What Some Of Us Will Be Talking About Friday -- September 25, 2014

Global Warming

Regular readers know the Germans have the highest electric rates in Europe except for Denmark. 

The Germans are going broke trying to save the world; they say their sacrifice is "their gift to the world."

But no good deed goes unpunished.

One volcano spewed more SO2 than all the SO2 spewed by all of Europe.

Not quite true.

The volcano spewed almost twice what the entire European continent spewed. IceAgeNow is reporting:

“The sulfur dioxide (SO2) emitted from the Holuhraun eruption has reached up to 60,000 tons per day and averaged close to 20,000 tons since it began,” writes Pall Stefansson on Iceland Review.

“For comparison, all the SO2 pollution in Europe, from industries, energy production, traffic and house heating, etc., amounts to 14,000 tons per day.

“It’s clear that no eruption [in Iceland] in the 20th century comes close to this one. We have to go far back to the 19th century, to find eruption as voluminous in gas emissions."

I hope the Germans aren't reading this. No good deed goes unpunished.

Adding insult to injury: snow in Romania -- and it's not even winter yet.

I can't make this stuff up.

The Wall Street Journal

Global anxiety roils markets. Really? What changed from a week ago?

Obama's attorney general resigns; to stay on until successor confirmed.

Coca-Cola soft drink sales have risen more than 2% after new "Share a Coke" campaign began this summer; bottles and cans are personalized with the names of individuals.

Now it's Chrysler: recalls 350,000 vehicles over a defective ignition switch. What's with all these defective ignition switches?

The Los Angeles Times

Drought has California communities on the brink of waterlessness; and yet I have read not one story on any water restrictions for golf courses (other than watering only at night).

Governor Brown signs bills benefiting prison inmates. Why not?

State Farm dumps pitchman Rob Schneider over anti-vaccine views.

******************************

A Note To The Granddaughters

I remember seeing and enjoying the 2005 movie, The World's Fastest Indian, starring Anthony Hopkins, on the big screen. I don't recall under what circumstances I saw the movie, where I saw it, or with whom I saw it. My wife says she had never seen until watching it last night on DVD.

The other day I was ordering some "stuff" from Amazon and needed to "spend" another $1 or thereabouts to qualify for free shipping. Nothing really came to mind, but The World's Fastest Indian was in my cart "to be considered later." So, without a lot of thought, ordered it. It cost about $9.

It turned out to be a great choice. We watched it last night; my wife loved it. Tonight while May watches something else on television, I am watching the "special features" on the DVD. The "special features" included the 1971 documentary of Burt Munro and his motorcycle. That alone was worth the price of the DVD. Two other specials included "making of the movie," as well as the director's commentary.

It's a great movie. Highly recommend.

******************************

YouTube Fugue

I have another website, "YouTube Fugue," whiere I seldom post any more. The site actually gets a fair number of hits. As I state at the blog:

After midnight I start with a random song on YouTube.com which leads me to another and then another. Later, sometimes hours later, I end up somewhere not knowing how I got there. Often I am in a fugue state. I am sure I am not alone.

I was reminded of that again tonight -- one can connect the dots from the note above -- The World's Fastest Indian to the video below with one intermediate dot/YouTube video -- hint: it's 28-minute video; if you find it, "fast forward" to 6:56.

Blue Velvet, Lana Del Rey