Meow-meow-meow-meow

Okay, look—I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, but this has been knocking in my head since the Kiffness first uploaded it the day after the presidential debate. That’s two and a half weeks and it’s more than I can bear. It’s more relentless than “It’s a Small World.” I have to share it and dissipate its power over me.

The Kiffness (stage name of David Scott) is a South African musician and parody artist. He normally focuses on South African politics, but his YouTube channel also seems to have right many songs about or by cats. So the Kleptocrat’s absolutely false and utterly ridiculous geshrei about immigrants killing and eating pets in Ohio must have been a godsend for him.

In his piece, the Kiffness deftly melded the Kleptocrat—in his Cassandra-like desperation, trying to convince a room of television cameras and sane people of the immigrant lie—with his perfect musical takedown.

“Eating the Cats” has become quite the global sensation. Earlier this week the Kiffness was performing in Berlin. He tried to get the audience to focus on others in his oeuvre, but they demanded it. It’ll probably be hanging around his neck for a while.

Just like it’s rattling in my head.

©2024 Bas Bleu

 

More fungus among us

In furtherance of my mycological studies, yesterday morning I walked through the local golf course and found another cluster of fungi:

It’s been damp for a few days here in the People’s Republic, but I don’t know if that’s the reason for the sudden (to me) appearance. The spores are definitely among us, tho.

©2024 Bas Bleu

Camouflage

Saw one of my neighbors on my walk a couple of days ago. He was pretending to be grass, so I pretended I didn’t actually see him, skirted the parking lot and kept going.

 

©2024 Bas Bleu

 

My, mycology

Well, looky what I found yesterday on my morning walk—a colony of mushrooms. Beautiful, golden ones, popping against the green lawn. And rather a variety.

No idea what they are, or whether they’re edible or toxic, but they’re quite a sight.

 

©2024 Bas Bleu

 

Gratitude Monday: well & truly the 21st Century

A few years ago, a friend gave me his old Roku streaming device. I won’t deny that it took me some hours to figure out how to set it up. And use it. He also gave me a six-month subscription to The Criterion Channel, so I was able to watch some old classics that Comcast had decided that I didn’t need (by taking TCM out of my lineup—without reducing my monthly fee).

Well, I got out of the habit of using it. But last week I caught an ad for BritBox while I was zapping the 50% of my feed that Facebook now devotes to commercials. So I went there (not using the FB link—I don’t reward bad behavior) and signed up for a year at $80.

As you might imagine, it took me more hours to figure out how to find Roku on my TV. (My Comcast remote is nearly eight years old; it doesn’t resemble any of the devices you see on various forums these days.) But I got it working and started watching episodes of Death in Paradise.

The Roku user experience is pretty dire—it appears to date from 10-15 years ago. I can’t pick up at the next episode whenever I restart. I have to scroll to my Watchlist, then scroll to Death in Paradise, then scroll to Episodes, then scroll to seasons, then scroll to the season I want, then scroll to the episode I want. (Thank God I got my watchlist sorted online; if I’d had to do it through the streaming interface someone would be picking up a body from my residence.)

I’ve also got Poirot, Daziel and Pascoe, Miss Marple (with Joan Hickson), Midsomer Murders and Lewis on the list. I like mysteries and police procedurals. I could go to the PBS app for some of these, but only early seasons. Moreover, I’m looking forward to seeing the whole presentation—you will be interested to know that PBS blurs certain body parts lest the tender eyes of its viewers burn from seeing a female nipple or a male butt crack. (They even blurred the nipples on an abstract portrait in one episode.)

So this is my gratitude today—on-demand streaming of programming I find entertaining. Basically, I’m grateful for finally entering 2015.

 

©2024 Bas Bleu