♦ What follows is my understanding of music. I’ve given it not much thought, but more than enough.

There are three kinds of music:

Real music is mostly pop ditties, after they’ve been heard so many thousand times that every note and vocal intonation is memorized, and listening becomes so rote that you can listen without listening. For me, this includes most of the Top 40 hits of my childhood, when rock’n’roll existed and was good. It also includes most folk music, rhythm & blues, plenty of soul, electronic, and classical music I’ve heard often enough that it’s familiar, many movie scores, and a surprisingly deep repertoire of showtunes. There’s no country music, as that’s an oxymoron.

Interesting music is when you say, ‘That’s cool’, when musical notes and/or lyrics flow along an interesting route, doing something you hadn’t expected, or doing it in an unusual way, or simply doing it well. For me, Interesting music is largely hypothetical, like a five-leaf clover, because when I hear it, I’ll seek out a recording to hear it again, so it soon migrates into either the first or third categories.

The third kind of music is Shut that shit off. This is by far the most common category of composition, and includes opera, rap, boy bands, and virtually all pop and country music recorded commercially since the 1990s. You may disagree if you wish, but you’d be wrong.

Also, do I need to explain that I’m 60% kidding about all this, that it’s mostly me in a bad mood? Having said that, please shut that shit off.

♦ Here’s an interesting five-minute briefing on some islands in northern Scotland with an unusual but enviable problem — they’re generating more power than they need. In addition to the video itself, I love that it doesn’t open with a theme song, and doesn’t end by pleading for you to subscribe to Tom’s channel. That’s why I’ve subscribed to Tom’s channel.

♦ At least five South Florida police officers died from COVID-19 over the course of just one week.Here, watch my knee jerk: Most cops are politically conservative, or farther to the right than that, and a great many on that side of the stupid-spectrum don’t believe in COVID, won’t wear masks, and refuse the free vaccines.

It stands to reason, then, that cops and other conservatives will continue dying of COVID, more quickly and more often than the rest of us, because they choose to. I feel we should respect their choice.

♦ I may have been a bit too harsh about Jeff Bezos, earlier. A million intestinal worms is excessive and unnecessary, when a few hundred thousand would be sufficient. Mostly Words regrets the error.

♦ “Fans who went to Giants-A’s game at Oakland Coliseum faced a parking nightmare.” Well, I’d rewrite that headline and insert the word “stupid” once or twice.

There was a big crowd at an Oakland A’s game, which admittedly doesn’t happen often, and stupid fans had trouble finding parking. Have y’all heard of BART, the regional transit system? There’s a BART station at the Oakland Coliseum. You can park your car just about anywhere in nine counties, and ride BART to the ball park, with no worries about parking.

♦ Facebook has spent more than $23-billion on acquisitions over its short history. I scrolled down the long list, just to make sure I’m not somehow doing business with a Facebook-owned business, and I’m not.

For what little it’s worth, my favorite local news aggregator switched to a Facebook subsidiary on Monday, so I unsubscribed. Ain’t much that one person can do to make the world a better place, but I’m trying not to voluntarily make the world worse.

♦ Overdue apologies:
“I’m sorry, treasured spouse, for ways I’ve been critical of you.  It’s an honor to be close to you and be your family member. I never want to treat you with the mean demanding harshness I sometimes treat myself.”

♦ Guy moves in with his parents, as he’s going through a divorce. Then he moves out, moves to a different state, and asks his parents to ship his stuff to him.

Everything arrives, except a dozen boxes of porn. Guy asks his parents, and his father replies, “Frankly, David, I did you a big favor getting rid of all this stuff.”

So, guy sues his parents. Guy wins $30,000, plus $15,000 in attorney fees.

♦ Looks like bastards have stolen the late Bob Ross’s image, paintings, archives, and soul.

♦ Parole for Sirhan Sirhan, Robert F Kennedy’s assassin? I wouldn’t object, but it needs the Governor of California’s approval, and I’d be astounded if Gavin Newsom has the backbone. If he’s recalled, Newsom’s Republican successor absolutely won’t.

♦ Possibly the stupidest question I’ve seen on r/NoStupidQuestions.

♦ Here’s an interesting video, especially the first half hour or so, detailing the creation of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Two main takeaways for me: ① Wesley Crusher was almost Leslie Crusher, a teenage girl, which in my opinion would’ve been far more interesting.

② The original script for the pilot episode had no Q, a character I always found very, very uninteresting. Q was added by Gene Roddenberry himself, one of the Great Bird’s dumbest mistakes.

♦ “Don’t ever call me ‘your drummer’ again.” Adios and auf wiedersehen, Charlie Watts of the Stones.

♦  Mystery links  — Like life itself, there’s no knowing where you’re going:
—①—
—②—
—③—

Sincere tip ‘o the hat to Becky Jo, Dave S., BoingBoing, Captain Hampockets, and One of the Butt Sisters but definitely not the other.