Author: David

Over-educated Curmudgeon, Bit-Bucket Tuner and Budding Brewmeister.
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Oh, FUN!

How in the world did it take me this long to find Free-Scores.com and its “radio” streaming feature? Just too cool for words. While most streaming services seem to focus on popular crap, I’m able to define a broad or narrow range of what I deem “classical” and have it stream randomly or as my own designed playlist. Whiloe I’ve found a number of other “internet radio stations,” some of which are close to my needs/desires (see my right sidebar for a decent station in Australia), this one offers some unique advantages for my uses–particularly free downloads of the SCORES! (The inclusion, on the download page for a score, of historical/biographical info is a nice plus, as well.)

I like. Ever since Dr Karl Haas died a few years ago, even classical radio stations, for the most part, have been–save for re-runs of Haas’ program–mostly either just stale Romantic-period only or that with a mix of modern crap thrown in. *sigh* Of course, I enjoyed Haas’ program almost as much for his musicological commentary as for the wide array of music he featured, but yeh, it was definitely the selctions of really good music well-performed that had me coming back to his program for years.

Nothing like his commentary survives in any of the prissy, inbred platter-spinners’ patter today that I can find, so just finding another source with a wide array of good performances of excellent music is a real nice find.

Of course, if you wanted to explore more limited genres, I suppose Free-Scores might do that for you as well, but since the actual SCORES are available, that knocks out a lot of crap. Nice to download a score, then play the piece along with reading it. Sometimes nuances are more obvious that way, and it frequently gives me ideas of how I’d change a performance were I directing/playing. And for those who want it, the default “human performances” can be altered to be computer-only or human/computer “performances”–and sometimes even I prefer to hear a piece as a well-wrought midi file, espeically when just reading along for analysis).

Just fun!

Seriously recommended for anyone who appreciates a wide range of classical music, and even for those who do not but are open to learning something new.

Seriously delightful!

Continue reading “Oh, FUN!“

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Quote for Today

Ann Coulter, while throwing some jabs at the hysterical “historical” this, that and t’other comments about the Obamassiah’s reign, asks why other “historic” events aren’t on everyone’s tongue:

But as long as the nation is obsessed with historic milestones, is no one going to remark on what a great country it is where a mentally retarded woman can become speaker of the house?

*heh*

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Hmmm, Could Me$$y$oft Be Onto Something?

I’m slowly becoming more used to the way Win7 goes about things, including the “holes and gaps, lacks and losses, absences, silences, impalpabilities, insipidities, and the like” that still plague the Windows family of OSes. I do find that Ubuntu more than adequately fills those lacks, however, while maintaining its own lacks quite well, thankyouverymuch. *heh*

Yeh. No OS that satisfies me. Yet.

Running virtual machines in a Win7 host is easier than dual booting, though. Barely. If I could run Win7 in a VM hosted on Ubuntu 8.10, I’d be happier, but I’ve had no luck with that, yet. Still, the things that it is easier to do in Win7 are generally in the realms where I’ve bitched about Ubuntu (and Linux distros in general) being frustrating: media apps, particularly midi related. Sure, one can get midi working in Linux fairly easily, even if it does require a bunch of jumping through hoops initially and much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth to keep it working. In all Windows past v.3.1, midi Just Works. Notsomuch Linux, yet.

But then, Me$$y$oft has to throw a spanner in the works with DRM crap. *feh* Up theirs and the horse they rode in on. I will NOT use WMP to play media files. Heck, playing media files in a properly-configured Linux client on a Win7 host is a more pleasant experience than using WMP. And *feh*2 on using the crappy built-in media burning offered by M$. But at least simple (and free) solutions abound for that issue. Still, the OOTB experience attempting to burn CDs/DVDs in Windows is execreble, while in Ubuntu, it’s virtually transparent.

Still, warts and all, I’m growing to very nearly like Win7, and that’s going some, since I’ve not thought very highly of any M$ OS since Windows 2000 (well, except for a taste of Windows Home Server in a trial and another sip of Server 2003–each of which seemed to be pretty good at what they do, just not worth the $$ for me).

YMMV, but Win7 looks like it could be a solid hit for M$–maybe a two-bagger that M$ can stretch to a three-bagger with intelligent marketing.

Ah, but there’s the rub.

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Greed, Lies and Bluster: No “Hope and Change”

After perusing Bobby Jindal’s after SOU address, I went back and tried studying the Obamassiah’s peroration for genuine content. Hasn’t anyone told him he’s living in the White House now? Why’s he still giving a stump speech, trying to win the election? Oh. Right. That’s ALL he knows how to do: lie, bluster and appeal to greed in order to win elections. Actually DOING ANYTHING MEANINGFUL while in office is a concept that he’s so far not had to tackle. I suppose one could argue that bullying for something–anything!–to be done now, without thought or reflection, about the economy and then turning the idea over to his political cronies to stuff with pork and political patronage does constitute doing something, but something useful, something meaningful? I think not.

Once again, as far as actually serving in the office he’s been elected to, the Obamassiah is simply phoning in his part, rehashing his fav teleprompter-fed sound bytes.

Again, why is it that anyone thinks this guy’s an orator? Oh, yeh. Because he’s (sorta, kinda-almost) black (cafe-au-lait with a twist) and gets the affirmative action bye? I suppose one could always join with the optimistic young boy who, shoveling through a load of horse manure on Christmas Day, enthusiastically proclaimed, “With all this horse shit, there must be a pony in here somewhere!”

But with the Obamassiah’s record of non-accomplishment so far, I’m not willing to shovel too much more horse shit to find a pony buried (probably smothered, dead) at the bottom of the pile.

Red State has some useful links on the SOU bloviation. And the comments are worth reading as well. In fact, I’ll just steal one of the best:

E Pluribus Unum commented,

“For those unwilling to sacrifice an hour of their lives, I found a condensed version that I think captures the spirit entirely”

So, what’s the condensed version he posted?

*heh*

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An American Hope

Go and read Bobby Jindal’s response to The Obamassiah’s most recent pack of lies, hand waving and subtle deceptions (known in other circles as a “State of the Union Address”). Here’s a sample:

To strengthen our economy, we must promote confidence in America by ensuring ours is the most ethical and transparent system in the world. In my home state, there used to be saying: At any given time, half of Louisiana was said to be half under water, and the other half is under indictment. No one says that anymore. Last year, we passed some of the strongest ethics laws in the nation and today, Louisiana has turned her back on the corruption of the past. We need to bring transparency to Washington, D.C., so we can rid our Capitol of corruption and ensure we never see the passage of another trillion dollar spending bill that Congress has not even read and the American people haven’t even seen.[emphasis added]

I said in 2004 that Jindal was a strong future presidential candidate. After his performance since then–both in Congress and as Louisiana’s governor–I’d be perfectly happy to see a 2012 presidential slate that included two highly effective governors: Jindal and Palin, and though I’d prefer Jindal at the top of the ticket, I would be happy with Palin there, as long as someone of Jindal’s character were backstopping her.

Continue reading “An American Hope”

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Name Change

Michelle Malkin has a long post well worth your time, but the capstone, AFAIC, is her inclusion of Woodie Guthrie’s cover (and redaction) of Tom Paxton’s classic. See the YouTube video below. Needs no further comment from me.

Oh the price of gold is rising out of sight
And the dollar is in sorry shape tonight
What the dollar used to get us now won’t buy a head of lettuce
No the economic forecast isn’t right
But amidst the clouds I spot a shining ray
I can even glimpse a new and better way
And I’ve devised a plan of action worked it down to the last fraction
And I’m going into action here today

CHORUS:
I am changing my name to Fannie Mae
I am going down to Washington D.C.
I’ll be glad they got my back
‘Cause what they did for Freddie Mac
Will be perfectly acceptable to me
I am changing my name to Fannie Mae
I am headed for that great receiving line
So when they hand a trillion grand out
I’ll be standing with my hand out
I’ll get mine

When my creditors are screaming for their dough
I’ll be proud to tell them all where they can go
They won’t have to scream and holler
They’ll be paid to the last dollar
Where the endless streams of money seem to flow
I’ll be glad to tell them all what they can do
It’s a matter of a simple form or two
It’s not just remuneration it’s a liberal education
Ain’t you kind of glad that I’m in debt to you

Chorus

Since the first amphibians crawled out of the slime (of the slime!)
We’ve been struggling in an unrelenting climb
We were hardly up and walking before money started talking
And it’s sad that failure is an awful crime
It’s been that way for a millennium or two
But now it seems that there’s a different point of view
If you’re a corporate titanic and your failure is gigantic
Down in Congress there’s a safety net for you

Chorus

UPDATE: Not to be left out of updating his classic, “I’m Changing My Name to Chrysler” *heh* Tom Paxton has his own revision out:

Good git fiddle work, and his lyric changes are, if anything, more biting. Not as singable are the melodic variations, but then, it was his song to begin with, as I recall, and he’s perfectly entitled to change whatever he likes about it.

🙂

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Dual Booting Woes

Here’s the thing. Dual booting sucks dead bunnies through a straw. For one thing, I like to leave my email app (Thunderbird) open all the time. Dual booting–notsomuch with the always open email client. No, it’s either check all my email accounts in webmail (which is another level of suckage altogether) on one “side” of a dual boot or keep transferring emails from one “side” to the other–even worse suckage.

Enter Thunderbird Portable. Slap the thing on a lil ole 4GB flash drive, set it up to handle ALL my email accounts, transfer emails from my inbox, etc., to it and bob’s your uncle. I can carry my email around with me and not have to put up with the Suckage Maxitudinous that is webmail. I still don’t like the limited dual booting I still do, but with more and more reliance on VMs, even that is down to a minimum (although I did frag two Windows VMs in VMWare Server over on the Ubuntu drive by updating the hardware config file in VMWare Server. Oh. Well. Easy-peasy to reinstall ’em).

Yeh, it does mean I probably will need to archive old mail/clean out the dead wood more often, since I use that flash drive for a few other portable apps (Opera Portable, Clamwin Portable, Filezilla Portable, etc.), but that shouldn’t be too big a burden. I ought to do more of that anyway.

This is sooooo much less stressful to think about/deal with that what the criminals, liars and buffoons (Oh! My!) in Congress are doing to this nation (with the willing compliance of the enstupiated sheeple that keep putting them in office).

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Santelli’s Chicago Tea Party

As seen at Cathouse Chat:

Go watch the video (CNBC doesn’t allow embedding of the thing).

Go vote in the poll.

Money quote:

“The government’s promoting bad behavior”– Rick Santelli

Well, *duh*. What do you call the 40+ year quagmire of the “War on Poverty”? (Hint: “promoting bad behavior”) What do you call the complete disinterest in enforcing immigration law? (Hint: “promoting bad behavior”) Heck, what do you call the TSA? (Hint: “promoting bad behavior”)

THAT’S WHAT OUR GOVERNMENT DOES. That seems to be its primary job for the last few decades: promote bad behavior and punish good behavior. Anarcho-tyranny at its fedgov finest…

Trackposted to The Pink Flamingo, Rosemary’s Thoughts, , Woman Honor Thyself, Conservative Cat, Right Voices, and The World According to Carl, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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Economic Education: Mac vs. PC

Sometimes tough economic times do wake folks up a bit:

Mac Sales Growth Falls Below PCs

At U.S. retail, Windows PC unit sales were up 16.6 percent year over year in January, while Mac sales fell 5.5 percent. In October, when Apple launched snazzy, new MacBooks, Mac unit sales rose 27.2 percent compared with 5.7 percent for Windows. The major difference for the two months between: a rapidly eroding U.S. economy.

The article includes Mac apologist comments about folks fleeing “value” over the issue of “price,” but that’s a bogus argument. Sure, there are times when a luxury Mercedes is the right car for the job, but if all you’re doing is getting to work and back, trips to the grocery store, etc., then a MOR Toyota or even Saturn is just as good.

But the quality difference between a $500 PC and a $1,000 (or usually more) Mac just isn’t as big as the Macultists argue. And the PC platform is still much, much more flexible and has apps that are just as good–even sometimes better–than the Mac platform has available, no matter what phanbois may say.

Personally, I’d rather have the difference in price to spend on more software and peripherals, but that’s just me. Folks who’d rather spend more to use a Mac can still do so, and that’s fine with me too. But apparently, more buyers of computers are seeing the value in having more money in their pocket for other things at the end of their computer purchase.

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Who’d-a Thunk It?

There’s a kind of hush all over twc today. The unthinkable has occurred. A decade and more has passed since the last such “once in a blue moon” event has come to pass.

I have a doctor’s appointment.

*yawn*

Yeh, yeh, I’m too lazy and impatient (and easily bored) to manage my blood pressure consistently with (regular) exercise and slow breathing exercises, though the slow breathing exercises alone pretty reliably bring my blood pressure to within normal range. Have a mole that’s undergone a dramatic change this week. Really ought to get a PSA done. (Old–and I do mean old: a year older than I–college roomie has pressured me to do this ever since his prostate cancer, so all right already, Dave! Yeh, go figure. Roomies with the same name. We had answering the phone down pat. “Speaking.” *heh*)

Little things add up, I guess. I can put up with a knee killing me when I walk regularly. Missing sleep I can work around. All the other aches and pains of encroaching age are just background noise–kinda like my tinnitus. But my laziness and impatience are incurable, so it’s off to the doctor I go to tell ’em to gimme some pills, etc.

Putting a crimp in my day, though. *grumble, grumble, gripe, complain*

Oh, well.

Hey, maybe I can get the doc to take a look at my cat who’s losing weight at the same time, you think? 😉