Categories
Book Club Gods, Goddesses, and Mythical Heros Japan

Kwaidan: Part III – Mujina, Like Unto an Egg

The following short story is from the 1905 edition of Kwaidan – Stories and Studies of Strange Things, by Lafcadio Hearn. Illustrations by Elder G. MUJINA On the Akasaka Road, in Tokyo, there is a slope called Kii-no-kuni-zaka,—which means the Slope of the Province of Kii. I do not know why it is called the […]

Categories
Book Club Japan Movies

Kwaidan: Part II – Lafcadio Hearn in Japan

Lafcadio Hearn, author of the book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, moved to Japan in 1890. He initially arrived to work as an English teacher in Matsue, a city in the Shimane Prefecture. Hearn became deeply fascinated with Japanese culture, folklore, and traditions, eventually settling in Japan permanently. He married a Japanese woman […]

Categories
Book Club Japan Movies

Kwaidan: Part I – Young Lafcadio Hearn

Through an interesting stream of consciousness, we came across one of the most interesting people on our World Tour: Lafcadio Hearn. Stream of Unconsciousness So, due to a combination of quantum effects, uncertainty principles, and tidal forces, the HBO algorithm suggested Kwaidan. The poster was creepy enough to draw me in. Kwaidan (Japanese: 怪談, Hepburn: […]

Categories
America China Collapse of Democracy/Civilization/etc. russia

Can’t Happen Here

You think the constitution is going to save us? The Bill of Rights? Freedom of speech? Let’s see how that worked out in other countries….. Soviet Union / Russia Article 50. In accordance with the interests of the people and in order to strengthen and develop the socialist system, citizens of the USSR are guaranteed […]

Categories
California Climate Change Engineering TechnoBLOTT Texas

Sally, The Grid, and Large Quantities of Batteries

Yesterday morning, I was checking out the Texas electrical grid (ERCOT), to see if the previous night’s snowfall was going to cause problems. Sally T. Intern braves the 1/4″ of snow this morning to get to her paying job. Her hard-currency income is essential for the day-to-day operational expenses of WLBOTT. The grid looks like […]

Categories
Food Texas

The Burrito Lady / Eden and Points East

We may have been jackaloped[1] here at WLBOTT HQ. We went in search of My Large Intestine, Texas, purportedly about four miles East of Eden (Eden, Texas, that is). The Burrito Lady Unable to locate the financial district of My Large Intestine, we returned to Eden, Texas, to refresh ourselves at The Burrito Lady. This […]

Categories
Curated Absurdity Heros New Brunswick

Let’s Meet the Unvirtuous Abbey

While I agree there’s a social maturity required in expressing irreverence through appropriate channels, the Church is missing out on a deep authenticity of the human experience if we continue to fear irreverence instead of finding beauty in it. – Cindy Brandt, writing in Sojourners The Unvirtuous Abbey is a satirical online community that blends […]

Categories
Animal Kingdom Bolivia Gods, Goddesses, and Mythical Heros

A Cold Snap => La Paz

A Cold Snap takes our WLBOTT World to La Paz, Bolivia Much of the WLBOTT empire is experiencing a brisk morning. The La Paz Connection Let’s say that the Elders wish to embrace their dull side. We asked Elder G where we could go to experience the least fluctuation in weather. Nuestra Señora de La […]

Categories
ENGin Heros Ukraine

In Memory of Mark Tremont

Today we wish to honor a special person, Mark Tremont. Our condolences go out to Mr. Tremont’s family, friends, KM and the entire ENGin family. From the ENGin Facebook page: From Mark Tremont’s obituary: We would like to share some still images from Ukrainian filmmaker Yana Lagoda‘s story of Mark and his wife Jean.

Categories
Fine Arts Japan Music

Wendy Carlos: Persian Carpets and Fabric Squares

We spent some time trying to determine if the Persian Rug on the cover of Switched-On Bach is the same rug in Wendy Carlos‘ studio. From various photos of Wendy’s studio, we have to conclude that it is not the same rug. Elder G’s Persian Rug Celebrating Wendy Carlos Elder G created some nice Persian […]