Lost and Forgotten

My computer decided I wasn't connected and that the connecting device didn't exist so the last post was lost. I could have saved it to a text file. Not worth it.
Highlights of it were: it is raining in SoCal, wet and windy in Alpine, authority sucks when they are twits, people don't care because they like twits, my life in the cottage is like camping out in the woods in the mountains but with fewer trees, it doesn't leak in the rain, I have electricity and indoor plumbing and a bed--other than that and the kitchen conveniences, it is just like camping. My kitchen consists of mostly plug in appliances--2 burner hotplate stove, microwave, some kind of euro whatever convection oven that can make toast too. You have to supply the bread, though. It says "euro-pro". I wanted the one that said "euro-trash", but you don't always get what you want. You can get what you need, if you try sometimes.

The refrigerator looks like the real deal you'd find in a house. Still, this is a lot like camping, especially when it is cold and rainy and windy. Nothing like camping in the Everglades, though. I'm not sure much short of hell is. I've had friends and relatives who liked that--camping in the Glades. Not me. Not one single night, ever. It would have been good practice had I decided to go to Viet Nam, but I missed out on both experiences, Glades and the Nam.

Fair Tax people are trying to make the point that now would be a good time to transition over to that rather than blow all the taxpayer money on the Political Payoff bill, and that it would stimulate the economy in a way that would produce something useful. I'll let imaginations dream up metaphors along those lines. I'm very supportive of just about any alternative to taxing labor and income, especially under present code and setup. It's absurd that people have to fill stuff out pay to have someone tell them what to pay, etc. I know, but I don't give a damn how they do it in europe. My relatives left that place a long time ago, opting to farm, live with Indians and run amok over here.

This situation is as sinister as the foreign policies which have put our cajones in a vice controlled by foreign countries and lunatics. This place is potentially too much fun to be continuing policies which punish passion and create organized crime opportunities and markets.

I remember now. The lost post dealt with my question about whether the current design you see in wind farms for producing power from wind is really the ultimately best way. I believe there is enough wind at my house to power the place but means of harnessing wind power are not the best that could be devised, I don't think. I haven't designed the alternative but that doesn't mean the present machines are anything close to the best that could be done. I'm sure the wind could be of more use than it is, but my instincts are that the present windmills are a poor effort to do the job. Great design as far as bearings and blade, bad overall concept.

!La Musica por la Gente!

Or something like that.

I caught the Grammy show tonight. Most of it was apolitical which was nice. Then the worm who is the head Grammer cracker had to lobby for legislation and do his version of the "Yes we can" speech. Tacky, and transparently self serving. Politics permeates the music world even down to rinky dink blues competitions. Adding to it is not a commendable thing. Too bad people have to do that.

Many of the acts and artists were exceptionally good. Justin Timberlake is better than I realized. That boy rocked. I was surprised to see Robert Plant. I don't keep up with these things. Zeppelin goes country, and it doesn't sound bad. Of course teaming up with Alison Krause helps the effort considerably. They rock.

Radiohead was particularly inspiring, performing with the USC (I think) marching band, but the USC guys stayed stationary. It was an inspired thing. All those drums, how can that be wrong?

I've caught bits and pieces in the past and liked it this year more than any other time since Lionel Richie won about a gazillion awards. He did win, didn't he? Maybe he just played. It would be inconceivable if he didn't win maybe five or ten of those things. That was a long time ago.

McCartney is always a favorite of mine. Just showing up is good enough but he did OK performing.

The result of it was that it made me want to play. I wish the people who tried to squeeze politics into it would have put a sock in it and just stuck to the music. Can't there be an entertainment awards thing in which people don't talk about the president or Washington DC? It's sick. The sickest part is that some of those people are simply pushing something that gives them an edge in some way, at taxpayer expense. And being a great performer does not a political genius make. Often those people are not really capable of intelligent critical thought on matters unrelated to their particular talent.

In my opinion, Stevie Wonder and Justin Timberlake were the winners of my imaginary battle of the Grammy performers, and almost all the others were pretty good.