Emperor Ping (left) and the villainous Wang Mang (right)… never trust a silent fox.
It was on February 3, 6…. that’s 6 AD, folks… that the Chinese Emperor Ping died, believed to be poisoned by his rival, the regent Wang Mang. Alas, poor Emperor Ping met his end at the tender age of 14, having only been born in 9 BC. But hey, he got to see the calendar roll over from 1 BC to 1 AD despite his short life, and even presided over China (ceremonially, you know, being a kid and all) having ascended to the throne in that final BC year. To show how fucked up the Chinese royal system was, Ping was replaced as emperor by Ruzi, who was all of one year old at the time. Putting another baby on the throne merely gave Wang Mang (No relation to Wang Chung) more time to effectively rule the empire before he removed little Ruzi a few years later, making himself emperor and thus ending the reign of the Han Dynasty…
And on a timely note, Emperor Ping’s death in 6 AD saw in the year of the….
ZZZZZZZZZZZZ….
You can do the math!
Or, if math is too hard for you, then you can try following my pretzel logic when it comes to answering Melanie’s Share Your World questions for this week!
That’s China right there, the land of the Diaper Kings…
What is one topic you love to talk about?
Nobody asked you!
The old days! I find this is especially true at work, considering I’ve been employed at Mecca longer than a few of my colleagues have even been alive. And I generally like doing it solely for the shocked expressions of how different things were then compared to now… because I was sure fascinated with being on the other side of those stories in my younger years.
You should see the looks I get when I talk about the payphone that used to be in the break room…
Suppose there was a magical wizard standing right in front of you and you could turn your life into anything you wanted, what would you do?
Don’t you give me a watch or a medal or a fucking piece of paper, you fraud! If you’re really a wizard, you better give me a million bucks and a mansi0n in Beverly Hills!
I’d probably shit myself. Then waste my wish on a change of clothes…
Could you adjust to life without any internet?
I could, but I wouldn’t want to. Now take away the smartphones, and I’ll gleefully watch while the rest of society quickly goes mad…
Teacher! How do I find the porn on this thing?
What do you think is unique about the human ‘animal’?
Apparently, the human animal is not a part of nature, making it unique from the rest of its fauna counterparts. I’ve always laughed at the hard distinction that is made between “man-made” and “natural.” We believe we truly are special on this planet, and everything else is just fodder to be filmed for a National Geographic documentary…
Man-made or nature? You decide.
Share some encouraging words that you’d say to someone who was feeling down.
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
the old times were good times… you could ask your mom via pay phone to stay over night at a friend and before she could say no! the moneeh was gone ;O)))
Ha! Reminds me of all the times I stayed at my friend’s house as a kid… I think my parents were happy to get rid of me! His mom treated me like I was family anyway… right down to slapping the shit out of me when I got in a fight with my friend’s older brother!
hahaha goood one ;O)))
I think you’re right about smartphones…..people are TOO connected to the danged things. We went out to dinner last week and a family of six came in and sat in a booth across from us. The second they landed in their seats they ALL pulled out their cellphones and never EVER said a word to each other – they managed to give their orders to the waiter – then back to the phones…..their food arrived – they still didn’t talk – my husband theorized they were all communicating with each other on their cellphones. Weird. Just weird.
Pam
I wish more of the people I work with at Mecca just texted, but no…. they put their calls on speaker so we can very loudly hear both ends of what apparently accounts for a “conversation.” You wouldn’t believe how many people are apparently awake at home at 3 in the morning…
I can’t see carrying that GTE phone around.
Why, it’s smaller than the old brick phones…
Poor Robbie. As for cell phones…I think you’d lose a whole generation of millennials if they were eliminated. They can’t seem to exist without checking their social media feed every 6 seconds.
I wouldn’t mind losing them…. maybe in a wormhole somewhere, which they’d probably walk right into while they had their face in their phones.
Hope springs eternal.
Thanks Bill for Sharing Your World! Not everyone would go mad if alleged ‘smart’ phones were nuked. I wouldn’t for one, I’d be right there cheering along side you (virtually of course). I’d be bummed that I was once again rendered isolated and in need of rescue though. The sole reason my cell phone exists is to live in my car and be available if there’s a problem with mobility. I felt badly for the poor critter Robbie. Doesn’t he know the overly endowed with ‘beauty’ (in the eye of the beholder always) are mean little bastards who are probably narcissists and will stab a lesser (in their eyes) critter in the heart with a spork? He’ll learn.. Great answers to the questions today! I’m looking forward to C.O.W. IX and already have a story line in the works. Now to the ‘art’ work… Have a great week!
I don’t begrudge those who want a regular cell for emergencies…. but I’d be jovial to see people have to do without those “smart” devices. Can’t wait to see what you come up with for COW9!
The old times were good times. I remember when our family was in the kitchen wondering an amazing, new machine, a coffee dispenser and so many new things, like TV.
I remember being amazed by our first VCR. Then I was given an electric typewriter by an aunt and used that thing all the time just because of how neat it was. Nobody uses any of those things anymore…
We still have an electric typewriter somewhere, is was so great to get it then. Many good things have disappeared. I think we had a good childhood without all these digital system.
Back in my day people were able to make sensible wishes without shitting themselves…
Well, back in your day there were real wizards! Now it’s just a bunch of adult kids in costumes who think they’re wizards….