Mixing Metaphors, or Mythologies - 20 August 2021 - Plague Journal Day 526

Micah 6:8
1 Corinthians 8:4-6
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today is a great day - it's National Radio Day! As I posted last year on this date, one thing I miss when I'm working in a modern, open-scheme office is radio. I miss music helping me to concentrate on my work. Sure, I could wear headphones, but that's more isolating than I really want.
At any rate, celebrate by tuning in a music station you don't usually listen to and see if you find something you really like that you wouldn't have discovered otherwise. In addition, I'm planning to put a feather in my hat and call it Marconi!

Also to be celebrated today is the birth in 1890 of one H. P. Lovecraft. His oeuvre spawned one of my all time favorite political yard signs!

In "meet the new boss, same as the old boss" fashion, on this date in 1940, Leon Trotsky was attacked in his home in Mexico (why was he living in Mexico?). It seems that Trotsky was attacked by an undercover agent of the Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs or NKVD, dying a day later due to the injuries sustained during the attack ... and the shotgun sings its song.


Now for our mythological mixup. On this date in 1975 NASA launched Viking 1 using a Titan rocket on its (successful) mission to land on Mars. So a Greek proto-god shoved a Norseman into space to head to a planet named for a Roman god? One assumes Viking was really looking for Tyr, not Mars.

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

At the Mountains of Madness - 23 June 2021 - Plague Journal Day 468

Micah 6:8
Luke 11:31
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?


23 June 1961 The Antarctic Treaty comes into force. The treaty was the first arms control agreement signed during the Cold War. It sets Antarctica aside as a scientific preserve and prohibits military activities on the continent.
Given the history of Antarctica, that seems like a very foolish prohibition. We know the US Navy checked it out after WWII and returned with no official reports of anything, but with numerous tales of crazy happenings. We know from the documentary directed by Christian Nyby and Howard Hawks that powerful beings were stranded there at least decades ago. We know from the events chronicled by Howard Lovecraft that frightening, powerful beings exist there. We know from the Stargate project that powerful weapons are there.

Have we ceded control of Antarctica to "someone else" in order to buy peace or time or something? One hesitates to hope for any kind of proclamation or pronouncement from the powers that be here and worldwide. "Stay inside and don't look South" doesn't seem like the best policy recommendation.

It makes one wonder why we always hear about the aurora borealis, but almost never about the aurora australis. Clearly it's time we awaken from our foolish somnolence to our impending doom.

I, for one, do not welcome our new overlords, whether frozen or thawed.

Still, I'll probably break out my recording of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Sinfonia Antarctica to celebrate. You should too.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Beware! - 15 March 2021 - Plague Journal Day 368

Micah 6:8
Romans 14:5-6
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Beware the Ides of March! After all, 2,064 years ago it was a bad day for Julius Caesar, so we should all be very afraid. That puts me in mind of something I just "learned" (= heard on a TV show but I haven't actually confirmed it yet) - that Friday the 13th is considered unlucky because that was the date (October 13) when the Knights Templar were rounded up to be executed. I thought it went back farther than the 14th century, but again, I haven't done any real research to find out. [again, small sample size, use with caution.]
Also dying on the Ides of March (but in 1937) was H. P. Lovecraft. What an amazing writer he was. His stories, without being gory nor overly descriptive manage to engage the imagination with horrors almost unimaginable. (Note - almost unimaginable. I don't think the imagination can imagine the unimaginable, do you?) Like all people, he was influenced and shaped by the culture in which he lived, but surely we enlightened moderns can read writings from the past with their original context in mind, can we not? (If not, how can we assert that we're better than they were?)
I highly recommend his writings. If nothing else, you'll never look at Antarctica the same way.


By the way, yesterday was not only pie day (pi day - 3/14) but also Albert Einstein's birthday. Happy Birthday, Al!


Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.