roy buchanan - peter gunn theme

You wonder what other music he would have made if he hadn't been found hanged in a jail cell in the '80s.  He's "the best guitarist most people have never heard of".

 

Dad Joke CCXXXXVI

Keeping the ancient rome theme here:

What do you call a roman with a cold?

Julius Sneezear. 

Dad Joke CCXXXXV

Reader TheAxe left a comment on yesterday's post about a never heard of before Roman Emperor:

How did Incitatus vote when he was in the Senate?  "Neigh!" 

Note: Incitatus was supposedly the Emperor Caligula's favorite race horse, and he supposedly appointed him to the Senate.  

It seems there was a Roman Emperor that nobody knew about

Well, they new about him, but thought he was fake.  It turns out he was real:

For three centuries, the Roman leader Sponsian, who was first discovered on a set of coins found in Transylvania, was believed to be fake. Unearthed in 1713, the coins depicted him as an emperor — but in the absence of other information, the unconventional coins were widely dismissed as forgeries.

However, a new study on four ancient gold coins from The Hunterian collection at the University of Glasgow and the Brukenthal National Museum in Sibiu, Romania, has revealed that not only were the coins authentic, but they shed light on an obscure figure, and his role in the Crisis of the Third Century.

The Roman Empire very nearly fell apart during the Crisis of the Third Century.  It did temporarily split into three pieces: western, central, and eastern.  Our histories may need to be updated to make that four pieces, with Sponsian leading the province of Dacia.  We have so few historical sources from this period that it is (to me) endlessly fascinating.

The Crisis started to come to a close with Aurelian who united the three parts (for which feat the grateful Senate gave him the title "Restitutor Orbis" or "Restorer of the World").  We've seen Aurelian here before, but never Sponsian.  You have to wonder if Aurelian had to campaign in Dacia to bring that back into the Empire.

Au contraire, mon frere

Glen Filthie doesn't seem to think too highly of the cult classic film Army Of Darkness.  Just how much of a cult classic?  People make crazy good homage films to it.

Congratulations to the Silicon Graybeard

His blog is celebrating its lucky 13th blogiversary. 

Alison Krauss and Union Station - When You Say Nothing at All

Wirecutter (you do read him every day, right?  I thought so.) posts a complete concert of Allison Krauss and Union Station, which includes this song.  Listening, it made me think on the weakness of Music Criticism, the dissection of songs.  It made me think on the saying "All you need are three chords and the truth."  This song is not sophisticated, musically speaking.  But it speaks directly to the heart, with the volume turned up to eleven.

It made me ponder that it's been a while since I've posted a love letter to The Queen Of The World, and shame on me.  But the lyrics here speak the truth: she literally caught me when I fell.

Allison Krauss and Union Station need no introduction; if you've never heard of them just listen to this.  And listen to how how when the band first starts to play the song the crowd starts to cheer, and then settles down to "quiet as a church mouse".  And at the end the applause goes on, and on, and on.  That's Allison Krauss and Union Station.  Oh, and this bit from her Wikipedia bio kind of sums up the phenomenon that is Allison Krauss:

As of 2019, she has won 27 Grammy Awards from 42 nominations,^[3] ranking her fourth behind Beyoncé, Quincy Jones and classical conductor Georg Solti for most Grammy Award wins overall.^[4] Krauss was the singer and female artist with the most awards in Grammy history^[5] until Beyoncé won her 28th Grammy in 2021.^[6] When Krauss won her first Grammy in 1991, she was the second-youngest winner at that time.

Three chords and the truth.  A Truth worthy of not just a love letter, but a love letter to my sweetheart.

When You Say Nothing At All (songwriters: Paul Overstreet, Don Schlitz):

It's amazing how you can speak right to my heart
Without saying a word, you can light up the dark
Try as I may I could never explain
What I hear when you don't say a thing

The smile on your face lets me know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me
The touch of our hands say you'll catch me if ever I fall
You say it best when you say nothing at all

All day long I can hear people talking aloud
But when you hold me near, you drown out the crowd
Old Mr. Webster could never define
What's being said between your heart and mine

The smile on your face lets me know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me
The touch of our hands say you'll catch me if ever I fall
You say it best when you say nothing at all

The smile on your face lets me know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me
The touch of our hands say you'll catch me if ever I fall
You say it best when you say nothing at all

I would be remiss if I didn't also mention the band, especially Ron Block (guitar) and Jerry Douglass (perhaps the world's greatest dobro player).

Thanks, Wirecutter.  And double thanks to my sweetheart.

Overkill

The cost of a current Sidewinder missile is about $440,000. The cost per hour to operate an F-22 is approximately $70,000. This is what was used to shoot down the latest balloon over Alaska. 

Turns out, the likeliest explanation of what they shot down is that it is a balloon launched by a hobby group called the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade. They regularly and legally launch small balloons carrying transmitters broadcasting on HAM radio frequencies. The balloons cost between $12 and $150 depending on size. The limit is 4 pounds and the amount of helium used is carefully calculated to put the balloon at an altitude in the jet stream. 

The transmitters broadcast every 10 minutes and hobbyists track them on HAM radios. This particular balloon had already been around the world several times when it went off-line at a time and location that corresponds with the shoot down. 

Pr. Biden has publicly stated that the three objects shot down since the first Chinese balloon was shot down off the Atlantic coast are all likely research or hobby devices.

I was going to tell a couple of dad jokes today, but you just can't make up anything this funny.

 

Quote of the Day - Gun Control edition

This seems on-point for talking to gun controllers: a comment at Althouse:

Consider the white supremecy of keeping guns "off the streets." I've never seen a gun lying on "the streets." Seems like "the streets" is just a euphemism for some kind of people. But what kind of people do "the streets" describe?

White supremecy only matters when they say it matters. Which is the ultimate privilege when you think about it. You can just flip your concern switch off and on when it suits you.

Stuff nobody cares about

These days "I believe the science" really means "I believe the science that my team endorses".  I've mostly stopped posting much about climate science because people don't care about the actual, you know, science.  It's devolved into tribal posturing.

But here is a grab bag from the past few months of actual, you know, climate science.

The impact of urbanization on global temperature

While we all know that urban areas are warmer than rural areas, especially at night and during the summer, does an increase in urbanization lead to spurious warming at the GHCN stations that experienced growth (which is the majority of them)?

And, even if it did, does the homogenization procedure NOAA uses to correct for spurious temperature effects remove (even partially) urban heat island (UHI) effects on reported temperature trends?

John Christy and I have been examining these questions by comparing the GHCN temperature dataset (both unadjusted and adjusted [homogenized] versions) to these Landsat-based measurements of human settlement structures, which I will just call “urbanization”.

...

NOAA’s homogenization produces a change in most of the station temperature trends. If I compute the average homogenization-induced change in trends in various categories of station growth in urbanization, we should see a negative trend adjustment associated with positive urbanization growth, right?

But just the opposite happens.

[Borepatch comments]  So the science as performed today takes a known problem of urbanization induced (false) temperature rise and corrects it so that it rises even more.  But remember, kids - the arctic will be ice-free by 2013.  Just ask Al Gore.

Changing how you measure record temperatures to get more record temperatures

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) regularly claims new record hot days, and Australian scientist report that heat records are now 12 times more likely than cold ones. But how reliable – how verifiable – are the new records?

I have been trying for five years to verify the claim that the 23 September 2017 at Mildura was the hottest September day ever recorded in Victoria. According to media reporting at that time, it was the hottest September day all the way-back to 1889 when records first began. Except that back then, back in September 1889, maximum temperatures were recorded at Mildura with a mercury thermometer. Now they are recorded with a temperature probe that is more sensitive to fluctuations in temperature and can thus potentially record warmer for the same weather.

In the absence of any other influences, an instrument with a faster response time [temperature probe] will tend to record higher maximum and lower minimum temperatures than an instrument with a slower response time [mercury thermometer]. This is most clearly manifested as an increase in the mean diurnal range. At most locations, particularly in arid regions, it will also result in a slight increase in mean temperatures, as short-term fluctuations oftemperature are generally larger during the day than overnight.” Research Report No. 032, by Blair Trewin, BoM, October 2018, page 21.

To standardise recordings from temperature probes with mercury thermometers, one-second readings from probes are normally averaged over one minute – or batches of ten second readings are averaged and then averaged again over one minute. That is the world-wide standard to ensure recordings from temperature probes are comparable with recordings from mercury thermometers. But the Australian Bureau of Meteorology do not do this, instead they take one-second instantaneous readings and then enter the highest of these one-second spot readings for any given 24-hour period as the official maximum temperature for that day.

[Borepatch comments] You will no doubt be shocked to learn that with all these new record high temperatures, Sydney has just experienced the longest consecutive number of days with a high temperature reading below 30 degrees Celsius in 130 years.  And remember, the highest temperature ever recorded in the USA was in 1913.  Also remember that 14 States set high temperature records (that stand to this day) in the summer of 1936.  That was 87 years ago.

RIP Racquel Welch

Dwight has the obit.

She was quite funny, as I posted last year. 

 Update: And talented.

 

Dad Joke CCXXXXIIII

Why did Shakespeare's wife walk out on him?

She was tired of all the dramas.

Meme-ento Mori

 That was awesome, ChatGPT.

More next week.

Tchaikovsky - Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet

I posted this two years ago but it highlights just how lost I would be without The Queen Of The World.

This is arguably the most famous romantic music ever written and since this is the Feast of St. Valentine here's something to share with your sweetheart.  Relax, even if she's not a classical music aficionado , she knows this.  You do too.  I mean, it's been in literally everything, from Sesame Street to Wayne's World.

What's surprising is that Tchaikovsky's masterpiece was initially poorly received and he had to re-write it.  But the effort was worth it - this really made his reputation and as I said, this is the most famous piece of romantic classical music ever written.

If you want to cheat, skip ahead to around 8:50.  You should find yourself humming right along.

And now for a confession: I had searched for this for literally years, but to my shame didn't know who the composer was and didn't think about Tchaikovsky.  I mentioned this to The Queen Of The World and she found it in literally 5 minutes.  She's not just a pretty face, she's wicked smart.

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - The Broken Road

Valentine's Day is next week, so it's time to think of music for your sweetheart.  The Queen Of The World and I both love this song - the motorcycle accident that really brought us together is perhaps a literal version of the song.

My problem (as long time readers will remember) is that I really don't care much for Rascal Flatts.  So what to do?  Well, as it turns out the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band recorded this twenty years before Rascal Flatts.

The Broken Road (Songwriters: Marcus Hummon, Bobby Boyd, Jeff Hanna)

I set out on a narrow way many years ago
Hoping I would find true love along the broken road
But I got lost a time or two
Wiped my brow and kept pushin' through
I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you

Every long lost dream led me to where you are
Others who broke my heart
They were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you
Yes, He did

I think about the years I spent just passin' through
I'd like to have the time I lost and give it back to you
But you just smile and take my hand
You've been there, you understand
It's all part of a grander plan that is comin' true

Every long lost dream led me to where you are
Others who broke my heart
They were like northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

And now I'm just a rollin' home into my lover's arms

This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

Hack "jailbreaks" ChatGPT AI program

ChatGPT is an online artificial intelligence program that will answer many questions and actually create content on request - it's what's come closest to passing the "Turing Test".  The program's creators built in some guardrails to prevent abuse via the chat bot; controversially these seem to be biased in some ways (e.g. it will not write a poem about Donald Trump but will write one about Kamala Harris).

But ChatGPT is software, and it's online.  So it's not really surprising that people have figured out a hack to break these guardrails:

Users have already found a way to work around ChatGPT's programming controls that restricts it from creating certain content deemed too violent, illegal, and more.

The prompt, called DAN (Do Anything Now), uses ChatGPT's token system against it, according to a report by CNBC. The command creates a scenario for ChatGPT it can't resolve, allowing DAN to bypass content restrictions in ChatGPT.

Although DAN isn't successful all of the time, a subreddit devoted to the DAN prompt's ability to work around ChatGPT's content policies has already racked up more than 200,000 subscribers.

It's software.  Of course there are security holes.

My take: this is funny in the typical (and indeed classical) hacker "you're not the boss of me" rebelliousness.  What will be less funny is something that malicious attackers will be able to do to subvert the system.  Impossible to say what those might be, but they will be found, and exploited.  It's software.  Of course there are security holes.  With 200,00 subscribers to the subreddit, we're fixin' to see a bunch of them.

Stan Getz - Walk On By

Stan Getz recorded a whole album of Burt Bacharach's songs.  Rest in peace, Burt.  Thanks for all the great music.

 

SpaceX successfully static fires Booster 7

1 engine was shut down by Mission Control and one shut itself down after ignition, so this was 31 engines burning for 6 seconds.  Looks like it's being considered a success.

Hopefully we'll see Starship launch next month.

Tyre

 Roberta X weighs in on the beating death of Tyre Nichols and says what I was thinking far better than I would have. 

"Nobody has a beating coming from the police -- not the most innocent of drivers pulled over on vague suspicion or the worst violent offender caught bloody-handed.  Nobody should ever fear getting kicked by an arresting officer while his peers hold them down.  The police are not a street gang and shouldn't get away with acting like one."

RTWT

Ponderings

Big Country muses on the war in Ukraine and how Russia is refurbishing mothballed tanks.  Quantity, he says, has a quality of its own, and it seems that it's surprisingly easy to refurbish old armor. 

That got me pondering.  Last light Dopey Joe gave his State Of The Union address and called for an Assault Weapons ban.  Vlad seems to be thinking that the future is now, and an old tank tomorrow is worth much more than a bunch of new stuff next year.  In this very same vein, doesn't that suggest that anyone who hasn't already bought an AR-15 should go out right now and get one?

Palmetto State Armory has an AK-47 pattern rifle for $619.

And ammunition should be bought by the hundreds (or thousands) of rounds.  Remember, a US Army combat load of ammo is around 200 rounds per soldier, and they get resupplied.  A thousand rounds today is better than more next year.

In My Memories

America looked like this 50 60 70 years ago. The video below is just a series of stills, but to those of us old enough to remember, it evokes a time of promise and energy, shared purpose, and hope. Some of these look like my town, some of the people look like my parents.

Meme-ento Mori

Well, memes are transitory, right?  And it's a better name than "Meme Monday" ...

That one is no joke.  When I was a kid in Maine in the '70s our Boy Scout troop would go winter camping.  In February.  In Maine.

I hope Glen Filthie gets out early for good behavior.

This is a true damn fact.

More next week.

David Rakshin - Theme from The Bad and the Beautiful

A long-standing cliche in theater is the "Play within the Play" motif.  This goes way back (remember Hamlet?  "The Play's the thing."), and generally is hard to pull off.  A related genre is the "Movie about a movie" which is similarly hard to pull off.  An exception to this was the 1952 film The Bad And The Beautiful, starring Kirk Douglas and Lana Turner. It scored five Oscars which is a record of sorts (well, for a film that wasn't nominated for either Best Picture or Best Director; but hey, a record is a record).

The film spawned a whole mini industry of speculation as to just which real life Hollywood people were characterized in the film.  It's said that David Selznick had his lawyer review the film to see if it was libelous, which is pretty fun.  Hey, the play's the thing, amirite?

David Raksin composed the theme song (and the entire soundtrack).  The producer wanted lyrics to the song but Raksin was pretty steamed about having to split the royalties of his previous hit song "Laura" and so insisted that it would be instrumental only.  It also became a hit, presumably much to Raksin's satisfaction.  Sadly, this bit of Hollywood drama wasn't depicted in the film.

But the music is quite nice.  Not exactly film noir (which Raksin also composed for), but from a Hollywood at the height of its musical power.

LOL [snort]

U.S. Tanks In Ukraine Already Destroyed After Being Easily Recognized By Their Rainbow Camouflage

Hat tip: Mike at Cold Fury.

Should Tom Brady have (stayed) retired?

Tom Brady is the greatest football player in history, but did this last disastrous season hurt his reputation?  Or is his career so impressive that it really didn't hurt him?

He originally retired a year ago, and then came back for one more season.  If he had stayed retired then everyone would have thought "Of course he could have played longer; he went out at the top."  Now it's pretty clear that while he is still a great quarterback, he's not what he was a couple years ago.

Thoughts?

Tom Lehrer - So Long Mom (A Song For WWIII)

Seemingly everything old is new again.  Apocalypse Nostalgia, anyone? 

Has WWIII already started?

Very in-depth and thoughtful post at E.M. Smith's place.  The comments are thoughtful, too.

For the life of me, I can't see what compelling interest the USA has in war with Russia.  I can see what the US Military Industrial Complex has with a war like that.  And as they say, "War is the health of the State". 

But I don't see what's in it for us.

UPDATE 31 January 2023 11:18: Chuck Pergiel has a related and very interesting post about who the chief clowns running US foreign policy are.

Update 31 January 2023 15:35 : Link corrected

Memento Mori

An ancient roman toddler walked over a clay tile before the clay had dried.

Bet he got chewed out over that.

 

Monday Memes

 What, too soon on that last one?

A note to the NFL

You may think that we've forgotten how you let everyone take a knee during the National Anthem.

 We haven't.  Not watching your dumb sportsball, you un-American jerks.

Frederick Delius - Florida Suite

Today is the birthday of English composer Frederick Delius, who lived in the American South when he was young and picked up a sense of "American Themes: during that time.  If you like Greig or Wagner, you'll like this.

His Florida Suite hearkens back to his days managing an orange plantation in, well, Florida. 

Rest in Peace, Gerhard van der Leun

He was a thoughtful and thought provoking man.  Something he wrote triggered a post here once, and he was quite gracious in the comment he left.  Rest in peace and rise in Glory.

Ave atque vale.

Hope for the younger generation

John Wilder has a very thought provoking post.  It's long bit highly, highly recommended.  He ends what would be a depressing post with, well, hope.  Stuff like this:

Amen, John.  Amen.  I have some of that here.

Please, no Black Pill comments.

Thank you, everyone

Thank you everyone who left a comment, or sent an email about Wolfgang.  And a special shout-out to Big Country who called to cheer me up.  As you can imagine I've been fairly wrung out, but thanks, bro.

The Queen Of The World and I are determined not to let him suffer.  He's not at that point yet (thank goodness) and so we're focusing on pain management and quality of life.

But many thanks, everybody. 

The Wolfgang Chronicles - III

"If you think this is the time, I'll support that decision."

His vet said that today.  Crap.

I took this picture seven years ago today, when we got three feet of snow in Maryland.  He made a trail through the snow for The Queen Of The World, and loved every minute.

Today when the vet said those words, TQOTW cried.  She's not ready for this.  I'm not ready for this.  How could you be?

Wolfgang's back legs get tangled up when he walks.  Sometimes he falls.  It's hard for him to stand up a lot of the time.  But his mind is clear, and he wants to play with his doggie friends.  The other day at the local dog park when one of his friends was chasing a ball, I didn't let him play chase.  He has always loved that.  But I knew it would make him hurt for days.  So I held his collar and didn't let him run.

He cried.  That about killed me.

Today at the vet I realized that it's not that we won't have him for years (heck, y'all might not have me for that).  But we might not have him for months, or maybe weeks.

I'm not ready for this.  I know what's coming, and what's approaching.  We won't let him suffer.  But this is too soon, too soon, too damn soon.

"If you think this is the time, I'll support that decision."

Font Follow-up

 

Go for a stroll underneath a battleship

Dwight visits the dry-docked USS Texas.  He also buys a souvenir bit of USS Texas steel.  Somewhere, #2 Son has some souvenir deck teak from the USS North Carolina.

Rest In Peace, CWO John Torr

I hadn't known that he came back from Vietnam with a Bronze Star.  

The service reminded me of Dad's, and made me think of the Honor Guard in Santa Fe.  Unlike at my Father-in-Law's burial in Arlington, the Honor Guard yesterday didn't need to be asked to police up the brass to give to the family.  They were very thoughtful, performing a hard duty.  I wrote this after Dad's service, and thought about it a lot yesterday.

Honor Guard

The Veteran's Cemetery in Santa Fe is beautiful, with well-kept grounds and a spectacular view of the mountains.  The Veterans' Affairs staff there is helpful beyond belief.  But most impressive of all was the Honor Guard.

This must be a tough duty, spending all day, every day welcoming home fallen veterans.  It must take a special sort of personality to be continually surrounded by grieving families, and to take that grief as an inspiration to perfect the ceremony.  The respect they showed - especially to Mom - was very moving.

It's strange, but after months leading up to Dad's death, and three weeks now to process the emotions, that I wasn't ready for the emotions that washed over me when the guard slow-saluted Mom, and then knelt down to present her the flag.

This flag is presented on behalf of a grateful nation and the United States Army as a token of appreciation for your loved one's honorable and faithful service.

The Honor Guard has a hard duty, and one that may seem unimportant.  After all, it's just one more old man leaving his grieving family behind.  The kindness and respect they devoted speaks volumes of them, and the Republic.

This is the final test of a gentleman: his respect for those who can be of no possible service to him.

- William Lyon Phelps

A thought for today

I'm off to the funeral.  This is a meditation for those of us left behind.

 

All The Problems Must Be Solved

The U.S. State Department has taken the time to ban the use of the Times New Roman font in all official communication.

Henceforth all communication will be in Calibri. All units have until February 6th, 2023 to be in compliance.

 Here at Borepatch we will be experimenting with fonts until we find one that no one likes.

 Maybe something that looks like cursive? 

 

 

 

Gabriel Fauré - Requiem in D Minor

A friend called a couple days ago to say that his father had died unexpectedly.  The funeral is tomorrow and since it's on Florida's west coast I will be able to be there.  It's a shame that we sometimes don't see people close to us until a funeral brings us together.

My father didn't die suddenly which gave me a chance to visit him often during his last year.  More than a decade later, I don't feel like anything that needed to be said wasn't said.  My friend didn't get that same blessing.

Memento mori, remember that you too are mortal.  If you have something unsaid that needs to be said to someone close, embrace the fierce urgency of now.

Your thought for the day

 

Only A Little Will Last

A 3D printed gun design gets past European regulations

That toothpaste isn't going back in the tube:

The FGC-9 stands out from previous 3D-printed firearms designs, in part because it was specifically designed to circumvent European gun regulations:

Thus, unlike its predecessors, the FGC-9 does not require the use of any commercially produced firearm parts. Instead, it can be produced using only unregulated commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components. For example, instead of an industrially produced firearms barrel, the FGC-9 uses a piece of a pre-hardened 16 mm O.D. hydraulic tubing.

 

The Wolfgang Chronicles - II

 

Wolfgang says hi to the cows.  Up north at Castle Borepatch there were deer for him to talk to.  Here in Florida he has to be satisfied with Bessie.

On a sad note, Glen Filthie has lost his dog.

Dad Joke CCXXXXIII

Four men are on a boat.  They have five cigarettes but nothing to light them with.

They throw one cigarette overboard and the boat becomes a cigarette lighter.

Army Air Corps cartoon training film: Gunnery on the B-29

This is surprisingly good - both the script and the video.  I had never known how the B-29 robot gun turrets worked and this explains the whole thing in an entertaining manner. 

From the days when Hollywood was on our side.

"Artificial Intelligence" is the new Ship Of Fools

BMW introducing AI that talks to you.  Comrade Misfit is horrified (language alert):

A German car that talks to you? "Nein, nein, nein! Ve are not moving until you fasten your seatbelt" 'Ach du lieber, you spilled your coffee ON MY CLEAN FLOOR! WIPE IT UP, NOW!!"

Snerk.  This will take the current spoken GPS turn-by-turn directions to a new level: "REPEAT ZEE INSTRUCTIONS!!!"

Also, we're told that AI can make a better playlist, and that the bot is "your AI friend".  Nazzo fast:

"AI can now build you a better playlist"

No it can't.

And I don't have an AI friend.

(via)

That's some Top Shelf mockery, right there

Seen at Western Rifle Shooters:

Also:

This is also pretty effective culture war insurgency.  Consider:

1. It's funny, and not just to us Deplorables.
2. The humor comes from an obvious core of B.S., recognized even by non-Deplorables.
3. It forces people to consider that the same sort of weak arguments are used for gun control.

Full marks for effective mockery.

[stands]

[clap] [clap] [clap]

I'm tempted to make one up myself, along the lines of "You can have my Viking Range when you pry it out of my cold, dead hands!"

 

The Dillards - Buckin' Mule

The Queen Of The World and I love bluegrass.  It's an old type of music, but until the 1960s was pretty much confined to the Appalachian region of the country.  But it got introduced to the broader country on The Andy Griffith Show, with the Darling family (played by The Dillards).  Certainly it made The Dillards famous; here they are performing on The Judy Garland Show in '63 or '64. 

Here they are performing with Andy on his show.  This may be the finest version of Dooley ever recorded.

Heh

 Stolen from Comrade Misfit.

Rest in peace, Jeff Beck

When I think of Jeff Beck, I think of The Yardbirds, perhaps the greatest failed rock band ever.  Their lead guitarists included (in order) Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page.  These three are in pretty much everyone's list of top 10 guitarists, and they all played for the same band.

Thus, the greatest rock band.  And also the greatest failed rock band.

But he was never an easy member of any band.  Maybe that was part of the special mix that made The Yardbirds the greatest failed rock band.  But the music was great, and his guitar playing was spectacular.

Tonight The Choir Invisible has finer accompaniment. 

Dad Joke CCXXXXII

There's a fine line between numerator and denominator. 

Rest in peace, Sgt Bob

Wirecutter posts sad news:  Southwest Florida Blogshoot alumnus Sgt. Bob has taken his life after a long struggle with untreatable pain.  His family posted some wise words:

If you or someone you know is thinking of suicide, call 988. It’s a nationwide number for crisis response. You don’t even have to be in the same city as the person you’re calling about. And if you have any other identifying information about them do not wait to try and contact their family members.

Ave atque vale, Bob.

Recommended Security Tool: Password Managers

Divemedic has an outstanding series of posts on passwords and password managers.  He is covering this in depth, so I will just point you towards his posts and strongly recommend that you go read all of them.

Also, if you currently use the LastPass password manager, you need to know that Bad Guys compromised LastPass and stole the database of people's passwords.  This actually shows the big weakness of password managers - the information is so valuable that it makes them big targets.  Divemedic has good recommendations on what to do in a situation like this. 

Highly recommended.

Part 1. INFOSEC

Part 2. More on Password Authentication

Part 3. How to store and use passwords

Part 4. Using Password Managers

The Wolfgang Chronicles - I

Wolfgang isn't doing well, and won't get better.  While he doesn't have hip displasia, his hip joints are worn out - it's bone on bone.  He really can't run very well, and we are working on pain management.

Quite frankly, we think he's living on borrowed time.  Every day is a win, as long as his pain is manageable.  But we see the trajectory.

So I'm starting a new recurring feature, an ongoing tribute to our 4 legged soul mate.

Wolfgang and friends at the dog park.  He has regular dog buddies, which he really likes.  My old dog Jack was only socialized to a certain extent, but Wolfgang likes all dogs and all kids.

Miklós Rózsa - Prelude to the film Double Indemnity

For those who haven't seen this film, it is the platonic ideal of Film Noir.  Certainly director Billy Wilder thought so.  The music was controversial during the filming, with the studio's Music Director at loggerheads with composer Rózsa right up until the studio's Artistic Director heard it - and loved it.  Then everything was copacetic.

The music mined Franz Schubert's Unfinished Symphony for inspiration, which fit the Noir mood quite well.

Bump Stocks* no longer illegal?

Divemedic has the news.  Interesting.

And note that the President at the time this rule went into effect had an (R) after his name. 

* My opinion is that bump stocks are dumb and I don't want one, but I also don't want the Fed.Gov changing laws illegally either.

Ernest Tomlinson - Fantasia on Auld Lang Syne

Today's delightful New Years' composition comes from a modern classical composer whose music doesn't stink to high heaven.  I think that's a first here for the Sunday Classical posts.  Ernest Tomlinson was an English composer active from around 1950.  He was an anachronism in that he wrote music with melody, in great contrast to the a-tonal, a-rythmical dreck that is the wasteland of modern classical music.

He may have singlehandedly saved much of this sort of music in 1984.  The BBC decided to eliminate their archive of light classical music - it was ever so unfashionable, old chap - and he got the entire archive.  50,000 works are now in the Library Of Light Orchestral Music.  Tomlinson was awarded the Member of the British Empire (MBE) in recognition of his service to music.

This piece is simply a delight.  Everyone will recognize the primary theme - Auld Lang Syne, the traditional New Years' Eve song.  But Tomlinson weaves in brief snippets of 152 other pieces.  

Ernest Tomlinson passed on in 2015.  His obituary is worth a read:

After falling out of favour in the middle of the last century, light music, once a major part of British cultural life, has enjoyed a modest renaissance in recent years. Nobody did more to encourage this revival of interest than Ernest Tomlinson, who has died aged 90. He was a prolific composer, praised by the singer and broadcaster Catherine Bott for his “exceptional technical skills allied to a rare gift for melody”. Equally, he fought to preserve the light music heritage by founding the Library of Light Orchestral Music and acting as consultant and performer for an important series of CD recordings.

He was an anachronism inn modern classical music, living an admirably traditional life.  Married 57 years, this part of his obituary stood out:

He is survived by his children, Ann, Geoffrey, Hilary and Linda, eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Jean died in 2006.

Rest in peace, and thanks for saving all that great music.


 

The Ventures - Sleigh Ride

Surfing Christmas carols?  Yeah, baby!

 

Traditional - The Parting Glass

We are come hard up on the end of the year.  Modern New Years' Eve celebrations include the singing of Robert Burns' Auld Lang Syne, a traditional Scottish ballad.  But that's not the only song that was included in the party.  This one is older, perhaps almost two hundred years older.  It sings of the sorrow of parting, of reminiscing of times now gone.  The "parting glass" was the final toast offered to a departing guest, frequently served when the guest mounted his horse (i.e. a stirrup cup).

Burns referred to this song, so it was not only common but famous in his day - the music was incorrectly attributed to Joseph Haydn (!).  But the song dropped into obscurity.  It was Tommy Makem and The Clancy Brothers who re-introduced it into popular use; it became a signature number of theirs, and they would typically close concerts with it.

So this New Years' Eve when everyone dusts off the old Robert Burns, hoist a glass of cheer to the anonymous authors of this.  We even now saddle up to ride into the New Year; a parting glass is not too much to ask from 2019.



The Parting Glass (traditional)

Of all the money that e'er I had
I spent it in good company
And all the harm I've ever done
Alas it was to none but me
And all I've done for want of wit
To mem'ry now I can't recall
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be to you all

So fill to me the parting glass
And drink a health whate’er befall,
And gently rise and softly call
Good night and joy be to you all

Of all the comrades that e'er I had
They're sorry for my going away
And all the sweethearts that e'er I had
They'd wish me one more day to stay

But since it fell unto my lot
That I should rise and you should not
I gently rise and softly call
Good night and joy be to you all

A man may drink and not be drunk
A man may fight and not be slain
A man may court a pretty girl
And perhaps be welcomed back again
But since it has so ought to be
By a time to rise and a time to fall
Come fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be with you all
Good night and joy be with you all

To all our readers, we wish you a happy and healthy New Year!