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newstfionline · 3 years

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Monday, March 15, 2021

Call of the wild: Great outdoors is great escape in pandemic (AP) For those venturing off the beaten path, be advised—it’s a little crowded out there. By nature’s standards, anyway, as the great outdoors has become the great escape. Hiking trails, parks and other open spaces were packed in 2020 with a cooped-up population searching for fresh air during the coronavirus pandemic. Locked down, shut in or just fearful of crowds, people took up hiking, biking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, camping, tennis and golf—to name several—in significant numbers. 8.1 million more Americans went hiking in 2020 compared to ‘19, according to a preview of an upcoming outdoor participation report from the Outdoor Foundation, the philanthropic wing of the Outdoor Industry Association. 7.9 million more went camping last year. 3.4 million more participated in freshwater fishing. The foundation’s research also reflected a decline in inactivity for most age groups and across all income levels.

U.S. airport passengers hit highest level since March 2020 (Reuters) The Transportation Security Administration said it screened 1.357 million U.S. airport passengers on Friday, the highest number screened since March 15, 2020, as air travel begins to rebound from a pandemic-related drop. Covid-19 has devastated air travel demand, with U.S. airline passenger demand down 60 percent in 2020 and down 63 percent in January. But with a growing number of Americans getting vaccinated, demand and advanced bookings have started to rise in recent weeks. Friday’s numbers were still down 38 percent over pre-Covid-19 levels.

Winter storm closes roads in Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska (AP) A powerful late winter snowstorm intensified over the central Rocky Mountains on Sunday with heavy snow and wind leading to airport and road closures, power outages and avalanche warnings in parts of Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska. The National Weather Service in Wyoming called it a “historic and crippling” winter storm that would cause extremely dangerous to impossible travel conditions through at least early Monday. Major roads southeast of a line that crosses diagonally from the southwest corner of Wyoming to its northeast corner were closed Sunday, including roads in and out of Cheyenne and Casper. Farther south, a record of over 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow had fallen just outside Cheyenne by noon Sunday, the weather service reported. A SNOTEL site at Windy Peak in the Laramie Range reported 52 inches (1.3 meters) of snow in a 24-hour period ending Sunday morning, the weather service said.

FEMA to help manage unaccompanied minors at US-Mexico border (AP) The Biden administration is turning to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for help managing and caring for record numbers of unaccompanied immigrant children who are streaming into the United States by illegally crossing the border with Mexico. Government figures show a growing crisis at the border as hundreds of children illegally enter the U.S. from Mexico daily and are taken into custody. The Homeland Security Department is supposed to process and transfer unaccompanied minor children to the Department of Health and Human Services within three days so that they can be placed with a parent already living in the United States, or other suitable sponsor, until their immigration cases can be resolved. But more children are being held longer at Border Patrol facilities that weren’t designed with their care in mind because long-term shelters run by the Department of Health and Human Services have next to no capacity to accommodate them. Children are being apprehended daily at far higher rates than HHS can release them to parents or sponsors.

Spanish Police Seize Submarine Built to Carry Drugs (WSJ) Spanish police Friday said they had seized a 30-foot long narco-submarine that could carry 2.2 tons of narcotics, a sign of the lengths cartels are going to transport illegal drugs to the booming European market. Police said they discovered the narco-sub in Malaga on Spain’s Costa del Sol last month as part of an international police operation that led to the arrest of 52 people and seizure of more than 400 kilos of cocaine, along with other illegal drugs and cash. The vessel was made of fiberglass and plywood and powered by two 200-horsepower engines, although it had never sailed, police said. Narco-subs are semisubmersibles that float mostly below the waterline and have long ferried cocaine from Colombia to Central America. In 2019, Spanish law enforcement discovered a narco-sub off Spain’s Atlantic coast, confirming persistent rumors that they can reach Europe.

Italy prepares for an Easter lockdown as Covid-19 cases grow exponentially (CNN) Italy is facing another lockdown, as the government attempts to contain a recent surge of coronavirus cases, marred by the presence of new variants. Half of Italy’s 20 regions, which include the cities Rome, Milan and Venice, will be entering new coronavirus restrictions from Monday, March 15. The measures will be effective through April 6, according to a decree passed by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s cabinet on Friday. In regions demarcated as “red zones” people will be unable to leave their houses except for work or health reasons, with all non-essential shops closed. In “orange zones,” people will also be banned from leaving their town and their region—except for work or health reasons—and bars and restaurants will only be able to do delivery and take-away service. Additionally, over Easter weekend, the entire country will be considered a “red zone,” and will be subject to a national lockdown from April 3 to 5.

Born in Soviet Exile, They Might Die in a Russian One (NYT) Long lines of people waiting to buy milk, toilet paper and other essentials disappeared from Russia decades ago. But one line has only grown longer—the one Yevgeniya B. Shasheva has been waiting in. For 70 years. That is the time that has passed since her birth in a remote Russian region. Her family was sent into exile there from Moscow during the height of Stalin’s Great Purge in the 1930s, when millions were executed or died in prison camps. Throughout the past seven decades, Ms. Shasheva says, she has been waiting to move home to the Russian capital. A 2019 ruling by Russia’s Constitutional Court ordered that the government make this happen, mandating that such “children of the gulag”—around 1,500 of them, according to some estimates—be given the financial means to move to the cities from which Stalin banished their parents. But the process has stalled completely, leaving Ms. Shasheva with nearly 55,000 people ahead of her in line for social housing in Moscow. So she waits 800 miles away in Nizhny Odes, a town so far off the beaten track that wild bears appear regularly on the streets.

US-Turkey reset faces long list of hurdles (AP) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has toned down his anti-Western and anti-US rhetoric in an apparent effort to reset the rocky relationship with his NATO allies, but so far he’s been met by silence from U.S. President Joe Biden. Nearly two months into his presidency, Biden still hasn’t called Erdogan, which some in Turkey see as a worrying sign. By contrast, former President Donald Trump and Erdogan spoke just days after the 2016 election. Ties between Ankara and Washington—which once considered each other as strategic partners—have steadily deteriorated in recent years over differences on Syria, Turkey’s cooperation with Russia and more recently on Turkish naval interventions in the eastern Mediterranean, which U.S. officials have described as destabilizing. Despite tensions, many within Erdogan’s government were hoping for four more years of the administration led by Trump, who had a personal rapport with Erdogan and didn’t give him any lectures about Turkey’s human rights record. Biden drew ire from Turkish officials after an interview with the New York Times in which he spoke about supporting Turkey’s opposition against “autocrat” Erdogan. Analysts say it’s going to be very difficult to reset the relationship, given the range of issues where the two countries don’t see eye to eye.

At least 39 killed in Myanmar district after Chinese factories burned, media say (Reuters) Security forces killed at least 22 protesters in the poor, industrial Hlaingthaya suburb of Myanmar’s main city on Sunday after Chinese-financed factories in the area were set ablaze, according to local media. A further 16 people were reported killed elsewhere in Yangon and other parts of Myanmar and state television said a policeman had died in one of the bloodiest days of protests against the Feb. 1 military coup against elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. China’s embassy said many Chinese staff were injured and trapped in arson attacks by unidentified assailants on garment factories in Hlaingthaya and that it had called on Myanmar to protect Chinese property and citizens. As plumes of smoke rose from the industrial area, security forces opened fire on protesters in the suburb that is home to migrants from across the country, local media said.

In China, millennials embrace Spanish (NBC News) Yilin Ye, a student from Anji, in the eastern province of Zhejiang, China, is spending time abroad at the University of Zaragoza in Spain. Ye, 25, said she first started learning Spanish after having heard about its “excellent reputation.” She said she feels she takes on a slightly different persona when she speaks Spanish. “It’s a really beautiful thing, really fascinating,” she said. “When I’m speaking Chinese, I’m more calm. When I’m speaking English, I’m probably a bit more open, and when I speak Spanish, I’m very ‘wow.’” Just how popular is the world’s second-most-popular spoken language in China? There are about 50,000 Spanish speakers in China, a figure scholars say is growing by the year. “The Spanish language is making waves in China,” Lu Jingsheng, an author and national coordinator of Spanish for the Chinese government, said in an interview.

China Eases Visa Rules for Foreigners Who Get Chinese Vaccines (Bloomberg) The China-made vaccine is becoming the ticket to enter the mainland. China said it will ease visa application requirements for foreigners seeking to enter the mainland from Hong Kong if they have been inoculated with Covid-19 vaccines made in China. Foreigners visiting the mainland for work will face less paperwork in visa applications if they are able to show they have received vaccines produced in China. With the vaccine certificates, these travelers will also be able to skip the requirement for a Covid-19 test or fill out a travel declaration form. The rule also expands the scope of applicants eligible for a visa due to humanitarian needs, such as taking care of family or attending funerals, if they have received Chinese vaccines. Other applicants should still follow the earlier visa procedure, according to the statement.

Mysterious attacks on at least a dozen tankers carrying Iranian oil are reportedly due to covert Israeli operations (Business Insider) Israel has used water mines and other weapons to sabotage at least a dozen tankers carrying Iranian oil and bound for Syria, according to a Wall Street Journal report, which cited US and regional officials. In violation of US and international sanctions, Iran has continued trading oil with Syria. Israel is reportedly concerned that the profits from these sales help fund terrorism in the region, and has targeted the tankers as a result. These tankers tend to carry hundreds of millions of dollars worth of oil, per the Journal. A shipping professional told the Journal that Israel conducted three strikes against ships carrying Iranian oil in 2019, and a separate shipping professional said six ships used by Iran were targeted last year. There are not any known instances of ships being sunk as a result of these suspected operations, but at least two were forced to return to Iran. The alleged Israeli attacks may represent a new front in the conflict between these two historic adversaries.

#headlines #news

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circuit-music · 3 years

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2020 Music Recommendations

2020 – WHAT A SHIT YEAR! There was so much craziness in those 365 days – from politics to a pandemic. Music was often times one of those things we could take comfort in or use it as a tool to express a range of emotions. I’m always surprised when compiling these list (of which I’ve been doing for 20+ years now it seems) that no matter the state of the world, there is always an overabundance of great music to be discovered. 2020 musically, delivered - including surprising returns from some bands who’ve been rather quiet in the past years like Consolidated, Cabaret Voltaire, and Portion Control.

The majority of what I listen to is electronic based music, with techno-body music being my favorite and there was STILL PLENTY of that in 2020 from labels like Aufnahme+Wiedergabe, Fleisch, Bite, X-IMG, Sonic Groove, SOIL, and more. Occasionally something a little lighter like the ethereal shoe-gaze goodness of Mint Julep (“Stray Fantasies” was an amazing record), or the post-punk of House of Harm (wonderful new discovery this year with “Viscous Pastimes”) and Sure (you all slept on “20 years” in 2020) works its way in to my listening. I still find synth pop from the likes of Riki, Korine, Tanz Waffen and Wingtips wonderfully appeasing. The wave material from the likes of Handful of Snowdrops, Linea Aspera, Zanias, Hante., Minuit Machine and Replicant was perfect for those melancholy moods. I even dipped into some aggressive near metal stuff this year from the likes of Pudeur, ESA and Youth Code – perfect for those days of anger. Oh, and I was thrilled to see a lot of exclusive, unreleased and remixed Curve material surface this year – a band who embraces several genres (walls of guitar, shoe gaze, industrial) and moods.

This isn’t a top 10, top 25 or even a top 100. Instead, it’s an A-Z recommendation list encompassing many genres as those lines are getting more and more blurred. A good tune is a good tune, regardless of genre.

HIGHLY encourage you to get out there and seek out new music; Visit the record stores, go hear a new DJ, fire up Spotify or another streaming service, check out some new music via podcast, DJ mixes, label sites, online retailers, even Facebook. One of the best sources for discovering new music is BandCamp - who in 2020 with the pandemic started BandCamp Fridays in which the site waived its normal fees to assist artist impacted. Taking place, the first Friday of every month, those will continue in 2021. There’s a plethora of discoveries to be found out there. If you do the work, you’ll be rewarded ;) Speaking of Spotify – I made a playlist this year featuring plenty of the bands on my list. There’s at least a track or more from the artist who have a presence on Spotify. Sadly a few bands on this list aren’t on the platform, but check BandCamp and you can have a listen. Here’s the link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/02kQJZE7uvJxwHJD8j8zrh?si=SHlP4mVRTuaRejh6So3Mig

As in years past I’m certain I missed a few things, ignored the hype on certain releases or just plain forgotten something. It’s a chore to compile this list, but I love to do it. There’s a ton of new pioneering music out there for sure waiting to be discovered and it’s the “what’s next” that keeps me a motivated music fan. There’s never a dull moment in speaking, writing, DJ'ing or promoting new music, so I’ll keep doing it and hopefully be a guide for you all ;). If it needs mention and I overlooked it - I may do an addendum in the next week or so. Anyways, got your notepaper and plenty of beverages ready? Don’t be a TL:DR (Too Long: Didn’t Read) fool. Read up. Enjoy the music of 2020!

Onwards with the list!!! :D

2+2=5 - “Hidden In Plain Sight “ (COUP)

Absolute Body Control - “1980/2020” 3xLP (Oraculo Records)

Agent 15 - “Voices In My Head” (Drone)

Ah Cama-Sotz - “New Skin for Old Tribals “ (Self-released)

Andi - “Corpse to Corpus” 12” (Aufnahme+Wiedergabe)

Arabian Panther - “The Way of the Pentinent” EP (SOIL)

Arnaud Rebotini – “Workout: This is a Quarantine EP6” (Self-released)

Autumns - "You Always Taught Me Better" LP (Detriti Records)

Benedek - “Mr. Goods” 12” (L.I.E.S.)

Blac Kolor - “Extinction” EP (Aufnahme+Widergabe)

Blacksmith - “Dominated” (X-IMG)

Blitzkrieg Baby - “Remixed” (Aufnahme+Wiedergabe)

Blush Response - “Void In” LP (Megastructure) - “Void Out” (Megastructure)

Body Beat Ritual - "Raw Dogs” EP (Pleasure Corp)

Body Divide - “Pleasure From Pain” (Squarewav)

Cabaret Voltaire - “Shadow of Fear” LP (Self-released)

Calvary Stone - “Hate Unit” (Soil)

Caustic - “The King of EBM” (Self-released)

Cervello Elettronico - “No Sides” EP (SquareWav)

Choke Chain - “Chain Tactics” (Self-released) - “Grave” (Self-released)

Chris Shape - “Shaped to Deform” (Unknown Pleasures Records)

Chrome Corpse - “Detecting Movement” Ltd. Edition 12" EP (Oraculo Records) - “Helmet Mounted Display” (Self-released)

Chrome Corpse / Decent News - “Split” (Self-Released)

Codex Empire - “Broken by Fear" Ltd. 12” (Horo) - “Protected by Rage” 12” (Aufnahme+Wiedergabe)

Cold Cave - “Waving Hands” (self-releaesed)

Comfort Cure - “Serpentine City” (Rec.Body.Ltd)

Consolidated - “Capitalism” (Self-released)

Crystal Geometry - “Samiam” EP (Sacred Court) - “Senestre” 2x12” (Sonic Groove)

Curve - “Blindfold EP - Bootleg EP Series 1” (Self-released) - “Curve Oddities Bootleg Series 3” (Self-released) - “Curve Oddities Bootleg Series 5” (Self-released) - “Horror Head Raw DAT Mixes Bootleg Series 4” (Self-released)

Cyan ID - “Blurred Revelation” (X-IMG)

Dive - “Where Do We Go From Here” Ltd. Ed Box set (Out Of Line)

E.L.I. - “Dying to Live” (SOIL)

E.S.A. - “Burial 10” (Negative Gain Productions) - “Eat Their Young / The Scorn” (Negative Gain Productions)

Einstruzende Neubauten – “Alles In Allem” (Potomak)

Evil Dust - “Desolation” (Crave Tapes)

Fatal Morgana - “The Destructive Remixes” 12" (Mecanica Records) - “The Final Destruction” 2LP (Mecanica Records)

Filmmaker - “Reinvent” 12” (Soil records)

Fixmer - "Invasion” 12” (Bite)

Fixmer/McCarthy - “Unreleased From the Archives" (Planet Rogue Records)

Foreign Policy - “Watching Existence” 12” (X-IMG)

Fractions - “Nite NRG” (Monnom Black)

Further Reductions - “Array” 12” (Knekelhuis)

Hakai – “No Flesh Shall Be Spared” 12” (Megastructure)

Halv Drom - “Slum Vatic” LP (Fleisch)

Handful of Snowdrops - “Asymetrical” (NanoGénésie®) - “Echoes -The Complete Cover Collection” (NanoGénésie®) - “The Four Winds” (NanoGénésie®) - “The Impossible Dream” (NanoGénésie®) - “Watch Me Bleed / Theme for Great Cities” (Self-released)

Hante. - “Fierce - Remixes & More” LP (Synth Religion)

HKKPTR - “Macht & Ohnmacht” EP (Aufnahme+Wiedergabe)

House of Harm - “Vicious Pastimes” LP (Avant!)

Human Performance Lab - “Impact Situation” 12" (Aufnahme+Wiedergabe)

Inhalt - “Simulation” 2xLP Remixes (Mechatronica)

Iron Court - “Etched Forseights” (Detriti)

Istigkeit & Angel Karel - “You A’Int No Punk, You Punk” (RND. Records)

IV Horsemen - “Compilation Vol. 1” (Self-released) - “Human Crash” LP (Fleisch)

Karger Traum - “III” LP (DKA Records)

Kenny Campbell - “Blackest Ever Buckfast” (Drone)

King Dude - “Full Virgo Moon” LP (Van)

KLACK - "Two Minute Warning” (Klackprodukt) - “Move Any Mountain” (Self-released) - “Catching Up with Klack” (Razgrom) - “Distancing” (Self-released) - “Move Any Mountain” (Self-released) - “Probably” (Klackprodukt)

Konkurs - “Terminal Stage" (Megastructure, X-IMG)

Kontravoid - “Live from the Void” (Self-released) - “Too Deep Remixes” (Fleisch)

Korine - “The Night We Raise” LP (Data Airlines)

Kris Baha - “Barely Alive” 12” (Emotional Especial) - “Starts to Fall” 12” (Power Station)

Kutkh Jackdaw - “Sweat & Thunder EP and remixes” (Dark Disco)

Lbeeze - “Induced Expressions” (Phormix Tapes)

Liebknecht - “Demos The H4AR 2020" (Self-released) - “Koln : Total Harmonic Noize remix” (Self-released)

Linea Aspera - “LP II” (Self-released)

Looky Looky - “Are You There Beach?” (Self-released)

Machino - “Ciudad Violenta” (X-IMG)

Maedon - “Escape To Berlin" (Sonic Groove)

Marc Ash - “Mirror Glaze Lavish" 12" EP (Fleisch)

Marina Aleksandra - “Animal Industrial Complex” (Randolph & Mort. mix)

Max Durante - “Fear and Desire” 12” (Aufnahme+Wiedergabe)

Mind | Matter – “Souvenirs Brises” (Intervision)

Mint Julep - “Stray Fantasies” LP (Western Vinyl)

Minuit Machine - “Don’t Run From the Fire” 12” (Synth Religion)

New Frames - “Outer Limits” 12” (Bite) - “RNF2” 12” (R Label Group) - “Stylized Fear” 12” (Haven)

Nordstaat - “Singularity Second Coming” (X-IMG)

NZ - “More Of Us” 12” ltd. (Infacted Records)

Objekt Clermont - "Zeitgeist” EP (Self-released)

Ofelia Ortodoxa - “Maleficio” (Soil)

Pablo Bozzi - “Last Moscow Mule” (Dischi Autunno) - “Walk on Wire” EP (Bite)

Phase Fatale - “Scanning Backwards” 2xLP (Osgut Ton)

Portion Control - “Head Buried” EP (Portion-Control.Net) - “Seed 1” EP (Portion-Control.Net) - “Seed 2” EP (Portion-Control.Net)

Pudeur - “Magie Noire” (Area Z)

Randolph & Mortimer - “Enjoy More” 7” (Self-released) - “Manifesto for a Modern World” 2xLP (Mecanica) - “They Know We Know They Lie” (Self-released) - “Union of the Faithful” (Self-released)

Reka X Imperial Black Unit - “Todo Avaricia” 12" EP (Fleisch)

Rendered - “Stone Cold Soul” CD (Audiophob)

Replicant - "Regression” (Self-released) - “Annihilation” (Self-released)

Rhys Fulber - “Diaspora” EP (Aufnahme+Wiedergabe) - “Resolve” (FR Recordings)

Riki - “Riki” LP (Dais Records)

Rommek - “Break The Tension” 12” (Leyla Records)

Salem Unsigned - “Blood Origin” (RND.r recorcds)

SARIN - “Moral Cleansing Remixed" (Bite)

Schwefelgelb - “Der Puls Durch Die Schläfen Instrumentals" (n-Plex) - “Der Puls Durch Die Schläfen" (n-Plex) - “Die Stimme Drängt” 12" (Cititrax)

SDH - “Against Strong Thinking" 12" (Avant!)

Size Pier - “Typhoon in Busan” (X-IMG)

Soft Crash - “Spitzkrieg” 12” EP (Bite)

Soj - “Land of Lovers and Hammers” (Infidel Bodies) - “Slow Burn” (Industrial Complexx)

Statiqbloom - “Asphyxia Remixed” (Synthicide)

Sure - “20 Years” LP (Weyrd Sun Records)

T_ERROR 404 - “Holographic Skull” (X-IMG)

Tanz Waffen - “Led Astray” (Self-Released)

Teatre - “Crime Imagery” (Self-released)

Terrorfakt - “Achtung 2020 Remixes” (SquareWav)

The Marquis - “Poison” (Self-released) - “Scab” (Self-released)

Trauma Phase - “Human Caused Disaster Response” (Detriti) - “The Origin of Social Disabilities” (Self-Released)

Unconscious - “Regnum Novum” (X-IMG) -"Slaves of System" LP (Detriti)

Unhuman - “Voices of Distress” 12” (Bite)

Various Artisits - “ASM II “ (Forkha) with: Chrome Corpse, Mind|Matter, The Undertaker’s Tapes, Evil Dust and more

Various Artist - “Meta Moto 4” (Meta Moto) with: Borsis Barksdale, Raw Ambassador, Filmmaker, Teatre and more

Various Artist - “Antikhrist Visions vol. II” LP (Industrias Mekanikas) with: Downwell, Delectro and more

Various Artist - “BOY Records – Timeless Technology 1988 – 1991" 4xLP (Mecanica) Retrospective box of the legendary Boy label releases.

Various Artist - “Crime Violente Vol.4” (Up North Records) With: Calvary Stone, Lbeeze, Meshes and more

Various Artist - “Dystopia in Action” 12” (X-IMG) with: Alpha & Necromante, Kris Baha, Human Performance Lab and more

Various Artist - “Ecdisis Vol 2” (Frigio Records) Snag this for the outstanding edit of Portion Control’s “Chew You to Bits”

Various Artist - “Murder 01” 12” (Murder) with: Codex Empire, Crystal Geometry, JK Flesh and more

Various Artist - “Northern Nightmares Vol.1” (Up North Records) with: Autumns, Cardopusher, Teatre, Hate Magnum Opus and more

Various Artist - “Northern Nightmares Vol. 2” (Up North Records) with: Notausgang, NGHTY, Violet Poison and more

Various Artist - “Sonic Groove: 25 Years 1995-2020" 2xLP (Sonic Groove) with: Orphx, Crustal geometry, Maedon, Rhys Fulber & Portion Control and more

Various Artist - “Uncanny Valleys Vol. 1” (Area Z) with: Chrome Corpse, Sarin x Imperial Black Unit, Celldod, IV Horsemen and more

Various Artist - “Uncanny Valleys Vol. 2” (Area Z) with: Ah Cama-Sotz, 3.14, MDS51 and more

Various Artist - “Valley of Tears vol 1" 12” (Soil) with: Imperial Black Unit, Fractions, Exhausted Modern and more

Various Artist - “Valley of Tears Vol. 2” 12” (Soil) with: SOj, Djedjotronic, Years of Denial and more

Various Artist - “Seven Years of Delirium" (Liber Null) with: Blush Response, NGLY, Zanias, Celldod, Phase Fatale and more

Various Artist – “Detriti Split 1” 12” split vinyl (Detriti) with: Black Sun Dreamer and Trauma Phase

Various Artist – “Detriti Split 2” 12” split vinyl (Detriti) with: Mind | Matter and Iron Court

Visceral Anatomy - “Modern Anguish” EP (Oraculo Records)

Visitor - “Technofossil” (Braid Records)

Wingtips - “Tears Of Pearls" (Self-released)

Youth Code - “Puzzle” (Self-Released)

Zanias - “Extinction” 12” (Fleisch) - “Harmaline” (Self-Released)

Zola Jesus - “Live at Roadburn” (Roadburn Records)

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popculture-etc · 3 years

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Kenny Rogers, Adam Schlesinger,...coping with 2020

Worst year ever although there were some good.

It’s too early yet for me to do a quick look back on what 2020 is like here as we’re only going to be in the first of December tomorrow (it’s Nov 30 here) but I just have to as two losses this year broke me. Kind of, well, especially the second one.

You see, before East Asian pop, Jpop and Kpop, Western pop culture was my thing. It still is and this pandemic has made me go back to that recently starting with...the Beach Boys (their westcoast sound caught me, hook, line, and sinker and I wasn’t very fond of the Beatles to begin with...to be completely honest) I’m currently chillin’ to right now, as I write this post. I’m really weak to the westcoast sound. Beach sound/s in general, rather. I’m a big fan of the beach where nature goes, for one. Since some time, a few years ago, deep chill and tropical house music has been my go-to when I want to chill or calm myself down after an outburst of sorts and I put them on when I just feel meh, especially on Fridays. When I dream of being by the sea, the beach or in some island on my own. I live in a country with a lot of beaches and the Visayas here is basically island region Philippines, lol. Like most people, I listen to music according to mood just like the way I dress according to mood. And...it’s no wonder, really that I’m so into the Beach Boys now. RIP the Beatles. My dad played some songs of theirs on the guitar or so but the hold they have on me waned later on and I just think now how overrated they were back then. They did have good songs but when talking of good music, as in really good that it retains the same sound style or so, it’s the Beach Boys for me. Brian Wilson is the man despite his issues and personal struggles.

Anyway, we’re going quickly off tangent. I’ll save the Beach Boys fangirling for another day. lol.

I grew up with western pop culture rife all around me thanks to my American, cowboy country and folk music listening dad, my Carpenters-loving mom and then, college-aged aunts who’d made me see the Titanic film more than my fingers could count---the third is clearly an exaggeration but well...some of it is true and they were why I got into American films like Pretty Woman (we have this in good ol’ VHS in our family home, my grandparents’ in Jasaan), Mannequin, Ghost etc. in the late 80s, coming into the early 90s. So, tired of all the kdrama and uninteresting kvariety shows on tvn and the rebranded local channel, Kapamilya (long story for what we formerly know as ABS-CBN, the nation’s a mess right now and our gov’t’s just...ick!), I’d retreated to my cave and got into old tv shows I’d watched as a kid instead like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed and it’s been, well, moving on from there. I’m checking out Twin Peaks later. I’ve been watching old Hollywood films too. Some revisits on this include: Casablanca, Gone With The Wind, and especially A Streetcar Named Desire will always and forever be my favorite. Very young and cute and good looking Marlon Brando, ugh. I have some others in the stash which include Bonnie and Clyde I’ll be getting into much, much later, maybe over the weekends and holidays. In sum, I have a long history with western pop culture, especially America’s, more than I have with Japan’s and South Korea’s. The latter being very, very recent so it doesn’t really compare as much.

Let’s get right down to it...

So 2020 had us lose Kenny Rogers to natural causes on March 20 in a hospice and after, Adam Schlesinger to COVID 19 complications on April 1. I know the latter as the songwriter of The Wonders’ That Thing You Do from the film sharing the same song title. I know Kenny Rogers well because my dad listens to him over and over in the car. In pretty much the same way, I know the words to Islands in the Stream by heart and I accept and revere it as one of the best, if not THE BEST country-pop duet songs of all time between Kenny and Dolly Parton...as far as country and pop music in the US of A’re concerned, of course. Miley and Shawn Mendez’s cover of it I’d seen recently was alright but nothing still beats the OG one, as always. With music, it’s just, really always the case.

Kenny departing from us March this year was alright. He was well cared for in a hospice and at the right age too, to leave us and this mess of a world behind for the afterlife. Sounds grim but not really. Heh. He died of natural causes so we know he was at peace and accepted then that his time has come. Fans and long-time listeners of his should also be at peace with this knowledge. I don’t consider myself a fan but since he’s been around so much because my dad plays his songs in the car often, I’m the same. I’ve accepted his passing away early this year. He’s lived his life well and given us good music to listen to should we like to remember him and his works and celebrate his life and legacy doing so.

Schlesinger’s case was way worse because, well, COVID 19. And it’s well...I guess we all saw it coming, me included, that I’d just learned, watching the one of many national English news on ANC that ‘pandemic’ is the word of the year according to Merriam-Webster. Timely, huh? Yep. Predictable, really. Sarcasm noted here.

So if someone ever asks what 2020 was about, we only have to say that according to Merriam-Webster, it’s the global (COVID 19) pandemic. Short, not-so-sweet, succinct, and grim. Yep.

This one, Schlesinger’s case, is something I still find difficult to accept. He was only 52 years old! He was at the prime of his life and had some projects still he was working on at the time of his passing so WHY?! I suppose that’s all of us who followed him and his extensive work on tv, film, the stage and his own band, Fountains of Wayne when we heard news he’s passed away due to COVID 19 complications. It’s definitely me now though I learned of it late. Heh.

To cope with the sadness of losing Schlesinger, gone too soon at 52 years old and with an impressive Hollywood tv, stage, film resume to his name since and his own band’s, Fountains of Wayne (FoW) really good discography, by the way, I’ve been listening to FoW’s Welcome Interstate Managers---all of the contents of said album/record---and That Thing You Do’s OST with the Beach Boys’ Sounds of Summer Best of in between. My favorite song on Welcome Interstate Managers is the sarcastic take on real life as an everyday worker in sales, Bright Future in Sales. As much as I like chill sounds where music goes, I like me some music with lyrics jolting us back to grim reality in much the same way I like films (indies, mostly, or lesser known short and full-length ones) that tackle social issues not frequently discussed in public or so but we are aware are there, still plaguing much of today’s society. I live for cynical, satirical, ironic, and even hyperbolic stuff about real life actually. It may be why I’m so entrenched and attached to the era where we all hated ourselves---the 90s. Although one would say much of that sentiment or feeling did carry itself to the 2000s, though. I don’t know about you, but until now, I still hate or have heavy dislike for myself and everything else around me, especially our gov’t or current admin here in the Philippines, and people in general so I don’t think it ever really goes away. And going off tangent again for the nth time today.

Anyway, my 1996 was That Thing You Do on HBO in our household...on and off along with other 90s films like The Craft, Clueless, Jawbreakers (I think this still plays in Cinemax from time to time) so of course losing Schlesinger also was...rather, is hard. He’s done so much and he was supposed to be working on more and he’s left such a deep mark here for us, avid fans of American pop culture...I suppose, even the casual ones. Aside from his That Thing You Do, I’d also seen Josie and the Pussycats at some point. I don’t remember when, where...though I did watch some episodes of the cartoon on Cartoon Network (CN) so of course, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the film of it as well. He worked on a track or some tracks there, too.

2020 sucks. COVID 19 sucks. This global pandemic sucks. But at least there’re films, tv shows, music, stage musical plays turned movies (Jonathan Larson’s Tick, Tick...Boom! is coming to us soon with Andrew Garfield in the lead---I’m wary of Garfield being a forgettable actor since The Amazing Spider Man because Dane Dehaan was what made that for me, to be quite honest so I’m not so sure of him being Jon here and as a self-respecting Larson fan since Rent, I’d rather they casted Neil Patrick Harris/NPH since he was in the London stage for this way back anyway...) to keep us entertained and fine until then. What would it take for ‘rona, and I’m not talking about the American Corona beer here that’s really popular in the west coast, to go away? I, like the rest of you in self isolation or quarantine, tend to think so but I don’t think we’ll have any answer to that until the vaccines are well underway by spring next year. Or at least, that’s what health authorities and scientists tell us anyway. I get reminded of it often in the news and I only tune in to that once in a while now because even that, following that daily, breaks my mental faculties down due to stress and pressure and all and I can’t have that when I still have so much, at the back of my mind, to do.

But anyway, time to conclude this one with one of my favorite The Wonders songs, All My Only Dreams just to end on a good note, better than the last paragraph’s ending at least and to remember Schlesinger as well that we’d lost this year along with plenty others we’d met in passing who’ve also left this world especially due to COVID 19 complications. I know we know a lot of those. For me, it’s a distant relative or family member I’d known since young but don’t have particular fluffy bunny feelings for because of some things that happened between the guy and me growing up in the NCR/Caloocan City to be exact. There’s also my good friend and former co-worker’s only remaining parent, her dad and a few more, I’m sure. So I hope 2021 would be better but I doubt it...very much. It’s still looking pretty dim, grim and bleak from here, where I’m currently standing in 2020.

Before we really end though, COVID 19 is definitely not a hoax. It hasn’t been since the first cases started in Wuhan, China. It’s just, only been getting worse and still continue to claim lives and spread to more people even those at home. So as someone who comes from a household of mostly medical workers or health care workers here, we should really be very careful about and around it. Let’s take the necessary health protocols seriously like wearing a mask out and maybe the face shield too and always keeping the sanitizers, alcohols in our bags among others---hygiene and sanitation, disinfection. It may come off really anal of me and I am not anal (I don’t like people with Type A personalities in the first place, lol...I’m just a very cautious Virgo, really, and a Type X---mix of Type C and D personalities) but seriously, SERIOUSLY, I can’t stress this enough, COVID 19, the virus SARS-COV2, that causes it is real. Very real and once it’s in your system, it can go the fatal, deadly way or just the mild and you’ll recover later anyway way. It’s not picking which people should die next and which should not, really. It’s really just there making a mess of things that are already messy since the beginning. My point being, it’s just better if we don’t spread it or are careful enough not to contract it with following health protocols set by health experts, scientists to help us get by this...pandemic.

Well here’s to 2020 being over soon and 2021 creeping in on us soon enough.

P.S.

Billie Armstrong of Greenday upped a cover of That Thing You Do as a tribute to Adam and the youtube live of the Wonders coming together again to pay tribute to and celebrate Adam’s life may still be up on the ‘tube. I have yet to see the latter but enjoyed the former. They are just so...sweet and precious. Ugh. Adam Schlesinger, gone too soon indeed. :(

PPS

Another songwriter/contributor in the TTYD OST passed away last year, too. Rick Elias. Cause of death is brain cancer. I had a friend from college, young and so full of life and dreams, who passed away due to the same thing so I’m kind of aware how this goes. Ugh. Cancer sucks. All of these are just so...sad. Depressing, actually.

youtube

#Adam Schlesinger #Kenny Rogers #american pop culture #USA #United States of America #That Thing You Do #Fountains of Wayne #music #entertainment #Hollywood #loss #COVID 19 #2020 #2020 is the worst year ever #what's next 2021?#A year in music #a year in american pop culture #a year in american rock and roll and pop music

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kansascityhappenings · 5 years

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Joe’s Weather Blog: We’re going to need a bigger shovel-maybe (WED-2/13)

Happy Wednesday! The good news is that we’ve got a breezy and milder day heading this way with highs into the 50s. Get out…enjoy it…do whatever…but get out of the house because regardless of how much snow we get from these systems that are coming through over the next week…it’s going to get cold. Thursday will be the transition day…and we’re into the cold on Friday with alternating snow chances and sticking snow likely. As I mentioned yesterday we won’t get blasted by the full-on effects of each potential storm but at least one get us…and the one that I’m most concerned about at this point is the one for Friday afternoon>evening.

Forecast:

Today: Lots of high clouds around…turning windy in the afternoon with highs 50-55° or so. Winds possibly gusting to near 30 MPH

Tonight: Milder with fair skies and lows well into the 30s

Thursday: A cold front will move through with variable clouds. The timing of the front appears to be near or after lunch. Highs may reach about 50° (colder north>warmer south) before dropping into the 20s in the evening with teens as wind chills.

Friday: Snow developing with accumulations likely. Highs 20-25°

Discussion:

First of all…as usual thanks for reading the weather blog. Yesterday it was the #1 item on our web page which is always humbling. It still amazes me the comments on FB I get about this “outlet” for me. So many mention that they learn about the weather and like the whys and whatfors about these storms…set-ups…whatever. A darn weather blog. Still amazes me.

Onwards.

Won’t bother with today or tomorrow as that is pretty straight-forward. The issue for Thursday is when the cold air is injected into KC from the north. My thought is sometime around or after lunch with the 50° weather turning into 30° weather by the time evening rush is done with…and colder with the wind chills. There could be a few sprinkles with this but not much is expected rain-wise.

OK now the elephant in the room. I think by now everybody knows about the snow potential over the next week. 3 storms through next Wednesday. As I mentioned yesterday I’m not in the mindset that ALL three give us crazy amounts of snow. Last night there was a rather significant change, in at least one model, for the weekend system and the one next TUE>WED.

So to try and simplify things…let’s refer to Friday’s system as storm #1…Saturday night’s system as storm #2 and then the TUE>WED AM system as storm #3. I still worry that we may be vulnerable to other “things” beyond that but IF I start talking about that possibility I’ll need security guards in the grocery store (kidding not kidding)

So my confidence level about the 3 storms is “somewhat” strongest for what’s ahead of us…storm #1. Storm #2 and #2 I have less confidence about…especially #3 at this point because…well it’s about a week away. Storm #2 is somewhat problematic as well…I think we’ll get something from that…but I’m not sure if we get the “big one” from that.

Then there is storm #1 (the one due in Friday).

I want to show you some of the data from the newest weather satellite that became “operational” just yesterday. It’s the GOES 17 satellite that is more focused on the western part of the country and the central and eastern Pacific Ocean.

Pretty shots…but there are issues with the satellite. There are some problems with the equipment up there and in particular with a cooling fan. Remember this satellite is way up there…some 22,000 miles up…the Space Station is 254 miles up…so it’s not as if we can send maintenance up there. They’ve come up with some workarounds, which is still amazing to me for something that is orbiting the Earth and so far away…but for several hours each day during certain times of the year when the sun heats up the satellite too much…pictures won’t be usable. Regardless there is still a LOT of good data coming down the pipeline towards us.

So with that said…Storm #1 is still off the western US…off the coast of CA.

It’s that mass of clouds on the far right hand side…hopefully when daylight comes the US borders will become more evident.

That storm right now at least is in a few pieces (yellow flag in my mind) and when it comes ashore in CA tomorrow afternoon and crosses into the Rockies Friday morning…we’ll see what kind of shape it’s in.

That yellow flag is one of the problems I have with this set-up right now. The storm is going to be a fast mover it appears when it gets into the Plains and I’m still not sure how well put together it’s going to be when it flies through KS on Friday afternoon. Let’s go up to about 18,000 feet and show you the 3 storms. The one is KS is storm #1. The map shows areas of “vorticity”. These areas are where the atmosphere shows cyclonic tendencies and ahead of these features you get “lift” (good for precipitation) and behind the features you get sinking air (good for clearing). These areas have varying intensity…big storms generate lots of lift…weaker ones…less lift.

Here is wayyyy more information than you want to know about the above map.

So the rough idea of a “transition zone” between rising air…lift…and sinking air…is the axis location of the “U” dips in the above map. With me so far? Notice as well the size of the “U” dip. For storm #1 it’s not overly “dippy” compared to storm #2…do you see that.

Less “dippy” storms tend to move fast. So the time that we’re in the “favorable” zone of lift is shorter than when the dips are deeper in size. Still with me?

Now that is up there at around 18,000 feet. We have to look at the entire atmosphere though as well. That smaller dip will be bringing some decent moisture with it and tapping into some sub-tropical moisture coming up from western TX…and that moisture will be one of the keys for us to get significant snow. IF that moisture isn’t as impressive or it gets pushed a bit farther east or south of here…we may NOT have a big snowstorm in KC on Friday. Nuisance snows yes…I think that’s unavoidable at this point (nuisance meaning 1-4″ or so) …it could be a sign that the wave is moving too fast or isn’t strong enough and this has to be at least looked at right now and NOT discounted at this point.

Then there is the matter of a building southwards area of high pressure…this is the cold air maker for us…BUT it’s also a dry air maker too. So the feed in the lower part of the atmosphere is of drier air…and that too can chew on what falls for awhile. Too much dry air and decent snowmakers can turn into blah snow makers. I may be making too much of a deal on this BUT it’s in the back of my mind as well.

Right now I think the odds of all this happening and ALL of this just turning into a “nuisance event” is around 55% and 55% should NOT be discounted at this point.

If you want something more significant (meaning in my weather head…4″ or more) you would like to see that moisture source be 1) real and 2) have that wave a bit more focused and “sharper”. That helps maximize the lift a bit more…that lift then works in concert with the moisture coming northbound…and as a result you get more impressive swaths of snow moving through the area.

There are some so-so favorable jet stream dynamics at play with this as well…for conciseness I won’t get into that right now. Not the greatest set-up and I’ve seen better over the years.

The new data slows the onset of sticking snow to the afternoon Friday. That makes sense and I can see how the dry air flow from the north is sort of working against the snow as it tries to come eastbound. However I also see how the snow out west is coming together better later in the morning and that snow would then come along the I-70 corridor in the afternoon…the issue remains how well it holds together as it comes eastbound along I-70.

You can see the conundrum. Dry air…sort of a disjointed broken up wave moving through the Plains…lift in the atmosphere that isn’t exactly super focused and a snow window that may be only around 6-8 hours or so…and some of that may be chewed on by the dry air.

This is the reason why we want to hold off on how much snow will fall from this. I know many are seeing all sorts of numbers on their various apps and with other sources…last night I mentioned that there was potential of over 4″ on Friday. That is still there certainly BUT I’m not sure how much over 4″ we will get at this point and that’s why I don’t want to do any snow maps yet with more precise information.

Trust me I know you want all the answers but for those who DON”T want a ton of snow…consider the early data today a better trend for your side. I don’t want to throw a 4-8″ amount out there at this point because my confidence isn’t there for something like that right now. The dry air scenario chewing at the snow because the wave coming in is sort of a mess needs to be factored into the equation. IF that dry air is “less” dry and IF the wave is better put together then yes over 4″ is VERY doable…again though lets try as we can to keep the horses in the barn for a bit longer.

There is still all sorts of potential with these 3 storms…and I won’t be surprised by some significant snow on the ground in a weeks time but let’s try and deal with them one at a time.

Takeaways from this…

Snow arrives after lunch Friday and sticks right away

The evening rush hour may be a mess

A LOT of schools are NOT in session anyway because of in-service conference days ahead of the 3 day weekend anyway

The dry air seeping southwards may “chew” on the snow as it comes eastbound

The wave needs to be better organized with more focus to tap into the moisture trying to come northwards and also to act as a better “tug” on that moisture

The weekend system bears some watching as well as does the one next week. Still WAYYYY to early to worry about forecast accumulations with that one.

OK that’s it for now. I’ll get an afternoon update out on FB by 3PM or so.

Our feature photo comes from ‎Sharon Griff Holloway‎ outside of Trenton, MO

Michelle and Karli will have more information as the day moves long on FOX 4.

Joe

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2019/02/13/joes-weather-blog-were-going-to-need-a-bigger-shovel-maybe-wed-2-13/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2019/02/13/joes-weather-blog-were-going-to-need-a-bigger-shovel-maybe-wed-2-13/

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whitneykt · 6 years

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SEASON 2018: Trip #1 (Part 1)

We finally were able to get the “ORAH” Chalet out of storage and out for its first outing for the 2018 season. AND . . . without any major issues!!! WHOO HOO!!! At least none that ruined our trip!!!

As we get to travel the country, I will try to post as many pictures of the campgrounds that we stay at and give a review for them as well. On this trip, there were several campgrounds that we would definitely return to and one that we will NEVER go to again!

I hope you enjoy this journey as we travel this beautiful country.

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2018

Thursday and Friday were spent in Amarillo (our home) gathering all the stuff from the apartment that we had not been able to take to the RV. We also got the truck and RV inspected. Then we took the RV to our local RV park, Fort Amarillo RV Park, . . . our favorite “staging” park . . . where we gave it a much-needed bath and got her all loaded up. We love having this nice RV park fairly close to us but it sure stinks that we have to pay for 2 nights just to load and unload the RV when we leave or return from a trip. Since we don’t have anywhere at the apartment to park the RV to do that chore, we just don’t have any other option. It just another cost that we factor into our trips.

A little bit about Fort Amarillo RV Park:

Per the Website: At Fort Amarillo RV Park & Resort, you’ll enjoy an authentic western setting, complete with a stream-fed fishing pond, illuminated walking paths and sunsets so breathtaking, even the most eloquent cowboy poets don’t do them justice. Huge pull thru sites, free WiFi & be sure to shop at Lizzie Mae’s Mercantile. 10% discount to members of Good Sam, AAA, AARP, KOA, FMCA, TACO and the Military. Daily Rate: $42 | Weekly Rate: $210 If you need more than 2 weeks, please call for price and availability.

My Review: The staff is very friendly and helpful. It is a really clean park, there are trees on most sites, full hookups, large level gravel sites, most are pull thru (I believe the back in ones are mostly for live-ins), laundry, really clean bathrooms/showers (hotel quality), there are two spaces that can be rented for parties, one of them is for guests with tables for cards, there are movies/books, a small kitchen (I believe it’s free to use but rentable for parties), a lit courtyard with BBQ, basketball court, tennis court, playground, indoor pool, game room, a small fish pond with nice grassy area and BEST of ALL there is an AWESOME gift shop called Lizzie Maes!! It is soooo cool!!

All of the sites have a concrete patio with a table and a fence that blocks the other site. They are gravel but they are level. AND, the roads around the park are gravel and well kept as well. Even tho the sites are close together, the fence blocks the utilities from your campsite so you are not staring at the sewer or hoses while you are enjoying your patio.

It is near I-40 making it an easy on/off stop but far enough away that it’s not noisy. Because of the wind in Amarillo, the trees and fence around the park help to serve as a slight wind block. You are close to a lot of eating places and shopping. If you are into walking, you could walk but it would be easier to drive because most everything is South of the I-40 (the park is on the Northside of I-40) CONS: No firepits or grills (but many bring/use their portable grills), all gravel roads inside and at the sites but they are level.

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On Saturday morning we got all hooked up and headed out of town only to have a tiny issue just as we got on the highway . . . the rubber stripping around the front Cap was flapping in the wind!!! I guess the power washer from the RV wash pushed it out of the track. We pulled off the road and hubby stuck it back into place. Hopefully, this would be our only issue this trip. Well . . . actually, we did have one issue that hubby would try to fix when we get or our first major stop . . . the water to the ice maker wasn’t coming on because the cut off valve must be broken. No matter which way you turn it, there was no water to the icemaker. He used to fix valves like that on coffee makers in his previous life . . . so he felt confident that it would be an easy fix . . . if he can get is big hands in that tiny space to fix it.

Lamar, Colorado

Our first overnight stop was in Lamar, Co at Sportsman’s RV Park and Horse Hotel. Normally when we go to Castle Rock, CO to see hubby’s sister, we go thru Raton Pass. This time we decided to take another route to AVOID the Pass! Not sure we wanted to take that pass for our first outing after having so many other truck issues. We thought that staying on flat ground was the better option this time out and chose to take Highway 287 thru Boise City, OK up to Lamar, Colorado.

As soon as we hit Oklahoma on Highway 287, the roads were REALLY ROUGH!! The expansion joints were rough and the tire lanes were really rough. I actually drove with my passenger tires on the shoulder and my drivers’ side tires in the middle of the lane . . . it was still rough!!! No potholes . . . just washboard type roads. In any case, they SUCKED!!!

We thought it was going to shake everything out of the cabinets of the trailer and shake all the bolts loose. The only disaster we encountered was a 12 pack of cokes that fell out of the case inside the truck. The case was open and they all fell between the seat and door. I had to open the window so hubby could use his long arms to reach them instead of opening the door and having them all roll out and ‘spew’ everywhere. The only thing that happened inside the trailer was that the bedroom closet door opened and two small items fell out . . . nothing major! WHEW!! Oh . . . later, we found out that a cabinet shelf where we had more 12 packs of Coke had broken. No worries on that one tho . . . we only put our cases of drinks in that one. They can be stacked. Once we hit the Colorado border, the roads were like “butter” . . . either that or they just seemed like “butter” after the Oklahoma roads. So . . . for reference, try to stay off Highway 287 from just North of Stratford, Texas to the Colorado border!! Seriously, when you hit Colorado, the roads were AWESOME . . . 2 lane but wide lanes with wide shoulders. THANKFULLY it was only about 50 miles of bad roads.

Instead of driving all the way to Cherry Creek in Aurora, CO in one day, which was about a 7 hr drive from Amarillo, we decided to break the trip up and spend a night in Lamar, Co. That way IF the roads were really slow or we ran into trouble, we’d have plenty of time to adjust and adapt. It’s nice to get somewhere and not be really tired from driving all day and just sit back and relax . . . which we both needed desperately. In fact, we have decided to drive about 200-300 miles per day OR to be parked somewhere by around 3pm. . . . whichever comes first. That way we have time to set up and relax. . . or adapt our plans if needed.

Highway 287 – Lamar, CO to I-70 Nice 2 lane, nonbusy, flat road

The weather was AWESOME in Lamar, Co. . . . nice and cool!! They apparently they had some major wind, rain and hail come thru here the night before. We went from the 99-degree weather at home to the 60’s here!! AWESOME!!! We had the windows open with no A/C running . . . GLORIOUS weather!! There was a little bit of wind but nothing like we are used to. They say that Chicago is the “Windy City”!! I beg to differ!!!

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One of the first things we had to do was to cancel a Retirement Gift for my husband from our daughter. She knows that he has always wanted a Porche 911, 6 speed, Convertible. This was her 3rd attempt to get him a Retirement Gift. The first attempt was an Alaska fishing trip with her husband, Jon Nite, who was going there to write songs with someone. But it fell through. Her second attempt was a trip to St. John. However, the Hurricanes had other plans. Her third attempt was to rent a Porche 911 Convertible for him to drive for a day. She knows that he has always wanted a Porche 911 and thought it would make a great gift for him. However, once we realized the dates she rented it for, where the dealership was in relation to where we were camped, the logistics just were not workable, we had to cancel it. The dealership was about 87 miles from where we were going to be and that day was going to be a “moving day” or us. Had we gone to get it, the entire day would have been driving back and forth to the dealership. Which would be over the allotted 100 miles per day limit and we’d have to pay $1/mile after that for the gas . . . waste of money to not fully be able to enjoy it. Some may say “Third time is the charm” . . . not in this case . . . for now. Maybe next time we go to the Denver area he can get it. When he first heard he was getting this gift, he was all ready to take it up Pikes Peak . . . which, after seeing a video of that road, he would be going without me!!!! There is NO WAY I’d go up that in a ‘race car’!!! Apparently, it wouldn’t have happened anyway because later in the trip we found out that they have actually closed Pikes Peak to most traffic. You have to park and ride a passenger van up to the Summit now. The only ones that can drive up Pikes Peak are anyone with kids who need a car seat and the elderly who need assistance. Their vans cannot accommodate those persons.

UPDATE on Pikes Peak as of July 10, 018:

Shuttle no longer required for all drivers on Pikes Peak Highway

In the next episode, we will continue on Highway 287 and pick up I-70 to Cherry Creek where we stayed for 4-5 days. We have family in that area who we visited and even celebrated with a Niece who had just graduated from college.

Stay tuned for more excitement to come from “The Ole Rooster and his Hen” . . .

2018 Travel Journey begins Trip #1 (Part 1) SEASON 2018: Trip #1 (Part 1) We finally were able to get the "ORAH" Chalet out of storage and out for its first outing for the 2018 season.

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kansascityhappenings · 6 years

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Joe’s Weather Blog: This is the “break”…hotter from here (SAT-7/7)

Good afternoon…actually not too bad out there…we re a few degrees cooler today compared to yesterday’s 92° and we should have a rather nice Sunday as well. Lots of sunshine is expected and the “relief” in the form of drier air will be enjoyable, especially at night and into the morning hours. The dew points are going to be “OK” through Monday then the thicker air will gradually come up again and set the stage for another uncomfortable week+ of weather. Oh and when a meteorologist finally breaks down and starts watering (1st time this year)…you know it’s going to stay dry too. I HATE watering but the grass had just about turned dark brown in spots…and that can’t be good.

Forecast:

Tonight: Clear and pleasant with lows 60-65°

Sunday: Hot but not too humid by July standards with highs near 90°

Monday: Hotter but again not overly humid with highs 90-95°

Tuesday: Getting muggy again with more heat and highs in the mid 90s

Discussion:

The forecast in a nutshell…

It seems like we’re repeating the same heat over and over again. We are getting an expected break this weekend but overall the pattern is very hot and increasingly humid. The run of not getting to 100° at KCI will again be in jeopardy this week perhaps. It will be worth getting there sooner rather than later because it’s getting old talking about something that just about everywhere else has managed to do since 2013.

The good news as we start the blog is that there is actual summer humidity relief again today in the region. The dew points are down to the low>mid 60s in the area at 11AM…with even drier air to the east of here and with the east and SE flow…the dew points may come down a bit more during the day today into tonight.

The numbers in green are the dew points (red the temperatures) and you can see east of here dew points are in the 55-60° range.

https://embed.windy.com/embed2.html?lat=36.173&lon=-92.900&zoom=5&level=surface&overlay=wind&menu=&message=true&marker=true&calendar=&pressure=&type=map&location=coordinates&detail=&detailLat=39.288&detailLon=-92.884&metricWind=mph&metricTemp=%C2%B0F&radarRange=-1

via windy.com

Actually the area of high pressure that’s responsible for this humidity break and is now in the eastern Great Lakes region…

was a record breaker of sorts for the highest MSLP or mean sea level pressure readings. In other words the barometric pressures were unusually high for the month of July! (yesterday)

A record strong high pressure system for July brought delightful weather to the Upper Midwest/Great Lakes yesterday. Below are the records set for July based on hourly surface observations & the time matched WPC surface analysis. Pressure records website: https://t.co/2js98cy0vq pic.twitter.com/hhAFRyCovO

— NWS WPC (@NWSWPC) July 7, 2018

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There really isn’t a lot to say about things overall..yes to getting hotter again…yes to getting more humid towards the middle of the week and yes (or no) to the rain…really a no.

As the hot air generator rebuilds into the middle part of the country our threat of rain more or less disappears. Sometimes there can be small little weaknesses in the dome allowing a few random storms to pop up…but overall it’s dry.

The upper air pattern through the week will be characterized by another dominating ridge through the western 2/3rds of the country. It will divert the jet stream up into Canada (not unusual) and allow the hotter air to just sort of fester in the Plains.

I think we’re more or less locked into this till at least next Friday and perhaps into next weekend. There are some model suggestions that a cold front may dip into the area FRI or SAT…we’ll see.

Our feature photo comes from Kym Whitney Lane in rural Saline County…taken on Thursday of a nice rain shower at sunrise too!

A note for those who have read the blog all the way through…one more blog tomorrow then I’m on vacation. I will have my computer with me this time though so I will cobble together a blog or two…but not for a few days…there really isn’t anything to write about anyway at this point.

Joe

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2018/07/07/joes-weather-blog-this-is-the-break-hotter-from-here-sat-7-7/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2018/07/07/joes-weather-blog-this-is-the-breakhotter-from-here-sat-7-7/

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kansascityhappenings · 6 years

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Joe’s Weather Blog: Another big change on Thursday (MON-1/8)

Good morning…starting the day with a lot of black ice out there…which seems to be just the way this winter is rolling along. This has been a strange one…we started with way too warm air in December, keeping any snow threats at about 0. Then we flipped on the 22nd-23rd to a much colder pattern. Temperatures so cold and the air so dry that aside from some minor light events we couldn’t really get much snow…then as a cold air leaves just in time we get rain (and not a lot locally)…now black ice. Interesting yet snow frustrating (see what I did there). Last night I posted about whether or not you were happy or not about the lack of snow…about 60% wanted more snow. I’m in that category. Right now I’m not encouraged about the prospects.

Forecast:

Today: Sunny and cold this morning. Light winds. We should end the day in the 40s. How far in the 40s though we get will rely on a bit of a breeze to stir the air. We’ll see about that.

Tonight: Cold again with lows in the 20s

Tuesday: More clouds with highs in the 40s

Wednesday: This should still be the warmest day of the week with highs into the 50s but we will be fighting clouds and the winds will make it feel colder.

Discussion:

So let’s get back to a question I asked my FB peeps last night. In regards to this.

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fjoe.lauria.10%2Fvideos%2F1734702213228704%2F&show_text=0&width=560

By the way…would love it if you would “like/follow” me on FB!

Anyway…it’s amazing to think about that we actually have less snow than last winter…a winter that essentially gave us little snow overall. Not only do we have less snow so far…we have HALF of what we had last winter through 1/7 at least. Come on! Snow frustrating ( I did it again).

I guess we don’t have to worry about doing something like this…

There's a new Mr. Plow in town! A Pennsylvania man was certainly thinking outside the box when it came to clearing his snow-covered driveway #ShareYourWeather pic.twitter.com/71yZtUPFdJ

— The Weather Network (@weathernetwork) January 7, 2018

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and so it goes…there have been seasons with slower starts…lots of them. As a matter of fact..this is the 27th slowest start to the snow “season” in KC

Note that 5 of those season starts are since the year 2000. I’m not really sure we can include the #1 year (1889) because there is a lot missing data in that compilation.

Also of note…some interesting years…1980 (drought+extreme summer scorcher) and 1978 (so darn cold that winter) and 1989 (so darn cold that winter). There are also some dust bowl years in there too.

Look you folks know I enjoy my snow…I’d be happy if we could get a couple of 4-8″ snowstorms…maybe one 2-4″ storm…then let’s move on to spring. Cold to me is a waste if we don’t have snow…ice to me is a total waste because it does nothing for us whatsoever. I’m really looking for something to talk/write about for several days + leading up to something happening around these parts.

I guess I can talk more about the cold weather that will be coming back into the area after a few days of more comfortable weather.

The change comes Thursday morning. We may very well have some sort of midnight high on Sunday into the 40s before the leading edge of colder Canadian air moves into the region during the morning hours.

The map above is for 12AM Thursday morning…that cold front will mean business because the air behind it will be cold, to say the least.

Temperatures behind the front will be dropping into the teens and the cold air will RUSH into the area during the daybreak hours…and that sends temperatures tanking. Based on the current forecast speed of the front…look at the forecast temperatures around lunch time on Thursday…

Around 20°(!) and with 20 MPH winds (higher gusts)…the wind chills will be near 0° again during the day on Thursday.

Chilly weather is expected on Friday and then another arctic dump of cold weather comes in over the weekend…Sunday morning may tank to sub-zero levels from KC northwards…maybe 5-10 below towards far N MO…could be lower IF there is snow on the ground up there again.

What about the precipitation chances with this rather decent change in the temperatures. Well I’d suspect that we’ll get at least some moisture from this…perhaps a few rain showers ahead of the front…then some sort of wintry mix behind the front. The better accumulating snow chances with this may be more focused towards the I-80 corridor. For us…we may get some snow in the afternoon Thursday. Whatever happens…IF there’s moisture on the roads…we’ll need to watch for freezing during the day.

The system that will be moving our way will be undergoing a weird split right through the middle of the Plains with the better energy dropping and developing more through Texas…and another weakening piece going through the upper Midwest. It’s always something. IF that southern energy would streak towards the NE instead, curl up through southern and eastern MO…slow the forward progress of the front coming through the KC region…then we’d probably be in business for snow…at this point that outcome is highly doubtful.

This is the same storm that the national media will be talking about over the next couple of days…affecting the western part of the country.

Notice the water vapor loop showing the moisture stream up into CA.

This is going to be a big ticket storm for that part of the country. strongest they’ve seen in terms of rain/snow since last winter. That’s good right? Well for some areas…not so much.

Upgrade to HIGH RISK of excessive rainfall from @NWSWPC for portions of Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles Counties near recent large burn scars. Heavy rain moves in later today and tonight. pic.twitter.com/DsWJGRBVV8

— Alex Lamers (@AlexJLamers) January 8, 2018

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There is a lot of concern about the areas that were ravaged by flooding. Without any vegetation too keep the soil in place…debris flows and mud slides are very possible.

Updated explainer for the risk of flash flooding and debris flows in and downslope of burn scar regions as moderate and heavy rain develops during the next 24+ hours. pic.twitter.com/80OR8BCC0X

— Jan Null (@ggweather) January 8, 2018

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The forecast right now shows 2-6″ of moisture…some may get more in the Ocean facing mountains.

Here is a look at radar…

So it’s a good and bad thing out there…the water storage system though really could use it.

That’s it for today…

Our feature photo is of a nice eagle…they’re around some of the wetlands in MO now…a lot of them up towards Smithville into N MO! Courtesy Mary Jo Seever

Joe

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports http://fox4kc.com/2018/01/08/joes-weather-blog-another-big-change-on-thursday-mon-1-8/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2018/01/08/joes-weather-blog-another-big-change-on-thursday-mon-1-8/

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