It May Confuse You, but....

Current books: "The Great Derangment", Matt Taibbi

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:49:48 GMT

Current book: "The Great Derangment", Matt Taibbi

Books this week:
"Dreaming in Code" -- some Salon© guy -- it shore ain't no "The Soul of a New Machine"

"The Year of Magical Thinking" -Joan Didion -- reflections on a sudden death.

"The Great Derangement: A Terrifying True Story of War, Politics, & religion at the Twilight of the American Empire" - Matt Taibbi. Anything with a subtitle that long should be suspect, and in addition, all serious works should have a goddamn index, especially when mentioning hundreds of individual politicians.

eBay international -wth?

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 07:33:07 GMT

What the heck? The people who want my eBay offerings are all in Turkey, France, and most of all, from Australia.

P.I.T.A.

James Tiptree Jr. = Monumental pain in the ass. +Leguin & Russ

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:01:18 GMT

Just read a really outstanding biography by Julie Phillips of "James Tiptree Jr", AKA Alice Sheldon. I remember when Tiptree burst onto the SF world, although I think I may have bought "10,000 Light Years From Home" on the basis of the cover, which she hated.

Sheldon was a fascinating personality, but for me she DID come under that category of "Very Smart People Who Seem To Make Their Own Problems". She was a very DIFFICULT person, and for all her sophistication and worldliness didn't seem to see how great her life was. And I gotta admit I do have a problem with suicides, especially when they are murder/suicides, and the other person wasn't consulted. A lighter hand on the prescription bottle would have helped her, no doubt.

Still, an amazing life. Ursula K. Leguin comes off as wonderful as I ever felt about her, and Joanna Russ as the stark raving bitch she always seems to be. Harlan Ellison and R. Silverberg make good impressions.

Stunning, decade long work of biography. Recommended.

"James Tiptree Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon"

The coolest thing I've read in a while

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:41:42 GMT

"The same genes build a caterpillar and a butterfly, the difference is in the hormonal environment that selects which genes will be active."

from Pharyngula

Ballard Celtic slow-jam

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:59:17 GMT

Well, I enjoyed this quite a bit, although it was more like "Celtic Sight-Reading Practice" than a "jam" literally: still, good practice and nice people. Oh, and free soup! Huzzah!

At the very least, another list of favorites to practice.

Played fiddle, and a little harp. OKAY, claves too.

(The guy w/the mandolin was hacking me off, it was so out of tune. He actually said "It's the right note: it's just out of tune." Grrrrrrr. Dude, that makes it the wrong note!)

Seven Days Without Coffee

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 22:45:07 GMT

It's DAY 7 of the coffee avoidance regimen, and although the very second I started typing this my shoulder (the proximate reason for avoiding the bean) started twinging, I think I'll keep "on the wagon"-- my suspicion is that coffee, at least too much of it, hinders the body's repair mechanisms.

So, sadly, it will have to go on the list of "occasional treats" instead of "that which makes day-to-day life bearable, nay, POSSIBLE!".

::sigh::

Quote of the Day:

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:31:41 GMT

"If you understand why you reject all the other religions, you'll understand why I reject yours."

Differentiation (in case you need it, Naderites)

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 06:12:54 GMT

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/10/222158/538/782/682660

Yet another dance canceled due to weather /Jam instead.

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 05:27:14 GMT

Just RETURNED from the Bambino Jamboreeno, hosted by Todd & Paisley, which was a more than adequate replacement for the Dance. Thanks P&T, Frank,Wendy, & James!

Songs: "Rasheen"?? "Peanut Butter & Jelly"- cute! "Smash the windows". I myself played "The Banshee", which was the only one I could think of, dammit. Got good leads on jam sessions around the North End. Faked my way through several songs, drank wine and Jack Daniels. No wonder musicians abuse substances!

Playing Music: reality check

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 06:20:35 GMT

So, I went to the open band dance tonight, mostly as a reality check on my speed. BOY did I get a check, a big one, lotsa zeros. Some of the tunes I could keep up with, but "Flying Home To Shelley" sounded COMPLETELY different from the way I do it. Almost like an entirely different song.

"Spootiskerry" I could do at group speed for 5 or six times, but after that it became a bit of a train wreck, and "Julia Delaney" went a thousand miles an hour. Dang. Well, got some new tunes to practice I guess: "Monster Cheesecake" (or something like that), "St. Pete's March", a couple others. I better mark 'em down before I forget.

Waltz-wise we played "Inisfere", very pretty, and "Josefin Dopvals" in F. Not G. That confused a lot of people.

Oh yeah: "Red Haired Boy/Little Beggerman", "St. Anne's Reel", "Smash the Windows".

Ouch! My neurons!

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:35:45 GMT

Whoa! Not sure what just happened, but I was trying to play "Julia Delaney" from memory, and I wound up playing "Abruxa" in B-flat.

duuuuuuuude!

So, not only did I get the tune wrong, but I also got the key and the time signature wrong. Strike Three!

Future arrives!!

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:06:17 GMT

Two links:

Robots!
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=10815360&ch=4226714&src=news

Jetpacks!
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=4226712&cl=10816961&src=news

God knows how long those links will work.

Star Trek GEEKFEST! link

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:58:34 GMT

http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/comments/video_break_star_trek_prequel_trailer/

Fun free-for-all about the new ST movie, with significant Babylon 5 and Farscape input also.

Enjoy, my nerdly friends!

Laser Fiddle

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 07:37:42 GMT

Well, I'm sorry to say the Laser Fiddle Evening wasn't great, although the laser imagery was pretty cool and all. But the piano player really didn't make room for me in his music (I mean, heavy classical and complex Ellington stuff), so musically it was a bit of a bust.

Did get one thing going with the harp, but when the key is F# minor, it's a bit of a quandry which harp you should even be using, and do you have it, and does the damn song not modulate constantly? I went loaded for bear, with fiddle, mandolin, harps, and random hand percussion.

Meh. Oh, and I broke a fancy insulated coffee tumbler my cousine gave me on the very first time I used it, so 1) broken gift and 2) no coffee. No wonder I'm cranky.

Omigod, what a RELIEF!

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:49:59 GMT

I don't know what the emotion is in the KERRRAZY parts of the nation (although I'm sure they'll let us know any second), but within my own skull, and I fancy MUCH of the deep deep blue Seattle hive-mind, the major emotion I'm experiencing is RELIEF!!! Thank the FSM for sending us Barack Obama: may all his endeavors prosper.

I'd take a bullet for President Obama. That's how much I want him to help the nation.

Off to vote..

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 01:35:17 GMT

... in the fucking PISSING down hail/rain. Thanks, God. Bite me.

Go Obama!

Total blub: VOTE!

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:34:36 GMT

Tears of hope.

Gerrymandering

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:18:57 GMT

Gerrymandering:

OK, lookin' ahead: Registration reform is good and all, when it's not just a rovian tool of oppression, but what about gerrymandering?

Math nerds, help me out: is there some formula, maybe 'fractal dimensions' or something, that would allow people to judge the craziness of congressional districts borders and outlaw ones that are too 'pathological', in the mathematical sense? Because there are some LUDICROUSLY distorted congressional districts in our land, and the worst are often engineered to be Republican.

Palin smackdown

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 06:27:33 GMT

"Palin is indisputably the single worst major party candidate for high office in living memory, a proudly ignorant political automaton whose only notable qualities are a pretty face, a sufficient lack of awareness to blind her to her own incompetencies and a quality of ambition that can only be described as voracious." --John Scalzi

My friends, that's some nice wordsmithing. Read it all.

GO Television!

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 02:47:12 GMT

I can't help it: everytime I see the acronym for "Get Out The Vote", GOTV, all I can feel is happiness that people are enthusiastic about television.

HDT: he's everywhere!

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:32:44 GMT

I don't know WHAT the heck is going on, but I've seen and heard references to Henry David Thoreau like eight times in the last three days.

WTH??

Questions for Christians

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 05:56:43 GMT

Lifted from DailyKos:
Seems homophobic christianists favorite passage of the Bible is Leviticus 18:22 - but I think we’d be interested in their responses to other passages they always choose to ignore:

1. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should this be a neighborhood activity?

2. Leviticus 25:44-46 clearly states that we may indeed possess slaves, both males and females - and we can even leave them to the kids in our Wills. However, it also states they have to be purchased from neighboring nations - or be immigrants. A good Christian friend of mine claims that this applies only to Mexicans, but not Canadians. I personally would prefer owning a Canuck. Is it true I can't own a Canuck?

MORE....

3. Turns out that God not only lets us own slaves, but we can sell our kids as slaves also. Well, one of my friends would like to sell his daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. She’s a Yale graduate, fluent in several languages and is soon getting her MBA from Stanford. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

4. A friend of mine feels that even though the Bible says that eating shellfish is "detestable" (Leviticus 11:10), it is a lesser offense than homosexuality (s.v., your earlier Leviticus 18:22 citing). Me? I’m not so sure of that. Is being gay or a crustacean cruncher-muncher worse?

5. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, the Bible tells me it creates a pleasing odor unto the Lord (Leviticus 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them in the least. Should I smite them?

6. My eldest son is getting married this year to a girl whose father and mother are strict fundamentalist evangelicals. They have informed me that in lieu of a dowry they will be providing me with one hundred foreskins of Philistines as provided for in 1 Samuel 18:25.

I do not know – nor do I WANT to know – how or where they’re getting them. But I am hopeful you can tell me where I can exchange them for a set of bath towels or bed linens ... or something a little more practical.

7. Unfortunately, my youngest son is extremely lazy, rebellious, goes out drinking with his buddies and will not obey either me or his mother. He wants to know when the city elders stone him to death, as Deuteronomy 21:18-21 clearly directs they must, will they be using big old boulders or small stones?

8. This next one is extremely touchy, but it seems if I'm going to avoid doing a lot of laundry (not to mention possible sexual harassment lawsuits), I need some help.

I know that I am forbidden to have any contact whatsoever with a woman while she is in her period of "menstrual uncleanliness" – even to sitting on a chair where she had previously sat (Leviticus 15:19-24).

The problem at the office is, how is one supposed to know these things? It seems like merely asking the women in the office causes them to take great offense. Some help here, please.

9. Leviticus 21:18-21 has numerous restrictions about who exactly can approach the altar to worship God. (And He's clearly not an "equal access" God since the lame, deformed, crippled and even those with damaged testicles are forbidden.)

But I’m focusing on the one concerning having an eye defect. I wear glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

10. Most of the guys I know shave on a daily basis, get their hair trimmed regularly and some even have tattoos – although these are all expressly forbidden (Leviticus 19:27-28). How should they die?

11. I know from Leviticus 11:7-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes a man unclean. So exactly what kind of brutal Biblical punishment do you think the NCAA and NFL should be meting out to all those big, burly football players? (And does wearing gloves, like some receivers and backs do, give them a possible loophole?)

12. My uncle has a farm. Year in and year out, he violates Leviticus 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field; as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread. (She really seems to like that all-season linen and wool blend).

Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them (Leviticus 24:14)? Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family gathering like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws (Leviticus 20:14)?

Mad Skilz: Barack's comedy timing

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 01:46:56 GMT

Friends, he is DA' MAN!

Eternal Vigilance: "The Common fate of the Indolent"

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 21:44:33 GMT

"It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt."
-- John Philpot Curran: Speech upon the Right of Election for Lord Mayor of Dublin, 1790.

White Privilege, ala 10/2008

jeric_synergy@yahoo.com — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 23:31:06 GMT

I'm pretty sure I heard Tom Hartman read this on Air America, --it was too good not to share. Certainly makes the concept clear:

This is Your Nation on White Privilege

By Tim Wise

For those who still can’t grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.

White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because “every family has challenges,” even as black and Latino families with similar “challenges” are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.

White privilege is when you can call yourself a “fuckin’ redneck,” like Bristol Palin’s boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll “kick their fuckin' ass,” and talk about how you like to “shoot shit” for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.

White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.

White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don’t all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you’re “untested.”

White privilege is being able to say that you support the words “under God” in the pledge of allegiance because “if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it’s good enough for me,” and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the “under God” part wasn’t added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.

White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you.

White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was “Alaska first,” and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she’s being disrespectful.

White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you’re being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college--you’re somehow being mean, or even sexist.

White privilege is being able to convince white women who don’t even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a “second look.”

White privilege is being able to fire people who didn’t support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.

White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God’s punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you’re just a good church-going Christian, but if you’re black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you’re an extremist who probably hates America.

White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a “trick question,” while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O’Reilly means you’re dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.

White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it, a “light” burden.

And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters aren’t sure about that whole “change” thing. Ya know, it’s just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain…

White privilege is, in short, the problem.