My tax preparer randomly started telling me about how he's invested money in a guy that is developing a "reactionless space drive" that works basically like this drawing. I was fighting the eye-roll when he added that the guy solved all the problems he was having with the design by asking ChatGPT. I started to explain how ChatGPT works then thought better of it. Easier to just find a new tax preparer.

obviously the product of too much booze, coke, and resultant self-confidence

And that's exactly how Toto got the gig doing the soundtrack for the 1984 version of Dune.

sare-en-get-EEEEEEEE

A radio station where I grew up (Cleveland) switched formats to alternative/grunge/whatever in 1990 or 1991 and they kicked this off by playing that song over and over for three straight days. It was a surreal experience to hear it on the radio every time I went to drive anywhere. For me, this was the real moment the '90s began (the other contenders being the premiers on MTV of "Groove is in the Heart" and "Smells Like Teen Spirit").

Apparently many stations all over the country switched formats the same way, by playing "End of the World as We Know It" over and over again.

My town had a bowling ball factory and on winter nights when the river was frozen we would steal reject balls and throw them off the bridge downtown. They made a truly incredible noise when they hit the ice.

Fuck, I don't even like changing tires on my bicycles.

Yeah, I really want to buy one of these things, but there's no place around that could do any kind of work on them. I also wouldn't mind a gas-powered scooter, but the nearest shops that sell them are over 25 miles away and they don't work on any scooters that they didn't sell you -- and their cheapest scooters cost even more than the Aventura-X.

I had a friend whose mom was a severe gambling addict. We visited them in Lake Charles and we got to stay in a free suite and ate for free at the buffet every night, thanks to the mom's status at the casinos. My friend told me that her mom had lost approximately $500,000 in total, and this was a woman that made $25 an hour as a nurse. That's about 10 years of career earnings totally pissed away.

At least they're not Necco Wafers, although they're obviously a related species.

9 out of 10 dentists approve! They have to send their kids to college, too.

Could have been, I don't remember. I tried to find a news article about it but this was from too long ago - mid 1980s.

We wouldn't have the phrase "cunt punt" without the greek system.