Fantastic Beasts

 Say what you will about 2016 but Thanksgiving this year was wonderful for us. The weather was gray and rainy in northern Michigan but the family times were bright and warm. It was great to see my Aunt Barbara with two of my cousins, having a cozy dinner and being with her after the passing of my Uncle Chuck at the end of September. We were also able to spend some quality time up at Douglas Lake with my sister and brother-in-law. We watched a just-inches-short but epic for the ages Michigan-Ohio State football game. Both teams were 10-1, ranked 2 & 3 nationally, and put on an edge-of-seat, slam-bang game with 2 exciting OTs before the cursed Buckeyes managed to score the winning touchdown -  after a questionable call!

We also enjoyed one of the treats of the season, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. This film is an extension of the Harry Potter universe but with a new cast and different, more adult orientation. It is set in 1920s New York city, the bustling, young metropolis of fresh-off-the-boat immigrants, Jazz-age hipsters and art deco styles. The young traveler Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) arrives by ship unaware that in the United States, magic has been pushed under ground and magical beasts outlawed. A fast-moving plot involving comic confusions, sinister big-shots, creepy religious fundamentalists and a wonderful cast make this a truly welcome 2-hour vacation from the strange times we are living in. Joe Bob says check it out!

Speaking of Fantastic Beasts, have you seen the real-life creep show that is taking shape in King Mida's under-construction administration? A weird, unearthly menagerie of fringe congress critters, Fox News graduates, Right-Wing think tank escapees and various other frauds, true-believers and crank billionaires are flocking to the new Versailles on the Hudson.All the TV cameras are excitedly pointed to the Gold-encrusted lobby of Trump Tower! Who will he pick! Who gets fired! It's so exciting, you could almost miss the $25M fraud settlement against Trump U, the private talks with overseas investors, the preparations to gut Medicare & Social Security....

Lots to talk about in the near future - for now I would like to share this link to George Lakoff's essay "A Minority President: Why the Polls Failed, And What the Majority Can Do". He is a professor of linguistics at UC Berkeley and studies the intersection of Politics with neural & cognitive science. He discusses how our actions are influenced by sub-conscious processes, language and frames of reference. I'm digesting the article now and think it offers much to think about and discuss. 

What do you think?