Things we learned during the Covid-19 pandemic

Okay, the title is misleading.  After reading this Tweet I think you'll agree that there is ONE main thing we've learned.  This is from April 11, 2020, from @naval if you want to look it up.

https://twitter.com/naval/status/1249026997914750982?s=19



In case the image doesn't show, this is the tweet:

Naval
@naval 

Schools aren’t about learning. 

Offices aren’t about working. 

Churches aren’t about praying. 

Restaurants aren’t about eating. 

Obvious now?

My take?  I think it's pretty clear that people want to be with people.  We can learn/work/pray/eat anywhere (not completely, but to a large degree), but we choose to do these things together anyway.

Ironwood, the movie?

Okay, so I'm originally from Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Ironwood specifically.  Say ya do da UP, eh!  (Look it up.)  So I was pleased to learn that there is a new independent film named "Ironwood" and it is available on Amazon Prime.

Unfortunately, I then watched the film.  Not so good.

Here is a review I posted on Amazon.  After I clicked Submit, they said that it would be reviewed before appearing on their site.  So as I type this, I have no idea if Amazon will actually post this.  Anyway, here goes...
          Update: Amazon accepted the review.

===

"Waste of Time"

Disclaimer: I watched this only because I'm from the UP and thought it was cool that there was a film nominally set there.  I was terribly disappointed in many ways.  I will say this, though: The scenery is beautiful, including Lake of the Clouds at the end.  It reminded me of home.  And that's about it for the positives.

The film is self-indulgent crap.  Main characters that are simply not great human beings.  Aimless "plot."  Completely implausible situations.  I mean who believes that these guys would be "friends."  Or that they would go camping?  Or that a woman would want to join them (join two strange dudes--or even more implausibly, join *these* two once you knew them even a little bit)?  Or, most of all, that anyone would ever consider hiring them?!?!

Then there's Houghton.  Not How-ton, HOUGHTON.  Yeah, so often in life it's the little things that bother me, the things that are so easy to get right--but they don't.  At first I thought this was an example of the filmmakers showing us how stupid these kids are, that they couldn't even do enough basic research to pronounce the name correctly, the name of the place where they want to impress someone enough to get a job.  I thought that once they got there they would be corrected.  I mean nobody could be so stupid as to make a film and not know how to pronounce the name of the main (only?) city mentioned in the film, right?  As it turns out, I think the filmmakers are the stupid ones, they really have no clue how to pronounce it.  Either that, or they knew better and it's their way of saying "screw you" to the UP.  Either way, thumbs down.

Finally: Why call it "Ironwood" at all?  Why smear (by association, by sharing a name) a town that the film has nothing to do with?

April Fools!

Belated April Fools Day post.  Saw this on Twitter, could not stop laughing.  It is too perfect.

https://twitter.com/dog_feelings/status/1245501343126695939?s=19

In case the image doesn't post, the tweet shows a picture of a dog.  And it says:

today. i wasn’t a very good dog 

april fools. i was so good

Song of the Day: Waxahatchee - Fire

Another song with a vibe that takes me away from wherever I am at the moment.  And it captures a certain yearning that I identify with.  Haven't you had those situations where you think, intellectually or logically, that you should be satisfied ... but you're just not?


Waxahatchee - Fire (Official Video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEyYlyRr2_U

I take it for granted
If I could love you unconditionally
I could iron out the edges of the darkest sky
For some of us it ain't enough
It ain't enough

Lyrics, from AZLyrics.com:

https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/waxahatchee/fire.html

Waxahatchee Lyrics

"Fire"

That's what I wanted

It's not as if we cry a river, call it rain

West Memphis is on fire in the light of day

Give me something, it ain't enough

It ain't enough

I take it for granted

If I could love you unconditionally

I could iron out the edges of the darkest sky

For some of us it ain't enough

It ain't enough

And I take off driving

Past places been tainted

I put on a good show for you

And when I turn back around

Will you drain me back out

Will you let me believe that I broke through?

Tomorrow could feel like a hundred years later

I'm wiser and slow and attuned

And I am down on my knees

I'm a bird in the trees

I can learn to see with a partial view

I can learn to be easy as I move in close to you

And that's what I wanted

It's not as if we cry a river, call it rain

West Memphis is on fire in the light of day

Give me something, it ain't enough

It ain't enough

I take it for granted

If I could love you unconditionally

I could iron out the edges of the darkest sky

For some of us it ain't enough

It ain't enough

Song of the Day: Soccer Mommy - circle the drain

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted here.  Hey, life gets in the way.

Like many of the songs I love, this song captures a vibe.  Positive, negative, does it matter?   :)

Soccer Mommy - circle the drain (Official Music Video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTc1w32Vbeo

Lyrics, from AZLyrics.com:

https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/soccermommy/circlethedrain.html

Soccer Mommy Lyrics

"Circle The Drain"

I wanna be calm like the soft

Summer rain on your back

Like the fall of your shoulders

But everything just brings me back down

To the cold hard ground

And it keeps getting colder

It's a feeling that boils in my brain

I would dial back the flame

But I'm not sure I'm able

I'm wobbling out on the wire

And the lights could go out

With the break of a cable

Things feel that low sometimes

Even when everything is fine

Hey I've been falling apart these days

Split open watching my heart go round and around

Round and around

Circle the drain

I'm going down

(Round and around and around and around)

(Round and around and around and around)

I'm trying to seem strong for my love

For my family and friends

But I'm so tired of faking

'Cause I'm chained to my bed when they're gone

Watching TV alone

Until my body starts aching

And I think there's a mold in my brain

Spreading down all the way

Through my heart and my body

'Cause I cling to the dark of my room

And the days thin me out

Or just burn me straight through

Things feel that low sometimes

Even when everything is fine

Hey I've been falling apart these days

Split open watching my heart go round and around

Round and around

Circle the drain

I'm going down

(Round and around and around and around)

(Round and around and around and around)

Things feel that low sometimes

Even when everything is fine

Hey I've been falling apart these days

Split open watching my heart go round and around

Round and around

Circle the drain

I'm going down

(Round and around and around and around)

(Round and around and around and around)

Round and around

Round and around

Circle the drain

I'm going down