Events

I'm working a half-day in my company's London office to catch up on some things and to ensure my team back home get the current sprint off to a good start. But the weather is absolutely perfect, so I might not make it past my 3pm meeting... Contra Daniel Burnham, I made only small plans. Tonight I'm returning to a friend's old haunts in Earls Court to give her an update. Tomorrow I'm having lunch with a colleague at an historic Greenwich pub, then either going for a (10-kilometer) walk or popping round...

With an 8:30 international flight and great uncertainty in airport/airline operations these days, I thought it prudent to haul my ass out to a hotel by the airport last night. Well, it worked, in that I got through O'Hare security less than an hour after waking up. I have plenty of time to sort through my email and load my Surface with some news. On the other hand, I couldn't find a combination of pillows that I could tolerate, and only slept a bit more than 6 hours, so I can't call it a decisive win....

In just a few minutes I will take Cassie to boarding, then head up to Northwestern for a rehearsal (I'm in the chorus at Ravinia's upcoming performances of La Clemenza di Tito.) I'll then have to pack when I get home from rehearsal, then head to a hotel by O'Hare. Ah, how much fun is an 8:30 international flight! As I'll have some time at the airport in the morning, and no time now, I want to queue these up for myself: Jonathan Chait says Senator Joe Manchin (D?-WV) didn't kill President Biden's agenda...

The Met Office has provisionally recorded the UK's first-ever above-40°C (104°F) temperature: 🌡️ For the first time ever, 40 Celsius has provisionally been exceeded in the UKLondon Heathrow reported a temperature of 40.2°C at 12:50 today 📈 Temperatures are still climbing in many places, so remember to stay #WeatherAware ⚠️#heatwave #heatwave2022 pic.twitter.com/GLxcR6gjZX — Met Office (@metoffice) July 19, 2022 Heathrow's 12:50 BST report to ICAO put the temperature at 39°C, with a heat index of...

Ain't she purdy? I couldn't decide which shot or aspect ratio to use, so you get a bonus photo: She looks especially fine today after having two baths over the weekend. (I may drink Lake Michigan water, but that doesn't mean I want it tracked all through my house.) Last year's birthday photo is here.

The Met Office has declared that Gogerddan, Wales, has reached 35.3°C (95.5°F), the hottest temperature ever recorded in the country. Meanwhile, the London Broil continues: Met Office Chief Meteorologist Neil Armstrong, said “The extreme temperatures that we have been forecasting are now beginning to build and it is likely that today we will see values reach into the high 30s, possibly challenging the UK record of 38.7°C set in July 2019. “Even higher maximum temperatures will develop tomorrow with a...

To Cassie's great joy, we went back to the Montrose Beach DFA this afternoon: She is now asleep on the couch, where I expect she will remain until dinner time, which is imminent.

Writing in The New Yorker last week, Corey Robin argues that the violent and authoritarian world-view of Justice Thomas (R) has much more internal consistency than we on the left usually ascribe to it, but that doesn't make it better: Thomas’s argument against substantive due process is more than doctrinal. It’s political. In a speech before the Federalist Society and the Manhattan Institute which he gave in his second year on the Court, Thomas linked a broad reading of the due-process clause, with its...

I went to a Cubs game today for the first time since 6 June 2019, mainly because they have made a quest of finding imaginative ways to lose. Today they lost because of a new rule imported from kickball, where they put a man on second base at the start of extra innings. They want the game to end sooner, you see, but with the wind blowing in like this: Then you get a 1-1 ballgame going into the 11th. The next run will win the game, because hitting really sucks with a 20-knot wind coming from center field....

Cassie got almost 2 hours of walkies before 9am with a return trip to the Montrose  Beach Dog Friendly Area: She also got a bath, because even though Lake Michigan supplies millions of people with fresh water, we don't drink it right out of the lake for very good reasons. Also, I did not take 540 photos like last time. Maybe tomorrow...? And if you're listening to "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!" on NPR this morning (and tomorrow morning in some markets), I was there Thursday night: