My son thought it strange to find Daft Punk on my iPod. I guess I’m just too old. Snicker. And let’s just say this is for my son, who turns 25 today.
Don’t forget, there are videos below the fold. As to the rest of Music Night, I think y’all have the idea by now.
Photo by Zooey
This was taken in January, 2008. It always amazed me that before this I’d only seen the kids sledding on this hill once. 17 inches of snow in one day kind of brought ‘em out. They had loads of fun, and I had fun watching them and staying warm inside the house. :)
Sadly, this hillside has been cut away, and now has an apartment building sitting in front of it.
This is our daily open thread — chat away!
The Mad Hatter and the March Hare try to put the Dormouse in a teapot.
In case you did not notice, yesterday marks the 219th anniversary day of the ratification of Bill of Rights. Today (and yesterday, and the day before ad infinitum) marks the time when this set of amendments are on the pick and choose list of Republicans and the Tea Party. Much of the rest of the Constitution and the balance of the Amendments are being reconstituted.
The Second Amendment is sanctified and has been modified to include assault rifles have been added to the flintlock muskets envisioned by the founding fathers. Could missiles and nuclear weapons be next? After all they are tantamount to the concept of a “well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State”.
The third is almost valid as one would not like to have that pesky militia running about ones fortified house. It is a bit short of perfection as it fails to address the Second Amendment solution.
The First and Four through Nine are poorly written as they do not address the Arab Problem.
Number 10′s main shortcoming is that the central government is allowed to forbid actions deemed “necessary” by some states.
Any Amendment after 10 should not be considered valid as the founding fathers did not consider any of them when the Constitution was first adopted.
This sort of logic extends to the Constitution itself. If the founding fathers had to modify it, they certainly believed that they did not get it right the first time.
This is our Open Thread. Please feel free to add your thoughts on this, or any other topic that comes to mind.
Please accept without obligation, explicit or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, politically correct, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious and/or secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions.
Please also accept, under aforesaid waiver of obligation on your part, my best wishes for a financially successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the calendar year 2011 CE (C.E., being an abbreviation for “Common Era” or “Christian Era”, is equivalent to A.D., but is placed after the year, and is preferred by some in secular writing), but with due respect for the calendars of other cultures or sects, and having regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform or dietary preference of the wishee.
By accepting this greeting you acknowledge that: This greeting is subject to further clarification or withdrawal at the wishor’s discretion.
This greeting is freely transferable provided that no alteration shall be made to the original greeting and that the proprietary rights of the wishor are acknowledged.
This greeting implies no warranty on the part of the wishor to fulfill these wishes, nor any ability of the wishor to do so, merely a beneficent hope on the part of the wishor that they in fact occur.
This greeting may not be enforceable in certain jurisdictions and/or the restrictions herein may not be binding upon certain wishees in certain jurisdictions and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wishor.
This greeting is warranted to perform as reasonably as may be expected within the usual application of good tidings, for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first.
The wishor warrants this greeting only for the limited replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wishor.
Any references in this greeting to “the Lord”, “Father Christmas”, “Our Savior”, or any other festive figures, whether actual or fictitious, dead or alive, shall not imply any endorsement by or from them in respect of this greeting, and all proprietary rights in any referenced third party names and images are hereby acknowledged.
~anon~
This is our Open Thread. Please feel free to add your thoughts on this, or any other topic that comes to mind.
p.s. no electrons were harmed in the making and transmitting of this message, although a few of them may have been slightly inconvenienced.
Today Silvio Berlusconi is about to be ousted, the discussion on the vote of no confidence is happening while I write this. Italy, a country I love, has deserved better than him. I hope they arrest him on the spot after they do send him off.
This is our open thread, feel free to comment!
UPDATE: The BBC just confirmed he has won the vote in both houses. 
A tenacious diplomat who earned a reputation as a “bulldozer” in negotiating the 1995 Dayton Accords that concluded the Bosnian war, [Richard] Holbrooke was once called “Washington’s favorite last-ditch diplomat” by Time magazine.
Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize seven times, Holbrooke joined President Barack Obama’s administration in January 2009 as special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, dealing with two of Washington’s most vexing foreign policy challenges.
Ambassador Holbrooke, a lifetime public servant and diplomat, suffered a tear in the wall of his aorta, and did not survive surgery to repair the tear. He is survived by his wife and stepchildren.
I spoke with a woman that ran for Congress three times against Joe Pitts. Yes, it is the same Pitts from the Stupak/Pitts amendment to the health care reform bill. Her name is Lois Herr and I have met her on many occasions. She said that this time she became more acquainted with Washington money and the huge amount of money that is required to get elected on the national scene. Unfortunately for Americans, Lois Herr did not unseat Joe “creationist” Pitts. She will not be running for Congress again. Instead, she will be writing a book about the influence of big money on our elections.
According to this article at the Los Angeles Times, the fund raising has already begun.
George Carlin, may he rest in peace, said it all.
This is our open thread. It’s your turn to Speak Up!
Chapter Four of Thom Hartmann’s book, Rebooting the American Dream: 11 Ways to Rebuild Our Country, is called “An Informed and Educated Electorate.”
Are you as tired as I am of people who can tell you who are the finalists in American Idol or who won Dancing With the Stars, but can’t name their own Congressional representatives? Good.
I’m glad I’m not the only one. Most people in this country, and probably the world, depend on their televisions to give them news about the things they need to know about. I know, that seems awfully passive and sheep-like, but it’s where many Americans are these days. But why? Why?
Ronald Reagan did away with the Fairness Doctrine and Equal Time Rule in 1987, and that same year, Rush Limbaugh bubbled to the surface like a nasty egg salad fart. Later, Bill Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act, deregulating the broadcast industry, which had the devastating effect of having the news division of networks folded into the entertainment division — now the news had to make a profit. What does this mean for Americans?
[An intern for Ellen Ratner's Talk Radio News Service,] related that a White House correspondent for one of the Big Three TV networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) had told her that the network registered a huge amount of interest in the “hot story” that week of a congressman’s sexual indiscretions. Far less popular were stories about the debates on health care, the conflicts in the Middle East, and even the Americans who had died recently in Iraq or Afghanistan.
It means that instead of engaging in the ‘stuff that matters,’ we can filter out the stressful news and focus on “news” that doesn’t require us to think too much. Hey, why don’t we want to think too much?
Probably because our education system is so underfunded and traumatized by stupid programs like ‘No Child Left Behind,’ which actually leaves way more children behind than ever before, that our ability to think critically is seriously diminished or non-existent. Continue reading
During an exchange with 2ebbandflow (or ebb) on Dec. 9th, the subject of Maurits Cornelis Escher came up. Escher drew 2 dimensional scenes that depicted 3 dimensional scenes that were or are impossible in the real world. Waterfalls that seemed to flow uphill or stairs that provided ceaseless upward movement.
As almost all of Escher’s art is copyrighted, I hesitate to put an image up at the Zoo. Many examples do occur here.
An example of this kind of perspective art is depicted in a Penrose Triangle:
When we were on assignment in Germany, my middle son, who had been fascinated with Escher from an early age, took every opportunity to see Escher exhibits at The Hague. He went there about three times in the two years that we were there. He was 13 and 14 at the time. I might note that youngsters could travel in Europe without fear of being murdered, kidnapped or assaulted at that time in the mid 1980′s. He would hand draw copies of Escher’s art from the originals. He brought back quite a few copies that adorn his house today.
This is our Open Thread. Please feel free to add your thoughts on this, or any other topic that comes to mind.
I believe I can make a solid argument that the most critical and influential musical groups of modern American rock were the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield. Even considering solely the band members, imagine how different the music of the 60s and beyond would have been without Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Dave Crosby, Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman. Without their influence, would there have been folk rock, country rock, or alt-country. Would there have been Tom Petty, My Morning Jacket, the Jayhawks, Wilco or Son Volt.
In the first few years of the band’s history (they peaked early), most of their memorable songs were covers of Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger, and the original compositions of Gene Clark. Except for a couple of brief reunions, he left the Byrds early on and seemed to disappear from view, but continued to tour and record until his death from heart attack at age 46. I’ve always loved his music, and this is my tribute to a great talent.
Senator Sanders is filibustering the tax-cut deal President Obama recently made with the Republicans. He’s been at it since 7:30 a.m. PT.
The tax cuts for this country’s millionaires and billionaires is irresponsible and unsustainable. I believe, as does Senator Sanders, that a better deal can be negotiated.
Watch him live here.
Crooks & Liars is covering the story here.
ThinkProgress is covering Bernie here.
Feel free to live blog or just cheer Bernie on in the comments section!
Photo by Zooey
Ahhhh, the horrendous winter of ’08/’09.
In addition to about a foot of snow on the ground by the day I took this picture — much more would fall — we were treated to about ten days of freezing fog. This produced some lovely hoarfrost, which is what you see on this bush with the thorns and pretty red berries. Absolutely gorgeous!
I’m hoping we don’t have as much snow this winter, and I wouldn’t even mind not having the hoarfrost.
This is our daily open thread — tell us your winter stories!
Picture by WaltTheMan at 7:15 AM on 12/08/2010.
The above pair of egrets are looking at the water in a drainage ditch and apparently debating the wisdom of entering the water. At the time the picture was taken, the temperature was 34°F and the wind was blowing at about 15 mph. In any case, the frogs and land crabs are probably in their snug little homes, cuddling up together against the frigid weather. Geckos, their summer prey, are off selling insurance.
This is our Open Thread. Please feel free to add your thoughts on this, or any other topic that comes to mind.
The Traveler and the Trees of the Forest
a modern parable by Briseadh na Faire
A young man sat hard by a small stream in the heart of the redwood forest. Dark green shade gathered all around, save for a small clearing a few yards away. Three hundred feet above his head birds and squirrels laughed and played in the sunlit crowns of the giants of the forest, while at his feet thousands of small seedlings struggled for any glimpse of the sun.
The man heard footsteps to his right and turned to see a traveler in a green cloak approach. The Traveler walked up to the young man, stopped, turned towards him, and pulled back the hood of his cloak. “It’s beautiful here.” The Traveler said.
“Yes, it is. And quiet.” the young man replied.
The Traveler sat next to the man and looked at him with steel blue eyes. “Something’s bothering you.” observed the Traveler.
Continue reading
