Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, also known as the Tallis Fantasia, is a one-movement work for string orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The theme is by the 16th-century English composer Thomas Tallis.
Enjoy, Jack
Sunday Serendipity
35 thoughts on “Sunday Serendipity”
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jack, thanks so much for introducing thomas tallis. must have been quite the singer composer for being kept on by 4 monarchs. his epitaph according to that wiki link:
Entered here doth ly a worthy wyght,
Who for long tyme in musick bore the bell:
His name to shew, was THOMAS TALLYS hyght,
In honest virtuous lyff he dyd excell.
He serv’d long tyme in chappel with grete prayse
Fower sovereygnes reygnes (a thing not often seen);
I meane Kyng Henry and Prynce Edward’s dayes,
Quene Mary, and Elizabeth oure Quene.
He mary’d was, though children he had none,
And lyv’d in love full thre and thirty yeres
Wyth loyal spowse, whose name yclypt was JONE,
Who here entomb’d him company now beares.
As he dyd lyve, so also did he dy,
In myld and quyet sort (O happy man!)
To God ful oft for mercy did he cry,
Wherefore he lyves, let deth do what he can.
another famous thomas just died, welshman Tom Jones, Lyricist and Librettist of Long-Running ‘The Fantasticks,’ Dies at 95 (msn.com)
[not to be confused with welsh singer thomas jones woodward who was known for “what’s new pussycat” and other hits]
“the fantasticks” best song:
Jack
Thank you. Your contributions to our Sundays are always appreciated.
My favorite from the Fantasticks: Soon It’s Gonna Rain
When I hear the word Fantasia I only think of Disney. Nice to have another reference point. Thanks Jack.
Now here’s a “huh?” moment. I visited NJ, outside Manhattan a little ways, and a neighbor has a big rent-a-dumpster in his yard with the company name in large letters written there on. I never took a pic in the back yard so no pics of that dumpster. But, (and gather ye about): After my return I’m perusing Facebark and guess what…..up pops an ad for that New Jersey dumpster company. That’s Freaky-deakey.
I’ve ordered and used local dumpster companies for years….never a peep. But look at one for a week in new jersey and -boom- there’s an ad.
While driving around near where I live recently, I started seeing these small signs along the roadside. I saw a couple of them while on a walk last night. I finally took a close look at them. Ottawa Impact is the organization behind all of the crooked Republicans we elected to the county commission last November.
“ never a peep. But look at one for a week in new jersey and -boom- there’s an ad.”
it’s ‘cause you logged into FB from joisey
i made a facebook profile for the first time in ages to buy a car, and holy cow is it the scammiest, spammiest site i’ve ever seen. Back in MY day it was for getting laid
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/13/politics/coffee-county-georgia-voting-system-breach-trump/index.html
“Atlanta-area prosecutors investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia are in possession of text messages and emails directly connecting members of Donald Trump’s legal team to the early January 2021 voting system breach in Coffee County, sources tell CNN.”
“Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to seek charges against more than a dozen individuals when her team presents its case before a grand jury next week.”
More destroyed lives left in SFB’s wake…but they were willing to roll the dice.
“While Trump’s January 2021 call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and effort to put forward fake slates of electors have long been considered key pillars of Willis’ criminal probe, the voting system breach in Coffee County quietly emerged as an area of focus for investigators roughly one year ago. Since then, new evidence has slowly been uncovered about the role of Trump’s attorneys, the operatives they hired and how the breach, as well as others like it in other key states, factored into broader plans for overturning the election.”
Jack – Thanks, as always.
Craig – Always enjoyed Imus interviews, and he always talked about your parents. I had forgotten about his charity coffee; I had some of the charity salsa, too. I wonder what he would’ve thought about all of this GQP violence and nonsense?
Ok….so I logged in from Joisey…..….but dumpster? Galluzzo? Still freaky.
I also logged in from Peaks of Otter, but haven’t heard back from them yet.
I expect the ads from ordering tools or grandchildren stuff, but from “seeing” a dumpster?
There are no coincidences, as certain citizens are wont to wryly comment.
Right now I’m digging the Book cause I found a page called “Old, Seedy, and Vintage Motels and Hotels” .I love that place
Sturgeone – yeah about those ads showing up when all you did was think about it. I had one show up a year ago after I asked my neighbor a question. We did not have cell phones. That one still has me wondering where the mic was hidden. The wildest would be if the russians had left something behind connected to the internet when they were messing around with my house. I suppose a scan is in order, just because.
I am going to break one of my basic rules and put a Ring doorbell camera-mic on the house. It will be bluetooth and not direct to internet. Then I wait for stuff to show up online.
Zuck hacked your eyes
He ought to be excited. He gets a $1 million payday from the Saudis for each tournament at his properties, this is his third…
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
Look forward to seeing you at Trump Bedminster, watching the Greatest Players in the World—Cam Smith is leading, with Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, and Charles Howell III following closely behind. Tee off is 1 PM. Just got back from a great and successful trip to Iowa. I will be with you at Bedminster all day!
It’s kinda spooky. I listened to that whole Imus interview just now and don’t remember any of it. Sounds like one of those rough mornings, his show too early for me, one reason I quit doing it.
I thought it went pretty good, specially the Fred homage.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_cqoI65z-jo&pp=ygUKRHIgbXkgZXllcw%3D%3D
They done hack-tified my eye holes.
I can remember Imus talking to you, Craig, about your mom and Disney. All sorts of things I’ve retained.
Sturg – Just think of something weird which you have no interest in, say it out loud (or don’t), and wait for the ads to roll in. Always fun when I’m asked a question and I Google a bunch of stuff and it then thinks I’m in the me in the market for anything remotely adjacent to that search.
Remember the movie, Minority Report? There was a scene where Tom Cruz was just walking around and targeted ads kept popping up and addressing him by name? We are there.
Ah, but the more jobs AI takes, the fewer dollars humans will have to spend. It’s all going to collapse on itself.
Just looked up Georgia RICO statute Fani is considering. Wow, it carries a MANDATORY MINIMUM of 5 years in jail.
Yep sturge, I think of Fred every time I reorder propane
Fred Joke:
Gramps is telling his little grandson tall tales sbout big game hunting in Africa. He tells him, “There I was tracking this lion in the middle of the jungle with my trusty rifle at my side…..I walked out into a clearing and the lion pounced into the clearing and went -ROAR!- and I just crapped my pants”. Grandson says, “Gee, Grampa, you had your rifle ready, why’d you crap your pants?”
Gramps says, “NO, not when the lion jumped out—Just now when I went ROAR. “
oh boy he really could get locked up
Well last night when I wanted to go sit outside and watch the Pleiades we had strong storm with intermittent downpours, severe thunderstorm warnings, tornado warning in adjacent county (no touchdown), high wind warnings (55 mph) – it was a small miracle that in the 2 hours or so it came and went we didn’t lose power or internet. Back to very warm and sunny now, but looking at another round of storms tomorrow.
Sounds like Fani will be presenting her case to the GA grand jury this week – if Dumbass is getting indicted (again) should be before Labor Day weekend. He says “”We need one more indictment to close out this election. One more indictment and this election is closed out. Nobody has even a chance.” I’d say not so fast there, Skippy. His best chance of anything closing out the election is the fucking No Labels BS.
Hah, about the internet thought police – I had to take a package to Staples at lunchtime to drop off for UPS a few months ago, and they had a display of Red & black modern looking high back desk chairs sitting next to the front door. I thought they were some new version of upper end desk chairs and stopped and looked at them. Turns out they were “gaming chairs”. Anyway, I walked in dropped the package off and went back to the office. That afternoon I got a Gmail ad from Sam’s Club for the same chair or a dead ringer for it. I’m sure it was just one of those really weird coincidences, but still… strange, particularly considering that I’ve never bought a gaming chair or even done an internet search for one. And did I mention that I really don’t believe in coincidences?
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/12/politics/trump-desantis-iowa-state-fair/index.html
“Being in the livestock barn, going to the pork tent. I mean, this is a home court advantage for me,” former Vice President Mike Pence told reporters…”
Idiots
Out
Walking
Around
Welcome to Iowa, folks. Pence for pork tent mayor. Poor piggies.
All of the GQP BS makes a livestock barn smell like a bakery.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/13/us/kansas-marion-county-newspaper-police-raid/index.html
Local reporter asked to leave a cafe by the owner because she didn’t want media there for a public meeting with a Republican. The local paper then published info on the cafe owner driving without a license. Law enforcement then raided the office and home of the newspaper owner, took equipment from him and his reporters.
I’m from a small town, and all of that stuff used to be in the local paper; speeding tickets, DUIs, all of it, but they didn’t even print it. It sounds like the paper was tipped off about the driving infraction and they told authorities…and then the authorities accused the paper of wrongdoing?
“Cody added while the Federal Privacy Protection Act protects journalists from most searches of newsrooms by federal and state law enforcement officials, there are certain exceptions in limited circumstances where a subpoena is not needed, including “when there is reason to believe the journalist is taking part in the underlying wrongdoing.”
“The Freedom of the Press Foundation released a statement in response to Friday’s incident, saying the raid appears to have violated federal law and is “the latest example of American law enforcement officers treating the press in a manner previously associated with authoritarian regimes.”
It was a public meeting, so why wouldn’t someone want media there? I’d love to know what was said by the fulgly Republicans.
“According to Meyer, law enforcement officials did not provide an explanation of why they were being raided. He said he was given a copy of the search warrant after the search.”
“Meyer tried to obtain a probable cause affidavit that would support the search warrant, he said, but the judge who issued the search warrant responded in a letter there was no such probable cause warrant in her office.”
Another Fred was the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth who died the same day as Steve Jobs.
Has the DEA ever looked for Junior’s dealer?
https://www.thenation.com/article/economy/silicon-valley-artificial-intelligence/
“Silicon Valley’s Quest to Build God and Control Humanity”
“Timnit Gebru and Emile Torres, two prominent critics of techno-optimism and its vision for artificial intelligence, have been trying to formalize this sort of thinking into a bundle of ideas called TESCERAL: Transhumanism, Extropianism, Singularitarianism, Cosmism, Rationalism, Effective Altruism, and Longtermism. These philosophies, at their core, argue that the future will be full of delicious, unimaginable wonders—but only if we ensure that the already powerful never face any barriers to remaking the world as they see fit.”
“There are two schools of thought about this that interest me: the transhumanists waiting for the coming technological Rapture, broadly represented by Google’s director of engineering Ray Kurzweil; and an offshoot represented by Marc Andreessen and other venture capitalists burning capital to develop and reign over the infrastructure, markets, and regulations that could constrain their innovations.”
“Andreessen divides AI adversaries into two categories often used by economists: “baptists” and “bootleggers.” Baptists believe in social reform; in this case, they believe AI poses an existential risk. “Bootleggers,” in contrast, “are self-interested opportunists who stand to financially profit by the imposition of new restrictions, regulations, and laws that insulate them from competitors.” For AI risk, he looks at chief executives asking for regulatory barriers like government licensing but also any AI critic receiving a salary from a university, think tank, activist group, or media outlet. Andreessen has no category for those who stand to lose from intensified pursuits of AI—such as workers forced to train it, moderate its activity, or exploited by it.”
“Andreessen writes that, unlike the US, China views AI as “a mechanism for authoritarian population control.” The only solution, therefore, is to throw even more money at AI, and let big firms “build AI as fast and aggressively as they can.” The private sector should lead the way on AI, deploying it to solve as many problems as possible as fast as possible—free from the shackles of government restrictions. Any regulation the US does pursue should be to limit China’s capacity to develop AI, not our own.”
“Andreessen’s Manichaean worldview is obviously self-interested—after all, Andreessen intends to invest in start-ups that will help along the mass proliferation of AI as a product and service. And, despite his insistence, there are real costs to pursuing AI.”
“Like China, the United States uses AI for authoritarian ends at home and abroad. Surveillance and social control structure much of the digital technology we create.”
“From authoritarianism in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the other Arab states of the Persian Gulf to apartheid in Israel to China’s totalitarianism, Silicon Valley tends to look the other way if money is to be made. Andreessen’s investment firm is openly courting Saudi Arabia for financing. So much for the rallying cry to stop authoritarian tech proliferation.”
“The world has been pushed to the brink of collapse: Our ecological niche is disintegrating; the political space we occupy is shrinking as tech firms enjoy almost unchallenged power over our computational infrastructure; and the social realm will continue to fray as speculators and rentiers subject us to increasingly demeaning forms of algorithmically mediated lives. We are left with Silicon Valley’s promises that this time will be different, that AI—unlike the Internet—won’t be a disappointment.”
“…what typified the thought of the Conservative Revolutionaries and a set of right-wing engineers in Weimar and then the ideologists of the Third Reich was not a rejection of modernity so much as the search for an alternative modernity: a vision of high technics and industrial productivity without liberalism, democracy, and egalitarianism.”
“The logical conclusion of having a society run by tech capitalists interested in elite rule, eugenics, and social control is ecological ruin and a world dominated by surveillance and apartheid. A world where our technological prowess is finely tuned to advance the exploitation, repression, segregation, and even extermination of people in service of some strict hierarchy.”
“Do not fall for the attempt to limit the debate and distract from their political projects. The question isn’t whether AI will destroy or save the world. It’s whether we want to live in the world its greatest shills will create if given the chance.”
So, how many election cycles do we have before it all goes to heck?
Ivy, great catch on that Fred. I’ve flown into and out of SIA (BHM) every time I go home. The man is a legend.
Pogo, thanks. It saddened me that his passing was so overshadowed and overlooked due to the strange coincidence of his death on the same day as Steve Jobs.
There was one day I took my niece visiting from Virginia on a tour of the Civil Rights Institute museum. As we exited unexpectedly there was a small crowd with photographers gathered. I took a closer look and recognized it was Reverend Shuttlesworth himself in a wheelchair at the center. We stayed for a while and mingled with the crowd. My niece had something extra for her summer-vacation school report.
PS: that is a great little airport, we sure miss the ease of going in and out of it to almost anywhere.
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