Innocent Bystanders

Sanity Amidst the Chaos July 26, 2020

Some language not safe for work.

Why Is a Duck? July 22, 2020

I got some pastels, so I watched a couple YouTube videos and did this:

Shostakovich, A Major Fugue July 21, 2020

So this is an incredible piece of music, but one thing I really love is that the pianist gives both some historic context and some music theory, so you can enjoy the music on other levels:

Hiatusing Again July 20, 2020

It’s a shame, because we were picking up momentum here, but I’m going to have to drop out for 4 – 6 weeks. I’ll be working 60-80 hours a week through at least August, so I won’t have any time or energy left for this place.

Hopefully Sobek and Retired Geezer can keep things alive.

COVID-19 Update: Through 7/19/2020 July 20, 2020

Here’s the updated COVID-19 casualty chart for the US:

New Post July 20, 2020

Honestly, not a big fan of seeing Transgender Pence when I open this page.

Here’s a chart:

I like how’s there are trendlines and data and whatnot.

A Modest Proposal for Pence and Xyr Gender July 18, 2020

Gad I’m terrible at this InsertFace app

As Joe Biden and his team approach the final decision date regarding his running mate, we’re all pretty sure that it will be a minority woman. How can the Trump/Pence team compete with this wokity?

I think it’s time for Vice President Pence to take one for the team.

The only way to one-up Joe Biden’s VP selection is to have a trans person as Trump’s running mate. And who better to be that trans person than the current VP? We’ve had a minority presidential candidate before, and we’ve had a female presidential candidate before, but we’ve never had a trans candidate for the presidential or vice-presidential slots. The GOP would crush the DNC’s wokedness.

This would also allay the LGBQT*.* community’s fears that Pence is hostile to their interests.

It’s a win/win, even for Pence. Now he can dine with anybody without needing his wife to be present, and it doubles the number of bathrooms he can use.

Our Magnificent Insignificance July 18, 2020

Saw this old (2013) photo of the earth as viewed from Saturn over at The Hostages, and it kind of made the bottom of my stomach drop out. Just seeing what a tiny little speck we are in our tiny speck of a solar system in a tiny speck of a galaxy in a universe of 2 trillion galaxies.

When I see that I think, “No Lives Matter.”

No Can Do July 18, 2020

I’ll see Sobek his cover and raise him this oldish Darryl Hall version of I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do). I hadn’t heard about this until recently, but apparently Darryl Hall has been remaking his old songs with new artists and putting them up on the internet. And all from his home.

Daryl Hall started Live From Daryl’s House, the free monthly web show in late 2007, after having the idea of “playing with my friends and putting it up on the Internet,” and the show has since garnered acclaim from Rolling Stone, SPIN, Daily Variety, CNN, BBC, Yahoo! Music and influential blogger Bob Lefsetz, who cited Live From Daryl’s House as a perfect example of a veteran artist reinventing himself in the digital age by collaborating with both established colleagues and newer performers.

Anyway, I dug this version of the old classic (though this remake itself is now 10 years old):

Everlong July 17, 2020

Here’s Rick Astley doing a cover of Everlong, by the Foo Fighters:

Cool cover by a cool guy.  I’ve always liked Never Gonna Give You Up, unironically.  It’s a genuinely good song.

COVID-19 Update: Through 7/16/2020 July 17, 2020

At least the numbers aren’t skyrocketing:

I’ll Smell What She’s Having July 16, 2020

This needs sound on and should be considered Not Pleasant for Work. But otherwise pretty funny in a sophomoric (my sweet spot) way: