November 2, 2020

Well, duh, LOL!!!

From 2016:


Trump supporters are a minority group, and always have been -- that's his deep, dark, ugly secret.

Aside from more people voting against him than for him in 2016, his rallies and media tantrums are meant to create the illusion that he is too massively loved to be challenged, never mind defeated (in every sense of the word). But even Russian interference can't bail him out if Biden's margins of victory are too wide. There's a new silent majority, and they appear to be making themselves heard.


rocktivity

August 28, 2020

UPDATE: Wisconsin Department Of Justice Confirms Jacob Blake Was Armed When He Was Shot

BlueLivesMatter.Blue: Wisconsin DOJ Confirms Jacob Blake Was Armed When He Was Shot

“During the investigation following the initial incident, Mr. Blake admitted that he had a knife in his possession,” a Wisconsin DOJ statement said. “DCI agents recovered a knife from the driver’s side floorboard of Mr. Blake’s vehicle. A search of the vehicle located no additional weapons.”

The incident...began...when officers responded to a call about a domestic disturbance...The woman who called 911 told dispatchers that Blake “isn’t supposed to be there and he took the complainant’s keys and is refusing to give them back...”

The dispatcher advised the responding officers that there was an alert for a wanted person at that address...Blake had a warrant from another domestic incident in May...He was wanted on charges of third-degree sexual assault, trespassing, and disorderly conduct in connection with domestic abuse that occurred at the same address...

The witness who filmed...the first viral video that was released...told NBC News...“They were also yelling drop the knife. I didn’t see any weapons in his hands, he wasn’t being violent.” (But his) video revealed an object in Blake’s left hand...that looked like a curved-blade knife...(and a) second video released proved that witnesses’ reports that Blake wasn’t fighting with police before he was shot were untrue...

rocktivity

June 18, 2020

"Court house in Louisville is being boarded up right now..."

https://twitter.com/shaunking/status/1273654782797008897
I've been speculating the same thing: Technically, the cops didn't do anything criminal.

They were going after someone who they were TOLD was a suspect, and they had a legal right not to knock on the door. But that means that Taylor's boyfriend didn't act illegally, either -- he had a right to defend his home from what he believed were home invaders.

The people responsible for the information and communication breakdowns that led to the cops being misinformed are the real culprits.


rocktivity

June 10, 2020

I would ensure that my kids saw only the older cartoons.

These will have no plot, no dialogue -- just trading gun-less violent acts? There's a moral difference between blowing someone to pieces with a gun, blowing them up with TNT, and dicing them with a blade -- even in cartoon land? Growing up watching Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam shoot at Bugs Bunny didn't turn me into a mass murderer, and here's why: those older cartoons had a moral subtext.

I never held it against Elmer Fudd that he wanted to kill Bugs -- he was simply "doing his job" as a hunter. But I also supported Bugs' right to do his job: stay alive by employing the most effective weapon he had at his disposal -- his wits. Predator versus prey; survival of the fittest; balance of nature; fair enough.

Bugs Bunny versus Yosemite Sam, however, was Good versus Evil. Sam was indisputably a villain: a lawless bullying terrorist. Without his big guns and even bigger mouth, he was a pea-brained overcompensating egomaniac totally unworthy of the respect he so boisterously demanded. I was delighted by Bugs' refusal to be intimidated, especially when he would outwit Sam by manipulating him into outwitting himself!




rocktivity

April 29, 2020

Mike Pence spearheads solution for the cornoavirus crisis

https://twitter.com/mmpadellan/status/1255224730342350852

(Tweet) Seeing Mike Pence without a mask at the Mayo Clinic, while every other human in the room wore one, and he was WARNED about the policy, tells you everything you need to know about WHY we have 1 million cases and over 57,000 dead.

By George, I think he's got it!

Because he and those around him are tested regularly, Pence can walk around with full confidence that he will definitely not infect anyone else and that they probably won't infect him. Suppose that could be elevated to occurring nationally, or even globally? Test everyone in the U.S., isolate the infected, and turn the uninfected loose to retake the streets, re-open the country, and ignite herd immunity. If only that was possible without a lot of cost, effort, or invasive swab sampling!

It's started happening in New Jersey: https://yourhhrsnews.com/nj-mass-covid-test

You've done it, Pence! Mission -- and perhaps a second term -- accomplished, especially if Trump needs to be, ah, "replaced" ahead of schedule!


Well, let's take it one step at a time...


rocktivity

March 30, 2020

"We need everyone to hold the line as the epidemic inevitably gets worse" -- Well, duh.

In the absence of a vaccine, an antidote, mass testing, and a more robust healthcare infrastructure, there's not much left to do except "hunker down" and "ride out" the "inevitably worse." The real issue is that "the line" we're trying to hold against the virus should have been drawn four months ago when border closing, comprehensive testing, professional-grade masking, contact tracing, and actual quarantining could have combined to "flatten the curve." I think that's why people have started "rebelling" against social distancing -- not out of boredom, ignorance, or defiance, but from subliminally realizing that curve flattening was a fantasy, and that staying home now does too little, too late.

This could have happened in the U.S. -- but it can't now because U.S. leadership didn't see the smoke on the horizon and/or pull the alarm in time.


rocktivity

March 12, 2020

RE: Rule #1

The bad news: I didn't pack my camera accessories bag, giving me a seven-hour, six-band concert to shoot with just one battery to my name.

The good news: I did pack my (15-ounce) charger and my tablet, into which I'd put a PDF of my camera's user guide.

The great news: I had bothered to read enough of the user guide to know that my camera is capable of on-board battery charging. So instead of "calling in sick," I simply looked up the instructions: all I needed to do was connect a USB/micro cable between the charger and camera between band performances.

Lessons learned:

1. Keep an extra (fully charged) battery, and either an extra camera battery charger or a USB cable and wall plug adapter, in another part of your bag.

2. Thou shalt know thy camera as thyself.

rocktivity

December 24, 2019

The photo that required 7 months and the breaking of a 40-year-old mindset to take

In the "olden days" of film-based rock photography, I generated enough experience and skill to fill a shoebox with photos. I thought that transitioning to digital rock photography would simply be a matter of finding a camera in my price range -- but it's been more like being a piano player who's been handed a synthesizer. Suddenly, I was a clueless amateur again, which I resented. Fortunately, I faced the fact that I was NOT going to be able figure it all out within a few days, weeks, or even months.

For instance, it turned out that I'd bought the wrong camera for rock photography -- twice. Just as "serious" rock guitarists are supposed to restrict themselves to playing only Gibsons and Fenders, pro photography employs a similar "brand snobbery" about Nikons and Canons. I've used Canons almost exclusively, but I had to face another fact: the Canons and Nikons that I could afford just didn't supply enough of the features needed for digital rock photography.

It looked like I was sunk, and nearly took my Canon to a pawn shop to invest the proceeds in a self-pitying boozefest in honor of my latest failure. But it simply didn't make sense to me that the camera I needed at the price I needed didn't exist. Instead, I did some additional homework outside of the Nikon/Canon "aristocracy," went to a camera a pro shop, asked the right questions, and worked a trade-in deal for a Panasonic.

From there, it was simply a matter of investing in the "Six P's" -- preparation, patience, persistence, and what the bands I photograph are expected to do: practice practice practice. Which brings us to the seventh P: the payoff.

After seven months, I think I've reached the tipping point where I'm less occupied with the operational aspects of the camera and getting back into the business of "capturing moments." Pics of the bands I've photographed are starting to turn up on their Web pages, and most recently in a local band Facebook "10-photo artist challenge." And just in time for the holidays, LOL!




rocktivity

October 31, 2019

It's the morning after -- so it WASN'T a dream!

While I am very much a veteran of "serious" photography, I'm a rookie at digital photography. That's why I joined the DU Photography Group recently -- and that's why this has taken me so totally by surprise.

I saw the girl getting her face painted while on my way to photograph a band, and absolutely wanted to take her picture. But by the time I was ready to, she had left the painting booth. I literally hunted her down -- that's why the picture made me happy! Well, it paid off in more ways than one, LOL! Thanks, all!


rocktivity