Odd wire contraption that held three pieces of chalk, so that a classroom teacher could trace three perfectly parallel lines on the blackboard. For penmanship instruction.
I don't even remember if they were called something.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Right wing fringe is now the mainstream
News stories circulated about the mailing of 'Barack The Magic Negro', a fairly un-funny political parody song (sung to the tune of 'Puff The Magic Dragon') originally peddled by a typically guffawing Rush Limbaugh, on CD to RNC members by one of the RNC's successor-aspirants, a guy in Virginia named Chip Saltsman. Saltsman ran Huckabee's distinctly underwhleming campaign
The current (and presumable outgoing) RNC Chairman, Mike Duncan, went public with a rather dispirited condemnation of the song...or the mailing of it...or, something.
One wonders, in the face of the challenges this society and body politic faces, how successfully the Republicans can cast themselves as serious participants in the rebuilding of the American system if guys like this are running the propaganda.
Personally, I like the wilderness, but I'm not sure if the Republicans are going to enjoy it there. If they keep this bullshit up, they might as well start getting their mail forwarded. Fine with me.
The current (and presumable outgoing) RNC Chairman, Mike Duncan, went public with a rather dispirited condemnation of the song...or the mailing of it...or, something.
What strikes us about this episode is that the leadershiup of the party is now within reach of the the fling-whatever, drag 'em down, bait-the-racists, belittle first/offer alternative second crowd. This, of course, would most assuredly please Limbaugh himself, Saltsman will undoubtedly be cast as a hero by ol Rushbo himself, and it may well succeed. The thinkers, the technocrats, the policy wonks, the moderates - none of them have a voice anymore in the Republican party. The eraser-throwers are this close to running the classroom."The 2008 election was a wake-up call for Republicans to reach out and bring more people into our party," RNC Chairman Robert M. "Mike" Duncan said in a statement. "I am shocked and appalled that anyone would think this is appropriate as it clearly does not move us in the right direction."
One wonders, in the face of the challenges this society and body politic faces, how successfully the Republicans can cast themselves as serious participants in the rebuilding of the American system if guys like this are running the propaganda.
Personally, I like the wilderness, but I'm not sure if the Republicans are going to enjoy it there. If they keep this bullshit up, they might as well start getting their mail forwarded. Fine with me.
Skiing and the after-holiday chill
The day after Xmas was a cold one up at Loveland - temps in the single-digits, skin-ripping west winds, rising columns of blown snow dancing across the slopes. The snow itself was light, the skiing was excellent (a few hard-packed spots), but very cold. I believe I have skied in colder weather, but not recently.
I bit the bullet and purchased a copy of Acronis True Image today. For some reason, my old backup program crashed my system after I installed a new 1TB HDD. I'm not too find of compressed backup formats (you need the original program to restore the files, should you need them), but I've about given up finding a simpler solution. It's running now, finding a troubling number of corrupt files (mostly .wav) but at least I'll have a backup.
Hope everyone's Christmas holiday was peaceful and happy.
I bit the bullet and purchased a copy of Acronis True Image today. For some reason, my old backup program crashed my system after I installed a new 1TB HDD. I'm not too find of compressed backup formats (you need the original program to restore the files, should you need them), but I've about given up finding a simpler solution. It's running now, finding a troubling number of corrupt files (mostly .wav) but at least I'll have a backup.
Hope everyone's Christmas holiday was peaceful and happy.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
What is it about medieval chant?
I've always felt a strangely compelling affinity for medieval chant - I've never been able to figure out why.
Bluemars and Cryosleep were still still down this morning, so I renewed my bookmark to Sleepbot this morning, and heard an amazing solo plainsong chant written by Hildegard of Bingen (1098 - 1179) called 'O iersulam', released on a Hyperion recording called 'A Feather on the Breath of God' (reissued 2003). Medieval devotional chant, soaring and passionate. Not my usual musical taste, but stirring and haunting nonetheless.
Out of curiosity, I went out to learn about this remarkable woman (beatified as a saint) and the generous legacy of writing and music that remains. The parish church at Bingen, which is situated at the confluence of the Rhine and Nahe rivers has her remains, and several ancient buildings in that Rhine town recall her history.
Bluemars and Cryosleep were still still down this morning, so I renewed my bookmark to Sleepbot this morning, and heard an amazing solo plainsong chant written by Hildegard of Bingen (1098 - 1179) called 'O iersulam', released on a Hyperion recording called 'A Feather on the Breath of God' (reissued 2003). Medieval devotional chant, soaring and passionate. Not my usual musical taste, but stirring and haunting nonetheless.
Out of curiosity, I went out to learn about this remarkable woman (beatified as a saint) and the generous legacy of writing and music that remains. The parish church at Bingen, which is situated at the confluence of the Rhine and Nahe rivers has her remains, and several ancient buildings in that Rhine town recall her history.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Faceblogged !
In a fit of cyber-connectedness hysteria, I restarted blogging (NoD) and joined Facebook in the space of a couple of days.
The rationale for the blogging was simply to exercise my writing - the newspaper I write for has rejected pretty much all of the copy I've given them recently that lies outside the lines of my usual music features, so I wanted a decent outlet for thoughts on other subjects. No hatin' on them, they have a charter and need me to do certain things for them. I plan to link to stories from time to time. There's another writing opportunity out there I plan to investigate - more on that later.
Facebook? A couple of RL friends suggested I sign up, so I did. No biggie, and I haven't even figured out how everything out there works. But...hey, it's free and just another reason to sit bestupified in front of a monitor.
Christmas Eve tomorrow, a bit more shopping to do. Fixin' on strapping on the skis Friday, if it's not stupid cold up there. Maybe even if it is....
The rationale for the blogging was simply to exercise my writing - the newspaper I write for has rejected pretty much all of the copy I've given them recently that lies outside the lines of my usual music features, so I wanted a decent outlet for thoughts on other subjects. No hatin' on them, they have a charter and need me to do certain things for them. I plan to link to stories from time to time. There's another writing opportunity out there I plan to investigate - more on that later.
Facebook? A couple of RL friends suggested I sign up, so I did. No biggie, and I haven't even figured out how everything out there works. But...hey, it's free and just another reason to sit bestupified in front of a monitor.
Christmas Eve tomorrow, a bit more shopping to do. Fixin' on strapping on the skis Friday, if it's not stupid cold up there. Maybe even if it is....
Hello World, etc
Inagural post. Day before Christmas Eve, Marley's chains rattling in distance.
We are disappointed that Bluemars and Cryosleep are offline today. Lone has kept these bedrock ambientia streams alive for eons now, and everytime they go dark I stress out that the guy has simply had enough of dealing with servers and routers and vampiric providers, and has gone away for good. And everytime they come back, I'm relieved, like an escaped pet returning on its own.
We're okay with Drone Zone for today, as we wrap up some work items and try to get out for a walk and finishing Xmas shopping.
We are disappointed that Bluemars and Cryosleep are offline today. Lone has kept these bedrock ambientia streams alive for eons now, and everytime they go dark I stress out that the guy has simply had enough of dealing with servers and routers and vampiric providers, and has gone away for good. And everytime they come back, I'm relieved, like an escaped pet returning on its own.
We're okay with Drone Zone for today, as we wrap up some work items and try to get out for a walk and finishing Xmas shopping.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)