"Dan Da Dan"

I decided to try something different, and watched this movie on September 20th at the Tower Theater. I know nothing about Japanese manga and figured I needed to know something. The premise looked fun: a girl who believes in ghosts and a boy who believes in aliens each trying to persuade the other of the existence of their passion. And, of course, both are right: both exist! 

The movie was fun, and very odd. I particularly liked the puzzling Americanisms that would suddenly present themselves. For example, when a giant sumo-wrestling alien appeared, they explained, in a parenthetical aside, that the monster was first noted in an American place called Flatwoods. I thought that was a brilliant name - it sounded American but didn't actually exist as a real place. I was surprised to learn later that the Flatwoods Monster is a known entity in West Virginia (but not as a sumo wrestler). I was amused by the sumo-wrestler alien's defeat by a technicality.  It happens, even to aliens.

I was also surprised when the boy, possessed by a ghost, began ending every sentence by saying "yo." It was as if the boy was suddenly possessed by the spirit of Jesse Pinkman. 

This is a fun movie, and includes a documentary about the filmmakers. Japanese culture is one strange thing.

 

Time For Bird Seed!

Where are the pigeons? Oh…

Cultural Touchstones of the American Heartland

@creativelyflailing I am an influential member of early 21st century society. #archeology #history #historytok #fordf100 ♬ original sound - Hedge Bette

Stock Market At All-Time Highs

With the fed rate cut today, the stock markets are now at all-time highs, and heading higher. Good economic management by Biden-Harris! 

I remember talking to my financial advisor in April, and she said, “Yup, big rate cut coming, before the election. Position yourself!” (Which I didn’t do).

The Purpose of AI

The Trains of Bernalillo

I'm feeling nostalgic. My grandmother lived next to the train tracks in Bernalillo, NM, where this video was taken. Some of my first solid memories were of watching trains right here, up to 65 years ago: the anticipation as they approached, feeling the power of the Diesel engine, hearing the horn and the metallic scream of the wheels, then sudden, abrupt silence. 

I would dream about trains too. One dream had me standing in my grandmother's kitchen, in the center of a Stonehenge-like ring of Coldspot refrigerators, as a malevolent Santa Fe Chief passenger train circled around in the kitchen, trying to find a way to get to me inside the ring. Sometimes the dream trains were friendlier, and would pluck me up, drop me into the engine, and take me for rides. My father was in his Freudian phase at this time and he carefully explained that the dream meant I wanted to go back to the womb. Even then, I thought this interpretation was strange. My father offered this interpretation at other times too. No matter what happened in my dream life, my dad heard the siren song of the womb. 

My dad also told various stories about the rails. His dad had been a section chief on the Santa Fe railroad and had been awarded a fancy watch for spotting a locked bearing and stopping a train before disaster ensued. My dad told about how cars and trucks would sometimes stall on the tracks and get clobbered. Crossing the rails in a vehicle made me anxious, certain as I was that the vehicle would stall. 

I wasn't allowed to leave my grandmother's yard, but the kid next door was allowed to. I wanted to test out something my dad said about a strong wind right at wheel level as the train passed. I asked the kid to place a piece of paper right next to the rail and place a rock on top, in order to see if the wind would rip out the piece of paper. The kid instead put the paper and the rock right on top of the rail. I panicked and fled to the opposite side of the house as the train approached, certain as I was that the train would derail. But a simple rock is no match for a locomotive. I presume it was instantly pulverized. 

Anyway, the video shows that little has changed in the intervening 65 years in Bernalillo, at least concerning trains. The power remains awesome!

 

The Planters Just Didn't Have The Cash

Excellent short video about the empire of lies that buttressed the planters of the Old South, and made it impossible to avoid war. Key was the scarcity of money….

@jonstertruck #history #teachertok #historytok #ushistory #civilwar #americanhistory #historyteachers ♬ original sound - jonstertruck

Canada Has A Large Faucet?

@thatguyyu Canada has a faucet? #2024president #trump #chathelp #ineedanadult ♬ original sound - Z7duckx_Music