I just tested positive for COVID. I’ve had a scratchy throat for a couple days, but am feeling fine otherwise. Michelle and I are grateful to be vaccinated and boosted, and she has tested negative.
It’s a reminder to get vaccinated if you haven’t already, even as cases go down.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) March 13, 2022
This is an open thread
Benw
Feel better Barack!
The Pale Scot
For us of a certain age
DOOBIE BROTHERS – Santa Barbara, California, 1982 – FULL CONCERT
Back when people practiced together, got tight, made music
Spanky
Barack Obama urges everyone to get vaccinated, thereby renewing MAGAts’ resolve never to get vaccinated.
If they haven’t already …
TaMara
@Spanky: You know, we used to joke while he was president, that he should tell people not to drink bleach and thought it was funny. Little did we know a few years later…
WaterGirl
@TaMara: Were you hoping for a pep talk for yourself or for Barack Obama?
UncleEbeneezer
@The Pale Scot: Too bad Jeff “Skunk” Baxter is a MAG-Asshole now.
Brachiator
@Spanky:
I had been focusing on Obama’s positive message and had not thought about this.
But yeah, you are right. I think that right wing stupidity will make it harder to deal with future pandemics or a resurgence of Covid.
Geoduck
Washington State ended its mask mandate this week, and most people immediately quit wearing them. I intend to keep mine on, at least for now.
TaMara
@WaterGirl: Is the video not showing?
Baud
Get well, BO!
Kelly
Does anybody really know what time it is?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5ewTCEFUeY&ab_channel=mirrorro77
opiejeanne
@Geoduck: We will continue to mask. There is an upswing already in California with the omicron variant, BA.2, and what we’ve seen is that Covid doesn’t stay put.
raven
@UncleEbeneezer:
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Before starting his show on Saturday night at OCC, Michael McDonald had an earnest message for the Syracuse Jazz Fest crowd: Vote.
There was no mystery as to how he hoped we would vote.
“There are people telling us to ‘Make America Great Again’ and that’s bulls***,” said McDonald, dressed in a black, three-piece suit. “We know it was only great for certain people.”
He never did say the words “Donald Trump” but before the headliner even sat down, the crowd knew McDonald wasn’t a fan of the presumptive Republican presidential candidate.
Baud
@raven:
?
raven
@Kelly: Kath kills 25 or 6 24
MagdaInBlack
@Kelly: And here I go down the you tube rabbit hole ?
germy
opiejeanne
@Kelly: My husband asked me if our phones and computers had reset to the correct time.
Yes, he is a bit of a Luddite and it really bugs me. He was complaining in January that he couldn’t open the file that our tax guy sent him because he was trying to open it on his phone. I told him to just open the file on the rebuilt Apple laptop I bought him last year, the one that he reads the news on that was sitting right in front of him, and he told me he didn’t know how. He had never set up email for it. At that point I really lost it. “WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF I DIE BEFORE YOU???”
He admitted that he had considered that.
Yarrow
That’s a really nice video. What a fun thing to call if you need a pick me up.
Litlebritdifrnt
Watching the BAFTA’s right now, it has been joyously positive so far and I am grateful for that at the moment.
germy
Brachiator
@opiejeanne:
Apple Genius Bar?
Yours sounds like an interesting household.
OzarkHillbilly
@opiejeanne: Sounds like our house. As to what will happen if my wife dies, I will just reenter the 19th century.
Kelly
@raven: Another good pick me up with time in the lyrics. I’ve always liked bands with good brass. Chicago, Blood Sweat & Tears
James E Powell
@The Pale Scot:
People still practice together, get tight, and make music.
War on Drugs
Larkin Poe
Wyatt Salamanca
Some people tell me that Maria Bartiromo is a criminal waste of protoplasm:
h/t https://www.mediaite.com/tv/maria-bartiromo-draws-heat-for-claiming-some-people-told-her-the-biden-white-house-sees-putin-as-a-partner-not-an-enemy/
MomSense
@The Pale Scot:
OOh thank you!
opiejeanne
@Brachiator: Ha! He’s really a great guy, just not with the computers and stuff. Sort of stubborn about not wanting to learn, or not trusting it once he’s learned it.
And I’m cranky today.
opiejeanne
@OzarkHillbilly: All three kids now live in the PNW, have spousal units, and I worry that he’d just fall apart without me even with them nearby. I know I’d be that way for a while without him.
Brachiator
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Hmm. Seems to only be available on Britbox. Oh well, I will read about it later.
Related, I am a big fan of the Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo film review show on BBC via podcast. I see that they will be ending the show April 1. Hopefully they will soon pop up elsewhere.
opiejeanne
@raven: That was great. Thanks.
Ruckus
@Geoduck:
CA dropped mandates as well and I see a lot of people, like me, are still wearing them. Many are not. I will for the foreseeable future. I’m an old and my time is short enough as it is. I’m not giving up one minute that I don’t have to.
Wyatt Salamanca
@Kelly:
That song sounds as fresh today as when I first heard it decades ago!
@The Pale Scot:
Speaking of music, not only is this is a kick-ass live performance, but it’s preceded by the greatest band introduction of all-time:
“Mr. Steely Dan and whatever”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxOG-kgfvs8
Scout211
@opiejeanne: @OzarkHillbilly:
Yep, my house, too.
So many times a day . . .
My sweet Mr. Scout has a Ph.D and used to be able to do all of his research on his computer and run statistics, etc. But now, it’s many times a day when he hands me his iPhone, MacBook or points to his Mac and says, “I don’t know what happened!!” Help!
Technology is way different today than in the 80s and 90s. Our grandkids can pick up any device and figure out how to use it and all of its functions immediately.
We olds are learning technology as a second language and our kids and especially our grandkids are learning it as native speakers. They can lead the way.
raven
@Kelly: Have you ever seen the Earth Wind and Fire-Chicago show?
Yarrow
@opiejeanne: Some people only learn things when they have to. He’s got you so that’s his current solution. Put together good instructions about where things are and how to do things. Make sure he knows where that is.
germy
Dame Shirley Bassey sang at the awards ceremony. She’s 85 and a treasure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ectB6ewQrGA
Starfish
@opiejeanne: The way people act like older women are tech-illiterate when older women are doing all the work of making tech happen smoothly really infuriates me as I get older.
It erases women’s technical achievements and excuses younger men trying to marginalize women in tech.
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: Earlier you posted that you planned to visit NOLA, have a great time with the little one.
JPL
Although I think Biden is doing a wonderful job, I still miss the Obamas. He was such a decent person, that the right decided to treat like trash.
raven
And then there is Prince KILLING My Guitar Gently Weeps!
Kelly
@raven: New to me. There’s my Youtube rabbit hole for the afternoon ;-)
Starfish
@Wyatt Salamanca: The lack of accountability with the “some people” nonsense.
Jen Psaki needs to ask her “Who says?” and then yell at her for five minutes because her high school friend on Facebook and her contacts in the Trump administration are not experts on international conflict and diplomacy.
Jackie
@Geoduck: Me, also. I’m in the RED southeastern part of WA. I also watch my granddaughters after school every day (elementary grades,) so will be paying close attention for sniffles and coughs these next few weeks and beyond.
WaterGirl
@TaMara: Oh, I get it now. You were offering us the pep talk. This went up just before I had to start a meeting so I wasn’t able to look at the video then. I’m sure it would have been obvious if I had
I had just seen that Barack has Covid and that Russia is asking China to take their side with Ukraine, so I was feeling alarmed and took “how about a pep talk” in a different way.
OzarkHillbilly
@opiejeanne: No worries for me. I only promised to out live my wife, I never said by how much.
Jeffro
@The Pale Scot: omg, I’m going to have to watch this later tonight – thanks!
lowtechcyclist
@Kelly: Does anybody really care?
Good choice for the day after the time change!
@Kelly:
I’m one of those weirdos who likes BS&T both when Al Kooper was the frontman, and when David Clayton-Thomas was.
I think they only did the one album with Kooper (Child is Father to the Man) but it’s one of my favorites.
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL: A great time with the little one is required.
Jeffro
No need to link to it, but I see Tulsi is out there pushing the “US biolabs” BS, same as Tucker.
Were they paid with successive checks out of Vladimir’s checkbook, do you think? Like, check #1462 and #1463? Hope you enjoyed the rubles, comrades.
Brachiator
@Scout211:
Kids often just have more time to futz around with technology.
Other than that, tech savvy is not really a generational thing.
ETA. Something that sometimes creates a barrier for older people is accessibility. Devices that are designed for young eyes and nimble fingers and steady hands.
Ivan X
@opiejeanne: people like your husband are who sustain my business. No judgment, just…some people don’t want to deal with those things.
ETA: Also, too, most people’s personal computers in 2022 are smartphones, and because they do so much, it doesn’t occur to them that there’s things their smartphones can’t do that their computer can. It seems obvious, especially for those of us whose laptops are never far, but these seem to be the facts on the ground, so ultimately it’s up to various websites and online services to make sure their crap works on phones. It’s a slow crawl but that’s where it’s all trending.
ThresherK
This is the not the bookend (as Covid is not over) but it really reminds me of Tom Hanks getting Covid almost exactly two years ago.
lowtechcyclist
@raven: I seem to be waking up a lot these days at ~3:30 a.m., clearly I need to give that a listen the next time I do!
raven
@lowtechcyclist: Yep, that was it. Then they brought in David Clayton Thomas, ugh. (Although “Sometimes in Winter” and God Bless the Child are pretty good
MomSense
@raven:
Woo hoo!
I wish I could link to the video of my youngest playing (improvising) in band practice last week. It was heavier than he plays at home (his personal taste is different) but it was sooo good.
trnc
Sounds like that chances of that might go down with each one of these stories, amirite?
raven
@Wyatt Salamanca: The year before covid we decorated the Bohdi and Lil Bit’s cart with bodhisattva stuff for the doggie parade and I had a boom box playing the song on the route. Some people got it!
jackmac
My family is triple vaxxed, we remain very careful about where we go and continue to wear masks in public (even as 90 percent of people in my trending blue suburban area have stopped wearing them). I have this sinking feeling that COVID is still going to find us especially after seeing the WaPo statistic that 79 million persons in this country have had some version. Yeah, the likelihood is that a COVID case may be minor for us, but my wife and I are also 65-plus and in the most vulnerable group and I don’t want to find out. It didn’t have to be this way, so thank you Trumpsters and MAGAts, GQPers, anti-vaxxers, anti-maskers, Fox viewers and loudmouth idiots who threaten school board members and even kids over mask mandates.
Ivan X
@Brachiator: yeah, I agree with this, but, being squarely in middle age, I can already observe the hardening of my brain in a way that didn’t used to be there. Sure, some of it is less time, but some of it is less patience. I think in general that the older they get, the less humans are willing to be pressed to learn new habits and abilities when they’ve already comfortably settled into their old ones. There will always be exceptions, but old dogs, new tricks, etc.
Wyatt Salamanca
@raven:
Nice!
topclimber
@Starfish: Preach it.
smith
As an Old, this is one of my pet peeves. I started using (mainframe) computers in 1967. Have had home computers since the early 80s. Have had home internet access since before the world wide web existed. Once it did exist, I learned html and put up my first web site in 1995. It’s infuriating when some Young refuses to admit that his web design is glitchy and tries to instruct me on how to right-click.
And that’s just me. My parents — born in 1922 and 1923 — were completely at home with computers, and my Dad maintained their church’s website until he died at age 88.
raven
@Ivan X: I’m reading this right now
Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age Hardcover – January 5, 2021
by Sanjay Gupta M.D. (Author)
trollhattan
@lowtechcyclist: @raven:
That first BS&T was a great one-off and has lasted well when one of the songs pops up.
They made a lot more money as a pop act, but not my thang per se. The aforementioned “Chicago Transit Authority” similarly never matched that debut album.
James E Powell
@Ruckus:
Out here in Trump Country – SW Riverside County – masks are a thing of the past for all but a handful. At the grocery store yesterday, three of us shoppers and about half the employees.
debbie
@raven:
I had no idea he could play like that until I saw that Hall of Fame performance.
Wyatt Salamanca
@Kelly:
Chicago had initially been signed to play at Woodstock, but they had a contract with concert promoter Bill Graham which allowed him to move their concerts at the Fillmore West. He rescheduled some of their dates to August 17, thus forcing them to back out of the concert. Graham did so to ensure that Santana would take their slot at the festival, as he managed them as well.
h/t https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodstock#Declined_invitations_or_missed_connections
trollhattan
@smith:
I have had to explain how to use browsers to several engineers and attorneys. The second, I kind of get but why engineers, why? (Am not an engineer, lawyer, or tech support person.)
raven
@debbie: Me neither, not a clue. Watch this one!
Prince Live – Play that funky Music –
Yarrow
@jackmac: Data we don’t seem to have is how long increased immunity lasts after the booster. I’ve seen some data that it wanes enough that if you’re over 50 and over six months out from your booster you’re at risk. I’ve also seen some data that a fourth vaccine (second booster) doesn’t help all that much, but not sure on that one.
I kind of feel like everyone has decided the pandemic is over. It’s not. We may have a window of less virus around but in warm states it’ll come back around once a/c season arrives.
Morzer
@trollhattan: It’s a real mind-breaker that some people can’t handle a browser.
raven
And, since we’re all watching hoops, check out Prince ballin!
raven
@Yarrow: Jesus, what the fuck are you going to do, stay in the bunker? We may all be microwaved in the next week anyway.
Jeffro
@The Pale Scot:
@Jeffro: never mind, I have it on now while I’m prepping dinner…that cover of ‘Take Me In Your Arms’ is great, that’s one of my favorite Motown hits! =)
Jeffro
@James E Powell: I’m taking Mrs. Fro to see TWOD this summer, should be a blast!
lowtechcyclist
@raven: Yeah, “Sometimes in Winter” was a Steve Katz song; he’d done a couple of songs on Child as well. So even though it’s on one of the Clayton-Thomas albums, it’s not done in the C-T style.
cmorenc
@Geoduck:
The one place a majority of the commercial-flying public would probably support continuance of a mask mandate is on airline flights, where the experience of sitting sedentary with 100-200 other people packed like sardines in a tin can is much more convincing than wandering around in most indoor public places. When the lady sitting two rows behind you coughs or sneezes, everyone in the three or four rows ahead of her hears and hopes none of her biological cooties sneak into their noses and faces.
waysel
@lowtechcyclist: Yeah, Steve Katz wrote and sang “Sometimes in Winter” BS&Ts bass player was tremendous. Jim Fielder.
hilts
RIP William Hurt
William Hurt Dies: Oscar-Winning Actor For ‘Kiss Of The Spider Woman’ Was 71
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/william-hurt-dies-oscar-winning-204037188.html
James E Powell
@Jeffro:
They aren’t coming to my area until October, when they will be at San Diego State. I intend to be there.
Yarrow
@raven: Well, since I’m frequently around a lot of vulnerable people I do my best to be aware of health risks, Covid rates in my area and the understood effectiveness of vaccines in the older, vulnerable population and for people like me. I am still required to wear a mask for a lot of what I do. I don’t just do whatever I want as that puts too many other people I’m regularly around at risk. I’m sorry that my comments seem to have upset you. I’ll shut up now. Have a good day.
lowtechcyclist
@waysel: I won’t say we’re old, but that we’re talking about this means we’ve all been around for awhile. ;-)
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@lowtechcyclist:
I think I’ve still got an old Kooper vinyl platter somewhere, if my kids haven’t stolen it.
Van Buren
@Wyatt Salamanca: I thought it was Santana that won a coin flip with It’s a Beautiful Day to get to play.
Kropacetic
Here’s something to be pepped about, most of the world community came together to help Ukraine. Something else, Biden took an active role in rallying NATO support for the sanctions that are really putting the hurt on Russia.
Something peppy for this year’s elections, Biden’s poll numbers since this have recovered. It’s almost like after a year of being driven down by “mishandling” phony crises, when a legitimate crisis comes and the administration handles , people recognize that.
The Russians and their Republican patrons are on the back foot, let’s push.
CaseyL
@hilts: Oh, no! I didn’t follow or see a lot of his work, but remember him very vividly from Altered States and Body Heat – plus, of course, the Marvel movies.
71 seems not-old to me. Especially now that I’m one month away from 66 ?
Brachiator
@Ivan X:
I hear you. But this may still be a matter of individual temperament. I had a neighbor, about my age who had a church member give him a used computer for use on the Internet. The guy was always bothered by malware and performance issues, but absolutely refused to follow even simple suggestions. Sometimes I could even hear him shouting at his computer in frustration.
He would talk about his best old car and how he could hit it and tinker with it and keep it working. But he was stuck when it came to computers.
But I know other people far older than this guy who are adept tech users. They also hate to be slowed down by fixable problems. Different attitude.
@raven:
Sounds like an interesting book. Adding the title to my reading list. Thanks.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Brachiator: Speaking of eyes, try figuring out where the slot is on a standard screw anymore if you’re working underneath. Im-fucking-possible, I take the glasses off, squint, draw in, miss it, glasses back on, curse, rant, glasses off…
?BillinGlendaleCA
They dropped our mask mandate for associates at the Home of the Orange Apron last week, I’m keeping mine on for at least the next few months.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I was just at Home Depot and the workers were all wearing masks. I was as well.
ETA: how’s the new phone?
Mallard Filmore
@Ivan X:
Toward the end of my career as a computer programmer, I was frequently thinking “If it’s this hard, we’re doing it wrong.”
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: I’d say maybe 60% of the associates are still masking, customers at maybe 70%. It’s hard to wear a mask doing physical labor when it’s hot.
Shots from the new phone will be my next OTR.
Miki
@Kelly: 1975, Monterey Jazz Festival, BS&T, When I Die. I was even more f.u.ed than David Clayton Thomas, which is saying sumpthin, but I’m not sure what.
But give me Laura Nyro doing her songs every time.
Kropacetic
@?BillinGlendaleCA: After last flu season, or lack thereof, I have no plans to stop masking in most public places.
NotMax
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Don’t get me started about the things with black printing on a black background.
Also, lately have come across some electronic items with tiny sliding power switches wired to be ONOFF rather than the expected ‘slide it to the right to turn on power.’
Robert Sneddon
I have old eyes and my “smartphone” is a desktop PC with a 4k 43″ diagonal screen. It used to have a 32″ 4k display but I upgraded because, well, old eyes. I upgraded the PC a year or so ago as well because the tech was there and I figured a new-build PC (AMD Ryzen 3600, 32GB DDR4 RAM, junkbox graphics card, M.2 SSD) would keep Firefox from crawling to a stop every five minutes or so. It seems to be keeping up for the moment but I have faith in the Mozilla devs that they can break it somehow given enough time and feeping creaturitis.
raven
@Yarrow: They haven’t upset me and I wear a mask when I’m in crowded places.
JPL
@raven: Same. Maybe when it’s in the nineties, and as cases fall, I’ll change my mind.
James E Powell
The brand new superintendent of my school district – Los Angeles – announced that the district will no longer require indoor masking as of Monday, March 14, which is tomorrow. However, this is something that has to be bargained with our union, UTLA, and the next bargaining session is this Wednesday.
What is the rush? Why create a confrontation with the union?
Scout211
@Brachiator:
About 10 years ago I spent a weekend with friends and tried to teach three of them how to use Google Maps. They were all intelligent women with college degrees, successful in their careers. But they were stumped by their smart phones.
Olds can definitely learn technology but it seems to me that learning it for the first time as an older adult is not as easy as learning it for the first time as a child. Similar to learning a new language.
zhena gogolia
@Miki: People seem to have forgotten her. She was so great.
JPL
@hilts: He was very talented, and until today, I had no idea he was a 9/11 truther. It shouldn’t diminish for his art though, but if I am honest, it does for me.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Cool. I already have phone envy.
Miki
@OzarkHillbilly: “No worries for me. I only promised to out live my wife, I never said by how much.”
My Grampa Erv promised my Gramma Marion the same thing after being drafted in WWI and serving in France, and then volunteering in his 40s for WWII and serving in the South Pacific (he was a Sea Bee).
At the end, when they were in their 90s, they were hospitalized at the same time. Gramma died first. Grampa died an hour and a half later.
Scout211
@James E Powell:
The state has ended the mask mandate for schools starting tomorrow.
James E Powell
@Scout211:
The state ending the mask mandate doesn’t change our contract or the district’s obligation to bargain the changes to the COVID protocol.
MomSense
William Hurt RIP.
I met him 30+ years ago and he was irascible and glorious.
NotMax
@,a href=”https://balloon-juice.com/2022/03/13/sunday-afternoon-open-thread-how-about-a-pep-talk/#comment-8457433″>Robert Sneddon
Two 27″” monitors here*, side by side except one sits up about a foot higher than the other, giving the eyes some modicum of exercise when looking from one to the other. Not twins, the oldest is a curved Samsung, the added later on unit a curved AOC.
*If anyone asks I tell them it’s kosher tech: one for meat, one for dairy.
;)
trollhattan
@hilts:
Damn it! “Body Heat”
That’s all. r.i.p. sir.
trollhattan
Cost of war, going up by the minute.
NotMax
@MomSense
I appreciate the director of Dark City, who somehow prodded Hurt into demonstrating he could still act, not simply sleepwalk through roles as he had been getting away with doing for years.
;)
Ruckus
@CaseyL:
71 seems not-old to me
William Hurt was quite good at what he did for a living. He was younger than a number of us here so yes he wasn’t that old. Either that or we’re just lucky. Cancer is a sucky way to go. A number of people I know have gone that way, a number of us have had cancer, and a number of us have been treated for it and have at least kicked it’s ass for a while. It’s not good that it wasn’t found in time, it’s normally a slow growing cancer that can normally be relatively easily found over many other cancers.
Baud
@NotMax:
I didn’t know she made computer peripherals.
trollhattan
@Baud:
“The Squad Box” first known PC with Windows 12.
debbie
@hilts:
Very sad news. I really liked his work.
lowtechcyclist
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I used to have Child is Father to the Man on vinyl – I bought it back in 1970, when even cassettes weren’t that big a thing yet. But it was getting scratched, and I replaced it with a CD. I think it was in a box of records I gave to a vinyl enthusiast a few years back.
Ivan X
@raven: I like it. Thanks.
Geminid
. Well, a dumbshit leftie named Stancil sure has got a lot of people mad. @Magdi Semrau (Mangy Jay) had put out a tweet pushing back on “why vote Dem?” negativism, citing the Republicans’ barbaric assault on women’s rights as a reason. So Stancil picked a fight with her and ended up calling the widely respected Semrau a “dumb shill.”
Earlier, the obnoxious Stancil put up a tweet pooh-poohing the significance of the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act passed by Congress this week. Ragnarok Lobster posted a screenshot of Stancil’s tweet with the caption, “This Tweet is so white it was sung as a solo by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.”
Ruckus
@Ivan X:
Learning gets harder as you get older. At least after some point along the path of young to geezer. Things don’t stick in the brain as well, the body doesn’t always work as well, and often as you have more free time, you have less energy. And the one thing that few talk about is that desire is just not as strong. And for some it is immensely difficult to admit that they aren’t 19 any longer, (and haven’t been for a very, very long time).
debbie
@CaseyL:
Children of a Lesser God was my favorite.
raven
@Ruckus: Take a look at Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age Hardcover – January 5, 2021
by Sanjay Gupta M.D. (Author)
NotMax
@Baud
Knew whilst typing that someone would go there. :)
Bonus (in my estimation) is its look; not another (yawn) boring old black peripheral.
Ivan X
@Mallard Filmore: the irony being that you were probably right. But it’s also true that I rarely dive into coding passion projects any more because I now know how much effort and time they require.
Baud
@Geminid:
We obviously haven’t sanctioned Russia enough.
@NotMax: That’s a good looking piece of hardware.
James E Powell
@CaseyL:
I feel you. I’m two weeks from 67. If I drop when I’m 71, a great deal of time & anguish spent on financial planning will turn out to be a total waste for me, but perhaps not for my heirs.
lowtechcyclist
@zhena gogolia:
Laura Nyro was never really well known to the general public. If you just listened to what was on the radio and bought records, you might notice her songwriting credits here and there, but that might be about it.
I know of her mostly because the Fifth Dimension covered some of her songs: Stoned Soul Picnic, Blowin’ Away, Sweet Blindness – but they, not Nyro, were the ones who popularized those songs. They were also the Fifth Dimension’s best songs.
Martin
40% of pediatric covid deaths in the US have happened in 2022. Seems like we’re taking the masks of right when the adults can be vaccinated but the kids still can’t. No boosters for 0-5 year olds yet.
We still wear them everywhere.
Kropacetic
Keen argumentation skills there, bud.
With the Republicans turning more and more to mob justice? No, we need this, however many decades late.
Geminid
@Kropacetic: People like Stancil never got lynched. They never have ectopic pregnancies either.
zhena gogolia
@lowtechcyclist: But her performances of them are the best. (And I love the Fifth Dimension.)
Wyatt Salamanca
@lowtechcyclist:
I’ve read that Laura Nyro suffered from bouts of stagefright leading her to back out of concerts which made it difficult for her record company to promote her albums.
I always loved her voice and wish she’d received much greater recognition while she was alive.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Geminid: Stancil is embarrassing. I hate it when I see him retweeted by people I respect
Brachiator
@Scout211:
I have found that people often learn technology when they need it for some regular task or hobby. Women I know who barely finished high school use the hell out of Google Maps in their car and on their phones to get around the city, keep track of their kids, etc.
Years ago there was an Internet service called Prodigy (I think). Two retired women who were masters at related tech and unofficial teachers got into word processing, creating templates and other stuff in the course of using add ons related to knitting and some family recipe thing called Meal Master.
I think that people sell themselves short if they believe that they’re old, so they cannot possibly master all this new fangled stuff.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
That’s why I’m not on Twitter. Also why I don’t respect anybody.
Jeffro
@James E Powell: that’s awesome, have a blast! I barely know their songs and it will be a complete surprise to Mrs. Fro, so, a little something different here for us.
She’s going to drive me nuts trying to guess it, though:
I am thinking about trying to make it up to Wolf Trap for Sheryl Crow and Jason Isbell/400 Unit in June. Hmmm…
Baud
@Brachiator:
My mother learned how to use the VCR, although not how to set the clock on it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Damn
Geminid
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: These people don’t exactly retweet Stancil. They post screenshots of his discreditable tweets, then use them to beat his sorry ass like a pinata.
Semrau is too scrupulous to do this, but she has a lot of people who admire her probity and intellect and they are outraged.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
He seemed to have a knack for staring in movies with memorable titles.
Brachiator
@hilts:
I remember his early work, especially Body Heat and Kiss of the Spider Woman.
He seemed to have peaked early, not sure why.
But some great work and memorable roles. Really enjoyed watching him.
ETA. Also remember first noticing Ted Danson as the dancing district attorney in Body Heat. And of course, Kathleen Turner and Mickey Rourke.
raven
@Brachiator: He wasn’t very good in Goliath but, then, Goliath wasn’t very good.
dexwood
@Brachiator: I had such a crush on Ms. Turner, in college, where I sat to the right of her, one seat back. She was cool, polite, and I never had a chance.
Suzanne
@James E Powell: I was planning to be at that War on Drugs show. It was supposed to be a treat for my birthday earlier in the month. I didn’t go because Omicron. PLLLLFT. I’m definitely still salty.
I did, however, just buy tickets to take my little Doodlebug to “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! THE MUSICAL”.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@dexwood: “A lot of men have tried that stool. You’re the first one I let stay.”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Geminid: I was referring to a couple of writers who seemed to find his plaintive Do Something! tweets persuasive.
I saw some of the back and forth with Semrau and others. Kind of fun to watch if you don’t like him, and I don’t. Stancil of course will only feed his sense of righteous martyrdom. At least he hasn’t been given a streaming show by MSNBC. Yet.
Ruckus
@Yarrow:
I kind of feel like everyone has decided the pandemic is over.
Not everyone. But I think the good government entities feel they have lost the game and nothing is going to bring it back. The shitty governments have “known” that there is no such thing as a pandemic, because of course they have. (They may not know much but they do know bullshit when it comes out of their mouths…they just don’t give a fuck as long as they win.)
Miki
@lowtechcyclist: I vaguely recall my initial exposure to Laura Nyro was through the Fifth Dimension (loved them then), but once I listened to the original I’ve never looked back. Nyro was supremely talented – as a songwriter, a lyricist, an arranger, a pianist, and a singer. IOW, a musician. There’s a reason so many covers of her songs borrow the key, tempo, horn arrangements, etc., from her recordings.
Yeah – I’m a big fan.
dexwood
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: English class. She made me jittery and trip over my tongue. That stool was never meant for me.
Brachiator
@raven:
I didn’t even know what this was, movie or tv series, and had to look it up. Interesting cast. Too bad it wasn’t good.
I didn’t realize that the quirky Altered States was Hurt’s first film. And I forgot that he was in The Big Chill.
A solid career.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
Tom Brady un-retires.
Just announced he’s returning to Tampa for another season.
NotMax
@NotMax
Dark City trailer.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Baud: I remember learning to download audiobooks from the library onto my Ipod and then connect it in my car because I really, really wanted to. I was willing to make mistakes and keep trying
trollhattan
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:
Does this mean he’s after “Russell Wilson bucks”?
Baud
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
I’m proud of you.
Brachiator
@dexwood:
I know that as young civilians, stars are not always the charismatic entities that they will later become, but still. Wow.
dexwood
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: Fuck him.
NotMax
@Brachiator
Goliath was a tour de force for Billy Bob. Anyone else in it was just window dressing.
Amusingly tongue-buried-deep-in-cheek diversion.
trollhattan
@NotMax:
That’s a profoundly weirdass movie. Also my introduction to Jennifer Connolly. Thanks, “Dark City.”
Martin
@trollhattan: I don’t think so. His earnings are pretty small relative to his wife’s.
I think Tom just wants another ring. Having a team around him to achieve that is probably what he wants. When he moved to TB he got a LOT more say in recruiting. He always took a smaller salary than he could get at NE so that they could get players under the salary cap.
NotMax
@trollhattan
Also too,
Spookiest. Little. Kid. Ever.
Brachiator
@Martin:
According to one recent estimate, Brady’s net worth was $250 million. His wife’s was $400 million.
Paupers.
Ruckus
@raven:
I’M NOT OLD – get off my grass!
I’m fine, has anyone seen my glasses?
Actually I am in pretty good shape and my mind is still decent and after all these years my spelling is improving. And I can still touch type and faster than when I was in college. But I’ve seen a lot of people get old and I live in a senior’s apt building. Did you know that seniors start at 55? I never would have guessed. So there are people here between the ages of 55 to over 95. Many still work, I did till last year, when the physical work took me about 3 days to recover from – machine shop. Now I walk over 2 miles a day and sleep better and when I tell people I’m 72 (73 in the not all that distant future), no one believes me. I must be doing something right. (It isn’t voting on that side for sure…)
Baud
@Brachiator:
I hope she has a prenup.
Ivan X
@dexwood: Still, you get to tell the story!
Scout211
Did I miss the announcement that there would be no medium cool today?
JMG
@Martin: Why did Michael Jordan unretire all those times. Brady had two months with no goals to meet and got incredibly bored.
Steeplejack
@raven:
“God Bless the Child”: people don’t think of Billie Holiday as a songwriter, but she did that one (with Arthur Herzog Jr.), along with a few other classics. Nice version by Lou Rawls, from his great album with Les McCann, Stormy Monday.
WaterGirl
@Scout211: Oh, shit! That’s my fault. BJ told me 3 weeks ago that he would be in Mexico on vacation this week, and it fell out of my head.
Not much going on the past 3 weeks, no idea why I would have forgotten. //
Seriously though, so sorry.
dexwood
@Ivan X: Oh for sure. Not a regret for my elderly ass, just a stop along the way.
JPL
@Brachiator: whoops
Retired QB Tom Brady’s final touchdown ball goes for $518K at auction
Baud
@WaterGirl:
I…I… can’t believe you’re imperfect.
Baud
@JPL:
Haha.
NotMax
@WaterGirl
30 splashes with a pool noodle.
Sunday Will Never Be the Same.
;)
Scout211
@WaterGirl:
No worries. You could have said you announced it four times in the past week and I would have believed you! ?
I just popped in today to visit the medium cool thread but many jackals added very cool (not even medium!) music to this thread so it’s all good. ?
Ruckus
@JMG:
I believe that most any professional sports participant will play until they no longer can play to their level, or the injuries are too much. I saw this when I worked in professional sports so often that it seems like it must be written down someplace. But with that competitive level and effort it takes to get that high up in any professional sport, quitting is not all that easy. Above I commented that I’ve retired and that’s after a lot longer of doing one of the kinds of work that I did for decades the effort required is just not enough to motivate you any longer. And it’s best to go out before you fail at whatever.
Ruviana
@lowtechcyclist: Laura Nyro’s version of Wedding Bell Blues. She hits that first note so perfectly. It is the best. That is all.
Brachiator
@Ruckus:
This makes a lot of sense. Interesting to see it confirmed by someone with inside knowledge.
Soprano2
@Scout211: Mine too. Hubby has an IPad I bought him so he can monitor our eTrade account. He knows how to look at our business bank accounts on it. Other than that, he doesn’t use computer technology. He calls me his search engine. He doesn’t have any kind of cell phone. I don’t know what would happen to all my accounts if I died first. Since I’m 14 years younger the odds of that are low, but not zero.
Ruckus
@lowtechcyclist:
It might depend upon your age. I remember Laura Nyro very well. Her voice was something special, there just are not that many humans that can sing like she did.
@Ruviana:
I agree with you on her singing in Wedding Bell Blues. She had a clarity and smoothness to her voice that was special.
Ruckus
@Brachiator:
Professional sports are of course different as well, the skills required, the effort, the work and workmanship. But everyone I’ve followed or worked with had all that. I dabbled in the sport I ended up working in and it didn’t take long to realize that while I had game it wasn’t to the level necessary. Working in pro sports OTOH, that I could do. The egos that often go with the talent and effort I could do without though. That is in no way universal but is seen more than often enough that it is a real pain to put up with.
Soprano2
@dexwood: Which college? Our local state university makes a big deal out of the fact that Turner attended for two years.
Bishop Bag
I saw Laura Nyro at UC Irvine Crawford Hall in about 1970? Just her playing a Grand Piano for accompaniment. Wonderful show,,,Wonderful singer…
She was really shy between songs.
Soprano2
@Ruckus: Musicians never retire unless forced to by bad health. Our previous choir director was 83 when he retired, and he still conducted another group for a couple of years. He died of Covid in December 2020; he was 89. They’re having a memorial concert for him on March 27th.
Ruckus
@Soprano2:
I understand. I worked in a physical sport. At some point your body, no matter how good it got to, at some point it no longer is capable of serious professional level participation. Most occupations people can work at a lot longer. I did, I retired from a job requiring physical effort every day after I turned 72. I was never physically good enough to participate in the professional sport I talked about and worked in years before. I still understand how to do the work I retired from and am still capable but the day in day out grind I can no longer deal with. And I worked there from 63 to 72 yrs old. My working life spanned 60 yrs. Started at 12 yrs old, in the same line of work I finished in. I worked in other types of work and was in the Navy doing something completely different from any of the others, I’ve had jobs in 4 major different lines of occupation and have owned 2 different kinds of businesses. We all have our limits and our limitations and some jobs/lines of work are harder on the body than others.
Matt McIrvin
@Wyatt Salamanca: Like I said, Republicans can’t decide whether to complain that Biden is soft on Putin or to side with Putin.
Steve in the ATL
@Scout211:
Minimum, medium, maximum cool
Soprano2
@Ruckus: I had a boyfriend who said it’s not the years that make the difference, it’s the miles. I’ve got co-workers who’ve done outside work all their lives, so I understand.
Shalimar
@raven: I just saw the Terry Kath documentary this morning. Poor guy. The guitar brilliance and fame meant he never really had to grow up.