Another of Neo’s crushes, Jordan Peterson, is recently (about 3 months ago) back from a very long absence. I have heard him again on several podcasts and it is so nice to hear his voice. He has been through a great deal and a difficult ordeal the past two years. He has a new book out.
Cats and dogs.
It’s interesting that they seem to be alone in the pantheon of domestic, human animals. There are certainly horse people and bird people and fish people (I would love to have a wall of my home as a huge, salt water aquarium), and ferret people, and tarantula people, and snake people, but almost everyone (despite other, fringe, fauna interests) is a dog or cat person. Many are both.
How and why they became domesticated seems to be somewhat different and that seems to play into their personalities and the personalities of folks who prefer one over the other.
And I also am in agreement with Robert and with the cat. He (the cat) has obviously been watching too much news lately.
Saturday I purchased a new toy for my bike using Neo’s Amazon link.
Since it is an open thread and laughter is the best medicine, search YouTube for The Wrong Box and Dr. Pratt. Some “moggies” there.
I consider the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to be roughly equivalent in terms of immunity outcomes.
I have a next-door neighbor who is a long time teacher’s union member. The union has been feeding her with the theory that once she is vaccinated and back in the classroom she will become a potential vector for asymptomatic transmission and should therefore lock down (outside the classroom) even tighter than before. She hasn’t done any classroom teaching so far this academic year.
Kulture Kwiz:
What is Ben Crump’s net worth ?
Rufus, it seems to me that sometimes, people’s personalities seem to change to mirror those of their pets. I noticed this with a friend of mine whose cat was very dear to him.
Cats have a great survival instinct; even to the point of knowing how to weather the Biden years. Hunker down, ignore the fools. I could almost hear the cat saying, “don’t go there”.
I love cats. I have every since our first Siamese, who moved coast to coast by air and car five different times; and to and from Hawaii once. Never a moment’s bother. She blazed a trail into our hearts for the seven who followed her over the course of the next fifty plus years.
I also love dogs, other people’s dogs.
How many would hurry home after school to watch American Bandstand?
I don’t trust cats. Now a dog I can read … head down, ears back, tail wagging etc. But cats are just mischievous.
jack:
I don’t trust them either, not since 15 years ago when a previously-friendly cat suddenly and with no warning bit me while was petting it. Hard bite on the fleshy base of my thumb; looked like snake fang marks.
Christina Aguilera belts out the best version of … At Last
Many years ago my wife’s cat Thomas had to be put down after biting her hard enough to go through a thumbnail and into the finger tip. It amazing how quick he moved to do the damage. He had become progressively more aggressive and unpredictable as he got older. She was pretty sure that Thomas was part feral. Her other cat at the time, Asher, was the complete opposite, predictable and gentle with us, yet bossed Thomas around.
@Rufus:
Have you put a Garmin Varia radar on the back of your bike(s)? Got one last year and it’s brilliant. Sensitive enough to pick up cyclists coming up behind as well as regular road traffic.
In the case of Cats, how much ‘Cat Domestication’ really is there? Isn’t it more that T. gondii has domesticated Cats and Humans to its advantage? 🙂
jack @5:33pm,
I know she’s doing it as a tribute to Etta James, and she gives Etta much praise during the lead in (and seems sincere), but… Well, it’s personal taste but I do not think the student has surpassed the teacher here. Especially when Etta did it sui generis, with nothing else to go on. Well, there were other recordings of the song (it was nearly 20 years old when Etta recorded it), but she turned it on its head.
om,
“It (sic) amazing how quick he moved to do the damage.”
Almost like it had cat-like reflexes?
zaphod @9:06pm,
Never heard of it. Just looked it up. Probably not necessary for me as I try to avoid traffick’ed roads as much as possible these days. I used to be fearless, but I had a bad, non-cycling related fall that messed up one of my arms for quite awhile. I’m now much more aware of my non-immortality!
Over 30 years I cycle commuted to various offices from various domiciles many, many, many… times, always in heavy traffic. One of those would have been very useful then.
What kind of riding do you do?
Jack,
Sorry, but Christina’s can’t hold a candle to Phoebe Snow’s rendition of
‘At Last’
‘New York Rock and Soul Review: Live At The Beacon.
Give it a listen. Better than Etta.
@Rufus:
Fair enough… and so much the better if you’re blessed with cycle paths and rail trails where you live. 30 years! I wish I’d had the good sense to start doing this when I was much younger.
Riding in traffic is an eye-opener re one’s fellow humans + keeps one’s wit and reflexes exercised. So there’s that.
There’s not a lot of flat terrain in Hong Kong, so climbing legs are a thing here. Longest possible climb is 10km at 10% and there are plenty of shorter and steeper climbs, ramps, and just plain walls. Disk brakes were a huge game changer here and the days of guys blowing out their carbon rims on descents are thankfully over. Standard road bike setup here is 50/34 in front and 11-28 or 11-32 in back.
Because of the hills and an oppressive climate for 6 months of the year, mostly ride road bikes for exercise/adrenaline around sunrise. It’s a real pleasure to be able to ride overseas and have many flattish kilometers of roads and lanes and bike paths to explore and that’s something I’ve missed during this Plague Year.
Also have a Brompton and a Moulton space frame bike — more suited to leisurely days out in the New Territories during the cooler months. These kind of quirky bikes are popular in Asia because go well with crowded public transport. Also it’s a rite of passage to climb steep hills on under-geared Bromptons and descend them at speed — two things they’re not really intended for!
Back to the radar. I’ve found it most helpful when riding fast or into a headwind. Wind noise makes it difficult to hear traffic approaching from behind. It seems to reduce the stress caused by not knowing what’s behind me. Definitely feel more relaxed in these conditions despite the safety aspect being more illusory than real given that I have no control over what the vehicle will or will not do.
I don’t know if Hong Kong is like China, where the traffic right of way goes by F = MA. The greater the potential force of the vehicle the greater its right of way. I witnessed some horrendous bicycle and motorcycle wrecks in China and I don’t think it was coincidence. It seemed like if one spent more than about 2 minutes at any intersection a vehicular accident was bound to turn up. Pedestrians, on the lowest rung of the “right of way” pecking order are very nimble and spry there!
As you know, right of way goes the opposite direction here in the U.S., but that doesn’t mean motorists actually pay any attention to cyclists, with or without motors.
Many states in the U.S. have been serious about building up trails and paths and making connections. Options just keep getting better and better. Communities took old, unused rail spurs and made them multi-use paths and cyclists formed political groups at the local level to get approval for long range plans, connecting paths all over the place, even across states.
E-bikes are catching on here. Harley Davidson even makes a model. I first noticed them in heavy use on tours catering to folks in their 50s and 60s while working in Europe about 10 years ago.
10km at 10% is a workout!
I love, love! riding in traffic. In my 20s I applied for a job as a bike messenger in Chicago, but got an offer at higher pay for a factory job before the messenger company got back to me. I would have loved doing that! It’s just that now I’m a lot less invincible than I used to be so I’ve learned to limit myself. Mortality has its downside.
@Rufus:
E-bikes are not legal to ride in HK (not that that stops anyone!) and a huge phenomenon in China. Rules of the road in HK are followed more or less, but have to watch out for truck, van, and bus drivers who can be a bit homicidal.
Envious re the rail trails!
Despite my politics being ultra-reactionary can’t help myself in supporting cycling initiatives which tend to come mainly from the other side. Guess willing to sell out some of my principles for a bike lane! 😀
I absolutely keep my political trap shut when out on the bike — especially back in the West.
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I am in complete agreement with the cat.
Another of Neo’s crushes, Jordan Peterson, is recently (about 3 months ago) back from a very long absence. I have heard him again on several podcasts and it is so nice to hear his voice. He has been through a great deal and a difficult ordeal the past two years. He has a new book out.
Cats and dogs.
It’s interesting that they seem to be alone in the pantheon of domestic, human animals. There are certainly horse people and bird people and fish people (I would love to have a wall of my home as a huge, salt water aquarium), and ferret people, and tarantula people, and snake people, but almost everyone (despite other, fringe, fauna interests) is a dog or cat person. Many are both.
How and why they became domesticated seems to be somewhat different and that seems to play into their personalities and the personalities of folks who prefer one over the other.
And I also am in agreement with Robert and with the cat. He (the cat) has obviously been watching too much news lately.
Saturday I purchased a new toy for my bike using Neo’s Amazon link.
Since it is an open thread and laughter is the best medicine, search YouTube for The Wrong Box and Dr. Pratt. Some “moggies” there.
Another blow to the fearmongers.
Pfizer vaccine shots actually stop asymptomatic transmission, too
I consider the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to be roughly equivalent in terms of immunity outcomes.
I have a next-door neighbor who is a long time teacher’s union member. The union has been feeding her with the theory that once she is vaccinated and back in the classroom she will become a potential vector for asymptomatic transmission and should therefore lock down (outside the classroom) even tighter than before. She hasn’t done any classroom teaching so far this academic year.
Kulture Kwiz:
What is Ben Crump’s net worth ?
Rufus, it seems to me that sometimes, people’s personalities seem to change to mirror those of their pets. I noticed this with a friend of mine whose cat was very dear to him.
Cats have a great survival instinct; even to the point of knowing how to weather the Biden years. Hunker down, ignore the fools. I could almost hear the cat saying, “don’t go there”.
I love cats. I have every since our first Siamese, who moved coast to coast by air and car five different times; and to and from Hawaii once. Never a moment’s bother. She blazed a trail into our hearts for the seven who followed her over the course of the next fifty plus years.
I also love dogs, other people’s dogs.
How many would hurry home after school to watch American Bandstand?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GQFgdsfplA
Since you asked here are the links for the moggies:
https://youtu.be/j73-5LRVHWM
https://youtu.be/KJbwtyHSu6E
I don’t trust cats. Now a dog I can read … head down, ears back, tail wagging etc. But cats are just mischievous.
jack:
I don’t trust them either, not since 15 years ago when a previously-friendly cat suddenly and with no warning bit me while was petting it. Hard bite on the fleshy base of my thumb; looked like snake fang marks.
Christina Aguilera belts out the best version of … At Last
https://youtu.be/Iipt5N6-rl8
Neo:
Many years ago my wife’s cat Thomas had to be put down after biting her hard enough to go through a thumbnail and into the finger tip. It amazing how quick he moved to do the damage. He had become progressively more aggressive and unpredictable as he got older. She was pretty sure that Thomas was part feral. Her other cat at the time, Asher, was the complete opposite, predictable and gentle with us, yet bossed Thomas around.
@Rufus:
Have you put a Garmin Varia radar on the back of your bike(s)? Got one last year and it’s brilliant. Sensitive enough to pick up cyclists coming up behind as well as regular road traffic.
In the case of Cats, how much ‘Cat Domestication’ really is there? Isn’t it more that T. gondii has domesticated Cats and Humans to its advantage? 🙂
jack @5:33pm,
I know she’s doing it as a tribute to Etta James, and she gives Etta much praise during the lead in (and seems sincere), but… Well, it’s personal taste but I do not think the student has surpassed the teacher here. Especially when Etta did it sui generis, with nothing else to go on. Well, there were other recordings of the song (it was nearly 20 years old when Etta recorded it), but she turned it on its head.
om,
“It (sic) amazing how quick he moved to do the damage.”
Almost like it had cat-like reflexes?
zaphod @9:06pm,
Never heard of it. Just looked it up. Probably not necessary for me as I try to avoid traffick’ed roads as much as possible these days. I used to be fearless, but I had a bad, non-cycling related fall that messed up one of my arms for quite awhile. I’m now much more aware of my non-immortality!
Over 30 years I cycle commuted to various offices from various domiciles many, many, many… times, always in heavy traffic. One of those would have been very useful then.
What kind of riding do you do?
Jack,
Sorry, but Christina’s can’t hold a candle to Phoebe Snow’s rendition of
‘At Last’
‘New York Rock and Soul Review: Live At The Beacon.
Give it a listen. Better than Etta.
@Rufus:
Fair enough… and so much the better if you’re blessed with cycle paths and rail trails where you live. 30 years! I wish I’d had the good sense to start doing this when I was much younger.
Riding in traffic is an eye-opener re one’s fellow humans + keeps one’s wit and reflexes exercised. So there’s that.
There’s not a lot of flat terrain in Hong Kong, so climbing legs are a thing here. Longest possible climb is 10km at 10% and there are plenty of shorter and steeper climbs, ramps, and just plain walls. Disk brakes were a huge game changer here and the days of guys blowing out their carbon rims on descents are thankfully over. Standard road bike setup here is 50/34 in front and 11-28 or 11-32 in back.
Because of the hills and an oppressive climate for 6 months of the year, mostly ride road bikes for exercise/adrenaline around sunrise. It’s a real pleasure to be able to ride overseas and have many flattish kilometers of roads and lanes and bike paths to explore and that’s something I’ve missed during this Plague Year.
Also have a Brompton and a Moulton space frame bike — more suited to leisurely days out in the New Territories during the cooler months. These kind of quirky bikes are popular in Asia because go well with crowded public transport. Also it’s a rite of passage to climb steep hills on under-geared Bromptons and descend them at speed — two things they’re not really intended for!
Back to the radar. I’ve found it most helpful when riding fast or into a headwind. Wind noise makes it difficult to hear traffic approaching from behind. It seems to reduce the stress caused by not knowing what’s behind me. Definitely feel more relaxed in these conditions despite the safety aspect being more illusory than real given that I have no control over what the vehicle will or will not do.
I don’t know if Hong Kong is like China, where the traffic right of way goes by F = MA. The greater the potential force of the vehicle the greater its right of way. I witnessed some horrendous bicycle and motorcycle wrecks in China and I don’t think it was coincidence. It seemed like if one spent more than about 2 minutes at any intersection a vehicular accident was bound to turn up. Pedestrians, on the lowest rung of the “right of way” pecking order are very nimble and spry there!
As you know, right of way goes the opposite direction here in the U.S., but that doesn’t mean motorists actually pay any attention to cyclists, with or without motors.
Many states in the U.S. have been serious about building up trails and paths and making connections. Options just keep getting better and better. Communities took old, unused rail spurs and made them multi-use paths and cyclists formed political groups at the local level to get approval for long range plans, connecting paths all over the place, even across states.
E-bikes are catching on here. Harley Davidson even makes a model. I first noticed them in heavy use on tours catering to folks in their 50s and 60s while working in Europe about 10 years ago.
10km at 10% is a workout!
I love, love! riding in traffic. In my 20s I applied for a job as a bike messenger in Chicago, but got an offer at higher pay for a factory job before the messenger company got back to me. I would have loved doing that! It’s just that now I’m a lot less invincible than I used to be so I’ve learned to limit myself. Mortality has its downside.
@Rufus:
E-bikes are not legal to ride in HK (not that that stops anyone!) and a huge phenomenon in China. Rules of the road in HK are followed more or less, but have to watch out for truck, van, and bus drivers who can be a bit homicidal.
Envious re the rail trails!
Despite my politics being ultra-reactionary can’t help myself in supporting cycling initiatives which tend to come mainly from the other side. Guess willing to sell out some of my principles for a bike lane! 😀
I absolutely keep my political trap shut when out on the bike — especially back in the West.