One of the best examples of people's selective memory is Saturday Night Live. Ask folks who were around long enough about the early years and they all talk about how great it was. Their memory must have been refreshed by "Best of" recordings because while plenty of former cast members were truly special, the show hasn't really changed in quality all that much. Like all things, it's had its highs and lows, but it's still pretty good for what it does. Those who selectively remember only the high points through some very rough early years tend to forget how horrible all live bands used to sound or how many dud sketches even the greats sluffed through. What brings me to finally posting this worthless rambling is recent episode with host, comedian Dane Cook. It was one of the best I've seen in all of my memory with the exception maybe of lost episodes like the "dick" episode that will never be seen again. Anyway, this Cook guy's a nut. Not just a funny stand up performer, but a truly unique character with an observant, dead-on, twisted perspective and, as it turns out, a decent sketch performer as well. His weird energy filled in every minute of the show from his intro monologue (a rare, real writer-performer one) to the last skit. I can't remember the last time I actually stayed awake through an entire episode, but that's only because I'm getting old. This one kept me watching and when the music played and the cast gathered for the final call, I couldn't believe I'd been watching for the entire hour. You know life's good when you notice something simple and utterly unimportant like that.
You know what else is cool? High school sports. The night of that SNL episode also kicked off the basketball and wrapped up the football season. Champs were decided on gridirons in some parts of the state while contenders showed their game faces and announced their presence in gyms. The Russia-New Bremen game was as exciting as the SNL spectacle. (To a Russia fan) Two county champ candidates brushed off the off-season rust and ran at each other full speed in a game that could have gone either way until about 25 seconds were left. How cool is that?
And then, in one of the first worst winter blasts of the year, I drove all the way homeover and through freezing rain covered with a dusting of snow without seeing even one car in the ditch. It's almost as if the world (my little piece of it anyway) has suddenly wised up and seen the light... and that light is shining on me. It's a welcome change... or is it? Maybe I just ignored the signs of it earlier.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Luth
14 comments:
and on top of that...today's the Solstice so that means the days are gonna start getting longer again!
Yes, yes. And Happy Saturnalia to you and yours.
I don't know about the rest of the country, but here in NY our days still are exactly 24 hours long just like they were in July. They will seem to slow down and last longer about mid January then speed up again in March when global warming kicks in as it does every year causing the grass to turn green and many purty spring flowers to bloom.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Seriously Ray... don't make us bring out the facts again. It'll ruin Christmas if we have to get into the soltices and the myths about the Christian origins of celebrating this time of year. Nobody wants that. Take some time off. Enjoy your family time. Play that bass trombone. Merry Christmas!
...but (you knew there'd be a "but") as long as you want to play semantics, your days there in New York, like those in the rest of the world, aren't exactly 24 hours long now anymore than they were in July. Unbeknownst to those who shun science, we can now measure time much more accurately than simply by observing the Earth's rotation. Per the Royal Observatory Greenwich/National Maritime Museum, we now add "leap seconds" at the end of years to make up for the day to day variations in the time it actually does take for the Earth to rotate. The difference is as insignificant as the one you pointed out in response to Bill's comment above, but, as it turns out, "days" are rarely exactly 24 hours. Here are the years and the leap seconds that have been added in the wake of this new technology. Note that we're adding a second this year... adjust accordingly!
1989
31 December
+25.0
1990
31 December
+26.0
1992
30 June
+27.0
1993
30 June
+28.0
1994
30 June
+29.0
1995
31 December
+30.0
1997
30 June
+31.0
1998
31 December
+32.0
2005
31 December
+33.0
Yes, I'm totally serious! Check it out for yourself: www.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.347
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night + .00000003 of second.
Merry Christmas, Luth. Looking forward to some good discussions next year.
Hey Luth, Christmas is over, or as a friend misspelled in their annual letter, Christams.... can I revert back to being a conservative troll?
Chris, the days are 24 hours long. Stop it.
Kutch
Kutch, that depends, if you are a post modernist then the days can be anything you want them to be. Make your own truth.
Now c'mon. Until Newton, "gravity" didn't exist. Is THAT making your own truth? Do you also refuse antibiotics, vaccines or other advances that, after their discovery, changed the truth as it was known? By your logic, the Bible changed the truth since none of it was recorded and discovered to the world prior to its existence. Are you an atheist now too? Talk about post-modern cynicism! (By the way, what does post-modernism have to do with technological advances?)
Well, up until the time of Newton gravity was unnecessary. Afterall, the Earth was flat and stationary since the sun revolved around it. When the sun and earth swapped roles, Newton had to invent gravity to keep everything from falling off. Of course this all created motion sickness which evolved into other diseases requiring various medications to be invented. Hey, it's all in the Bible... I think. Somewhere in Hezekiah. How's that for revisionist history?
Beautiful... amazing... brilliant. How can anyone not love that!? I am impressed by both the creativity and the seeming plausibility of that interpretation. It reminds me of one of those X Files episodes wherein Mulder's wacko, supernatural theory turns out to be closer to the truth than Scully's more logical, natural theory. (and I'm not being sarcastic) As a viewer, we were always amazed at how practical and believable that crazy Mulder theory turned out to be.
But even with the flat Earth at the center of the universe, didn't that thing that later came to be known as gravity still exist? Wasn't falling off the edge of that flat Earth a real fear? You can't fall off without gravity even if you don't know what it's called or don't comprehend its source. What kept us on that flat Earth instead of floating above it? Granted, these questions come as a result of newer understandings of the universe as we know it (revisionisms if you will), but it still seems like a matter of acknowledging that which is all around us or denying it. Persistent denial of all that is around us might be pure innocent ignorance, but doesn't it usually turn out to be inspired by an ulterior motive linked to forwarding one's agenda or maintaining one's power.
What if when the earth was flat it was also upside down and one would not have fallen off the edge, but rather would have floated up toward the darkness of outer space? What is up? What is down? Why is the North Pole up and the South Pole down? Perspective? Perception? And speaking of flat earth, I read recently that the accusation the medieval church was a proponent of the theory of a flat earth is erroneous. In reality the church supported science and had a much clearer understanding of how our universe really worked. The idea that the church pushed the flat earth theory is a modern construct to discredit religion and push for an agenda of separation. I agree with your last sentence, and both sides can be guilty.
"Falling" up or down is hardly the point... nor is which side is guilty. In fact, in reviewing this thread, I'm hard pressed to find "sides." Relax man.
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