Life Gets Worse, Elections Are Coming, Animals Including Killer Crocs, Bowdlerize Explained and Breaking Up With Colbert -- All of This in One Post

Fires and resultant smoke ravage California.

All we need now is a cataclysmic earthquake. Due to a couple of trillion fires raging throughout California, many of which are in and around the Bay Area, the air quality here is so bad that walking outside is akin to inhaling from an active chimney. Thus, as above normal temperatures continue, we are stuck indoors with windows closed. Honestly, I thought it was bad enough that we were in the midst of a pandemic. Now I'm not so much nostalgic for the time before the lockdown (seems eons have passed) but for the halcyon days a week ago when we could still take our mask sand venture outside without filling our lungs with soot. In short, it's getting worse before it gets better. Or, it's getting really, really dark before what better be a glorious dawn? To get any worse than this would require an earthquake and we've been longer overdue. Hopefully we'll catch a break.

About the only reason for optimism these days is that Trump is lagging well behind in the polls and there's a good chance Democrats can re-capture the senate. This is almost completely offset by the fact that the pure evil that is Trump and his minions are already trying to sabotage the election. Of course they may not recognize the outcome of the election. We could be in for an awful shitstorm the likes of which this country hasn't seen since the Civil War, in the days, perhaps weeks and maybe even months after the November election. One cannot assume that Trump will accept defeat and go gentle into that good night. We may be looking at riots possibly involving both sides. Of course if Trump manages to cheat his way to victory or otherwise hold office beyond January 20, he will continue to dismantle our democracy and there's no telling how long it would take to undo the damage. Decades perhaps.

One has to feel optimistic that by being smart and organized we can assure a fair election and that Biden can win and that this nightmare will be behind us. We can't let gloom settle in when there are battles to be fought and we have numerical superiority.

Partying in Wuhan, China.

I'm finding it a little harder to be optimistic about this stupid goddamned virus. With idiots all over America refusing to wear masks and not respecting social distancing guidelines, it's hard to imagine how we're going to get Covid-19 under control. Recently in Wuhan, from which the virus supposedly emanated, there was a huge pool party and concert. The fact of this gathering is testimony to the effectiveness of the stringent measures taken. Imagine if Americans had that kind of resolve.

Meanwhile the squirrel outside our window is enjoying a feast and seems oblivious to the dire circumstances affecting this area in particular and the world in general. Birds too are about. Some are on the bird feeder and one land-based feathered friend is joining the squirrel for some cross-species dining. Lucky buggers, not a care in the world -- well, except for predators. As humans we don't have to concern ourselves too much with attacks from large animals -- other than from other people. I like the safety from human-eating animals that urban areas provide. I can't imagine living in a place where one had to be weary of crocodiles. It is estimated that approximately 1,000 people a year are killed by crocodiles. Honestly they need a better press agent. Meanwhile last year sharks could only manage 64 attacks and two kills. Yet anytime a shark so much is comes near a human it's all over the media. But how often do you read about a croc killing a person? It happens about three times a day. As I understand it, sharks do no actively hunt humans, usually mistaking them for seals when they do attack. However crocodiles do indeed seek human meat. Chilling. Yet we're supposed to be afraid of sharks? In reading accounts of crocodiles killing people there are a number of times when one can't help but exclaim -- you idiot, what the hell were you thinking. For example this one: "On September 14, 2017, 24-year-old Financial Times journalist Paul McClean was reported killed by a crocodile near Arugam Bay in Sri Lanka. McClean stopped by a lagoon known as Crocodile Rock to wash his hands when a crocodile bit him and dragged him into the water. The lagoon is known for its large population of crocodiles." You would think a journalist would have more sense than to wash his hands in crocodile-infested water. Besides, how clean are your hands going to get in such water? Fucking moron. Also imagine the horror of seeing someone being hauled into the water by a crocodile. Especially a loved one.

Now I'd like share something from the good folks at Merriam-Webster that I found interesting. Maybe you'll find it interesting too: Few editors have achieved the notoriety of Thomas Bowdler. He was trained as a physician, but when illness prevented him from practicing medicine, he turned to warning Europeans about unsanitary conditions at French watering places. Bowdler then carried his quest for purification to literature, and in 1818 he published his Family Shakspeare [sic], a work in which he promised that "those words and expressions are omitted which cannot with propriety be read aloud in a family." The sanitized volume was popular with the public of the day, but literary critics denounced his modifications of the words of the Bard. Bowdler applied his literary eraser broadly, and within 11 years of his death in 1825 the word bowdlerize was being used to refer to expurgating books or other texts.

Seth Meyers.

I close with news of a break up that occurred last month. After nearly five years together my wife and I broke up with Late Show host Stephen Colbert who we'd been faithfully watching since he took over David Letterman (Dave was the best) in September 2015. It's become increasingly difficult to enjoy Colbert's show as his massive ego keeps getting in the way. Stephen's favorite topic is Stephen, even when he's got an interesting guest on. Tom Hanks was on the show one night and Colbert spent 80% of one segment talking about himself. Since he's been recording the show at home he loves to drag his wife on the show and talk to one of his kids off camera. As a one off it can be endearing but as a regular feature it's just showing off. And my does Colbert love to show off, whether by rattling off the names of his many siblings or the titles of sci-fi books he loves or trivia about Lord of the Rings. Colbert really angered me the night he took on Martin Scorsese's likening Marvel Comics films to amusement parks. Stephen didn't have the balls to say the great director's name instead saying "some people have said...." I've long been sick of hearing him geek out over movies made for 12-year-olds. When I think of Colbert now I see him grinning from ear to ear. No one wants to see that, not during a pandemic. Humor we want but this constant happy face and the never ending references to his drinking -- which includes him actually drinking -- are tedious. If the drinking stuff is a gag it's no longer funny and if it's not a gag then you need to get to an AA meeting. The wife and I have replaced Colbert with Seth Meyers and are much much happier. I highly recommend Seth. He is funny, clever a good interviewer and able to keep his ego in check.