BITS AND PIECES

First and Foremost.  Congratulations to the Philadelphia Eagles!  I don'r really follow sports but I understand it was a great game with good commercials and a meh half-time show.  We watched an Irish detective show on Netflix instead.

Anthropomorphic Air.  "The roar of air was amplified by the tight confines of the stone building, assaulting his ears with its frenzied screaming." -- James Herbert, Shrine

I've Been Reading.  Well, not much:  I finished Lawrence Block's The Girl with the Deep Blue Eyes, and read a mainstream novel (and my FFB) by Edgar rice Burroughs, Marcia of the Doorstep, and Now We Are 600:  A Collection of Time Lord Verse by James Goss, a hat tip to A. A. Milne which seemed to be designed for a person with an encyclopaediac knowledge of the Whovian universe and a great tolerance strained rhymes.  As you might tell from above, I'm currently reading the James Herbert book.  I have also been dipping into Ursula Le Guin's No Time to Spare:  Thinking About What Matters, a collection of her blog postings, and have been slowly savoring every word.

She Was Eleven Years Old and Forced to Marry Her Rapist.  And she was only ten when she was raped and impregnated.  By the time she was able to leave him, she was fifteen and had five children.  The Florida courts allowed this.  The woman is now in her fifties and an effort is being made to repeal the laws that allowed this to happen.  The Florida senate has approved the measure but sadly/insanely the state house of representatives is balking.  The whole thing is so disgusting it doesn't deserve a "Florida Man" heading.

On This Day.  In 62 AD, it was Earthquake v. Pompeii and Pompeii lost, suffering major damage and perhaps making the way for the great Volcano v. Pompeii bout seventeen years later, which Pompeii also lost.  Big time.  Also, in 1917, Mexico's current constitution -- which mentioned nothing about a wall -- was adopted.  Ole!

Happy Birthday!  To David Selby, 77, perhaps best known for his role in Dark Shadows.  Evidently, I looked a lot like him during the DS days because little kids would come up to me and ask me if I was Quentin Collins; today, alas, I look more like Newt Gingrich.  Also, it's the birthday of Al (not Alice) Cooper, 74, who has given us such great songs as "As the Years Go Passing By:"   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_m7O60jNK0

New Orleans Leads the Way.  What's been clogging up the city's storm drains?  About 93,000 pounds of Mardi Gras beads, at least that's what workers on The Big Easy's drainage system found.  Each storm drain will now have a sign saying, "If you must bead, please don't feed."

Great Career Choice.  A Swiss University is now offering classes in yodeling, with both bachelor's and master's degrees.  Limited job opportunities, though.  I don't think the current Ricola guy is about to give up his gig.

Great Platform.  A neo-Nazi holocaust denier is running unopposed in the Republican primary for the house of representatives in an Illinois district that includes part of Chicago.  These days, I suppose he's considered a moderate Republican.

Ask Me If I Care.  Kylie has had a baby.  Who's Kylie?