Another reminder that little boys in Western countries used to wear dresses instead of breeches up until the end of the 19th century (when it became more common for them to wear shorts instead). See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breechi....

Platner seems to think he is a victim of some mysterious "they" who control the universe and who are out to get him. Here's a live picture of "them".

😽

Here in Colorado, it's been very dry and windy. There's a huge wildfire near Pueblo; nearby towns have burned or been evacuated. In Colorado Springs all the commercial fireworks shows were cancelled, and the mayor, the fire chief, HOAs, etc have been BEGGING people not to shoot off fireworks. 1/3

I'm getting the impression that Ossoff isn't just running for the Senate.... 🤔

This 🧵 is absolutely the message I want to hear from every Democrat running for office in November: we can't have ANY good things on the policy side unless/until we get rid of Trump and his cronies, and restore and strengthen the balance of powers laid out in the Constitution.

Nerd to the rescue! 🤓 (Except that everybody connected with the Trump administration seems intent on ignoring science and just going along with Trump's "feels" about things.)

Whee! My donations helped fund this lawsuit. You can donate too at democracyforward.org.

Oh no, Jane Yolen has died. 😢 I (naturally) have the complete set of her "Commander Toad" books. I always loved that she made Lt. Lily, the sole female member of the crew, the *engineer*.

This handsome fella is today's featured picture on WP: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mo...

I have a friend from college who has a kind of blood cancer that has no known effective treatment. Her doctor tells her she's probably not going to live another year now. When she was diagnosed ~3 years ago, I told her she HAD TO get her legal affairs in order... and she still has done NOTHING.

This discussion reminds me of a WWII history book I read long ago, "73 North" by Dudley Pope (yes, the guy who wrote the Ramage swashbucklers). But this book was a serious history about the Battle of the Barents Sea, where a few British destroyers beat off a larger force of German heavy cruisers.

I was just reading about those supposed "Trump IRAs". That's not something the POTUS can do via executive order; Congress passed the bill in 2022, and **Biden** signed it into law. All Trump did was stick his own name on it -- he does a lot of that, right? 🙄 www.pew.org/en/research-...

Today's obscure #ClassicalMusic: cello concertos by Rozenstein and Goldschmidt, both German-born Jewish composers who fled that country for England after the Nazi takeover. www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpN3...

#ClassicalMusic Oooo, another good one -- Stanley Bates's viola concerto! The second movement is very RVW-like, in other sections the music pulses with that nervous energy so common in post-WWI British works. www.youtube.com/watch?v=40Lx...

#ClassicalMusic I'm not sure how I previously missed this; Martin Yates's completion of E.J. Moeran's unfinished Symphony No. 2. Moeran left fairly detailed sketches for most of the first 3 movements, but the 4th is more or less Yates's own work, IIUC. www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzQy...

New cat furniture. 😍 I hope this one lasts longer than the previous carpet-covered one.... the carpet was totally disintegrating and shedding tufts and plastic strings from the backing. I'm a little dubious about the wicker beds but so far the cats haven't had any interest in scratching them.

Adding an appendix to my RVW 5th symphony megathread, I'd like to share a few more video performances.

I think we've pretty much reached peak AI bubble with this news. How desperate do you have to be to get in on the AI "boom" that you give your money to a shoe company? Seriously? 🙄 You might just as well invest in tulip bulbs instead. 🌷 finance.yahoo.com/news/allbird...

#classicalmusic I'm sure I've written about the Vaughan Williams symphony no. 5 before. Lately I've been listening to some different recordings of it and I have thoughts. First off, the Bryden Thomson recording has long been my reference recording of this piece. www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

I'm not a Christian, but Good Friday is an excuse to listen to one of Bach's great masterpieces. I'm trying this version this year. www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFff...

If you ever willingly watch that guy talk it’s your own damn fault

"We are drafting the lawsuit right now." 👏 I'm proud to be a supporter of this organization that is going to court to protect our right to vote! 🗳️ www.democracydefendersfund.org/prs/03.31.26...

I've made an appointment to have my senior kitty Joe euthanized tomorrow. 😿 Joe has all of diabetes, CKD, and pancreatitis, and has been having a flare-up of the pancreatitis since last weekend. He was already at the vet on Monday to get meds, but they haven't been working. 1/

⛸️ I hate to think of Jason Brown ending his competitive career with that mess at Nationals. 😢 But I guess it is what it is.... jumps were not happening for him all season, I assume he's WD from Worlds because they are still not happening and it would just be more of the same.

My project for the last couple weekends has been renovating my craft room (and cat hangout area). New work table and chairs, plus I painted (it's the same color as my office, Behr white mocha with a darker shade in the window bump-out).

⛸️ After Nancy Kerrigan won the bronze medal at the 1992 Olympics, she was overwhelmed by all the commercial opportunities that came her way -- endorsements, media appearances, tours and shows -- and her disastrous 1993 season was the result. 1/3

⛸️ Some really enjoyable skating at the World Jr men SP today! Rio Nakata is fabulous, and it's so nice to hear more upbeat and energetic music instead of the slow, draggy stuff that is so popular with the guys nowadays. And Yanhao Li -- a top skater from New Zealand, of all places!

⛸️ Some screen grabs from Friday.... Shaidorov realizes he's going to get a medal when he sees the standings after Adam SHF's poor skate.

⛸️ A few random thoughts about the men, now that I've had a chance to sleep on it:

⛸️ Ice is slippery. 😲 Seriously, the men used to be my favorite discipline in the sport and I used to enjoy even the lowest-ranked competitors, but I just don't want to watch whole events any more because of all the falls. I'll pick and chose the better performances to watch afterwards.

⛸️ I told you guys last week that this young dance team deserved to become stars in Milan. 🤩 www.nbcolympics.com/videos/emile...

Imagine going 90+ with twizzles that looked as bad as that…

⛸️ I can't get over how Kagiyama looks like he's about 12 years old.... until he starts to skate! 😍 Such soft knees, and he makes the hard stuff look easy.

⛸️ I am so happy to find these videos of Paul Wylie skating Lar Lubovitch's choreography to "Touch Me" online! It is my favorite program of Paul's of all time, and I believe he only performed it in public these two times after the premiere at Chelsea Piers. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eVp...

⛸️ FWIW, I have been as blown away by the technical quality of Zingas & Kolesnik's skating as these guys. They ought to be contending for a medal at the Olympics.... but ice dance judging being what it is, I'd be shocked if they got the marks they deserve. youtu.be/osYxg75XYLU?...

I'm betting that Trump's planned "renovations" of the Kennedy Center that require shutting it down for 2 years include demolishing the building entirely.

Some American choral music: youtu.be/fRL447oDId4?...

Holy heck. Has anybody asked the *skaters* what they think about any of this? Some of the things under discussion are failed ideas from the past, like forcing skaters to do multiple GP events and skate two different free programs. Others represent a 180-degree turn in the emphasis in the sport.

Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer! 😱

Video message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG... www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...

⛸️ My, how things have changed. I can't imagine any skater posing with a 🏳️‍🌈 flag back when I was a regular attendee at these events 20+ years ago -- much less during a podium ceremony.

⛸️ I have to say I don't "get" Chock & Bates. They are obviously slower than the other top teams, Chock still struggles to twizzle after all these years, Bates doesn't seem to be as strong of a partner as he used to be, plus I always thought this team was mismatched.

I'm in a phase right now where I have to avoid reading the news, for the sake of my mental health. I'm deep in a tech writing project instead.... 🤓

This one reminds me of my own native pond. 🐸

On youtube there's this guy named Dave Hurwitz who talks (a lot!) about classical music. This album was on list of best recordings of the year; I'd never heard of this composer before, but I found this pretty interesting. www.youtube.com/watch?v=PURM...

The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5

A wonderful holiday gift for us all on the #caturday before christmas! 😻