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PostPosted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 1:40 pm
  

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Arlo Fanatic

Joined: Sep 13, 2000
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Location: Pixley-- Actually An Hr South of Richmond, VA
I bet you'll be ready for the ear plugs lol. Have fun...


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PostPosted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 11:52 pm
  

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Quote:
I bet you'll be ready for the ear plugs lol. Have fun...


Big nasty green ones. :mrgreen: But a chance to record my son's first band. They're a hot klingon rock opera. It's been awhile since I found him on the couch on Christmas morning staring at the toy keyboard synth. It's a nice moment with the Buddha.

Here's something for the Sabbath. It's a choral piece derived from a previous instrumental for 12th night. I finally have Sibelius (software) upstairs where I can work on the scores. Once it sounds good in Sibelius, it's usually playable live by the real instruments, and as sample synths go, it's a pleasant rendering.

http://home.hiwaay.net/~cbullard/mp3/Epiphany2.mp3

Happy Sunday morning!


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PostPosted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 2:54 am
  

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Joined: Jul 30, 2008
Posts: 374
Location: Washington, DC
Well, Len, it's 2:20 a.m. and why am I up so late? Because, of course, I knew about "The Guild" and had even watched an episode before (and liked it), but up till a month or so ago, I only had dial-up, so my online video viewing was fairly limited. So I get home tonight and figure I'll watch another...and another...Felicia Day is quite talented...I knew that from seeing her in Dr. Horrible, but it's really quite amazing what she's put together...I just read that Wil Wheaton is going to be the "big bad" for Season 3. And this on top of Leonard Nimoy joining "Fringe." I'm there. Also can't wait to see her appearance in "Epitaph One" for "Dollhouse" (Whedon's latest...started off iffy but I was really liking it by end of the season).

Liked your "Epiphany"; a nice way to end my evening audio/visual experiences.

I hadn't thought about demon metaphors for our current condition...interesting. This thread had reminded me of Firefly and Serenity (big screen sequel to "Firefly", have you seen it?) both in general themes ("People don't like to be meddled with. We tell them what to do, what to think, don't run, don't walk. We're in their homes and in their heads and we haven't the right. We're meddlesome.") and the parallels between the flu "conspiracy" discussion and the main plot of "Serenity"...of course Mal is a big libertarian hero and...if I were not so tired right now I would write an extensive essay comparing/contrasting Mal and Arlo and get the discussion back on track. :idea:


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 12:06 pm
  

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Hi Eileen:

1. Yes, I've watched most of Whedon's work with the exception of DollHouse. I'll catch up with that on DVD.

2. Thanks. Epiphany is an ongoing work that started with an improvised instrumental, then I scored a version and continue to work on that. All sweetness and melancholy.

Arlo put a lot of topics into the post that starts this thread. Throughout them there is an archetype of dark forces that control our lives unchecked, so yes, the demons metaphor is apt, and Mal isn't a bad model for that kind of thinking. That isn't paranoia on anyone's part. It's real enough.

The insidiousness of the web is my demon. The rise of the tethered devices through which our entertainment, our news, our conversations, heck, even our phone bills arrive and depart mapped to our bank accounts should cause even the most sober among us to take notice.

In two decades or less they will be burning effigies of Tim Berners-Lee. We no longer own the songs we buy or even the hardware. We are renting our passions in exchange for access to the controls over our own cultural evolution.

Some yak about The Singularity glowingly or fearfully, the rise of the machines. I think the Singularity is bad math in service of technology over science to sell droids. It won't happen (sensitivity to initial conditions guarantees churn, not convergence). What is happening and is happening now is control over your finances, your education and even what you can listen to is concentrating in ever fewer hands as a result of the very technologies we were told would free them.

EMI morphed into Apple iTunes. WLS morphed into Spotify.

Meanwhile, every Blackberry, cell phone, Tivo or any Internet device has become a leash and a whip. Now it is a matter of time to see if that pacifies or enrages our culture. My bet is we will simply accept it with some questions but like Arlo As Republican, it won't change the beast because we seldom challenge convenience.


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 11:06 pm
  

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Joined: Jul 30, 2008
Posts: 374
Location: Washington, DC
And control over our genes. That's the one that gets me. The whole idea that genes should be patentable is just repugnant, but it's been happening. I saw the documentary, "In the Family," last year -- it's about the struggles of families dealing with the BRCA gene mutations (which are linked to breast and ovarian cancer -- Christina Applegate is one of the more public figures facing the dilemma) -- and the company which has a patent on the gene mutations not only controls testing (at $3K) but also is able to control the ability of researchers to study the gene mutations. ACLU and another group filed a lawsuit over it a few months ago, and it'll be interesting to see how it goes (http://www.aclu.org/freespeech/gen/brca.html). I don't know what decision I would make about testing if I was in that position (the whole idea of these gene mutations seems like a sick cosmic joke), but I would want to have the option to make my own decision and I would want other scientists to be able to research further.

And it goes even farther than this. Let's take the cookie analogy. What happens if some insurance company decides that yes, they'll pay for testing, and once they know a person's test results, they start dictating what they will and won't cover. So, for example, somebody tests positive for the gene mutation and their insurer says, "We'll cover the surgery, but we won't cover your cancer treatment if you actually develop cancer, because you could have avoided the cancer by having the surgery." Or, "We don't think you should have children, given the results of your test, so if you do, we're not going to cover them either." Maybe i'm speculating wildly, but I could see it happening.


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 12:14 am
  

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Joined: May 29, 2002
Posts: 578
Location: Dallas, TX, USA
mikey, I agree.

Bobbi (D)


mikey wrote:
Wow, ADG a card-carrying Republican! It's the world turned upside-down, and your Dad is doing cartwheels in his grave.

Seriously, all of your points are valid. I agree that there isn't a whole lot of difference between the two parties in this country, but there IS some difference. The Republican party's last great impact on social change was nearly 150 years ago with the abolition of slavery, and even that came about more to preserve the union than anything.

Advances in civil rights, voting rights, environmental protection laws, occupational safety laws, anti-trust laws, and laws to provide an economic "safety-net" for the poor are all agendas that would never have seen the light of day if we had to wait for Republicans to advance them. Just my opinion.

mikey (D)


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 9:57 am
  

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Arlo Fanatic

Joined: Sep 12, 2000
Posts: 6517
Location: New Jersey
Nixon went to China, Arlo joined the republican party.....maybe Obama will join the KKK next? :wink:
I'll take Arlo at his word that he is looking to change the republican party from within and assume that he did not join the party for what they are, but rather for what the once were or could be. Again, to afix a label to it, it sounds to me that Arlo has more of a libertarian philosophy.
Much of the opposing philosophies of the major parties, or at least many of the citizens that belong to them, may revolve as much around thresholds on many issues as they may revolve around polar opposite views on a particular issue.All the while, I'll assume that most of our citizens share more common goals than not, with how to get there being the point of contention. Most people want to be free, safe and secure both physically and finanically.
Thresholds....who decides where there are to be placed?
Defense:
As much as I dislike violence, if you are holding a gun and about to fire it at my daughter or grandaughters, if I got a gun and I have the chance to pull the trigger first, you're toast. If you have a gun and may use it at sometime in the future, but I'm not really sure, you're safe from me if I have one too.
Banking regulation:
Most of the population are "the chickens", so simply don't let the fox guard the henhouse.
Personal freedoms:
If the republicans are the party that is for less government intrusion, why is it that they are the ones that oppose gay rights and abortion and are more likely to trample the bill of rights during times of war(of choice). Of course the same republicans bristle at the thought of government intrusion into bussiness.
The democrats are more the opposite, intruding more into bussiness and less into the other above stated issues.

Ok, I'm starting to ramble.....maybe I should run for office.
It's all about finding the "Goldylocks Zone".....not too hot, and not too cold.............just right!
The fact is, we need government, but we need to clearly define it's role and we need to clearly define the limits of it's power, and we need to clearly define thresholds on issues that the government may decide that are consistant with our freedoms and our constitution.
Much of this is more difficult now than when the constitution was written because of more advanced technologies, but should be easier in some regards due to more social enlightenment.

Ok.......just one coffee, and off the cuff.


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 10:29 am
  

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Arlo Fanatic

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Posts: 1201
Who canceled the sexual revolution and why?


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 10:35 am
  

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Posts: 6517
Location: New Jersey
revolutions by definition revolve. maybe somebody just changed the direction of the revolution. kinda like playing a record backwards....maybe.
I mean it could change everything.
you know what they say happens if you play and old country record backwards doncha? You get your job back, you sober up, your wife comes back, your dead dog comes back to life, you get out of jail.........


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 1:25 pm
  

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@Larry: One answer from a History Channel program:

Women. They won.

You got it with the change of direction. It morphed into radical feminism. Here's the kick: it made Sarah Palin possible.


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 1:38 pm
  

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Location: New Jersey
I guess I know stuff that I don't even know. :? :)


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 3:39 pm
  

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Posts: 1201
Creative destruction, kali or apoptosis...

"the differentiation of fingers and toes in a developing human embryo occurs because cells between the fingers apoptose; the result is that the digits are separate"

You may not know, but the toes know. You pop toes.


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 4:12 pm
  

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Like we know there's nothing funny about the 'funny bone'......it's just that anatomists found it humerus :)


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 Post subject: I am so happy!
PostPosted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 5:53 pm
  

BlunderVirgin

Joined: Jul 28, 2009
Posts: 2
I cannot tell you how happy I am to see your political affilition is so close to mine. I am registered independent but I voted for Bush Jr twice. I also voted for Perot but I have learned to regret it. Third parties don't help much. I voted for McCain but I wished we had had Sarah sooner and she could have run for president. Well she still may. I just love how she ran corruption out of her state and her own party. She is a new broom and that is exactly what we need.

Anyway, I want to welcome you to the conservative side even if I am a few years late. I loved the movie Alice's Restaurant. I loved your fathers work. But I have come to see that law has replaced the need for unions. Unions might be useful again if we can shrink the government. But they are pretty useless right now. And one of the reason we need them so little is because your dad was an activist for their cause. At the time that was a needful thing but these days a lot has changed.


I see there is an option to disable similes. How does that work I wonder... Let me switch it on like a light switch. There. Does it act like a censor? Will it be like big brother and remove only the similes it dislikes and pass others like a whimsical poet?


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 6:06 pm
  

BlunderVirgin

Joined: Jul 28, 2009
Posts: 2
Wow mikey, did you know that in 1964 the Republican party pushed through the opposition of the democrat party to pass the Civil Rights act which the democrats opposed? In '64 Gore senior was fillibustering the Civil Rights Act. Did you also know the Voting Rights act was passed in 1965 by Republicans pushing against Democrat oppostion? It is, as they say, history.

Democrats are the party of low expectations for minorities. Democrats make them second class everthing by lowering education standards for minorities. Then everyone knows they were not held to the same high standards certain other races are held to.

Race is a stupid word: we are the human race. That is the only race I know.

I do not want to allow certain races to be held to lower standards on SATs or anything else. It denigrates them and their abilities. It makes them second class.


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