The US electoral system will inherently prevent 100% turnout. The combination of non-compulsory voting, the weekday elections, the giant list of things to vote for on one day and the lack of sufficient poll workers, places & hours in total will prevent many people with low paying jobs from voting.

😂👍

No, you weren’t. I got $20, and I have notes about spelling and grammar for whoever made the graphic.

Michel Camilo - Caribe (Cezary Konrad, Caban Drummer Fest 2019) YouTube video by Caban Drummer Fest

And, to give you the smallest glimpse of his abilities, here’s Cezary Konrad playing only drum kit:

( #jazzsky #latinsky #drumsky I don’t know if they’re all real!)

youtu.be/Mh9LHkh6WeM?...

That night, I watched as Konrad played a single piece of music, improvised, across drum kit, piano and garbage, that lasted a full hour and was never less than utterly engaging. I watched a master in action. Afterwards, the violinist I was sitting next to professed her amazement at his skills.

So, with mere hours notice, Konrad discovered that he had to play a one hour concert by himself, none of the music he had planned to play would be possible. We, the audience, arrived at the concert venue to see a drum kit, a piano, and a table full of garbage (bubble wrap, disposable coffee cup etc)

I was in Zagan, Poland, in 2006, tutoring at a music camp there. Cezary Konrad was also tutoring, and his band was scheduled to play one night. They were travelling together in one car, they would have done a sound check in the afternoon and played in the evening… if the car hadn’t broken down.

Yesterday, @ournewhomecoach.bsky.social asked us to nominate our five best live music experiences (that wasn’t the exact words). As per usual, I nominated some less typical musicians (and regretted not mentioning more!). I thought I might say a few words about Cezary Konrad, who people won’t know.

You don’t know me, we have not interacted. Why are you attempting to guilt trip me?

Btw, I have Ukrainian background, so when I have spare money to donate, it goes there. I apologise, I don’t have enough money to send to all of the deserving.

Feel free to read my pinned post before tagging me.

Poppet, a Burmese Cat, asleep on a couch with her forehead pressed against my arm.

This is Poppet, who has apparently fallen asleep mid-headbutt!

Barney, a korat (grey cat breed from Thailand), with his tail looped around to his upper body, left arm on the tail, right arm stretched away from his body, face buried in his left arm. He’s sitting on a grey dressing gown.

This is Barney pretending to be a Celtic knot.

I agree that Albo the “lefty” is a massive disappointment. Being a lefty myself, I wish so much that Shorten had won. But I find the current Greens disappointing too. I feel that they were way stronger before 2010ish, they knew their priorities better back then.

Only 5? Good grief. Ok, here goes…

Cezary Konrad, Zagan, Poland 2006
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, WOMADelaide 1993? (He had a cold and was still the standout performer of the weekend)
Omar Sosa, Adelaide Fringe, 2006
Chucho Valdes, Melbourne Jazz Festival, 2015?
Billy Joel, MCG 2022

Current John Hewson would have given Keating a real run for his money.

And why did the Commander in Cheeto think that Biden cheated? I suggest that it’s because he, the Area 51 of spray tan, cheated and cannot wrap his failing and feeble brain around the true scale of his unpopularity: he was unpopular enough that his cheating did not overcome his unpopularity.

Janelle Monáe - Turntables [Emotion Picture] YouTube video by Janelle Monáe

Here’s another great modern track:

youtu.be/8CFrCk6_0rM?...

I’m 50 and nothing bugs me as much as the “music is all terrible now” crowd. There was crap back then. Listen to The Pushbike Song or I’m The Leader Of The Gang. Utter tripe! Music sounds good when you only choose the best handful of songs from a decade? Whatever next? 🙄

The darker cat is Jacko (RIP) and the lighter cat is Poppet. Note how Poppet is curled up and self contained, but Jacko is sprawled and open. That’s both of their personalities in a nutshell!

Nice work!

And you may ask yourself, “Is this my beautiful jacket?” and honestly, of course it bloody isn’t. That belongs to someone twice your size!

This is the Antiseptic Personality Australia Policy

Presumably they got you confused with someone else

I love it!

And when I say, “the Russian people”, there’s a problem there too. Russia is an empire with many conquered “countries”. It’s very possible that all this leads to Russia collapsing and then breaking up into smaller countries. The Chinese definitely want Vladivostok back too.

Protests get squashed, culturally relevant people with differing opinions get locked up, broadcast news is heavily regulated. Plus, for many decades now, the Russian people are accustomed to living under the thumb of an oppressive regime.

To be fair though, there are many things that the Commander in Cheeto doesn’t understand, including how a thermos knows whether to keep its contents hot or cold.

Country singer called Urban? Problems from the get go.

That looks fantastic!

If I had crazy amounts of money, I’d set up a fund to artists (visual, music, dance etc) to learn and then make new art with their new skills. And I’d attend every show.

Craziness. I squeaked through. Not that any non-scammers try to write to me!