We were listening to a random mix CD while taking Fred, the Penitent Intern, to his weekly viola lesson. A few interesting songs came up, starting with an unexpected Christmas song – Judy Garland singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Judy Garland had an amazing voice, maybe the best we’d ever heard. And we […]
part 1 of 27 Here’s today’s misfiring of creaky neurons: Pigeon head-bobbing → motion parallax → astronomical parallax → distances to nearby stars → calibration of Cepheid variable stars → distances to nearby galaxies → compare galaxy distance with spectral redshift → Hubble–Lemaître law → Hubble constant. Today, let’s talk pigeon head-bobbing. But first: I’m […]
In Scandinavia, singing together is part of civic life. A choir is an interestingly democratic activity: nobody has to be a virtuoso, but everybody has to listen to everybody else. Elder G:In places like Iceland, Sweden, and Norway, choral singing isn’t just a hobby; it’s a cornerstone of civic life and cultural identity. The long, […]
So at WLBOTT, we value politeness, but we also value the randomness that comes with creativity. A polite WLBOTT person may wish to change the subject by saying, “This is a non-sequitur,” but we’ve found that this doesn’t give us enough granularity when we want to slightly, politely, and firmly change the subject. So at […]
I remember as a kid, sitting in our apartment on an Air Force base in Germany, listening to the radio. As I recall, we had one English language radio station, run by the military. There was a daily classical music program that I’d sometimes listen to, a refreshing window in an otherwise dark and empty […]
[Thanks to Elder JimZim for today’s exploration.] Elder G2 (Gemini) Analysis Currently on display in the home of Elder JimZim. Tours available for groups of 5 or more. Contact him directly for more information. And AI says this is Dominican monks singing this “exact chant”. – Elder JimZim. We Explore GregoBase GregoBase: a must for […]
First Mate’s log, Tour Date 0003 We arrived in one piece at the Starlite Wilderness Hospitality Complex quite late last night and just barely had time for evening tea (Earl Grey, hot). The motel was ok, but definitely not one of the better ones in this galaxy. The sign on the door gave an indication […]
[ed. note: Today Elder JA and his wife, Lady R, share their experiences on the first day of the Spring 2026 Mountain Sapphire World Tour!] The rental bus, formerly used by the Wolverine Eunuchs, proved to be a challenge right from the start. Neither I or First Mate Lady R smoke and it took quite […]
Our youngest Elder, the scholar Elder DZ, is WLBOTT’s conduit for all culture involving people under 65. He takes the pulse of the younger generation. He recently describe an interesting property of Wikipedia – the Chain of Wisdom. According to Elder G: There is even a Wikipedia article about this: The Wikipedia philosophy phenomenon, sometimes […]
THE MOST IMPORTANT MUSICAL EVENT IN CANADIAN HISTORY™Western Canada & Select Parking Lots For Immediate Release: Elder JA and Lady R Visit Tour Bus Rental Locations Barnaby’s Budget Band Cruisers ThunderWolf Gord, salesman of the month at ThunderWolf tour bus rentals (technically their only salesman), greets the young Mountain Sapphire couple. You may remember Gord, […]