- I love how much technology has advanced and make a strong effort to adopt it in my everyday life. It’s fun living in and embracing the future. But I felt uncomfortable reading comments on a recent Reddit post.
- From the Wall Street Journal – How a Secretive Gambler Called ‘The Joker’ Took Down the Texas Lottery – A global team of gambling whizzes hatched a scheme to snag the jackpot; millions of tickets in 72 hours
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I caught the preview for next week’s 60 Minutes segment on the monarch butterfly migration to the mountains of Mexico. What stopped me in my tracks, and I honestly didn’t know this was possible, was hearing the sound of butterfly wings. That’s right. There are so many monarchs gathered in one place, their wings actually make a sound. Here’s the link if you’re interested.
- DHS told her to leave the country. She’s a citizen — and an immigration attorneyWhen Massachusetts resident Nicole Micheroni received an email on Friday from the federal government telling her to leave the country, she was baffled.“At first I thought it was for a client, but I looked really closely and the only name on the email was mine,” said Micheroni. “So it said my parole status had been terminated and I should leave the country within seven days.”
But the 40-year-old is a U.S. citizen, born in Newton and raised in Sharon.
“Probably, hopefully, sent to me in error,” she said. “But it’s a little concerning these are going out to U.S. citizens.”
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I finally watched Taxi Driver over the weekend. It’s one of those movies I’ve heard about for years but never got around to. Going in, all I really knew was the basics: a Scorsese and De Niro collaboration, a young Jodie Foster, the John Hinckley connection, and of course, “You talking to me?”
When it ended, I found myself struggling to understand why it’s considered one of the greatest films of all time. So, I did what I often do after watching a so-called classic—I dug into the cultural context of the era and read reviews from when it was released.
Maybe I’m a cultural buffoon, but I don’t think I should have to do homework to appreciate a film. When I watched The Godfather for the first time in my mid-twenties, I could feel its greatness while it unfolded. Taxi Driver didn’t land the same way for me.
One thing that got my attention was his mohawk, which was something I wanted to have as a kid. Per Wikipedia, this is how it made it into the film:
That made me think of old footage of the 101st Airborne preparing for D-Day. I believe they were the Filthy Thirteen. I always thought that would be an interesting thing to do, thinking you were participating in a suicide mission. I’m not sure if they ever got an opportunity to remove their helmets in front of any German troops or POWs, but there’s no telling what went through German soldiers’ minds if they saw this.
Here’s a bit more of a backstory of what happened to some of them. It’s cool to see today’s soldiers honor them.
- It’s amazing how long The Simpsons have aired, but I’ve always wondered what they would do if one of the leading voice actors died. I’m curious if any of them have anything unique in their contracts with the considerable progression of AI. I believe the late James Earl Jones had a similar agreement with Disney and his voice for Darth Vader. Anywho, this article led to all that thinking:Parks and Rec actor to take over voicing The Simpsons’ Jimbo Jones (exclusive) –
Mo Collins will take over the character from Pamela Hayden, who retired from the show last year.
