HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM NEBRASKA AVE, 33605, 33602

                      courtesy:youtube.com 

Here in the Land of Nod (by which I mean, the nodding junkies at the bus stops), we have much to celebrate, and even if we didn't, we'd celebrate anyway, 'cause that's what we do down here in da 'hood! We are gifted this year with the Perfect Storm of 1) Pay day (on the 31^st, rather than the 3^rd, as that falls on a Sunday, and the 1^st is a Holiday and Federal Law dictates we be paid on or before the 3^rd), 2) New Year's Eve on a Thursday, 3) Friday is New Year's Day and 4) there are still 2 whole days to celebrate/shoot up/become comatose/whore/pimp/drink/commit various crimes/ and shoot lots and lots of guns, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. I've probably left out a few things, but, you get the picture.

Me? I ran like hell to the bank on Thursday, got my rent money, a few items to tide myself over until Monday, and prepared to wait out the siege. I was not disappointed. I shut off the living room that is the front part of the house, and kept Mama and I in the back. I figured I could count the bullet holes in the wall come daylight. This house is basically held together by many layers of paint, seeing as how the termites ate every viable piece of wood ages ago, so I'm pretty sure even with oh, say, 197 coats of paint on this fucker, it's not going to stop an AK-47 round, every celebrant's go-to choice of noisemaker around here. Someone once suggested we “pressure wash” the thing, and we all fell down laughing. Only if one wants to make it easier for the peeping toms and voyeurs.

The other great thing about da 'hood is they don't just celebrate New Year's Eve. They celebrate the 54^th of January, too. Just a while ago, I heard a “pop-poppoppop-pop...pop” and then “oops!” I did not go to see what the “oops” was. No one started shrieking and there were no sirens and helicopters, so, it couldn't have been very dire.

Tomorrow, I'll get up early, tear into some Mendelsohn, while everyone nurses a hangover, or is still drunk, as the symphony starts again come Tuesday. In the meantime, Happy New Year, everyone, from my 'hood to yours!

#ROW80 - SHARPIE LADY - AN UPDATE ON BEETHOVEN'S FIFTH SYMPHONY

I live in a neighborhood that veers wildly from the supremely dumb, to the frighteningly dangerous and somehow meets up seamlessly with the batshit insane. Sometimes, it's all three, like dude two blocks away who decided to see if his Hogwarts' Cloak of Invisibility still had a good warranty after his crack ho washed it, and tested it against the Tampa Police Department's finest. After making them stand around in the hot sun on a Sunday afternoon, and after making them evacuate an entire city block who was looking forward to Brunch at the Three Coins Diner after Church, but being unceremoniously kicked from house and home, couldn't get all swanned up for services, so they stood around and participated and bitched for several hours, and after someone in the TPD ranks said "the Hell with this noise" and stormed the house, dude found out the hard way, that alas, his cloak's warranty was invalidated and yes, he was in fact visible to the cops, whilst crammed beneath a bed in a back bedroom. Either that, or he was just one stupid idiot.

Fresh off that triumph, we have Sharpie Lady. This was brought to my attention by my alert neighbor and "adopted" son Alex, who is of like mind. We've spotted Moses, Jesus the Vampire Killer running around da 'hood and Sharpie Lady is actually a close neighbor; she's just a bit avaricious and her avarice makes her, well, a bit dim-mish. Or, maybe it's the other way around. She's the lady in the neighborhood who wants what everyone has, even if she doesn't need it, or particularly want it, unless you have it. We all know people like that. She doesn't seem a bad sort; just odd. 

Anyway, one of the other denizens had found two Sharpie pens, a black and red one, and he gave Sharpie Lady the black one. Here's Sharpie Lady prior to her use of the pen:

I don't draw; I don't pretend to draw. I have a motor disorder. This is what you get; live with it.

This is Sharpie Lady AFTER she used her new black Sharpie pen that neighbor guy (not Alex) gave her:

I've met Sharpie Lady; I'm pretty sure she knows what make-up is and what pens to draw on boxes are. How in the HELL you'd possibly confuse the two is beyond me. Yes, according to Alex, her eyebrow lines were all jagged and crooked. Of course, you can't wash that crap off.

What makes this even more bizarre, is she THEN went back to the neighbor who had the red Sharpie and asked him for it, so she could use the "lipstick". Now, I realize it's getting to be that time of year, but, as a woman with more than my share for tics and oddities, I've NEVER considered using materials that would be better served for construction as items for beauty enhancement. But, to each his own, I guess. Anyway, here is an "imagining" of how the red Sharpie pen would have gone down:

Kinda like Roz Russell on her downhill slide or someone equally hideous. We've seen a lot of weird stuff here on Nebraska Avenue, but this was pretty noteworthy. 

Obviously, no names are being used, and I will NEVER mention this to the woman when I "see" her face to face. I am not unkind. As I said, maybe it's the wanting, or being so poor, that has unhinged her. I really don't know. Poor people have existed throughout the history of civilization, and Beethoven was happy to be paid a commission of a suit coat with brass buttons for a towering piece of music he wrote, when he was in his forties. Poverty didn't faze him.

We had our last rehearsal before we start a cycle of concerts featuring Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. The critics of his day and now are correct; it is a terrifying piece of music; in structure, style and presentation of his material, particularly his 4-note motif. The "V" or Roman "V" for five was used as the sign for victory in WW II by the allies. The rhythm of the opening phrase "dit-dit-dit-dah" is also used for the letter V in Morse Code (thank you, Daddy). Historians claim coincidence, although I have stated throughout my life and continue to believe that there is no such thing as coincidence.

Anyway, the Fifth sounds wonderful, considering that we are also playing that horrible "La Gazza Ladra" (The Thieving Magpie) overture by Rossini, and that is one that is on EVERY audition list for all of the stringed instruments. For violas, it means a lot of playing in 1/2 or 2nd or 4th position, something violists resist. They're uncomfortable positions; the 1/2 and full steps between notes no longer lie naturally between your 1st and 2nd fingers, but between your 2nd and 3rd fingers and your mind must be agile enough to make that transition. It's more a mental trick, than a physical one. Meanwhile, you're madly trying to keep the spiccato bow going (a light bouncing, almost insouciant type of playing). Spiccato on the viola is akin to road-racing a semi. I also have a very heavy hand, and with a very heavy bow. Strength training and developing other ways to "back off" have made it easier for me, with my e. t. It will show up occasionally, especially during repetitive motion. 

So, I've practiced the HELL out of all of this music; is it the best I've ever played? No. Am I happy with the results for right now? Yes. Between, August and to right now, I've mastered everything I set out to do and then some. This is going to be a great year and they will just keep getting better. I know that in my heart.

HOMELESS CHRONICLES IN TAMPA - FUN WITH SETI@HOME, SUNDAY CHECK IN #ROW80 #NANOWRIMO 2 DAYS IN




SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) is a scientific area whose goal is to detect intelligent life outside Earth. One approach, known as radio SETI, uses radio telescopes to listen for narrow-bandwidth radio signals from space. Such signals are not known to occur naturally, so a detection would provide evidence of extraterrestrial technology.

Radio telescope signals consist primarily of noise (from celestial sources and the receiver's electronics) and man-made signals such as TV stations, radar, and satellites. Modern radio SETI projects analyze the data digitally. More computing power enables searches to cover greater frequency ranges with more sensitivity. Radio SETI, therefore, has an insatiable appetite for computing power.

Previous radio SETI projects have used special-purpose supercomputers, located at the telescope, to do the bulk of the data analysis. In 1995, David Gedye proposed doing radio SETI using a virtual supercomputer composed of large numbers of Internet-connected computers, and he organized the SETI@home project to explore this idea. SETI@home was originally launched in May 1999.

FUN WITH SETI

I've been keeping abreast with my writing for NaNoWriMo. Which reminds me: Q: What is this? (besides a really bad joke, and an even worse drawing):

A: 2 Men Walking A Breast. I could riff on this, with "2 Men Walking a Brest," although how you'd walk a whole European city is beyond me, or "2 Men Walking a Beast," but living where I do I see this every day. "2 Men Walking a Beast," either of the 4-legged or the 2-legged variety a-lenty, so this is not a novel enough thing to disregard around here. This is Nebraska Ave., 33605, 33602, after all. So too are "2 Men Walking a Beat;" the law enforcement kind, or the hip-hop kind to be found here pretty regularly.

THIS IS THE CHECK IN PART. I WROTE ACTUAL WORDS AND SENTENCES, COHERENTLY, AND FORMED PARAGRAPHS, TOO! Anyway, I am 4,432 words into this year's NaNoWrimo for 2013, as of day 2 and today looms, No biggie. I have my outline, beat sheet, the next segment plotted in my head (sort of) and all of that happy-crappy. Once again, poor #ROW80 has taken a hit, once AGAIN (remember the A-to-Z blogging challenge last spring?) and I owe her so much. Without #ROW80, none of this would be happening. I'm going to be checking in for Alex J. Cavanaugh's #IWSG this Wednesday (why do we not pronounce that Wed-nes-day? Just askin') In spite of the fact that I have spent the week feeling great, I have the WORST ABSCESSED TOOTH EVER. My left front central incisor is so badly inflamed, the infection had pushed up into my nasal cavity and has warped the roof of my mouth. Penicillin has stopped that pain. No pain pills, 'cause I'm on so many other things, I'd probably go on some weird acid trip, and I have an exceedingly high threshold to pain. Now the pain is gone, so it won't ruin the fun of my eating everything in site, whilst I write. Yay! Thank you, rotten oranges or whatever you are, dear penicillin!

I go through all of my SETI stats about twice a year; once in late spring and once in the autumn. Usually, I just print out my certifications to see how I'm doing. I stay off of the forums, because there is an über-bitch, who in the disguise of a helpful admin, delivers scathing lectures to the innocent lambs who want to know why their uploads failed. I'm a fairly adept practitioner of the Dark Arts, so I don't need any help, but I sure feel sorry for the poor unweaned, who start their posts with, "I just received a message that said Upload Failed..." The few times I read these threads, UB blasted back with something related to the user's fallibility as a computer user, insulted the user's children and also mentioned that the user's pets were ugly. Yikes! No help to be had there.

Anyway, after I printed my stats, which show I've process astronomical amounts of data received from the Arecebo Telescope in an attempt to find E. T.s. . . wait, what? Never mind. Which would make sense in the astronomical department, because it is after all, the universe we're scoping out. What a hash of sentences there. So, I printed my stats and then for grins, I went to the website that shows where my team fits in with all of the other teams. 

This is my team, highlighted in green. There are 64 members of my team, but only 10 of us are active. I guess the rest are out on missions. The standing joke is that everyone was once CIA, or DOD; some kind of spook for some alphabet agency or another. They're probably doing piece-work for the NSA. NASA is only 5 slots ahead of us. I love the randomness of "Get off my lawn!" This whole project is full of stuff like this. 

Even with all of their brain power, we're still ahead of UC Berkely, UC Davis and BooYah! This Man's USMC! Our team consists of people with cats who puke on keyboards, but can do some mean hacking and cyber-spying, so I was a natural fit.

Number 69 is Marquette University, one of my mom's alma maters and I like that University of Florida is number 52. Keep it up! Go Florida. Maybe we'll win the Inter-species Regionals this year!

The number one spot is held by Team USA *yawns* but I was thrilled to see that the U. S. Air Force is number three, behind the U. S. Navy (boo.) GAY USA is number 5, which is great, because the universe is not only about radio frequencies, it is about transmitting in the Ultraviolet all the way to the Infrared. So, we've got rainbows covered. SQUEE!

An explanation of how radio frequencies and the color spectrum fit can be found here.

Team number 4's team name is some kind of random code. Way to go. My next team name is going to be "dice = std::bind ( dist]" and then everyone will think I'm some kind of either great genius, or crackpot. Except for "Get off my lawn." That team will totally get it. O How I Hate Ohio State is at the 21 spot. I don't really hate 'em. it's just what Michiganders say. It's a knee-jerk reaction. Oh, and "The Pirate Float" at number 16, is going great guns. I bet they say, "Aargh! I'm a pirate!" a lot at String Theory and GUT (Grand Unified Theory) conferences. 

Rounding out the top 100, of over 500 teams, are University of Michigan and Michigan State (not shown,) and EMU in Ypsilanti, Michigan. I love the "Master Strategy Group." This is vague and sinister, yet kinda creepy. More spooks? To be a good spook, you have to have a great cover, like the Villages. The crazy cat people get overlooked every damned time, but you never know what we're gonna do. Number 94 are the University of Florida GATORS. I can damn-guarantee you that if they were number 94 in FOOTBALL, they would be rioting up in Gainesville. At number 95, we have "ShallowThought." What a great name for a team.