Open Thread for Jan. 5, 2017

Submitted by Shahryar on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 6:00am

open thread.jpg

I had a vivid dream last night. I woke up and it dissolved, like some of the best songs do. Songwriting is like that. If you look at the more exotic melodies too closely they'll run away before you can capture them. Sometimes you can almost remember the ones that fled...almost. And then they turn into the ordinary when you try to recreate them.

But anyway, I had this dream that disappeared. I know it wasn't the freeway dream. That's the one where I get on a freeway which branches off and I'm not sure which branch to take. Then when I do make the choice I realize I have no idea where the road leads. I know I could get off and maybe try to get back to where I was but I suspect that I'd end up taking an entirely different wrong turn. Shrinks would say it reveals my subconscious mind believes things are out of my control. Mystics might say something else.

And I know it wasn't the "dude, where's my car?" dream. I've had that one so many times that when I can't find our car I know I'm dreaming. That's supposed to be another "oh, things are changing too fast for me to deal with!" dream but if I know that I'm dreaming and thus feel no panic or concern then I guess I am dealing with it just fine.

And I know it wasn't the "flying" dream. That one's more of a floating one, where I can propel myself forward. You've probably had all of these, too, or dreams like them. In the floating one I sneakily plan to use it to set the world's record for the long jump. Since I can keep it up indefinitely I can "jump" (that is, float forward) to just beyond the current record (which is about 29 1/2 feet) or shatter it by "jumping" a few miles or until I get bored.

Well, it wasn't any of those. It was something though...obviously, and now it's gone. I'm sure it would have made a great movie or perhaps a plot for a song. Which reminds me, I like short stories. Give me a good 10 pager! I've got Muriel Spark's short stories sitting on the coffee table. Her novels are short enough! No "War and Peace" for Muriel! That short attention span is probably why I like songs and not operas. And by "songs" I mean 2 1/2 minutes. These new 4 minutes+ songs are boring! It could be that the songs themselves aren't that hot. Have I raved about "Happy" yet? What a boring thing that was!

World's most boring song...the official video! Horrible...just horrible. Speaking of dreams, I'm surprised Pharrell didn't fall asleep somewhere around the 3 minute mark.

I think Pharrell must have approached a song and it ran away from him and the little "'cause I'm happy" bit was all he could remember. But hey, repeat it a lot, put Magic Johnson and others into some corporate approved video and there you go.

On a barely related note, shaz and I listened to a few tunes on her record player last night (before I fell asleep and had the dream that I've forgotten). Records really do sound good, compared to CDs. Maybe it's how we remember them, maybe there's something about vinyl and grooves and phonograph needles. "Je ne sais pas" as Albert Camus said.

Here's one...

and another...

and this ridiculous one...

"she got everything a man would want...a mustache..."

Now I might be getting older but that's much better than "Happy". For one thing it's less than 3 minutes long! By gum!

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Submitted by riverlover on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 7:09am

Last winter, with insomnia, I watched several hours of Happy

It works for an upbeat marching tune. Onward. I did a full lockdown of my house last night, maybe first time ever. I did not go so far as to deadbolt the front door. Logic tells me if I had a problem that entry gained would then require breaking something or other that would cost big bucks to replace. But bear tracks near my front door---creeped me right out. My driveway is long, house is not visible from the road at ingress, anyone driving up might hear banjo tunes or get stuck on ice or be met by a shotgun out the second floor bathroom window. I have an entry key under the door mat, and no shotgun. And I do not give out my address.

I have a current love affair with LEDs. Just installed copper wire fairy lights on a rescued top of pine now in a Christmas tree stand. The tree was cut down for power pole placement at the road end of the driveway. We ran primary power, plowed in the line mostly under driveway 33 years ago. Transformer is closer to the house, secondary underground to the house. The power company, NYSEG (now owned by a European company) paid us $1.00, crisp, for planting the pole. The power lines are mine. And the top of pine now resides in its home. Fairy lights need some adjustment, battery power to them (fuck NYSEG). I have an LED dining room pendant (off track, up 15') a new "office" lamp that does 3 intensities of white and colors that I can control by touch, 4 outside floodlight awaiting installment, many indoor lamps have been switched over. The last LED lamp I bought at the grocery store (GE, BTW) boasted it had a lifetime of 22.8 years. My 11 month old dog (today!) may have alternative plans.

No bear activity detected, a light snow dusting overnight. Dogs do not like citrus. Food for the day.

—

Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Submitted by Shahryar on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 12:13pm

oh those bears!

living in the city it's easy to forget that there are other creatures in this world, whose existence is just as important as ours...to them, for sure. In the city we have humans, cats, dogs, squirrels and birds. Oh, I suppose rats, raccoons and possums. The worst we get is when the raccoons come in through the cat door and wash their hands in the cat's water bowl.

The rustic life has an appeal but after reading about your bear experience I think I'll stay in town.

Submitted by riverlover on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 5:14pm

Really, you could handle it.

Get to know your neighbors and act nice and respectable in public. And BOLO.

—

Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Submitted by eyo on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 7:54am

Three atmospheric rivers approach California

Mammoth mega-storm expected to drop up to 20 feet; 'God help us'
and there is no home

Solidarity on the National Mall, Inauguration Day.
http://www.thecannifornian.com/cannabis-news/politics/pro-marijuana-group-hand-joints-trump-inauguration/

A group of marijuana legalization advocates plan to hand out thousands of joints during President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Pro-marijuana organization DCMJ will begin distributing the 4,200 joints at 8 a.m. on Jan. 20 on the west side of Dupont Circle. The participants will then walk to the National Mall.

At four minutes and 20 seconds into Trump’s speech, DCMJ founder Adam Eidinger says protesters will light up.

One way or another. All signs point to a corporate takeover of the marijuana industry by Bayer, Monsanto

Scott’s Miracle-Gro has looked to capitalize on the expanding pot industry in states where the plant has been legalized or decriminalized. The company’s CEO, Jim Hagadorn, stated his intentions to spend up to $500 million to completely buy out the marijuana industry.

A Scott’s Miracle-Gro front group has already purchased General Hydroponics, Botanicare and Gavita.
...
Both Monsanto and Bayer have a history of producing chemical weapons used in war and toxic products, including PCBs, DDT, Agent Orange, Roundup and GMOs.
...
Billionaire investor, George Soros, previously waged a campaign to legalize pot in Uruguay so that he could invest in the plant. Soros owns 500,000 shares of Monsanto stock.

Speaking of happiness, the chemical name for the first cannabis compound isolated is Arachadonoyl Ethanolamide. Bill Devane got to name it and he called it Anandamide because Ananda is supreme joy. 29:04 bliss delight Thanks.

Submitted by riverlover on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 10:42am

If anyone has seeds, I canstart them in an Aerogrow

I have 25 empty planting plugs. Just sayin'. Aerogrow is sold by Miracle Grow.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Submitted by OLinda on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 8:25am

Love the

morning tunes selection. Thanks, Shahryar!

Good morning, everybody.

Submitted by Lookout on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 8:28am

Anyone going to occupy the inauguration?

Occupy Inauguration is a mass rally and protest taking place in Washington D.C. during the Presidential Inauguration and the seven year anniversary of the Citizens United ruling. January 20th-21st, 2017. We believe another world is possible, to achieve it we will need to build a united struggle for the 99%, to put people and the planet over profits.
http://www.occupyinauguration.org/

The entertainment is shaping up to be GREEEAATT! First you can get a free joint at Dupont Circle (see eyo's comment above), and then find true talent... rockettes, M T Choir, AND a Mennonite autoharper...wow!
http://dailybonnet.com/trump-manages-convince-mennonite-autoharp-player-...
(I must admit I'm a little disappointed because I thought I was the Jimi Hendrix of the autoharp...oh well, live and learn.)

Sweet dreams, shah, shaz, and all
2 min of the Everly Bros (When we sing it - it's by the Elderly brothers)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbU3zdAgiX8]

—

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

Submitted by riverlover on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 8:34am

A nice recording from an LP, from the pops

—

Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Submitted by riverlover on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 8:39am

When the wind noise at the end builds and stops

one experiences absence of noise. Very good to remember.

—

Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Submitted by divineorder on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 8:56am

Good morning, all. RE: Dreams, yes, and a waking nightmare

@mike_pence The world's single greatest problem, @realDonaldTrump called nuclear weapons. What to do? See this memo https://t.co/wkjcy3o21X

— John Burroughs (@johnburroughs) December 23, 2016

First Obama, now Trump? Hard to tell since PEOTUS changes his tack from day to day....

We must stop all nuclear threats including those made by our president elect, @realDonaldTrump #nonukes https://t.co/c2bIHPD2LI

— UFPJ Peace & Justice (@UnitedForPeace) December 28, 2016

—

A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

Submitted by Raggedy Ann on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 9:22am

Good morning, Shah!

I used to remember my dreams, but now, when the alarm goes off, they slip away from me by the time my feet hit the floor. I loved remembering them - I'll need to work on that in the future - but maybe not until I no longer have to wake to an alarm!

We are expecting remnants of the colossal storm in CA by tonight. I drove through rain and sleet this morning, but we're expecting snow overnight, which will make me stay off the roads, drat! Just kidding - about the drat, that is - I'll be happy to have a reason to stay home tomorrow.

Have a beautiful day, folks!

—

"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 9:48am

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it." Yogi Berra

Full disclosure: I am not a shrink and don't even play one on TV. I'm not even sure what a mystic is. But, FWIW, I don't see your freeway dream as you being out of control. In your dream, your and your care are not swept up in a tornado, like Dorothy's house. Your car isn't moving on its own. You are just driving, which means you are in control. You have choices and which way you choose to go is entirely up to you. I think the dream is about your being in control, but also being afraid to make a wrong choice--and you can lose that fear. Making mistakes is just a normal part of being human.

It also seems to be about your not knowing where the road goes or ends. Through the millennia, none of us has known that, even though some of us sure we do know. That is how I see it anyway, and that a few dollars will get you coffee and a bagel.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip_pjb5_fgA]

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/longest-officially-rel... http://www.dancingastronaut.com/2015/06/radioheads-thom-yorke-composes-l...

https://www.quora.com/What-Billboard-1-hit-has-the-longest-runtime

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih7N9_VUU4U]

Submitted by Shahryar on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 11:25am

that's comforting, thanks

I know that what's around the corner won't be frightening when I get there. It'll be very much like here but that fear of the unknown is a pretty strong instinct, at least for me.

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 4:04pm

I'm so glad and you're welcome.

Evolution likely hard wired fear of venturing into the unknown into all of us and for good reason....then. The place we don't know may be better than where we are, but it may not. So, there is risk. There is also risk in staying put, precisely because the other place may be better. That risk is less obvious to us, apparently. Losing something we already have seems like a more present danger than missing out on something better. However, lost opportunity can be a huge risk, too. And, now and again, we just need to shed old baggage and get out of the rut in which we're so comfy. I do dislike change, though.

Submitted by riverlover on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 10:39am

The dreams that I rise from are threat dreams

Always sweat (beyond menopause) that shake me awake to "forget" over several hours. Fortunately, they are very occasional. I think I see them as a guilt reinforcement. And I am not guilty of most of my life.

—

Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Submitted by eyo on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 10:41am

"go ahead clap your hands"

After 40 years I finally truly appreciate Albert Hammond's little ditties. Look how happy he makes people feel as he sings these words:

...
And in time the riverbanks will die
The reeds will wilt and the ducks won't fly
There'll be a tear in the otter's eye down by the river
The banks will soon be black and dead
And where the otter raised his head
Will be a clean
White skull instead

Down by the river
Down by the river
Down by the river, the banks will soon be black and dead

Down by the river
Down by the river
The banks will soon be black and dead, down by the river

everybody!

Submitted by MsGrin on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 10:42am

No more live-streaming Congress

http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-tech/2017/01/livestream-rule-p...

Because who needs transparency?

—

'What we are left with is an agency mandated to ensure transparency and disclosure that is actually working to keep the public in the dark' - Ann M. Ravel, former FEC member

Submitted by Steve15 on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 12:05pm

Is it possible the internet does not work like we think it does?

I am intrigued by the possibility that the government has done something at the server level to track data packets. I wonder if it would be possible to add a tag of some sort to data packets which would not be visible to civilians and would not interfere with the functionality of data transmission? Assume that the government would have access to any server hardware it chooses. That technology would certainly be classified and would possibly back up claims of the intelligence community regarding Russian hacking.

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 2:02pm

Hey Shah, have a happy, ok, on me. As for that fork, or the

other, or those yet unseen, they go to Rome. All roads to go Rome, as you may recall, though sometimes the aspect of Rome one finds at the end of a given road is hard to recognize or identify.

In the meantime, contemplate aspects and avatars of Rama, specifically

—

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 --

Submitted by orlbucfan on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 2:11pm

Vinyl analog recordings are much better than digital.

The ear hears the difference. Analog has an aural warmth that digital does not have. Just listen to the tunes linked on here, and you'll hear what I'm talking about. Rec'd!!

—

Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.