Ron

@wildone Ron is not amused. No, he is not at all amused. Cheeky! I’ll give you cheeky, with a side of witty discontent. So, there, I’ve gone and done it.

And there we have it people …. Snarky was never added to our collective mood. Oh, what will we do?!!!

I would have if I could’ve found it (or if I were willing to play along) but, alas, I could not. It should have been the first one listed — don’t you agree?!

Whoa, get separate rooms you two. How are we going to learn anything if we can’t get away from the farm? 😉(winky-face). Must I; Do I; Should I telegraph my every mood(?): @wildone (not so secretly named, Steve) says ‘yeah, It’s the newest thing on the block, baby.’ But then @Krista exclaimed under her possibly-less-than-advertised dominant side — but with a side of wishy-washy — before relaxing into the ultimate surrender of a 🤷‍♀️(female shoulder-shrug) ‘what-to-do; what-to-do?’ malaise. Please do consider this a snarky response 😬 (grin of the Cheshire Cat kind).

I hadn't had my fill of Benjamin Herman and proceeded to listen to True Love's Flame from 2022. I had planned on listening to just a couple of songs. Either my stereo system was excelling beyond my expectations (not the first time I suspected it of doing so, much to my enjoyment) or the music was just that more compelling than that of Collected Dutch Courage, and at the same playback ... Nevertheless I listened to the whole shebang. Really great music! Here is a simple sample (snort):

I'm listening to Benjamin Herman's Collected Dutch Courage at 44.1 khz (CD quality, meaning the music is sampled 44,100 time every second for the possibility of amplitude volume) and a bit-depth of 24-bit (which determines the actual number of amplitude volumes - going from a CD quality of 44.1 khz/16 bit to 24 bit is the difference in representing a musical volume from 65,536 bits of values to over 16,000,000 values), which as you might expect offers a greater level of detail. But, regardless the music stand for itself on for this work. And to that matter, what a great album to listen to if you're into Jazz. Here is the last song for this release ...

Oh my, somebody is making effective use of A.I. in this video. The music is good too. But it might be better with a less-than viral presentation. Having been inflicted with my first cold since the covid pandemic despite my continual wearing of a mask in social areas, I'm absolutely against damn viral bugs of any sort.

Duh!

Oh, I've been a want-a-be rich person at one time or another. One time I got food poisoning of the most-highest degree (Both sitting and bending over, one need fighting with the other at times no less throughout the night.) while visiting friends in London on an extended layover and the evening before a flight to Singapore the next day, late afternoon. Crossed eyed and depleted of electrolytes (I'm sure.), I slowly made my way to the Quantis lounge, where I promptly drank several glasses of orange juice [helpful, unknowingly]. There, through the grace of whatever God you want to pray to, I was able to request one of those airport jockeys with their electric carts to whisk me away to the correct gate for departure (After much assurance on my part that I was capable to make the flight. [Hint, I really wasn't. I needed fluids and antibiotics; that's clear to me now].) when the time came. I was in Business Class, thanks to my former partner for the luxury of it. Afterwards, when everyone had settled through the proscribed prerequisites, I put on my airline-issued jammies and footies in the not-so-cramped restroom for the class I had the privilege to travel in and extended my 'bed' and promptly went to sleep. I suppose I could reduce my post in one summation: Lounges, yea! Just this one time! (Snort)

I've been recently thinking that my speakers (Bowers&Wilkens 683 S2 floorstanders and two 13" subwoofers capable of extremes of 2,500 watts peak dynamic power) weren't giving me all-they-got so to speak. To correct this musical deprecation, I was forming an opinion that I must reassess the positioning of all my speakers (subs are speakers too). That is nuclear among the options available to me as it requires a lengthy process of listening critically versus listening enjoyably after the realignment and digital sound processing. The result is a much-improved sound - generally. I put on James Blake's Friends That Break Your Heart, Tidal Audio streamed via Marantz AVR (which is how I listen to most music) streaming in better-than-CD quality, this time ... . WOW. I'm not changing a damn thing!

Please see word of the day: Ethics

I've been playing this game of chance and skill I call 'get-the-number right' I made up for myself. I pour out a pile of pistachios in their shells on my counter whereby I make a guess of how many will equal 28g unshelled by weight. I've been close with my guessing but not close enough. Tonight, and for the very first time I poured out exactly enough to hit 28g on the money. Awesome!!!

So many creatures and so little time. If you don't hear from me sooner, then you'll hear from me later (better later than not at all, I hope).

I'm listening to Bjork's Biophilia. I recall my first impression and experience of her in the movie Dancer in the Dark twenty-five years ago, now. I was extremely impressed with her voice. I've been an off-and-on listener over the years. I need to be in 'just the right mood.' I guess tonight's that night.

What are you on about?

Ah, ah! I bought a head of cauliflower for purposes to be determined. It was a big head full of promise, but ended up being one of little substance — on the inside it was full of air, meaning the gaps between florets were massive. My intention was for a couple of slabs of dense cauliflower simmered in a previously made amatriciana, pasta sauce until tender wasn’t to be. Instead I chopped up a half a head of airy cauliflower and with some additional no-salt-added chicken stock added to the pasta sauce, it would have to be enough. Taste tests indicate a ‘Bravo’ is in order. Experimentation is the mother of invention! Edited to correct a spelling mistake as pointed out by a friend.

I’m happy to see that you’re digressing, and the dart wasn’t so keen. 😉

I made a random, jarred curry-mix of Tikka Masala for dinner. This reminded me of my time in Singapore. There was a government subsidized hawker-stall venue next to the condominium building where my former partner lived. Just beyond that was a stall that sold several versions of curry-based opportunities: Lamb; Beef; and Fish. Sometime, when my Ex was traveling, I would ask for the fish-based curry sauce, but without the fish in it (somehow, I always thought of the actual fish as sus, but I still ate the sauce ). I would dip their made-to-order roti prata bread (sometimes with an egg inside) into the curry and slurp it up while watching Game of Thrones on an Ikea shag carpet in front of a small Samsung TV with a wonky Wi-Fi connection, but at least there was a good sound system involved. I managed to never spill a thing and today I find that remarkable.

Oh, Honey! We've all been there at one time or another.

I cannot remember the last time I laughed so hard when reading a story. I began by wiping tears away, then blowing my nose, and I ended up laughing and coughing so hard at one point I had to use my rescue inhaler. "This just in ... A man is found slumped in his chair, his face stuck in a rictus of laughter and with a finger pointing at his computer screen. More news at eleven." The culinary assassination list here is long and perhaps deservedly so in some respects. I recall watching the 2022 Netflix docuseries Down to Earth with Zac Efron: Down Under and being duly impressed by the efforts of those providers and provisioners attempting to get back to nature and sustainability with food sources. Very impressive if not always attainable. In any event ... Bravo. This was a very enjoyable read.

(I somehow feel both immortalized and dismissed at the same time. And damn it, Aaron got that line! It belonged to me; it was right on the tip of my tongue. ) This unexpected monster mash(up) of the authors was a surprise. It's good to have a story that fits the anthology: Monsters? Yes. Feelings? Yes. Comedic relief? Yes. The trifecta for late night viewing, er reading.

I like this partly because I'm a sucker for silly humor and the stories underlying skein. I might have liked it better in a different venue. As it is I see merely the thinnest of connections to the anthology theme, and for that please consider the shoe as having been chucked.

I wanted to like this more than I did. This anthology called for some pizzazz, I think, and I was expecting to read something more akin to that than the opposite.

I just finished watching Emma Stone in Easy A and I can’t remember ever seeing a clip of Huckleberry Finn used as a homoerotic interracial reference (of the ‘no-no’ kind), but there it was near the end of the movie. ( Questionable, yes). ( Anachronistically included, yes.) ( Unquestionably humorous at a perversive level, yes.)

If we combine Southern Africa with North America and South America and Russia with a side order of Australian seduction, what do we get? Meanwhile, in Massachusetts we are just sitting on one another’s faces.