Wednesday, May 27, 2026

depredation \dep-ruh-DAY-shun\, noun:

1. An act of plundering or despoiling; a raid.
2. [Plural] Destructive operations; ravages

Depredation comes from Late Latin depraedari, "to plunder," from Latin de- + praedari, from praeda, "plunder, prey."

Manufactured Outrage 

• A falsified righteous outrage at things that are basically unimportant and meaningless, frequently employed by politicians, political activists, or the media. Politicians and talking heads use it to garner support for their causes, to claim the moral high ground and to tar their opponents; the media often just uses it in a cynical bid to increase ratings.
• Manufactured outrages of note include Nipplegate, the Monica Lewinski scandal, the 2009 tea partys, backmasked satanic lyrics, lapel pin controversies, Russian Collusion Hoax...

Just about any time you hear any politician, activist, or radio show host getting outraged about anything, really. The louder and angrier they get, the harder they're working at manufacturing it.

History

• St. Petersburg: city was founded by Peter the Great as his "window on Europe" (1703 N/S)
• Survivor: won the first running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico (1873)
• Golden Gate Bridge: opened to pedestrians; bicycles and wheelchairs are also allowed on the bridge's sidewalks (1937)
• Bismarck: German warship was attacked and sank; nearly 2,000 crew members died (1941)
• Alexander Solzhenitsyn: Soviet dissident novelist returned to Russia after 20 years in exile (1994)

Birthdays

• Ibn Khaldun (or Ibn Khaldoun) 1332 - Astronomer, economist, historian
• Cornelius Vanderbilt 1794 - Entrepreneur (shipping and railroads)
• Amelia Jenks Bloomer 1818 - American women's rights and temperance advocate
• Julia Ward Howe 1819 - Abolitionist, social activist, poet ("The Battle Hymn of the Republic")
• Wild Bill Hickok 1837 - gunfighter, scout, lawman

  
• Arnold Bennett 1867 - Novelist
• Isadora Duncan 1878 - Dancer
• Dashiell Hammett 1894 - Author
• Rachel Carson (Rachel Louise Carson) 1907 - Marine biologist, nature writer
• Vincent Price 1911 - Actor
• Hubert H. Humphrey (Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr.) 1911 - Served as Vice President under Lyndon B. Johnson
• John Cheever 1912 - Novelist, short story writer
• Herman Wouk 1915 - Author
• Yasuhiro Nakasone 1917 - Prime Minister of Japan (1982-1987)
• Christopher Lee 1922 - Actor, musician
• Henry Kissinger 1923 - Former U.S. Secretary of State
• Ramsey Lewis 1935 - Musician, composer, radio personality
• Lee Ann Merriwether 1935 - Actress (Barnaby Jones, Batman)
• Louis Gossett, Jr. 1936 - Actor
• Don Williams 1939 - Country singer
• Cilla Black 1943 - Singer, actress
• Bruce Weitz 1943 - Actor ("Hill Street Blues")
• Bruce Cockburn 1945 - Singer
• Richard Schiff 1955 - Actor ("The West Wing")
• Eddie Harsch 1957 - Musician (The Black Crowes)
• Susan Janet "Siouxsie Sioux" Ballion 1957 - Singer (Siouxsie & the Banshees)
• Neil Finn 1958 - Musician (Crowded House, Split Enz)
• Cathy Silvers 1961 - Actress ("Happy Days")
• Peri Gilpin 1961 - Actress ("Frasier")
• Adam Carolla 1964 - Comedian
• Todd Bridges 1965 - Actor ("Diff'rent Strokes")
• Sean Kinney 1966 - Musician (Alice in Chains)
• Jeff Bagwell 1968 - Baseball player
• Frank Thomas 1968 - Baseball player
• Dondre Whitfield 1969 - Actor
• Paul Bettany 1971 - Actor
• Left Eye 1971 - Singer (TLC)
• Jack McBarayer 1973 - Actor ("30 Rock")
• André 3000 (André Lauren Benjamin) 1975 - Rapper (Outkast)
• Jadakiss 1975 - Rapper
• Darnell Dockett 1981 - Football player
• Ethan Dampf 1994 - Actor ("American Dreams")

  

 

 

  

  

 

Review Tuesday: THE BOYS Season Five

  

 

THE BOYS 

Season Five

FINAL SEASON

Even in a world of fictitious superheroes who are corrupt, ORANGE MAN BAD!

I am not sure where I got into THE BOYS along their timeline but I remember telling people about how I felt it was BRILLIANT. When other comic book heroes treat their abilities as a responsibility, in the world of THE BOYS, superheroes are flawed and corrupt and see ordinary people as meaningless as ants. 

 

So, after season four, in which the writers seriously deviated from the comic books, killed Black Noir and went down a political path, season five was destined to be a let down. 

 

Rather than continuing with the early concept of great power in the wrong hands is, surely, corrupting, they decided to poorly write a Trump allegory. Ideas are poorly fleshed out. Characters are killed off for no good reason. Kimiko just starts talking because she watches Tik Tok videos. Characters act out of character. The treachery of The Deep has been dragged on WAY too long. Starlight (Erin Moriarty) has ruined herself with plastic surgery and isn't even a fun reason to watch the show anymore. Put that all together and Season Five is a poorly written, misguided, and completely disappointing and unsatisfying series finale. Well done! You GoTd the franchise. As a result, the split-off series from THE BOYS hold little to no interest for me. I now know how they enjoy ruining a good existing story with their own political ideologies.         

 

  

Happy BOB Day - 2026

 

I'll drink to that!

Tuesday, May 26, 2026

equanimity \ee-kwuh-NIM-uh-tee; ek-wuh-\, noun:

• Evenness of mind; calmness; composure; as, "to bear misfortunes with equanimity."

Equanimity comes from Latin aequanimitas, "impartiality, calmness," from aequanimus, "impartial, even-tempered," from aequus, "even" + animus, "mind, soul."

 

metatation 

• Metatation: The act of contemplating meditation itself, putting oneself outside the very state of meditation.

I was not satisfied with my meditation practice, so I began a metatation.

 

Trivia
What was the first male name given to an Atlantic hurricane?  

• Bob, in 1979. That was the first year the World Meteorological Organization began alternating between male and female names in alphabetical order. For the previous 26 years, only female names had been used—starting with Alice.

Holiday

• Bob Day (May 26th, annually) 

History

• Edict of Worms: declared Martin Luther an outlaw and banned his writings (1521)
• Andrew Johnson: 17th president of the United States was acquitted by one vote in his impeachment trial (1868)
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: stock market index was first published by The Wall Street Journal (1896)
  Dracula - The vampire novel by Bram Stoker was first published igniting an entire genre of fiction and fantasy (1897)
• George Willig: the "human fly" scaled the South Tower of the World Trade Center in 3.5 hours; he was fined $1.10 for the illegal feat — a penny per story (1977)
• Ellis Island: the US Supreme Court ruled that the immigration landmark belonged more to New Jersey than New York (1998)

Birthdays

• Abraham De Moivre 1667
• Alexander Pushkin 1799
• Al Jolson 1886
• Norma Talmadge 1897
• John Wayne 1907
• Robert Morley 1908
• Ben Alexander 1911
• Peter Cushing 1913
• Jay Silverheels 1919
• Peggy Lee 1920
• James Arness 1923 - Actor ("Gunsmoke")
• Jacques Bergerac 1927
• Teresa Stratas 1939
• Brent Musburger 1939 - Sportscaster
• Cliff Drysdale1941
• Levon Helm 1942 - Musician (The Band)
• Ray Ennis 1942 - Musician (The Swinging Blue Jeans)
• Sam Posey 1944
• Gerry Paterson 1945 - Musician (The Guess Who)
• Stevie Nicks 1948 - Singer
• Pam Grier 1949
• Hank Williams, Jr. 1949 - Country musician
• Phillip Michael Thomas 1949 - Actor ("Miami Vice")
• Verden Allen 1949 - Musician (Mott the Hoople)
• Sally K. Ride 1951 - Astronaut
• Colin Vearncombe 1951 - Musician (Black)
• Margaret Colin 1957 - Actress
• Dave Robbins 1959 - Musician (Blackhawk)
• Wayne Hussey 1959 - Musician (Mission)
• Genie Francis 1962 - Actress ("General Hospital")
• Bobcat Goldthwait 1962 - Comedian, actor ("Police Academy" series)
• Joe Dumars 1963 - Basketball player
• Lenny Kravitz 1964 - Musician
• Helena Bonham-Carter 1966 - Actress
• Phillip Rhodes 1968 - Musician (Gin Blossoms)
• Joseph Fiennes 1970 - Actor ("Flashfoward")
• Joey Kibble 1971 - Musician (Take 6)
• Matt Stone 1979 - TV producer ("South Park")
  

  

 

 

  

 

 

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'Murica!!!! 2026

To all the people of the armed services during the history of this fine country who fought for the Stars and Stripes, we thank you for our freedom and liberty.

All gave some, some gave all.

Look forward to Memorial Day: May 25, 2026

USA!!!

Tara Babcock

Hotty of the day!

 

 

Monday, May 25, 2026

baksheesh \bak-SHEESH\, noun:

1. A gratuity, present or tip.

2. A gratuity, tip, or bribe paid to expedite service.

verb:

1. To give a tip.

Baksheesh originally was a common term for a tip in Near Eastern countries such as India and Egypt. The Persian bakhshish, "gift," derives from the verb bakhshidan, "to give."

Deuce of Spades

• An unusually black and tarry load of feces. Extension of drop a deuce. Origination: Deuce = "#2"; Spades = a suit of 13 cards in a standard 52-card deck

Matt dropped a deuce of spades that was so black and sticky, the highway department could've paved over that pothole on Elm Street with it.

Holiday

• Memorial Day, holiday in the United States observed in late May. Previously designated Decoration Day, it was inaugurated in 1868 by Gen. John A. Logan for the purpose of decorating the graves of Civil War veterans and has since become a day on which all war dead are commemorated.  

Holiday

• Towel Day (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) 
   
  

  

History

• Constitutional Convention: convened in Philadelphia; George Washington presided (1787)
• Monkey Trial: John T. Scopes was indicted in Tennessee for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution (1925)
• Babe Ruth: hit his 714th home run, setting a record that held until 1974, when Hank Aaron broke it (1935)
• track and field: at the Big Ten Track and Field Championships, Jesse Owens tied one world record and broke three others, all within 45 minutes (1935)
• OAU: was founded at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with the goals of encouraging African unity, promoting development and fighting neocolonialism (1963)
  STAR WARS first opened on 32 screens across the USA. (1977)

   

  

  
  
• ALIEN, In Space No One can Hear You Scream, was released in 1979.

  

  
  Hands Across America: more than five million people joined hands in a line that stretched for 4,000 mi/6,400 km from New York City to Long Beach, CA; participants raised money for the fight against hunger and homelessness (1986)
• Erik Weihenmayer: became the first blind man to climb Mt. Everest (2001)

Birthdays

• Ralph W. Emerson 1803 - Essayist, philosopher, poet
• Luther 'Bill' Robinson (Bill "Bojangles" Robinson) 1878 - Tap dancer, actor
• Philip Murray 1886 - Steelworker, labor leader
• Igor Sikorsky (Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky) 1889 - Pioneer in aviation with helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft
• Ginny Simms 1916 - Singer
• Claude Akins 1926 - Actor
• Lindsey Nelson 1919 - Sportscaster
• Hal David 1921 - Lyricist
• John Weitz 1923 - Fashion and industrial designer
• Jeanne Crain 1925 - Actress
• Miles Davis 1926 - Trumpeter, bandleader, composer
• Kitty Kallen 1926 - Singer

  
  
• Norman Petty 1927 - Musician, songwriter, record producer
• Robert Ludlum 1927 - Author (The Jason Bourne series of books)
• Beverly Sills 1929 - Opera singer
• K.C. Jones 1932 - Basketball player
• Ron Nessen 1934 - White House Press Secretary for President Gerald Ford
• Tom T. Hall 1936 - Country singer, songwriter
• Donnie Elbert 1936 - Singer
• Raymond Carver 1938 - Short story writer, poet
• Dixie Carter 1939 - Actress ("Designing Women," "Desperate Housewives")
• Ian McKellen 1939 - Actor
• Jessi Colter 1943 - Country musician
• Leslie Uggams 1943 - Actress, singer
• John "Poli" Palmer 1943 - Musician (Family)
• Frank Oz 1944 - Actor, puppeteer (many Muppets characters, Yoda's voice)
• Karen Valentine 1947 - Actress ("Room 222")
• Mitch Margo 1947 - Musician (Cross Country)
• Clarence Burke Jr. 1949 - Musician (Five Stairsteps)
• Patti D'Arbanville-Quinn 1951 - Actress, model
• Connie Sellecca 1955 - Actress, model
• John Grimaldi 1955 - Musician (Argent)
• Sugar Minott 1956 - Reggae singer
• Klaus Meine 1958 - Musician (Scorpions)
• Paul Weller 1958 - Musician (The Jam, Style Council)
• Mike Myers 1963 - Actor, comedian, screenwriter, cast member on "Saturday Night Live," ("Austin Powers" movies)
• Anne Heche 1969 - Actress ("Volcano")
• Jamie Kennedy 1970 - Actor, comedian, rapper
• Justin Henry 1971 - Actor ("Kramer vs. Kramer" [1979])
• Molly Sims 1973 - Actress
• Miguel Tejada 1974 - Baseball player
• Lauryn Hill 1975 - Musician (The Fugees)
• Cillian Murphy 1976 - Actor
• Brian Urlacher 1978 - Football player
• Shawne Merriman 1984 - Football player
  Zazie Beetz 1991 - actress