Consular employees sent home from Guangzhou for medical checks as Mike Pompeo sets up new investigation
Creeeeeepy! Don’t like it! Apparently this has happened in Cuba too. I have definitely come across sonic weapons before, in terms of using bad music and/or playing sounds at super high levels, but this one is new to me. I’m really disturbed by 1) the mode of attack and 2) the reasons behind it. I’ll have to keep following this story to see if the cause or source is ever identified!
Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz with Carmen Cavallaro (1989)
As usual, I was brushing my teeth one evening while listening to Piano Jazz, which is broadcast on KCSM (91.1 FM in the SF Bay Area) every Wednesday night from 9-10pm. Mini-plug! These are all old broadcasts because Ms. McPartland is sadly no longer in this physical realm.
I didn’t catch the name of the guest so I scrawled “MMP 5-3-17” on a sticky note for later looking-uppage. Spoiler alert, this story is really not an exciting one. For kicks though, here’s the exchange that brought me the information I wanted.
Me:
Hi KCSM and Happy Saturday,
This past Wednesday, I caught part of Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz but I didn't find out the name of the guest. Can you please let me know who it was so I can find and listen to the whole set? This was from Wednesday, May 3, 2017. Thank you in advance, I really appreciate it!
Also, keep up the good work over there. I listen everyday, I'm a local donor, and I tell everyone to listen to you!
Best regards, Kristal
KCSM:
Hello Ms. Kristal;
The May 3rd. guest on "Piano Jazz" was Carmen Cavallaro (1913-1989). Please keep in mind that all programs are "archived," since Marian McPartland is deceased. You may find some programs on the NPR web-site, YouTube or Piano Jazz.Thank you for your support and cheer leading.
(name redacted) Dedicated Volunteer
Me:
Hi (redacted),
Fantastic, thank you so much for the tip and the fast response!
I'd been listening to KCSM's broadcasts of Piano Jazz for a little while before finding out that Marian McPartland is no longer alive. I was very sad to learn that. To me, not only was she an incredibly talented musician, but she was also a very thoughtful, humorous, and passionate interviewer who connected well with her guests/peers. In her program, I love in equal parts the music and the conversations.
I found the original segment with Carmen Cavallaro (from 1989!) and I'm enjoying it right now. :-)
Thank you again, Kristal
It was pretty much an open-and-shut case, as they say! I’m still listening to the program as I type this. Carmen Cavallaro was known as the “Poet of the Piano” and that’s a hell of a title. I look forward to looking up more of his music, as is my usual practice with artists I learn about because of Piano Jazz. Thank god Marian left behind tons of programs... RIP.
Anyone who’s ever owned a Mac probably remembers the first time they booted it up and heard that sound. It announced that you were about to begin a relationship with your computer that would probably last for many years. With the new MacBook Pro, Apple is replacing the iconic chime with cold, unforgiving silence.
I’m not a Mac user, but this bit of news caught my attention. When Apple released its newest iPhone, the world freaked out about the lack of an 1/8″ audio jack. Now the new MacBook has replaced its startup chime with silence. Although the changes seem small, they feel big...
But hey, progress. Stick the chime in an audio museum. Bring it out to fuel a fast hit of nostalgia. I’m sure Apple customers will just learn to accept the silence and enjoy the new bells and whistles (pun intended) on their new pretty laptops.
There is a sense of loss, though, that happens when long treasured objects become different. I’m not surprised that people felt an affinity toward a manufactured sound. That sound meant something good. It signaled that everything was alright. It was reassuring. People were in a way programmed to have some kind of reaction to it, and now they’ll have to be conditioned for something else.
It seems to me that the world we live in is increasingly more ruled, permeated, penetrated by technological infrastructure and lubrication. I feel a mild (so far) concern for how reliant we’re becoming on our gadgets. Sometimes I do wonder if I’m driving the car or if it’s driving me. Too dramatic? Maybe, maybe not, but it’s good to remember one’s control over tools.
Never judge a song by its first five seconds...? I thought this track was a dud but it soon turned a corner and now I’ve listened to it four times in a row (yes that's a thing for me). What? Funny how music works in my melon.
Jonwayne is a California-based hip hop musician. I’ll be following for surrre.
Here’s another song I really like (Anderson Paak -- I see you):
First things first, I have to say that not working on a Monday is a glorious and luxurious and overall wonderful feeling. Sorry, suckers. But on the flip side, working on a Saturday is frankly crap and that’s what I had to do to win my prize today.
Blah blah blah
Maybe I’ve said this before, but one of my favorite things about Spotify is the Discover Weekly playlist I get every Monday. My theory is that it’s only good every other week, although I’m of course not being scientific about it. Last week I found several songs I like, and this week I’ve already saved four out of the first seven selections.
One of them is an old New Order song I’ve never heard, called Age of Consent. I’ve now listened to it 3x in a row, each time enjoying it more than the last. Wtf is this album omg I need it now. Admittedly I’m only familiar with New Order’s hits Bizarre Love Triangle, Blue Monday, and True Faith, which are awesome now-classic dance tracks. Age of Consent is blissful 80s rock. I guess it’s still dancey but not in the same way. I’m in love with the synth and guitar and oh the vocals. Bernard Sumner, where have you been all my life?
So cute!
...10 minutes after falling into a clickhole of old pictures...
That year, music journalist David Hepworth argues, offered an explosion of talent from David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Al Green, John Lennon and more. He discusses his new book, Never a Dull Moment.
“In his new book, Never a Dull Moment, Hepworth makes the case that the music from 1971 was the result of "a huge explosion of creativity in a very short period of time" and lives on in the present like most old music does not. He explained his theory to NPR's Kelly McEvers; hear the radio version at the audio link, and read an edited version...”
Carole King’s Tapestry, David Bowie’s Hunky Dory, Led Zeppelin’s IV, Don McLean’s American Pie, Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, apparently the arrival of Joni Mitchell, and more......? Yeah, sounds like an incredibly solid year! Why oh why don’t time machines exist yet? So many great shows that I could go to, but I suppose that’s what YouTube is for - sigh!
Robert Vincent never listened to classical music before he went behind bars. Now the inmate has his own guitar-making business in San Diego and his clients have included Harry Belafonte and Carlos Santana
“Vincent had been making guitars by hand for close to 20 years. But unlike most luthiers, Vincent learned his craft while in prison, as part of the state’s Arts-In-Corrections program, a world-renowned initiative which brought arts programming to prisons for decades until it was cut due to budget shortfalls a few years ago. “The guitars that were coming out of that program were world-class,” says Vincent. ‘They were concert guitars.;”
I just heard this story on the radio while I was getting ready for work in the morning. It was so good! Here’s a guy who was in prison for almost 20 years or so, who learned how to make guitars by hand, and started building them amazingly well. He became interested when he heard a piece of classical guitar music and instantly he knew it was for him. It totally changed his life. Additionally, his determination to work hard and his dedication to his craft seemed to inspire his kids, who later became artists too. Music! It’s just the best. Truly. :-)
In closing arguments, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were criticized for ‘selective’ memories and ‘convenient’ truths in their testimony
Hmm.. I’m not super pleased that one of my most favorite bands ever is being accused of plagiarism! Apparently it ain’t the first time either. Sheesh, guys.
Oh well, even though it’s a classic, and also I guess their signature song, I was never huge on Stairway. I’ll still be curious to see where the jury goes though.
That moment you find out a band you like has just played in your city the night before... cue sad face. Knowing me, I probably wouldn’t have gone anyway (got to watch basketball playoffs instead), but I would have at least wanted the choice! Haha, oh well, that’s what youtube is for. :-)
Here’s one BBD song I really like, not least because he goes falsetto (I am a sucker for a little falsetto sometimes, dunno why). And hey, a female drummer! Bonus.
Nice lyrics too:
Sometimes I lie to get what I want
Oh man, it's terrible I know
They won't agonize
And every time you betamax alone
Sometimes I fight to get what I want
Closer can help your mind, i know
Although, either time, it's hard to get inside alone
Miles 'til the very end of the sky
Loving every hour
Loving every minute
Arms and fingers, miles apart
Suddenly realize
My love is infinite
Sometimes I lie to get what I want
Oh no, it's tearing me apart
This time I will drive
For we've decided to see the long way home
Miles 'til the very end of the sky
Loving everyday
more than every minute
Arms and fingers, miles apart
Suddenly realize
My love is infiniteI'm hunky-dory every day
Loving every hour
Loving every minute
Hours and minutes, it's miles apart
I started listening to Bomba Estéreo 2? 3? weeks ago and I’m totally theirs now. I thought maybe they just had a handful of awesome songs, but that turned out to be dumb. Like just shamefully ignorant, because the truth is they’re SO DAMN GOOD.
Don’t ask me to name them, but I feel like Bomba combines a bunch of different styles to create a joyous, unique, and memorable sound of their own. Their music is incredibly dancey and catchy, sometimes I feel lost in it (in the best way possible). But they can also slow things down and get back down to earth. Either way, listening to Bomba is a magical experience for me. I seriously love their vibe and I would kill to see them live. Time to visit Colombia??! Time to learn Spanish, at least...
Here’s half an hour of them playing in the KEXP studio:
And here's the sexy fun music video for Somo Dos, a song off the latest album Amanecer:
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch on North Carolina’s HB2
More pages for the history books on 2016... The saga of North Carolina’s HB2 (”bathroom bill”) goes on, with the State and the Feds entering a suing war with one another. Thank you, Loretta Lynch, for this tremendous speech. It gave me chills. I really wish she didn't have to give it, though. The Civil Rights Act was passed a little more than half a century ago, but discrimination is still very much alive today. Goddammit.
I don’t normally watch or listen to White House press conferences but the subject of this one is really important to me. I’m quite frankly very frightened by the lengths some people will go to infringe on minority groups’ rights.
Here is the video:
I’ve also copied and pasted the text of Loretta Lynch’s speech:
Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch Delivers Remarks at Press Conference Announcing Complaint Against the State of North Carolina to Stop Discrimination Against Transgender Individuals
Washington, DC United States ~ Monday, May 9, 2016
Good afternoon and thank you all for being here. Today, I’m joined by [Vanita] Gupta, head of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice. We are here to announce a significant law enforcement action regarding North Carolina’s Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, also known as House Bill 2.
The North Carolina General Assembly passed House Bill 2 in special session on March 23 of this year. The bill sought to strike down an anti-discrimination provision in a recently-passed Charlotte, North Carolina, ordinance, as well as to require transgender people in public agencies to use the bathrooms consistent with their sex as noted at birth, rather than the bathrooms that fit their gender identity. The bill was signed into law that same day. In so doing, the legislature and the governor placed North Carolina in direct opposition to federal laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex and gender identity. More to the point, they created state-sponsored discrimination against transgender individuals, who simply seek to engage in the most private of functions in a place of safety and security – a right taken for granted by most of us.
Last week, our Civil Rights Division notified state officials that House Bill 2 violates federal civil rights laws. We asked that they certify by the end of the day today that they would not comply with or implement House Bill 2’s restriction on restroom access. An extension was requested by North Carolina and was under active consideration. But instead of replying to our offer or providing a certification, this morning, the state of North Carolina and its governor chose to respond by suing the Department of Justice. As a result of their decisions, we are now moving forward.
Today, we are filing a federal civil rights lawsuit against the state of North Carolina, Governor Pat McCrory, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and the University of North Carolina. We are seeking a court order declaring House Bill 2’s restroom restriction impermissibly discriminatory, as well as a statewide bar on its enforcement. While the lawsuit currently seeks declaratory relief, I want to note that we retain the option of curtailing federal funding to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety and the University of North Carolina as this case proceeds.
This action is about a great deal more than just bathrooms. This is about the dignity and respect we accord our fellow citizens and the laws that we, as a people and as a country, have enacted to protect them – indeed, to protect all of us. And it’s about the founding ideals that have led this country – haltingly but inexorably – in the direction of fairness, inclusion and equality for all Americans.
This is not the first time that we have seen discriminatory responses to historic moments of progress for our nation. We saw it in the Jim Crow laws that followed the Emancipation Proclamation. We saw it in fierce and widespread resistance to Brown v. Board of Education. And we saw it in the proliferation of state bans on same-sex unions intended to stifle any hope that gay and lesbian Americans might one day be afforded the right to marry. That right, of course, is now recognized as a guarantee embedded in our Constitution, and in the wake of that historic triumph, we have seen bill after bill in state after state taking aim at the LGBT community. Some of these responses reflect a recognizably human fear of the unknown, and a discomfort with the uncertainty of change. But this is not a time to act out of fear. This is a time to summon our national virtues of inclusivity, diversity, compassion and open-mindedness. What we must not do – what we must never do – is turn on our neighbors, our family members, our fellow Americans, for something they cannot control, and deny what makes them human. This is why none of us can stand by when a state enters the business of legislating identity and insists that a person pretend to be something they are not, or invents a problem that doesn’t exist as a pretext for discrimination and harassment.
Let me speak now to the people of the great state, the beautiful state, my state of North Carolina. You’ve been told that this law protects vulnerable populations from harm – but that just is not the case. Instead, what this law does is inflict further indignity on a population that has already suffered far more than its fair share. This law provides no benefit to society – all it does is harm innocent Americans.
Instead of turning away from our neighbors, our friends, our colleagues, let us instead learn from our history and avoid repeating the mistakes of our past. Let us reflect on the obvious but often neglected lesson that state-sanctioned discrimination never looks good in hindsight. It was not so very long ago that states, including North Carolina, had signs above restrooms, water fountains and on public accommodations keeping people out based upon a distinction without a difference. We have moved beyond those dark days, but not without pain and suffering and an ongoing fight to keep moving forward. Let us write a different story this time. Let us not act out of fear and misunderstanding, but out of the values of inclusion, diversity and regard for all that make our country great.
Let me also speak directly to the transgender community itself. Some of you have lived freely for decades. Others of you are still wondering how you can possibly live the lives you were born to lead. But no matter how isolated or scared you may feel today, the Department of Justice and the entire Obama Administration wants you to know that we see you; we stand with you; and we will do everything we can to protect you going forward. Please know that history is on your side. This country was founded on a promise of equal rights for all, and we have always managed to move closer to that promise, little by little, one day at a time. It may not be easy – but we’ll get there together.
I want to thank my colleagues in the Civil Rights Division who have devoted many hours to this case so far, and who will devote many more to seeing it through. At this time, I’d like to turn things over to Vanita Gupta, whose determined leadership on this and so many other issues has been essential to the Justice Department’s work.
Side note: Man I really need to start posting again. I’m considering suspending my Facebook account so I can spend more time here. It’s really not a bad idea at all....
This past weekend I happened to catch the PBS American Masters episode on Janis freakin’ Joplin. Admittedly I had not been very knowledgeable of her or her work. I knew her two big songs (”Piece of My Heart” and “Me and Bobby McGee”) and that the show 30 Rock parodied a documentary of her life (Jackie Jormp-Jomp, ‘nuff said). On Saturday night though, I was educated! Wow, what an excellent documentary. I loved that it didn’t have a narrator; it was instead full of interviews with people who knew Janis, plus her letters, her interviews, and footage of live shows and studio recordings.
Janis Joplin’s story completely captivated me and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her. She lived a wild life and made thrilling, touching music, but she also suffered tremendously from low self esteem and died of a heroin overdose at age 27 (coincidentally around the time that Jimi Hendrix died too, similar to our losing Bowie and Prince this year, so tragic).
The documentary included a bunch of her personal letters to family and friends, showing a real vulnerable and honest side to what Janis was feeling. She was very relatable, she was very human. I’m also really intrigued by her life in San Francisco. Where did she go? Where did she eat? What were her favorite places? What was the city like in the free loving ‘60s?
I just bought a used copy of her biography online -- can’t wait to read it.
Several nights ago, a song on the radio caught my attention and I looked it up, learning that the artist was Bill Doggett. He played piano and organ and was also an arranger. Unfortunately I’ve now lost the name of the track that turned me onto him. Boo. It’s alright though... I’ve found plenty to listen to, including this one song that I think was the most famous in his career. I’m choosing a live version because it makes me feel happy watching it.
“Honky Tonk” came out in 1956 and hit the top of the R&B charts (and #2 for Pop). Crazy that I’m listening to and loving it now, 60 years later, in 2016! Thanks Bill! I think it’s an awesome tune.
There are a couple other songs I found that I really dig, but they are not on the YouTube - too bad. I picked out another one. :-)
germansingergirl
tangentwithtanner
janainaart
titsay