Today's Tids Issue 4,431
Filtering Tweets:
Personally,
I like happy endings. Drama critics like deep, perplexing, questioning endings.
I like blue birds singing, rainbows rising and sun glimmering on quiet harbors.
And smiles.
What is most likely
contributing to misconceptions and false perceptions in society is that too
many people speak authoritatively of too much of what they know so little. And,
somebody tweets it.
In case your mind
has been dulled by too much political rhetoric, you may have missed the Black-Eyed
Susan’s flourishing right now in gardens, and hillsides, and fields off country
lanes. Black-Eyed Susan’s are like happy endings.
Trump should remember
that right now, today, he is running for President, and thinking before tweeting
would be a better strategy than blurts that change the focus from his
accomplishments to his frailties. He needs more than his base to win in 11/20.
The big thing across media
is to allow opportunity for opposing views, which is exactly what you get –
opposing views. With little concern for, or comprehension of the broader
picture and the compromises necessary to get there.
I like Der Rosenkavalier.
But, then, I find something good in just about almost everything written by
Richard Strauss.
The Question:
Roger McGuinn is in the R&R Hall of Fame. Why? Bonus:
I suspect most of you have heard of and are quite familiar with one of Richard Strauss’
(Not to be confused with the Waltz King and family) greatest hits. What was it and
where did you probably hear it first?
The Headlines:
--Markets Open Higher, But Goes Lower As Q2 Earning’s
Watch Season Begins; CitiGroup Beats Estimates; China Economic Growth Slows.
----26 Killed After Al-Shabaab Suicide Attack On Popular
Kismayo Somalia Hotel. Two Americans Dead Among Many Including Famed Somali-Canadian
Journalist Nodan Halayeh.
--Slow Moving Barry Dumping Rain On Louisiana; Power
Outage And Rivers In Streets To Continue; Gas Prices Could Spike As Barry Shuts
Down Production.
--Hong Kong Resistance Wins; Beijing Allows HK Leadership
To Back Off Implementing New Extradition Laws; Is Xi “All-Powerful” Stature Wounded?
Will Taiwan Make Bold Demands Next?
--Illegal Immigrant Raids Don’t Materialize
--American Airlines Extends 737 Max Shutdown Through
November.
--In Midst of NYC Blackout, Governor Cuomo Aims
Spotlight On Absent Mayor.
--FDA Warns Dog Owners That Sugar Substitute Xylitol
Could Be Killer For Best Friend.
Do you think that
in the future computers will ever let a starting pitcher complete a no hitter?
The new National Slogan,
“Just Having Fun”, seems to be a license for doing just about anything.
A lot of the technology I see
being applied to normal activities is being applied mainly because it’s here and
we can do it. Or some CEO is shouting we need to be technical; find me some
technology. 70% of it requires more work, or is simply annoying.
Everybody on Friday
was applauding the records set with new highs in all three major stock markets.
Even this eternal optimist looks at record highs as places from which stocks
can fall farther. Are we there yet?
The phrase “Pull out all the Stops”
originated from the times when organists would literally pull the stops from
every pipe on the organ in order to play at maximum volume!
I like squares
and rectangles better than arcs and triangles, unless of course it is a right
triangle.
Remember when
baseball players spent their entire careers with the same team. Maybe that’s what
is wrong with the declining interest in a game now more about vagabonds and their
contracts, than team.
Speaking of stability,
what’s with some people today being more interested in preparing their houses for
short term rental income than creating, homes, with all of the comfort and love
implied by the word home. Of course, that’s just an observation from here gleaned
from News and TV programming. I suspect that despite news snippets of such trends,
almost all people see homes as places to raise families (And/or dogs and cats)
instead of rents.
The beginning of a road
to a happy ending could be the President making a speech without using the word
“I”.
Wimbledon was great.
Regardless of country loyalties, you just had ot love the magnificent win by Simona
Halep. Her smile and unrestrained pure joy. And that men’s final was one for
the ages. And I liked the remarks of both players and the overall climate of civility.
And tradition not interrupted.
Btw, of all of these hundreds
of very good men players, nobody seems to be catching up or even on the same
court with Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. The three have won 54 of the last 65 Grand
Slam Tournaments. That is some kind of dominance. Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka are other
multiple winners.
There are many 60’s and 70’s
bands and singers I relisten to today that find far more enjoyable than the Beetles.
Nothing interrupts the enjoyment
of a decent plot in a movie than a prolonged car chase or rock em’, sock em’
brawl. Great for stunt people’s careers, but not for me.
Spell-Check
isn’t thinking too clearly this morning. A long weekend can do that to even some
off the best of minds.
Probably the most profound
observation following the pathos triggered by the burning of the magnificent
Notre Dame was the realization that politicians were apathetic to possible attacks
on Christians as were many media outlets in the region. A NY Times former French
bureau chief Richard Bernstein says the “Violence (Against Christians) is all too
real and at record levels.” He and others have said, though, that the burning
was totally an accident. Yet he has been awakened to the knowledge of increased
violence and wide spread acts of vandalism against Christians, and is looking into
it.
Happy endings.
Looking for hate. Your choice.
If you view small
accomplishments as crescendos, your life is probably on the way to becoming a magnificent
symphony.
Reader’s “Helpful Hint”, Department:
“It helps if you imagine auto correct as a tiny
little elf in your phone who’s trying so hard to be helpful but is in fact
quite drunk.
Now, here’s the deal.
When I wrote above that happy endings are my dream, I realized many would say what
about tragedies; what about the general ugliness in the world. What about the afflicted
an addicted. Do we give into the bad, look at it as predestination, give up, or
do we look for the good, the little slivers of sunlight even in the darkest of
human existences? Sadness magnifies happiness. I prefer not to focus on what I
lost, but upon the prospects of what I may find. I do not dwell on my darkness,
but on how far I have come from it into the light. Yes, I love happy endings. Yet,
know, they don’t just happen as scripted. It takes inner resolve and outer comforting.
The Answer:
Roger McGuinn was a very inventive musician how grew
out of folk music as a highly regarded sideman for many folk artists including Judy
Collins and Bobby Darin when looking to go folk. But he is best known as a founder
of the Byrds and their two super hits, “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Turn, Turn, Turn”.
McGuinn developed two influential styles of electric guitar playing – the “Jingle
Jangle” and a fusion of John Coltrane free-jazz atonalities to simulate the droning
of a sitar. Mc Guinn was one of those guys who had the respect of musicians,
but not necessarily wives. Bonus: If you saw the movie 2001, you may
have walked out humming Richard Strauss opening strains -- “Also Sprach Zarathustra.”
2001, the good old
days.
Hope your week
has a happy beginning…and ending.
After the Byrds,
McGuinn worked closely with Bob Dylan. Obviously, he liked “y’s” better than “i’s”:
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