Tag: off topic

OT: One Last Landing

Posted on by bryon

We pray for one last landing
On the globe that gave us birth;
Let us rest our eyes on the fleecy skies
And the cool, green hills of Earth.
– Robert A. Heinlein

Earlier today, Atlantis, America’s last space shuttle – America’s last means of reaching even low orbit – landed safely.

Now, our nation, like our astronauts, is grounded. The best we can do is to beg or buy a ride with the Russians who, despite their many problems, haven’t given up on spaceflight. Before too many years pass, the Chinese may be able and willing to take an American up with them.

We are too beaten down to lift our eyes to the stars and dream and dare. Where once our questing spirit rode rockets it now rides Rocinante and pines for a hitching post.

The last word goes to the Apollo-era flight director who oversaw our glory days:

I pray that our nation will someday soon find the courage to accept the risk and challenge to finish the work that we started.
– Gene Kranz

OT: Pets and the 4th of July

Posted on by bryon

A reminder from the cat side of Catsignal that some of the joys of Independence Day celebrations are lost on the four-footed set. Study this list of cautions from the ASPCA and keep it holy.

One more important matter the ASPCA doesn’t mention: There’s at least one in every crowd who will attempt to do something “entertaining” yet moronically stupid to your pet, like hold it up by its ears or give it a swig of beer. Also, there are some parents who will let their children pester and persecute an animal and yet be outraged when the pet has finally had enough and protects itself. Keep a careful watch on your furry companion to prevent this sort of lunacy.

OT: All Things in Moderation

Posted on by bryon

The spam brigade is out in force at present, despite the countermeasures I’ve taken. Thus, I’ve changed Catsignal’s comment settings; I have to approve all comments before they’ll show up. That’s why you’re not getting the instant gratification of seeing your comment post (unless you already have an approved comment posted), and that’s why I’m having to log in to check under the hood more frequently than I have been or care to. I think (today, at least) this is a better system than asking people to register before commenting.

To Catsignal’s friends: Please don’t let this deter you from commenting. I enjoy hearing from you.

To the spammers: You’re not going to get what you want, so go the hell away. This includes the morons who make half-hearted comments for the purpose of linking to their own sites. No one will know you were here but me, and I get to play whack-a-mole with you.

 

OT: April Fools’ Day

Posted on by bryon

I don’t care much for April Fools’ Day. I think it’s a little juvenile, frankly, and so I don’t participate – not as a trickster and not as a fool (if I can help it). So there’s no gotcha waiting to get you at the end of this post. Really.

But I’ll tell you two true stories about April Fools’ Day, once when I was the trickster and once when I was the fool.

Continue reading “OT: April Fools’ Day” →

OT: WikiLeaks

Posted on by bryon

I have just two quick things to say about WikiLeaks and its work, and this should be enough to ensure that someone in the national security bureaucracy ever after reads Catsignal (or makes Catsignal and its author suddenly disappear):

1) My parents taught me, so long ago, that if I would be ashamed if something I did or said were to become public knowledge, then the thing was shameful in the first place.

2) We are often urged to believe (contra good sense and the Fourth and Fifth amendments) that if we have done nothing wrong then we have nothing to hide. This must surely apply to the government itself as well as to its subjects.

OT: Adopt-a-Cat Month 2010

Posted on by bryon

Reverting briefly to Catsignal’s original province, June is American Humane’s Adopt-A-Cat Month.  Yes, this almost couldn’t be posted any later, but any time is a good time to adopt a cat.

The best writers have loved cats. Monica Wood in The Pocket Muse: Ideas and Inspirations for Writing gives us this list of literary cat lovers: T.S. Eliot, William Butler Yeats, Christina Rossetti, John Keats, J.R.R. Tolkien, Mark Twain, Christopher Smart, Marianne Moore, Ernest Hemingway, Oscar Wilde, Doris Lessing, Rita Mae Brown, Carolyn Chute, and Nuala O’Faolain. So if you want to write seriously you should consider adopting a cat.

Wanting to be a good writer isn’t enough, of course. You must determine if a cat is right for you. Go through the checklist and make sure you’re on board.

Bringing a pet into your home must not be a frivolous matter; this is a life you would be trifling with. You must adopt a pet with the firm conviction that it is a lifetime commitment. Determine you will be the best pet lover ever for the whole length of the pet’s life, or don’t do it.

“How we behave toward cats here below determines our status in heaven.”
— Robert A. Heinlein