Colorado is Burning

Was going to resort to a couple cat videos, but this popped up:

(NEWSER) – At least 32,000 people have been evacuated from the Colorado Springs area as the monster Waldo Springs wildfire continues to burn out of control. Witnesses described “apocalyptic” scenes as the fire, which has breached fire lines and destroyed an unknown number of homes, unleashed waves of flame and showered ash on roadways full of evacuees, the Denver Post reports. The fire is less than five miles from the grounds of the US Air Force Academy, which has been partially evacuated.

Firefighters throughout the interior West are battling blazes caused by dry conditions combined with what the head of climate monitoring at the National Climatic Data Center calls “a super-heated spike on top of a decades-long warming trend,” AP reports. The record-setting heat, which isn’t expected to let up soon, is “extremely taxing” on firefighters working long days and carrying heavy equipment, warns a spokesman for the US Forest Service.

And just a couple weeks ago there’s this:

Rep. Mike Coffman, another Colorado Republican, said: “Climate change is naturally occurring. What influence do we have over that, we certainly need to look into, but that’s subject to debate.”

Debate the fact that people you represent are suffering, asshole.

28 Comments

Hey I know, let’s cut the taxes of 1%ers and oil companies. That should stop the climate from changing.

On a sort-of related note, here’s a photo of another typical traffic day in So. Cal.

/related/

Here’s hoping that Ginsburg has bath salts for breakfast and chews Scalia’s fucking face off tomorrow.

@¡Andrew!: Should we start a pool as to which Obama Administration policy not before the Court that Scalia is going to criticize in a footnote?

I nominate climate change policies.

@mellbell: Ooooh, good one. Your pick is more probable, but not as random as mine. I was trying to come up with the most unrelated issue.

@SanFranLefty: Solyndra? UN helicopters? Automatic weapons for preschoolers? The rant is guaranteed to feature some kind of word salad of tossed dumFux Nooz talking points that will make zero sense to a sane person.

@SanFranLefty: It’s out by Vasquez Rocks, where lots of Western movies and a couple of Star Trek episodes were filmed.

Just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don’t need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free

Hop on the bus, Gus
You don’t need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free

@¡Andrew!: Dude. I was singing that song today! It was more about 50 ways to inadvertently send toddler nephew to the ER, and I’m sure we hit more than 50.

I will NEVER babysit any grandkids until they can speak in full sentences and can’t run as fast as I jog. For like 30 minutes. He’s TWO!

They also must wear sunscreen if they plan to streak.

@JNOV: My car radio is frequently tuned to the 60s and 70s station. Even in gridlock, it’s hard to be pissy when songs like Make Your Own Kind of Music are on.

@¡Andrew!: Dance, Mama, dance!

Dude. I heard The Day the Music Died SIX TIMES on six stations when we were driving across the country. Did I mention that this was all in ONE day?

/smooth jazzm/

I’ve started listening to jazz, which is kinda the final musical frontier for me. Anyone have suggestions on how to get started? Like So You’re Listening to Jazz for clueless beginners? I’m especially enjoying arrangements featuring a saxophone.

So far, I’ve been loving the Atlantic Five Jazz Band, Ace, Denis Solee, Benny Goodman, Sade, and Diana Krall.

It’s quite intimidating since there are like 16,000 different kinds of jazz and at least that many artists.

@¡Andrew!: You sound like my dad. He’s 71.

I’m blasting the new Gojira (French metal band named after the original Japanese name for Godzilla) that I got today. It’s pretty fucking great, my new favorite of the three records of theirs I own. They were kind of obscure for a while, but now they’re on tour (and on par musically) with Lamb of God. Dethklok (yeah, those Metalpocalypse guys) is also on the tour.

I’m 51.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwMDv-hwh3U

@¡Andrew!: Miles Davis, Kind of Blue, Round Midnight. Thelonious Monk. Charlie Christian. Charlie Parker. John Coltrane. Django Reinhardt.

@redmanlaw: Hey. Why did Lars sell those Basquiats?

I’m almost 46.

Leos! Unite!

@JNOV: From the NYT:

As the financial markets skid wildly, some collectors are waging bets that art will be viewed as a safe haven.

Among them is Lars Ulrich, a songwriter and the drummer for the heavy-metal band Metallica, who has consigned “Untitled (Boxer),” a 1982 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat, for sale by Christie’s in New York next month. “Of course it’s an awkward time to sell, but I’ve always been about taking chances,” Mr. Ulrich said.

“I have a lot of faith in the art market,” he added. “It’s perhaps the last frontier where the best of the best will not go the way of the rest of the economy.” Recently his collecting has gone in a different direction, he said. Rather than relying on auctions, he has begun scouring galleries, buying the work of emerging artists.

– Homes scored $14 million for that painting in 2008. .

@redmanlaw: Thx!

@JNOV: It’s never too late for jazz… and Mama Cass.

@¡Andrew!: This floats one of my jazz boats.

I had the great pleasure of seeing him perform at a bar in the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, Mass. some time in the late ’90s. Made my knees weak.

@¡Andrew!: Dude, also dig into the Cole Porter songbook.

Sinatra, “Night and Day”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQcecxCUcQc&feature=related

Goddammit, why do I not have a martini on hand? /grudgingly sips malbec

Monk is fucking right on:

Round About Midnight (as it is here in Santa Fe)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMmeNsmQaFw

One of the most awesome tunes ever:

Miles Davis, So What (not to be confused with the Metallica cover of the Anti-Nowhere League song of the same name)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEC8nqT6Rrk&feature=related

– if they put that on Pioneer aliens would respect the shit out of us

@karen marie & @redmanlaw: Awesome! Love ’em. I’ve added them to my list so that I don’t forget.

@¡Andrew!: My father is a jazz musician so I grew up around that music – which is why I don’t listen to it now. I’d suggest you try some of the more melodic stuff to start: Ellington is good, as is Basie. They’re both tuneful and they swing. I’d also suggest Chet Baker, playing and singing. There’s a good album on iTunes on which he sings The Night We Called it a Day. Sarah Vaughan. Wynton Marsalis. I can spot the tune of almost any standard being improvised around within two or three notes and have an abiding horror of Star Dust.

@Benedick: I’d never even heard “Stardust” until earlier this year, when we played it at my grandpa’s funeral, per his request. (We wanted to play it in the church, but the priest was a real fussbudget, so we brought an iPod and speakers to the cemetery.) Now I sort of love it.

@mellbell: As you should, it’s a lovely song. I have no idea what’s behind this aversion of mine, I’m the only person I know who feels this way and I should not be encouraged.

Strange how the comments flow Colorado’s firemageadon to music appreciation hug-in.

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