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Strange Daze

Windswept Trees, Laguna, Guy RoseKA-CHING!

Guy Rose reconnected with Giverny in 1899 and five years later purchased a cottage there. He stayed until late 1912, during which time Monet became his mentor and influenced his paint application, approach to color, and lightness of touch. After returning to the United States, Rose worked and taught in New York and Rhode Island before moving home to Southern California in 1914… In 1915 and 1916, Rose visited the seaside communities of Laguna Beach and La Jolla. In order to fully capture the crystalline light, airy sky, and eucalyptus trees shown in this depiction of Laguna, he likely worked directly from nature, setting up his easel near the Pacific under the purple shadows of an unseen tree.   Crocker Art Museum

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”  – Marcus Aurelius

Forgotten Wonder – The First Transparent Car Made in America Designed to showcase everything that goes into making an automobile in a time when the automotive industry was thriving, the Pontiac Ghost Car was built by General Motors in partnership with Rohm and Hass, the company that invented Plexiglas. The revolutionary material essentially replaced the sheet of metal out of which the car’s body was usually made of, thus offering a clear view of the inner workings of the vehicle. To add to its striking appearance, the metallic structure featured a copper wash, the hardware was chrome-plated and the tires were white, instead of the usual black. The Ghost Car’s total cost was estimated at $25,000 at the time.


Do elected officials in Portland want to let the mob burn buildings to the ground?


BREAKING: Over 247 injuries to law enforcement officers in Portland alone

 Hughes XH-17 Flying Crane American experimental heavy-lift turbine-powered helicopter, with a lifting capacity of 10,284 lb (4,665 kg) and a maximum takeoff weight of 43,500 lb (19,731 kg). It had a two-bladed main rotor system with a diameter of 134 feet (41 m), still holding the world record for flying with the largest rotor system.

Compliments to the felines : Essays in Idleness In a recent Idlepost I wrote that one may put a cat into a bag twice, but the second time it has to be dead. This might be true enough, empirically, but apparently gentle readers took an implication, that if our progressive masters ordered a second Batflu lockdown, people wouldn’t obey. News from Auckland, New Zealand, and a hundred other places, now indicates that this is false. The citizen of a modern Western democracy will, indeed, do whatever he is told to do, no matter how stupid or repugnant. (Here in Canada, they will even vote for the idjits again.) If you can scare him enough, with unending speculative nonsense, he will get right back into the bag.

The 2020 San Francisco exodus is real, and historic, and the numbers are staggering. Online real estate company Zillow released new statistics shining a stark light on the issue this week. Their “2020 Urban-Suburban Market Report” reveals that inventory has risen a whopping 96% year-on-year, as empty homes in the city flood the market like nowhere else in America.

CHICAGO LOOTERS GO SO FAR THAT THEY PISS OFF THE BLACK LESBIAN MAYOR Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is a dusky sapphite with the face of a ghoul that hides under bridges, scares children, and eats goats. She presides over a city where black people die in higher numbers than in any other city in America—and it’s almost always at the hands of other black people. She has recently sat idle and nibbled on chicken fingers as black looters and the usual smattering of mentally ill white anarchists have smashed Chicago’s fabled “Miracle Mile” into oblivion. She also used the racist term “Karen” to refer to Donald Trump’s gorgeous blonde press secretary and has also told the president to go have sexual intercourse with himself.

An unauthorized photo of Stalin: the moment he was informed that the Germans were about to take Kiev, 1941

With Harris Pick, Democrats Cede Election to Trump  The strategy to oust Trump has been to attack the three main pillars of the middle class, the safety of their health (COVID-19), their wealth (financial crisis) and their homes (rioting). Trump’s approval rating has held up during all of this because he hasn’t panicked. He waited until his opposition overcommitted themselves to a strategy that turned a majority of the country against them. The polls today have been structured to bring to life the fiction of a Biden victory, but the state map has Biden in real trouble in the states he needs to win to even have a chance at victory


The DiploMad 2.0: Going Heavy . . . My stocks in gun companies are climbing, and nobody is talking about gun control anymore except that loser Harris, and her gaga sidekick Biden. That’s a loser for you, keep at it!

You know what she is before you click the link: Nashville city councilwoman recommends attempted murder charges for some not wearing face masks

Report: Kamala Harris Already Vetting VP Picks | 

A Border Town Is Now Isolated From Both the U.S. and Canada –  Residents of Point Roberts can cross the border only to work, pick up prescriptions, or go to a doctor’s appointment in the mainland U.S., and they’re not allowed to stop in Canada at all during the trip. The only other way to reach the mainland is by private boat, or the twice-weekly $135 flight to Bellingham, Washington.

Hob Moor and Plague Stones – York, England – WHEN THE PLAGUE HIT YORK in 1604, infected citizens were forced to leave the city. Many moved to wooden lodges on Hob Moor. This large, marshy tract of land is to the southwest of the city’s outskirts, near the modern racecourse and opposite the Tyburn. Friends and relatives still visited the infected but wisely kept their distance. Next to the modern path on Little Hob Moor is a flat stone with a dipped bowl in the middle. Visitors would leave food and supplies for the sick on the flat stone, and take payment in the form of coins left in the bowl. The bowl was also filled with vinegar or water.

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Graham August 20, 2020, 9:23 AM

    Dear Gerard, Lovely to see the painting at the start of this day, a beautiful tribute to ol’Remus (who we miss so much) and a gift in the midst of the ongoing insanity. Thank you.

  • James ONeil August 20, 2020, 10:21 AM

    Not related to any of the postings but fits right in Strange Daze; 367 wildfires burning in California, only 30 active ones in Alaska today.

  • mmack August 20, 2020, 10:40 AM

    Re: The picture of Uncle Joe. You know he’s thinking “Beria! Get me the list of Generals I need to shoot!”

  • ghostsniper August 20, 2020, 10:42 AM

    Now that’s MY kinda ride!

    Mid 70’s a CH64 Skycrane lifted an 80′ long M4T6 bridge my unit, Delta Co. 54th Engr’s, built, transported it a quarter mile, and installed it on a narrow portion of the Rhine river. Not one fraulein thanked me for my service to her country. For shame.

    Biden’s a suckerass.
    Ever notice that biden is the largest part of forbiden?
    Yeah, I invented that one. You can use it.
    You’re welcome.

  • Jack August 20, 2020, 1:10 PM

    Man, I would have loved flying P-51s in WWII. Probably the finest warbird ever designed prior to the advent of jets.

  • Gordon Scott August 20, 2020, 5:29 PM

    I notice Andy Ngo is reporting that the rioters are using “press” IDs or at least markings, and then throwing things. We saw this in Minneapolis also. They stopped a “medic” van, and found weapons inside. Of course, the “peaceful” rioters screamed bloody murder.

    When the National Guard finally deployed in sufficient numbers, the police/state police moved rioters out of a large Kmart parking lot. People returned to the lot later to find their tires slashed. I understood that immediately; once you clear an area you want to be sure that they aren’t moving back in behind you. Some of our local media were upset by this. Tough shit. Run with the dogs, get bitten.

    See, I don’t understand why they let things get so bad. Well, okay, I do, but: The first time a frozen water bottle comes out of the crowd, and said crowd does not deliver the thrower to the cops, protest is over and riot has begun, and anyone in that crowd is now a rioter. Kneel all you want with your hands in the air; that just makes zip-tying easier.

    Hollywood funded bail? Sorry, your guy is being held in the Lake of the Woods county lockup in Baudette. Where’s Baudette? Oh, about six hours north of here. We had some overcrowding, you see. The initial appearance will be in three days, and no bail arrangements before that. So you have to go to Baudette to see about bail. Oh, and bring your passport. They might be using the overflow jail in Angle Inlet, and you have to go through Canada to get there. What’s that? The border is closed? Well, who knows with those Canadians, eh? LotW county does have their own boat to cross the lake, but they have special permission. The Mounties are not really kind to others who cross without permission. Best of luck to you!