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Off Key - General Discussion

A place to talk about whatever you want

2.7k Topics 19.2k Posts
  • Pinned threads

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    Great!
  • Just my luck…(health update)

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    Shan't be playing the Minute Waltz today. And have 5 carpets (bedrooms & landing) being 'delivered to the front door' at midday. [image: 1763623402433-20251120_072117.jpg]
  • Saudi Public Investment Fund low on cash?

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  • What about this 'house'?

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  • James Comey

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    Piano*DadP
    Passive voice FTW, as always.
  • The Dems are sweeping up tonight!

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    wtgW
    Check out NJ. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/15/us/politics/latino-voters-new-jersey.html?unlocked_article_code=1.1U8.3k6_.6xwphnf-_S_V&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
  • Has Marjorie Taylor Greene ...

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    wtgW
    Larry, Larry, Larry… https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/11/20/summers-leaves-teaching-at-harvard/
  • Recipes for cold weather

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    wtgW
    @jon-nyc That looks great. I have a kabocha squash that needs cooking; I wonder if I could use it instead of the butternut.
  • This month's piano recording

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    ShiroKuroS
    Thank you @Marchant and @Big_Al @Big_Al I love this piano, and that sustain always makes me happy! And thank you for your nice comments about my articulation! @AdagioM said in This month's piano recording: are you able to pedal, after your most recent injuries? So, my long-term problem is with my right foot, but since I got out of the boot, I've been able to pedal -- and the doc even said as long as it doesn't hurt, and esp. because it's not weight-bearing, that the movement of pedaling is good because it encourages blood flow. Luckily! The foot with this most recent injury is the left foot, which I use to turn pages, and I actually was thinking it's lucky that I made this recording before I broke my toe, because now I can't do page turning for a while. I sort of think I'll probably be able to do page-turn pedaling before it's fully healed, but I'll wait until my follow up appointment and consult before I try it. Right now I wouldn't even want to try, I'm sure it would hurt! But again, luckily that just page-turning. When my ortho first told me that he suspected I would eventually need surgery, that would be on the right foot, I of course immediately thought about piano. ... 12 weeks of Bach? What else can you play with no pedal?? I can't play anything with no pedal!
  • The Chicago kidnappings have begun

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    wtgW
    ‘Not something we deserve’ — Longtime Evanston resident describes 53 days in ICE custody “It was so unfair seeing what he went through because I had the privilege of being born here but that doesn’t make us any different.” -Daniel Patino, on his brother Jose https://evanstonroundtable.com/2025/11/19/not-something-we-deserve-longtime-evanston-resident-describes-53-days-in-ice-custody/
  • Mountains of waste

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  • Bloomscrolling--what's in bloom where you are?

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    wtgW
    Ha! There is something blooming around here after all. Mr wtg and I went for a brief walk which took us past our friends' house, and lo and behold, their witch hazel is in fragrant full bloom!! I smelled it before I saw it. I love both the scent and the delicate spidery-looking flowers. [image: 20251119_151929.jpg] [image: 20251119_151941.jpg] edit: About witch hazels. https://www.thespruce.com/witch-hazel-growing-guide-5191457
  • Win for the day

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    Yahoo!
  • Inside India's lottery scams

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  • The new system

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    wtgW
    At a Justice Department conference in February, then-acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove told the department's top drug prosecutors that the Trump administration wasn't interested in interdicting suspected drug vessels at sea anymore. Instead, he said, the U.S. should "just sink the boats," according to three people present for the speech. https://www.npr.org/2025/11/17/g-s1-97836/venezuela-evidence-doj-strikes-sinking-suspected-drug-boats-assertations
  • What do you think of this house?

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    AxtremusA
    Congratulations!
  • Pete’s take

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    dolmansaxlilD
    @Daniel Not just in the US. Canada has a similar housing crisis. I bought our house in 2011 for $150,000. The (conservative) estimated value today is $450,000. Nothing about our neighbourhood has changed. No new services or anything that would have increased the property value. My kid and his girlfriend pay $2400 a month to rent a small two bedroom apartment in a nearby small city/large town. That’s almost twice my mortgage payment, yet even if they could save up enough for a down payment (while also paying that ridiculous amount in rent), they would never be approved for a mortgage because paying rent does nothing for your credit score.
  • About that Khashoggi guy

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    wtgW
    Mary Bruce from ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/trump-saudi-crown-prince-murder-jamal-khashoggi-127650855
  • GOP plan in Utah backfires

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    wtgW
    A panel of federal judges blocked Texas from using its new congressional map, which Republicans drew earlier this year in an effort to shore up the party's narrow House majority in next year's midterm elections. The ruling, signed by Judge Jeffrey Brown, who was nominated by President Donald Trump, ordered Texas to use its previous map that was drawn in 2021 instead. “The public perception of this case is that it’s about politics. To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 Map. But it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map,” Brown wrote in the ruling. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/federal-court-blocks-texas-redrawn-congressional-map-rcna244673
  • A harrowing encounter with ice

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    @Daniel