QUARANTINE BLOG # 596

November 16, 2021

Sometime ago I left unfinished Bill Bryson’s book, The Body: A Guide for Occupants.  Yesterday morning I picked it up and started reading it again.  Bryson published The Body only 2 years ago, but in Chapter 20, “When Things Go Wrong: Diseases,” there is an incredibly ironic section.  He identifies a successful virus as “one that doesn’t kill too well and can circulate widely,” like the flu.  He mentions the Spanish flu of 1918, with estimates of global deaths in the tens of millions, that are persistent and highly transmissible, killing only 2.5 percent of victims [which is still a lot of victims].

He continues, “It’s remarkable that bad things don’t happen more often.  According to one estimate reported by Ed Yong in The Atlantic, the number of viruses in birds and mammals that have the potential to leap the species barrier and infect us may be as high as 800,000.  That is a lot of potential danger.”  

Enter the COVID-19, which some think came from an animal host, and there is a new world-wide pandemic.

👉  A selection from “Ooh You’re Gold”:

👉  Move over pumpkin pie.  Hershey’s has unveiled your new favorite dessert for Thanksgiving.  The company is selling a giant 9-inch Reese’s Thanksgiving Pie.  The largest Reese’s Peanut Butter cup ever weighs in at a whopping 3.25 pounds of peanut butter and chocolate.  The company has made only 3,000 of these 7,680 calorie delights and they are $44.95 each.  Before you rush to find the online link to make your purchase, never mind.  They are sold out.

👉  Two panels for your consideration:

👉  Maybe it should be called “One Ring to Cure Them All.”  Keep reading.  You’ll see what I mean.

Raw eggs and Bloody Marys may be among today’s hangover cures, but archaeologists in Israel have discovered an altogether different solution from the past: A gold and purple amethyst ring.

Excavated in the city of Yavne, the ancient jewel was uncovered from the site of the Byzantine era’s largest known winery.  In an accompanying press release, archaeologist Amir Golani said that amethyst may have been worn to prevent the ill-effects of drinking too much alcohol.  “Many virtues have been attached to this gem,” he is quoted as saying, “including the prevention of the side effect of drinking, the hangover.”

Amethyst is not the only ancient hangover cure to have fallen out of favor.  In 2015, an ancient Greek remedy was discovered on a 1,900-year-old papyrus, which recommended wearing a necklace of laurel leaves as a “drunken headache cure,” according to Live Science.  And in ancient Mesopotamia, a physician was recorded recommending a tincture of licorice, oleander, beans, oil and wine in the instance that a “man has taken strong wine and his head is affected.”

I have the absolute best, 100% effective cure for a hangover: don’t get drunk.  Next question.

👉  We haven’t looked at expensive toys that may be stuck in your closet or toy chest in a while, but at $185,850, a very special Boba Fett is the Holy Grail of Star Wars toys (to some that Holy Grail is the Lego Death Star, but that’s a story for another time).  Only 30 of the J-slot, rocket firing Boba Fett action figures are known to exist. The rocket-firing Boba Fett figurine was a prototype, developed by Kenner toys.  But before the toy shipped, the rocket-firing backpack was deemed a choking hazard and dangerous for children.  So, the bounty hunter and his spring-loaded backpack never made it to the shelves.  Employees were allowed to keep the prototypes. Boba Fett figures were still made, but the rocket backpack was solid and without any firing mechanism.

👉  Signs for the times:

👉  Today’s close is from Praying with the Psalms, by Eugene H. Peterson

“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, until the destroying storms pass by” (Psalm 57:1).

Prayer thrives on contrasts. Destructive storms and devouring lions spar with God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. There is no contest. The harsh noises of destruction (“storms and lions”) give way to the sung sounds of praise.

Prayer: O God, wake me out of the nightmare fantasies of sin and temptation that threaten my peace with you, that I may live in the daylight of your purpose and be alert and attentive to your love for me in Jesus Christ, in whose name I pray. Amen.

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