Sunday Serendipity

By Jace, a Trail Mix Contributor

Entirely appropo for the month of April and Spring. When the sound of raindrops seems to be everywhere. Chopin’s Raindrop Prelude. Enjoy the music and as always enjoy your day!

More Posts by Jace


In case you missed Pogo’s April Fools submission:

ST. THOMAS, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS—Speaking Wednesday from the grounds of the lavish tropical estate where he plans to spend much of his downtime while in office, Donald Trump unveiled a new presidential retreat he hopes will allow him to escape from the grueling pace of life at Mar-a-Lago.

With its sunny climate, secluded setting, and luxurious accommodations, the 45-acre Caribbean hideaway known as Isola Vista—which sits on a pristine white-sand beach along the island of St. Thomas’ southern coast—will reportedly serve as a haven where the president can find respite from his five-star Palm Beach, FL resort and its many day-to-day pressures.

“After a while, all that time spent at Mar-a-Lago starts to take a toll,” Trump said of the relentless routine of recreation and extravagance he experiences at his oceanfront Florida club. “I’m there so much that sometimes I just need to get away and clear my head. Here in St. Thomas I’ll have a place where I can simply relax and, for a little while at least, forget about all those headaches I left behind in Palm Beach.” — By Pogo, a Trail Mix Contributor

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68 thoughts on “Sunday Serendipity”

  1. jace, absolutely beautiful for a beautiful april morn.  thanks.

    and all hail to judge hale!

    wapo:

    LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A federal judge has rejected President Donald Trump’s free speech defense against a lawsuit accusing him of inciting violence against protesters at a campaign rally.

    Trump’s lawyers sought to dismiss the lawsuit by three protesters who say they were roughed up by his supporters at a March 1, 2016 rally in Louisville, Kentucky. They argued that Trump didn’t intend for his supporters to use force.

    Two women and a man say they were shoved and punched by audience members at Trump’s command. Much of it was captured on video and widely broadcast during the campaign, showing Trump pointing at the protesters and repeating “get them out.”

    Judge David J. Hale in Louisville ruled Friday that the suit against Trump, his campaign and three of his supporters can proceed. Hale found ample facts supporting allegations that the protesters’ injuries were a “direct and proximate result” of Trump’s actions, and noted that the Supreme Court has ruled out constitutional protections for speech that incites violence.

    “It is plausible that Trump’s direction to ‘get ‘em out of here’ advocated the use of force,” the judge wrote. “It was an order, an instruction, a command.”

    [….]

    The judge also declined to remove allegations that Nwanguma, an African-American, was the victim of racial, ethnic and sexist slurs from the crowd at the rally. This context may support the plaintiffs’ claims of negligence and incitement by Trump and his campaign, the judge said.

    “While the words themselves are repulsive, they are relevant to show the atmosphere in which the alleged events occurred,” Hale wrote.

    Lawyers for Trump and his campaign also argued that they cannot be held liable because they had no duty to the plaintiffs, who assumed the risk of injury when they decided to protest at the rally. The judge countered that under the law, every person has a duty to every other person to use care to prevent foreseeable injury.

    “In sum, the Court finds that Plaintiffs have adequately alleged that their harm was foreseeable and that the Trump Defendants had a duty to prevent it,” the judge ruled, referring the case to a federal magistrate, Judge H. Brent Brennenstuhl, to handle preliminary litigation, discovery and settlement efforts.

  2. All, Hale!  Trump’s setting all sorts of records, isn’t he? My RW lawyer friend from KY will be pissed. Did I ever mention that he does civil litigation defense for a living? LOL.

    Ahhh, Chopin. Ivory tinkling at its best

     

  3. Good music for Sunday’s.  I usually have classical playing on Sunday mornings while I read the newspapers.  Tradition.  This is something I have been doing for years.  Also, I have been listening to Otto’s Classical and Otto’s Baroque for the last five years.  Those two stations are wonderful.  The easy way to get them and almost anything else is using Vtuner.

     

  4. daily show press release

    NEW YORK, March 28, 2017 – Every president since Franklin D. Roosevelt has been honored with a meticulously curated memorial library commemorating the documents of historical value crafted during his time as leader of the free world. Continuing this hallowed tradition, and seeing no need to wait for him to leave office, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah will honor our current president with The Daily Show Presents: The Donald J. Trump Presidential Twitter Library, the first of its kind, showcasing our Commander in Chief’s preferred vessel for communicating with the public, his Twitter feed. This actual library will be located in New York City and will be free and open to the public.

    The Daily Show Presents: The Donald J. Trump Presidential Twitter Library will open in June, and it will be tremendous. It will be so tremendous that you’ll get tired of the tremendousness, so it will then close only a few days later. Sad!

    The exhibit will feature a fully interactive and hands-on experience for hands of all sizes, giving patrons the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to memorialize and celebrate the many “unpresidented” moments of President Trump’s Twitter history. More details to be announced later.

  6. Pat: It’s Sunday and that wapo article shows that there is a God! It’s about time that trump finally has to account for the “deplorable” acts by him and his supporters during the campaign! PS: the twitter library is a hoot LOL!

    Jace: Rubinstein! Legend! Thank you.

    Pogo: Yes you got me 🙂

  7. Thank You, Jace, for this selection. On a silly note (!) it brings back memories of my teenage fave, actor John Rubinstein. I liked the TV series Family & he was some serious eye candy.

     

  9. OMG!? Road drops? I meant raindrops. Not drinking, not thinking, and sure as Hell not editing. Color me embarrassed!?

  11. Jace, light editor that I am, I wondered but left that, as I thought it might be some sort of reference to dead possum. Fixed.

    We badly need rain here at Southern Command, irrigation well is bone dry so maybe Chopin can be our rain dance.

  13. My quirky brain after doing a lot of driving on roads being hit by drops thought it made a wonderful kind of sense … lol.

  15. I LOVE Chopin!

    We got 9 inches of wet heavy snow yesterday….   nope…  not an April Fool’s joke.  At least it’s nothing like  what we got 20 yrs ago (1997) when we got 2 feet plus on that date.  It will do wonders for our water table and be mostly gone in a couple of weeks.  And the birds are still doing their mating calls.

  16. the hill:

    On CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, host Jake Tapper asked Schiff if Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) was attempting to distract from the Russia investigation with claims that members of Trump’s transition team were subjects of “incidental” collection during routine surveillance targeting suspected foreign spies.

     

    “I would tell people, whenever they see the president use the word ‘fake,’ it ought to set off alarm bells,” Schiff told Tapper, suggesting the president’s tweets signal where there’s real controversy.

     

    “[Trump’s] tweets tell the story, and the story is ‘Look over there at leaks,’ and ‘Look over there at anything the Obama administration, we can claim, did wrong on incidental collection or anything else ― but whatever you do, under no circumstances look here at me or at Russia,’” Schiff continued. “I think that’s really what’s going on.”

  18. Trump’s Russia problem is going to be the gift that keeps on giving. At some point even republicans are going to come to the conclusion that it just doesn’t pass the smell test. Tweets alone are not going to make it go away. Waiting for the line of sacrificial lambs to start forming.

  19. Feels a little like Watergate with Twitter added in.  Nixon didn’t have Trumps big mouth so it took longer to bring him down.  This is probably going to be bigger though – with the Russia issues added.

    On a lighter note, looks like Bill O’Reilly over at Fake News paid 5 women $13 million to settle sexual harassment complaints.  I’m assuming the $13 million was to keep them quiet.  Well – now that it’s out – that’s a lot of money shot to hell.  Scumbag deserves it!

     

  20. Rubinstein is another feller I have on reel-to-reel. What’s he playing? Chopin, of course. Excellent choice, Jace

  22. From the previous post, I’ve been following Gonzaga basketball since Mark Few took over the program 19 years ago. I’ve always loved their fight song. Monday night’s championship game between the Bulldogs and North Carolina should be epic. As I see it, the teams are evenly matched – they both have size under the basket, quickness in the backcourt, depth off the bench, and senior leadership.

    Today I am a South Carolina fan. Good luck Flatus!

    Tomorrow is baseball Opening Day for most clubs. A few start today, in fact after the women’s championship I’ll be checking out the Cubs at the Cardinals. My Dodgers home opener is tomorrow against San Diego. Go Blue!

  24. travis, last thread I posted the ‘zaga fight song to bolster the vibes for the men’s championship.

    so for flatus here’s usc’s fight song for the women’s champs-to-be

  25. Just catching up on the Trail. Been about-of-pocket last few days. Sorry to learn of RR’s loss. That is always a difficult and transformative time, with much reflection.

    I too am searching for an alternative to “Gate.” Teapot Dome had its Fall guy, Reagan had Iran-Contra. Surely 45*s treachery deserves a unique name. Right now, I think we should be looking to Russian literature for our inspiration.

    Until we find the right mix, and with a nod to Russia AND Jay Ward, how about Noose and Squirrel?

     

  28. Well, I did watch the game last night. I was disappointed that Thornwell wasn’t in fighting form, but that’s what it was. I hadn’t watched the Gamecocks Men’s team until this tournament. They impressed me. They certainly played above their Level 7 assignment.

    It will be a new team next year as most of the starters are graduating. They’ve set a fine set of goals for the upcoming crew.

    Now, I’m thinking good thoughts for the Gamecocks Women in their Championship battle later today. I’ve been ‘with’ them for three years; they are wonderful kids.

  34. Travis

    We are Northern Californians!  Although Mr Cracker grew up in SoCal and roots for the LA schools but he is a Giant fan through and through. His older son and three grandchildren all live in LA –a lot of good natured ribbing goes on.

  35. KGC – I’m from NoCal originally, but grew up an A’s fan until 1974. That’s when Charlie Finley started trading and selling off my champions. I could never be a Giants fan, so I picked the Dodgers and have bled blue ever since.

  36. The Brooklyn Dodgers are a different story
    Peewee Reese is my all time favorite player

  37. I was a Dodger fan when they were still in Brooklyn and then they had the good sense to move to my home town which makes the Giants my mortal enemies.  Could get to be fun around here.

     

  40. My favorite Dodger changes with the times, but I’m a huge fan of Tommy Lasorda. He crosses eras.

    My favorite current Dodger player is Clayton Kershaw.

  41. In 1921, Shoeless Joe Jackson was banned from baseball due to his alleged involvement in the Black Sox scandal of 1919. But for nearly 85 years, fans have argued as to whether or not the White Sox legend truly deserves such a stiff penalty, especially when he was acquitted by a judge of any wrong doing.

  42. I got a nice memory of seeing a game on TV called by Dizzy and Peewee in which were playing both Mickey Mantle and Jimmie Piersall….there was a Fracus in the outfield involving Mickey, Jimmie, and a couple of fans down on the field…. I remember Jimmie chasing a fan and finally kicking him in the butt before the fan could escape….

  47. according to wiki, shoeless joe

    Jackson, who played left field for most of his career, currently has the third-highest career batting average in major league history. In 1911, Jackson hit for a .408 average. It is still the sixth-highest single-season total since 1901, which marked the beginning of the modern era for the sport. His average that year also set the record for batting average in a single season by a rookie.[1] Babe Ruth said that he modeled his hitting technique after Jackson’s

    Jackson still holds the Indians and White Sox franchise records for both triples in a season and career batting average. In 1999, he ranked number 35 on The Sporting News‘ list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players and was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. The fans voted him as the 12th-best outfielder of all-time. He also ranks 33rd on the all-time list for non-pitchers according to the win shares formula developed by Bill James.

  48. Shoeless Joe and Jimmy how can Ya go wrong……
    On May 24, 1952, just before a game against the New York Yankees, Piersall engaged in a fistfight with Yankee infielder Billy Martin. Following the brawl, Piersall briefly scuffled with teammate Mickey McDermott in the Red Sox clubhouse. After several such incidents, including Piersall spanking the four-year-old son of teammate Vern Stephens in the Red Sox clubhouse during a game, he was demoted to the minor league Birmingham Barons on June 28.
    In less than three weeks with the Barons, Piersall was ejected on four occasions, the last coming after striking out in the second inning on July 16. Prior to his at-bat, he had acknowledged teammate Milt Bolling‘s home run by spraying a water pistol on home plate. Piersall then moved to the grandstand roof to heckle home plate umpire Neil Strocchia.
    Receiving a three-day suspension, Piersall entered treatment three days later at the Westborough State Hospitalin Massachusetts. Diagnosed with “nervous exhaustion”, he spent the next seven weeks in the facility and missed the remainder of the season.
    Piersall returned to the Red Sox in the 1953 season, finishing ninth in voting for the MVP Award, and remained a fixture in the starting lineup through 1958.
    He once stepped up to bat wearing a Beatles wig and playing “air guitar” on his bat, led cheers for himself in the outfield during breaks in play, and “talked” to Babe Ruth behind the center field monuments at Yankee Stadium. In his autobiography, Piersall commented, “Probably the best thing that ever happened to me was going nuts. Who ever heard of Jimmy Piersall, until that happened?”

  49. Travis

    The A’s games are fun to go to…Last time I went, we sat behind a huge extended family that had some moonshine and were willing to share  It really is a team that encourages family participation

  50. Tomorrow life as we know it begins anew! In the midst of our turbulent government debacles, Thank God for baseball! #GoSox #OpeningDay

    Loving the baseball nostalgia!

    Also loving the cartoons and memes 🙂

    Jamie: the LA times series looks great. Can’t wait for Part II tomorrow. Saw your animal cam blog post. I would highly recommend that you check out Africam I’ve been visiting the site since they first started in 99. Back then there were only a couple of still cameras that would reload after 30 seconds, but not reliably, so we had to constantly refresh our browsers. They were grainy black and white images, but it was still addicting to those of us who dreamed of going on African safaris but knew we probably never would. I screen captured hundreds of images (maybe thousands) in the first few years. We were all so thrilled when they started using color cameras and live video feeds. They expanded all over the world too and at one point they had a polar bear camera and I loved “taking pictures” of those polar bears. Sadly, most of my pix from those years were lost in a computer crash, but the memories linger on. I still get their newsletter and daily photo and I even have an Africam channel on my Roku. On their site now you can watch several cams at the same time. I only watch occasionally these days but it still fascinates me to see live animals in the wild any time I want!

  51. I shall cheer for the Cleveland Spiders and Minnesota’s beloved Washington Senators in the AL, and the Pirates in the NL. I may even go so far as to tube a game this year. maybe.

    Fearless Pick Department :
    The Surprising Spiders will beat the ‘Mazing Mets in the Worldly Serious.

  53. I remember how much fun it was going to A’s games. We always sat down the first base line at field level. Later we went to games at Candlestick, mostly when the Dodgers were in town. We often sat on the third base side, and the players would come over for autographs.

    I have an old ball somewhere with autographs from Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, and Ron Cey.

    Baseball is all about nostalgia.

  54. I have no favorite baseball team or player. But I have a favorite team owner: Rhubarb.

  57. BTW Mr. President is on the nest right now Eagle Cam which means the chicks are visible.  His attitude is so funny:  I’ll feed you and watch you until SHE gets back, but I’m not going to sit on you.

     

  60. The Frozen 4 breaks out on the 6th.  Number two seed U of MN Duluth will face off v #3 Harvard. #1 ranked Denver will vie with the Notre Dames.

    GO BULLDOGS !

    GO PUBLIC SCHOOL GUYS !

  64. I am mighty proud of them. Somehow, they have to find enough energy to make it back home.

  65. Mr C, the Irish have to get past mighty Denver to face the winner of the Harvard-UMD game. Your Golden Domers made an extraordinary run lately, but I think April 6 will be the end of the line. Denver is awesome. Condolences in advance.

  66. Jamie: Ha, I figured you might be a fan…sisters from another mother LOL! I have tembe and naledi and a few other live cams on my Africam Roku channel (actually comes from PlayOn). So I don’t even have to get up from my rocker/recliner to watch it. 😉 There have been a lot of giraffes lately too. They are such utterly magnificent and majestic creatures! The elephant populations seem to be increasing lately. I hope that’s a good sign of a reduction in poaching.

  68. XR – Yeah, I figured. I haven’t followed the college game as closely as I should. I knew Denver was really good. The times I’ve been able to catch ND, they have played well but didn’t really look like championship material. Glad they made the Frozen Four.

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