Redbird (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
redbird) wrote2025-08-24 07:34 pm
redbird) wrote2025-08-24 07:34 pmEntry tags:
One Million Rising zoom
I joined adrian_turtle this afternoon for a One Million Rising gathering/training session on zoom, led by one of her comrades from Talmud study. This was 90 minutes, distilling or summarizin six hours of training Aliza did recently.
There was less new information and ideas than I'd hoped for, but I'm glad I did it. I had nothing else specific to do with that chunk of time, and it didn't take away energy from some other form of activism. (In fact, I had called my congresswoman and senators half an hour earlier, while Adrian andcattitude were out shopping.)
Aliza presented some of the material from a specifically Jewish viewpoint/context, including that this organizing and resistance work could be part of preparing for the High Holidays. I'm not observant, but introspection is a useful activity.
I am now on the One Million Rising email list, and will see if anything interesting comes of that.
adrian_turtle this afternoon for a One Million Rising gathering/training session on zoom, led by one of her comrades from Talmud study. This was 90 minutes, distilling or summarizin six hours of training Aliza did recently.There was less new information and ideas than I'd hoped for, but I'm glad I did it. I had nothing else specific to do with that chunk of time, and it didn't take away energy from some other form of activism. (In fact, I had called my congresswoman and senators half an hour earlier, while Adrian and
cattitude were out shopping.)Aliza presented some of the material from a specifically Jewish viewpoint/context, including that this organizing and resistance work could be part of preparing for the High Holidays. I'm not observant, but introspection is a useful activity.
I am now on the One Million Rising email list, and will see if anything interesting comes of that.
lauradi7dw (lauradi7dw) wrote2025-08-24 07:28 am
lauradi7dw) wrote2025-08-24 07:28 amSunday bus!
For the first time (ever?) there is Sunday bus service to Lexington, the #62 on its way to the Bedford VA. I am planning to ride it later to do my normal Sunday things, but I got up to go with the group who organized a first-trip outing. There were about a dozen of us, plus one regular rider outbound and three in. People came prepared with signs (that is not my handwriting). Many photos were taken.
Siderea (siderea) wrote2025-08-24 07:02 am
siderea) wrote2025-08-24 07:02 amEntry tags:
Untitled for Three Jigakkyu [music]
Yall, the bowed musical instruments have finally made it to the electronica party. This is the coolest damn thing. Audio required, video also extremely worth it if accessible. 3 min 17 sec.
2025 Aug 11: Open Reel Ensemble: "Tape Bowing Ensemble - Open Reel Ensemble":
ETA: I want to state for the record, contrary to what a lot of commenters on YT are saying, it is not that what is cool here is just how wackily innovative it is to use a reel-to-reel this way. The only reason this is going viral is because of how musically good it is; nobody would care about it otherwise, and I submit for evidence the half century plus of prior art of abusing reel-to-reel recorders in the name of music-making you have probably never heard of, because a lot of it wasn't very compelling as music so nobody ever brought it to your attention. What's most shocking here is how musical it is, and how they use the innovation to do something new in music recognizable as such. It isn't good because it's innovative; it's innovative because it's good.
As far as I am concerned, the great problem for electronic music has always been what I think of as the Piano Problem: the music is made by operating a machine, so there's a machine between the performer and the music. Great pianists master operating the machine so beautifully they make the machine disappear. But this is what makes piano playing hard. So much of what we love in music is its organicness, the aspects of it which are so beautifully expressive because of how intimately the performer's body interacts with the instrument.
Heretofore, the only ways to bring that kind of sound to electronic instruments were to use breath controlled midi controllers (electronic woodwinds), use an electromagnetic interface (e.g. theremin), or get really fantastic on keys. Or give up and embrace the mechanical nature of the instrument and use it for repertoire the excellence of which does not rest in expressiveness (q.v. Wendy Carlos' Bach recordings).
This instrument conclusively brings the organicness of bowing and all its delicate expressiveness to electronica. The result is simply gorgeous and I hope this creative vein is further mined.
2025 Aug 11: Open Reel Ensemble: "Tape Bowing Ensemble - Open Reel Ensemble":
磁気テープを竹に張って演奏する民族楽器「磁楽弓（じがっきゅう）」三重奏による調べですThis is a trio performance on the “JIGAKKYU,” a traditional folk instrument made by stretching magnetic tape across bamboo.
ETA: I want to state for the record, contrary to what a lot of commenters on YT are saying, it is not that what is cool here is just how wackily innovative it is to use a reel-to-reel this way. The only reason this is going viral is because of how musically good it is; nobody would care about it otherwise, and I submit for evidence the half century plus of prior art of abusing reel-to-reel recorders in the name of music-making you have probably never heard of, because a lot of it wasn't very compelling as music so nobody ever brought it to your attention. What's most shocking here is how musical it is, and how they use the innovation to do something new in music recognizable as such. It isn't good because it's innovative; it's innovative because it's good.
As far as I am concerned, the great problem for electronic music has always been what I think of as the Piano Problem: the music is made by operating a machine, so there's a machine between the performer and the music. Great pianists master operating the machine so beautifully they make the machine disappear. But this is what makes piano playing hard. So much of what we love in music is its organicness, the aspects of it which are so beautifully expressive because of how intimately the performer's body interacts with the instrument.
Heretofore, the only ways to bring that kind of sound to electronic instruments were to use breath controlled midi controllers (electronic woodwinds), use an electromagnetic interface (e.g. theremin), or get really fantastic on keys. Or give up and embrace the mechanical nature of the instrument and use it for repertoire the excellence of which does not rest in expressiveness (q.v. Wendy Carlos' Bach recordings).
This instrument conclusively brings the organicness of bowing and all its delicate expressiveness to electronica. The result is simply gorgeous and I hope this creative vein is further mined.
lauradi7dw (lauradi7dw) wrote2025-08-23 08:03 pm
lauradi7dw) wrote2025-08-23 08:03 pmI could be in NYC by 2 PM tomorrow
I'm not going to go, but I thought about it for a minute. I'm actually not very good at puzzles.
eeyore_grrl (eeyore_grrl) wrote2025-08-23 09:23 am
eeyore_grrl) wrote2025-08-23 09:23 am49 dead
49 dead
maybe their names don’t matter
maybe i should just call them all by my own name
49 carey’s dead
would that make you feel something
but this is not all about me
this is about Andrea and Mercedes
this is about Geraldo and Jerald
this is about Luis
Luis
Luis
Luis
because four of them died that night
when their pulses were firing full blast
wrists and jugulars throbbing in time to the dance floor
hearts watching
because here
here it was supposed to be safe
safe to love, hold hands, dance hip to hip
and be
a dance floor is sanctity
latinx night at the club
49 dead
49 dead
49 dead
49 dead
let’s dance
let’s writhe to the beat of drums and guitar
let’s feel our heritage dancing in our hips
movement is safety
says the rabbit
says the prey
movement is safety
and i’m going to stand here
still
and tell you that love must go on
and tell you that i grieve for my siblings that died that night
and for Matthew Shepard and Harvey Milk
and for my friends that were broken for their gay
broken for identity
broken for love
let love prevail
49 dead
i light this candle for you all
for Luis
for Luis
for Luis
for Luis
mrissa (mrissa) wrote2025-08-23 08:24 am
mrissa) wrote2025-08-23 08:24 amEntry tags:
A Honeymoon of Grave Consequence, by Stephanie Burgis
Review copy provided by the author, who is a dear friend.
Margaret and Riven solved all their problems in A Marriage of Undead Inconvenience, didn't they? Sure they did! They realized their true feelings for each other, they found a method to cope with Riven's vampirism, set Margaret up to do the academic research she loves and found a lost artefact, and even overcame the forces of inheritance law! What more is there to say?
About that.
Their honeymoon is supposed to be calm and quiet, in a remote inn. But they're not the inn's only guests--and having a mainstream human like Margaret on the premises can be disturbing for other supernatural beings who are hoping for peace and acceptance. Margaret and Riven were hoping to have some time to get to know each other better--a traditional honeymoon for an untraditional couple--but instead they're drawn into the problems and puzzles of the people around them--and the remote forest in which they live. The search for Reflection's Heart is on!...with one or two interludes of honeymoon sweetness along the way.
This sequel novella is a sweet, fun adventure with themes of acceptance. It's perfect for days when a little smidge of escapism is just what you need.
ceciliatan (ceciliatan) wrote2025-08-22 03:51 am
ceciliatan) wrote2025-08-22 03:51 amEntry tags:
Seattle Worldcon Report
There is not just one Worldcon. In Seattle this year, there were 5500 registered attendees plus another 2000 or so bought single-day memberships, meaning there were ~7500 different Worldcons this year.
Worldcon is many things to many people, but the one thing it always is, is an intentional community. It’s an event that happens because people give their time, their energy, their skills, and their care to make it happen.
In this way, Worldcon is, and always has been, what we make of it. It is simultaneously the home of one of our genre’s most important awards, a premiere costuming event, a professional development incubator, a social structure, an important economic opportunity for some, a schmoozefest, and a celebration of all that the science fiction/fantasy genres have to offer. It’s also a microcosm of all the stresses and problems of our society, and really, how could it not be?
( Read the rest of this entry » )Mirrored from Cecilia Tan.
nosrednayduj (nosrednayduj) wrote2025-08-21 06:43 pm
nosrednayduj) wrote2025-08-21 06:43 pmFree DC, protest #12
A local group has been organizing regular protests where they stand over an overpass and hold signs for the cars below to see. (The signs are actually bungee-corded to the fence, which is very convenient.) I went today, where I was one of about 15 people.
Because of the "motorcycles are everywhere" permanent campaign on that overpass, I'm not sure it was as effective as it could've been. The "FREE DC" sign was much larger and more legible, but I couldn't help but wonder if some of the people were honking because they thought we were promoting motorcycle safety. In fact, when we arrived a few minutes before the organizers and stood around next to the motorcycle safety signs, people honked. No flags, no free DC, just standing around on the overpass next to motorcycle safety signs.
Or, maybe they just thought we were right-wing nuts. The theory about the American flags was that we need to reclaim that flag; it should not just mean right-wing nut. And I approve of that sentiment, but I don't know how well it's working. There were also people driving on the overpass who occasionally honked, and there really wasn't much in the way of signage to show those people what we were about. There was one sign facing the road, but it was pretty small and people were often standing in front of it. So I'm pretty sure that everybody who was on the overpass and honked was either a right-wing nut or a motorcyclist.
I'm not sure I'll go join these people again. Though, it's 10 miles away from my house, so I could bicycle there. And then Valerie came in a car so I got a ride home.
Because of the "motorcycles are everywhere" permanent campaign on that overpass, I'm not sure it was as effective as it could've been. The "FREE DC" sign was much larger and more legible, but I couldn't help but wonder if some of the people were honking because they thought we were promoting motorcycle safety. In fact, when we arrived a few minutes before the organizers and stood around next to the motorcycle safety signs, people honked. No flags, no free DC, just standing around on the overpass next to motorcycle safety signs.
Or, maybe they just thought we were right-wing nuts. The theory about the American flags was that we need to reclaim that flag; it should not just mean right-wing nut. And I approve of that sentiment, but I don't know how well it's working. There were also people driving on the overpass who occasionally honked, and there really wasn't much in the way of signage to show those people what we were about. There was one sign facing the road, but it was pretty small and people were often standing in front of it. So I'm pretty sure that everybody who was on the overpass and honked was either a right-wing nut or a motorcyclist.
I'm not sure I'll go join these people again. Though, it's 10 miles away from my house, so I could bicycle there. And then Valerie came in a car so I got a ride home.
Azure Jane Lunatic (Azz) 🌺 (azurelunatic) wrote2025-08-21 08:28 am
azurelunatic) wrote2025-08-21 08:28 am
Michigan, again
Visiting the out-laws with Belovedest. Last night we had dinner out at the Dirty Bird (chicken bar & grill) so this morning's breakfast is leftovers. Which I had in bed, due to the scarcity of tables in the hotel room, and my general unwillingness to get out of bed before nine.
Unfortunately, breakfast was crispy chicken Caesar salad, with buffalo sauce on the side. And after I finished that, I was dipping baby carrots in the sauce. And there was a spill.
Unfortunately, breakfast was crispy chicken Caesar salad, with buffalo sauce on the side. And after I finished that, I was dipping baby carrots in the sauce. And there was a spill.
I can't seem to face up to the facts
I'm tense and nervous and I can't relax
I can't sleep, 'cause my bed's on fire
Don't touch me, I'm a real live wire
Spicy pillow, qu'est-ce que c'est?
Fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa, far better
Run-run, run-run-run away
Oh-oh-oh
Siderea (siderea) wrote2025-08-21 05:10 am
siderea) wrote2025-08-21 05:10 amPhone, again [me, tech]
Whelp, it looks like I'm in the market for a cell phone again.
On Saturday night, I noticed something dangling from the corner of my cell phone, which immediately struck me as odd, as there's no aperture in the protective gel case there for something to get stuck. Well, there's not supposed to be. On further inspection, I discovered the corner of the gel case no longer fit over the corner of the phone, and some random shmutzig had gotten wedged... between the back plate of the phone and the rest of the phone, to which it was no longer attached along the bottom. Pressing it back down didn't work: something in the middle of the phone was causing resistance to closing the phone.
Lo, verily, my phone's battery was pregnant.
Some of you who follow me on the fediverse might be thinking, "Wait, didn't you just replace a phone, the battery of which swelled up?" Lol, yes: late April. That was my work phone. This is my personal phone. Lolsob.
So, being a proper nerd, I went right to iFixit to order myself a battery. Whereupon I was stopped by something that did not bode well. I entered my phone's model information and iFixit, instead of telling me what battery to buy, alerted me that it is not possible to determine what kind of battery my phone took from the outside.
It turns out that the OnePlus 9 G5 can take one of two batteries, and which one a given OnePlus 9 G5 takes can only be determined by putting eyes on the battery which is in it.
Well, okay then: I clicked through the helpful link to read instructions on how to pull the battery on a OnePlus 9 G5. I read along with slow dawning horror at exactly how involved it was and how many tools I would have to buy, and made it to step twelve – "Use a Phillips screwdriver to remove the ten 3.8 mm-long screws securing the motherboard cover. One of the motherboard cover screws is covered by a white water ingress sticker. To unfasten the screw you can puncture the sticker with your screwdriver." – of thirty and decided: fuck this, I will hire a professional.
(I think maybe it was a fortunate thing that I went through the prior fiasco with trying to change the battery on the Nuu B20 5G, first, because it softened me to the idea of maybe I don't have to service all my electronics personally myself.)
Alas, it was late on a Saturday night and all the cell phone repair places around me were closed until Monday.
Fortunately, I had a short day Monday and would be getting out of work around 5:30pm. I called ahead to a place that is open to 7pm to ask if I needed an appointment and whether they did OnePlus phones. There was a bit of a language barrier with the guy who answered the phone, but he said no appointment was necessary and whether they could fix my phone would entail putting eyes on it, and please try to come before 6pm to give them time to fix it before they close.
So after work, Mr B took me there, and we presented the phone. Dude got the back of the phone the rest of the way off the phone with rather more dispatch that I would be have been able to, and pretty quickly discovered that he was in over his head. Credit where it's due – "A man's got to know his limitations" – he promptly backed off, and told me to bring it back tomorrow when the more-expert boss was in.
I'm slightly irritated that we made the unnecessary trip instead of him saying, "Oh, a OnePlus, come tomorrow when our OnePlus expert is in", but it did give me the extra time to do more thorough backing-up. I have never managed to get Android File Transfer to work, nor any a number of alternatives; snapdrop.io would only do single files at a time, not whole directories, and, weirdly, Proton Drive, both app and website, doesn't allow uploading whole directories from Android either.
Finally, I saw a mention that the Android app Solid Explorer "does FTP". I wanted to make a local backup to my Mac, but, fuck it, I have servers, I can run FTP somewhere just to get my files backed up off my phone. Imagine my surprise on opening up the "FTP" option on Solid Explorer and discovering it wasn't an FTP client it was an FTP server. Yes, the easiest way I found to exchange files between my Android phone and my MacBook Pro was to put an FTP server on my phone.
Worked fine. My FTP client on my Mac sucks, but I'll solve that another day. (Does Fetch still exist?)
Mr B and I discussed it and decided he'd bring the phone in the next day, Tuesday, to spare me the hike. He returned with the phone, still with the back off, and the news that they had discovered, as I had, you have to get at the battery to even figure out which battery to order. And that he was told that the battery would be in by 3pm the next day (Wednesday). The only surprising thing here is that they could get the battery that fast.
So, today (Wednesday), after 3pm, Mr B took my phone back for a third visit, and they attempted to install my new battery.
It was the wrong battery.
( Hwaet! The saga continues... )
On Saturday night, I noticed something dangling from the corner of my cell phone, which immediately struck me as odd, as there's no aperture in the protective gel case there for something to get stuck. Well, there's not supposed to be. On further inspection, I discovered the corner of the gel case no longer fit over the corner of the phone, and some random shmutzig had gotten wedged... between the back plate of the phone and the rest of the phone, to which it was no longer attached along the bottom. Pressing it back down didn't work: something in the middle of the phone was causing resistance to closing the phone.
Lo, verily, my phone's battery was pregnant.
Some of you who follow me on the fediverse might be thinking, "Wait, didn't you just replace a phone, the battery of which swelled up?" Lol, yes: late April. That was my work phone. This is my personal phone. Lolsob.
So, being a proper nerd, I went right to iFixit to order myself a battery. Whereupon I was stopped by something that did not bode well. I entered my phone's model information and iFixit, instead of telling me what battery to buy, alerted me that it is not possible to determine what kind of battery my phone took from the outside.
It turns out that the OnePlus 9 G5 can take one of two batteries, and which one a given OnePlus 9 G5 takes can only be determined by putting eyes on the battery which is in it.
Well, okay then: I clicked through the helpful link to read instructions on how to pull the battery on a OnePlus 9 G5. I read along with slow dawning horror at exactly how involved it was and how many tools I would have to buy, and made it to step twelve – "Use a Phillips screwdriver to remove the ten 3.8 mm-long screws securing the motherboard cover. One of the motherboard cover screws is covered by a white water ingress sticker. To unfasten the screw you can puncture the sticker with your screwdriver." – of thirty and decided: fuck this, I will hire a professional.
(I think maybe it was a fortunate thing that I went through the prior fiasco with trying to change the battery on the Nuu B20 5G, first, because it softened me to the idea of maybe I don't have to service all my electronics personally myself.)
Alas, it was late on a Saturday night and all the cell phone repair places around me were closed until Monday.
Fortunately, I had a short day Monday and would be getting out of work around 5:30pm. I called ahead to a place that is open to 7pm to ask if I needed an appointment and whether they did OnePlus phones. There was a bit of a language barrier with the guy who answered the phone, but he said no appointment was necessary and whether they could fix my phone would entail putting eyes on it, and please try to come before 6pm to give them time to fix it before they close.
So after work, Mr B took me there, and we presented the phone. Dude got the back of the phone the rest of the way off the phone with rather more dispatch that I would be have been able to, and pretty quickly discovered that he was in over his head. Credit where it's due – "A man's got to know his limitations" – he promptly backed off, and told me to bring it back tomorrow when the more-expert boss was in.
I'm slightly irritated that we made the unnecessary trip instead of him saying, "Oh, a OnePlus, come tomorrow when our OnePlus expert is in", but it did give me the extra time to do more thorough backing-up. I have never managed to get Android File Transfer to work, nor any a number of alternatives; snapdrop.io would only do single files at a time, not whole directories, and, weirdly, Proton Drive, both app and website, doesn't allow uploading whole directories from Android either.
Finally, I saw a mention that the Android app Solid Explorer "does FTP". I wanted to make a local backup to my Mac, but, fuck it, I have servers, I can run FTP somewhere just to get my files backed up off my phone. Imagine my surprise on opening up the "FTP" option on Solid Explorer and discovering it wasn't an FTP client it was an FTP server. Yes, the easiest way I found to exchange files between my Android phone and my MacBook Pro was to put an FTP server on my phone.
Worked fine. My FTP client on my Mac sucks, but I'll solve that another day. (Does Fetch still exist?)
Mr B and I discussed it and decided he'd bring the phone in the next day, Tuesday, to spare me the hike. He returned with the phone, still with the back off, and the news that they had discovered, as I had, you have to get at the battery to even figure out which battery to order. And that he was told that the battery would be in by 3pm the next day (Wednesday). The only surprising thing here is that they could get the battery that fast.
So, today (Wednesday), after 3pm, Mr B took my phone back for a third visit, and they attempted to install my new battery.
It was the wrong battery.
( Hwaet! The saga continues... )
lauradi7dw (lauradi7dw) wrote2025-08-20 05:34 pm
lauradi7dw) wrote2025-08-20 05:34 pmVacation at the Cape
About 29 hours away, including a lot of driving, or at least sitting in the car inching forward. Even on non-weekend days there is a lot of slowness. Ringing last night, planned beach day turning into gazing at the Hurricane Erin-influenced ocean, lots of chat with friends on their deck.
I only waded in a little over my ankles, but the waves hitting the shore splashed enough that I got somewhat wet up to my butt. One could feel the pull underneath - they are right to warn about rip currents.
That's Nauset Beach, part of the Cape Cod National Seashore. I had a moment of panic that someone might tell the Republicans (especially the Chief) that we have this gorgeous resource. Some might find it the ideal place for glitzy high-rise hotels. The only comfort in that thought is that they'd sink into the sea - the beach now is where there used to be bluffs. All washed away.
I only waded in a little over my ankles, but the waves hitting the shore splashed enough that I got somewhat wet up to my butt. One could feel the pull underneath - they are right to warn about rip currents.
That's Nauset Beach, part of the Cape Cod National Seashore. I had a moment of panic that someone might tell the Republicans (especially the Chief) that we have this gorgeous resource. Some might find it the ideal place for glitzy high-rise hotels. The only comfort in that thought is that they'd sink into the sea - the beach now is where there used to be bluffs. All washed away.