Month: May 2005

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Music Meme

Golly gee whiz, there aure are some nosy parkers out there in the blogosphere…
 
🙂
 
Yeh, well, this was a “volunteer” recruitment thing, so I can’t complain.  Actually a little interesting.  Several questions about musical listening habits.
 
So, from Jenna Thomas–M cKie, the questions:
 
Total volume of music files on my computer?
 
I’m not real sure.  I did a quick search of the hard drive where I archive most of them that I save for CD compilations.  Many are original recordings, etc.  That quick search turned up over 6BG of files.  I have a lot more I’ve “cleaned off” onto CDRs. Then there are all the music scores, “sheet music” transcriptions of my own and others stuff.  I’ve archived most of that on several CDRs, but still turned up about 6,000 transcription files and about 2,000 midi files, most of transcription files “tweaked” for recording.
 
The last CD I bought was…
 
Jazz Masters 33: Benny Goodman
 
Song playing right now
 
Listening to 4MBS, Brisbane, Australia’s “Classical CDs til Dawn.”  The end of Brahms’ Symphony #1.  Now, Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man.”  Later, John Williams (guitarist) playing various selections.
 
 
 
Five songs I listen to a lot or that mean a lot to me (in no particular order):
 
This one’s a litlte difficult for two reasons: “songs” shuts out a whole big buncha music that means a lot to me or that I listen to a lot and even limiting the selection to songs, there are too many to choose from! *sigh*
 
  • Marta Keen’s “Homeward Bound“
  • Nick Glennie-Smith and Randall Wallace’s “Mansions of the Lord“
  • Frank Houghton’s “Thou Who Wast Rich (Beyond All Splendor)”
  • Noel Paul Stuckey’s “For the Love of It All”
  • Beethoven’s an freude section of his 9th symphony, words by Schiller (well, the small ensemble and chorus both sing, accompanied by the orchestra… 🙂
 
Hard to stop with just five…  and any number of other songs could just as easily go in that list.
 
Which 5 people are you passing this baton to, and why?
 
Arrrggghhhh!  That’s something I’ll have to update with…
 
…this: Megan at Eel-Infested Waters has agreed to participate.  She’s visiting for the weekend, so we fixed her blogger logon and posting problems, installed Zoundry Blogwriter and have things cooking, now.
 
One down, four to go?
 
OH! And don’t forget Blogfathers Dayâ„¢ (June 19) is approaching—just a month away!
 
UPDATE:  Alan Woody (who lists “5376 songs / 388 hours” on his site) has taken the bit between his teeth on this one. Glancing over his list, I have a feeling that paring it down to five songs may be a bit of a chore. Update to update: Here’s Alan’s (Woody’s News & Views) contribution— “My Music Is Like Totally…” Alan goes everyone one better and posts links to Amazon.com samples of the songs he lists, so if you like ’em you can just buy ’em.  Nice.
 
Richard of Random Rambling has also said he’ll give it a shot.
 
Nibbles from a couple more… we’ll just see how many will take the bait.
 
🙂
 
Christine, at Morning Coffee & Afternoon Tea, has a solid post on this: “I’ve been tagged!“  And I completely agree with her approach: “It’s fitting since I’m sitting here listening to an old tune and sipping a cuppa… “ Well, unless it’s a great orchestral piece and I’m too close to my collection of batons… coffee cup, baton, waving arms—not a good mix.  heh Great post, Christine!
 
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Sissy’s WoW #5–not quite yet

This is NOT my “WoW” post for “zaftig”
 
…that’ll take either some thought or inspiration. Or maybe some cheating.  I dunno.  I thought immediately of just saying I’ve always wanted a ZAF TIG welder, but that’d not only be disallowed because it’s not A word (or an alternative meaning to “zaftig” as I did with “trammel” last week) but it’d also be untrue.  Besides, I just made it up by combining two things: “ZAF”—for Zero Alignment Force—and TIG welder, which should need no explanation to folks who know what one is. heh.
 
So, my “zaftig” post will have to wait, unless I bloviate long enough for this post to become zaftig, and then I could use zaftig in a self-referential manner to describe my prolix posting. But, of course, that would be absurd. “Zaftig” refers to a pleasingly plump (even erotically well-rounded) woman. And whatever one might say of this post, it’ll never be female (though it has a slight chance of becomeing pleasingly plump or well-rounded) or erotic.
 
So, I dunno.  Perhaps I should just chill out and let the word sink in.  I’ve read the word quite a few times over the years, but I cannot recall ever hearing it said. It’s just not the kind of word I expect to hear in conversation, you know?
 
I just tried to imagine a conversation down at the feed store in America’s Third World Countyâ„¢ featuring the word “zaftig.”  The closest I could get was Bubba rhapsodizing about his heifer’s brown-eyed appeal… Blech.
 
So, this post, while overblown, and even though it contains a twice-removed allusion to Bubba’s perverse appreciation of a cow, lacks the well-rounded erotic appeal of a zaftig woman, so I guess I’ll just have to wait for inspiration to strike.
 
What you are NOT going to see is a post where I describe Wonder Woman as zaftig.  Uh-uh.  Ain’t gonna happen.
 
But do go on over and check out Sissy’s new digs. And while you’re there, ask her what kinda crazy thing led her to choose “zaftig” for a WoW, ok?
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Thank you, Dan

…for introducing me to The Nose on Your Face
 
Subtitle: “News so fake you’ll swear it came from the mainstream media.”
 
heh
 
“ACLU Files Bear Class Action Lawsuit” was the post Dan Riehl of Riehl World View —look in my blogroll under, umm, Riehl World View. heh— chose to link to that introduced me to “Buckley F. Williams” (and a better blog nome de plume for The Nose on Your Face I wouldn’t want to be tasked with imagining).
 
There’s even a commenter to the post who references Gordon Dickson’s The Right to Arm Bears.
 
 
Cool.
 
Other posts at The Nose on Your Face that, umm, bear reading: 
 
New Strain Of “Shapeshifting Grackles” Discovered
New “Drunk Pill” On The Horizon
Newsweek Article Spurs Wave Of “Islamo-rappers”
Newsweek Editor Apologizes, Magazine To Begin Inquiry
 
Oh, just get on over there and start reading. I gotta kick myself that I took so long finding this stuff…
 
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Two thoughts converge

..but not in a snowy woods
 
This article, “Rednecks: the Virtues Thereof” by Fred Reed, and this post “Make room for daddy — he’s packing heat!” by Jay Tea at Whizbang! converged in my reading today…  In the first, Fred offers such nuggets as
 
“If some upscale flowerbed like Fairfax County outside DC ever had to deal with hard times, it would the best show since Aunt Sally sat on that ant nest. It isn’t just that they can’t do anything. They can’t even think about doing anything. I mean, suppose that after the asteroid hit the cops had other things to do, like look after their families, and a larcenous parasitic lawyer encountered some Diversity with a knife in its hand and an itch for his television or daughters, what would he do? Get extra therapy? Hit him with a rubber stamp? Say, “Can’t we talk about this?”
 
Now, in the country, people had a slightly less lenient attitude toward having their homes invaded. Nobody ever shot anybody, much anyway. People didn’t think it was civilized. They did have dogs and shotguns and rifles. Further, they had the backbone to use them if the need arose. Which is why it didn’t.”
 
(Click the link, there’s a LOT more where that came from!)
 
Such thinking provides illuminating wisdom to a question asked by Jay Tea concerning a father, who had gone to pick up his 17-year-old twin girls from a frat party where alchohol was flowing freely, who, when confronted by a bunch of drunk fratboys, showed them he was armed in order to back them down:
 
“It’s understandable, then, that such a father would be considerably upset when he arrived to pick up his girls. And that he’d be a bit fierce when he’s surrounded by drunken fratboys who don’t want to see the girls leave just yet.
 
But does that necessarily justify pulling a gun on the fratboys?”
 
Well, read Fred’s article for the answer… it’s in there, not very well hidden between the lines.
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Watch it: it’s that damned global warming, again!

Yeh, you can bet the moonbats’ll be all over this
 
Sea levels not rising fast enough for enviro-loons.
 

“Increased snowfall over a large area of Antarctica is thickening the ice sheet and slowing the rise in sea level caused by melting ice.”–Nature.com, May 19, 2005

Yep.  But, the ice caps are melting at an alarming rates, according to moonbat enviro-loon religious doctrine.
 
Oh, and this just in.  Chicken Little says many are reporting that the sky is falling.  Filmateleven.
 
(Cluebat: the Great Divorce of the 21st century is not a left/right divide but a clear demarcation between the Fantasists and the Empiricists. Note: I did not include a link to the Empiricists, because they aren’t an organized group like the Fantasists.)
 
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A Big Lie: Eight chilling words

“I’m from the government. I’m here to help.”
 
“In Missouri, user fees paid by motorists generally are supposed to go to fix roads. Those fees include the 17 cents-per-gallon gas tax, state sales and use taxes on vehicles, and licensing fees. Last year, motorists in Missouri paid nearly $1.2 billion.”—Kansas City Star, August 24. 2003
Right.  And the same article revealed that more than $192,000,000 went for… other things.  It’s the principle whereby congresscritters have raided Social Security taxes (when they are forced, they are NOT “contributions”) for years: what they can steal for other things, they will. After all, why not? It’s not their money, anyway.
 
Similarly, when monies from taxes earmarked for public education rose, they were raided by state legiscritters, so that funding for education was in danger of being “cut.” Right.
 
It just doesn’t matter folks.  Once the leeches in any government further from you than the reach of your arm get ahold of your money, they’ll do any darn thing they can get away with to buy political favors, knowing that most people simply will NOT hold them accountable… especially if they can steal someone else’s money and bring home the pork.
 
Face it: Any—any—government more remote than your county seat is corrupt…  well, at least more corrupt than your county government.
 
(Happy place. Must go to my happy place… )
 
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Holey moley, indeed!

Well, maybe this will get the attention of those troglodytes over at NASA
 
heh
 
I’m no fan of the “Kill space exploration” efforts by entrenched bureaucrats over at NASA, but this seems a little much. From Overlawyered via a tip from a commenter on Jerry Pournelle’s Chaos Manor in Perspective‘s Current Mail page, yesterday:
 
Russian court: astrologer can sue NASA
 
“A Russian court has ruled that an astrologer can sue NASA over plans to bombard a comet whose destruction would ‘disrupt the natural balance of the universe’.” Reversing a lower court, the panel ruled that it was appropriate for Russia to take jurisdiction over Marina Bai’s lawsuit, which demands $310 million…
[More at the link.]
 
I mean, OK, NASA, as it currently functions is a dinosaur that ought to be put out of our misery (heh), but this is just a wee tad much, don’t you think?
 
I guess it just goes to show ya that the good old U.S. of A. has no corner on the market of stupid lawsuits.
 
See more of this kind of thing at Overlawyered.  There’s enough overlawyering noted there to bring on one of Kim du Toit‘s (shameless plug for one of my fav blogs 🙂 patented RCOB (Red Curtain of Blood) moments… read only if your blood pressure meds are working well.  🙂
 
LIL UPDATE: Whizbang!’s generous Carnival of the Trackbacks (now in edition #XII) will have this story listed in the links.
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Secure Our Borders?

In the never-ending search for the best way to protect our borders, the U.S. government has explored many options for sealing our borders.
 
Some  of the earliest leaders in the race emerged from the idea of adapting proven technologies from the food service industry.
Containment
 

field wrap 
 
Those proved impractical for various resasons, but our intrepid leadership was not deterred. Rapid advances in new technologies showed some promise.

force field
 

“May I serve you?” 
 
Finally, congresscritters and their ilk decided the best method would be to simply require citizens to meet the ravening hordes, bowing and scraping in efforts to serve their every whim… while remaining bowed to serve the perverse desires of congresscritters from behind…
 
Welcome, IMAO readers. Come on in.  Make yourselves at home. Kick off your shoes; put your beer on the coffee table; raid the fridge.  I’m here to serve you.
 
heh
 
 

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Carnival of the Recipes #40, already? And did someone say “Comedy tonight”?

Gee this week has flown by… Wonder Woman’s de-bionicized and Carnival time has fogged in on cat feet…
 
It’s already carnival time, and Carnival of the Recipes #40 is hitting concurrently with the Carnival of Comedy . Check all the goodies in the Carnival of the Recipes #40 at Curmudgeonry . Then, after snarfing up the goodies there, laugh off the pounds with the Carnival of Comedy #4 , posted by spacemonkey at IMAO .
 
My humble offerings (“ Quick Cheese Popcorn “  and  “ Secret agent… man?“) are definitely on the lite side this week, but check them—and other posts—out while you’re here.
 
UPDATE: Resitance is Futile’s Taco Casserole is in the oven now.  My stomach’s rumbling and my mouth’s watering. Despite one silly misreading of the recipe (minor–a tad “wet” as a result, more cooking time) this recipe was as good as it looked. And it’ll be even better when I make it without the (minor) mistake.
 
UPDATE #2: (Saturday) Taco Casserole was hit last night and as leftovers today.  Gullyborg makes mention of my eagerness for some menu variation on Resitance is Futile. Circular references, here we go!  ;~)
 

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Venting Spleen

Some reviewers see “Revenge of the Sith” as poorly-scripted, badly-acted juvenile pap with so-so special effects…
 
And those are some of the better reviews from the sane folks who’ve seen it.  But what did you expect?  It’s a last gasp of a series, and it’s not as though the Star Wars movie franchise has consistently improved with age, anyway. Here’s a sample of commentary rounded up by Glenn Reynolds.
 
Oh, and Tyler Cowan, of Marginal Revolution, has a few pertinent observations about the Star Wars fictio-verse. (Yeah, Tyler! heh)
 
[OUCH! Update: Anthony Lane, writing in The New Yorker ( 2005-05-16) is just a wee tad vicious:
 
The general opinion of “Revenge of the Sith” seems to be that it marks a distinct improvement on the last two episodes, “The Phantom Menace” and “Attack of the Clones.” True, but only in the same way that dying from natural causes is preferable to crucifixion.
Lighten up, man.  It’s just a movie! h.t. “Dave” commenting at Ann Althouse’s blog]
 
Ahhh, I know some Star Wars fans (one in my own home) who’ll probably roast me alive for this post.  So?  I’ll see it when it comes out on DVD. Either as a rental or… mooching a watch off the Star Wars fan in the family.
 
OTOH, reading some of the reviews has me in the mood for something a little camp, competently scriipted and acted, maybe a wee tad B-movie-ish.
 
hmmm…
 
 
 
 
 
 
🙂