We had a Viewmaster in the 60s, I loved it. We didn’t have story reels though, ours were all animals and scenery.

Maybe worth pointing out here that being a communist country doesn’t seem to have done Vietnam much harm.

Rowing. Sport you can do sitting down.

My sister got involved in a Pentecostal church and I became fascinated by speaking in tongues. It was such obvious bullshit, and she could never explain it (“The pastor says it’s the divine spirit, bla bla bla…”). So I looked it up.

In the Bible “speaking in tongues” was like a universal translator. The Christians were preaching to a multilingual crowd. There was a mighty wind (lol) and flames appeared over the preachers’ heads.

From Acts: “And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.”

But now because this is a fairy tale that didn’t happen, it’s morphed into gabbling nonsense that no-one understands.

Cherries. Mmm, especially with plain yoghurt.

Rooter always sounds rude to me. ;-)

It is indeed emus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War

I heard someone mangling “indefatigable” in a programme the other day, they got the word “fatigue” in there.

Edit to say I think it’s VALEnce, but I could be wrong.

A victory for open, global science

I could weep reading this. It’s such a beautiful, pure project, retrieving words of wisdom from past millennia. Not for profit, but because they can. And now the tech is there for anyone with the skills to decipher hundred of other scrolls. Might be recipes for garum, might be poetry, might be complaints about copper, who knows!

A former colleague of mine who enjoys a glass of wine of an evening was reported to HR as an alcoholic by a Midwest American at her new job in London. It was a US-based company so HR took it seriously and she had to explain herself.

All of us at her previous job were astonished. We’d worked with an alcoholic - he had a bottle of water in his desk drawer that turned out to be vodka, and he got so drunk he passed out and fell off his chair. Miss Prim America had been on a work trip with our friend and was scandalised by her drinking wine with dinner every day. Maybe it was a religious thing?

more or less still the same genetically for the past 10,000 years

That doesn’t stop people from trying.

Terrifying pic in that link. I don’t think a poptart would distract that fella.

And then doused in mayo. Droooool.

I had to get a taxi at 6am on a Sunday, and had a chat about alarms with the driver. His solution is an old-fashioned wind-up alarm clock, the kind with bells on the top, positioned out of reach. Mine is to bang my head on the pillow - getting up at 5am? Five bangs. Then I wake up five minutes before the alarm. Yes, I still have an alarm, but I’ve trained myself to sleep through it. :-/

I’m eternally grateful for all the medical expertise that meant I could get about on crutches, but omg it feels great to walk unaided.

My sister’s cancer treatment is going well.

I’m walking without crutches at long last.

I relate to this so hard it hurts.

I got to ride in this Auburn. Smooooth.

I got a lift in a Reliant Robin once, and going round corners was terrifying.

I wonder if supermarkets aren’t careful about keeping it chilled. I always take milk from the back of the cabinet.