Sunday, November 15, 2015

Crabapple Against Blue Sky


19 comments:

  1. WOW! Check this out!!


    Do You Know Of Any Church In Your Area which Might Like To Host A Concert ?

    Over the past few years, I’ve set aside time each year to go out and perform in churches throughout the country. These churches have been all denominations, large and small, evangelical to non-denominational, prosperous and struggling, rural and metropolitan, conservative to liberal ... Music moves the soul, all souls.

    This experience of sharing my “moments of song” has brought me face to face with some of the most vibrant and generous people I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet, people of faith who believe that now is the season to offer hope and encouragement to those in need. These travels and performances have opened my eyes to the heartbeat and soul of this country.

    Well, it’s that time of year. I want to do it again and I’m asking you to help me spread the word. If you know of any church that would like to have a concert, please let them know that I'm coming and I want to perform in any church that would be interested in hosting an event.

    Here’s the good part. There is no fee for these performances. It’s all by Donation, a Free Will offering … We ask that a collection is taken during the performance and we donate a percentage of that collection plate as well as a percentage of our CD sales back to the host church.

    If you know of any church in your area which might like to host a concert please give them my contact information or forward this notice and ask them to contact us … we’ll do the rest.

    Thank you for your consideration. Hope to see you at a concert sometime soon.

    Elisabeth

    Von Trapp Music
    T- 802-496-3171
    E- vtm@madriver.com
    www.elisabethvontrapp.com

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  2. Incase you weren't sure, Elisabeth von Trapp is the granddaughter of the famous Maria. She lives here in Vermont and we LOVE her music! She is highly skilled and her voice is beautiful, clear and lilting. We have been to hear her at least 5 times, and want to go again.

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    1. She sounds like an utterly lovely human being. ♥

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  3. Alan, you have terrific googling skills. I bookmarked the link you left for me and found and ordered just what I needed. Thanks!

    It was sunny and chilly here today, really quite seasonable. After only a few days the evening primrose oil is already helping; I'm feeling calmer and more together.

    It's interesting. There are three people in my Facebook feed - that I've noticed - who are continuing to post about Paris (and Beirut). One is Norman Spinrad and the other two are young musicians in their twenties in Engelbert's band, Mirko and Johann. Johann in particular continues to impress me with his thoughtfulness and insight. It warms my heart to see young people rejecting violence and hate. If only their attitude would spread. But I don't suppose there's much danger of that happening. Love and Peace don't ever seem to break out anywhere, no matter how many thoughtful, sensible and sensitive people there are. The cowardly fear and hate mongers always shout louder. And when you're frightened or angry, it's so much easier to give in to fear and hate than to work towards calmness, peace and love. It's like in countless Fantasy stories, though those of Lewis come immediately to mind, where Evil always seems so much more direct and reasonable than Good, only it isn't. Simpler, maybe, and more obvious, but never a true solution to any problem or situation.

    Of course, the problem with good and calmness and peace is that they require thought. The promoters of hatred and violence aren't into thought themselves and it would be disastrous for them if their followers stopped to think. Indoctrinate them, teach them to follow orders blindly, and send them out to blow up abortion clinics or synagogs or niggers' (or Palestinians' or Kosevans') homes, or restaurants and football stadium. And if you can con them into blowing up themselves as well, that takes care of the possibility that they might begin to think about the useless hideousness of what they're doing. You don't have to have a plan, an alternative to the status quo, all you need is bombs and guns and gullible, brainwashed,youngsters. And there never seems to be any shortage of any of those commodities.

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    1. Ahem, calm and together, check. *wry grin* Though, actually, I'm a lot less wrought up than I have been.

      Last night I finished that Jim Butcher book I mentioned. So, now, I have two of his to wait for, the next Cinder Spires and the next Harry Dresden. And I don't know if they'll be another Georgie Rannoch - hope so. Oh, and I need to see if Felix Francis has another book out. Now that he's writing completely solo, his style has settled down and, while he's not as brilliant as his father, he is developing into quite a good, solid writer in his own right.

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    2. I dunno, Cat, but what most people are kind and peace-loving. It's just that they don't make the news. Think about it. There were hundreds of thousands of good people in Paris that night and only 8 spewing hatred.

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  4. Cat ~~ I don't really understand your attitude toward compact fluorescent bulbs. We've been using them for going on 20 years and are very happy with them. Yes, the initial cost is several times that of an incandescent, but they typically last several times as long. (Caveat: In recent years there have been fly-by-night manufacturers for whom this is not true.) And even if you're 100% convinced climate change is a hoax, the reduced electricity consumption will put money in your pocket.

    "And, you know, for years studies have been showing that fluorescent light is bad for both physical and mental health." No, I don't know. And I frankly don't see how light is generated could have any effect of this sort. Of course, you mention full-spectrum bulbs. Maybe there's a point to them. But compact fluorescents, unlike incandescents, give you a choice of what part of the spectrum you want to experience.

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    1. A choice of which part of the spectrum? Really? How does that work? That is my problem with the compact florescent, in fact. The light they put out (at least those I've been exposed to) is harsher than that put out by an incandescent and makes me nervous and uncomfortable. I can only attribute his response to the segment of the spectrum they emit. Though I don't know exactly... Might be the color temperature, cool as opposed to warm? Whatever the answer, the light of compact fluorescent bothers me. So it's not just an idle bitch. I genuinely find the light uncomfortable and hard to handle.

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    2. Look on the package. Some say "cool white," some say "soft white," some say "warm," some say "full spectrum." Take your choice.

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    1. [snort] As the first commenter says, "Additionally, the article asserts the “high color temperature of fluorescent light…” – despite the fact that true daylight is 6,000K (high/blue) color temperature while an incandescent is (low/warm) 2,700K, and CFLs are sold in any color temperature you can imagine - not just the one someone accidentally picked up off the shelf of Home Depot."

      And in a later comment the author says, "Halogen bulbs don't display quite as full spectrum as traditional incandescent bulbs, but they're close," even though incandescents are about as far from full-spectrum as you can get. I give the author very low marks for trughfulness.

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  6. We have mostly fluorescent lights in our house, and most are still working after twenty-five years. There certainly are variations in the colors of lights different fluorescent bulbs produce, although I don't know of any way to find out which one prefers other than buying and trying. And most of the choices seemed to be in the long, full-sized bulbs the last I checked.

    On another note, we had (gentle) rain this morning and into the early afternoon. Predicted low temperatures for the week mostly in the 40's, highs in the 60's. Too warm for fog.

    I am grumping about my bank closing the night depository, which means that I will have to get a blasted ATM card to make deposits, since I go to work before they open and come home after they close.

    --Alan

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    1. Flourescent lights use so much more power than LEDs!

      If you want to know which color bulb (of any type) you can go to a hardware store and look over their lighting display. For example, ACE Hardware has a display of each white-tone of LED light. At our house we don't like the blue-whites (even though blue is our favorite colour) because they feel too bright and make items in the room seem stark. We prefer the soft white to blueish or yellowish. Do they make a pinkish? Pink or peach would be a good color light for a bathroom, because you'd look a touch rosey in the mirror.

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    2. Yes, LEDs are the top choice for energy saving. Are they available as screw-in replacements in fixtures originally intended for incandescents? I hadn't heard that they are, but I may be behind the times.

      I think soft white is my preferred lighting color as well.

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    3. Yes, I have an LED and it is absolutely horrible! It must be blue/white, extremely stark. Also, because of the way this particular bulb is constructed, it does not give out light all around but only from the top, which means it does not work very well in a conventional lamp with a lampshade. It is currently mounted in a wall fixture that is tilted somewhat downward so the light shines directly in my face when I'm seated at the computer. While in a lamp with a lampshade it barely gives any light at all, in the wall fixture it is blinding and most disorienting. I should clarify that the lamp in question has a shade that curves over rather like an inverted bowl with a relatively small opening at the top. Perhaps a shade that is more nearly columnar with a wider top might allow the bulb to shine better. I'll look into this.

      I don't have the option of visiting the hardware store and must buy the bulbs blind, so to speak, relying on web page descriptions, which are not always thorough. Some years ago I had full spectrum bulbs which, though not ideal, were at least not nervous making, but they got lost in my move back home from Boston. I have never found bulbs of the same kind, despite a good deal of searching. I'm sorry to be out of step with the modern world, but incandescent bulbs are the best for me.

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    4. Yes, they make pinkish fluorescents; we have them. I don't recall what they call them, though.

      I grumped to the bank, and there is a night deposit key waiting for me when next I can get there while they are open. They had had problems with people "fishing" in the night deposit. When I went there the other day there was no sign of a key lock, just a metal plate over the opening.

      --Alan

      P.S.: listener--This morning I commenced my penmanship drills. There was one very old type of drill--"cross drill sheets"--which is intended to condition the student to move the forearm while writing, and to index the sheet of paper with one's off hand as the writing proceeds across it. Very effective! I was honestly surprised.

      Working on my lower-case r's at work today--making progress.

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  7. I'm terribly confused. Monday's post never posted and my fiddling didn't make it do so. Hope I didn't damage anything.

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    1. No worries, Cat! I simply missed a date when I posted a heap of photos. Oopsy! It's all better now.

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