Matters of necessity

Okay, I’ve noticed a whole lot of hoo-ha about the apparent sanctity of the public loos in this country. You know—what birth infrastructure you should be able to display in order to use the door labeled either Ladies or Gentlemen. (Or variants thereof.)

Yes, I understand there are some serious economic issues involved in regulating how businesses provide “restrooms”. Just as there were when the Americans with Disabilities Act required businesses to make their facilities wheelchair accessible. I also understand that it’s disconcerting to be in the process of taking care of private physical needs and unexpectedly discovering a person in that small space whose appearance doesn’t mirror yours.

But there’s something else that’s bothering me a whole lot more than which set of birth-genitalia might or might not still be on the person walking through a specific door. It’s that—in a building full of people engaged in the support of scientific inquiry, the preponderance of whom are highly educated—it’s become apparent that some fair number of them are not washing their hands after using the toilet. I hear the flush, and then the sound of the door opening and closing. No intervening use of the washbasin.

In a word: euw.

As far as I’m concerned, if you use the facilities for the intended purpose, aren’t yapping continuously on your mobile phone, don’t toss trash around the place, and exhibit basic standards of hygiene, you can pee next to me whenever the necessity prompts you.

The rest of you can basically go piss up a rope.

Music to my ears

So, perhaps it’s time for a little light entr’ acte music, while I’m waiting to see what outrageous & arrogant stunts the Gang of Three are going to pull for this round of begging to Congress. (Because you know I’m going to have something to say about it.)

But, as it seems that no one can operate without some ambient tunes in his/her ears (I went to the Seattle Arboretum a few weeks ago & came across two guys walking together, with earbuds stuck in their ears. 1. They’re out in nature; why do they need music? 2. They’re walking together; what’s with the individual, isolating musical devices?), I’ve accumulated some streaming audio sites for your enjoyment.

I’ve actually been plugged into Pandora for the past couple of weeks. I find the format somewhat monochromatic, because you’ve got to go with either a music genre or an artist genre (I “created” an Aimee Mann “radio” & got nothing but singers who sound like her).

I’ve been listening to the Classical Christmas recently & discovered that they repeat the cuts pretty often. I had to move on to Peaceful Holidays (anything that calms me down is only good for me, my office mate & my employer) & Folk Holidays. I may even layer in Delta Blues & Traditional Folk. So there is some limitation to the selections.

I’d rather have functionality that allows me to choose a number of genres & have them randomize the streams; but this is what they’ve got.

iMusic purports to supply music to optimize the computer-using experience. They sell you packages of music designed to turbo-charge various activities. The packages include Intelligence, Creative, Energy, FitDrive, DeepSleep & WakeUp Suites. (There are also singles.)

I have absolutely no earthly notion how this is supposed to work, & I don’t notice that their sample makes me either smarter at the PC, more creative, or ready to take a nap. But, hey—have a go.

Josh Hosler’s site not only has an ever-changing Number 1 song on this date in history (e.g., 4 December for every year back to the 1890s, with audios starting in 1935—“Red Sails in the Sunset” by Guy Lombardo, if you’re interested), but it allows you to hunt out hits from specific dates. So you could work up a gift of multiple songs either in depth (as in the date & multiple years) or breadth (hits for every month of a particular year) for your mom’s birthday.

I quite enjoyed looking up the hits on various friends’ birthdays. You might find it a hoot, too.

Finally, Tropical Glen acts as a jukebox, giving you Golden Oldies—top 100 hits from 1950-1989. Additionally you can choose to listen to genres—blues, jazz, doo-wop, folk, TV themes, etc. If you’re looking for song lyrics, there’s a resource there, too.

So, take these sites out for a spin, see what you think. & if you know of others, please add to the list.