We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
Can Capitalism Save Hollywood? The gulf between elites and audiences is eroding profits throughout entertainment and news media—but signs of correction are emerging.
People have been asking me about Damar Hamlin. Cardiac arrest or, sometimes termed "Sudden Cardiac Arrest", occurs at all ages. It is only newsworthy when it occurs in young, otherwise healthy athletes. Still, it happens enough that many states have rules about medical check-ups for athletes. I suspect that it occurs more often than reported.
Sudden Cardiac Arrest is usually associated with a heart arrhythmia called ventricular fibrillation. The heart stops. These have a long list of possible underlying causes, but it seems possible, if rare, that even a blow to the chest can set it off. The risks are that you die, or survive with brain damage. First aid is CPR (all of our readers should know how to do that), then shock from a defibrillator. The brain begins to die after a handful of minutes without a functional heartbeat.
In youth, arrest is hardly ever related to a "heart attack," which refers to a Myocardial Infarction.
Task Rabbits are excellent help in cleaning out attics, basements, garages, and closets. Most of us have accumulated stuff that will never be used or wanted.
"Slate" is an old highly woke online magazine. Easy to dismiss. However, they have begun a series on fitness and health that might be good, or at least rational: Fitness goals for 2023.
For example, they make the point that exercise is, generally, useless for weight loss. Weight is nutritional - period. There surely are genetic effects on body architecture and maybe even on satiety-signalling.
Is exercise useful for cognitive functioning? Dubious.
Also, the point that the current thing about "lots of fruits and vegetables" is nonsense. Food is not medicine. Nothing wrong about those things though as long as you do not think of them as magic.
Fitness goals, I agree, are primarily about feeling good, maintaining functionality and vitality, and looking good for as long as possible. Those make life better. 6+ hours/week is good.
I stand by the Maggie's Fitness for Life program: Weights, calisthenics, and cardio. With a little luck, it might slow your fate in a wheelchair.
I hope so, anyway. Mrs. has already planned good ones in New Mexico. I hiked in the Four Corners decades ago, and plenty in Montana. What I do not enjoy is getting lost in wilderness with no cell. No more...must be getting older.
I'm hopeful that we'll find another good NYC urban hike this year, but where to, exactly? I'll leave that to Bulldog.
Anyway, after 12 miles of hiking in the wild parts of Provence, and thinking you have arrived only to find that you have another 4 miles over a mountain to get back to your village, it is just toughing it out. But then, finally, you throw down your daypack and have a French beer or two and maybe a smoke. Feels good.
2:13 Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him."
2:14 Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt,
2:15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called my son."
2:16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.
2:17 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:
2:18 "A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more."
2:19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said,
2:20 "Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead."
2:21 Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel.
2:22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee.
2:23 There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He will be called a Nazorean."
Photo: I hate NY Eve parties, (but I understand that it can be a reasonable excuse to throw a party); Champagne gives me a headache; I hate excess booze (for myself anyway); and there is no way I will willingly stay up until midnight. Call me grumpy.
All the same, I wish all a healthy, loving, prosperous and contented 2023.
It's no wonder that fish is so expensive. What does "fresh" mean? Usually that it was flash frozen, then thawed out. Nobody wants days-old fish. Almost all fish at the fish market was flash-frozen. It's not as if some local fishing boat goes out for a day and delivers fish to your fish market.
If never frozen (say, 5 days just on ice), quality deteriorates quickly. If you want fresh (same day) fish you had best go fishing yourself.
Recently, I was sent by my company to a class to learn how to improve my negotiation skills. I'm actually pretty good at negotiation. In the class (of 8 people) I scored 3rd highest - which I thought was "very good" but was told "those who do best are the ones who do the worst and learn the most." So maybe I wasn't as successful as I thought. In fact, I learned afterwards I'm more 'sales' than 'negotiator'. Useful skills in leading up to a negotiation, but sales can derail a negotiation (as I learned to my surprise).
I will never again confuse sales with negotiation. Which I have always done. I did not see them as fully separate skill sets - until now.
I always felt negotiation is a part of the sale. I learned the hard way it's not. Basically, negotiation is about firmness, employing the proper behaviors as called for within the context of the discussion, and doing what is appropriate.
Generally I don't care about this stuff...but at a lunch recently some coworkers spent a good portion of the time talking about Harry and Meghan. I simply stated I don't generally pay attention to the details of this stuff, all humans are flawed and hero-worship isn't something I go for, generally speaking.
That said, I am a huge Anglophile, which may seem odd as I'm of Irish/German descent. Of course, the Saxe-Coburgs, or Windsors as they care to be known as now, are German, so maybe it's that part that has my pay any bit of attention. Standing in front of paintings and statues of William of Orange or Cromwell (as I have many times on my visits) leave me a bit cold, but I can appreciate the history they represent. Even Churchill, whose relationship with the Irish is tenuous at best, is one of the few politicians I look up to.
Being an Anglophile doesn't mean I'm a royal-watcher or a fan of the monarchy. I've often joked they are the wealthiest welfare family on the planet. This is a bit of a stretch, of course. The family does generate quite a bit of income on their own, with their holdings, and as a result of tourism and fandom. It would be a significant impact to the UK economy to see the end of the monarchy. That said, even today children grow up dreaming of being kings, queens, princes and princesses. As a child, I remember talking of being an astronaut, a fireman, a policeman, etc. So royalty, as a child's dream, is certainly not as awful as one may think.
It has become a casual consensus that exercise, or at least daily vigorous movement, enhances one's immune response.
Anecdotally, it looks likely. But the catch is that it's the most fit people who do an hour or so most days, so is it causality? Statistically, fitter people are best prepared to deal with the attacks of nature: better disease-resistance, better healing, etc.
People with physical jobs do not need to think about it, but most of us do. In a way, daily exercise is an attempt to recreate a bit of what humans were built to do.
I feel that exercise (The Maggie's Fitness for Life program, especially) has the main goal of maintaining functionality and vigor for as long as possible. Sure, looking good matters too, in life. Nutrition for weight, exercise for strength.
Parsnips are good winter food. They were more popular before potatoes took over. 
Stuck in the Middle (of Academia) -
Photo: I hate NY Eve parties, (but I understand that it can be a reasonable excuse to throw a party); Champagne gives me a headache; I hate excess booze (for myself anyway); and there is no way I will willingly stay up until midnight. Call me grumpy.