books, entertainment, magazines, movies, puzzles

stuff with which to keep busy

a little lonesome bluegrass (times three)

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Three different versions from different artists of Lonesome and Dry As a Bone.

Dave Leatherman (excellent artist; unfortunately, the song is cut at the end)
Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder (a well-done version, very polished, with an excellent band)
Joe Diffie (getting back to his roots with a down-home rendition)

Any favourites?  Notice they’re all in the same key?  What do you mean you don’t like bluegrass?

NGM Bible hunters

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I got an email today from National Geographic.  They have a series called Bible Hunters.  Some investigative journalism on the history of the Bible, I guess, which is all well and good.  It’s a pretty well-known set of texts (if not accurately known).

But I was also watching a YouTube video produced by National Geographic called The Bible’s Buried Secrets National Geographic Documentary HD.  I very rarely see such bias ‘journalism’ from reputable names like yours.  My comments:

This video begins interesting but not too much later gives a poor impression. At 12:00, the video loses ground (no pun intended). Genesis chapter 8 states the rains lasted 40 days & nights. It says the water subsided, not the rains, after 150 days. These are two different concepts. One sentence states it rain, and one states the waters started receding. As well, it clearly states that first a raven was sent out and then, later, a dove. Why is this contradictory? It seems to me that it isn’t. I thought this documentary would rely on ‘documents’ (“documentary”?), but so far it doesn’t hold water (again, no pun intended). It’s like someone saying, “I ate eggs for breakfast and pasta for lunch,” and someone else saying, “Well which is it – which did you eat – eggs or pasta?”

So forgive me, NGM; although I have thoroughly enjoyed your magazines, have a collection of them in paper and electronic form, and have a library of your videos, your journalism shows your true colours.

National Geographic Magazine collectoin 20181216_145317.jpg
National Geographic Video Collections DVD set 20181216_145439.jpg
National Geographic, 109 Years of National Geographic Magazine on CD-ROM 20181216_145407.jpg

not funny … not at all

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I watch a show or movie to relax, have fun, be happy.  I don’t want more violence.  While watching New Girl S1E12 (comedy on Netflix), a guy in a parking lot pulls a gun and threatens people with violence.  Funny?  Sorry, crossed the line.  Too much s*** like that.  If that’s comedy, then I don’t want it.  Not in my house.  American culture, perhaps.  Not mine.  Last weekend a guy in the States killed 11 people at a synagogue.  Think family members would think this episode is funny?  I cancelled my Netflix account.

 

half of “the room”

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Have you ever sat through a movie that was just awful?  I watched something on Netflix called The Disaster Artist, a movie about the making of another movie called The Room.  So when The Disaster Artist was done, I tried watching this B-movie about directed, produced, and acted by Tommy Wiseau.  Oh my frakking god!  It’s now 56:00 into the movie, and I just can’t watch it!  Give it a try, see what you think.

ode to Euler, Bernoulli, Leibniz, and many many more

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It seems to me that the book Leonhard Euler and the Bernoullis by M. B. W. Tent should be standard optional reading before starting any Calculus course at college.  It seems to me to be a read worthy of a read before the course to put a bit of history behind the whole concept of Calculus.  It puts into perspective how all the mathematic sciences have evolved over time.  It was suggested by one of my Instructors at Lethbridge College, Braum Barber.  If anyone wants to give it a read, they can find it here.

12/3/2017  9:04 AM      2664775 Tent – Leonhard Euler and the Bernoullis.pdf

Live

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I found a few new shows on Netflix now that I figured out how to change the settings on it.

Funny how four out of five are sci-fi.

I contacted Netflix a few weeks ago and told them I resented having to see people standing in their front yard with blood gushing out of their faces after having eaten another person, all the way smiling.  Gross.  I told them I didn’t want that in my house, in my living room.  No, Netflix doesn’t actually do a good job selecting for me what it thinks I might like – obviously a terrible job.  Fix it!  A couple of weeks later, the menus change, and now there’s thumbs up or thumbs down without having to actually view it or intentionally search for it just to have a thumbs-up or -down button.  Finally some control to get that crap off my screen.

I’m not into zombies, or blood, or walking dead, or whatever they can pull out of the dark turd pots of their minds.  When will this finally disappear?  Zombies???  What, are you five?  I’ve seen enough in real life, thank you.  Not interested.

I also subscribe to Curiosity Stream, a documentary website.  Now that’s leisure time well spent.