I haven't done this since 2016. I used to work it in fairly often: once a year or more. Scott Adams, of Dilbert comics fame, said that we're in a loop, in which a small number of news stories is endlessly repeated. As if our universe is The Matrix, and its coding economizes by repetition. Making this argument, he listed nine headline you'll find in tomorrow's newspaper. 1. EXTREME WEATHER BATTERS SOMEPLACE 2. IDIOTS KILL INNOCENT PEOPLE 3. POLITICIAN DOES SOMETHING ILLEGAL 4. PRIMATE ATTEMPTS INAPPROPRIATE SEX 5. EXPERTS WARN OF FINANCIAL CALAMITY 6. BIG COMPANY BUYS ANOTHER BIG COMPANY 7. FAMOUS PERSON DOES SOMETHING INTERESTING 8. A SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY MIGHT BE USEFUL IN TEN YEARS 9. GOVERNMENT FAILS TO ACHIEVE A GOAL I'll match these up against real news, trying for some geographical diversity as we go along. 1. A hurricane just hit Bermuda. 2. Idiots who kill? A lways too easy. 3. Politician does something illegal? Today's example (just for the sake...
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The military rulers in Thailand make use of the monarchy as a rallying symbol, and of section 112 of the criminal code, which says: "Whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent, shall be punished with imprisonment of three to fifteen years." They interpret it so widely that it even applies to "insults" allegedly levelled at a King who ruled in the late 16th, early 17th century. In October 2014 a Buddhist and social activist named Sulak Sivaraksa was charged with violating this law because he questioned a legendary victory by Siam over Burma under the leadership of the King of that time, Naresuan. Sivaraksa was arrested and bailed out, I haven't been able to find whether the matter went any further than that. Speaking of the royal family, King Bhumibol has reigned for 68 years. Though his name is still invoked where convenient, neither he nor the Queen appears in public any more. The heir apparent, Vajiralongkorn, ...
If I should ever be asked whether I could name off the top of my head twenty R&H tunes, I should hope I will come up with the following, arranged below by chronological order of show debut: The songs themselves aren't listed in any particular order, by appearance in the musical or otherwise, just that in which they occur to me, which presumably would be consistent with the terms of the hypothetical dare/bet. Oklahoma! (1943) 1) the title song 2) O What a Beautiful Morning 3) Surrey with the Fringe on Top 4) The Farmer and the Cowman 5) I Cain't Say No Carousel (1945) 6) You'll Never walk Alone 7) Soliloquy (My Boy Bill) 8) This was a real nice clambake 9) If I Loved You 10) When I Marry Mr. Snow South Pacific (1949) 11) Bala Hai 12) You've Got to be Carefully Taght 13) Wash that Man Right Outa My Hair 14) Nothin' Like a Dame 15) One Enchanted Evening The King and I (1951) 16) Shall we Dance 17) Getting to Know You 18) Whistle a ...