UPDATE: With the exception of YouTube, just about all online video formats that allow embedding are of questionable quality and cause a variety of problems including slowing page loading, hanging halfway through and/or not playing at all.
This is why I am usually careful to include no more than one, maybe two non-YouTube videos each Saturday. I forgot my own rule this week and there may be problems with page loading or some of the videos. My apologies. The three videos in the last item, Cats With Politics, should be fine.
FINDING FRIENDSHIP IN A CEMETERY
For almost as long as I have been blogging, I have known elderblogger Claude Covo-Farchi who lives in France. She even visited me in Maine for a few days.
Then she realized she enjoyed photography more than writing, so she changed her blog name from Blogging in Paris to Photoblogging in Paris where she now posts some of her extraordinary photographs.
But every now and then, Claude busts forth with a story and what a good one she published yesterday, Au cimetiere Vaugirard. Don’t worry; the story is in English. Here is Claude’s accompanying photo.
Now go read the lovely story of two old people who meet during their regular visits to loved ones’ graves. You’ll be glad you did.
WHAT CAN HAPPEN WHEN THE CONVERSATION CHANGES
Until the #occupy movement began, the public conversation consisted largely of shared sacrifice meaning cut social programs for the 99 percent and reduce taxes for the one percent “job providers.” Now we are regularly hearing about fairness, democracy, inequality, election reform and much more.
You don’t need to be at an occupy encampment to be part of the change that is beginning to be evident. In this story from Atlanta, the sheriff and the movers refused to enforce an eviction request from Deutsche Bank against a 103-year-old and her 83-year-old daughter.
Watch this video to see what I mean.
BETTY WHITE AND JON STEWART
In June, I was privileged to interview the always wonderful Betty White for this blog. You can read it here.
This week, the sitcom in which she starts, Hot in Cleveland returned with new episodes on the TVLand channel and she has published a new book about all the animals she has come to know and love.
Here is her charming interview on The Daily Show earlier this week.
THE MAN WHO WANTS TO LOOT SOCIAL SECURITY
For decades, billionaire Peter G. Peterson has used his influence in a campaign to privatize Social Security. Recently, he has dedicated half is fortune, $1 billion, to this project.
Now Brave New Films is holding a vote on 30 of the one percenters. Visitors to the Who Are the 1% website are asked to rank each one from “ho-hum” to “pure evil.” The ones who receive the highest number of pure evil votes will then be exposed in a series of films from Brave New Films.
All of them rank pure evil in my estimation, but let’s vote up Pete Peterson not just for ourselves, but for our children and grandchildren to ensure for them a secure old age. You can do that here. Click the farthest right thumbs down image under Peterson’s photo.
AROUND THE WORLD IN FIVE MINUTES
The International Space Station circles Earth every 90 minutes. Most of us will never experience that trip, but TGB Reader Tarzana sent this NASA video showing what the astronauts see. This was shot on 21 November and, according to the website:
”Many wonders of the land and sky are visible in the eighteen sequences, including red aurora above green aurora, lights from many major cities, and stars in the background. Looming at the top of the frame is usually part of the space station itself, sometimes seen re-orienting solar panels.”
You can watch it here or in a much larger frame at the NASA website.
Earth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS from Michael König on Vimeo.
LIVING IN CARS AND TRUCKS
With an economy as bad as ours for as long as it has been going on, a lot of kids are affected. Last Sunday, 60 Minutes reported on some of the children of the unemployed who will both break your heart and amaze you with their strength and resilience.
POLITICS WITH CATS
Two of my favorite topics.
Peter Tibbles – you know Peter Tibbles who writes the Sunday Elder Music column – sent me some links to several segments of an Australian TV show named The Hamster Wheel wherein there is a regular feature about current events and politics in Australia where Peter lives.
You don’t need to know anything about Australian politics to laugh out loud.
That was so much fun, let’s watch another.
Oh, hell. Let’s have one more go.
Interesting Stuff is a weekly listing of short takes and links to web items that have caught my attention; some related to aging and some not, some useful and others just for fun.
You are all encouraged to submit items for inclusion. Just click “Contact” in the upper left corner of any Time Goes By page to send them. I’m sorry that I probably won’t have time to acknowledge receipt and there is no guarantee of publication. But when I do include them, you will be credited and I will link to your blog if you have one.
