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No, I went on a vacation when I was working in France once....I'd like to most visit again Genova, with the lovely hills and the park and all those burly men working on the docks...wait...what?
TNP is thinking that if one is to flee a country it would be better to head north or south. And has specific ideas in mind, such as, Mexico, Canada (pace, pero me disfruta le dice!), Sweden, Cuba, Niger, Argentina, España.
Probably north, to Canada, since my non-English language skills are pretty bad (what little I can remember of high school Spanish, and then the even less French, German and Russian I've picked up over the years).
TNP has a language other than English in mind that he or she would love, by the wave of a magic wand, to become skilled in overnight.
Sure. I think Finnish is a very particular language, but it not being an Indo-European language, it's kind of gruesome to learn these very strange words with no cognates. My Spanish is getting better....more like Spanglish, but it's enough to communicate for my purposes now. It would be nice to have it beamed down into my thick skull directly, but since we don't do AI fantasies and neurolinks at my place, that will not happen in my lifetime nor that of anyone here. It's easier to know Latin very well first for Spanish and Italian, and French is too bizarre to be useful.
TNP will choose: "Oye cómo va, mi ritmo / Bueno pa' gaza, mulat'" Versus the classic "Pedro stole my car believe t!" (the latter is amusing to "sing" when performing.. even though it was an old joke fifty years ago. .in fact it was the singer and organist Gregg Rolie who came up with the latin beat for the tune and permitted Carlos to do his thing,
I really have no preference, but if I must choose, I'll go with the first.
TNP knew that JRR Tolkien based one of his Elvish languages, in part, on Finnish: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quenya
Yeah, I probably heard that somewhere or other. Not sure. Never read any Tolkien and only saw the known deviant Peter Jackson movies with the Rifftrax commentaries. That is interesting to recall, however, and I have no reason to doubt EH's word on that.
TNP can probably tell the difference between a spring at 7.5 lbs and at 12 or 13 lbs. just by how far it launches into the distance of one's room (although recoil and magazine springs are never to be seen again....it is ape law). Damned handguns...they can put somebody's eye out with those things, ferchrissakes!
That was certainly a recurring theme in A Christmas Story.
TNP has seen that movie in the past three years.
No, I've never actually seen that. Something about a boy and a BB gun and licking a frozen flagpole and stuff, I think is the one.
TNP could very happily go the rest of his or life without ever seeing another christmas-themed movie. Exceptions could be allowed....maybe *Die Hard* or some "very special" adult entertainment training films.
Well, first off, as all right-thinking people know, Die Hard isn't actually a Christmas movie (it's set at that time, yes, but is much too violent and non-Christmasy to be accurately called one), and secondly, nah, I don't mind a Christmas movie now and then.
TNP has licked a frozen flagpole in the past three years.
Sir, I don't think you really want to know what I've been licking in the past few years. But it hasn't been no flagpole.
TNP is kind of pleased to learn that the Seattle Seahawks won out against the confusing, but still evil and tainted other team from over there. In the Superbowl...or Stupidbowl....however one wishes to call it.
I had no particular favorite, but my dad was rooting for the Seahawks, so I'm glad for him. If the Browns or the Steelers aren't playing, I really don't give a damn.
TNP has been to an NFL game in the past two years.
No. Never, in fact. Perception is: too loud, too expensive, too many assnecks breathing my oxygen at pretty much any mass event like that. I prefer to read the play-by-play in real time and try to imagine what's going on behind each decision/play, and might see some highlights on leTube eventually.
TNP thinks scholars should get off their lazy, endowed-chair-seeking asses and produce an annotated version of the Finnish national(ist) epic, the Kalevala, preferably in biface Finnish and English (or some other modern Western European language that isn't Polish or Hungarian or another Nordic language). They do it for Joyce, dammit!
Absolutely! And if JRR Tolkien were still around, I bet he'd agree. Come to think of it, this thread may interest you: https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to...alevala/711536
TNP has visited Finland, and loved it.
No, never. I like this guy based out of Helsinki who makes the TOOB Metro compact guitar and bass speaker cabinets...good product....and this pianist/cellist out of Turku, who was a very good pen pal for a while there (she taught me some Finnish and likewise....her English is very good, but she has very strong feelings about the Swedes and an odd affinity to the Russians...haven't corresponded with her in a few years....excellent musician and indeed hän on sisukas suomalainen nainen, to hear her talk about her exploits with her chainsaw, and her ice toilet, and her sauna during her vacations every year by her lake). TNP thinks it's kind of neat to carry a handgun concealed, with a license. As a check or balance to decide if one is responsible enough to handle that massive burden. Keeps one's head clear and reminds one of what it is to be both capable, burdened, beholden, and yoked to that piece of steel, which should never, ever be drawn. Or, TNP thinks that's kind of a ridiculous self-justifying fantasy of knowing one has a bigger stick to throw into the woodpile, should things become desperate. Which they should never be, i.e., "things."
Probably a bit of both. But all in all, guns make most situations worse, not better, IMHO.
TNP knew that firearms are the leading cause of death for American children and teens. For more: https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/gu...dren-and-teens
No, I didn't know that. I would have guessed drowning, or something with vehicular traffic, or falling on their heads, but I suppose children don't venture outdoors so much these days. I guess IQs have dropped sharply, in that apparently parents in increasing number seem to be ignorant of how to raise their children such that they remain alive.
TNP tends to have a plan of which books to read and in what order (the plan may be strict or rough, and the order can be none, concurrently, and so forth).
Yes, I do. At any given time, I usually have two books underway - an audiobook for in the car or when I'm out walking, and another dead-tree edition on my bedside table - and least two or three others in the on-deck circle.
TNP is looking forward to the new baseball season.
Honestly, not especially. I haven't been following any baseball for a few years and I'm still pissed off my little cow town lost its AAA team, and some soccer bullshit now plays in the old baseball stadium. No doubt I'll keep an ear out for what's happening, roughly, but the closest thing to a team I'd root for are the Seattle Ms....and reflexive distaste for the Giants and the Royals. No Yankees, no BoSox....none of that shit, either, because fuck them! I'd be happy if Toronto continued coming out strong, as well as Cleveland. No particular reason, just they're part of a handful of teams I don't hate.
TNP is a pretty big old nerd about MST3K and Rifftrax, when it comes to television and such. If so, I wouldn't need to prompt the next poster to elaborate.
Nah, I have trouble getting into it. I can razz bad moves on my own, and sometimes they seem to trash people like Roger Corman who were actually bringing a lot to the party.
TNP thinks any movie with Dick Miller in it is worth watching.
Ehhhhh.......maybe not *any* movie! He's a known person, let's say! No, I can't really commit to that stance! But, sure, probably watch a random Dick Miller movie if I were unconscious! And many of them just for fun's sake. You know, it's not all bad!
Yeah. that's a fair cop about Corman, although I think they razzed some of his movies in good fun....just like one would about Ed Wood or somebody who had nothing to hide ad some amount of savvy or accumen. There's no denying that to watch the movies today without the Corman would be much different. To live like the Cor-man, and to become the Cor-man! Very difficult task! Pretty sure RogCorm or his people sent some kind of legal notice to MST3 of some kind...not sure what the basis was, but it was promptly ignored. Anyway, they really did go pretty far against directors like Rick Sloane (who I think had a good sense of humor about it, dir. of "Hobgoblins" and a few others....they really shredded him on a personal level during the closing credits....I blame Crow!) and Coleman Francis and lots of others, including mere actors. Reportedly the "Pumaman" guy, the actor, was none too pleased....I think he's actually a respected attorney now, and might even be Canadian...not sure. IIRC that was a Rifftrax one, not MST3K.
TNP feels no shame about re-learning old skills from the beginning. Say, testing out a new pedagogical approach to Latin or playing piano using Bach's 2-part inventions, or whatever is applicable.
Sure - if I need to do it, I need to do it.
TNP heard a bird singing outside today.
Not yet, but I look forward to it this morning.
TNP is "triggered" or "conditioned" or maybe "habituated" to think of a tune or several when thinking about bird songs. And TNP will share if yes.
Hmm, not really. I love to hear a robin singing in the spring, through.
TNP finally heard a bird singing outside today.
No...mostly just traffic from the roads....the big freeway interchange is a few miles away, but living in a canyon, essentially, it...I dunno. Sound waves propagate downwards? Yes, robins do have a good tune (and yes, I think of the movie *The Conversation* for that tune), but among the corvids and various nuthatches or woodpeckers, it's very rare to see or hear a red-breasted robin here outside my place unless one goes onto a more domesticated piece of flatland. Not as many worms and such, I suppose, and I could see the Steller's Jays easily driving them off, if not some of the night raptors like the owls or other predators like coyotes or even squirrels or what kinds of mustellae. I shouldn't think they'd dare to nest here. It is delightful to hear robins sing, but it's not that often for me. Rather the workaday like hammering of the peckers and the vocal squabbling of tribes of corvids. Occasionally hear some burbling up of a house finch or sparrow, but not too often.
TNP thinks this old saw "traduttore traditore" (translating is treason, pretty much) is somewhat true, and, regardless, will supply another brief aphoristic bit of home spun wisdom.
No, translating is necessary for people to understand each other. Better that than ignorance or suspicion. For another brief aphoristic bit of homespun wisdom, how about: "Better to hear something twice than not at all."
TNP agrees with that sentiment.
Maybe. It depends on who's "speaking"....certain political figures I'd rather not hear any illiterate barbarisms from at all, ever, and indeed never do, insofar as it can be helped. But for an actual person or author....yes, crude translations (and they are all of necessity crude) can be an important tool towards understanding, even if one doesn't have the resources to dive deeper into whatever text is in question.
In a competition among eyeglasses, who does TNP think would (or should) win? Montblanc or Gucci?
Of the two, I prefer Montblanc. But my personal favorite is Ben Silver of Charleston, S.C.
TNP will check out the Ben Silver website, and let us know which eyewear, in particular, he or she likes: https://www.bensilver.com/View-All-E...tYbIjhHvT7WmWb
Sure. I did just now. They look like very good frames, and in a range of styles/shapes. Nothing that really matched my pedestrian needs for sturdy, single-vision lenses in an utterly simple style, though. Will keep them in mind, though. Maybe a bit more fashion-forward than I can confidently wear with my usual off-work mufti of sportcoat and regular pants and shoes (and shirt!). But for the right person, I can see those being just the thing. TNP will think fast and answer fast: among bombastic actors with a lifetime of accolades behind them, was it Marlon Brando or Orson Welles who was more entertaining in his senescence?
Hmm, tough call. I'm gonna go with Brando, specifically in Apocalypse Now, fat and sweaty and pointlessly riffing on his role as a villain ("I swallowed a bug").
TNP has seen the very entertaining documentary about the making of that movie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearts...27s_Apocalypse
I can't remember, but may I be so bold as to introduce you to this fact about snails I recently discovered during a recent visit to my island. Oh....I think I swallowed a bug.... But please in all humility may I be so bold as to suggest that an actor's worth is not measured by the size of his pants by the quality of his or her spirit, and with that, I must leave you!
TNP can and does safely operate a shotgun. And TNP thinks that is probably a good thing for any adult to know, along with reading a clock, driving a manual transmission car, and washing dishes.
I can, and it can certainly be a useful skill, but I understand that some people are uneasy around guns, or even hate or fear them, and might go their entire lives without ever having to touch one.
TNP really wants to see a particular one of the Best Picture Oscar-nominated movies in the next few weeks.
No. For the simple reason that I truly have no idea what pictures have either been released or were nominated or won anything. I just don't pay attention to celebrities and celebrity "news" anymore, although I'll grant that master thespians are more than mere celebrities and can be great artists, as can photographers, editors, directors, and word people, among the many other talents of those "in the business."
TNP will say what Oscar-type movie from the past year one could bother with, and why.
Only one, actually, although there others I wanted (and still want) to see. I did see Sinners and liked it - an interesting mix of Delta Blues, antiracism, romance and vampire thriller.
TNP is not a fan of vampire movies, all in all.
Did one say TNP is a YUGE fan of "Vampire movies," even when there's no vampire in them.
Yup. If Nicolas Cage is in it, I'll probably see it. Eventually, you know.
TNP thinks it's kind of amusing to have a pretty decent chopping block, plus a wicked sharp Chinese chef's knife (it's not a cleaver....it just looks like one....but it's for doing regular stuff with), some Roquefort, some salami, and some Turkinpippuri on top of one's Hammond organ....all freshly used. Alternatively, TNP thinks one should not most of one's food preparation on top of fairly delicate musical instruments, chopping block or no.
If Julia Child didn't do it, I wouldn't do it, either.
TNP has at least one Julia Child cookbook in the house.
Of course. A fascinating woman, and a great popularizer and very much democratic about bring the foods of the old guard into the United States, particularly.
TNP as well has a kind of reverence for Jacques Pepin's "ordinary" style of cooking, as demonstrated in his television programs and his books.
I don't know about "reverence" of any kind, but as someone who isn't very talented in the kitchen, I certainly respect and appreciate those who are.
TNP has a go-to or signature dish that he or she is proud of.
Probably my best was a ciabatta that was folded perfectly and could easily have been a model for a picture in a cookbook. It just has to be formed in a pretty specific form, which requires that the bakers' percentages need to be correct ab initio, and for it to actually taste good, not just look good, some amount of autolyse/fermentation of the levain/levure....it's complicated :)
Other dishes? Sure, but to me they're more just home style cooking that I couldn't remark upon, other than that they always come out tasting good and looking good. I don't use recipes, except in baking and in making charcuterie, so it's just whatever happens happens, and it's always....edible, let's say.
TNP finds that to use the Ecclesiastical pronunciation of Latin (versus the reconstructed classical) is rather difficult if one doesn't know much modern Italian, and so abstains from using that pronunciation.
Pretty much. I can always be confident that my pronunciation of any Latin phrase is at least partially incorrect, despite a year of middle-school Latin (which, I must admit, I enjoyed).
TNP looks up a Latin phrase on Google at least once a month.
[You must be that 1% of people in the legal profession who gets the pronunciation most "right"....usually I get quietly infuriated when I hear the typical butchering of the Latin language....by legal types, science types [anyone who deals with taxonomical names of species, anyway], &c.....yes, I understand it's mostly drawn from the very very old outdated British style of pronunciation....and the equally "traditional" 19th C French pronunciation is just as bad, near as I can tell, except no one uses it any more!].
Oh, that aside....well, not Google, but Bing...sure....all the time. I try to learn words from context first, without using a dictionary, but don't always manage, or flag a word for a deep dive at a later point. I do have a nice hardcover trilingual Greek-Latin-French dictionary (kind of a doorstop of a book, but it's fun!), but it's easier to just head to wiktionary (an outstanding resource, I find).
TNP finds it unnecessary and insulting to "get a doctor's note" to submit to "work" when one is hacking up both lungs and is clearly shedding some kind of viral material with each breath.
Yes, those in obvious poor health shouldn't have to deal with such bureaucratic nitpicking, but I know there are people out there who can pretty convincingly fake an illness, so I suppose HR officers have to be vigilant.
TNP has yawned in the past ten minutes.
Dammit. Yeah, you probably know the answer by now! Well....I hadn't until reading that!
TNP is not thinking of a white bear right now.
I wasn't... but now I am. As you knew I would!
TNP has heard of the Cahokia people of what is now southern Illinois: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cahokia
No, not by name anyway....or....sounds maybe familiar from movies or TV. Fascinating, though, and I thank you for that.
TNP is halfway thinking about making a roadtrip out to near Chicago sometime...totally not to try to replicate some of the Blues Brothers car stunts, because that would be foolish.
No, but I should. I've only been to Chicago once, but really had a good time.
TNP is not terribly surprised to learn I asked about Cahokia because of this pretty good book (a combination of noir detective novel and alternative history), which I just finished: https://www.amazon.com/Cahokia-Jazz-...ks%2C93&sr=1-1
Uhhhh.....true.....I'm not that surprised because I know EH to be a big old nerd reading books all the time. No, does not surprise me.
TNP will name a book which is not objectionable but may be surprising to to the general population. Not, for example, the Ted Turner Diaries, which would be bad, but the Claudia Cardinale photograph book, which could be good. Like that.
Humphrey Carpenter's well-edited and annotated collection of J.R.R. Tolkien's letters might qualify. Before The Lord of the Rings really took off, Tolkien personally answered a lot of his fan mail, and what he had to say about his books is very interesting.
TNP is expecting rain this weekend.
Nope....maybe raining frogs or blood or something old testament like that. But not expecting it to. In fact, opened the window in my home office brought out the fan, which replaces the space heater for the time being.
TNP knew that transferring assets from a deceased person is such a time-consuming son of a bitch. And, yes, I have the death certifcates (multiple copies, long and short form), unambiguously drafted will, &c. Even so! It's tedious and very consumptive of time.
I'm not a bit surprised. Probate courts want to make sure there are no financial, er, shenanigans.
On a related note, TNP has seen this scene from Super Troopers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNPW2wZ4D2s
No, I still haven't got around to seeing Super Troopers...but that looks like a good place to start. TNP might tend to agree or imagine that a single person "inheriting" a cat is kind of disruptive to that person's lifestyle, and would characterize that disruption as "annoying" to the person. Among other things, of course.
Yes, agreed. The unexpected - and too often unwanted - acquisition of a pet can complicate your life in all sorts of bad ways. Too often that leads to pet abandonment, unfortunately.
TNP has acquired a dog or a cat in the past two years, and happily so.
Yes. This cat is very happy with me but she had an incurable zest for the outdoors, which is difficult to manage at most times.
TNP's best and most high thought when a pet cat "escapes" is to leave it alone and trust it will come back Or not. Or TNP has a better idea.
When it's happened in the past, we've gone out looking for the cat, no matter the hour, calling and calling, hoping and praying and asking the neighbors to keep a lookout. But yes, often - not always - the damn thing just comes back on its own.
TMP will share the names of his or her last three pets.
Sure. Current cat: Bobbie. Last cat: Gertrude (went with another girlfriend, almost certainly dead unless witchcraft). And I had a pet rat in grade school I creatively named Blackie.
TNP is pretty sure it is not permitted to take one's pet cat on a leash/harness and walk through the local zoo....paying full admission of course. But it would be amusing!
I suppose it would depend on the zoo's rules. Sounds to me like it'd be worth a try, though! You might want to call ahead, just in case.
TNP thinks that calling ahead would be no fun.
Yes, agreed. Best just to show up and stare the gatekeeper down and then he or she can apologize to my kitteh! (For some reason I just thought of that scene in *The Omen* when Damien &cie drive through the safariland or whatever....something like that!)
But....but....but what if my cat's an emotional support...thing or whatever!
TNP has had it from about knees to tits from dealing with siblings and various family members about legal and financial issues. Life's too short....let the professionals handle it.
One close relation, in particular, has indeed gotten on my nerves in recent years, but it's not about legal or financial issues, fortunately.
TNP has seen a great movie in the past week, and will tell us what it was.
Oh, no. The movies are an invitation for the devil to invade one's soul. Or said a strange voice to me on this Pentecost Sunday. Happy end of Easter!
TNP has had any experiences, negative, neutral, or positive, with shooting trap or skeet in an appropriate environment, and will share.
I've only shot skeet once, long ago, and it was OK, although I haven't been yearning to try it again.
TNP has had any experiences, negative, neutral, or positive, with black-powder firearms in an appropriate environment, and will share.
No, not at all. Actually, and I hope to not offend, but I have fairly negative opinions about LARP people and AirSoft enthusiasts....although.... Yes, I'll be fair and say that growing up in Oregon City, reenactors of all types were a big part of my upbringing, you know....Lewis and Clark and all that, and my mother was a nut for that "history" guff, as one could say, so we went to every last WWII bunker or tribal hide-away on the coast and inland that there was.
No, but have to restrain myself because don't really need a new hobby yet such as reloading brass and fiddling with yet some....how'd they do it? I think before cartridges they used a paper and powder, and....they were loading from the breech, not the muzzle, I guess, and I don't know about any primer...hoped for the best? Struck a match? Or perhaps some kind of flint-based contraption?<lol>
TNP will say, if he or she had the choice, between buying a 4x4 small truck (for getting to BLM land up logging roads and such for to go shooting) or a really boss new musical instrument, which one, and why.
I don't really need a new vehicle, so I guess I'll go with that really boss new musical instrument. Maybe a really good piano? I took lessons long ago and just might return to the keyboard someday.
TNP will be going to a concert in the next two weeks.
A concert of triumph, as I am to be accepted to the Portland Rifle and Pistol Club next week! 24/7 shooting, emphasis on 22LR, centerfire allowed in two traps during daylght hours, and 22LR practice on eight lanes 24/7. OR Lead Round Nose rounds with a muzzle velocity of less than 900 fps, which is easy for a factory load 45ACP....I only like to shoot 22LR and 45ACP, although I have three 9mm pistols....they're not as much fun.
Oh. A concert concert. Well....not much music happening next few weeks...well....I finally decided to get back into the Liszt Wagner transcriptions for piano, so that will be a concert of a sort as I read through that in the stalwart, reliable Dover reprint.
Oh shit....last night I got the word that the Rich Halley 4tet is playing off their new album at Turn Turn Turn this coming Tuesday! Fuck yeah I got a concert to see! This motherfucker is a bad cat on horn, and his son, Carson, is the hardest working drummer on the trap in the Portland area, and a personal friend.
Of course I'll see that!
TNP considers a person to have "quit smoking"; even if that person might have one or two cigarettes every day or so, or none. (Perhaps as Kant suggests in his Anthropologie one only smokes when one is bored).
No, to me, someone who has "quit smoking" no longer smokes, ever. Otherwise they're "trying to quit smoking," which can take years.
TNP is meeting a friend for lunch tomorrow.
Actually, yes....sort of....if by "tomorrow" one means Sunday 14-Jun at in Zulu time, and if by "lunch" one can exclude comestibles. Sister wants to come by and see my inherited cat from the ex-dad, and she might make a ride out to a nearby dump to get rid of some excess furniture as a favor, using her minivan. Plus, since she's not bring any of her children, I don't feel the need to secure my firearms with trigger locks.
[Oh....please....that's tantamount to saying if one is a social crack smoker one is a crackhead, which is obviously not true!]
TNP finds that the lure of buying books (to read, of course) is too strong to resist at many times. Which means buying more bookshelves. And TNP thinks both habits can be taken far to excess.
Oh, absolutely. I have far too many books already, most of which I really do wanna read!
TNP has listened to some J.S. Bach this weekend.
Well...sort of....I set a goal to finally memorize the Contrapuntus IX and the comparatively simple Emaj and Emin fugues from WTCI, in addition to other things.
Yeah, I guess one could call that a kind of listening, when one deliberately tries to hear each voice and then reproduce it within one's ear and then at the keyboard. I'd go further and say that there's no such thing as a "classical musician" who doesn't play by ear.
TNP finds it's probably a oood idea to read those Patricia Highsmith novels about that Mr. Ripley character,,,one must keep oneself occupied, somehow, one supposes.
Y'know, I've thought about that, and someday maybe I will, but I just haven't yet.
TNP can think of at least three novelists who sound interesting, but TNP hasn't actually read anything they've written... yet.
Hmmm.....three novelists? Yeah, maybe.....for sure never ever read anything by Tolkien....not even one part of a page....nor any of Boccaccio (I'd count that as a novelist, maybe....and yet I know about Marguerite de Navarre, for some idiotic reason).....nor.....whatisface.....that Michael Chrichton person.
It's difficult to say if all of those three are considered primarily novelists.....but....I wanted to put Anthony Burgess on there, but I know I've read at least some of his work, although not his fiction, so not a true virgin to his work. I'm sure there are many others, but it's hard to say.
Could put William H. Gass on the list....that is a true "zero words read ever," and it's fair to say known almost exclusively for his prose fiction.
Oh, and there are a good many Central and Eastern European authors....not to mention the most famous of the Chinese or Japanese authors, and some of those from the Indian subcontinent, and the entire continent of Africa, as well as....it's just too difficult to say what one knows about but doesn't truly know.
Difficult question, really....an interesting one, though.....difficult to answer, though, in the spirit it was asked, because among those "known" (by me, or anyone), certainly one has some awareness of the character of the prose, from reading a few pages and so forth.
JM Coetzee, for sure.....well....how does one know what one doesn't know, really?
Apuleius, to stretch the idea of a "novel" to mean extended fictional narrative...
Umberto Eco....but like with Burgess, I know some of his other work. Wait, I got one! Gabriel García Márquez....not one word, ever. Yeah, I'd put him down on Team Colombia for the win. Probably so many, but who can say for sure?
TNP would rather have had lunch/dinner/drinks with either Moon Unit Zappa or G Gordon Liddy at some point, and will say which one and why. (!)
I think Moon Unit Zappa would be far better and more congenial company than G. Gordon Liddy, especially since he's been dead for five years. Even when he was alive, though, that would probably be true.
TNP can think of a now-deceased U.S. President who, if now alive, TNP would like to have lunch/dinner/drinks with, and will tell us why.
Sure. Thomas Jefferson had a pretty impressive wine collection, from what they say, and I'd be interested to know what passed for Yankees speaking French back then. And he could maybe show me that fancy writing they did back then. He might not have had too much time to chat, though....pimpin' ain't easy, I've heard.
TNP has had just about enough of various manufacturers stopping certain models or styles of products they used to sell. Doc Martens, the known Nazi, is top on my list, because they made a good slip-on shoe that was rugged enough for all kinds of terrain. Gucci no longer makes the same eyeglass frame as they did just a few years back. TNP thinks it's bullshit.
Well, I'd certainly like it if every manufacturer made everything I like forever and ever, but I know that just ain't gonna happen. So I'll stock up on what I need to, when and if the time comes.
Without Googling, TNP remembers the Seinfeld episode which popularized the phrase "sponge-worthy," and if so, will tell us why it's relevant here.
Yeah, but I can't remember the title of the episode. I think that was when big wall of hair, face like a frying pan was before Cuddy....why is it relevant now? It's never been more relevant than now, in these trying times. Jane, you ignorant slut. I haven't a clue why the contraceptive sponge is relevant now in particular. Probably one of the protestant sects is starting some shit down south again, in between book burnings and horse-whipping northerners, as they tend to.
TNP thinks Australia's policy against the general public culling various kangaroos is somewhat too strict, but understands that one doesn't want various bogans riding herd in the countryside, leaving various carcasses to rot.
I have no particular opinion on Australia's policy in that regard, but generally trust His Majesty's Government to do the right thing unless I'm clearly shown otherwise.
And as to Seinfeld, here you go: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sponge
TNP has been to either Australia or Austria in the past five years.
Nope. Neither, ever.
TNP could easily adjust to playing a very heavy piano (or other instrument) action, such as on the Kawai MP11se. Even if it slows one down a bit.
https://i.ibb.co/yFD2YZ96/20260706-131504.jpg
That looks cool. I'm certainly willing to give it a try!
TNP went out for dinner with friends tonight.
Oh, no. Going out to dine and such seems so bourgeois!
[Thank you! Yeah, the Kawai MP11se is proving to be a very accomodating stage piano, and the action is not as heavy as I thought on first encounter....it's supple and handles single-note trills and octave work very well, and the triple pedal unit is responsive and a delight.....it weighs like eighty pounds or so, with the wooden keys, plus the case I bought for it has to be at least fifteen or twenty pounds on its own....not especially easy to travel around with.....plus the weight of cables, pedal, and any kind of amplifier+speaker....well....that is how it's always been, playing keyboards. One gets paid for moving stuff and the playing is for free! At least the case has little wheels on it, but I'd think after a few blocks on a sidewalk they'd cease to be recognized as wheels at all. So, I keep the old Yamaha in its case for if I ever am called on to play out again....that's only about fifty or sixty pounds with the case, plus a roll of duck tape the old gal starts to come unhinged....plus a stand....plus the speaker and amp....]
TNP thinks it probably would have been a good idea to ask out this dental hygienist after a cleaning.....even though most of them tend to be married women....including this one.....not sure about this one, but, still.....if not her, then at least the gal at the liquor store afterwards, who was so discourteous as to have not been working that afternoon.
Sure! I'm OK with just about anything between consenting adults.
TNP remembers Steven Wright's joke about having a crush on his dental hygienist. Just before any office visit, he would eat an entire bag of Oreos. She would cancel all of her other appointments for the rest of the day.
Yes. A classic!
TNP thinks it would be wise to have a sturdy "bull bar" installed to the front of one's impending 4x4, so as to "scoop" offending items such as abandoned e-scooters or shopping carts out of one's way. With all prudence and within the spirit of the law, of course. And no witnesses.
With those caveats, yes. But be careful.
TNP had heard about the Louvre's relatively recent expansion to Abu Dhabi, and thinks it looks pretty cool: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louvre_Abu_Dhabi
No, I haven't heard about it, but from the pictures I've seen, it looks butt ugly IMHO....ghastly postmodernist structure. But opinions vary. I still think that stupid pyramid in front of the real Louvre is prime target for an ace slingshotter with proper balls.
TNP, think fast! Ford Bronco 2-door Base Trim with Sasquatch package, Nissan Pathfinder, Jeep Wrangler (two doors only), or Toyota Tacoma 2-doors only (w/ 4wd -- and I think the only Tacos with two doors only would be have to be bought used)). Too slow! Do it again!
I prefer to buy American, and between the Ford and the Jeep, I think the Jeep is probably up for more off-road punishment. So the Jeep it is!
TNP thinks I chose wisely.
Yeah, it's a solid choice. Although I'm not in love with the latest trim levels with four doors....it just seems so Karen to me. [ETA: actually, not....you get a buttload more cargo space with the four-door soccer-mom-mobiles] Plus, with the rag-top on the freeway....not that the Bronco is a smoother ride....well....they're all body-on-frame trucks, essentially. I had lined up a nice little Jeep Cherokee (unibody, but still a capable off-roader for what I need), but it's difficult to stuff a briefcase with cash on a weekend, so missed out on that one. Bankers' hours and all that.
[ETA, no the Taco SR comes with an "extended cab" with "only" two doors....which is what I prefer, and with 4wd, comes in new from the stealership about the same as this Wrangler Sport I found near me.....plus the added bonus of MUCH more cargo space, for the truck vs the 2-door Wrangler Sport...as well as that Jeep's, while they've improved recently, are not necessarily known for low-maintenance, high-mileage. However, the Taco stores its spare tire underneath the bed which is....well...not that convenient. And SUPPOSEDLY I can be out of the dealer's lot at 33.5K USD with the Wrangler, which has equipped A/C, and the standard V6 plant....it is an 8-speed auto tranny, so I might have to turn in my man card....no locking differentials, but limited-slip diff on the rear axle, and I'm not doing serious rock-crawling.....just logging roads and getting around town during the dark months. Plus, the hard top panels. The kind of crappy stock tires, but they're probably good enough for my needs. No, probably won't remove the rear seats....folding them down should be good enough as needed. I don't think the one on the lot has the frame-mounted side-view mirrors, but I really don't envision myself removing the doors, probably ever. So if I can get this dealership to put it firm in writing, boom, I'll sneak attack, pay in cash using a wire transfer, and call it good. Plus, the paint color doesn't make me want to puke, which is nice.]
TNP in his or her heart of hearts, admits to enjoy driving an engine with a standard/manual/stick transmission.....just because one can! Nothing wrong with the latest 8->10-speed automatic drives, but just because one can is reason enough.
I'll have to disagree with you there. I learned to drive stick many years ago and struggled with it then; I'm sure I'd be no better at it now. So it's automatic for me.
TNP has already seen Christopher Nolan's new Ancient Greek epic The Odyssey.
No. I didn't even know it was a movie until a local moviehouse sent an e-mail saying it was....I figured it was for the movie from the 1960s, or one of those sword-and-sandal movies with like Mickey Hargitay or someone in it. Apparently it's a real movie.
TNP is convinced that a seven-foot pool table (usually the size one finds in bars) is put to better use at one's home than fripperies like couch(es), coffee table(s), and other such guff.
Nah, I like my old guy’s furniture. TNP has been having a damn good summer.
Yes, all in all, definitely. Good: time on the beach in North Carolina, a weekend gathering with high school buddies in Newport, R.I., and things are going well with my family and at work. Not so good: a drought and oppressive heat for a big chunk of the summer, and putting up with smoke from the Canadian wildfires.
TNP couldn't avoid breathing some of the smoke from the Canadian wildfires.
No, haven't really noticed. Pretty darn close to where I live, up in Spokane some dumbass started a wildfire. Haven't noticed that one either.
TNP has recently made some foolish bookstore purchases, and will explain if applicable.
No, it's been awhile. I get most of my books from the library these days, or listen to audiobooks, also from the library. If I buy anything from the bookstore it's something I'm sure I want.
TNP will tell us the best book he or she has read recently.
Yeah. Elmore Leonard, Rum Punch. Sure, you can see the characters and the dialogue in there, but without a proper screenwriter to adapt to the screen, it would not have yielded half the results it did on the screen as its adaptation, Jackie Brown. And, oh, yes, Ordell and Louis go back a long time, which is all laid out in this novel from 1978 (I think) called The Switch. Which latter is really kind of a sweet and romantic novel for that kind of thing, you know.
Not that Elmore Leonard was incapable of writing a screenplay....it's just a very long way to go from the novel to the movie. He might have emphasized certain things, or whatever.
No, I won't say that's the best book I've read recently, but it was the most recent and the most noteworthy, because of the whole Hollywood connection and all that. No, not becoming a Leonard completist: his version of Ray Nicolet is not that interesting to me, but the fact that he wrote the stories that the movies 3:10 to Yuma and The Tall T (that last one maybe not everybody has seen, but it's a wild film, with Randolph Scott and Budd Boetticher behind the camera, a great western from the mid or late 1950s, I guess) is astonishing to me.
Anyway.
TNP has ever, or has thought about, leasing for a long-ish duration a bit of commercial property to which one could retire ad lib. to pursue the arts, whatever that may be. Reading, writing, making noise, thinking. A sort of man cave, I suppose. Could be a woman cave. Could be both....not my place to say!
No, I'm happy in our current house, and have found it to be just as good for daily living as for "retiring." So far, at least.
(Jackie Brown is hands-down my favorite Tarantino movie, BTW. Great stuff. I think I read the book which inspired it awhile back, but I'm not sure.)
TNP would definitely be wary of Circe if he or she washed up on her island.
Depends on who's writing the story. If it were an autobiography, then, yes, Circe would have had me.
C'mon now, that's not fair! You've probably seen the new movie out and I haven't looked at translations of the Odyssey in a long time....my Homeric Greek is pretty firmly planted about halfway into the Iliad, where it will stay....Homer had a shit ton of words, is what I'm saying, most of them I don't know yet, and Vergil only barely mentions that Aeneas circumvents Circe by some....I don't know....whim of the Roman gods or some shit. I don't remember!
TNP has recently figured out that you can ask "google" a question and its little chatBot will answer in some detail.
Yes, AI is already starting to intrude into most of our online dealings. We'll see more of it before we see less, I'll bet.
TNP has bought a lottery ticket in the past month.