DailyDesertDoodle

  June 17, 2023 Yeah, it's hot...but it is a dry heat! Right. News Flash: Hot is hot. Low Arizona humidity does not drain you like Florida hot but heat is heat. Supposedly, 103 today and maybe 111 next week.  It's the time of the year. Everybody who lives in southern Arizona gets it. June, July, and August are the three hottest months here, and everywhere in most of the U.S.  Elsewhere, tornadoes are ripping through the Midwest and South killing people and causing massive destruction. War in Europe. Lingering Covid. Political accusations back and forth. Ex-Presidents indicted. Wow, the news is great, hunh? I think the best thing to do now is not watch CNN and Fox or MSNBC and just go on with your life. I would encourage that. If we were to get into a time machine forward ten or twenty years and the themes of death and destruction would be and will be the same. So, bottom line. It's hot and yet the sky is blue, and human activity continues in our little corner of the unive...

I get it. I really do. Sometimes you just wanna really scream. Scream at the top of your lungs in frustration, anger, and just because. Just when you thought that life was somewhat getting back to normal, there have been spikes of new Coronavirus cases in 21 states with some restaurants and other business closing down again. And yet, I get it. This highly contagious virus is killing people. As of this writing 116,000 deaths because of Covid-19 in the U.S. with an estimate of over 200,000 total expected by September. That is a lot of people. More than what kills people in traffic accidents per year and we are only five months into this pandemic. You are just going to have get used to this concept of ups and downs with getting back to normal. Normal is not for at least a year when we finally get a vaccine. But let me ask you a question...would you be the first in line for a vaccine? A vaccine that was hurriedly pushed through the testing process. Would you be a first adopter? I...

Right in the middle of today's White House Coronavirus briefing I saw this news bulletin that Universal, the studio not the theme park, was announcing that their new release films starting this Friday, will go directly to stream as well as theater. Well, since no more than 10 people can gather together in any venue and orders are out to specifically/temporarily close down movie theaters, the 10-person order is moot. Movie theaters are closed all over the U.S. So you couldn't see new films there if you wanted to. You will now buy the movie stream for all new films through various streaming services only. Okay, what does this mean? It means what has been looming on the horizon for awhile, the projection of movies in movie theaters is doomed, dying, and soon will be over. The other day, before the madness began, my wife and I saw in Walmart an eighty-two inch 4K monitor for under $700. Get a $150 Sound Bar and you have a great system. The other studios will follow ...

HOUR BY HOUR THE SITUATION IS CHANGING, GETTING WORSE This is my take on what is going on with the Coronavirus sitch. Below is a message I just sent to a friend: The President's speech tonight...NBA is shutting down the season...Angela Merkel told the German Parliament that up to 70% of German Population is going to get the virus, that's 50 million people...over 2,000 new cases alone in Italy. This is some serious shit that is going on. Do you have emergency supplies, are you stocking up? I hope so. Just heard that Tom Hanks and his wife both have contracted the virus, they are in Australia but you know that everyone in Hollywood who has interacted with him in the last month are going to try to remember how close they have been to him and his wife in the last month. And we hear from the CDC this is going to get worse. Damn. This is biblical in its nature and scope. I hope you are making some preparations and are stalking up with supplies. I suggest you go to corona...

STORM MOVING IN 11:00am MST 3/9/20 The Dow is now down almost 2,000 points...in a single friggin day. The bottom has dropped out of the oil market. Corona confirmed cases at 111,400 and deaths at 3,842. States around the U.S. and the world declaring States of Emergency. Schools and Universities closing down. Fed may take us down to ZERO percent. Even the old men and women of the Congress considering shutting down for awhile. And on and on... This is nutso. What is going on? Is this God's retribution or just a lot of bad shit hitting all at once. All of us should not panic. I was going to say we should go about our every day business but that is becoming more difficult. We went yesterday to our local WalMart, we are here in southern Arizona, and there was crowds, pushing, cutting-off, grabbing for items with a vengeance, and just an overall bad attitude of most people in the store, even the cashiers. Major events where crowds of people gather are shutting do...

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/05/health/epa-disinfectants-coronavirus-trnd/index.html As a public service here is a list of some of the disinfectants that the EPA recommends to kill the Coronavirus that is of such great public interest these days: Here are some of the registered disinfectants on the EPA's list : Clorox Multi Surface Cleaner + Bleach Clorox Disinfecting Wipes Clorox Commercial Solutions® Clorox® Disinfecting Spray Lysol brand Heavy-Duty Cleaner Disinfectant Concentrate Lysol Disinfectant Max Cover Mist Lysol brand Clean & Fresh Multi-Surface Cleaner Purell Professional Surface Disinfectant Wipes Sani-Prime Germicidal Spray The link of above will take you to the full CNN article and at the bottom of the article you will see a link that will take you to the full EPA list. It is long, dominated by Clorox and Lysol products...no surprise there. My take on the whole virus issue? Yet more proof that we are not in control of this planet. ...

FYI: NEW WEBSITE, Landing Page with the covers and links to Amazon for my new series of Short Read books. Dozens of new books will be added in the coming months. Short Read Books...All Kinds. https://www.howtoshortbooks.com I just heard that New York State just banned the use of single-use plastic grocery and shopping bags. Well Good on Them. Almost 20 million people live in the state so it is time for them to start using reusable bags...like the ones at www.grocery-bags.com. Almost 1,000 images and designs now available on Zazzle. Check it out: www.zazzle.com/zoozwear Thank you for hangin' in there with me. ff

My new "SETI" series of Amazon Short Reads is now underway. First Short Read, Volume 1, is now up on Amazon. A new read for Book One, for the following four volumes, will be posted every Monday starting next week. Book Two and Book Three of the "SETI Trilogy" will then follow. To access Book One, Vol. 1 on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/SETI-Short-Read-Book-One/dp/B0851M4F3B/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=Frederick+Fichman&qid=1582602981&sr=8-4

2-22-20 NEW and JUST RELEASED. My entire "SETI" trilogy has been converted to Short Read Books on Amazon. Each book will be approximately 60 pages long and 18,000 words. The new Short Read Books are a new concept from Amazon and "SETI" will now be part of that program. "SETI, Book One, Volume 1" has just been released on Amazon in both Kindle and Print. A total of 12 Short Read Books will be published every week on Amazon.com. You can still purchase all three books and the Anthology. The Short Form Books make for an easy read in what has been described as Coffee Break Books.  Check it out: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0851WPXH1/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=Frederick+Fichman&qid=1582361530&sr=8-4

The number of one Billion animals burned to death in the recent and ongoing Australian fires is just mind boggling. Billion is not a misprint. That is how many animals like Koala, Kangaroo, mammals of all sizes, reptiles of all sizes...have been burned alive during the Australian fires. And as of this writing 1/24/20, the fires continue and the slaughter continues. I will be discussing this continuing emergency in Australia in my upcoming "Visit the Zoo" podcast at www.visitthezoo.podbean.com. I am recording today and hope to have up tomorrow 1/25/20. Be sure to check it out. 

January 16, 2020 Keep It All In Perspective Observing from whatever perch he is now sitting on and presumably looking down on what is going on now with his beloved Union, Abraham Lincoln, I'm certain, is weeping at this very moment. Watching the gala opening circus in Washington D.C., known as the Impeachment Trial of Donald John Trump, 45th President of the United States, it's hard not to shed a tear or laugh out loud at the pretend solemnity of the occasion. The television ceremonies displayed today on Day One of this ongoing saga are interesting and fascinating but after a while it's like...meh! The politicians are in charge on both sides of the aisle so for sure boredom and repetition will now commence and partisanship will rear its ugly head. First of all, Donald Trump is a facile liar, a manipulator, self-aggrandizing vain buffoon. But we elected him, through the Electoral College and not the popular vote to be sure, but we elected h...

December 25, 2019 Look at the date above. My clock is reading 12:02am as I write this blog. It has just turned to Christmas Day. Today of all days, I would like to make a suggestion for you. Ready? Okay. Don't think about the Impeachment mess. Don't worry about the North Koreans lobbing an intercontinental missile in our direction. Don't worry about rotten neighbors, cantankerous family members, unruly co-workers, bills, the weather, or anything else you can't control. For the next week or so, after New Years, don't worry about anything or anyone. Believe me those who dislike or hate or don't consider you aren't considering you at this very moment. For you, for ALL of you, I just wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, or whatever you celebrate this time of year and moving forward a Happy and Prosperous New Year. I truly hope this is the healthiest and best year of your life. I really hope this is the beginning of the best yea...

Really, a month since my last blog? Discouraging news like blogs are no longer the "thing" like they used to be and people don't read them, don't know if I believe that, will shut down initiative. But then I write this blog because I love to write, express, and create. That's just me. Some people hate writing. I enjoy it. Writing will take you into another world of your own creation. It's an escape and I just like that. So, I will soldier on the best I can. Also, dear friends, you haven't heard from me in the last month because I did a complete rewrite this month of my "SETI" movie script, written 30 years ago for Columbia Pictures, never got made. I boiled down the script from 140 pages to 51 pages for a TV Pilot for a couple of producers who like the story, think I'm pretty, and want to pitch it for a streaming video series. Streaming Services are exploding. Disney+, HULU, Netflix, Amazon, Apple, and on and on are all on the stre...

New SETI Podcast: https://seti.podbean.com ME What the hell is wrong with me letting this nascent blog go quiet. What the hell is wrong with me not focusing this blog on what my life is about and what I am producing for you. I have 96 fiction and non-fiction books on Amazon with links on my author website at www.frederickfichman.com . Finally, what the hell is wrong with me thinking I have the time or energy to make Daily Desert Doodle a daily blog. Okay, the stage is set. Let's talk about the future of this blog. The description spells out what I do with my waking hours and that is write or market my writing. So that is what I am going to do with this blog. Yes, politics is occasionally interesting and exciting, but only occasionally. Personally, I find most politicians to be blow-hards feigning angry and becoming indignant on cue. Thoughtfulness and intelligence, rarely. So, in the future I am going to lay off that trap or really, crap.  What I am g...

Short and sweet this time. One of the best comebacks of all time: "If Bull Shit were music you'd be a symphony orchestra."

I guess we are in the middle of it, hunh? Technology is everywhere...in our bathrooms, bedrooms, in our cars, at work, walking around. I was in a doctors waiting room last week, a big room, and about 20 people waiting for one of the doctors in the group. They were waiting for their appointments. 18 or so of those 20 people had their cell phones near their faces, tapping away or listening on ear buds. We need constant stimulation. DATA INPUT. Constant. Unending. From when we get up to when we go to bed something has to be on delivering content. Amazon next day delivery is easy, too easy. We spend more than we should buying crap we don't need. Time has been speeding up an slipping away at the same moment. There is no stopping it.  But try this, even for a few minutes a day don't watch or listen to any content delivery. Sit out in the back yard or go to a park or sit by the ocean and just look and listen to your immediate surroundings. At the end of that respi...

I don't know. Is it me or are things kinda crazy now. All this crap in Washington, fires in California, forced power outages, Syria-Kurd situation. It's nuts. For entertainment value only...nothing else, I sometimes watch YT for vids by conspiracy mongers who go on and on about coming catastrophes. And it seems like every time, Every Time, they spew out b.s. about massive earthquakes, volcanoes destroying the atmosphere, Red Dawn events, and on and on, nothing happens. You can't confront them with, "...wait a minute, didn't you say this, that, or the other?" No, you can't because their predictions are long ago and well forgotten. So, maybe if you do listen to conspiracy theorists you listen for a laugh. But please don't take them seriously. They don't know what the hell they are talking about. The only thing for sure is that you will hear their sponsor pitches about emergency flashlights, bug-out bags, dehydrated food, and useless subscrip...

You could roll the dice and not have it...Insurance. But what if you get into a car accident? What if your house burns down or someone slips on your driveway this winter and cracks their head and follows with a suit? What happens if you are hospitalized or need long term medical care? What if someone steals your computer? I would freak out. What if you are one of the 700,000 British travelers who got stuck oversees several weeks ago when Thomas Cook Travel went bankrupt leaving huge numbers of people stranded? No travel insurance then you would have to pay for another flight, paying twice for that one trip home. I think you get it. We have damn near everything in the way of insurance to cover those catastrophes I just mentioned. It costs us plenty and has done so for decades. But it would ruin us financially if any of those bad turn of events I mentioned above should occur and I didn't have insurance coverage. But that does mean you are locked into any one insuranc...

A Really Important and Meaningful Thought or Two I am going to list a YouTube link to a video I just watched about how the universe in many trillions of years will evaporate into entropy, into...Nothing. No light. No matter. No shape, form, or anything even at the sub-atomic level. Nothing. Absolute silence at absolute zero temperature. I guess to think about something like that can be depressing. But on a time scale of trillions of years it is also beyond human comprehension and beyond comprehension so say it is beyond comprehension. But I was also left with the feeling that I must...MUST...enjoy the hear and now. You've heard that, of course, many times. But every day events and trauma or distraction makes us stray off course. You can't.  I guess it is interesting to consider our own human fate in the decades we have left or even the years we have left. But remember that you can make all the plans in the world to do the best and most beautiful crafting of...

Last night I watched the 1932 movie version Hemmingway's "Farewell to Arms" which was published in 1927 and sold 31,000 print book copies back then. But I am guessing fewer print books are sold and more digital books are sold or heard as audiobooks. Everything is going digital. This is not a news flash. Podcasts, I have one and I'm starting another one, YouTube Videos, live streaming, and audiobooks...people are still buying books for sure but there is also a large market for whoever wants devour story content by listening or watching.  Net revenue of the book publishing industry in the United States from 2008 to 2017 (in billion U.S. dollars) Revenue in billion U.S. dollars 26.5 26.5 27.1 27.1 27.94 27.94 27.36 27.36 27.72 27.72 27.07 27.07 27.96 27.96 27.8 27.8 26.27 26.27 26.23 26.23 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Looking at a graph from Statista.com you will see that revenue in the book publishing industry is f...