pneumatic sponge balls pixilate potholed (potted?) celebrity
Savannah, Georgia
… a long, long, time ago. (In a galaxy, far, far away)
I was in some kind of department store with my Mom. It was, I recall, supposed to be really exciting because “the doors open all by themselves; you don’t have to push.” Although this had been touted in the newspaper and reinforced by my Mom, it was a major disappointment to me. There was a rubber mat on the ground in front of the door. When you stepped on the mat, the door opened. I had thought that the door would ‘see me coming’ and open (all by) itself. “This,” I thought, “is just a button on the floor,”
Note to self: Doors open by themselves now. It’s not as exciting as I thought it would be.
The new store also had a Pneumatic Tube system. When Mom bought something, the sales clerk put the bill and her cash payment into a little cylinder which was inserted into a tube. (Ca$h: a quaint payment system that, like the taxi, has disappeared.) The tube, seemingly filled with either a vacuum or compressed air, sucked up the cylinder and delivered it to the back office. Mom’s change was made there and the tube sent the completed receipt and change back to the clerk. I thought it was really, really cool.
MOXI has a similar pneumatic system — except that it has transparent tubes that send colorful sponge balls on an intricate journey before they are shot into the air. The kids love it.
Note to self: I still think it’s really cool.
End Flashback
The museum also had a display that took a digital picture which it pixelated into hexagonal images of animals. We emailed the result to ourselves:
The recent rains have played havoc with the local streets and roads. Potholes appeared and they expand as automobiles and trucks bounce over them.
Explaining this situation to a non-Californian supporter of the current administration I was told that:
“California streets aren’t maintained because you spend all the money on Mexicans.”
This is preposterous and explains why the country is divided: people are making decisions based on ‘facts’ that are emotionally derived, not based on objective truth. And, just in case you wonder where I stand on the issue of the current administration: It beggars belief and sets new records for hypocrisy that someone who spent 8 years claiming his predecessor wasn’t born in the USA, now complains about unfair “fake news”.
The recent storms caused significant damage to the trees (and nearby cars and houses) as well. BTW: It is not true that this happened because all the money was spent doing gluten-free research.
This week, Tiger went to see the pediatric ophthalmologist. He is nearsighted and there is a significant difference in the near-sightedness of the right and left eye. So, young Tiger will soon be wearing glasses. It’s not clear how well this development will be received by the 2 year old. He was..
“ … not amused when they dilated his eyes, Dad.” Melika explained.
On the other hand, he did tell me that he had picked the glasses frames that he was going to wear. They were blue and the most expensive. (He shares lots of genes with Nazy.) After a personal review of the photo, it doesn’t seem that this ‘glasses thing’ is being well-received by Tiger.
Last weekend, Nazy and I went to Los Angeles to visit our friends Rob and Susie. They have a beautiful home in Playa Vista which, we discovered, is a well-known historical area - the former home of Hughes Aircraft. Susie sent us a text before we came:
What are your two favorite fruits?
I thought about how to interpret the question — and then came up with Cheery and Pear. Nazy couldn't decide and asked me for suggestions.
"That's easy, my dear," I replied. "Tell her Romaine and Iceberg."
For dinner, we went to Shutters in Santa Monica. After a superb meal, we headed to the Jazz Bar for a nightcap.
We were enjoying the riffs as the end of the show approached. Nazy noticed an ebullient young lady in a red dress, surrounded by a large entourage at the table behind us. Loud and raucous, they were clearly having a good time. When the band announced the last number, that group, led by the lady in the red dress, made their way to the dance floor. The lady in red began to dance…
“I wonder how much she had to drink?” I thought as I watched her perform.
She danced toward center stage and then down toward our table. She began rubbing Rob’s head.
“Why him?” I thought.
She drifted away, danced to a chair, sat down and threw her legs into the air. (You kinda had to be there.) The MC made an announcement that began “Ladies and Gentlemen, that was..”. As he was saying the name, the trumpeter began his finale backed by a loud set of drums. We couldn’t quite hear who she was but…
“… since we’re in Los Angeles, she’s probably a celebrity of some kind,” Susie said.
“A contestant on the Price is Right?” Nazy thought.
“Maybe a local TV weather presenter?” Rob thought.
“Why did she pick Rob?” I thought.
None of us had thought to pull out our smart phones to take a video.
Aside: In the interests of family harmony, we’ve gone cold turkey with mobile phone when we’re sitting at a dining table. We want to set a good example for Tiger. It’s a bit challenging because, as you know, a tiger can’t change it’s spots. Oh! Wait a minute, it did.
“That was Molly Shannon!” Susie exclaimed. Google confirmed that assertion with a phone of Molly, who had received an award that evening for an independent film performance, in the exact same dress she was wearing at Shutters.
For last week's letter, click here
Tiger (and Dan) at MOXI