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New cat Oberon. Chosen by our daughter as a birthday present. Super affectionate neutered tom, a solid 5.2kg (11.5lb) of muscle. 4 years old.

Yeah - I was quite emotional. And she organized it while she was in Australia - from https://www.bluecross.org.uk/oxfordshire-burford-rehoming-centre . She couldn't have chosen a better cat. He's super affectionate and after two days is now exploring the house She has a motto in her bedroom "A home without a cat is just a house". In Australia she has three cats , and a dog. Two are indoor cats, and the outdoor one is a murder specialist. Possums are found on their decking minus heads. They have no idea where the heads go (probably best not to ask). He once tackled a goanna (these grow up to 6 feet long); the lizard won and resulted in a big vet's bill to repair the cat. That hasn't discouraged him, clearly.

Funny post of FB And the best comment: "Taint that the truth"

I can't imagine a better birthday present.

The pessimist says, ‘It can’t get any worse!’ And the optimist replies, ‘Oh yes it can! Madeleine Urban, Fish & Chips (Cut & Run, #3)

I keep thinking of the often repeated phrase failure of imagination to predict the 9/11 attacks. Failure of imagination to predict the Trump and Brexit votes. Failure of imagination to predict and prepare for a global pandemic. Failure of imagination to predict the storming of the US Capitol. Even failure of the imagination that Putin would actually invade Ukraine. We’re an optimistic people. That may be an issue.

I hide.

I found a copy of a play that I liked a long time ago. Lemon Sky -- by Lanford Wilson Plot summary The story is about a teenager named Alan who has recently graduated from high school. He moves from the Midwest to San Diego, California, in the 1950s to live with his estranged father and his new family. Attempting to overcome the past, Alan is confronted with problems in his new family. Television film Wilson adapted the play for a television film of the same name on PBS. The film was broadcast in February 1988 as part of American Playhouse. Directed by Jan Egleson, the film starred Kevin Bacon as Alan, with Tom Atkins as the father Doug and Lindsay Crouse as Doug's second wife. Kyra Sedgwick, who met future husband Bacon during rehearsals, played Carol, a teenaged boarder: "pill-popping, promiscuous... who seems to spend most of her time with the US Navy." In his review for The New York Times, John J. O'Connor wrote that the film is "terrific", praising the "uncommonly fine performances". Casey Affleck made his screen debut in the film as Alan's stepbrother, Jerry.

Thanks all. Crap day at work fighting dry dock struggles but making up for it in Boston tonight - heading to Celtic's game shortly. First, an Old Fashioned with dinner.

I don't know if any of you HCers took off your headphones stopped listening to your speaker rig long enough to notice, but the totally-in-his-right-mind, totally-a-rational-actor, totally-legitimately-elected, totally-not-a-warmongering-despot "President" of Russia invaded one his country's neighbors and may have kicked off the third installment of the much-delayed Word War series (srlsy even George R. R. Martin isn't this slow between volumes.) I've made a couple posts in Slow, but there's more going and at such a pace that a shitpost or two isn't going to cover it. In the MicS Discord we've been discussing it (well, shitposting about it) at great lenght. Even one of our most famously clownish member chimed in with: He's not wrong. Europe's largest nuclear power plant on fire after Russian attack. In ZoomerSpeak, that's a yikes.

Shitposting for stress relief.

I bet he could have taken the lizard if it were just 5 and a half feet.

John Williams: The Berlin Concert Berliner Philharmoniker, John Williams 2022 Example: Some of the best recordings and performances of these works.

I’m losing hope for the current Ukraine government pretty quickly. They need a win in the field, any win, and they need it bad. To date all the Ukraine defense forces seem to have done is slow down some of the Russian advances. None have been reversed or permanently halted. Pictures of ordinary citizens taking up arms and making Molotovs in defense of the fatherland is not something that gives me much confidence. No allied army is coming to help. Sanctions aren’t ending this war. Ask Cuba/North Korea/Iran how much sanctions deterred them from doing what they were going to do anyways. Yes, their people suffer, but since when have authoritarian rulers cared about the people’s welfare as a top priority? I wonder what the end game of all this is going to be?

It was delicious espresso.

A good long pre-infusion with Counter Culture “Slow Motion,” which is a decaf. I would be happy with this shot from any coffee house in the world.

Looking Back Mary Black 1995 Example:

Less of this WW3 shit guys - this is all happening in our back yard. Kyiv is only 1,500 miles from London by road and according to Google maps, if you were insane enough to drive, would take 27 hours. About the same distance as Houston to LA.

Happy Birthday Nate!

I hope you had a great day Nate! Happy Birthday and best wishes

Happy Birthday Craig!

A Belated Happy Birthday, Craig!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Nate.

Happy Birthday Nate!

Update So it makes sense that I love the middle disk the most, although all three have some great tracks. And this is insane, she has a 30 minute EP -- Scarlet Shoes -- which is largely neo-classical instrumental, and sounds nothing like the others. And the video from the single is crazy dark. She apparently does the art in the videos herself, too. Oh, and it sounds like a James Bond song burbling under the surface. Just a crazy great song.

Belated Happy Birthday, Craig!

happy belated birthday, Craig!

it was a $400 cup of free coffee

I got a sample of a rwandan coffee from olam yesterday and roasted it. i made a cortado this morning and then immediately ordered a 30kg bag of beans.

Good to hear, congrats on Oberon, and happy belated!

Some new stuff from Tears For Fears and Johnny Marr. Both pretty darn good, especially the new TFF....

Small Craft On A Milk Sea Brian Eno 2010 Example:

(Not sure why the updated the album cover) Amused to Death Roger Waters 1992 Example: Don't think I will make the upcoming tour, but I am sure it will be a good show.

Looks like the issue with the SawStop was more than just power. Getting the same alert periodically and going through tests for SS. They are sending a new brake as that is evidently the brains of the whole system and I am trying to loosen and blow out a circuit board that is mounted somewhere that needs Festool hands to reach and the Anti-Brent head to even get in there and see.

Silver and I agree that she doesn’t like being an only cat: she either gets too much attention from me or not enough. Dunhill ran interference on both fronts. I’m contemplating getting another cat. It’s complicated: if I end up moving in with Heather there are those cat dynamics. But that’s still in limbo, so I have to think about what is best for Silver. She’s a difficult cat. Skittish, doesn’t like other cats. I’ve introduced kittens to adult cats before (this was easy: the adult cats were always deathly afraid of the kitten!), but I’ve never introduced an adult cat to another on a permanent basis (Silver and Dunhill already knew each other). Silver and Heather’s cats don’t get along, though over a series of very careful meetings it was… better the last time we were in NC. But wasn’t permanent. One way or another I’m not going to spend the next 10-15 years with just one cat, though, and I can’t take 25 years to get cats to get along, so any recommendations?