Planned Obsolescence
This blog will host my ramblings about life. To be a bit more specific, I'll probably focus on these subjects: music, sports, food, the everyday beauty of life, and the comedy/tragedy/absurdity of our existence. That about covers it.
Friday, April 4, 2025
Unpopular Opinion: David Bowie Is Just Ok
Music Friday: "The Fourth Night of My Drinking"
Random Notes from a Crank
In not-so-surprising news, the travel and tourism industry is getting hit hard as hell because President Adolf has pissed off Canadians. The Washington Post's article, "Canadian Travel to U.S. Is Plummeting: 'There's a Lot of Anger,'" relates that fact with lots of details.
The consequences are going to affect two red states in particular: Florida and Arizona. There are estimates that there are going to be 4 million fewer travelers to the U.S. because of this anger and Canadian patriotism.
If I were Canadian, I'd just vacation in Mexico, Costa Rica, or Belize.
Also, I would think European travelers will be avoiding the U.S.
As the saying goes, FAFO, America.
Based on Moscow Don's tariff policies, if one were to buy say a Nissan Sentra, which would normally be about $22,000, it now would cost, at minimum, $27,280.
I wonder what percentage of automotive parts are made in China and Japan? A cursory search panned out that it's not as large of a percentage as I assumed: 9.5% from China and 9.4% from Japan.
However, 38% of automative parts come from Mexico, and 10% come from Canada. I'm assuming those are still subject to a 25% tariff.
As I drove over to get my car an oil change this morning, I saw that gas prices went up. In my little corner of the planet, gas is $3.39 a gallon.
61% of the oil we import comes from Canada, which is a country hit by 25% tariffs.
The one country not hit by tariffs?
Russia.
Moscow Don at work. Not really. He's golfing on my tax dollars.
Thursday, April 3, 2025
Random Notes from a Crank
As the author says, "demolition, today, is a perverse luxury of economies where materials are cheap and labor expensive. It is a ubiquitous part of the architectural cycle -- building, erasing, and rebuilding -- with thought to the reuse of old materials, or the environmental cost of creating ever new supplies of concrete, steel, and gypsum board."
As I am sure other left-leaning pundits have opined, if you are a Democratic candidate for a competitive House or Senate seat in the midterms, whether for federal or state office, you surely want to Elon Musk to campaign for sychophantic GOP candidate.
Or at the very least the Democratic candidate needs to show how much Musk donated to the GOP campaign.
The guy gets people angry and motivated.
Unfortunately, the actor Val Kilmer died. On one of the SiriusXM stations I listen to regularly, the host recommended the documentary about him simply titled Val.
I enjoy reading newspapers outside the U.S. to get a good perspective on things: "Trump Goes Full Gameshow Host to Push His Tariff Plan - And Nobody's a Winner."
Tuesday, April 1, 2025
Random Notes from a Crank
Sunday, March 30, 2025
Fumbling Toward Culinary Talent: Salt-Pepper Seasoning for the Griddle
Friday, March 28, 2025
Music Friday: "End Times"
I've been listening to a bunch of albums by Eels this week.
Here's "End Times" from the End Times album.
Thursday, March 27, 2025
Random Notes from a Crank
Monday, March 24, 2025
Random Notes from a Crank
Friday, March 21, 2025
Musing of the Moment: Bourbon in the Movies
Music Friday: "The Wreck"
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Musing of the Moment: Resistance Gardens
I'm a gardener, mainly a vegetable gardener.
I saw a great post on Tik Tok that talked about how during WWII people planted "victory gardens" because of the war effort, and these gardens produced 40% of the vegetables people ate during the war.
Random Notes from a Crank
President Adolf and his goons and charlatans are planning even more tariffs to happen on April 2 according to The Washington Post: "Trump Aides Prep More Tariffs for April 2 on Imports Worth Billions."
He's wanting to do something similar to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which helped deepen the Great Depression. History often rhymes.
Here's a political cartoon from Nick Anderson that shows what's going to happen.
As expected, Putin is playing Moscow Don like a fiddle: "Trump-Putin Call Seen as a Victory in Russia."
The only positive I can see from a trade war is that the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, among other such entities in Canada, have pulled US products from their shelves. I wonder if these moves could reduce the price of bourbon here in the US.
The prices of bourbon are ridiculous. I used to be able to get all kinds of different bourbons at decent prices, but the flippin' hipsters have latched on to the liquor, which has driven up prices across the board. There are some YouTube bourbon guys who consider "budget" bourbons to be a bottle under $50.
WTF?
There are some bourbons I used to be able to get on a regular basis, such Very Old Barton 100, Early Times Bonded, and Eagle Rare, that I can't find anymore.
So if there's an excess of bourbon (supply), perhaps the demand will start getting met more effectively. Hopefully by me.
Regardless, the hipsters need to become more interested in a different spirit, such as rum or gin.
At the nudging of Mrs. Nasty, I've joined Tik Tok. I'm using my same pseudonym.