Unsocial Media

 My sisters husband was in a terrible automobile accident.  Head on collision at highway speeds on a two lane road.  He sustained major injuries to his abdominal region.  They had to operate on him to repair the injuries.  They waited almost a week to do the operation.  While he was in post op icu, he went into cardiac arrest.  They worked on him for 27 minutes to bring him back to life.  Somewhere along the line he had a stroke.  Since then, he it has been one thing after the other with him.  Every time they turn around he's back in the hospital with another issue.  He's no longer of sound mind and has gotten belligerent and abusive to my sister.  Some of the things he has said can't be undone.  My sister says she realizes he's not right in the head; but that doesn't change the hurt his words and actions have caused to her.  I don't know how she manages to stay strong.  As she said, she thinks she's in the botto...

 Sometimes my mind becomes a blank piece of paper.  Or the wavelength electrical activity in my head flatlines and goes blank. Other times my mind is alive and well. Sometimes it feels like my brain is on life support. I’ve had a few appointments scheduled for cognitive testing and I always cancelled them. On one hand I am curious if I have a problem. On the other hand I don’t want to know the answer.  My doctor says it would be good to know because some cognitive problems can be treated  Treatment only prolongs the path to the inevitable   Words are lost as are thoughts.  Poof. It’s gone. My mind is a vacant lot. Maybe the dopamine receptors in my brain are burned out. I remember a few years ago I was driving and had no idea where I was…on a route I drive daily. Momentary panic set in. What was that?   Flatlining during a conversation happens. I know I should say something but I’m blank. I wonder if the people I’m talking to notice. Like a temporary p...

 Jeff bezos has sold 8.5 billion dollars worth of Amazon stock. What does anyone need 8.5 billion dollars?  Like what is he going to do with all that money?  Should the rest of us be concerned?  Same with Elon musk. The state of Delaware legally stripped him of his compensation package. Isn’t that weird.  Peasants will own nothing and be happy about it. 

There are days I wish to write with a flame thrower and leave a path of destruction on every topic I write. Nothing in my wake but scorched, smoldering Earth. 

 Just before I went to FL, the iPhone 14 came out. I had wanted to get it but no one had it in stock. So I bought the old model 13. It was good enough but I never really enjoyed the phone. I wanted white but all they had left was black. So for whatever reason I went ahead and got a phone I didn’t want. I think it was because I wanted the big screen because I didn’t have a computer or iPad to use when I relocated.  I don’t like black phones. Ever since white was available, that is what I always purchased.  Last week I decided I was done with the black phone and wanted the newish iPhone 15. Was willing to trade it in and take the hit on it.  Usually I take the upgrade on the oldest phone in the family and everyone else gets an upgrade from the hand me down.  Strange no one in the family wanted the 13; they’re happy with the phones they have.   So I went to the store and inquired about the upgrade and found out I could trade mine in when it was paid off half w...

 Here is a fact. Men can’t get pregnant. Women don’t have penises. Thinking you can decouple gender from sex is delusional. There can be masculine women or feminine men.  Thinking God or whoever put their soul in a mismatched body doesn’t make sense.  But saying or believing a man can become pregnant or a woman has a penis is nothing more than a big fat lie. Demanding other people to participate in this lie is  coercion. Disciplinary action or legal penalization for anyone not participating in this lie is a tragedy.   Surprised so many women are supportive of cross dressing men invading the spaces they have fought for. Like athletic competition, bathrooms and locker rooms. I don’t see any women breaking a record set by a trans person. I don’t think it’s right to have men using women’s bathrooms. Of note, I have not set foot into a Target store since they made it okay for men to use the women’s bathroom and fitting rooms. It’s wrong for a dude with male genitalia...

 It’s interesting that some restaurants have better food when they’re super busy and others have better food when they’re slow. Case in point - Rudy’s barbecue serves breakfast tacos. When they’re slammed the tacos are great. When they’re slow, the tacos are terrible.  The tacos are made to order either way  They also serve premade tacos  They sit under a heat lamp  I bet those are the worst if the worst  

 Just in time for Valentine's Day?!?  The special jaws cd set arrived today.  And all I can say is this is one of the best cds in my collection.  Yes, I own the original soundtrack recording and it's fine.  But this!  This cd has the complete score that has been restored from the three channel masters recorded in 1975.  The music as it appeared in the movie in its entirety.  Most of soundtrack releases don't contain the music as it was presented in the music.  It's been edited/tweaked to make a more listener friendly album or to make the music more of a standalone presentation without relying on the movie.  When these scores are released by boutique labels such as Intrada, LaLaLand Records or Varese Sarabande, they usually release the score in it's entirety - making the albums desirable to film score fans and collectors; people like me. The Jaws one is very well done.  I now understand why it commands a premium among collectors and ...

John Williams celebrated his 92nd birthday today!  I was out of town for work and was made aware of a state music educators convention being held in the same city.  I sent a message to one of my friends asking if there were any good concerts I could attend.  I was hoping to see an all-state high school band or something.  As it turns out my friend replies and says the Dallas winds are performing with Boston Brass and he has an extra ticket if I wanted to attend.  The concert was also a world premiere of John Corigliano's saxophone concerto "Triathlon!" featuring Timothy McAllister.  The program also featured 3 pieces by John Williams - selections from Hook, Princess Leia's theme from Star Wars and Adventures on Earth from ET.  There were a two selections featuring Boston Brass and a selection by Geronimo Gimenez.   All I can say is this was one of the best concerts I've ever attended.  First, the Dallas Winds playing John Williams music on hi...

 When I was a kid, my family watched television together in the evenings.  After school, I'd come home and watch cartoons.  My mom would watch soap operas while the kids were at school.  TV was something we did as a family.  I don't remember us talking much about the programs we watched but it was a common experience we shared while I was growing up. As an adult I shun television.  The television programming, the news, all of it.  We have a TV but no service.  It primarily serves as a movie theatre screen for watching movies.  I don't watch many movies anymore either...  Primarily due to the woke agenda.  I don't want to expose myself nor my family to the liberal ideology.  I view liberalism as fundamentally flawed contributing to the moral decay of our society.  But what do I know? Now that my kids are older, I wonder if we should have watched tv together as a family.  At least we could talk about what we experienced...

Read an article on the Guardian contrasting Biden's view of the world and Trump's view of the world.  It was surmised that the left's view of the world is from an intrinsic perspective and the right's view of the world is extrinsic.  "Intrinsic perspective values are based around empathy, intimacy and self-acceptance.  Intrinsic centric people tend to be open to challenge and change, interested in universal rights and equality, and protective of other people and the living world. "   Extrinsic motivated people are more attracted to prestige, status, image, fame power an wealth.  They are strongly motivated by the prospect of individual reward  and praise.  They are more likely to objectify and exploit other people, to behave rudely and aggressively and to dismiss social and environmental impacts.  They have little interest in cooperation or community." Obviously the author has a disdain for extrinsic motivated people.  The article goes on to ...

 Apple is taking a crack at the virtual/augmented reality world with the Apple Vision Pro.  While I don't have nearly 4,000USD to shell out on a piece of experimental technology, I can't help but think this is the next big thing in computing.  The videos Apple has produced sure do look compelling and make me wonder what it'll be like to use it.  The articles written by tech pundits also pique my curiosity into this new technology. It's not really new.  VR headsets and games have been around for a while.  But they don't have the same realism or functionality as this gadget.  What Apple is famous for is taking existing technology and doing something revolutionary with it.  Apple understands consumer technology in a way other companies simply don't.  It's like they have a bunch of really yet practical people working for them.  Enlightened if you will. I think it is going to be interesting to see how developers create for this new computing ...

The local community band had a concert today.  It's the first one I've been to with their new conductor.  The band sounded fantastic.  They had a new energy and a forward momentum about their play that is new.  While I was there I got to see some of my friends from when I was a member.  It was so great to see them and compliment their playing and performance.  One question I got was are you gonna start playing again?  It's been a while since I've seriously played and if I want to play again I gotta get my chops back in shape.  I sold my instrument last year.  I didn't think I'd play again as I've a wart on my lower lip that has been cut out many times by a dermatologist and won't stay gone.  When it flares up, it's painful and takes the fun out of playing my horn.  I'm also leery of participating due to the always on call aspect to my role.  Much to consider. Since I've been back home I've lost my swagger.  There is so muc...