TubaOrNotTuba

To keep today’s special we went to town. I had to go get my pressures taken. To find out if I had a flat neither I. I did not. In fact the doctors, plural, said the things were going very well with one difference. Some years ago I received a corneal transplant. Akin to getting a spare tire for your car from a dealer. You cannot buy them new. They’re all used and after a decade or so blinking mine has finally worn out. The doctor knows how old I am and there is no offer for replacement this time around I just have to deal with when I being cloudy or than the other. I had such hopes for it when I got it. I mean the doctor told me that life would be fine afterwards unless I rejected it. And since i didn’t I believe that life was good. I can hardly tell unless I close the other eye and try to look out. But who does that we’re all taught to use our eyes as they are to not cover one up just for the fun of it. The eye doctor always has different plans though. He likes to give me that big spoon that could not be used for soup because it’s full of holes and then asks me if I can see what’s going on. And I fib, there’s always a letter E there somewhere. I will now go into the winter knowing that I’m back to being one eyed. The other will just be a placeholder to keep my glasses to break this apart. Indeed, I still have glasses for those times when I try to read. Not books because that’s a lost cause but I’m doing wonderfully with the screen. Remember how your parents told you not to watch TV all the time? They also might.

The TV is playing in the background. I am blissfully unaware of what is going on. I can tell from the language and the lack of laughter that’s something from France. Again no social commentary here. And then a question came from the other end of the couch. Did I know anything about people putting barbed wire around their arms or legs. Like a tattoo? No, the real thing like you would find at the back of a farm. And I remembered the reference. Like so many others I had read those Dan Brown books and I knew about strange rituals among the hyper religious. Something about recalling the suffering of Christ. Not my gig obviously. It just shows that certain things cross the barriers of language. I wonder? Did Mr. Brown pick up the idea of a wreath around your arm from something he had seen or something he had read or something he had also seen on French TV. I will probably never know. We don’t talk much. It just reminds me that on TV you may see almost anything. Elsewhere, today, I learned that one political party in the United States is suddenly very frightened of a cultural icon. Since Tailor has won Person of the Year; an award which is, so far, eluded their man on the street. And they are now frightened that she has a plot to steal the next election. I guess it’s best to find someone to blame before the fact. You know, the legion of singers who are going to vote against their man. Or one singer and all those fans. Real life is often better than theatre.

I love to learn the back story of a movie is actually better than the movie itself. This afternoon I watched a documentary on the making of Family Vacation. The one with Chevy Chase in the gang. The one that spawned a franchise. Turns out the movie may have run for let’s say two hours but the making ran for more than a summer, and came with a whole set of problems. I think that making a movie might be more challenging than most of us believe. We see the finished product after all the edits and we have our own bucket of popcorn. For those on the other side of the camera they deal with the reality. Finding new ways to find the illusion. Dealing with high temperatures in the case of this movie and cast members who had to learn their own ways getting along as in the case of this movie and the simple exercise of dealing with audiences. Imagine the shock when you finish the movie and show it to a test audience and they forget to laugh. And then you try to find out how to remake the end of the movie so that the audience gets on board. I tried to imagine having to hand paint an amusement park scene so that the people in the seats never realize what you’ve done. At least until 1/2 century later. Take it from me I have no intention of making a movie. I may not even go to watch one. But finding out how the magic happens is an easy way to spend an afternoon. Again, given that somebody else has already provided the behind the scenes of that magic. I may have to re watch this movie now that I know so much more about it. A second look as seen through the lens of a lifetime. If I do I will let you know how it goes.

So many things have changed since the time of my grandparents. But go back one step further. The time of my great grandparents when things really were not the same as now. I tried to imagine what it would be like for them to arrive here. To see a big truck going by on the road outside. To hear an airplane going overhead. Or an ocean liner sailing where the sailboats used to go. I tried to imagine how they would react to the idea of music on demand. Not demanding that someone sing a song for you. Rather, turning on the radio and hearing a song from someone you had never seen. Even better turning to your phonograph and hearing the same song two times or three times in a row. A very different scenario. This afternoon I fell into that little rabbit hole where I listened to a group from 50 years ago. In this case the singer Annie Haslam. I did hear her the first time around but I have to say she still sounds good. Sort of thing my great grandparents never experienced. Sure there might have been someone in the church choir that could hold a note but the idea of music on demand from world class artists just was not a possibility. What would they find as familiar? The birds in the trees perhaps. Or the sharp bark of a fox or a dog. Yes I live in wonderful times. I think I’ll go back to listen to more music just because I can.

It is probably not the fault of Amazon. Sometimes product descriptions are just odd. This morning we’re looking at a fondue pot used to melt cheese. Very ordinary and the only difference from the old style was this one used electrical heat rather than gelled fondue fuel. Safety. Here is where things get odd. The part comes with an attached electrical court that is less than 1 meter in length. I can hear you. Just get an extension cord. Except that the product description specifically warns the user not to use an extension cord. I’m left trying to imagine how this part is used in real life. Doesr the cook huddle in a corner near the electrical outlet and when everything is done does the cook fill the plates leaving the pot where it is. Not sure. After all, almost everything else can be used with an extension cord as the saying goes. And understand the problems of the cord being too long or the chances of tripping over the cord or whatever. But seriously. Imagine yourself gallon floor beside a nearby electrical outlet trying to cook your food. This is not designed for camping nor is it designed for those who live in normal sized homes. Maybe if you are housed like a Hobbit. Anyhow we have not completed our search and hopefully there will be an answer on another site explains how this odd appliance can be used in the context of an ordinary home. I am waiting to learn the answer. And I did mention that there was a time when you could simply heat apart using a small fuel burner. But now we are modern and we have electricity and somehow all logic seems to blind out the window. There you have it. My odd moment for today probably. The day is not over yet and I’m always ready for surprises.

For the last hour I have listening to a concert. A live stream. And as my partner giggles I want to define concert. This is actually one person with two instruments responding to text from a computer where people request a song and the artist response after a fashion. It’s painful in one way because there is no continuity there is no one saying pick up the pace if we fall into a 5-minute lapse of nothing going on so be it it’s a live stream much like watching for a fish in the water. If you look away, you will miss it. No, I was asked if i wanted to go downstairs and get my flute and come up and join in and the answer is simple no life is too short for that it really is a special way to respond to music and I do not want to fault the artist this is someone who does this for a living who is at ease with having two completely different instruments. Sort of. The mission of the saxophone had been used online for the first time this week shows that the history would be very short. But the food stuff is OK. And they now know how many hours ahead Finland is from here. I think Finland has one time zone. Something to check. It is already dark there because they are down to less than five hours of daylight per day. The penalty of living in the north. And there is snow unlike here. Do I wish to move? Sorry. No. I had that option I have centuries ago. Did not go then it will not go now. It seems the language is a barrier. Not the music because that is universal.