The Chat Thread

[ibanezmonster]

Does this mean that you now have time to go to the gym?

Exactly! 

I am really excited for the end of the semester. My last final exam is the day before I leave to go see Messiaen's Turangalila-Symphonie in Chicago. Then I come back and have a week to study for my PhD qualifying exams (which I'm not too worried about, so it should be pretty low-key).

Good luck and have fun with the Turangalila. 

[ibanezmonster]

Breaking my own alternate picking speed record... 32 notes per second down the D Minor scale (this pattern: A G F  E - G F E D, etc.). Notes are perfectly clear, too, when I do it right.

It's like going from Super Saiyan to Ascended Super Saiyan...

[Florestan]

retiring in my 40's so I can stay home and play video games all day until I die is definitely going to stay my goal.

You can achieve it much earlier. Wake up late one day, play video games all day and shoot yourself in the head at midnight. 

(Sorry, couldn´t resist.)

[Karl Henning]

Au pied de la lettre . . . .

[ibanezmonster]

Visiting a house full of hardcore D&D players when you've never played it yourself... 

I'd probably love it if I ever got into it and played it, but it's just not gonna happen. You know what's interesting is that despite how nerdy it sounds when people talk D&D, overhearing people at the gym talk super seriously about the NBA playoffs sounds just as nerdy in some ways. I'm saying that as a basketball fan, too.

I can only imagine how some of us musicians sound in "normal" company. 

[Ken B]

It's hard not to notice the SJW types are doubling down on crazy recently. Thomas the Tank Engine as a villain? Play-doh safe spaces? Paddington Bear? I wonder if this is because shrieking and mau-mauing is alienating normal people. Are we seeing something analogous to a distress crop?
One can at least hope.

[ibanezmonster]

Distress crop?

[Ken B]

Distress crop?

A dying plant, say in a drought, will often produce an excess of fruit or seed as it diverts resources from its own survival. This is called a distress crop. Then it dies.

[ibanezmonster]

A dying plant, say in a drought, will often produce an excess of fruit or seed as it diverts resources from its own survival. This is called a distress crop. Then it dies.

Sounds about right. 

[Todd]

Is this what passes for investigative journalism now?


I admit, I read the Grauniad primarily to keep up with hot click-bait topics and op eds, and mush-brained lefty "thinking", but this is just sloppy, lazy, and manipulative.  The front page leader says: "Special Report: Oil firm makes $48bn a year - you've probably never heard of it.  It has more staff than Google and is worth more than McDonald's - meet Schlumberger, the oil world's most secretive operator." 

Of course, if people bother reading either the general business press or even just the business section of a local newspaper, then the name Schlumberger is not at all new.  (I first encountered the name about twenty years ago - and I've never worked in the oil industry.)  And they don't make $48 billion.  That implies profits. Revenue is about $48 billion.  This is very clearly a cynical misuse of language.  It's almost as if the authors and editors are lying.  Is it really surprising to learn that Schlumberger has more staff than Google?  Google is well-known for not having a particularly large number of employees given its perceived size and power.  That's quite common among Silicon Valley companies.  The authors then label the CEO "elusive".  Does that mean he furtively slips in and out of secret entrances - or just that he avoids the press?  (Perish the thought!)  I'm trying to imagine what might happen if the reporters and editors ever learn about Saudi Aramco or Lukoil.

This reminds me of an interview I saw once of an old lefty activist who said that he started reading the Wall Street Journal because, he was surprised to learn, they actively and regularly report on business activities overseas, including dealings with governments.  He was a conspiracy theory-light type - global companies trying to rule the world, etc - but I still found his disclosure telling.  (If memory serves, the interview was on Bill Moyers' PBS show.)

By all means, let's have a press that investigates bad corporate behavior and exposes misdeeds, and holds political leaders to account when nothing is done, but I wonder if it is too much to ask for quality journalism.  Or does yellow journalism never die?

[Karl Henning]

The angels weep.

[ibanezmonster]

http://www.clickhole.com/article/9-inspiring-photos-will-make-your-brain-spray-good-2406

[EigenUser]

Greg, you should seriously consider getting this book -- it is awesome! And it is only $20. Over 300 pages with illustrations, diagrams, and it is the size of a textbook/workbook. My copy just came on Monday. I wish I had ordered it a few months ago.

Some of the really technical details are a little bit dry, but there is enough humor thrown in so that it isn't a problem (i.e. for the short section at the end on curls "Since you are going to do them anyway, we might as well discuss how to do them properly..."). Overall, though, I actually think it is pretty interesting. Lots of explanations involving physics and biomechanics.

[asin]0982522738[/asin]

[Ken B]

Greg, you should seriously consider getting this book -- it is awesome! And it is only $20. Over 300 pages with illustrations, diagrams, and it is the size of a textbook/workbook. My copy just came on Monday. I wish I had ordered it a few months ago.

Some of the really technical details are a little bit dry, but there is enough humor thrown in so that it isn't a problem (i.e. for the short section at the end on curls "Since you are going to do them anyway, we might as well discuss how to do them properly..."). Overall, though, I actually think it is pretty interesting. Lots of explanations involving physics and biomechanics.

[asin]0982522738[/asin]

I have heard good things from someone else too.

[ibanezmonster]

Greg, you should seriously consider getting this book -- it is awesome! And it is only $20. Over 300 pages with illustrations, diagrams, and it is the size of a textbook/workbook. My copy just came on Monday. I wish I had ordered it a few months ago.

Some of the really technical details are a little bit dry, but there is enough humor thrown in so that it isn't a problem (i.e. for the short section at the end on curls "Since you are going to do them anyway, we might as well discuss how to do them properly..."). Overall, though, I actually think it is pretty interesting. Lots of explanations involving physics and biomechanics.

[asin]0982522738[/asin]

Cool, looks like the book is filled with useful info (looking through the Amazon preview).
Mainly, I just do bench press/squats/rows when it comes to barbells...

[EigenUser]

Cool, looks like the book is filled with useful info (looking through the Amazon preview).
Mainly, I just do bench press/squats/rows when it comes to barbells...

I do bench press, squats, deadlifts, and standing press. I've never done barbell rows before -- no idea why, but I just haven't gotten around to learn them. I probably will eventually. Deadlifts are fun and feel great. A few weeks ago I hurt my back doing cable rows (nothing serious, but it hurt). The following week I tried deadlifting cautiously even though my back still hurt. I swear, my back almost stopped hurting entirely afterward.

[ibanezmonster]

So I read this today: "If people are so happy about Caitlyn Jenner getting her perfect body, then why were people so mad at Cell getting his perfect form?"

[Karl Henning]

So I read this today: "If people are so happy about Caitlyn Jenner getting her perfect body, then why were people so mad at Cell getting his perfect form?"

Don't mind admitting I do not understand half of this.

[ibanezmonster]

Don't mind admitting I do not understand half of this.

It's okay. Here's a visual guide.







AND WITNESS MY FINAL FORM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ken B]

Don't mind admitting I do not understand half of this.

Nor I. But sometimes it's good to be old.