Revenge of the earworm
Another successful gym session. I don’t suppose I’ll end up a jacked old lady, but it is making a positive difference in my day to day function.
One unexpected downside of the gym has been the loudspeaker playing Top 40 radio. They’re still playing junk from MY childhood. I remember all the lyrics to songs I haven’t heard in forty years. Songs I hated then and hate now – but by god I know the words! It’s evidence of how they’d play those things over and over and over until they were burned into your braincell.
I remember one day in the Sixties on my rather long commute to school our local station played “Cherish” seven times in a row. We always assumed the DJ lost a bet.
Funny, I never realized how much of our pop repertoire was Elton John songs.
September 16, 2025 — 5:26 pm
Comments: 8
Slippery weasels
I’ve been good about the gym. Twice a week is all I reckon I should do at my age, to leave plenty of recovery time, and I’ve hit it every week but one. I’ve been at it a couple of months now and I think I’ve developed…a muscle!
So I was puffing away on the shoulder press and a member of staff sheepishly approached me and said, “I’m sorry – the manager sent me up here to tell you you can’t wear jeans in the gym.”
!
So it’s slippery spandex for this little weasel. I hate it. Can you imagine a weasel in spandex? I asked Grok to, but I don’t think it really gets lycra. Cute that it signed its work, though.
September 15, 2025 — 4:23 pm
Comments: 9
Dead Pool 189: closing in on 200
Mrs Carl takes it with the Katharine, Duchess of Kent. The papers were full of her good deeds. She taught music at the elementary school level for years, where the little Britlings only knew her as Mrs Kent. For a while, after the death of Her Maj, she was the oldest living royal.
And with that, let us get down to business. Ready?
0. Rule Zero (AKA Steve’s Rule): your pick has to be living when picked. Also, nobody whose execution date is circled on the calendar. Also, please don’t kill anybody. Plus (Pupster’s Rule) no picking someone who’s only famous for being the oldest person alive.
1. Pick a celebrity. Any celebrity — though I reserve the right to nix picks I never heard of (I don’t generally follow the Dead Pool threads carefully, so if you’re unsure of your pick, call it to my attention).
2. We start from scratch every time. No matter who you had last time, or who you may have called between rounds, you have to turn up on this very thread and stake your claim.
3. Poaching and other dirty tricks positively encouraged.
4. Your first choice sticks. Don’t just blurt something out, m’kay? Also, make sure you have a correct spelling of your choice somewhere in your comment. These threads get longish and I use search to figure out if we have a winner.
5. It’s up to you to search the thread and make sure your choice is unique. I’m waayyyy too lazy to catch the dupes. Popular picks go fast.
6. The pool stays open until somebody on the list dies. Feel free to jump in any time. Noobs, strangers, drive-bys and one-comment-wonders — all are welcome.
7. If you want your fabulous prize, you have to entrust me with a mailing address. If you’ve won before, send me your address again. I don’t keep good records.
8. The new DeadPool will begin 6pm WBT (Weasel’s Blog Time) the Friday after the last round is concluded.
The winner, if the winner chooses to entrust me with a mailing address, will receive an Official Certificate of Dick Winning and a small original drawing on paper suffused with elephant shit particles. Because I’m fresh out of fairy shit particles.
Note: I am woefully behind on dick deliveries. If I owe you one, you’ll know how long. I ain’t gived up, but I haven’t drawn much since lockdown. Some day, your heirs might hear from my heirs.
September 12, 2025 — 6:00 pm
Comments: 58
See you tomorrow
I don’t post on 9/11.
RIP Charlie Kirk.
September 11, 2025 — 5:34 pm
Comments: 2
All this talk about flags
This is the Star Spangled Banner, the one that inspired the national anthem. You probably recognize it by the V sewn into the fabric (what that means is still a matter of dispute). After the Battle of Baltimore, it somehow found its way into the hands of the Armistead family. For a century, before they ultimately donated it to the Smithsonian.
It is positively huge at 30 feet by 42 feet, though you can see in the picture where about ten feet of it have been nibbled off the bottom. The Armisteads gave pieces of it away as gifts (which sometimes float back onto the market).
When the Smithsonian built the Museum of History and Technology in 1964, they created a special atrium called the Flag Hall, a three story showcase specifically to show off this flag. Since renamed the Museum of American History.
By the Eighties, they were worrying about light and dust damage and they built a curtain in front of it which they’d lower twice an hour for a moment or two.
The important thing is, I didn’t know any of this.
For several years after I got a corporate gig, I’d spend a week at the Smithsonian. I love museums, these ones are wonderful and free, all I had to spend was for transportation and hotel. Loved it. First time was probably 1984.
I was walking across the atrium of the Museum of American History. There was a boom and a creak and the national anthem began to pour out of the speakers while they cranked down that big curtain until I found myself standing face to face with the actual goddamned Star Spangled Banner.
My friends, I’m a sucker for anthems and symbols and oaths and all things jingoistic. I was floored. Paralyzed with astonishment. Gobsmacked. I don’t expect to be that stunned again unless I get hit by a bus, walk straight into the light and shake hands with Jesus.
I consider myself lucky I didn’t throw up or pee my pants right there in the Smithsonian Institute.
Anyway, they’ve since spent 10 years and $21 million on a restoration project and it’s back on display. I haven’t seen it, but it’s apparently in the flag atrium on display at a slight angle in a controlled environment. I haven’t seen it since.
September 10, 2025 — 6:14 pm
Comments: 9
Afternoon on the ‘ness
It was a lovely sunny day and we had nothing else on, so we drove ourselves all the way out to Dungeness to buy some fish for dinner. It is a weird and wonderful place; I’ve written about it before. I asked Grok to tell me why it’s called the Fifth Quarter and him do say:
Dungeness, the shingle headland and nature reserve on the Kent coast of England, is often called “the fifth quarter of the globe” (or simply “the fifth quarter”) due to a longstanding local saying that humorously elevates the surrounding Romney Marsh area to the status of a fifth continent. This phrase originates from 19th-century literature and reflects the region’s unique, otherworldly landscape — described as a “shingle desert” – that feels isolated and unlike anywhere else in Britain.
It was first used in an 1837 book of poems called the Ingoldsby Legends. It also happens to be one of the closest points from here to France. From where I was standing looking out to sea to Cap Gris Nez is about 25 miles. This is where the bad guys come ashore, with or without the assistance of the RNLI.
I was staring at the sailing boats when my phone pinged. It was my mobile phone company cheerily wishing me a “Welcome to France!” Heh. Not quite.
Picture doesn’t capture it. Here it is big and in color. Doesn’t capture it, either.
Also, they didn’t have any plaice, which is what we drove out for. We’re going out tomorrow to our local fish counter instead. Adventure!
September 9, 2025 — 6:28 pm
Comments: 6
New one
Protonmail – the company known for aggressively protecting your privacy – has come out with their own AI: Lumo. The purple cat mascot is a nice touch.
It will do OCR, though when I tried to paste an image into the query, it failed. Answers so far have been okay.
I like Proton as a company. They offer free versions of Mail, VPN, Drive, Pass, Calendar, and the Lumo chatbot. Basically a Gmail account but nuts about privacy.
One tip: when Lumo answers a question, it appears hidden under the floating query box. You have to scroll down to see it. I sat there for the longest time thinking it had let me down.
September 8, 2025 — 6:35 pm
Comments: 5
I spoke too soon
Me and Grok was getting on famously. I was uploading text and it was spitting it back to me in ASCII. I asked him if there was any limit on the number of jpgs I could feed him in a day, and he said there was a limit on free accounts but I probably wouldn’t reach it.
And then it began to hallucinate.
I gave him another small snippet from the COURT section of the newspaper, and it gave me back a plausible but completely wrong paragraph. The language was right, the era was right, the geographic area was right, but it was a fabrication. Might have been a real court case from the real paper, might not.
I told it it was wrong and to start over. It apologized and did it again, with a different court case. I told it to forget everything to that point and start over, and it did it again. I asked if it would like me to re-upload the image, it said yes, and it did it again.
After I don’t know how many tries, we had the exchange above. Pro tip: don’t get into an airplane piloted by this technology.
Have a good weekend!
p.s. Chatgpt did a very good transcript, too, but the free version cut me off after three.
September 5, 2025 — 4:37 pm
Comments: 6
This worked a bit better
I’m spending many a happy hour reading in the British newspaper archive, though as you can see, the enjoyment is tempered by the quality of the images and their own OCR is atrocious. So I had the bright idea to upload it in chunks and ask Grok to OCR it for me. It does a brilliant job:
Edwin Miles, 18, labourer, pleaded guilty to feloniously breaking and entering the dwelling house of Stephen Smith, and stealing therefrom one round frock, value 1s., and other articles, the property of the said Stephen Smith, at Bosham, on the 5th March, 1861.—Twelve months’ hard labour.
But it also gave me this useful commentary:
“Stephen Smith” is assumed to be the correct spelling, though “Stephn” in the image might be a typographical error or abbreviation.
“Bosham” is a village in West Sussex, England, consistent with the historical context.
“1s.” refers to one shilling, a unit of pre-decimal British currency, indicating the modest value of the stolen frock.
The date “5th March, 1861” aligns with the Victorian era, and “Twelve months’ hard labour” reflects a typical sentence for felony at the time.
Uncertainties: None significant, though “round frock” might be an archaic term for a type of coat or garment, possibly a misreading of “frock coat” or similar, but I’ve retained it as shown.
I’m generally loath to use AI for research on account of it’s a lying hound, but in this case, I can see for myself whether the transcription is accurate. This is going to be most useful.
Also – holy shit! Twelve months hard labor for stealing a dress worth a shilling! (Modern value £2.20).
September 4, 2025 — 3:01 pm
Comments: 7
Okay, so it didn’t work, but still…
I broke a kitchen cabinet latch and I had the bright idea to upload a picture and see if Grok could find me a replacement. He do say:
Based on the image, the latch appears to be a vintage-style brass turn latch with a knob, likely used for securing cabinet doors. While I can’t perform a real-time search, I can suggest options based on similar designs available from known retailers. You might find a suitable replacement from the following:
House of Antique Hardware offers solid brass turn latches with round knobs, resembling the design in your photo. Look for their “Windsor Pattern Cabinet Latch with Round Knob” or similar models in finishes like antique brass.
Van Dyke’s Restorers carries a variety of period-style latches, including turn latches in brass, which could match your cabinet’s aesthetic.
Restoration Online has traditional turn latches in finishes like polished brass or antique copper, which might align with the latch shown.
These latches are typically sold online through their respective websites. For the best match, consider the size (measure the latch in the photo) and finish (appears to be aged brass). I recommend checking these sites directly or searching for “vintage brass turn latch” on platforms like Amazon or eBay. If needed, I can perform a web search to provide more specific links—would you like me to do that?
Which were all excellent suggestions, though none of the products I found came close. *sad face* It was fun looking through the hardware, anyway. I think one at Van Dyke’s came the closest, but it was £17. I’m hoping that was a drop dead huge latch, because the one I’m looking for is less than an inch wide.
September 3, 2025 — 6:58 pm
Comments: 6