State of the Discussion

The posts in play...

Weekend music thread #1
(12)
+
Let’s start calling a thug a thug
(81)
+
Chinese corruption
(5)
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…..
(12)
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Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk, nyuk
(9)
+
Where are the 5 words?
(125)
+
Excelsior 2.1
(18)
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The comments...

Michael Cain
+ @nous, it would be interesting to see the conductor during the actual performance. My impression of the rehearsal is that he's focusing more on [. . .]
Michael Cain
+ @wonkie, I forget who said it but, "Wagner's music is better than it sounds." :^)"Ride of the Valkyries" is excellent for the soundtrack of certain [. . .]
russell
+ My go-to lately for listening is Milt Jackson. Been trying to get some vibes happening, he's more or less the beginning of the modern [. . .]
nous
+ I found the video interesting in pieces, but the combination of a uncertain sync between video and audio and the lower fidelity of the audio [. . .]
Hartmut
+ Solti's Bayreuth Ring* (his first I think) had a making-of made as a feature of its own. A film team officially accompanied the production and the [. . .]
nous
+ One thing that I have found effective in teaching is that the moments when I am being critical of something are always more powerful for [. . .]
hairshirthedonist

Okay, it's not me. Doesn't like backslash.

hairshirthedonist

That is "\m/."

hairshirthedonist
+ Funny. It sounds triumphant to me, but maybe because I associate with the film "Excalibur." It is a triumphant scene, so whoever selected [. . .]
`wonkie
+ This post was about how Dem pols should talk and I firmly believe they should be VERY LOUD AND HARSH IN THEIR CRITICISMS of [. . .]
`wonkie
+ That's so apocalyptic, JP. Does it reflect your state of mind? I think I would tear my ears off if I had to listen to [. . .]
nous
+ My biggest complaint about the assessment culture that has set in across academia (and the overall rise of big quant that coincides with the monetization [. . .]
hairshirthedonist
+ My natural impulses don't always tend toward kindness, but I made a rational decision at some point that I should try to be kind because [. . .]
wjca
+ I don’t believe – I’m not willing to believe – that half the voters are evil. We need to talk to them respectfully and sympathetically. [. . .]
wjca
+ I'd say that whether something is usefully measurable depends enormously on the topic. For engineering it's closer to critic -- "if you can't measure [. . .]
wjca
+ I'm pretty sure my taste doesn't qualify as eclectic. But even YouTube doesn't provide video for something like Buddy Holly records. I've seen [. . .]
Michael Cain

Wagner: orchestration without melodies.

Tom H.
+ Yes, on that last paragraph! In academia, but also in business, where we get a "measurement-friendly agenda". To me it feels particularly pernicious when work [. . .]
russell
+ I wonder if a useful approach might be to ask, not why they are afraid, but why they are concerned. An excellent suggestion, and one I [. . .]
Pro Bono
+ We should call Trump and his collaborators what they are. I learn that he's been hosting an "anti-antifa roundtable". To support that the contention that [. . .]
liberal japonicus
+ I've never been a fan of Friedman (aka "The Mustache of Understanding") but he has some good points in this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdPXAi8hMa4 To summarize (so youse don't have [. . .]
`wonkie
+ "So, Democrats have three words for this: no fucking way. It's literally life or death. We will not let Republicans blow up our health care [. . .]
nous
+ Not just pain of whatever they have suffered either, GftNC. They also have to give up the narrative justification that gave that suffering purpose, and [. . .]
GftNC
+ It's a long time since I read The Fire Next Time, but I just saw somewhere this quotation from it, which resonated: "I imagine one of [. . .]
Liberal Japonicus

Trevor Noah's set on the Riyadh Comedy Festival
https://youtu.be/U9bfuM7YR2U?si=FIZNw7x5hjszSay2

wjca
+ I wonder if a useful approach might be to ask, not why they are afraid, but why they are concerned. For a lot of people, [. . .]
wjca
+ "Anything that black guy can do, I can do better! Just watch!!" Anything that black guy WHO LAUGHED AT ME can do, I can do [. . .]
russell
+ I'm pretty much happy to talk to anybody about whatever, but I more or less insist on sticking to reality. If folks insist on [. . .]
russell
+ I'd say if it makes him happy and gets him to STFU about the whole thing, let him have the win. He may even [. . .]
Michael Cain
+ As an observation, for 80 years the pattern has been that from time to time Israel expands its borders somewhat, and from time to time [. . .]
Hartmut
+ The moment the hostages go free the yahoo from Netanja will de facto renege on the deal. And of course the operations in the West [. . .]
GftNC
+ What's amazing to me is how few commentators, explaining why Trump has so recently started putting real pressure on Netanyahu, are making the connection with [. . .]
wjca
+ I don’t think it really matters that much if Trump is around to be the Dear Leader of MAGA or not. When he is gone, [. . .]
wjca
+ From what little I've seen, it appears that this is an achievement of the President of Egypt. Certainly far more his than Trump's. [. . .]
`wonkie
+ Thank you, JP. As for messaging, the people of Portland are doing it right; the image of ICE teargassing a silly inflatable dinosaur is not [. . .]
GftNC
+ I actually agree with pretty much all of this, particularly with describing openly what much of the R/Trumpian project really does to ordinary people. I [. . .]
Liberal Japonicus
+ I put this as a comment so as not to distract. The post is wonkie's, but the image of a spade is what I found [. . .]
wjca
+ Comments about Trump Derangement Syndrome put me in mind of this old saw: It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you. Similarly, [. . .]
russell
+ Without wishing to continue to pile on CharlesWT, I want to reach way back to the link he provided to one Brandi Kruse. Here is Ms. [. . .]
Liberal Japonicus
+ Big thumbs up for Josh Johnson. It is astonishing to me that he can craft a bit that is structured and crafted, but sounds like [. . .]
Michael Cain
+ Less power if you've got an OLED (or other emissive) display. If you've got older/cheaper tech, black pixels and white pixels all consume the [. . .]
wjca
+ I'd be interested to see the corruption index. My sense is that Russia, for example, is at a whole different level from China. I [. . .]
CaseyL
+ Jim Gaffigan? Rats. Though I do have to say I don't find him nearly as funny as I used to. In fact, [. . .]
Pro Bono
+ Listening to Trump's babblings, it seems that he genuinely believes that Portland is burning (in so far as he believes anything at all). Apparently he [. . .]
Liberal Japonicus

Well, I can start watching this guy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb0Vd-XnlkU

wjca
+ Although, for those who have issues, white on black uses a lot less battery. My phone, at least, swaps to that automatically when the [. . .]
Tony P.
+ LJ, Frankly, it gives me the willies. Too funereal, too haunted-house-ish. Readable, but ... meh. First time commenting from my phone, BTW. Let's see [. . .]