Live on Old Grey Whistle Test.

Be vigilant; guard your mind against negative thoughts. -- Gautama Buddha
!detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

Michigan lawmakers didn’t just pass an $83 billion budget early Thursday, they also approved nearly 100 other bills during a marathon 19-hour session before finally breaking for summer recess.

Some of the bigger policy changes, such as opening the Legislature and governor’s office to Freedom of Information Act requests and expanding unemployment benefits to 26 weeks, made immediate headlines.

Read on to learn more about the "Taylor Swift bot ban" and the bill against the ludicrous "Gay Panic Defense."

Anger or hatred is like the fisherman's hook. It is very important for us to ensure that we are not caught by it. -- Gautama Buddha
!detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

I defy you to not shake your sacroiliac.

Archipelago-go! BONUS:

• Natasha - One Day

Laissez les bons temps rouler!
!detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

Note the video's title cards…

Apocrypha: 2 Esdras 14:39-40

…and yet the duo is styled in homage to Alejandro Jodorowsky's Holy Mountain and Kenneth Anger's Lucifer Rising. A clash of non-conflicting ideas…? Artistes: whaddya gonna do with 'em?

Just as a solid rock is not shaken by the storm, even so the wise are not affected by praise or blame. -- Gautama Buddha
!detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

On February 3, 2023, a freight train owned by Norfolk Southern carrying thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals derailed in the town of East Palestine, Ohio.. For days, flames engulfed the rail cars, which contained highly hazardous materials, including vinyl chloride and butyl acrylate, used in the production of plastic. A thick, tall plume of black smoke billowed from the accident site and forced the evacuation of thousands of residents. Now, scientists say that traces of this pollution was found across 16 states, spanning 540,000 square miles from Wisconsin to Maine to South Carolina.

When [David] Gay [National Atmospheric Deposition Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison] and his colleagues began their research, they expected pollution in western New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. The reality, he said, was much more extensive. A low pressure system helped push pollution over parts of Michigan and Wisconsin. Pollution likely made its way into all the Great Lakes, except Lake Superior, he noted.

Further reading:

• from Grist, "1 year after the toxic train derailment, is East Palestine safe? Depends on whom you ask."

Be vigilant; guard your mind against negative thoughts. -- Gautama Buddha
!detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

$2,300,000.00 BONUS:

• From Disney's Lady and The Tramp - The Siamese Cat Song

• From The Wonderful World of Disney, a staged voiceover session with Ms Lee

Tsk, tsk, Unca Walt…seems brother Roy and his bean counters forgot to pay Ms Lee (voice actor, singer and co-composer of the five original songs from the film) royalties when the Disney company released Lady on VHS in 1987—you say "copies," I say "transcriptions." Maybe they were too busy plotting the Mickey Mouse Preservation Act with Sen Sonny Bono…?

Ms Peggy Lee, Unca Walt and Sen Bono would like to inform you all that in the United States of America you may do as you please with the following Public Domain image, be it reproduction and sale on t-shirts, posters, or producing new adventures of the pictured character…but you're going to have to give it a new name.

Free your mind and your ass will follow…
!detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

According to the state, a small population of juvenile spotted lanternfly was recently detected in Lambertville [Monroe County]. The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed the findings last week.

~Adult~ ~spotted~ ~lanternfly.~ ~Photo:~ ~Pennsylvania~ ~Department~ ~of~ ~Agriculture,~ ~bugwood.org~

“The infestation was detected through spotted lanternfly monitoring traps deployed by Michigan State University (MSU), as part of collaborative survey initiatives with MSU, MDARD, and the USDA,” MDARD’s Pesticide and Plant Pest Management Division Director. Steve Carlson said in a statement. “This work is a critical component of our ongoing efforts to identify and limit the spread of spotted lanternfly in Michigan.”

The spotted lanternfly is an invasive plant hopper native to eastern Asia. It was first found in the U.S. in 2014 and spread rapidly.

See it. Squish it. Report it.

According to Michigan.gov's Michigan Invasive Species website…

Spotted lanternfly feeds on more than 70 different plants including grapes, apples, hops and hardwood trees. The insects cause direct damage by sucking sap from host plants and secreting large amounts of a sugar-rich, sticky liquid called honeydew. This honeydew and the resulting black sooty mold can kill plants and foul surfaces. The honeydew often attracts other pests like yellow jackets, flies, and ants, affecting outdoor recreation and complicating crop harvests.

Anger or hatred is like the fisherman's hook. It is very important for us to ensure that we are not caught by it. -- Gautama Buddha
!detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

The Fluoxetine Quartet, a ray of sunshine each and every one of 'em, captured live way back in June 23, 2006 CE, circa five years after the fall of the Roman Empire.

Reference-1000Hz-Tone BONUS:

• The Normal (Daniel Miller) - Warm Leatherette

The minimalist classic.

A lot of people don't realize what's really going on. They view life as a bunch of unconnected incidents and things. They don't realize that there's this, like, lattice of coincidence that lays on top of everything.
!detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

Over at !music@midwest.social we've got a sidebar with a "total subscribers" shields.io badge, like many other communities all over the Lemmyverse do. I made a simple, non-badge-related edit to the sidebar and due to what seems an aggressive image proxy, the shields.io badge address gets mangled after the edit is saved.

This is "Community Info" from !music@midwest.social on Jerboa. At the bottom of the screen is the midwest.social/api/v3/image_proxy image.

This is "Community Info" from !detroit@midwest.social on Jerboa, as an example of a working badge. At the bottom the screen is the working shields.io badge.

The pre-save preview shows everything as should be. It's only when the edit is saved does the badge address get mangled.

I contacted our fearless leader, @seahorse@midwest.social, and he changed an image proxy setting. Now !music@midwest.social works as it should. Any further details or information in regards should be asked of him. Thanks.

Workers of The World...Relax!
!detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

Possibly following in the traditions of Christmas decorations in November and summer Black Friday sales, some municipalities have been celebrating American Independence Day weeks in advance. Much of a super-genius as I am, I never really understood what's the rush. In any case, the linked article from our pals over at BridgeMichigan lists the pyrotechnic spectacles planned and already passed here in the Great State of Talktothehand-and-Belial.

Just to—ehmmm—present the other side of the coin for those who appreciated a pretty explosion, here's Planet Detroit's "Michigan fireworks add to air quality problems".

Screw humans: maybe it is time to consider a different way to celebrate the Fourth of July: from the Humane Society: "Fireworks: An explosion of fear for animals"

Oh, and a premature Happy Canada Day to our friends to the North…uh, and South! You know…the ones with better beer and better health care…

What We Want Now
!detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

You can listen to any of the near-infinite versions of this song…but none match the beauty and power of this version, lead vocal by the great Tony Williams. Close your eyes…

Swoon-City BONUS:

• The Platters - Only You, And You Alone

• The Platters - The Great Pretender

Perfection is just a way to escape from having nothing to say. -- Dieter Meier
!detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social

What the feez, "Blood"? This isn't ~~grating~~ avant-garde or free jazz in the least! It sounds like Mssr Ulmer is channeling Jimi who's channeling T-Bone through Otis Rush!

Then again, like Grant Green used to say, It's all blues anyhow.

Back-From-The-Alternate-Universe BONUS:

• James "Blood" Ulmer - A Thing for Joe

That's more like it…

A lot of people don't realize what's really going on. They view life as a bunch of unconnected incidents and things. They don't realize that there's this, like, lattice of coincidence that lays on top of everything.
!detroit@midwest.social ☆ !michigan@midwest.social ☆ !music@midwest.social