Month: April 2021

Entertainment, Life, Music

Ain’t It Funny (How Time Just Slips Away)

rightwingknitjob

Happy 88th birthday to one of my perennial favorites, the one-and-only (other) red-headed stranger in my life, Willie Nelson. https://youtu.be/iZaZqx9v3dU May your career last another 65+ years, and may you continue to compose instant classics for yourself and others to sing: https://youtu.be/MbnrdCS57d0 https://youtu.be/HMSWAUAKJn0 https://youtu.be/hw5yFbY9k7w https://youtu.be/juyiScREFzQ And the song that always has the same effect on… Continue reading Ain’t It Funny (How Time Just Slips Away)

Humor, Science, Technology

I Know a Hawk From a Handsaw. And a Cat From Some Guacamole

rightwingknitjob

One shortcoming of current machine-learning programs is that they fail in surprising and decidedly non-human ways. A team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology students recently demonstrated, for instance, how one of Google’s advanced image classifiers could be easily duped into mistaking an obvious image of a turtle for a rifle, and a cat for some… Continue reading I Know a Hawk From a Handsaw. And a Cat From Some Guacamole

Plain Speaking, Politics, Technology

“Which office do I go to, to get my reputation back?”

rightwingknitjob

Those words were famously spoken by Raymond Donovan, Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of Labor, after his 1987 acquittal on fraud and grand larceny charges in the State of New York. Perhaps thirty-nine British sub-postmasters posed that question yesterday.  (Well not quite thirty-nine, because before some of them got the chance to inquire, they died–their families and themselves… Continue reading “Which office do I go to, to get my reputation back?”

Plain Speaking, Science, Science Fiction

Are There Any Crazy Science Projects that RWKJ Would Not Support?

rightwingknitjob

Sure there are.  Starting with any that involve frivolous harm to bunnies or other completely innocent four-legged or two-legged living creatures (as is not the case with many makeup and cosmetic brands She does not endorse).  Frankly, I've never felt that the softness of the tissue surrounding my eyes, or the fullness of my lips,… Continue reading Are There Any Crazy Science Projects that RWKJ Would Not Support?

Farming, Friendship, Gardening, Rural Living

The Snowman Cometh

rightwingknitjob

Thirty-five years ago, Mr. Right and I sold our house in one of Pittsburgh’s lowest-rent districts, moved ourselves into a tent in a field in Washington County, PA, where our prospective new home was nothing more than a hole in the ground, and started to build. I’m sure the neighbors thought we were nuts.  Nevertheless,… Continue reading The Snowman Cometh

Gardening, Uncategorized

Covering New Ground

rightwingknitjob

There surely must be a horticultural corollary to the well-known maxim, generally attributed to Winston Churchill, that “a woman’s skirt should be long enough to cover the subject and short enough to be interesting.” And it has to do with “ground covers,” those low-growing, fast-spreading plants that (one hopes) form an attractive carpet, especially in… Continue reading Covering New Ground

Culture, History, Love, Quote of the Day

“Just stick me in the back of a Land Rover and drive me to Windsor”

rightwingknitjob

And today, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Knight of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, Member of the Order of Merit, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order; upon whom had been conferred the Royal… Continue reading “Just stick me in the back of a Land Rover and drive me to Windsor”

Beauty, Family, Family Matters, Gardening, Love

I’m So Excited–My New Roses Will Be Delivered Tomorrow!

rightwingknitjob

https://youtu.be/8iwBM_YB1sE David Austin, PBUH (this is the US link; it's originally a UK firm) says that they've been shipped at exactly the right time for planting in my plant hardiness "zone."  (My zone number is somewhere between 6A and 6B--worst case indicating that the temperatures in the winter might go down to about -25F, or… Continue reading I’m So Excited–My New Roses Will Be Delivered Tomorrow!

Culture, Family Matters, History, Literature, Medieval, Womanly Feminism

On Household Relations and the Natural Order of Things

rightwingknitjob

There have been so many posts on the Internet lately, and many more over time, about relations and dynamics between the sexes, the state of Western Civilization, the role of men and women in it, and how soon the handcart we’re all bouncing around in will reach the gates of Hell (not long, FYI), that… Continue reading On Household Relations and the Natural Order of Things

Cooking, Family, Food and Drink, Science

Want To Cool Down? Have a Nice Hot Cuppa Cha!

rightwingknitjob

Hey, guess what? My Granny knew what she was talking about! About lots of things actually, but in relation to this post, about only one. She was a great believer, on a stinking hot day (remember, we’re taking about England, so any day on which the temperature goes above 60 degrees Fahrenheit qualifies as scorchio), in… Continue reading Want To Cool Down? Have a Nice Hot Cuppa Cha!