everwas

a blog by Ian Kennedy

Month: April 2021

  • The week that was

    The week that was

    Judges in the UK reversed a decades-old decision by an errant (and some would say malicious) computer accounting system that convicted 39 former UK postmasters of theft, fraud and false accounting.

    In India someone stole a bag that they found contained thousands of doses of the Covid vaccine. The bag was returned anonymously with an apologetic note.

    Thieves of a Big Bird costume in Australia were not so lucky. Despite returning it after a night of mischief, charges will be pressed.

    The internet went out for 900 customers in a small town in Canada. Beavers were to blame.

    An eagle-eyed Argentinian renewed google.com.ar for a couple of bucks and briefly owned all of Google’s traffic in that country.

    The subject of the Disaster Girl meme has taken back control of her image by selling the photo as an NFT.

    Sean Culkin of the Kansas City Chief’s is the first NFL player to get paid in Bitcoin.

    Citizen Kane was knocked off its 100% perch on top of the Rotten Tomatoes leaderboard, replaced by . . . Paddington 2. In celebration or perhaps an homage, a Reddit user is photoshopping Paddington into a movie still “every day until I forget.”

    The headline of the week award goes to CTV with Boulders block Boulder Canyon road near Boulder, Colorado, Boulder County Sheriff’s Office says

    A pair of Yeezy sneakers worn by Kanye West at the Grammys were sold for $1.8 million.

    There is a good chance that the former Flint, Michigan Police Academy building will be used to grow marijuana.

    An Australian farmer had to destroy his entire crop of hemp because cooler than expected temperatures raised the levels of THC beyond the legal limit. He should just ship the crop to Flint.

    Oh, and Prancer found a home.

    Hat-tips to Devon, Jane and Roberto.

  • Biko’s Manna

    Biko and Manna Nhlangothi are a sister and brother duo raised by musician parents that perform as Biko Manna. They’ve been dazzling crowds with their street performances in their home county of South Africa for several years but have recently hit it big by covering Japanese pop songs on YouTube.

    Biko’s Manna’s cover of Pretender

    Apparently the story is the father visited Japan and fell in love with Japanese pop music and brought back some music with him. His kids picked up the lyrics by ear and they’ve made their own cover versions.

    I’d love to learn more about them, there’s very little written in English but I could see them touring Japan someday. Biko’s voice will knock your socks off but her brother and younger (friend?) that joins in to ham it up are a kick too.

    Here’s a documentary I found that talks a little about their background.

    If you want more Biko’s Manna, here’s a good playlist.

  • NYC Subways

    I found this short video on how to get around the New York subway system useful.

    • 472 stations
    • 675 miles of track
    • 5.5 million daily riders (pre-covid)

    Express v. Local – usually the local train will be up against the wall, express trains on the inside

    Uptown v. Downtown – if you’re getting on the train on a local stop, make sure you’re going down the right side. Trains follow traffic on the avenues so downtown trains will be on the right of the road if you face downtown. Brooklyn-bound trains are going downtown, Bronx-bound trains go uptown.

    Price v. Practicality – unlimited metro cards (week or monthly) are most cost-effective but per-use cards can be shared among people. You can use the metro card to take the Roosevelt Island tram and the Staten Island ferry is free.

    The new MTA realtime map is pretty cool.

  • The week that was

    The week that was

    Covid-19 was discovered at Everest base camp when a member of an expedition tested positive for the disease.

    Vaccines are available in New York City for anyone that wants them, no appointment necessary. On 4/20, marijuana activists with Joints for Jabs gave out free joints to anyone that showed them their vaccination card.

    In Maine, where recreational marijuana is ok but delivery is not, an enterprising startup is offering to help “find” your lost stash for a “finders fee.”

    There is a boba tea shortage in San Francisco.

    People are using $5 ladders to go up and over Trump’s $27 million/mile border wall.

    Japanese police have hauled in a 39-year-old Osaka man who is suspected of lying about his birthday to more than 30 different girlfriends in order to receive their gifts.

    A man dressed in a cute bear suit with an over-sized head is walking from Los Angeles to San Francisco. The trip has taking longer than anticipated but he said he is not in a huge rush.

  • George Floyd

    George Floyd

    The entire nation was listening with a lump in their throat as it could have gone either way. When the verdict was read, guilty on all charges, I had the window open and could hear the car horns on the street all go off at the same time. It was the same when they called Pennsylvania for Biden – like seeing the sun rise over the horizon.

    The defense was unable to surmount the overwhelming video evidence of George Floyd’s murder. We all saw it and nothing could change our minds from what we saw on camera. There was no other way to “frame” the story, no broader narrative could justify what we all saw before us.

    Today’s The Daily podcast had a good wrap-up of the significance of this verdict along with excerpts from the Floyd family speaking at a post-trial press conference which really brought home the emotional significance of the judgement for the Floyd family and really, all of us.

    Excerpts from Floyd Family post-trial press conference, April 20, 2021

    The healing for George Floyd’s family can begin but the struggle will continue.

    Today America took an important step. It is but one step and many more remain. It is no assurance that we will continue to stride forward in justice. But it is also a day to pause and reflect that a better, more just, more equitable America, a more perfect union for all our citizens, is indeed possible. We cannot, will not, be perfect. We can, we must be better – ever improving. Today’s verdict has made the embers of hope glow a little brighter.

    Dan Rather – Guilty on All Charges

  • Ambient Antarctica

    I’m feeling a lot of emotions now. It’s a mix of things that contribute to a marking of time. Hearing the Derrick Chauvin verdict feels like the end of a chapter that started at the beginning of the pandemic (even though I know it’s only the beginning of another chapter).

    I also video-chatted with my parents tonight and see that my father is losing his hearing. He can’t hear what I’m saying and he’s too stubborn to try out a hearing aid. This leaves him to only excitedly talk about something and then leave me to watch disappoint cross his face when he realizes, once again, that he cannot hear my response.

    I’m feeling mortal – conscious of the passage of time. If you are feeling the same way, may I recommend this beautiful video-scape of Antarctica, preferably on a big, flat screen TV, in a dark room, with a tumbler of your favorite whiskey by your side.

    Balm for the soul.

  • Alps Raw Run

    Grace under pressure, poetry in motion. I do not recommend you attempt skateboarding down the Alps but I do suggest you witness Josh Neuman’s 11:27 minute crazy-ass decent.

  • The week that was

    The week that was

    Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached the highest level in 3.6 million years and Scientific American editors made the decision to call it what it is, a climate emergency. Some scientists recommend leaning in the trend with something called “stratospheric aerosol intervention” to block the sun to cool down the planet.

    Eleven Madison Park, a three-star Michelin restaurant where New Yorkers normally pay $300+ for a meal, will serve high-quality, basic meals to those in need out of the back of a subtly-marked truck that will visit the “culinary-deprived neighborhoods.”

    “Everything Trump has done since he’s been in office has been really shady and all backwards and messed up,” said one of the co-plaintiffs in a $1 trillion class action lawsuit brought by a self-educated ex-convict against the former president for the deaths of 570,000 Americans from Covid.

    On the bright side, you can now watch an animated counter that totals the number of vaccinations given over on covidvax.live.

    Dominos will start delivering pizza in Houston by autonomous robots. Driverless buses are shuttling people around Tennessee.

    Darius, the world’s longest rabbit, is missing from his home in Worcestershire. Twitter erupted with suggestions to ask Alice.

    A flight from the UK to Majorca was dangerously under-fueled when a programming error allocated everyone with the title “Miss” the average child’s weight instead of that of an adult.

    More NFT shenanigans as the market cap for Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency founded as a joke, soared to $51 billion. The New York Stock Exchange started selling their own NFTs and an artist sold a single, grey pixel for $1.36 million dollars.

    If you’re looking for fungible assets, there is a deli in New Jersey worth $100 million.

    Citizens in the Polish city of Krakow were trapped, afraid to go outside because of an unknown animal that lurked in a tree. Animal welfare was called and discovered . . . a croissant.

  • Computer Simulation

    This ad for Pocari Sweat, a Japanese sports drink, simulates computer graphics but is actually shot almost entirely analog. Check out the second video for a look at the behind the scenes magic.