Suvivors

--Photos/CBCArts

 

Dandelions are survivors.

 

"It's interesting how the symbol of the dandelion is so strong for so many people," says Saskatoon artist Monique Martin. "Everybody needs to think about the dandelion's strength during COVID.

 

"When I walk by, if I'm having a bad day, I go, 'It's OK, I can be like a dandelion. I can be a dandelion and survive.'"

 

Her 2,200 paper dandelions are stars of Context is Everything, an art installation that's touring museums in western Canada. They're made of hanji, a Korean paper.

 

CBC Arts interviews Martin with additional photos at ...

   

   LINK: Thousands of dandelions

 

 

 

Home on the range

 

--twitter/dailybeast

  

Hey! Isn't that riot guy's face familiar?

"This is not Chuck Norris and is a wanna be look alike although Chuck is much more handsome. Chuck remains on his range in Texas where he has been with his family."

                    --Official Chuck Norris PR statement

World view

--Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP

 

 

The image many European newspapers fronted in recent days.

U.S. papers? Not so much.

 

History 2: The Reckoning

--uncredited/msnbc

 

 

“‘People thought what I said was totally appropriate,’ Mr. Trump told reporters...

                                               *  *  *  *

Now approaching 40,000...

Too sick to die

When sick is better than dead. 

Two scheduled U.S. executions have been stopped because both prisoners contracted COVID-19 at the Indiana facility that houses death row. A judge says they've “suffered significant lung damage” from COVID-19 that would cause the execution to be extraordinarily painful for them, “akin to waterboarding.”

===============

Lies, insurrection, bribery?

 

 A group of former administration officials and anti-Trump Republicans said they would make a $50 million commitment to support the re-election of Republican lawmakers who join Democrats in supporting impeachment of the president. …

          --New York Times 

                     *   *   *  *

 An American tradition since 1776?

Higher power

 JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I WAS OUT … 

CNN’S @kaitlancollins tweets: 

 “Sen. Lindsey Graham, who last week said he and President Trump had a ‘hell of a journey’ but it was time to ‘count me out’ because ‘enough was enough,’ is flying to Texas on Air Force One today, per the pool.”

Omens

 

The 535 members of  the U.S. Congress have been memo'd that bullet-proof vests are now an authorized use of their office budgets.

 

Washington Post news item: Some D.C. ambulance workers have spent $300 to $500 for their own vests to protect themselves when they arrive early at a crime scene and the bullets are still flying.

"Bulletproof" vests under $500 are "soft armour" and probably won't stop anything tougher than a knife or pistol.

More than you want to know at

Bullet proof vests
 

Oh, hello...

When your customers don't pay you

Is it surprising that most comments on this video are tradesmen, who have Other Ways to get revenge?

Grumpy cat

Fran Lebowitz is New York City's Jiminy Cricket... an opinionated conscience of what NYC is. And was. And ought to be.

"It would take the Dalai Lama just one subway trip to turn into a raging lunatic," she barks.

Martin Scorsese has a horsepile of Netflix cash to celebrate his cranky gal pal, and some wildly novel musical and archival ideas for his new Netflix offering, Pretend It's a City. 

He makes nearly four hours' worth of rants by a very odd 70 year-old woman watchable. (It's chopped into seven half hours.)

I laughed out loud--often at Marty's creative editing--but equally for Fran's well-rehearsed dictims, practiced at a thousand lectures.

Sarcasm and snarl is her job; she hasn't written a book in decades.

Rolling Stone gives Pretend It's a City a rave.

Time says it's endlessly charming, a pleasure.

Variety says it's self-indulgent crap.

Hey, it's way funnier than The Irishman.

The show's title is what Lebowitz shouts at tourists and camera-clickers who impede her march thru NYC sidewalks: "Pretend it's a city!"

Bad ideas

Timmy's Poutine Donut

Trevor Noah's new house

 

--dirt.com 

Does Comedy Central, the marginal U.S. cable channel, pay much better than I suspect?

Behold Trevor Noah's $ 27.5 million new house.

Only the top third--the Penthouse--is prominent in this shot: most of the house square footage is on the larger two floors below.

This house replaces Noah's previous $21 million digs.He also owns a $10 million New York City condo.

Noah's four-night-a-week news satire and South Park keep Comedy Central afloat, but his new (and lucrative) contract only goes thru 2022. The show is an also-ran underdog in latenight talk.

Thank god concerts and Netflix underwrite this purchase. Noah earns about the price of the new house annually. He's 36.

You want to hear bout the 10-car parking? Didn't think so.

 

"Any spare change?"

Meet you at the trough

LIVE FEED ABOVE: The Brownville Food Pantry For Deer 

This is better than bears at the dump.

A town in central Maine puts out 400 pounds of oats a day to feed wild, white-tailed deer.

Sometimes more than 100 deer and 100 wild turkeys can be seen checking out the fine winter feed.

Food goes out at about 9 a.m. EST

 

snort & scrub

 

The Dogs of 2020

Another bark parade...

Get a good look!

Crime does not pay.

Nor apparently, does sketch artist work.

Reality check

 

                             --ElizabethColeman/AxiosPM

 
It was an unforgettable day that many, for various reasons, may try to forget. But I will remember Trump shouting into the cold wind as the clock hit the appointed hour of 1 P.M., urging his supporters to march on the Capitol, egging them on, inciting them with his hatred and grievance. I will remember the Trump flag, not the American flag, hanging off the Capitol balcony, and the fact that the rioters wore Trump’s name on their shirts and hats. And I will remember his video, as those rioters rampaged through the halls of Congress. “We love you,” Trump told them. This actually happened.

                         --Susan B. Glasser, New Yorker columnist

--Vancouver strip club

 

--Edel Rodriguez/newyorker cover

 

“A part of America died on January 6th. The flag at half-mast marks that moment.”

--Edel Rodriguez

 

blitt

 

--Barry Blitt/newyorker.com

Twitter tosses Trump

STORY:  Twitter tosses Trump

Cold, cold heart

 

Doug Ford adjusts Timmy's freezer containing...

 

. Parking lot snow for July Iced Capps

. Bearclaws nobody wants

. Thousands of Hockey Barbies

. Fresh-never-frozen donut embryos

. Covid vaccine

. Rod Phillips' frozen remains

 

 

Message to Russian troll farm

  

Привет, ферма троллей! У нас очень мало снега!

Как вы, ребята, поживаете?

Вы разговаривали с Трампом в последнее время?
Он в порядке что ли?

---- 

Translation:

Hello troll farm! We have very little snow!
How are you guys doing?

Have you spoken to Trump lately?
Is he okay or what?

Six sides of a snowflake

 

There's a trick involved in the video above ... the snowflakes aren't "growing" ... they're melting.

The high speed photography is reversed.

Evil Jerry

So do you have to be a comic to know

Jerry Seinfeld is a very successful comedian, and Colin Quinn far less so?

But they're pals.

So Jerry is on Quinn's YouTube Cop Show.

Seinfeld, the original hipster, is charged with killing other hipsters. Yes, he is Evil Jerry.

Quinn started putting up episodes in late fall with lesser comics and is now in "Season 3"

John Heilemann's Recount

 ­

­

­ Fallout From an Insurrection ­ Man, first day after an attempted coup is always the hardest, huh? Fallout continues from yesterday’s insurrection, in the halls of Congress and online. VP Pence is reportedly opposed to invoking the 25th Amendment, but lawmakers are still floating impeachment. Trump was kicked off social media — but for now, still has access to the nuclear codes. Cool cool cool. Biden, whose victory was certified last night, announced several key Justice Dept. figures, including our future attorney general. Bitcoin is still booming. And, uh, hey — remember COVID? It’s still really bad.

 

LINK: HEILEMANN's Recount 

MAGA hoodies?

 

How long does it take to pre-order and print "MAGA Civil War, January 6, 2020" hoodies?

 

 

--David Ostrow/NewYorkernewsletter

 

--Politico

 

 

 

I skipped the lineup into Timmy's today.

 

Doug Ford's genius covid vaccine distribution plan is working.

Just stick your arm out in the drive-thru.

There's a rumor you also get a free Timbit.

 

But that Timmy's lady at the drive-thru window who poked me with a plastic fork as a joke?

I hope she is taking this more seriously.

 

The Premier is counting on all of us.

 

Note: OHIP card not required

Remember to tip your ShotMaster kid

 

 

Доброе утро! (Good morning!)

Google Analytics on this blog:

42% of readers are in the U.S.

40% of readers are in Canada

12% are in Russia

Rest: Portugal, UK, UAE, Belgium

----- 

Wait a minute! Russia?

"The Troll Farm," a friend speculates. "They follow you for pop culture references."

They think we're getting covid shots at Tim Horton's? Beauty, eh?

Steve Cowden's cartoon: Chocolate Cake & Ice Cream

Steve Cowden is an artist in Portland, OR.

His webpage is here...

stevecowden.com

And boredpanda.com's story on it is here...

LINK: Cowden's cartoon 

History

 

 LINK: BBC SUMMARY

https://therecount.com/

 

Shoresy Letterkenny's advice for Team Trump

 

Just a "bump in the road"...

 

 Ontario has administered just 50,000 of the 148,350 doses of covid vaccines already delivered and stashed in freezers.

Vaccines will roll out to nursing homes Jan. 25--almost three weeks from now.

Doug Ford acknowledges there have been "a few bumps in the road" in delivering the shots.

 

 

Ford examines industrial freezer at Timmy's, where they keep their fresh-never-frozen donuts. Covid vaccines go next to the bearclaws, which everybody hates.

White House down! No, White House up!

"What the hell?"

 

Happy Holidays, From the New York Philharmonic!

Is this the first recorded appearance of...

the Menorah hat?

 

I'm in the drive-thru.

 

"Are the covid shots here yet?" I ask Timmy's loudspeaker.

"Is this Gary?"

"Yes."

 "Come up!"

 

"Stick your arm thru the window, dear. Double double, and double shots, right?"

Bingo!

 

I roll forward and stick my arm thru the window.

The nice lady jabs me with a plastic fork.

And laughs.

 

Does Doug Ford think this is funny?

"Don't be a stranger," she snickers.

WTF?

HOO!

It's National Bird Day!

The gathering storm

 

It's going to get worse. Axios CEO Jim VandeHei offers a few things everyone can do to stay safe and sane in coming months:

1. Wear masks. Hopefully this dumb debate is ending and we can all agree masks help slow the spread.
2. Avoid crowds. This, too, is a no-brainer, even if hard practically and emotionally. Listen to scientists: They're not infallible, but are motivated to help us make fact-based calculations. 
3. Take a cautious eye to social media and in conversation. Don't share stories, memes, random B.S. about the virus unless you can authenticate it. Can we all agree misinformation is bad?
4. Order food. Restaurants are getting crushed, and it's worse with outdoor seating gone. Help keep these small businesses alive.
5. Virtually visit family, friends and strangers — especially those in nursing homes, where the virus makes a tough situation intolerable for too many older folk. 

Share this guide.

Who watched what?

 

Variety's year-end Nielsen list of who watched what is always interesting ... in 2020 the US legacy networks lost large and cable news outlets rode rage and rot to big gains.

Variety's story on the TV stats--with a chart that ranks 180 TV signals is here
 

Calling Dr. Timmy....

 

"Will you really stick your arm in a Tim Horton's drive-thru window to get a covid shot?" asks my animal support goldfish.

"Of course," I tell Bubbles. "Doug Ford is a genius. Oh sure, he seems a little dozey. But  covid shots at every Timmy's drive-thru is a master stroke."

"You trust fast food workers to do this?"

"Timmy's drive-thru lady is my only daily friend thanks to the plague," I confess. "She wouldn't hurt me."

Bubbles scowls. Which is tough for a fish.

"Don't worry!" I chirp. "She'll just bang in the needle when I grab for my donuts."

"It seems weird," sez Bubbles.

"It's a real thing,"I tell him. "Tell your virtual friends and neighbors. Paste it on Facebook. Spread the word. Covid shots at Timmy's! Dougie has a great idea."

I count the hours.

"Double double! Two shots! Espresso and covid..."

 

 

Double double, two shots

 

I ask the nice lady at Tim Hortons--I stick my arm in her window--if she will give me a covid shot.

She always gives me a shot of espresso in my large double double.

"Not yet," she says.

Then she winks.

I knew the province had a plan.

SKATE the frozen river

Join Erik Normark on his morning skate...

Special people

 

I discover Bubbles, my emotional support goldfish, has secretly started a GoFundMe for Rod Phillips and other scofflaw politicians' hush-hush holiday travel expenses.

He feels these Special People keep the airlines flying. Their vanity is more valuable than jet fuel.

I fear Bubbles not visiting his relatives at Pet Smart may be taking its toll.

 

Monkey business

 

Metro residents are weirded out by mysterious monoliths at the lakeshore and in a Mimico park.

Perhaps you recognize some of your neighbours in the pic.

Covid is making them crazy.

And they need haircuts.

If aliens can't find the CN Tower, how are they going to navigate by these sticks?

Tofino getaway?

 

Try a getaway in your head.

Pal Linda Barnard's new tourism webpage scans all things B.C.

Dreaming about Tofino on Vancouver Island? Here's her nice take on how the town at the country's Pacific edge is doing.

 

LINK: Linda Barnard's vacay.ca 

 

Snowy owls are just feathered marshmallows

YouTube's all-knowing algorithm relentlessly feeds my addiction

Sky show at Seattle's Space Needle

   LINK: Seattle Space Needle, New Year's Eve

When fireworks were nixed, Seattle's Space Needle had to come up with a better idea for New Year's Eve.

How about a stoner sky show mixing Close Encounters, TRON and War of the Worlds?

At the above link, see the 11-minute light show  home TV viewers saw, a CGI extravaganza produced by Terry Morgan. The actual landmark tower was simply bathed in purple-crimson light.

The Twitterverse was spaced out. Some of the giddy reaction is here...

LINK: Space Needle reactions  

"Hang in there... be bold...."

 

           LINK: Anthony Hopkins' 45th New Year

Spin Doctors

"Calling Nurse Jane Fuzzywuzzy..."

Most Spin Doctors are not real doctors.

They just play one on TV.

But rarely, they're a real doctor too.

Did this doc win the question & answer game?

 

Dangerous statistic

One in 10 Canadians say they've contemplated suicide since the pandemic began…  

--Canadian Mental Health Association, based on CMHA survey of 3,000 taken before recent spikes.

WHAT? A NEW PARKA PATROL?

Easy, Wolfie!

Yes, a new/old Parka Patrol episode is up on the web.

It's right here...

LINK: Parka Patrol, Baseball (Show #2)

In the wolf howl clip above, see what you missed  when you didn't follow 100 other cars along a dark, twisty ridge road in Algonquin Park.

Previously posted...

LINK: Parka Patrol, CBC Birthday (#44) 

                           *  *  *  *

LINK: Parka Patrol blog 

Midnight dance

Snow!

Here is the start of a fresh new year....

These Bernese Mountain puppies are 12 weeks old.

Casablanca 2021

--karl stevens/newyorkernewsletter

 

 

 LINK: "The fundamental things apply..."

 

First song I heard in 2021

Midnight in Sydney--Happy New Year!