Includes a great list of recommendations to strengthen our democracy now at the crossroads.
Things like...
Election Day holiday
Expand early voting
Automatic voter registration on 18th birthday
Abolish the Electoral College
Eliminate partisan gerrymandering
Make the number of Senators proportional to population
Establish term limits
Abolish the Senate filibuster
etc.
A number of years ago I had also read their book How Democracies Die.
Posted on Bluesky.
A little earlier we watched the Philadelphia Eagles crush the Washington Commanders 55 - 23. It was entertaining too but in a different way. The Eagles were amazing to watch and now they get to go to the Super Bowl. It would have been nice to have a Eagles - Bills Super Bowl. Oh, well. It will be the Eagles vs Chiefs.
On Spotify I created an expanded version of this mix using many more albums on the site that I don't have in my collection. That playlist runs about four hours and is linked here.
A David Lynch Dream Mix
More fires have also just started in Los Angeles due to climate change weather conditions with a drought and wind storms. And he thinks California should take care of itself without any Federal aid.
I had mix feelings about this book. I'm not a native of Buffalo but I've been living in this city for over 40 years so I got a feel for it. The book is somewhat hit and miss in describing the city and it's people. The author certainly has a love for his hometown but at times I thought the book was harsh. There were moments of brilliance but also sad and bleak story.
That being said I did enjoy reading it and in particularly liked the descriptions of neighborhoods and places that I've been familiar with like walking down Elmwood Avenue in the 1980's after the psych center was emptied of patients. It was interesting to see familiar places in a novel but he didn't make it like you would want to live there or be proud you grew up in Buffalo.
This mix is part of my Funky Jams series and a Final Version mix.
Try It Again - Funky Jams FV
The concert tonight was the Horszowski Trio, piano, violin and cello along with an added viola player for the tour.
It's hard to imagine many people showing up for that concert when most of the ticket holders are senior citizens.
There are three more concerts left in the series over the next three months.
I got up and took a picture out front at the time just for the hell of it.
He wants today to be a big televised event with the best ratings which is why in our home and many across America we are watching anything at all rather than inauguration day coverage. For us it is lots of cooking and gardening shows. Last night it was football games. Anything but politics.
I posted on Bluesky about some of the music history books I've read over the years which reminded me of this one... the first one.
Lillian Roxon's Rock Encyclopedia came out in 1969 and was the first book of music I owned. I remember buying it in 1969 and having it in my room at the house in Harleysville. I just remember it as a red book and have no idea what happened to the original paper book cover. Sometime many year ago I lent it to my brother-in-law Joe to read and he probably still has it on his book shelf. I should see if it is still there or maybe his brother sold it at a flea market. I should see if it is still around. It would be fun to look through it one more time. I did look to see if there was an e-book copy available to borrow from the library but no luck there.Lillian Roxon was an Australian journalist and author. She moved to the US in 1959 as a correspondent for an Australian newspaper. In the mid-1960's she became obsessed with pop music and began writing about artist and groups. She also was one of the first journalist to cover the rise of the hippie movement. She wrote the first encyclopedia of rock music in 1968-69 which was published in late 1969.
I started reading this in November 2024 and it took me two months to complete it. That's a little longer than usual for me with a book but this was an unusual reading experience. This book covered a vast amount of history of a very interesting part of the world. I needed to put it down periodically to contemplate and absorb what I read. I was also reading several other books during that same period.
This book was a history of the Middle East spanning thousands of years where civilization was born and where the East met the West and clashed. It was a story of religions and their impact on humanity. It's about Iraq but also way beyond it. It was a very well written book but really made me think about those times and places. From Turkey to Iran and beyond. Covering 5 thousand years on 500 pages was quite the challenge.
I had read some books over the years on Islam but I think I learned more about the actual culture of that religion here than anywhere else. It was a fascinating history of the Muslim conquest of the region.
Overall a very readable and interesting history. I should add that I've several other histories of the region over the years so I was familiar with most of what was covered here.
Midnight Rendezvous - Evening Mist FV
I went out to the drug store and got some cold medicine and a fresh covid test kit. Becky tested again to make sure and once again she tested positive. I also took a test but came out negative. Becky spent some time in bed trying to feel better and when she was downstairs she wore a mask to protect me.
She went to bed early tonight and I am heading up soon but going to the guest room to sleep.
Last night we were out at a crowded art opening. Becky didn't feel bad at the time. Maybe just a little cold symptoms which is how I felt. We both talked and interacted with a lot of people.
Love and Marigolds - Evening Mist FV
The squirrels have been going crazy trying to get into our bird feeder this winter. The other day one of them did actually get the three small clamps off the cover and he was sitting there chowing down on the birdseed. I chased him away and went down to the basement looking for a better clamp. I did find a couple of large c-clamps and brought one up to attach to the bird feeder. That squirrel sat in the tree watching me mess with his lunch. The new c-clamp is now working good to keep the squirrels out of the birdseed.
There were not many black walnut dropping from our trees this fall. That's how the cycle goes sometimes. Only one of our trees had the usual amount of nuts this year and that means the squirrels are hungry this winter.They really have been trying hard to get the birdseed from our bird feeder and the neighbor's too. It's kind of entertaining watching them try to compete with the birds for the seed but we put the seed out there for the birds... not the squirrels.
When I Try - Evening Mist FV
Twilight - Evening Mist FV
Today she put together a dinner using a recipe for a Japanese stir fry Chicken Yaki Udon. It was a dish of udon noodles and lots of vegetables. It can be made with any meat but today it was chicken. The really special thing about the dish is the assortment of sauces... soy, oyster, mirin, tamari and rice vinegar. We had them all. We also like putting a lot of Gomo Shiro rice seasoning. It was a great dinner.
Eyes Shut - Evening Mist FV
So I really enjoyed this one. I remember the first time trying this particular stout sitting at the bar at their old brewery on Niagara Street. Loved it then and it still does taste really good. It also felt good to drink after our busy couple of days with Autumn.
Becky had picked up a 12 pack of assorted brews from Resurgence and some NAs to have on hand for Christmas.
