misc

[calimac]

1. Sorry I wasn't one of the 8 million protesting for "no kings" on Saturday, but standing around for hours in the sun is no longer in my repertoire. My heart, and more importantly my vote, is with you.

2. Went to see Sullivan's last operetta, The Emerald Isle (yes it's set in Ireland). Not sure why; I'd seen it before. Very sketchy production: no sets, formal dress for costumes. Couldn't make out most of the words, sung or spoken, and the supertitles were nearly invisible.

3. The Lord of the Rings: toughest quiz ever. It's by John Garth, who knows his Tolkien better than almost anyone else active today. I got 25 out of 30, not including the one I would have gotten if I hadn't had a mental glitch, but it does include one that I don't think anyone would get unless they'd already independently noticed this (I had). Some pretty knowledgeable people got as low as 14, so don't feel bad.

Comments

[sturgeonslawyer]

I missed 8.

I was one of those protesting, though I had to take breaks due to a twisted ankle. My father, at 91, was one of the organizers of the rally I attended, out in front of the senior home my folks live in. My mother, with a very bad hip, attended for about ten minutes; my sister, and my brother and sis-in-law, both up from Berkeley where they've recently moved, came for the whole time. It was kind of fun. We had lots of supportive honks and beeps, including, to my surprise, one from a Tesla "cybertruck," a few thumbs-downs. To my surprise, I only saw one flip of the bird.

[calimac]

I've seen a cybertruck or two with bumper stickers reading "I bought this before we knew he was nuts."

[sturgeonslawyer]

I've seen several of those. Once I left a note on the windshield saying "I've known he was nuts since about 2016." That being when he founded the Boring Company.