James Bond edition! Get it … because 007? It’s not really a post dedicated to James Bond. I mean, I like the films, but I don’t think I know or follow the series enough to have a whole post dedicated to Bond. Sheesh.
Interesting
I love swiping through the photos on the For The Love Of Old Houses Instagram account. Some real beauties in that account. Worth checking out.
Over 400 years ago the Gregorian Calendar was introduced. Pope Gregory XIII replaced the Julian Calendar with the calendar as we know it to better align with the actual solar year and stop the leap year “drift” that was happening. Fun fact, when they shifted to the new calendar, people went to sleep on Thursday, 4 October 1582 and woke up on Friday, 15 October 1582.
In 2020, a German performance artist used a wheelbarrow filled with 99 smartphones to cause a virtual traffic jam in Berlin. He filled up the wagon with the smartphones, enabled Google Maps/Navigation on all of them, then slowly walked down a particular street in Berlin (also walking past the Berlin Google office) which caused the street to appear to be jammed in Google Maps.
Sad
I recently found out that the saddle shop my great-grandfather opened back in 1907 had to close. It was the Schatzlein Saddle Shop in Minneapolis and had been family-run the whole time. I had only ever been once when I was very little as my father and I were passing through Minneapolis. I never met my great-grandfather (Urgroßvater) and only met a couple of my Oma’s siblings; she was ninth of ten children. While I wasn’t close or involved in the saddle shop in anyway, it’s still sad to hear they had to close.
Also sad is that the streaming game service I’ve used for the past couple years, Google Stadia, is shutting down. I don’t think it’s a surprise to anybody that it’s ending, but still sad. It was a great service that worked just about anywhere I wanted it to. But Google just never really put the resources into it they needed to really get it off the ground. RIP Stadia. On the bright side, they’ll be refunding all the money we spent on purchases (not the monthly service fees, but the actual game and hardware purchases made). I’m happy with that.
Funny
The Oatmeal is a great source of crazy comics (and board/card games). The latest comic strip speaks to me as I find my hearing getting worse with age and I turn on captions sometimes.
I’ve liked James Hoffman’s YouTube stuff for his coffee content for a while. But either he’s really ramped up the comedy level recently, or I’ve just now noticed. It’s a dry, British humor … but right up my alley.
Listening
My daughter introduced me to First Aid Kit years ago. They’re Swedish sisters whose haunting, beautiful voices work perfectly in country, folk, or pop. This song, “My Silver Lining”, popped up in shuffle this morning and I simply had to share.
Spy Stuff
OK, I do have one more thing that will tie in with the 007 intro. The “Microlino” should clearly be James Bond’s next spy vehicle.