Tuesday: Hili dialogue

February 26, 2019 • 6:30 am

It’s Tuesday, February 26, 2019, and National Pistachio Day, celebrating one of my three favorite nuts (the others are macadamia nuts and cashews).

The news of the day is the conviction in Australia (in December, but reported only now because of a gag order) of Cardinal George Pell, once the third most important official in the Vatican. He was convicted of sexually abusing two choirboys and faces up to fifty years in prison. That’s a life sentence for him. It’s a start. . . .

The news from February 26 is a bit thin. On this date in 1616, Galileo was banned by the Church from teaching or defending his idea that the Earth orbited the Sun.  199 years later, Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from Elba. After a hundred days of governing, he turned himself in to the British and was exiled to St. Helena, where he died in 1821.  Two National Parks in the U.S. were created on this day: Grand Canyon National Park (Woodrow Wilson, 1919), and Grand Teton National Park (Calvin Coolidge, 1929).

On February 26, 1935, Adolf Hitler, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, ordered the re-formation of the Luftwaffe: the German air force.  In 1980, Egypt and Israel established diplomatic relations. On February 26, 1993, the (first) World Trade Center bombing took place as a truck bomb exploded in a below-ground parking garage, killing 6 and injuring more than a thousand. Six terrorists were convicted of the bombing, and all remain in jail.

Finally, it was on this day in 2008 that the New York Philharmonic, under the direction of Loren Maazel, performed in Pyongyang, North Korea (a first and probably a last). Here they are performing Arirang, a traditional (and lovely) Korean folk song (you can see a traditional Korean version, complete with singers, here).

Notables born on this day include Victor Hugo (1802), Honoré Daumier (1808), Levi Strauss (1829), Buffalo Bill (1846), William Frawley (1887), Wallace Fard Muhammad (1893), Jackie Gleason (1916), Theodore Sturgeon (1918), Fats Domino (1928), and Johnny Cash (1932).

Wallace Fard, who took the name Muhammad, was the founder of the Nation of Islam. His origins and fate are unclear; he was probably white, and he disappeared for good in 1934.  Here’s a photo:

Those who took the Dirt Nap on February 26 include Harry Lauder (1950), jazz trumpeter Roy Eldridge (1989), and Judge Joseph Wapner (2017). This Eldridge performance, “After You’ve Gone” (1944) is one of my absolute favorite jazz performances.

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is considering her outdoor options:

A: Are you going to the river with us?
Hili: I’m just considering diverse options.
In Polish:
Ja; Idziesz z nami nad rzekę?
Hili: Właśnie rozważam różne opcje.

A cartoon found on Facebook (and yes, versions of “The Scream” were stolen twice).

And another:

A tweet from Heather Hastie showing a rogue windmill:

https://twitter.com/OregonJOBS2/status/1099118657651716097

And from reader Barry a rogue kingfisher, oblivious to rules. Be sure to watch the whole clip:

 

Tweets from Matthew: This first one shows baby Matthew himself demonstrating insight learning: getting the dog’s milk (which Matthew wanted to drink) using a tool. “Insight learning” is figuring out something in an “aha” moment.

Wasn’t he cute?

The winds have been fierce in the Midwest and Northeast, and here’s what they did to the frozen Niagara River:

I’ve seen a lot of flies in my time, but never one this large! Note that adult timber flies don’t feed, and thus live only a short time.

This is amazing. Does the dead fish give off a chemical cue?

https://twitter.com/ThingsWork/status/1100117779946958848

Tweets from Grania. Now this is a classy restaurant!

https://twitter.com/HMSPitts/status/1100046458642927616

As the government said, “from Friday when the order comes into effect, being a member, or inviting support for Hizballah, Ansaroul Islam and JNIM will be a criminal offence, carrying a sentence of up to 10 years’ imprisonment.”

This kitten is so ugly that it’s adorable (sent by Grania and reader Barry):

https://twitter.com/AMAZlNGNATURE/status/1099781179665014788

I just want to hug these little fuzzballs:

https://twitter.com/AMAZlNGNATURE/status/1099935763880239104

20 thoughts on “Tuesday: Hili dialogue”

  1. The comment about the Nation of Islam founder would be ironic if it were provable.

    From my research he is the one responsible for their explanation for how ‘White People’ (Caucasians & Jews) exist. It seems there was a ‘Wizard’ named Yakub who needed, to all intents and purposes, Orcs to conquer the world, so he blended humans and animals. His creations turned on him, took over and covered the ‘truth’ up.

    Sadly variations of this kind of nonsense are taught in ‘African Studies’ courses, probably the worst version is a series of videos called ‘Hidden Colors’ which advances the idea that all knowledge and culture originated in West Africa and that ‘whites’ stole it all and covered it up.

    1. From your “research”? Crazy myths are crazy myths (like what’s in the bible and other religious texts), but if you want to describe one, don’t go making up your own crazy BS just to make another seem crazier and make yourself seem saner and wiser.. Go read up on Yakub and the Nation of Islam before you start spouting your idiocies. It’s crazy enough as it is.

      And if you’re going to make accusations about what’s taught in certain college classes, you must do “research” and cite specific examples of legitimate colleges where this nonsense is taught, instead of slinging mud just to discredit Ethnic and African American Studies departments. Such crap might well be taught in Muhammad University of Islam, which is a Black Muslim pre-school — Is that what your’e referring to? Or do you think that s* is taught at UC Berkeley or someplace like that? I’m not defending the NOI, but you don’t give any cogent evidence for such a sweeping claim, and you deal in innuendo just to slime groups (be they individual groups or ethnic groups) that you don’t like.

    1. Wikipedia says it was yesterday, 2/25.

      Whilst checking it out just now, I chanced upon this gorgeous 1973 essay by Burgess in The New Yorker, regarding the writing of A Clockwork Orange a decade earlier, and thought I’d link to it here for anyone who might be interested.

    1. Yet there seem to be a number of cases of wind turbines being blown over. Would not want to be around when that happened.

  6. Based on comments in the tweet thread (which I find compelling), the “rogue windmill” is a fake. A somewhat crude CGI effort though dramatic and effective at first glance. Still, it’s kind of fun. I like the horses escaping.

    1. Thank you that was hilarious. It is a pity Hitchens never got the chance to duel with Pell, that would have been something to behold.

      1. I see they were going to debate at the Sydney Opera House in 2009, but it never came off. Christopher handled people like Pell in a charming, respectful manner but by the end of the interaction it was like Hitch had squashed a bug. A guilty pleasure for the viewer.

        1. Yes, Pell was “busy” that day & offered to present a talk the day after Hitchens was supposed to appear…

  9. Snails are indeed amazing.

    In the “Scream” cartoon, another picture is shown on the wall. I hope it is not some renowned masterpiece that I am unaware of due to my poor art education.

    1. That “Square Triangle Circle” cartoon artwork is probably generic invention, but if you’re interested in improving your art education/appreciation then I highly recommend the artist & designer Bruno Munari’s three 1960s visual case studies on shapes: the circle, square & in the 70s the triangle.

      They were recently compiled into one book called… Square, Circle, Triangle & it’s available on most Amazon sites as a paperback. It’s rather brilliant – ranging from ancient Egypt to the middle 20th century & covering design by such luminaries as Buckminster Fuller, Le Corbusier & Alvar Aalto.

      The Bauhaus movement of 1919 went back to basics & explored the ‘grammar’ of art & design which of course rests on these three shapes – it is probably the Bauhaus’s fault that there a thousands of abstracts knocking about featuring these three shapes. Rather like the hundreds of crap garage bands that copied the Stones in the 60s/70s.

  10. I do not blame Perl for his actions. He should, however, be imprisoned as an example to the church and the public. The Catholics did this to themselves: no women priest, no married priests, no openly gay priests.

    It is a start, but there is growing evidence that Catholics are going to put themselves out of business if they do not change their ways. Good riddance.

    On a more positive note, Arirang is sublime. That is a masterful song.

  12. Pell does not face up to 50 years in prison because in Australia, unlike the USA, sentences for multiple related offences are never imposed consecutively.

    Even if he were to hypothetically be sentenced to the maximum possible 10 years for each of the 5 offences, concurrent sentencing rules would mean that the total imposed sentence would not be likely to exceed 12-15 years.

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