Each Day as it Comes
Hey all, hope you’re all hangin’ in there, whatever that means in this age of WTF is happening now. Don't let the daily stuff pile on. There's so much that can weigh us down at any given moment, I'm going to break format and begin with a different kind of moment, something that occurred on the Artemis Moon Mission. The moment was emotional and triumphant.
Let's call it She lives on
Onward.
Fate – or whatever you might label that concept – altered the content and timing of this issue...by a lot. Fate in this instance will also be the main feature for a future piece. For now there’s a nice collection of Open Tabs, Photographs, a few Remarks sprinkled about, and end with An Out of this World Video.
Open Tabs
Due to the delay on this issue, there are more Open Tabs than usual (whatever 'usual' may be). I just want you to be prepared. And FYI to a few readers who have asked for less political 'stuff,' which I do attempt to keep in mind when I'm sorting through content, but it's very difficult to do currently. Hmm, could it be because politics has insinuated itself into almost every facet of our lives?
Dive in.
I wrote in a previous issue about the hidden — whether purposeful or an oversight depends upon your political party, apparently — wall plaque memorializing the efforts and sacrifices by the Capitol Police during the January 6th riots. The congressionally approved plaque had been in a storage room since its delivery to the Capitol building.
But then, after news orgs’ stories about the situation gained some momentum, gad zooks! It’s on the wall!
“Hi, excuse me, could you tell me where I can see the January 6th plaque that honors the men and women who put themselves up against thousands of rioters and kept all the politicians and their staffs safe?…”
“Great!”
“But you’re not allowed to go there.”
Data centers, data centers, DATA CENTERS EVERYWHERE!
Maybe not.
“Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, we’re proud to present, on our stage, a vocal group that's in their fourteen-thousandth year or so…The Dogs!”
Ah, nature, that thing that the current admonsteration thinks we should not worry about…so just leave that climate report in the trash, no, I mean, here, let us take care of that nasty ol’ report for ya.
(But if you do want a gander at it...)
Because of the war, oops, sorry, officially an “excursion” (yeah, you know, like a Disney cruise) or whatever it's called today, there's been a lot of ‘my missile can beat your missile’ stuff thrown around for months now, so to help us have a better understanding of it, here’s how those missile things work.
Nothing shows off your big white nationalist Christian love for everyone than declaring military men and women of any color other than white don’t deserve to be promoted…even though they’ve served in exemplary fashion and are already on the promotion list.
Related to the above, From the NYT — "Last summer, Hegseth signed off on a sweeping overhaul of how officers are selected for promotion and command. To lead the process, Hegseth tapped Anthony J. Tata, a retired brigadier general who once called President Barack Obama a “terrorist leader" and whose history of Islamophobic comments prevented him from being confirmed to a senior Pentagon position in 2020. In 2025 Trump selected Tata to oversee personnel policy in the military."
A million here, a million there, pretty soon you’re talking enough money to get yourself a presidential pardon, while all the people you f*cked over, including old people, get… f*cked.
Okay, did the dog story, so here's one about a horse who has really earned a mention just by sticking around this long.
A blatant self-promotion – Apple recently celebrated its 50th anniversary with lots of media and content about it, but...there's only been one exclusive deep dive piece about the producer who worked side-by-side with Steve Jobs for thirty years to introduce world changing technologies, and you can get it for a buck on Amazon!
The following film reference is so old I feel the need to explain that it's from the classic Stanley Kubrick film, 2001 A Space Odyssey. Which now means whatever chance I had of eliciting a grin from you readers is slim to none. Ah well, I'l press on anyway: "I can't do that, Dave. Oh wait, I can write a book about it though," it said without dread.
This...gosh, this is what I've dreamed of being able to do all my life. Really. Because the best musician I can be is often trapped in my head. But this guy is a one-man brain band!
On a serious note, few non-law enforcement organizations have done as much as the Southern Poverty Law Center, the SPLC, to pull back the hoods of hate groups. But knowing what's-his-name's white priorities and hatred of anything not Republican, it should be no surprise that this has happened. It should still enrage us:
From the New York Times – Bryan Fair, the interim chief executive of the group, said in a video that the Trump administration had “made no secret of who they want to protect and who they want to destroy.”
The center had for many years provided information and tips to local law enforcement and the F.B.I.
Late last year, the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, announced that the bureau was severing its ties with the group, calling it a “partisan smear machine” because of its use of a “hate map” displaying what it described as anti-government and hate groups. Mr. Patel also cut his agency’s ties with the Anti-Defamation League, a group that fights antisemitism.
Conservative criticism of the Southern Poverty Law Center intensified after the assassination of the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk in September at a public speaking event in Utah. A 2024 report from the center included a description of Mr. Kirk’s group, Turning Point USA, which called the group a “case study of the hard right.”
"Dude, looklooklook is that a worm shat is that let's over there let's go over here let's, wait, what did I say? Hey look let's go over there!!! said the fish on cocaine (to no touring musician's surprise)
Without going into much detail (damn, wish I had Smell-O-Vision for this one), I am old enough to remember that there was once a thriving industry that came to a home and took away all the messed diapers babies gifted their parents. Until...
Whales are way cool, beautiful, prescient and aware. But they occasionally get in serious trouble when they beach themselves, which can be caused by several factors, and in almost all instances beaching leads to death. Problem is, it can be a long, suffering demise, and we don't let our animals suffer if we can help it. Including an animal the size of a school bus.
Not that. This!
"Is it important?"
"Must be, 'cuz it's WRITTEN IN ALL CAPS."
"Why are you shouting?"
There are so many scenarios from which to choose…THERE’S THAT CURRENT GUY WHO USES ALL CAPS IN POSTS TO HIS FOLLOWERS TO GET SOME MEANDERING POINT ACROSS, but more ubiquitous is everything from a CAREFUL THIS IS POISON kind of warning on some medication to IF YOU PARK HERE WE WILL BLOW UP YOUR CAR in a commercial parking lot. But there’s also the instance of some co-worker, family member, or friend WHO PRINTS SOME REALLY POIGNANT SPEECH OR PRESENTATION FOR YOU TO GIVE AT A CONFERENCE OR EVENT AND THEY PRINT IT IN ALL UPPERCASE BECAUSE “IT WILL BE EASIER TO READ” AND YOU’RE STANDING UP THERE WITH FLOP SWEAT STINGING YOUR EYES AS YOU STUMBLE THROUGH BECAUSE EVERY FRIGGIN THING ON THE PAGE LOOKS THE SAME AND NOTHING IS EASILY READABLE, OR IF THIS WERE SOME POWERPOINT SEMINAR ON PRESENTATION DESIGN I WOULD HAVE INCLUDED IN ALL THIS IMPOSSIBLY DIFFICULT TO READ TEXT THAT I’LL GIVE TEN BUCKS TO ANYONE WHO IS ABLE TO READ ALL THIS AND SHOUT "I SEE THE VARMINT!" BEFORE THE NEXT SLIDE COMES UP, BUT NO ON EVER DOES IT AND THE TEN IS STILL IN MY POCKET...
Okay. Let’s take a breath.
Someone, somewhere in this country once convinced some schlub that to effectively convey important information on a sign or label or anything else, including contracts, all uppercase would convey the grave importance of the presented information.
Few things are further from the truth.
An all uppercase sentence or paragraph, or the worst, a paragraph of all uppercase words in a single-spaced paragraph (like that opening drivel you had to wade through to get this far), are terrible things to do to someone’s eyes and brain.
Information/graphic designers have been aware of this for eons. There are certainly times for all uppercase, to be used with design intention instead of cap lock madness. My good friend Lou Naidorf knew well the importance of, and misunderstanding about, effective text design.
Lou, an American Institute of Architects Lifetime Achievement Fellow, designed remarkable buildings during his career with the historic Los Angeles architecture firm Welton Becket. Among his designs, which include the Los Angeles Capitol Records Building and the Dallas Hyatt with its Reunion Tower, were many elements of LA’s Century City, a massive, `19XX planned business park and residences on XX acres.
His design responsibilities for the project included street design and transportation flow (which he split, above ground for general traffic and an entire underground street system for commerce and commercial traffic). As he recounted it to me, L.A.’s status quo was all uppercase for street sign names. Lou, being Lou, went his own way and designed blue signs with white letters, first cap and the remainder of the name lower case. “It’s easier to read, which is fairly important when you’re in the midst of getting somewhere, yes?”
Among the multitudes of L.A. city officials who often visited the project, one group approached and proposed a deal be made that would allow Los Angeles to adopt the white street name on blue background format for the entire city. "It's easy to read," said one of officials.
As it is today.
So if it's important, ALL UPPERCASE?
Not that.
This!
(the first time in a Story and Pictures piece that the final word is the actual thing that I've been yammering about)
Photographs and An Out of This World Video
Think of these as a visual lull in your day
May you find peace within, because outside the world is pretty damn stormy right now. As always, I appreciate the time you've spent here. Tell your friends.
MWH and trusty loyal (although a handful) companion, out.
