Caucus Eve

Stale Cookies

So, it turns out that yesterday's weather report on the blog was completely screwed up because The Weather Channel's website reset my cookie to Washington, D.C. for some reason. I didn't catch the change until yesterday evening.

Not really sure why their site does that, but it isn't the first time. It also happens with their Android app.

In any event, the forecast for tomorrow night's Iowa Caucuses is back to being miserable: Winter Storm Watch, snow, wind, etc. And we're back to wondering what effects (if any) the weather will have on turnout statewide.

"Snow again??? This is some bullshit..."

Dude, it's February in Iowa...we've been over this...

Feast Day

Today is the feast day of St. John Bosco.

He is best remembered for founding the Salesians of Don Bosco, a religious order dedicated to helping poor children. He was canonized in 1934
by Pope Pius XI.

John Bosco is a patron saint of school children (especially those we used to call "juvenile delinquents"), as well as editors and publishers.

Problem Solved!

Courtesy of the excellent Christina Hoff Summers, a solution to the problem of "offensive" language, ideas, or behaviors:

The Next Big Thing

From the delightful comic strip FoxTrot, by Bill Amend, which you should read every Sunday, as I do.

Until Next Time...

On January 31, 1797 Franz Peter Schubert was born in Vienna, Austria. A remarkable talent, he would become one of the great teachers and composers of his era, although he was not widely appreciated until long after his death.

January 31, 1797 - November 19, 1828

Although he died young (just 31), Schubert was remarkably prolific, with more than 1,500 significant compositions to his credit. Many of them are considered masterworks of their kind, and he is one of the most frequently performed composers in the classical repertoire.

At his own request, upon his death he was buried next to Ludwig van Beethoven, whom he greatly admired, in a Vienna cemetery.






Today's send-off is the second movement (adagio) of his String Quintet in C major,
the last piece of chamber music he completed before his death. The work is considered Schubert's greatest chamber composition, as well as one of the finest in all of chamber music. It is performed by Pablo Casals, Isaac Stern, Paul Tortelier, Eugene Istomin, and Alexander Schneider. It is paired with some beautiful works of art. Enjoy...