The Swedish recorder teacher accosted me as I waited for my cello teacher, and announced that she’d bring a student over to play with me. The ultimate plan is for cembalo, three recorders and cello to play this Purcell number, all adult students at the school.

She and a student played two recorder parts, I played the cello part (= bass line) and it sounded good. It was my first time playing with other people, ever. I did lose my place at one point, in the second part of the tune, but so did the recorder student.

Purcell rocks. So does playing with other people. Wow.

Tapegate? Hardwaregate?

This would explain the duct tape.

Mother Jones’ annotated list of the top 400 contributors is here. Unfortunately it doesn’t look entirely up-to-date.

According to this Mojo list, Bernard Marcus contributed $353,500 to the Republican party. Marcus is co-founder of Home Depot, which would explain the plastic sheeting…

Although that is changing fast. Blue sky. Everything was icy this morning since it had cooled off so much at night, but now things are looking good outside. Trimmed the buddleia this weekend, my last chance I think before they start growing; let them go and they just get scraggly. Noticed the lilacs were budding. All the bulbs are sprouting – daffodils, tulips and crocus among others. Snowdrops (? called Schneegl

Now at Raising Hell: Beta’s first date, part one.

Look to the left, close your eyes, then touch the rightmost edge of your right eyeball with a fingertip. (Push gently on your eyelid, don’t touch the eye itself!) Wiggle your finger up and down. See anything off to the left? That’s the “image” of your fingertip, but the retina of your eye is feeling it, not seeing it. Move your finger UP, and the black/silver splotch moves DOWN. Use two fingertips, and you see two splotches. This is the realm where touching meets seeing.

Interesting things you might not want to try at a job interview.

[via Sugarfused]

Honest, I will be shutting the hell up shortly. But first go look at this comparison of Reagan’s Evil Empire speech of 1992 with recent Bush statements: We Have Met the Enemy.

Have you seen the new Cold War nostalgia site? I went over it this morning, but it looks like they forgot to use the phrase “duck and cover”.

Maybe “duct tape and plastic sheeting” is the 00’s version.
[Editor's note: Eh, far better ready.gov jokes here and here]
I swear to God, if someone had told me a few years ago that the US would have a Department of Homeland Security I would have laughed at them. If I were writing an intentionally cheesy novel, I’d still be ashamed to invent something called the “Department of Homeland Security”. As Abraham Lincoln would say, Jesus Fucking Christ, man.

And Lincoln was a Republican, wasn’t he?

On the other hand, I was talking to a friend yesterday about a Chinese bestseller about a woman who on the way to her wedding gets lipstick on her fianc