Day: August 8, 2021

The TV Remote is Broken

Fandango10 Comments

“User error, no doubt,” Andy said when his grandfather complained about issues with his TV’s remote control device.

“I think it’s overdue for service,” Harry said.

“Pops, your TV remote control is not like a car that needs to be serviced,” Andy said. “When was the last time you put fresh batteries in it?”

“Batteries?” Harry said. “I thought it was laser-powered or something like that.”

“It’s not a laser, Pops. It uses pulses of infrared light, which are invisible to the human eye. The device sends out a stream of pulses of infrared light when the you press a button on the remote control.”

“Sounds like a laser to me.”

“They’re similar but not the same,” Andy said. “But you need batteries in the device to power the signals it sends to the TV. Anyway, it’s a moot point. It simply needs new batteries.”

“You’re really delighting in trying to expose my ignorance of all these new fangled things like I’m some old fuddy-duddy from the dark ages,” Harry said. “I’m not some tractable child that can be made fun of, you know. I’m your grandpa.”

“Yes, Pops, you are,” Andy said, “and I’m sorry that I came across that way. Tell you what, Pops, I’ll run out to the convenience store and pick up some batteries for the remote and some ice cream for us to share. What flavor would you like?”

“You know what flavor I like, Andrew.”

“Yeah, Pops,” Andy said. “Ben & Jerry’s Stephen Colbert’s Americone Dream.”

“You’re a good kid, Andrew.”

Written for these daily prompts: The Daily Spur (user), Word of the Day Challenge (overdue), Ragtag Daily Prompt (moot), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (expose), Your Daily Word Prompt (tractable), and My Vivid Blog (ice cream).

Tidbits of the Week — Our Divided Nation

Fandango12 Comments

I subscribe to The Week magazine and there were three interesting tidbits that appeared in the latest issue of the magazine. The first two show how the Republicans and their anti-masking, anti-vaccination drum beat has divided our nation possibly beyond repair.

A shopper at an Omaha grocery store was shot with a BB gun for wearing a face mask. The unnamed victim was leaving the store when an unmasked assailant spat at him and then shot him multiple times, causing injuries to the victim’s face, neck, and shoulder. “I asked him why he would do that,” the victim said, “and he said: ‘You’re on the other team.’”

*****

Doctors in Covid-ravaged Missouri say that anti-vaccine sentiment runs so high that some patients are wearing disguises to get their shots. Dr. Priscilla Frase of Ozarks Healthcare says patients have begged her, “‘Please, please, please don’t let anybody know that I got this vaccine.’” The hospital now offers shots in a “private setting” to protect patients from being shunned.

*****

And this last tidbit begs the question, “What is he so desperately trying to hide?”

Former President Donald Trump’s lawyer this week said he will fight “tooth and nail” to block the Treasury Department from releasing Trump’s tax returns to House Democrats. The new legal battle follows a ruling by the Justice Department that the Treasury Department must comply with a House committee’s request for six years of Trump’s returns. Treasury planned to comply, but the case could still take months to resolve.

In 2019, Trump’s Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, refused the House’s request, saying it “lacks a legitimate legislative purpose.” Trump’s lawyer said nothing has changed since and argued that the real aim of the House inquiry — said to be undertaken to examine how the IRS audits presidents — is to embarrass Trump.

I’m convinced that there is nothing that can embarrass Trump. He has no shame; he is beyond embarrassment.

Who Won the Week — 8/8/2022

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The idea behind Who Won the Week is to give you the opportunity to select who (or what) you think “won” this past week. Your selection can be anyone or anything — politicians, celebrities, athletes, authors, bloggers, your friends or family members, books, movies, TV shows, businesses, organizations, whatever.

I will be posting this prompt on Sunday mornings (my time). If you want to participate, write your own post designating who you think won the week and why you think they deserve your nod. Then link back to this post and tag you post with FWWTW.

My pick for who won the week this week is the Olympic athletes. Over the past two weeks, 10,305 individual athletes representing 206 nations, territories, and principalities competed at the Tokyo Olympics. In a tremendous display of athleticism, these Olympians set new Olympic records and broke world records.

But was strange — and even eerie — about the 2021 Olympics was that, due to record-shattering numbers of COVID-19 cases in the Tokyo area, the Olympic athletes performed at nearly empty venues and with few fans to cheer them on.

Still, given the strangeness of having few live fans to witness their amazing feats, the athletes who were there demonstrated remarkable skills in their chosen sports. And these young men and women deserve to be this week’s Who Won the Week winners.

What about you? Who (or what) do you think won the week?

Song Lyric Sunday — Lucky Man

Fandango9 Comments

For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday themes, Jim Adams has given us Fate, Fortune, and Luck. As soon as I saw these words, the song “Lucky Man” from Emerson, Lake & Palmer came to mind.

“Lucky Man” was written by Greg Lake when he was 12 years old after his mother gave him a guitar for Christmas. It was recorded by the English progressive rock supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer for the group’s 1970 self-titled debut album. When the song was initially released in 1970, it reached number 48 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, number 25 in Canada, and number 14 in the Netherlands. The single was re-released in January 1973 and peaked at number 51 on the U.S. Hot 100 and number 71 in Canada.

Probably one of ELP’s most recognized songs, “Lucky Man” came to be used on Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s debut album when they needed one more song. Greg played the version he had written from childhood, but the rest of the band did not like it, or felt it would not fit. Lake then worked on it in the studio with Carl Palmer.

Lake explained, “So Carl and I, we recorded the first part together, just drums and acoustic guitar. And it sounded pretty dreadful. But then I put a bass on it and it sounded a bit better. And then I went and put some more guitars on it, and an electric guitar solo. Then I put these harmonies on, these block harmonies. And in the end it sounded pretty good, it sounded like a record.”

The end of “Lucky Man” contains one of the most famous Moog synthesizer solos in rock history. Keith Emerson had just recently gotten the device, and only decided to play on this song after hearing the track Lake and Palmer came up with and realizing it was a legitimate song.

The man featured in the song was, in the end, not so lucky. The “lucky man” had riches and acclaim and ladies by the score, but he decided to fight for his country, got shot, and died.

Here are the lyrics to “Lucky Man.”

He had white horses
And ladies by the score
All dressed in satin
And waiting by the door

Ooh, what a lucky man he was
Ooh, what a lucky man he was

White lace and feathers
They made up his bed
A gold covered mattress
On which he was laid

Ooh, what a lucky man he was
Ooh, what a lucky man he was

He went to fight wars
For his country and his king
Of his honor and his glory
The people would sing

Ooh, what a lucky man he was
Ooh, what a lucky man he was

A bullet had found him
His blood ran as he cried
No money could save him
So he laid down and he died

Ooh, what a lucky man he was
Ooh, what a lucky man he was

FOWC with Fandango — Expose

Fandango21 Comments

FOWCWelcome to August 8, 2021 and to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). It’s designed to fill the void after WordPress bailed on its daily one-word prompt.

I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (US).

Today’s word is “expose.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. You will marvel at their creativity.