(via andgreenmyeyes)
From the notebooks:
Bill Knott — UNSPEAKABLE
A comma is a period which leaks.
Sesame Street - Monsterpiece Theater - Howard’s End.
Previously: 12 Angry Men. Waiting for Elmo.
A Pakistani Muslim devotee smokes cigarettes as he and others gather to celebrate the annual congregation of famous saint Data Ganjbaksh, in Lahore, Pakistan, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010. Thousands of people traveled from all over Pakistan to attend the celebrations. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
via randomsaxophonist: dailyme
As a guitarist for 9+ years, it’s been fun to see commenters over at Boing Boing try and figure out whether or not Charlie Patton played his guitar in the “crab legs” style, which is pictured briefly in the song posted above.
Most are saying, yes, it’s totally possible, and one person says it’s the regular way of playing in Botswana.
Here’s some “totally can’s”:
- Jeff Healey plays in a similar fashion …
- I know dobro players sometimes do that grip. Maybe it was a style that favored a lead in a non-electric, san-pick Texas/Mephis style that some of these old recordings had.
- It’s possible to play with a knife in that way. See Bukka White playing with a round metal bar here. Some of Patton’s “slide” playing goes so far up the neck that he must’ve been using a knife (I think).
- I’ve been playing a long time (20+ years) and I can reach over the top of the fret board and play if I try. It’s not particularly comfortable, and I’m not particularly fluid doing it, but with practice, it’d be totally do-able.
Here’s some “totally can’t’s”:
- Unless he was using a non-standard tuning, it’d be extremely surprising …
- … it sounds like he was also a great showman, playing the guitar between his legs and behind his back … Maybe this was another technique he used to show off his guitar skill?
- I think showmanship is the best conclusion. There’s no real advantage to playing like this, other than the fact that it looks cool.
Here’s a video of Obama and Salvadoran President Funes re-capping their meeting this past Monday.
The Foreign Secretary finished his remarks a little while ago, and — skipping past audience questions, as forums at the JFK Library have had the effect of cultivating that habit — here are a few notes I jotted down.
He is the first British cabinet secretary to visit MIT since Winston Churchill in 1949. His talk was on ‘how to win the war in Afghanistan’ and re-iterated his push for a diplomatic solution.
He noted the historical parallels between Britain and Russia both concluding — in the 1920’s and 1980’s, respectively — that a political solution with external subsidies was the way to go, though it was the elimination of external subsidies that fueled destabilization.
He says that the Afghans are tired of decades fighting, that a recent poll suggests that only 6% of the population wants the Taliban back, that 5 million refugees have returned to the country (though security is still a high concern — compare that to the recent Iraqi election), and that the army is currently 100,000 strong and is expected to grow by 1/3 by the end of December of this year.
Current education levels place 7,000,000 children in school, 1/3 of them girls.
95% of the population sees corruption as a problem, each Afghan paying up to $100 a year to corrupt officials.
“The Great Consultation” — aimed at kick-starting the ‘reconciliation’/re-integration process in the country — starts on April 29th, and the secretary had four recommendations.
1. Make arrangements to ensure that provincial groups have a greater say in the political process.
2. Empower provincial/district governors.
3. There should be a new dispensation between Parliament and the President to encourage a greater degree of give-and-take and foster a constructive opposition.
4. Tackle corruption. Tackle corruption. Tackle corruption.
Japanese and Russian peace envoys in Portsmouth, NH in 1905. (h/t LOC.)
Istanbul. via bernache.
BREAKING!!11one:
Lost 365 Project. (h/t i09.)
think4yourself:apsies:michaelmcgee:spintree:whitehousephotostream:
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama dance together during the Governors Ball in the East Room of the White House, Feb. 21, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
