Clyde

@Daniel said: I haven't learned to use my fire extinguishers (I know - super dumb) yet or my very unusual trap door. Unusual trap door? Fire extinguishers have become extremely easy to use. Latest ones I was trained on, you: Pulled a locking ring to release a pin Pointed nozzle at fire Squeezed lever The powder type spray dealt with all types of fire. (No more turning a big heavy cylinder upside down for water spray No thoughts about not holding the funnel for icy pressurised gas)

@DougG Oh I have one... schmucks.

So I made the mistake of thinking that closing my Spectrum account would be quicker if I did it over the phone. Oh boy. They put me through to their account retention dept. Bastards. It all started out fine and I thought I was just speaking with someone who would take my directive, tell me what I owed, and close my account. What a spiel she went through. It was insulting. She seemed to forget that I had already switched providers and was only interesting in ending my relation with them. After 3 or 4 times of telling her I was in no way interested in what she had to offer I said, in a well-raised voice (I was fed up) that I'd go to my local office and hung up. The clerk at the local office actually sympathized with me. Apparently Spectrum has been hemorrhaging customers. I looked it up when I got home... Spectrum lost 172,000 internet subscribers in the second quarter of 2026. This follows a loss of 120,000 internet subscribers in the first quarter of 2026. Can't say I'm all that surprised.

We were surprised to see the Costco in Lancaster has shaded stalls for the Amish buggies. Know your customers!

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Yikes - pricey... I'm sure knock-offs won't be far behind. I've seen a number of printed t-shirts but would prefer a fabric with a design - button shirt...

Not a good choice of thread title on my part…I thought adding the tag would help but it probably didn’t… What got my attention in the article was the idea that websites may be specifically tailored to get picked up by AI. Sort of the next generation of SEO. And that people either won’t take the time or maybe don’t even think to investigate what sources the chatbot used. The possibility for mischief explodes with AI. This post was linked in the Guardian story and flushes it out more: https://responsiblestatecraft.org/israel-influence-chatgpt/

This is Jon Batiste’s lovely tribute to Dolly Parton: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1807922880366556 ️️️

I was reading about him and I didn’t realize that the RHPS was his debut movie. Wow!

@AndyD I worked on those bits a little bit yesterday, and my fingering is the same as yours. Of course I’m only just getting into this part, so it might change, or maybe my teacher will suggest a change. But this fingering is also in line with how the score is written, and I’d prefer to play it that way. In his video, Hugh Sung says he tries to make fingering choices that avoid over-stretching the hand. This is a good idea as a general rule, and I usually do the same. But those LH notes are not held notes and you don’t need to keep your pinkie on that Db (for example) so I don’t think playing those first four notes with the LH will necessarily cause an over-stretch. Actually, maybe it’s just as important to work on bringing the LH over (to the right) as you play those notes… I’m trying to remember which video it was, but I was watching someone play CdL with a nice overhead video shot and really noticing the horizontal movement of their hands. Anyway, I’m not saying I’m in a position to question an accomplished pianist like Hugh Sung, but for now, I’m going with the standard fingering. Also, as an aside, I seem to keep wanting to type this name as Huge Sung…. And the famous actor as Huge Grant… (Sometimes you can’t blame it on autocorrect…)

Some people are beyond stupid and ignorant. Big Al

As an adult I was in the office of a high school principal long ago. Cracking down on the kids was what he was talking about. Punishment was obviously was motivated him. Education was not on his mind. I think Burnside is an exceptional principal.

@Bernard I hope everything works out! Private (one-on-one) lessons can be quite expensive, so I can get why you might prefer the group lessons. Also, the group lessons sound like they have an interesting and compelling dynamic, I would be interested in that if we had something like that here. At the uni music program, the only group lessons they offer for non-majors are for very beginning level pianists. I think there's something called a studio class which is a group class and students play for each other (and the teacher of course). It kind of sounds like a semester-long masterclass. But you have to be a music major (or music grad student) to enroll.

So I also officially started working on Don’t Know Why yesterday. It’s a little tricky just because I don’t usually play jazz (or jazz adjacent). But it’s also almost comical how much easier it feels compared to Claire de Lune! DKW is also only 23 measures (not counting the repeats of course), so it’s a third of the length of CdL and that makes it feel easier as well. Having said that, this doesn’t mean I’ll be able to play DKW with the proper jazz inflection. We’ll see. But it’s super fun to play and I really like the arrangement I picked.

Also, Italian plums/prunes are ripe here, and they’re perfect in plum torte. [image: 1787703006044-05f54ea9-19cf-46a5-953a-b4e23e669309-resized.jpeg] Recipe here It’s a mashup of recipes, and benefits from cornmeal being subbed for part of the flour.

A traumatic brain injury can result in the skull hitting or being hit with less than 10 mph or force moving against a stationary object. At least that's what the advocacy group told us after my then 16 year old brother's skull hit the stationary A pillar of a crashed truck at 40 mph with no seatbelt. Anyone who thinks some football players aren't being severely damaged is an idiot.

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https://www.inquirer.com/health/measles-deaths-lancaster-county-pennsylvania-20260825.html Pennsylvania reported two measles-related deaths on Tuesday, the first fatalities from the highly contagious disease in the state in 35 years and the only deaths involving the highly contagious disease confirmed nationally so far this year. The deaths occurred in Lancaster County, the center of a major measles outbreak that has sickened nearly 400 people this year, state officials said. Both people were unvaccinated.