August 14, 2019

Yesteryear
One year ago today: August 14, 018, too Roy-Roger-ish.
Five years ago today: August 14, 2014, don’t eat bats, already.
Nine years ago today: August 14, 2010, remember the $1.90 coffee?
Random years ago today: August 14, 2015, Trump/Coulter were still friends.

           Good morning, Tennessee. It’s sun-up and I’m in the mood for pancakes. Food blog time, just a bit. From the Good Housekeeping site, you’ll find recipes made with water, coffee, and orange juice. I’ll stick with milk for now. The trick to fluffy [pancakes] is how you mix the ingredients. I rarely get it right. Temporarily forgetting where I was, it’s a butterless, sugarless, syrup-less household. It’s amazing what you can do with buckwheat flour, stevia, and organic raspberry jam. Just my luck, the refrigerator light won’t work. New bulb, and the old one was definitely a broken filament. But the new one, test fine in another socket, will not light up. This fridge is dark and mysterious, so be prepared for more surprise recipes.

           I’m finally climatized so we shall try to get around the area a bit more. But first a music report. I was up late putting together some of the more complicated bass lines. The conclusion is that the Labor Day gig may be the closest I get to stardom. The factors against me include unfamiliar music, my maximum learning capacity, the hours in a day, and severe competition for the slot. The latest news is the boss may get their former guitarist to stand in on bass. Such arrangements are a compromise but without me there, will anyone even notice. It was by coincidence today I finally finished reading “Nashville Chrome”. I was unaware when I purchased this book second hand this March that Maxine, the eldest, had died eight weeks earlier.

           Something I saw on the way back from Difficult, TN got me thinking. I cannot put a shed in my back yard without a permit, but I saw plenty of places that had 30 foot boats parked. Boats that would sink like a stone if they could find a river close enough to launch it. That could be smart. You see, in most of Florida, you cannot park a car on your private property unless it is registered, which means it must be insured. But does that apply to a boat, or more specifically, the boat trailer? A few of the smaller boats were, it seemed, made to look like playhouses. Here’s an ideal workshed I found over in Mt. Juliet for $5,000. If it’s livable in Tennessee, it is housing in Florida. I might be glad, once I dug that trench last year, that I ran in those extra empty conduits.

           For that matter, I was unaware of the band entirely. Just another hillbilly group with a hard-luck story to me. Wiki says they had perfect pitch, so I’ll give a listen. That “Pop-a-top” song was Jim Ed’s big single, an event I can identify with. People laugh at one-hit-wonders, but what if it earns enough to never work again? Some people don’t want to wind up like Elvis, the bloated dreary end product of artificial American fame put through the wringer too many times. Some take the money and run, I would have. The book is Michener-style, fiction based on fact. I now know more about an era of music that was bypassed by television before I even came along.

           I was impressed by their live performances, not many a Kool-Aid drinking guitarist of today would try that without his foot pedals. In their more modern work, mind you, I can hear five or six part harmonies, a bit of a feat for a trio. It’s amazing the number of people in La-La land who also call themselves the same band name, I had to sift through piles of junk. About the only thing the recording industry plays more than music is favorites. The book can be exhausting reading when it gets into the rise and fall aspect of fame and how you don’t know your peak until you’ve passed it. Funny how most people avoid the onsueing depression by simply never having a peak. Tell ‘em, Dave Pack.

           I took the song list apart for tunes that play easy, that is, the tunes that require minimal effort. Egad, I’ve already gleaned those out. The list consists of the standard four sets, but each set contains too much to be played back-to-back in one hour. This could mean stage drops (skipping over tunes at the time). The prime third set where I usually stand in is 30% bad bass music. I can’t play “Satisfaction” and don’t really want to. Yes, that old Stones song. I can’t play it on bass, and neither can you. What? Oh, of course, anybody can do that, but I meant play it like the original recording. I got ten bucks says you don’t come close. And if you are a guitar player, make that fifteen bucks. Easy money. Hint, there is something “wrong” with the original recording.
           In the background, I listened to a Brown’s album. The music is sweet, but it sounds like old movie themes and could not hold my interest. Their music evolved down the usual path, from early heart-felt numbers to later pieces that were transparently thrown together to cash in on earlier elements. One part I could empathize with is how they went up against the beast and got no credit for it from the hundreds of follow-ons who simply followed the route. You know who you are, Garth, Travis, and Alan.
           The book makes a big deal out of how the Browns never made any money because they signed a contract with the wrong agent. That’s bogus, the courts won’t enforce a contract that is too lopsided or treats one party unfairly. What’s more usual is [that] the talent earning the money lacks the restraint to hold on to it. Or use it properly. Worse, they think the money will flow in forever.

Picture of the day.
Alaska traffic jam.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           They call this an afternoon? Reading about Congress, fixing a lamp, and shopping. There’s certain to be more exciting ways to spend a summer day, like where is my motorcycle. Let me elaborate. I was following up about the decision of Congress to supply the Afghan guerilla fighters with all those still-missing Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. As before, I got no further than the “spare parts” clause that has allowed billions of US dollars to be handed to questionable foreign groups with Congress not having a clue their power had been bypassed. And that lamp, all I can say is those early plastic switches that replace ceramic and bakelite have a design problem. It is possible to screw the bulbs in too tight. Now, I’m going to find a nice under-the-table tire shop where they can’t even spell tariff. Because as far as I’m concerned the analogy between Congress and lamps is that both can be easily fixed when you know where to apply a little pressure.

           I just had another round with MicroSoft, that update-in-your-face stunt, where you can’t get to your own files. Most people don’t mind an update, but when MicroSoft disables your off switch, that’s where we draw the line. I predict that in the future, that piece of work will mark the beginning of the downfall of that twisted corporation. That’s the point where all trust ended. Sure, there will always be a core of loyal addicts, but after that I doubt anybody with a three-digit IQ will ever believe them again. When they start remotely controlling your on/off switch against your will, they are Big Brother. Only callous scum can even cook up tomfoolery like that.
           This clip shows an attempt to shut down the computer, your only option (other than pulling the battery) when it goes into this mode. The trick is to keep doing this until it states the process is 100% complete. It isn’t, that screen can persist for half an hour. (Probably more, but I've never waited it out.) But at this point, the off-button will work. Stick it, MicroSoft. This computer is private property and once the system is installed, you are trespassing.

           Things are so anti-privacy over there, I’ve heard rumors of ex-employees winding up on the skids. I would not doubt if many a company has a policy against hiring people who’ve worked there. If I was a MicroSoft employee, I’d be hoping they never outlaw telemarketing. Because that is where scum winds up, some floats, some sinks, nobody cares. I know if I met a MicroSoft executive it would take my greatest restraint not to automatically spit on him-her-it whatever. The amount they’ve held up computer progress is incalculable.
           And how about that facial recognition test in California that mistakenly identified 26 legislators as criminals? It seems to me just like San Diego last month, that the software is working perfectly. In Russia, the software is already being used to force Yandex (big taxi company) drivers who blink too often to take a rest break. It’s a minor step from any of these abuses until it is your turn. What people are not aware of is the software is integrated to police records. And an accusation, even false, in America is as bad as a conviction. It can impact your credit, your career, and even your chances of renting an apartment. But the naysayers wag their fingers because they have nothing to hide. That is, as long as they don’t blink too often.

ADDENDUM

           I found an HDMI adaptor, the details were in the fine print. I’ll stop tomorrow for an RCA cable, but we may be watching Blu-Ray™ movies soon. The used market for those isn’t that great yet, but then again, there are still so many, many regular movies I haven’t even heard of yet. Pics as it happens. And the jigsaw puzzle is done. Y’day, actually. Right down to that obligatory missing piece that is factory policy in China before they seal the box. I often wondered if their game plan is to see who buys a second puzzle just to get that piece.

Last Laugh