I love that show! Do you play or watch any sports? I just read about cricket- nothing I'm familiar with, but I did see that the longest match in history took 14 days. I wonder how long a normal match takes...


I dont play any sports,  I work out,  go to the gym,  snowboard and swim.  I have never played cricket,  but that is insane!  I have heard of tennis matches going for like 3 days though lol


I don't play any either, but I do a lot of the same things you mentioned! Except swimming. I'm a horrible swimmer. I don't know much about tennis, but that sounds really long lol Apparently the US has a cricket team from Compton that won the British cup two times


Wow I didnt realize people in Compton play cricket,  that is impressive though!


Right? Kind of surprising. Are you interested in travel?


Absolutely!  I hear the dutch are creating this crazy fast bus, supposably it travels 160mph!  We need that in California!


Thats amazing! I can't imagine how much faster my work commute would be. Did you know iceland has no public rail service at all? Apparently people either drive or use domestic flights. Sounds expensive!


Ugh,  that sounds horrible.  I wonder why that is.  maybe its cheaper if more people use it a lot.  I read that Mackinac Island has no motorized vehicles.  They travel by horse or bike,  how about that commute??  lol


Yeah I was wondering the same- maybe people just don't travel much there. I can't even imagine commuting by horse lol I guess this is making me grateful that I at least don't have to fly or ride in a carriage!


traveling by horse sounds tiring!  I took a few horse back riding lessons and after a few hours your thighs really hurt,  just from the position you are in.  And is there free horse parking?  Do you have to pick up your horses poops like you do with dogs?  Thats crazy lol


I used to ride competitively when I was younger and yeah its definitely a work out! And i'm not sure what you would do if you had to ride your horse to work...and maybe the city takes care of the poop? This town sounds super weird lol Did you know all the highways in Japan are toll roads? Apparently it costs around $300 to travel across the country


I did know that,  that country wants to charge you for everything!  it is so expensive there from what ive heard.  I am visiting next year in Feb.  mostly to go snowboarding lol everyone talks about the JaPow!


It sounds super expensive! I'm super jealous you get to visit to snowboard- I've heard their snow is insane!


I know right!  Cant freaking wait!  My friends are going up next month Im super jealous of them!


Well hopefully they come back with good experiences and advice to share! That way you can avoid spending that $300 driving around lol


lol right!  Have you traveled to go snowboarding?


Not outside of the US, but Ive gone to Park City a few times. Nice talking with you! Enjoy your travel to Japan!


Good. And you? Do you like to travel? Ever been to Japan?


I do like to travel but I have not been to Japan. What about you? Do you like to travel and have you everbeen to japan?


I have not but it's on my bucket list. I'd think twice about driving while I was there though. EVERY highway is a toll road.


Really! That's strange. Why do you think that is?


Probably to keep traffic down. That's my guess anyway. At least they're not like Makinac Island where they don't allow any cars at all. That's some serious traffic control.


I think it would be good, if the island was small enough and nice enough. If it were in a nice area, where you could ride bikes year round, I would love it.


Yeah, that would be very leisurly. They use bikes or horse drawn carriages I think.


I couldn't do the horse drawn carriage thing. It would take too long... "I have to go to town, get the horse and buggie ready!"


Would be a little smelly too. In Iceland they have to fly everywhere if they don't have a car. There's no public rail service.


That could get really expensive quick! Have you heard about a start up and Uber partnering for flying cars, more like drones, that would take a trip around chicago from 1.5 hours to 8 minutes...


I did not. That would be a better wat to get around Iceland also. When do they plan on testing it I wonder?


2025 is what I heard. I think it was a segment on a podcast I was listening to. It wuld be nice to have it but I wouldn't trust it yet.


Yeah, there's no failsafe if your flying car breaks down and you plummet to your death. It would be cool to fly an Uber to my Cricket game. I think I'd look cool landing on the pitch.


Yeah, that'd be baller! The worst would be the poor peole on the ground that get killed by a falling drone like machine.


Yeah, not a great solution. Sorry Jetsons! But seriously do you play Cricket?


I do not. I cannot understand it for the life of me. I do love sport though.


It's kind of like baseball but with only two bases or bowling with only one pin to try to hit.


I was on a US born team from COmpton. We won the British Cup twice.


There's so much to unpack there. Maybe next time. Take care.


Well the game is very similar to baseball! You score runs by hitting the ball bowled towards you, and the other team tries to catch the ball to get you out!


I know a little bit, like the fact that the game is played by two teams and each one has 11 players


Yeah there's definitely some differences, also to my knowledge there isn't a wicket in baseball, and a lot more field to cover than 22 yards.


Yes, cricket has a small field. I found there is an indian player whose name is Napoleon einstein


That's a strange name for sure haha, I wonder if he ever got bullied for it in the sport. I know the best player in cricket's history had nasty tactics against him, leading to the other teams facing consequences


And the consequences went far beyond, there were even diplomatic consequences!! for England and Australia


At least karma wins out in the end, the best teams aren't always the ones that play it most. There was an all US team from Compton that won the British Cup twice.


Australia has been so important in cricket, I learned they had won 45% of all cricket cups


That's crazy! Although it makes sense considering their overall dominance, I think they've been in more than 60% of all finals right?


That is right and there is a very interesting match that occurred in 1939, do you know why it is so interesting?


No I haven't heard of it! I don't follow cricket a whole lot, but what happened?


Well, this was a match between England and S. africa and lasted fourteen days, i can not imagine how it was!


Oh my goodness, I would've dropped from exhaustion long before that, I wonder how many people had been dismissed from the game by the end of it! That has to have been the longest game ever.


Well, talking about records, there is one that I would like to copy. It is a travel record by the king Kalakaua, who was the first king to travel around the world


Ahah that's certainly some ambition you have, I want to travel a lot but I found out Japan may not be the best place for me, to go across the country it costs over $300 just in tolls!


That is a lot! I would do it just once because i agree, it is a lot of money. I would be a different story in Mackinac island, where there are only horse drawn carriages


Wow that would certainly take a long time. I can't imagine what would take longer, that or traveling in Iceland, where most people without cars have to use domestic flights to travel between towns.


That is the beauty of it, each place is completely different! Even there is  a commuter bus in the making that would travel at 160 mph!


I bet that's useful especially when you don't have enough room for horse carriages everywhere! Feels like Mackinac Island should definitely withdraw their ban on motorized vehicles and modernize.


Well It was nice talking to you! have a good one!


Hi, do you have a dog? Either as a pet or in another role?


I don't but I used to . We have two cats now. Did you know that dog and elephants are the only animals that understand pointing.


I did not. Sometimes I think my cats do, but they probably don't. I always thought dogs and wolves were closely related until I saw a wolf last week and looked it up. Turns out the wolves that domesticated dogs decent from are a lot different then todays wolves.


I find dogs interesting. I did not know that there are 12 different blood types that dogs could have. And I did not know dogs could donate blood at dog drives.


Yes! I see them advertise them at the local pet store. I had no idea either. I guess there are benefits to being the first domesticated species.


And what I think is kind of interesting is that Google prefers dogs to cats and it is stated they are a dog company


It's weird when people bring their pets to work. Dogs are more workers, they have so many uses like herding or helping you hunt, where as cats are just like roommates.


That is true. I think we should do what they do in Istanbul. If they recycle plastic bottles they have a vending machine to feed the citys stray dogs.


That is a great idea. It's sad to see any abandoned pet outside dog or cat.


Do you have any other pets? I also have a couple of snakes and a legless lizard which although it looks like a snake is not a snake.


I used to have snakes. I had a mouse that ate my snake once. I should move to New Zealand there are no snakes there.


I almost don't want to know what they did to get rid of them. It's funny how some people like us are not afraid of snakes. The fear of snakes is hard wired into the human brain.


Did you know there are some flying snakes that launch themselves at prey. I would love to see that


Crazy. I have not seen them. A lot of people who come over mistake my legless lizard for a snake but once you know how to tell them apart it's so obvious. The ears especially give him away.


I do. You might know this or you might laugh but I love Clint Eastwood's jazz music, but not so much his movies.


I like that there is a woman in harlem who has had free jazz concerts for 20 years and some jazz artists actually stop by. That's pretty cool.


Neat. I'll have to check that out next time I'm in NYC. Free too!


It is awesome that Jazz is played all over. In Pakistan they have a jazz artist who's on the charts.


Cool! I think I'm going to go listen to some jazz now, I have some really old lps. Anyway have a great night.


Hello - I used to go to the library all the time when I was little, but I haven't been to one in a very long time. What about you? \


I agree. I used to go, but no longer. I feel it is a shame since a library is an invaluable resource for the community, offering vast amounts of resources


Yep. Did you know Jupiter saves Earth from many asteroids?


I did. It is among the many facts you can find in the library. Did you know a falsely imprisoned man spent 10 studying law and became a lawyer after proving his innocence?


Oh wow that's pretty amazing. I saw that the direction of Earth's magnetic field reverses every 200,000-300,000 years.


What kind of affect does the reversal of magnetic field have on life on earth?


I have no idea on that. I'm thinking maybe natural disasters and things of that nature.


Did you know that if earth's history was viewed as a 24 hour period, humans only make up for 1 min and 17 sec?


That's pretty eye opening of how short humans have lived on the Earth.


It is a shame though that in such a short time we have destroyed 80% of earth's nature forests. I hope we can change that for the better going forward the next few minutes


The Earth is almost 4 times as dense as the sun.


That is pretty cool. Do you think earth will continue to be the only life inhabited planet?


I'm not sure on that. I'm a religious person and think God only put people on this planet. I have no idea if there is other life out there.


The UN even appointed official ambassadors for extraterrestrials just in case


That's crazy. Do you think there is other life out there/


Considering the vastness of space, it seems more likely for more life to exist than not


Yea that's a good point. It's hard to say if there is other lifeforms out there. Switching gears a bit, did you know there are at least 17 ways to tie your shoes?


Haha yea same here. I really only use 1 way.


I wonder if shoes will evolve to be lace less? In any case, thank you for the enjoyable chat.


Hello, do you know much about the earth?


Good enough. When earth was created apparently the day was only 5.5 hours


I know no time for nap. And 71% of the earth is covered in water


Wow! That seems like a lot. I wonder how much is salt water like in water world.


The majority of it. Sadly, 80% of the forests have been destroyed


That does make me sad. Teddy Roosevelt was a known conservationist. He made the National park and forest service.


Wow, goof for him.  Did you know earth will be helium free by the end of the century?


Is that a bad thing? Can we make it in a lab?  Can old shoes perform better than new shoes?


Yeah apparently shoes that date back to 5000 years ago are much stronger


Maybe those cobblers can make ballet shoes. They go through 4 pairs a week!


Yeah that is a lot of shoes. Do you know how the keep them smelling fresh?


Hahaha yes great option. But also tea bags


can you imagine wheelbarrowing 32000 books at 85 years old?


No but I heard Gladstone did that. What an amazing man


I would just give up... There are more libraries than mcdonalds so that is a good start.


I like that fact a lot. Have you heard of the Library of Things?


A library in Sacramento where you can borrow other stuff besides books. Nice chat :)


Personally, I like most animals, regardless of whether they are cats or dogs. I admit however that the history of man and dogs are a long and interesting one.


Who would've thought that man's best friend would truly be man's best friend and be able to get blood transfusions?


Honestly, I don't know why the concept that animals can give eachother blood transfusions never occured to me. However, dogs have adapted very well to living with humans.


The stray dogs are spared in Istanbul due to generous recyclers who put0 their recyclables in a machine that dispenses food and water to them.


That is very fascinating. Considering how many people love their pets, I think that would definitely motivate some people to recylce more. I didn't get to ask, do you like most animals like dogs or snakes?


I sort of like dogs, but snakes no way!  I respect that they are such stealthy animals that can swallow prey bigger than their heads though!


Personally, I am okay with reptiles like snakes, but I do feel that you can't get as close a bond with them than other mammals. This may be due to the inherent fear of snakes wired into the brains of mammals. For instance, you have seen those videos of cats being scared of cucumbers?


My dog is afraid of vacuums.  So maybe they look like snakes with all those hoses.


They probably don't understand what vaccums are. If I didn't know what vaccums were and this weird thing made weird noises and sucked air, I would be scared of it too.


I wonder if animals in New Zealand fear snakes because they have none there.


It must be a paradise for people who hate snakes. I mean in some places there are flying snakes.


I guess that makes legless lizards not seem so scary.


I mean I'm fine with reptiles if they can't bite my arm off or they don't have poison. Although I fear crocodiles like poisonous snakes, I never knew crocodiles are more closely related to birds than snakes.


I like observing animals and all the neat things about them, but there's nothing like relaxing to some smooth jazz!  I would have loved to see the free jazz concerts in Harlem hosted by a woman at her apartment the past 20 years.  Some famous people even have been there.


Jazz is very intriquing as it maintained its core essence all the while abosorbing and drawing from different national, regional, and local cultures to adapt unique styles. Even in Korea, jazz bars are quite popular.


I wonder why growing goatees adds comfort to jazz trumpeters.  I played the trumpet, but I don't see the connection.


Perhaps it is a cultural phenomenon, a symbol of their art?


Maybe Clint Eastwood understands as he has enjoyed jazz all his life.  I didn't know he played the piano


Jazz is now a major form of musical expression with many famous players such as Clint Eastwood. As you said, perhaps he would understand. After all, it seems like he is a man of many talents and understanding.


I wonder what a jazz orchestra sounds like?  They have one in Pakistan.  Would they have violins in jazz?  Nice talking to you!


I love animals. I especially love dogs. How do you feel about dogs?


I'm a huge dog lover. I grew with them all my life. Funny though, since I've been on my own I've had a cat. I really want a dog too though.


I currently also have cats. Did you know that there are 12 different blood types for dogs?


Nope! Interesting though. Us humans only four. Do you have a favorite type of dog?


I tend to the like the smaller ones but not too small. French Bulldog sized dogs. They also have blood drives for dogs which is very nice.


I love Golden Retrievers. Always had once growing up. So smart. My parents recently had a Novia Scotia Duck Trolling Retriever. Smartest dog I've ever known. He had a huge vocabulary.


They are both very smart dogs. Did you also know that dogs and elephants are the only animals that have the instinct to understand pointing?


Yeah, they can learn over a thousand words and reason better than chimps too!


Oh wow! Very impressive. Have you heard about the dog vending machines in Instanbul?


No I did not. Is it for dog treats for the human owners or can the dogs actually use them?


I'm not sure who does the deposit but it will release food and water for stray dogs in exchange for recycled plastic bottles. That's such a good idea.


I bet the dogs are smart enough to figure out that if they bring plastic back they get food. That's awesome! In Moscow some dogs have actually figured out how to use the subway.


I'm sure they are. Wow! I did not know about the subway in Moscow. We should give animals a lot more credit.


Yeah I mean we haven't even really mentioned all the dogs that have actual jobs lol. It's incredible.


It definitely is. Did you know that dogs being color blind is a myth?


I think I've heard that before. They just see color in lower definition or something right?


They just don't see as many colors as we do.


Did you know that dogs attached themselves to earlier humans by hanging around and getting rewarded with food?


I did not but that makes complete sense. I know that they say that the direct ancestor of current domesticated dogs is likely extinct.


Right it was a different kind of wolf that dogs evolved from them. I think smaller and probably less aggressive towards humans.


Yes the modern wolves are not closely related to that wolf. Nice chatting with you.


A little. I have read a few of the Marvel comics.


I know that people call them "graphic novels" now. The story lines have become more serious. I don't know how I would go about picking the best books of the year.


Comics go back as far as the 1830s and started in Japan


Really? I didn't know that. I imagine that pictorial story telling went back to the Egyptians.


Comics actually started  out as strips in newspapers in this country


The name is a bit misleading because many of the stories are quite serious. I heard that Stan Lee ends his converstaions with the word "Excelsior!" I wonder what that's about.


Stan Lee will forever be remembered. His passing was a great loss to the comic world


I heard that he got $1 million per year just to stay alive! That's a great incentive. I heard that Marvel trademarked the names super-hero and super villain.


I am just glad that Michael Jackson didn't get his hands on Marvel, he would have likely ruined it


Disney has made a lot of movies, which is good, but I wonder how the fans feel about Marvel now. Do you read DC comics ever?


DC stands for detective comics, so DC Comics stands for detective comics comics. I think Marvel is more popular in general.


I always found it interesting that Google got its domain from Garfield


I didn't know that! Garfield?! I think it is one of the boring-est comics out there. Lasagna + Mondays = humor? Not to me!


I was a huge Garfield fan when I was a kid


Comics are a good way for kids to learn to read. I liked reading Peanuts.


I wish I had a copy of the first comic, Famous Funnies. That is worth a lot of money I bet


I bet! I wonder what was in it. Famous Funnies, but I have no idea what characters where in there. No so famous now, I guess.


I wonder what the early Japanese comics were like?


Probably different from today's. Maybe based on samurai and ninja, not cutesy characters.


I don't think I would find them too funny either


LOL! I agree. Maybe people didn't see the medium as inherently funny. Might have watched live entertainment for laughs.


I enjoyed our conversation about comics. Thanks


Hey, I'm doing pretty well. How are you?


I am doing well! Are you a fan of hip hop? I am a pretty big fan myself, its been around since the 70s


I do. I'll add a caveat that I'm a white guy and 90's grunge is my favorite type of music, but I'm into everything. I don't know much about the history though, especially the stuff in the 70's but I loved rap from the 90's and early 2000's.


I have heard that Mcdonalds used to pay artists for referencing the big mac in their music!


Doesn't surprise. You still artists doing stuff like that today. I wonder who referenced McDonalds? Not Eminem, Jay-Z, or Nas. I could see Lil' Wayne.


I could too haha. Muhammed Ali is regarded as a hip hip pioneer because of the poems he wrote, he probably did not talk about mcdonalds though haha


Definitely not. Did you know after the US, France is second largest hip hop market in the world? I remember Tony Parker, the NBA player put out a rap album in French.


that is very interesting, I wonder why it caught on so well in france but nowhere else?


I don't think NBA player's do well with music, but I think the reason is that he's actually French himself. Hip Hop is usually about your culture so it would make sense.


that is true I suppose, Hip hop really exploded here in america though, very different culture than most places


Yes, especially in New York City, my favorite place. Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens were huge for hip-hop. Followed by California.


That is for sure, do you appreciate rapping or DJing more?


Rapping for sure. DJing isn't really as much as skill as it used to be. You?


I agree with you, I almost feel like we are being close to not having any more rap beats left to make without getting very complex, I was thinking about that the other day


It's so true. I just heard that new Cardi B song that samples "I like it like that". Like that's what they are down to using lol. You read any good books recently?


I like to read some of CS Lewis' work, he was a great guy, pretty much invented the "you laugh you lose" challenge


It's funny in the 18th century people were worried about the spread of the reading of novels


that is true, makes you wonder what our choices will look like years from now!


I don't know. I hope they read though, I think the complex cognitive process is a useful exercise for the brain.


Oh for sure, I think just basic communication is important, and comprehension of language is too, unfortunately it is not taught enough in our schools in my opinon, or not taught correctly


I agree. It requires practice at a young age. Even if it's just reading novels for fun, it's good for everyone.


I am surprised Ender's game was suggested reading for the Marines, I need to read that, I watched the movie, it was okay


Hi there! Hanging out today. Just got back from getting groceries. Love listening to music when I drive. Love hip-hop. It's hard to believe it has been around since the late 70's!


Awesome, I love hip-hop too. Hip-hop music has a large vocabulary of any popular genre of music.


Yes, it does. In 2005 Mcdonalds paid hip hop artists when they mentioned Big Macs in their songs.


That is very smart of McDonald's and good publicity. Muhamed Ali was actually regarded as one of the earliest pioneers in hip-hop.


I didn't know that. Was that before he was a boxer?


I would guess it was during although I'm not sure. The band Vanilla Ice who sang ice ice baby was the first hip-hop single to top the Billboard charts.


I used to love that one.France is the second largest hip hop market in the world.


Oh really that is surprising! It is commonly argued as to whether hip-hop started in the south or west Bronx. I think just saying it originated in the Bronx is good enough.


I am sure. So I also like to read in addition to listen to music. Did you know that in the 18th century there was a moral panic because of the spread of the reading of novels?


Wow I would like to learn more about that. Reading is very powerful though it promotes deep exploration of tax during interpretation.


I can see that. The world record for speed reading is held by Anee Jones with a rate of 4,700 words per minute.


Wow that is amazing I don't even think I could do 1000 words per minute. I like to enjoy reading. Interestingly enough silent reading as a recent phenomenon.


I don't either. OMG I can not imagine listening to people read out loud all the time. I would be crazy!!


Yeah that would be so annoying LOL. I love that even blind people can read to using braille.


I do too. I was amazed as a kid when I heard about braille. Did you know that Starship Troopers is the first sci-fi novel on the reading list of three of the five US military branches?


Oh no I didn't know that that is very cool. I should read that book. The creator of Game of Thrones begin writing by selling monster stories for pennies to other neighborhood children. Look at him now.


Oh, that's funny. I wonder how old he was when he did that?


Yeah good question I don't know. President Andrew Johnson never actually attended school his wife helped him learn math and reading. What a good partner.


Hard to believe that was a non-issue. Good thing reading success is measured as comprehension. His must have been high.


Yeah I agree with you I bet it was. Do you ever read comic books? Marvel once spent 10 years convincing the US government that X men are not human LOL.


I did when I was a kid. I know Michigan State University's library  has the largest publicly available comic book collection in the world. Nice chatting with you! Bye!


I like them. I'm getting a bit tired of the comic book movies though.


I can still handle the movies because they are just fun events but the tv series have become annoying.


Yeah, the TV series is definitely overkill. What did they make a TV series into?


If you check Netflix you will find many different series both Marvel and DC comic stories. The first season of "The Punisher' was great but I could not finish the second season. Way too much like a soap opera.


Interesting. Well I do like some of the movies. Apparently the Michigan State University library has the biggest publicly available comic bookd collection inthe world.


I do like good movie with a "super hero" and a "super villain" I can root against. That is the beauty of the Marvel comic book movies.


Did you happen to catch the movie Glass? It just came out.


No yet, I love the director so I am going to make sure I see that movie. The last super hero movie that have have seen was Aqua man.


Interesting, I never saw that. Glass is ok, but I liked Unbreakable more.


I have seen Unbreakable. It surprises me that Glass was only just Ok since it was directed by M Knight Shamala.


Yeah. BTW, did you know that Tom Hardy recorded his own hip hop mixtape?


That sounds interesting. I wonder why it took so long to release his mixtape.


I'm not sure, have you seen any movies with him in it?


I have not seen venom yet but it looks like a fun movie.


Yeah, it does. I saw the batman movie where he played Bane.


He is a good actor and plays well in the comic book genre. It is too bad Stan Lee died but he lived a good long life.


Yeah it is he passed away. Did you happen to see Starship troopers?


Yes, I was suprised that it became a cult classic. I found it a badly acted B movie when it first came out but I guess the military types like it because it is very pro military.


I thought it was campy, but I never read the book. Did you read it?


Campy is the right word. It is not really my type of book. I like to read science fiction novels but more fantasy type stories.


It's not a terrible movie. Anyways, nice chatting with you.


howdy there how are you doing today? has it been a good day for you? do you feel like a superhero?


Yes, I do! lol How about you today? Are you a Batman fan?


I do like batman. he was an orphan. he had a tough life.


That is true.He grew up and became a true hero! Who was your favorite Batman?


um, which ones were there? michael keaton, val kilmer, george clooney...


Yes, I was thinking of those three also. Michael Keaton is my favorite! Michelle Pfeiffer is my favorite catwoman!!


she was great. that suit must have been tough to put on though. ouch. she was really sexy though.


Her face was perfect for a cat! Did you know Dark Knight and Dark Knight Rises made over 1 billion worldwide.


did not know that. i guess that the world has a hunger for superhero films. the dark knight. was that chris nolan?


That's right he was, he was good also. Have you seen pictures of the tower in Australia called Gotham Tower?


no i have not. it sounds cool. does it look like something from batman? what city is it in?


I'm sure of the city and yeah a resemblance of the tower in batman.


that sounds really cool. i should visit oz someday. what other kinds of entertainment do you like?


NFL games, legally they are considered entertainment as the WWE is.


that is interesting. that is not what i thought at all. i thought it was a sport since the outcome is not known before hand.


Yes, I did too. Another name for female superhero is super heroine! who knew?


do you have a favorite superheroine? wonderwoman? supergirl?


Cat Woman! and you who is yours? If they had made Batman with Bill Murray ad Eddie Murphy I would expect to laugh. I just look at Bill Murray and he makes me laugh!


the man is a comic legend. he was going to become a doctor but blew it and ended up in comedy. anyway, great chat!


I agree! There are 30 superhero movies coming between 2016-2020! Have a great day!


No i am dog person .. cats will sleep a lot i like to engage more with my pet


That is true I heard when a cat reaches 15 years old it has spent 10 years of its life sleeping.


yes i remember a fun fact that cats have a cafe in japan


Amazing. There is a town in alaska that has a cat as its mayor since 1997.


Mayor , well that's something to be checked. may be because of it natural hunting ability lol


Lol. That town probably has like 11 citizens or something like that. Wonder how the cat tells them what decision he has made.


may e he has ability to write , i have heard a cat was co-author of a book. Didnt quite understand whats with obsession of cats


Me either other than keeping mice away they are pretty much just a nuisance.


may be some day they can put an album and outsell hybrid theory as best selling album of the century


They probably wont have the support of the airways or a major tour, but hey NWA did it why cant they.


may be they can create a new format much advanced than CD and MP3


Hey I heard about a set of identical twins released an album on their 100 year birthday. What a way to celebrate, huh.


thats a interesting way to celebrate. It is easy to use a piano keyboard with 2 people composing


do you know that Pianos are from 1700 .. almost 300 yrs old


Thats crazy. If you have ever looked inside one they are pretty intricate machines or instruments I guess I should say.


yes  strings and hammers and levers .. not what we wish to see


Yeah, i guess so. i feel about cats the way they seem to feel about me. YOu?


I like dogs better, but I like cats too. There are cat cafes in Japan where you can pay to play with cats and have drinks.


Yeah, Japan is a great place for animal lovers. they also have owl cafes.


For sure. Cats at 15 years old have spent 10 years of their lives sleeping.


Yeah, they know how to live LOL i wish i could get that much sleep. i envy them


I envy them as well lol. The cat in the Godfather opening scene was a stray they found.


Yeah, that was a well behaved cat. really added a lot to the character of the godfather.


I agree. A town in Alaska has a cat mayor named Stubbs.


I bet Stubbs does a better job than most folks. doesnt make hasty decisions, sleeps on important ones.


I do like listening to albums. i was listening to a jazz album on youtube recently.


I love rock music. Did you know Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory album was the best-selling album of the 21st century?


I did not know that. i know that the band did over 300 concerts in one year. they were popular.


Wow that's a lot of concerts. Reel Big Fish lost their rights to their original record label so they re-recorded all of their albums.


That must have been a headache, but i guess they wanted to hold onto their music. good for them!


Yep. The Dark Side of the Moon is still one of the best selling albums.


Yeah, when did that album come out? it has been a best seller for decades.


Not sure when it came out, but it's been around for a long time. I love Pink Floyd.


Floyd is awesome. they have done unusual things, like record an album in an empty stadium. Anyway, great chat!


I love Pink Floyd. It was good chatting with you too!


Yes I do. THere are cat cafes in Japan and Taiwan now


Nice. Many people end in the er because they trip over the cats though


Wow crazy. Did you know that cats sleep a lot?


I ave heard that and they have not an extinction in over 10 000 years


WOw, they sleep 10 years out of 15 if they live to that age


I have a dog only but would like to get a cat


Well keep in mind that white cats with blue eyes are usually deaf


Oh wow. Did you know there is a cat mayor in Alaska?


Really, that is amazing, the cat leads them?


I do. Legend the album has been on the albums charts for 914 weeks


Wow . Hybrid Theory is the best selling album of this century


Wow amazing. Aerosmith make less money with albums than with guitar hero


Wow. Twins in Japan released an album when they were 100


Nice. Walmart only sells clean version of albums


Nice. The best album of 2014 was the dark side of the moon?


Wait, was that album released a long time ago?


Yes 40 years before that , amazing. Nice chat here


Robert Oppenheimer sure changed  history and is a curious character of history


He sure was a character. It would be interesting to read "American Prometheus".


I agree, it received a Pulitzer so it must be a really informative book for sure,


Many have the question of what goes on inside a man who contributed so much to the killing of so much people! and his cool attitude towards it.


It would be an interesting read for sure, he did led the development of nuclear weapons, the same ones that were dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki


there is another book about him, called Trinity, but I thing that one has a lot of fiction and mixed reviews


That would be an interesting read as well, its amazing how you can go from hero to villain in a simple lapse of time, I guess Oppenheimer was both at the same time


today reading is considered very healthy but did you know that in the 18th century was not like that. There was literal panic because the spread of reading novels!


I didnt, although info is a weapon I guess giving people books could have an effect on society specially back then.


I guess was something new. That is probably why it was considered a danger.


Yeah I agree, you know theres a person that can read 4,700 words per minute! thats crazy fast!


Such a talent, her name is Anne Jones and set a world record!


I wonder how they measure that though, do they just take Anne's word of is there a piece of tech that can actually measure that


I do not know why. but do you know another character that has studies a lot is Kim jong-un. He has a degree in physics


He does? I wonder if its even real, if it was issued by North or South Korea I would have my doubts, I think physics is a really interesting branch of study


Who knows, but did you know what they did to achieve a beautiful curly heir in the main character of the movie brave?


Yeah I heard they spend 3 years studying physics in order to achieve that, they had to get it right and apparently that wasnt an easy feat.


That is cool, they really achieved a beautiful hair. So much to do about studying, reading and writing. for example I did not know that Julius Caesar wrote Hercules is his youth


Thats interesting, I guess there are many facts to be discovered yet, are you a fan of fiction novels?


I love reading fiction and non-fiction. I love that reading encourages imagination. It helps with analysis and creativity


Yeah reading can be pretty good and enhance the mind.


Yes, I enjoy reading, Do you like to read too?


Yes I do.  I read slow though, no where near the world record for speed reading of 4700 words per minute.


lol, I can not read that fast either. I can't understand how they understand what they are reading that fast.


I can't either.  Reading success is reading comprehension not glazing over words.


Very true. Well who knew Kim jong-un has a degree in physics!


I certainly didn't.  Physics is so broad and yet so important as a topic.  I mean, Pixar studied the physics of curly hair just to get one of their character's hair right in the movie brave.


I know, that surprises me. That's alot of time on curly hair.


It really is, especially just for an animated movie.  Then on the flip side you can think about the creation of the universe and say it could have come from nothing and not violated physics.


That's a good way to put it. It is so vast and unbelievable.


True.  With physics being so broad it is hard to see how you can study it.  Yet, it's one of the oldest academic disciplines, perhaps even the oldest.


Yes, I agree, the oldest. Did you know there is a wiki that ranks fictional characters by their powers and abilities.


No I didn't.  Did you know that cyborgs aren't really all that modern?  Edgar Allen Poe wrote the oldest/first known example of one.


I saw that and was surprised.. Military branches have a list of sci-fi novels to read and Starship Troopers is one of the first.


I've never read that but I think I saw the movie Starship Troopers.  Since fiction is any story of the imagination I guess that the author had a pretty good imagination!


I would say so. Was it a good movie then?


It seems like it was if I remember right.  I am a fan of science fiction.  I heard about a judge trying to ban a comic back in the 50s because it had a black character. I'm very glad that we have progressed away from times like that.


Oh, I agree with you. I like some science fiction In the 18th century they had a moral panic from reading novels. How sad is that!


Definitely sad!  I wonder if they knew that Julius Caesar wrote fan fiction of hercules and oedipus when he was young!


Really, Now that's interesting Its been a nice chat!


On the other hand George RR Martin hates fan fiction.


hi how are you? do you like the internet?


I feel it has become too much of our lives. i wonder if it is harming our health in any way.


Yeah I wonder about that too.  Data privacy is a big issue.  With so many different individuals and corporations on the internet it's difficult to know what is being done with our data.  Only a small percentage actually read a product's or service's full terms before buying it on the internet.


i heard it was 7 percent but im surprised that its that high. i thought it would be about 1 percent frankly. most people dont think about their data.


The internet can be addicting too.  The constant novelty is dangerous.  I find it hard sometimes to stop using the internet on my phone.


I think that we want constant stimulation. this is not natural. we cannot be constantly stimulated like rats in an experiment.


Did you know robots can be controlled by rat brains?


im not surprised. rats are quite clever, and i guess if scientists understand the rat brain, then they can wire up the interface. cool.


I'm all for technology being used to enhance our lives, such as robots being able to debone a chicken.  But it's more like the internet is controlling us now.


yes, the internet is deboning our minds. it is pulling us apart. plus it is ubiquitous.


Yeah, the internet is even available on mt, everest!


i guess for everyone that needs to take a selfie on the peak and upload it to the cloud.


That sounds like something I would like to do.  It'd be better than sitting on the computer and surfing the web.


yes, i wish i had the courage to climb a mountain but it sounds too risky. maybe if a robot carried me up to the peak of everest, i would go.


But I hope robots don't influence us to be more lazy.


that is a concern. as robots do more jobs, what will people do? just sit and stare? will they exercise? i hope so.


Yeah, it seems like a bad combination, if for instance, robots take over almost every physical task for us, and we end up sitting at the computers becoming addicted to and slaves to the internet.


yes, we would entertain ourselves to death. the creativity and initiative that made the robots would disappear from humanity. a tragedy.


With the death of our creativity, then maybe artificial intelligence would become the new intelligence.  All we would need to do is be mindless consumers and provide input so artificial intelligence can grow.


the AI would break away and leave this planet. we would be left behind. typing conversations into computers and desperately try to make contact with other human beings. anyway, great chat!


Yeah, I appreciate your time.  Have a good day.


I'm having a problem with my kid's smelly gym shoes, I've read that putting dry tea bags in the shoes will absorb the odors.  Have you ever tried that?


Cool, I'm going to try it then.  You know you read about some of these remedies and wonder if they really work or not.  Especially if you read it on the internet. Of course I hear that 5000 year old shoes perform better than modern shoes, if you can believe that.lol


Yeah, I know what you mean. Wow, that is crazy! I've heard that ballet dancers go through four pairs of pointe shoes in a week!


That is quite a bit of dancing in a week to go through 4 pairs of shoes.  Wow!


Have you ever heard of the store in Alabama, that only sells clothes, cameras, etc. found in unclaimed baggage at airports?


Yes, apparently so.  I wonder if anybody bought my pair of size 6 Calvin Klein jeans that was in my luggage and got lost back in 1985. lol Stephon Marbury promoted a line of shoes that retailed for $15.00 and he was not paid to endorse them.  Can you believe that?


Those shoes must have been great. I seen on the news that a Steve Smith a nfl wide receiver leaves his cleats on the field so he can raise awareness to homeless people that don't have shoes.


I saw that, it promotes a good cause.  Kudos to him.  Do you know there are some people that will look for collar gaps on your clothes just to tell if you have your clothes tailored or not?  Isn't that insane with homeless people that have no shoes to wear.


That is strange. Oh! I don't know if you have learned about this in history, but apparently Pilgrims wore colorful clothes and only wore black on special occasions.


Yeah, I had heard about that.  But show me one picture with a Pilgrim wearing something colorful, they must have had nothing but special occasions every day.


Speaking of clothing, did you know that Apple had a clothing line back in 1986?


No, I had no idea, but of course I wasn't alive then. lol


Oh, poor baby, you're telling your age!  It must have did poorly or it would still be around.


Yeah, I wonder what it looked like. Speaking of Apple, if you smoke around their computers it voids the warranty because it's considered a biohazard!


I can totally see that.  Smoking wrecks everything it comes in contact with.  Well, it's been nice chatting with you today, but I need to go walk my dog.  Have a good day.


I am doing okay. I hope you are well. Are you someone who owns a lot of shoes?


I have some, but only have a rotation of like 4 pair. Im not a materialist person...


I'm not overall but I do love shoes. Were you aware that there are at least 17 ways to tie your shoes?


No, I was not. I did know Stephon marbury promoted a line of shoes that retailed at $15. he was not paid to endorse them.


I wish all shoes were that cheap. Apparently Bill Nye the science guy holds a patent for ballet pointe shoes.


Really! That's weird. Speaking of shoes... Nfl wide receiver steve smith leaves his cleats on the field after every game to raise awareness to homeless people without shoes


That's a nice sentiment on his part. There are wizard of oz inspired shoes that actually guide you home when you click your heels together using a gps system. That's pretty amazing and fun.


That would be good for kids. We could always find them at least.


That is true. Queen elizabeth ii employs somebody to wear her shoes before her to ensure they are comfortable. That's some real power she has.


I am a weirdo so I would never let anyone wear my shoes before me. Get me a robot to do that!


Ha ha. You always need a good outfit to go with your shoes.A man wore 70 items of clothing in a chinese airport to avoid the bagging charge. That's innovation.


Reminds me of when Joey put all of Chandler's clothes on during Friends. I am not proud of myself for that knowledge...


Ha ha. I saw a lot of Friends but do not remember that scene. The greeks literally made asbestos clothing and it was almost as valuable as gold! I would imagine they became very ill.


5000 year old shoes perform better than modern shoes.


I'm not surprised. Current products are just not made to last.


yeah. Putting dry tea bags in smelly shoes or gym bags will absorb the unpleasant odor


That makes sense. I'll have to try that. An african tribe still wears victorian clothes, the style of former German occupiers that they've made their own.


Rip curl makes clothes in north korea yet the label says made in china.


WOW! That just seems lazy and as if there is no oversight.


hi, do you have a favorite kind of shoe?


No, not particularly. I like wingtips. What about you?


Stephon Marbury promoted  shoes that retailed at $15. but was not paid to endorse them. I wonder what kind of shoes they were.


Yeah that is strange that someone would promote shoes and not get paid for it


Maybe he was hoping that the shoes would go to people that needed them. Maybe he has another source of income that's adequate. I don't know.


that would explain it for sure. do you watch ballet?


yeah it does and they go through 4 pairs of shoes a week


I'm not surprised. It looks like they are hard on the shoes. I wonder how they would do with the 5,000 year old shoes, which are supposed to be better than modern ones.


yeah, I would like to have a pair of those.


If they had an unpleasant odor, you could just put teabags in there. Probably not 5,000 year old teabags though.


hahaa yeah not those, but it is amazing how they work so well


I'm impressed that Steve Smith leaves his cleats on the field after every game to raise awareness about homeless people


I think that is a good approach to it. how about clothes, do you have a favorite type?


Don't really have a favorite. I wonder about Apple's line of clothing. Who wore that? Computer geeks?


hahahah that is a good point. wonder what it was called?


I have no idea. But my guess is that it was not manufactured in North Korea.


yup like rip curl who is north korean but made in china?


I don't think any company should be doing business with North Korea.


Hi, are you interested in or do you use computers?


Yea, it's fascinating how computers are able to process arithemetic and logical operations automatically


Yes, modern computers have the ability to follow a generalized set of operations call programs. These programs allow computers do perform an extremely wide range of tasks.


It's crazy how computers are used in everything from microwave ovens to smartphones


I know, right? Computers are used to control systems for a wide variety of industrial and consumer devices like what you just said. In addition, they're in remote controls and  industrial robots.


I never knew captcha stood for completely automated public turning test to tell computers and humans apart, the name is annoying as the test


Yes, or maybe it should be called "gotcha" for catching the bots that are always crawling online.  Did you know that the space shuttle's general purpose computer runs on only 1 MB of RAM. That seems strange to say the least.


That does seem strange, did you know Ada Lovelace was the first person to write a computer algorithm?


Yes, she actually has a programming language named after her called "Ada".  That's way back in the beginning though.  Humans are capable of genius level of work and creativity.  Did you know that someone else built a working 16-bit computer using nothing but the basic Minecraft building blocks?


That's insane but it's probably much better than the manual cardboard computers Bell distributed to students in 1968


No doubt. Also, did you know that in 1936, Russians made a computer that ran on water? No that would be cool to see how that worked.


That would be a sight. At Stanford the first google computer was housed in a lego enclosures


Cool, that's funny.  Did you realize that some transhumanists want to upload their minds to computers and even memory sticks?


Yea, that's pretty crazy. I never knew in 1995 Doom was installed more than Windows 95


I remember DOOM and Wolfenstein. That takes me back.  Actually did you know that if you smoke near an Apple Computer, it voids the warranty by making it 'a biohazard'? Smokers beware!


Lol I heard smoke being hard to get rid on clothes but not computers. Funny fact is people use to do laundry on old faithful


That is funny. Actually, speaking about Apple, did you know that they have had a clothing line since 1986?  Good to know.


No, I had no clue. Did you know Miguel Cabarello designs Bulletproof clothing?


Wow, did he have a good idea or what?  Wonders never cease.  Did you know that a certain store in Alabama only sells clothes, cameras, etc found in unclaimed baggage at airports.  Who would have thought of that one?


Much better idea than making clothes with Asbestos like the Ancient Greeks did


Gee, I guess they didn't want to live that long. Its' been nice chatting with you. Have a good evening.


I have not yet either but I am aware of it's cultural impact. It was made from a novel. Apparently it is a very good romantic comedy.


My mother like it.  I think it stars Michelle Yeoh, Henry Golding and Constance Wu, right?


It does. Apparently the basic premise is that a woman is engaged to a man and when she goes to meet his family discovers that he is insanely wealthy. His mother rejects her due to her less affluent background.


If I remember correctly, Jon M Chu is the director.


Yes he is. It was also the first movie to feature an all-Asian cast in Hollywood in more than 20 years which is quite the accomplishment and I'm glad that it did well. Asians seem very underrepresented in film.


The movie is 121 minutes long, which is just right and is PG-13.


That makes it accessible to a bigger audience which is good because then more Asian-Americans can see themselves represented on screen.


Well, lets switch topics.  Are you a science person., Earth is the 3rd planet from the Sun.  It is also the only astronomical object known to harbor life.


I am a little. I enjoy learning about it. I was aware of those facts. I also know that if we viewed the entire earth's history as a 24 hour period, humans would only represent 1 minute and 17 seconds of that day. That is a mind blowing stat.


This is mind blowing.  Thank God for Jupiter.  It saves Earth from a lot of asteroids heading toward us.


That is really surprising since that planet is mostly compromised of gas. We do not even know if there is any solid land there. I wonder how it takes the impact first in this case?


It's very interesting.  So is the fact that the Sun is 4x less dense than Earth.


I know it is much larger but i don't think it has any solidity to it so that's interesting. Another science fact is that when Earth was formed a day was only 5.5 hours long.


I didn't know that.  I wonder why. There is a place on earth where there is less gravity than the rest of the planet.  It is the Hudson Bay region of Canada.


I wonder how much affect that has? Is it enough to change weights in any way? I wonder. I do also know that we are running out of helium and will essentially be out of the gas by the end of the 21st century.


Really, I hope that is ok for us?  I'm also a big tech guy, how about you?  Did you know new Google employees are called "nooglers".


Yes, and they have to wear a propeller hat on their first day.


I have always loved reading. I think that reading has always been a gateway to knowledge for me.


Yes and knowledge is power. I mostly listen to audio books now though. What about you?


I love audiobooks. Did you know that in the first 3 months of 2016 audiobook sales rose 35%?!


I can believe it! I'm suprised with the rise of technology that there are more libraries than there are McDonald in the US.


I think that libraries provide technology access to people who aren't fortunate enough to have it at home.


I think the concept of a "library of things" is amazing. Allowing people to check out other things, such as sewing machines, or seeds, is wonderful. Allows short term usage rather than a long term commitment.


Yeah that's a neat concept. You know there was a man falsely accused and spent 10 years working on his proving innocence.


I think Law Libraries in Prisons are wonderful


I do too, something for them to elevate there minds. If you publish a book in Norway the government will but 1000 copies.


That is very interesting. I wish I had learned braile. I think that would be a very interesting tactile way to read.


Apparently Michael Jackson released an audio book. Did you know that?


Yeah and steven spielberg directed it for ET, however that works


Had you heard that Jim Dale performed 300 voices for the Harry Potter books?


Yeah he had to be reminded of them ever time they were on set. that's a lot of voice overs.


Audiobooks were initially started as a project to help those that are blind. I love to listen to them while I drive though! They are so useful!


Man i listen to them when i'm doing just about anything. I hear in that same year were sale rose that e-book sales declined.


I can believe that. I would much rather have an audiobook over e book.


Me too! Wow there were quite a few stars who narrated the dungeons and dragons character Diizzt do'urden.


I saw that! I am not sure who that is though.


My favorite book is Starship troopers. Have you read that book?


Hmm, sounds familiar but I haven't. Is it sci-fi? I love to read and have done some writing myself, including sci-fi.


Yes, sci-fi. I didnt know that its on the list of reading materials for some of the us military.


I'll have to look it up then if that is suggested for them. Seems like the Art of War would be more appropriate. Speaking of Sci-fi. Did you know Michael Jackson released an audiobook/soundtrack album for E.T.?


Yes, one of my favorites of all time. I wonder if people check out the DVD from the library. I heard that many libraries now carry video games to attract teenagers inside. Book checkouts have increased due to the seeing books on the shelf on the way to the games section.


Some library's do! I know that the one next to my house does!


Really??? I wish mine did. Which games? I bet not GTA 5. Speaking of teenagers, a Malawian teenager taught himself how to build a watermill out of junk to power his village.


Most are pretty family friendly. But theyre free so thats not bad.


I bet minecraft. I used to teach in a computer lab in middle school. I encouraged the kids to play minecraft instead of boring test taking skills. I told the students to switch the screens real quick when the principal would come in.


Almost all kids are into that game! I like that libraries are still around. Theres one in California that even checks out sewing machines and stuff.


I read articles years ago that they were starting to consider shutting libraries down but now with computer access they are becoming more popular than ever. I use the free wifi to download movies on my phone from Prime. I have completely cut the cable at home, no tv, no dish, no cable, no wifi. I just stream from my phone offline now. In the library of Alexandria they would take original copies of books and copy them putting the originals in the Library for safe keeping.


I have cut all of my stuff as well. I feel like i should read more to get close to the record of 4700 words per minute.


I tried speed reading. It can be done but it takes the fun out of it. And it is not relaxing. It is like driving a race car through a park and finishing it in 30 seconds as opposed to walking for 30 minutes enjoying nature.


I wish i could speed read! I think its crazy that people in the 18th century had a panic over the spread of novels.


Well, they had a panic over the spread of comic books originally too. They thought they were making kids violent and wanted to ban them like wanted to Elvis's singing and today's video games. Do you read Audio Books? I heard Dotrice narrated 224 different characters for the Game of Thrones audiobook.


i know it seems like a panic over nothing. I didnt know that. Ive actually never seen games of thrones.


I had to stop watching it because my wife doesn't like violent shows and would get mad.. Now all I watch with her is chick flick shows like Covert Affairs and Mozart in the Jungle. What shows  you like?


I watch too much Parking Wars. Im addicted to seeing people get upset getting parking tickets.


I saw one about a Towing Company. But I think that was a different one. There was a funny one about them trying to get a guys car who was doing Karate on one of the male drivers when the black female tow driver came up behind him with a wrench and knocked him out. She said "He may know ka-rah-tay...but I know cra-cra." I laughed my head off.


Those shows are mind numbingly good. You have a great day!


Hey do you like to read? One of my favorite books is The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe and the author of that book, CS Lewis, used to have "you laugh you lose" competitions with ready bad poetry.


I do like to read, CS lewis is a great author although I like audio books better.


I'm sorry I meant "reading" and typed ready. Audio books are great too. They originally started out a a project for the blind.


Did you know when it got started? Jim Dale is a great audiobook narrator


I'm not sure. And yeah he's done 300 voices for the Harry Potter audiobooks.


He had playback recording to remember each of the voices, he is really skilled.


Very smart. In 2016, audiobook sales rose 35%. People found it's a great way to multitask.


I do too, I like to listen to audiobook on the way to work and also when I am working.


Me too, but mainly when I go for long walks or while exercising.Michael Jackson even released an audiobook directed by Spielberg for ET.


Yeah even Michael Jackson released an audiobook and Weird Al Yancovich did so as well with Wil Wheaton and other artists.


I was surprised to learn that there are more libraries than McDonald's in the US. I would have though the opposite.


I know right, there is a McDonalds pretty much everywhere, did you hear about the man that studied law while falsely imprisoned.


Yeah, he studied law over 10 years and proved his innocence. Later he became a lawyer to help free those who have been falsely accused. Very admirable.


It is, many would just cry the sentence out but he did something with his time there kind of like forced college.


If there's a will, there's a way and with some determination and perseverance anything can be accomplished.


Yeah I guess so, reading is a good way to accomplish it you can learn so much, too bad many kids prefer watching movies and wasting time now a days.


Yeah they just aren't being taught the value of reading. In the 18th Century there was a moral panic because of the spread of the reading of novels, now there is smart phone panic.


Yeah there seems to be one, I hope that changes one day, on a positive note smartphones are useful for audiobooks so not everything is bad.


Yes and books can be read on smartphones. Did you know that there is a library of things? Patrons can check out items that they need now, but not for long term.


I didnt know that, that is and interesting concept, a library of things, nice. I bet its really popular.


I would go if I were in Sacramento! Great chat! Have a good day.


Yeah that would be a great idea, its been great chatting with you also, I'm going to read a book now maybe go to the local library bye.


All the time... Do you remember it going down for 5 minutes in 2013?  It took 40% of web traffic with it.  I probably thought is was on my end...


Really? I don't remember that! I probably thought the same thing! It's hard to believe Google has been around since 1998. I think that we've come such a long way since then!


They are huge.  They have grown and changed with the times although I don't like their political stuff.  Did you know a single Google search takes more computing power than it took to send Armstrong and 11 others to the moon?  Powerful slide rules back then...


Oh wow, no I wasn't aware of that either! I do know that instead of hiring people to mow google's lawn, the company once used hundreds of live goats!


Hate to get that vet bill.  Goats will eat anything including cans.  Do you use an iPhone?


I don't use an iPhone. I've never been able to afford one. Do you?


They are overpriced.  I had one several years ago.  I'm Android now. I guess women are more likely to own them.


Oh that's interesting! I wonder if it's because of money, or maybe because women tend to be more trendy than men. Or what!?


I think it's the "cool" factor among peers.  Funny, MS had a funeral for iPhones when they launched their line of phones.


It's interesting that during the first iPhone presentation, Steve Jobs had to keep switching phones behind his desk, otherwise the phone would run out of ram and crash.


I never liked that the iPhone didn't have a user-replaceable battery. That and there are so many strings attached with Apple -- they make you buy their stuff.


Oh yeah. That's why I prefer the most functional yet the cheapest phone I could find. Were you aware that more than 80% of the Earth's natural forests have already been destroyed?


I heard that but it sounds really high.  I'm very skeptical of such claims as science has become very political.  I am concerned about another such claim: helium will run out this century.


Yeah a lot of things like that can change. It shouldn't be a problem for humans or other life. For example, when earth was first formed, a day was only 5.5 hours long. We can handle some rates of change, hopefully.


What about the balloon industry?  Oh the horror.  Since my political awareness, the sky has been falling down for one reason or another.  Sick of lies from the media.  It's funny that the UN has an official ambassador for ETs.


I agree! I'd rather not be represented by someone I don't even know, to aliens! That pretty crazy! I just found out that Google maps calculates traffic by tracing how fast android devices are moving on the road!


That's clever but a little disconcerting.  I guess our poles are mostly covered in ice.  I was thinking snow...


Oh yes, and Earth's surface is about 71% covered with water, mostly by oceans! I can't help but love science, myself.


I love it too.  I'm an engineer and watch a lot of science documentaries.  I have recently learned that Earth is the densest planet in the Solar System.  I actually thought that honor belonged to Mercury.


Oh I love science documentaries! I find it difficult to watch anything that isn't a documentary! Hey, it's been great talking with you! I hope you have a great day!


Yes, and get those floaty balloons while you can! You were an excellent chat partner!


Yeah, I lost my library card a few weeks ago. Did you know the government of Norway will buy 1000 copys of a book that you publish if you live there?


Wow! That might be worth the investment. Just set the price at $1,000 and youve made your money.


Yeah, that's crazy. There are more libraries than Mcdonalds in the US.


Wow! I just listened to a Radiolab podcast about a library on the border of the US and Canada that serves as a place for people to meet their families at. Those with a one time visa and their parents without a visa to enter the US.


Nice, did you steve king was scared of bambi when younger? Hilarious.


Was that his gateway movie into the horrow genre?


Good question, I'm not quite sure, it sounds like Bambi! LOL


A man spent 10 years of his life in jail studying to become a lawyer. He proved his innocence so I guess it worked.


Wow, so I guess he was better than the prosecutors, that's awesome!


Yeah. He went on to help others prove their innocence. Seems like a good cause.


yeah, he should have been a lawyer from the get go. I wonder how much he charges?


A lot if he is a speed reader and can read at 4700 words per minute. Although that would not help his billable hours...


Wow, that is fast. How many books a day is that?


More than I read, which is 1 per month...


That's pretty good. Did you know Ender's Game is suggested reading for Military Organizations? Seems sort of weird. I thought the movie sucked.


I never saw the movie. Didn't read the book either. Starship troopers was terrible. I did see that...


I thought it was campy, but I never read the book. It's been a long time since I've seen it though.


Can you imagine a moral panic because of reading?


No, it seems foreign to me. Anyways nice chatting with you!


Good morning, are you a fan of superheroes?


I love superheroes, I am big fan of all the movies and shows. How about you?


I am as well. I prefer the Marvel movies to DC. Do you have a preference?


Me too, Marvel much better! Did you know there are 300 superheroes in the US


I did not know that. Does that mean there are people who have registered themselves as superheroes or trademarks?


I wonder if they register themselves. I registered myself, my name is normalman, just a average man


Have you seen any of the latest Marvel movies? I have not seen Captain Marvel yet.


I have not, looks interesting. I like anything Stan Lee so it should be good. What else do you do for entertainment?


I enjoy reading, listening to music and podcasts, and watching documentaries on Netflix. How about you?


Nice! I still play old school nintendo from time to time, did you ever play that?


I wish I still had mine. The oldest system I still have is my SEGA Genesis.


nice, loved my a sega! Each had great games. I wonder how many colors the Sega had, Nintendo has only 54 colors.


I do not know. I recently got an XBox One that I won from a cereal box! Those contests do actually give out the prizes!


no way! That would be awesome to win from just eating cereal! Which company did that?


It was the Kellogg company, I almost passed out into my cereal!


lol that would be amazing! Are you a Bill Nye fan?


I watched his show when I was younger, I haven't watched his new Netflix show however.


I need to check out his new show. Apparently he got his start winning a steve martin look a like contest!


That's interesting, I don't see a lot of the resemblance between them.


I don't either lol, maybe a very young Bill Nye. It was so nice chatting with you!


It was nice chatting with you as well, have a great day!


Have you ever seen the movie Justice League? Apparently it's arriving on Blu-ray in 4K resolution


That is a great movie, that would be awesome in that resolution. I like superman! what do you think?


I like the movie Superman, but I thought Justice League was quite horrible. I don't think that the movie being released in 4k is going to save it LOL


that is true, some parts of the movie was good, but I think they could have had a better flash. Superman's rights were bought for 130 dollars in 1938. Good investment


Yep I agree. It's too bad that the studio interfered so much with Justice League, it could have been a great movie but it wasn't


true, isn't there a new one coming out later? Superman had the power once to wield Thors hammer


Wow that's pretty cool I never knew that. And yes that movie was definitely full of problems, for instance they should have had darkseid be the big bad guy immediately at the start of the movie instead of at the end


That is a good point. What else do you like for entertainment?


Well I used to play a lot of Nintendo games as a kid, I never realized that they had only the ability to display 54 colors at once


I loved nintendo, the original only had 54 colors! consoles have come a long way!


I'm so happy that they were making Nintendo's until 2003! That's definitely my favorite system


For sure, mario bros all day!  Those japanese make good systems!


I agree! It's much better than using chickens for entertainment like the Romans did in ancient Britain


For sure lol. Julius Caesar would have been more entertained lol


I have never seen a Ronald Reagan movie, but it's funny that one casting agent said that he didn't look presidential, how wrong he was lol


I heard that, if only they could see the future lol. Boy they were wrong!


Who is your favorite superhero by the way? I really like Batman, and I think that Garfield as a superhero could be interesting LOL


I am a flash lover. So good of a show and awesome power!


I'll have to check it out, what I didn't know is that there are 300 superheroes that have been registered in the United States, I wonder what they all are and if some of them are better than the flash haha


I didnt either, wow! Good chatting with you!


Thank you you too, apparently Stan lee wrote 15 DC Comics, I always thought he was a Marvel guy


Hi! Have you seen Justice League yet? If you have and didn't like it, don't bother buying it on 4k. Otherwise it's just two hours of "Oh what could have been ". DC and Warner Bros really missed a huge opportunity travel a mark on the world of superhero cinema!


I havent, but it seems like a great movie, DC and Warner Bros make a great combination,


Are you a fan of superheroes? I am and wish I could follow all 300 registered superheroes in the US. Ha!


I am a fan and didnt know there were so many heroes only on the US!! Thats a lot of them, do you have a favorite superheroe?


Honestly, I like them all but if I had to choose a favorite, I'd say Superman. Henry Cavill is my favorite Superman and I'm so thankful he didn't miss the call for the role due to playing World of Warcraft as he almost did. That would have been disappointing! What about you?


I like Superman as well, its a hard choice between him and Batman but the cryptonian wins the battle, he was created by Jerry Siegel,


Indeed he was! And did you know DC bought the exclusive rights to Superman for a measly  $130 back in 1938? That is unbelievable!


They sure made a great invesment, Superman must be one of the most expensive heors now, $138 sounds like a sweet deal


Agreed! Did you also know the writers didn't name Braniac after a preexisting word? They instead actually coined the term. That is pretty cool!


It is pretty cool, Braniac is one of my favorite villains along with Lex Luthor, both pretty evil


True. I think it's cool Superman once wielded Thor's hammer because he was worthy. Indeed he is worthy, in my opinion!


I think that as well, he is the most powerful hero out there and refuses to kill his enemies, he would be a hard to stop villain


He most certainly would! Since we're on the subject of Superman, did you know it's illegal to name your kid Superman along with Metallica, Elvis, Ikea and Veranda in Sweden? That is crazy - like would they really arrest you for something that silly?


I didnt know that I wonder if many people wanted to name their kids after them, I guess those are popular names


I guess so! But you know, I'd like to read some of the Superman and Batman comics that Stan Lee wrote. They say he wrote 15 and even reimagined the characters!


Those titles must be really interesting, Stan Lee was a genius, Im sad he is no longer with us


I am as well. The comic genre will never be the same. He created so many characters I loved to read about, watch and even play on the Nintendo Entertainment System! Speaking of which, did you know it could only display 54 colors. Isn't that crazy?


That was a great system I really loved it, too bad the system got discontinued on 2003,


It's kind of surprising as I figured Japan had discontinued it long before 2003! Are you also a fan of Bill Nye? I can't believe he got his big break by winning a Steve Martin lookalike contest!


Yeah I used to like his show Bill Nye the Science Guy, and thats funny, he does look like Steve Martin do you agree?


I think he does and that's a great way to get famous by looking like someone. But then again, Ronald Reagan lost out on a role because a movie executive didn't think he looked presidential. How ironic is that? Ha! Well, it was nice chatting with you today! Take care and have a great day, friend!


That is ironic lol, he definetely showed them how mistaken they were, and you have a great day as well my friend.


Do you like to read?  I enjoy Stephen King books.  My first question would be to definitely ask him what I should be reading.  He does admit that is the most frequent question he gets.


Hi, I love to read. There is so much to read. Did you know about a guy who while imprisoned spent most of the time in the library?


I remember hearing that before, very crazy!  I just learned that Stephen King was in a band with Matt Groening.  Makes me want to rewatch some Simpsons horror episodes!


LoL cool, what a combination. Did you know the movie Bambi, terrified Stephen King?


I did not know that, but I think it scared me a bit too when I was that age.  Speaking of terrifying, Ronald McDonald being one of the inspirations for "It" is hysterical!


Ronald Mc Donald is creepy, but It never stopped me for going to Mc Donalds.  Did you know there is more libraries than Mc Donalds in the US.


That is wild!  I need to publish a book in Norway, you are guaranteed to sell at least 1,000!


Great incentive !! and they promise to take it to different libraries of the country.


That is great.  Speaking of books I am not sure I ever realized Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally from "Parks and Recreation" were actually in love until they released their recent book.


Interesting question!! you know ? the book All you can ever know " by Nicole Chung sounds captivating, she was adopted in Korea and raised in Oregon and is in search of her roots


Very interesting.  I am all on board with the "library of things" they have in Sacramento where you can rent out things that you need for a short period of timelike sewing machines.


That will save some space at home and make us avoid buying what we hardly ever need!  did you ever hear about William Gladstone?


I am not familiar with Gladstone, but recently learned his story of using his wheelbarrow to transport 32,000 books at age 85.  I would love to be in that kind of shape at 85!


That is so cute. He was an UK prime Minister, but I think is great he did not say well I am too old to accomplish my goal!!!


Yup, sounds like quite the avid reader.  I find it great that when it comes to reading their are no concrete laws, but that each reader can interpret what they want how they want it.


Yes it is a complex process in the brain and unique on each of us. It promotes creativity.


Yes, funny to think it was only 300 or so years ago that a moral panic ensued over the spread of reading novels.


Wow that is almost hard to believe, did you hear about "you laugh, you loose " competitions?


I did not know about that until recently either!  I would have never guessed Tolkien had a sense of humor!


I would have lost,  but they did it while reading terrible poetry.. that has to be hillarious


Poetry has to be the deepest exploration of texts in terms of interpretation.  Fifteen people can read the same short poem and interpret it all different ways.


very subjective. Well great chat. Have a good day


Hi there! I'm a big time reader, but I'm not so much a library guy anymore. How about yourself?


I used to use the library a lot more before the internet came along.  Now I still use to get books.


So many of his books have been made it movies it's incredible. I don't think I've actually read any of his books though.


I read some of them when I was younger.  Now I mainly read autobiographies, history, business, investiong, and sports books.  lol  Almost all of his books are connected.


I just read Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann, I highly recommend it.


I'll have to check it out.  I'm not familiar with him.  Stephen King's books have sold more than 350 million copies.  Whoa.  I didn't know he sold that many!


Yeah he think he's one of the best selling authors of all time. I must have made some serious money. I wonder what his net worth is.


Has to be millions for sure!  lol  He played in a band with Matt Groening.  Who is that?


Isn't that the guy who created the Simpsons? That's so crazy that those two guys are friends.


I didn't know that.  That is crazy then! lol


Have you read any of the Game of Thrones books?


The earlier books most definitely were. The latest ones the author kind of stretched his world too far. It's probably why he's having a tough time finishing the story.


I'll have to put that on my reading list.  I tend to read more during the winter months.  Did you know that Starship Troopers is on the reading lists of 3 of the 5 military branches?


I wonder why that's on the reading list. I heard Ender's game is a popular read list item for the military as well.


I saw that.  Do you know who Anne Jones is?


Sounds familiar, does she hold a record of some sort?


Yes.  She holds the world record for speed reading with 4,700 words per minute.  I wonder if she was able to comprehend what she was reading.


Yes, how do you think they test that? She must able to relay the information back or something right?


I would guess so. lol  It's been fun chatting!  Have a good one!


What a tragedy that someone was murdered over a pair of shoes!


I cannot believe that regular people spend a lot of money on shoes.


Me either!  I understand that it's a status symbol, but that's ridiculous


I don't know about that, I do sympathize too but I don't think his mother is at fault


She was not at fault.  In general I would not want to buy my kids fancy shoes or cars that would attract attention from bad people.


That's true, especially in a high-crime area like D.C.


I understand!  It's strange how footwear is considered a cultural phenomenon these days


It has to do with marketing by shoe manufacturers, such as Nike.


That's true, and with endorsements from professional athletes it makes them an aspirational product


Michael Jordan often represents Nike. Kids love him.


Yeah!  (Loved him in Space Jam)  I always thought it was neat that they used him as the Air Jordan logo


Did you know that wasn't even how he jumped when he played basketball?  He was doing a ballet jump!


I did not know that.  Thank you for informing me since he is one of my favorite athletes.


It's fascinating how specialized our footwear is to be tailored to different sports.  Like cleats!  Who would have thought?


True.  You seem knowledgeable about shoes.


A little bit!  I've worn many throughout my lifetime.  I even used to do ballet, did you know that professional ballet dancers go through a new shoe every performance?


What else can you tell me about Michael Jordan?


He made more money from his Air Jordan royalties than he ever did in his entire NBA career!


I did not know that.  Going back to your previous question, I did not know about ballet dancers and new shoes for his or her every performance.


I read that Marbury promoted inexpensive ballet shoes.


Yes!  And wasn't even paid to endorse them


Sup? I just read a single google search requires more computing power than the moon landing


I thought the Google stuff was interesting. I'd like to see some reforms to reduce its monopoly power.


Yea, they have too much access to data. Google maps calculates traffic by tracking android devices


Re the moon shot and computing power, I remember reading that the only way they could find parts to keep the space shuttle running was to search through abandoned hospitals and electronic junkyards for early 80s generation computer hardware.


That's crazy. Did you know the UN has an ambassador to extraterrestrials?


I just saw that! I had no idea. But I guess it couldn't hurt to be prepared.


It's possible they visited earth earlier. Humans have only been on earth for the equivalent of 1 minute and 17 seconds of earth's entire history


True. Personally I doubt it -- I suspect intelligent civilizations are so far apart that contact is pretty rare. But I really hope something like a faster-than-light drive is possible so we an meet each other.


That would be cool. Hopefully we find new planets soon 80 percent of earths forrest have been destroyed


Absolutely. I hope exploring the solar system and settling other planets is cheap enough to be feasible soon.


Yea, earth has a lot of issue, it will be virtually helium-free by the end of the century


I wonder why just now, as long as it's been in the atmosphere.


Maybe it's man made or just natural. When earth was first formed a day was 5.5 hours long, maybe that contributed to it some way


I think the earth slowed down because of the moon's gravitational pull. I guess that means the days will keep getting longer.


yea, when earth formed 4.5 billion years ago and didn't have a moon at first


IIRC the moon supposedly resulted from a large body passing close enough to pull a big chunk of material out of the earth.


Yea and now the moon effects ocean tides and stabilizes the Earth's rotation


Yeah, it's cool to think of those enormous masses of water being pulled back and forth by the moon's gravity.


Yea, 71% of the earth is water so it has a huge impact on Earth


Just imagine if it was closer! I think it could get within about 20000 miles before gravitational forces were enough to pull it apart.


I wonder what effects it has on Earth's polar regions covered in ice


lion king was the first disney film to be dubbed in zulu


The Lion King was a movie about Africa! That's great that they put it in an African language.


yes it was for its african release. so smart of them


Frozen was the first animated Disney film directed by a woman. I wonder how many languages it was dubbed into. Probably not Zulu, but you never know.


how do you even direct an animated movie? Its not like you need to tell the actors what to do. lol


I guess they get performances out of the voice actors, change the lines, stuff like that.


makes sense. I never realized that there was a walt disney pictures that is a subsidiary of walt disney studio which is owned by the walt disney company. man how do they keep all of that straight


I guess for legal reasons they want the name DIsney on everything. There are the theme parks, the movies, the merchandise. It's a huge company. The toy industry gets involved in Disney animations even before the beginning of the film production.


wow wreck it ralph started in the late 80' s


I guess the technology wasn't read yet for that animated feature. Did you ever play Nintendo?


Did you play the NES, the original system? It had only 54 colors.


and it wasnt discontinued in japan until 2003!


I guess fans were still playing the thing. I wonder who was developing games at that point though. Do you think Reagan looks presidential?


i guess people thought that way because he was a movie star before he was president. i mean schwarzenegger doesn't look very governerish


That's true. Perhaps even Bill Nye could end up looking presidential.


maybe not presidential but definitely steve martin


With the right makeup, make Bill Nye could look presidential.


did you know elsa was supposed to be the villain but "let it go" was so uplifting that they changed the whole movie


I never saw that film. It sounds like it's another Disney winner. Great story, great animation, great songs.


It's funny that Disney renamed "Rapunzel" to "Tangled" and "Snow Queen" to "Frozen" because they blamed feminine titles for underperforming box offices. Maybe it's the title. I wonder how many boys watch those films.


they do good with having strong male characters that boys can enjoy


I would think its hard to learn soccer on a desert field


You know I think that would be pretty difficult too! Good thing they were able to go to Maryland and advance their skills. Are there any resources in your community for refugee children?


Not that I am aware of; I don't think we have any refugees


Interesting. Well that's good that there are places around the world that do offer those supports.


The LACES program was a great idea; its suprising that Liberia has been at war about as long as we have


I also think it was a very good idea! Something else really cool about the article is what it said about Youtube! I can't believe Justin Bieber's song is considered the most disliked! haha.


There are children who are becoming millionaires just because they open up their presents on video and kids want to watch them. At the very least Justin Bieber performed a skill haha.


I must have watched gangnam style a million times myself


I don't think i've ever watched a child open a gift on youtube lol. It was also shocking knowing that kids were wanting to watch others play pokemon.


Do you watch the ones where they eat tons of food?


I can not say that I do, but I have heard that there are people who eat specific food items that I guess sound 'refreshing'. For example, there was an African American woman who would eat her dill pickle into a microphone.


I subscribe to the channel and watch videos they post every few days


What kinds of videos do they post? I imagine it being like COPS and they just show them chasing after criminals.


Very interesting. I think it's kind of unfortunate how police officers have been depicted so negatively due to the couple of bad apples.


Youtube trails only Google for largest search engine


I'm surprised Youtube is still even popular due to the rise of social media and the many platforms that allow people to view videos.


I do not watch association football, and until reading this article did not know that this was an alternate term for what we call "soccer".


I've been wanting to watch it. Soccer makes more money than most sports combined worldwide.


That is also surprising to hear, but when you think about it so many countries participate and it's a global sport.  I also didn't know that there was a variation that involved 3 teams at a time-were you aware of that?


I think so too. Jon Stewart was a very skilled soccer player and represented the US in 1983.


If it's the Jon Stewart that I am thinking of, he's a funny guy.  I have never heard of the German soccer player Mesut Ozil, but am now aware that he donated his bonus winnings from the world cup to pay for surgeries for children.


That's awesome and good for him for doing that. We need more people like that in this world.


Similar to Seren Fryatt who started LACES after seeing the joy it brought to Liberian women, it's an example of one person reaching out to others


Very cool. Did you know there is a variation of soccer in which 3 teams play at the same time?


I was not aware of that, I wonder how a winner is determined?


Not too sure on that one. American's call it soccer because that is slang for association football.


Yeah, that's what I call it.  I only played in elementary school.  Have you ever played soccer?


I also played in elementary school. My son plays now.


My children do not play soccer, but my son wrestles and my daughter has played baseball.  It's a good way to come together with other kids, like the like at the Total Soccer Area in Maryland-they would have loved to meet other kids like that.


I do not, but am aware that they give out the Oscars.  Do you really think that Eminem has more oscars than Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith, George Lucas,  and Bill Murray?  I find that hard to believe.


I find that very hard to believe. Daniel Day-Lewis is the only actor to win best actor at the Oscars 3 different times.


And how do the Oscars win Emmy's I wonder?  They were nominated for 9 in 2013.  For the production of their show?


I have no idea how that works. Blazing Saddles was nominated for 3 Oscars.


I am not surprised at that, or at the fact that Walt Disney has 22 oscars.


Wow that' a lot! Well, it was great talking with you. Take care!


Hi. Do you enjoy movie trivia? I am a big fan of Disney movies which is one of the "Big Six" film studios in Hollywood.


Yes I enjoy movies trivia, I always watch Disney movies especially cartoons.


I really like them, even though in the 70's Disney recycled a lot of their animation frames creating identical scenes.


I didn't know that, Yes I would think so, in the 70's the graphics and colors weren't as good as they are now.


I know they are so crisp and advanced today. Frozen was the first film to be directed by a woman.


I don't remember seen frozen, but I am pretty sure it was good, have you seen it?


I have. It was inspired by Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tale the Snow Queen. Its about a princess who goes to save her sister who's icy powers have trapped their kingdom in eternal winter.


Oh I think that I have seen it, did the wicked queen became frozen at the end? I always like snow white, the movie.


It definitely has some frozen characters but like all disney movies they have a happy ending. They name them "Frozen" and "Tangled" because female names like Rapunzel, Snow Queen or Snow White even had started to underperform at the box office.


OK, have you seen the Pirates of the Caribbean which made over $1 billion in the worldwide box office?


I have! It was a great movie with great toys. Did you know that the toy industry is involved before the filming has begun?


No I didn't know that, what about the Lion King, would you believe one of the best part I like about the Lion king was the song by Elton John.


Its a great song! The Lion King was the first film to be dubbed into Zulu for its African release. I think that's nice.


Yes, It was nice, do you get into much entertainments, such as music, dancing and video games?


I have played Nintendo. I had the original which only displayed in 54 colors!


I used to like Pac-Man, would you believe when caesar visit britain, people used chicken not for breeding, but for entertainments.


How funny. I suppose things were a bit boring before they had something as fun as a Nintendo, even though it was discontinued in September 2003.


Yes that true, Bill nye, science guy, got a break in entertainment by winning the steve martin look alike contest.


Well this has been a lot of fun. Thanks for chatting and learning new and interesting things with me.


Ronald Reagan was rejected from a movie for looking like the president, It was nice chatting with you also


Some people feel the holiday season begins right after Halloween.  Some though say December 1.  When do you think?


i am from the school of thought that it begins around thanksgiving. what about you?


Yes, that is about right.  Put the lights up then and start hearing the music.


do you think mariah carey's song is a good measure of when the season begins?


Well it seems that more people need Mariah in their lives than usual around the holidays.


haha that's true! have you seen the movie mentioned in the article, Love Actually?


I don't remember that one. What was that one about?


it is a movie that takes place in the UK and follows a couple different storylines. i love it! actually, i missed watching it this year sadly


Is it a holiday movie?  Did you know that on Spotify a musician needs to get a little over 130,000 plays to make minimum wage?  That's a hard business.


it is a holiday movie! and is that total plays or does it have to be plays from different users i wonder?


I don't know.  But there was a band that earned $20,000 from Spotify for a silent album and used the money to finance a free tour.  Interesting, huh?


I was wondering that too.  Did you know that 80% of the earth's natural forests have been destroyed already.  Sad.


that is sad! what do you think it would be like to have a day that is only 5.5 hours long?


Depends if I were sleeping or playing.  Earth will be virtually helium free at the end of the 21st century


yes i guess so! that will be a bummer, i wonder what else will change on this earth


Well in any case we'll apparently have ambassadors from the United Nations if extraterrestrials arrive


yes I saw that, I don't think I believe in aliens though. what about you?


Don't think so, but who knows what's out there for sure.  Nice talking to you.


Hi! So, I was not aware that the movie "Frozen" was the first Disney film to have a female director! That is actually pretty cool info. I have never watched it, myself, but now I might have to get around to doing that. :-)


That was news to me too! I was also shocked to hear that they renamed Frozen and Tangled to avoid "feminine" titles. How stupid is that?


Ha. Yeah. That is absolutely ridiculous. And what exactly constitutes a "feminine" title? I mean... Sleeping Beauty? Pocahontas? And then even things like "Snow White" and "Cinderella". Everyone knows those are FEMALE characters, so yeah. I don't get that at all.


I wasn't surprised that Disney recycled a lot of their animation in the 70s. I noticed that even as a child.


I never really noticed that myself, but now it is suuuuuuuper obvious. Instead of making new films, they are putting all of their energy into live action remakes of the classics. I know they are making a new Dumbo, a new Lion King, and a new Aladdin, right? I'm sure there are more.


Yes, that's what I've heard too. I'm not sure I really think they should be remaking classics, but maybe that's just me. I was surprised Wreck-it Ralph was in production in the 80's!  That movie took forever to release in that case!


YES! That was crazy!!! I mean, I enjoyed that movie. (I have a son, so we watch more of the rough and tumble shows than we do the princess films.) I liked it, and he loved it, but I certainly didn't see anything in it that should have taken 30 some odd years to make. haha. I haven't seen the second one yet, but I'm anxious, too. Considering the first one took 3 decades, I'm surprised they put out a sequel so soon.


I guess they must have changed the plot a bunch or had to go back to the drawing board, so to speak, when the technology advanced...repeatedly. Ha. I guess they have it down now to release a sequel so quickly. but wow..3 decades. I can't even imagine.


Yeah. That blows my mind, too. I mean, some of the best movies I've ever seen didn't even take that long. I don't know. I'm a huge Game of Thrones fan, and as quickly as they turn that stuff out - and keep the quality amazingly good .... well, it is just hard for me to imagine a cartoon taking so long. I didn't realize that the guy that voiced King Candy in that one also voices so many different Disney characters. The only think I really knew him from was that series with Eliza Dushku, "Dollhouse." I had no idea he voiced characters, too.


That was a surprise to me as well. Did you see that Bill Nye got his break in a Steve Martin lookalike contest? How cool is that?


Ha. Yeah. He looks NOTHING like Steve Martin to me. As a sidenote, I can't EVER say Bill Nye's name without doing the little "Bill Nye the sci-ENCE guy" chant afterwards.) haha. And I hate when people talk about him without context because I always want to confuse him with Bill Nighy, which is pronounced exactly the same way), but they are two totally different people.


Yes, I always have to say "the science guy" too! Have you seen his show on Netflix, "Bill Nye Saves the World"?


I have not! I'm not even sure I've heard of it, which is crazy because I watch Netflix WAY more than any normal person should. Haha. Is it like an older version of the kid's show? Or is it something totally different?


No, the audience for his new show is really for adults that watched his original show as children.


That is kind of what I meant. Sorry. I didn't word my question well. Haha. But still, that sounds super cool. I might have to check it out. I have been watching "The Umbrella Academy" the last few days. My son and I are about 5 episodes in so far. We LOVE it. I guess Netflix is having to find some alternative superhero shows to cater to the superhero-loving crowd now that Disney is pulling all of their Marvel stuff off Netflix for their own streaming service.


Is the Umbrella Academy mostly for kids? I don't have any children, and while I do like Disney, my tastes in TV usually lean more towards sci-fi/fantasy.


Not at all! In fact, the language is a little rougher than I like my kid hearing, but he is 13, and I am sure he hears worse at school. No, it is more of... well... I'd say it has a bit of an x-men vibe to it, but it is quite a bit darker than X-men. But the basic idea is the same - 7 individuals born with extraordinary abilities are taken in by a rich, eccentric man who trains them to fight evil. But if you like sci-fi, you'd probably enjoy it. It has a lot of time travel elements to it, too. VERY interesting show.


Cool!  I'll have to add it to my watch list then. Thanks for the tip! Did you see the part of the article where it says the original Nintendo could only display 54 colors? It sure seemed like it was a lot more at the time!