Discovery Channel spams?
I found a disconcerting thing when I went to CNN this morning. Immediately a large black square threw up in my face, and I heard a loud boom. I do not expect that when I visit a news site. I expect the news. This booming black square was caused by the Discovery Channel throwing a popup ad in my face. I have seen lots of popup ads on the Web; sites insist on putting these in user's faces instead of using space on the web site itself. One can use Norton Internet Security to block ads in general on the Web, and AnalogX's Pow! and Panicware's Popup Stopper can be used to get rid of popup ads, (although Pow! on occasion pows a legitimate page). Most of these popup ads come from telemarketers or spammers; in fact, popup ads, in my opinion, are a form of spam. Therefore, when the Discovery Channel does it, it spams.
That is disturbing behavior, coming from a place as highly respected as the Discovery Channel. Still, spam is spam, we need to get rid of spam, and Discovery's popup ads, like all popup ads are spam. Therefore I have emailed the Discovery Channel about this ad and am going to boycott the channel as long as they throw this booming ad in my face; further, I shall urge my friends and associates not to watch the Discovery Channel. There are other educational channels I can turn to: PBS, Arts and Entertainment, and Animal Planet, to name a few. When the popup ads stop, I will consider watching Discovery Channel again.
A Journey through Blogrealm
Blogtrek
Blogtrek
2003/06/15
2003/06/12
The Messy No-Hitter
I am not much of a fan of sports. When the sports comes on the network channels, I switch to another channel. I resent it, further, when basketball or football games go longer than they should and start wiping out the local news on the weekends. Fortunately I have the Web here to find the news whenever the networks see fit to bomb them out with sports.
However I do have an affinity for baseball, which dates from my childhood days. I especially like finding unusual things about baseball. For example, what I might term the minimum games (some would say "extreme" games, but that word is used far too often). These are the shutout, the no-hitter, and the perfect game. A pitcher (or team) shuts out the opponent when the opponent scores no runs. A pitcher earns a no-hitter if the opponent gets no hits. A perfect game is where no one on the opposing side at all reaches first base. Such a game must be 27 straight outs. Recently a no-hitter was pitched by a committee of pitchers.
A pitcher always wins a shutout, since a team must score runs to win. A pitcher always wins a perfect game, since a team must get runners on base to score runs to win. However, a pitcher need not win a no-hitter. It is easy to get on base without a hit. Usually a no-hitting pitcher will win, but sometimes he doesn't. In 1961 Harvey Haddix of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitched 11 straight perfect innings. That's right, 33 straight outs against the Milwaukee Braves. Unfortunately, the Pirates could not score and so the score remained 0-0 and Haddix had to continue to pitch and pitch. In the 12th inning, the Braves got runners on base and won with a 3-run homer (actually that was a 1-run double, but that's another story). So the longest number of perfect innings was pitched by a pitcher who lost.
Today I saw a web page which has a collection of what are called "messy" no-hitters. This included the one in 1990 by Andy Hawkins in which he pitched an 8-inning no-hitter but allowed the White Sox to score 4 runs, while his Yankees reversed the pattern and got no runs on 4 hits. But the one that took the cake was one in 1967 between Detroit and Baltimore. Barber of the Orioles pitched 8 2/3 innings in which the Tigers did not get a single hit. But they did walk 10 times, got hit by the pitcher twice, and were the recipient of a wild pitch once. Further, Barber pitched 300 pitches, about half of which were balls. But what stuck out about this game was his statement afterwards: "They probably didn't get a hit because I didn't throw anything close enough to the plate." It shows that sometimes an achievement is not that much of an achievement, but it also shows there is more than one way of achieving your goals in baseball. This game shows that it may be possible to throw all out-of-zone pitches and still win, provided you get them to swing once in a while into strikes and outs. I will mention other baseball situations like this in future blogs; they show that goals in baseball are not that clear-cut.
I am not much of a fan of sports. When the sports comes on the network channels, I switch to another channel. I resent it, further, when basketball or football games go longer than they should and start wiping out the local news on the weekends. Fortunately I have the Web here to find the news whenever the networks see fit to bomb them out with sports.
However I do have an affinity for baseball, which dates from my childhood days. I especially like finding unusual things about baseball. For example, what I might term the minimum games (some would say "extreme" games, but that word is used far too often). These are the shutout, the no-hitter, and the perfect game. A pitcher (or team) shuts out the opponent when the opponent scores no runs. A pitcher earns a no-hitter if the opponent gets no hits. A perfect game is where no one on the opposing side at all reaches first base. Such a game must be 27 straight outs. Recently a no-hitter was pitched by a committee of pitchers.
A pitcher always wins a shutout, since a team must score runs to win. A pitcher always wins a perfect game, since a team must get runners on base to score runs to win. However, a pitcher need not win a no-hitter. It is easy to get on base without a hit. Usually a no-hitting pitcher will win, but sometimes he doesn't. In 1961 Harvey Haddix of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitched 11 straight perfect innings. That's right, 33 straight outs against the Milwaukee Braves. Unfortunately, the Pirates could not score and so the score remained 0-0 and Haddix had to continue to pitch and pitch. In the 12th inning, the Braves got runners on base and won with a 3-run homer (actually that was a 1-run double, but that's another story). So the longest number of perfect innings was pitched by a pitcher who lost.
Today I saw a web page which has a collection of what are called "messy" no-hitters. This included the one in 1990 by Andy Hawkins in which he pitched an 8-inning no-hitter but allowed the White Sox to score 4 runs, while his Yankees reversed the pattern and got no runs on 4 hits. But the one that took the cake was one in 1967 between Detroit and Baltimore. Barber of the Orioles pitched 8 2/3 innings in which the Tigers did not get a single hit. But they did walk 10 times, got hit by the pitcher twice, and were the recipient of a wild pitch once. Further, Barber pitched 300 pitches, about half of which were balls. But what stuck out about this game was his statement afterwards: "They probably didn't get a hit because I didn't throw anything close enough to the plate." It shows that sometimes an achievement is not that much of an achievement, but it also shows there is more than one way of achieving your goals in baseball. This game shows that it may be possible to throw all out-of-zone pitches and still win, provided you get them to swing once in a while into strikes and outs. I will mention other baseball situations like this in future blogs; they show that goals in baseball are not that clear-cut.
2003/06/11
Does Hillary Clinton have charisma?
Now the fuss in the media is about Hillary Clinton. She just finished publishing a book and she has appeared on 2 TV shows including a Larry King show. According to her the adventuring of her husband to other women did hurt the marriage a bit but the marriage survived it; she and her husband were united against the prosecutors and the hypermedia who sought to blow the crisis up for whatever they can get. But now the question is: can Hillary run against Bush in 2004 and defeat him? She is not an announced candidate and is possibly eyeing 2008 instead, but a sizeable draft-Clinton movement could persuade her to change her mind. How would she stack up against Bush?
A Democrat in a race against an incumbent can influence the race in only one way by him or herself, namely by being charismatic. This is the one Lichtman key that a Democrat can control. So is Hillary charismatic? I'd say so. Look at all the people who come wanting her to sign their copy of her book. Look at all the media attention. Why? To me she is an excellent speaker, and she seems to champion the cause of women everywhere, because she is assertive and speaks her mind. She is especially popular with them and can be expected to take much of their vote if she ran against Bush. However, she is abrasive at times and for some reason men find her threatening. I don't find her threatening. But as long as there exist men that find her threatening, that may be a point against her being charismatic. But just about every charismatic politician - both Kennedys, William Jennings Bryan and so forth have had an unusual number of enemies. So that may not say that she is not charismatic. In my opinion she is; at least she is more so than any of the Democrats now running. If so, then if she runs, she will cause Bush to lose Lichtman Key 13. This means that only two more keys are needed to topple Bush. If the economy totters - and the rising costs of oil and gas could do that - and if something else happens, such as a scandal, a major riot, or a third party candidate getting more than 5% of the vote, then Bush will be defeated in 2004. It still is a long shot, but I believe that it is the best chance the Democrats have. 2008, schmoo-thousand eight. The Democrats need to persuade Hillary to enter the 2004 race, and to enter it now.
Now the fuss in the media is about Hillary Clinton. She just finished publishing a book and she has appeared on 2 TV shows including a Larry King show. According to her the adventuring of her husband to other women did hurt the marriage a bit but the marriage survived it; she and her husband were united against the prosecutors and the hypermedia who sought to blow the crisis up for whatever they can get. But now the question is: can Hillary run against Bush in 2004 and defeat him? She is not an announced candidate and is possibly eyeing 2008 instead, but a sizeable draft-Clinton movement could persuade her to change her mind. How would she stack up against Bush?
A Democrat in a race against an incumbent can influence the race in only one way by him or herself, namely by being charismatic. This is the one Lichtman key that a Democrat can control. So is Hillary charismatic? I'd say so. Look at all the people who come wanting her to sign their copy of her book. Look at all the media attention. Why? To me she is an excellent speaker, and she seems to champion the cause of women everywhere, because she is assertive and speaks her mind. She is especially popular with them and can be expected to take much of their vote if she ran against Bush. However, she is abrasive at times and for some reason men find her threatening. I don't find her threatening. But as long as there exist men that find her threatening, that may be a point against her being charismatic. But just about every charismatic politician - both Kennedys, William Jennings Bryan and so forth have had an unusual number of enemies. So that may not say that she is not charismatic. In my opinion she is; at least she is more so than any of the Democrats now running. If so, then if she runs, she will cause Bush to lose Lichtman Key 13. This means that only two more keys are needed to topple Bush. If the economy totters - and the rising costs of oil and gas could do that - and if something else happens, such as a scandal, a major riot, or a third party candidate getting more than 5% of the vote, then Bush will be defeated in 2004. It still is a long shot, but I believe that it is the best chance the Democrats have. 2008, schmoo-thousand eight. The Democrats need to persuade Hillary to enter the 2004 race, and to enter it now.
CD Pollution
The ability to store and process data has grown tremendously in the last 15 years. In 1988 a typical computer had about 20 MB of disk space. Today's computers have 20 GB - that's a thousand times more. However, our ability to efficiently store the data on appropriate media has not kept pace very well. In fact it has become distorted so badly that it threatens the environment. In the old days, you stored your data on a 360,000 byte 5.25-in floppy disk. Then came the 3.5-in disk which can hold 1,440,000 bytes. The hard disk came next with 20,000,000 bytes of data. If you wanted to take some data somewhere in 1994, you would have used 3.5-in floppy disks. In 1995 or so came the Iomega Zip disk™. All at once 100,000,000 bytes were available on a disk only slightly thicker than a floppy! But what happened to about 10,000,000 bytes, or 10 MB? There was nothing convenient to put it on. If your data was 1.45 MB and could not be split onto two floppies, you had to use a Zip disk and put your data on 100 MB of storage space, or a little like having a mouse in a cathedral. One thing was OK, however. The 100 MB was expensive; it was about $1.20 a disk.
Things have gotten worse since then. The recordable compact disc came next. Now you can record your own data CDs. Each CD contained a whopping 650,000,000 MB of data, on a disk that now costs a mere 40 cents. Think of it. 6 cents per 1,073,741,824 bytes. An encyclopedia can easily fit onto such a disc. They come in two forms: CD-R and CD-RW. The CD-R is the dirt cheap one, but once you record on it, it is recorded on it forever, much as on an ordinary music CD that you buy in the store. You can't change or erase it. Copying data to such a disc is fast. It takes only about 5 minutes to store half a gigabyte. So if you want to back up your files, you buy Cds at the store. You buy cds every time you want to back up your data, and you throw the old CDs away. This is where it gets wasteful. Because it is cheap to record once and only once, once its usefulness has ended, it gets thrown into our landfills or whatnot and it piles up there, creating pollution. CD-Rs are not the most environmentally friendly medium. Further, if a file on a zip disk was a mouse in a cathedral, a 1.45 MB file on a compact disc is a wasp in a cathedral. An enormous amount of capacity goes wasted. Why not a Zip disk? Because they are much more expensive.
There is another type of compact disc, the CD-RW, only twice as expensive as CD-Rs. These are friendlier to the environment. You create and delete files on them the way you would on a floppy or hard disk drive. However, these are impossibly slow, and they can be read only on CD-RW drives. I tried to back up files recently to a CD-RW and every time it would get hung up on the 25th megabyte and not do any more. I had to give up on it and use CD-Rs and pollute the environment. Why can't they make a better CD-RW? I hear instead they are making DVD discs with 5 GB or so of capacity. That's right, now your 1.45 MB file is a flea in a cathedral. We get better ways of saving hundreds of megabytes or gigabytes onto a medium to stay forever and forever, but we still have nothing efficient for 10 MB worth of data. Computer manufacturers, surely you can give us better options than these.
The ability to store and process data has grown tremendously in the last 15 years. In 1988 a typical computer had about 20 MB of disk space. Today's computers have 20 GB - that's a thousand times more. However, our ability to efficiently store the data on appropriate media has not kept pace very well. In fact it has become distorted so badly that it threatens the environment. In the old days, you stored your data on a 360,000 byte 5.25-in floppy disk. Then came the 3.5-in disk which can hold 1,440,000 bytes. The hard disk came next with 20,000,000 bytes of data. If you wanted to take some data somewhere in 1994, you would have used 3.5-in floppy disks. In 1995 or so came the Iomega Zip disk™. All at once 100,000,000 bytes were available on a disk only slightly thicker than a floppy! But what happened to about 10,000,000 bytes, or 10 MB? There was nothing convenient to put it on. If your data was 1.45 MB and could not be split onto two floppies, you had to use a Zip disk and put your data on 100 MB of storage space, or a little like having a mouse in a cathedral. One thing was OK, however. The 100 MB was expensive; it was about $1.20 a disk.
Things have gotten worse since then. The recordable compact disc came next. Now you can record your own data CDs. Each CD contained a whopping 650,000,000 MB of data, on a disk that now costs a mere 40 cents. Think of it. 6 cents per 1,073,741,824 bytes. An encyclopedia can easily fit onto such a disc. They come in two forms: CD-R and CD-RW. The CD-R is the dirt cheap one, but once you record on it, it is recorded on it forever, much as on an ordinary music CD that you buy in the store. You can't change or erase it. Copying data to such a disc is fast. It takes only about 5 minutes to store half a gigabyte. So if you want to back up your files, you buy Cds at the store. You buy cds every time you want to back up your data, and you throw the old CDs away. This is where it gets wasteful. Because it is cheap to record once and only once, once its usefulness has ended, it gets thrown into our landfills or whatnot and it piles up there, creating pollution. CD-Rs are not the most environmentally friendly medium. Further, if a file on a zip disk was a mouse in a cathedral, a 1.45 MB file on a compact disc is a wasp in a cathedral. An enormous amount of capacity goes wasted. Why not a Zip disk? Because they are much more expensive.
There is another type of compact disc, the CD-RW, only twice as expensive as CD-Rs. These are friendlier to the environment. You create and delete files on them the way you would on a floppy or hard disk drive. However, these are impossibly slow, and they can be read only on CD-RW drives. I tried to back up files recently to a CD-RW and every time it would get hung up on the 25th megabyte and not do any more. I had to give up on it and use CD-Rs and pollute the environment. Why can't they make a better CD-RW? I hear instead they are making DVD discs with 5 GB or so of capacity. That's right, now your 1.45 MB file is a flea in a cathedral. We get better ways of saving hundreds of megabytes or gigabytes onto a medium to stay forever and forever, but we still have nothing efficient for 10 MB worth of data. Computer manufacturers, surely you can give us better options than these.
2003/06/10
Kugel and the International Space Station
Last night I went to a meeting of the Richmond Astronomical Society. Afterwards, a bunch of us congregated at the Science Museum of Virginia, where the meeting was held, to look at the Earth water kugel. This is a huge, 45-ton or so ball resting on a fountain so that it is supported by the water. The kugel can be spun on this as the water cushion behaves like Teflon. Some of us wanted it to stay still and point at an angle of 23 degrees, so that it was oriented like the real Earth. Not only that we wanted it to spin precisely at the same rate the Earth spins. But later at night I gave the globe a few good heaves and it was spinning rapidly on an axis that was not the polar axis.
We hung around a little later because someone found on the web that the International Space Station (ISS) was going to make a pass at 2133 (9:33 pm) on 2003 June 9. At 2132, sure enough, between the eyes of Gemini (Castor and Pollux), the station appeared. It was brighter than Arcturus but fainter than Jupiter. It passed from right to left, towards the south, and went high, near where the moon was. It came within a moon's radius of Spica, then it went on down to the southern horizon and winked out when it hit the Earth's shadow. It was worth waiting on a work night to see. I had seen the Shuttle and ISS before but every time is a sight to behold. A steady beacon (not flashing like an airplane) drifting across the sky, brighter than just about anything else in the sky, something that our grandparents never saw during their youth. Like the Mars probe, it beckons us out to space, to make it a station on our way to exploring the heavens.
Last night I went to a meeting of the Richmond Astronomical Society. Afterwards, a bunch of us congregated at the Science Museum of Virginia, where the meeting was held, to look at the Earth water kugel. This is a huge, 45-ton or so ball resting on a fountain so that it is supported by the water. The kugel can be spun on this as the water cushion behaves like Teflon. Some of us wanted it to stay still and point at an angle of 23 degrees, so that it was oriented like the real Earth. Not only that we wanted it to spin precisely at the same rate the Earth spins. But later at night I gave the globe a few good heaves and it was spinning rapidly on an axis that was not the polar axis.
We hung around a little later because someone found on the web that the International Space Station (ISS) was going to make a pass at 2133 (9:33 pm) on 2003 June 9. At 2132, sure enough, between the eyes of Gemini (Castor and Pollux), the station appeared. It was brighter than Arcturus but fainter than Jupiter. It passed from right to left, towards the south, and went high, near where the moon was. It came within a moon's radius of Spica, then it went on down to the southern horizon and winked out when it hit the Earth's shadow. It was worth waiting on a work night to see. I had seen the Shuttle and ISS before but every time is a sight to behold. A steady beacon (not flashing like an airplane) drifting across the sky, brighter than just about anything else in the sky, something that our grandparents never saw during their youth. Like the Mars probe, it beckons us out to space, to make it a station on our way to exploring the heavens.
Mars Bound
We are headed to Mars again. Once again a rocket has taken off, carrying with it a probe to plunk down a Martian golf cart on the planet and rover all over the place observing and testing, with the objective of finding water, and maybe life itself, if they exist on the Red Planet. I saw this launch today. I came to a hard point in my work today so I went downstairs to the cafeteria to get a snack. On the way I saw the TV screen and a rocket on it, and I heard 15, 14, 13, 12, … . Whaaa?? I thought this may have been a recording. But it said "LIVE". This was the real thing. The launch that had been postponed because of bad weather. I realized that that is indeed what I heard. I heard "15, 14, 13, 12, … . Not only that, but I heard "11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Ignition, and we have liftoff". It really happened, at exactly 1400 (2 pm) today, 2003 June 10. I next saw a camera on the spacecraft video behind, and I saw the ground receding. This was exciting. It was just like the movielet "Powers of Ten". First the landing strip appeared. Then the coastline. Then the vast expanse of ocean and a cloak of clouds, and finally the curve of our planet itself. It no longer was a scene in central Florida. It was a view of our planet, our blue marble, from space. It was the world this probe was leaving behind, going out and finding out if indeed there is water, or life, on one of our neighboring worlds, Mars, in the Great Year of Mars, when the planet is closer to us than at any time in the past 50,000 years. Because of this it will take only 7 months to reach its destination on 2004 January 4. Maybe then, in the fourth year of this Millennium, if we are lucky, we may find out if indeed, we are truly alone. I am looking forward to it and hope they succeed this time.
We are headed to Mars again. Once again a rocket has taken off, carrying with it a probe to plunk down a Martian golf cart on the planet and rover all over the place observing and testing, with the objective of finding water, and maybe life itself, if they exist on the Red Planet. I saw this launch today. I came to a hard point in my work today so I went downstairs to the cafeteria to get a snack. On the way I saw the TV screen and a rocket on it, and I heard 15, 14, 13, 12, … . Whaaa?? I thought this may have been a recording. But it said "LIVE". This was the real thing. The launch that had been postponed because of bad weather. I realized that that is indeed what I heard. I heard "15, 14, 13, 12, … . Not only that, but I heard "11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Ignition, and we have liftoff". It really happened, at exactly 1400 (2 pm) today, 2003 June 10. I next saw a camera on the spacecraft video behind, and I saw the ground receding. This was exciting. It was just like the movielet "Powers of Ten". First the landing strip appeared. Then the coastline. Then the vast expanse of ocean and a cloak of clouds, and finally the curve of our planet itself. It no longer was a scene in central Florida. It was a view of our planet, our blue marble, from space. It was the world this probe was leaving behind, going out and finding out if indeed there is water, or life, on one of our neighboring worlds, Mars, in the Great Year of Mars, when the planet is closer to us than at any time in the past 50,000 years. Because of this it will take only 7 months to reach its destination on 2004 January 4. Maybe then, in the fourth year of this Millennium, if we are lucky, we may find out if indeed, we are truly alone. I am looking forward to it and hope they succeed this time.
2003/06/09
V
I see they are bringing V back. They are going to publish a sequel. This story came out in the mid 1980s as a very, very long TV movie, exceeded in length only by the dragging episodes of a movie later in the decade that envisioned a US taken over by Soviet communism. V was about aliens who come in huge flying saucers over the cities and say that they are trying to protect our civilization, while preparing to eat us. People have compared the aliens or "visitors" to Nazis. The visitors take the form of lizards with human suits. A revolt against them was stirred up by Julia, whose forces chased them off into the wild black yonder near the end of the movie.
I am not sure this is the type of movie to bring back now. It is violent and favors small groups revolting against a society. While that may seem good, remember that the foremost group in our world doing that right now is al Qaeda. Many people, including perhaps most Arabs, will see the rebels as like al Qaeda and the visitors as like the US. The same holds true of Star Wars, where the Jedi Knights take the part of al Qaeda, and the Foundation trilogy of Isaac Asimov, featuring a rebel organization called the Foundation. Indeed, the translation of this book into Arabic translates "Foundation" as "al Qaeda". I would favor instead a movie which has people (or extraterrestrials) coming together and negotiating a brighter future for all.
I see they are bringing V back. They are going to publish a sequel. This story came out in the mid 1980s as a very, very long TV movie, exceeded in length only by the dragging episodes of a movie later in the decade that envisioned a US taken over by Soviet communism. V was about aliens who come in huge flying saucers over the cities and say that they are trying to protect our civilization, while preparing to eat us. People have compared the aliens or "visitors" to Nazis. The visitors take the form of lizards with human suits. A revolt against them was stirred up by Julia, whose forces chased them off into the wild black yonder near the end of the movie.
I am not sure this is the type of movie to bring back now. It is violent and favors small groups revolting against a society. While that may seem good, remember that the foremost group in our world doing that right now is al Qaeda. Many people, including perhaps most Arabs, will see the rebels as like al Qaeda and the visitors as like the US. The same holds true of Star Wars, where the Jedi Knights take the part of al Qaeda, and the Foundation trilogy of Isaac Asimov, featuring a rebel organization called the Foundation. Indeed, the translation of this book into Arabic translates "Foundation" as "al Qaeda". I would favor instead a movie which has people (or extraterrestrials) coming together and negotiating a brighter future for all.
2003/06/04
Dixie Chicks
I was elated when I heard that Madonna had performed an anti-material, anti-war album, only to meet disappointment when I heard that Madonna was sending out decoys which have not her songs but the epithet "What the f are you doing?" That's the hit song of the year, by the way. "What the f*** are you doing", by Madonna.
Now I hear that the Dixie Chicks have disappointed me. I was encouraged by them because they took a stand against our administration. But then their lead singer Maines wore a T-shirt at a recent awards ceremony reading F.U.T.K., which means, I take it, "Futk you, Tony Keith". So this is an acronym that contains itself. Well, not quite. I misspelled a word to avoid some of these filters, but imagine what if Keith's first name had been Chris. Now who was Tony Keith? I looked on the Internet and found that he wrote a song called "The Red, White and Blue", and I read the lyrics. They were pro-American and expressed an angry mood, like many Americans had after Planeattack. Maines criticized these lyrics, and Tony Keith replied by saying that the Dixie Chicks were not in his league. So Maines replied with the T-shirt. It caused quite a stir. I don't think it was appropriate. I think that word beginning with f is grossly misused; most of the time it is not used to mean sexual intercourse. Maines showed herself as trite by putting that on her shirt and wearing it to the awards ceremony.
It's the same sort of thing that Madonna did, in a different context. This is the second famous woman that I have heard of in recent days use the f word. To me the f word shows the user to be rurale, as it shows the user can't find words to mean more than that. I won't buy Dixie Chicks albums either.
I was elated when I heard that Madonna had performed an anti-material, anti-war album, only to meet disappointment when I heard that Madonna was sending out decoys which have not her songs but the epithet "What the f are you doing?" That's the hit song of the year, by the way. "What the f*** are you doing", by Madonna.
Now I hear that the Dixie Chicks have disappointed me. I was encouraged by them because they took a stand against our administration. But then their lead singer Maines wore a T-shirt at a recent awards ceremony reading F.U.T.K., which means, I take it, "Futk you, Tony Keith". So this is an acronym that contains itself. Well, not quite. I misspelled a word to avoid some of these filters, but imagine what if Keith's first name had been Chris. Now who was Tony Keith? I looked on the Internet and found that he wrote a song called "The Red, White and Blue", and I read the lyrics. They were pro-American and expressed an angry mood, like many Americans had after Planeattack. Maines criticized these lyrics, and Tony Keith replied by saying that the Dixie Chicks were not in his league. So Maines replied with the T-shirt. It caused quite a stir. I don't think it was appropriate. I think that word beginning with f is grossly misused; most of the time it is not used to mean sexual intercourse. Maines showed herself as trite by putting that on her shirt and wearing it to the awards ceremony.
It's the same sort of thing that Madonna did, in a different context. This is the second famous woman that I have heard of in recent days use the f word. To me the f word shows the user to be rurale, as it shows the user can't find words to mean more than that. I won't buy Dixie Chicks albums either.
Weapons of Mass Destruction
One of the purposes that the US administration had in attacking Iraq was to get rid of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction. Now we know that at one time he had them because he used then against the Kurds and the Iranians. So the US and Britain attacked and overthrew the Saddam regime and looked for those weapons of mass destruction but did not find any, at least not yet. He got rid of them long ago or a short time ago, or he got rid of them while the inspectors were doing their job, or maybe he had moved or hid them, although that seems most likely. But the failure to find them has turned out to be a disappointment in Persian Gulf War II and its aftermath. This failure to find them has inspired me to write two items - a song and a nursery rhyme. The nursery rhyme goes:
The US Army
Went to Iraq
To find for George Bush some weapons of mass destruction.
But when they got there,
Iraq was bare,
And so for George Bush they found none.
In this rhyme, say "weapons of mass destruction" fast and all at once as though it were a single syllable word such as "war". Same way with the song:
Oh where oh where are those weapons of mass destruction
Oh where oh where can they be
Where's that gas and those germs and the glow in the dark
Oh where oh were can they be.
One of the purposes that the US administration had in attacking Iraq was to get rid of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction. Now we know that at one time he had them because he used then against the Kurds and the Iranians. So the US and Britain attacked and overthrew the Saddam regime and looked for those weapons of mass destruction but did not find any, at least not yet. He got rid of them long ago or a short time ago, or he got rid of them while the inspectors were doing their job, or maybe he had moved or hid them, although that seems most likely. But the failure to find them has turned out to be a disappointment in Persian Gulf War II and its aftermath. This failure to find them has inspired me to write two items - a song and a nursery rhyme. The nursery rhyme goes:
The US Army
Went to Iraq
To find for George Bush some weapons of mass destruction.
But when they got there,
Iraq was bare,
And so for George Bush they found none.
In this rhyme, say "weapons of mass destruction" fast and all at once as though it were a single syllable word such as "war". Same way with the song:
Oh where oh where are those weapons of mass destruction
Oh where oh where can they be
Where's that gas and those germs and the glow in the dark
Oh where oh were can they be.
2003/06/01
Would you pose nude to get a driver's license?
In Florida there has been this issue about a woman who had her picture taken for a driver's license. She was a Muslim and wore the veil all the time in public. She insisted on wearing it for her driver license photo. However, Florida authorities ruled that that was not valid. She would have to expose her face to have a valid photo taken. That seems reasonable enough. Having the face visible is needed for identification.
But look at it from the woman's point of view. Would you pose nude to get a driver's license? Suppose the law required you to have your nude picture taken and placed on your license because clothes can prevent one from identifying you. You sure would object, wouldn't you? Well, this is how this woman feels. We have our taboos on nudity; these may not be reasonable but we live with them. They say we need to cover certain parts of our anatomy, mainly in the crotch and buttocks, and for women, the breasts. For this Muslim woman, the taboo area includes her face as well. To her, going out in public without a veil on is like one of us bare-faced individuals going out without anything on. Looking at it from this view, don't you see her point?
Of course, issues like this are rarely simple, and this is no exception. The same Muslim religion that requires her to wear a veil also forbids her from driving; that's a male privilege. So she should not be getting a license to begin with, unless she breaks with the teachings of her sexist religion, in which case why the veil on the driver's license? What Florida is saying, then, is that if your religion allows you to drive, then in order to drive, you need to expose your face. This could violate someone's religious views or scruples, and it's possible that a case could come up which does just that. But in this case it appears that it doesn't. I see the woman's point but if she wants to drive, she needs to consider removing the veil.
In Florida there has been this issue about a woman who had her picture taken for a driver's license. She was a Muslim and wore the veil all the time in public. She insisted on wearing it for her driver license photo. However, Florida authorities ruled that that was not valid. She would have to expose her face to have a valid photo taken. That seems reasonable enough. Having the face visible is needed for identification.
But look at it from the woman's point of view. Would you pose nude to get a driver's license? Suppose the law required you to have your nude picture taken and placed on your license because clothes can prevent one from identifying you. You sure would object, wouldn't you? Well, this is how this woman feels. We have our taboos on nudity; these may not be reasonable but we live with them. They say we need to cover certain parts of our anatomy, mainly in the crotch and buttocks, and for women, the breasts. For this Muslim woman, the taboo area includes her face as well. To her, going out in public without a veil on is like one of us bare-faced individuals going out without anything on. Looking at it from this view, don't you see her point?
Of course, issues like this are rarely simple, and this is no exception. The same Muslim religion that requires her to wear a veil also forbids her from driving; that's a male privilege. So she should not be getting a license to begin with, unless she breaks with the teachings of her sexist religion, in which case why the veil on the driver's license? What Florida is saying, then, is that if your religion allows you to drive, then in order to drive, you need to expose your face. This could violate someone's religious views or scruples, and it's possible that a case could come up which does just that. But in this case it appears that it doesn't. I see the woman's point but if she wants to drive, she needs to consider removing the veil.
2003/05/31
Philly Boy Scouts: A good group or discriminatory?
I read with interest a story this week that a national conference of the Boy Scouts of America took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and that the host council, the Cradle of Liberty Council, has defied the national organization and has included sexual orientation in its definition of non-discrimination. This means that the council has forbidden barring a boy or a leader from joining the Scout organization because that boy or leader is gay, contradicting the national organization's forbidding of gays from joining the Scouts.
This is a good sign. This means there is one place where Scouting is a good organization for a boy to belong to. Scouting has many virtues, namely, introducing boys to survival skills and an appreciation for nature and the environment while helping them develop a set of values for life. However, I cannot recommend most Scout troops for boys, because the national organization chooses to discriminate against gays and atheists. However, the Philadelphia scouts do not discriminate against gays. So is this a good organization for a boy to belong to?
I would like to think so but I am not sure. The problem is that I have found no evidence that the Philly Boy Scouts has barred discrimination against a boy or a leader because he does not believe in a God. It may be that a boy or leader must profess belief in God before joining a Philadelphia area Boy Scout organization. If that is the case, they are better than the national organization but they have gone only halfway.
In fact, in this case, they are discriminating in a second-order sense. They are discriminating against atheists and agnostics and in favor of gays. Two groups of people have an issue with the Boy Scouts: gay people and atheists and agnostics. The Philadelphia council apparently has decided to discriminate in favor of gays over atheists and agnostics, and so I can't recommend them either.
I hope I am wrong and that the Philadelphia Boy Scouts have barred discrimination based on a belief in a God as well.
I read with interest a story this week that a national conference of the Boy Scouts of America took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and that the host council, the Cradle of Liberty Council, has defied the national organization and has included sexual orientation in its definition of non-discrimination. This means that the council has forbidden barring a boy or a leader from joining the Scout organization because that boy or leader is gay, contradicting the national organization's forbidding of gays from joining the Scouts.
This is a good sign. This means there is one place where Scouting is a good organization for a boy to belong to. Scouting has many virtues, namely, introducing boys to survival skills and an appreciation for nature and the environment while helping them develop a set of values for life. However, I cannot recommend most Scout troops for boys, because the national organization chooses to discriminate against gays and atheists. However, the Philadelphia scouts do not discriminate against gays. So is this a good organization for a boy to belong to?
I would like to think so but I am not sure. The problem is that I have found no evidence that the Philly Boy Scouts has barred discrimination against a boy or a leader because he does not believe in a God. It may be that a boy or leader must profess belief in God before joining a Philadelphia area Boy Scout organization. If that is the case, they are better than the national organization but they have gone only halfway.
In fact, in this case, they are discriminating in a second-order sense. They are discriminating against atheists and agnostics and in favor of gays. Two groups of people have an issue with the Boy Scouts: gay people and atheists and agnostics. The Philadelphia council apparently has decided to discriminate in favor of gays over atheists and agnostics, and so I can't recommend them either.
I hope I am wrong and that the Philadelphia Boy Scouts have barred discrimination based on a belief in a God as well.
Victory in the "War" against Terror
A major victory in the effort (sometimes mistakenly called a "war") against terrorism occurred today, 2003 May 31. A notorious terrorist who has planted bombs in a gay bar, an abortion clinic and the Atlanta 1996 Olympics has been captured. Eric Rudolph was found unexpectedly near a store in the extreme western tip of North Carolina. From what I have heard about Eric Rudolph, he is a Christian terrorist, the same as Osama bin Laden is an Islamic one. Like Osama, he has targeted institutions that don't fit his narrow version of religion. I am hoping that extra efforts to combat terrorists in general since Planeattack have helped capture this terrorist. I believe he has had help escaping authorities over the years, probably from some right-wing extremist group. The leaders of this group should be hunted down and captured just like those of Al Qaeda. And it shows that not all notorious terrorists are Muslim or Al Qaeda. We have some in this country.
A major victory in the effort (sometimes mistakenly called a "war") against terrorism occurred today, 2003 May 31. A notorious terrorist who has planted bombs in a gay bar, an abortion clinic and the Atlanta 1996 Olympics has been captured. Eric Rudolph was found unexpectedly near a store in the extreme western tip of North Carolina. From what I have heard about Eric Rudolph, he is a Christian terrorist, the same as Osama bin Laden is an Islamic one. Like Osama, he has targeted institutions that don't fit his narrow version of religion. I am hoping that extra efforts to combat terrorists in general since Planeattack have helped capture this terrorist. I believe he has had help escaping authorities over the years, probably from some right-wing extremist group. The leaders of this group should be hunted down and captured just like those of Al Qaeda. And it shows that not all notorious terrorists are Muslim or Al Qaeda. We have some in this country.
Mercury: Chopin's Posthumous Etude in A-flat Major
This Etude sounds more like a Prelude, as it is a short composition with a simple melodic line. What is interesting about it is its 3 over 2 rhythm. The treble is a fast 3/4 waltz or 6/8 piece. The bass is an ordinary 4-beat rhythm. Chopin has put these two together and they sound fine. It reminds me of the planet Mercury, which does a 3/2 dance around the Sun with its rotational system, so I call this Etude "Mercury". Douglas Hofstadter mentions the prelude in his book Metamagical Themas, as an example of the type of music Chopin composed. I find the piece fascinating with its 3/2 rhythm and have put it in Cakewalk with a bell-like treble and a string bass. The melodic and bass lines are interesting as they resemble sine waves: they go down and then up and then down again in a wave pattern. It is not a very well known etude, as it was published after Chopin's death. Its main idea appears in some form in some of the Preludes of Opus 28. It is an interesting one to play and hear.
This Etude sounds more like a Prelude, as it is a short composition with a simple melodic line. What is interesting about it is its 3 over 2 rhythm. The treble is a fast 3/4 waltz or 6/8 piece. The bass is an ordinary 4-beat rhythm. Chopin has put these two together and they sound fine. It reminds me of the planet Mercury, which does a 3/2 dance around the Sun with its rotational system, so I call this Etude "Mercury". Douglas Hofstadter mentions the prelude in his book Metamagical Themas, as an example of the type of music Chopin composed. I find the piece fascinating with its 3/2 rhythm and have put it in Cakewalk with a bell-like treble and a string bass. The melodic and bass lines are interesting as they resemble sine waves: they go down and then up and then down again in a wave pattern. It is not a very well known etude, as it was published after Chopin's death. Its main idea appears in some form in some of the Preludes of Opus 28. It is an interesting one to play and hear.
2003/05/28
Epic: Chopin's Prelude in D Minor
And finally we come to the end. Chopin's Prelude Opus 28, Number 24, in D minor. This one is full of theatrics, with a roaring bass that is incessant throughout the piece, long runs across the keyboard, and a final threesome bang of the low D on the piano that is a fitting conclusion to the opus. It is like a long story that keeps going on and on, with plots and acts, and so I call it Epic. The piece is dramatic and is a pleasure to play, even though it is one of the more difficult pieces to play. When I was a child I was in awe of those who could play a piece like this. But I have found that it is actually easier to play than the preludes in E-flat, B-flat minor, or F-sharp minor. Outside of the bass, the runs, and the sparkling thirds at the climax, there is just the one-note melody. The bass is a bit of a stretch, and playing those twelfths over and over again can get your left hand tired quickly. The runs need some practice but I was surprised that I could do one of them rather well right now. The thirds are the part that would get me. I have always had a problem playing thirds.
This piece has an interesting chordal progression which allows it to be expanded into a really impressive epic. It starts in the key of D minor, then goes to F, then C7, and then F. It then transitions through an E7-flatted 9 to A minor, and then the entire piece starts all over again, down a fifth in A minor. It goes through the same types of transitions, from E minor to G major and then to the relative major, in this case C. Through the same type of chord progression it goes into E minor. At this point it takes an abrupt turn into C minor. But up to now we have a chord progression that goes one notch sharpward from D minor to A minor to E minor. My idea is to continue this right on, through B minor, F-sharp minor, C-sharp minor and so forth around the circle of fifths until I get back to D minor again. I tried this once (I since have lost it) in Cakewalk and it does sound impressive - you have to keep adjusting between fifths and fourths to avoid having it descend into the lowest notes of the piano. Getting back to the original piece, the transition from D-flat major to D-flat augmented to D minor is interesting and perverse - the usual sequence goes through D diminished instead. The descending thirds is rather unexpected in the climatic buildup and reminds me of leaves falling from a tree. And of course there is the final descent and the three low D tolls at the end, signaling the end of the piece and of Opus 28. And so that ends this sequence of reviews as well.
Not with my "Just add one" philosophy. There are more. I have decided to add two more Preludes, because of their interest to me. One is a posthumous prelude in G-sharp Major. All right, it is in A flat. I was trying to avoid duplicating a key, which is impossible now since all keys have been covered. The other is the one I mentioned earlier in connection with Number 15, "Mercury", also in A-flat, an intriguing piece with triple time in the treble and duple time. Also, tonight, I noticed that there is a number 25 and a 26 in Opus 28, and I would like to find out more about them. They seem like afterthoughts. So this series is to be continued...
And finally we come to the end. Chopin's Prelude Opus 28, Number 24, in D minor. This one is full of theatrics, with a roaring bass that is incessant throughout the piece, long runs across the keyboard, and a final threesome bang of the low D on the piano that is a fitting conclusion to the opus. It is like a long story that keeps going on and on, with plots and acts, and so I call it Epic. The piece is dramatic and is a pleasure to play, even though it is one of the more difficult pieces to play. When I was a child I was in awe of those who could play a piece like this. But I have found that it is actually easier to play than the preludes in E-flat, B-flat minor, or F-sharp minor. Outside of the bass, the runs, and the sparkling thirds at the climax, there is just the one-note melody. The bass is a bit of a stretch, and playing those twelfths over and over again can get your left hand tired quickly. The runs need some practice but I was surprised that I could do one of them rather well right now. The thirds are the part that would get me. I have always had a problem playing thirds.
This piece has an interesting chordal progression which allows it to be expanded into a really impressive epic. It starts in the key of D minor, then goes to F, then C7, and then F. It then transitions through an E7-flatted 9 to A minor, and then the entire piece starts all over again, down a fifth in A minor. It goes through the same types of transitions, from E minor to G major and then to the relative major, in this case C. Through the same type of chord progression it goes into E minor. At this point it takes an abrupt turn into C minor. But up to now we have a chord progression that goes one notch sharpward from D minor to A minor to E minor. My idea is to continue this right on, through B minor, F-sharp minor, C-sharp minor and so forth around the circle of fifths until I get back to D minor again. I tried this once (I since have lost it) in Cakewalk and it does sound impressive - you have to keep adjusting between fifths and fourths to avoid having it descend into the lowest notes of the piano. Getting back to the original piece, the transition from D-flat major to D-flat augmented to D minor is interesting and perverse - the usual sequence goes through D diminished instead. The descending thirds is rather unexpected in the climatic buildup and reminds me of leaves falling from a tree. And of course there is the final descent and the three low D tolls at the end, signaling the end of the piece and of Opus 28. And so that ends this sequence of reviews as well.
Not with my "Just add one" philosophy. There are more. I have decided to add two more Preludes, because of their interest to me. One is a posthumous prelude in G-sharp Major. All right, it is in A flat. I was trying to avoid duplicating a key, which is impossible now since all keys have been covered. The other is the one I mentioned earlier in connection with Number 15, "Mercury", also in A-flat, an intriguing piece with triple time in the treble and duple time. Also, tonight, I noticed that there is a number 25 and a 26 in Opus 28, and I would like to find out more about them. They seem like afterthoughts. So this series is to be continued...
2003/05/27
Chipmunk Chases Squirrels
Recently we upgraded and stocked two bird feeders in our back yard and threw corn cobs out into the yard. This has caused a wild party in our back yard. All kinds of birds arrive to get the food. These include titmice, chickadees, cardinals, robins (who usually don't go for feeders), flickers, red-bellied woodpeckers, blue jays, and even a couple of crows. But the biggest ruckus was kicked up by eight squirrels going after the corn and bird food. We intended them to eat the corn. They do so. They also cart the corn cobs around and we found a squirrel with a cob out in the street two houses down the road! They also fight with each other, chasing each other all over the place. But the most impressive sight I saw was a little chipmunk, so much smaller than the squirrels, appearing from nowhere and scampering around fast. He scared all the squirrels away when he did that! It was comical to see all those squirrels run away. Appearances can cause fear reactions, it seems. Once I saw a rubber ball chase one of our cats. The cat was chasing it when it hit a wall and bounced back. After it did that, the cat ran away from the ball. So surprise may be the element in Chipmunk David chasing all those Squirrel Goliaths away.
Recently we upgraded and stocked two bird feeders in our back yard and threw corn cobs out into the yard. This has caused a wild party in our back yard. All kinds of birds arrive to get the food. These include titmice, chickadees, cardinals, robins (who usually don't go for feeders), flickers, red-bellied woodpeckers, blue jays, and even a couple of crows. But the biggest ruckus was kicked up by eight squirrels going after the corn and bird food. We intended them to eat the corn. They do so. They also cart the corn cobs around and we found a squirrel with a cob out in the street two houses down the road! They also fight with each other, chasing each other all over the place. But the most impressive sight I saw was a little chipmunk, so much smaller than the squirrels, appearing from nowhere and scampering around fast. He scared all the squirrels away when he did that! It was comical to see all those squirrels run away. Appearances can cause fear reactions, it seems. Once I saw a rubber ball chase one of our cats. The cat was chasing it when it hit a wall and bounced back. After it did that, the cat ran away from the ball. So surprise may be the element in Chipmunk David chasing all those Squirrel Goliaths away.
First Anniversary
I almost did not notice. At the middle of this month, I completed my first year of keeping a weblog entitled Blogtrek. I noticed it evolve as I kept contributing to it for the past year. I was made aware of blogs from a friend at church who kept one. I found the idea of keeping some sort of journal online intriguing so I went with it. At first I put in a lot of blogs about how the day went and things I thought about ("Fireflies", for instance). Then it evolved into more political talk, such as my commentary on PETA's protest at Victoria's Secret's show. As of late I have been putting in more personal stuff in, culminating in my review of Chopin's Opus 28 Preludes. Today's by the way is "Floating", Opus 28, Number 23, in F major. I found that it takes time to compose these blogs, and it does make my thoughts about things, such as what I will do after I retire, sharper. So I now continue into my second year of Blogtrek, blogging where no one has blogged before…
I almost did not notice. At the middle of this month, I completed my first year of keeping a weblog entitled Blogtrek. I noticed it evolve as I kept contributing to it for the past year. I was made aware of blogs from a friend at church who kept one. I found the idea of keeping some sort of journal online intriguing so I went with it. At first I put in a lot of blogs about how the day went and things I thought about ("Fireflies", for instance). Then it evolved into more political talk, such as my commentary on PETA's protest at Victoria's Secret's show. As of late I have been putting in more personal stuff in, culminating in my review of Chopin's Opus 28 Preludes. Today's by the way is "Floating", Opus 28, Number 23, in F major. I found that it takes time to compose these blogs, and it does make my thoughts about things, such as what I will do after I retire, sharper. So I now continue into my second year of Blogtrek, blogging where no one has blogged before…
Floating: Chopin's Prelude in F Major
Have you, as a child, blown bubbles and watch them float away? or perhaps you launched a paper airplane and watched it soar in the air currents, or maybe a balloon or a bunch of balloons? Don't you wish you could float away for an afternoon? That is what Chopin's Prelude Opus 28, Number 23 reminds me of. Its up and down strains remind me of floating around. The music is fairly organized - an F section, and then one in C, then one in F again, then to the sub-dominant in B-flat and back to F again. But it still gives me the impression of disordered drifting, as it continues to soar. Each section is about a fifth higher than the previous until the prelude is twinkling the highest keys of the keyboard. Then it drifts down like a balloon that has burst or hit a downdraft back into the middle of the keyboard. What happens next is really interesting. Chopin closes with an F arpeggio in both hands first together up, then treble up-bass down, and right at the turn point Chopin throws in an out-of-key E-flat. That colors the entire ending. It feels incomplete, as an F7 chord wants to resolve to B-flat, yet this continues right up into an F. But it does fit in with the floating nature of the piece, and one might consider this to be another blue note that Chopin has thrown into his music, an elusive out-of-chord note reminiscent of his Posthumous Prelude in A-flat, with a B-Flat in the final A-flat ending. As far as playing it, it is not too hard, although it feels awkward with the fingers overlapping the thumb on the descending notes. A good song for a lazy spring day.
Have you, as a child, blown bubbles and watch them float away? or perhaps you launched a paper airplane and watched it soar in the air currents, or maybe a balloon or a bunch of balloons? Don't you wish you could float away for an afternoon? That is what Chopin's Prelude Opus 28, Number 23 reminds me of. Its up and down strains remind me of floating around. The music is fairly organized - an F section, and then one in C, then one in F again, then to the sub-dominant in B-flat and back to F again. But it still gives me the impression of disordered drifting, as it continues to soar. Each section is about a fifth higher than the previous until the prelude is twinkling the highest keys of the keyboard. Then it drifts down like a balloon that has burst or hit a downdraft back into the middle of the keyboard. What happens next is really interesting. Chopin closes with an F arpeggio in both hands first together up, then treble up-bass down, and right at the turn point Chopin throws in an out-of-key E-flat. That colors the entire ending. It feels incomplete, as an F7 chord wants to resolve to B-flat, yet this continues right up into an F. But it does fit in with the floating nature of the piece, and one might consider this to be another blue note that Chopin has thrown into his music, an elusive out-of-chord note reminiscent of his Posthumous Prelude in A-flat, with a B-Flat in the final A-flat ending. As far as playing it, it is not too hard, although it feels awkward with the fingers overlapping the thumb on the descending notes. A good song for a lazy spring day.
2003/05/26
Flood
One thing I have been noting is the increase in the number of cloudy and rainy days we have had. This past month have had two or three spells of it and not much sunshine. The sun finally came out today, on Memorial Day. That's the day that the pool is supposed to open in my development - officially anyway, with a kickoff party. But there was no party today. Rainy after rainy day has saturated our water table. Last night, a thunderstorm came and it simply poured and poured here, a solid wall of water. When I got up in the morning I had found that 3.75 inches of rain had fallen overnight, and further, I had recorded 0.83 inches the previous day for a total of 4.58 inches. This caused massive flooding in our development. The creek rose up about 6 to 8 feet, swamping the little park that our development has. Further, the water came over the level of the swimming pool, putting dirty water into the pool and damaging some of the buildings. I went over there today and they tell me the pool will be closed for a week. I suppose they have to pump it out, clean it out, and then fill it with fresh water and chlorinate it. I don't know what they would do about the damage to the buildings - about 6 inches of water there. In any case, if someone tells me if we have a drought now, I will show them our development with its flooded park and swimming pool. It's OK to sprinkle our lawns now, except for one thing. The lawns clearly don't need any sprinking.
One thing I have been noting is the increase in the number of cloudy and rainy days we have had. This past month have had two or three spells of it and not much sunshine. The sun finally came out today, on Memorial Day. That's the day that the pool is supposed to open in my development - officially anyway, with a kickoff party. But there was no party today. Rainy after rainy day has saturated our water table. Last night, a thunderstorm came and it simply poured and poured here, a solid wall of water. When I got up in the morning I had found that 3.75 inches of rain had fallen overnight, and further, I had recorded 0.83 inches the previous day for a total of 4.58 inches. This caused massive flooding in our development. The creek rose up about 6 to 8 feet, swamping the little park that our development has. Further, the water came over the level of the swimming pool, putting dirty water into the pool and damaging some of the buildings. I went over there today and they tell me the pool will be closed for a week. I suppose they have to pump it out, clean it out, and then fill it with fresh water and chlorinate it. I don't know what they would do about the damage to the buildings - about 6 inches of water there. In any case, if someone tells me if we have a drought now, I will show them our development with its flooded park and swimming pool. It's OK to sprinkle our lawns now, except for one thing. The lawns clearly don't need any sprinking.
Tumult: Chopin's Prelude in G Minor
UNFAIR! NO MORE WAR! XYZ COMPANY UNFAIR TO UNION WORKERS! DUMP THE HUMP! USA GO HOME! Can you feel it? This is the prelude of the protest movement, of social unrest and of demonstrations. Another Chopin piece that resembles this prelude is his Revolutionary Etude. Yes, Chopin's Prelude in G minor, Opus 28, number 22, is the tumultuous one, hence my name for it. Its tempestuous phrases build up to a climax similar to that of Prelude 18's, then it fades away, as though the energy of the protestors was suddenly zapped. This prelude differs from Prelude 18 (in F minor) in that 18's phrases seem like isolated fits, while 22's is more continuous, incessant, and demanding. It is this incessant pounding in the middle that reminds me of a protest movement, especially one that turns into a melee or a revolution. The piece jumps octaves all over the place, making this one a hard one to master, although with some practice I found that I could do it. But it is a good one for a protest group to play before going out into the streets.
UNFAIR! NO MORE WAR! XYZ COMPANY UNFAIR TO UNION WORKERS! DUMP THE HUMP! USA GO HOME! Can you feel it? This is the prelude of the protest movement, of social unrest and of demonstrations. Another Chopin piece that resembles this prelude is his Revolutionary Etude. Yes, Chopin's Prelude in G minor, Opus 28, number 22, is the tumultuous one, hence my name for it. Its tempestuous phrases build up to a climax similar to that of Prelude 18's, then it fades away, as though the energy of the protestors was suddenly zapped. This prelude differs from Prelude 18 (in F minor) in that 18's phrases seem like isolated fits, while 22's is more continuous, incessant, and demanding. It is this incessant pounding in the middle that reminds me of a protest movement, especially one that turns into a melee or a revolution. The piece jumps octaves all over the place, making this one a hard one to master, although with some practice I found that I could do it. But it is a good one for a protest group to play before going out into the streets.
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