Backtalk: A Medium Place
Best wishes! Happy New Year! Blwydden Newydd Dda!
The strange tale of the Vampire Rabbit. Might be a hare. About 120 years old.
2020 Begone!
And may we have a Happier New Year!
We've made it this far, just a handful of hours to go. You got this!
To 2020, that is. It is finally almost time to turn our backsides to this colossal dumpster fire of a year and leave it in the dust.
So I shall ask the obvious question - any New Year's resolutions? What plans do you have for 2021? I know a few people were talking about doing a big clean-up-and-out to greet the New Year: I assure you such a thing at Casa Finch is long overdue, so that's on my to-do list. So is getting rid of the Quarantine 15 I have been sporting since the spring, although since most of my Xmas presents were foodstuffs I don't see myself making much progress until the Xmas leftovers are gone. Do you have any New Year's Eve rituals you observe - champagne, special eats, watching the fireworks over the Sydney Bridge (my personal favourite)? Or will it be an early night? Let me know in the comments, and stay safe out there.
Here we are at the end of the holiday weekend and the last Sunday of 2020.
We're back in lockdown here, and to kick it off, a couple people have tested positive for the new strain of Covid. No one knows where they got it, so it's being transmitted in the community already. Yay.
If you couldn't see the planetary conjunction last week, fear not. It'll be visible for weeks yet, although Saturn and Jupiter won't be quite as close (according to my dad, who is usually well-informed on sciency things.) It's been overcast here for a while, but maybe the skies will clear next week, and I'll get a peek at them.
https://www.space.com/great-conjunction-jupiter-saturn-photo-nasa-lro-spacecraft
Anyone have projects on the go? I finished this sampler today and learned some new stitches. Never got around to making a gingerbread house, but it's probably for the best, since I would've ended up eating the whole thing by myself. That probably wouldn't end well.
I finished watching Case Histories series 2, and was left feeling dissatisfied. It was a good ending, but I wanted things to work out better for a few of the characters. Now they're stranded with no third series anywhere on the horizon. I've started re-watching Prime Suspect while I decide what to watch next. Any recommendations for British detective shows?
How are you spending the last few days of 2020?
It’s your weekly Photo Gallery! Come on in, take a look at what people have been up to over the past week and share some of your own photos.
They don’t need to be taken with a fancy camera or works of art. Share any SFW photos you’ve taken with even the poorest of potatoes. Of course we love to see that arty stuff too.
The
lights in the bg here are also battery operated
About 9 hours after the power first went out on Christmas Eve and it was still raining, we figured that it takes longer to do repairs when technicians are rooting around in the dark and also have power tools that operate almost 100% by electricity.
18
hours later we were decidedly more impatient, as were (when I went to the
carriers’ Disqus page) several other customers in several other parts of the
country so they couldn’t just blame it on the East Coast outage.
I
called and was able to get customer service – but when she said she was going
to connect me to an actual person in tech support, the extension AI voice
unceremoniously dismissed AND disconnected me
Then
we wondered given the fact that the outage did NOT appear to be limited to our
flood-stricken area but appeared in addition to be a sustained problem in
several other far-flung areas of the country going back several weeks to boot.
As
it turns out … I put the Tweets describing what people suspect are Russian
attacks connected to their recent infiltration of several of our national
departments in comments, because it turns out that just because you’re paranoid
it doesn’t mean people (or transnational crime syndicates, as it happens) still
aren’t after you.
And
now the cable and internet are out again.
And
we’re not the worst off of the people we know as this WH dangles relief for
millions (probably at Putin’s instruction).
But
joy in the face of attempts to oppress is still defiance
Merry Christmas everyone! (to those who celebrate)
However you choose to celebrate the holiday this year - even if it's choosing not to celebrate - I bring unto you good tidings of great joy. Even if that great joy is just making it through another day mostly okay. That's a lot these day.
It's your Thursday evening open thread!
So let's try posting Dean and Nala again, where Nala gets to pick her first Christmas Tree, and a snow themed post from Bored Panda.
When it comes to Christmas and it's Eve, your either a procrastinator, a Scrooge, or one of those people that love this time of year.
(Or your lights display. Or your holiday cooking projects. Holiday crafting? Pets in cute ugly sweaters?) Bring it all!
Let’s see all the ways that holiday spirit can make the end of 2020 seem a little bit better.
Crazy times these days. Who's almost ready for the big rumble on Friday?
Kudos to spaced99 who tossed up a post last Monday when I suffered a major brain fart after a traumatic dentist's appointment.
Has anyone been able to see the planetary convergence? I went out at the prescribed hour but it is overcast here and there is too much light pollution. It's a pity as I won't be around when it happens again in another 400 years.
Welcome to our discussions for this week. I hope you’re feeling opinionated because it’s about to come at you fast!
I'm not sure why the eve of the solstice is also called "midwinter" but here we are. The Winter Solstice officially happens at 5:06 am in my time zone. This evening there was a livestream of the sun setting over Stonehenge, which you can watch here if you've got some time.
Tomorrow there's the Great Conjunction, visible for the first time to humans since the 1200s! If it going to be cloudy near you tomorrow evening, fear not. There are many online viewing parties, with better telescopes.
Great Conjunction 2020 viewing
https://twitter.com/sciam/status/1340341124070690820?s=20
Today is the beginning of my re-read of The Dark is Rising with the annual #TheDarkisReading book club. It's one tradition that's easy to keep this year.
https://twitter.com/corylus/status/1340578644436131840?s=20
ETA: LATE BREAKING CUTE
It’s your weekly Photo Gallery! Come on in, take a look at what people have been up to over the past week and share some of your own photos.
They don’t need to be taken with a fancy camera or works of art. Share any SFW photos you’ve taken with even the poorest of potatoes. Of course we love to see that arty stuff too.
There is
a solstice in two days. It’s supposed to
coincide with planetary movement that hasn’t happened since the Renaissance.
It
better be good.
We will
get to the good news, knowledgeable people, fun people, and nice holidaze songs
in the Disqus comments but there are a few things it feels necessary to cover
first
In case anybody was wondering still, who's responsible for the holdup on COVID-19 relief just days before both Christmas and before the protection expires, it is nobody but Republicans.
Specifically, Toomey - who is NOT RUNNING AGAIN -- wanting the Federal Reserve to relinquish its control over small business loans after this travesty of a Maladministration is fumigated out of the People's House so that Republicans can steal all that money, and McConnell of course backing him up (while the Orange tries to plot some sort of ... martial law takeover of voting machines in four states from inside the actual White House.
Don't let anyone tell you anything other than that.
“What are the odds if left in office that he will continue
trying to cheat? I will tell you: 100%. Not 5, not 10, not 50, but 100%. If you
have found him guilty and you do not remove him from office, he will continue
trying to cheat in the election until he succeeds.”
-- Adam Schiff, Trump's impeachment
IMPEACH HIM AGAIN. And prosecute the complicit Repugnicons. The only debate at this point should be depraved indifference homicide or murder.
Stay trying to clear up the confusion from the Liar's Rhetoric but lighten the mood at the same time ... which is a trick some have mastered but I haven't yet. Will keep trying.
