Friday Ephemera

But what, I hear you ask, could possibly go wrong? || “I worship myself.” || You have to rotate the ‘w’. || Today’s word is irony. (h/t, DC) || Racism detected. || Christmas lights of note. || For Kubrick enthusiasts. Parts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. || Big cat music. || I was previously unfamiliar with this concept. || The thrill of fondling state-of-the-art sex toys. (NSFW) || Tiddler detected. || Sharks versus the internet. || Assorted slow-motion microbes. || Glassware of note. || The thrill of Geocities. || She doesn’t look the type. See also. And inevitably. || Trade of note. (h/t, Samizdata) || Challenge accepted. || Today’s other word is snugness. A debate ensues. || And finally, “I was the snowflake consultant for the movie Frozen.”

Comments

[pst314]

But what, I hear you ask, could possibly go wrong?

Few city kids have ever heard of exploding grain elevators.

[pst314]

“I worship myself.”

A walking, talking reminder that there should be limits to tolerance.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

...state-of-the-art sex toys...

Yeah, no, those things look like plastinated prosections - gross anatomy lab and hot sex fit like socks on a rooster.

[ComputerLabRat]

Today’s word is irony.

Wow. Just...wow.

In order to assist you in shuffling off this mortal coil, they require you to be vaccinated.

If this was really about public health, wouldn't that be considered a waste of a dose that could go to someone else?

And if vaccines are so great and work so well, however they are claiming they work these days, why are the vaccinated so worried about unvaccinated people? It can't be because the unvaccinated are clogging up the hospitals - they won't assist an unvaccinated person in killing themselves!

[pst314]

Yeah, no, those things look like plastinated prosections

And yet I have read that they are very popular in China and Japan. (Granted, not everything in the news and on the net is accurate.)

[pst314]

Today’s word is irony.

I suppose the vaccination requirement is for the benefit of the euthanizers, not the euthanizee.

[ComputerLabRat]

I suppose the vaccination requirement is for the benefit of the euthanizers, not the euthanizee.

But if vaccines work, why does it matter? If the euthanizers are vaccinated, why are they worried about whether the people they are about to kill are?

[pst314]

But if vaccines work, why does it matter?

There is that. But nearly all the comments I have seen on that news item focus on the silliness of worrying about the vulnerability of unvaccinated candidates for execution.

[pst314]

Racism detected.

Time to start compiling lists?

[pst314]

More irony.

[asiaseen]

The thrill of fondling

Not a satisfying place for foot-fetishists

[pst314]

They really want a race war, don't they?

[pst314]

Not a satisfying place for foot-fetishists

I suspect that additional videos of the other displays at that expo would reveal items catering to every kink and perversion, including rubber goats and sheep. (Did you notice the dog?) Can one get true PTSD from the internet, or does it merely feel that way?

[asiaseen]

Sharks versus the internet

Before the godawful voice-over drove me to distraction, I was intrigued by the idea of the ship's captain, in the case of bad weather, deciding to "tie off the cable to a boy".

A new use for cabin boys I guess.

[David]

Morning, all.

those things look like plastinated prosections - gross anatomy lab and hot sex fit like socks on a rooster.

It’s not an altogether happy sight, and the expo setting adds to the oddness. Though I was intrigued by the choice of materials. And the all-in-one, bit-of-everything boobs-vagina-arsehole thing is very, um… compact. Easy to store, I should think.

[Steve E]

and the expo setting adds to the oddness.

I wonder if this was being served in the cafeteria?

[Mags]

She doesn’t look the type.

Cameras in classrooms. Bet the parents would be interested.

[David]

Cameras in classrooms. Bet the parents would be interested.

Well, our assistant professor of animation at Kansas City Art Institute is evidently quite pleased with her own presumption and self-indulgence, her use of other people’s time, and therefore money, and her general disregard for propriety - sufficiently so to boast about it on TikTok, where, presumably, she imagines a sympathetic audience.

But it’s worth noting the patterns among such people. The tone and conceits, the septum piercings, the unattractive tattoos, the dogmatic and self-flattering woke politics, and… oh yes, the serious mental health issues. At this point, it’s practically a signature. Had the fields of sociology and anthropology not been so degraded by other pinhead lefties, one might have expected some interest in the phenomenon. Alas.

[ Added: ]

Yes, it’s an art school, and no, we mustn’t expect too much of art students, who aren’t exactly famed for their political realism. But still, if you pay a tidy sum for classes in animation, with the hope of becoming an animator, and you find large chunks of each lesson being wasted with adolescent screeds about politics and the evils of capitalism – screeds that may be related to the instructor’s own mental health problems – then this is, I think, a basis for dissatisfaction. As a rule, one shouldn’t waste other people’s time, even that of art students.

[Paul]

the all-in-one, bit-of-everything boobs-vagina-arsehole thing

*watches video*
*regrets watching video*

[David]

*watches video*
*regrets watching video*

No refunds. Credit note only.

[asiaseen]

No refunds. Credit note only.

Discredit note, shirley?

[JuliaM]

@ComputerLabRat: you’ll drive yourself crazy looking for logic and consistency in batflu protocols…

For instance: I’m off to Waitrose to shop, where masks are expected to be worn. Should I decide to pop into a Weatherspoons for a drink, they aren’t.

Just accept there are none.

[WTP]

Steve E, saw that product for sale at my local Publix about 10 years ago for the wonderful price of 69 cents. Inflation ruins everything.

[pst314]

Before the godawful voice-over drove me to distraction, I was intrigued by the idea of the ship's captain, in the case of bad weather, deciding to "tie off the cable to a boy".

I think I might have been in my thirties before I found out that "buoy" is pronounced "boy". This is a recurring problem when one gets knowledge chiefly from books. And has no nautical friends. Moral: Send your children to sea as early as possible. They may get eaten by sharks but at least they'll be able to pronounce "buoy" and "quay" and will know the difference between a bosun and a boson.

[anon a mouse]

and will know the difference between a bosun and a boson.

Or bosom.

*ducks. Again*

[pst314]

and will know the difference between a bosun and a boson.

"The nucleus absorbs a moron and emits a boson, a proton, pi mesons, mu mesons, photons, and a boson's mate."

[Steve E]

Moral: Send your children to sea as early as possible.

"Have you ever been to sea Billy?"

"No Captain Highliner. But I've been blown ashore."

[ Heads to the alley to await burning coat ]

[Daniel Ream]

if you pay a tidy sum for classes in animation, with the hope of becoming an animator

...then you're not going to the Kansas City Art Institute.

I have a couple of friends who attended Sheridan College, which at one point was known as the pipeline to Disney for prospective animators. The problem is that there just isn't a very large market for animators; most of the journeyman work is done by sweatshops in Korea.

What's happened of late is a generation of kids growing up with AAA video games and anime not being disabused of the notion that you can make a living doing either, and demanding technical training in these fields. Sh!t-tier colleges are happy to comply, and upon graduation the students discover that there are no jobs to be had and what few there are were snapped up by graduates of better schools.

Back when I was briefly involved in voice-over work I saw the same thing; kids who thought they could just walk into a studio and get a job talking into a mic and dubbing Their Favorite Anime. The fact that Matt Mercer and his crew are making vastly more money playing D&D badly on camera than they ever did as actual professional voice actors has at least disabused many otaku of that notion.

[WTP]

I have an old schoolmate who retired from being a firefighter. He was a pretty good artist, well drawing anyway, and somehow he stumbled into working on animation for Disney. Toy Story series was one of his efforts. But yes, this exploitation of young people who want to pursue childish careers is a big problem. See also and especially gaming “programmers”.

[pst314]

"Have you ever been to sea Billy?"

"The cabin boy was Tommy, that dirty little nipper..."

[ComputerLabRat]

I wonder if this was being served in the cafeteria?

You used to be able to buy those soup packets at Kroger in the US, in the Caribbean section of the International Food aisle. Sadly someone must have complained, because now only chicken flavor packets are for sale. They haven't removed the jerk seasoning though, thankfully.

[David]

then you’re not going to the Kansas City Art Institute.

I’ll take your word for it. But even so, the preening arrogance – about imposing on others and wasting the time that they’re paying for, because she, Miss Thing, wants to bore a captive audience with her delinquent politics – is quite remarkable. After all this time, and examples now in three figures, it still raises an eyebrow.

[pst314]

I wonder if this was being served in the cafeteria?

I vaguely recall that, at one time, many Europeans believed there were significant differences between meat from female and male chickens, and between castrated and uncastrated male chickens--and that some men would only eat male chickens on the belief that anything else was harmful to their manliness. Similar beliefs regarding cows vs bulls vs steers.

[anon a mouse]

"Sh!t-tier colleges are happy to comply, and upon graduation the students discover that there are no jobs to be had"

Hits close, that does - spent time over Thanksgiving w/family who has two chillens wanting to do "production" and such (never could nail down exactly what they wanted to do, which in and of itself is a bit of an indicator...), so they spent their way thru a pair of mid sized east coast kolleges (not know for their school to movie/AV industry pipelines), and they now complain bitterly about their respective lives and the responsibility born by conservatives/republicans/wytepple/etc for their combined nearly quarter of a million dollars in student loan (and other) debt.
OTOH, the daughter did get a gig as a waitress. The son is holding out for management...

Rather than join in the mutual "gee, times sure are bad" groupmush, I mentioned that their state might be the result of their actions. Damper on the levity, that was.

[pst314]

I mentioned that their state might be the result of their actions

I hope you also suggested that colleges should fully inform students of the job prospects of various degrees, and that the widespread failure to do so might hint at the moral state of academia.

[Arkadiy]

This is one of those.

[ccscientist]

My neighbor ran a small shop (5 or so) doing animation for video games for years but now it is just him and not full-time. Just one data-point, but...
I knew a girl in college who was going to be a singer. She did not take lessons, belong to a choir, or even sing much. It amazed me back then (50 yrs ago) and still does.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

"The cabin boy was Tommy, that dirty little nipper..."

♫♪The queen she waved her scarf good bye, Columbo waved his...♫♪

[WTP]

Rather than join in the mutual "gee, times sure are bad" groupmush, I mentioned that their state might be the result of their actions. Damper on the levity, that was.

Good on you. It needed to be said and you did far more good by saying what certainly other people were thinking but lacked the nerve to say, even to their own children. We do people no favors by entertaining their delusions, especially when, as I'm sure, you didn't raise the subject in the first place.

So there's a new little game I'm playing on FB. Tired of the feel-good BS memes that (mostly) women post, I've found some of the verbiage in those memes is actually useful it's just the goody-goody picture that ruins the point. For example, a recent post stating "Note to self: One thought at a time, day at a time, one task at a time." The underlying picture was a woman in her big flouncy sun hat walking out onto a dock over a lake. I took that same quote and made a meme replacing that picture with the classic photo taken from inside an infantry landing boat on D-Day. Much more effective.

[John]

https://youtu.be/MPaJueG2NPc

From the excellent Theodore Dalrymple on Takimag I present the director of the Tate Gallery.

I confess to not having watched the entire video but the first 2 minutes left a lasting impression - probably not unlike the naked female artist taking 4 hours to fall down a staircase so admired by the learned Dr Balshaw.

[Steve E]

many Europeans believed there were significant differences between meat from female and male chickens

I think it's important to note that this particular soup base is cock flavoured. It's not made from actual cock. I'm sure that today not everyone knows what real cock tastes like. ;-)

[ Please help me. I can't stop. ]

[pst314]

From the excellent Theodore Dalrymple on Takimag I present the director of the Tate Gallery.

Related: Theodore Dalrymple (Anthony Daniels) has thoughts on this year's Turner Prize:
"By contrast, all the other exhibits display the pitfalls of intellection without intellect: the unsuccessful straining after significance, depth, and political virtue without any attachment whatever to beauty."

[anon a mouse]

" colleges should fully inform students of the job prospects of various degrees"

Where's the fun (and profit) in that?

[Steve E]

I hope you also suggested that colleges should fully inform students of the job prospects of various degrees

They've always been reluctant to do so, not wanting to be held responsible for what they're churning out and all. Of course, when one of their graduates, probably on his own merits, lands a plum position, suddenly, they start positioning themselves as a pipeline.

I went to the aforementioned Sheridan College (not for animation) and did a work term in second semester. The company was so happy with what I did that they hired me immediately. I didn't finish the semester or the program. When the semester ended I had three other people hired from the program to the same company and within 18 months I got another 15 people hired by sister companies.

Pipelines are generally driven by people and not institutions. When the people go the pipelines dry up.

[Uma Thurmond's Feet]

Sh!t-tier colleges are happy to comply, and upon graduation the students discover that there are no jobs to be had and what few there are were snapped up by graduates of better schools.

Except for the "better schools," I was told this by two animation instructors at a New York school that offered a degree in it.

My son and I had visited a dozen schools, and all of them were eager to talk about their high graduating into jobs / moving on to other studies percentage. Of course, I didn't realize that students moved up because the alternative was unemployment.

The nadir of our experience was attending the graduation of a relative at a Delaware college. He was getting his Ph.D. in a highly scientific field (not Woke Studies). It was sobering that, out of the 20 or so students, so few of them moved into actual jobs. The majority of them were on to getting another degree or "considering their options."

[Uma Thurmond's Feet]

" colleges should fully inform students of the job prospects of various degrees"

Let me add that they claim to do just that. As I mentioned above, they hide the pea by combining those who get employment in their field with those going back to school. The fact that they don't separate the two should have been a sign that we're being played.

There's a great book by a Washington Post reporter about his time getting his son into school. One of the more telling anecdotes was getting the admissions director from Yale to tell him that a third of each new class is made up of legacies, a third of overseas students who pay full freight, and the rest.

These supposedly top-tier schools also brag about their selectivity. What they don't tell you is that a) there's software online that helps students apply to multiple schools for free. If we had to fill out forms for each school like I did in the '80s, and pay even $20 for each one, the number of applications would drop dramatically; and b) schools like Harvard, Yale, Georgetown, and Princeton send their admission officials on tour to gin up applications. Encouraging a flood of applicants is a great way to "massage" those U.S. News rankings.

[Uma Thurmond's Feet]

"and the rest"

I should have added "from the pool of applicants." Sorry.

[Darleen]

More inmates running the asylum --

“I should have control over my education to remove toxic people, regardless of freedom of speech, or whatever,” she said later. “Hate speech is hate speech.”

and

Earnest’s case was more complicated. That he had not been blatantly racist didn’t excuse what students viewed as a lack of empathy and a refusal to get on board with the new mood of sensitivity on campus.

Under pressure from students, administrators had to decide whether Earnest should be disciplined for violating those emerging norms. As more speech is construed as hurtful or even dangerous, can a professor be dismissed for creating an “uncomfortable” learning environment or “endangering” students?

[FlynPigRanch]

Speaking of chickens........
The chicken and the egg were lying in bed together after sex.
The chicken lit up a cigarette and the eggs says
"well, I guess that answers that age old question"

[pst314]

Under pressure from students, administrators had to decide whether Earnest should be disciplined for violating those emerging norms.

“I’m not sure how I can defend myself, when I don’t even know what I’m accused of doing”

Seems to me that the "toxic people" that should be removed are those student leftists themselves.

[pst314]

a refusal to get on board with the new mood of sensitivity on campus

He is unmutual.

[pst314]

All my life, liberals and leftists have bombarded me with warnings of right-wing fascism, and yet the threats to my liberty are almost all from the left. What's more, my liberal friends cannot see the threats.

[Sam Duncan]

“See also and especially gaming 'programmers'.”

For the nerdier end of GenX, being a games programmer is like making a hit record. Just as back in the '80s there was a whole generation of balding middle-aged blokes with a guitar in the corner of their living rooms still dreaming of that one killer song, today there's a whole generation of balding middle-aged blokes still tinkering away on half-finished (not to say half-arsed) games.

I've learned over the course of (yipe!) 40 years now that it's not a lack of technical skill that's holding me back (dammit, it's easier than ever); it's a lack of artistic talent. Combined, yes, with massive oversupply in the market. You've got to be bloody good to stand out.

But hey, maybe someday I'll come up with that one killer idea. I've been thinking about this thing that's a bit like Mr Do! as a turn-based fantasy roguelike...

[Fred the Fourth]

Graduate job prospects, another perspective...
About 40 years ago, my future brother in law was having a grad student bull session.
"There are about 50 real jobs worldwide in this field."
" Wait...there's about 50 PhDs just in this state! "
So he dropped from the PhD program and went to another school to get an engineering degree. Lifetime employment resulted.
It probably was significant that the program he dropped was astrogeophysics.
(His research included building an early workable 2d computer model of the Martian atmosphere. I've since wondered what his life would have been like had he stuck with that, given Climate Change etc.)

[pst314]

"There are about 50 real jobs worldwide in this field."

That's the sort of thing that should be told to undergrads, along with honest feedback regarding how their prospects in light of their performance.

[WTP]

What's more, my liberal friends cannot see the threats.

A couple of my more leftist friends are seeing (one has become a victim of) the threats. What I find disturbing is how many of my conservative..."conservative" friends cannot see it. Still believe ignoring it, not taking it seriously, or even simply "believing in the truth" will somehow cause it to go away. I'm starting to think/see a window opening such that my more leftist friends/acquaintances will wake up first. Supposing there is time for that window to open wide enough.

[pst314]

What I find disturbing is how many of my conservative..."conservative" friends cannot see it.

I have noticed that, too. In various forms.

[pst314]

David, you might find this PSA graphic useful:

[WTP]

Speaking of chickens........

May only be funny to southern Yanks (eh? Whatever)...Stacy Abrams stopped at a convenience store in rural Georgia and asked "How do I get to 285?" They replied, "Diet and exercise!"

Thanks. I'm here all week. Try the pickled eggs.

[pst314]

Those aren't eggs.

[ Writes in notebook: Buy more Imodium. ]

[WTP]

Well you know that and I know that, but David's trying to make money here so ixnay ethay onestyhay. Eeshshay.

[Steve E]

because now only chicken flavor packets are for sale.

Cock Flavoured Soup Mix is still very much available on grocer's shelves where I live, in addition to Fish Tea, which, I'm assured, is made from "real fish." Unlike Cock Flavoured Soup Mix which, again, seems to be more cock flavoured than made from "real cock."

[ I beg of you, please stop me. There's no way of avoiding the naughty list now and I have no place to burn coal. ]

[pst314]

[ I beg of you, please stop me. ]

Is it time to bring up such English delicacies as spotted dick?

Oh, and that reminds me of a recent news item about the NHS...

[ Sidles towards the door. ]

[ComputerLabRat]

Is it time to bring up such English delicacies as spotted dick?

That's another item I haven't seen lately on the International Food aisle shelves. I have purchased it before, but haven't looked for it recently.

I scan the Caribbean section for Cock-Flavoured soup packets and the English section for tins of Spotted Dick. Pics of the food items and their packaging make for fun Farcebook posts. One of my best friends sent me a package one time containing a packet of Cock-Flavored soup mix and a jar of Jerk seasoning, which tickled my warped funny bone to no end.

[Daniel Ream]

My neighbor ran a small shop (5 or so) doing animation for video games for years but now it is just him and not full-time.

As with so many fields, the tools keep on improving to the point that you need a smaller and smaller crew to produce equivalent quality.

I spend a lot of time exhorting people in the field I used be in (systems and network administration) to for the love of God learn some development skills because if they don't they'll be completely unemployable in less than five years.

I mentioned that their state might be the result of their actions

I turfed a guy out of my tabletop gaming group because he constantly whined about not being able to get a decent-paying job and how clearly capitalism was to blame. I pointed out that the reason he couldn't get a job was that he spent all of his time and money smoking weed and buying high-priced board game Kickstarters, plus his diploma was in "social media marketing". Choices matter.

Tired of the feel-good BS memes

I like to respond with the "It's never your successful friends posting inspirational memes on Facebook" meme.

“I’m not sure how I can defend myself, when I don’t even know what I’m accused of doing”

That is literally Kafkaesque.

[juliaeryn]

Cameron's world reminds me of the official website of Heaven's Gate
https://www.heavensgate.com/
It would be a bit unfair to sneer at a website looking out of date if it simply hadn't been updated since 1997. But, not everyone in HG committed suicide in 1997 - two people remained specifically to keep this website updated and to post out materials to those interested.
I guess they found a look that worked for them...

[David]

seems to be more cock flavoured than made from “real cock.”

I swear, it’s like being at a glamorous and sophisticated party, listening to you lot.

[David]

he constantly whined about… how clearly capitalism was to blame. I pointed out that the reason he couldn’t get a job was that he spent all of his time and money smoking weed and buying high-priced board game Kickstarters, plus his diploma was in “social media marketing”. Choices matter.

You could think of wokeness, and leftism more generally, as a way of turning self-flattery into resentment, via ludicrousness.

Unless, of course, the real problem facing the world is a shortage of “social justice poets.”

[pst314]

I swear, it’s like being at a glamorous and sophisticated party, listening to you lot.

But then you open your eyes...

[pst314]

...and it's even more so.

[pst314]

You could think of wokeness, and leftism more generally, as a way of turning self-flattery into resentment, via ludicrousness.

And resentment into self-flattery.

Leftists are like The Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night but even more contemptible.

[David]

And resentment into self-flattery.

Over the years, I’ve spent time and considerable effort on projects that weren’t likely, at least in hindsight, to generate enormous wealth. Some were rewarding in less tangible ways, others not so much. But the idea that any given failure to become rich must be the fault of the world, or the system, is a vanity, a conceit. I understand the temptation to imagine that, but it’s not a good place to be. And not a good place to stay.

[pst314]

But the idea that any given failure to become rich must be the fault of the world, or the system, is a vanity, a conceit.

Consider the difference between "He has a large beautiful house, I admire him, I shall emulate him" and "ditto, I hate him, I shall destroy him."

[pst314]

Classics professor owned a vinyard in Greece. Experimented with unconventional methods. Vines did very well--better than neighbors'. A week before harvest, someone snuck into the vinyard one night and cut them all down. His neighbor exhibited the wrong sort of envy--and perhaps gave a clue as to what is wrong with Greece today.

[David]

Consider the difference between “He has a large beautiful house, I admire him, I shall emulate him” and “ditto, I hate him, I shall destroy him.”

For instance.

[PaulF]

He has a large beautiful house, I admire him, I shall emulate him

I read that as horse, not house. Not sure what that says about me...

[asiaseen]

seems to be more cock flavoured than made from “real cock.”

The real thing, not just flavoured, is there on the Grace website, tasty and with 25% less salt

[David]

The real thing, not just flavoured,

When one has a hankering for cock. As it were.

[pst314]

seems to be more cock flavoured than made from “real cock.”

Or, as Terry Pratchett would put it, not so much cock as cock-ish.

[pst314]

I read that as horse, not house. Not sure what that says about me...

[ Looks askance. ]

[pst314]

Over the years, I’ve spent time and considerable effort on projects that weren’t likely, at least in hindsight, to generate enormous wealth.

[ Feelings of shame ]

[ccscientist]

In college I loved to read philosophy but had the good sense to know that there was no career to be had in it. In the forestry school I attended, they begged students not to major in wildlife because there were no jobs--their honesty was refreshing.
Envy is lazy. Making money is hard and it is so much easier to remain lazy and complain about the rich. But it is the rich who create jobs. Sure there are some rich who got there illegally or unethically but not most. I don't envy Bill Gates. He made products that make my life easier. He earned it. It is also important to remember that even Bill Gates got divorced. No amount of money is worth more than the joy of children and grandchildren. A rich person does not enjoy a walk in the woods more than a poor one. Their love life isn't better. Cookies don't taste better to them.

[pst314]

Robot invasion stymied.

[Darleen]

Consider the difference between “He has a large beautiful house, I admire him, I shall emulate him” and “ditto, I hate him, I shall destroy him.”

A Parable: The Tenth Man

[Alex]

For instance.

She seems nice.

[Sam Duncan]

“Robot invasion stymied.”

Honestly, I'd have expected an Estonian winter to be worse. I've seen deeper snow than that round our way. This is what happens when you let Californians run things.

[David]

She seems nice.

Well, it’s worth pondering in which other supposedly respectable national newspaper a columnist would be cheered on by readers for gleefully wishing fear and harm on a random family about which she knows nothing beyond the size of their home, which she openly envies. An envy for which she expects, and receives, applause.

As I said at the time in the comments,

If I suddenly started banging on about some random family that lives down the road and happens to be richer than me (but about whom I know nothing else) and what ought to happen to them because they’re rich, and then went on about how much their house, which is bigger than mine, drives me into a “foaming temper,” you might think me unpleasant, petty, possibly unhinged. It wouldn’t be a flattering look, for sure. But if I were to say the same thing as a socialist in the pages of the Guardian, that same envy and bonkersness might be viewed sympathetically by quite a few people. I might even be regarded as righteous -- despite my still knowing nothing at all about the people on whom I’m wishing fear and misery.

Again, an odd kind of piety. But there we are.

[pst314]

Honestly, I'd have expected an Estonian winter to be worse.

Maybe the video was made in September. :-D

[pst314]

The real thing, not just flavoured

For your consideration: The antonym of "hen party" is "stag party", not "cock party".

[Steve E]

The antonym of "hen party" is "stag party", not "cock party".

Although a party lacking in female guests is often referred to as a "sausagefest."

[pst314]

Although a party lacking in female guests is often referred to as a "sausagefest."

Only if the party also has other distinguishing characteristics. ;-)

[Uma Thurmond's Feet]

perhaps gave a clue as to what is wrong with Greece today.

I'm reminded of the Greek fellow who moved his flower business from his homeland to Estonia because they cheated him so much.

Nakosmatis signed contracts and statements of intent with three or four dozen flower shops that wanted to buy his flowers. The profit margin for flowers is large, says Nakosmatis, a factor of 10 or even 20 percent, and it would have been enough money for everyone, including the retailers and him as an importer. It sounded like a brilliant plan, at least on paper.

But it was a trap, he says. After a year, Nakosmatis had receivables of about €30,000 ($40,000), and after a year-and-a-half they had gone up to €45,000. Almost all of his buyers owed him money. They had recognized his weakness: He was under pressure to unload his product while it was still fresh. You have to sell a rose, says Nakosmatis, quoting a Greek saying, or it will sell you, because it dies.

His customers used every trick in the book. They would have him show up at their shops with a delivery van full of flowers when they knew that they would be away, or they would say that they happened to be out of cash and would promise to pay him later, on another day, or by the next Monday -- but then they kept putting him off, says Nakosmatis.

So he moved his business to Estonia.

[Darleen]

Today's word: Grooming

[Alex DeWynter]

“I worship myself.”

She doesn’t look the type. See also. And inevitably.

I'm starting to think there are more genuine human beings in my Duskwood posse than in the entirety of TikTok.

[David]

Today’s word: Grooming

Middle school kids, apparently, did not have endless interest in sitting around with their teachers during lunch discussing their sexual orientations and gender identities. “So… when we were doing our virtual learning – we totally stalked what they were doing on Google, when they weren’t doing school work.”

Danger, Will Robinson.

[WTP]

we totally stalked what they were doing on Google

Dude! No way, Jose! Did you? Totally? F'n awesome, man! It must be totally rad to be an educator, a molder of young minds! Future's so bright we gonna all need shades, man! Or vodka. Lots and lots of vodka.

[pst314]

So he moved his business to Estonia.

Sigh.

[pst314]

Family estrangement increasingly caused by Woke children. But the BBC blindly accepts a BLM supporter as a reliable reporter of his parents' "white supremacy". (Via Richard Fernandez.)

[WTP]

Family estrangement increasingly caused by Woke children.

Most people whom I know...ok, maybe not most...maybe so... I truly haven't run the math...just a guess..., half of their children, or if they are the generation before me, half of their grandchildren, are wokesters such that their descendants have cut them off. Even among those whom I know who don't have children are estranged from half of their siblings, etc. What I find amusing, amusing in a "f**k you, I tried to tell you dumb f***s this day was coming" cynical ha-ha-ha sense is how bewildered by all this they seem to be. Many/most ( again, just a stupid guess) are "conservative"....conservatives even.

[pst314]

WTP: Agreed. It's impossible to get along with leftists, because leftists are so intolerant.
But another, related phenomenon is when a conservative wakes up and realizes the implication of that "nice" leftist friend's views--to wit, that if the left achieved the power that it desires then the policies that friend advocates would mean one's impoverishment and enslavement.