Gardening Amish Style

Farmers are spraying loads of chemicals on their crops to get rid of bugs and people with gardens are doing the same and we generally accept that because it's a tough problem and what else are you gonna do?

But the Amish have been farming and using the same farming methods for hundreds of years, so it can be done. What is their secret?

This is a question that I never thought to ask and so I'm glad I found this video. And while it remains an open question as to whether these things can be applied at scale to modern farms, it answers the question for people with a garden. Fascinating.

Professional vs. Amateur Shopping Cart Technique

 The COVID craze of 2020 gave birth to the rise of Instacart - and possibly other services - that created a new class of professional grocery shoppers. This class has not gone away and appears to be permanent, as I still observe them today.

I have noticed that the telltale sign that someone is shopping professionally is their shopping cart technique. The amateur grocery shopper, like me, pushes their shopping cart from behind. The professionals pull their cart from the front corner. This is the taxonomy as observed in the wild.

But ever since I've noticed this, I've been wondering why. I can't figure it out. What have the pro's learned that we have been blind to?

For one thing, being behind means that you're going into intersections somewhat blind. Peering from out front allows one to easily avoid accidents. But I don't think this is sufficient cause.

Secondly, the steering leverage using the "push" technique forces you to use two hands. The "pull" method allows for less effort and frees up one hand for consulting a grocery list stored on a smart phone. This is the most likely reason I've found to date, but is not entirely satisfactory... I often have a phone in one hand as I'm pushing the cart from behind, it works just fine. And is the saved energy really that important when the in-store workload is only part of your job?

This remains an ongoing mystery.

MST3K Mac and Me is on Youtube

 

The revived "Mystery Science Theater 3000" did "Mac and Me" a while back and if you haven't seen the newish season or are a fan of "Mac and Me" - or maybe you're into watching kids in wheelchairs fall off a cliff, you sicko - this is your chance: the episode is free on Youtube.

Game Grumps - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

The Game Grumps full playthrough of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for NES.

I think their debate about whether TMNT is a classic is worth noting. Arin argues that it is but Dan argues the opposite. I think it's the case of someone who didn't live it and wasn't there, having a different view from someone who was there.

TMNT (the game) was massive, it was a huge seller, every kid owned it (loosely speaking - I didn't own it, but you know...), and no one liked it aside from the fact that it was TMNT and that carried a whole lot of weight. I watched my friend play it and saw him unable to get past the Dam Stage (it's a cliche but it's a true story) and realized this game isn't fun, it's not at all in keeping with the fun/crazy spirit of the show. Konami/Ultra made a cartoonishly difficult game and tortured a generation of kids. 

So it's a popular game but not Great game, and not a Classic.

The perfect TMNT video game would come a bit later in the form of TMNT The Arcade Game (both the arcade and NES versions).

Anyways, they set out to beat the game and that was the draw to me and also made it worth posting. I don't believe I've ever seen anyone beat it or even get close to beating it. I may have never seen anyone get past the Dam Stage, in fact. I'm not sure.

RLM - Trivia of Terror

It's a game of horror movie trivia - Jay vs. Josh (the other Josh).

Scorch Update for February 2026

Scorch is always up to something but that's why it's ironic that the thing he's up to now is being retired. Except he's retired and working on a new App and there are subscriptions somewhere (facebook?) for a few dollars a month, or something?

WEIRD NEW-EWS!