Will time make men more sane?

From the department of talking back to the news providers: The first started out with Channel 7's Eyewitness News, during the weather report as the the weather guy warned about incoming severe storms and said, ``if you hear thunder, you're close enough to be struck by lightning, so seek shelter right away.'' Before I knew I'd formed the thought, I asked, ``Did he just tell us to come in out of the rain?'' (My mother agreed with that summary, although in hindsight he did not precisely say that, since lightning and thunder are not necessarily equivalent to rain.)

Also while listening to the news radio report the fire at the Universal Backlot Studio Tour set they mentioned that the ``New York Street'' had caught on fire, and then offered that ``New York Street'' is used when they need a set which resembles an ordinary street in New York. It seemed to me they were over-explaining New York Street.

Otherwise there was an interesting discovery when I switched channels after midnight, and there was a youngish guy in animal-expert garb sitting down and holding a mid-sized coati on a pretty short leash. It turned out to be Jarod Miller, who shows up occasionally on the late night talk shows to demonstrate the existence of obscure species of civets while Conan O'Brien argues he has no control over the animals. The coati was jumping around, as Miller tried to explain what coatis are and where they're found and how they live in tribes, and then he set his hand on the coati's muzzle and explained that while they are sometimes taken as pets, ``You don't want one as a pet because -- ow!'' I'm not sure whether he was bit or clawed, but the coati attempted an escape, and there you are. At the end of the show Miller identified zoos where the various primates exhibited could be found, but did not say anything about where he got the coati.

Trivia: From the reigns of Richard II through John I, the Constable of the Tower of London was entitled to claim all the swans which passed under London Bridge moving towards the Tower. Source: Old London Bridge, Patricia Pierce.

Currently Reading: The Right Hand of Dextra, David J Lake. Okay, I call no way, absolutely no way, to the big climactic gimmick. Absolutely not.