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whatyouwill
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Toronto Trip
My niece's daughter was having a bat mitzvah and I thought that for the sake of familial and filial responsibilities I should attend.
I hadn't been there since Buzz's funeral and that is eight years time early next month.
The trip gave me an opportunity to see two of my sisters that I rarely see and a bunch of other members of my family.
John is still missing in action, somewhere in Pennsylvania, hopefully alive and kicking.
His daughter showed up, with her wife.
I like Toronto, a multi-cultural city that works better than most.I will spare you a lot of the details.I won't show you mine if you won't show me yours.
Anyway, two days is sort of a whirlwind, I stayed out by the airport to save money and took public transportation in and out, a long city bus or train ride.
Unfortunately my att phone service conked out and I couldn't call an uber if I wanted to, no data signal.
Makes it awfully hard to function in today's world.
Took over three calls and two frustrating hours on hold before we finally got the no data roaming problem sorted out.
I met everybody at the temple the first day, my niece did fine with her reading but the rabbi's talk made me remember why I hated religion so much.Love the tribe, just hate the bullshit. God loves the conquerors, smites the infidels like wiping up ants with a wet paper towel at a picnic.
Afterwards we went to Chinatown and I treated my clan to roast pork and duck at one of my favorite haunts, King's Noodles.
We walked around the Eglington area and Kensington Market and checked out the shops.
So I am the old guy now. Just how in the hell did that happen?
I didn't bring a camera but took some architectural shots of the interesting building with my phone. at least I thought the shapes were interesting.
Thursday, June 19, 2025
Distractions
YouTube viewership is now besting regular television and as of last February, more people are accessing the service on wide screens than on mobile devices.
I know I use it much more than movies or television. There is something wonderfully populist and democratic about the medium.
You can watch pretty young girls in southeast Asia catch fish, primitive families in remote Pakistan raising sheep in stark canyons, all sorts of things.
The last several years my favorites have been the polyglot Xiaoma, Ari Smith, Brad Owen playing poker, the Chess international master Eric Rosen among others.
Nowadays I am also watching Vegas Matt gamble with his cronies, Matt, or NDKayak, an angler from North Dakota who nails smallies and muskies from his kayak, Police Cam Chases, Karen videos, an occasional pimple pop and recipe and a new thing.
Hoof GP, an affable guy who trims cow hooves in Scotland, now has about 2.5 million regular viewers watching him fix cow feet. Not sure why but it is addictive. Very calming.
Mujer Sentada
I was called in early to an estate last month and my eyes chanced upon an interesting wooden modernist sculpture. Hmmm, it looked very much like the work of the British artist Barbara Hepworth. I asked the owner what she knew about it and she said, "Well, I don't know if it is a Barbara Hepworth?" What if it is, I asked her? "Don't tell me," she said.
I bought it.
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Bimorphic Theme - Barbara Hepworth |
Barbara Hepworth is a very valuable artist, like Henry Moore, her work can run into the millions of dollars. I wish that I could say that this story has a happy ending but it doesn't, at least not yet.
I sent this letter to Hepworth's granddaughter, Dr. Sophie Bowness at the Tate, who administers her estate:
I received this letter back:
Dear Robert Sommers
This work is not recorded in the very comprehensive catalogue that Hepworth herself compiled of her sculptureThe carving you sent separately is entitled Mother and Child (1934) and is in the collection of The Hepworth Wakefieldwith best wishesSophieDr Sophie BownessHepworth Estate
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Pick a side
I don't know if you saw the story the other day, easy for things to sneak through when there is so much trouble in our world. Medicare cuts, Iran, Kennedy's war on vaccines, dismemberment of FEMA, gestapo tactics at ICE, so hard to stay sane and current nowadays.
The title was Trump EPA moves to repeal climate rules that limit greenhouse gas emissions from US power plants.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday proposed repealing rules that limit planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from power plants fueled by coal and natural gas, an action that Administrator Lee Zeldin said would remove billions of dollars in costs for industry and help “unleash” American energy.
The EPA also proposed weakening a regulation that requires power plants to reduce emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants that can harm the brain development of young children and contribute to heart attacks and other health problems in adults.
The rollbacks are meant to fulfill Republican President Donald Trump’s repeated pledge to “ unleash American energy ” and make it more affordable for Americans to power their homes and operate businesses.
I got a letter yesterday telling me that my blog would be so much more fun without my (political) bias. And I am sure that is probably true. Music and photos, an occasional recipe. But there are times I feel I have to speak. And this is one of them.
Repealing these pollution rules is horrific and does nothing for the American people except for enriching a bunch of rich polluters and getting the rest of us sick.
The EPA-targeted rules could prevent an estimated 30,000 deaths and save $275 billion each year they are in effect, according to an Associated Press examination that included the agency’s own prior assessments and a wide range of other research.
I pride myself on being a centrist. Pro choice, pro gun, pro liberty, pro environment, pro - science, anti illegal immigration. You can't be all things to all people, it doesn't work. Anti - life policies like these new pollution proposals that will destroy our air, earth and water and damage human health affirm to me which side I belong to if forced to pick.
No question. Center yes, but I could never play for the other team.
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Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Orin
I watched a cool short documentary on Netflix last night, The only girl in the orchestra.
It is the story of Orin O'Brien, the first woman in the New York Philharmonic.
O'Brien played double bass in the orchestra for 55 years.
The child of two early movie stars, the story is fascinating and she is truly enchanting.
She came up at a time when women were not welcome in the orchestra, Zubin Mehta was an absolute pill.
Luckily she had a great relationship with the great composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, who recognized her ability.
I played cello when I was young and really identified with her skill and persona and her ability to teach.
She never sought center stage, her desire was to provide a musical backbone.
Watching the documentary sent me down this rabbit hole, which was even more interesting to me.
What a treasure she is!
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Another feel good movie on Netflix right now is Nonnas.
Meet the Beatles
I am happy to announce I am going to finally be guest deejaying on the Beatles Sirius Channel 18, My Fab Four. The program director wrote me yesterday.
Unfortunately my upcoming time slots are not exactly optimal, unless perhaps you live in Mozambique?
But if you feel like a listen, all Eastern Time, Tues 6/24 6am, Thurs 6/26 10pm, Sun 6/29 5am. The Thursday spot is probably the best for my friends here in California, that would be seven o'clock in the evening.
Should be fab.
And a special thanks to Dave Blackburn for recording and mixing my session.
Saturday, June 14, 2025
Keep them coming.
President Bone Spurs had his $45 million dollar military birthday parade in the nation's capitol today. Attendance was reportedly rather sparse. Meanwhile, the No Kings protests drew millions of people, here and all over the world.
Leslie was up in Temecula with her friend Ming, said it was a wonderful day, very good vibes all around.I loved the signage I am seeing from the various protests, handmade, spontaneous and mostly spot on.
Here are some of the cool ones I saw today, feel free to send your favorites and I will add them to the batch.