Thoughts of the world
It’s not the Rapture, it’s magical thinking
I don’t think I believe in "The Rapture," but it does seem as though the best people are being called home before Big Trouble happens to the rest of us.
I mean, ever since the deaths of Alan Rickman, Chadwick Boseman, and Betty White, I’ve had a sense that all the best people were being picked out of the herd and sent on to a better simulation before the demons break out in this one. And now we’ve lost Dolly Parton and Tim Curry, and I feel the looming sense that bad times are coming.
But I’m pretty sure it’s all just magical thinking.
All the best people from my childhood are old now, and it’s a sad fact of the matter that old people do tend to pass on. It’s the cycle of life.
I’m just really sad at the passing of Dolly Parton. She was such an angel.
She would have been a billionaire if she was selfish and horrible, but instead she was a millionaire because she went out of her way to use her excess wealth to help humanity and the world. She gave books to children. She funded vaccine research. She was always kind and considerate and I’ve never heard any accounts of her being unpleasant or mean or a source of negativity to another person.
She lived her life with grace and beauty. And the world is a lesser place without her in it, but it became a better place for once having hosted her presence.
And I’m heartbroken over the death of Tim Curry. I love "Clue" and "Rocky Horror" and he was absolutely terrifying as Pennywise the Clown. He was a grand talent, and we have all suffered a loss with his passing.
It’s sad when the legends of our youth pass out of our lives, but it is part of the cycle of life. They have moved on to a beautiful afterlife. They will be missed.
Japanese vending machines
I’ve been watching the videos of "Dig Dig JAPAN" on YouTube, and they’re no-dialogue videos that come with subtitles telling you what’s going on. And it’s the creator trying different products and experiences in Japan.
I’ve enjoyed watching the various trials of products from Daiso and other 100 yen shops. And I’m not saying I’m jealous we don’t have those shops here… but I am very envious. I wish we had those kinds of shops and products here.
Plus I’m learning a lot of stuff about Japanese snack culture.
Did you know they call minute rice "alpha rice" in Japan? And it’s seen as an emergency food?
It was while watching Dig Dig JAPAN trying "emergency curry rice" bought from a vending machine that I found out minute rice can be made with cold water. You just add cold water and let the rice soak for 60 minutes and you have "cooked" rice to eat. And it works because minute/alpha rice is precooked dehydrated rice.
So if you put minute rice in like a plastic jar or something, it would make a good addition for your disaster preparedness kit. Just include a few small cans of side dishes to eat with the rice or some dehydrated miso soup packs and voila. Or if you were really fancy, you’d include a few packs of ramen, then when you’re done eating the noodles you could add the rehydrated minute rice to the soup for a second serving.
Anyways, Dig Dig JAPAN went to a BANK that had a whole section of food vending machines inside. That way you get some cash money and spend it before you even have a chance to leave.
And those vending machines! There’s food you microwave, food you rehydrate, and frozen food. There was oden in a can where you slightly pop the top then put the can in boiling water to heat it up, then you can eat it right out of the can. There was frozen cake rolls, emergency curry rice, frozen soup from a local restaurant, and frozen chicken wings. There was even a carton of raw eggs!
Talk about a bank of vending machines.
I wish we had that kind of technology here in the United States. But we can’t even count on being able to get lettuce that won’t cause debilitating diarrhea.
Vivarium
The movie "Vivarium" is an interesting movie. It’s about a young couple looking to buy a house, so they follow a realtor out to a new housing development. And then he leaves them there.
You can feel their sense of shock and disbelief as they try to figure out what is happening and why.
I don’t want to spoil the movie in case you want to watch it, though I’m really kind of desperate to share my opinions on the movie because I have lots of thoughts and feelings. It was very fascinating.
So down at the bottom, past my signature, I’m going to include spoilers and thoughts. Please ignore them if you haven’t seen the movie or if you want to see the movie first.
"Vivarium" starring Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg.
I had the vending machine and "Vivarium" topics first, but I reorganized things because I think more lighthearted topics following sadness and grief can help lighten the emotional load.
~Harper Kingsley
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"Vivarium" SPOILERS
