Viral Vicissitudes

United Artists Standing tall… as in wall sized…along with some other industrialists that he met, along the way, to the DIA. Where art and science come together… as in scene together in panoramic style… Court ordered… or more artistically stated, bringing order to the court, what’s known as the Garden Court of the Detroit Institute of Arts -- where the artist in temporary residence, Diego Rivera, spent several months mixing paint and wet plaster, after which “voila!” out comes the whole Detroit Industry - mural-culously illustrating how nature, agriculture, industry, and humanity are interconnected. So, it only makes sense that a cultural collective (Cultural Workers United) would want to represent such cultured individuals that work there. Hoping they will want to view the murals, sculptures, armor clad knights through union-eyes... We… in and around the “D” have a saying that “things are looking up around here..” Whether the workers in question endorse the offer, we outsiders who come...

The time for block parties has come, to an end… Time for block chains to be connected, has arrived... Good girls and boys, soon to enjoy new toys… But when it comes to building blocks… Better wear shoes, really thick socks… Nothing worse on your toes… Than those pesky Legos 😫 Caused me to lego, with a chain of obscenities, heard clear around the block  Blockbuster event!  “Next time maybe you’ll put your blocks away, buster” 

What's a Half Time Show show?  Depends on one's point of view... A show that appeals to about half the crowd... while the others go check out 'the facilities' (cool crowd control) An opportunity to show off... home grown talent...which in our case, given how many genres and gens present, would require the length of time of an average "Time out" these daze... One that features their greatest hits... after our own team of stars has not been hitting on all cylinders... (the biggest no-no of such a show is not to show up, the home team...which this year, seems to be about every other week, or...two quarters of the time) "Please remain seated, until our home team has changed...😟"  

All that remains… To be seen…   what the hosts will do with the leftovers, the offerings, recipes of which seem to grow on us, every year -- and on behalf of the hostess, how long they'll remain at the table, rather than even offer to give them a second...helping...("grown"!)  More over... how long, as the analysts of the other game being consumed remind us, it's about whether they have enough energy leftover to sustain a drive, such as US staying thankful, even when not filled to the brim...with "turducken!"  Stranger still... after viewing the first installment of long awaited, well-seasoned "Stranger Things" left most of us wanting more -- which will be brought to us in three courses, the second (strangely) on Christmas Day, and then the last on the last day, of this year. Whereas the original "The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry" -- we all seem to have one this time of year (invited the estranged one for a meal and they just don't s...

Feeling on the verge...of a major upset - What’s (not) in store, for you… The setup - Experiencing some initial rumblings…while waiting in the gas line…seeing prices on the rise…”just in time for the holidays - do you believe…in coincidences ? Enough to give me gas…” An exceptional meal - That exceeds the basic minimum requirements in each nutritious category that counts…that my dietician would take great, exception to… The major upset - “The shelves are bare… you’ll just have to bear the stomach ache, that comes from overindulging, until we get more Tums”  Just to prep you, prior to getting posted, on game day.

"Thank you very Mush!" Getting kinda' messy around here... First there was a hush... "quiet as a falling snow...flake"  And then came the slush...  and their funders. More aptly donors, given that they gave, until bled dry. Talk about flakes.  Followed by the potholes... filled with what else, but ass-fault. (someone's got to be blamed, after all)  Simply stated... in our home state... "Fix the damn roads!" (since the governor's "Road...to the Future" fund raised a cool 7.7 mill, enough to purchase plenty of hot patch) Her campaign slogan has hit...a bit of a rough patch itself.  What the roads show ... right when she's prepping to take her show, on the road (book tour...to DC) All roads lead to... "lead" being the key word here, as might want to get a head start, given the projections of how many are about to hit, the road ("to hit record highs", according to AAA), for the Thanksgiving week. Speaking of high, ...

Time, once again, to get back to...It (cuz It's Monday: It's not yet Wednesday) - "Hear It comes; ready or..." It's all about you... Tell me all about It... Don’t know what to make of It…. ImplicIt - "You've really done it this time..." "Did you mean this, that, or the other thing...?"   More explicIt - "Guess I have to spell I-t out for you"  IntuIt-ively stated -   "You need not say more; already got It..."  Getting It together - "It's about you and me, both"   One, done, over and done with It- "I'm so over It" RelativIty - "It all depends…” Mob Mental-Ity- “Forget about It!”  Let's just leave It, at That. "We have another appointment scheduled next week and we can pick It back up then" That's about It - "Finally got It, thanks Doc" The art, and science of dragging It out…..of you. In case you missed It  (Value Added) - I’ve been talking about the value of It...

Hunters love their…gear  A lot to unpack… a lead into a convo they will likely bore…into you. As hunters like to stow away stories they’ve been told, around what used to be rustic cabins and otherwise called “deer camp in the deep woods” but now more like luxury lined blinds. Complete with big screen, just in case they get bored…featuring what else, but the biggest bucks, lots of yuks, that became part of the stored gear, year after year... What happens at deer camp, dear... "Then why did you bring home so much junk?" "Because if I'm going to parts unknown, gotta' look the part" Heavy gauge...sweats, along with layers and layers of camo -- some green and brown, some black and blue...along with the outer layer of orange, so as to not be confused with whatever wildlife they are trying to imitate... Stuffed animals... The outcome of this whole sha-bang! from all appearances, is that that going into the so-called wilds, has most of them coming home looking like ...

This just in...We,  as in U, US, R SOL A matter of degrees - The number it takes to add up to a slippery slide - We-e-e-e-e! are going down. The curse of the nurse - Is to answer the call, button, even when she/he might get under-appreciated, even...  "A cost you!" As in reduced ability to procure particular student loans, to those endorsed as being the most ethical and honest... A failure, to recognize As in discrediting... The most trusted profession - To whom we entrust our care day after day, and on through the night, so it only makes sense, that year after year, multiple polls find them coming out on top, and that the DOE which is being downgraded, dismantled, due to the oldest motive known to politicos, in an act of jealousy, will find us all... Numbing down - "Here just take a few of these and your pain will go away" as in Big Beautiful (bitter) pills… "The patient has been down graded..." As in “The president is experiencing the ill effects in the ...

Beds and their spreads - living in a Quilted age... (going undercover, to break the cold) How to start, warm up... a convo with a QE2 in her chambers... “Nice spread, how did you come buy it?” Well, you start with batches of patches, stitched it time...with assiduous attention to detail… as this is “something personalized"   Queen sized - Or, more like sizing up this queen, as Devida did, a few years back, prepping a quilt for her Jubilee celebration...knowing she would be prone to simply 'turn it down' - using the same dry approach, laced with wry Brit humour, that might break through her stoic exterior..."Not to worry, it only took 2700 pieces of fabric, 2500 hand sewn beads, let's not forget the beads of sweat you'll see as my personal signature...." Which apparently added up to what one resorts to under such conditions, playing the 'quilt card' 😉 Acceptance speech -  "The queen makes an exception, accepts this, to showcase her appreciati...

  Re-release: "Bonfires, of the Vanities" - the bright side No time like the prescience...  It's all about timing and delivery...and this President seems on to something... The lighter side of vanities... In contrast to the big bad (Tom) Wolfe's version... of "ambition, racism, politics and greed in NYC" Throw them all in the... Stories around the campfire... shedding light, on the heavy duties he levied on foreign furniture, that became the cause célèbres, in the North...Carolina. Home of many fine home furnishings…couches, chairs, and, of course, vanities… "Drill, baby drill!" is the new cry on behalf of the craftsman who, among other tools, they rely on to furnish all our home furnishings...   The counter measures... they, in the case of vanities better measure up, given all the self-enhancing products they'll have to hold up to the... "Got a light?" as "I don't smoke; I swear" A signal we've just crossed over fro...

China Syndrome 2.0 Another release... causing a major meltdown, of their own core, this time. As in the basis for the new westernized consuming society. An ironic twist in the plot, in what used to be called over and now de-population. This, just out, from the new "pronatalist" party - incentives to try and not only get the new gens to push them newborns out, to create another...Mega-gen, while also creating incentives to de-centivize the younger gens from saving, as it's hurting their economy. All this while we at home are de-centsitizing our own economy, by taking each and every penny and throwing them down the so-called drain, while leaving the future gens to drown, in our debt...All of this just in time for the release of "Stranger Things" which features the "Upside Down" - a hole other dimension to this global economy we're living in.  The brighter side: Another re-release - "Bonfires..." Come back, gather round...

Wearing the leftovers - a barrel roll.  Orange is the new green. With a few layers in between. As in "Orange you glad you stand out, as opposed to wearing Cammy Jammie’s the rest of the year?" This, in an attempt to not be mistaken... Bucking, a trend. It's what all the buck poles show, the ones with the big bucks, as well as the studies on how much is being spent per hunter to shoot one, many of which were 'bagged' by a blind man....well, more like a man (increasingly women) standing (more likely sitting in the 'lap of luxury') in a 'blind' that is aptly named, given how many blind spots there are for the unsuspecting... Deer polling. Not likely, as to whether they prefer the bow and arrow or what's called the opening day of "firearms" when the whole forest seems to scream "Fire away!" Whether they’d rather be shot in the arm or what, in deer hunting season, termed “hind quarters” If they could talk I’d hazard a guess they’...

The Reign in Spain... Is plainly over... before it could really get started - as the ones representing our capital, in an attempt to extend the NFL season, not being content to stay incontinent😖 - extended themselves to Europe, in the city of Madrid in the country of Spain, where the home team on their turf was the one from Miami. While there were no dolphins aboard, they managed to find the home turf what these friendly fish would call "swimmingly" or simply to their liking, as they beat the ones that failed to take command, despite the newly assumed "in name only" name of the ones that went all that way to represent US, in a losing fashion…so much for “Commanders”😫... Crowd burst...  had to be rehearsed, as they, who are more used to the raucous fu'tbol chants, hardly ever take a chance...for a breather. But here, found them in good cheer "drain the swamp!" was the last thing the ones from...Miami wanted to see happen, upsetting the balance, of nat...

"Mending your weighs?" "Sew it seams..."    Weighing your options... Way before Taylor showed up to do so, the NFL had the foresight to extend their attempts to revive their audience, from Sundays to now, almost every day of the week, and in a multi-channel format, with limit-less opportunities for you to give back, support a higher cause, such as when the call on the field is questioned, and sent "upstairs" while you are given the opportunity to get out your wallet, and wager whether the higher authorities will overturn...and other costs of being what's called a "true blue follower..." The parallels between the play on the field and how you govern your life off, and on the other days of the week are even to what are termed the "unwashed" (those not doused in Gatorade, as a true leader gets only the leftovers)... Way before gametime... Before she was even a fig-meant...the parallels started showing up, with those whose professions i...

Getting schoolded- Lessons in handouts  Early on…   as in a “long time passed…” our teacher asked for a daily helper in passing out, the handouts… Upon passing… making the grades in the lower grades (which I just realized why they called it grade school, as we actually used to get graded and now it’s some cryptic algorithmic that only the coder can crack) - “there won’t be anyone to hold your hand next year…”  Upon arrival… “no hand holding during hall passing…otherwise you’ll be held, after school, and you can give the custodian a hand…” Current events... "who else, had a hand in this, E-file?"  Up, up, and away… “you be on your way now, time you found some work…no more handouts"😢 Sleight of hand … as if by magic, every time I came home to visit, I came away with a 5$ bill after shaking my grandad’s hand…nice touch, under any circumstance.😀

What’s in a (Mick) name? MLB… is full of them: names that only a mother could have conceived, anticipated -- how they may be setting up their youngsters to get teased, come home bawling their eyes out, only to be followed by terms of endearment and being able to dictate the terms, of their ball contracts. First there was “Mick” who was known to swing a big…stick. Followed by “Roger Dodger” which was slightly off base, given he was just another “Damn Yankee!” and never played for LA. Closer to home we came to embrace “Miggy” who was known for hitting home runs off many pitchers, including one nicknamed Ziggy ("Brad" for short). But what do you make of Tarik…how do you make fun of a name that conveys ”strike” in Arabic😕? Which is why his teamsters resorted to playing around in the clubhouse with his last name,”Skub” A perfect set up, followed by the delivery, now that he won two Cy Youngsters in a row, “What will Scooby do?” 😂 (his first name takes on new meaning as well, as ...

“Health where crisis” - shot, off location  Medic-cares, butt where…?  Feeling HAP-less?  Molina or less? And is your Meridan still prime?   And U-Mich... You as well?! Got the health care Blues?  Why and where these health coverers, went for cover...in search of a Blue Shield, I imagine... Insurance runs… is a term that applies to, especially the sport of baseball, but the loser considers poor sportsmanship... Health where marketplace... and the basic law of economics..."If you think it's expensive now, wait until it's FREE" An open and shut case... Open enrollment has come and gone, for our own good. So says the four major carriers who will be carrying on, outside of our state. At least as far as Obamacare, in concerned... Post enrollment: Come back here for another grade school grate: "Lessons in hand holding"   

Wisp List - NO  hot rodders, drag racers…just skidding   What’s hot is not… according to two grands, which gained traction the more we talked, about their Christmas lists… Go carting… “No, not quite, even though the commercial urged us to go get our parents card and then put all the stuff on line in the cart…what we’re talking about is a razor that meets with a racer, with no brakes, where you have to drag your feet…what the new generation of street, I mean driveway racers, kids on the go, call drifting…if we can trust you not to tell our parents about those skid marks, donut holes in their lawn, we just might let you give it a ride…” Cool kids, I'm sure they'll go far. 

“In the eleventh hour…” How appropriate  “What are you waiting for…Veterans Day ?!” Seems only appropriate… that the bills that are instruments of spending, instrumentally designated to fund the .guv stuff, are appropriated by the “Appropriations Committees” (plurality given that both the House and Senate have one, don’t you at home?) in order to fund all the bills that the other legislators have legislated… Meanwhile… back in 1919 what’s known as the Chief Executor of the Executive branch, saw it only appropriate to set aside this date which first became known as Armistice Day and evolved to include all veterans, any who have served in the U.S. branches of the military. While there is not one right or appropriate way to extend our appreciation, whether a cup of jo, a hug to go, the vets being a humble lot, either/or will hit the spot.  Now... that the ones serving US in DC are opening things back up, here we have a just cause for a pause. Veterans Day, 2025 - "We are in debt ...

Following suit, after… Before Be BC… there was CBS with what is now deemed the “incompetent” interview, that eventuated in a 16 million out-of-court settlement, sans apology ("it's going to be a helluva presidential library, that's all I have to say on the subject"). So you’d think, given the precedent setting president, who is never short on, what’s known in the news biz as word count (“and I make each and every one of them count”), along with their old world knowledge, they would resist the temptation to attack what’s now known as the “attack” speech of the head of what’s known to them as the leader of the New World. Resulting in resignations of the head of the news staff...and the sitting president of the U.S. of A having the last gaffe - “apology excepted”  (My editorial comment- they need to learn how to put things into hysterical context😂)

"Losing, my Religion..." Pass over…  all the obvious parallels and concrete evidence…such as passing of plates in the parking lot  tailgate tent revival shows ("restore the roar!"), that take place prior to the actual service…the ones that welcome all denominations- 5’s, 10’s…the group of men huddled, with their heads bowed, listening to a brief lesson on what out there is called “misdirection”😫, followed by getting penalized for being a zealot (well, at least overly zealous as going offsides)…accompanied by all kinds of call outs and repeatedly being put in pause while the officials send it “upstairs” after which the call in the field can only be reversed if there’s irrefutable evidence…third down conversions…"Hail Mary..." make you a believer yet? Last, but not least... Suffering in defeat… on our home turf, in front of the faithful assembly - a cause for yet another mass Exodus…  (a home groan story, a drought that for Lions’ fans takes us back to almo...

Rare books, a matter of degrees - A post graduate post " See you, around campus..."  A short commute... but took a long while, to compute..."My things have changed!" (no comma intended) as in... Some serious booking! - just don't get caught looking...at the shelves, as they'll think you're weird...   Physical books... will get you strange looks..."No body cracks one open anymore, mister post-graduate"😖 A few decades... out of school, as well as "it" according to them,,, but what do they  know, as they're just a bunch of bratty under-grads. (Oh, and about that degree, you may be contemplating, in "Library Science" - now  it's for "Informational" purposes only - 100% online)

The Consecration of Wealth Here’s his secret… while we were all preoccupied with who was consecrating himself king of the jungle, he just kept on concentrating on doing his own thing and now owns a whole lot of it.  Tender Moments… throughout our country’s history, we’ve gone through various iterations of what’s called “legal tender” or sometimes referred to simply as “hand over your money” which most of us don’t do without a struggle, or protest, at least. But then there’s the economic laws and government’s role and policies  in the (re)distribution of what’s called at tax time, “earned income”…Then there’s the really tweet moments when, visiting your favorite watering hole, the one tending bar informs you “your money’s no good here - your drink is free, VIP”  (he probably owns it but might not want to own up to it, preferring to pose as one of us, for a change).  The I,Robots have it… as the shareholders robotically voted to endorse his new compensation package. A ...

“Vote for me; everything’s free” Magic of Massaging  Massaging the message…   to fit your target audience. Man with the message… the one from the left, who will set everything right.  After math… as in actuaries and the real numbers that have to be accounted for. As in no more imaginary... “ Go and play, I’ll make them pay” followed by… “but who’s going to mind the children, when I have to work three jobs to pay these taxes…where's all the childcare workers; don't they care?!” Gauze, for the cause… “keep an eye on your porch, your free health care coverage should be arriving soon…” Prime time… from the mouth of the first…female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom…”The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out…of other people’s money” "New York is back!"  He said it - while now colored as a blue state, with the fire sale going on, free spending to come, it will eventually be solidly back in the red. 

It's official - Halloween has blown over. Over blown...   "You're on your own..." A condition that best describes, summarizes, what we're (not) seeing, now that all those blow-up Halloween characters have lost theirs...hollowed out, deflated. And why, after electing to endorse to electrify them, we can find so many...witches in ditches, skeletal remains in yet another well run campaign in this "Year of the Skeleton" (sure seemed like it, looking at all the lawn signage: "Don't vote for Fred; he's quite dead")...blizzards of wizards, who have been let go, given the fact that despite all their wizardry, failed to bring it... The Big Chill... All of this is overshadowed by a cloud of controversy that continues to surround the "Free (Chilly) Willy" who, in 1990, broke free from his handlers and ended up in the hands of some northern neighbors...a story that gets more inflated every time it's told, on the eve of the Thanksgivin...

Riveting, Liberating, Flexing...no time for aging. Time of the year...  for handing out golden gloves, and I nominate all the ones that come under the name of Rosie, who managed to rivet with either hand, double fisted are they, and hardly ever a drop, as in almost completely error free - even when handling what's called in their field a "hot one"... Masters of their crafts… as in Mouro Masters, Stell, Helen. Betty, and company, the women that made up, the group who banded together to form countless B-17’s, 29’s, before the “B-52’s” even came out, on to the factory floor… Rosie strikes a Posie… an imposing figure, at 103... Above the din... "Happy to do it again..." I call that a win.

The tip off, is back in - setting in motion, a chain reaction Touch of the hat... "an ever-so-subtle salute" Point of the bat... "didn't your mother tell you it wasn't polite to point?"...with certain exceptions...unless you were the Sultan of Swat, the Great Bambio, simply "The Babe" - who was blithely pointing out, where the ball would go...out of the ball park, so if you wanted in on the action, you could park your butt, accordingly... Something in common... when courtesy was considered common, which has given weigh, to simply acting and talking curt, on and off the field of play... Where east meets west... the best and the best, which is why it took extra innings, more than once...to extend such courtesies, to one another... A natural outcome... of such a World Series, in which the old ways of subtlety, the wonders of nuance...eventuated in a new chain of finishing schools (since so many of us need it) - "LA Finesse" 😉 (weight, I...

Time for a chime change... "A chime for every reason, season..." As in one to get me up, another to remind me to close the door, only after I've put on my ("lap") belt...a different sound and cadence than the one signaling a lane change - strange, as I hadn't even thought of doing so until... Chime in, tune out... During our recent flight, signaled that the flight attendant would give us instructions, a signal for most passengers to plug their ear, buds... "Ring a bell?"  Probably not, given the frequency my "Ring Doorbell" goes off to signal it's time again, for Prime.... Perhaps rather than changing the time... wouldn't it simpler and quicker to ask Alexa, to change her tune... maybe we'd finally listen to the message.    

Scarier, yet  Stripped down... Where one might find themselves, progressively so, as one progresses through the security line..."from your belt to the stuff that lines your pocket...spare change goes in the bin, as well...while I'm at it, take out your ear, bud..." Yet another cause, for pause... Where he placed the comma, at least that's the way I heard it...which was just before I asked the TSA person at the end of the line..."btw, are you guys getting paid...?"  A fly, over... "not nyet...have a safe flight, comrade" One more reason to not, withhold pay. 😒 Keep on rolling... over an additional time, and check in here tomorrow for "chime with the time"