December 3, 2017

Sunset, last night, just up the hill.

P1150787

Notice the person in the shot. She got out of a car to scurry over to that spot to get her own picture of our dear sun.

ADDED: And when you're a star, they let you do it.

23 comments:

n.n said...

A star rising at the twilight fringe.

Tommy Duncan said...

Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears

Jupiter said...

Don't try it if you're just a lousy planet.

chickelit said...

Our favorite star.

Unknown said...

There is a retired black man who sits at the bar; sometimes drinks beer, sometimes drinks wine. He is a bit of a curmudgeon, and often he keeps to himself, his earphones on. Sometimes though, when his earphones are off, we talk. He has a great laugh, like an old car trying to start up on a cold morning.

He loves old progressive rock. I love some of it, too. One of my favorites was the German band 'Can'; he didn't know who they were. I played a track on the jukebox. He hated them. To be fair, I think everyone in the bar hated them. The track was, like, twenty minutes long. I realized quickly I made a mistake. But the song kept going. And going. And going. Oh yes: the singer can't really sing, either. So that makes it seem longer, too.

So: he pretty much loves old British progressive rock, to be more specific. Even more, there is a unifying item that runs through the British progressive rock music he likes: the Mellotron.

You have probably heard the Mellotron, without maybe knowing exactly what it was. The flutes on the Beatles' 'Strawberry Fields Forever'? Mellotron. The flutes on Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven'? Mellotron. Hell, the cello on Oasis' 'Wonderwall' is actually a Mellotron. So you most likely have heard it, even if you don't listen to prog rock epics about elves. Although 'Stairway to Heaven' is long and kind of elf-y, really.

The mellotron was a monster keyboard that was pretty much an analog sampler: each key played a brief tape snippet of an individual recording of a particular instrument in that note. Flutes, cellos, strings, voices: it was often used to give a symphonic sound when one didn't want the trouble -- or the expense -- of hiring a symphony.

Of course, it didn't sound exactly like a symphony. The tape sounds could randomly distort, compress, warble, wobble, especially if multiple keys were being played. As such things often do, that became part of the Mellotron's charm.

The Curmudgeon says "Yeah - yeah! Mellotron!" He then puts his iPhone on the bar and shows me the app he has for a Mellotron simulator. It looks like the old-school keyboard, and when you press the 'keys' you pretty much get the sound of a Mellotron. A digital sampler of an analog sampler. Of course, the digital version doesn't randomly distort, compress, warble, or wobble, but I do not attempt to say this. Sometimes you sound like an idiot, going into that kind of detail.

And, anyway, that damn German Prog Song was still going on the jukebox.

- james james

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Was just perusing the comments at The Atlantic website and was vividly reminded why I come here so often. Right or Left, their commenters are, almost without exception, retards. God bless you, Althouse commenters. You're the H. L. Menckens on Internet commentary ( I modestly exclude myself from this congratulatory observation. Also the cut-n-paste commandos, who are the dim-bulbs of any forum).

chickelit said...

Je retarde, donc je suis

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

We speak French here, too! Zut alors!

SteveBrooklineMA said...

Driving into Madison this morning at dawn, I was treated to a spectacular view of the setting super moon. If you’re up tomorrow morning, check it out!

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Also the cut-n-paste commandos, who are the workhorses of any forum. The cut and paste commandoes do the work for you, you lazy bastard. Just like the tidbit below.
———————————
“Former "Access Hollywood" anchor Billy Bush confirmed again that it was Donald Trump's voice on the famous 2005 video that recorded Trump bragging about crude and degrading behavior toward women.

The New York Times reported last week that Trump has told at least one U.S. senator and other people that he didn't believe the voice on the tape was his — even though he directly confirmed the remarks and apologized for them a month before the presidential election last year.”

Inga...Allie Oop said...

And vous êtes un bâtard paresseux to you.

chickelit said...

@Inga: Who's that in your new avatar?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Tonight there was super moon.

link

Unknown said...

> But these have given way to light, both spiritual and intellectual. It’s been fortifying

Billy Bush achieves drama queen nirvana by confessing 2nd hand to Trump's "sins" via 3rd hand reading of accusation "stories".

in most popular article in NYT.

Yancey Ward said...

Was just perusing the comments at The Atlantic website and was vividly reminded why I come here so often. Right or Left, their commenters are, almost without exception, retards.

That is because most of the essayists in The Atlantic are retards.

tim in vermont said...

Any disqus comment thread is a war of attrition.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Isn't Billy Bush taken care of as a member of the Bush clan, and therefore working only for the lulz, or more charitably, to avoid being or seeming to be an idle richie? Or possibly to extend family powerbase tentacles into media? As such he would be expendable, and know it. Might lead him to not spoil things by defending himself too hard. Anyway one doubts that he or his will miss many meals.

Michael K said...

The explanation of what is going on is well covered in Andy McCarthy's new column.

The "Collusion" story is over. The new plan is "Obstruction of Justice" and the aim is impeachment.

Mueller is in sync with the DNC talking points as shown by DiFi on the talking head shows yesterday,

Now, all they have to do is win the House, next year. I doubt they even imagine they could force him from office.

Vengeance for Clinton by getting him impeached in the House would probably be enough.

It would interesting if they succeeded and the stock market crashed sending the country into a depression.

Maybe that is what Soros is after. He made his fortune on short sales. I've been trying to figure out his motives for over a year,

Jupiter said...

Inga said...
... "the famous 2005 video that recorded Trump bragging about crude and degrading behavior toward women."

Inga, you ignorant slut! Trump was not "bragging about crude and degrading behavior toward women". He was marveling at the crude and degraded behavior women are capable of.

So C'mon, let's see you prove him wrong. Do something elevated and refined, like parading around with a crude replica of your external genitalia on your head.

Jupiter said...

Just imagine about a hundred thousand *men* marching around downtown DC with crude replicas of their external genitalia on top of their heads. I am still wondering what the rest of the World made of that one.

Jupiter said...

Like, when the homosexuals want to have a big protest march, do they all put on asshats?

Meade said...

Dear Sun,

Your mother (Earth) and I were so delighted to see you earlier today. Now, your dear sister (Moon) has come by to spend the night with us. By the way, she is looking super.

Hope to see you both again soon.

Good night, Sun.

Big Mike said...

Inspired by Meade, and reminiscing about reading to two little toddlers some 30 years ago:

Good morning, Merry Sunshine! How do you wake so soon?
You've frightened all the stars away and shined away the moon.
I saw you go to sleep last night, before I stopped my playing.
How did you get way over there and where have you been staying?

I never go to sleep, Dear Child, I just go round to see
The little children of the East who rise and watch for me.
I waken all the birds and trees and flowers on my way
And then, come back to see the child who stayed out late to play.