Music Banter - The Saturday 6-Pack

1. What will you be doing at midnight tonight? Any plans to see in the New Year?

A modest party at a friend's house. We were seven at the table, cheering in the New Year, me raising a glass of Seven-Up as I was a designated driver.

2. What was your greatest musical enthusiasm this year? A genre you explored? An artist you discovered?

Thanks to Plankton, I also learned about the jam band Goose this year. Also spent a lot of time acquainting myself with the discographies of Jefferson Airplane and DakhaBrakha

3. Have you personally noticed any effects of climate change where you live?

Last 3 winters have been noticably milder than any of the previous 25. I measure winter temp by that well-known rate: sweater days per year. That has gone from a norm of 14 days a year to about 3.
Also dramatic coastal erosion. These are about the best before-and-after pics I could find:

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...qW-PA&usqp=CAU.....https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...CNK8Q&usqp=CAU

(Like the Mediterranean, the Gulf of Mexico is designated as non-tidal, so what the pics show is the change in position of the water's edge over a 10 year period: my guess, about 100 yards further in.)

4. A lot of people stick to scientific facts for what they believe in. How far do you drift away from that position, believing in things without needing clear evidence?

Yep, evidence-based beliefs for me, as it appears to be for everyone who's answered. Sometimes I speculate about what's beyond the reach of evidence: what's on the other side of the observable universe or what was before the Big Bang - and by speculate, I mean watching a YouTube video and thinking, "Ooo-eer! That's weird."

5. Tourists or escapees? Do many people come and visit where you live, or are the locals constantly talking about how they want to leave? Why?

Net influx here: not just a big tourist turnover, but also people coming here to live. They are most commonly refugees from the cold of Canada or from the violence/pollution of Mexico City.

6. My favourite person in my family is.... because....

My older sister was like an older sister to me. She was always kind, sympathetic and helpful to me, first as we grew up together, then as I admired the adult she became. RIP.