Again.
Two weeks back, I posted videos from some of the most influential female singers in my life. Most were what I’d call “singer-songwriters” in a fairly folk-y vein. This group mostly goes off in a different direction.
More below the fold, please, and do not hesitate to chime in with whatever music moves you.
When I was very young, about 9 or 10, my Grand Dad began to challenge me with puzzles. Most were simple like the tower of Babel. The solid cube and the three dimensional cross would cost me a second visit.
One he thought would drive me up the wall was how I would construct a perfect chess or checker board with a minimum of effort. I went across the room and drew out two sheets of construction paper in contrasting colors, some glue, a knife and a plastic ruler; and demonstrated how in about five minutes including cutting and pasting.
How did I do that?
What brought that to mind is my current project to build a cocktail table for one son, unfinished up to now, but it is a birthday present and I have a few months to go. The photo is a bit bad, but I shot it with incandescent light.
This is our Open Thread. Please feel free to add your thoughts on this, or any other topic (or puzzle) that comes to mind.
Mark Twain wrote that “the difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter.” A new edition of “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “Tom Sawyer” will try to find out if that holds true by replacing the N-word with “slave” in an effort not to offend readers.
“Gabrielle Giffords opened her eyes for the first time today since the shooting on Saturday.” Barack Obama – January 12, 2011
These words and the eloquent eulogies delivered by President Obama joined hope for the future with mourning for the dead in the tragedy of this past weekend.
Our nation will survive, just how, is left for those who survive.
This is our Open Thread. Please feel free to add your thoughts on this, or any other topic that comes to mind.
January 12, 2010, the sun is low on the horizon when a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the island of Haiti.
For comparison, the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that flattened a section of freeway in the San Francisco Bay area and caused a section of the Bay Bridge to collapse, was 6.9. The Northridge quake of 1994 that flattened freeways and buildings was 6.7. And California leads the nation in building codes for earthquake safety.
But in Haiti, seismic safety was not part of the building codes and plans when many of the homes were built.
There was an immediate outpouring of relief efforts, and much aid was promised. But unfortunately for Haitians, most of the U.S relief funds promised were held up in the Senate by Republican obstructionism. Much of the country remains unrebuilt, and cholera outbreaks are not uncommon.
This is our Open Thread. Feel free to write on this or any other topic that comes to mind.
Bighorn sheep
Peregrine falcon (undoubtedly)
Petroglyphs in the Pony Hills of far southwestern New Mexico. Likely from the Desert Archaic Culture which preceded the later cliff house dwellers of the Anasazi period.
*Apologies to The Byrds.
Christina Taylor Green was born on 9/11/01. She was killed Saturday in an assassination attempt on Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords.
There are no words great enough to give comfort to Christina’s parents and loved ones.
If I were to have but one hope from this tragedy, it would be that those who give voice to hatred, to “Second Amendment Solutions,” to cross hairs on political opponents, etc., that they would look into Christina’s eyes and see what they have wrought. And that they, collectively, would change their ways, that we might see the day, starting NOW that “hate radio” ceases to exist; that we can have differing points of view without villifying those who view differently than us; that the ballot box is enough, we don’t have to suggest resorting to the bullet box. The price of such rhetoric is just too great a price to bear.
Yet, with each passing day, the voices on the “right” grow stronger – ‘don’t blame us, everyone does it.’ And so, tragically, the killings will continue.
Kyrie Eleison means, roughly, God have mercy on us.
Kyrie Eleison down the road that we must travel.
Even as kids reach adolescence, they need more than ever for us to watch over them. Adolescence is not about letting go. It’s about hanging on during a very bumpy ride.
Ron Taffel
I am through it all, personally, for a long time now. But I remember it well enough to not feel envious about my children’s young age. It wasn’t fun for me, it isn’t for them.I do not think I have a single fond memory left from the days when I was 13, 14, 15 or 16. Then I started to travel, which was a great way to escape my miserable adolescent life and grow up. I could share a few stories about my most recent family life, but I vowed I would be discreet.
This is our daily open thread. Have fun!
On January 10 49 BCE, Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon. He did this because he just had to say: “Alea iacta est.” which he thought was really clever.
This is our Open Thread. Please feel free to add your thoughts on this, or any other topic that comes to mind.
