Gents,

L as in low pressure characterises this summer here in the old Kingdom. Shakespeare claimed that something was rotten, quite possibly so, but it certainly has been a wet day. More than 15 mm of rain for most of the country and where I live we were treated to more than 35 mm. No risk of water shortages any time soon and that should be a silver lining. With the Tour de France now over, I will have to figure out what to do with myself on rainy days.

I read that the new Doctor Who is going to be a woman and I know that to a lot of people the question of who was going to be the 13th Doctor has been a suspenseful period. I'm completely disinterested in that children's programme, if I have any opinion at all it is that it is shows like these that keeps proper Hard Sci-Fi from being recognised as a serious literary genre.

Folks,

Unless my glasses are extraordinarily dirty it is cloudy this morning. The temp at 9:30 AM is 76°F. with the humidity a stifling 91%. There is a 9mph wind from the SW. If you think 90°F. is cool you may either be in Hades or a close approximation of it here on Earth. Or maybe you might be one of those oil fire fighters. 90°F. is our predicted high temp for today under overcast skies.

OG:

You're just beginning to pay for a plane when you purchase it. Like a good boat, it is something you pour money into, however, the rewards are worth it for most since the wings stay on and the engine purrs when you expect and need it to.

MG:

I do see your point, my friend. Perhaps Doctor Who is a children's show, but in my own mind, if so, it is a show for millions of children of all ages.

Doctor Who has become part of popular culture. So many who are adults today have grown up watching this science fiction show since 1963 that it has fans in the millions. Like that blurb on the 1957 Elvis album (the one with the gold lame suit) "A Million Elvis fans can't be wrong" perhaps both the adult and child fans of Doctor Who aren't wrong either? I have had an on again off again relationship with that BBC One program over these many years since it began on our PBS network. There have been favorite Doctors and a few I did not care much for. I am unlikely to be able to determine whether I like the 13th Doctor. I cannot watch now unless it should return to Netflix, or unless I could find it on YouTube. I have not looked for it. And if I should find Doctor Who programs there they would be older programs anyway.

Ther is good and not so good science fiction. I have always (well since elementary school) enjoyed reading good science fiction because the best is firmly rooted in real science fact. It is about all the fiction that I read. From there it weaves its story fabric from pure imagination that can expand thought and our own imagination. Often authors of science fiction have actually foretold the future. Perhaps even inspired scientists to create what was only dreamed of by those very authors of the past. Jules Verne, HG Wells, and so many others have certainly inspired me to dream and many others to study science and get degrees. Subjectively Doctor Who may or may not be "good" science fiction. Millions think that it is and I have found the show entertaining and perhaps that is all one should require of any fictional TV broadcast.

Doctor Who has also spawned numerous spin-offs, including comic books, films, novels, audio dramas, and the television series Torchwood (2006–2011), The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007–2011), K-9 (2009–2010), and Class (2016–present), and has been the subject of many parodies and references in popular culture.

Here are my favorite Doctors in no particular order though my favorite is probably still Tom Baker.

David Tennent, Christopher Eccleston, Peter Capaldi, John Pertwee, Peter Davison, Tom Baker. It is entirely a subjective list, others would have a different one.

Goodday Gentlemenses,

yes, owning an airplane is a lot like owning a boat since both involve recurring costs. That said, it seems like I just did all this inspection and maintenance about a year ago. You can't believe the amount of disassembly required. You take it down almost as far as it will go. I spent several hours doing prep before the A&P (airframe & powerplant) mechanic arrived. Now he is using me as his hey-boy and second set of hands. Interesting stuff. All is proceeding very well since I had only one squawk (poorly functioning primer- wasn't getting the proper pressure feel when I pumped it) and I do a lot of routine maintenance between Annuals.

Annual- hhhhmmmmm. Maybe that is why it seems like I just did it a year ago. I'll have to look into that.

Anyway, the only item he has found is that my ELF radio is not transmitting. I never use it since it is only for crashes. Either when it receives a certain G-force or you push the activator button does it operate. Transmits a solid tone on freq 121.5 so that the elves can find you and take you away. That is why it is called the ELF radio. Seems my batteries have died well before their expiration date. So we pulled it and I took it to our airfields avionics shop.

Put on new tires. Baby got new shoes !


https://i.imgur.com/4Im6XYw.jpg



Darn, I had to stop using Photobucket and switched to Imgur. Now I need someone to teach me how to make a picture show as a picture rather than a link. Any takers ?

Folks,
Just checking in to be awed by good folks staying in shape by biking and escaping dog bites and chases.
You'd think I'd be next door to JRT rather than a thousand miles away if one just looked at the similar temperatures .
Ours was 76 degrees at eight o'clock thanks to very unexpected fast rain showers whose rumbles of thunder and lighting caught us by surprise last evening.

The first clap had barely sounded when the lights went out. The backup power unit for the desktop computer allowed me to shut it down.
Then we scrambled to secure the solar shades. That's when we noticed the wind and the rain started. The power company played peek-a-boo with the electricity a couple of times for a couple of hours. I went to sleep to ebbing booms.

Maybe I should stop virtual flying in stormy nights, eh?
That's what I was doing when the noise started. I found it amusing that the first thing I did was check the virtual circuit brakes and instruments when it all went dark except the instruments and then realized it was a real event.
Yeah, you can laugh too.
Luckily I've only experienced a couple of static discharges or lighting strikes in the real world. The last one took the static wick and the few inches to which it was attached.
No, I was not being foolish. It was Mother Nature letting me know who is the boss.

Dr. Who is a program I might have found as made for children until the spouse educated me. But she hasn't found it as gripping since the seventh Doctor left the show. Apparently she attended the Chicago conventions and met the third through the seventh doctor.

That seems to be a beautiful machine, OG. Not a spot of rust or lack of care on that beauty. Congratulations!

A friend of mine has bought a Cirrus, which may be even more incentive to go visiting. It has certainly been enough motivation to go looking at airplane porn, -as if I needed it.
Never been in one of those.
When I got a big promotion I was torn between a small airplane or a sail boat to celebrate the event. At the time the boat seemed like less work. Trade offs everywhere, aren't they?

Tipping my hat to the Beatles Penny Lane -- it's a clean machine.

1969 with 90% original paint. Wonderful mix of old and new with the panel; six pack steam gauges, all the original indicators, but additional new avionics. Garmin 300 radio head, Garmin 330EX transponder with ADSB- out, Garmin 430 WAAS, Garmin 396 panel installed, Fuel Scan 450, EDM 700 engine management, S-TEC 30 two axis autopilot slaved to 430 and heading bug. Controls built into yoke not cobbled on. KX 155 as secondary radios, etc. Lycoming 180 hp with Powerflow exhaust modification. Just wonderful. And she's a gem; no problems, just keeps getting on without a fuss. I pamper it.

Had a Catalina 27 some 25 years ago. Inboard Yanmar diesel. Had it for 4 years. Much more maintenance than the plane.

Rained again today. Lakes and ponds are full. Flowers blooming. Grass full and green. Skies overcast and threatening more rain. Good time to have the plane in for Annual.

Not having all the group history, pardon me for my ignorance. MG, what kind/how much biking do you do ?

Gents,

Yes, Doctor Who has many fans and there are children of all ages and as long as the many fans are well entertained that's all good. I have my own slightly childish preferences in my interest in the Belgian-French school of cartoon comics the likes of Tintin just to mention one well-known figure.

I started thinking about various fictional characters where a gender (or ethnicity) switch could be pulled off and where not. My overriding thought on that subject is that for some universes of tales, for some corpuses (or is it Corpii?) it would not work and still be the same basic world as envisioned and created by the original authors. Some stories are linked in traditions and a certain time in history that make them very hard to remain true to their original DNA if you switch settings, location, time and the gender or ethnicity of the main characters - although I'm sure it has been tried and will be attempted again in the future.

For example I would have, and do have a hard time accepting the Conan, i.e. Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes tales outside of 19 hundredth Century London. Updates, remakes and reboots have switched the time and the locations, but I don't quite think that this works for me. Change the main characters, either their sex or ethnicity and I begin to wonder what is left of the original's DNA.

The same would apply for me with regards to James Bond who belongs to the British SIS in the 40's and 50's and must be a white male. One could argue with some validity that the entire series of James Bond movies have already removed the core story of a cynic and disillusioned tired agent, the James Bond of the début book, Casino Royale too far from Ian Flemming's original concept. Perhaps he himself started the process when he wrote the rest of the books featuring a more invigorated hero. That is currently my understanding from watching some biographies on the subject on YouTube. It remains for me to actually read the books to see if I'm right, or completely mistaken.

Certainly Tintin was meant for Hergé only to author. In is creative will, enforced by the Estate, it is forbidden for anyone to author new Tintin stories.

On the other hand, Doctor Who makes a case where I do not see any insurmountable difficulties, given time, in switching just about anybody or anything in and out of Tardis , provided they know how to operate the screwdriver.

Folks,

Our weather is becoming boringly similar from day to day. We may see cooler weather by October. It is not unusual to see folks wearing shorts on Thanksgiving Day. Some years that day is chilly. The temp at 10 AM was 81°F. with the projected high of 90°F. We've had a lot of 90s this year.

MG:

We're discussing trivia here of course. I understand that Daniel Craig will torture himself by playing Bond one more time. Poor fellow. What is he worried about? Type casting perhaps? Connery, possibly the best Bond of all time managed to move on and win an academy award for his effort after Bond. One of my favorite films featured Connery and Cain and it was not a spy film. "The Mann Who Would Be King" from Kipling's pen was IMHO wonderful. These two actors have been very good friends (along with the late Roger Moore) for years. Actually, there has been recent speculation that the next Bond would be played by a woman. REALLY? Flemming would probably wear out the silk lining of his coffin by spinning so much. A female Doctor does not strain the imagination, at least not mine, but a girl as Bond??? Puleeeeeze!

There is one comic character I do not believe they will ever manage a gender change. That would, of course, be Wonder Woman. She is more popular than ever it seems. Her recent movie was a huge success. I wonder if Mr. Craig or even Mr. Connery for that matter could step into that gender specific role and pull that off. I doubt it. I admit I never paid too much attention to Wonder Woman comics as a kid but I do remember seeing them at the newsstand. Perhaps some things, even in pop culture are sacred. I could not imagine a bulked up actress playing the Incredible Hulk either. Yes, we already have added Supergirl and Batgirl (Batwoman?) to our list of super heroes (heroines). OK by me. I haven't watched a cartoon on TV or read a comic book since years before comics became a thin, anemic, over priced facsimile of what I collected and traded as a kid. Some of the art has however improved I'm told and they are now called "Graphic Novels". Sounds more impressive than what we southern kids called 'em. We just called them 'funny books'.

I am trying to think of the name of a French cartoon character that I enjoyed reading the adventures of. He was a small Viking. I cannot think of his name. Of course, I liked "Prince Valiant" as well and "Flash". Most of you without at least one foot near if not already in the grave will not remember the comic "Blackhawk" it was all about flying. The Blackhawks flew the F104. Oh, I really loved those comics.

Folks,

I thunked about it and it was a French-Danish collaboration cartoon. "Asterix" was his name. Odd how something you've forgotten can just bubble up like one of those Magic Eightball toys. I used to read those comic adventures to my grandson. I hadn't thought of that in years.

Folks,

Finally, cold weather is expected. The temp now is 76°F. The cool prediction for today’s high by those who are supposed to know these things is only a chilly 86°F. Not quite enough for snow of course but not in the blistering nineties either.

Perhaps we have the beginning of a trend? OK, not likely. And others suffer far more from the heat than I do. The humidity is not responding as I would like. The present level is a very damp 76%. There is a 3 mph breeze from the E but with high humidity, it evaporates very little perspiration.

Mutually assured destruction:
The news today indicates the Arctic areas are melting, glaciers are becoming big puddles, the sea is rising more rapidly than predicted..... And that is the “good” news friends. Chicken Little had it right after all. The sky IS falling. There are meteors, comets and asteroids (plus thousands of self-inflicted pieces of space junk) with our name on them some of which are hurtling inexorably toward an apocalyptic rendezvous with our little blue marble as I type. Yowza!

Did people live better, were their lives happier, was the quality of life better way back before we knew about all this? The days before Radio, TV, instant news availability from around and even beyond our world as close as the phone in our pocket?

I suppose all “new ages” have been just as difficult for the average Joe Smo to cope with. The technology of today can be wonderful and also mind boggling. So many things our lives now depend upon are beyond our ability to understand how they work much less know how to repair them. The real or imagined dangers of modern age can be so difficult to deal with for some of us without donning an aluminum foil hair piece and curling into the fetal position in a dark closet.

‘Fore warned is fore armed’, they say. So I guess we need to know how fragile our lives have become. Threats abound around every corner. On the highway today, we are only as safe as the worse driver we meet. Recent happenings make it clear that we can be but one commercial air ticket away from any number of deadly disease epidemics previously quarantined in other parts of the world by the mere distance.

Yet many of us manage to live out our little lives of “quiet desperation” as normally as possible bravely ignoring all the dangers thinking we have a “good bead” on everything and either dismissing it all or taking a fatalistic view. After all, "What will be will be." Or just leaving everything to the gridlocked government to sort out.

Please excuse my rambling nonsense, I had no coffee this morning. It is a good thing I’m not doing an annual on anyone’s plane today or brain surgery. OK both would be incredibly unlikely so how ‘bout it is a good thing I’m not driving on a highway near you this morning.

Folks:

Our temp at 10:15 AM is 74°F. The high today is predicted to be 88°F. Our humidity is currently a lung gargling 91%. A 5 mph breeze barely rustles the leaves. The aroma of hot grass and pine needles permeates the air. Today will be another good summer's day in Dixie. I hope summer is being kind to you. We are not yet into the most likely time for an Atlantic hurricane yet. That will come in August and September. Any summer without a hurricane or other named storm taking a swipe at us will be considered a good summer regardless of the heat. Green has popped up in long, soldiered lines all over the nearby farmer's fields. It will be harvest time before we know it.

I have yet to hear the Cicadas join in the mixed chorus of frogs and crickets that seasons the air on warm, humid nights around here. That will come, it always has. The fish are jumping for flies and June bugs down at the beaver pond, now reconstructed after the spring flood. Before long the light green leaves of spring will completely disappear replaced by the darker mature leaves of late summer.

The sultry, lazy days of August will soon come. When I was a kid riding around my hometown August was the time of the big tobacco markets. When I passed one of the warehouses the perfume of flue-cured tobacco and the chant of the auctioneer filled the air. I'd always stop and watch a bit as the men, mostly all of them wearing overall and white straw hats stood around hoping for a go9od price as the buyers moved among the stacks of their crop. It was beastly hot outside but a bit cooler inside those big tobacco warehouses.

Those halcyon days of summer back in the 50s have gone, the tobacco fields are far fewer now. I remember still the delightful fragrance of those old warehouses. It was the only time I really liked the smell of tobacco. I never smoked cigarettes or cigars but I did enjoy a pipe for a time. I had a good humidor, good tobacco from the local Tinderbox store and quite a few expensive briars and well seasoned Meershams. I suppose I chose a pipe because my granddad smoked one. His preferred brand was called Half and Half. I preferred more exotic blends from the Tinderbox store.

One day I was interviewing a prospective "real beard" Santa for one of our malls. He was smoking an interesting corn cob pipe. He had been admiring my briar pipes arranged in a fancy walnut pipe holder on my desk. I thought to return the compliment so I said something nice about his pipe. His jolly smile faded.He seemed to think I was insincere. Perhaps making fun of his cheap pipe. I assured him I was not. I was always looking for a cool smoke and I had read that the corn cob was just that. The problem with it beyond its association in some minds with cheap was that they didn't last nearly as long as briar.

I assured him that I was truly interested and finally, he relaxed and told me where to buy one like his. This I promptly did and soon I had several corn cobs to rotate along with my fancy briars. I hired the man by the way and he worked for us each Christmas for years. Now this fellow even in civvies and in August looked more like Santa than the ones n the Coca Cola ads. One summer, I had the pleasure of bumping into the fellow on the street and both of us were smoking our corn cob pipes.

He Ho Hoed and grinned a big grin that crinkled his face and brought an extra blush to his already ruddy cheeks. He congratulated me on my fine pipe and I did the same for his. Three weeks later I heard he had passed away. He was replaced that holiday season with another real beard Santa. This man did a good job for us. But in my mind, he was never quite up to the standard the old Santa had been. Perhaps it was because, on his breaks away from the prying eyes of the kiddies, he smoked cigars?

One day I caught a cold and put down my pipes until I was well again. I never smoked anything again. I gave it up. I believe the pipe is far easier to quit than cigarettes. Today the only smoke I inhale is from a barbecue grill or if I lie in the sun too long.

Gents,

Sometimes I think that what happened was that Stuart Little wasn't right but he moved into media, academia and politics, to tell the world over and over again, the many ways to humanity's demise: We're in danger of being wiped out from comets hitting the earth, the quality of the male sperm has never been worse, the climate - no! nature itself is to be feared!

I am still left to wonder and ponder, why is it that none of the Stuart Little's are interested in investigating what effect the nuclear cold war has had on the earth and the human genome?



Likewise, nobody really talks about Fukushima anymore, and the Japanese government is already attempting to lure the inhabitants back to that region.

In such circumstances it seems trivial mentioning that this July will be only the fourth in recorded history, i.e. since 1874, where temperatures will have been below 25 C every single day of the month.

Folks,

We have a warm day today with rain likely today and tomorrow. The temp at 12:45 is 88°F with an index of 99°F. We have an 8 MPH wind from the SW and a humidity of 67%. We do not expect the Biblical deluge DC is expecting.

MG:
Even an average of all days below 77°F. for any month in summer would be a relief for many of us. Others not so much. The farmers need the heat to warm the ground and germinate their seeds. Our average temp this summer must be approaching 90°F. or at least in the high 80s for July. That is not record heat for us. We should have realized when we signed up to be born a southerner or Scandinavian what we were letting ourselves in for. I imagine your summer season may be shorter than is mine. The cold is much later coming here I would think. That data you mention would be frustrating for one such as you who loves being outdoors so much. I hope the remaining days of the Danish summer are warm and dry. Fittop, who signed up to be born somewhere else, I believe, is enjoying even hotter weather than I am.

Many love the heat. They thrive on it. My grandmother did. She would be out in her garden on the hottest of days singing and happy. She needed hot days. I, on the other hand, need the extreme heat in summer about like a fish needs a bicycle.

Folks,

A rainy night and more rain this morning. The sun is out now and the temp has warmed to 78°F. The humidity is 100% with the slight risk of taking a deep breath and drowning. We have a 5mph NW wind and the reported visibility is 6m. More rain is predicted for today and this evening but tomorrow, SUNday looks sunny, dry and hot to those with the latest weather Oijui boards.

Soon it will be overcast and more rain will fall. It is a well-known metaphor for life of course. Into each life, some rain must inevitably fall. As in the song "Baby the rain must fall" from the Steve McQueen, Lee Remick 60s American drama of the same name. I remember seeing that movie at our local Cinema. The song was popular at the time. It was sung by Glenn Yarborough.

Not too long ago I mentioned how that lovely Art Deco movie theater was torn down to make room for something else. This done when the new multiplex was opened. It is difficult for me to actually pin-down the architectural style of that new edifice. Perhaps it is modern ugly or just modern nondescript. It has several silver screens going for it and lots of comfy seats. The old theater had just the one screen and far less comfy seats. I have many fond memories of films shown on that single screen as well as with whom I watched. I remember well back in the days before we all had home A/Cs the wonderful transition from blistering hot to delightful cool on hot summer afternoons as I entered that theater. There was the instant aroma of freshly popped popcorn, mingled with many other things, new carpet, a mixture of ladies cheap scents, a hint of those industrial grade cakes of urinal deodorant, and other more mysterious smells. That was the atmosphere one breathed in, exotic yet some how familiar at the same time. All of it, at least for me, is one part of the remembered rich perfumes of my childhood.

That theater changed little over the years. In that theater was the screen where I saw my very first film. Sadly, I do not remember the name or even the stars of that film. I only remember a covered wagon and a baby smeared in axel grease to cure his pneumonia. It was a Technicolor film. I remember a kerosene lamp was in full color. I wonder what film it was?

There were a few changes I guess. Stereophonic sound was added, the screen was eventually widened for Cinemascope. The concession stand was upgraded by adding a larger popcorn popper. That was all OK. The new multiplex has a huge concession stand loaded with every imaginable, sugary treat. There are two popcorn poppers at least. The old candies are still there though some have new wrappers. Bit-O-Honey, Raisinettes, those caramels with the soft, white center, Snickers, Malted Milk Balls, Milk Duds and of course salty, crunchy popcorn. What would the cinema experience be without popcorn? Do you remember that little ditty that played during intermission? "Let's go out to the lobby, Let's go out to the lobby, Let's go out to the lobby, to get ourselves a treat." The theory was that the salty popcorn would cause you to buy more Coke or Pepsi. (PEPSI. Remind me to tell you about the time Joan Crawford came to our town). They let you in the theater relatively cheap back then and made a killing on the concession sales.

One theater in my old home town (we had 3 once) mostly showed "B" pictures like "westerns" and those ubiquitous 1950s serials. You could buy your bag of popcorn right out there on the street where you got your ticket. I wonder how many patrons were snagged by just the scent of that popcorn popping?* It also had cartoon Saturdays when a kid could see a morning's worth of cartoons for a quarter, enjoy a large bag of popcorn and a candy bar and still have allowance money left over. Just let any kid no matter how parsimonious manage that at the multiplex of today. The price of today's admission alone would have taken several shocks with electric paddles to revive me even if it was charged for David Lean's masterpiece "Lawrence of Arabia when I saw it. Time, like a good soldier, marches on. Progress is good. We do have to give up some things for it. It is the giving up of what seems the best of the past which is the price we all must pay as we embrace the future with our memories intact and feeling at least a small twinge of loss.

*Years later, we encouraged the vendors of popcorn in our malls to set up electric fans to blow the delicious, evocative scent of freshly popping corn up and down the corridors of the mall. It worked like a charm.

Gents,

Roger, Speaking of the Movies I was lured into the cinema earlier this week to see Chris Nolan's epic Dunkirk, shown in 70 mm and I thought that if cinemas are to survive the competition from large flat screens and home cinemas, they need to provide something extra in terms of the experience, like 70 mm films, that you don't readily get at home. There was a time where movie theatres seemed to favour the number of screens and movies it could run simultaneously but in my experience that led to the rooms and screens becoming so small that you felt a bit underwhelmed. No Roger, I'm not referring to the shady theatre down the corner behind the corner selling contraceptives and magazines and movies depicting natural art.

There have been some attempts at providing the paying audience with extra experiences not easily replicated at home, like Surround sound, or the sound system where the whole room and the audiences where shaken,not stirred, and vibrated to the frequency of the sound effects on the big screen. Midway was an example of this sound system of which I cannot remember the name.

More recently, 3D had it's n-th outing, and just as quickly disappeared again. Audiences are apparently not willing to watch the movie wearing funny glasses, and anyway I have always wondered what be-spectacled people were supposed to do with the 3D glasses, put them on over their regular glasses?

Personally I never liked popcorn, the stench and the taste of it almost makes me sick, but a lot of people love it. Maybe that is why I've been a rare guest since many theatres habitually smell of the stuff. Not so this latest experience.

We all know what the movie was about and it certainly was structured and cut so that it provided as gripping and suspenseful experience, but in retrospect I wouldn't call it realistic, or even a war movie. It strikes me more as a dance macabre, a ballet choreographed in pictures and to the accompaniment of Hans Zimmer's music, and as such, it seemed a but cold to me. To be fair, how many times can you retell the story of Dunkirk while still achieving a an original vision on the whole affair and for achieving exactly that, that the movie is commendable.

Folks,

Ahh, smiling at the memories of the first time of being introduced to the smell of fresh popcorn. Yes, Mr McG., some places do reek when the ventilation system transmits stale popcorn and dried-up spilt soft drinks.
Specially now that whatever passes for artificial butter and aromatics doesn't smell or taste the same. And this is from a person whose smeller is not the sharpest.
But I still love popcorn.

The place to which your comment led me though, had the popcorn machine outside the movie-house, just behind the teller and in front of a lobby leading to a magic place where someone else' mind brought to life scenes of life a book only alluded to. Bigger than life images, and then they were in color! (Yes, it was the late forties and my world had expanded outside of a house and school by then.)
Yes, they did sell the magic stuff to people passing by. At least others; I was way too young to have even pennies in my pocket.
Besides that place was for special occasions in my family, and when my mother took us, she smuggled in pieces of hard candy in her purse; pieces doled out with prior warning to open the paper wrappers very, very quietly.
I think the only time I ever tasted that popcorn was on a birthday.

The attraction of the big screen is somewhat dormant now, diminished by all those things you mention and the apparent dis-courtesy or lack of consideration for others of the miscreants who must light up their small, annoying little screens in a darkened space every few minutes to check every texts or calls received. They then leave that lit for minutes!
Arghhh. Why did they bother coming to a cinema?

Haven't been to a theater for a few years now. It's not worth the hassle and except for the very latest most films. cartoons and news are available elsewhere. That is, unless you are looking for something obscure or not generally available to the general public. (When was the last time I saw that phrase: General public? is there a specific public? )
Cartoons, newsreels? Yes, ask your elders.

But there is a lot to be said for a movie theater. One of them is: It isn't home, it's usually cool and there are other people. OK, not too many since I usually do not go to movie openings. -Oogling allowed.
And yes, the sound system is fantastic.

Thank you, Sir! I had no idea there had been that many nuclear explosions in the world.

Folks,

Rain yesterday, cloudy today. The temp at 11:45 AM is 76°F.with 62% humidity and an 11 mph wind is blowing from the North.

MG:
I suppose it was inevitable that having lived this long I would eventually have at least one friend who does not like either cats or popcorn.

Fittop:

Thanks for the PMs. I have answered the last one now.

The experience of seeing movies, like sports or music events, seem to me to be enhanced by the crowd if they behave reasonably. Watching "Gone With the Wind" on the largest TV screen with Surround Sound is not the same experience as in a theater either, IMHO. However, the lack of courtesy in theaters today is one obvious reason so many do not go. Just as gangs in so many US towns have ruined the shopping experience in many a mall. Malls are closing and strip centers are popping up again as the pendulum swings.

It has been more than a year since I went to a movie theater. Years ago, my wife and I used to go to our local theater once every week when something interesting was playing. I suppose if she were living today we do as I do, wait for the film to be on TV.

Gents, Roger,

You might be surprised (or not) lo learn that I am not too fond of pastries either, or Danish as they are also know. Doughnuts.

Last day of my summer vacation and we had overcast, heavy showers where at one point it got almost as dark as night, thunder and technically, in two geographical locations it was a meteorological summer's day because there the temps climbed to more than 25 C.

Folks,

MG:

What has the state of international affairs come to when a Dane in good standing such as you freely admits he does not like Danish pastries? It is as if I were to claim I do not like baseball. Doughnuts too? Good lord! Aren't you the least bit fearful of being struck off the membership list of The Royal League of Danish Pedal Pushers or the Danish Auto Race Watchers Society?

Fittop:

About to reply to your last PM.

Folks,

Ahhhhhh. We enjoyed low humidity last night. The temp at 10 AM is 70°F. with a humidity of 70%, up from 58% last night. The expected high this Monday is just 84°F. We have an 8 mph wind from the N.

The French actress (can I still use the word actress? Or should I type "actor"?) Jeanne Moreau, whose brooding beauty entranced international film audiences in such films as The Lovers, Jules et Jim, and The Bride Wore Black, has died at the age of 89.

Facebook has shut down it's AI System after bots created a language humans can't understand. Chatbots started speaking in their own language defying codes provided to prevent that. Initially, the AI agents used English to converse with each other. I read that the social media company has reported they shut down one of its AI systems because "things got out of hand." This comes after Elon Musk said that AI was the biggest risk.

Really? Perhaps it is a risk? But friends, didn't we do the same thing as teenagers? We had our own language that often defied our parents to understand. Heck, that happens every generation. I haven't been able to completely follow a conversation between two teenagers in years.

MG:
Bad luck the weather man did not coordinate the weather with your vacation this year. If your weather was unusual then most likely next year it may be warmer. I hope so. A year is a long time to wait and be disappointed. From what you've written about it, I would guess that you made the best of it and it was therefore not all bad. We are all much alike, we human animals, we do indeed all complain about the weather. You complain about the cold and damp and I, across the big wet spot, complain about the heat and humidity. I think your chance of a different summer next year is far better than is mine.

As for the video, thank you for that. It is a wonder we do not all glow in the dark. Proliferation is a danger, especially to rogue states and terrorist organizations. I just watched an episode of "Madam Secretary" on Netflix in which Jihadists detonated a small "dirty bomb" in DC. The bomb was small enough to be carried in the handbag of a woman. Nasty indeed. That kind of threat and the critical state in N. Korea may be our biggest risk Mr. Musk.

Folks,

Here is reportedly the world's only flying Me 162. Wasn't the NAZI rocket plane the 163 Komet designed by Alexander Lippisch? I thought the 162 designation was for a Heinkel. The He 162. Please correct my error if this is wrong thinking. I am quite prone to that these days.

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

It is an odd video. The rocket plane does not take off. Rather it is towed into the sky by a vintage prop plane. Surely it is not propelled by the historically deadly volatile mixture of C- Stoff, and T- Stoff. I'm not sure what the engine is. I cannot understand the narration if there is any. Maybe Jens can translate?

Here's another YouTube video showing simulated combat. I thought the fuel burned out so fast the Komet could only climb straight up to an altitude above enemy bombers and then fall upon them in one deadly pass after which it had to glide back to base for a dead stick landing. Again, I wonder what the power plant is in this plane. The 163 was actually an ineffective interceptor as it only shot down nine to eighteen Allied aircraft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gayy7BOzT-U