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the Beast's Lair

Entries in this blog

cats

Cats Grieve

You have to know them to understand, but they do. When they are missing someone, they look for them, call for them, and wait for them in their usual places. After a while, somehow they know their person isn't coming back, and it's heartbreaking to watch.      
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in cats

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writing

Real Life (is being a bitch)

My Mom is in hospice care. I'm glad someone else is doing it because I just couldn't. I'm going to lose her, but in truth, she's already gone. I keep going to her bedside and reading to her. She smiles. I know she hears me. It won't be long now. She has Dysphagia, an inability to swallow, and is losing weight rapidly. If I vanish for a while, I have much to do.  
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in writing

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caregiving, loss

Something you don't know about me.

In 2017, my elderly mother fell and broke her hip. She was ninety at the time. I became a full-time caregiver. Her hip was fixed by surgery, but she needed time to recover and physical therapy to allow her to stand and walk with a walker. It took some time to get her there, but she was able to dress and take care of herself. I had to fix meals, do all the household chores. This has been a long, hard grind. Rather than getting better, it was a long, slow decline. In February, Mom h
mad ramblings

A quick primer on COG - A Taste of Nightmare Fuel

Continuity of Government (COG) First really became a serious concern in the fifties at the height of the Cold War, when everyone with a chemistry set was playing with weapons of mass destruction. This made a whole generation of officers, who made their spurs after the surprise attacks on Pearl Harbor, extremely worried. COG (Continuity of Government) are the contingencies, plans, and facilities to continue government activities and operations after a major attack or large-scale
mad ramblings

Please stop with tornadoes == climate change. It's not just wrong, it's idiotic.

We had a terrible tornado that ran through Mississippi two weeks ago Friday. Many talk babblers have attributed this to climate change. It's not. The South and Mid-West are prone to seasonal tornado outbreaks. It seems worse because our population is denser. Tornadoes that used to blow down trees out in the country are more apt to hit something now. The Rolling Fork tornado isn't even the worst tornado in our state's history. In 1966, an EF-5 destroyed a large swath of South Jackson, killed
mad ramblings

It's not aliens, we're already here.

Aliens are not invading. Why would a civilization who can cross light-years invade us with weather balloons? Now, we Vampyre, we've been here all along. Hollywood never did get us right, despite all the hints we dropped. Bela Legosi? Humph! Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt were better, but they've never done us justice. We were stranded on Earth, oh about sixty thousand of your human years ago. If that date rings a bell, that was when Neanderthals went into a steep decline and moder
recipes, southern

Super Bowl Salsa

OK. I'm going to provide you one of my secret recipes. Don't spread it around. This salsa makes others look sad. It's not blazing hot, but it is delicious! Needed: Food Processor Dried chili peppers: 1 each Ancho, Pasilla and Mulato (Chosen to be mild, if you want hotter salsa, pick hotter peppers) 5 large tomatillos 1 Jalapeno pepper, cored without seeds 3 cloves garlic 1 medium-sized white onion 1 teaspoon salt   Instructions: 1 - with t
music

Jeff Beck - One of the best there's ever been

Jeff Beck died Jan. 10th. I can't describe how good he was as a guitarist. He was enormously talented, played for the Yardbirds and, practically, everybody else in rock. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice - once was a Yardbird and again as a solo artist. Jeff Beck Dies Suddenly of Meningitis (ABC) Here's one of my favorites. If you have a streaming service, do yourself a favor and look for some of his work. I suggest the albums Blow by Blow, Wire
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in music

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Interesting stuff

Are we in for a Volcanic Winter?

The Hunga-Tonga Eruption may have had something to do with the severity of this winter.   This eruption occurred slightly less than a year ago (2022 Jan 15) and was classified as a five on the Volcanic Explosivity Index(VEI). Some may even argue it was as much as a six. In the case of this volcanic eruption, satellites recorded the entire thing and showed the explosive plume reaching the mesosphere.   There have been many incidents of volca
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in Interesting stuff

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culture war

Paramount to sell Star Trek Franchise!

Paramount has done such a fine job with Star Trek, turning it over to the 10,000 Woke Monkey's Typing script shop, Gene Roddenberry wouldn't even recognize it and would be horribly embarrassed by it. Star Trek offered an optimistic, idealistic post-scarcity vision of the future. It offered insights into technology that inspired its child viewers to grow up, become engineers and invent the tech. What the hell were they thinking? They took something inspiring and wonderful, then shit all over
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JamesSavik in culture war

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humor

Technical Difficulties

Speaking as a tekkie, there are times when you have a huge charlie-foxtrot on your hands and there's nothing you can do about it. A tiny little resistor, capacitor or transistor decided to commit suicide and takes your system with him. It's totally NOT your fault, but you are the TEKKIE on the spot and take the heat for it anyway. Having been there and done that, I suggest 1) have a thick skin and 2) a sense of humor. Murphy will visit you. It's going to take you x amount of time to fi
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in humor

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recipe

Shrimp & Wild Rice Cassarole

All this can be found at any Walmart. You'll need: 2 X boxes of Uncle Ben's Original Wild Rice 1 pound of small peeled shrimp 1 onion diced 1 bell pepper diced 1 clove of garlic diced 1 cup cheese - your choice but I like medium cheddar   Steps 1 Make the wild rice according to directions. 2 Dice the onion, bell pepper and garlic 3 Combine vegetables, wild rice and shrimp in a mixing bowl and stir evenly 4 Place shrimp and rice mixture
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in recipe

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70s stuff

Something We Used to do in the Seventies

I was new at school and a kid I played sports with invited me over Saturday and said, bring a couple of your favorite albums - the more obscure, the better. We love hearing new stuff. HAA! Boy could I ever do obscure. I took Can Future Days, Yes Close to the Edge and ELP Tarkus. This wasn't exactly a party. It was just a few dudes with albums showing up with chips and snacks and listening to music. It was always cool. We got to hear new stuff. I literally heard Kansas for the firs
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in 70s stuff

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cats

Jeb Stuart

Meet my pal, Jeb Stuart. We met one-day last spring and I knew we were going to be pals from the start. He was a young Tom riding on the back of a terrified medium-sized dog. I fed Jeb and eventually tamed him enough to adopt him.   Why Jeb Stuart? We live in Mississippi, he's gray and obviously a cavalry man.
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in cats

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progressive rock

My Music Collection, Part 2

I've been working on it and have my collection sorted by group and release year (when known). It includes all CDs and vinyl. There is more to add but I'll be parsimonious about adding it as it is stuff I might unload on e-bay. Yes- I do have doubles of various things I might have on the trading block. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3 Doors Down The Bet
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in progressive rock

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progressive rock

Lessons of Music

Rush was a band that got me in trouble.   Back in the mid to late 70s, my parents didn't really care what I listened to. We were far enough apart, and my stereo modest, using headphones my noise was never a nuisance. I think they actually liked some of my Yes.   The problem I had was when we had a revival preacher that was a real fire breather who preached about the devil, all of his works and his cunning snares for youth. Of course, it was this album that caused our conflict.
progressive rock

How I discovered Can

How I discovered Can   My discovery of the Krautrock band Can was one of the more improbable bits of serendipity to fall in my lap. The improbability of a German Experimental Band's music and a Mississippi teenager crossing paths had to have been quite low.   In the 70s my family would drive into Jackson, Mississippi on weekends to shop at a big store on highway 80. It was a big, day long event not to be missed.  Just around the corner from the strip mall was Be-Bop Record Shop-
prompts

Reddit Prompt

I saw a prompt on Reddit I couldn't resist. A prankster in the future rigged a tank with speakers blasting heavy metal, traveled back to the 1400s, and went on a 2 month havoc filled joyride. Now in 2022 you are reading the legends born from those that witnessed this event. __________________________________________________________________   Trouble in the Provinces "Angus laddie, whatever is that bloody racket? "It sounds like thunder sire."
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in prompts

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progressive rock

Dear Hunter's - The Color Spectrum

In 2011 The Dear Hunter, a progressive rock band, released an album that intrigued me since I heard its premise. The Color Spectrum is a concept album composed of nine EPs each corresponding to the colors black, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet and white. Each color is interpreted in a series of four songs that invoke the flavor, emotion and feel of those colors. It was so unique I've been curious about it for years. I finally found a copy of it on eBay and have been jamming
Home Audio

What is a DAC and what do they Do?

Many people are asking: What is a DAC? And Do I want one? A great many people play music on their phones and computers. That's all well and good, but have you ever listened to the difference between the all digital sound you get from your computer and a dedicated analog stereo system? The difference is so real it's astonishing. There is a good nuts and bolts technical reason why analog and digital sources sound so different. It is because of the nature and the difference of analog and
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in Home Audio

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art

Would you like to play a game?

Do you want to read or listen to music for fun? I understand perfectly. After all, what's the point otherwise? We ask too little of our art these days. We want it to give us a few laughs. We like to be entertained, maybe excited or even frightened. We don't often ask that it teach us anything and that's a shame. That's what art is for. It's supposed to challenge you, disturb you, open your eyes, expand your consciousness and understanding. There is another level to reading and listeni
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in art

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Home Audio

Cambridge Audio Christmas

This Christmas I had two choices: either I let my old stereo die or replace it with something new and modern that could do things like streaming my old system could not. I've been replacing it by bits, but my old amp was on its last legs. I did my homework. I read reviews, looked at specs and found something I could afford and gave me the kind of options I wanted. The core of my new system is a Cambridge Audio ARX-85. It's a capable little amp that can push 85 watts over two pairs
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in Home Audio

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media

The Unblinking Eye

The Unblinking Eye Once upon a time, the news of the world came to us at the sedate speed of the newspaper man's Linotype. The news of the world would arrive at your door every morning along with sports, comics, book reviews and obituaries. On its way, editors might decide that the typhoon in China or the earthquake in Persia wouldn’t be of interest to local subscribers. Sometimes the images of distant disasters and war took weeks or months to end up before the public.
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JamesSavik in media

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science

Scientific Consensus

Scientific Consensus Alfred 1 Wegener (1880-1930) was a German meteorologist who picked up an interest in geology. He wondered why some continents like Africa and South America fit together almost like a key? He began to wonder: do continents move? In Victorian times such an idea seemed ludicrous as every good Christian fundamentalist knew that the world was 10,000 years old. Anyone who might suggest processes like Wegener s or his contemporary James Hutton that to
JamesSavik

JamesSavik in science

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