lesliebwrites

[lesliebwrites]

Macbeth and Saruman better watch the fuck out.

[lesliebwrites]

Drew the Halloween boop cats

[lesliebwrites]

That was amazing!

The Sainte-Chapelle: 13th century gothic chapel in Paris

[lesliebwrites]

The road under the can opener was lowered as much as possible, limited by the utilities underneath.

It's now 12'4" instead of 11'8". The additional six inches has made no appreciable difference.

In case anyone's worried about the bridge being a train track, the over-height vans don't actually hit the bridge, they hit a beam placed directly in front of the bridge put there specifically for the purpose of being hit. The train isn't derailing in downtown Durham.

was reminded of that youtube channel that records footage of that bridge that scalps trucks today. one of the fascinating developments that's happened since i last heard about it is that, in one of their many attempts to stop the trucks from being can-opened, they installed a traffic light that detects when a vehicle that's over the allowed height is coming and turns red so the driver can stop and hopefully notice the signage all around that's screaming "YOUR VEHICLE IS OVERHEIGHT TURN AROUND" and avoid an accident. However as a result sometimes drivers see the light turning yellow and IMMEDIATELY start flooring it to avoid having to stop, ensuring that the roof of their truck just gets fucking annihilated instantly. Really beautiful stuff you should check it out

[lesliebwrites]

On one hand, pretty! Want!

On the other hand, cats.

[lesliebwrites]

nearly had a medical emergency today because - and i cannot stress enough how little i am making this up - a helicopter landed in front of an open grain silo while i was getting off my ship and i am deathly allergic to the wheat that said helicopters rotor blades proceeded to blast in my face at full force. the cosmic forces are plotting against me ass situation to be in

[lesliebwrites]

Here's a transcription of Jeff Jackson's video on relief efforts for folks on spotty data:

It's pretty late, but here's the situation. Western North Carolina was just smashed by a flood that tore through everything, and a lot of people are stuck and running low on supplies. If that's you, I want you to know what's happening right now to get you what you need.

There is a massive mobilization underway being coordinated by the governor. The National Guard is on the ground. They've done over 100 rescues and have brought in over 30,000 pounds of food, water, and medicine.

We've got heavy lift aircraft from seven different states running those missions. The Asheville Airport has reopened, but not for commercial traffic, just for bringing in supplies. There are dozens of search and rescue teams from across the country who are now on the ground.

It's over 700 people just focused on search and rescue to handle the most urgent situations. Water is a top priority. Damage to treatment plants was severe.

We're talking more than repairs. Some of them will require rebuilding, so we will be bringing water into the region for an extended period of time. Thousands of linemen from across the country and Canada are on the ground working to get electricity back on.

Two days ago, there were a million people without power. Now, it's down to about 400,000, but a lot of substations flooded, and the water has to go down before they can be repaired, and some of them will have to be rebuilt. All of our hospitals are open, but some of them are running on backup power.

Getting all of our hospitals back on grid power is a major priority. I know some of you were stuck because the roads are blocked or washed out. We've got 1,600 people from NCDOT on the ground right now trying to solve that problem.

They're trying to get people out and food and water in. Cell coverage is still really bad, but emergency mobile cell towers are being sent out to 10 western counties that were hit really hard. As soon as they're in place, their locations will be announced.

Cell phone carriers have also activated disaster roaming so that any phone on any carrier can access any network to make calls. Governor Cooper's request for a major disaster declaration has been approved, which means if your home was damaged or destroyed in a disaster area, you can apply online right now for help through the Individual Assistance Program. And if you're watching this and you weren't impacted by this disaster and you just want to help, you can go here [nc.gov/donate](nc.gov/donate).

This effort is being managed by the United Way. It's a great way to give. And for folks who are watching this who have been cut off and are waiting for help, please know you are the primary mission.

An enormous effort is underway to reach you. You are the top priority for thousands of people and help is coming. Stick together and help is on the way.

I think they’re underreporting the sheer amount of damage Helene has caused. Entire towns are gone. 50 confirmed deaths already. Down power lines everywhere. Emergency responders are swamped. Stoplights are out. There’s a down live power line at the bottom of my mom’s mountain and the sheriff is like “yeah, I know. we called the power company and they’re not going shit.”

[lesliebwrites]

I live in Raleigh. I've been through Chimney Rock and Lake Lure multiple times. This is absolutely gutting.

Part of the problem was that TN/NC got hit with a series of storms unrelated to the hurricane earlier in the week. The ground was already waterlogged when the hurricane went through, and the only place for the water to go was downhill, and then a dam burst.

Unlike Asheville, Boone, and Henderson, the teeny little villages like Bat Cave, Chimney Rock, and Lake Lure are seasonal. No one's climbing Chimney Rock in February, and these places are well off the interstate. You don't just find yourself in Bat Cave. There's a very real chance that insurance won't pay out because it's flood damage, and the people who had flood insurance will probably be unable to pay the increased rates, because these towns don't have a hidden Scrooge McDuck money vault. The village of Chimney Rock had a population of about 120. This storm may have effectively wiped several small towns off the map.

Asheville is still inaccessible, and the Staties straight up closed I-40 well in advance of the washouts. Some of the smaller hospitals were Medevaced, but Asheville is a reasonably big city that currently has no power, no way to easily communicate with the outside world, and no way to leave. The death toll is going up when Asheville is connected to the outside world again--no fridges for insulin, no CPAP, no oxygen tank refills, contaminated water.

And the central and eastern parts of NC--which usually get hit with the hurricanes--got a little damp. It wasn't even the worst storm last week in the Triangle.

we go through this every hurricane season but the way people will find any excuse to point the finger at the victims of natural disasters and say cruel shit like "fuck around and find out" like it's not horrifying having to leave behind your home and all your belongings and potentially your pets with the full knowledge that there might not be anything to come back to after... ignoring that there are people that don't have a car or the money to evacuate, ignoring disabled people who have no way to get out, ignoring people that can't find places for their pets to shelter, ignoring people that have medical equipment that can't be moved or replaced, etc... and even if someone stays behind solely because they want to, they still don't deserve to suffer.

as someone who worked extensively in disaster response previously, it is not easy to "just" evacuate, and the relief that comes afterwards is intentionally difficult to obtain. and already the forces that be are trying to spin this narrative that the victims are at fault, to put the blame on them so that if (probably when) people are forced to resort to looting (because the aid never comes) everyone will nod and agree that they're all bad people and deserved it... rather than acknowledging the fact that there was no attempt to make the evacuation accessible and safe for everyone, no guarantee that aid will be waiting for them when they return to a home that has been swept away... no empathy for the fact that these people's entire lives are potentially destroyed with no safety net to catch them.

[lesliebwrites]

So I saw the worst thing while wandering through this webbed site: AI generated cat pics.

And from an uncanny valley perspective they were fine... But they are the worst thing because if I am hunting for cat pics because I am sad,. I am looking for the joy that comes when someone shares that wonderful beast that shares their house. That combination of pride and wonder of "Look at this thing that has deemed to love me! Isn't it wonderful?" That only comes from another human being sharing with other human beings something that they love. It's wonderful. It's human. It's community.

And there's something so absolutely terrible and soulless and cold about AI renditions cats.

People don't love looking at cat pictures because they are images of cats. People love looking at cat pictures because it is a snapshot of a moment that a person thought was worth capturing.

Somewhere in this rant there's a metaphor for why machine generated art is anathema, but damn if i'm still mostly angry about being cheated with crappy AI cat pics.

And to make up for it I'm going to include a picture of Goose. My actual cat with Morticia Adams lighting across his eyes.

[lesliebwrites]

I've never, ever seen a color guard routine to the national anthem. The national anthem is for standing up with your hands on your heart singing badly, and if you tried to do anything else, you'd get people jumping down your throat for being disrespectful.

If you want to do a patriotic color guard routine, you do it to Stars & Stripes Forever like the deity of your choice intended.

You can also do a color guard routine with basically anything you can throw or spin. My high school band did a Star Trek show and the color guard did a bit with stylized Star Trek deltas made of PVC pipe, and I remember a band doing a Fiddler on the Roof show where the color guard did a thing with big ribbons like lights or fireworks at a celebration--i don't recall the specifics on that one, it's been a while.

If you want something really wild, check out competitive high school marching bands. Once school my stepson competed against did a tortoise-and-the-hare themed show which included junior color guard members moving a giant fabricated tortoise around the field. Like, there were probably five or six of them under there, and that's not even the weirdest thing I've seen.

Hi. Your tags on the performing arts as a kid survey made me chuckle. Color guard is definitely on the American pep squad nonsense spectrum. Color guard marches on the field with the rest of the band, spinning colored flags to the music. Some of them also spin these big, hard wooden rifles. Majorettes are baton twirlers who are also part of the color guard. If you ever do a YouTube search for HBCU matching bands, you will get a good example of the whole spectrum of color guards marching and performing on the field during football game halftimes. Well-funded high schools with a decent budget for marching band will have a color guard, but many smaller high schools do not. So, there is some unnecessary information today! Have a good day.

Every time I find out a new thing about US high schools I think that it can't possibly get any more alien to me. Then I learn they teach people how to twirl wooden rifles and I am reminded that my imagination is a limited, paltry thing.

Flags I kinda get, although I still think it's bizarre (are kids in US schools allowed to not be in a team? Are they allowed to just do the school bit of school? Are they allowed to simply exist and then go home at home time?). Flags are pretty. Wooden rifles is so...

I'm not saying that training children in some weird facsimile of militaristic pride might come across as a bit brainwashy. But... you have children march around a field with fake guns? I can't help but find that a little disturbing.

Is that just me?

It probably looks really impressive and involves a lot of skill. I'll have a look for some videos when I get a moment. The concept itself is fucking wild to me though.

[lesliebwrites]

Jeff worked 9-5 and then 2:30am to 6pm. Fortunately it was "just" the servers and not the desktops.

Fun fact, Crowdstrike failed every red-team hack attempt in the last 7 years. After the second time there was a lot of "say 'definitely maybe' again, I DARE YOU."

I love being in IT

[lesliebwrites]

My mom is the most aggressively neurotypical person I know, and she's been going to the same butcher shop for so long that they start getting her order together when they see her walk through the door, and if she adds more stuff to it, they ask when I'm coming into town.

Here's an example of some of that shifting frame I'm talking about, as we truly enter the 21st, and leave behind the 20th Century. This is actually a really normal interaction that you see in 20th century media. Most people my age and older understand it as completely normal and it is not seen as autistic.

I have had to reassure any number of people that asking for the same beverage two visits in a row, and or being a regular at a specific restaurant, is not weird.

Maybe it is weird now. I don't know.

But it would not have been considered weird at ANY point during the majority of my lifetime. You will see this kind of an interaction in a majority of 20th century sitcoms. Probably even later ones. But I suspect that the people the most worried about this, are not in the media consumption silo that would show this. Sitcoms will show this, but lots of the most socially anxious people do not watch sitcoms. (I've noticed this for ages.)

"The Usual" is actually NOT an inconvenience to shopkeepers.

[lesliebwrites]

My grandmother cooked all meat by boiling it and then throwing it in the oven for an hour or so.

"The steak is a little overdone."

"A little overdone?" MA'AM THIS IS SO OVERDONE IT'S A CLICHE.

Ah yes, dinnertime, let's all play "pork chop or boot sole?"

Her kitchen was never graced with the Maillard reaction. Or spices.

Vegetables that didn't come from a can were always burnt on the outside and raw on the inside. She made fudge whose main ingredient was Velveeta Cheese-Like Food Substance because Great Depression.

Some things are better left forgotten.

[lesliebwrites]

"I really fucked up by not making Auguste Dupin a cat" is killing me

Midnight Pals: Cats

Lilian Jackson Braun: ok so hear me out on this one Braun: what if there was a cat that solved mysteries? Rita Mae Brown: a cat that solved mysteries?!?!? Carole Nelson Douglas: a cat that solved mysteries?!?! Cate Conte: a cat that solved mysteries!!??

Brown: this is the greatest thing i've ever heard Braun: you think? Brown: listen i have 2 interests in life Brown: radical lesbian liberation Brown: and cats that solve mysteries Brown: and this idea definitely fits into one of those categories

Lilian Jackson Braun: anyway Braun: here's a picture of my cat Rita Mae Brown: oooh she's precious!! and here's a picture of MY cat Braun: she's adorable! Carole Nelson Douglas: and here's a picture of MY cat Braun: she's so adorable! Brown: precious!

Dean Koontz: hey what if it was a dog that solved mysteries? Lilian Jackson Braun: Rita Mae Brown: Carole Nelson Douglas: Cate Conte: Darlene Ryan: Sofie Kelly:

Koontz: i was just thinking, what if it was a dog- Braun: i'm not even going to dignify that with a response Brown: a dog! really! Braun: how would a dog solve mysteries anyway? by barking at them? Brown: ha ha good one lilian Koontz: but Braun: the very idea is absurd

Braun: a dog lacks a cat's observational skills and deductive reasoning Brown: yes exactly Brown: ridiculous Brown: the very idea Brown: what are you even doing here Brown: at the st. westminster ladies cat fancy society tea and crumpet social on the green?

Braun: ugh! dogs! DIS-gusting! we won't have any smelly mutts here! Away with you! [sweeping Koontz out the door with a broom] Diane Duane: you know cats can be wizards too Tanya Huff: oh yes yes definitely

[at midnight society] Dean Koontz: and they said that cats were better at solving mysteries than dogs! Poe: i really fucked up by not making auguste dupin a cat Poe: i didn't realize how much money i was leaving on the table

Koontz: but they're wrong! dogs solve mysteries! all the time! in real life! George Romero: ACAB includes cop dogs Poe: not now george Poe: dean's in a fragile state

[lesliebwrites]

Today is the Glorious 25th of May, the day the gallant members of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch fought for Truth, Justice, Freedom, Reasonably Priced Love, and a Hard-Boiled Egg, and died (including Reg Shoe, who then came back as a zombie and fought some more) in the Glorious Revolution of Treacle Mine Road.

Today is also Towel Day: because as the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy says, a towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have -- and a hoopy frood ALWAYS knows where his towel is.

HOOPY FROOD, HOW DO THEY RISE UP

/GNU Terry Pratchett (1948 - 2015) //GNU Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001)

[lesliebwrites]

RICE Alzheimer's Research Institute

Terry died on 12 March 2015, having given his PCA a run for its money.  Open about his diagnosis, he has helped to unlock the secrecy and stigma that often surrounds dementia.  His legion of fans is undoubtedly grateful that despite the inevitable progression of the PCA he was able to fight his ‘embuggerance’ and continue to produce a number of both well-received and well-reviewed books.  Terry was also a great example to me in emphasizing how important it is that, in caring for people with any type of dementia, we always look for what people with a condition like PCA can still do, rather than what they can’t: by maximizing what is possible, a person can still live well with dementia for a significant time.

–Professor Roy Jones, Director of RICE (taken from “Terry Pratchett: His World”)

I wanted to post something for the Glorious 25th about the Research Institute for the Care of Older People (RICE) in Bath, where Sir Terry Pratchett received treatment for Post-Cortical Atrophy, the type of Alzheimer’s disease that eventually took his life. From the organization’s website:

RICE established one of the first memory clinic services in the UK in 1987 – a service which has since been widely replicated and is now considered standard and best practice by the NHS. In fact, RICE now runs the NHS Memory Clinic in Bath and North East Somerset on behalf of the local clinical commissioning group and local authority through a sub-contract with HCRG Care Group. To date, we’ve assessed, diagnosed, treated and advised 12,000 people with memory problems and their families in our memory clinic. 

Most of RICE’s clinical services and research activities take place in our own purpose built, specialist centre located on the Royal United Hospital site. The building of the RICE Centre was possible as a result of generous donations from major donors, trusts and foundations, and members of the public. RICE moved into the ground and first floor of the centre in 2008. Following the success of the DementiaPlus Appeal and further generous donations from major donors, trusts and foundations and members of the public, RICE converted the attic floor in 2019 to create more office space. This has given us access to much needed additional rooms and offices which will enable us to grow and run more services and activities. We’ve worked hard to ensure that the areas of the centre visited by our patients meets their needs and we regularly receive feedback on how much our patients enjoy their visit to our centre.

RICE not only provides clinical services to patients, but also conducts research into aging and dementia, including performing clinical trials for new drug treatments for memory-related diseases and developing other “techniques for diagnosing, managing, treating and understanding dementia and memory changes in older adults.”

Lady Lyn Pratchett is the patron of the organization, and the website includes a page about how people can donate funds or volunteer at the clinic and participate in fundraising events.

SO, if you’d like to help fund Alzheimer’s research on this Glorious 25th of May–or at any time–in honor of the Man in the Hat, take a look!