As the Fourth of July is nigh, Philly is in the midst of its fourth heat wave of the season. The image below shows Fahrenheit on the left and Celsius on the right. The Celsius scale looks so much better right now. Last night it was still 90° F at 9:00 PM. Happily my AC … Continue reading The Fourth
Reminiscing about the Hundred Steps
There’s another article about the Hundred Steps in Billy Penn, and it got me to reminiscing about when I used to live in the house right at the top of the Steps. In 2004 the Steps had fallen into disrepair, so that summer there was a major effort to refurbish them. The workers would start … Continue reading Reminiscing about the Hundred Steps
John Oliver on Soap Operas
A while back John Oliver offered to appear on a soap opera if they could meet his conditions. On his most recent episode he revealed what became of that offer:
He’s De-Mented
Randy’s back!
Live from Orchestra Hall
A few years ago I subscribed to the Berlin Philharmonic app on my Apple TV. It gave me access to performances of hundreds of pieces of music by that orchestra by a wide range of conductors. The app was reasonably well designed, as I could opt for performances of complete concert programs or select individual … Continue reading Live from Orchestra Hall
Interview with an Inquirer
It was about two weeks ago that I stopped into the Nuts to You shop on Walnut Street for my weekly shopping for, well, nuts and related goodies. I had paid for my items for the day and was loading them into my backpack when the manager, who had been speaking to a young woman … Continue reading Interview with an Inquirer
Summer of Mystery
In the summer of 1967, often referred to as the Summer of Love, I had just graduated from high school and had my first summer job. Both Randy Klopp and I had gotten jobs at the nearby VA Hospital. In those days VA stood for Veterans’ Administration, but it has since been renamed to Veterans’ … Continue reading Summer of Mystery
My UK Expert
I checked in with my UK Expert the other day. I explained what I had discovered when I used the Translate apps to get the Spanish word for America, that they came back with “Estados Unidos”, and I went through the whole story that I wrote up a few days ago. What I wanted to … Continue reading My UK Expert
Biter Bit
The science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein, one of the Big Three of the 1950s and 60s, once listed the various plot outlines that stories could take. I cannot find the quote at the moment, but if my memory serves me correctly, they are If this goes on, One who learns better, and Biter bit. … Continue reading Biter Bit
The American Experiment
It seems that “Donald” is no longer a very popular name for babies. The name peaked in 1934 when more than 30,400 babies in the United States were given that name, and it remained in the top ten of baby names until 1990. In 2025 it hit its lowest point, becoming only the 690th most … Continue reading The American Experiment