As Samuel L Jackson said in Pulp Fiction
(via iwdrm)Friday, February 7, 2014
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Matmos
It's always fun, and a too infrequent occurrence, to run across exciting new music. Matmos, by the band Amplifier, was released in 2013 and it's a sonic adventure. You can hear each string on the guitar and its got a haunting melody and dynamic build throughout the song. THC had never heard of Amplifier. They're a British band that's been around since 1999 and the lead vocalist singer, guitarist and songwriter is Sel Balamir. Now you know as much as THC does.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
White House: Incentivizing 2 Million Americans Not To Work Is A Good Thing!
Another Obamacare success story!
This is not satire; unfortunately.
The Congressional Budget Office released a report today concluding that the Affordable Care Act will cause a larger-than-expected reduction in working hours—eliminating the equivalent of about 2.3 million workers in 2021. The previous CBO estimate was about 800,000 worker equivalents.
The estimate is based on the fact that as one earns more money the subsidies for healthcare insurance decrease thus incentivizing people to work less than they otherwise would. As a result, the CBO projects that economic growth will be less than previously predicted.
Buzzfeed quotes a White House officials' response that the CBO finding:
To clinch his argument, the unnamed official then went on to say that if we eliminated Medicare and Social Security we'd have a lot more 95-year olds working
Maybe every American should be given a subsidy - that way no one would have to work and the Administration could claim an even greater success! Actually, they are well on their way towards that goal as labor force participation rates are already at the lowest rates in decades.
But wait, if we did that who would pay for it? The Other Guy, of course.
This is not satire; unfortunately.
The Congressional Budget Office released a report today concluding that the Affordable Care Act will cause a larger-than-expected reduction in working hours—eliminating the equivalent of about 2.3 million workers in 2021. The previous CBO estimate was about 800,000 worker equivalents.
The estimate is based on the fact that as one earns more money the subsidies for healthcare insurance decrease thus incentivizing people to work less than they otherwise would. As a result, the CBO projects that economic growth will be less than previously predicted.
Buzzfeed quotes a White House officials' response that the CBO finding:
“shouldn’t be a significant cause for surprise and it reflects the fact that workers have a new set of options and are making the best choices that they can choose to make for themselves given those options,”
To clinch his argument, the unnamed official then went on to say that if we eliminated Medicare and Social Security we'd have a lot more 95-year olds working
Maybe every American should be given a subsidy - that way no one would have to work and the Administration could claim an even greater success! Actually, they are well on their way towards that goal as labor force participation rates are already at the lowest rates in decades.
But wait, if we did that who would pay for it? The Other Guy, of course.
Monday, February 3, 2014
Winter Gray
It's that time of year when New England is mostly shades of gray topped by white. Even the greens look grayish.
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though Koji finds it very stimulating:
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I'd prefer to be here:
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Or perhaps back On The Beach
I'd prefer to be here:
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Beatlemania
THC was in seventh grade and it was either home room or geography because he remembers Mr Levy was teaching. He noticed that the girl in front of him was fiddling with something at her desk as the teacher droned on and then realized it was a small transistor radio. Suddenly she screamed which caught my attention as well as Mr Levy's who asked her what was going on. "The Beatles have landed!!" she exclaimed. THC did not have a clue what she was talking about.
Now that "phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust" (see, The Clash; 1980) we are left with the real Beatlemania that hit the U.S. in early 1964. With the retrospectives of the Ed Sullivan Show and the big hits - She Loves You and I Want To Hold Your Hand, being covered by everyone, THC looks at a couple of other early Beatles tunes to highlight the remarkable ability of Lennon and McCartney to crank out high-quality, melodic pop, song after song after song. The two we'll feature below were never singles but are great examples of the duo's songwriting skills early in their career.
Both tunes were on With The Beatles, released in the UK on November 22, 1963. Leading off the album was It Won't Be Long, recorded on July 30, 1963. A simple, but catchy, guitar riff and call and response vocals. Watch the boys lip-syncing it.
And for those of you still harboring thoughts of singing like The Beatles don't forget the two guys in a bar in Bologna, Italy.
The second cut on With The Beatles was All I've Got To Do, recorded on September 11. With a slinky beat, tight harmonies and an outstanding vocal by Lennon (listen to the part starting at about 1:28). When THC put together a couple of CD's with his favorite Beatles songs a couple of years ago, he was surprised that almost all of those for the early Beatles (1964-66) featured Lennon vocals. After that, Lennon preferred to have his voice distorted on most of the later Beatles recording and McCartney and Harrison vocals become more frequent on the favorites list.
Now that "phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust" (see, The Clash; 1980) we are left with the real Beatlemania that hit the U.S. in early 1964. With the retrospectives of the Ed Sullivan Show and the big hits - She Loves You and I Want To Hold Your Hand, being covered by everyone, THC looks at a couple of other early Beatles tunes to highlight the remarkable ability of Lennon and McCartney to crank out high-quality, melodic pop, song after song after song. The two we'll feature below were never singles but are great examples of the duo's songwriting skills early in their career.
Both tunes were on With The Beatles, released in the UK on November 22, 1963. Leading off the album was It Won't Be Long, recorded on July 30, 1963. A simple, but catchy, guitar riff and call and response vocals. Watch the boys lip-syncing it.
And for those of you still harboring thoughts of singing like The Beatles don't forget the two guys in a bar in Bologna, Italy.
The second cut on With The Beatles was All I've Got To Do, recorded on September 11. With a slinky beat, tight harmonies and an outstanding vocal by Lennon (listen to the part starting at about 1:28). When THC put together a couple of CD's with his favorite Beatles songs a couple of years ago, he was surprised that almost all of those for the early Beatles (1964-66) featured Lennon vocals. After that, Lennon preferred to have his voice distorted on most of the later Beatles recording and McCartney and Harrison vocals become more frequent on the favorites list.
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