This bubble formed on the spout of a dish soap container, and lasted quite a while. Lots of interesting movement going on!
Isaac Albeniz 🇨🇦
@pardosa.bsky.social
Books. Writing. Chess. Classical Guitar. Science. Spiders. Degrees in music and science. 🎼🔬🕷️Lifelong reader 🖖🏻 🇨🇦 ELBOWS UP! 🇨🇦 “Beware of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors, and miss.” - Robert Heinlein
The great Venezuelan guitarist Alirio Diaz never fails to give an impressive performance. Here is his version of Preludio no. 1 op. 5 by Barrios. This is certainly the fastest tempo I’ve heard anyone play this piece, and the clarity is a tribute to Diaz’s virtuosity. Beautifully done!
Alirio Diaz plays Barrios - Preludio No.1 Op.5 (rec. 1966)
YouTube video by Stu Blag
m.youtube.com
Isaac Albeniz 🇨🇦@pardosa.bsky.social · 6mo agoI’ve been working on this piece for awhile. It’s very easy for the right hand, but a real workout for the left; many awkward slurs, large stretches, some challenging shifts. It has really helped my left hand in flexibility, reach and security. 😁
An adult male Araneus trifolium. At this time of year the species matures. The adult males don’t spin a permanent web, but wander in search of adult females. After mating she’ll lay eggs that overwinter. She’ll die after laying eggs, but a new generation is born next spring.
Meet one of the winners of the 2026 Fields Medal for mathematics. m.youtube.com/watch?v=mTPy...
2026 Fields Medal: Hong Wang
YouTube video by Simons Foundation
m.youtube.com
Smoke from wildfires contributed to yesterday’s evening sky, with a nice result.
“Life is a journey, but don’t worry, you’ll find a parking place at the end.” - Isaac Asimov
“No vision of God and heaven ever experienced by the most exalted prophet can, in my opinion, match the vision of the universe as seen by Newton or Einstein.” - Isaac Asimov
RIP Sam Neill, who never disappointed in any role. He shall be missed! His autobiography, published in 2023, is an entertaining, anecdote-filled memoir of his life that his fans will want to read.
I used to play classical guitar once a week at a local restaurant. One day I finished a song and heard clapping coming from behind me. I turned around to acknowledge the applause and it was a lady hitting a bottle of ketchup she held upside down over her hamburger, “clap clap clap …” 😅
I just happened to look out the back window the other day just after some deer entered the yard. The protective mother took a good hard look at me while her fawn pranced around, lol. Nice to see them! 😁
What a timely comment. You should read today's article on reading. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
The End of Reading Is Here
Optimists once believed that universal literacy was inevitable. Now it seems that the age of reading might be a short anomaly in human history.
theatlantic.com
Some colorful beetles on flowers in the garden yesterday.
A message for the 250th American July 4th anniversary. m.youtube.com/watch?v=w-SV...
What A Revolutionary War Veteran Wanted Future Generations To Know
YouTube video by Fort Ticonderoga
m.youtube.com
Beautiful piece, beautifully played, and on a beautiful instrument. I love the sound he gets! m.youtube.com/watch?v=MQXJ...
"Fuego" by José María Gallardo Del Rey
YouTube video by José María Gallardo Del Rey
m.youtube.com
Here are a couple of male crab spiders (Misumena vatia). One is lurking on a daisy flower, waiting for either an unsuspecting fly to arrive, or a perhaps a female spider, and potential mate, instead. The other, hunting among cow parsnip flowers, has already caught a fly.
Here’s a short piece I recorded a few years ago: “Prelude, Op. 165, no. 1” by the Spanish composer Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909). Enjoy! 🎧
A young crab spider (Misumena vatia) with a fly it just caught. This spider will often bend over a petal or two on one of these flowers to make a shelter for itself. I was lucky to get these pictures. These spiders have good eyesight and often move and hide under the flower when approached.
This 1679 “Sabionari” Stradivarius is the only playable guitar by Antonio Stradivari left in this world.🤗 So take just a moment to hear a sound that’s well over 300 years old! @55SweetThing #globalmuseum #music #guitar #Stradivarius
Alberta separatists brag about meetings with top White House officials and a $500Mil slush fund. But getting an investigation into the foreign interference isn't that easy. I received a bizarre email from the bureaucracy in charge of the issue. Check it out. charlieangus.substack.com/p/i-stand-co...
I Stand Corrected
When it comes to foreign interference, Canadians are on their own.
charlieangus.substack.com
Found some tent caterpillars (probably Malacosoma disstria) on a young aspen tree in my yard. There are just a few of them, nowhere close to the infestation numbers that occurred about ten years ago. Beautiful colouring!
A sign I saw once on the noticeboard outside a church: “Did you ever wish Noah had swatted those two mosquitoes?”
Glad to hear about this movie. Also, the events of Jan 6th, leading up to, during, and after that day were well documented in the Jan 6 Committee public hearings. These are available *now* on the C-Span YouTube channel. Here’s the first hearing (of ten) here: www.c-span.org/program/hous...
c-span.org
I’m about to start rewatching “The Wire,” a fictional police series based in Baltimore. Terrific characters and writing. 😁
From 1538 here is my interpretation of “Canción del Emperador” by Luis de Narváez (1500-1552). I love this piece! 😁 Enjoy. 🎧
Whenever I see a glove lying by the side of the road I think of “The Crawling Hand.” That movie scared the heck out of me when I was a kid! 😬 I love the MST3K version of it now!
Here’s my attempt at a short Etude by J. K. Mertz a few years ago. I’m wearing three sweaters and a toque, because I was playing in my basement in the middle of a Canadian winter and it was a bit chilly, lol! 😂 Enjoy! 🎧