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And then on a trip to India we got up early to be first in line for the Taj Mahal. It of course was spectacular. I was exhausted though and at one point just wanted to rest so I leaned against a wall. I quickly stood up straight though: “I’m resting on the Taj Mahal!”

The discussion of materiality reminded me of visiting Verulamium outside of London where in addition to spectacular mosaics there is a Roman wall. As I admired the wall, a child (~10 yrs old) walked by bouncing his ball off the wall. My jaw dropped with the incommensurability of these observations

A lovely sunset from a few summers ago on Kezar Lake in Maine

She's got a great tone especially in the middle register of the instrument, her tunes very much sound 21st century with a hip hop flavored jazz style and her band rocks.

Odyssey, by Nubya Garcia 12 track album

Now playing tenor saxophonist Nubia Garcia's 2024 "Odyssey." We heard her at #NewportJazzFest some years back and she's remarkable.
nubyagarcia.bandcamp.com/album/odyssey

The black vultures are hunkered down here trying to keep warm

The Europeans call it Red Bugloss (in English) but I think it goes by a different name in the US.

Here’s a view from the top of the volcano on La Palma in the Canary Islands. These plants are endemic to the islands but are also used as ornamentals in California

Some public art of Elizabeth Peratrovich, a civil rights activist from Alaska on the side of a building in Juneau near to where the cruise ships dock

The docks of Juneau 2 1/2 years ago at the end of a beautiful tour through the inside passage

I like “the bug unit” but it should be the BIG Unit. Sigh

Mikkel Aaland (photographer whose work looks amazing) is the only person Wikipedia lists from my high school born before me. I’m sure there is more than one notable person born in the 50’s or 60’s.

There was an NFL player that Wikipedia doesn’t list who might have been 10 years older than I. My memory is that his family ran a gas station but I may be mixing stories together 40+ years later

I’m going to say Randy Johnson, the Bug Unit. He was two years ahead of me but moved in such different circles that even though he was good friends with the older brother of a good friend of mine, I never met him

GM: Charisma check.

Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]

GM: that’s a d6 how did you

Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊

Had she not made it to the aisle with the paper cups, yet?

The Canarian honey rum is tasty. Can I go back for a visit just to buy some rum? (Truthfully, I think I miss Malagasy rum even more but that’s a much longer trip.)

Another picture from Las Palmas in the Canary Islands from a decade ago. Telescopes are to my left as I take this picture. On our first trip we stayed in a vacation rental at the sea just to the right of what is visible and drove up the mountain every day.

I was just explaining to a colleague at work on Friday that rockets go up and come down. I don’t think he caught the reference about my claim to irresponsibility

YouTube video by Decostruttori Postmodernisti Gnossienne n°1 (Satie) - Decostruttori Postmodernisti

I stumbled across Decostruttori Postmodernisti from their still slightly silly, and yet deeply beautiful interpretation of Gnossienne No 1 by Satie

youtu.be/Q19xN0kS8ro?...

YouTube video by Decostruttori Postmodernisti O Fortuna (Orff) - Decostruttori Postmodernisti

A very serious interpretation of Carl Orff:

youtu.be/tmBb2TsOOYI?...

EVs Are Quietly Cleaning Up The Air. This New Study Proves It California’s EV boom led to cleaner air in its neighborhoods, with satellite data linking this growth to lower NO₂ pollution.

I often think this is the most underrated aspects of electric vehicles (talking of which, we’ve just bought one, so that’s exciting).

I bought this album at the CD shop at the Geneva train station when it came out. I had too much 50-60’s jazz and nothing current. Some new tenor sax seemed like a cool idea.

Celebrating Joshua Redman’s birthday by listening to the first of his albums I ever bought: Spirit of the Moment from 1995 with Peter Martin (p) Christopher James Thomas (b), and the subtly unstoppable Brian Blade (d).

Happy 57th birthday, jazz saxophonist and composer Joshua Redman. 🎂 #Jazzsky

My commute is 15 miles; at 8 pm it takes just over 30 minutes. At more reasonable work hours it can take 40 to 60 minutes depending on traffic, car crashes, construction… If the bus was reliably 1 hour, I’d take it. (It’s closer to 2 hours which is too much)

Is it status quo thinking or did they actively support the DHS? There are places where I can fall into the false security of the status quo but DHS has seemed like a mistake from day one. (Starting with the “H” in there)

A picture from the European Northern Observatory on La Palma in the Canary Islands taken almost twelve years ago. The GTC, the Large Canary Islands Telescope, is the large dome in the image. (I’m in it for the sunset, though)

More zoo creatures. We’ve detected 3 different penguin species across our 12 sampling sites.

The first site was Boise, where we detected a banded penguin (matches Humboldt, African, or Magellanic).
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YouTube video by MetalWorkz Iron Maiden – Alexander The Great Epic AI Remastered Heavy Metal Tribute

I think we should make the Iron Maiden “Alexander the Great” (um) tune this year’s Rick Roll. Trick people into listening to a few seconds of it. I had to sit through two adds on this link so it probably won’t work

youtu.be/c2n64qDzves?...

Tonight’s drink is called “In Cold Blood” and is equal parts rye, sweet vermouth, and cynar. (I ran out of sweet vermouth over the weekend and the storm has kept me from getting more. This has Punt y Mes instead. Perhaps En Sangre
Fria)