ratiocinations out of thin air/a blog about this that and the other thing
THIS BLOGSITE could have a better title than my name with “dot com” tacked on to it. I had considered Ratiocinations Out of Thin Air as a title—and that would have been a great title, if a confusing one. Too many people wouldn’t have taken the time to ratiocinate over the meaning of the word … READ MORE
BERNI JUST BROUGHT ME a sheet of paper titled “Ten Rules for Being Human.” Unfortunately, it had been photocopied so many times that the letters were all a blur, so I couldn’t read it without squinting like Mr. Magoo. (I’d ask, “Who passes crappily-rendered stuff like this around?” but somebody gave to Berni and she … READ MORE
ONCE UPON A TIME, we made things with care, with craftsmanship, even a touch of art. The number of items so made that were used in everyday life would be a long list indeed, but here I am only going to address the front covers of old books. Really old books.
When we see and … READ MORE
TWENTY ODD YEARS AGO, I was turned on to Glimpses, a novel by Lewis Shiner. I’d never heard of the author but as I don’t keep up with much of anything anymore (it’s the old age thing), that wasn’t surprising. Because of the source of the recommendation, I read the book and thought it … READ MORE
FOR THE PAST FEW MONTHS, I have been involved in a rather large project with two other writers, John Ross and Lew Shiner. I assembled a list of every record to make it to #1 on the Cash Box Top 100 chart from the beginning of 1960 through the end of 1969. Each title is … READ MORE
MY ATTENTION remains focused on Tell It Like It Was, my new publication on Medium. And Tell It Like It Was remains focused on music—mostly music of the ’60s but we will get into the rock & roll and rhythm & blues before and after that decade eventually.
In the past week, Lew Shiner and … READ MORE
TRUMPOLYTE! Did I just coin a word? It combines the surname of the current President of the United States with the word acolyte. Originally, an acolyte was “one who assists a member of the clergy in a liturgical service by performing minor duties.” And it sure does look to us non-believers that there sure is … READ MORE
MY APOLOGIES for neglecting regular readers of my blogs for the past few months. Fortunately, there is a good reason for this that has nothing to do with those silly rumors circulated by the VRC that I had run off and joined a progressive commune in Vermont left over from those hippie-wannabe days of yore. … READ MORE
ELVIS AND SOCRATES walk into a bar. No, wait—should it be “Socrates and Elvis”? Either way, here’s what this post is all about: I came across a 3-minute video of Indian guru Gaur Gopal Das talking about gossip. Normally, I avoid the advice of “wise” men—especially those I have not heard … READ MORE
THIS MORNING, the question on Quora was, “Who is the most overrated music star of all time?” Rather than answer the question—which I don’t believe can be answered to everyone’s satisfaction—I addressed the assumptions of the question itself.
My answer is indented below between the images of Bert Blyleven (with the ball) and Sigmund … READ MORE
ANOTHER DAY, another question on Quora begging for an answer from me. (Well, maybe not begging, but looking like it requires my attention.) Hopefully, my answer will be unlike others that will be posted and if it doesn’t inform, will at least entertain.
The question was, “Can you name an artist or musician … READ MORE
THIS TIME, the question on Quora was “Why do you not want to be famous?” and I read it at four in the morning. That’s before I’d had the first sip of my Cafe Bustelo (a good coffee to wake up with). So I put on Miles Davis’s WALKIN’ (a good album to … READ MORE
TODAY’S QUESTION ON QUORA that caught my attention was, “How do music artists have such rich lifestyles if everybody pirates their music?” Since I had just finished my monster mug of Cafe Bustelo—and I tried honey instead of my usual light brown sugar as a sweetener, which I won’t be doing again—I thought I’d … READ MORE
I JUST PUT the finishing touches on a rewrite and update of an old article of mine on ’60s teen model Colleen Corby. While rereading the text and checking to see if the images were linked to their source, the opening sentence caught my attention. It read, “The term ‘supermodel’ didn’t exist when Colleen Corby … READ MORE
RESPONDING TO A QUESTION on Quora, I used my answer as the basis for a short article that I titled, “Conservatives Not Exactly Enthralled by Trump Are a Problem.” I was addressing what I assumed was a conservative individual who posted that some conservatives “aren’t exactly enthralled” with Trumps’ presidency.
The point of my piece … READ MORE
THIS ONE IS A DOOZY! The question on Quora was, “Would liberals be surprised to learn that conservatives aren’t exactly enthralled with Donald Trump either?” One must make some assumptions when engaging other Internetally, so I assume that the person who posted this question is politically conservative. I also assume that he assumes that asking … READ MORE
THE REDMOND REPORTER is our local paper here in Redmond, Washington. It’s a typical smalltown paper: twenty pages with local news and advertisements. Unfortunately, I rarely pay any attention to it, but yesterday it was brought to my attention by an article on the front page of the September 7, 2108, edition.
The … READ MORE