Only the lonely

Only the truly ignorant and the truly mad believe they truly understand.

"Data" is not knowledge: it is neither conoscere (noscere, connaître, kennen...) nor sapere (scire, savoir, wissen...). 

The English language lacks this distinction. 

Knowledge in whatever form requires a knower to be known, the full reality of which is a fact in turn; an event that may itself become known by the knowers, so that "they know that I know that I don't know" does in fact become a distinct possibility. 

(This is certainly a curious result).

If one wishes to make a country "great", one presumably must first possess an adequate idea of greatness. 

For a start, we could admit that no aspect of buying, selling, or owning a motorized vehicle is truly "great", and that sending living beings into space lacks any practical utility. 

A team of alien astrobiologists someday probing our derelict world might easily conclude, observing the empty husks of our computer-enhanced vehicles, that they were really a nascent form of semi-autonomous life that briefly flourished, dominated, then destroyed what remained of the Earth's delicate balance of life along with their diseased and thoroughly anesthetized, zombie-like inhabitants.

---

And then what will they do with their billions, once the radioactive miasma has settled on a charred and mutilated planet where nothing grows, when all simply rots where it stands or crumbles away into dust?

What would being "rich" actually mean?

A tribute to Roy Edward Ayers Jr. (September 10, 1940 – March 4, 2025) -- Celebrating a Life in Music

Finally this month I'd like to share what has to be one of the most extraordinary live performances ever captured on video. The legendary Pete Rock joins Roy Ayers on stage with a full backup band whose chops are just out of this world, playing not only some highlights from Ayers' storied career but offering several original jams and new arrangements that must be seen & heard to be believed! Recorded live at the 2011 North Sea Jazz Festival.

Despite departing our Earthly plane for the mystic harmonies of the beyond, the music Roy Ayers left us is a treasure trove of wonders that will dazzle us with its glittering briliance for generations. RIP. We could never thank you enough for the precious gifts we are so fortunate you've shared with the world.

Another stellar show. Was there anyone classier, more ahead of the curve, more effortlessly at ease with themselves and the entire panorama of musical possibility both as a performer and as a composer; as an auteur of the highest caliber??

Fundamentally, the spirit of his music was one of pure, unadulterated joy, lending it a universal appeal which shines through the whole body of his work. EVERYBODY LOVES THE SUNSHINE, now and always!!

Belated eclipse photos

While it was cloudy here in middle of the American continent for last week's solar eclipse, here are some photos I took last year in April showing the characteristic "crescent"- shaped circular pattern of light near totality filtered through leaves and projected through a pair of binoculars during the 2024 total solar eclipse over North America. Taken in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago just a few blocks from an apartment I no longer occupy.

 

 

 

 

Two-hour Constance Demby special on Sounds Of The Dawn from NTS

Trying to decide which bus to take
At last the wavefunction collapses
and I'm in my seat