Wednesday: Hili dialogue (and Szaron monologue)

April 22, 2020 • 6:30 am

Good (?) morning: it’s a Hump Day, Wednesday April 22, 2020, and National Jelly Bean Day. I do like Jelly Bellies and their equivalent, but have not had so much as a single bean in well over a year. It’s also Administrative Professionals Day® (yes, with the trademark), which started as Secretaries’ Day, and April Showers Day.

And of course Earth Day, and an odd one: this year, other species are reclaiming space from the locked-down species that is overrunning the planet. It happens to be the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day, and I still remember that one. It was a big deal (see below):

And it’s “In God We Trust” Day, marking the day in 1864 when Congress passed an act allowing that repugnant phrase to appear on American coins. Violating the First Amendment, that resolution truly marked a Day of Infamy.

Today’s Google Doodle celebrates Earth Day, and if you click on it you go to an animation about the environment (click on screenshot below to begin):

News of the Day: Bad; what else do you expect? The death toll from the coronavirus has hit 45,373 in the U.S. and 177,602 worldwide.  If you want supposedly therapeutic advice, the New York Times proffers a five-minute video by “renowned therapist” Esther Perel about how to “get through our grieving”, including both the deaths of those we know and the dissolution of our plans. I found the advice superficial:

The irony of the moment, Ms. Perel points out, is that in a time of unimaginable death we can be reminded how to live. Social distance doesn’t preclude our coming together. And Ms. Perel counsels us to create moments of connection — whether by volunteering, picking up the phone or sharing a story that made you laugh. It is important, she says, to keep living — particularly in moments of grief.

Okay. . . . .

Well, at least there are old times, good times, to remember (and days when I had haircuts!).

Stuff that happened on April 22 includes this:

  • 1836 – Texas Revolution: A day after the Battle of San Jacinto, forces under Texas General Sam Houston identify Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna among the captives of the battle when some of his fellow soldiers mistakenly give away his identity.
  • 1876 – The first game in the history of the National League was played at the Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia. This game is often pointed to as the beginning of the MLB. [Major League Baseball]
  • 1889 – At noon, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Rush of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000.

Here’s the beginning of that land rush (caption from Wikipedia, I don’t have any idea who the named people were). Much of the land, of course, had previously been occupied by Native Americans:

After the passage of the Indian Appropriation Bill, President Benjamin Harrison made the declaration that on April 22, 1889, at 12 o’clock noon that the Unassigned Land in Indian Territory would be open for settlement.  At the time of the opening, which was indicated by gunshot, and the line of people on horse and in wagons dispersed into a kaleidoscope of motion and dust and oxen and wagons. The chase for land was frenzied and much chaos and disorder ensued. The rush did not last long, and by the end of the day nearly two million acres of land had been claimed. By the end of the year, 62,000 settlers lived in the Unassigned Lands located between the Five Tribes on the east and the Plains Tribes on the west.

Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889. John Sherwood is on the white horse. Elias McClenny is ahead of John. Fred McClenny is just behind John.

Five future Nobel laureates on the German side were responsible for the design and release of the poison gas. I’m surprised that the science-dissers haven’t picked up on this when analogizing science with religion: “See, you’re just as bad as believers are. Poison gas!”

  • 1944 – The 1st Air Commando Group using Sikorsky R-4 helicopters stage the first use of helicopters in combat with combat search and rescue operations in the China Burma India Theater.
  • 1945 – World War II: Prisoners at the Jasenovac concentration camp revolt. Five hundred twenty are killed and around eighty escape.
  • 1954 – Red Scare: Witnesses begin testifying and live television coverage of the Army–McCarthy hearings begins.
  • 1970 – The first Earth Day is celebrated. 

Here’s the NYT headline fifty years ago. I was a junior in college. Earth Day isn’t such a big deal anymore.

  • 1983 – The German magazine Stern claims the “Hitler Diaries” had been found in wreckage in East Germany; the diaries are subsequently revealed to be forgeries.
  • 2000 – In a pre-dawn raid, federal agents seize six-year-old Elián González from his relatives’ home in Miami.
  • 2016 – The Paris Agreement is signed, an agreement to help fight global warming.

Notables born on this day include:

  • 1707 – Henry Fielding, English novelist and playwright (d. 1754)
  • 1724 – Immanuel Kant, German anthropologist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1804)
  • 1870 – Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary and founder of Soviet Russia (d. 1924)

Here’s Lenin at 17:

  • 1891 – Nicola Sacco, Italian-American anarchist (d. 1927)
  • 1904 – J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist and academic (d. 1967)
  • 1922 – Charles Mingus, American bassist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1979)
  • 1936 – Glen Campbell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2017)
  • 1950 – Jancis Robinson, English journalist and critic

I’ve posted this before but will include it again in honor of Campbell’s birthday. It shows that he was a great guitarist (solo begins at 1:25) as well as a great singer. This John Hartford song is perhaps Campbell’s most recognizable hit. Can you recognize the other country greats?

Those who snuffed it on April 22 include:

  • 1933 – Henry Royce, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Rolls-Royce Limited (b. 1863)
  • 1945 – Käthe Kollwitz, German painter and sculptor (b. 1867)
  • 1983 – Earl Hines, American pianist and bandleader (b. 1903)
  • 1984 – Ansel Adams, American photographer and environmentalist (b. 1902)
  • 2002 – Linda Lovelace, American porn actress and activist (b. 1949)
  • 2013 – Richie Havens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)

Here’s Adams’s photo of the Owens Valley in California, a place I know well and love (it was on the way to Death Valley, where I did field work). The drive on Route 395 from Reno to Lone Pine is perhaps my favorite stretch of road in America. This photo appears to have been taken near Lone Pine.

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is catching a few z’s:

Hili: What time is it?
A: It’s late.
Hili: This is a very subjective statement.
In Polish:
Hili: Która godzina?
Ja: Późna.
Hili: To bardzo subiektywne określenie.

And Szaron has a monologue—but expresses the same old cat stuff:

Szaron: Do you see how hungry I am?

In Polish: Czy ty widzisz jaki ja jestem głodny?

From Smith, the flag of the new protestors:

From Michael Glenister:

From Belle:

I found the second Tweet below on Ziya Tong’s Twitter site; it’s uncomfortably true for these protestors:

From Muffy. “We’re not a cult . . wait, maybe we are a cult. . .”

A heartwarmer from j.j. Be sure to read the backstory:

From Simon. I’m glad I won’t wind up like this because I have no “buzzer”—only scissors (which I haven’t yet used, and am afraid to):

Tweets from Matthew. A brazen goose, probably protecting its nest. Look at the end how the goose follows the woman into the car:

There is such a thing as a scientist being too curious:

And a lovely video that teaches you all six species of quolls—in song!

21 thoughts on “Wednesday: Hili dialogue (and Szaron monologue)”

  2. “Ha ha ah ahaah ha we’re not a cult obviously, so everyone is stupid. Haha ha ahahhhhaaaaa.” –Every cult ever

    Reply

  3. At the time of the opening, which was indicated by gunshot, and the line of people on horse and in wagons dispersed into a kaleidoscope of motion and dust and oxen and wagons. The chase for land was frenzied and much chaos and disorder ensued.

    IIRC, that’s how Oklahoma earned its sobriquet “the Sooner State.”

    Reply

    1. It’s also the subject of “Tumbleweeds” (1925), the last film by the greatest western film star of the era, William S. Hart. It was reissued in the 1930s with a spoken introduction by Hart that explained the film’s historical background and the “sooners.” The climax of “Tumbleweeds” is a still exciting recreation of the Oklahoma land rush.

      Reply

  6. Seriously though, I wonder if the faithful are bothered that their god has to schedule its wrath. I mean it already knows what is going to happen in the future so it must have scheduled its wrath fits ahead of time. What the hell kind of idiot goes around scheduling hissy fits?

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  7. Re the poor fella whose clippers died:

    When I was a kid some of the older guys in the neighborhood used to wear their hair like that (on purpose, if you can believe it) — a crewcut on top and long “fenders” on the sides, ending in a ducktail in the back. It was kind of a greaser thing, I think. The coif went by different names in different locations, but in my neck of the woods, it was known as “a New Yorker.”

    Reply

  9. 1954 – Army–McCarthy hearings begins. It occurs to me that the famous denunciation, “At long last, have you left no sense of decency? “, that was effective in bringing down Joseph McCarthy, wouldn’t work against tRump.

    Reply

    1. No, it sure wouldn’t work against Trump. He’s boasted on uncountable occasions, directly and indirectly, that he hasn’t one shred of decency. Trump learned well from his mentor.

      Welsh’s peroration destroyed McCarthy but
      Roy Cohn got the last laugh.

      Reply

  11. You guys are moaning and groaning about not being able to get a haircut. Since women are stereotypically seen as the ones who preen and fuss about their appearance, why haven’t female readers of WEIT been lamenting their roots and nails (and Brazilian waxes)? Male readers of WEIT and Trumpettes against quarantine are the two groups I’ve seen who are grousing about not being able to get their hair done. Viruses make strange bedfellows.

    Lest anyone think I’m making a criticism, let me hasten to say that I’m simply making an observation, not a criticism, because I do enjoy the male grousing. And pretty soon PCC(E) will be able to wear a man bun just like Jarvis Dupont!

    Reply

    1. Cut my own bangs and don’t dye my hair so no problem. Might end up back with waist-length hair like back in the day…

      Reply

  14. Don’t know what’s causing the optical illusion that Szaron becomes animated, probably a combination of factors, including my poor eyesight, dust on my computer screen, angle of the screen, various light sources, etc.; but when I stare into Szaron’s eyes in that photo for a bit, out of the corners of my eye it seems that he slowlly moves his tail once or twice; then when I direct my eyes to his tail, his head seems to move. All very fleetingly but long enough to be momentarily fooled nonetheless.

    Reply

  15. That duck/goose attack is classic. I grew up in Melbourne Australia and we had birds that routinely attacked my dad and my cat – so badly the cat wouldn’t go out from under the eaves of the house. And Dad was shifty too.

    And PUT DOWN THE SCISSORS, Professor – you look way better as a hippy than an escaped mental patient. Or just be bald like ME! 🙂
    All the best,
    D.A., J.D., NYC

    Reply

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