Don’t be fooled by all the Churchillian talk. While it’s true that some countries like Poland and Finland will be serious about their defense, as they have been, the big European nations—Germany, France, Italy and the U.K.—face economic, demographic, political and cultural challenges so deep that it will take much more than statements of intent to enable them actually to build their own conventional defenses.
Read the whole thing if you can. He makes several great points.
I woke up a couple of days ago with a slight infection I have since not quite shaken off; specifically, a Ravelean earworm of the Forlane sort (Thibaudet there).
As these things go, from the Forlane (after a period of vigorous sampling in an attempt at removal) the infection quite naturally passes into the Rigaudon phase. It was yesterday in the course of additional prophylactic sampling I ran into this sweet combination piano-dance performance by Makiko Makiko: Rigaudon.
Still suffering, though I have yet to be overcome by the Menuet. God only help me when the crazed Toccata arrives.
i think of those as a refreshing repast, not an earworm
good art and music endures, when much has past,
I didn’t Rimbaud had been a coffee trader in Aden in the late 19th century, before he turned to poetry
the Western End of Oceania, is bewildered from within, see the whole scandal of the Saracen they invited from Kafiristan, (to use a Kipling reference) the land Enoch Powell knew well, as an intel officer during the war,
same with the French although they are sampling from the Levant, since they lost the Algerian war they have been lost,
sdferr,
I wake up everyday with an “earworm” playing in my head. They even play while I sleep. 24 hours a day, 365.25 days a year. This has been the case for as long as I can remember.
My feet hurt watching that video!
I know neo and others have discussed ballet many times, along with the impacts of standing on one’s toes, but that cannot be good for your feet.
Speaking of earworms. I’m hooked on K dramas and rom-coms. Started a new one 2 days ago…it’s an older one from 2019: “One Spring Night”. Very well written and acted. First episode I was a bit shocked to hear in the soundtrack an english language song that immediately got my attention. Watched the credits and found it’s by Rachael Yamagata who is American. The song is “No Direction”. I can’tget it out of my head…I’ve watched the youtube numerous times, played it for my wife (she hated it), my daughters say they liked it, but it’s “old school” which explains their dad’s obsession.
yes some of the ones that the Sultan has commissioned are very good, the latest one that was dubbed into Spanish was “Original Sin’ a transliteration, not all the soaps are of the same quality,
as I remind people Istambul is not as cosmopolitan as they probably remember,
i have had the theme from baba baba blacksheep, which was the launching pad for magnum and a whole series of shows
I’ve been discovering a bit of pop music history, and learning about a great talent of yesteryear. Namely Harry Nilsson.
I have been going out a lot and hearing a live music in my area (central coast CA), sometimes with a group that likes to party and dance. If you like jazz, and a few of my friends do, but most don’t; there are an abundance of groups and opportunities.
Some of these musicians are quite outstanding and versatile and play in both jazz groups and pop groups. One of whom has the last name Nilsson. Then someone incorrectly said, “He’s the son of Harry Nilsson.” Later, another good friend of his said, “No, he’s not a blood relative, but his mother was married to Harry Nilsson and kept the name.”
I’m thinking that I kinda sorta remember Harry Nilsson, the artist. Didn’t he do the coconut song? That was about the extent of my recollection. Wow, fascinating story and music.
Here is a Youtube scan of a few of his hits, mostly in Youtube listed order:
I believe George Harrison and Peter Frampton, and Nilsson’s producer and friend, appear in the video for “You’re Breakin’ My Heart.”
There is also a rockumentary film on Amazon Prime about Harry entitled “Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?)” (2010)
The film is a little long and slow paced, but worth it, if you find this material interesting. He was something of a psychological mess, and like most others, didn’t handle fame well. A turning point for him (not for the better) was the switch from being a #1 Beatles fan, to getting invited by John Lennon to come to London and hang out and record with the Beatles. He had arrived.
At his funeral, many famous musicians and producers attended, and as they gathered around his casket George Harrison said, “Let’s all sing my favorite Nilsson son now.” The guy telling the story is thinking, “But there are so many great Nilsson songs. Which one?” It was “You’re Breakin’ My Heart,” and they all did sing it.
I have come to like a good many types of music
“Cluck Old Hen”
“Onward Christian Soldiers” in heavy metal.
“Sounds of Silence” by Disturbed.
Most baroque. And Renaissance.
Many older hymns.
But the only ear worms are military cadences and that was more than half a century ago.
Critical Drinker takes a massive and well observed stand against our declining pop culture. First with movies, seen by the absence of culturally significance since virtually 2005. (Similarly, pop music culture.)
There is a guy in the Nilsson documentary film who claims that the song “Good Old Desk” is Harry’s extremely oblique reference to his relationship with the spiritual, or his G-O-D. Desk or God.
I see RIPs to Ozzie Osborne, though I’m not really familiar with him and his work.
physicsguy,
A very “pop-py” (in a good way) sounding song. As a guitar player I can see why you appreciate it. Based on the comments it seems like you’re not the only one who found it due to the video series.
It seems I was 7 years old when it aired. Back in the 3 channels that went off air around 11pm days I vaguely remember there being a fair amount of ads for the upcoming “special” and I, and most American kids (and teens likel) watched it. According to wikipedia Nilsson got the inspiration for the story and songs while on acid. What a strange time the late ’60s and ’70s were. It must not have been very good as I don’t recall it ever turning up again. My 7 year old critic associated it with the Beatles “Yellow Submarine” and “Blue Meanies” and the work of Peter Max.
The main song, “Me and my Arrow” has always stuck with me. As I mentioned earlier, I always have a song playing in my mind and that song pops up several times a year and usually sticks around for a bit. A song from a cartoon I saw once, when I was 7 and it still pops into my head every now and then.
Neo: Re your mention last week about Megyn Kelly accusing Epstein of being an Israeli spy or something to that effect. I watched her shows from last week (at 1.75 speed) when she was talking about Epstein. My take was that she was just going through all the endless possibilities concerning that complicated man, e.g. exactly how did he end up with all that money but there was not a direct accusation of him being a spy. Just going over what so many others were talking about. Granted I could have missed something.
Ghislaine Maxwell’s father on the other hand was something of a character and had his own (shady) question marks.
I’m an Ozzy fan. I really enjoy the 70s era Black Sabbath stuff and a fair amount of his solo stuff over the years. He was diagnosed with Parkinsons a few years back. There was a actually big “Back to the Beginning” concert in Birmingham, UK (Ozzy and Black Sabbaths hometown) where he performed with Sabbath and his solo band one final time from a throne (since he couldn’t really stand for any length of time anymore). He played at the end of the night, something like 4 songs with Black Sabbath and 6 with his solo band. His voice didn’t sound bad, but not great either.
There were also a ton of other short (15 – 20 minute) performances by prominent metal and hard rock other acts: Mastodon, Rival Sons, Anthrax, Halestorm, Lamb of God, Alice in Chains, Gojira, Pantera, Tool, Slayer, Guns N’ Roses, and Metallica plus a bunch of “supergoups” covering classic Sabbath songs throughout the day.
By all accounts he really wanted to play live one last time as he always loved playing for his fans.
RTF,
Yeah, already downloaded the chords…pretty easy Bm, A, etc….just have to learn the arpeggio on those chords.
It’s gratifying to see the pleasant comments about Harry Nilsson. He was one of a kind, with a mastery of pop music and an off-kilter sense of humor which put him right up the Beatles’ alley.
His final years were not only troubled with health problems but also battling dire financial straits. Shades of Leonard Cohen — his financial advisor had embezzled all the money he had earned as a recording artist.
Anyway. My favorite Sesame Street skit of all time is the Muppets’s version of Nilsson’s Lime/Coconut song:
Watch how the hospital room morphs into an insane jungle scene!
For some reason, although I always loved Nilsson, my favorite song of his, despite his beautiful remake of Without You, was Daybreak: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI0ieDfbRWg
chazzand:
I’m glad to hear she probably didn’t make the accusation. It certainly didn’t sound like her to do so.
Dang, these field sobriety tests are getting harder all the time…..
Nice Muppet version of the Coconut song. I like the detail where Harry’s “Woo woo” vocals are replaced with a flute rendition.
Rufus,
I had dinner with a friend a couple nights ago and mentioned some of this Harry Nilsson history and content. She had moved into a new condo not too long ago and was getting some the last living space details together, including a vinyl album collection. She pulled out “The Point.” She said her much older sister had given it to her as a child. All new to me.
She mentioned that the album cover for the “The Point” is an image of NeedlePoint sewing.
Speaking of ballet, here’s a curtain call at the Royal Opera House in London, where a cast member, conveniently costumed as a horned demon, unfurled a
“Palestinian” flag.
I assume you caught that, aside from acting out Nilsson’s song, that skit was also an homage to Maurice Sendak’s, “Where the Wild Things Are?”
Speaking of Megyn Kelly, her interview of Rahm Emanuel is well worth a listen.
@chazzand:Ghislaine Maxwell’s father on the other hand was something of a character and had his own (shady) question marks.
The accusation that Robert Maxwell worked for Mossad originates from the same person who accused Epstein of working for Mossad, Ari Ben-Menashe, a former member of Israel’s Military Intelligence Directorate. He does not seem to be a particularly reliable source, though antisemitism seems an unlikely motive for his accusations.
When fifty or five hundred outlets all say the same thing, it can sound like there must be something to it, but a lot of times they are just all getting it from the same place.
Niketas:
Ben-Menashe sounds like an exceedingly shady character.
I assume you caught that… [the] skit was also an homage…
Nope. But now I do.
@Art Deco:NB, she’s as much a doctor as Elie Mystal is a lawyer.
She indeed is an MD. She may not be a practicing physician but the “fake doctor” headline is simply a lie, and PJ Media should do better. The Free Beacon headline accurately described her, but PJ Media decided to lie.
And that’s a bummer. I want to trust people on “my side” but Salem Media is just as much in the narrative selling business as the New York Times or anyone else.
Though Pernell does have an M.D. from the Duke University School of Medicine and completed a residency with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, her LinkedIn page does not mention having treated patients.
@neo:Ben-Menashe sounds like an exceedingly shady character.
No doubt. There’s the shady things he’s done, and then there’s the things he says to journalists. He seems to present himself as a Forrest Gump like character who just happened to be present at whatever thing it was that’s in the headlines now, and no doubt makes some kind of living at it.
And that’s a bummer. I want to trust people on “my side” but Salem Media is just as much in the narrative selling business as the New York Times or anyone else.
— Niketas Choniates
Sadly true. Some news sources are more honest than others, some are more reliable than others, but there’s always an agenda.
It’s better to be honest with ourselves about that, as you note. The alternative leads to where so many Democrats are now, trapped in a web of self-deception.
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This rings true to me.
Europe Will Never Keep Its Promises to Trump on Defense
https://archive.md/s89GH
Read the whole thing if you can. He makes several great points.
I woke up a couple of days ago with a slight infection I have since not quite shaken off; specifically, a Ravelean earworm of the Forlane sort (Thibaudet there).
As these things go, from the Forlane (after a period of vigorous sampling in an attempt at removal) the infection quite naturally passes into the Rigaudon phase. It was yesterday in the course of additional prophylactic sampling I ran into this sweet combination piano-dance performance by Makiko Makiko: Rigaudon.
Still suffering, though I have yet to be overcome by the Menuet. God only help me when the crazed Toccata arrives.
i think of those as a refreshing repast, not an earworm
good art and music endures, when much has past,
I didn’t Rimbaud had been a coffee trader in Aden in the late 19th century, before he turned to poetry
the Western End of Oceania, is bewildered from within, see the whole scandal of the Saracen they invited from Kafiristan, (to use a Kipling reference) the land Enoch Powell knew well, as an intel officer during the war,
same with the French although they are sampling from the Levant, since they lost the Algerian war they have been lost,
sdferr,
I wake up everyday with an “earworm” playing in my head. They even play while I sleep. 24 hours a day, 365.25 days a year. This has been the case for as long as I can remember.
My feet hurt watching that video!
I know neo and others have discussed ballet many times, along with the impacts of standing on one’s toes, but that cannot be good for your feet.
Speaking of earworms. I’m hooked on K dramas and rom-coms. Started a new one 2 days ago…it’s an older one from 2019: “One Spring Night”. Very well written and acted. First episode I was a bit shocked to hear in the soundtrack an english language song that immediately got my attention. Watched the credits and found it’s by Rachael Yamagata who is American. The song is “No Direction”. I can’tget it out of my head…I’ve watched the youtube numerous times, played it for my wife (she hated it), my daughters say they liked it, but it’s “old school” which explains their dad’s obsession.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to90Ku_xK8s&list=RDto90Ku_xK8s&start_radio=1
yes some of the ones that the Sultan has commissioned are very good, the latest one that was dubbed into Spanish was “Original Sin’ a transliteration, not all the soaps are of the same quality,
as I remind people Istambul is not as cosmopolitan as they probably remember,
i have had the theme from baba baba blacksheep, which was the launching pad for magnum and a whole series of shows
down the rabbit hole,
https://pjmedia.com/david-manney/2025/07/20/the-anniversary-they-want-you-to-forget-twa-flight-800-and-the-deep-states-deadliest-lie-n4941923
the only caveat is why didn’t Al Queda claim credit, they had tried with Bojinka the year earlier,
the rest of the story
https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2025/07/22/starving-the-beast-hamas-is-broke-n4941976
I’ve been discovering a bit of pop music history, and learning about a great talent of yesteryear. Namely Harry Nilsson.
I have been going out a lot and hearing a live music in my area (central coast CA), sometimes with a group that likes to party and dance. If you like jazz, and a few of my friends do, but most don’t; there are an abundance of groups and opportunities.
Some of these musicians are quite outstanding and versatile and play in both jazz groups and pop groups. One of whom has the last name Nilsson. Then someone incorrectly said, “He’s the son of Harry Nilsson.” Later, another good friend of his said, “No, he’s not a blood relative, but his mother was married to Harry Nilsson and kept the name.”
I’m thinking that I kinda sorta remember Harry Nilsson, the artist. Didn’t he do the coconut song? That was about the extent of my recollection. Wow, fascinating story and music.
Here is a Youtube scan of a few of his hits, mostly in Youtube listed order:
Without You (Strange album cover)
Everybody’s Talking
Jump Into The Fire
You’re Breakin’ My Heart (Expletives NOT deleted. Don’t miss the last verse.)
Gotta Get Up
Coconut
Think About Your Troubles
– – – – – – –
Here is an interesting history of how “Without You” came together, by the long winded Professor of Rock.
I believe George Harrison and Peter Frampton, and Nilsson’s producer and friend, appear in the video for “You’re Breakin’ My Heart.”
There is also a rockumentary film on Amazon Prime about Harry entitled “Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?)” (2010)
The film is a little long and slow paced, but worth it, if you find this material interesting. He was something of a psychological mess, and like most others, didn’t handle fame well. A turning point for him (not for the better) was the switch from being a #1 Beatles fan, to getting invited by John Lennon to come to London and hang out and record with the Beatles. He had arrived.
At his funeral, many famous musicians and producers attended, and as they gathered around his casket George Harrison said, “Let’s all sing my favorite Nilsson son now.” The guy telling the story is thinking, “But there are so many great Nilsson songs. Which one?” It was “You’re Breakin’ My Heart,” and they all did sing it.
On a more heartbreaking subject, don’t watch this . . . it’s not happening, you see.
https://x.com/MarinaMedvin/status/1947666133198205236
I have come to like a good many types of music
“Cluck Old Hen”
“Onward Christian Soldiers” in heavy metal.
“Sounds of Silence” by Disturbed.
Most baroque. And Renaissance.
Many older hymns.
But the only ear worms are military cadences and that was more than half a century ago.
Critical Drinker takes a massive and well observed stand against our declining pop culture. First with movies, seen by the absence of culturally significance since virtually 2005. (Similarly, pop music culture.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vK1LY1KC_w
Ours is a wasteland. Lacking creative excellence.
Bracing, albeit quite depressing.
Nilsson – “My Old Desk”
Opening verse:
My old desk
Does an arabesque
In the morning when I first arrive.
It’s a pleasure to see
It’s waiting there for me
To keep my hopes alive.
Jaunty, whimsical and charming.
https://youtu.be/eIsW6DMR9z4?si=ZDk1-V1pjf4uHBcb
There is a guy in the Nilsson documentary film who claims that the song “Good Old Desk” is Harry’s extremely oblique reference to his relationship with the spiritual, or his G-O-D. Desk or God.
I see RIPs to Ozzie Osborne, though I’m not really familiar with him and his work.
physicsguy,
A very “pop-py” (in a good way) sounding song. As a guitar player I can see why you appreciate it. Based on the comments it seems like you’re not the only one who found it due to the video series.
TommyJay,
My first memory of knowing about Nilsson was the animated special, “The Point” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Point!
It seems I was 7 years old when it aired. Back in the 3 channels that went off air around 11pm days I vaguely remember there being a fair amount of ads for the upcoming “special” and I, and most American kids (and teens likel) watched it. According to wikipedia Nilsson got the inspiration for the story and songs while on acid. What a strange time the late ’60s and ’70s were. It must not have been very good as I don’t recall it ever turning up again. My 7 year old critic associated it with the Beatles “Yellow Submarine” and “Blue Meanies” and the work of Peter Max.
The main song, “Me and my Arrow” has always stuck with me. As I mentioned earlier, I always have a song playing in my mind and that song pops up several times a year and usually sticks around for a bit. A song from a cartoon I saw once, when I was 7 and it still pops into my head every now and then.
Neo: Re your mention last week about Megyn Kelly accusing Epstein of being an Israeli spy or something to that effect. I watched her shows from last week (at 1.75 speed) when she was talking about Epstein. My take was that she was just going through all the endless possibilities concerning that complicated man, e.g. exactly how did he end up with all that money but there was not a direct accusation of him being a spy. Just going over what so many others were talking about. Granted I could have missed something.
Ghislaine Maxwell’s father on the other hand was something of a character and had his own (shady) question marks.
I’m an Ozzy fan. I really enjoy the 70s era Black Sabbath stuff and a fair amount of his solo stuff over the years. He was diagnosed with Parkinsons a few years back. There was a actually big “Back to the Beginning” concert in Birmingham, UK (Ozzy and Black Sabbaths hometown) where he performed with Sabbath and his solo band one final time from a throne (since he couldn’t really stand for any length of time anymore). He played at the end of the night, something like 4 songs with Black Sabbath and 6 with his solo band. His voice didn’t sound bad, but not great either.
There were also a ton of other short (15 – 20 minute) performances by prominent metal and hard rock other acts: Mastodon, Rival Sons, Anthrax, Halestorm, Lamb of God, Alice in Chains, Gojira, Pantera, Tool, Slayer, Guns N’ Roses, and Metallica plus a bunch of “supergoups” covering classic Sabbath songs throughout the day.
By all accounts he really wanted to play live one last time as he always loved playing for his fans.
RTF,
Yeah, already downloaded the chords…pretty easy Bm, A, etc….just have to learn the arpeggio on those chords.
https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/cutting-at-the-stem-tuesday-july
I had a relationship like that video.
It’s gratifying to see the pleasant comments about Harry Nilsson. He was one of a kind, with a mastery of pop music and an off-kilter sense of humor which put him right up the Beatles’ alley.
His final years were not only troubled with health problems but also battling dire financial straits. Shades of Leonard Cohen — his financial advisor had embezzled all the money he had earned as a recording artist.
Anyway. My favorite Sesame Street skit of all time is the Muppets’s version of Nilsson’s Lime/Coconut song:
–“The Muppet Show: Put the Lime in the Coconut”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EoOVvGV_aQ
Watch how the hospital room morphs into an insane jungle scene!
For some reason, although I always loved Nilsson, my favorite song of his, despite his beautiful remake of Without You, was Daybreak: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI0ieDfbRWg
chazzand:
I’m glad to hear she probably didn’t make the accusation. It certainly didn’t sound like her to do so.
Dang, these field sobriety tests are getting harder all the time…..
Nice Muppet version of the Coconut song. I like the detail where Harry’s “Woo woo” vocals are replaced with a flute rendition.
Rufus,
I had dinner with a friend a couple nights ago and mentioned some of this Harry Nilsson history and content. She had moved into a new condo not too long ago and was getting some the last living space details together, including a vinyl album collection. She pulled out “The Point.” She said her much older sister had given it to her as a child. All new to me.
She mentioned that the album cover for the “The Point” is an image of NeedlePoint sewing.
Speaking of ballet, here’s a curtain call at the Royal Opera House in London, where a cast member, conveniently costumed as a horned demon, unfurled a
“Palestinian” flag.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/07/the-jerks-are-everywhere.php
TommyJay and huxley,
I assume you caught that, aside from acting out Nilsson’s song, that skit was also an homage to Maurice Sendak’s, “Where the Wild Things Are?”
Speaking of Megyn Kelly, her interview of Rahm Emanuel is well worth a listen.
@chazzand:Ghislaine Maxwell’s father on the other hand was something of a character and had his own (shady) question marks.
The accusation that Robert Maxwell worked for Mossad originates from the same person who accused Epstein of working for Mossad, Ari Ben-Menashe, a former member of Israel’s Military Intelligence Directorate. He does not seem to be a particularly reliable source, though antisemitism seems an unlikely motive for his accusations.
When fifty or five hundred outlets all say the same thing, it can sound like there must be something to it, but a lot of times they are just all getting it from the same place.
Niketas:
Ben-Menashe sounds like an exceedingly shady character.
https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/07/22/cnn-used-fake-doctor-for-trump-hit-piece-n4941998
==
Missing Mike K.
==
NB, she’s as much a doctor as Elie Mystal is a lawyer.
Thats just the half of it
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/haftar-hemeti-and-lobbyists-libya-connection
More like a guest villain on burn notice
I assume you caught that… [the] skit was also an homage…
Nope. But now I do.
@Art Deco:NB, she’s as much a doctor as Elie Mystal is a lawyer.
She indeed is an MD. She may not be a practicing physician but the “fake doctor” headline is simply a lie, and PJ Media should do better. The Free Beacon headline accurately described her, but PJ Media decided to lie.
And that’s a bummer. I want to trust people on “my side” but Salem Media is just as much in the narrative selling business as the New York Times or anyone else.
@neo:Ben-Menashe sounds like an exceedingly shady character.
No doubt. There’s the shady things he’s done, and then there’s the things he says to journalists. He seems to present himself as a Forrest Gump like character who just happened to be present at whatever thing it was that’s in the headlines now, and no doubt makes some kind of living at it.
— Niketas Choniates
Sadly true. Some news sources are more honest than others, some are more reliable than others, but there’s always an agenda.
It’s better to be honest with ourselves about that, as you note. The alternative leads to where so many Democrats are now, trapped in a web of self-deception.