Just saving this here, as I don't trust any social media site to not delete stuff for no reason.
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I will almost certainly regret naming this recurring post Sunday links. However, one of the links is an essay is on optimism, so let's roll with it.
The New Scientist Editor Sumit Paul-Choudhury, on the power of optimism, even in the face of something as tragic as his wife's from cancer.
I think this article comparing the constant fight in nature between predators and prey (foxes and rabbits in the example) to the issues between billionaires and the working class in spot on. The billionaires have taken too big a piece of the pie, and they are due for a population crash. Hopefully sooner, much sooner, than later.
A First Hand Account of Homelessness in America was making the rounds last month, but is well worth reading if you missed it then. The gap between middle class and homeless is much narrower than most of us want to admit.
Rambles.net is amazing. Over 17,000 reviews and articles in a circa 2004 design. It appears to be managed entirely by updating HTML pages. I don't see any sign of a CMS, and I can't find an RSS feed. It's a Web 1.0 time capsule.
The Cone Parade is a delightfully silly local NYD tradition.
Hunter shoots bear. Bear falls out of tree and lands on guy's friend, killing him.
This drone footage following the route to the summit of Everest is gorgeous. As I watched it I kept thinking...that doesn't look so tough. Click here for my Kickstarter to fund my summit attempt on Everest.
I hope the first real week of 2025 is a good one for everybody.
Remove the app from your phone. You can still access via a web browser if you really want too, but it's a pretty bad experience in a mobile browser and that will naturally reduce the time you spend there on your phone. This will also double your battery life as all that tracking that Facebook does kills your battery.
Appify the desktop experience. Open Facebook on Chrome and find the install feature in the menu. This will create an entry in your menu that says Facebook, which when used, will open Facebook in a dedicated Chrome instance that has the address bar, bookmarks, etc. all hidden. The only thing you'll be able to so in that window is Facebook. When done, close the app. Not having it in an open tab in your browser staring at you all the time will naturally reduce the time you spend there. Out of sight, out of mind, works.
That's it. It isn't rocket science. People that "can't" cut back on Facebook simply don't want to cut back on Facebook. Deleting FB would be ideal, but for many of us it isn't practical, as it has become the place we keep in touch with people we care about.
This is an ongoing series in which I dig into the dark corners of my MP3 folder and revisit some long neglected music.
Bonnie Bishop - Things I Know
Bonnie Bishop - Free
I actually own two albums by Bonnie Bishop, and we saw her play live for about 50 people at a coffee shop in Ashland, VA in 2012ish. She was Country-Folk / Americana with some bluesy vibes back when I was following her. I'm not sure why she fell off my radar. Her most recent records from 2016 on have more of a soul-pop flavor to them, and in clicking into the most played tunes off the more recent records nothing grabbed me like her earlier stuff did.
However, she won a songwriting Grammy in 2013 when Bonnie Raitt recorded "Not Cause I Wanted To," a song she cowrote. She also apparently got tired of the musician gig and took a break to go to grad school and get her Master's in Creative Writing, before getting pulled back into the industry.
The recorded version of my favorite tune from her isn't on YouTube Music, all I can find is this live video. which is still damn good.
Also check out The Best Songs Come From Broken Hearts
Verdict: I absolutely need to get the two albums I own back into regular rotation. Her more recent stuff doesn't grab me the same way though.
There are 293 top level folders in my Music folder on my desktop PC. That represents 293 different artists. Many of them have not been played in years. Over the course of however many months this takes, or until I get distracted and completely forget about this exercise (the more likely outcome), I'm going to revisit these lost gems to determine if they should be getting more love from my MP3 player, or if they are being ignored for good reason.
One issue I'm not sure about is how to organize this effort. I do not want to do one artist per post, as that'll create too many individual posts. I could just edit this post and change the date, which I think will put it back in the RSS feed as new. Would that be annoying?
I could also track this on a page, but pages are where content goes to die on a blog.
I don't think I need a definitive answer today. If you have an opinion hit the reply link. In the meantime, on to the first entry.
American Bang: American Bang
Released in 2010, this self-titled debut by Nashville based American Bang is a real banger. I see it described online both as Southern Rock and Hard Rock, but I don't agree with either. It's Hard Southern Alternative, maybe? The lack of easy classification probably had something to do with the short lifespan of the band. It was the only release by the band, which broke up after it's release. Three of the member went on to form The Cadillac Three and they appear to still be active today. The lead singer Jaren Johnston has written nine #1 hits for artists including Keith Urban, so I have to assume he doing just fine in the music world.
The album is fantastic though, not a single filler track on it.
Verdict: It's a keeper.
There are 293 top level folders in my Music folder on my desktop PC. That represents 293 different artists. Many of them have not been played in years. Over the course of however many months this takes, or until I get distracted and completely forget about this exercise (the more likely outcome), I'm going to revisit these lost gems to determine if they should be getting more love from my MP3 player, or if they are being ignored for good reason.
One issue I'm not sure about is how to organize this effort. I do not want to do one artist per post, as that'll create too many individual posts. I could just edit this post and change the date, which I think will put it back in the RSS feed as new. Would that be annoying?
I could also track this on a page, but pages are where content goes to die on a blog.
I don't think I need a definitive answer today. If you have an opinion hit the reply link. In the meantime, on to the first entry.
Update: I changed my mind. I'm doing individual posts.
American Bang: American Bang
Released in 2010, this self-titled debut by Nashville based American Bang is a real banger. I see it described online both as Southern Rock and Hard Rock, but I don't agree with either. It's Hard Southern Alternative, maybe? The lack of easy classification probably had something to do with the short lifespan of the band. It was the only release by the band, which broke up after it's release. Three of the member went on to form The Cadillac Three and they appear to still be active today. The lead singer Jaren Johnston has written nine #1 hits for artists including Keith Urban, so I have to assume he doing just fine in the music world.
The album is fantastic though, not a single filler track on it.
Verdict: It's a keeper.
Last night, on New Year's Eve, I was in bed by 11 PM. The only alcohol I drank was a glass of wine with dinner. Continuing the trend of healthy decisions, we took advantage of the bright, sunny, cool and very windy day to hike Malvern Hill Battlefield, just east of Richmond. Malvern Hill was the final battle in the 7 Days campaign.
The Union was set up in a very strong defensive position to cover the Army's retreat to the James River. Lee saw this as his final chance to strike a blow before the Union Army escaped to safety North of the James. It was a tactical ass-whooping for the Confederates, who lost 5000 men in about 4 hours of fighting. It was also a battle that probably should not have happened as General Lee did not make any decision to fight. A series of misunderstandings and poor communication led to the Confederates attacking with very limited artillery cover, trying to charge slightly uphill across about 800 yards of open field. It was a massacre.
The hike is advertised as 3 miles, although my GPS registered 4.3 miles of walking. I also logged 11 bird species on my first e-bird checklist of the year. The most exciting species was about a dozen Eastern Meadowlarks in the fallow corn fields that comprised the field of battle in July of 1862. This is one of the better preserved battlefields. Very little has changed on these grounds in the 162+ years since the battle.
