Reconcilable Differences 46: Some Form of Ballast
This week, things open with a shockingly thorough discussion of chickens that somehow pivots to Costco caskets, TV buying decisions, Merlin's increasingly strange pronunciations, and John’s reluctant agreement to become a cron job.
Follow-up covers John finding those charts about global living conditions and Merlin finally figuring out how to remember the name of that one song.
There's a fair amount of memory talk, including more explorations of John's perpetual memory doubts and mistrust, plus, Merlin introduces another one of his “runx” files.
Main topic this week is Valentine’s Day. Why Merlin hates it, and why John thinks it has its purposes. Why is tonight’s Holy Day of Obligation different from all others, and why exactly did John have a mat?
(Recorded on Tuesday, February 14, 2017)
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A recent survey asked “All things considered, do you think the world is getting better or worse, or neither getting better nor worse?”. In Sweden 10% thought things are getting better, in the US they were only 6%, and in Germany only 4%. Very few people think that the world is getting better.
What is the evidence that we need to consider when answering this question? The question is about how the world has changed and so we must take a historical perspective. And the question is about the world as a whole and the answer must therefore consider everybody. The answer must consider the history of global living conditions – a history of everyone.
The Notwist - "Pilot" - YouTubeMerlin remembered the song!
List of chemistry mnemonics - WikipediaMnemonic: Sentences to remember the elementsOriginal Ginsu 1 Ad - YouTubePre-Cana - WikipediaChang's Kitchen | Order Online | San Francisco | BeyondMenu"Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings"
Vision API - Image Content Analysis | Google Cloud PlatformNonsense images that computer vision algorithms are convinced are real thingsRoboCop - WikiquoteED-209: You now have 15 seconds to comply. You are in direct violation of Penal Code 1.13, Section 9.
The Elf on the Shelf | A Christmas TraditionSound of My Voice (2011) - IMDbNetflix - instantwatcher - The OA / Season 1Seven years after vanishing from her home, a young woman returns with mysterious new abilities and recruits five strangers for a secret mission.
Stay Alive (Beach) Commercial - YouTube"I'm the sole survivor!"
U.S. Postal Service - "Good News" (PSA #1, 1981) - YouTube"…because my little Danielle used the right zip!"
Cute, Scented, Collectible Characters | Num Noms"Nested lip gloss ice creams"
Holy day of obligation - WikipediaIn the Catholic Church, holy days of obligation (also called holydays, holidays, or days of obligation) are days on which the faithful are obliged to attend Mass.
Deep neural networks are easily fooled: High confidence predictions for unrecognizable images | Evolving AI LabCot–caught merger - Wikipedia