Late Late Nite FDL: Armies of AngelsBy: TRex Saturday June 2, 2007 11:10 pm |
Best wishes to Jen and everyone at the News Blog who did yeoman's work keeping the blog going and keeping us informed over the last few months. We are holding you in our hearts.
God bless you, Steve, and rest your soul. Heaven has a new general in its army of angels.
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Zed
Steve
(blowing kisses) Thank you, TRex.
TRex!!!
I let downstairs know, TRex.
RIP Steve.
you know, there really ought to be a memorial fund for steve. anybody here have any info on one?
The servers thank you too, TRex. Was getting kinda up in the numbers downstairs.
Joe Klein’s conscience @ 6
Amen!!!
Hope you like Dvorak. This piece always makes me think of angels singing.
I’m off to bed.
Good night, everyone.
Thanks for the rain prayers. They appear to be paying off. Tropical Storm Barry has parked over Georgia and brought us a full night of steady, gentle rain, which was exactly what we needed.
Sleep well, and remember Steve’s family in your prayers.
What a beautiful voice.
Perhaps, a few words of comfort from Messrs. Lennon and McCartney:
Turn off your mind, relax
and float down stream
It is not dying
It is not dying
Lay down all thought
Surrender to the void
It is shining
It is shining
That you may see
The meaning of within
It is being
It is being
That love is all
And love is everyone
It is knowing
It is knowing
That ignorance and hate
May mourn the dead
It is believing
It is believing
But listen to the
color of your dreams
It is not living
It is not living
Or play the game
existence to the end
Of the beginning
- Tomorrow Never Knows
Thanks for the update about Georgia, TRex. Sleep well.
TRex @ 11
hah! The reality transform worked! Now to find which one controls tornadoes, so we can send them off to the uninhabited areas…
sleep well TRex. We will all continue to sing “rainy night in georgia” under our breath for you…
TRex @ 10
Nite, T!!! Steve’s demise is a sobering experience for me! I was born in ‘66 too!!!
TRex @ 10
Native Americans call that “the Mother rain” because it’s so nurturing Sweet dreams Trex :-) And Hi All:-)
Loo Hoo. @ 11
Doesn’t she make it look disgustingly easy?
Apparently, she’s the Anti-Diva, too. Zany sense of humor, easy to work with.
But really, good night!
Dee Loralei @ 17
as opposed to the “male rain”, which IIRC was essentially thunderstorms…
Rusalka – that did it.
Steve’s death is a lead story on HuffPo:
Revered Blogger Steve Gilliard Dead At Age 41
(they just link back to newsblog, nothing extra for now…)
LS @ 20
?????
I’m going to miss the rain here when I move. Seriously. The rain falls so softly filtered by all the redwoods, buckeyes, and other trees. The ferns help with deflecting any rebel raindrops that are trying to splatter hard.
Rain in a temperate rainforest is a special rain that I am going to miss.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 22
Oh, I thought it was Rusalka. Maybe I’m wrong.
Suzanne @ 24
i often spent our family vacations in the northern california and southern oregon areas, so I know what you mean. but at the time there was no such thing as telecommuting, so I was place-bound. and now without my wife, i just wouldn’t enjoy it.
BTW, spam at 21?
The quality of Mercy is not strained,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes…
LS @ 25
who or what is Rusalka?
refresh and it is gone…sorry that one got by me tonight. not completely here yanno. been a rough forking day after a rough forking week.
TRex @ 26
Amen.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 27
The aria in the post above – isn’t it Rusalka?
Suzanne @ 29
we understand. My life is often summed up in the following quote:
Arthur C. Clark famously said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is
indistinguishable from magic.” But in my house, any sufficiently advanced technology
is broken, and no one knows how to fix it.
–Scott Adams
LS @ 31
I believe it is Renee Flemming….
Suzanne @ 29
This quote is no longer opperative during the Bush years but such a wonderful poem…..Steve was erudite and facile and glib… and he was damning in his prose, very kick-butt. He shall be missed and hopefully emulated and revered.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 32
Renee Flemming is singing the role of Rusalka.
Yes. Now, SHHHHHHHH!!
I brought you guys to the opera tonight on the condition that you wouldn’t embarrass me. Sit still!
Dee Loralei @ 33
Triple DING!
TRex, shall I get out my “mean mother” voice and get “the look” on standby?
Trex: Steve Touched a lot of us and even helped an unknown 5th-tier blogger when I asked if our favorite radio host, Melanie Morgan was racist.
His answer?
Here was my letter to him (URL and audio links fixed because this was the blog that ABC/Disney shut down.)
Hi Steve:
Atrios recommended bloggers go to you whenever there is a question of “Is this racist?” So I figured you could help me on this one. I was listening to Melanie Morgan of “Hot Talk” KSFO 560 AM in SF (the home of Rush and Hannity). She was talking about the Richard Pombo race for congress in a Northern California district. There was a photo of Pombo in the Chronicle. She said that the Chronicle purposely manipulated the photo of Pombo to look like “A BLACK MAN”
audio link 1:01. Comment at 28 seconds) ( link to SF Chronicle article and photos in question–note the photo has been changed, see my blog post below for the before and after.)
Here are my posts on the comments
http://www.spockosbrain.com/20…..of_31.html
http://www.spockosbrain.com/20…..nd-up.html
I wrote the Chronicle and I think they missed the point of Morgan’s comment. They just CHANGED THE PHOTO. With no comment to Morgan about her attack on her defaming the photographer or on her racist views. In my letter I wrote:
“Finally, I would like to point out an underlying racist attitude in Morgan’s comment. I encourage you to listen to the tone of her comment. She practically spits out the words “A BLACK MAN” as if Pombo being black would be a TERRIBLE thing. And that the MOST horrible thing that the Chronicle could do, in it’s alleged photo manipulation, would be to turn Pombo into a BLACK MAN. Why? Because people would not vote for a black man over a white man? Because Republicans don’t vote for black men? Because a black man would never be a Republican? That certainly sounds like the views of someone prejudiced against black people’s ability to govern to me.”
Does this comment make her sound like a racist? How about the new ad that Move America Forward is putting out saying that airport security should racially profile Arab men at the airport.: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkmlj8h6U7M
I’m going to start writing the advertisers. I want your opinion.
Thanks,
LLAP,
Spocko Author of
Spocko’s Brain, the blog that is sweeping the nation. Now with 19 readers!
(Note: that link takes you to the blog that Disney shut down with their bogus copyright claim.)
And as many of you know, I did write their advertisers. We all did. We were pretty successful too. They lost at least 28 major advertisers and I estimate 1/2 million in revenue. But Disney still backs them.
So much for the market deciding.
TRex @ 35
To me, that is one of the most amazingly beautiful arias ever written, and it made me cry.
Suzanne @ 23
I’ll bet. Won’t you be moving to a forest area though? Or will you live in a town/city in the northwest (with cable for your computer)?
No, no no, Suzanne, not The look! How’s my favorite moderator?
Alfred Kelgarries @ 33
ghod i’m thick tonight…yes, she is singing Rusalka…linky!
Well, you don’t have to worry about me at least. I’m off in a few minutes to go watch some of my late-night shows.
to kick-butt, sharing and gentle rain,
gnite all! peace
EPU’d from downstairs…
TeddySanFran @ 336
The lady can write. Can’t get that “scene” out of my head.
Dee Loralei @ 41
I’m pretty bummed, DeeL. But being here tonight, among my FDL family, helps.
Suzanne @ 36
no, not the “mean mother!” anything but that!
:>
we’ll be good (at least where you can see us…)
Suzanne @ 37
Are you hands squarely on your hips?
LooHoo, I’m hoping for a forest near the coast, similar to what I have here. Actually, I’m hoping for exactly what I have here but know that is unrealistic.
I don’t know where I’m gonna move to but I know I’ll know it when I see it. Is how I found this place.
Touch the Stars
Shine – Trey Anastasio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz6sGVDEDPw
Not yet, LooHoo, I expect they will be there before the night is over.
Suzanne @ 48
So you’re looking to take your equity and move where real estate is more reasonable? I may do that too. I work 4 more years…
Where real estate and the cost of living is lower. My body is just too beat up to work anymore. I’ve tried since the retirement but the pain is not worth the paltry pay. I am going to find a place where I can be retired, have little luxuries like high speed internet, and enjoy what is left of my life.
AK, I saw that. Keep your hands where I can see them please (wink)
Suzanne @ 52
do you want to consider expatriate communities? I have an uncle living in panama and he says its amazingly us-like but with a far lower cost of living…
Suzanne @ 53
yess’m!
(nod)
HA!!
Another such aria – Suor Angelica:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXfy8uv7ehY
Alfred, too funny. We were talking about Panama on Thursday late night!
do you want to consider expatriate communities? I have an uncle living in panama and he says its amazingly us-like but with a far lower cost of living…
I’ve thought perhaps Canada (as I’m sure many of us have) but would prefer to stay in my country. I can fight boosh & co better here.
Loo Hoo. @ 58
actually I saw that and fired off an email to old jose to check; he agreed totally!
Suzanne @ 59
true enough. I’m seduced by the cayman islands myself but really can’t take my dad there, he couldn’t take the humidity. sigh. (like i have even the FAINTEST reason to complain…(whacks self with virtual rolled up newspaper…))
Wasn’t Renee Fleming one of the Three Divas, or Three Sopranos? Memphis’s own Kallen Esperian was one of their memeber… I’ve seen Kallen live, but never Renee… she must be amazing in person….
I just discovered the most amazing thing!
If you bring up a video clip in one tab on firefox and then switch to another tab, YOU STILL GET TO HEAR THE VIDEO. For arias, tres kool!
Alfred Kelgarries @ 62
I was leaning Belize or Costa Rica Though I have friends in Bermuda… so that works also… I hate the cold, I could prolly not tolerate Canada…. I have a 16 yr old son, so I am actually actively looking in to alternate home bases….
AK, Firefox is the best. I’ve never regretted switching to it.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 63
Isn’t that cool? Where do you live, Alfred?
I’ve always had a tropical island dream = until I moved up here. Now it is rainforests, ferns, and fish in the creek.
Dee, Costa Rica is so beautiful, but the infrastructure isn’t there yet most places.
Poor Paul Wolfowitz. You’re losing your job, your girlfriend dumps you…getting on myspace is the logical, pathetic next step.
http://www.myspace.com/paulwolfowitz43
Very cruel/funny. Go for the movie, stay for the haikus.
Suzanne @ 65
have you seen the recent warnings over google toolbar vulnerability? I had to do some quick surgery when I saw these..
Loo Hoo. @ 66
suburb of san antonio, tejas, oppressed states of bushco.
The snow factors in, most assuredly. I’ve been a CA type since 1963 and have never really had to deal with snow. Snow is what has Alaska, Montana, and Canada on my secondary list.
I saw that in Brian Kreb’s WaPoo blog Security Fix (which I read faithfully for just that kinda of info), AK.
Loo Hoo. @ 69
Yea, I figure that’s one of those places I have to worry about water supply, and electricity and roads, and then also Chinese toothpaste, etc, in the food supply… but I’d also get in on the Monarch Butterfly routes….I’m only looking at other places if we go to a draft, under this commander-in-chief, or yet another Rep becomes President in 08, then I am ex-patriating myself and my only child….
Alfred Kelgarries @ 70
In my experience, Google toolbar is a nasty bit of code I have long since excised from my system.
Dee Loralei @ 72
would that be enough, in the modern environment of data-sharing? i hope so on a personal level, but as an IT professional, i would be worried about it…
DrDetroit @ 69
Wow! I saw that earlier this evening, but didn’t scroll down. Too funnt!!
LaFourmiRouge @ 73
I use google desktop a lot, because the ms product is so worthless. have done much with toolbar. can you discuss specific issues?
Alfred,
If it weren’t for the Hill Country, S.A., The Gulf Coast and even El Paso, I’d say give Tejas back. My Grandparents retired to S.A. and had a summer home near Rockport, and they are burried in the hills around Austin, but other than that, as an Okie, I say Tuck Fexas! LOL!
Alfred Kelgarries @ 76
should read “haven’t done much with toolbar”. sigh.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 71
Campadres Alfred. Stay tuned to a meeting of FDL pups at Gruene Hall in July.
Dee Loralei @ 77
I was raised in north dallas, just north of smu. we later moved farther north to around northpark (of course it wasn’t there then). then went off to school and worked in dc and baltimore before settling in denver and working at the fed center until i retired. stayed there until my wife died, then came here to take care of my dad and work for my son in law’s small IT security firm. So I’m a texas expat, but north dallas was never texan, it was upper middle class with delusions of boston. so i really don’t grok texas as texas at all. But the people in SA are certainly nice, and the health infrastructure (IF you have good insurance!) is second to none!
Alfred Kelgarries @ 75
Well, (and now I’m pulling an Alfred) if they’d take the kid from Honduras who actually wants to enlist, maybe there wouldn’t be a need for a draft.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..inionsbox1
LS @ 79
cool, send me info. Can’t guarantee to come, but will sure give it a try!
Dee Loralei @ 78
I love Texas. I live in the Hill Country. I love the vegetation and the people. I get to travel all over the state in the music world and I’ve got to say I have met so many great people in this state.
Loo Hoo. @ 81
How should I take “pulling an Alfred”? is thees good or bad? (prepares to preen or sulk as needed…)
A tough day after a tough week. I’m very down about Steve. I was really hoping for some good news.
Yeah, DB (big sigh).
Dover Bitch @ 86
Some good news is that (somebody help me out here, I can’t find the links right now)the case of the soldier arrested for protesting in cammies, has prompted a federal judge to block $400 million Blackwater contract. This would make Steve happy.
Suzanne @ 86
nice writeup on Kos about steve:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyo…..1741/20535
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Gilliard
Good, Alfred!
I never knew Steve, but my condolences to everyone. My loss, obviously.
LS @ 88
Think Progress.
I know this, my grandmother got one of the first in the world heart bypasses and then heart transplants, and it was her Drs in SA who made it possible. her Surgeon studied under that South African guy who invented the proceedur, but he was the first American surgeon to utilize it….She got Scarlet Fever when she was very young anf lived to become the mother of 4 and died when her oldest grandchild was over 20, so I’m thinking I was the lucky person in that equation… I knew 3 of my great-grandmothers and 2 of my great-grandfathers and all 4 of my grandparentsand all but one of them died whilst I was in my teens or twenties…. again, I am the lucky person in this group…..
Dee Loralei @ 92
That is pretty amazing.
So many good writeups on Steve today, mine most feeble of all. I’d trade them all for some of the good news I was hoping to hear.
Seemed for a short time that things were going to be OK… well, maybe not OK, but not with a result like today’s. Why does it always seem to be like that?
LS @ 87
It sure would! However, it is actually two different people. The antiwar vet is Adam Kokesh (linky), while the blocked contract is due to brian x scott, a somewhat “unusual” person with a penchant for suing the feds (linky)
I love Texas. I live in the Hill Country. I love the vegetation and the people. I get to travel all over the state in the music world and I’ve got to say I have met so many great people in this state.
I went to Sun Studio and did the tour thing on Tuesday… talk about Mecca…Soon, I’m gonna go to Stax and then I will have visited Medina of music as well…..Memphis is the heart of the music….the soul… the Alpha and Omega Welcome to my world LOL
Dee Loralei @ 92
both my dad and my mom were treated for their heart issues by that doctor! talk about a small world!
Alfred Kelgarries @ 89
And written by Kos. Hasn’t he been quiet since the new baby?
Alfred Kelgarries @ 95
Hee, hee…well, as long as Blackwater gets tripped up, I’m happier!!!
Dover Bitch @ 95
How did he die?
W.A.Mozart – Requiem – Kyrie
And now for a quick trip to the “dark side”, because it is an issue we as leaders of the progressive blogosphere need to start considering (again from daily kos:)
Will a democratic victory in 2008 generate serious right wing violence in response?
I’m currently working up a report on the curious parallels between our “tinfoil hat fascist takeover” theories and the right-wing’s “tinfoil hat fascist takeover” theories. what fascinates me so far is that they believe WE will be the ones to suspend the constitution and put THEM in camps. No, I’m not kidding. This is spooky…
IIRC, had previous heart valve issue, hadn’t been feeling well, doc sent him for a test and he was immediately hospitalized, surgery, went downhill.
Suzanne @ 103
was a drug resistant staph infection involved? hospitals are becoming dangerous places due to that…
both my dad and my mom were treated for their heart issues by that doctor! talk about a small world!
LOL Alfred, this is another conversation we need to have… the small world serendipity
That is from memory. Jen blogged about it when he was first hospitalized but the family later asked that no further updates be blogged. He went in for the test expecting to return home that same afternoon.
TRex, thanks for the opera clip. It’s not something I would have found, that’s for sure.
Dee Loralei @ 105
LOL Alfred, this is another conversation we need to have… the small world serendipity
six degrees of separation, what? :) Now, in all truthiness, I’m ASSUMING it was the same doctor because of the debakey connection. Neither of my parent had heart transplants, but they both had early pacemakers. My mom died of colon cancer just before hers was due for replacement, while my dad’s was replaced in 2000. He is due for another replacement in 2007 (battery life issues). In those days, pacemaker surgery was almost as difficult as heart surgery, so only the best docs did it.
LaFourmiRouge @ 102
Wow, was that powerful. Thanks!
Steve tribute at Taylor Marsh:
http://www.taylormarsh.com/
Totally OT, but for any in the L.A. area, Kevin Drum has organized one of his “Eating Liberally” deals tomorrow, Sunday, noon, at Farmer’s Market.
Details at Kevin’s place here: http://www.washingtonmonthly.c…..011418.php
Alfred Kelgarries @ 102
Alfred, in 1998 I was screaming that if the Reps didn’t win the presidency in 2000, that they would start the next civil war and they would win, because the lefties do not do violence… but I saw this coming 9 years ago, and as far as I can tell, we’ve only postponed this battle… and we have not utilized the previous 7 years to make the battlefield equal, and we will still lose….. and remember, to the victors go the writing of history…. We can’t win… And we cannot submit or defer… it’s gonna get very ugly.
Time for me and the cutest dog in the world to head off to bed. G’nite all.
Dover Bitch @ 95
I liked it, DB. If you want to feel better about yourself go read mine. It’s just a links list, really, I didn’t know him at all. I just liked his work.
Suzanne @ 114
Goodnight, Suzanne. Think I’m going to head off, too. I started reading American Fascists, and I really want to give myself some nightmares.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 102
That would lead me to believe that 50% of the story was true on both sides..or something like that. It is all part of the tactic of your “rulers” using fear to control the masses. It doesn’t matter what affiliation you have. Most people just want to live their lives in peace the world over. “Most people” means that either party is ultimaely outnumbered depending upon how afraid they are.
Did everybody in America just go to bed?
Whaaaa, whaaaa, whaaaa
Not me, LS.
Niteall.
LS @ 118
And where are our friendly Aussies and Canadians?
Dee Loralei @ 112
oh DEAR, not again…(Suzanne, please get out your mod scissors….)
This topic happens to be one that I have unusual qualifications to blog about. The reason is that much of my work in the 1960’s was on computer and wargame simulations of putting america back together after a successful russian first strike. We assumed that our military had destroyed them totally in retaliation, so all we had to concentrate upon was controlling riots, looting, local “barons” as we called them setting up little fiefdoms in the best apocalyptic fiction style (IMHO, a lot of the fiction about such things was actually drawn from our sims…), and anything and everything needed to put our country back together again with a functioning, FREE government and economy. Oddly enough, guaranteeing civil liberties was a MAJOR part of the exercise, since as one of the generals running it said “if we’re gonna end up like the russkis after winning the f*cking war, let’s just surrender and save all the bother!”
I’m not going into lurid details because a) i’m not allowed to, much of the work is still classified, and b) it’s too awful even for late night FDL. But I can tell you this, the right wing people who believe that either a) they as individuals or small groups or b) they as operatives of a fascist federal system, can force this country into a dictatorship in any sense, are deluded fools.
the military, the various federal agencies, and even now the state and even some municipal agencies have been briefed on how to deal with this sort of foolishness. Bottom line, no matter which way it happens, it gets shut down fast.
I’m not saying we couldn’t have a fascist takeover, on the contrary, I do fear one. But the time is not yet.
What we DO have to worry about are our own loved ones and friends being hurt or killed in the mopping up. THAT is the bad part, and why we must do all we can to nip this in the bud. the feds and state and locals can defend the republic just fine, but they can’t guarantee no casualties. The one place where utilitarianism fails catastrophically.
Suzanne @ 113
night suzanne! (slips fingers out of sight with gleeful smile…)
LS @ 116
actually i am much more interested in the misapprehensions both sides have about the other. Bottom line, I’m suspecting major social projection here. I’ll have to bone up on some psych terms to write it up properly…
Loo Hoo. @ 118
are you still here, loo hoo?
Alfred and Dee,
I remember reading years ago that in case of a major catastrophe, the most valuable barter items would be bullets and penicillin.
Say Alfred – I’m not a genuine codehead, but in my practical experience, the Google toolbar is an attempt to integrate the user’s native functions with the massive search-engine capabilities of the web interface. It’s an inherently extremely invasive program and if a breach is found, every bit of info on your HD is easily searched, analyzed, and potentially misused in all sorts of ways.
Wow, my computer just kicked me all over the place. Anyway, I’m still here…right Alfred? Just us few and a bunch of lurkers!!! Anybody want to jump in?
LaFourmiRouge @ 125
ick. well, i uninstalled it. we’ll see what happens. besides i live such a lilly white life, the no such agency guy assigned to monitor me went into a nunnery out of boredom.
Loo Hoo. @ 124
in a true meltdown, they would be. BUT, to make such a meltdown happen, the weapons used would have in fact killed all of us six times over. infrastructure is like cockroaches, you have to use a LOT of firepower to get it all. people go much sooner.
LS @ 126
splish.
Loo Hoo. @ 125
IIRC, from Lucifer’s Hammer, a sci-fi book by Niven and Pournelle in the late 1970s. The book _How Things Work_ was also worth a lot as people forgot how to make stuff and how basic manufacturing processes actually had to be set up. Good book.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 129
My parents lived in a Nazi occupied country in Europe for 5 years. The things they always talked about being really valuable were coffee and sugar. Coffee to drink and also used for hair dye for the women!! Also, cigarettes.
Where did your parents live, LS?
Ed*ard Teller @ 130
Agreed most wholeheartedly! I love niven and pournelle. however, they themselves have written in various places that LH was not predictive fiction, but simply their take on the “disaster fiction” genre, and written for mass market rather than sf market.
Loo Hoo. @ 133
Norway
My dad’s relatives are from Norway. Norway was occupied?
Loo Hoo. @ 136
Yes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O…..zi_Germany
Loo Hoo. @ 136
Most definitely!!! My Dad was the last government official in Norway left in the Defense department shredding defense plans while the Nazis were coming into the Oslofjord.
Alfred Kelgarries,
I didn’t know that. Interesting. My favorite Niven and Pournelle was _The Legacy of Heorot_! I can’t believe I still love salmon after samlon.
LS @ 137
was your family persecuted for that?
Here’s an inspirational piece to end this quite eventful day on a high, hopeful note…
Ha le lu jah
Ed*ard Teller @ 138
I’m hooked on the ringworld/known space titles. there are two good ones coming up soon, Fleet of Worlds and Juggler of Worlds, connecting the Shaeffer Known Space and Ringworld Known Space eras. They can be preordered on amazon. If you’re interested further, there is a very nice niven mailing list i’m on, here.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 140
No. Not directly, they didn’t “catch” him. He just got out of the buildings before they took over the city and retreated to the mountains where my mother and brothers were and other family members. When things stabilized, they returned to the city, but I’m not sure how they managed things exactly at that point. My uncle was arrested and sent to a “camp” in northern Norway for 6 months for some reason. He spent most of the time being asked to crawl between two huge mounds of snow with a teaspoon…moving snow from one mound to the other.
LS @ 142
wow, so brownie learned his katrina levee building skills from the germans…makes sense! :>
LS, is your uncle still in Norway? What a horrible torture.
Loo Hoo. @ 144
it also proves the germans read dante. that was one of the punishments of H*ll, IIRC…
Alfred,
It may seem weird, but I’ve only read two or thre sci-fi books since mid-2001. Racking my brain for more exceptions. Maybe our times are more like sci-fi than fiction itself.
Back in the 1970s and 1980s I read a lot more, but mostly because I was at sea a bit and you read when you’re not on duty. The two authors who got me the most interested were Colin Wilson and the great H P Lovecraft, neither considered at all central to the genre. I’ve never been able to finish a book by Heinlein, but went through a Philip Dick period in the mid-80s.
Loo Hoo. @ 145
No, yes, I mean he died in about 1961. I would say yes, of course, it was horrible, but I suppose not as horrible as compared to some of the even more extreme things that went on in Germany and Poland, etc., how does one gauge? Torture is torture. It was painful, and it destroyed his life. He survived. He was a musician – that was his “crime”. Nonetheless, it affected his health and he was frail during the remaining years of his life.
Dang, we’re going to be seeing a good morning here soon!
Ed*ard Teller @ 146
you are certainly right about the times being sf like. I also have run out of good reading providers in sf except for niven and james p hogan. except for early david eddings, fantasy is also pretty much stagnant.
fortunately, i have an extensive collection of the “old good stuff” and read it when i can. i work as much as possible to keep from becoming depressed, of course.
LS @ 147
and PLEASE don’t take my snark at brownie and katrina as in any way diminishing your uncle’s suffering. really, you should highlight this experience for the lake, because it puts “torture” right where it belongs, the obscenities of madmen, rather than “enhanced interrogation techniques.” The sophistries of villains!
Loo Hoo. @ 149
I usually don’t stay up this late unless we’re on the road. I don’t know why I can’t sleep tonight.
Loo Hoo. @ 148
hows the weather?
I agree with Alfred, LS. This is as relevant to current events as can be. Did everyone else in your family escape the Nazis?
LS,
I’m a Norwegian/Texan/Alaskan musician. What kind of music did your dad engage in?
LS @ 151
same here. my late wife would have said, “bad vibes out of the earth”. she could pick them up, too. We woke up the morning of september 11, 2001 to go and get my grandson for the day (he wasn’t in day care then) and she turned to me and said. “something’s wrong. check the tv and the internet.” i turned on the tv, set to the bbc to record a britcom she loved the night before off cable. The announcer was discussing “with both twin towers collapsed in manhattan and the pentagon in flames”. I started to change the channel, assuming it was a sf spoof like they sometimes run. Then I saw the “live” bug and slowly went into shock. she came in and found me, staring at the tv, motionless. I pointed and she understood.
Alfred, you must miss your wife terribly.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 151
The way it was described to me in the family stories, was that it was “entertainment” for the bored German soldiers. That simple. They were given some kind of carte blanche orders and they received some kind of perverse gratification by watching other people under their control perform demeaning and humiliating activities. That is how they occupied their time. Well, that is exactly what I think happened at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere.
Loo Hoo. @ 156
i’d be dead of self-neglect except for my need to take care of my dad. and the fact my 9 year old granddaughter would never speak to me again.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 158
And then I read something like LS story above and I think, “you selfish slug! get your ass back into battle where it belongs!” and so I do. As some character in a Tom Clancy novel said, “M*th*rf*ck*rs gonna pay!”
Ed*ard Teller @ 155
My uncle played piano. My Grandmother and her sisters sang opera. My husband is a lead guitar player.
LS @ 160
What musical genre for your husband, if we may ask? (my mom was a concert pianist who taught music, college level) and played with the college orchestra.
Night everyone, sorry LS-you’re right about Abu Garaib. Kiss granddaughter, Alfred. Congratulations again, ET, for telling the folks whatfor at the funeral.
Loo Hoo. @ 162
night loo hoo. tomorrow will be better.
LS,
Music in the house is good. Live music in the house is both sublime and bedlam. I play low brass and keyboard, teach music in college and compose. My son played led guitar and wrote most of the material for a series of heavy metal bands over the past five years, but has suddenly thrown that out for bluegrass (!!!).
Alfred Kelgarries @ 156
Wow, Alfred. I really relate to the “bad vibes out of the earth” feeling. I went to a farm with a friend of mine one time in upstate NY. It was in Ancram, NY. I could not STAND to stay there for a minute longer than my friend, because I had a “sensation” of “chalk on a blackboard”. A couple of hours later we went to visit a friend in a nearby town, and we mentioned that I had been freaked out for some reason on that land in a laughing, off-the-cuff way, and she said, “Oh, you mean you heard the Ancram Screechers!!!!” She explained that they are the “ghosts” of people who lived under a sort of feudal rule by a “landlord” who owned most of the land from Albany south, when the area was being occupied by Europeans….wwweeeewoooooweeeee
Ed*ard Teller @ 164
wow, et, you are a heavy hitter!
my mom encouraged me to play piano from when I was about six, and i did up till about sixteen when for some unknown reason my muse left me and I’ve never played since. but when she was at the keys, practicing or playing for her own joy, dad and i lived in our own little universe of the infinite…..
G’day pups. It’s Sunday night here and I’m at the Lake avoiding getting organized for a quick trip to the States tomorrow. Sad to hear about Steve G.
Anyone still awake?
PDU, I already said goodnight once, but something’s wierd. I can’t sleep. My sister-in-law jokes that Olsons can sleep anywhere at any time of the day or night.
Ed*ard Teller @ 165
I love all music. I can’t imagine not having it in my life. I am not a musician, I am a painter myself, but I relate color to sound somehow as well. All of our senses are there to taste the flavors – blues, bluegrass, the color red, and chili peppers. It’s all the same thing really.
Hi LooHoo – I can sleep anywhere, especially on airplanes, which is most helpful in my life these days. How are things?
LS @ 165
wow. the only other time my wife’s talent was really noticeable was when we attended a party for a friend who had just gotten a promotion. His brother was there from california, i think, and he was pleasant enough; none of us had ever met him though we knew about him. As soon as it was socially possible my wife came to me and said, “I have a terrible headache. We have to go home.” that was our code for, something is very wrong here and we need to leave. So we did, gracefully, and went home. there she told me that there were terrible black thoughts and feelings sweeping through the party and she felt her and another woman’s lives were in danger. I called a friend of mine in fed security and gave him the brother’s name (because he was the only new element present, we knew all the other people well). he ran a check and discovered the bozo was on the run from a murder warrant, he’d killed his wife three days before after kidnapping her from somewhere and driving her across a state line, making it a federal crime. The feds came and arrested him at the party; they found evidence he intended to kill as many women as he could at the party before taking his own life. he died in jail, i’m not sure how, but it was before he stood trial. i never told my friend I was the one who ratted his brother out. But for the rest of her life, anytime my wife was suspicious of anything, I took it apart with a buzz saw.
Loo Hoo. @ 168
I feel it too, LH. something is happening somewhere, but is it good or bad?
petedownunder @ 167
no, we are all sleep-blogging. it’s a new disorder caused by reading the XKCD online comic too much! :>
Hillary all over the WaPo today.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..id=topnews
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..id=topnews
Loo Hoo. @ 169
Me either. Very unusual. Is it a full moon or something? I once heard that if you are depressed, you should stay up all night, and then you will feel better. Someone did some study about that once. I don’t feel depressed.
petedownunder @ 171
Things are good if you want to disregard our &^%$#@ government! Airplanes are like a lullaby for me too. That’s so lucky for you. Where will you be here in the USofA?
LS @ 169
when i hear music, i see history in my mind. in fact, i’ll admit to a guilty pleasure (and ET knows its uncouth but i’m sure he’ll keep my secret) ….
I collect motion picture soundtracks. I have close to 500. My dad’s best friend, years ago, teased me about it, calling it “gebrachtsmuzic” or “music broken in little pieces”. He was an orchestral tuba player and working industrial chemist with six patents. Also gay, although it was never openly discussed at the time.
But when I hear ANY music, history unfolds for me. I have no idea why, it just does…
Sleep blogging – sounds like something right in my skill set. The vibe here is good as the loathsome John Howard is behind in the polls to a newly resurgent Labor Party.
From here things look a bit discouraging in the US, what with the Dems caving on Iraq.
LS @ 170
Have you ever read Wasilly Kandinsky’s _Concerning the Spiritual in Art_? It changed my attitude toward the relationship between color, sound, light and space back when I first read it in the fall of 1967.
LooHoo -
I’ll be in Northern CA, Marin County, just north of San Francisco. My Congress critter Lynn Woolsey has been really good on the war votes, but that can’t be said of all the Dem, including some of Howie’s troops.
petedownunder @ 178
This has been labeled “pulling an alfred” (replying to a post with a link); i’m still waiting to decide if i should preen or sulk :))
Anyway, here’s where I got it from.
Ed*ard Teller @ 180
No, I didn’t read it. I just think I have always just been acutely attracted to color, sound, light, and space as a means of relating.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 178
I guess it “plays” you.
petedownunder @ 179
Un. freaking. believable. wasn’t it? Howie Klein had Joe Sestik here today to explicky his vote, which kinda sorta made sense.
LS @ 182
do you experience synaesthesia?
Alfred Kelgarries @ 103
AK: As you know, this is the rationale that was used in Chile and Argentina in the ’70s and in Spain and Germany in the ’30s, just to name a few of the most famous examples, which lead to fascist takeovers. real democracy is extraordinarily difficult to create and, even more so, to preserve and nurture.
not only is America dangerously close to being a true fascist government as we speak, an incredible number of Americans seem to not understand or care how easily it could become a reality.
the soldiers are dying in Iraq but the war is really being fought in the US. it is a fight to the death between democracy and fascism. the fascists in power in America will not give up. it doesn’t matter whether or not they lose elections, they intend to win by whatever means they find necessary. Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld waited thirty years. these people intend to win. it’s going to be ugly, brutal and, if liberals and progressives don’t give in, it will be bloody.
i wish that i were simply indulging in hyperbole but i have come to the conclusion that violence as a readily used tool to maintain power by the right wing is simply how. it. is.
the Kennedy brothers died violently. Martin Luther King Junior died violently. Malcolm X died violently. the Kent State students died violently. history has spoken. are we listening?
i abhor violence. i do not advocate it. i do advocate resolve and determination. i think the vote for the supplemental by Democrats last week was wrong. it was a capitulation. i respect Joe Sestak but i believe he and Jim Webb, among others, made a mistake. i hope that they will come to understand that, at least by september if not sooner. in doing what they did democracy and progressive politics have been weakened and fascism has been bolstered once again. we cannot afford to let this continue if we are to have any chance of restoring the ideals that are the hope of all decent people in the world.
we must stand firm on our values and beliefs. we must be ready to do this consistently, day after day, without faltering or becoming distracted. and if we do this we may expect violence, both verbal and physical. we need to stand with America as an idea, not simply because we are Americans but because the rest of the world needs this as much a s we ourselves need it. we have to go at it, toe to toe with the fascists. we have to see to it that they understand that we will not be intimidated, that violence will not make us give in.
LS @ 183
I believe you said you paint. What sort of paintings and in what medium?
Alfred,
Film music is sometimes profound. I wish the university at which I teach was big enough to offer Music for the Stage and Cinema as a subject, because I’d kick butt teaching it and kids would sign up and learn. My most recent love – Thomas Newman’s score to The Good German.
petedownunder @ 181
Aren’t you Australian, or do you have duel citizenship? Glad to hear Howard is sinking along with the sludge here.
You should preen proudly, Alfred. Your links are so valuable!
Alfred Kelgarries @ 186
Well, that is intriguing to be sure, and something I would like to investigate. I can testify that I heard music once time (it was Tom Ze), and I had the experience at that moment (and mentioned it to others present) that I could somehow understand how to translate the notes played into colors painted sequentially onto canvas.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 188
I guess it would fall into abstract expressionist/oil.
fahrender @ 186
Interesting, I both agree and disagree with you.
First, the agreements. Yes, we are edging closer to a fascist state. And yes, we must fight against it. And indeed, there are clearly elements in the current power structure who will use violence in careful doses to keep things going the way they want.
Now, the disagreements. There will, in my opinion, never be a “putsch” as happened in germany prior to world war two and has happened elsewhere even recently. my earlier posts explained why this isn’t possible, simply because the system itself is too hair-trigger-set to prevent just that. Seven Days In May might have happened when that book was written, but after Nixon it has effectively no chance of happening now.
What is happening is more subtle and much, much more dangerous. It is “creeping corporate fascism”, which literally eats each civil liberty away a small bit at a time. It does indeed end up like the fascist european states before world war two, but with a modern spin. If allowed to go unchecked, it would have probably succeeded by say, 2020.
But it can now never succeed.
Why?
Us.
The internet cannot be controlled or shut down because it is too deeply entwined in commerce and infrastructure now. I’ve tried over the last year to develop a scenario that would allow the transformation of the net into a “big boys” only medium like television. none can work, because the censorship would be too obvious.
And as long as we can shine the light of democracy on the scurrying fascist cockroaches, they have to give back what they’ve cleverly nibbled away, hide until we get careless, and try again.
But we are evolving faster than they are! They are trapped in the 1800’s mindset, and try to keep reinventing it. we live in the present, embracing change and being enlightened by it.
In short, we have darwin on our side. the bad guys have bishop usher. we win, they lose.
Loo Hoo. @ 190
No, I’m a Yank – living as a semi-expat with the Future Mrs DownUnder who is an Aussie.
Ed*ard Teller @ 189
Mr. LS is quite the musician. He composes, and is particularly fond of James Horner’s film scores (e.g., Glory).
Ed*ard Teller @ 188
Mine is The Claim, by Michael Nyland. Brokenhearted but cheerful at the same time. It was one of the things that got me through my recent bereavement. And I’m DELIGHTED you would like to teach that course! We need more music educators like you!
Alfred Kelgarries @ 196
Michael Nyman, dangit! Getting too sluggy to type…
petedownunder @ 195
When’s the wedding? And where?
LS @ 192
have you put any on the web? we’d love to see some…
Loo Hoo. @ 190
thank you. I mean it.
Loo Hoo. @ 199
A good question. We’ve been engaged for nine years (is that a long time?) and I am still trying to get her to commit to a date. I have hopes for this August or September. It would be here, followed probably by a trip to the US for some partying there.
sorry to drop that boulder right in the middle of a different sort of conversation here!
Alfred (@178): gebrauchtsmusik is a similar word and it means “music for use”. Paul Hindemith used this term and wrote many pieces thusly, to be used for a specific purpose. film music would certainly fall into that category, so maybe your word was a pun?
on the synaesthesia side: Skriabin was deep into that and created a “color organ” to project certain colors to be associated with certain notes of the scale. Nabokov associated certain colors with different letters of the alphabet, or maybe he was just winding us up a bit. Shoenberg was a painter and Paul Klee’s parents and wife were all musicians.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 200
No, I haven’t. I sold some last year, and the newer ones are stacked in my hallway. I rotate them on my walls, as I get attached…they are like “pets”, but surely they should move along to make space for new things. I’m not good at marketing.
Ed*ard Teller @ 190
Edward, some of the scores from japanese and chinese films are downright exquiste. Even the TV shows have some amazing things. I played one or two of them during my DJ stint last night and got a hugely positive reaction. Because they’d never heard anything like that before.
Music for me? is my joy. Which is why i took on the DJ thing, although i work as pharmacy tech ordinarily. Music’s my first love and i’ve always been audio focused. Always. I remember things by score most of the time, not so much visuals.
AK – That cartoon link was very funny. Thanks
fahrender @ 202
Roger was an INVETERATE punster, as bad (or worse) than our own punaise. I’m sure it was on purpose. thanks!
Interesting comment on the synaesthesia. i’ve been told my experiences are neuraesthesia, and that several major scientists recorded similar experiences in their diaries.
BTW, consider the plight of the poor historian from 2399 trying to piece together the blogs of a modern historical figure who is just now blogging. I pity the fellow, personally…
petedownunder @ 202
Well, dang! Nine years? Is she waiting for some kind of metamorphosis or have you scared her *hitless? I would recommend that you invite us to the party!!!
petedownunder @ 202
pete, pete, pete….What??????? What is her problem????
fahrender, I enjoyed your comment and Alfred’s response both.
LS @ 203
you must find a local techie with a good camera to photograph the works and give you the files on a DVD. then let us lakers know and we’ll guide you through getting them up on Flickr and such and seeding the art blogs with links (all legal and free, no spam here!).
I’m deadly serious about this. One of my few real skills (aside from run on sentences :)) is personnel picking. And you have the spark, I can sense it all the way over the toobz. so let’s get you up on the web, even if it just for the joy of sharing your art with the rest of us!
petedownunder @ 205
XKCD is addictive. you have been warned.
Alfred is right about how different the web is for our situation compared to Argentina, for example. I first started using computer/telephonic communication in 1984. That was at the end of the Argentine juntas. Discussion groups on the internet were just starting to widen as more people obtained modems. I read early discussion groups about “los disaparecados.” By 1988 and 1989, when the Soviet paradigm was falling, I could read stuff being translated into discussion groups on the “net” far quicker than you could find accurate info in the newspapers. And the peoples’ advantage – overall – keeps growing. The people who denigrate Al Gore for his role in widening DARPA, the president who calls this world “internets,” the senator who calls this lightspeed world “the toobz” and most MSM personalities and structures are a classic example of how change happens in layers. Ours has been enveloping theirs for years.
LH and LS -
I have no idea what the issue is. Maybe it’s something I said. We’re very happy together, maybe she just wants to be sure I’m going to stay.
I’ll keep you all advised, and any FDL’er is welcome to visit anytime.
Alfred (@194):
i don’t entirely disagree with you, however i do believe that anything is possible in the political future of the US. i believe that what has happened in the past 6 years is a blueprint for Karl and the True Believers. they will tweak it and have another go at it in the years to come. whether or not you and i are still around to witness it i don’t knowbut i do think that we will have to fight, one way or another, for a progressive future. our opponents are having a bad patch right now but they aren’t about to give up and they have a lot of resources and
infrastructure.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 194
I don’t completely share that level of confidence. These people have made enormous preparations and have infiltrated the agencies of government to a far greater degree than people realize. I posted some specifics here.
Ed*ard Teller @ 213
Thank you for that!
@ #213 I meant “DARPAnet.” Sorry, Al…
petedownunder @ 213
I don’t want to get too personal here, but I recall the experience of my wife’s sister. she married early, had a VERY bad marriage, and divorced in her late 50’s after the cad had finally run off with a young man (yep, closeted) . she later hooked up with a man about ten years younger whom she had been friends with for about twelve years prior to their starting to live together. they lived together all the rest of their lives, never marrying. When asked why, the sister said “marriage is slavery. i’m a free woman and i’m not going back.” she and her “companion” both lived together for about fifteen years before they both died of cancer in the same year. but they never got married.
petedownunder @ 214
Pete, are you supporting her? Is there an age difference?
fahrender @ 214
actually we do agree perfectly. i’m just suggesting their methods will be a little more subtle than some think. and the only protection is transparency and voter freedom (as opposed to voter surpression) and political activism, which is what we do here!
Alfred Kelgarries @ 211
Okay, I’ll work on this. Maybe that’s why I had to stay up tonight.
Ed*ard Teller @ 213
what was it that Ben Franklin said? something like,
“Now you have a democracy, I hope you can keep it.”
i feel that way about the internet. you may be sure that “they” are hard at work, even as we type, to take it away from us, subvert it, or drown it in grover norquist’s bath tub.
LS @ 221
keep us informed, we are glad to help. if you need to email me privately, simply use my name (run together) an “at” sign, and google’s mail server addy.
unfortunately, my own little sixth sense is cringing. i fear something very bad may happen today, but i can’t tell if its personal to me or of a larger import. these dang talents never come with instruction manuals, dratit..
More like
Which do we have, a republic or a monarchy”
A rebublic, if you can keep it.
fahrender,
Have one on me for Hindemith after work today!
“They” are hard at work, but the workarounds are way too massive. If they could do it, it would have happened already.
fahrender @ 223
Well, I would take Mr. Norquist on personally before he I would permit him to rip my freedom or my internet out of my hands and drown my government in the bath tub. I’ll have the last bath in the bath tub Mr. Norquist, Mr. Rove, or whoever you are, thank you very much.
Between Katrina and the 2006 elections, there was a sea change in public opinion in the U.S. — the mainstream of the electorate leapfrogged the Democratic party, from right to left. And, there wasn’t much in the mainstream that helped that leap along; maybe Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert, Keith Olbermann, Air America. But the change was breath taking. So maybe it was the Internet that made the difference.
Loo Hoo. @ 220
No. Yes. She and I are both lawyers and do pretty well. I am a bit older, well quite a bit older, and have been married twice, she never. AK may have a point in that she likes her independence, although no traumatic history that I know of.
wigwam at 215: (not quoting due to excessive length of most my own posts..:))
I agree that ON THE SURFACE the signs are troubling. however, as someone trained in the reality of such matters, these indications aren’t enough. Let me point out a very important example, namely that as soon as richard nixon took office in 1974 a drive was started in every state to repeal the “two term” amendment to the constitution in such a way that Nixon could benefit. THAT was what, when added to the watergate stuff, made goldwater and others realize nixon did indeed intend to stay in office forever.
Bush has not done this.
More importantly, he has not done a number of other things such a coup would require. some are sufficiently important that I won’t discuss them online, but i do keep track via my “old boy” network, and believe me when i say we are watching that man like a hawk watches a mouse. if he even starts to take the steps needed to put the important infrastructure under his direct control in a way that would be socially palatable, we’ll let everyone know, and the fur will fly.
This is what I tried to point out in my previous post. It fascinates me to see how the various actions CLINTON took can be cast in the same light by the rightwingers, and ARE. And Mr. C did not run a coup when bush won. I think bush is well aware the democrats will win in 2008 and is setting up the things he cares about to be unchangeable for about the next, eight years. these are not the actions of a man who is plotting a coup. And given the micky mouse way bush and his associates function in the real world, i frankly think that even if they did stage a coup it would be a lovely combination of keystone cops and three stooges. it will make for great youtube videos, and that’s about all.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 224
I’ve had two really weird experiences in my life, and I am not a believer in mysterious crap.
1. Had a funny feeling at work when my daughter was two. The live-in babysitter was there. Called home, no answer. Called again, still no answer. Went home, and the babysitter was passed out drunk. Now, this was a woman (a social worker) from Oaxaca, and never had tasted liquor in her life (unlike me!) I freaked, called 911, and all services came. Turns out she had gotten a call from her brother that her daughter was sick. She truly believed that as long as my daughter was healthy and well cared-for, her daughter would be as well.
2. Second weird thing about 18 months later: A rainy August day in SoCa, I was at work and in a meeting. I suddenly knew something was wrong and went home. Turns out that a different, local babysitter got into a car accident and both of my daughters had been life flighted to Children’s Hospital. So sad, the babysitter died.
LS, the html ate your last comment (230). please resend.
Loo Hoo. @ 231
the military, and more importantly the intel boys, have literally millions of this sort of incident on file. they have tens of thousands of examples of ‘remote viewing’, where a person can suddenly mentally “see” a specific area in space, or in time.
Despite decades of work and many, many millions of dollars, none of these talents have been able to make the breakthrough to a real technology or even dependable “wild talent”. we just don’t know enough about the mind, consciousness, any of it. but we’ll learn, and then a lot of the wedge issues of today will vanish instantly. To be replaced by new ones, of course…
LooHoo – the question is have you had a bad feeling and then checked and found nothing was wrong? We tend to remember our accurate predictive dreams or feelings and forget those that never predicted anything, so there is a huge selection bias. Since we have heaps of dreams and occasional feelings something is wrong, now again just by chance they will be close enough to right to make us feel psychic or something.
If nothing bad happens in the next day or two, in a week you will have forgotten all about it and thus not be taken into account in evaluating the validity of such feelings.
On the other hand, with Bush still in WH the odds of something bad not happening on any given day are quite small…
petedownunder @ 234
actually, the better test is, have bad things happened to him or his family and he didn’t sense them beforehand. results matter.
AK – my comment to LooHoo applies to yours at 234 as well. The reason it can’t be replicated may be that it is just randomness. We severely underestimate the power of random chance and thus marvel at “coincidences” when the lack of coincidences given how many things and events and people we are involved would be far more curious.
Remarkable claims require remarkable proof, and it just isn’t there for the the various psi phenomena that are reported from time to time.
Ed*ard Teller @ 226
ET:
last week a travel write at the NYT did a beer road trip. he started in berlin with berlinerweisse, then to leipzig for a “smoky beer” (flavor like bacon), then to cologne for a grolsch, and finally to bamberg, i think it was, but i don’t remember the beer’s name. every little wide spot in the road here has it’s own beer. on a warm spring day i find myself humming bits from “Mathis der Maler”. Don’t know why, maybe it’s the joyfulness of it. i think i’m in heaven sometimes, when i get that feeling it has to be the last movement of the Mahler 4th ….
Alfred Kelgarries @ 236
I agree. And I’m pretty sure LooHoo is her, not him.
Anyone still around?
petedownunder @ 236
You may be right. Until we actually detect consciousness with an instrument, it will remain debateable. Have you noticed that more and more biochemicals used in living cells function at the quantum level to do their jobs? this is a bit of a surprise to the biology field if i’m reading the journals correctly. a major bio researcher has already gone public with the idea that quantum phenomena played and play an important role in consciousness and, more importantly, evolution. so the answer to these questions may not be as far away as some think.
TexBetsy @ 240
HI TexB, sone folks are still around I think. Hello from downunder
petedownunder @ 238
oopsie.
TexBetsy @ 239
well i’m still here, although the number of functioning neurons is showing a sharp downward trend…
petedownunder @ 242
G’Day my friend
petedownunder @ 235
I’m sure you’re right. I have had worries that never resulted in real tragedies. But I have never had the need to bolt from work, other than these two times. And it wasn’t a choice, I knew something was terribly wrong.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 244
Functioning neurons are surely overrated.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 241
As we get better dealing with quantum stuff we should learn amazing things. I still have a certain sympathy with Einstein that there is a deeper layer that we’re just not aware of and the weirdness of quantum mechanics is just the result of our ignorance.
Loo Hoo. @ 245
and with respect to PDU, that “certain knowledge” is what distinguishes the important “psi” events from everyday rumblings. My dear wife was the same. she apparently picked up random garbage all the time and learned to ignore it. when something came in at about a thousand times background noise level, she listened to it.
TexBetsy @ 246
oh good. i may live to see my great great grandchildren then…!
petedownunder @ 247
ding! we’re on *exactly* the same frequency!
OT..Sara at Orcinus has a good tribute to Steve @
http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/
Alfred, I’m a woman!
Steve @ 251
no, sadly your post is ON TOPIC. we have merely drifted far far from it on the sea of stream of consciousness, sailed by the photonic ships of the net…
…i’m starting to wax elephants here. maybe i should go to bed….nah!
Loo Hoo. @ 252
like i said, oopsie. (hangs head in shame).
Forgive me?
My neurons are down to a handful, and they don’t look too good at the moment.
When they get to zero I’ll be eligible for a job in the Bush administration.
I better get out of the Lake, dry off, and get packed.
Night everyone. Nice chatting with you LS, LH and AK. Sorry to leave TexB. Take care all.
petedownunder @ 255
bye PDU. join us when you get back on dry land and have a working Internet connection.
petedownunder @ 256
See ya later Pete. I may try the sleep thing again.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 254
i hope they’re mahagonny but not overly verbose
Thanks AK, I may find a hot spot tomorrow at the airports. Night again
Alfred Kelgarries @ 255
No problem at all! How would one know if not by asking? I thought TRex was a woman for months.
TexBetsy @ 240
Hi! Woke up early this morning?
Loo Hoo. @ 262
Medication issue. Hoping to fall back asleep for another hour or two at least.
petedownunder @ 256
Night, Sweets.
petedownunder @ 248
Ding ding ding!
Having rather rashly said “ESP is not a network protocol” to a friend, and gotten an earful back, many anecdotal signs seem to point to a significant relationship between the biological and quantum worlds
Quantum entanglement, or “spooky action” may be one mechanism that explains how the macro and quantum worlds interact as we become better at observing and measuring the interactions between the macro and quantum worlds.
TexBetsy @ 262
I and apparently LS and maybe Loo Hoo, simply can’t sleep. i have a nagging premonition of disaster today, and I rarely have those. If you get a chance to peruse the thread, you’ll see a lot about my late wife. SHE was the one with the talent!
scory @ 264
And when i’m in a snarky mood, i point out to some of my physicist friends that the entanglement phenomenon, carried to its logical extreme, perfectly explains the Law Of Similarity of Ceremonial Magic; namely that if something has been part of something else once, it is STILL part of it and actions toward it can affect the BASE ITEM. they get all hot and bothered and say i’m totally misreading the science, and then I show them the articles on the NASA web site about FUNDED RESEARCH into using entangled rocket fuel and deuterium in a tokamak reactor to provide the SAME EXACT EFFECT to our space technology.
if they weren’t my friends they’d hate me…and of course they do the same to me about my bete noirs! that’s what friends are for!
Alfred Kelgarries @ 266
well, being six to nine time zones away, sleep isn’t an issue for me at the moment. i do have to go in to work for a while though. enjoyed being part of the “all-nighter”. carry on Alfred, Loo Hoo, scory…..
catch ya on the flip side …….
I don’t expect a disaster today, Alfred, other than in Iraq, which has been a disaster every day since dear leader decided to put us there.
Loo Hoo. @ 268
i pray you are right. on a scale of 1=background noise to 10=run and hide, my current “feel” is around a 4…let’s hope it stays there.
fahrender @ 267
have fun. i’ll konk out in about an hour or less…
fahrender @ 268
Where do you live, fahrender?
Good morning pups!
Visiting on the East Coast has really screwed up my FDL time sense. It’s a WTF moment seeing posting times of 3:51 am. The GF bounced out of bed at 5:45 for an 8 miles along the Charles River. When does the Sunday “boid” show up?
I’m just here on the ‘can’t really sleep’ thing after dealing with a tension headache today. Ugh.
It’s 7.30am and i’m hoping to finally doze off in the next half hour. No premonitions on my part that i can remember. Mine tends well towards people. I can almost always tell immediately who isn’t what they seem to be. I know when i’ll be safe around others on first glance. I pay attention to that little thing, since it avoids appearrances and works on a totally intuitive level. The Shrub set off every alarm i had the first time i read about him in the 90s.
egregious @ 273
Good morning, sister!
hello egregious and aliasofwestgate!
when do we go to the next topic? comments gettin kinda high numbered…
BTW, i just took my morning meds (allergies and housekeeping for the almost-70 set) so if i vanish suddenly it will be because i fell asleep at the keyboard. it’s happened before and is no big deal. one of my multitudinous medical conditions will guarantee i wake up in about 2 hours max (and no i’m NOT telling which one it is!)
Completely OT..but a story that Gilliard would have jumped on..
The Marine Corp is trying to downgrade the discharges of Vets who are war protesters..this is a new low for our Bushite fascist leaders. I believe they will loose benefits, including medical, if they have less than an honorable discharge.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wi…..t-hearing/
Steve @ 274
For me it was His Excellency Prince Squishy Buddha (our rather large, very insistent cat) pawing at me repeatedly at 6:00 EDT.
That, and the impending sense of a whole lot of rain about fall in Washington, DC. :)
aliasofwestgate @ 275
I know what you mean. How is it possible that he was “elected” in 2000, much less in 2004? I have republican friends that I can hardly stand to call. Guess I’m waiting for what ever the opposite of “I told you so” happens to be.
Steve @ 278
yeah, and the VFW is about to jump right in the middle of them for it. I will truly enjoy watching this spectacle!
linky!
Have you tried Melatonin, AK?
I take it with my own meds and it works on those really sleepless nights. No ‘hangover’ like with the regular OTC sleep aids either. Though i keep a few of the painkiller/sleep aids for use on occaision. This is just a weird time for me though. Probably because i want to return to work after this med leave of absense so much. I want to return to work this monday.
Steve @ 279
Seems to me this would be another nail in the republican coffin.
Purge the military of all neocon right wing fanatics.
Steve @ 279
Once again trying to squash any dissent they can. It never ends, does it?
Alfred Kelgarries @ 278
AK –
thanks for an interesting thread. Do you follow and comment on any of the science blogs?
As for disappearing, laundry will shortly pull me away from the computer ….
cheers to all.
aliasofwestgate @ 282
actually this is quite a rarity for me. i haven’t had a sleepless night in years. that’s why i’m a bit concerned about my “forebodings”…but if it keeps up i’ll definitely give it a try.
On the whole herbal health bit, my wife had type II diabetes for about ten years before she passed, and we were able to almost completely control it with metformin and chromium picolinate. the CP mimics the damaged protein that unlocks the precursor elements to allow sugar metabolism which causes type II diabetes. her doctor (at kaiser permanente) was amazed and wrote it up for an internal med newsletter.
scory @ 280
There is nothing better than opening ones eyes and seeing a cat looking back; about two inches away from your face.
scory @ 286
regrettably not. there is, sadly only so much time, and only one of me. but i READ voraciously and a tad faster than usual, so i can at least keep up. My boss is the science whizz, i’m just a wannabee…
Steve @ 288
I draw the line at being tongued, however. our cats learned that TO TONGUE WAS TO BECOME A PROJECTILE, albeing a gently tossed one. they got the hint in about three months.
OTOH, Melissa, my cat, liked to sleep on my tummy, her head facing my feet. she was a BIG cat, and guess what I got to wake up to most mornings. my wife said she was just trying to tell me about my upcoming day.
Good morning, pups. The NYT has MoDo, who went to the movies, Thomas Friedman who points out the huge gap between what we say and what we do about “going green,” and Frank Rich who doubts it will ever be possible to feel a pang of sympathy for W.
http://mgpaquin.wordpress.com/
Coffee and tea are all ready, and I was in the mood for waffles this morning. Help yourselves, and have a wonderful day. We’re still reveling in all the rain we got yesterday, and we might even get a bit more today. HOORAY!
Alfred, are you still out there? I have a couple of coincidences I’d like to share.
Hi Marion, Thanks for breakfast and the paper.
Very cool to hear! It’s the one area where the pharmacists i work with lack in skill. They have little to no knowledge on how some herbal supplements react with all the medications our patients are on. The more information we have about how well these things work together, the better i think. Herbology was part of the original pharmacopia as well, if i remember my history correctly. Long before synthetics. Stupid religious fanatics muddying up the waters.
Anyway, time for me to wander off to bed.
Alfred Kelgarries @ 291
ROTFL!
His Excellency knows the same lesson from his surgical, delicate, and painful application of his front paws to any part of our sleeping bodies.
And there is nothing like an 9 kg. cat sitting on your chest, very large haunches in your face. Or, as the DP describes it, “waking to the pink starfish of death.”
Mornin’, everyone -
Marion, here’s a bit of that sourwood honey for your waffle and I can throw in a handful of home-grown pecans if you’ve not cooked up all the batter.
We’ve gotten some of that wonderful rain (at least 1 1/2 inches so far) and here’s hoping for more. I’ve got a short road trip planned for this week but will gladly forgo sightseeing if only, “More, please Sir.” Haven’t heard about conditions wrt the fires in Florida and Georgia yet……anyone got any info.?
That thread last nite has been amazing to read; one never knows where the ripples in the Lake will travel.
new thread
The bird’s the word, in Christy Hardin Smith’s new thread.
Sunday Talking Head Thread
Boston1775 @ 292
yes, please! (had to go tend to my elderly dad (he’s 91, i’m not even 70 yet!)
Alfred Kelgarries @ 299
i will maintain watch on this thread while going upstairs!
Okay, gotta start again. Just erased it.
When I was pregnant, we didn’t have much money and I wanted to stay home. Decided to buy a two family house with another couple in a city I knew next to nothing about that had depressed home prices. We found a great place and let my parents know so that they could check it out. Turns out I ended up living in the same house, the same apartment where my stepmother grew up happily. Her father had bought the place to help out extended family.
Kinda scared myself there.
Ten years later I got interested in owning a sailboat. Again, not much money, so I travel around New England looking for a particular 25 footer. I compare all of them and pick one from a town about twenty five, thirty miles away.
I find where I want to get a slip. There are four or five slips left. I pick one.
When we sail the boat into the slip, my neighbor asks if this is some kind of joke. I’d brought the boat back to where it had been for six years. The old owner was directly across from me.
Still can’t get over that one.
Boston1775 @ 302
that is quite unusual, IMHO. did any especially good or bad experiences come from these coincidences?
Both were remarkably good experiences for my little family.
Boston1775 @ 304
okay, then there’s the link. now, lord knows i’m no expert on this stuff, but my dad (the theologian) made it one of his areas of study and he amassed some really awesome coincidences and certain awarenesses, and so on.
he found two categories of events: those which the individual prevented a great harm or seriously lessened it, and those which supported and extended great good for the person involved.
it is my (quite unqualified except as above) opinion that your experiences fit very nicely into category two. let me briefly explain what i learned the key points to watch for are:
1) no evil motive on the part of the recipient, even peripherally.
2) the event occurs as part of a normal life situation, ie no effort is made to ‘attract’ it.
3) for blessing events (my dad’s term) there is ALWAYS a random element either on the part of the recipient or of the person completing the circle as it were. both your events have this.
4) the coincidence must be EXACT and OBVIOUS, as yours were. They are like “tongues of flame” to those who know what to look for, like my dad (i’m attempting to apply his methods here, he unfortunately has alzheimers and can’t be online much any more.)
so thank you for sharing that!! i’ll add it to our files (he kept them when he retired since it was a personal rather than an official university project). unfortunately, i must now go to my repose until tonight. take care! And if something bad DOES go down today, hide. don’t try to fight it, don’t try to mitigate it, HIDE. if whatever i sense may happen happens, it is out of our league completely. hopefully, i’m wrong.
Actually, I was in the process of leaving organized religion (daughter of a minister)and I most definitely am comfortable with leaving the organized part.
Cripes, I just scared myself again. I wrote 308 before seeing 307.
deeply EPU’d by now. . .
i was just gonna’ lurk on
this one, despite my long
readership of steve’s work. . .
then i saw that trolls were
besmirching the memorial — over
at think progress — to his name. . .
so i wrote a lil’ sumpin’ sumpin’. . .
something more befitting
steve gilliard than domuller
seems capable of offering:
and, some of those words
were steve’s — to all of us. . .
be at peace, now, with the entire
universe, steve. . . you earned it!
[with sincere apologies to
norman maclean — and his
angelic work, in ital above. . .]
I heard Renee Fleming at the Hollywood Bowl a couple years ago–and I must admit, it was one of the best recitals I’ve ever heard. That’s saying something because I’m a huge classical snob (and opera fan). Fleming raises the bar.