Saturday, November 03, 2012

It's The Weekend, Right?

The past week has been bad for tens of millions of Americans.  The next week, with the pending national election and the inevitable nonsense that will follow, regardless of who wins (and the odds keep going up for a second Obama term; that's probably why Romney has decided to resort to blackmail for his "closing argument"; a candidate only does this kind of thing if they know they're going to lose) will be a freak-fest of epic proportions.

It's Saturday.  My daughter is in her high school production of The Music Man.  We went last night, and I must say the music and arts program at Burlington Central High School continues to impress me with its ability to offer the public fantastic performances from students who are dedicated, talented, and work very hard.  The school managed to find these marvelous checked sport jackets and bow ties for some of the young male characters that I just have to have.  Not that any of the ladies in my household would ever allow me to wear them in public, mind you.

There's football on Sunday.  There's no hockey, but there are some college football games today.  Me, I've got praise team rehearsal at 10:30 - yes, our church has a praise team, and yes, I play acoustic guitar with them; there's a part of me that weeps at the thought, as I would much prefer to worship in a medieval cathedral, complete with castrati choir than some auditorium with a rock band on stage, but I serve as I can - then it's off to get a long-overdue haircut.

I do have some interesting things to read and ponder over the next couple days.  One is that Congressional Research Service study on taxes and the economy (.pdf) the Senate Republican leadership demanded be withdrawn because all that math hurt their feelings.  I downloaded it so it's mine forever!  Then there's Steven Pinker's The Better Angles of our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.  He's been taking some heat from people at various places on the political spectrum, which is always fun.  As I have to read what he says, I have no idea what to think about what he has to say.  The work has received quite a bit of attention, in particular during an election year when both major party candidates seem to believe our world is teeming with danger, danger it is incumbent upon America and America alone to face down.  That Peter Singer likes it makes me wary; Singer is the ethicist who believes in euthanasia for the elderly and infirm, all the while spending vast sums of money to keep his Alzheimer's-effected mother comfortable contrary to every claim he's ever made about what the best thing to do in such cases renders anything he has to say irrelevant.  All the same, it is important to take some things on the merits.

Relax.  Enjoy.  Here's a variety of stuff that helps me relax while I sit and peruse the variety the internet provides.


I discovered a whole new sub-genre.  It's called "Djent", which is the onomatopoeiadic for the sound made by a kind of palm-muting guitar-playing technique preferred by some guitarists.  Some of the most interesting stuff is done by one-man bands, such as by the Polish performer known as "Gru":
And whose weekend would be complete without an extended psychedelic jam?  I sometimes wonder if people think I'm sitting around tripping on 'shrooms because I enjoy contemporary psychedelic music.  I don't need any chemicals, though.  The music is enough to alter my consciousness; I slip on the headphones, turn up the volume, and close my eyes, and I'm gone.
This last track is a half-hour long jam.  I dare you listen to all of it.

Enjoy the day.  That's an order.

Virtual Tin Cup

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