The Birth of Science: May 28, 585 BC

Posted on May 28, 2019 by cdsmiller17

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Solar Eclipse of Thales

The Eclipse of Thales was a solar eclipse that was, according to The Histories of Herodotus, accurately predicted by the Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus. If Herodotus’s account is accurate, this eclipse is the earliest recorded as being known in advance of its occurrence. Many historians believe that the predicted eclipse was the solar eclipse of 28 May 585 BC. How exactly Thales predicted the eclipse remains uncertain; some scholars assert the eclipse was never predicted at all. Others have argued for different dates, but only the eclipse of 28 May 585 BC matches the conditions of visibility necessary to explain the historical event.

According to Herodotus, the appearance of the eclipse was interpreted as an omen, and interrupted a battle in a long-standing war between the Medes and the Lydians. The fighting immediately stopped, and they agreed to a truce. Because astronomers can calculate the dates of historical eclipses, Isaac Asimov described this battle as the earliest historical event whose date is known with precision to the day and described the prediction as “the birth of science” (Wikipedia)

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Notice that the eclipse happens at the cusp of Gemini, the symbol of the binary world.

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And the Winner is:

Posted on May 26, 2019 by cdsmiller17

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The Voice (Season 16)

This is the post I intended to write last Wednesday after the finale. My premise was to compare the results (and subsequent celebrations) to American Idol which had its finale last Sunday. Because the winner was Maelyn Jarmon, the one I picked about halfway through the season, I felt that The Voice has carried it off, again. Except for one little hitch: the Cross Battles.

Up until this season, the contestants were put up against others on their coaches’ teams in the Knockouts. That changed this time. As a result, the singers were not evenly distributed between the teams coming into the live rounds. In fact, the majority were on Team Blake. Within a very short time, Team Adam was decimated, and then eliminated altogether.

By the end, Adam Levine was wondering why he should even be there.

And now he isn’t.

So, the title of this post could also have read “And the Loser is…”

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Hailey Dean a.k.a. Nancy Grace

Posted on May 26, 2019 by cdsmiller17

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This series of TV mysteries is really a thinly disguised, but fictionalized, autobiography of Nancy Grace’s life, and the only reason we’re watching them at all is because my sister is dating the producer.

Last night we watched “Deadly Estate”:

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The city in the background is supposed to be Atlanta, Georgia. But because filming is less expensive in British Columbia, Canada, all outdoor shots (except for the establishing city views) are filmed in and around Vancouver. Such is the Hallmark way. (Last night, for instance, I caught sight of a shop awning in the background which displayed a telephone number: the area code was 604.)

And speaking of area codes, I finally got an answer to a long-running question about 808 State. 808 is slang for ‘disturbing the peace’, but when used as an area code is represents Hawaii.

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Kellie Martin is exactly suited for playing Hailey Dean. She speaks Nancy Grace’s words firmly and forcibly, but without her bombast. And she keeps her face calm, unless someone points a gun at her (as seen in the recurring nightmare of her boyfriend being shot 10 years earlier). She is also willing to enter the fray without backup, should needs must. In other words, Nancy’s there, but Kellie plays her gently.

Nancy Grace gets to appear in every Hailey Dean Mystery. In this one she was a gossipy real estate office receptionist. She plays her cameos for laughs.

But she deserves kudos for writing her story down and sharing it with the world.

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Memory: My Mom’s Favourite Rhyme

Posted on May 25, 2019 by cdsmiller17

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Charlie’s Angels

Posted on May 25, 2019 by cdsmiller17

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There seems to be some synchronicity at work here. On Thursday night, a television program called “This is Farrah Fawcett” was aired, celebrating the 10th anniversary of her fight with cancer. Then last night, the second movie, “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” (2003) was shown on a different network. Today, while researching for this article, I noticed that the third Charlie’s Angels movie is due for release this year. So, maybe it’s not a coincidence, just a marketing ploy…

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Is There Need of a Blockade, Somewhere?

Posted on May 24, 2019 by cdsmiller17

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Yesterday morning between 6:00 and 6:30, I had a short dream that puzzled me. I’d seen a similar one before, but its purpose and meaning completely eluded my understanding.

I pondered the question all day long, and then asked to be shown what it meant to me, just before falling asleep. Almost instantly, the dream picked up where it had left off…

It seemed that there were four parts to any action, and the one that had stumped me previously was the part that one has to completely close off access to an opening so that nothing can infect it.

Now, on the surface of the dream, this implies getting immunized to ward off a disease, and that may have been its intent. But the way it was presented seemed to suggest that my posts, here on WordPress, were vulnerable to viruses. Really?

The only one, lately, that seems to attract unwanted comments (and it’s the same message every day) is Revelation: Some Beastly Speculation. Is this what is meant?

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Is This the Most Iconic Pub in the World?

Posted on May 23, 2019 by cdsmiller17

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Rovers Return Inn (Coronation Street)

There cannot be many people in the English-speaking world who do not recognize this pub. I’ve been back in Canada from living in the UK for 12 years now, and because the Stanley Cup playoffs are presently taking up the CBC airways at night, Coronation Street is being broadcast every weekday @ 4 pm. Otherwise, I would not be watching the show.

I used to think that the inside of the pub never matched the outside layout, but now I can see that I was mistaken.

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The windows have a side bit that gives them an elongated look. And that was what caused my misapprehension.

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It wasn’t always like this, but it is now.

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Telling It Like It Was: 70’s Sitcoms

Posted on May 23, 2019 by cdsmiller17

 

Live! All in the Family & The Jeffersons

Last night’s live event on ABC was a project from Jimmy Kimmel which was inspired by live musicals. Two episodes from these TV shows were performed word-for-word from the original scripts. (Only one word was repeatedly bleeped out: any guesses?)

Some of the impersonations were spot on. Some didn’t even try, but the overall effect was surprising: who knew that political and social issues from all those years ago would be so relevant? For example, a discussion about why there wasn’t a black president was met with Gloria’s rebuttal about having a woman president some day. I’d forgotten that.

But we think Archie Bunker was the creation of Norman Lear. No, he wasn’t the original bigot: Alf Garnett was…

 

British Shows that Spawned American Copies

Till Death Us Do Part

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The family dynamic of an opinionated man, his browbeaten wife, his grownup daughter and his liberal son-in-law living under one roof only really makes sense in the UK. (Anthony Booth’s daughter, Cherie, will one day marry Tony Blair…)

Love Thy Neighbour

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Recently, Cedric the Entertainer has brought this old gem back to life by reversing the roles and calling it The Neighborhood, as in ‘there goes…the neighbourhood’.

Man About the House

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This was the prototype for Three’s Company but the original romantic pairing got changed from the guy and the dark-haired beauty to the guy and the blonde, mainly due to the charisma of Suzanne Somers. Even the spin-off, The Ropers, was based on the original spin-off George and Mildred. And, of course, no one remembers Robin’s Nest being the basis for the spin-off Three’s a Crowd.

Steptoe & Son

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Norman Lear mined this gem to produce Sanford & Son, a series about a pair of junk dealers. Their rough life and fractured relationship was a direct steal. But Redd Foxx made it work so very well.

Conclusion

I know I’ve said this before, but there truly is nothing new under the sun. “Case closed.”

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Another Peek into the Future

Posted on May 17, 2019 by cdsmiller17

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But This One’s Personal

There’s just a little more than six-and-a-half months to go before my predicted exit date. I thought to myself that perhaps I ought to look at what is going to happen on December 7th 2019. Here’s the ‘death’ chart compared with my birth chart:

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There are so many double Yods (Fingers of God) that I really do think there might be something to this prediction…

The image of the blue inconjunct lines creates an inverted pentagram, the usual symbol for the Devil. On its own, the chart for the day contains no such configuration. It reminds me that ‘sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.’ (from the Sermon on the Mount)

Suffice it to say that I need go no further.

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The Older Sheldon Show Ends

Posted on May 17, 2019 by cdsmiller17

The Change Constant/The Stockholm Syndrome

Not with a Big Bang, but a Whimper

It was the finale of The Big Bang Theory last night. It seemed almost anticlimactic for a series that has run for 12 years on the evolution of its main character, Sheldon Cooper. Jim Parsons portrayal of the high-functioning savant has been the main focus of the show, with his co-stars serving as extras. But the show wouldn’t have lasted if they hadn’t been there, so it became their show, too.

And how does this show end? With the gang eating a takeaway dinner, as usual.

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Series 2 came to its logical conclusion, too, right after the end. That’s where the real tears flowed. And the producers tipped their corporate hats to The Big Bang Theory by having the younger versions of the cast appear as cameos in the following sequence:

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