Michael Hopcroft

Hall of Fame Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda dies at 93

Just now the concert I was watching hit the explosive opening to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. The opening sequence is known to everyone, of course, but not everyone is as as familiar with the rest of this monumental achievement.
 
IIRC< Beethoven debuted the work in a concert in December 1805. The program also included the Pastoral Symphony (#6 if you're keeping track, and his fifth and final Piano Concerto (the Emperor).
 
The concert sadly did not go so wall. The orchestra had only been given a few days to rehearse, Beethoven was a poor conductor even before his hearing totally failed.  And the general conditions were horrible (among other things, the building was freezing.) Nonetheless, the works he premiered became famous almost intently and soon became staples in concert halls across Europe.

Remind them of the downsides of having reindeer land on the roof of a typical suburban home.
 
NT: Subtle signs that the clerk at Best Buy is out of their mind.

One word: Saturnalia.

The patient knew he had a very contagious and potentially deadly disease, and deliberately engaged in activity that would spread that disease to another person, and thence to everyone that person comes in contact with. That's endangering the public health.

Marking fake codes in crayon can help keep the President from doing something really stupid with the nuclear football, like bombing some random country for no reason.

I hope she recovers. I know it must be hard right now, but things can get a lot better when she pulls through.

I really hate hearing about fans complaining when their teams don't lose. And I'm just a fan. Professional athletes are very proud people. You don't get to survive to get to the NFL if you do not have a strong belief in yourself. The Jets have been hearing about people wanting them to lose and go 0-16 even before the season started. So the Jets players want to show their fans that they still want it -- to shut down these clowns and show they belong with the big fellas.
 
Plus yet another first-or-second-year QB is mnot going to fix this team. Fans might not know it, but players and coaches do. The #1 pick locks them into Trevor Lawrence. #2 gives them a lot more options to improve their team.

I really hate hearing about fans complaining when their teams don't lose. And I'm just a fan. Professional athletes are very proud people. You don't get to survive to get to the NFL if you do not have a strong belief in yourself. The Jets have been hearing about people wanting them to lose and go 0-16 even before the season started. So the Jets players want to show their fans that they still want it -- to shut down these clowns and show they belong with the big fellas.
 
Plus yet another first-or-second-year QB is mnot going to fix this team. Fans might not know it, but players and coaches do. The #1 pick locks them into Trevor Lawrence. #2 gives them a lot more options to improve their team.

"There's coffee in that nebula."

The last thing on your list is Detroit Red Wings season tickets.
 
NT: Octopi are so 20th Century! What are modern, hip hockey fans tossing onto the ice after the first goal?

In the context of a sci-fi novel I'm writing. I have "androids" whose name is their number -- I have to be careful to use the right personal pronoun. My character have "names" like 683 and 1977. They have no problem with this, although at least one famous android had to use a partial name.
 
Right how, as I'm writing, I'm having trouble remembering to use the proper personal pronouns without confusing everyone. (the androids are genderless, so the other characters refer to them that way).

"We Apologize for the Inconvenience."
 
NT: Unexpected consequences of pushing the jolly, candy-like History Eraser Burton.

That guy looks like be could be a monster on Doctor Who Classic.  Quite an interesting one at that. A scout with electrical powers, perhaps?
 
He could fight superheroes, but there are no superheroes there. Instead there's a strangely dressed man with a screwdriver trying to defeat you armed only with his knowledge, wits, and imagination. I'd watch that episode.

It bothers me, tho, because it IS changing the rules midstream.  Anyone who treated the science at all seriously would have recognized this state of affairs was likely, but the rule was in place.  
 
If they were gonna do that, then why did they not let Nebraska create a matchup?  If I'm Indiana, I'm also RIGHTEOUSLY POd by this power play;  my team's ONE SUPERB YEAR in *how* long?  Hint:  they tied for 2nd in 1987.  They had a winning season last year at 8-5;  7-6 in 2007.  You have to go back to 1993 to find another winning season.  
 
And it's pure money.  OSU has by far the best chance to crash the CFP, and thus rake in 7, 8 mill or so;  more if they win, MUCH more if they win the championship.  It completely fits with the narrative that the big schools will do anything to accommodate the big-money sports...well, except acknowledge that they have real, even *essential* workers by and large, but they refuse to pay them appropriately.  Yeah, college football is in many ways more fun to watch, but don't peel back the covers on it.  It's a cesspool back there.

This was a very informative video. Esports has their legends like any other sports and this video lists ten of them. I found it fascinating.
 
Becoming elite-level gamers requires the same dedication and commitment required to play professional football or basketball. You have less chance of a concussion playing Madden, obviously, but there are hazards too. Makes me think I was born too soon.

I remember my mother telling me a little of the context of Maurice Ravel's La Valse when I was too young to truly comprehend it.  Knowing when it was written -- 1920 -- gives an idea of what the French composer was trying to say. And since we seem to be waltzing off the same cliff a century later, it made sense to share this performance with you.
 
 
I wonder if there was any top-flight orchestra in Europe that did not have Leonard Bernstein as a guest conductor at least once? (By top-flight, I mean national-scale ensembles like the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics, the Concertgebow in the Netherlands, and the like.)

Liberty University has a medical school. I have a nephew who's studying there right now. 

To follow up briefly, I just received a posted note from my property manager at my apartment building. The only visitor I will be allowed for the duration of the surge is my care assistant, plus whoever delivers groceries and the like. This applies to everyone in the building, regardless of underlying health conditions.
 
It may not practically change much (and I still haven't heard whether I need a COVID test), but it did strike home the sort of situation I'm in. I don't know whether I should be upset for being put under all these restrictions, or relieved that my management actually gives a damn whether residents get sick.

This surge is indeed biting us hard. When I picked up some sort of digestive bug this past week (low appetite, strong localized headache, certain other GI symptoms that are impossible to discuss politely) the first thing I asked my primary clinic is whether I needed a COVID test. I have yet to be told I do, but I have this sneaking suspicion in the back of my mind.
 
I have had two COVID tests this year, one in about May and one in July prior to a procedure. Although both turned out negative, that means absolutely nothing now. Instead of getting better at self0-isolating, I've been getting worse. The cabin fever is getting to me, and in general I am not faring well at all even though I'm not showing true COVID symptoms.

I immediately thought of the '80s comedy Ruthless People when I saw that listing.

I haven't finished writing my latest bestseller yet.

New episodes of Animaniacs.