2530 Music

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Scott Adams: “The most ineffective workers are systematically moved to the place where they can do the least damage: management.”

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I don't like hearing music on others' blogs or websites, because their choices are never my choices, and I find it annoying. Of course, MY choices are perfect. Everyone will just love it. Or lump it.

Over there on the left. Pink block. Playlist. Hear the music? Too loud, probably. Haven't figured out how to make it softer. DIY.

The website to build the list has links to MP3s for thousands of selections entered by users. Unfortunately, not everything is there (and some are just ringtones - watch the "minutes" notation when selecting). Click on "pop-out" to see my complete list.

Almost everything on the list has some meaning to me:

• The Kingston Trio was high school boyfriend Obie's favorites, although the specific favorites don't seem to be available.
• Buffy Sainte-Marie was my first album. "My Country 'Tis of Thy People You're Dying" was my favorite, but the link is broken. BTW, "God Is Alive, Magic Is Afoot" is supposed to sound like that. There's nothing wrong.
• John Wolford broke my heart in eighth grade. My last dance with him was to "To Know Him Is To Love Him". When I hear it, I still remember the scent of his woolen sports coat.
  
• It was BNL that provided the connection to The Man.
• "Norwegian Wood" is connected to Warren Roscoe, my still wondered-about lost cause.
• Tracy Chapman speaks to my heart, my childhood fears and desires.
• M&P's "Dancing Bear" is just plain beautiful.
• Johnny Mathis got me through many college study nights.
• Judy Collins and Joan Baez, well, everything.
  

... and so on for the bulk of the list.

I suspect only someone my age will fully appreciate the collection.
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2529 Bits

Friday, July 31, 2009

Common in Paris: “[That] is forbidden. But possible.”

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I did a volunteer stint at the tourism booth at the county fair (the next county over) yesterday. Man, that's a sad fair. It's really just an overblown carnival, very little on the usual county fair offerings. Mostly just rides, lots of "bad-for-you" food, and those knock down the clown and win a teddy bear booths.

I came home to change and wash and eat before going to the movie last night, and found no electricity. With a well, when there's no electricity, there's no water. And no microwave for the Nutri-dinner. So, I didn't go to the movie. House was hot, so I went to the diner in the village and had tea and a sandwich.

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Stupid commercial for a whole-grain cereal: "Studies have shown that people who eat mostly whole grains have a healthier body weight."

False implication of cause-and-effect.

By the same logic, since people who live half the year on their yachts are wealthy, if you want to be wealthy, you should buy a yacht.

People who want and work for health are simply more likely to eat whole grains.

People who have more money are more likely to buy yachts.

People get paid for this kind of lying-by-implication? Nobody had the courage to say, "Uh, that's not honest."

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I'd like to remind folks who complain about bailout/stimulus money about the "bailout/stimulus" efforts of the past administration. In January of last year, Bush gave 53 billion dollars in advanced weaponry to seven Islamic nations, some of whom are already the richest nations on Earth. There's an article here that talks about part of it.

Note that "sales" doesn't mean the US gets paid. The purchase price is discounted and is a loan which will be forgiven. I don't have the links anymore for the rest of the $53B.

Who was he bailing out, and what was he stimulating?

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In an effort to get out more, I signed up for several Meetup groups. The two I enjoyed most - a dinner group and a dinner/movie group - are dying. They've both been very active for literally years, but the organizers of each has decided to resign, and no one is picking up the reins.

I don't know about the dinner group, but the movie lady is sick and tired of getting emails from people who were too stupid to be on time, or too dense to know that the ten people standing in the middle of the lobby WAS the group (they expected a sign), or who didn't like the movie and restaurant choices. As the group got larger, the proportion of inconsiderate idiots went up.

But gee. The groups have been around for ages. Why now? Is it ME? Kiss of death?
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2528 Music on blog.....

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Ben Franklin: "In wine there is wisdom,
in beer there is freedom,
in water there is bacteria."

(This seems to be The Man's credo, too.)
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I've added music. It's the pink block over there on the left. I can't find a volume control on the block, but you can turn it off if you don't like it. It's set for random, but if something you like shows on the tiny screen you can click it, and it will play.

It's a few of my favorite things. Some play all the way through, some seem to be cut short. Sometime when I have time I'll try to tweak it.

I'll be volunteering at the tourism booth at the county fair tomorrow, and then going to a movie tomorrow night, so - see y'all Friday, probably.
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2527 Enforcement

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Abraham Lincoln: The philosophy of the school room in one generation
will be the philosophy of government in the next.

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I've heard people say,"I deplore rules and laws that cannot possibly be enforced."

Does that mean the speaker won't obey a law or rule unless there's someone standing there with a stick to make them? Unless there's punishment? What's wrong with having rules or laws that one is expected to obey simply for a well-ordered society?

To quote an acquaintance, "When we act based on what's right, rather than on what we can do without getting caught, we act as mature adults, members of a community."
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2526 Bits

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Scott Adams: "All meetings last longer than they should."

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I can't believe it's Wednesday already. I'm starting to panic. Tomorrow is shot - I'll be volunteering at the Ulster County tourism booth at the county fair. Saturday I want to go to Red Rock mountain to visit Jay, and then Sunday to the top of the mountain to see if there'd be anyone I know at the Lopez Old Home Day. And then it will be August. What the devil happened to July?

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Nutrisystem report: I'm still at 10 pounds lost. The food is mostly ok. Not great, but ok. I do have a few complaints:

1. Most of it is to be heated in the microwave. The cups or trays are sealed very tightly with plastic, which is understandable because the meals are not frozen, but have real meat in them, like canned in the trays. I have great difficulty peeling that plastic off! And if there's a sauce in there, I end up squirting or spilling it all over trying to wrestle it open. I gave up. Now I run a knife around the inside edge and just cut a hole in it.
   
2. When I chose my 28 breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks, I went through the lists and chose everything I thought I'd like, then went through and ordered multiples of certain things, because there was nothing else on the list I wanted to eat. The plan I chose included seven free days-worth of meals that they would choose for me. It never occurred to me that they'd choose from the ones I didn't order. Yuck. Wouldn't it have made more sense to double up on things I'd already indicated I expected to like?
3. I have always been very regular, once a day every day, usually late morning. On this stuff it's four or more times a day, not diarrhea, but urgent anyway. Is it possible to have TOO much fiber?

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Something I don't understand. The government is taxing cigarettes heavily because they're not good for people, so they want to discourage purchase. All that means is that poor people have to cut out other stuff (like food) to buy cigarettes.

Now there's a "let's fix obesity" movement afoot to heavily tax "bad" food, like fast food, rich food, fatty/sugary snacks, to discourage people from buying them.

I don't know if you're aware, but grocery stores in economically depressed areas are very small and very expensive. Fruits and vegetables are outrageous in those stores because of delivery and storage problems and the lack of bulk discounts to the stores. Fast food and snacks are not only cheaper, they're convenient! When you work two jobs, convenience and opening times is important, as is keeping the kids happy.

So taxing fattening foods is only going to take money from the economically stressed. It doesn't solve the basic problems of availability, expense, ignorance, and convenience.

The other thing I don't understand is howcome universal medical care is "bad" because it's socialism (I don't see that socialism is all that bad, actually), and cameras at traffic lights are "bad" because they're a privacy intrusion when you want to break a law, but taxing things to discourage people from buying them is ok. It's not. It's a government fine on a legal lifestyle choice (especially egregious because some people don't feel they have that much choice). Isn't that "Big Brother"? And an even bigger privacy intrusion?

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My season of twice-a-day annoyance is starting. The Saratoga racetrack season opened today. That means fully 1/3 of the local TV news time will be devoted to Saratoga every day until it closes. As if nothing else is happening in the world.
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2525 Eve and Adam

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Scott Adams: "In any group of three people,
there's generally at least one disruptive moron."

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"Lord, I am lonely, and I'm sick to death of apples."

"Well, Eve, in that case, I have a solution. I shall create a man for you."

"Man? What is that, Lord?"

"Man is a flawed creature with many bad traits. He'll lie, cheat and be vain; all in all, he'll give you a hard time. But he'll be bigger, faster and will like to hunt and kill things. I'll create him in such a way that he will satisfy your physical needs. He will be witless and will revel in childish things like fighting and kicking a ball about. He won't be as smart as you, so he will also need your advice to think properly."

"Sounds great," says Eve, with ironically raised eyebrows, "but what's the catch, Lord?"

"Well," says God..."you can have him on one condition."

"And what's that, Lord?"

"As I said, he'll be proud, arrogant and self absorbed, so you'll have to let him believe that I made him first. And it will have to be our little secret...you know, woman to woman."
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2524 No show

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Scott Adams: "To mediocre minds,
a brilliant idea and a stupid idea sound identical."

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It's been only three days on the thyroid supplement, and I'm already pulling my head out of the hole and looking around. What I'm seeing will send me back in the hole. What a mess this place is! I don't know where to start.

I got washed and dressed today, even washed my hair and put makeup on, and headed for the antiques fair that I couldn't go to yesterday. The gates were closed, and the lot was empty. The fair was yesterday only.

Huh? It's never been only one day. It's usually Friday through Sunday. The dealers always have huge old furniture pieces that need to be unloaded, unpacked, put together, displayed in a suitable setting, and then at the end, if not sold they must be disassembled, repacked, and reloaded. I can't imagine anyone doing that for a one-day show.

I am disappointed.

Oh, another thing growing since I started the thyroid pills - I'm getting hungry.
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2523.5 No surprise, no prize.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Life is uncertain. Order your dessert first.

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I'm watching the Chris Matthews show (political discussion). I am surprised and frustrated to find that they seem surprised that it's starting to come out that over the past eight years, there were effectively TWO White Houses, one had the name, and the other had the power. They seem surprised to discover that Cheney was running things.

I've been saying that for nine years!

Cheney wanted to be president, but he knew he'd never win an election, so it was Cheney who pushed for Bush. Bush, because he knew he could control him.

Sheesh.
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