Scientist Needs the Help of a Rock-et Man to Save Earth

Project Hail Mary (2026)

First of all, I have nothing to do with this film, but there’s my name on the credits. Hmm.

This film is billed as an epic science fiction comedy. If you approach it from that perspective, there are plenty of funny moments that only Ryan Gosling could pull off. There are also plenty of questionable science moments, too, but, in the throes of the action, it’s a waste of time worrying about them.

This is 2001: A Space Odyssey meets E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial.

The crux of the story relates to the improbable friendship between Ryland Grace (the scientist) and Rocky (the extra-terrestrial). Two minds are better than one, which is demonstrated many times during the story when they are faced with how to defeat the ‘enemy’. Both planets, Earth and Erid, need these two to succeed. Lives depend on it. It’s a long shot, which is where the name of the film comes from, a football metaphor.

And the overarching theme is self-sacrifice.

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What If This Song was Called “Life is a Carney-val”?

“Life Is A Carnival” by The Band (1971)

It’s been running through my head, lately. Then I realized that it could be referencing PM Mark Carney’s recent political maneuvers. Now read the lyrics:

You can walk on the water
Drown in the sand
You can fly off a mountain top
Anybody can
Run away, run away, run away, run away
It’s the restless age
Look away, look away, look away, look away
You can turn the page

Hey, buddy, would you like to buy a watch real cheap
Here on the street?
I got six on each arm
Two more on my feet

Life is a carnival
Believe it or not
Life is a carnival
Two bits a shot

Saw a man with the jinx
In the third degree
Trying to deal with people
People you can’t see
Take away, take away, take away, take away
This house of mirrors
Give away, give away, give away, give away
All the souvenirs

We’re all in the same boat
Ready to float off the edge of the world
A flat old world
The street is a sideshow from the pavement to the corner

Life is a carnival
It’s in the book
Life is a carnival
Take another look

Hey, buddy, would you like to buy a watch real cheap
Here on the street?
I got six on each arm
Two more on my feet

Life is a carnival
Believe it or not
Life is a carnival
Two bits a shot

Life is a carnival
Life is a carnival
Life is a carnival

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Marry in Haste, Repent at Leisure?

Taylor Swift’s Wedding (July 3, 2026)

This is the modern equivalent of an American “royal” wedding. One astrologer on Facebook said that with all their money, they didn’t appear to have consulted an astrologer. Here’s why:

Mars/Uranus on the Descendant @ 3° Gemini is the warning sign. My idea of looking at their lessons using any inconjuncts only yielded one: the Moon inconjunct Mercury.

Moon Inconjunct Mercury

It may be hard for you to put your feelings into words, because your emotions are so different from your intellect. Of course, there is nothing really strange about your feelings, but that part of your mind is quite different from the reasoning part. In fact it would be very unfortunate if you decided to listen only to your reason, because your intuition and imagination, both of which are more related to the Moon, can be of great assistance to you. They can tell you much about the world that your reasoning mind cannot.

On the other hand, you shouldn’t allow your feelings to overrun your reason. The best thing to do whenever there seems to be a conflict between these two areas is to not make a decision immediately. Reflect and wait for further information that might help you make up your mind. As you get older, this problem should lessen considerably, and you should be able to make decisions more and more rapidly.

Robert Hand Planets in Youth (1977) page 116

That’s not bad advice. And when you think that they took six months (or more) to plan this wedding, I think the emotional element got put on the back burner. Here’s how the event relates to Taylor herself:

Hmm.

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This Man’s UFO Experience was Doubted at the Time

The Falcon Lake Incident (May 20, 1967)

Limited disclosure of UFO experiences is yielding some strange stories. This is one of them.

The event chart looks like this:

Just one aspect makes this unbelievable: Neptune inconjunct Midheaven. This flies in the face of the Uranus/Pluto conjunction with the Virgo Ascendant. The Sun is in opposition to Neptune, too.

What do you think?

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Even When the Odds are Stacked Against a Father

I Will Find You (2026)

I’m a fan of Harlan Coben’s stories. This one is the latest offering as an 8 part series on Netflix. We finished it last night. There are obvious plot holes, but if you let the action carry you along, they fade into insignificance.

The ending is satisfying, to say the least. All the villains die and some who appeared as friends and allies are uncovered for their parts in the conspiracy. The Payne Foundation is an interesting pun.

A worthwhile show to watch, for sure.

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It Takes a Little While for the Rest to Catch Up

Jesus May Have Been a Hermphrodite

This article, from 2012, suggests something shocking: Jesus was an intersex male, neither fully male, nor fully female. I came to the same conclusion in 1996. In fact, Leonardo da Vinci may have hidden the same detail in the portrait of Jesus that we know as “Salvator Mundi“.

I’ll leave it there for now.

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This is Why a Conflict Between Them is Neverending

The “Great Satan” vs. the “Mad Mullahs”

Ideology makes for some very strange bedfellows. When it comes to war, these two points of view will never agree. In Islamic terms, America has always been the Great Satan. Western ‘Christianity’ thinks that Iran is evil. What they don’t see is that they are mirror images of each other.

So, it goes back to 1979. The Islamic Revolution may be the catalyst for the ‘fight’. Will the US-Iran war ever end? There may be a ceasefire that holds someday, but the battle will exist until one side or the other is completely ‘obliterated’. Seriously.

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Neither Snow, Nor Sleet, Nor Hail Could Keep Us Away

Kananaskis Mountain Lodge, Alberta (June 25, 2026)

We attended a family wedding ceremony at this venue in Alberta. To make the trip significant, we first visited my sister and her partner for three days in White Rock, B.C., then Susan’s brother and his wife for three days in Taber, Alberta, before finally driving North to this site. We haven’t taken a vacation for 10 years, so we wanted it to be special. It was.

What I’m reminded of, personally, is how vast Canada is. We travelled a long way by Air Canada to Vancouver to put our feet in the Pacific Ocean, then back by WestJet to Calgary to visit the Rocky Mountains. Nine days later we came home via Air Canada again to Sudbury by way of Toronto. That’s a lot of scenery to view from a great height.

The paraphrased US Mail ‘unofficial’ motto, combined with a KISS song is a reference to the heavy sleet storm we encountered just after picking up our rental car at the Calgary International Airport on June 20th. I drove through most of the 20 minute storm, finally having to pull over to let the worst of it pass. It reminded me of the worst kind of winter storms we regularly get in Ontario.

Anyway, we’re home, safe and sound, and, upon arrival at the Sudbury airport, we were greeted with warm doggy kisses from our little Chihuahua, Buddy.

Amen.

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Probably Every Seniors’ Pipe Dream

Jerry & Marge Go Large (2022)

It isn’t often that a lottery scheme has a flaw in it. Jerry found that flaw which made WinFall the perfect vehicle for revitalization of a town, Evart, and the people therein. Dream big or go home, eh?

This is inspired by a true story as published on HuffPost.

If only…

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I’ve Never Owned a Baseball Cap Before

Because I’m Chris, That’s Why

Our next door neighbour bought this for me (as a very belated birthday gift) because, she said, she couldn’t resist it. I can see why: that saying actually says it all. I come across as a ‘know-it-all’. She was (not so) subtly letting me know that she can see me for what I am.

For years, I’ve asserted that I have my full head of hair, although fully silver, now, because I refused to wear headgear at all, unless the weather was particularly harsh. Now I have no excuse, but I do have a choice. I can be ironic, while having a bit of fun, or I can just put the cap away for some other day.

Unfortunately, it also makes me look like Ron Howard.

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