Napping and Tornadoes after Hot Yoga

Heat does queer things to me. Infrared heat makes me very, very tired. Guess what my yoga instructor likes to use in class? Yep, infrared emitters.

It doesn't help when I get up at seven a.m. for class. Wednesday's class used to be at ten a.m., then nine, and now eight.

The endorphins from the class only stretch so far. I stopped for breakfast and a writing session at Starbucks after class. After getting home around eleven a.m., I started into e-mail. . .

 . . . and promptly fell asleep in my recliner.

DH had to wake me up a quarter after three because we'd already bought tickets to see The Phoenician Scheme. (That will be reviewed here next Monday.) It was sunny and beautiful when we left the cinema. As soon as we got home, I started supper.

And it immediately got very dark outside. A fast-moving storm system blasted through our area along with thunder, lightning, and the county tornado sirens howling. Because heat also does queer things to the weather.

The county's system is directly linked with the National Weather Service ("NWS"). It gives residents a chance to get to shelter. Yet, the NWS is another service the current leader of our country wants to defund.

Such an action infuriates  me because I remember the Xenia Tornado of 1974. It was what would now be described as an F5 storm. The folks in Xenia had no warning unless they saw the broadcast from a Dayton television station. No sirens existed at the time in town.

This Super Outbreak affected twelve other states besides Ohio and dropped over 100 tornadoes across several hundred miles. Data gathered from this outbreak was used to push funding through Congress for both the NWS and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ("NOAA"). Both organizations do their best to get warn people to get out of Mother Nature's way.

We're still in peak tornado season here in Ohio. Hurricane season has started in the state surrounding the Gulf of Mexico. Without advanced warnings from NWS and NOAA because of budget cutting, much less the departments being eliminated, how many lives will be lost over the next few years? 

It's No Longer Just Politics

This last weekend was. . .interesting, as Spock would say.

Normally, I avoid any political commentary on my blogs. But as the title says, it's no longer just politics.

Not when unidentified men break into homes, seize people and belongings, and disappear. Not when illegal gases are used to subdue peaceful protesters. Not when a single burning car is used over and over as propaganda to justify sending the U.S. military into Los Angeles.

You see, I'm old enough to remember Kent State. Ohio's Governor James Rhodes sent armed National Guardsmen to quell a protest at Kent State University. The soldiers claimed the students threw a rock. One rock.

They retaliated by opening fire on the students. Four unarmed kids died that day. And even though I wasn't even in kindergarten yet, I understood the slogan "Don't trust anyone over 30."

And now, I'm way over 30. I was brought up by people who served the public. People who were local government leaders. People who served at polls. People who fought in foreign countries.

I swore to uphold the U.S. Constitution three times in my life. My son took the same oath when he joined the military.

And now. . .

I see a group of idiots attempting to destroy the country.

And it royally pisses me off. I'll admit the idea that everyone is created equal still needs some work in this country. But to blatantly ignore someone's citizenship or green card and send them to a prison on a different continent?

What the fuck!

To have a military parade to please our leader?

We mocked the U.S.S.R. for doing that shit!

To arrest a member of Congress for attempting to speak with a director of an executive office?

To assassinate a member of a state legislature?

To claim the right to publicly assemble is illegal?

When I traveled down to the Carolinas to visit friends and family in March, someone I've known since the 80s asked me if I thought the U.S. was becoming fascist. I said, "We already are. People just haven't realized it yet."

Now, people are starting to realize it.

But is it too late to change course?

Only you can answer that question. 

Music I've Been Listening To

This little gem from the 80s popped in my head two weeks ago while I was paying bills. It took me a while to find it because at first, I could only remember the line, "It's Friday night." I was sad to learn Johnny Kemp passed away ten years ago.

Monday Movie Mania a Day Late - Ballerina

After the insanity of the last few weeks, DH and I went to two movies this weekend. The first was the 25th Anniversary remastered Dogma, which I contend is one of the funniest movies ever made. It's amusing how the re-release didn't attract the Christians to protest outside of the theater this time.

The second movie was the brand-new Ballerina, which is part of the John Wick universe. And frankly, I'll take that universe over this one any day. Why? Because there are rules!


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SPOILERS


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PROS
1) Ana de Armas delighted me as the innocent nurse in Knives Out, but here, she seriously kicks as Eve Macarro, a member of the Ruska Roma. (For those new to the series, the Ruska Roma are a criminal organization of assassins to which John Wick formerly belonged to.) However, Eve is a member of a side group of bodyguards known as the Kikimora, who are just as deadly when protecting their charges.

2) It was lovely to see Lance Riddick one last time in the Ruska Roma universe. Charon was always my favorite character, yes, even beyond John, because he cared for John's second dog.

3) Sharon Duncan-Brewster was criminally underused as the Director's second-in-command and Eve's mentor Nogi. Sharon has kicked ass in some of my favoite franchises (Doctor Who, Dune (2021), and Star Wars), and I'd love to see a Nogi-centered film!

4) In addition to Lance Riddick, Kenu Reeves, Ian McShane, and Anjelica Houston were back as their in-universe personas, John Wick, Winston Scott, and the Director.

5) The soundtrack was awesome, especially Evanescence front woman Amy Lee's "Fight Like a Girl"

CONS
1) My only gripe is Norman Reedus has a minor cameo as Cultist Daniel Pine, basically in a similar position as Eve's parents who tried to save their daughter from an assassin's life. However, I am thankful the writer Shay Hatten didn't try to force a romance between Daniel and Eve! (Goddess, I hate that trope! And it sure wouldn't fit in the Ruska Roma universe!)


Overall, Ballerina was a fabulous addition to the Ruska Roma universe and an awesome movie in it's own right. I give it 10 out of 10 stars!

Another Christopher Titus Special

Christopher Titus is one of my favorite comedians. I was fixing some links on posts from twelve years ago, and I started watching his older specials. Here one I haven't posted yet.

The Crazy, Insane, Long Weekend

Going through the drowned belongings in our basement took much long than DH and I originally estimated.

Why?

Because DH's dad slipped important documents in between his children's memorabilia.

Very important documents.

Like driver's licenses, tax returns, birth certificates, and social security cards. Some needed to be kept since they were DH's or his sisters'. Others should have been destroyed decades ago such Grandma T's personal info. One of our neighbors teased me about selling the info on the dark web, but after DH and I had our identities stolen once, I didn't find the joke quite as funny.

Anyway, we had to go through things carefully on two fronts. One was the important personal documentation. The other was the mold and mildew growing on things despite the colder than normal temps since the flooding.

(N95 masks are worth their weight in gold, people! Thankfully, I still had some leftover from the pandemic!)

Then we had to document all the losses. Part of what made me sick was losing a good chuck of the in-laws' movie collection. DH and I are both avid movie buffs. His parents were as well, and they had VHS tapes of a lot of classics.

(Don't laugh. I still have all the Star Trek:TOS and NextGen movies on VHS. And yes, we still have a couple of VHS players.)

The also had a bunch of Disney animated movies for when the grandkids visited. Some that are no longer available. I know in the age of streaming people don't like physical copies, but my Gen X heart loves them because I never know when some wet-behind-the-ears exec is going to take one of my favorites of their streaming service.

E.g. I can't find Dharma & Greg, one of my all-time favorite shows, on any streaming service at the moment. I'd barely gotten through the first season when Hulu yanked it last year.

In between the sorting and washing, I managed to get a few thousand words done. Now that the adjuster came to check out everything (no, it wasn't Jake, it was Zach from State Farm), we can move on with life.

That mean getting the damn HVAC motherboard replaced before we hit the 90s in Ohio!