Mississippi John Hurt, Ludovic Beier, Bireli Lagrene, Angelo DeBarre, 

Minor Swing

After listening to about 50 different recordings, my favorite one is Ludovic Beier and Angelo DeBarre from Swing Rencontre. All the Bireli recordings are also quite magnificent.

John Prine

died yesterday...

Sam Stone came home,
To the wife and family
After serving in the conflict overseas.
And the time that he served,
Had shattered all his nerves,
And left a little shrapnel in his knees.
But the morphine eased the pain,
And the grass grew round his brain,
And gave him all the confidence he lacked,
With a purple heart and a monkey on his back...

Science Tourism

One can't help wondering how the COVID19 experience will modulate the appetite of researchers for what often amounts to taxpayer-funded science tourism- aka conference travel. While it's now hard to head off to the beach or the nearest bar instead of listening to the talks you're supposed to be listening to or just gossip in the corridors with people you care nothing for but will make you 'visible', will we discover that Zoom turns out to be an entirely adequate substitute for such social interaction? There's an interesting evaluation study in there.

Good and Bad Soccer Commentators

Good
a) Lee Dixon- truly outstanding
b) Robbie Mustoe- excellent
c) Graeme Le Saux- excellent
d) Rebecca Lowe- excellent but behaves like an idiot (as do Martino and the others) at fan assemblies in bars and such.
d) Kyle Martino- long-winded but has gradually improved on exposure to the Brits
e) Robbie Earle- excellent


Bad
a) Alexi Lalas (unsurpassed for poor quality)
b) Aly Wagner- ack
c) Gabrielle Amado- competes with Lalas in being inane but, in all fairness, trails him
d) Ray Hudson- more silly than awful but one can get tired of him quickly
e) Julie Foudy- more ack

Overheard and other gems

• "...illustrate the Olympian glibness of psychoanalytic thought" Peter Medawar in Pluto's Republic
• "What could be worse than a condescending chemist?" "A roomful of biologists!" Backchat between two faculty at Ohio State University during an awkward meeting of their laboratories. (ca. 1990)
• "Parental stupidity is a deadly disease that can only be cured by death" Nikos Voulgaropoulos (1997) 
• "Now don't pay no attention to websites young man. Next you'll be lining up to buy toilet paper and water. Common sense has left our society" Illinois Secretary of State employee. 
• This one was reported to me by someone who was interviewing for a position at Amazon. He was waiting in the lobby of one of their office buildings when he heard this gem. "You will like working here. Sixty percent of the people in this building are Indians and 40% of them speak Telegu!" 
• "Have some ethicacy, I say!" A physics teacher pleading with his adolescent students in South India. 
• He is from my vatinerry! Don't ask what this means if you can't figure it out. 
• "Tempus does fugit" from Coover Gazdar.

From the NY Times per Christa Scott-Reed

"....Is that right?" one person in the group asked. "Is stage hand what we call you?" The usher smiled."No," he said, a twinkle in his eye. "You can just call me the guy who's given up on his dreams and is here to collect your trash."