Author Archives: Richard

On the 2024 World Series

There’s a truism in two-player strategy games that the winner is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake. The Dodgers and Yankees proved it in Game 5.

Given that the Dodgers won the first three games, it was almost guaranteed that they’d win the Series (a 15 out of 16 chance without taking anything special into account). But it can also be argued that since Game 1 went to extra innings, Games 2 and 3 were both decided by the score of 4-2, and Game 4 was intentionally a “bullpen game” for the Dodgers (where they used the four “least good” pitchers on their roster), that the teams were evenly matched and the series could just as well gone into Game 5 tied at two games each.

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Those Election Maps Again

As the presidential campaign heads into its final weeks, you might start seeing maps of the US with the states colored in according to how they are expected to vote in the Electoral College. The more relevant ones are those that come out after the election, showing the actual results. We all know that the EC is a clunky way to choose a president, but we’re stuck with it until someone gets the political will and energy to amend the Constitution to change it.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t do something about those maps – which surely drive data scientists bonkers with their awfulness.

NOTE: Examples use 2020 election results. All but the last map were ‘borrowed’ from World Mapper; the last map came from XKCD.

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A Halloween Message from Our Sponsor

While Christmas commercials get almost all the love, Halloween isn’t one to stay in the shadows. A whole bunch of advertisers get in with the spirit of the spooky season, too.

There’s one I wish I could find (I’ve forgotten the soap brand behind it), since it encapsulates the mix of horror and comedy that’s so prevalent this time of year. A woman arrives at her isolated old home in the forest, and the first thing she decides to do is take a shower using the advertised brand of soap. Even though she has the bathroom window wide open, the running water prevents her from hearing a mask-wearing, axe-wielding Bad Guy approaching the house. (OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYS) Well, she holds the bar of soap just right, so it squirts out of her hands and flies out the window….. You can probably guess what happens to the Bad Guy; and the tagline is something about how the brand of deodorant soap gives you long-lasting protection….

Anyway, here are a couple of neat spots that I *could* find: Continue reading →

MOVIE REVIEW: The Secret Sex Lives of Romeo and Juliet (1969)

I know you’re asking (and if you’re not, you should be) “Why is this guy reviewing an old soft-core porn flick?” Well, one of my guiding principles here is that any movie worth talking about should have something in it to justify the conversation – even if the movie is an example of what not to do.

I also maintain that there is a difference between pornography and erotica: if you remove all the sex from something and what’s left still has some value and interest, then it’s erotica, not porn.

With that in mind, let’s NOT look at the nudity and simulated sex, and see if there’s anything left that’s worth a discussion. This will require winding up the figurative time machine and program in stops in three different eras.

First, let’s go back to the late 1950s to see what was going on in the movie industry. Continue reading →

Halloween Countdown

Way back in Ye Olde Times when I first started this vanity project, I came across a blog called “Countdown to Halloween”. They were pretty much a “hub” for dozens and dozens of Halloween themed blogs. I had a bunch of thematically appropriate posts ready to go, so I signed up as a “Crypt Keeper”. I got everything I wanted to post out under that banner, so I didn’t sign up in the years following (even though I kept posting a few Halloween-related things each year).

Well, the Countdown has been going on without me, and many of the same bloggers are still active. Many even post year-round!

In addition to all the artists, craftspeople, and reviewers (and assorted personal blogs), here are a few that I think will be worth your occasional time.

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Home Maintenance 101

When you live in one place long enough, you find that things around the house start breaking down as much as your car (or even yourself, once you get to a certain age). So a responsible adult has to learn to fix things without having to call in a professional.

This time, it’s the toilet fill valve.

According to the Internet, it’s a fairly simple process. Seven or eight steps, and maybe a half hour in total.

BUT – that’s under ideal circumstances: a clean toilet and bathroom, exactly the right tools, a proper replacement valve on hand, easy access to the things that need to be disconnected, and someone who’s done it before leading you through it.

For random people like me, the procedure is a lot longer and more complicated. Continue reading →

Another Fix for the Electoral College

For some reason, every four years around this time, you’ll find people whining about how the Electoral College is archaic, outdated, biased towards smaller states, and generally Not Good for their side of the political aisle (curiously, it’s always the liberal one that complains).

The usual proposal is to do away with the Electoral College entirely and elect our presidents through direct national popular vote. Or, failing that, come up with some sort of dodge with how states choose their electors that would give the same effective result (the “National Popular Vote Compact”).

But there’s one other approach to the problem that they keep missing – and it’s one that would solve a handful of other problems at the same time: expand the House of Representatives. Continue reading →

Pond in a Jar – 7

It’s been a little over a year since I first embarked on this thing. While I can’t say it’s thriving, it’s definitely Not Dead – so I’ll call it a win.

Not much to look at…..

 

I sometimes have to fight the urge to poke around in it, trying to make it look “neater”. That big glob of green crap at the top….the mass of “fuzz” at the bottom…. But I remind myself that it’s not dying and there are still critters swimming and crawling around inside it, so my policy of “benign neglect” will continue. All I do is add a little more pond water from the original source every now and then when the level gets uncomfortably low (close to the narrowest part of the neck).

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MOVIE REVIEW: Lady Death (2004)

Things keep getting worse for Hope, a teenager in 15th century Sweden. Her dad’s a right proper bastard of a nobleman, and he’s forbidding her to leave his castle grounds, much less see her boyfriend. The locals are generally OK with him, as long as he keeps winning battles against whatever heathens are in the area.

Well, Dad goes a bit too far with his “recruiting techniques”, and soon enough, there’s an uprising. Dad pulls an ace out of his sleeve – he’s actually Lucifer himself! He makes his escape – but then the mob turns on Hope. She has to be an accomplice, and must be burned at the stake for her witchcraft!

Before she can die, two flying “things” come and take her away, bringing her to Hell. Dad / Lucifer will let her live, but she must worship him. Well, Hope isn’t having that – especially since Dad has the souls of her boyfriend and mother as prisoners. She winds up being banished to the farthest reaches of Hell (apparently, Dad can’t bring himself to kill her / let her die) – where she sets about plotting her revenge. Continue reading →

Detroit – 6

It seems that these days, every large enough city with something resembling a waterfront is required to turn that waterfront into a park. Detroit is no exception; their riverfront has been turned into a nice promenade, with scattered trees, grassy areas, and benches. There’s even a small state park to show what a natural riverbank is supposed to look like, with the corresponding environmental benefits.

There are also a couple of party boats and river cruises available – none of which I took advantage of on this trip. No ferries between the two countries; I guess they aren’t needed.

Maybe if I had a party of 200….

Plenty of those electric scooters for rent. I suppose that maybe someday I’ll use one – if the rental company would make them more user-friendly, and post signs at the charging stations showing the rates and where the nearest other stations are, so you’d know exactly what you’re getting into with one. You could even stick a QR code on the sign, that lets you download the app right away! Come on, people! It’s not that hard!

One cool thing of note was a vending machine in the snack area at the Michigan Science Museum – salads in a jar! I forget which one I had (lots of bean sprouts), but it was tasty and substantial. A bit messy getting everything out of the jar into the cardboard “bowl”, though.

Something that struck me was the lack of traffic Downtown – both foot and vehicular. For a major city, it was weird to see so little activity in the middle of the day in the middle of the week. Was everyone off on vacation somewhere? Things were pretty sparse even in the major office complex of the Renaissance Center.

By the way, it’s pronounced “shine-O-la”……not “shin”……