December 6, 2019

The Friday sunrise run.

1. In the car, waiting for Meade to join me for our morning outing, I listened to Bach's "Concerto for Flu"... you know, Bach's "Concerto for Flu"?

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2. In the comments, Howard said, "What a Bum. Meade doesn't warm up the car for you? He better be fixing you bulletproof coffee or something." I had been up for 3 hours by that time (about 7 a.m.), and I had already had enough coffee. Meade was getting his first coffee of the day, and he probably would have preferred to have gotten to the car first, because he did not appreciate my style of driving, which he called "herky-jerky," because it splashed his coffee over the rim of the unlidded cup. Funnily, that happened at exactly the same place where his driving splashed my coffee out of its unlidded cup 2 weeks ago.

3. I've got other photographs to post here, but I took the time to put "Concerto for Flu" up over at Facebook, which — for its own reasons — quoted to me something I wrote exactly 3 years ago. It was interesting, because out on my sunrise run today, I was imagining someone asking me how I liked retirement, and my answer was simply I love the freedom and independence. Back then, I wrote: "I'm down to my last 3 classes. It's an interesting test of whether it's the right idea to retire. I could be thinking: Oh, no! I'll never do this again, I must savor the last few moments! But I'm not. I'm just in the usual mode of doing the same thing one more time. There are always new insights and unknowns and excitement about interacting with a group of students, but that I can see that I'd prefer to have my time free to read and talk about whatever I want at any given moment. And I prefer to have conversations with people who are talking to me because they're into doing exactly that — not as a means to an end or because it's required but because of its raw intrinsic value."

4. The northern view at 7:22 (actual sunrise time was 7:15):

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5. If you got here a bit earlier, you'd have seen a different picture there at #4. I mixed up my pictures and mistakenly showed you the eastern — CORRECTION: WESTERN! — view at 7:32 (which was much more vivid!):

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6. This eastern view is the classic sunrise orientation, and here's how it looked at 7:40 (with ducks and geese):

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7. A glove ambiguously pointed the way:

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8. The view of the Capitol at 7:24:

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9. A view, looking north, at 7:26:

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86 comments:

Beasts of England said...

I like his Pneumonia Waltz better.

rehajm said...

...yet given the ubiquity (Mozart, Beethoven, Paganini, Schubert, Schumann, Smetana) never a Symphony for Syphilis...

Ralph L said...

Driving around at 64 degrees? You'll hear your death!

tcrosse said...

never a Symphony for Syphilis...

Well, there's Les Sylphides.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

When down with flu - what could be better?

MadTownGuy said...

Don't forget Mozart...The Magic Flu, and Strauss' Der Fludermaus.

The Crack Emcee said...

The leader of Level 42 took his own life.

Needless to say, I can only imagine what that's like.

Howard said...

What a Bum. Meade doesn't warm up the car for you? He better be fixing you bulletproof coffee or something.

Anonymous said...

I got a mental image of an orchestra full of flu victims; coughers in one area, sneezers in another, groaners where the percussion should be.

Fernandinande said...

That was George Harrison's idea but he changed "flu" to "Bangladesh".

Ken B said...

Did I miss the lede yesterday in the Biden outburst? He said he wasn’t sedentary. That came out of nowhere. But then he said he was running. What prompted the weird comment about not being sedentary? Was it the thought he was ... running??

Howard said...

I really like that one crack, is that from the archives or is it a more recent vintage?

rehajm said...

What a Bum. Meade doesn't warm up the car for you?

That 64 degrees looks like the auto temp setting and not ambient temperature. That’s some kind of shivering Snow Miser choice. Maybe the layers of cold weather apparel dictate such...

Maillard Reactionary said...

Wait until you hear his Concerto for Guitar and Catarrh.

Quayle said...

The Radio Station presumed the wrong Bach. Concerto for Flu was composed by PDQ Bach.

mockturtle said...

There could be a Fugue for a Fugue State.

tcrosse said...

PDQ Bach wrote the Concerto for Horn and Hardart.

Hagar said...

Iirc AA has the house thermostat set at 64 degrees F and wears gloves in the house in the wintertime.

Quayle said...

I believe PDQ Bach composed the piece during his Souse period. During the 1800s it was usually performed as one of the movements of the Pervertimento For Bagpipes

Ann Althouse said...

The room temperature for daytime is — during the heating months — 62°. At night, it's set to 55°, mostly so the furnace doesn't malfunction by getting frozen (at the colder ground level).

The car temperature, of course, needs to be low — should be even lower! — when we've got our coats and gloves on, which we do, because we're getting right back out of the car in 5 minutes.

It can be pleasant in the wintertime, if you're on a long drive, to throw your coats, etc, in the backseat and enjoy an indoor type temperature in the car.

gilbar said...

can we ALL agree, that the Boogie Woogie Flu is more better?
to say Nothing about the Rockin' Pneumonia

The Crack Emcee said...

Howard said...

"I really like that one crack, is that from the archives or is it a more recent vintage?"

Thanks. "Sugar Free (The 5th Level)" has been laying around since about 2003-4, but I haven't had anywhere to put it (The LBGTQ cult wasn't invented yet, so it was frowned upon by many...). "Cops In The Hall" (also seeing it's first light of day after being damaged - check out the ending: it's a paste job) goes all the way back to 1990. I was just learning how to make machines "sing" then, but I was still really proud of it, so it's survived.

The Crack Emcee said...

Needless to say, "Concerto For Flu" has a grand vomit encore.

Tank said...

Tank only wakes up at 4 AM to go fishing. The idea of running outside, in Wisconsin, in the winter, at 7 AM, is not a pleasant one.

Maillard Reactionary said...

PDQ Back is great. Every now and then the local classical station slips one of his pieces in without warning the audience about what's coming.

It can be a little hazardous if this happens when you're driving.

Big Mike said...

Do I understand that Nancy Pelosi just told other countries that “we’re stIll in” the Paris Accords? The United States is in a strange position — we are, per the President of the United States, out and yet, to my knowledge, we are the only country that has met our target under the Accords for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. And we are freezing our collective asses off!. Time to burn things and feed cows food that makes them fart!

Ken B said...

Bach wrote a concerto for flugelhorn?

Michael K said...

we are, per the President of the United States, out

Technically we are in since it takes a year to get out. Trump has asserted a plan to get out but Nancy probably hopes she will be in position to reverse that once Trump and Pence are impeached.

tcrosse said...

PDQ Bach's Eine Kleine Nichtmusik makes it impossible to listen to the Mozart original without hearing Schikele's additions.

Howard said...

They need to be convictioned first, Doc, before Nancy's rain

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

good day for a polar bear swim.

mockturtle said...

Bach wrote a concerto for flugelhorn?

Probably flute and piano.

Maillard Reactionary said...

Photos #4 and #5 show the character of the light on the water very well. I'd love to take a whack at those in Photoshop and show you what's in them waiting to get dug out.

Or maybe they're just snapshots. But good ones.

Leslie Graves said...

I don’t put a lid on my coffee either. Not when I’m driving and not when I’m the passenger.

Yancey Ward said...

I really liked the Trio for Trichinosis.

mockturtle said...

I really liked the Trio for Trichinosis.

Yes, that and the Duet for Duodenal Ulcer.

Linda said...

Two of the things I miss from my working days is getting up early to get my run in and commuting by bike to work.

I realize I could still get up early to run, and have actually been trying to get up a little earlier to get my morning walk with our now 6month old golden retriever, Utah or get a run in . . . all I have been able to do, is 1/2 hr earlier . . . 6:30 instead of 7:00. I am not stressing out about my extra sleep since I am currently undergoing chemo . . . And am doing a lot more walking - but still trying to get some runs in during my recovery weeks.

I always went into fall with hopes of continuing to commute via bike at least 2-3 days a week, but usually ran into some really cold and or snowy days and once I get out of the habit, it was hard for me to muster the energy of prepping for the bike commute. I think the latest I consistently biked to work was early December.

Your run is in a perfect location for sunrises. We live out in the Cherokee neighborhood on the North side of town. Our neighborhood has Cherokee Lake but the orientation is westerly and even if I ran down to Lake Mendota, I would be near Warner Park and again facing west. I am thinking about the best I could do is run over to Sherman Ave where I can overlook the airport which would be easterly.

You have re-motivated me to get out there in the morning. Now I will see if the motivation turns into action!

traditionalguy said...

You have some big damn ducks. They are big enough to lure Willie Robertson north.

gilbar said...

Phidippus said...
i'd love to take a whack at those in Photoshop and show you what's in them waiting to get dug out.


Professor Althouse; you have a great eye for composition, and i'm not casting asparagus at you.... But you might want to consider The Law of Thirds?
You (like ALL rational people) are putting your horizon about in the middle of most (lots) of you pix (not #4, it's about perfect), or kinda somewhere in the pic; instead of on the 1/3 line.
When my photographer friend Mark Boname started harping at me about the law of thirds, i was like:
What A LOAD of CRAP!
but then, I tried cropping one of my pix, and realized what mark said was right...
Inside EVERY picture, there's a good one waiting to get out.
Once I realized that the law of thirds Really worked, i started composing them while i was shooting, and thus needed far less cropping

anyway, pix #5 and #6 just need a little more sky to be Way more better (but, they're nice already!)

rcocean said...

I agree on 64 - 72 degrees is way too high for an indoor temp. Taking daily pictures is much more interesting in Madison than in San Diego. Variety.

William said...

When two roads diverge in the wood, the Black Hand society can sometimes offer guidance.

Laslo Spatula said...

Change the lighting on #7, desaturate it, and that would make for a killer horror-movie poster.

I am Laslo.

Unknown said...

I really want to steal that Concerto for Flu pic!

mockturtle said...

Gilbar @ 10:07 is right.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Bach is good for what ails you.

Wince said...

Bach's "Concerto for Flu"...

Biden's Concerto for Fat... so

Ann Althouse said...

“ Your run is in a perfect location for sunrises. We live out in the Cherokee neighborhood on the North side of town. Our neighborhood has Cherokee Lake but the orientation is westerly and even if I ran down to Lake Mendota, I would be near Warner Park and again facing west...”

You could drive. I drive, though it would only take 15 minutes to run to my start point.

I don’t want to run on pavement or to be around cars when it’s dark.

Ann Althouse said...

@gilbar

That rule is for people who are beginning to notice framing. It’s a rule of thumb. I’m going by what I’m seeing, and I am not reflexively putting things in the center. I stand by my choices.

Ann Althouse said...

You may want more sky in #6, but there was a lot of uninteresting tree in that spot.

Narr said...

Bach came up with some catchy tunes.

Cantata for Three Orifices is one of my favorites, but try not to sit in the pit.

At Potsdam (Germany) the guide assured us that Frederick II (the Great) was often said to be homosexual, but there was no proof. I wondered whether his poem "The Orgasm" dedicated to a handsome young Italian nobleman counted . . . The guide also went on about JS Bach's "Musical Sacrifice" by which he meant "Musical Offering," but without making clear the connection between between Old Fritz and Bach and his son.

Potsdam also has a very nice small Soviet military cemetery; moving and unexpected.

Not sure a lot of the tourists could put the XVII century in front of the XVIII anyway.

Narr
The King was a virtuoso of the skin flute, IYKWIM

YoungHegelian said...

What the hell piece was the JS Bach "Concerto for flu..."?

Bach didn't write a flute concerto. Was it a mis-labeling of Brandenburg Concerto #5, which is for flute, violin, & harpsichord? No one labels it that way, however. It's always Brandenburg #5.

Or, a mislabeling of Orchestra Suite #2 or the sonatas for flute & harpsichord?

Inquiring pedants want to know!

Tyrone Slothrop said...

Often paired on CD with Toccata and Ague in D Minor.

gilbar said...

Our Beloved Professor Althouse said...
That rule is for people who are beginning to notice framing
well, like all rules, there are times to break them; i wasn't sure if you'd known about it.
Your pix are very good; with a little more work; they could be great.
Of course, you're uploading them right off your phone, shortly after taking them; so they're raw.
You could (should?) consider doing a little more work with them once you get home, you might be surprised. ( i don't actually want more sky on #6, i'd want you to crop off a little of the bottom shore.

BUT!
They're YOUR pix, to do with as you will.

gilbar said...

I'm sorry, i couldn't resist cropping your pic, so i downloaded a copy and cropped it.
here's #6, cut to obey the law of thirds

I don't mean to steal your work, anymore than a homeless person in the 9th circuit means to illegally camp; we just can't help our selves. Complain,and i'll take it down

mockturtle said...

Well done, gilbar.

Ann Althouse said...

I have a creative commons license on the photograph so it's okay to use it, but I don't think the cropping is an improvement.

mockturtle said...

Bach didn't write a flute concerto.

True, YH. Just sonatas.

Ralph L said...

Iirc AA has the house thermostat set at 64 degrees F and wears gloves in the house in the wintertime.

Lives the Climate Change Dream, then drives a car to run.

Ann Althouse said...

"Of course, you're uploading them right off your phone, shortly after taking them; so they're raw. "

Not true. All my photos have been edited in Photos. They are exactly as I am choosing to make them. You are disagreeing with my framing and my editing, and I am obviously going to be disagreeing with your effort to re-edit for me.

Maybe go out and get your own photos.

tcrosse said...

Mozart Symphony No. 38 in D major, K. 504, The Plague.

Howard said...

I like that one photo that's almost all gray with just those nearly vermillion strips in the middle. It's probably just an optical illusion do to my color blindness but when there is a stripe of color in the sea of grey it just vibrates like mad for me.

Howard said...

Gilbar the rule of three is for children.

Get the Hambridge book if your interested in framing and design. You will like it it's got all sorts of math and s*** it's your computer geeks love

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Hambidge

Jon said...

@MadTownGuy: That's DIE Fledermaus. Know your German articles! (That's about all I remember from a college course in Deutsche...

The Crack Emcee said...

West Virginia suspends several after corrections officer class appears to give Nazi salute in photo

You'd think they'd know better.

I'd think different.

LA_Bob said...

I don't comment on your pictures much, but I do like them.

In this case, I'm especially drawn to "4. The norther view...".

The overall cast is bluish, at least on my screen. The water color and the cloudy sky color are similar, even with the traces of orange in the clouds. The rocks in the foreground expand asymmetrically from right to left, with the monotonous tone broken by the "crown" of white wave foam. The wave angles parallel the asymmetry of the rock foreground line.

In the distance two stripes of orange sky angle toward each other and intersect just a bit off-center to the right. The color contrast versus the rest of the picture is delicious and eye-catching.

The horizon could be just a smidge straighter. It is appropriately above the picture mid-line.

Nicely done.

rcocean said...

Pictures 4 and 5, could be a Winter picture of Puget Sound - on a nice day.

rcocean said...

Wow, they gave a Nazi salute as a joke. That is...troubling. Very, very, troubling. I'm full of concern. Think of what would've happened if no one had seen the picture?

Yeah.

Susan in Seattle said...

Lovely.

stevew said...

Ummm, pro tip: use coffee cups/mugs with a lid in a moving vehicle. Was the herky-jerky driving done to deliver some good-natured payback?

You and your phone take excellent photos.

Howard said...

I wonder if Rcocean would still think it's a joke if it were black cops wearing black leather gloves with the raised fist like Tommie Smith and John Carlos? Maybe it would be better if they just took a knee

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

There's an idea. a concert you have to have the flue to get in, instead of staying home like Ferris Bueller.

Link to video

gadfly said...

Trump issued a dire warning to Democrat lawmakers who are threatening him with possible impeachment charges.

“Someday, hopefully in a very long, distant future, you will have a Democrat president, you have a Republican House, and they’ll do the same thing, because somebody picked an orange out of a refrigerator and you don’t like it — so let’s go and impeach him.”


Somebody needs to explain to The Doanld that fresh oramges are not stored in the fridge.

According to Trump's illegal immigrant housekeepers, however, he uses a Bronx Colors concealer makeup from Switzerland described as “una naranja espantosa,” which roughly translates to “a scary orange.” Whether or not he stores the makeup in his refrigerators is not known.

rcocean said...

"I wonder if Rcocean would still think it's a joke if it were black cops wearing black leather gloves with the raised fist like Tommie Smith and John Carlos? Maybe it would be better if they just took a knee"

Nope. They were prison guards not "Cops". And if "Black Cops" had done what you said, no one would care. Including YOU.

Anybody can take a knee. Just don't do it during the National Anthem is playing and 10 million people are watching on TV. But then, that was the point. Which was not the prison guards point.

rcocean said...

Whenever I hear someone crying about someone playing a Joke like the WV Guards, all i can say is:

OK Boomer.

rcocean said...

All the old boomers need to understand. Hitler was 75 years ago. If you think Young people *care*, then you're wrong. They don't care anymore then you cared about your parents Taboos. To them, Hitler and Nazis are something to make fun of. Something that gets the old farts upset, because you said something "edgy".

Boomers can't control things forever.

Jaq said...

More than 500 legal scholars have signed on to an open letter asserting that President Trump committed “impeachable conduct” and that lawmakers would be acting well within their rights if they ultimately voted to remove him from office. The signers are law professors and other academics from universities across the country, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Michigan and many others.. - Washington Post

Oh my goodness.

mockturtle said...

What would the pearl-clutchers think about The Producers and "Springtime for Hitler?

Jaq said...

"Somebody needs to explain to The Doanld that fresh oramges are not stored in the fridge.”

And 500 “law professors” would sign on to impeach him for ignoring that rule! “Utter disregard for norms of behavior!”

tcrosse said...

How many votes do those 500 law professors have in the House and Senate?

gilbar said...

All my photos have been edited in Photos. They are exactly as I am choosing to make them. You are disagreeing with my framing and my editing, and I am obviously going to be disagreeing with your effort to re-edit for me.

Wow! i had NO IDEA that you WANTED them to look like that. WOW!! am i disagreeing
I have deleted your pic,
I DO my own pix, and Yours need work

Drago said...

Well well well!

It's our Poor Man's LLR Chuck gadfly!

After all of gadfly's 3 straight years of incredibly moronic and now demonstrably proven false economic and political "predictions" (LOL-whatever he/she/xe read on Media Matters website) I'm surprised he/she/xe had the nerve to show up on a day when the economics of this nation have not been this good in anyone's current lifetimes!

But that's our gadfly isn't it? Every bit as oblivious as ignorant!

Not to worry gadfly, I understand democraticunderground has some really "powerful" and "incisive" commentary as to why these great economic numbers aren't really that good at all!

Why don't you wander back over there and come back with an update.

And then, perhaps, you could grab your shinebox.....

narciso said...

the supreme court, apparently followed judge rao, and squashed the subpoena for deutsche bank,

Ann Althouse said...

“ Ummm, pro tip: use coffee cups/mugs with a lid in a moving vehicle. Was the herky-jerky driving done to deliver some good-natured payback?”

No, just changing gears, turning, and a bumpy road.

mockturtle said...

Gilbar: You should know by now that our beloved hostess does not take criticism well. In fact, she doesn't take it at all. :-) My late husband was the same way.

Robin Goodfellow said...

"2. In the comments, Howard said, "What a Bum. Meade doesn't warm up the car for you?"

Warm up the car? How dare you?!

Nichevo said...


Somebody needs to explain to The Doanld that fresh oramges are not stored in the fridge.


Where do you keep yours?