Sunday Open Thread: March 4 is Antonio Vivaldi's Birthday, also Mama Africa's

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 5:00am

World History this day
0852 -- The first known written mention of the Croats
1493 -- Christopher Columbus safely returned to Lisbon
1461 -- Henry VI was deposed by the eventual Edward IV.
1519 -- Cortes arrived in Mexico
1804 -- Irish convicts rebelled against British authority in New South Wales.
1848 -- The Statuto Albertino (first constitution of Italy) was signed

US History this day

1681 -- Charles II gave Pennsylvania to William Penn***
1789 -- The first Congress met and put the Constitution into effect
1789 -- The Bill of Rights was drafted and proposed to Congress
1794 -- The 11th Amendment was passed by Congress.
1913 -- The Department of Labor is formed originally (allegedly) to help workers
1917 -- Jeannette Rankin became the first female member of the House
1933 -- Frances Perkins became the first female Cabinet member

*** Even though he had no legitimate rights, title or interest therein

Science & Technology this day

1675 -- John Flamsteed became England's first Royal Astronomer
1882 -- Britain's first electric trams

The Arts this day

Misc. this day

Birthdays of Note this day

1394 -- Henry the Navigator, explorer
1678 -- Antonio Vivaldi, violinist and composer
1745 -- Casimir Pulaski, general
1778 -- Robert Emmet, Irish nationalist commander
1822 -- Jules Antoine Lissajous, physicist and mathematician
1826 -- Theodore Judah, engineer
1904 -- George Gamow, physicist and cosmologist
1906 -- Avery Fisher, violinist, engineer, and founder of Fisher Electronics
1926 -- Don Rendell, sax, flute, and clarinet player
1932 -- Miriam Makeba, Mama Africa
1944 -- Bobby Womack, singer and songwriter
1947 -- Bob Lewis, Devo co-founder
1948 -- James Ellroy, writer
1950 -- Rick Perry, archetypal moronic dispshit

Deaths of Note this day

1193 -- Saladin,
1852 -- Nikolai Gogol, writer
1858 -- Matthew C. Perry, gunboat diplomat, imperialist
1915 -- William Willett, cursed wretch who founded British Summer Time
1944 -- Fannie Barrier Williams, educator and women's rights activist
1963 -- William Carlos Williams, poet and writer

OTHER
In the US it is National Grammar Day, for which Hallmark has yet to create a line of greeting cards.

-
So now some music

Antonio Vivaldi

Miriam Makeba

MIRIAM MAKEBA & NINA SIMONE Thulasizwe / I Shall Be Released

And Back to Vivaldi we go

Photo: Image from page 397 of "Encyclopédie de la musique et dictionnaire du Conservatoire .." (1913)

It's an open thread, so do your thing

Tags:

Open Thread

March 4

Antonio Vivaldi

Miriam Makeba

Vote

Comments

Submitted by smiley7 on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 7:03am

Good morning, el,

Also, thanks for songs of Makeba, splendid listening for later...oops breakfast is burning, i'm off.

Thanks for this good spirited beginning!

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 9:32am

Good morning, smiley7. Glad you liked it. Have a great day.

@smiley7

—

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 Arrow on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 7:38am

Morning EL and all

Frances Perkins? Wasn't she Secretary of Filing and Typing? Oh right...she did all the Labor.

Casimir Pulaski was a good general I guess. His skyway really sucks tho.

Have a good one all!

—

I want a Pony!

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 9:36am

Good morning, Arrow. Ms. Perkins was actually a

@Arrow
workers' rights advocate (imagine that) and despite that handicap, she still held the position for 12 years, from 1933 to 1945, a record that still stands.

—

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 QMS on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 8:30am

Let's make Ronald McDonald or Bozo the Clown

the honorary civilian head of the DOD. Even Groucho would be better than the current psycho.

—

question everything

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 9:39am

Good morning, QMS. BOzo or Ronald, I can see, but never

@QMS
Groucho. Groucho had a very quick wit, while the current occupant and assorted predecessors were all half-wits, which seems to be a part of the job description. Besides, Groucho, being Groucho, would insist on calling by its true name, the War Department.

—

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 QMS on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 12:51pm

yeah, the Dept. of War Dept.

@enhydra lutris run by escapees from the Insane Div. of War Insanity Corp. for the profit of the bored members of the 'How Much can we Make by Destroying the World' sub-commitee. Groucho would honk his horn on that one.

—

question everything

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 9:31am

Good morning all, Roger Bannister died yesterday, at home.

It is a bit strange thinking of him in this day and age. His "impossible" run on May 6, 1954 set a record that only lasted about a month. Yet, with all the fabulous and seemingly constant new records throughout sports, his three minutes 59.4 seconds for the mile isn't that far off of today's record of 3:43.13 set by Hicham El Guerrouj. That's a 16.77 second drop in 64 years on a time of 239.4 seconds, 7%, 0.11 percent per year.

—

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 The Aspie Corner on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 10:09am

1970: The year 'Transparency' led to outright Oligarchy

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1523&v=c4kvUxQIJlA]

And something else to consider: 50% of US firearms are owned by 3% of the population.

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

—

Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.

Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 1:35pm

Good morning, Aspie. Thanks for the vids. Have a good one.

@The Aspie Corner

—

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 hecate on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 10:31am

hi el

So today is the birthday of the farm animal. A creature more assembled, than birthed: the result of a failed Dr. Moreau-style experiment seeking to cross a man with a steer. Appointed by The Hairball to run the department the farm animal had vowed to abolish, when he could remember it existed at all. It is hard for the farm animal to remember things, because he was born without a brain. He is like that Star Trek episode where Spock’s brain was lifted entirely out of his body; his stiff, wooden, mindless corporeal container then had to be controlled by a little box in the hands of Dr. McCoy. There is also the problem that a supermassive black hole has taken up residence in his cabeza, rendering the farm animal incapable of rational thought, even if he did have a brain in there. For whenever he attempts to form a thought, it is immediately sucked into the black hole, where it disappears, never to return. All light stops when it encounters the farm animal; his cranium is where light goes to die.

Cortes. Ugh.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjptgWBr2n8]

Submitted by QMS on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 12:39pm

painless suffering

@hecate of the foolishness by others is inexplicable. Without music.

—

question everything

Submitted by Mark from Queens on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 2:54pm

Great acoustic version of Cortez The Killer

@hecate
Thanks for that. Didn't know Neil to have done this one much on acoustic.

Can listen to him play acoustic versions (but also the original versions) of his tunes all day. Still think the Live At Massey Hall '71 album is one the greatest records I've ever heard.

Remember the live version on "Live Rust"? Has that very short reggae-sounding outro near the very end, "they came dancin' across de water, mon."No doubt, it's 1979, and everyone is a little high on Marley's whole trip:

For anybody who's interested Neil's archive website has been up and running for months now, just after his gorgeous Christmastime show at the tiny Omemee Hall Theater where he grew up.

—

"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

Submitted by QMS on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 4:06pm

his cranium is where light goes to die

@hecate fortunately the cerebral cortex of one is only the absence of light for that expired spirit, and it has no effect on the rest of our collective potential to stream forward.

—

question everything

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 12:17pm

Good morning, hecate. Thanks for the tune. Cortes(z) was

a truly horrible and despicable piece of shit. Rick Perry - meh, estupido. Perhaps maleficient, but not at all in Cortes' league.

—

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 Lily O Lady on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 12:50pm

Give him time.

@enhydra lutris

—

"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Submitted by QMS on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 12:59pm

given enough rope

@Lily O Lady the boy will hang himself

—

question everything

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 1:36pm

One can hope.

@QMS

—

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 eyo on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 1:03pm

The full name is "Cortez the Killer"

@enhydra lutris from the album Zuma, I seem to know every word by heart. Thanks. Darn that is depressing oh well back to the uplifting electric version. lol

Neil Young - Cortez The Killer

Submitted by eyo on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 4:37pm

Your brain on LSD is kind of like jazz improvisation.

LSD is 'harmonizing' for the brain — and can change your personality for years, studies find

Twelve people were examined for the study, with some taking LSD and some a placebo drug. Researchers examined their brain with an MRI scan both during and after the subjects listened to music.
...
The study found that taking LSD is “harmonizing” because it helps connect different parts of your brain in new ways while “reorganizing” it. The effects were temporary, but Newsweek reports that it’s a positive sign for people with some psychological conditions.
...
Atasoy told PsyPost that because changes in a brain with LSD were “structured” instead of random, this “suggests a reorganisation of brain dynamics and the emergence of new type of order in the brain.”

Fascinating (spock eyebrow). I wonder how the LSD decides which brain dynamics need reorganizing, and why?

--- edited to replace with descriptive video. talk about life changing
Carlos Santana Pops LSD at WoodStock

peace

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 1:33pm

Good morning, eyo. Saw headlines for that story (LSD) but

@eyo skipped reading (been there, done that). Thanks for the precis.

—

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 eyo on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 1:50pm

'splains why you're here I guess

@enhydra lutris "been there, done that". Yes, I think I leaked something in past comments about certain trips I took, without the suitcase. It was a long time ago. The precis (thanks word of the day) was too short, I didn't want to over quote.

The review of studies suggests that compared to nonusers, people who take those type of drugs show more “openness,” or willingness to try new things, and self-transcendence. For some, the effect of the drugs on their personality could last for years, the study found, while for others the change was only noticeable for weeks or months.

ding

Submitted by smiley7 on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 7:09pm

splains a lot yet discovered :) why not

@eyo

"Howl" again?

Submitted by QMS on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 2:14pm

Consider the difference

@eyo twixt trip and trope. Our senses are being bombarded by precisely encoded electromagnetic waves, delivered by sonic vibrations we are scarcely aware of. While, on the other hand, a personally administered hit to the head has an intended consequence. Think the latter makes more sense.

—

question everything

Submitted by eyo on Sun, 03/04/2018 - 3:56pm

Timothy Leary - How to Operate Your Brain

@QMS "the natural state of the brain is chaos". lol right on

Timothy Leary - How to Operate Your Brain

not finished