Saturday, January 02, 2016

Saturday Shitstorm

I've been inside all day, so I thought, "why not go outside?"

Bad idea. It's a shitstorm out there. A big flock of - kinglets? some other bird? - is twittering in the trees and shitting berry juice over just everything.

At least they aren't as bad as starlings. I got trapped once in a Davis convenience market by a ferocious starling shitstorm.

Getting claustrophobic....

Zumba - My SÅ‚owianie

What Came of That Powerful North Atlantic Storm?

Everything is connected to everything else. So, what's come of that powerful North Atlantic storm that pumped so much warm air into the Arctic?

The normal Polar Vortex has basically split in two, with a powerful vortex centered over the North Atlantic near the UK, and an even more powerful vortex over the North Pacific, centered over the Sea of Okhotsk. Warm air is funneling from the North Atlantic over the Pole, with displaced polar air moving into Siberia. Parts of Siberia will see a cold snap as the polar air comes south. Temperatures will start dropping on January 6th at Tiksi, Siberia, and get pretty freakin' cold.

The North Pacific vortex is making the northwest Pacific very stormy, but it's a little too far west to affect California that much. Nevertheless, the extra kick of cold polar air from Siberia will eventually set off a train of storms east of Japan that will hit California pretty hard around January 15th. Whatever it takes to boost our precipitation totals and put a few snowflakes in the Sierra Nevada. Even if it screws up the entire Northern Hemisphere in the process.

And how should people adjust? I recommend this approach:

So, What Was The Best Pop Song of 2015?

In the past, the question about the year's best pop tune was easier to answer, but since the market is broken into any number of niches now, it's harder to get a handle on it. And these days music is unstuck from time too - like Billy Pilgrim in Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five". The tune I liked listening to the most during the year, Lana del Rey's "Burning Desire" is from 2012 (and the excellent 'Heaven & Earth Division Remix' is from 2013), not 2015.

So, my criteria for the year's best pop song is that is has to be from 2015 and has to sound good blaring on a car radio. What tune meets those criteria?

This works:

Went Again To See "The Big Short"

Because it's such a fantastic movie (plus it's quite arcane, so to get all the references seeing it twice is a good idea).

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." - Mark Twain

KES New Year's Zumba

Scottish New Year 2016

Very pleasant afternoon with Alec and Jean Henderson, at their annual New Year's gathering. Many friends of theirs visit, including pipers, singers, and musicians from the New Caledonian Society, DMTC theater singers, and various neighbors and friends. Catch up on Scottish culture.



New Year's Zumba with Pakko and the Barreto Brothers

Zumba this New Year's morning with Pakko and the Barreto Brothers.

La musica dedicated to Bonny Holder.


Zumba this New Year's morning with Pakko and the Barreto Brothers.La musica dedicated to Bonny Holder.

Posted by Marc Valdez on Friday, January 1, 2016

Ringing In New Year 2016

"The Producers" - DMTC - Dec. 30, 2015 Rehearsal - V

"The Producers" - DMTC - Dec. 30, 2015 Rehearsal - IV