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Off Key - General Discussion

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A place to talk about whatever you want

  • Pinned threads

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    Great!
  • Word association thread

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    Humility
  • Be careful with weight loss drugs

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    ShiroKuroS
    @RealPlayer I didn’t know that, but I just googled and it said that he lost vision permanently in one eye and was told there’s a chance that it could happen in the other eye (although it has not yet).
  • Switzerland

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    Best trip ever! Waiting for flight home. Travel by deluxe train is superior to travel by tour bus. Both are superior to travel by car. Uber makes the last mile parts easy. Sightseeing in the German kantons is superior to the French/Italian ones. Food is superior in the French kantons. Italian food is a safe workaround anywhere but it doesn’t change much. There are two main grocery chains - Coop and Migros. They are in every town, even small towns, usually next to each other. Both are superior in every way to any I’ve found in the US. The grab-and-go sections are the reason why American fast food hasn’t gained traction as the food is superior at a lower price. The produce here is amazing - sourced worldwide, bred for flavor rather than yield. My orange came from South Africa, my peach from Peru, and they were fantastic! Swiss efficiency/precision is definitely a thing in the German kantons. French/Italian kantons not so much. The current fad where they make hotel beds with only a bottom sheet and a duvet is an abomination. It’s an abomination in US hotels as well. I may start traveling with a top sheet. Beautiful country, easy to navigate, friendly and interesting people. Definitely want to return in the near future.
  • New semester starts soon at the music school

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    ShiroKuroS
    @bernard your piano class meets weekly right? What? I was thinking about your class and I think it’s similar to what they call “studio class” here at the university music school. Except that studio classes are only for music majors, so I’ll never be able to take one. Today is my piano lesson day. It’s funny how much I look forward to it! I don’t think I’m making any actual progress with Clair de Lune, but I did add another two measures to the parts of the score I’m working on, so that’s not nothing. But the slowness with which I move through this piece is in stark contrast to how much more quickly I’m moving through the other two pieces I’m working on.
  • If anyone is interested ...

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    An excellent article. Thanks!
  • Thanks a lot, *ssh*le

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  • Art 2nd Thread

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    @RealPlayer It is art.
  • Tell us about your schools

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    I know I talk a lot especially about this so I'll give you a recap. For thing- New College, my alma mater, has the College Seal it's founders gave it. You can see it at the top of this Wikipedia page. New College of Florida - Wikipedia https://share.google/lkwNvlmkGUrnkw5SO The Founders create the College Seal. It's been this way since the 12th century. Schools create logos; ...use them for different purposes; ...change them; ... get rid of them, ...create new ones, etc. What you don't do is change the College Seal. The College Seal is the prerogative of the founders. I've never heard of this being done in the US. My alma mater has changed the College Seal three times in rapid succession. So, leaving out the two changes in the middle chronologically (and I know what they look like and where they still exist in "monumental" form on campus. Strangely, the one I don't have an image yet of #2 and #3 yet, although I know where to find one of them ("2") on top of the sigh with schools name on it as you drive past it (technically through it) on US41 (Tampa to Miami). So, now they have a 3rd pretend seal. I'm not making this up. The current "seal" is the logo you see at the top of the link for the campus bookstore. Official New College Bookstore Apparel, Merchandise & Gifts https://share.google/sWbuWQrv9FWpDZTFH The "administration" makes up its own rules as it goes along. It's hard to believe but I know it's true. @andyd This is a national news story here in addition to being a local and state news story. This is for two reasons. New College met metrics that could only be compared with a very small group of other schools in a meaningful way for decades. Then, this should tie it together, DeSantis, a Trump ally, our Governor decided he hated New College with a passion because he said it was "woke". He went about destroying the school and hiding its true history. Here is the reference I was making. I'm sorry is was opaque. This history belongs in a library. Its actual history is being deliberately distorted, flat out lies are being told about it, parts of the history (yes, all in writing) has been scrubbed from the official site, the alumni association was ended because every member knows perfectly well that New College is not, and can never be, a Christian nationalist school. First, he famously went after Disney because Disney was "woke". He didn't have the power to harm them. He tried hard and for a long time. His goal is to turn it into a Christian Nationalist school. He can't do this according to our national Constirition. It was private and non-sectarian when it was founded. It's been a public school since the actual school I attended took it over during the inflation crisis. So, his fantasy violates The First Amendment. His thing about having Four College Seals at one time is so strange it's almost funny. But there bottom line is the whole situation is trainwreck. So, @andyd I'm going to try my hand at writing a history and then self-publishing it.
  • Goodbye, Landlines

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    I reduced costs by cancelling my Spectrum Internet account. No landline. That would be equivalent giving back 25% if what I just saved. Hard no. My mobile phone is Verizon via (Walmart) Straight Talk. $50 My phone was locked to Straight Talk but I think there was a limited period Straight Talk could keep it lock. I don't think it's locked no. I have to double check. So my next step is to lower my mobile bill. I don't know. Tello looks like a possibility. I have to read more. I paid my phone bill today and my goal is to change the carrier before this billing cycle ends.
  • Trump, Xi, and the Mid-Autumn Festival

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  • AI Gone Wild

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    @Bernard Corporations avoid a lot. Trying to place accountability will draw the opposition of corporations. That is a lot of money. Makes forcing universal healthcare against the health insurance companies look easy.
  • Not this again

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    [image: FBFD0F3E-5FE8-4B12-A7A8-C8721F1126F4.png]
  • Non sequitur Thread

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    He asked for $5,000. I laughed in his face.
  • Alan might be a robot. The jury's out.

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  • Iran (Disclaimer-- the war, not the country)

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    Clusterfuck
  • What are you watching?

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    One more. I promise. Link to video This generation gap (specifically) is a cultural phenomenon at this. What made some of the younger ones so clueless, ignorant, self-righteous, arrogant and entitled? I don't know.
  • Whoa! I just found a new avatar.

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  • Saving Seals

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    Bump Edited. BTW- This is a great example of the destruction of US education. New College was a public school by the time I went there. It's defacto privatized by now. The money generating potential of New College made it stand out like a lighthouse. The US public education system is generally wing starved of resources. There are charter schools (de facto private) being aggressively supported by policy makers. Then there is home schooling. I only know about home schooling in Florida. The toddler stage of home schooled kids in Florida seems to end between 5 and 6. "Is our children learning?"- George W Bush
  • Written English, Misc.

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    As well you should.