A Hoilday Wish.

I wish

That my family could see themselves through my eyes, so they could know how much I love them.

Happy Holidays - No Humbug

So I wish you all a Happy *****.
That seems silly, but actually I like the holidays.
But it seems that a lot of people miss the point.
I see a lot of people every day; mostly stressed and tired and cranky (aka short-tempered).
Eid, Chanukah, Xmas, it's all just a mid-year (or start of the year, or whatever) shortest day, longest night, solstice, etc. etc. celebration.
Phoeey. Just enjoy. Relax. Say thank you (even if it's to yourself) and enjoy your family, your friendds, your turkey, whatever.
Be the butterfly that starts the cyclone.
Happy holidays.

ASpie is as ASpie Laughs.

I think, therefore I am ASpie.

Hmm. Actually, as I am here now in Beevil by myself, seul, as it were, I have had much time to ponder (always a dangerous occupation). And a certain revelation came to me, by accident, so-to-speak.

The greatest relief from all the "accidents" and "faux-pas" that I incur (cause/recur/amsubjectto) is to laugh at them and laugh at myself.

I am beginnig to find a certain "specialness" in finding humor in myself. It makes me different. It makes me unique. It is part of what makes me ASpie. And in a curious way, it makes me better, if you will. I am beginning to take great joy in the small slips and falls of my existence.

I laugh at myself, therefore I am ASPIE!

The last post....

I just looked at the dates on the last two posts.
The friend I was referring to at the funeral home was "Mike". And it wasn't three weeks ago, it was SIX. Foo.
See what I mean about time?
(BTW, I rather like the pun in the title.)

Too Long, and a Sense of Time.

I think one of the aspects of the Asperger's thing is a curious sense of time. Or lack thereof.
The obvious reason for that comment can be seen by the length of time between this post and the last. But, in my mind, there has been very little time pass. It seems like only last week; yet it has been a month.
Unfortunately, the same thing applies for interactions with other people.
I remember what was said, what they looked like, where we were, all the details as though it was only last week; and yet in some instances it is years. And the visual shock - the reminder that they are OLDER - comes as exactly that, a shock.
Several weeks ago, I attended a funeral-home gathering for an old friend. It seems like only a short while ago, we were in the basement of the university centre trying to agree on how to bid Roman Club. (That's bridge bidding, just in case.) And then shortly thereafter, living in Toronto together for a short time. Actually, the stint in Toronto was three years later.
And it happened again, at the funeral home. I went with another old friend, whom I had not seen in several years. I almost did not recognize him. And had to cover my tracks, as it were, to not let on that he had aged so much. (That was yesterday, right? Well, no, actually it was three weeks ago.)
And in case it seems that this is only a case of age advancing on me, and others - I have always had this propensity to view time "incorrectly". My perception of the passage of days is always way off.
Or is this just an excuse for my lack of a sense of urgency? It's not that things aren't important. It's just always seems like such a short time has passed until I get around to things.
Never mind an artificial sense of urgency. I don't even have a natural sense of time.
Funny thing to say, coming from a musician who is known for an excellent sense of time!

Mike.

I had not seen him in many years. My fault. Or my oversight. Or my fear. I do not know which; perhaps all of those things.
My old bridge partner and my old friend. My rallying partner. We spent far too many hours with inconsequential things, which were important to us back then. We laughed together, we planned together, we ate together. We wasted time together.
For a time, twice, we lived together. Once when we were both employed by the same employer, and both transferred to the same location. And we both quit that job, within months of each other, for the same reasons.
Then again, several years later, when I had a very young family, he rented a room with us while he worked on his graduate degree in mathematics. Yes, he had a talent for that.
And then he moved out, and moved on.
But then his attention waned, his concentration failed. And eventually his co-ordination began to fail. Multiple Sclerosis.
He was angry. Young, with much to do, and now, never to be done. Ever.
And I saw him less and less. He moved. I saw him. He struggled. He moved again. I heard about him. But then, eventually, he was unable to care for himself and was hospitalized. Permanently. And I never saw him again.
Until today. And all those memories come back all at once. And will not go away.
Requiescat in pace.

4-letter words, Hmph

I walk, usually every morning, to the house that I'm renovating. The walk is often pleasant, sometimes noisy, occasionally annoying. But uniquely interesting. And always loooong. It's actually about 2 miles from where I am presently domiciled, so it's a chore sometimes to trudge that distance, just to do some more work when I arrive. But, as they say, if not me, then who? Besides, it helps me keep my girlish figure.
Anyway, I have about 30 minutes (when I'm walking) to observe people. Of course, what else, since the scenery is "pedestrian" at best.
One thing I observe constantly - the lower echelons of society use a LOT of swearing. One four-letter word in particular. (And it matters not the gender of the speaker.) It's forever f@sk this, or f@sk that, or that f@sker. Hmph. Talk about a pandemic. I'm beginning to think that sans the expletives, these "people" could not communicate at all.
Or maybe that's true already, if one cares to judge the lack of content in what's being transmitted. (An aside - can one do content analysis when there isn't any content?)
The medium is, once again, the message. This represents the final triumph of our "good self-image" educational system.
Abort, retry, mostly fail.

Dog Training - Neurosis?

My next door neighbours have a dog. Actually still a pup.
Nice personality, nice dog. Unfortunately. It most likely will not stay that way.
I expect the dog will either to become bad-tempered, or neurotic; or both.
For two instances:
A) They leave the dog outside, chained to a back stair railing (of course, with an actual area of about 10 square feet to move about) for no apparent reasons; this is especially puzzling to the dog, who whines and mewls for extended periods of time, thinking it is being punished by being exclude from the family/pack/household. And pf course they ignore the dog the entire time.
B) When the dog misbehaves - i.e. doesn't immediately obey and order - they hit the dog. With the bare hand, usually. And naturally enough the orders given are never the same, nor are they delivered the same way. Poor dog; not misbehaving or disobeying, just not understanding and confused. And punished for same.
I wonder how the neighbours would react if every time I gave them an order in a foreign language and they didn't immediately obey, I whacked them on the nose with a newspaper (better treatment than the dog gets at that).
I strongly suspect that they would either become bad-tempered or neurotic.

My Mind is on Vacation....

Yeah, I know - procrastination is my middle name. I keep meaning to change it, but I haven't gotten around to it. Yet.
OTOH (is there another hand? - sorry, Tevye):

Am-I-Dumb.com - Are you dumb?

Reading lists.

On the sidebar, I list books that I'm reading. I don't quite know why I do that, except that I hope that what interests me will also interest others.
And, I try to do a fairly ruthless bit of culling. I don't read things that bore me or insult my intelligence, or just plain are a waste of time. So anything I list, I recommend.
Sooo. Fiction is OUT. Except for rare instances. I find reality far more interesting than fantasy. With the possible exception of some SF writers. (That's science fiction, not the fantasy stuff; and not many of them either.)
And yes, I customarily read three or four books concurrently. Usually on unrelated (at least superficially) topics. And I read at about 45-50 pages per hour, so I go through a LOT of material.
At the moment, de Waals book about primatology has some interesting insights - for me anyway - about human nature. Especially as I usually bemoan the prevalence of "knuckle-draggers" here in my city of residence. I think I just might prefer Bonobos.
Ajami's book has a refreshing viewpoint on Iraq and the Middle East. As someone with a "foot-in-both-camps" as it were, he speaks with some authority. And he writes lucidly.
Westwick's book is actually a history of JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab) in relatively recent years. Straight history. Dry. But since I've been interested in space and astronomy since I was in single-digits, it holds me, at least for a half-hour at a time.

Geek is not Gabbing...

I'm a little concerned, I guess.
It seems that Geek Gab has vanished into the mist, along with the gorillas.
I miss him.

ASpie inclusiveness/third options.

I was just reading a little from Autista http://aoskoli.blogspot.com/ about the inclusive thinking of MK. Son #2 (who has a fairly high ASpie score, although I'm still higher nyuk nyuk) does the equivalent (always has) in a different fashion:
Would you like a coke?
Maybe.
Would you like fried or boiled potatoes?
OK.
Would you like a coffee or a tea?
No.
And I can't think of an example offhand, but always there was the "third choice". Whatever the binary option presented, he would come up with a third unstated option. Sometimes a combination of the two choices offered, but usually a viable alternative that was totally un-thought-of.
OK, maybe this will give the idea...
Would you like fried or boiled potatoes?
Mashed.
Aaargh. Can be very exasperating when you don't actually have the third option available.

A teeny weeny bit.

Well, it's been a bit. Mostly general lack of motivation. It seems that others often say what I think better than I can say it, so - what the hey -why should I?
Anyway, some tidbits (strange word that...) for y'all.


That's for starters. And then there's this spectacular pic:


That's the working bits of an F-22, just in case you wondered. BTW, that's the best way to see it if you're opfor - going the other way. 'Course, it might just be turning back toward you.

And for those who know me at all, there's my opinion of girl singers.

And when I think of all the girl signers in the world, I get "understandably depressed" as Pete Barbutti used to say.

Especially when this state of mind happens:

Been there. Sometimes I think I am there now. Sigh.

Anthology of Randomness

"They banned pasta because it caused skepticism." That's from from the Quantz "dinosaur" comic strip. (I find this hilarious. Perhaps then, pasta is brain food - I find skepticism to be a direct correlate of intelligence.)
From Jane's Strategy Page: "the Canadian troops have been particularly effective against the Taliban." (Interesting. What is it that makes the Canucks effective, as opposed to the US?)
From Lawdog - "I wish I knew how to teach people to see rather than just look -- I rather think I could make a fortune at it." (Oh yes. I often wonder how the human race managed to survive, since I see little evidence of situational awareness. If there were real predators out there, most of humanity would be long gone.)
And from George Carlin (the comedian/comic, who I worked with many moons ago): "The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways , but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness." (Sounds like George has been reading Ecclesiastes again. Who woulda thunk it? Solomon basically got it right.)

ASpie Suggestions

A little something (precis'd) from What Would John Wayne Do? http://churchoftheduke.blogspot.com
I think it very appropriate for ASpie perusal. Never mind NT's.
1. It's okay to be scared. There's nothing inherently wrong with fear...It's what you do with that fear that defines you - if you allow your fear to dominate you and keep you from reaching for things that you want, that's when you have really lost.
2. If you fail, don't fail to learn...failing to learn from your lack of success only compounds your failure. Not only did you not accomplish your goal, but you didn't end up any smarter.
3. Your word is all you have. A lot of things can be taken from you; but your ability to inspire trust in others, to literally have your word be your bond is something that no one can take from you. However, it is very easy for you take that from yourself.
4. Character is what you do when no one is looking.
5. Certain things are worth fighting and dying for. It's up to you as an individual to decide what they are for you.
6. Finally, your family comes first.

A useful manifesto. At least for a start.

A UToob video

I ran across this at The Aspie Diaries. http://worldhead.blogspot.com/
Hits way too close to home. For me, it's almost not funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO1yFm-7Wow
Why are people like this? Don't they realize? They must mistake me for someone who cares.

VT and mindset - Training?

Captain of a Crew of One http://sailorcurt.blogspot.com/ has an extended post about the VT shootings, and what courses of action may/may not have been open to the students/victims. It is an unfortunate truth he states very diplomatically:
The kids at Virginia Tech did nothing wrong. The military has an apothegm: "You fight the way you train." That is exactly what those students did and there is no shame in it. They followed the instructions and training that they had received all their lives.
You fight the way you train...and if you lose...you should probably re-evaluate your training.

Western society is more polite than the desh.

So why are some from the Indian subcontinent sort-of not as polite as they can be?
Isaac Schrodinger http://isaacschrodinger.typepad.com/isaacschrodinger/
has an interesting take on the subject. I synopsize/curtail his reasons:
1. Inbreeding. What's the point of being nice to people outside the family if one is never going to "need" them in any way. This is part of the mindset that says that one only has to care about the family, tribe and religion. Everyone else is not worthy of respect or courtesy. (That is not to say that everyone thinks like this but sadly too many do.)
[This attitude applies in many areas of the Middle East, where marriages occur within the extended family. Inbreeding is common. The argument for the negative genetics here can be taken up at another time.]
2. Schooling. "Lucky" Pakistanis spend a decade or more in hideous institutions where teachers can physically assault students for incomplete homework, low marks on a test, talking during class or for no reason at all.
OK - this is enlightening. I had not considered the differences in schooling "methods" at all.

If we pull out of Iraq...

“If America pulls out of Iraq, they will fail in Afghanistan,” Mam Rostam said.

Hardly anyone in Congress seems to consider that the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan might become much more severe if similar tactics are proven effective in Iraq.

“And they will fail with Iran,” he continued. “They will fail everywhere with all Eastern countries. The war between America and the terrorists will move from Iraq and Afghanistan to America itself. Do you think America will do that? The terrorists gather their agents in Afghanistan and Iraq and fight the Americans here. If you pull back, the terrorists will follow you there. They will try, at least. Then Iran will be the power in the Middle East. Iran is the biggest supporter of terrorism. They support Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Ansar Al Islam. You know what Iran will do with those elements if America goes away.”

This is quoted in Michael Totten, http://www.michaeltotten.com/ and the man quoted is Mam Rostad, the Chief of Police in Kirkuk, Iraq.

This is a religion of Peace?

"She has been identified as one who has defamed the faith. If you come into the faith, you must abide by the laws, and when you decide to defame it deliberately, the sentence is death."
And by the way, this was in the United States. Evidently the medieval mind is alive and well.

Children don't come with user manuals.

One of my favourite little sayings: When you kids were born, you didn't come with a manual. No user's guide, no on-line help. I've used that one more than once with my children.
So I used it once again last week (twice actually) and both my daughters came back with the same response: "All of us are different, so you would need a different manual for each of us."
Ho Boy. I could say "out of the mouths of babes", but they are not teens anymore. It's fascinating to me that they independently came up with an identical response.
So - maybe a single manual would have been OK for both of them? Nah.

Someone always says it better than I can.

This, about being a gun "aficionado" these days. From The Ten Ring http://tenring.blogspot.com/
"It is very hard to be a gun aficionado in today’s world. Why? Well, let me be blunt. We are detested by many, many people in this country (more in the rest of the world). We are blamed for crime problems and every time some lunatic goes off on a rampage, well the bien pensant says it must be the gun culture.
This is a relatively new phenomenon.
When I was young, not all the long ago, I learned to shoot at scout camp, had cowboy style pop guns and no one had a second thought that this was wrong or improper. Today, it is almost tantamount to child abuse to teach a child to shoot and pop guns are as rare as hens teeth. An entire culture that was good and useful has been tossed on the dung heap of history and for what? Did we get a reduction in the amount and severity of crime?"

Fred Thompson and Gun Rights

Well, I like Fred Thompson as an actor. And now I like him even better as a politician. (Well, maybe another word is more appropriate - politician has an unsavoury air that doesn't suit a man who speaks his mind.) Maybe we can get him to move to Canada. Lord knows we need people like him up here.
Here he is speaking in an interview about the Virginia Tech shootings, and the associated right to bear arms extant in Virginia (unfortunately NOT at Virginia Tech).
"Whenever I've seen one of those "Gun-free Zone" signs, especially outside of a school filled with our youngest and most vulnerable citizens, I've always wondered exactly who these signs are directed at. Obviously, they don't mean much to the sort of man who murdered 32 people just a few days ago."

Gun Control is a Failure. (re V.T.)

As usual, those who are more able than I say it most eloquently:
Gun Control is a failure. You simply can not expect those who would do murder -- those who would violate the highest law -- you can not expect them to obey a lesser law.
And this from LawDog http://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/ , who sees the consequences up-close and very personal. And there's more:
I weep for the dead. I weep for the families who lost their treasured children today.
I weep even more for a land which not only denies the tools required for self-defence, but also denies the very mindset required for self-defence.
And then there's this one from The Cathouse http://portascat.blogspot.com/
It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees. My thoughts exactly.
And it is said at Seraphic Secret http://www.seraphicpress.com/
Here's the terrible truth: bad things happen; evil crouches at the door.
Yes. Know that evil is always there and be prepared to face it.

VT and CCW

Personally,
"I never want to have my safety fully in the hands of anyone else..."
(Credit to Clayton Cramer http://www.claytoncramer.com/weblog/blogger.html although I did not follow up to the original source.)
If someone starts shooting at me, I want to be able to shoot back!

Psychic Relationship?

Is "Depressive Realism" related to "Catastrophe Melodrama Syndrome"?
Just wondering, is all.

Another Meme

Here's another by way of Geek Gab http://www.whitetoque.ca/geek_gab/
1. Freeze :: Ice Cream
2. Naturally :: Alone Again (song)
3. Painting :: Drywall
4. Merits :: On The
5. Ironic :: Politics
6. Survival :: Darwin
7. Cow :: Tipping
8. Anchor :: Wat (yes, I know it's not spelled that way)
9. Sisters :: Of Mercy
10. 70 :: 86 (show biz joke, since it's the last on the list)

Danger Will Robinson

All credit to Four Right Wing Wackos at http://4rwws.blogspot.com/

Well, decrypt/decipher this one, if you will:
XXXX JFK-YYZ TWO PAX STUCK IN LAV. UNABLE TO OPEN DR. FLT LND YYZ WITH PAX STUCK IN LAV.
(Actually quite funny. Think aircraft...)
Credit to Cockpit Conversati0n http://airplanepilot.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Service of Rememberance.

So I went to the memorial service yesterday evening. I'm not quite sure how to describe it, except to say that parts of it were quite moving. Especially when the survivors went up (more slowly every year) to light the candles.
But it reminded me, unfortunately, of the reason for my absence from services of any kind in any faith. Too much talking. And I don't mean the congregation. I mean the minister/priest/rabbi, whatever.
(I usually say the reasons are two - the talking and the music, but that was not the case yesterday.)
Yesterday, the service was over, done, finished. Nicely ended. Everyone was ready to get up and leave. And then blah blah blah blah blah. The rabbi had to blather on some more. Argh. I should have told him what my old boss Charlie Drakich used to say:
"Here, I give you quarter - keep shut up!"

A Life-Changing Event - Sox!

Soooo - I several days ago I got my "care" package, aka birthday stuff, from daughter number one. And of course the package contained the obligatory black sox (no no, not those kind of black sox). I didn't have my glasses on when I opened the package, so at the time I just looked and thought, hey cool, black sox again.
Just few minutes ago I put my glasses ON and looked. HO. They're not just sox, they're "Underarmor" sox. The real good stuff!
So now I need to wear my slippers around the house, or otherwise these sox will wear out too fast. A life-changing event, I tell you.

Scots Heritage - What?

Well, it's sad but true. My cousin did some genealogy research a while back and discovered that we have a right to our oatmeal pleasantries.
Specifically, there was a certain Wilkie (who knows what the real spelling was?) who was given a land grant by the Swedish Crown - probably for mercenary favours received - and promptly settled in the general area north-west of Karelia. That's my grandmother's family name, given some local variation over the years. Of course, this happened a little after 1400, so the blood runs a little thin. Anyway Scots it is, at least a little. (Always wondered why I feel comfortable in a kilt.)
All this in preparation for the following, taken from Bad Example http://www.badexample.mu.nu to show a few selected achievements by Scots over the intervening years. (All this accomplished without the benefit of our family presence!)
1410 - Drinky MacDrunkard discovered how to make single malt scotch. He was then beaten to death by his neighbors when they found out they had to wait 12 years before they could drink it.
1570 - Godawful MacScreechy conceived the idea for a new musical instrument [referring of course to "the pipes"] after getting drunk and accidentally setting fire to his cat.
1623 - The Scots invented money. That same year, they also invented tight-fisted skinflintery.
1697 - By a three-vote margin, the Scots lost the "Brawlingest Drunkards" award to the Irish. A title which the Irish still hold to this day. [My mother's family were all Lawlers, Carrs, Goodfellows and Spicers, from Queens County, so we win both ways!]
2257 - Montgomery Scott, beloved alcoholic engineer of the Starship Enterprise, started a bar fight with some Klingons at Space Station K-7, thus finally bringing honor and the "Brawlingest Drunkards" trophy back to Scotland.
So let's hear it for Tartan Day!
(PS - the Finns win at cursing, though. Check his blog.)

The Best Friends?

From What Do I Need A Blog For http://hajisplace.blogspot.com/ comes this interesting little excerpt: "...the best friends in the world are those with automatic weapons." I'm not too sure about that one, as I can point to some major disappointments with people I once considered friends.

Bipolar - or just unstable?

Actually, I think my mental tectonic plates need some shifting:

You Are 68% Bipolar

You're more than moody - you're a bit unstable. If your mood swings are effecting your life, you may need to seek help.

Are You Bipolar?

Kim du Toit & Music

In a way, I'm not surprised that the man has musical taste. The surprising thing to me was his singing in Light Opera. Hmmm. A gunnie with a voice!
Anyhoo, the little essay about music "Simple Songs, Complex Music" captures much of the essence of the old standards very well. Much better than I can, and I've been playing them for many decades.
Check it out for some info: http://www.theothersideofkim.com/ in the post for Saturday April 7.

Gun Laws - A Waste of Politicians' Time.

I just read a study done by Messrs. Pinizzotto, Davis, and Miller, 3 FBI members, titled "A Study of Felonious Assaults on Our Nation's Law Enforcement Officers". Now, this study only dealt with criminals who used guns against police officers. But I believe it's safe to generalize the results to non-LEO victims, where the consequences of armed action are probably much less negative for the perpetrator. The entire transcript is well over 100 pages, but three separate quotes summarize the study's conclusions about gun laws:
1) "...the federal government has passed many laws to restrict and limit firearms purchases. The offenders in this research, however, stated that none of these laws or [sic] statutes deterred them." Duh, they're criminals. The laws are de facto ignored. That's the nature of the beast.
2) "33 offenders used handguns: 32 were obtained illegally..." So legal restrictions were useless in 99% of the cases. Well, duh, they're criminals, again.
3) "None of the gang members (13) in the study obtained their guns legally." So restrictions only impact the legal gun-owners; not the criminal perpetrators.
In short: Criminals get their guns illegally. Arguing legalities is a waste of time and money.

I suppose I know more than I think I know, I think.

You know the Bible 92%!

Wow! You are awesome! You are a true Biblical scholar, not just a hearer but a personal reader! The books, the characters, the events, the verses - you know it all! You are fantastic!

Another DO! for Parenting an ASpie

A while back I had a little list of do's for parenting. I forgot one (at least, heh heh...)
Teach your ASpie kid: It's OK to ask for Help.
I'm still working on that one myself, since nobody taught me either.

Tortured Genius?

You Are 83% Tortured Genius

You totally fit the profile of a tortured genius. You're uniquely brilliant - and completely misunderstood. Not like you really want anyone to understand you anyway. You're pretty happy being an island.

Are You a Tortured Genius?

Well, I'm Not Quite Happy Yet.

Once Was/Is Enough

At the coffee shop this morning, there was the usual "background music" - by now you can guess that I abhor that stuff. And sometimes, since I must listen, some music really strikes me. This morning it was "Cat's in the Cradle" - the old Jim Croce tune. It's in an unusual personal category. So I needed to leave the premises, immediately.
See, there are some things that just get to me. I'm not sure how to explain that, but certain select things (I use the term intentionally) affect me just far too much. I remember the impact of them all vividly. Not the things themselves, but the effect they had/have. And I try not to subject myself to that much emotionality intentionally. (Of course, the first time, I came across these items by accident. In some cases, very many years ago.)
As a consequence, this small group of items I do my utmost to avoid.
Gorecki - 3rd Symphony, 1st mov't, after the vocal begins.
Jim Croce - Cat's in the Cradle.
Leo Tolstoy - The Power of Darkness.
Montana dying in my arms.
Shooting a rabbit.
I wonder if other ASpies have a similar list?

Double Cursed ASpie!

Or maybe even triple.
So I sort-of score high on the ASpie spectrum (OK, that's hyperbole - I score VERY high). Hmhm. So noises in general I am sensitive to. (Strange syntax, that.) But, on top of that, I happen to be a musician - by trade, by training, by preference, maybe by ultimate causality (aka I don't have a choice). So I cannot NOT listen to things. I have never had a radio or any kind of music machine in any automobile I owned. I despise elevator music, and I avoid places where they play "background music" for whomever/whatever. And of course this "background music" is always much too loud in any case (what, they never heard of subliminal?).
Throw a little intelligence into the mix, and ... I just want to shut my ears and mind to everything except the songs of the birds at 6:00AM. Need some sunglasses for my brain!
So is that a double whammy, or a triple whammy?
Let's go ask Mammy Yokum.

Meme againe

This one from Geek Gab again (can't believe he's quitting the CF!) (and I think I need to add some explanatory notes):

I say … and you think … ?

1. Groovy :: Feelin' (the song)
2. Jealousy :: Tango (again, the song)
3. Watching :: Bird
4. Kenny :: South Park
5. Games :: War (no, NOT the movie)
6. Bread :: Cheese
7. City :: Lights
8. Stems :: Cells
9. Birds :: Twittering Machine (think Paul Klee)
10. Listener :: Watcher

High temperatures and Knuckle-draggers

It's been very warm for a couple of days. Yesterday set an all-time local high for the date (beat the old record by almost 4 degrees!). And of course the warm weather brings out all the vermin from under their winter rocks.
They are easy to spot:
If they own a car, it will have the windows rolled down, the music (?) will be very loud, and the bass frequencies will be extremely emphasized. I assume they are attempting to communicate via African elephants' mating calls.
If they do not own a car, they will be walking (I believe that's what you call it) in the middle of the sidewalk, wearing an undersized t-shirt which shows their tattoos to good advantage. One assumes the tattoos are demonstrating ritual passage to adulthood. (Their preferred destination seems to be the local beer store.)
Or perhaps, they have been enterprising, and have recently purloined a bicycle. In this case, they will be pedalling - also on the sidewalk - to an unspecified destination (not the beer store) at moderately high speed and with suitably obvious abandon.
Either way, the non-car-borne will be stopping at all appropriate locations to inquire whether anyone has a smoke.
Not the females, though. Also festooned with multiple tattoos, they will be busily pushing their baby-walkers - conspicuously adorned with their personal emblems of consumption. In multiples of two, they also occupy the middle of the sidewalk.
At least they don't ask for smokes.

Boards of Directors, Management, & Musicians?

In any business enterprise, it is assumed that the Management should be composed of individuals with experience in the business at hand. It goes without saying that this should also be also true of a Board of Directors.
Not so in the Music Business!
With Symphonies, Operas Companies, Casino Entertainment Departments, in Management and on the Boards, there are NO people with on-stage experience. In fact the opposite is true - professional status in the music business actually DISQUALIFIES you for Management or Board status. Examples abound.
For example:
In town here we have a Symphony with a substantial budget (well into 7 figures). No-one with entertainment experience in management or on the Board. If anything, there is the unique situation of the management looking down on the orchestra players as inferior beings. (aka 'They' know better than the musicians.)
We have a Casino (what town doesn't, anymore!) with an 'entertainment department' - 5 people - none of whom have spent a minute on stage in their lives. Wouldn't know a C-sharp from a sea-bass. Or a backline from a basketball.
And we have just had an auditorium/theatre go belly-up bankrupt. No actual entertainment experience to be seen anywhere in the management. Ever. (And they blamed it on decreased bingo revenue!)
And then they all wonder why, in return, they get little/no respect from entertainers themselves!

Many thoughts - Few words.

For the last few days, lots of mental activity, but I seem unable to coherently present any of it in written form. So, instead, I took a Nerd Test! http://www.nerdtests.com/ I got a 90%. Hmph.
Ah well.
PS - it also seems that I'm 67% misanthropic. http://www.blogthings.com/howmisanthropicareyouquiz/ That's all? (Stoopid test!)
PPS - and I'm mostly Taoist. http://www.quizgalaxy.com/quiz.php?id=47 Hah. Now I'm sure they're all WACKED! On a truly serious test several years ago, I came out closest to Orthodox Judaism. (Either that or Unitarian - is there a difference?)
PPPS - that last test came from Geek Gab (see link-list). Thanks for the laugh.

War & Freedom

This, from Cogito Ergo Geek (love that handle - pun intended) http://jerrythegeek.blogspot.com/
sums it up nicely:

"War is an immoral way to preserve freedom. It's also the only way to preserve freedom."

On another note, the Shadow Wolves are going to Afghanistan! (Look it up!) Hmmm.

Eyal Golan - woot!

Such joyous music! No other culture on the earth has such joy in their music. (OK, sadness too, but...) I don't dance, and I don't sing, but this makes me want to do both. Such a gift!

WPL Board.

So - it seems that I have been asked to serve on the Windsor Public Library Board. Hmm. Should I behave myself, or be the usual disturbing influence I am famous for? We shall see.
In the meantime, I feel somewhat flattered.

1920's Transcriptions - For Sale.

We now have transcriptions of recordings of the 1920's for sale. All are transcriptions from the original recordings, in a few cases, slightly augmented to accommodate a ten-piece band.
Available for $20.00 per title, plus shipping.
All transcriptions have been "play-tested" for accuracy and readability, and are of excellent quality. True to the originals from which they are transcribed. All are for 3 sax (some dbles on clar, or bari), 2 tpt, tbne, pno, tba, dms, banjo/guit. Printed on heavy-weight beige paper, 8 1/2" x 11". Complete with reference score. Transcriptions are from recordings of the bands as noted.

Coon-Sanders Nighthawk Orchestra:
Yes, Sir, That's My Baby
After You've Gone
Who Wouldn't Love You
Sluefoot
Joe "King" Oliver:
Freakish Light Blues
Someday Sweetheart
Sugarfoot Stomp
Bennie Moten:
White Lightning Blues
Thick Lip Stomp
Kansas City Shuffle
Jelly Roll Morton:
SmokeHouse Blues
Johnny Hamp:
Black Bottom
Fess Williams:
Alligator Crawl
Number Ten
Missourians:
Market Street Stomp
Tiny Parham:
Lucky 3-6-9
Herman Waldmann:
Marbles

Orders, inquiries to sympops@hotmail.com
Note: The originals are, to the best of our knowledge, public domain according to copyright law in Canada. Your situation may differ.

ASpies and OCD - the differences.

I have often pointed out the differences between Asperger's Syndrome and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. I have a friend who is convinced he is OCD, when in fact, I am certain he is ASpie. Totally unaccepting, he is. (Like that - a mini Yoda-ism) Here's a succinct statement ( or those who haven't seen it) from Aspie's Inc. http://aspiesinc.blogspot.com/index.html who says it better than I can (this is excerpted to save space, so forgive me):
"An Obsessive behavior is an avoidance behavior. The behavior does not bring pleasure or satisfaction to the individual. It is not done to get or achieve. Instead Obsessive behaviors are done to avoid some typically unrelated thing or feeling."
[Now as to ASpie behaviors]
"Firstly, the individual in the Autism Spectrum is experiencing symptoms based on physical malformations in the brain. Most if not all Aspies are dealing with Sensory Integration Dysfunction (see the link). So repetitive movements such as spinning, rocking, jumping, touching or sniffing certain things are compensating for a deficit in the typical function of the brain. The movement can help the Aspie achieve a sense of calm and balance. ... Secondly, the person in the Autism Spectrum may have certain behaviors that help them cope with the world around them. Certain rituals that help them deal with a confusing world instead of having a melt down."

YUP.

Intellectuals and Military support - NOT.

This interesting observation, via Kim du Toit http://www.theothersideofkim.com/

>>A common quote among intellectuals is that of Beatrice Hall (speaking of Voltaire’s philosophy): “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” The plain fact of the matter is that they wouldn’t, or couldn’t.>>

Right in the X-ring on that one. In theory, the Left always supports the military. But do they ever truly support the military? Sure, until budget time, when the dollars must be spent. Or until the going gets tough. And then - Too Many Casualties! Well, what do they think happens in combat anyway? This is not a walk to the faculty lounge, kids. Good people get hurt too.

And do leftists ever actually join the military? Do their children ever actually serve in the military? Yeah sure. Right again.

And then there's this little quote, found in Madogre: http://www.madogre.com/News.html

"Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled, or hanged."

I'm don't totally agree, because silencing dissent is not always in the best interest of the people. But can you guess the source of the quote? OK, it's obviously the USA, but I was surprised: Abraham Lincoln. (Score a big one for Honest Abe.)

Tiny Tim & the Non-Rehearsal

Tiny Tim was one of the most unusual acts I ever played. never mind the visual aspect - I'm not referring to that part. Most successful entertainers have an "image" that they use/are. One quickly becomes accustomed to that part of the biz. (There's an old expression - You're always on stage. Pros recognize the truth of that and act accordingly. It's only the Jung and Fuelish who haven't figured it out, or choose to disregard it, usually with negative career consequences.)
But back to Tim...Rehearsal was scheduled for 4:00 PM and the 4 of us are there, ready for goodness-knows-what. So up to the stage ambles Tim, somewhat beat-up ukelele case in hand. Says, hi to everybody - in a voice noticeably deeper than the counter-tenor that was his recognizable singing voice. And out comes the uke. OK.
"So where's your music?"
"Don't have music. Don't use any." - oboy, this is going to be fun. - "We'll just play some tunes, and you follow me." - oboy, this is going to be BAD; a train-wreck in the making for sure - "Let's see - do you know Baby Face? In D." - Geez, what kind of show is this? - (After about 30 seconds of Baby Face) "OK that's fine. That's enough. Tonight, just follow me." - OBOY; this is no train-wreck, this is going to be a disaster - "See you guys later."
And that was the rehearsal. For the world-famous Tiny Tim.
And the show? Well, we followed him; sort-of. He would name some really obscure tune from, say, 1908, give a little history of it, and launch into the verse. No key, no form, no nothing. Nada. And we would attempt to follow him. Of course, none of us actually knew the tune. And repeat the same procedure with a different tune, from 1912. Etc. etc. etc.
A train-wreck? You bet. Multiple train-wrecks. But guess what - when the audience doesn't know the tunes either - nobody knew they were train-wrecks. And in the famous words of the late Tom Borshuk (long gone now) "Nobody Died!"

Mimi Hines

Mimi is one of those (relatively) undiscovered gems. One of the few "girl singers" that I really enjoyed working with. She spent many moons working with Phil Ford, where she did a fair chunk of comedy - she was known especially for the "rubber chicken" bit.
And that's a shame. Such a good singer. When she came to the TH for her show, I was there a little early for rehearsal - I found it helps to see the charts before you actually have to play them! And there on the top of the pile, for the show Opener was an Earth Wind and Fire tune: Fantasy. Yeah, Right. Like a girl singer and a four-piece band are gonna make that one work. Sure. This girl is nuts. This is a train-wreck in the making.
Well, I had forgotten: I had played Phil and Mimi way back at the old Elmwood Casino, and she could sing. Boy had I ever forgotten! What a voice. And style. And later when we did the Superman theme (Can you read my mind) it was wonderful. And she sang that like it truly meant something personal to her. (Maybe it did - she never said.)
And after the show, on the break, she ups and comes over to sit with the band! Outside on the smokey "patio", and yakking show-biz with the four of us. Ha. Gotta love that girl - just one of the boys!
One of the very few truly "musical" singers I have ever worked with. And if you know me, that's the highest compliment I can ever give to any singer.

Islam and Fun.

I walk a great deal - it's one of the virtues/vices of not owning a car. And I often traverse (?interesting choice of word, eh?) a heavily immigrant Islamic area of town.
Something always struck me as vaguely familiar about the area. Yesterday it suddenly hit me! It was like East Berlin. You know, in the days with the Berlin Wall and Vopos and everything.
Quite a few years back, I was on tour with an orchestra, and we were scheduled to give a concert in West Berlin. As a courtesy, we were given (allowed?) a tour of East Berlin. While on the tour bus, I spent several hours puzzling over what seemed odd. Aside from the still-existing devastation of WWII, and the general economic malaise, there was an indefinable something. I could not put my finger on it exactly. The after several hours it suddenly dawned on me. No-one was smiling!
In any city, people walking on the street are a general mix of emotional states - some happy, some sad, some angry - the usual mix of personal states. But East Berlin was definitely missing the happy/glad part. No smiling pedestrians, no happy faces anywhere.
And the Islamic area that I walk through here is like that old East Berlin. No smiles, no sense of happiness from anyone. I would expect a great deal of it - after all, aren't they glad to be here rather than wherever they emigrated from? Evidently not.
And I believe I know the answer. Allow me a quote: "There are no jokes in Islam. There is no humour in Islam. There is no fun in Islam." - Ayatollah Khomeini.

A Joke link.

This one, from an ASpie http://aspiesinc.blogspot.com/index.html is just priceless. It deserves it's own special post:

It was late afternoon near Savannah, Tennessee. Johnny was riding back from a gig in Nashville. He sat with his head against the window of the bus looking bored at the roadside as it passed. A sign in front of a house changed his boredom to curiosity, and he had his driver turn around. The sign said:

“Talking Dog for Sale”

He rings the bell and the owner tells him the dog is in the backyard. The guy goes into the backyard and sees a yellow Labrador retriever sitting there.

“You talk?” he asks.

“Yep,” the Lab replies.

“So, what's your story?”

The Lab looks up and says, "Well, I discovered that I could talk when I was pretty young. I wanted to help the government, so I told the CIA about my gift, and in no time at all they had me jetting from country to country, sitting in rooms with spies and world leaders, because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping. I was one of their most valuable spies for eight years running."

"But the jetting around really tired me out, and I knew I wasn't getting any younger so I decided to settle down. I signed up for a job at the airport to do some undercover security wandering near suspicious characters and listening in."

"I uncovered some incredible dealings and was awarded a batch of medals. I got married, had a mess of puppies, and now I'm just retired."

Johnny is amazed. He goes back in and asks the owner what he wants for the dog.

"Ten dollars," the singer says.

"Ten dollars? This dog is amazing. Why on earth are you selling him so cheap?"

"'Cause he's a liar! He never did any of that stuff!"

And this honesty about high-schooling...

Raging Dave at Four Right Wing Wackos http://4rwws.blogspot.com/ has a very interesting autobiographical account of his feelings about high school (posted on Sunday Feb 25). His emotions pretty much describe the way I felt about my father and home when I was growing up. And I had the same resultant problems with anger and rage, although I never had the physical strength to actually do much damage. Unfortunately the damage was mostly to myself. And the scars are still there - they never go away. You just try and learn to deal with them.

Totally off-topic, a little blurb ad for the IAF got included at OPFOR http://op-for.com/ on the 26th. (It's actually available from YouTube, I think.) It's not completely accurate, but sure is impressive. 'Course, so's the IAF.

Procrastination - I'll feel better later.

This little something via Michael Totten http://www.michaeltotten.com/ who has often VERY interesting observations about the Middle East, and Lebanon in particular. Always an interesting read.
Anyway, I suspect I'm procrastinating about posting this bit about procrastination. It raises some interesting thoughts about everything from corporate start-ups to ASpie behaviour.

"The most impressive people I know are all terrible procrastinators. So could it be that procrastination isn't always bad? Most people who write about procrastination write about how to cure it. But this is, strictly speaking, impossible. There are an infinite number of things you could be doing. No matter what you work on, you're not working on everything else. So the question is not how to avoid procrastination, but how to procrastinate well.
There are three variants of procrastination, depending on what you do instead of working on something: you could work on (a) nothing, (b) something less important, or © something more important. That last type, I'd argue, is good procrastination.
That's the "absent-minded professor," who forgets to shave, or eat, or even perhaps look where he's going while he's thinking about some interesting question. His mind is absent from the everyday world because it's hard at work in another. That's the sense in which the most impressive people I know are all procrastinators. They're type-C procrastinators: they put off working on small stuff to work on big stuff."

I feel better already. But - what exactly is the "big stuff".

John Gary, Pittsburgh & Clearfield

John Gary was a curious fellow. Nice singer in that older style of relaxed tenor. He had his own TV show back in the 60's. It ran for a couple of seasons, if I remember rightly.
Easy to work with, and his material wasn't very demanding - simple arrangements, small band, straight-forward tunes; some of it rather nice folksy stuff (The Possum Song comes to mind).
And rather athletic in his own unusual way: he was a fine archer (world-class actually) and supposedly held some sort of underwater swim record for a while. He was also a qualified flyer and had his private pilot's licence.
But he had limited patience under stress, and wasn't the most mentally organized kind of guy.
I flew into Pittsburgh once to do a county-fair show with John (the show was actually in Clearfield Pennsylvania), and met him there, along with his SO of the time, and the piano player, who happened to be Eric Knight. John had rented a car for us to drive to Clearfield. OK, fine, all the gear was to be provided on-site, so one car was adequate. Except...
John couldn't get out of Pittsburgh. We left the airport, drove around and around and around, and ended up back at the airport. And again. And again. And again.
The fourth time this happened, John stopped the car, and proceeded to exit the vehicle. In the middle lane, in the middle of traffic, in front of the airport. He grabbed his lady from the passenger side of the front seat - Eric and I were sitting in the back - and announced that this was %(*^%^%#$ and that he was going to rent a plane and fly to Clearfield!
I was stunned. I thought - crap, all the way to Pittsburgh, and that's the end of this gig.
NoSir. Eric evidently was accustomed to this sort of thing, and promptly got out of the back, slid behind the wheel, and motioned for me to occupy the passenger's seat. And off we went, in John's rented car, while he and his lady vanished into the airport.
Eric and I drove John's rented car to Clearfield, and there was John, all prepped to rehearse. He had actually rented a small Cessna and flown there. Undoubtedly cost him more than the job paid. But that was John.
I'll tell about the actual show another time. Including the pigs.

"Assault" Rifles - Wrong!

Currently there is a huge ruckus about "assault" rifles. The gist of the dispute is that many people want to ban them. Gun-owners think that's a ridiculous position. On this one, I'm with the gunnies. Why? Because...
There is no such thing as an "assault" rifle. That is a manifest category error. There are rifles designed and built for military use, and those designed and built for civilian (hunting) use.
All rifles are weapons. All rifles are meant to kill things.**
Whether it be a a gopher or a gazelle, rifles are designed for killing. That is their function. A hunting rifle is designed to kill. Period.
The only difference between a hunting rifle and an "assault" rifle is the situation of use and the consequent demands placed on design. Diversity of environments, harsh environment, necessity of personal transport, and reliability requirements determine the design of any military arm. Any decent hunting rifle can be used as a military gun - as an "assault" rifle. But hunting rifles are not optimal for military use. And there is a crucial reason.
Military rifles are also defensive weapons. Opponents shoot back! Any military rifle must combine offense and defense. This defensive aspect greatly determines the design choices of a military rifle. Critics who use the term "assault" totally misunderstand that it is defense that requires firepower in the form of large magazines and rapid fire.
Attack requires precision. That is why hunting rifles are built for precision. Many military rifles are used as hunting guns, and have been for centuries. But they are not optimal for hunting.
Were hunting rifles to meet the same usage requirements as military rifles, they would look and act the same.
**Remember, please, fencing is an Olympic sport. And a sword is definitely an "assault" weapon. Swords were designed to kill people.

Proust Questionnaire

From Kim du Toit (see list of blogs at side-bar) comes this revealing little piece of history; a self-analysis questionnaire derived by Marcel Proust. OK, I don't particlulary like Proust - too many words, like Mozart said. But the questionnaire has to make one think. I'm good at that!
So here goes:
What is your most marked characteristic?
- Intelligence
What is the quality you most like in a man?
- Honesty
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
- Intelligence
What do you most value in your friends?
- Integrity
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
- Procrastination
What is your favorite occupation?
- Mine
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
- Family together
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
- Extreme poverty
In which country would you like to live?
- Besides Canada - Finland
Who are your favorite writers?
- Jacques Barzun, many others (probably because I read non-fiction)
Who are your favorite poets?
- T.E.Lawrence
Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
- Pierre in War and Peace
Who is your favorite heroine of fiction?
- No-one comes to mind
Who are your favorite composers?
- Oh. Too many on the list
Who are your favorite painters?
- Dali, Klee, DaVinci, Seurat, many others
What are your favorite names?
- What?
What is it that you most dislike?
- Hypocrisy
Which talent would you most like to have?
- Painting
How would you like to die?
- Not at all
What is your current state of mind?
- Questioning
What is your motto?
- Don't need one

Hit and Run on Daughter #2.

Hmph. Daughter number two was in a car accident the other evening. She was in the front seat as a passenger, with her friend driving; stopped at a red light, and got rear-ended by somebody. HARD. Really smashed the car they were in pretty badly. And the other driver raced away.
OKAY. Hope your karma catches up with you, buster. Real soon now.
One good thing, though. Thanks to seat belts, neither of them was hurt. Despite being clobbered hard. Both of them were belted-in, so almost no whiplash. They're both fine now, only two days later. Fine way for my SO to spend her birthday, waiting at the hospital emergency while daughter got x-rayed as a precaution.
But all that was needed was a couple Ibuprophen. And a large *#^%&%$ for the hit-and-run driver. Hopefully what goes around comes around.

Sharia and Insult.

Once upon a time I believed that a theocracy was probably the best form of government. This is only one more small example of why that cannot be true. Any form of free speech or criticism that runs counter to the revealed truth cannot be tolerated. Even of correct.
From BBC news:
An Egyptian court has sentenced an internet blogger to four years' prison for insulting Islam and the president....During the five-minute court session the judge said Soliman was guilty and would serve three years for insulting Islam and inciting sedition, and one year for insulting Mr Mubarak.
I can get the inciting sedition (please note - not treason); but even that is questionable. And a FIVE MINUTE court session?
Justice cannot be served in five minutes.

An Autie::Aspie comment.

Wednesday being blog-view day, I run across many things. But this one, from Abnormaldiversity
http://abnormaldiversity.blogspot.com/ really struck me, especially as regards ASpies, aka high-functioning autistics.

"...autism doesn't cause social deficits, but rather social differences. Autistics tend to need more alone time and have an odd pattern of interacting..."

It's a little out of context, but VERY accurate. Especially as ASpies tend also to be in the high-IQ group (immediate family of spouse and four children has median of 130+). And boy do I relate, especially the "odd pattern of interacting". Still working on that bit.

Della Reese - a little story.

Here's a little story that I have never told anyone.
Della Reese is a VERY nice lady. It's interesting to watch her on television, because she isn't really acting. That's just HER. She's really like that! (Of course the best casting happens when people play themselves.)
Della is a good singer, and had a lot of good material in her show. But, the band was having some troubles - technical stuff, clumsy rhythmic playing, ensemble issues. Nothing catastrophic, but not that good either. I was unhappy about it, but with the budget restrictions I had, that's what happens. And of course, I get the heat, since I'm the bandleader.
But not from Della. Nope. Not a peep. I knew it wasn't good; she knew it wasn't good; and I knew that she knew; but she just let it go. Not a word.
On my way upstairs to her dressing room one night, I overheard her manager advising her to get rid of the band and get some players from Detroit (nearby).
I have to love Della for her response: "No. They're trying. They're doing the best they can. It's OK."

Bob Francis

I worked with Bob quite often a few years back. Big guy, big voice, very good singer. And very easy to work with. Knew his stuff and presented it well. He used to work some of the cruise lines quite often as special guest artist. I assume he did very well there.
Story:
In April and May, we used to get a lot of US kids in the club for Prom night. They would appear in the middle of the evening - obviously did NOT stay for the prom at whatever school was hosting! And for the most part, they were noisy, but fairly well behaved. (And the predominantly black schools were always the best-dressed, but that's another story.)
But not all of them behaved. Some were loud and generally obnoxious - and we always knew from the names of the schools how the evening would unfold.
But one evening was a little different. The second show usually hit at 11:00, and there would be some "opener" to fill the first 15-20 minutes, and then Bob would come out to do his stuff. OK, fine. But what Bob did was primarily suited to a little older crowd (35 yrs and up, roughly). This evening, we had several tables - about 40 kids - from a bad-actor school. And they were seated stage-right, fairly close, and when they went to the washroom, they walked right past the front of the stage. And this evening the material especially did not interest the prom kids. They got progressively louder and louder. With more frequent trips to the washroom. Back and forth, back and forth. Bob, being a pro, put up with this for quite a while, trying to get everyone to ignore them. But it eventually made the show impossible for the rest of the audience.
(Now remember, Bob's a big guy. I mean a BIG guy. He must have weighted a good 250 lbs, and was built like a fullback.)
Bob's solution: As one of the prom ringleaders was walking past the edge of the stage - for the fourth time - Bob casually reached down and grabbed the guys hair with his right hand. With the microphone in his left hand, he just ever-so-gently lifted this miscreant off the floor about 3 inches. And held him there, suspended. This while continuing to sing, so the audience did not realize what was going on. This lasted for about 15 seconds. And then Bob let him down, gently, and let him go.
The rowdy prom crowd paid the bill and quickly disappeared.

Meme.

Sunday is blog day - sort-of - so here's one from Geekgab:
Threshold::Pain
Jason::Argonauts
Suspicion::Alfred Hitchcock
Tender::Night (or is Steak?)
Tempted::Eat
Crimson::Tide
Repulsive::Ugly
Bulldog::English
Garage::Cement
Racket::Boombox
I obviously have a little movie-thing going on there. Where did that come from?

Global Warming Arrogance.

From a meteorologist, via The Countertop Chronicles: http://www.countertopchronicles.com/
"I’m not sure which is more arrogant for humans: to say we caused it or to say we’re going to fix it."
OHO. In a nutshell. (There's that phrase again - second time today. Hmmm.)

Pratical Gunnie Stuff - K.I.S.S.

A very brief summary of the article at Survivalblog: http://www.survivalblog.com/weapons/
It's well worth a quick read, but here's the stuff in a nutshell (that's me, the nutshell...)
1. Keep it Simple.
2. Know your weapon.
3. Know how to clear malfunctions.
4. Being skilled with a handgun can give you a sense of confidence out to 10 yards or better.
In Canada, of course, that last one is not acceptable, since we have no CCW. - But it's still true.
Note: That's a variation of why gangbangers like to carry a gun - that macho thing. But the gangbanger thing is a totally different state of mind from someone looking to protect their families.

Excerpts from The Lawdog.

As a semi-regular reader, I find the Lawdog to be alternately deadly serious (pun intended) and absolutely hilarious. Here's a small sample of gunnie stuff, excerpted:

Placing your pistol back in a holster with your finger on the trigger will cause you to walk with a limp.
Flash hiders don't, nor do silencers.

Pacifism is dangerous!

“The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who do not do anything about it.” – Albert Einstein.

Said many times, many ways. Always true. (I want a CCW!)

Frank Ugrits - my first Bass teacher.

I really must memorialize (?!) my very first bass teacher. Frank Ugrits - originally from somewhere in Germany. At least I think so - I never actually knew. He could play - moderately well - all the strings from violin to bass, but normally he played viola. I'm not sure why that particular choice, since violists are often relegated to relatively simplistic accompaniments. At least compared to violin. And if you don't believe it, just ask a violist to play the viola part to any Strauss waltz. (I guess he thought I had talent or something, because he bequeathed me his stamp collection from the 1920's. One day I will look at that collection again.)
Anyhoo, along with taking lessons on bass every week, I actually played a few Saturday evening dances with Frank at the local German club. There, he always played violin. And anything went! Polkas, waltzes, anything the dancers asked for. No request was too small. (Of course this was for a basically German-immigrant crowd, so rock was not even considered.)
The interesting part of the job for me was learning from Frank. When he knew the tune (and he knew a lot!) he would play melody, and then play accompaniment while others played. Sometimes he would let someone else play the lead in a tune while he played accompaniment, all the way through. (And naturally I knew exactly none of those tunes. Talk about exercising your ears!) Needless to say, I got thoroughly lost most of the time. But I just thumped along in time; I guess that was enough.
But the really interesting part came when someone asked for a tune that Frank didn't know. Or when he couldn't think of anything in particular. Then - hoho - watch out. He would name a key, give a count-in, and we were away. He would make up everything. Melody, accompaniment, introduction, verse, chorus, trio to a waltz; always in proper form, with trios or bridges with correct modulations, and in properly related keys, etc. To me it was amazing. What's more, it always sounded exactly like Strauss!
I think I could do that now, after all these years, but I'm still not sure I could do it as well as Frank Ugrits.

Eye Pressure - Woot!

Went to the Opthalm...... You know - the eye doctor - yesterday.
HOHOHOHO - eye pressure was 12! Last month was 19, because we were trying an experiment to see if the one medication was superfluous. Nope. Need it. BUT.
Yesterday with the combined meds, the pressure was 12. So I said: "Does that mean I don't need to buy a dog?" And the doc's reply was:
"No. Not now. NOT EVER."
With pressures that low, the probability of me ever going blind is almost zero. After 20 years - no retinal damage at all. So thanks to Dr. Newel Smith and his early diagnosis, I only need a dog as a pet, not as a necessity. That's a lot of pressure off my mind.

Frankie Laine

Frankie Laine just died (last week). A real Old Pro. I thought he would go on performing forever - he just seemed like one of those indestructible people. OTOH, he's been away from public prominence for some years. Too bad. A unique style. He often considered himself somewhat special because he was a "male" singer" - strong voice, strong rhythms, and a masculine approach, rather than a crooner. Not that he had any disdain for crooners, he just realized that was not his style. He WAS his singing style.
(Big show-biz secret there - find out what you are, and DO THAT.)
Story:
Lots of years ago, at the long-lamented Elmwood Casino, we were rehearsing Frankie's show (Mule Train, Lucky Old Sun, and the one he co-wrote, We'll Be Together Again, others I don't remember) and the trumpet section was having a bit of a problem with a passage. Not a disaster, but not close either. His MD/piano player stopped several times, wanting to get it right. Not Frankie.
"Never mind, It's OK, they'll get it right tonight. We don't want the guys to blow out their lips on rehearsal. Let's keep going."
It was note-perfect the very first show that night. And perfect every time thereafter.
That was Frankie. Not only a nice guy, but good sense combined with experience.
That's why I use the term "Old Pro" with affection.

So I'm Dante, eh!

So I'm most like Dante Alighieri!
"According to you most of humanity will spend at least some of their afterlife in hell. You have a high likelihood of being exiled, but anyone as romantic as you deserves what they get. You have an exceptional moral code, overshadowed by the fact that you yourself cannot uphold it.
Your existence bears a definite irony, although of fairly Christian morality, many pagans, satanists, communists, and intellectuals admire you and your works for all the wrong reasons. Also, the brighest star in your sky is never going to be your lover...
It takes a lot of grief to be the cartographer of hell." (Thanks to Geek Gab for this one I guess...)

Well, I've been called both a Medieval Man and a Renaissance Man, so it is only fitting that I resemble a man on the corner of both worlds, so to speak!

Po-Po is gone.

Well, Po-Po, the matriarch of the family, is gone. Yesterday.
She was 95 years old. Born in the year of the revolution of Sun Yat Sen. Lived through the years of the war-lords, lived through the Japanese invasion in World War II, lived through the Communist Revolution ending in 1949. Came to North America. Lost her husband, who had been resident in Canada for decades, 40 years ago.
She lived in interesting times.

A Safety Nazi and an AD!

A fellow bullseye-shooter posted this and I thought it worth sharing. You can NEVER be too safe!

Gun cleaning night at my house. I have a parts cleaner and air compressor in the garage that make deep cleaning easier.
I did a Mk I Ruger first. It had only a few rounds through it. Magazine out, open the action, chamber empty, overall not to dirty, a bore snake and little cleaning with acid brush. Wipe and Blow it dry lube bolt.
Now GF's Mk II Ruger. At the league shoot it was giving her a fit with malfunctions due to dirt and crud build up. I knew it was going to take a complete disassembly. I also remember how fun it is to get the mainspring out of that particular Ruger Mk II. Mag out, open action, I must not have checked the chamber, drop the action and Pull the trigger to relieve mainspring.

BANG - SH*T

Obviously there was a round in the chamber that the dirty extractor left there. By hitting it again it went off. Shot through the lid of the pistol box near missing an old chain saw and exiting through garage wall. Finally landing in deck behind garage.
Oops, Good news, muzzle direction meant I did not destroy anything more valuable than my undershorts. Still very scary. I guess even a safety nazi can unintentionally ventilate the garage.

CVN - The Tim Horton

The deck of carrier during flight ops is no doubt the most dangerous place on the planet. Or at least the most dangerous 3 acres or so (used to be less).
But Tim Horton's donut shops are running a close second: last week I was in one where there were 8 staff working behind the counter, in a space of not more than 30 square feet (that's about 4 square feet per person - I don't want to know 7 other people that well). Of course, there were no spinning sharp thingys or whirling sucky things that can chop you to Timbits; but hot coffee and donuts are dangerous too.

Eddie Fisher

I'm somewhat reticent about postings with "real live people" in them, since I am painfully aware of how things can get misused or misappropriated. But, here goes anyway. (W.C.Fields used to say "Grab the bull by the tail and look the situation in the face.")
Eddie Fisher. Nice guy. Really nice guy. I have found almost all successful people in show-biz are very nice, but he stands out as an exceptionally nice guy. Unfortunate that, because of addiction problems, parts of his life are a blank for him. I still have the autobiography he gave me - too bad he didn't autograph it.
Eddie liked to talk to the audience during his show. And I mean talk to them. Not scripted stuff, but monologue/conversation. (It was engaging to listen to him. He was very easy to talk with, at least backstage. And a nice voice too.)
Anyway, the owner of the club would have none of that talking-to-the-audience stuff. He was paying good money, and he didn't hire Eddie to talk to the audience. (If he wanted that, he would have hired Woody Woodbury - again.)
So here's Mike (the owner), from 30 feet away, telling Eddie (a genuine honest-to-goodness star) in a fairly loud voice:
"Don't talk Eddie. Sing!"
Repeatedly.
(And he wondered why business was not so good.)

How can you tell when they're hurt?

Curious Goldie http://curiousgoldie.blogspot.com/ asks the question: "When your kids are little, you can tell when they're hurt - they cry and wail. How can you tell if your teenager is hurt..."
Of course she was referring to physical hurt, but I wondered: what about psychic hurt? I have suffered a fair amount of it, as I suppose ASpies do, along the way. When it happened, did anyone besides me even have a clue? I don't think so. (Thanks a lot dad.) It still happens - idle comments, attempts at humour, asides, helpful (supposedly) hints that come across as criticisms. Am I being paranoid. Or is it that many people are just plain mean-spirited and that's how they bolster their egos?
I don't take those things very well. I mean, I remember them. A long time. Basically forever.
But it brings me back to the first question - how can you tell when you, as a parent, have psychically hurt your child? Dunno. Wish I did. Just hope I didn't do it too often. Scars are not pretty things.

A Must Read - for Leftists!

Azar Nafisi, Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, Random House, 2004, 356 pp.

Assuming, of course, that IQ is above room temperature.

ASpie Eyes.

As long as I can remember, I've been sensitive to bright lights. And some fluorescent lights. I've been wearing sunglasses since I was old enough to get some for myself. Were it not for the "public image" thing, I would often wear them indoors as well. But, as they say in show biz- you're always on stage (something that a lot of newcomers in the business would do well to remember). Sometimes I think the image can be a little flexible, and I keep my shades on when I'm inside. (I guess some people expect that sort of thing from a musician anyway.) I don't need to do that at home, because we keep the light-level lower than most people. 60 watts instead of 100 - that sort of thing.
And fluorescents. Geez. Some places I just cannot be in for more than a few minutes, or I get a headache. And twitchy. And just generally claustrophobic - and that can happen even in large indoor spaces. Just must get out of there!
I was convinced for many years - after searching for a possible cause - that these reactions wer a result of smokey "smudgepot" fires at camp when I was in Scouts. We made outdoor fires with lots of smoke to keep the mosquitoes at bay. Well, it kept the bugs away somewhat, but it made the eyes smart, too, along with the mosquitoes. I always thought those fires were the cause, even though the connection was unproven.
Hah! Now I know better.

ASpie Scripting hints.

Just a passing thought - something I have found that helps. Quite a while back I discovered that "scripts" are a functional method of dealing with NT's. So I have developed a few of them on my own. A couple for the grocery store, a couple for the Tim Horton's, etc.
So here are 2 (yes 2, count them, 2) BIG tips:
1 - MAKE IT SHORT. When engaging in a social scripting situation (e.g. at the counter in the fast-food joint of your choice) don't elaborate, don't expound, don't talk too much. Keep it short. Make sentences short. Keep the total exchange short. Most of this is phatic discourse anyway, so they aren't really interested in what you have to say. They don't really care how you are. Your existence is tangential to theirs at best.
2 - LET THEM HAVE THE LAST WORD. NT's feel much better about you, and themselves, if they get in the last word. Works like a charm. Even if you have more to say - Don't. Even if there IS more to say - DON"T.
Both of these two hints take some practice - I know they did for me. And they are easy to forget. But with these two tricks, people may actually think you're "normal" - aka like them. It makes practical life skills (an expression borrowed from Montessori) more do-able, and social situations much easier, quicker, and painless.
Plus, now and then you can throw in a little extra just to confuse the NT's. That can be fun.

Men, Women and Religious Depth

Well, this may be a bit contentious (hahaha hyperbole at its best). But I have some thoughts about religious belief, and the differences between men and women.
I think it can be taken as historical fact that religious personages in virtually all societies have been men. Almost exclusively men. Feminists have usually ascribed this to misogyny - or put more baldly, the oppression of women by men. Unfortunately sometimes true, but that in itself does not explain everything. The reality may be much more interesting.

Warning: You may not like this!
If we go back to our collective roots, the usual division of labour between men and women was that men did the hunting and women did the gathering. (Yes, I know this is simplistic, but grant me the concept as a hypothetical.) In other words, men, because of physical attributes - strength, endurance, et - did the more physical. And, the more physically dangerous. Life was dangerous for all, yes, but men dealt with personal danger, and consequent death, on a regular basis.
Hunting was dangerous in the days when the weapons used by man were not much more than those used by some prey. And possibly less lethal than some used by other predators. Gathering, on the other hand was less dangerous.
Any male, in years gone by, knew that on any particular hunting foray, there was the possibility that he might not survive. Death was always a possibility. Not so for a gatherer, close to home.
Also, hunters deal in death. Fact. To hunt is to kill something, to cause a death. And so men were always close to death, either as potential subject or as creator.
Women dealt with death only after-the-fact, with the prey already killed. Unless by accident or disease, or just bad luck, women only dealt directly with death during childbirth. And traumatic as it could be - and still is in parts of the world - this event happens only sporadically. In comparison to a hunter, who deals with it regularly.
Any combat veteran will tell you that being close to death makes one very spiritual. The joke that there are no atheists on foxholes rings essentially true. It is funny because of its truth.
Given that this state of affairs between men and women endured for centuries and millennia, men acquired an ingrained spirituality that goes very deep. Boys brought up with this culture would acquire the spiritual mindset very early - from personal experience, from habit, and from role-modelling.
It is not much of a leap from this spirituality to the importance of religion, as a formalized version of this mindset. And men would embrace religion as the formalized version of the death-experience they had as hunters. And with the same depth. And this depth manifests itself in deep involvement in religion, in all its historical forms.
Gatherers, on the other hand, experience religion more sporadically, and with less depth, as the death-experience occurs with much less frequency and violence.
The hunter-gatherer difference, and the hunting mindset also explain another interesting fact: men do not go to church as much as women. (I cannot speak to Islam on this one; I do not know the statistics.)
Hunting is a somewhat individual activity. The danger of hunting is personal danger, not group danger. Dangerous prey, or other predators, would not likely kill every member of a hunting group. Also, hunting is generally a quiet activity. (Silence is golden. It also gets you a good dinner.) And so the translation into religious practice: personal religion with some aspects not shared or share-able. And this means less church-going. But not less spirituality.
Gathering, on the other hand, can be done as a large group. In fact probably was often so, since gathering would sometimes involve small geographic areas where a valuable foodstuff grew or was harvested. As grove of trees, for example. This harvesting/gathering would be undertaken by everyone available, to maximize the "take". And this translates into religion in the large - at times everyone. It also explains the rather social aspect of religion for women. Religion is primarily NOT a social thing for men.
SO - Men are more religious than women. But they don't go to church as much as women.

Heretic (but not Unbeliever)

My thoughts about religious texts, capsulized:
The problem with the gospels (ALL of them) is that they are hearsay. And simply because the witnesses agreed does not make them fact. Any judge can tell you that. (Excepting of course ecclesiastical judges, who assume the truth of their particular gospel of choice. But their a priori assumption does not make them fact either, except within their own particular belief system.)
My G_d may be your G_d, but your truth may not be my truth.

ASpies' Physical Balance?

I am just musing about any connection between Asperger's and physical balance issues. I know my balance is not as good as many others. For a long time I thought, well, we all have different abilities. But I often wondered why; still do.
It took me ages to learn to ride a bicycle. Couldn't balance the sucker. And skating, well, that was always a treat. It was pretty much all I could do to move forward at a snail's pace and not fall down again. Never did learn how to skate backwards - it was totally beyond my comprehension how anyone could do that.
And riding a motorcycle! How did I ever manage to get my license? And to think I put my SO on the back of that thing and we used to go places! I remember being n0rth of Toronto once, and riding into some soft sandy stuff on the gravel road I was travelling. Ha. Front wheel starts to wobble, gets, worse, then the Beemer goes right and I go left, right onto my head. Thank you for the helmet! It hurt to walk for 3 weeks, since my ankles clobbered the carburetor intake pipes on the way off the bike (it was an R60, if you're interested).
I now know that my balance is heavily dependent on eyesight - I use visual cues to retain my bargain with gravity. And yes, I know about the general clumsiness issue with Asperger's. I have some of that too, I guess (stay away from sharp thingies).
Soooooo - I am curious whether it's just my natural klutz ability, or is it a facet of the ASpie thing?
My mind to your mind. Give me your thoughts. (OK, maybe not.)

ASpie kids and what to do....

I was musing on the subject of what it was like to be an Aspie kid, when there was no such thing. And what it was like having parents that had no clue. Or even less.
I began to ruminate on what I learned about things to do and NOT to do as a parent. Most especially if your child is also gifted. Many are. I think I have some idea, since we have four of them. And they are all different. (They were different from each other even before they were born - never mind afterwards.) Not that I've done everything right (hahaha - bittersweet laughter) but lord knows I tried. Some might say I am very trying. Anyway...
First, be aware that there are many ways to be gifted, and they don't necessarily revolve around IQ. Try to identify the areas of giftedness (I personally prefer the term "talented"). Don't assume your strengths are also theirs. This is an area where nature wins out over nurture. Gifted ASpies are most definitely NOT a tabula rasa for you to mold. Learn something about their talents, and where they can go with them, what they can do. It may be physical, artistic, intellectual...
This will be expressed in some form in their interests (some would call it obsessions). Does it take the form of detail-orientation? Or does it take the form of organization?
Don't get personally obsessed with trying to keep up with them in their interests - you can't! But be interested. In essence, let them know that their interests are valid. They certainly will not be your interests, but, hey, you may learn something interesting also. With me, it was chess, astronomy, baseball (I had a good curve-ball).
Ok, enough - that could be a VERY long book. Be open, that's good for starters.
Second. This is related in a subtle way. Try to make home a "haven", a crib, where it is safe for them and safe for them to pursue their interests. And I don't mean physically safe, altjough that should be obvious.
Psychically safe. Safe from criticism, safe from insecurity, safe FROM YOU. The world is hard enough on an ASpie. They need a hideaway, a warm place as Ronnie Gaylord used to say. Do your best to give it to them.
Discipline is especially hard on an ASpie. The world is often unfriendly, and they make mistakes. They need the security of knowing you won't punish them too. Personally, I never got that. In fact, I got the opposite. And there are memories that will NEVER die. And scars that last forever. ASpies have unusually long memories.
Third, the most challenging - try to help. An ASpie world is its own place, and guessing how to help out can be difficult. ASpies don't necessarily let you in, even though they may want to. They just don't know how, so you will need to do some guesswork. But DO NOT PUSH. (Don't try dragging them either.)
An ASpie's world is different. Get over it. But look for family things that can be done together. They may be exactly "together", but close enough is good enough. Look for ways to expose them to things with a family setting, where they can feel comfortable exploring (see number two above). But don't assume they will explore the things you planned, or in the ways you planned. That's OK. Let it happen. Just watch and protect.
Fourth. Forgive your own mistakes. They will.
OK, enough rambling for now.

Asperger (Hans) quote - Take that, Charles Darwin!

Geek Gab http://www.whitetoque.ca/geek_gab/
had this up, attributed to Hans Asperger. It may not be a correct attribution, but I believe it should be absolute gospel for all educators and psychologists:
“It seems that for success in science and art a dash of autism is essential. For all we know, the first tools on earth might have been developed by a loner sitting at the back of the cave, chipping at thousands of rocks to find the one that made the sharpest spear, while the neurotypicals chattered away in the firelight. Perhaps certain arcane systems of logic, mathematics, music, and stories - particularly remote and fantastic ones - have been passed down from phenotype to phenotype, in parallel with the DNA that helped shape minds which would know exactly what to do with these strange and elegant creations.

It may be that autistic people are essentially different from neurotypicals and that it is precisely those differences that make them invaluable to the ongoing evolution of the human race. If we could eliminate the genes for things like autism, I think it would be disastrous - the healthiest state for a gene pool is maximum diversity of things that might be good.”

It's nice to meet a like-mind, even across the years. (And that's a reference to/from Will Durant!)