The Angle on It

Great news, we get to have lunch today.

Kitchen Compost

It is a dark substance conveying magical powers such that none may abide its strength, its tactile resistance, or digestive turbulence.

Runaway Plain

It's a test of ultimate will
The heartbreak climb uphill
Got to pick up the pace
If you want to stay in the race
More than just blind ambition
More than just simple greed
More than just a finish line
Must feed this burning need
In the long run..

You can do a lot in a lifetime
If you don't burn out too fast
You can make the most of the distance
First you need endurance
First you've got to last...

(Neil Peart, 1985.)

Whispering Finds

Lead scientists from SETI take their turn deciphering audio signals from deep space.  It's never a question of "if," but always a "when?"  Afterward, what will we learn from them?  Will we consider them intelligent? 

Hummingfriender

After a hearty game of tag in the backyard, the two buddies pause for some refreshments.

Blue Man Coup

Physicians from Hopkins, Mayo, Harvard, et al still have not managed to diagnose the enigmatic and confounding malady that alters human behavior and causes intense pigment transformations.  Their leading theory is that the patient inadvertently swallowed a radioactive chameleon that caused the human host to adopt similar characteristics to its parasite.

Dog Snatcher

After the big game, some teams like to chill out and relax.  Others prefer to hit the spa, the bar, maybe take a nap.  To each his own.

Swingin' Scene

The Experts at the golf course learned all their storytelling techniques from a couple of guys around the corner in the play lot.  They could captivate an audience for hours while they spun a good yarn.

Swim Into It

When your club football game gets cancelled due to some wonderful blast of precipitation, well heck, that's just an excuse to celebrate.  Pop on the goggles, drop a needle on the vinyl, and get on out there!

Tip 'o the Hat

Test scores came in, and it's time for a little jig.

Eight-wheel Drive

Through modeling and simulation, computational physicists can estimate a precise outcome of an automobile race.  Empirical results are coupled with theoretical to design simulations, both virtual and tactile.  Results are crunched on large-scale high performance computing platforms to achieve surprising accuracy.  It is just a matter of time before the oddsmakers in 'Vegas get their hands on some serious computational power.

Wrinkle in Time

Curators of the National Archives uncovered a reel of film from the early 20th century, then managed to digitize it and improve its fidelity.  After extensive research, they traced it to a pair of young homeless lads in their early 20s and lacking career options.  A movie camera found them in the Army recruiting center for a moment of levity just before swearing-in.  They were there to join the American infantry, face the Teutonic threat, and end the Great War to End All Wars in Europe.

After meeting in the orphanage as toddlers, they became steadfast friends through thick and thin, protected each other in the streets of the big, heartless city, taught each other to read and write, and survived through many encounters with gangs, the mob, occasional street riots, the Panic of 1907, et al.  During their military induction, they came to the realization that they were not actually siblings.  The camera was a remarkable novelty, and they were not quite sure what to make of this new technology.

It would turn out to be their last moment together.

Talk the Walk

It's a great way to start your day, take a pleasant stroll with some favorite companions.

Dream Team

They walked-in as unknowns from a little town in the mountains, and walked out with the title.  A generation of club football fans will remember the day they first saw the team, where they were, what they wore, and especially how they felt.  For decades they will retain total recall of that moment and relish their first glimpse of history.

Breeze Keys

With a renowned virtuoso in town this week, the Dean at Juliard just had to arrange for a private recital.  She was thrilled to acquire ideas for new techniques and innovative sounds.  It is always a blessing to freshen-up one's repertoire. 

Gooder'n Grits

There is no higher reward known to man than the Blue Ribbon, even more so when it comes from the Rio Arriba County Fair.  Nothing can compare to the sensation of accomplishment when recognized by one's peers.  Icing on the cake is the acceptance from the community at large.  It feels just fine, finer than a frog's hair split three times, happy as a clam at high tide, enough to make a hound dog smile.