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Sorry I missed this. My sincere condolences to you, Antonio. In my defense, I got distracted by the thought of Jaye P. Morgan's breasts.

Antonio, my condolences to you and your family. RIP Uncle José Luis.

I don't have kids, so have no idea what you're going through, but...DAMN, she's in COLLEGE ALREADY?!?!? Fugaces labuntur anni...or as another great man once said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Me: Went to a new patient appointment with my new GP. Also got vaccinated against pneumonia, diphtheria tetanus pertussis. Afterwards, I got my local AI working again. (It would keep crapping out. Found out it was because there aren't a lot of good models set up for two GPUs that don't talk to each other via NVLink.) That's good, because I definitely believe I have a couple legitimate research topics that will get pretty complex, so I need to be able to have long-running conversations.

It's tough to drop off your eldest to start their life away from you. It sucks even. But you have it relatively easy in that we dropped Sophie off in Poughkeepsie and went back to SF, whereas you can take a short drive to see Lily or rescue her or congratulate her. No doubt change is still hard and you can't be swooping in every minute even if she is relatively close. Hang in there and make Andrew's life miserable while you adjust.

One of the hardest things to face IMO. And all those coincidences!! The only saving grace (for me) was that Andrew was becoming the person he was meant to be. He had some amazing growth in college, found some great people, and set the stage for what he is now, and that is amazing to me. His senior year, when I helped him move in the last semester, I was on my way home and Cat Stevens' "Father and Son" came on my playlist. I almost had to pull over I was tearing up so much. Good luck to Lily, you, Maura, and your Andrew!

This one will be hard to write, not because anything bad happened, only because change is hard. TL/DR - Nate is sad because Lily is in college. Longer, rambling version. Today we helped Lily move into college. She decided that she wanted to go to UNH in the spring time, so that's where we headed today. On top of the usual angst/sadness associated with dropping your first kid off at school it was a bit of an emotionally-charged day because that's where I went to school, met Maura, and lived for a few years even after graduation while Maura pursued her graduate degree. And in a simple twist of fate, the dorm that we lived in while Maura was a hall director is where Lily ended up as a Freshman. So it was a day of wildly swinging emotions. I'm confident that she'll do great there. The program that she's in (Occupational Therapy) is as good or better than any other in New England and it's very much right up her alley. So we know where she'll be for the next 5 years - it's a 4+1 masters program. What I can't figure out is why it very much feels like I have a broken heart? I mean I get it in lots of ways. As I explained to Andrew on the way home (he and I left first to get him to soccer practice), for every day in the last 18+ years I've known exactly where and when I'd see Lily next. Now, not so much. I expect it'll be at least a few weeks, if not longer before we see her. That's probably most of the pain I feel. But there's also a piece of me that feels a little, well, lost without her in the house. So we'll see how these next several weeks go with only one kid to day-to-day worry about. I'm not sure Andrew wants the additional attention coming his way. 😂

Yeah, I think this one just "speaks to me" and my generally somber/dark/morose/goth/melancholic/whatever personality. I'll probably give all his solo piano albums a revisit. He is literally one of my two favourite keyboardists, along with Hiromi. Unrelated: NP -- Toyah, Ophelia's Shadow -- the flip side of the coin of Kneeling at the Shrine by Sunday All Over the World (same exact lineup). Both great art rock albums. With a capital GREAT.

Speaking of more piano. For Elvira by Francesca Tandoi Trio (2014) https://open.qobuz.com/album/a7s0cd5mvszhc Example: More on the traditional side of jazzy jazz. Nice set.

I agree it is a good album. I am still partial to the solo piano work from Country Aires myself. But being Rick Wakeman, there's like five or six solo piano albums that I listen to on the regular.

Interesting. I was peripherally aware of this fellow because of a couple EPs he released years ago. I had no idea he was still at nor that he had such a substantial modular rig.

Curiously, the Romans actually mainly spoke Greek. But who can forget "He's not the Messiah, he a very naughty boy!" And:

Needed something clean and plinky to listen to, so sat down with Rick Wakeman's Melancholia. This is easily the best of his solo piano albums, by far. Will be a repeat listen.

@Knuckledragger

After a nice crabmeat sandwich lunch, got my Flu and (first) Shingles shots. Vaccines for the MFW!

Way back in 2003, a creative and wacky Norwegian (is there any other kind?) named Gisle Martens Meyer eleased Resound, his first full length under the name Ugress. It was a breakbeat driven sampledelic good time. On it is the killer track "Decepticons" which among other things, features the sound of Transformers ...transforming being scratched by a DJ. In the 2000s, I used it to lure some of my more nerdy friends into the world of electronic music. It's also littered with samples from the TV series and 1986 movie. (This was years before the Michael Bay CGI slop fests tainted the Transformers name.) "Decepticons" was the first thing I thought of when I heard (voice of Optimus Prime) Peter Cullen died. Do not grieve for him, he shall become one with the matrix.

Trigger by Sharon Mansur (2025) https://open.qobuz.com/album/qpt5r10bpmoua Example: Found down in my queue a bit. Released last year, most likely added based on Dusty post. I like her flow, and the trio plays well together. Nice variety of styles.

Sorry for your loss Antonio. RIP Uncle José Luis. Jaye P. Morgan was fun and sexy in her own way on the Gong Show. She was 94! Rip Jaye P.

Indeed, he was a painter, not a famous one but a good one. Father of three, grand father of other three. Very fun and vital I keep very good memories from my childhood with him and my cousins.

But these are moving pictures , having at least 10³ worth. Indeed. Uploading Attachment... https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/10-best-robert-fripp-toyah-willcox-covers/

RIP Peter Cullen voice of Optimus Prime. He has become one with the matrix.

Sorry to see this! RIP José Luis......96, amazing! I hope it was a life so well-lived.

What a fucking horrible few days....! Dolly, Tim..... Add to that one of my childhood crushes, Jaye P. Morgan. Saw her on the Gong Show, once wearing a blue jumpsuit and blue make-up (eye-liner and lipstick) and that was it for me. And the time she stripped off her shirt (no bra) for Gene Gene the Dancing Machine segment.....oy! I guess that got her kicked off though.... Loved her on that show. Also, RIP Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese artist known for her wild polka-dot images. Several years ago, Karen and I saw an example of her Infinity Room demo at the Tate Gallery..... In pictures: The dotty world of Japanese artist Yayoi KusamaKusama was known for creating extraordinary immersive worlds that delighted millions of visitors.

It’s just a bad year. My uncle José Luis, my father’s oldest brother, passed this morning at 96. Fulminant prostate cancer.