Friday Follies...

Welcome to the weekend at long last.
Seems like when the weather gets as weird as it's been lately, the week drags on.
But, we're finally here, and we get a brief respite before we get back into the winter chill.
Our Hoosierland weather for today will see us with partly to mostly cloudy skies, and temps again reaching around 40 degrees..
Rather than snow, we get some rain instead in the afternoon (snow comes later into the weekend, and doesn't appear to be much in the way of accumulation). But, by Monday, it WILL be colder, so enjoy this while you can.
In the meantime, let's get a nice warm, soothing cup of Friday Fortitude poured and parked close by as we see what's going on elsewhere...
*** First out of the pencil box is our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
January 15 -
---Today is NATIONAL HAT DAY

(wear 'em if 'ya got 'em)
---And, it's NATIONAL STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM DAY

(Haven't had this in quite a while. I prefer strawberry yogurt these days)
*** Now, since it's Friday, let's see what kind of things will be happening over the weekend:
January 16 -
---Saturday is NATIONAL NOTHING DAY

(I thought Obummer's b'day was August 5th?)
---It's also NATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM DAY

(Bet the leftards and atheists will be livid over this one. Serves 'em right)
That's freedom OF religion...and NOT freedom FROM religion. Got it?
---And, it's NATIONAL FIG NEWTON DAY

(I really need to get me some. I could go for a few.)
January 17 -
---Sunday is NATIONAL HOT BUTTERED RUM DAY

(..."light on the butter" said Bing in White Christmas)
So, there you go...have at it...or not.
*** Next, we are starting this year in fine style with another one of THOSE police calls.
Here's the story link:
http://wane.com/2016/01/14/bomb-threat-brings-droves-of-police-to-barricaded-man/

Now, this story seems to "change" particulars at every newscast.
First, we had some guy old up in a house with a knife, who supposedly tossed a large firecracker onto a neighbor's lawn, which precipitated a call to police for "explosives".
Then, it was said he was barricaded inside the house, so the FWPD rolled out the special tactics units , waited FOUR hours outside before sending in some tear gas and then an entry team.
The house was EMPTY the whole time, it seems.
So, we have "forty units" (said WANE reporters) closing off a neighborhood, school buses not being allowed entry into the perimeter area (at least 2 blocks surrounding the house), and  neighbors were not allowed within the area to get to THEIR houses....and no on was home at the suspect's house.
How do you figure that one out when it comes to expenditures and resource allocation? And why wasn't entry attempted LONG before the 4-hour limit?
This is kinda weird, and the perp is STILL at-large.
*** Next, another savage gets arrested for beating up a woman in Fort Wayne.
Here's the story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/police-fire/Man-charged-in-woman-s-injuries-10945251
It's not the first time this brute took to violence to sate his appetite for chaos.
This time, a woman was found unresponsive in a house in the 800 block of Huffamn St.

Takes a real "man" to beat a woman..

A 911 call alerted police to the incident.
The woman was taken to hospital in critical condition with unspecified injuries.
The perp, Brent Stephen Browning, 29 was found and arrested soon afterward.
*** Next, as if we didn't have ENOUGH things to be distracted over while driving about, we have something that might manage to lessen the load, as it were.
Here's the story link:
http://wane.com/2016/01/14/put-the-phone-down-license-plate-now-available/

We now have a LICENSE PLATE that tells others to "put the phone down".
I'm sorry, but this is just not worthy of ANOTHER tag in this state. We already have OVER FIFTY DIFFERENT plates, aside from the "regular two" already being issued (Bicentennial plate and the In God We Trust plate).
besides, those ON the cell phone will be to busy to notice these "safety plates", right?
I dunno...sounds like a cheap way to make money for the BMV.
*** Next, Wifey has been doing the "parent conference" gig the past two evenings, which means she rolls in after 2100 hours...not a good thing to drive through our area after dark and in cold weather.

People get shot in their vehicles, and you might just have a car that looks like another car that someone has a grudge against the driver of, so that could get nasty real fast.
The natives do get restless after dark...shame the po-po doesn't.
Anyway, that means she has off today, so our "schedule" is being amended accordingly.
She also has off Monday, so the schools have a 4-day weekend...how nice is that?
*** Next, and speaking of driving about...did you know the FEDS are really "bullish" on self-driving cars? It's true, and here's the proof:
http://www.journalgazette.net/business/Feds--bullish--on-driverless-cars-10943698

Oh, I'm sure that BULL figures into this as usual because the feds are involved.
With ALL the technology we have (and I've spoken about here), what better way to control the populace, right?
And this is just another way to go about it.
After all, the government KNOWS BEST for you and your life, right?
How dare you TRY and live YOUR life saddled with all that freedom and liberty.

SOME people drive this way ALREADY.

More regulations, which will mean more money generated for an ever-growing behemoth known as government.
Rather than even trying to make the DRIVER smart (and informed) let's just make the cars smarter (which makes YOU dumber...it's a logical progression; one which the feds are only too happy to accommodate).
Maybe, in a few extremely particular circumstances, this "could" be a godsend, but for the vast majority, it's just another way to wrest autonomy from the individual and give it to the machines of Big Brother.
*** Next, we've lost another celebrity this year...Alan Rickman (Hans Gruber, the antagonist in the original DIE HARD movie) has passed awy due to cancer, and he was 69 years old.

And here's his WIKI:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Rickman
He was also in the Harry Potter flicks, AND, was in Galaxy Quest (with Tim Allen).

This year, we will see Rickman in two films that will be released as well (Eye In The Sky and Alice Through The Looking Glass). Both are slated for a spring release.
---And we also lost Brian Bedford, who is remembered for his marvelous stage acting as well as being the voice of Robin Hood. in the Disney animated movie.

He died of cancer on 13 January. He was 80 years old.
I remember him as the "comeback" driver Scott Stoddard in the movie Grand Prix (starring James Garner). Also got to see him at the Forrest theater (Philadelphia) in 1979 in a tour of the play Deathtrap.

Here is his WIKI:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Bedford
The awards he won at the Stratford-On-Avon are numerous and he was second only to Jason Robards with Tony nominations.
Both will be sorely missed.
*** Last back to the bookcase... I suppose the quality of the actors in whatever roles they took is what we remember the best.

Nothing wrong with acknowledging that, is there?
Many who have passed or are leaving us recently had some serious "formal" training.
And yet, many of the American icons were what we might call "working class" actors. Bogart comes to mind. Some came from the song and dance arena (Cagney), and some even came to us from summer stock troupes (Jimmy Stewart).
But ALL of these people had a unique talent - the ability to make us CARE, whether it was about the character portrayed, or the person doing the acting.
Today's actors are nowhere close to the caliber of those from decades past, and I suppose much of that mirrors society.

Can we say something similar about ourselves?

People today are a shadow of the former (or even aging) inhabitants of this great nation.
It would be nice to get some of that familiar aspect to our country back again, before we forget it altogether.
We cannot remain divided, nor can we afford to chase after every whim, or fad...or nuance that's pushed in our faces. We were always better than that...and we can be once again.
Do have yourselves a great weekend.

Be well, make a difference to someone today, and as always...
Stay SAFE out there, America.