Never let go.

Today's Tids Issue 4603

The sunlight gets longer, starting on Sunday:

Everybody has some special things in life that makes them particularly happy, and we all should grasp securely onto them, because special is so rare.

Teresa May, Ex PM in the UK, was here in town a night ago talking to Brown U students. You have to wonder if the students understood what she was saying considering their general attitude towards not getting along with people who don’t agree with them. She talked of a “rules-based order” as being the source of stability, but she never indicted the need for opposing views. She talked about eroding and subverting those rules to justify a singular result. And she focused on the polarization of views and populist politics as a dangerous trend that promotes division and seeks to find blame more than cooperative solutions. The aim not being solving, but winning the argument. “The problem of Populism,” she says, “is that it seeks to create and exploit division in society in order to achieve its ends”.

Playing golf after a lengthy winter layoff is like walking into a strange place you have never seen before. Ouch.

So now it is really a battle between Biden, Bernie and Tulsi. I’m going for Tulsi.

The persecutor destroyed all of my scissors. It was sheer torture. So was that pun.

The Question:

Happy Birthday to Michelangelo! He would be 545 years old today. Name three of his greatest works. Bonus: What was Mike’s full name?

The Headlines:

--New Jobs Report Of 273,000 Trounces Estimates, But CV Brings Stocks To Their Knees Again.

--New Report: Covid-19 US Infection Rate Up To .000000633% Of Population.

--Death Toll After Tennessee Tornadoes Could Be Over 50; Destruction Mammoth; Taylor Swift Makes Huge Donation To Devastated Region; trump In Tennessee.

--Suicide Bomber Blows Up Outside Of US Embassy In Tunis.

--Russia And Turkey Call A Truce To Syria Fighting.

--President Signs $8.3 Billion CV Package.

--JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon Recovering From Emergency Heart Surgery.

--Harvey Moved To Riker’s Island Jail.

You have to wonder what the stock market would be like these days if there were no computers involved.

The new TV ads for the Census seems to say to me: Be sure to answer all the census questions so we can give you back your money and tell you where you can spend it.

There’s protected free speech, and then there is the rational use of that right.

Teresa May had nothing but praise for Queen Elizabeth, but resisted questioning designed to draw her into the current family dispute. Maybe the Prez of Brown wanted switch over to gossip as a means of diverting the talk away from advice on political behavior.

It’s always good to have an ethernet cable handy.

I have this idea at times that I could be a screen writer, but then I look at some of the apparently acceptable dialogue of the times, and I don’t think I could ever write stuff like, “Long story short”. And worse.

We are being asked not to pop bubble-wrap. They mainly contain Chinese air.

The service industries seemed like a good alternative economy to making stuff with value, until you realize there are no consumer left to serve.

Yesterday I commented about what I am seeing as the new home décor, skimpy furniture. And I’m thinking that perhaps that’s because it is cheaper to ship lighter furniture in this new Internet age of consumerism.

Should we give arsonists a punishment to fit the crime, or would that just be adding fools to the fire.

A set legal precedent says if you shoot and kill pregnant woman it is a double murder. But if the life of a baby in a womb is purposely snubbed it’s called choice.

Do you know there are people with TJ Maxx addictions? They juts can’t resist going out and buying something. The real issue then becomes, “What do I throw away?” You know, just for equilibrium sake. Or saving space in closets. This is true, folks.

I often wonder what apparel makers are thinking when they come out with some of the clothes I see walking around streets, lanes and avenues of America. Then I realize, everybody in this world isn’t me.

Around here sports is all about where Tom Brady may turnup next. The rumors could be a short novel. But the real irritant that had mee seething is that there is little talk about the beloved Red Sox. It may be just as well there isn’t. So far, I don’t think we have any pitching. That could be a big problem. I’m sure all of you who are sports aficionados like me, are going through the same delusional machinations. I just wanted you to feel better knowing you are not alone.

Reading Between the Lines Movie Reviews:

--The way Back is a story you have seen before, like in the Hoosiers, et. al. But this is different. Not only does star Ben Afflict, in fine acting performance, bring the best out of a disillusioned High School basketball team buried deep in their conference cellar, and a couple of kids who don’t recognize their own] talent, but he also fights back against alcoholism that has him deep at the bottom. Not too bad.

--The latest Pixar-Disney Blockbuster is Onward. Two teenage elf brothers set out on an astonishing trek to discover if in fact there is still a little magic out there, somewhere. People of several ages will make it a winner.

--“First Cow is one of those films where the critics adore the director, Kelly Reichardt. That is usually good for awards but not necessarily good for the viewers who aren’t cultural sycophants. In this one, a cook travels to the Oregon Territory to join up with fur trappers.  But only finds one friendly connection, an ambitious Chinese immigrant without coronavirus. The two join in a successful business that requires misdeeds surrounding the prized cow of a wealthy land owner. It’s a rural tale, and this director seems intent on telling stories that diminish the pleasant image of a calm, kind and livable country communities..

--Swallow is about a once contented pedant woman and housewife unraveling as demands of her In-laws and Husband bring her to the brink. A dangerous and weird brink. It is a thriller that appears that it maybe squeamish, really squeamish at times. I don’t know.

The Answer:

Well I like probably many, first think of is work painting Sistine Chapel Ceiling. He was an amazing artist and sculptor and along with da Vinci he is considered the renaissance man. THs two other best-known works are The Pieta and David, both sculptures. In addition to the Ceiling, his other most famous fresco is The Last Judgement. He was also an outstanding architect, know for pioneering Mannerist Architecture with his Laurentian Library, and as the final architect for the Saint Peter’s Basilica. He was way more than a one hit wonder. HB, Mike. Bonus:  The great artist’s full name is Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni. That could be helpful if you ever get on Jeopardy.

Have an absolutely delightful weekend, E-v-e-r-y-b-o-d-y!!