lollardfish

Being able to legally download and print an old-French crusade chronicle from a 19th-century edition of the BNF site pretty much rocks.

But not as much as being to download 5 600-1000 page 19th-century collections of crusade sources. I love technology today.

Edit: It turns out that the French have been very, very, busy generating .pdfs of lots of stuff in the national library. I'm in the academic equivalent of a child who just ate tons of chocolate cake. Very happy. A little sugar-shocked.

Things that amuse me, and an old post re-read. Still is good.

On May 25th ...

- Towel Day, in memory of Douglas Adams, is observed
- 1895 - Playwright, poet and novelist Oscar Wilde is convicted of "commiting acts of gross indecency with other male persons" and sentenced to serve two years in prison.
- 1085 - Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo back from the Moors. (Note from me: This was a pretty important historical event, marking the end of a phase of the reconquista, and enabling a new focus on the Levant).

Birthdays:

- 1803 - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist and philosopher (d. 1882)
- 1878 - Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, African American entertainer (d. 1949)
- 1976 - Jonny Wilkinson, English rugby player. The best thing I ever wrote on LJ included quite a lot on Mr. Wilkinson. You can read all about it in my post on watching the Rugby World Cup finals in Venice.

Death:

- 1085 - Pope Gregory VII

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Go to Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org/). Type in your birth date (but not year). List three events that happened on your birthday. List two important birthdays and one interesting death. Post this in your journal.

Car broken into last night. Nothing taken, just rummaged through.

I hate them.

Roomate's car was treated worse.

Now, this isn't a problem as I'm buying a new car, except that now I don't really want to buy a new car until we move.

I wish I could move June 1.

Blaukrauti

1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
6 cups chiffonade (1/2 inch ribbons) red cabbage
4 sage leaves
1 clove garlic
2 cups red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar

Place all ingredients in a 6-quart pot and cover. Bring to a boil over high flame and reduce to simmer. Cook covered 40 to 50 minutes, stirring frequently or until very tender. Can be reheated with great success.

Yum. It's in now.

This is a Memory-Wiki piece (whatever that means) by one of my brother's best friends. My brother is "Curtis" in the piece, and both of them played basketball with Barack Obama.

Basketball with Barack.

If you like sports at all, you must read:

The Brushback - A.L. Preview.

Examples:

(For the Red Sox):

Strength:
Defense. The Red Sox have gold glove winner Mike Lowell at third base, tiny person Alex Gonzalez at short, Mark Loretta at second base, and Kevin Youkilis at first base platooning with JT Snow. Last year they lost a lot of close games with shoddy defense. This year they’ve chosen to lose those games with shoddy offense.

(For the Twins):

Strength:
Torii Hunter is one of the games best centerfielders. Unfortunately he has fragile girl ankles that snap like twigs whenever he tries to make a catch. He would be wise to get them replaced now while he still has a few years left.

Rules for Music Parties - unfiltered by common courtesy. Sorry.

1. Be good. - Do stuff you actually know how to do.
2. If you aren't good, get better.
3. Blend. It is not acceptable to sing louder than the person leading the song (unless they need help). It is not acceptable to drone in monotones under people singing songs. And not all songs are singalongs.
4. Be honest with yourself. If you cannot sing, if you cannot hit the notes, please do not try to take leads. At least not more than one song every three parties. Same with lead musicians. I can't do guitar leads. Someone asks me to, I shake my head. I am trying to learn. Privately, where I can do no damage.
5. Be aware. Don't talk over people doing something pretty. Don't assume they do a song you do in exactly the same way you do. Try to follow.
6. A Capella is very dangerous. If you aren't really amazing, acapella sucks. People can't play along. There's no space for leads. And you are probably in violation of rules 1, 3, and 4. A lousy guitar player-singer is much less damaging to the circle than a decent acapella singer.
7. Stay with the mood. if you consistently find yourself unable to follow moods, learn more material. Not all songs are singalongs, but when people are singingalong and the mood is high, don't kick it in the shins.
8. Break the mood when it needs breaking.
9. This is a shared performance space. You are not in control. It is performance, so perform (it's not the same as singing in your shower. Sorry). It's also not a gig for you to do things exactly the way you'd like to on stage. You're leading, but not in control.
10. Break any of these rules KNOWINGLY anytime it seems right to you. Except the first one. Be good.

At a music party, everyone either adds or subtracts. I believe I used to add, barely, when I started out. Now I think I'm more of an addition to any given party (though I will always accept constructive feedback, gladly, delivered privately, with cake and pie, and some whiskey, and funny hats). But initially I had only one type of song (ballads), played too quietly, wasn't really aware of what was going on, got thrown when people did things I didn't expect during "my" songs, and so forth.

There are also two kinds of music parties (at least). One is egalitarian, where everyone participating is more important than quality. My rules only apply to the second type, where one is more concerned with making good music. Yes, I am aware that such thinking leads to the Snotty Elitist Music Parties of times past. But - people LIKED those parties. Sorry for those I've offended.

Edit: For another take, Read here.

For those wondering I'm safe in Northfield. Thanks for wondering. Took over 2 and a half hours.

I need a Dominicana #34 jersey.

I think I need an Antigriddle. You do too.