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music

More Greek music - Amalgamation Choir and Phoebe Vlassis

Back in 2019, I posted links to the fabulous Amalgamation Choir from Crete, led by Vasiliki Anastasiou. In particular, I loved Tis Trihas to Gefyri from Pontos in 9/8. (lyrics)

Recently I went to a concert by Phoebe Vlassis, who weaves at a loom and sings at the same time, with the rhythm of the loom in sync with the singing. At the end of the concert she raffles off the weaving she made during the concert. She opened with Tis Trihas to Gefyri, which I recognized immediately. I asked her about it after the concert, and she said it was the first song she tried combining with weaving.

Watch on YouTube

So I looked around for Amalgamation Choir, and it turns out they're still around! Here's a 20 min concert, posted in 2020.

Watch on YouTube

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links

Links: Reality-based

The Wonderful World of Artemis II Photos by Hank Green.

Meet Graham by Patricia Piccinini, a creepy and interestingly redesigned human being to better survive automobile crashes.

AI Cannot Self Improve and Math behind PROVES IT! by Dev Simsek.

The paper proves that under a diminishing supply of fresh, authentic data, this system converges to a fixed point – a degenerate distribution with low diversity and high bias. The technical term is model collapse, and it’s been observed empirically too. But now there’s a formal proof that it’s inevitable, not just a bad luck outcome.

To My Students by Brent A. Yorgey.

Care more about people, relationships, and justice than you do about profits, code, or productivity.

Above all, be motivated by love instead of fear.

Yorgey links to a thoughtful list of reasons for adopting Generative AI vegetarianism by Sean Boots which covers my position pretty well. (I am not a food vegetarian.)

Clinician Guide: Constellation of Chronic Medical Conditions Commonly Seen in Autistic & ADHD Adults by All Brains Belong VT, neuroinclusive healthcare & community.

This project seeks to improve Autistic and ADHD adults’ health. Autistic & ADHD adults commonly experience multiple chronic health conditions. These patients can encounter difficulty accessing needed care.

The seven programming ur-languages by Frederick J. Ross.

Finishing Things Dave Gauer. Thoughts about how to work on just one thing at a time.

The Bra-and-Girdle Maker That Fashioned the Impossible for NASA by Nicholas de Monchaux.

Who Killed the Florida Orange? by Alexander Sammon.

In 2003, the mighty Florida orange industry produced 242 million boxes of fruit, with 90 pounds of oranges per box, most of which went on to become orange juice. Now, not even 25 years later, the United States Department of Agriculture was forecasting a pitiful 12 million boxes of oranges, the least in more than 100 years, the worst year since last. A decline of more than 95 percent.

Impact of Climate Change on Cherry Blossom Flowering.

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Day 75: Shadow Brightens

It’s been three weeks since Shadow’s freedom day, after eight weeks of crate rest to ensure no stray heartworms clogged up his blood supply.

I’d hoped that on 15 April he’d spurt out the back door and explore every blade of grass and clump of dirt in our back yard. Instead, he’s deliberately lowering his DEFCON level in response to gentle encouragement and constant treats.

Recent achievements:

Leaving his crate and curling up in his own bed at the foot of ours. (He loves his crate; we only close the door when we leave him in the house)
Responding to my Shadow, come! by moving to me and sitting within easy reach of my treat-filled fingers.
Walking on our nearby bike path, which offers humans of all ages, other dogs, bicycles, ebikes, emotos, skateboards, power scooters — in general a hell of a lot of stimulation.
Walking briskly without stopping to sniff, attached to my powerchair (MyGuy transfers the connection from his lead to mine after we’ve left the house, because the ramp exit is super narrow.)
Permitting me to scratch his butt while MyGuy fondles his ears.
Meeting two of the gentler neighborhod dogs — just nose to nose; hasn’t done the full tip-to-tail sniff
Very politely greeting visitors, sniffing their fingers and returning to his crate.

Slow but steady, in the correct direction.