National Cat Day

 

The Olympic Pickup Advertisements. Walter and the Lightening.

There's been two really great television advertisements featuring pickups recently.

This is one of them.

Okay, first off, I'm not in the market for a new pickup.  Yes, my old Dodge 1 ton is. . . well it's old.  And  yes. . . it's rusting. But they don't make standard transmissions for sale in the US anymore, and I'm not in the market for an automatic transmission vehicle.

And for that matter, my D1500 has less than 200,000 miles on it, and it's a diesel.  So it has a lot of life left in it.  Probably as much life as I have left in me, so it'll do.

But this is a neat ad, it's really cool.

And Walter is great.

Frankly, the highly developed tailgate is great too.  I don't know why something like that wasn't thought of years ago, but I'll really give General Motors credit for some excellent recent developments like this.  Another is the steps on the side of the box, and in the bumper. That was, quite simply, a great idea.

Here's the other one:

This F150 advertisement is completely different.  The Chloe Zhoa directed commercial is also brilliant, and it hits the "electric vehicles will never be useful here" crowed right where they live.

Oh yes, they will be.

Indeed, the theme, Ford's continuity with its past, modern electric vehicles as a continuation of the best of Ford's historic vehicles, and a deeply American theme (aging rancher and his younger adult daughter) is brilliant.

Indeed, the Ford F150 Lightening stands to probably given the Chevrolet in which Walter has been riding more than a run for its money.

Prior electric vehicles have sometimes been presented as "the future is here, you dolt, buy one", which isn't a very effective marketing strategy except for people who have already placed an order for iphone72 and Windows 35.  

Ford's ad isn't threatening.

Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist Part 15. Rising posts, Billie Eilish Interests, "Romeo and Juliet", Bill and Melinda, Kardashian statutes, Rest Stops, Not taking a bath, and big cats.

I wonder what it was?

This trailing post series sometimes makes it up to the top post for the past week, but the last one did in less than six hours.  Here it is:

Cliffnotes of the Zeitgist Part 14. The Industrial Revolution and Child Care and other musings.

I wonder what shot it up so fast?  The title issue was the Biden economic infrastructure proposal and its items on child care, but way down in the text Billie Eilish being on the cover of British Vogue was discussed.

It had to be one or the other, the two being oddly related in a way.

Eilish commentary

One thing I didn't note in depth is that Eilish apparently made the following comments:

One message she is sending is that there's a lot of "sexual misconduct" in the entertainment industry. This isn't news, but at least she's saying something.  Her comment to British Vogue basically read as an entitlement of sexual immorality, which would actually be a species of real progress coming from that quarter.  Perhaps its not entirely surprising, however, given that her generation has pretty much had it with things Boomer, of which the Sexual Revolution is part.

She noted it that this problem include the abuse of boys.  Something rarely noted.

"Romeo and Juliet"

A post that predictably shot right up was the recent one on the 2022 Wyoming Congressional election.  In that series I track what's going on, but a post regarding what occurred in Florida in 1983 is what shot it to the top, where it remains.

People who are interested in the story can read it there, but what it entails is far right, pro Trump, anti Cheney, very loud Laramie County state Senator Anthony Bouchard having been in a sexual relationship with a 14 year old when he was an 18 year old.  As the story involves sex, and a scandal, and  sex scandal, and tragedy, it predicable went right to the top.

There are a lot of peculiar angles to this, to say the least.  Anyhow, I got around to finally watching the video that Bouchard released on this and I have to say that I'm singularly unimpressed.  Indeed, the opposite is true.  

For starters, Bouchard captions the video as "taking on" the "fake news media". There's nothing fake about this story, however.  He did exactly what he's accused of.  He doesn't really even come out acknowledging that there's something wrong about an 18 year old screwing a 14 year old, at least not in the four minutes of it I watched.  I didn't watch the rest.  He does give himself, and his late wife, credit for not aborting the baby, and I'd give them credit for that too, however.

Anyhow, somehow we've gone from a situation in which people generally acknowledge their faults fairly seriously, even if only when caught, to sort of bypassing them and blaming them on the media. The media isn't prefect and I think its biased, but Bouchard, in getting ahead of this story, didn't really get ahead of it.

Quite a few people are making comparison to the news stories about Matt Gaetz who came out with the absurd line that he always treated his trysts well.  I don't know if the allegations about him and minors are true, but it used to be the case that, as the conservative party, the Republicans stood for morality.  Clearly that's a mixed bag now, which I suppose is proof we've sunk so low in the Sexual Revolution that there isn't any.

Or maybe it tells us something about current populist politics.

Screen Free Week

This just happened recently.

I had to learn about it from a cartoon, which I had to learn on line, as my local newspaper doesn't publish a Monday print edition, only an electronic one.

Of course, I didn't observe it, but then I really couldn't.  So much of what I do is on line anymore, even though I really wish it wasn't.

Bill and Melinda Gates

They announced their divorce on Twitter.

I don't know anything about them, but it's a real surprise.  She's a Catholic.  He's not, I believe, but had supported her and participated in their parish.

No details were provided at first, and of course we aren't entitled to any.  It's disappointing no matter what you view on them is really.  Indeed, given their vast wealth and respective ages, I thought at first that it really doesn't make any sense at all. If they weren't getting along, was my thought, they probably should just have separated.

Well it turns out that Gates too has a bit of a roving eye.  Sheesh.

Statuesque

The statuesque Kim Kardashian, the most famous member of the most famous Armenian American family, famous for being famous, is in a bit of hot water for importing a Roman statute.

It may be just me, but I think there's something deep inside the half Armenian members of this family that's harkening them back to the old country and old ways of life.

False Positive

Demographers are noting that the US birth rate is below replacement level, a good thing, but the US is hardly at the point where its population is falling, which would also be a good thing, due to a massive unsustainable immigration rate.

Reporting on this topic is always bizarre.  There's only so much room before a population negatively impacts the environment and itself.  And the concept of a "demographic winter" in which there aren't enough youngsters to support a benighted retired population is completely false, being based on a completely static technological situation which in reality has never existed.  Indeed, it's pretty clear that our technology has advanced to the point its putting people out of work.

Riding the elephant to death

Donald Trump has launched a website entitled From the Desk of Donald J. Trump.

Nobody seems to be paying that much attention to it, however.  Frankly, the fact that it doesn't burst out onto Twitter, where he's banned, means you have to take the effort to subscribe to it, which only the really convinced are going to to.

Belgium Advances

A Belgian farmer found a border marker between his country and France annoying so he moved it.

He's been asked to move it back.

Bathing less often

The New York Times reports that people bathed less during the Coronavirus lockdowns and quite a few of them do not plan to return to more frequent bathing.

Folks actually probably don't need to bathe as often as they do, which has been known for a long time.  But we've already crossed the bar on slovenliness in the US so this probably isn't a good thing.

The Eyes Of Texas

At some point, people are getting upset as its fun to have righteous anger over something, as long as it isn't something that doesn't really matter. The Eyes of Texas flap is just one such example.

Tensions boil at UT-Austin over "The Eyes of Texas", where students are refusing to work and a man with a gun crashed a virtual event

A student group was hosting an event with a UT-Austin professor about the song when a man entered the online Zoom call with his face covered, holding what appeared to be a large gun.

Meanwhile, real problems go unaddressed. . . 

Temporary Relief

Reopening of the Rest Stops

 

Governor Gordon Authorizes Funding to Temporarily Reopen 9 Rest Areas for the Summer Travel Season

 

CHEYENNE, Wyo. –  Governor Mark Gordon has directed the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) and Wyoming Office of Tourism (WOT) to partner to temporarily reopen and operate nine previously closed rest areas for at least the duration of the 2021 tourist season.

“With the summer season just around the corner, I’m glad we will be able to reopen these facilities to travelers,” Governor Gordon said. “We are glad to have this chance to find a temporary solution.”

WYDOT and WOT along with the Governor's office will work together to secure a temporary federal funding source to allow the nine rest areas throughout the state to reopen. 

"WYDOT is extremely grateful to Governor Gordon and Director Shober for identifying new federal funds to temporarily reopen our rest areas for the tourist season," said WYDOT Director K. Luke Reiner. 

Officials closed the rest areas in June 2020 as a cost-savings measure due to budgetary shortfalls. 

 The nine rest areas include:

• Lusk on US 18
• Guernsey on US 26
• Greybull on US 16
• Moorcroft on I-90
• Star Valley on US 89
• Sundance on I-25
• Upton on US 16
• Orin Jct on I-25
• Chugwater on I-25

“Each of these nine rest areas are a valuable tourism tool, said Diane Shober, executive director of the Wyoming Office of Tourism. “Certainly, a clean facility is important to the visitor experience, but it is also a powerful marketing platform to distribute travel guides and other trip-planning resources. As travelers are stretching their legs, they are also gathering information on local events, attractions, restaurants, campgrounds and lodging, which all can lead to extended stays and increase visitor spending.”

The rest areas should reopen ahead of Memorial Day weekend.

-END-

Oh think goodness.

"It takes a big cat to eat a ton of tuna"

So went an old answer to the question "what do you know".  It doesn't seem to be around any more, but there was news about a really big cat.

Newly Identified Species of Saber-Toothed Cat Was So Big It Hunted Rhinos in America

On big cats, a tiger being kept by a felon escaped its house in Houston.  The large cat was captured and is safe, but this is the second tiger in Houston story in recent years.

What the heck?  Is Petco just out of cats in Texas?

Virtue Signaling 

NBC has cancelled broadcasting of the Golden Globes for lack of diversity.

Nobody really pays any attention to these awards anymore, but this entire flap is really virtue signaling in the extreme. An industry which closed a blind eye to sexual misconduct for years is now missed at the Hollywood foreign press, which gives the Golden Globes.  M'eh.

What might be noted, in terms of diversity, is that India has the largest film industry in the world, not the US.  And our neighbor to the south, Mexico, has had an excellent and vibrant film industry for decades.

I'm sure the Screen Actors Guild will be pointing all this out really soon, of course, even if that diminishes its perceived importance.

Bouncing

Ocasio-Cortez on Taylor Greene: 'These are the kinds of people that I threw out of bars all the time'

Greene ought to be bounced from Congress, but that's not going to happen.

I'll be clear that she's not the only detestable Congressman by any means, and neither party has a lock hold on detestable political figures.  But its pretty clear at this point that Greene is a type of live action troll.  Like Internet trolls, she runs around saying stupid stuff and doing stupid things as it gets her attention.

Don't feed the trolls.

Speaking of stupidity, here's another Greene headline:

Marjorie Taylor Green compares mask mandate to the holocaust.

Congress has the ability to refuse to seat somebody, or to boot them out if they're really over the top. Greene should be sent packing.

Yikes

Freshly Made Plutonium From Outer Space Found On Ocean Floor

Blog Mirror: If I fits I sits: A citizen science investigation into illusory contour susceptibility in domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus)

 

If I fits I sits: A citizen science investigation into illusory contour susceptibility in domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus)

January 31, 1921. The Carroll A. Deering and six toed cats.

St. Vrain Glacier, Colorado, copyright deposit, January 31, 1921.

Isabella Glacier, Colorado, copyright deposit, January 31, 1921..

Fair Glacier from the rim of Hell Canyon, copyright deposit, January 31, 1921.

 

It was on this day in 1921 that the Carroll A. Deering was found, wrecked. We noted this story on the day it was last in communication with anyone.

As an interesting aside, apparently the ship's cat was rescued and then released.  It was a six toed cat, and soon thereafter, six toed cats started to make their appearance in the area.

Regular air mail service commenced in New Zealand.

Some good news for a change: Patches The Miracle Cat: Shows Up 3 Years After Tragic Mudslide

 

Patches The Miracle Cat: Shows Up 3 Years After Tragic Mudslide

Blog Mirror: My Pandemic Cat Had a Secret

 

My Pandemic Cat Had a Secret

First of all, she wasn’t a kitten …

Southern Rockies Nature Blog: I Am not a Pixie-bob! I Am a Wild Cat!

Southern Rockies Nature Blog: I Am not a Pixie-bob! I Am a Wild Cat!: A yummy rat makes travel time go by more quickly.  Our neighbor wildlife rehabbers like to put stuffed toys with small mammals for compan...

Mid Week At Work: Tobacco, cats, and dogs.

"Men rolling barrels of tobacco across platform over water onto the already crowded CORKER for Louisville, Dec. 11, 1919"

"War dogs decorated for bravery. Group of War dogs decorated by French War department for heroism work on the fighting front"

"This "Kitty" belonged to the Sultan of Turkey. Mrs. Martin K. Metcalf, wife of Commander Metcalf, U.S.N., holding "Pansy" a thoroughbred Turkish cat who formerly did her "meowing" in the palace of the Sultan of Turkey. The cat, brought to Washington from Turkey by Commander Metcalf, is eight years old. She will be one of the interesting entrants in the cat show to be held in Washington at the Wardman Park Hotel, February 1 and 2"

No. 10 Cat's new house guest is. . .

Boris Johnson.

Larry, No. 10 Cat, Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, with former Prime Minister David Cameron and former President Barrack Obama.

And that's not the end of the world, contrary to the gloom and doom on Twitter.

I don't know anything about Johnson. A review of his Wikipedia bio reveals a man who has an excessively interesting personal history and pretty bad hair.  An immediate calling to mind of Donald Trump occurs for more than one reason, which is why the left side of Twitter, which is the loudest part of the Twitterverse, as well as some of the press, is declaring his ascension to Prime Minister the end of British democracy.

Nah.

Good or bad, it isn't like the British have had a uniform set of excellent PM's before.  And the fact that they haven't, and that the United Kingdom's democracy has survived, is oddly reassuring. The fact that its not credibly possible to imagine a Prime Minister causing the UK to end should mean, by extension, that those who feel the current American era of democracy is at a terminal low point would be wrong

Sure, you can pick up a lot of the zeitgeist based upon Johnson's rise.  There's something in the political air of the western world right now which is causing governments to go in a certain direction even at the same time that those who claim an allegiance to perpetual "progress" to apoplexy.  But no matter what one things one way or another, things keep on keeping on and are more durable than a person might suppose.

A new species of cat has been identified on Corsica

Yes, a new species.

It's about the size of a house cat, but it isn't, and it isn't even that closely related to European wild cats which are pretty closely related to house cats genetically.  It's more closely related to small African wild cats.

Shepherds had said they were around for years, and in spite of their diminutive size, they supposedly attack sheep.

Based on the one in captivity, they look like large orange tabby's and they appear not to like to being held in captivity.

Now, here's the real question.

Corsica has been occupied by humans since at least the Mesolithic.

We're just finding a new cat species there now?

Today is International Irish Whiskey Day.

It's also What If Cats and Dogs Had Opposable Thumbs Day.

Something that was perhaps inspired by Irish Whiskey Day.

And National Anthem Day.  Not the American National Anthem, but everybody's.

More and more, I admire cats.

Mid Week At Work (too late for National Cat Day): Cat on the Catwalk

National Cat Day

Monday, October 29, 2018 is National Cat Day. so hence the photo of the departed Manx, here blending in.  Still missed.

Today In Wyoming's History: August 8

Today In Wyoming's History: August 8:

August 8

International Cat Day

Lex Anteinternet:  Eee gads, I almost missed it.

It's International Cat Day.  August 8.

Now I know how the cat felt.

The cat took rain personally.

He hated it.

He wasn't keen on snow either, but he really detested rain.

He held people personally responsible.

It's cloudy today.  All day yesterday my phone kept giving me storm warnings. There was a spectacular hail storm downtown.  There was a tornado north of town. 

The day prior the storms took out the power downtown.

I'm sick of it.

His last pictures

He came here seventeen years ago, with another cat.  He was just a kitten, but a very large one.  He came right in the house like he owned it.

Which he quickly really did.  Our constant companion for nearly two decades.

He was a fantastic mouser, and that probably caught up with him a couple of years ago when he became deathly ill.  We think he ate some poisoned mice somewhere in the neighborhood.  It seemed sure he'd die, but instead he lost about half of his weight.  He carried on for another few years however, as friendly as ever, but skinny.  Then a couple of months ago another neighborhood cat beat him up and he received an infection he couldn't beat.

We'll miss him.

Because everyone loves cat photos. . .

Mary Pickford and friend. 1916.  She was born on this day in 1892

The feline musings of Judge Posner

Suppose the class members all happened to own pedigreed cats, and the breeders who had sold the cats to the class members had told them that as responsible cat owners they would have to feed the cats kibbles during the day and Fancy Feast at night and buy a fountain for each cat because cats prefer to drink out of a fountain (where gravity works for them) rather than out of a bowl (where gravity works against them) and they don’t like to share a fountain with another cat,” Posner wrote. He asked readers to imagine that the cat food got more expensive, and the fountains didn’t work.
Cat owners, he wrote, wouldn’t like that. “Yet would anyone think they could successfully sue the breeders? For what? The breeders had made no misrepresentations. “It’s the same here.”

Judge Posner, as quoted by the ABA Journal, in a recent decision.

 Cat belong to Navy Commander, formerly owned by the Sultan of Turkey, 1927.