08/15 - Happy Chanson de Roland

Image from page 52 of "The story history of France from the reign of Clovis, 481 A.D., to the signing of the armistice, November, 1918" (1919)

~~ Roland at Roncesvalles

The Chanson de Roland is a tale long in the telling and vastly longer in the explication and discussion. Allegedly the first and hence oldest chanson de geste, it is about the battle of Roncesvalle Pass in the Pyrrenees, or the battle of Roncevaux Pass for the purists among you. There are numerous versions this tale of the ambush and defeat of a detachment of Charlemagne's forces by a bunch of Basques that can run up to about 4,000 lines of verse. For more discussion I suggest either a comp. lit. degree or, of course, da wiki: ((https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Song_of_Roland) The wiki cite, while discussing France's National Epic, obfuscates the history for which the easiest approach is a differing wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Roncevaux_Pass) While a model of chivalry and all that jazz, Roland's actions are boneheaded, leading to the annihilation of his entire troop, while merely blowing his damn horn early on might have brought succor and victory, but it seems that there were silly French kniggits as well as English ones.

We also have 2 endpoints of the Macbeth saga, Kublai Khan and the divine wind, Woodstock, and the vowelMac.

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On this day in history:

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0778 -- The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland was killed.
0927 -- The Saracens conquered and destroyed Taranto, home of the tarantella.
1040 -- King Duncan I died in battle against Macbeth. Who succeeded him as King of Scotland.
1057 -- King Macbeth was killed at the Battle of Lumphanan.
1281 -- The Mongolian fleet of Kublai Khan was destroyed by a "divine wind"
1914 -- The Panama Canal opened to traffic
1947 -- India gained Independence from Britain
1960 -- Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) became independent from France.
1965 -- The Beatles played at Shea Stadium -- the birth of stadium rock.
1969 -- The Woodstock Music & Art Fair opened in upstate New York
1970 -- Patricia Palinkas was the first woman to play US pro football.
1971 -- President Richard Nixon completed the break from the gold standard
1971 -- Bahrain gained independence from Britain
1973 -- The US stopped bombing Cambodia
1977 -- The Big Ear, received the "Wow! signal" from space
1998 –- iApple iintroduced the iMac icomputer, istarting an iugly itrend
2013 –- The Smithsonian announced the discovery of the olinguito, the first new carnivorous species found in the Americas in 35 years. (Not sure if that counts Jimmy Buffet)
2020 –- Russia began production of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine.

Was it the brown acid or the blue?

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Some people who were born on this day:

The race of mankind would perish did they cease to aid each other. We cannot exist without mutual help. All therefore that need aid have a right to ask it from their fellow-men; and no one who has the power of granting can refuse it without guilt.

~~ Sir Walter Scott

1613 -- Gilles Ménage, lawyer, philologist, and scholar; one of 3
1702 -- Francesco Zuccarelli, painter and academic
1769 -- Napoleon Bonaparte, general, emperor & exile
1771 -- Walter Scott, author, poet, and playwright
1798 –- Sangolli Rayanna, Revolutionary and warrior
1824 -- John Chisum, cattle baron, come a ki yi yippie yippie yi yippie yay
1875 –- Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, pianist, violinist, and composer
1882 –- Marion Bauer, composer and critic
1885 -- Edna Ferber, author and playwright
1892 -- Louis de Broglie, physicist and academic,
1909 –- Hugo Winterhalter, composer and bandleader
1912 -- Julia Child, chef and author
1924 -- Phyllis Schlafly, Eagle shit
1925 –- Rose Maddox, singer, songwriter, and fiddle player
1925 -- Oscar Peterson, pianist and composer
1925 -- Bill Pinkney, singer (The Drifters)
1933 -- Bobby Helms, singer and guitarist
1933 –- Stanley Milgram, social psychologist
1934 -- Bobby Byrd, singer, songwriter, and producer (The Famous Flames)
1935 -- Vernon Jordan, lawyer, businessman, and activist
1938 -- Stephen Breyer, lawyer and judge
1938 –- Stix Hooper, jazz drummer
1938 -- Maxine Waters, educator and politician
1940 -- Gudrun Ensslin, militant leader, founded Red Army Faction
1942 –- Pete York, rock drummer
1946 -- Jimmy Webb, singer, songwriter, and pianist

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Some people who died on this day:

As regards the artists themselves, most of them gave up their freedom quite lightly, placing their art at the service of someone or something. As a rule, their concerns and their ambitions are those of any old careerist. I thus acquired a total distrust of art and artists, whether they were officially recognised or were endeavouring to become so, and I felt that I had nothing in common with this guild. I had a point of reference which held me elsewhere, namely that magic within art which I had encountered as a child.

~~ René Magritte

1040 -- King Duncan I of Scotland (supra).
1057 -- King Macbeth (ditto)
1274 -- Robert de Sorbon, theologian and educator, founded the College of Sorbonne
1967 -- René Magritte, painter
1982 -- Ernie Bushmiller, cartoonist
1995 -- John Cameron Swayze, journalist and actor

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Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:

Hey! Celebrate yourself for a change!

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Today's Tunes

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Destruction of Taranto

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Napoleon Bonaparte

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John Chisum

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The Olinguito

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Hugo Winterhalter

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Oscar Peterson

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The Very Tall Band (Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown and Milt Jackson)

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Oscar Peterson Trio with Milt Jackson

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Oscar Peterson Solo (Ja Da)

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Bill Pinkney

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Bobby Byrd

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Stix Hooper

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Pete York

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Jimmy Webb

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Renee (and Georgette) Magritte

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Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?

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Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com

Open thread, Chanson de Roland, Roncesvaux, Macbeth, divine wind, Taranro, Napoleon, Woodstock, olinguito, Oscar Peterson, Rene Magritte

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Lookout's picture

I'm unfamiliar with The Chanson de Roland. I'm not much of a military historian.

Thanks for the music and OT. Have a good one everybody!

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7 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

enhydra lutris's picture

@Lookout

greater import than the battle. It is France's national epic and an early example of the heroic epic poem. The history, for the record, from recall -

Roland was a great hero, one of Charlemagne's knights, and his stalwart champion and all that, possessed of a special sword and all that shit.
Charlemagne went down into Spain to fight some of the Moors and on his way back gratuitously fucked with the Basques. AS they crossed the Pyrenees they naturally got strung out and Roland the super knight was in charge of the rear-guard. The Basques ambushed him in a narrow pass and wiped out his entire detachment. Being a bad-ass hero, he refused to call for help with his super-duper horn until pretty much all of his force was dead and he was dying, making it not so much a cry for help as a call for vengeance. Woo! (Quelle dumb-ass, but, mucho heroic, by the standards of the day, I guess)

Speaking of the music, the Jimmy Webb clip is kinda funny, like, who knew?

be well and have a good one

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6 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

This is from yesterday and maybe it has been posted already.

If so, apologies.

If not, this is from Reuters:

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7 users have voted.

NYCVG

@NYCVG @NYCVG @NYCVG @NYCVG @NYCVG @NYCVG The little twit sounds stoned in the Russian versions.

Plus

"UN blocking the IAEA mission to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant is trying to justify the nuclear terrorism of Kyiv - a member of the main council of the regional military-civilian administration of the Zaporozhye region. This comment from Russia Vladimir Rogov

The truth will be suppressed by any means necessary!

Also quite alarming:

https://twitter.com/RWApodcast/status/1558784982461579265

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NYCVG

lost their minds and are truly desperate.

@NYCVG

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enhydra lutris's picture

@NYCVG

you posted. Really can't stand to watch the little shit. How did he ever have a comedy career.

be well and have a good one

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3 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

https://www.reuters.com/world/putin-russia-is-ready-arm-its-allies-2022-...?

Aug 15 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Moscow values its ties with countries in Latin American, Asia and Africa and that it is ready to offer modern weapons to its allies.

"(We) are ready to offer our allies the most modern types of weapons, from small arms to armored vehicles and artillery to combat aviation and unmanned aerial vehicles," Putin said at the opening ceremony of the "Army-2022" forum near Moscow."

Oh, boy.

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10 users have voted.

NYCVG

enhydra lutris's picture

@NYCVG

whether they go through with it or not. The empire never had a right to declare a Monroe Doctrine, so it is time for it to die. Besides that, it isn't at all aggressive, just a bunch of defensive forces ringing an aggressor nation for self-protection, right?

be well and have a good one

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4 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

snoopydawg's picture

@enhydra lutris

is in self defense. Biden’s lecturing Putin on his actual self defense action seems mighty hypocritical to me. As well as the NATO countries that helped obliviate the Middle East and stay quiet on Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

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5 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

@snoopydawg when describing our country's self-delusions.

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6 users have voted.

NYCVG

usefewersyllables's picture

first shingles vaccine shot on Friday, as part of my prep for my upcoming knee replacement surgery- doc wanted me to get it to minimize my chances of having that show up as a reaction to the surgical stress. As a result, I've felt very much like good ol' Roland did (just before he snuffed it) for most of the weekend.

But having friends who've had shingles, I am perfectly happy to feel like a punching bag for a couple of days instead of that...

This "getting old" thing really is getting old. But it beats the hell out of the alternative.

Still managed to get out to the Lost 80s Tour show in Denver on Saturday night. My Gawd, English Beat/General Public and Wang Chung still have it- they killed, and Dale Bozzio was in pretty decent voice as well. I'm always glad that they have Flock of Seagulls as the last act, because that gave us the perfect chance to get the hell out of there before the end of the show.

Pro tip: don't do a revival tour with your classic hits if you can't friggin' *sing* them anymore. Just don't. Do not let your ego write checks that your instrument can't cash. No smiley...

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9 users have voted.

Twice bitten, permanently shy.

enhydra lutris's picture

@usefewersyllables

the new one, because the old one turns out to be of questionable utility and need to be able to discern reactions to my infusions from opportunistic infections, especially shingles. Next infusion the 18th, so it was time.

You are so right and I told my wife this is the quote of the week if not the year:

This "getting old" thing really is getting old.

Of course a lot of my issues are longstanding, but, what the hell, besides, they certainly aren't getting better with age.

be well and have a good one

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5 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

snoopydawg's picture

@enhydra lutris

but I didn’t think it would happen while I was this young. I’m still having racing heart syndrome but I can’t find the cause for it. It’s damn scary that even while I’m not doing anything it takes off and starts beating at over 100 bpm. Last ER visit the doctor all but said that it’s because I have anxiety. That seems to be the fallback opinion whenever they can’t figure things out. "It’s just in your head little lady." BS!

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7 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

usefewersyllables's picture

@snoopydawg

dose of tachycardia and AFib some years ago that ended me up in the crash house. I found a cardiologist who took it seriously, and we got it under control chemically. I took propafenone for a couple of years to keep it under control- but what really fixed it for good was getting off of caffeine. Cold turkey.

That was *brutal*, after decades of practically living on the stuff... I never learned to drink coffee, but my preferred form of caffeine was really, really strong (stand-a-spoon-in-it) tea, or ideally a can of Jolt cola with two NoDoz dissolved in it. Guess I took it just a little too far!

It is still weird, this being decaffeinated business. I've substituted B vitamins for my needed chemically-enhanced acceleration. Without Zip-Fizz (thank you, Costco!) life as we know it would simply not be possible.

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1 user has voted.

Twice bitten, permanently shy.

snoopydawg's picture

@usefewersyllables

Hope it goes smoothly for you. Let us know how it goes.

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6 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

usefewersyllables's picture

@snoopydawg

It isn't until the 19th of Sept. We delayed it by a bunch, so it'd be well after they deliver the last of the stuff they "salvaged" after our fire. That way we could sort and trash and donate as much of it as possible, before I get carved on. So I still have a couple of weeks.

Pre-op physical? Check. Get shots? Check. Lay in a metric shit-ton of Adult Beverage? Check. And some of Flora's nice 3000mg/oz CBD drops? Check. Finish carrying boxes of stuff around? Um- not quite yet...

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5 users have voted.

Twice bitten, permanently shy.

@usefewersyllables and that your physical therapist is not a Nurse Ratchett!
Glad the whole house fire is finally sort of resolving. One day, it won't be such a fresh, bad meomory.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

dystopian's picture

Hope all are well!

Five-alarm Red Alert! Rain in south Texas! This little disturbance barely a trough, went over a few days ago west to east making it just offshore the central TX coast into the Gulf of Mexico. Promptly spun into an actual low, got named Invest 98-L and turned around heading west across south Texas into northern Mexico today. Currently after over 24 hrs. over land still with circulation! Areas east and NE of Laredo have gotten 5-11 inches of rain! One rotating band gave us about 1.25" and we spent the day in the 70'sF. At least I am pretty sure that is what that wet stuff falling out of sky was.

Some irony... the birth of stadium rock coincided with the death of the Beatles as a band that played live shows. They just did not have the amps for that, then. The Who soon fixed that.

That Powerhouse is some little-known obscure sheet mon! Never cease to be amazed at the shat you come up with EL! Wink Most impressive.

Peregrine Falcon flew by this morning, first I have seen in a while here. Fall migration is getting going. Orchard Orioles going south through yard daily. Some Yellow Warbler and Dickcissel, the early stuff is on the move. Some few Ruby-throated Hummingbirds showing up as all the Black-chinned here all summer are mostly departed. At dawn or dusk have heard a couple Upland Sandpiper going over.

be well all!

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4 users have voted.

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

enhydra lutris's picture

@dystopian

early migration/early migrants that I was going to get back to and never did, damn it. Dickcissel is one I've never seen.

The last few bars of the powerhouse clip is terribly familiar, I want to say John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers with Clapton or maybe the Clapton variant of the Yardbirds. Tell me if you know which.

be well and have a good one

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2 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

dystopian's picture

@enhydra lutris Deep Purple. The last few bars are exactly what Ritchie Blackmore used as the basis of the riff in the song Lazy on Machine Head. You could lay them over each other...

The last few bars of the powerhouse clip is terribly familiar, I want to say John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers with Clapton or maybe the Clapton variant of the Yardbirds. Tell me if you know which.

up
1 user has voted.

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

He called me Friday afternoon, asked me how to prepare for an impending divorce with child custody suit. We talked at length. I said, "Luv ya, sweetheart. He said, "I love you." I guess, if someone I have cared for legally and emotionally, since they were 9 years old, that's the final verbal exchange I want to have. I obtained an order to snatch he and his 2 siblings away from their Mom, placed in permanent custody with their Dad when he was 9.
I did not see this coming.
I guess Roland didn't, either? Never read that forever thing. Thanks for the abbreviated version, EL.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

enhydra lutris's picture

@on the cusp

passing.

be well and have a good one

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2 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

@enhydra lutris and his baby brother, a 30 yr old, came by for a little visit this afternoon. I had not seen that man since he was 7 yrs old. They are taking this tragedy the way soldiers do. They are both military. March on.

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2 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981