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I’ve been in a state of transition over these past several months since retirement. One result has been my complete inability to write anything in this humble blog. Not because there’s nothing going on, but because there’s too much. These times overwhelm me with the relentless pounding of the good, the bad, and the ugly.
So, in an effort to break out of my writer’s block I’ve decided to reflect with a bit of music for these times.
So this is Christmas. After a bitterly long year that still isn’t over we are in the season of peace and goodwill towards all men. I think anyone could be excused for not feeling particularly “Christmasy” about now.
But, I want to think there is still some good in this season.
So let’s see. The world is in the grip of a one-hundred year pandemic that’s raging out of control in the world’s nominally most advanced nation. (That would be us). Forest fires are burning up California while a category four hurricane wipes out Louisiana and Texas. We have more wild protests in our cities due to yet another black man shot by police on-camera. Meanwhile, the Doom-and-Gloom Republican National Convention enters it’s fourth and hopefully final day, bearing a message that electing the other guy means a dystopian American future of plague, pestilence and violence in our cities.
Time for some music.
So another July Fourth celebration has come and gone. This year, the year of the pandemic, was a rather muted celebration. We had the obligatory fireworks in my neighborhood, but there were no concerts I know of anywhere around. No big celebrations south of Washington, D.C.
But of course, in Washington, the Mango Mussolini had to have his party, just because. I wish those party-goers well.
I discovered this lovely bit of music yesterday when Winnie sent it to me via her WeChat app. This music video “We Are One” has been making it’s way around the world for a while already, but I just now heard it. I think this music and accompanying video is a perfect metaphor for everything happening in our world today, in more ways than one.
I’m so old I remember watching the classic TV sit-com “M*A*S*H” back when the shows were airing for the first time. The show was a classic in too many ways to count, but part of the draw was the iconic theme song. That song, “Suicide is Painless,” has been running through my head these past few days as I watch the amazing spectacle of right-wing protesters demanding they be allowed to get the coronavirus.
I’ve witnessed a lot of stupid from the right-wing branch of American politics over the past years, but I don’t think I’ve seen anything quite approaching this level.
So the world is on fire right now. Stock markets are collapsing, a pandemic is raging across the globe, a buffoon is occupying the role of “Leader of the Free World,” and our supermarkets are out of toilet paper and hand sanitizer.
But things could be worse – we could be in a Groundhog Day time loop living the same day over and over again. So we need some music for these times.
I’ve posted about this Chinese Violin-playing Goddess before, and see that it’s time for me to post again.
So we survived another year and made it into 2019. All things considered, I think this deserves a little celebration.
So this is a thing. There’s apparently a device, called the Pink Luminous Breast, which is like a high-tech flashlight used as a medical device. When a woman presses it against her skin, a red LED light illuminates the inside of her breast tissue and provides a warning of possible breast cancer. However, a Chinese woman inventor who’s apparently into the “Cyberpunk” scene has re-engineered this do-it-yourself medical device into a wearable cyberpunk-styled transillumination strobe gadget that allows her to walk around in public with glowing red breasts.
I can’t believe this story hasn’t already made headline news in papers all around the world.