Blogger since 2002, political activist since 2003, geek since birth. Opinions informed by mixed-race, multi-ethnic, cis-female condition, further shaped by kind friends of all persuasions. Sci-tech frenemy, wannabe artist, decent cook, determined author, successful troublemaker. Mother of invention and two excessively smart-assed young adult kids. Attended School of Hard Knocks; Rather Unfortunate Smallish Private Business School in Midwest; Affordable Mid-State Community College w/evening classes. Self-employed at Tiny Consulting Business; previously at Large-ish Chemical Company with HQ in Midwest in multiple marginalizing corporate drone roles, and at Rather Big IT Service Provider as a project manager, preceded by a motley assortment of gigs before the gig economy was a thing. Blogging experience includes a personal blog at the original blogs.salon.com, managing editor for a state-based news site, and a stint at Firedoglake before landing here at emptywheel as technology’s less-virginal-but-still-accursed Cassandra.
This end-of-the-work-week observation is a little different. I’ve posted some not-jazz jazz for your listening pleasure. This piece called Ball and Chain is performed by a loosely joined group of people who worked on development of a subgenre of jazz during the 1990s. It’s called M-base — short for “macro-basic array of structured extemporization” — […]
To the bastard talking down to me Your whipping boy calamity Cross your fingers I’m going to knock it all down Can I graduate — excerpt, Graduate by Third Eye Blind Well. That took a lot longer and was a much bigger pain in the rear than I expected. I’ve earned another notch in my […]
Looking back over my deeds I can see signs a wise man heeds And if I just had the chance I’d never make that same mistake again — excerpt, Looking Back by Nat King Cole (c. 1958) Sorry this is so late. Still have family here from out of town. Usual familial circus continues. Today […]
Don’t read anything into this music video. It’s the only one I could think with family as the theme. Which is why I have to bail on you folks today: family. My folks are in town and are now subsuming the entire day here. I’ll try to have a normal post tomorrow, but no guarantees […]
Hope you’re having a pleasant holiday. I feel sorry for many East Coast folks who are wet due to Tropical Depression Bonnie today. We’ve got clear skies, a light breeze out of the northwest and 80F degrees here, which seems odd for Memorial Day in the Great Lakes State. The pleasantness heightens the contrast of this […]
Friday, you old dog, you. You came back once again, a little worse for wear but alive and kicking. Let’s see what kind of jazzy treat we can cook up for you. Ah, let’s have some Third Stream (not to be confused with neoliberalists’ Third Way). Music in this not-quite-jazz subgenre walks the line between […]
Where there is a flame, someone’s bound to get burned But just because it burns, doesn’t mean you’re gonna die You gotta get up and try, and try, and try — excerpt, Try by P!nk Racier than the usual video here, but I’m trying — hence this selection. I’m fried after a late night, can’t […]
There are thirteen verb tenses in English. I couldn’t recall the thirteenth one to save my life and now after digging through my old composition texts I still can’t figure out what the thirteenth is. If I have to guess, it’s probably a special case referring to future action. Why should our language be any […]
I could listen to this piece on a loop. It’s Santiago de Murcia’s “Tarantela,” performed by noted lutist Rolf Lislevand. The instrument he is playing is as important as the music and his artistry; it’s an extremely rare Stradivarius guitar called the Sabionari. While tarantellas more commonly feature additional instruments and percussion like tambourines, this […]