Tuesday, June 27, 2023
An FBI analyst got four and a half years for having classified documents in her home. She kept them in her bathroom.
DJT – a tape has surfaced where he is heard to be showing off documents to people writing a book. They didn’t have clearances. Now we hear twelve different excuses from The Donald. The one I like the best goes like this, “there were lots of papers – plans. Yeah, that’s it. Plans. Plans of – um – places, buildings. Yeah. That’s it.”
OMG.
Then there’s the old news about the Titanic sub. At least it crushed quickly and the people probably had no idea or the pain was brief. Like milliseconds.
I’m in a hotel in Newark, New Jersey. Surrounded by highways. Like nine. We’re in an oval. Order food and hope they deliver. Train or plane out – not tomorrow, but day after. Could be worse. the hotel could run out of over-priced wine by the bottle.
We flew in from London. United was kind enough to tell us our last leg from Newark to Richmond had been cancelled. If you want to book a train or a flight the-day-of, or the next day, you’re talking $360. From now on maybe we’ll book a train way in advance, then it’s 32 bucks.
Other than new sh*t on Trump, which is the same olde stuff, the commentary is the same. Just throw him in jail.
Watched two movies on the way here: Women Talking, and The Portrait of a Woman on Fire. Women Talking is powerful stuff. Woman on Fire is French. Don’t expect it at your multiplex. Like other French films I’ve watched it’s very je nais sais quoi or full of ennui or leaves you with that “Um, life.” feeling.
Oh wait, saw The Fabelmans too. Most excellent.
The hotel has a bell that goes off every time someone comes through the front door. More like a gong. DONG! … DONG! Adds a touch of French ennui to the situation. Waiting for United – DONG!
Correction: not the front door but the “market.” Frozen pasta, drinks, and candy. No ice cream.
I can see the news . DONG! They are showing people queued up twenty deep at a counter trying to arrange flights. I know that counter. We were there! DONG! We decided to go to a hotel instead. I called United. Wait time ninety minutes. DONG! Forget it.
DONG!
Why were we in London? To see Katie, Jon, and our grandson. Katie has been on sabbatical, working on a project with Elaine Chew who is conducting research on the effects of music on heart patients. Elaine has a data collection machine, and she’s a concert level classic pianist. She can record music and play it back. That way when they conduct their research they know the subjects are listening to the exact same music.
Elaine sat down and played. To stand that close and hear her play, brought tears to me. I don’t know how well her data collection is going but wow. How anyone can think music doesn’t somehow tame us is beyond me. Near the end of her brief piece I recognized “Happy Birthday.” The piece she played, at the beginning was an inversion on that tune. Then it clearly came out at the end. It reminded me of a New Year’s party many years ago. the theme was personal expressionism. Each guest did a little something. Jack Pfieffer went to the piano and played. Jack was a producer of classic recordings. He figured out how to record in stereo. RCA used his recordings to make their line called Red Seal Records. He recorded Van Clyburn and Horowitz among others. As Jack played that night, all of a sudden we heard Olde Lang Zyne. It was midnight.
There are times that are magical. One was that New Year Eve party. Another was listening to Elaine play on their “data collection device.”
Yeah
It’s a Bōsendorfer
Thank you. And good night.
Good Lord!
That experience must have been thrilling. I wish I could fly but my spine continues to crumble. Oh, Happy Birthday to me. 79 years old and it feels like it.
Your stay must have been thrilling.
Very sweet. Guess you eventually found your way home.
I enjoyed this. Safe home.