Spring Means Haircut Time!

At Anthony’s dog grooming shop.

What You Did To These, You Did To Me

Puppet Show - The Stage at Burke Junction - April 20, 2024

Rachel suggested seeing a children's puppet show Saturday morning at The Stage at Burke Junction in Cameron Park, in Eldorado County, featuring the work of puppeteer Elizabeth Leonard and company.

Twinkles the Clown.

A witch with a plan.

Time to get the honey.

The witch offers an egg in exchange for the honey.

Various troubles ensue.

A tale (not surprisingly, from Australia) about the various adventures of Super Kangaroo.

Super Kangaroo!

Bows for the puppeteers!

Time for the Pet Parade!

Weird Stuff in the Street

Weird stuff ends up on the street in my neighborhood. It's like we're in a remake of "The Time Machine," where random stuff from Sacramento's past or future momentarily appears for unknown reasons, then disappears. Maybe the stuff helps the Midtown Morlochs attract the Elusive Eloi. Maybe we're the Eloi. For example, here's a plug-in dentist-style chair that mysteriously appeared on my street. For the amateur dentist in you.

Then, under the W-X Freeway, a somewhat-battered Foosball table mysteriously appeared. The Foosball table had a "free" label on it, which just begs different questions, like, was this transported here from somewhere else, and by whom, and why, or did it belong to the homeless folks living under the freeway who got tired of playing Foosball? Why did they get tired? Did they lose all the balls? Are the Morlochs hoarding the balls? Are the homeless folks the Eloi or the Morlochs? Who's in charge here?

Then both objects abruptly disappeared. Maybe back to the future, back to 2224, where they belonged.

Wanting to Keep Kicking the Can Down the Road on This

Of course, it's always possible I had it already, as an asympototic illness (but I think I would have noticed the Zombies).

More Than Three Minutes with the Most Tedious Man on Earth

@meidastouch

Here's a montage of clips put together by MeidasTouch Editor-in-Chief Ron Filipkowski of Trump selling his various products and scams over the years: Trump University, Trump Steaks, Vodka, Board Game, Mattresses, Water, Airline, Vitamins, Ties and more.

♬ original sound - MeidasTouch

Big Car Accident - April 20, 2024

About 2:54 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, April 20, 2024, I heard a series of very-loud, seemingly-endless collisions.  All the neighbors heard it too, and we all ran down to the intersection of Second Avenue and 21st Street to see what happened.  

What we found was a bunch of riddles.  At least six vehicles were involved in the accident.  Multiple parked cars were struck.  Apparently a car drove away entirely from the accident on a flat tire.  Plus, a pickup truck collided head on with a parked car.  None of us could come up with a theory that satisfactorily-explained the wreckage that we observed strewn all about.  Did the pickup truck driver do all this damage by himself?  Seemed implausible.

Bystanders helped the driver of the pickup truck out of his vehicle and lay him down in the gutter until help could arrive.  The driver seemed somewhat incoherent, but it was unclear why.  Driving head on into a parked car and having an air bag explode in his face might have been enough to make him incoherent.

Help begins arriving.

Ambulance.

Assessing the damage.

A second engine arrives!

TrazoDon

@radical_jezebel #TrazoDon #Donaldtrump #trumptrial #hushmoneytrial #skit #politicalhumor #politicstiktok #politics #comedian #sleepydon ♬ For commercial projects!(1145568) - MaxRecStudio

Tele Novella - Funeral

Russia: Putin's Propaganda Machine

This is a fascinating documentary on the indoctrination of Russian society as it went to war against Ukraine - and as it inevitably goes to war against us too:

   

Hemorrhoids be Gone

If hemorrhoids got you down, this highly-toxic ointment will make all your worries go away - permanently:

California health officials are warning the public about a Vietnamese hemorrhoid ointment that is laced with a “highly dangerous amount of lead” and has killed a Sacramento woman.

California Health Department officials said in a written statement that the woman purchased the Vietnamese product in March through Facebook. A relative then shipped it to her from Vietnam. After using the ointment, the woman experienced symptoms related to lead poisoning and died. 

The Vietnamese product, in a small, round green container, is called Cao Bôi Trĩ Cây Thầu Dầu (Castor Oil Hemorrhoid Extract). Health officials said samples of the product showed the ointment had about 4% lead, a “highly dangerous amount.”

What Do You Mean My Credit’s Lousy?

I got this!

Sierra College's "Guys and Dolls" - April 12, 2024

"Guys and Dolls" at Sierra College.  Saw several people I knew - Adriel Cruz on piano, Paul Fearn as Arvide Abernathy, choreographer Pamela Lourentzos, and Ana Hansen in the audience. Carly Plageman Yorde was an excellent Adelaide and Josie Morales was an excellent Nathan Detroit. Kyra Obanil was a great lead dancer.

The show was directed by Scott Adams, who played Nathan Detroit in the "Guys and Dolls" I was in at Woodland Opera House in October, 2001.   In that show, Scott's wife Sherri Dozier Adams played Adelaide.  Sherri was also pregnant at the time (with Charlie, I think).  Charlie's younger brother Andrew played Benny Southstreet in this show.  It's just amazing how time flies!

Leah Deutch, who played Sarah Brown, together with Rachel.  In Lincoln Theatre Company's "Fiddler on the Roof last September, Rachel played Golde, mother to Leah's Tzeitel.

Afterwards, dessert at Leatherby's in Citrus Heights (which I didn't know existed until this night).

Looking distinguished!

Spring in Sacramento

The tree out in front of my house.

Falcon's Eye Theatre at Folsom Lake College - Cabaret - April 6, 2024

Very nice set and lighting design by Ian Wallace and company at Folsom's Harris Center.

Stage people posing for a photo, including (standing tallest in the back) Carly Plageman Yorde, who excellently plays Miss Adelaide at Sierra College's "Guys and Dolls."

Myself and Rachel pose with Alex Quinonez, who did a fantastic job as Emcee.  Alez and Rachel were both in RTAA's "Angels in America" in 2019.   In that show, I was very impressed with Alex's ability to remember long streams-of-consciousness dialogue.  In this show, I was impressed with Alex's energy.

Alex and Rachel.

I had some problems with the Kit Kat Klub. The stage was too large for an effectively-noisy nightclub environment. I thought the dancing was too austere and not enough was done with the comedic possibilities of the club.

Still, it was an excellent show.  I liked Maria Beretta as Sally Bowles - lots of energy.  Janet Motenko was great as Fraulein Schneider.

Our Orwellian Times, Particularly on Abortion!

“Leave it to the states” (Trump’s latest mantra) actually means zombie laws banning abortion return at full strength, with no exceptions, no matter public opinion. (Remember, as Texas demonstrates every day, exceptions for the health of the mother are unenforceable.) 

The only way to have a chance to stop this madness is by asphyxiating the Republican Party, by voting Democratic for every single office, until that distant day that Republicans decide to become a pro-choice party. Meanwhile, Kari Lake is twisting in the wind…

So let’s review. Lake opposes the law she had consistently said she supported. She denounces the court decision which ruled that the old law is in effect. She thinks the decision should be left to the states. She also opposes abortion. Also, Arizona is a state.

She also wants Governor Hobbs to solve the situation. Which would presumably mean making abortion legal. Even though Lake opposes abortion. 

She then comes very close to saying that abortion is a very personal issue that should be left to a state and her doctor. No really. I’m not kidding. Here’s the exact quote: “This is a very personal issue that should be determined by each individual state and her people.”

Meanwhile, the Republicans in the Arizona state legislature are too busy to fix anything:

@ynotcani The day after MAGA controlled Arizona Republicans blocked democrat efforts to repeal the worst abortion ban in America, they are out of state taking minimum of $10,000 donations in exchange for fast time with lobbyists. They said they adjoruned to meet constituents. Nope. They wanted to drink with lobbyists. #voteblue #greenscreen #politics ♬ original sound - Tony Cani

Dysfunctional Parenting, New-Zealand Style

Interesting story:

“They’re real sort of rugged, coast-y people who don’t come into town much,” a local reporter told me. “They’re kind of unusual. You’d call them rednecks, I think.” (Being “coastal” has a very different connotation in New Zealand than it does in the U.S.) Tony Wall, a reporter for the newsmagazine Stuff, told me that Phillips’ parents have been “very uncooperative. If you read between the lines, it definitely seems like they know something but they’re not telling us.”

Someone, everybody assumed, was shopping for supplies and ferrying them out to Phillips, wherever he was hiding out. “It’s almost unfathomable to think a father could survive with three small children without someone buying them supplies,” Baxter told me. “But what’s the endgame? I’m looking out my window now, and it’s pouring down rain.”

The lack of urgency on the part of Waikato police was often commented upon. “It’s very strange,” one reporter who’s been covering the case said. “The cops are not pouring any resources into looking for him and those children. I think they are of the view that he’s not going to hurt them and he’ll eventually come out.” 

...Whatever enquiries were under way, that cold and wet winter passed with no sign of Tom Phillips. As 2022 turned into 2023, Phillips and his children had been missing without a trace for more than a year. Then came the bank robbery.

Been Spending Time in Hospitals

Nothing wrong with me, but people I know have had some medical issues lately. Here is Sacramento VA Medical Center.

Hey, Where You Been?

I hear you've been busy!

Twin Rivers USD Job Fair

I attended this job fair at Twin Rivers Unified School District on April 10th. I might start as substitute teacher with them sometime soon. Strange event in some ways. Food was available for free, including ice cream bars and fresh fruit (a bell pepper, two kiwis, and about eight strawberries for me.

AI Trump Needs Cash

Eclipse Reenactment

@theholdernessfamily No need for special glasses 😎 #eclipse ♬ original sound - The Holderness Fam

The Modern Economy

Don’t Surprise the Maniac

Don't trifle with the damage:

Police in Ohio are trying to track down a man who allegedly pulled a gun on a Burger King employee over the weekend because he was mad about receiving a discount. The incident took place in the Cleveland suburb of Willowick on Easter morning, when, according to the employee, the customer flipped out after learning his order was cheaper than he expected it to be. “He was like, ‘My order can’t be right, it should be like $11,’ and I’m like trying to explain to him that we had a promotion going on, and like it’s cheaper, and he started cussing and getting all loud, and I was like, ‘I don’t know what to tell you, I don’t know why you want to pay more money.’”

Beethoven's Secret Code

I like stories about discovering secret codes:

"Then, one evening in 2013, the violinist Nicholas Kitchen was in New Mexico coaching a quartet through Opus 132. Kitchen is a man of obsessions; one of them is playing from a composer’s original handwritten manuscripts, rather than printed music, so he had a facsimile edition on hand. The errant “ffmo” caught the eye of the quartet’s cellist. “What’s this?” she asked. 

As soon as Kitchen saw Beethoven’s mark, something in his brain shifted; later, he would tell people that it was as if someone had turned over a deck of cards to reveal the hidden faces behind the plain backs. Suddenly, he had a new obsession. Over the next several years, he would come to believe he had discovered Beethoven’s secret code."

So You Say

Changes at Amazon Fresh

I've never shopped at Amazon Fresh stores, but I'm disturbed reading about the experience. It's like discovering that hamsters power your car. Apparently the "Just Walk Out" technology worked through intense surveillance. All sorts of people in India carefully watched exactly what you put in your shopping cart. And now Amazon Dash Carts will do the job instead. Powered by hamsters, perhaps? And what are the motives of these hamsters?:

Just over half of Amazon Fresh stores are equipped with Just Walk Out. The technology allows customers to skip checkout altogether by scanning a QR code when they enter the store. Though it seemed completely automated, Just Walk Out relied on more than 1,000 people in India watching and labeling videos to ensure accurate checkouts. The cashiers were simply moved off-site, and they watched you as you shopped.

My Supermarket Has Rough Edges

I like the comments over at Reddit.

Do You Have a Light?

I’ve chosen my late-night dog-walking path in order to avoid people, but sometimes you meet them anyway.  Tonight (March 31st), Jasper and I encountered a man pulling a roller bag down a dark residential street and randomly-dropping some kind of metal bar on the pavement. It was hard to tell in the dark, but he seemed to have a goatee. 

“Do you have a light?” he asked. When I said no, he persisted with the question. I explained I didn’t smoke. That annoyed him. “I have to walk a long way; without nicotine! There was a time when everyone had a light, but these days everyone steals my lighters, and now no one can start a fire. I hate Sacramento! I hate this f***ing world!” 

Yes, there was a time when everyone wore a smile and could instantly start conflagrations, but the world has since grown cold and dark. All we can do these days is stare at our phones. 

(I may have seen the guy again this morning. He was standing at the street corner, frozen stiff like a statue, staring at the roof of a Porsche auto repair business, where a homeless guy named Grant had had a standoff with the cops several years ago. I hope he’s not thinking similar thoughts.)

Snow Globe: A Breaking Bad Short - El Camino

I had somehow missed this "Breaking Bad" gem, from "El Camino." Just love it!