The business of the day: WLBOTT is considering expanding our pantheon. We’re thinking of adding “Sweet Melinda, the Goddess of Gloom.” She is based loosely on the Bob Dylan song “Tom Thumb’s Blues.” A Goddess of Gloom. Very much in the grand WLBOTT tradition of mixing melancholy, absurdity, and sly beauty. Sweet Melinda, Goddess of […]
Category: North America
What can Vasyl Velychkovsky’s life teach us in today’s troubled world? That’s a deeply meaningful question, — and one worthy of time, reflection, and many conversations under twine-strewn stars. We do live in troubled times. We hear the old boots of authoritarianism echoing down new hallways, polished with modern excuses and rationalizations. And yet, in […]
After all that he endured in the Soviet Union—the interrogations, the years in prison and the gulag, the constant surveillance—Vasyl Velychkovsky’s final years in Canada offer a deeply moving chapter: a time of fragile recovery, quiet leadership, and enduring spiritual witness. The Turning Point: Release and Exile In 1969, after suffering a heart attack in […]
I really need to get on to real life, watch SNL, and what looks to be an exciting finish of the Masters tomorrow. But back to Quonset huts. As a structural engineer, Q Huts were an ingenious solution to providing shelter with pre-fabricated components that could be assembled remotely with no crane or foundation. So […]
Elder JA was contemplating the loneliness of the Canadian sturgeon, and was wondering if Texas had a sturgeon. Big Texas YES. In Texas, the shovel-nose sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus) is the only sturgeon species found, and it’s a threatened species in the state, primarily inhabiting the Red River below Lake Texoma reservoir. Species:The shovel-nose sturgeon is […]
WLBOTT is proud to sponsor the Association of Retired Belly Dancers (ARBD) Gala. The Gala will be held next February in Edmonton, Alberta. The 47th Annual Shimmy Summit, proudly presented by WLBOTT:“Peace Through Twine, Joy Through Hip Scarves.” Highlights might include: Gathering at the Venue The enthusiasm and anticipation was palpable. Next time we’ll hire […]
An esteemed Elder was…. steamed. Celebrating the beginning of a new semester, the faculty threw a mixer. Our Elder summarized the event in two words:“Cubed Velveeta.” Let’s step back and look at the UCSB Chancellor, for ultimately, he is lactose-responsible. Let’s put all these numbers in context. Let’s assume Prof. Yang works 40 hours per […]
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Radio Free WLBOTT (part II)
Free? What Exactly is Radio Free WLBOTT Free Of? Not Without Precedent: Pirate Radio There’s an interesting first-person account by Larry Melton of the infamous Dr. John Romulus Brinkley and the 100,000 watt Mexican radio station XERF. As the title suggests, there are a lot of semi-sequiturs to this story. XERF: Gun Fights, Wolfman Jack, […]
Following yesterday’s detasseling BLOTT, we would be remiss if we failed to relay the tassel confusion that occurred at Texas A&M University several years ago. As the official Event Coordinator for Texas A&M‘s commencement, Callahan ‘Cactus Jack’ Kleberg had one job: order tassels. Being an agricultural school, Cactus Jack thought they were corn tassels. You […]
From Elder JJZ: On a more serious note[1], really interesting connection between Japan and the establishment of the rice industry in Texas. We know many of the people or descendants mentioned in this article . They put up with a lot of bad stuff in the 1900’s but aren’t bitter, made a good life for […]