Categories
Existential Angst Food Meaning of Life

Existence; or, is Heck just Hell Lite?

Many years ago, I found myself alone, driving cross country on an obligatory (and ultimately pointless) journey, when I passed through a city on the interstate. A sign appeared: “This Lane Does Not Exist”. Wow – that was weird – do I merge left? Am I on the shoulder? A short time later, again the […]

Categories
Adventures of the Elders Canada Work-Life Balance

Lives of the Elders: Stamps, Trains, Neil Young, Virtue & Vice, etc

UC#1 Back when I was considerably smaller than I am now, my dad set up an electric train for me and my sibs. Our house had only a partial basement – for the front half of the house it was only partially excavated leaving a space big enough for kids to play in. Dad took […]

Categories
Book Club Food Meaning of Life Scholarship/Erudition

Lent Prep

We’re preparing our 2024 Lenten menu, and the question of corned beef came up. [Michael] O’Leary will enjoy his corned beef on Friday with a clear conscience — thanks to a special dispensation from another Irish-American, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of Milwaukee. Dolan is among dozens of bishops — from Green Bay, Wis., to Arlington, Va., […]

Categories
Europe Fine Arts Scholarship/Erudition

The Burghers of Calais

While exploring Calais (Maine), and Calais (France) in a recent BLOTT, we came across the incredible sculpture The Burghers of Calais and it’s amazing backstory. The Story Behind the Famous Calais Sculpture The Burghers of Calais is a sculpture by Auguste Rodin in twelve original castings and numerous copies. It commemorates an event during the […]

Categories
Animal Kingdom Asia

Big Eyes

First grade – Montgomery, Alabama, no air conditioning but lots of fans. My parents bought us a set of children’s encyclopedias, and one had a picture of a Tarsier on the front. I remember being a little bit terrified, worried I would turn into one, and a little bit “let’s get one!” Each of the […]

Categories
Animal Kingdom Fine Arts Random Acts of WLBOTTness

Flamingo Ankles

Here’s how it all started. Like many of you, I often wake way before sunrise with questions such as “Why do some animals have knees that bend backwards?” Reasonable question. Understandable. This leads us, more or less, to look at flamingos…. Flamingo Fun Facts: perilous predator protection Fun Facts from Wildlife Workshop: And from Folly […]

Categories
Adventures of the Elders Canada Will there be a buffet?

Trans Canada Trail: 1 of 17 ⅝

[recent executive correspondence: UC#1=>The Texas Elders] Fellow WLBOTT’ers, While I have know about the Trans Canada Trail for many years, until recently I never knew how extensive it is. We frequently walk the part of the trail that goes around [UC#1 jurisdiction] but that is a very small part of it. Of course, the trail […]

Categories
Fine Arts Music

Monday, Happiness

Hello, World! The following is certified to raise your mood by a minimum of 3.1415% The Story Dramatis personae Lisette Oropesa: the acclaimed operatic soprano UC#1a and UC#4 noticed that her name can make an anagram of the word “Opera”. Here’s what we came up with: Liu Jianwei: a student at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Nicolini […]

Categories
Food TechnoBLOTT

Advances in Food Engineering

In the early pre-dawn hours at the WLBOTT Central Texas Corporate Headquarters (WLBOTTCTCH), there is a special quality to the silence. Early morning live action photo of WLBOTTCTCH: Advances Edible Cars The Tribune-Star is a seven-day morning daily newspaper based in Terre Haute, Indiana, covering the Wabash Valley area of Indiana and Illinois. – Wikipedia […]

Categories
Exonumia/Philately are not contagious Fine Arts Mildly Interesting

Pareidolia?

Yesterday’s eclipse images were disturbing, so I decided to have a session with my psychotherapist, ChatGPT. WLBOTT: I wanted to ask you about a psychological phenomena. The human brain tries to make faces out of patterns. Is there a word for this? ChatGPT: Yes, the phenomenon you’re referring to is called “pareidolia.” Pareidolia is the […]