I got a disinfected, masked, gloved, plastic-wrapped-caped, lab-coated haircut, which wasn't as awkward as I had feared, though some prankster sneaked some greying hairs into the debris.
On the piano update - mostly for jms - I've sort of plateaued on MLR, and I'm wondering if it's actually a sign of the extent of my ability, or if I just don't know what it means to work up a piece as an adult. (I started playing Swipesy Cakewalk and it's much easier. And a Dvorak piece.) On MLR: when I was young, memorizing music came so easily. Now it's not coming easily, at least. I haven't been working hard on memory - just taking it as an indication that I don't yet know the piece well enough to easily memorize it. But on the other hand, I don't think I'll get it much smoother without memorizing it.
I've got the whole thing at a medium pace, but it's still riddled with typos.
Surly Teen gained possession of the long-awaited driving license today, only six seeks after her birthday, and two weeks after the DMV opened again. The test itself was well-managed, e-signup with everything on time, but after that there were four hours of waiting outside the DMV on two successive days to get the process completed. She has a greater appreciation of Zootopia now.
Monday she's driving to the Jersey Shore, if it isn't washed away by today's hurricane and if Covid doesn't close stuff down again. So far, the "second wave" hasn't hit New Jersey, maybe because we never fully opened up. We remain NUMBER ONE in Covid deaths per capita, and second to New York in cases per capita.
I don't even think I'm qualified to drive in New Jersey. It's worse than Philly.
Nearly a month into the reopening things are still looking pretty good in Maryland. weekly averaged positive rate is still dropping and reached 4.3% this week, hospitalizations for the entire state are 385, below 400 for the first time since March.
I think one of our big worries now is what to do about people visiting from other states. I'm leaning towards "shoot on sight", but maybe I'm overreacting.
Case rates continue to decline in Arrakis, mid-3 figures for the last week or so. Still getting a doctor's note so I don't have to go in to work as I have multiple co-morbidities.
Second wave here continues to skyrocket with no end in sight. I'm doing fine personally though.
6: Vermont won't let me come in because of the county I live in in MA. Our government felt that Maine wasn't looking at our data fairly. Our positive rate is like 1.9, but we have started testing asymptomatics in hotspots. I really want to go to a quiet bed and breakfast somewhere,
My graduate student who recently passed his qualifying exam was going to celebrate be going with his girlfriend to Disney World. That plan didn't last long.
9: I'm surprised Vermont would consider you untouchable with a positive rate of 1.9%. Are you sure they don't just dislike people from Massachusetts, and this is just an excuse?
Bill Belichick is within the 95% confidence interval of being as bad as pneumonia.
10.2: They have plenty of reasons to dislike people from Massachusetts, for sure, but the Vermont criteria depend only on the proportion of active cases in the population.
Drive-by bleg! Do you guys remember the source of the idea that some percentage (23?) of voters will vote for Republicans no matter what happens? The example was some actual election where a bunch of them voted for somebody impossible (maybe dead?)
Or something?
14: 27%, the "crazification factor" calibrated by the vote for Alan Keyes against Barack Obama for Senate.
Not impossible, or dead, just totally nuts -- by the standards of 2004. By 2020 standards, on the other hand...
I feel okay with where I am on MLR and on Pine Apple Rag, except that my left hand pinky keeps going numb. I assume I have some kind of ulnar nerve entrapment, which I previously had on my right side. It's annoying. I started Weeping Willow, which I highly recommend because it's both very pretty and very easy.
I've sort of plateaued on MLR, and I'm wondering if it's actually a sign of the extent of my ability, or if I just don't know what it means to work up a piece as an adult
I'm having the same issue. An old music teacher of mine once told me that it's impossible to really learn a piece well unless you perform it for someone -- you just can't force yourself to perfect a piece if you're only playing for yourself at home. Maybe you could invite your parents to a Zoom recital.
My sister is planning to drive down next weekend for my dad's birthday. This makes me very anxious. I mean, I'm sure she and her husband have been careful and isolating at home, and they're going to stay at my parents' house and not go anywhere, so it's probably fine, but still. I told her she can't make any rest stops on the way and has to go angry astronaut-style.
Drink water from bottles with reusable caps. Problem solved.
Obligatory mention that the Poorman's BTKWB limit predates the crazification factor.
Whoops, can someone strip that email address out?
I'm having a Mandela moment if anyone can help, and I figure you're all pretty nerdy so can address this topic. I'm going through a phase of making my kids watch stuff from when I was young even if parts are somewhat cringeworthy in our modern enlightened society. Think Airplane, Naked Gun, Groundhog Day for the teens. I thought the youngest might like the style of the D&D cartoon so I looked it up and according to Wikipedia the final episode where they had a chance to escape was only ever scripted and performed on the radio, never animated or aired. But I have a very specific memory of the plot and images from that episode (and pretty sure I didn't listen to the radio and imagine the pictures.) Anyone have any idea if I'm totally inventing this in my head?
I asked the resident cartoon/D&D fan. No help here.
Here's a fun time-waster: my friend put together a one hit wonders tournament. Vote today at https://www.geoffdancy.com/the-bracket/
I feel like the crazifaction factor is holding up really well.
Excuse me, I was having fun with 24 until they had the nerve to assert that Bel Biv Devoe was a one hit wonder. Neighbor, please.
Excuse me, I was having fun with 24 until they had the nerve to assert that Bel Biv Devoe was a one hit wonder. Neighbor, please.
I stopped at Sinead O'Connor.
The wikipedia page for "Whip It" lists a book, "99 Red Balloons and 100 other all time one-hit wonders." Somebody put that list on rate your music.
It won't win, but I remember "Don't Worry Be Happy" being completely inescapable for a while.
I was part of the group that helped narrow down the original bracket, and we had lots of heated discussions about what qualifies as a one hit wonder.
It is fun, and I did vote, and you should post it again next week when it moves to round 2.
But know I wish I had the opportunity to advocate for other one-hit-wonders (for whatever reason I was unable to read the rules; I don't know if my adblocker is stopping them for some reason). Does Devo count for "Whip It"? Tim Hardin "If I Were A Carpenter"? Steve Goodman "City Of New Orleans"? Meredith Brooks "Bitch"?
Turns out the answer to 22 is that there was an episode very similar to the described unfinished episode. I guess an 80s cartoon might have had episodes with fairly repetitive plots.
Up at 3 am again for another walk with Pola at the marina. Fuck me, it's already 91 F with 60% humidity. Not gonna be another 5 miler but it'll be good to get out.
30: The rules are at https://www.geoffdancy.com/the-rules/
Geoff originally started out with 128 candidates for the "tournament," so this bracket already reflects one round of voting.
I could not make myself vote for Vanilla Ice even when I couldn't remember the song it was against.
33: thanks. It works on my tablet, so my script blocker must have been causing problems.
Many of the people I had in mind of were eliminated in the round of 128 (I am bitter about the Box Tops. "The Letter" is an all-time great single).
I'd still make an argument for Meredith Brooks, but it does seem well thought-out (though I'm surprised Suzanne Vega made the original list).
"Blood Makes Noise" wasn't that big of a hit.
He notes that "Luka" disqualified Suzanne Vega.
One (not really a) hit wonder: http://justasong2.blogspot.com/2010/01/witchi-tai-to-jim-pepper.html
I didn't know this (from the comments).
Jim Pepper's sax is on exhibit at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington. It's on the ground floor near the south entrance
I was actually the person who made him remove Suzanne Vega.
I've been a huge SV fan since high school, but somehow didn't realize until a couple years ago that Luka is a little boy and not a little girl.
I've been a huge SV fan since high school, but somehow didn't realize until a couple years ago that Luka is a little boy and not a little girl.
Huh. I didn't know that either.
I learned it because there was a comedian with a bit about how "I live on the bottom floor. I beat up Luka".
I'm upset they overlooked Biz Markie's greatest hit - but maybe it didn't count because it was only published in as part of a Beastie Boys box set.
You have to fight - for your right - to purchase commemorative anthologies.
Somebody should have put in David Lee Roth just to make him feel the burn if he happened upon the list.
Did Rick Astley ever have any other hits except for the one?
3.7 miles while 91 F and 69% humidity out, just about the limits of my endurance.
I'm a fun-hating grump, but I dislike one hit wonder lists, because the definition of "one hit wonder" is always incoherent. In this instance, in order to go along with the author's rules, you have to accept that only American audiences matter, and that, for example, Bobby McFerrin's decades-long career as a successful jazz vocalist doesn't count for anything. But even accepting these rules, A-ha (the Sun Only Shines on TV) and Men Without Hats (Pop Goes the World) shouldn't be on the list. Also disqualified from the list should be Bell Biv DeVoe, who not only had several other hits (Do Me, I Thought It Was Me), but were already super famous when they get together.
The category is more coherent if you have almost no exposure to music except FM radio while driving.
Thomas Dolby ("Blinded Me With Science") had my favorite comment on one-hit wonders. In response to a derisive comment, he said, "How many hits have you had?"
Rick Rolling isn't really effective anymore now that browsers don't autoplay videos like they used to.
Gross, icky weather here. Heat advisory in effect, and according to Environment Canada, the longest bout of 30+ temperatures in the city's history. My dog Lucas lies panting, tongue hanging out, on the floor. I have been giving him ice water, and taking him out for rides in the car, with the AC blasting, in order to cool him down (which only contributes to global warming, of course).
I would seriously rather walk barefoot through a winter snowstorm, than suffer through this beastly, hot summer weather.
In better news: we have managed to flatten the curve; but there are some concerns about opening up schools in the fall....
Do kids even listen to radio today? Real question.
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The structure, and thus the principal argument of the book, is set out in a sophisticated manner with four parts of two chapters each, which is perhaps inspired by the four legs of an elephant. In contrast to this excellent structure is the somewhat underwhelming conclusion.|>
Something rather charming:
someone asked me whether there was a religion which prescribed marital sex through a hole in a sheet, for modesty reasons, so I googled it and found an article by a rabbi saying that:
a) there's a persistent rumour that this is an ultra Orthodox Jewish thing;
b) he has no idea why, because it isn't and never has been, since Jewish law
c) not only forbids barriers between husband and wife during sex but
d) also forbids making holes in perfectly good bedsheets.
Duh. The good sheets are for guest. You don't want them fucking because then they'll use more hot water.
Anyway, I heard that the rumor started from gentiles seeing a tallit drying on the line.
38:
Suzanne Vega definite doesn't belong on the list because in addition to Luka there was the "Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doodoo, doo" song, whatever it's called.
The famous version was the cover by another group, but I think it still counts because they used her voice.
Does that make her a 2 hit wonder, or were there others?
Writing this makes me want to dig up the Suzanne Vega/Solitude Standing double album I have somewhere and listen to it. But it's a cassette tape, even if it still exists I couldn't play it.
Tom's Diner was so much bigger than anything else she did. And now I'm going to hear it my head for another day.
My wife and I visited Yosemite on Thursday; unfortunately, the hike we picked was on the far end of the park, so we weren't to the trailhead until almost 3. Given the closed parking lots and spotty signage, we tried the wrong approach, which proved exhausting. (It also didn't help that we hadn't eaten lunch, since we'd been planning on an earlier start.) So we gave up after a half-mile -- but I improvised and suggested that we try overnighing in Mammoth Lakes, which I'd never done.
Staying in a hotel during Covid is strange; the staff were very professional and good about masking. There was a Covid waiver to sign, alongside the normal check in forms. Interestingly, there were instructions on the desk in the room for how to bag your towels and stripped bed-clothing in the morning for housekeeping-- it definitely felt unusual, but also like a solid acknowledgement of the era. Walking the streets of Mammoth Lake was interesting; pretty good mask usage, though with their low case counts, bars and restaurants were taking advantage of the indoor dining that the more infected counties prohibit. The Rite Aid seemed quite picked over (I was picking up phone cables and ice cream) -- I wonder if their demand was unexpectedly high, or if resupply is erratic.
Grabbed pizza to go from a local pizza place across the street from our hotel; while it wasn't the best, it was warm and convenient.
The next morning we visited a popular bakery; people were reasonably spread out (less than 6', but much more spacing than the before times), but the registers were set along the perimeter of a U of cases, so customers got packed shoulder to shoulder at the point of ordering. My wife and I spent our time in line discussing the constraints on layout and how you could set things up for Covid; we agreed that the layout made a lot of sense for pre-Covid days, but the small space was a significant constraint.
After breakfast eaten in the car, we reentered the park from the east and had only a short drive. We decided to tackle Elizabeth Lake -- a similar trail length and about the same difficulty rating as Dog's Lake that we bailed on yesterday; we hoped that the mosquitoes (the big threat) wouldn't be as plentiful as the warning. Unfortunately, with the campground blocked off, we added a mile walk along roads and campsites to reach the trailhead, but it was still doable. There was a lot of pausing in the first mile of the actual trail -- some of the path was quite steep-- but we persevered and it leveled out. Eventually the trail approached a beautiful rushing creek and we got to enjoy lunch against its rushing babble. The actual Elizabeth Lake looked interesting, but we were more impressed by the charming creek and its feeders across the meadow. The way back was nowhere near as taxing.
We wound up offering a ride to the valley floor to pair of hikers who'd tapped out after a grueling 3 days of backpacking. My wife made the offer after recognizing their discouraged struggle with signs and payphones. After offering she realized that offering was an artifact of pre-Covid norms, but it worked out. They offered to wear masks whatever we chose, while we'd decided on the same; that marked everyone as sane enough for our mutual evaluation. It was a pleasant chat -- it took about an hour to reach the Yosemite valley floor. They'd traveled cross country from Georgia, mostly stopping in KOA campsites and taking a more northerly route (across Missouri and Utah) to avoid Arizona and Texas with their Covid outbreaks. It proved a pleasant conversation-- a real throwback to the before times.
By the time we reached home, we were ready for a thorough shower and collapse. But it was a really nice vacation, and a day longer than expected. (I'd already taken Friday off, anticipating a needed recovery day.)
We're curious as to how much help the night's sleep at elevation was -- Mammoth is about 7500 feet, and Elizabeth Lake about 9500 feet, while Fresno is under 500 feet. (We're also going to be very attentive to "sub-Alpine" as a warning about elevation when selecting hikes going forward.)
I'm pretty sure I've camped at Elizabeth Lake: lovely spot. Lembert Dome is also totally worth sitting on, when next you're up that way.
I never went all the way in the Mammoth, but I recall being impressed with Obsidian Dome -- and one time driving by it got knocked into the other lane by an earthquake. Maybe someday we can try to meet the granddaughter in the Sierras.
(It wouldn't shock me, of course, if the rules there had changed since the 70s. It was already overtaxed . . .)
67: Inhave not seen COVID waivers. I have seen them say that they do extra cleaning between guests but don't clean your room every day.
70: Lembert Dome was an optional side goal on the Dog Lake first day's attempt; it loomed over us as we acknowledged defeat.
72: The Covid waiver was a 1-page document with signatures, an acknowledgement that Covid is real, that you're staying indoors, and while they would make efforts to protect you, you had no recourse if you later came down with Covid. (It was a Quality Inn; I assume it's something that they rolled out chain-wide.)
The "we clean deeper between guests" was a part of their information sheet; putting towels in the provided garbage bag, etc., it was implied, was the way to signal that you wanted new towels, sheets or whatever for a longer stay. You placed that just inside your door -- I think with the intent that if you were staying multiple days the cleaners wouldn't have to enter your room, but could just grab it from outside the room, limiting their exposure.
When we were in that section of the park we did the Gaylor Lakes trail. Not very long but recommended--meadows and streams (and you can extend it). We really did notice the altitude on the uphill portions. Was part of a very long day. Started in Lee Viining, hiked at Mono Lake, then this trail, and finally down to some big trees on the way out NW side and driove to friends in East Bay area.
(and you can extend it)
Yes, we can.
Great, today in the mail I got a "Welcome to unemployment benefits!" packet that I most certainly didn't apply for so more bullshit to deal with.
Doesn't everybody get drunk and fill out government forms?
From a letter to the LRB
The next afternoon, Edinburgh's great and good gathered at the loch. All went to plan: the musicians performed, the PA squealed, the sun shone. At some point I was sitting on a straw bale, the String Band's American roadie Stan on my left, Princess Margaret on my right. Polite conversation ensued. Stan wasn't aware what Margaret looked like - earlier, we had mischievously pointed her out as the beautiful daughter of a local dignitary - so he leaned across me and with a 'Mind if I bum a fag?' took a cigarette from her gold packet of Perfectos. 'Please do,' she said.
Poked around the UI fraud a bit more. The state website security sucks. I'm already in their system as an employer so they have previous phone and email contact info for me, but it didn't raise any flags that someone applied with a new phone number or an email address in Switzerland (which I found by trying to reset my password which revealed the hacker's 2FA contacts). If I can guess their security question (first model of car) I can break into my own account.
77 and 80: That fraud is common enough that we got an e-mail at work to be on the alert for it.
I finally filed my federal income taxes. And it turns out I owe money, so it made perfect sense to put off doing it as long as possible.
In conclusion, I suck at withholding.
I just learned that a classmate of mine from graduate school got the "room rater" treatment.
Any of you advocates for standing desks - can you recommend one of those rising/collapsing stands to put a laptop on, from table height?
I am now mapping out what it would take to work from home, while watching the four kids on my own. I'm fucking terrified.
Anyone in MA know where I can get asymptomatic COVID testing and what it costs? I need quick turn around time, since it would be to allow me to go out of state for vacation.
I don't know what to do. Jammies is extremely worried about longterm effects of covid - to the point where he'd consider quitting his job to keep the kids home. His job is requiring him to be fulltime F2F at the high school. He thinks he can do that safely and that our biggest exposure is sending the kids in.
If he were more nonchalant, I think I'd send the kids in, but I can't argue for it forcefully enough on my own. The guilt if things went sideways would be too much.
I'm sorry you're in that spot. I don't think there's a good, safe answer.
Can you hire a nanny-equivalent, like Moby said? That's a single person in your home, so lower risk, and it'd let you work.
I have just had a day, and I'm so beaten down at the moment that it's hard to think philosophically about solutions.
1. At my mucky-muck meeting this morning, for the first time, I had the uneasy sense that we would force re-opening under unsafe conditions. This rocked my opinion of some higher ups who I have previously thought had really good judgement. It left me really rattled.
2. Pokey and Rascal both had very rough days, but Pokey was particularly a mess.
3. In the course of things, Pokey broke my 2 week old new Chromebook that I'd gotten so that I'd have a touchscreen computer to teach over zoom in the fall.
4. Jammies' principal had a meeting where they laid out possibilities for the fall. All involve nearly all faculty being face to face full time. All had a ton of contradictions and obvious holes. Some unavoidable, but some just communicating that things are not being well-considered. Like, it doesn't appear that they're thinking about remote learning yet, beyond asserting that it will materialize.
5. Jammies confirmed his high level of anxiety about the fall, and his desire that the kids stay home if we stay at this level of a surge. Leading me to realize that I need to plan for the situation above, which led me to think about collapsible risers that convert laptops to standing desks and down again.
Nothing on the level of tragedy, just a whole lot of mental contortions to catch up on.
Decide that you're faced with a set of constraints that you cannot reconcile, take leave, give up on the kid's formal school and rent a place (Montana?) for a year?
95. That sounds extraordinarily challenging. I'm so sorry.
90- other than through your own HCP, I'm not aware of any sites with availability. All of our city's slots are full for the whole month of July.
Just back from a 3 mile walk at a very nice urban park with Pola. Unfortunately she may take a job offer back home though it pays a lot less. If she stays tho...
I have a sore throat, and would sort of like a Covid test, if only because I think without one my son should probably opt out of OT for a few weeks and we only just restarted. (I'll call them in the morning in any case.) But it looks like the easy drive up and get tested places all make you swab yourself. Is that accurate enough to be worth it, or shall I wait for the next pop-up testing center where someone who knows what they're really doing swabs you?
All of which is much much easier to think about than the fact that I'm supposed to go back to teaching face to face next month and I can't imagine how that will make sense. Or how I will send my son back to school if even if local cases stay low, and they probably won't. Especially not if 20,000 college students arrive from all over.
90: BG, if you find one, please pass on the details. In 4 weeks we will need to take a test on a Friday, and have results by the time we try to board our plane late Sunday night, or they won't let us board.
Have you seen this map of testing sites?
That's how I found this place, which says 24-48 hours. My mother says she found a same-day place, waiting for more details.
Any of you advocates for standing desks - can you recommend one of those rising/collapsing stands to put a laptop on, from table height?
You might be looking for something even more bare-bones than this, but Wirecutter has a "best standing desk conversion kit" article, and their budget ($150) pick is this "Cora" thing.
We have been using books to adjust desk height for greater comfort. The Selkie is currently avoiding neck pain because her monitor is resting on top of the hardback of Planetary (Ellis/Cassady), Lazarus (Rucka/Arcas) and Divine Comedy (Alighieri/Botticelli). Meanwhile, the dog has had her water bowl raised to a more convenient level thanks to Debt (Graeber) which was on its way to the charity shop anyway.
98: Because I work for the same health system as my own HCP, I know the asymptomatic criteria, and I don't fit into them.
Somebody told me that you can pay $160 in Waltham. I think AFC might be an option, but I'm not sure. The person I talked to said yes, but she also said you had to pay for a teleheslth visit first and that was $289 if you had no insurance.
I could go to one of the state's sites but those are hotspot communities, and I've heard the turnaround time is not good.
Further, I'm looking at mid August mini vacation. If my county's rates go down enough then Vermont will let me in without quarantine, but Lowell keeps our rates above the threshold they consider acceptable.
But I'd like to come up with a plan if they don't because the inn requires you to give 2 weeks notice to cancel, and I don't know where to buy COVID quarantine travel insurance.
Or we go to the Berkshires, but Tim really seems to prefer Vermont.
102: X Trapnel- is that linked e-mail address a real e-mail? If I do find something, I'll send you an e-mail.
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Just saw an outdoor spin class in the parking lot o my local gym. ThIs made me smile. But then somebody walking by said that he found it ironic that people were doing a spin class next to a bike path.
The instructor was pretty motivating, so I kind of get it.
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Just got a pretty nice view of Neowise on the NNW horizon even though we are not all that dark and there were some very thin clouds. Recommend taking a look if you have any chance of that viewing angle working for you.
I went to a bar for the first time since February. Had a couple of drinks outside with a friend I ran into while mailing taxes.