abqtommy
abqtommy's JournalLet us pay homage where it is due; Lead Belly, this is for you...
When I was a lad and turned 14 in 1963 I manged to persuade my Mom to buy me a guitar for my birthday. I'd been visiting a school friend and found out he had a baritone ukulele and instruction book so I spent a lot of time visiting him an learning to play.
I was born into a musical family. Mom and her sisters all played the piano and sang. My favorite aunt
played the guitar and welcomed me into her home so I could play it.
In 1954 my Mom wrote in a newsletter she sent from West Pakistan that I had found an old broken-down guitar that I treasured so it was perfectly logical that I should finally get a working guitar of my own.
As time went by I accumulated chord books, sore fingers and what books of folk songs I could. I found
that many folk songs were written by a man called Lead Belly and I wondered about that but I knew I
liked his songs.
Now as an old guy I've found out about Lead Belly and I recommend his story and his songs to you.
Leadbelly the movie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadbelly_(film)
Lead Belly biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_Belly
Lead Belly performs his song Midnight Special, a favorite that I also used to perform...
Computer geeks check in! Just got an update from Microsoft on my son's WIN-10 machine.
It's been awhile since I've seen this type of thread but tonight Microsoft gave an update titled
"2020-04 Cumulative Update for WIN-10 Version 1909". Looks like we can expect a monthly update
of this kind from now on out since we've been getting them regularly. The update took about an hour to download/install/restart so all is well. We get updates to WIN Defender almost daily but they're short and don't require a restart so no prob.
I'm still getting updates for my WIN-7 machine and that's interesting since Microsoft was supposed to
end support back in January. Maybe they decided to keep on due to our vocal appreciation for WIN-7
but whatever it is it's welcome. I've gotten updates regularly for each month this year so far.
How's everyone doing? So far so good here...
Here's a report on today's weather here in Duke City/ABQ NM. Let us know how it is for you!
This morning when I got up around 5am I peeked out my window and it was raining. How about that, and it was actually in our forecast! Later in the day when I peeked out around 1pm it was SNOWING big fat fluffy flakes and there was no accumulation since the ground is pretty well warmed up. It's going to be cooler here for a few days so I started our heat back up since we haven't used it for awhile.
I contacted my friends back in the southeast states and they're ok so that's good.
So how are things in your neck of the woods? Inquiring minds want to know...
A few years back I got acquainted with John Prine again. I had enjoyed the movie
Daddy And Them, especially the exit music which turned out to be written and performed by John.
Naturally I saved it and here it is: The song is titled In Spite Of Ourselves...
Lyrics: https://www.lyrics.com/track/3497288/John+Prine/In+Spite+of+Ourselves
Gonna miss you, John. You're gone but not forgotten...
Here's my take on what I saw shopping at WalMart this week. I usually shop on Tuesday and
Friday but his week I went on Wednesday and Saturday/today. Usually I check our mail at our post office box on Friday but I did that today, too.
From what I saw this week it looks like the hoarding spike has begin to level out. This week I've been able to buy things that I haven't been able to the few weeks before, like a 4-pound jar of peanut butter, Oscar Meyer sliced oven-roasted turkey lunch meat and A&W Diet Cream Soda. I actually saw one store worker stocking large packs of toilet paper and there was more liquid dish soap on the shelves. There was an abundance of bread on the shelves that were bare previously. So things are looking better.
I tried to maintain my distance from people I met going about my shopping. At the check-out everybody was maintaining their 6-foot distance so we're doing our part. I got into a conversation with the man in front of me. I told him that I thought I've already had the virus and he told me that he's worried since he hasn't been able to contact two of his sisters. We all have a story but we're doing the best we can.
I always have my home-made disinfectant wipes with me and I use them liberally. (Put some paper napkins in a one-gallon storage bag and douse well with 91% rubbing alcohol.) I use them when I get a cart in the parking lot and when I wipe down my groceries after I get out and put them in my car and of course rub down my hands. I have some spray disinfectant left over from when sewage backed up in our apartment so I use that too on my clothes.
Stay safe, everyone!
Why the humble meat pie defines Australia: from BBC-Travel...
"Even the tiniest of Australian country towns has at least one bakery, selling everything from the classic steak and pepper to more avant-garde versions like an eggs Benedict pie.
By Penny Watson
27 March 2020
As an Australian school kid, the best day of the week was Friday. It marked the start of the weekend, sure, but it was also “lunch order” day, when, instead of the usual cheese sandwich, we’d get to order from the tuck shop. On this day, we’d forgo our lunch boxes and instead pop a dollar note in a brown paper bag with our order written steadfastly on it:
Penny Watson
Grade 1b
1 meat pie (with sauce please)
Thank you
The bag would then be placed in a basket at the front of the classroom, and returned containing said pie, steaming hot, with tomato sauce oozing from a hole in the top.
The meat pie is one of Australia’s most iconic foods, along with Vegemite and pavlova."
more at link: http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20200326-why-the-humble-meat-pie-defines-australia
This article caught my eye since 1) I enjoy food and 2) I've enjoyed Cornish Pastys in Upper Michigan
and Italian Calzone in many places. (the topic of stuffed pastry desserts is a topic for another
op) Enjoy!
How a lab in Sask. that focuses on animals became Canada's $23M hope for a COVID-19 vaccine
from the CBC website:
"In the global race to find a COVID-19 vaccine, the federal government announced Monday it is pumping $23 million into an academic research lab in Saskatchewan.
The Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization - International Vaccine Centre (VIDO-InterVac) at the University of Saskatchewan started as a modest veterinary lab in 1975. But it has evolved into a world class facility that the Trudeau government is betting can develop a vaccine to stop the pandemic.
The Saskatoon lab already has a head start. It has been working on coronavirus vaccines, primarily for animals, for four decades, including successful vaccines for cattle and pigs."
more at link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/coronavirus-covid-19-vido-intervac-saskatchewan-vaccine-1.5508114
It's good to know that progress is being made in the search for COVID-19 solutions.
Spring in blossom, from Reuters Pictures Of The Week...a pleasant distraction from COVID-19.
"Cherry, peach and almond trees bloom in springtime around the world.
Sunday, March 22, 2020".
https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/spring-in-blossom-idUSRTS36XBF
Japanese flu drug 'clearly effective' in treating coronavirus, says China. From The Guardian...
3-18-20
"Medical authorities in China have said a drug used in Japan to treat new strains of influenza appeared to be effective in coronavirus patients, Japanese media said on Wednesday.
Zhang Xinmin, an official at China’s science and technology ministry, said favipiravir, developed by a subsidiary of Fujifilm, had produced encouraging outcomes in clinical trials in Wuhan and Shenzhen involving 340 patients.
“It has a high degree of safety and is clearly effective in treatment,” Zhang told reporters on Tuesday.
Patients who were given the medicine in Shenzhen turned negative for the virus after a median of four days after becoming positive, compared with a median of 11 days for those who were not treated with the drug, public broadcaster NHK said."
more at link: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/18/japanese-flu-drug-clearly-effective-in-treating-coronavirus-says-china
It's good to see more encouraging treatment news each day...
This very real physical attack seen at a Biden rally... A few days ago I mentioned in a reply
on another thread about an attack I had heard/read about. At that time I didn't have a link to the report that I saw but now I do. It's good to know that some demonstrators are willing to embrace
violence...
On Monday, 3-9-20, there was a Biden rally in Detroit. Here is an excerpt from a Politico report:
"Protests at a raucous Joe Biden rally Monday night grew unruly at times, including one prolonged scuffle that knocked a senior Biden aide to the floor of a high school gymnasium."
snip
"Minutes later, a larger group of pro-Green New Deal demonstrators began shouting over Biden’s remarks and waving signs. But as staff members tried moving the group along, Biden senior aide Symone Sanders was hit on the head with an iPad and knocked down. Video of the incident shows her popping right back up; she was reportedly doing fine afterward. Last week, on Super Tuesday, Sanders charged on stage as a protester approached Biden and his wife, Jill, as he spoke in Los Angeles."
Stay safe everyone!
more at link: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/10/joe-biden-detroit-protests-sanders-124874
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