Archive for June 2021
It’s Always More Clowns and Jokers
It’s everyday. The stupidest, most indoctrinated, hold themselves up as pinnacles of virtue. “Smart” phones and social media accounts have given every moron-nobody-at all on the planet A VOICE!!! That’s “democracy” for you. A dive to the least common denominator bottom. And he who is not sufficiently courageous to defend his soul — don’t let…
Read MoreA Father’s Day Golf Story and France
Dr. Michael Eades requires no introduction here, since the various goods and bads of my friendship with him goes back 12 years now when he was introducing his Sous Vide Supreme and there’re many posts on this blog over those years.
I’m an avid reader of his new endeavor, The Arrow. It’s a weekly newsletter by email he started close to six months ago—which is easy to know, since he just put out #24 last Thursday. I think it clocks in at close to 10k +/- words each time. Not for the faint of heart and if you run down the link rabbit holes, well, you’re in for a beating. It’s such a value I have taken to saving each issue myself.
What I truly adore about Mike is that he’s a lover of writing and the craft that goes into making it look easy. The hardest part about making it look easy is storytelling. So what sets Mike’s gig apart is that he’s always telling stories, making apt references, dropping names modestly—as I’m doing here—and engaging his readers. Even if you’re just dropping hard data and analysis, you can at least do it in a narrative prose that keeps some level of heightened curious engagement since it’s not Dragnet.
Not just the facts, ma’am.
In issue #22 a couple of weeks ago, Mike kicks off a golf story about one of his Sunday outings. I immediately had the urge to tap out a little story of my own to convey how I am the exact opposite when it comes to the links.
I don’t know how many of you play golf. But one of the arguments raging among golfers is what’s called pace of play. Many people want to get out, play quickly, finish and go home. Or to the bar. Or whatever. Others want to play slowly and unhurriedly and just enjoy themselves outside for a few hours. I’m a member of the former group. I like to play fast. And nothing bothers me more than standing around waiting for the group ahead of me to get off the fairway or green, so I can take my shot.
Back in 1989, I had just left 7th Fleet embarked on USS Blue Ridge in Yokosuka, Japan. In total, 4 1/2 years there, counting my first junior officer tour on USS Reeves beginning in ’84.
Read MoreRichard Nikoley and Noah Revoy Discuss
I’m not much of a consumer of long video interviews and discussions. I’ve seen I think 2 Joe Rogan shows, the one with Taubes and Guyenet, and the one where journalist Tim Pool roasts Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey (“Osama bin Jack”). So since I’m not much of a consumer of them myself, I always feel…
Read MoreOk So What’s Next?
Back when I was a kid, my dad was a painting contractor. There were different masks for different materials; and also, how the materials would be applied, and whether in an enclosed space or more open.Think about those elements without thinking of politicized mandates. What sort of things come to mind? Perhaps if you’re brushing…
Read MoreMy Random Quick Takes #8 — Covid-19 Edition
1. No point vaccinating those who’ve had COVID-19: Findings of Cleveland Clinic study
Scientists from the Cleveland Clinic, USA, have recently evaluated the effectiveness of coronavirus disease 2019 COVID-19) vaccination among individuals with or without a history of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.
The study findings reveal that individuals with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection do not get additional benefits from vaccination, indicating that COVID-19 vaccines should be prioritized to individuals without prior infection. The study is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server.
Source: Life Sciences
Big fat duh. Nominally, one would think that the natural immunity conferred by a previous infection constitutes more elements of the characteristics of the virus than just its spike proteins, which is all the mRNA gene-manipulation shots are designed to target. I should add that I believe the tech is very interesting and doubtless will have much application going forward. But as a global “emergency” experiment? Meh.
2. Was mask-wearing pointless after all?
I Got Stuck In A Rut
The good thing for me is that these occasional ruts are good for me.
It’s not the first time and will not be the last. It happens out of the blue, when I find myself wondering what the fuck I’m doing.
And ironically, it comes about six weeks since I made the radical move to turn this into a Members’ blog after 18 years of publicly-available content. I was prepared at the outset to call it off, but the memberships come in daily, still. And it’s to the point where it’s viable (a guy even paid me a year’s subscription in Bitcoin yesterday, marking a first). All that’s left to do is steadily grow the membership. Proof of concept is done.
But I have a nagging problem. Sure, for as long as I’ve been around, there will certainly be a number who will sign up because—for better or worse—they just happen to enjoy my style and are willing to pay to keep getting it. But when does that dry up? I’m not at the level of paid membership I want to be and excitedly, a million paid members is pretty much as easy to manage with my digital tools as is 1,000—99.9999% runs automated and Stripe as a payment processor is phenomenal after I’ve hated and loathed every CC processor I ever had before, in various businesses. Somewhere in-between is where my sweet spot lies.
I’m well aware that I occupy a one-off sort of niche that nobody else can believably copy. At the same time, part of that is that I exert zero effort in really reach-out self-promotion. It’s always a “you come to me” promotion, which is low effort. I’m just mindful of appearing to be a cheap and disgusting word-whore spewing bullshit meaningless promises for the consumption of fools and morons—people whose money I don’t even want.
So, enough of my inner conflicts.
What have I resolved?
Read MoreI’m Sending My Two Thai Girls to Private School
I began life in the village—Amphoe Khukhan, Ban Laem Thong—just over a year ago, arriving May 16, 2020, after an 18-hour drive from Chiang Mai.
I did not intend to stay very long. Frankly, I was escaping. When I got to Thailand January 16, I had zero idea that the world was about to be turned on its head. Within two months, everything was fucked. My flight to Vietnam got cancelled, everything was Dominoes going forward.
After an excursion to Koh Samui to escape the reality, I came back to Chiang Mai simply knowing there is no escape—and neither anyplace in the world, as was becoming evident—so I might as well, at least, be in a place where I’d come to know some people. So I bided time and made the best of it in a cool apartment designed and built by a Swiss architect expat guy who owned the place.
Warunee Aumpronopmallee “Yui” was hunkered down. Thai news, like all news globally was…
The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed—and hence clamorous to be led to safety—by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. — H.L. Mencken
