Wednesday: Hili dialogue

December 13, 2017 • 6:30 am

Good morning on a cold Wednesday in Chicago: December 13, 2017. And it is a good day, as the odious Roy Moore was defeated by Democrat Doug Jones in the Senate race Alabama, though he still refuses to concede the election. Here are the latest figures:

And some election tweets found by Grania:

https://twitter.com/KYDandelion/status/940860998478712832

YAY!  And a defeat for The Donald, too. And. . . the readers were WRONG, WAY WRONG, in yesterday’s WEIT poll:

It’s National Cocoa Day, which I said was yesterday but I was wrong. In Brazil it’s Dia do Marinheiro, or “Sailors Day.”

On December 13, 1577, Sir Francis Drake left Plymouth, England, on his voyage around the world. He returned on September 26, 1580.  And on this day in 1642, Dutch sailor Abel Tasman reached New Zealand, the first European to do so (he was also the first to visit Tasmania, which of course is named after him). On this day in 1949, the Knesset voted to move the capital of Israel to Jerusalem. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. On December 13, 1972, the last humans to walk on the Moon, Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt, had their last EVA stroll from Apollo 17.  Finally, we Indiaphiles well remember what happened on this day in 2001: the Indian Parliament Building (the Sansad Bhavan) was attacked by terrorists, with twelve dead in total.

Notables born on this day include Heinrich Heine (1797), Alvin C. York (1887), Van Heflin (1908), Dick Van Dyke (1925, and still with us), and  the overrated Taylor Swift (1989). Those who fell asleep on this day include Rabbi Maimonides (1204), Samuel Johnson (1784), Samuel Gompers (1924), Wassily Kandisnsky (1944; one of my favorite painters), Irma Grese (1945, hanged, look her up), Grandma Moses (1961) and Alan Thicke (last year).

Here is “Cat”, a print by Kandinsky:

 

Finally, Malgorzata, Andrzej, and Hili are being visited by a movie star, who’s in today’s Hili dialogue. The star at issue is Gaia Weiss, who’s played in the movies Mary Queen of Scots, The Legend of Hercules, and Vikings. She is a relative of Andrzej and is visiting Dobrzyn until Saturdy with her mother, who is Andrzej’s niece. They’ve asked for Polish food and Malgorzata has been busy cooking kasha and pierogi.

Here’s Gaia in Vikings:

And on the set of Hercules, besting two men with her first spear throw:
And here’s Gaia with Hili:
Hili: Why has it been so long?
Gaia: You know, I’m working hard.
Hili: Me too.
In Polish:
Hili: Czemu cię tak długo nie było?
Gaia: No wiesz, ciężko pracuję.
Hili: Ja też.

A “Get Fuzzy” cartoon about cats was sent by reader Paul. Note the third fact!:

A tweet sent by Grania (watch the video):

Look at that face!

https://twitter.com/EmrgencyKittens/status/940553354018779136

A clever chipmunk, and a great video:

From Matthew:

And funny Catholic hats:

https://twitter.com/SarahEBond/status/934925327503183874

36 thoughts on “Wednesday: Hili dialogue”

  3. I have rarely appreciated more being wrong, way wrong! Good for Alabama and the US (and even the odious Mr McConnell).
    I’m quite a fan of Kandinski too, but was not familiar with his prints. Thanks for that print.
    Those Catholic hats are fascinating, we know know where the KKK got it’s headgear. Suppose they will not be happy realising it is of Catholic origin. 🙂

  4. Yes, there is something in Alabama besides the ignorant redneck variety. The vote was a real nail biter as they say and it did not look good until the very end. The urban vs rural vote in this country is beyond understanding. Only when you see this play out by county do you see this contrast. Jones was behind by as much as 20/25 thousand votes and then numbers from a couple of late urban areas came in and he took the lead.

  7. The Alabamian vox populi has spoken out against the worst elements of Trumpism. Good to know there are some places so low even the nation’s most conservative voters will not follow.

      1. The percentages were somewhat lower in the rural counties of Redneckistan.

        ‘Course the same dynamic was at play in the Civil War itself when the wealthy planter class bullshitted the poor white dirt-farmers into fighting their battles with prevarications about the noble traditions of their peculiar institution.

  8. “And on the set of Hercules, besting two men with her first spear throw:”

    Looks like a (not so badly made) fake: is that a spear, a plane, a drone, a superman?

  11. I’m a bit surprised about the general pessimism. I’m proud to have predicted the Jones victory.

    A few minutes before Jones surpassed Moore in the counts I tweeted:

    “I remember the heavyweight boxer who fought Cassius Clay before he became Ali. Then there’s the Dale Cooper doppelgänger. Oh yeah, and the Alabama senator.”

  13. Roy Moore refused to concede last night. From what I could tell, he’s gonna leave it up to God and his Jewish lawyer.

  14. I think PCC(e) will be displaced in Hili’s affections by Gaia. Did she bring noms with her?

    I thought Moore would win but voted for Jones anyway. I had this weird feeling. Glad I was right.

  15. Whenever I saw Moore on his horse I was reminded of the politician who rode in a parade. He was riding a mare but thought he was riding a stallion because people pointed and said “Look at the prick on that horse.”

    1. Good one. I have to think Roy is confusing himself with another Roy of the Rogers variety. The real one stuffed Trigger so maybe Moore will just stuff it. Roy Rogers is not riding tonight…

      1. “The real one stuffed Trigger”

        Oops!

        That has a quite other meaning to a Limey. I think you mean “The real one had Trigger stuffed…”

        😉

        cr

  16. With no “hysteria” and no “confusion” and
    my not being “insane” or full up of “complete
    nonsense,” I voted for the win: the latest
    United States senator. Women made the win.

    According to some analyses: race entered in
    … … but only to the point of the win
    having been made by black … … women.

    Blue

  18. Black Alabamians had to vote 96%-4% for Jones in order to overcome whites voting 68%-32% for Moore. As a white southerner myself, I simply cannot understand most white southerners.

      1. This just proves that blacks should *never* have been given the vote. They just can’t be trusted to vote the right way.

        cr
        [/sarcasm, do I have to say?]

  19. The chipmunk video is indeed amazing. So much intelligence in a very small (and brave) package. But seriously, I wonder if chipmunks have the best intelligence/size ratio of all non-human creatures. I suppose some birds would be there too.

    1. The look on the cats face as he turns one way then the other ,i wonder out it ended?

      What do you call a cat who has just eaten a duck ?

      A duck filled fatty puss .

      Don’t blame me i saw it on the interweb.

  20. What got me this morning was how Drumpf tried to claim he was “right”.

    See, told yaz: I toldyaz to go for Luther Strange. See! I was right! Right! Right! (Nevermind my endorsement of Moore or the calls I recorded for him.)

    As Sam Harris decribed him: Malignant Narcissist (In Chief).

  22. Hadn’t heard of Irma and clicked the link. Not the typical Wikipedia page, especially since I read what you wrote in haste and was expecting an anti-Nazi painter.

  23. Re: spear-throwing video. Sorry but it is clearly a fake. If you watch her release, the spear practically falls out of her hand, then quickly accelerates as it gains altitude. Plus even an Olympic javelin-thrower couldn’t throw a spear that high and far.

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