Recent Comments

1. about 5 hours ago on Jack Ohman

   There were hospitals back then. But they were so dangerous that folks preferred to stay away and take their chances.

2. about 6 hours ago on Bottomliners

   Actually, the song is a blues in 12 bar form: a series of rhymed couplets in iambic pentameter, 3 chords in a root progression, common time. The second line goes: “But I’m just not there, when its coming to a fight.”

3. about 6 hours ago on Baby Trump

   Yes, I suppose. But the connection was irresistible.

4. about 6 hours ago on Ken Catalino

   You’re right, of course. I was invoking a memory and I should have searched for the pertinent details before posting the comment. Not doing that is misleading in our present jittery atmosphere.

5. about 6 hours ago on Two Party Opera

   Simpler yet: vote agin’ ’em ALL! That won’t dispatch all GOP politicians, there are plenty of impenetrable GOP strongholds in the US. But at least, it will thin the herd and cut into the present GOP super majority.

6. about 6 hours ago on Ripley's Believe It or Not

   Beethoven wrote some challenging pieces of music. They were unlike anything which came before them even though Beethoven is generally regarded as the first Romantic composer. The choral parts of the 9th, especially the bass solo, are examples. I think that this had to be re-written as there was no one who could perform it as originally scored. Musicologists attribute this fact at least partially to Beethoven’s deafness. There is also the story that after a performance of one of his famous pieces (again the 9th, I think) which he conducted, that the concert master had to turn Beethoven to face the audience (for his bows) because he couldn’t hear their applause.

7. about 6 hours ago on Ripley's Believe It or Not

   So do I. Both ears. The tinnitus intensifies during each pulsation. In my case the MRI was negative; the ENT doc suspected a tumor of some sort.

8. about 7 hours ago on Ripley's Believe It or Not

   Age related and noise induced hearing loss affects the higher frequencies first. Also, there may defects in or damage to the anatomy of the middle and inner ears which contribute to hearing loss. That is why hearing tests consist of both air transmission (with earphones) and bone conduction tests. Noise induced hearing loss may cause lowered sensitivity in a narrow band of frequencies, this is sometimes called “notch loss”. Physical injury also can cause hearing loss. Edison, for example, suffered a serious cuff to one of his ears as a child which resulted in ipsilateral hearing loss. See also “It’s a Wonderful Life”.

9. about 7 hours ago on Jack Ohman

   And on the non-roads of the 18th century.

10. about 7 hours ago on Clay Jones

    Halloween is the eve of All Saints Day, November 1st. All Saints is the eve of All Souls Day, November 2nd.