Joy, Parody, Progress, ‘Hijinks’ Though 'Lowjinks' Might Be a Better Word for It February 17, 2012March 27, 2017 SOLAR BOTTLE LIGHTS The reasons to take 3 minutes with this clip? Well, it’s joyful. It’s ingenious. And, boy, does it ever confirm the Theory of Relativity. Wherein I have long held the obvious (one of my specialties): that happiness depends less on how much you have than on the direction you’re headed. To folks accustomed to sweltering in darkness, sweltering in light – and free light, at that, after the $1-or-so cost of installation – brings broad, happy smiles. DOWNTOWN UPSTAIRS ABBEY I’ve not yet found time to watch Downton Abbey, but just now did find seven minutes to watch the parody. And eight more for the sequel. JAPAN: PROGRESS Robert Goldman: “I guess I shouldn’t complain about cleaning the garage or taking out the trash. Click here to see the incredible progress being made eleven months after the tsunami and earthquake ravaged Japan.” ☞ But also scroll to the end to read some of the comments. It’s still an awful situation. IOWA, MAINE . . . Jim Johnson: “When I was a Graduate Teaching Assistant, our Department Chair held a meeting every semester to instruct on policy. He was obsessed with student cheating and spent a good deal of his time talking about how to detect it. At one meeting, a fellow grad student whispered to me, ‘He’s so concerned with cheating it makes me wonder how he got through school.’ Somehow, the Republicans’ obsession with voter fraud reminds me of that story – especially after your story yesterday about Romney and Maine.” JVC: “Documented and publicized vote-counting hijinks in Iowa and Maine? From the very party trying systematically to disenfranchise voters across the country on the pretext of combatting ‘voter fraud,’ which we know is essentially non-existent? I don’t hear anyone putting those things together, but perhaps they should.” Have a great weekend.