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Book Club Climate Change Ireland Scholarship/Erudition

The Heat Will Kill You First / The Second Coming (part I of III)

I recently began reading the excellent book The Heat Will Kill You First, by Jeff Goodell. Executive summary: We’re doomed. Goodell dedicates some of the book to discussing air conditioning and how this technology has allowed people to live in hotter climates but also has become a major contributor to global warming. Goodell explains how […]

Categories
Collapse of Democracy/Civilization/etc. Current Events Late Stage Capitalism WLBOTT Corporate

WLBOTT Responds to the Market Crash

Angry crowds descended upon WLBOTT headquarters yesterday following the dramatic stock market decline. The crowd was made up of outside agitators, disaffected unpaid WLBOTT interns, former Crowdstrike QA engineers, and frustrated Olympic hopefuls. CFO Report Our CFO reported on our corporate holdings following yesterday’s collapse. Gentle people- as your CFO, I felt the need to […]

Categories
Animal Kingdom Nature Texas Work-Life Balance

Paper Wasp People

Ms. Paper Wasp shortly after stinging Elder UC#4. The Devil’s Sting A poignant story by Drew Bratcher about nine year old’s encounter with a paper wasp. (Paris Review). I am nine years old, soon to be ten. When people ask me what I want to be when I grow up, I say “country singer,” I […]

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Iceland WLBOTT Corporate Work-Life Balance

Þrídrangaviti Lighthouse

Our initial intent was to describe, in great detail, the 105 Lighthouses of Iceland. But our attention was soon redirected when we learned of Þrídrangaviti. Without a doubt, Þrídrangaviti is one of the most dramatic, unique and visually stunning lighthouses in Icelandic territory. The lighthouse is built atop an enormous, 120-foot basalt stack in the […]

Categories
Curated Absurdity Meaning of Life Mildly Interesting

(Sort of) Celebrating the life of Jeanne Louise Calment

Those Cigarettes Will Kill You Her husband introduced her to smoking, offering cigarettes  after meals, but she did not smoke outside these post-meal occasions. Calment continued smoking in her elderly years until she was 117. She enjoyed chocolate, sometimes indulging in a kilogram (2.2 lb) per week. After the meal, she smoked a cigarette and […]

Categories
Animal Kingdom Curated Absurdity Late Stage Capitalism WLBOTT Corporate

Commodius Rex

WLBOTT is constantly exploring new ideas to increase shareholder value. The latest from our marketing team: Commodius Rex: The King of Toilets. Commondius Rex: Luxury befitting a king, tyrants, dictators, republican Supreme Court Justices, and/or anyone with absolute immunity.

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Alberta British Colombia India Norway Oh, Grow Up!

The Seven Sisters in Geography

Turns out there are many natural formations named “The Seven Sisters.” Let’s look at a few of them. Seven Sisters Mountain, Alberta Canada We couldn’t help but notice the proximity of Seven Sisters Mountain and Ma Butte. (Oh, grow up.) Seven Sisters Peaks, British Columbia Just down the road, in British Columbia, are the Seven […]

Categories
Mildly Interesting Scholarship/Erudition

Translations (part I of XXIV)

UC#2 suggested we look into some familiar and unfamiliar books that have a large number of translations. Our starting point is a Wikipedia article that ranks books by translations. But before we get too far, we sense that the internet is turning on us. The Top Ten #1: The Bible We discussed an interesting translation […]

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Adventures of the Elders Engineering russia Texas Will there be a buffet?

Rudder Tower / Sbisa / Commies

On his birthday, UC#3 shared with us his admiration for monolithic concrete structures. We had brunch at Rudder Tower. They had some dining room set up at the top floor – was a fave for parental units when they visited. I will note Rudder Tower at A&M and the Stalin Seven Sister Towers are widely […]

Categories
Heros Massachusetts Scholarship/Erudition Will there be a buffet?

Saints and Strangers: The Mayflower Voyage

Q: If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?A: Pilgrims As we were crafting the tale of Babusia Bott, the first Bott to come to America, we weren’t able to find much (i.e. any) information about her twine-constructed sailing vessels (because it’s not real). However, we can assume that her voyage had […]