An asteroid the size of an SUV passed 1,830 miles (2,950 kilometers) above Earth, the closest asteroid ever observed passing by our planet, NASA said Tuesday.
If it had been on a collision course with Earth, the asteroid — named 2020 QG — would likely not have caused any damage, instead disintegrating in the atmosphere, creating a fireball in the sky, or a meteor, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said in a statement.
Democrats began this year’s hot political season with a dull pre-taped snooze fest on the first night of their DNC convention. They will do this for the rest of the week. Republicans will join them next week.
People are responding with……..snooze.
Neilson states that 5.7 million people tuned in to the first night of the Democratic National Convention on the major broadcast networks, cutting the viewership of four years ago in half as the virtual event proved a tougher sell than the traditional live gathering.
From 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. New York time, Monday’s convention debut drew 2.1 million viewers on Walt Disney Co.’s ABC, 1.9 million on Comcast Corp.’s NBC and 1.7 million on ViacomCBS Inc.’s CBS, according to Nielsen’s fast affiliate data. About 11.6 million people watched the first night of the event on those networks four years ago between 10 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., the website TV by the Numbers reported at the time.
Partying like it’s 1999?
Or like there’s no viral load to be shared!?
International media is abuzz with photos and video of a big pool party in the Wuhan province of China.
This was the epicenter of 2020’s 2019 coronavirus.
The photographs taken over the weekend at Wuhan Maya Beach Water Park show carefree swimmers putting the infectious past behind them!
Close contact?
It’s fine.
Here’s video of the event:
As the world suffers the new plague.. The city it started in parties into the night..
That seems appropriate, right? So many movie chains closed due to COVID.. but on August 28, it appears that anti social distancing will take place and NEW MUTANTS will be alive and well in safe theaters across the nation.
Unless something else changes. In 2020 anything is possible.
20TH CENTURY released a ‘meet the cast’ of the NEW MUTANTS:
Some have joked online that by the time NEW MUTANTS would be released they would be old mutants.
But it seems like the date may finally give us the film?
Showtimes have been listed for Dolby and Cinemark theaters.. Marcus Theaters are showing movies at 30% capacity and distanced seating with masks required.
AMC and REGAL are going to also be opening some theaters this week .. Of course we will see if there is a ‘FIELD OF DREAMS’ response (if you reopen.. they will come..)
In its latest survey on US adults’ comfort level with certain activities, conducted Friday to Monday, Morning Consult found that most respondents were more comfortable with other activities like going out to eat or going to a shopping mall. Morning Consult surveyed 2,200 US adults, and just 17% said they would be comfortable going to the movies immediately, a dip from about 20% earlier this month.
NEW MUTANTS may change that for some fans who have eagerly anticipated the film for —-years.
And remember: The initial teaser for this film came out 3 YEARS AGO.
After all that time.. they seem to be ready to finally arrive..;
August, 1990: Bush I was president. We were still trying to overcome the fact that the 1980s made high shoulder pads acceptable. And EXORCIST III was released into theaters..
But … reviews weren’t pretty.
And neither was the movie!
Malcolm Johnson wrote this in the HARTFORD COURANT:
Meanwhile, famed critic Roger Ebert described Kinderman and Dyer’s scene as “catastrophic”…
The plot of The Exorcist III is as much a detective story as it a horror. Dyer and Kinderman, having remained friends years after the events of The Exorcist, relate details from a series of gruesome murders in Georgetown, Washington DC. Ostensibly unrelated, Kinderman’s instinct informs him that a supernatural influence might be responsible for the killings. When Dyer meets his own grisly end, Kinderman’s determination to unravel the mystery strengthens further. In truth, the plot of The Exorcist III is not the most coherent. Responsibility for this may not fall at Blatty’s door; the film was originally titled Legion, after the novel on which it was based, and renamed at the insistence of Morgan Creek Productions. Morgan Creek also demanded the insertion of an exorcism sequence, to correspond with the film’s two predecessors.
The reviews were not kind.
But the audience was!
EXORCIST III was the number one film this week in 1990–it even beat the amazing GHOST with Sam Wheat consuming Whoopi Goldberg’s body!
This from Ed Blank in the PITTSBURGH PA PRESS:
Also notable for this week in the roaring ’90:
FLATLINERS.
PRESUMED INNOCENT
MY BLUE HEAVEN
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
PROBLEM CHILD.
So in that sense EXORCIST III wins!
We still talk about it today. And GHOST plus FLATLINERS.
As bad as some say it may have been… we miss its existence in theaters today.
These things can happen–even during a solar minimum!
Here is a time lapse of the sun from August 16 2020:
NOAA analysts have modeled the trajectory this CME.. Their conclusion: It could deliver a glancing blow to Earth’s magnetic field on August 20, 2020.. Thurday.
From NOAA:
Clearly, the storm cloud is not heading directly for Earth. However, NOAA models of the CME’s trajectory suggest it could deliver a glancing blow to Earth’s magnetic field on August 20th. Minor geomagnetic storms and high-latitude auroras are possible when the CME arrives.
And more reason for no fear: Fortunately, the SWPC noted that the CME was created by a B1-class solar flare, which is the weakest type. This means that only a minor geomagnetic storm would occur if the CME hits Earth.
There are a lot of universes in our pop culture. The DC Universe is moving to HBO. The domninant Marvel Universe seems to be everywhere..
But missing in action since the late 1980s: The Master of all of the universe, He-Man.
So the dazzling amount of toys that are now for sale at Walmart may touch at the nostalgic heart. But will they sell well for modern kids?
The new 2020 toy line is a little familiar. A little different. The plastic of the toys seems a bit lighter.. The face of the characters look a little lazier .. The figures stand the same, but movable arms and legs are now in play. And gone are the rubber bands that held legs on during the Reagan era.
Excitement began to build in June with the announcement of the toy line–albeit mostly in adults with kids. Not with their children, quite yet.
Walmart was named the official distributor of the news at this time, until some time in 2021 when the line will expand beyond just one retailer.
However there some anger initially in June. When Walmart listed the action figured online, they sold old immediately.
And now in August, as this image shows from my own local Walmart, the shelves cannot even stay filled. Although Battle Cat doesn’t seem as popular as the figures themsevles.
The boxing looks reminiscent of the 80s. Each figure even includes a comic book! Though not as long as in length, it certainly adds to the air of the past.
So why the sudden reemergence?
There seems to be a thought that NOW is the hot moment for He-Man’s triumphant return to the small and big screens alike. So why not toys, too.
Noah Centineo showed fans just how he’s transforming into his role as HE-MAN for a new film with two photos posted to his Instagram.. The movie is set for release March 2021 (we will see) ..
Beyond the live action film Kevin Smith is working on a He-Man project for Netflix release.
Information regarding the upcoming Netflix series is still a mystery, though it does boast an impressive voice cast, including Mark Hamill, Chris Wood, Kevin Conroy, Sarah Michelle Gellar and many more. Additionally, the series will serve as a new chapter in He-Man lore instead of being an origin story. Kevin Smith initially announced plans for a new He-Man series in August 2019 at Power-Con.
https://www.cbr.com/kevin-smith-praises-tony-todd-he-man-masters-universe-acting/
We don’t know.
This seems to be a gamble.
There are a number of parents that grew up during the prime time for Eternia in the 1980s that now have their own children.. those kids are consumers of pop culture. Consumers of Youtube. Consumers of all things comic and creative.. But will they consumer He-Man and his masters of the universe?
There seemed to be a sense of death in the He-Man world with the 1980s live action film .. while some secretly like it, it was a huge flop. It seemed to be made at the wrong time, the wrong era.. Kids just…outgrew it by the time it made it to theaters.
When He-Man was brought back in a new cartoon in the early 2000s, it was met well by critics and reviews were strong.. but it didn’t meet the same approval of younger kids the way the 80s version did.
And now we are back to the past: A cartoon is on the way back. Toys are too..
But will kids?
We don’t know.. we are unsure if this will be a hit that some hope for. But as fans of the 80s version, we are sure happy to see HE-MAN on toy shelves again.
The only thing missing is the KAY-BEE or Toys-R-Us store that they were in originally..
The Pentagon announces a new task force to research UFOs.. MORE: In a press release, the Defense Department, perhaps to avoid association with the extraterrestrial implications of “Unidentified Flying Objects,” used the term “Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon,” but it’s clear what it’s referring to: objects in the sky of unknown origin…
GET FRESH AIR! Fauci says the sunlight defeats COVID-19!
CDC says COVID immunity lasts for only 3 months!
As many as two million Californians were plunged into darkness over the course of four hours late Friday in the first rolling blackouts to hit the state since the 2001 energy crisis…
It is just the beginning..
Hurricane season about to go into overdrive..
Miley says her new song is about reclaiming her life..
< br> Rumors rampant online that the real life ANNABELLE that inspired horror movies escaped from a museum! But it’s not that fun: “I’m here to tell you something,” he said on the family’s YouTube channel. “I don’t know if you want to hear this or not, but Annabelle did not escape.”..
New THE BATMAN film will focus on Bruce Wayne trauma..
Normal Things: Gaten Matarazzo has been spending the coronavirus hiatus working at a restaurant
Star says STRANGER THINGS 4 will be worth the wait..
Bill Maher says: It’s time to cancel God!
Beauty at 54! Sizzling Halle Berry on a skateboard!
“The Reno office of the National Weather Service warned Northern California of a fiery tornado Saturday afternoon that had sprung up near a large, fast-moving wildfire in the Sierra. That’s right: A firenado,” the Sacramento Bee reported Saturday. “It is the first known issuance of a tornado warning for the climate phenomenon since it burst into California’s consciousness during the deadly Carr Fire in 2018.’
It’s not the first time one happened, keep in. I don’t.. but the first time a warning sound …
…people are tired of being tired. Sick of being sick. . angered at being angry.
We are fuming with emotions, we have it building up inside like a powder keg..
We are worried about school returning. Parental fears and how to teach kids while working is a huge question.. Facebook gives us daily fresh arguments about whether the virus is real or fake. Plandemic? Pandemic? Masks.. anti-maskers.. All of that can be found on a news feed near you.
But the state of mind that America– and the world — is slipping into as 2020 continues seems dangerous.
A number of memes have repeatedly tried to make us laugh about the state of affairs during the first year of these new roaring 20s. But instead we are being plagued with a real plague and real videos and accounts of people acting weird all over America. People losing it. Fights in parking lots.. riots on street corners.
Drinking.
Paranoia..
Suicides skyrocketing.
Opioid use rising..
We can all feel this happening but now science and stats back it up.
A new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made public on Thursday surveyed 5,412 Americans. It found that “40.9% of respondents reported at least one adverse mental or behavioral health condition.”
That is not a small number!
According to the new study, 31 percent of respondents were suffering from symptoms of anxiety or depression; 26 percent experienced symptoms of traumatic disorder; 13 percent were using drugs or alcohol more heavily, or for the first time, to cope with the pandemic; and 11 percent had seriously contemplated suicide..
“Younger adults, racial/ethnic minorities, essential workers, and unpaid adult caregivers reported having experienced disproportionately worse” mental health outcomes than other groups, the study concluded.
People are losing friends and family .. not to Covid. But to the lonely feeling of depression..
Anxiety symptoms tripled in incidence compared with the same period in 2019; the incidence of depression symptoms quadrupled. The rate of serious suicidal thoughts doubled in comparison to levels recorded in 2018.
Yes, there are fun commercials that talk about how great and whimsical it is to work in your pajamas or go to work meetings on Zoom without shoes.. but we are losing something else more substantial, doesn’t it seem?
More than 90 percent said they were not being treated for anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder before the pandemic struck, meaning that their symptoms arrived with the coronavirus and its attendant social disruptions.
My own personal account with a physician concludes this to be true: My family doctor has been overwhelmed with mostly healthy patients asking for antidepressants and medication to help cope with the newfound pandemic depression.
THE KIDS AREN’T ALRIGHT
There has been a long thought belief since March that kids were safe from Covid. That was a stretch of a belief for many.. this autumn will test that theory. We are about to advance into one of the strangest and most potentially dangerous experiments since 1918: Schools returning during a global pandemic.
Two news stories that bring caution to the air of the fall school season:
REUTERS has a report about Arizona stating this:
An Arizona school district that ignored state safety guidelines and voted to begin in-person learning on Aug. 17 has had to cancel classes after staff said it was unsafe to return and called in sick. Greater Phoenix’s J.O. Combs Unified School District cancelled all instruction for Monday due to “insufficient staffing,” days after its board disregarded state benchmarks on when students can safely return to classes during the pandemic. The “sick out” underlined the difficulties in returning to in-person learning in the United States after schools in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama closed this week as students and staff were infected with COVID-19 or forced to self-isolate from exposure.
And this strange activity from Georgia:
Remember that photo of kids randomly pushing each other without masks? And school then closed? And cases then popped up?
A result now known, the Cherokee County School District reported 80 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 1,106 students and staff quarantined as a result of those cases, for the week.
That number is almost triple the number of students and staff that were confirmed Covid-19 positive the prior week and double the number in quarantine.
In the first two weeks of school, the district has reported a total of 108 confirmed cases of Covid-19 among students and staff. Last week, 28 positive cases of Covid-19 were reported and 563 were in quarantine.
This is going to be a long, dark autumn.
IF WE MAKE IT THROUGH OCTOBER WE’LL BE FINE?
Maybe not.
But October seems to be the next date we are being warned about.,
Bill Gates predicts: BIG NUMBERS by October..
And the New York TIMES is among those asking loudly: Should we cancel Halloween?
And experts have opined as early as May: October 2020 will not look like October 2019.
Social isolation and distancing are taking hold.. anxiety of the spring turned to hope in the summer. But sadly these summer days are getting shorter.. the darkness is creeping in.
A lot of people are beginning to let reality sink in deep..
We need to support our friends, and our families.. we need to help those who are suffering.
And yes, YOU may be among them.. You may be hopeless like so many others.
National Suicide Prevention LifelineHours: Available 24 hours. Languages: English, Spanish.1-800-273-8255
Or just email me. I will try to help too.
