come up with a Clint Eastwood channel...
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Weekly Short Stories: 1967 Science Fiction, Part 1
Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Just Finished Reading Glory Road by Robert Heinlein
Robert Heinlein was considered one of the greatest American science fiction writers of the past century, penning such works as Stranger in a Strange Land, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and Starship Troopers. He's also written many renowned short stories in the genre, which I've reviewed on this blog. I just finished reading his 1964 novel Glory Road, which I didn't like as much as the others although it was acclaimed at the time. In it a young man, Gordon, has just left the army after a stint in Vietnam in which he was classified as a "military advisor" but engaged in actual combat...he is something of an adventurer and is uncertain about what he wants to do with his future. He meets a beautiful young woman, Star, and eventually gets drawn with her on a quest as he progressively discovers her importance, not only on Earth but throughout the multiverse. Although on the surface Glory Road presented itself as a fantasy adventure with a lot of action sections, I got the distinct impression that Heinlein used the story primarily as a framework in which to insert his personal views of military valor and toughness and a libertarian perspective on society...especially concerning relationships and sex. His protagonist Gordon, later named "Oscar", tells the narrative from the first-person viewpoint, complete with his own assumptions about people along with a liberal use of colloquial, idiomatic and slang language...that part I kind of liked and thought funny. As I said, I didn't think that Glory Road was his best novel, but I'm glad I read it and think that it captures a certain mindset that prevailed among many living back then and even now...
Monday, December 21, 2020
My #1 All-Time Favorite Song: These Are My Twisted Words by Radiohead
THESE ARE MY TWISTED WORDS, by the British rock band Radiohead, is my all-time top favorite song. It never was released as a single and appears on none of their albums. The only reason I ever discovered its existence was that in late 2010 I happened to be on the band's website and they were offering it as a free download. Download it I did, then put it on my MP3 player...and during the dark and dreary days of that winter...the last truly cold one we've experienced here in Gainesville... I listened to it often on my ultra-long distance runs through one neighborhood after another. Looking back I cannot listen to it without associating it with that wonderful and interesting time...but association alone doesn't make a song Number One, does it? These Are My Twisted Words begins with a two-and-a-half minute dreamy instrumental sequence of layered guitars...along with an electronic cello-sounding background: definitely a "going down the rabbit role" kind of listening experience. Eventually front man Thom Yorke breaks in with his plaintive singing style...he tackles his role here with much passion, evoking a sense of forlornness that I've seldom heard in a song. It's a very moody piece, appealing to an often very moody person...namely, myself. Although Radiohead didn't promote it in their recordings, they have performed it in concert...why it's such a relatively unknown work of theirs is beyond me. In a funny way it shows that great rock doesn't have to be complicated...this song certainly has a simple basic structure, beyond the instrumental texturing. It's been going on ten years now since I first heard it and my estimation of it has only increased...sometimes those overlooked, lost tracks are the best...
And that's it with my Top 500 list of personal all-time favorite songs. Guess I'll be starting on a different "top favorites" list about something else before long...
