SCIENCE TODAY!

Maybe some lightning bolts should be worked into my title. You think you’ll have a Eureka moment when you read the news, but instead, you end up frizzling your brains on their magic bus.

I’m generally like a moth to flame regarding absurdist article titles like this: Study receives $3.3 million grant to address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among people with anxiety or depression. What kind of Suzy Do-gooders are the new generation of scientists, anyway*? But maybe it has more to do with feeling relevant when there’s a several million dollar pricetag attached to your research. The article went on to discuss how they would use weakened forms of disinformation to inoculate doubters against — I guess? — strong disinformation:

“The intervention will work the way some vaccines work: by exposing people to weakened forms of mis/disinformation, which can strengthen their ability to identify and resist mis/disinformation when they encounter it in the future.”

After this quote, the article listed several articles titles, and I genuinely thought they were providing examples of weak disinformation:

Examples of weak disinformation?

Of course, I did notice after a few moments’ contemplation that these were other articles on their site. That is to say, they weren’t provided as examples. They all sound too hard to believe, though, and I suspect that’s what’s meant by “weak disinformation.” The last article might have some validity, as long as it properly defines “overly processed foods.” Most food we eat is processed in one way or other; that’s what sets us apart from animals. Cheese, for example. Cheese is a highly processed food. Or maybe some weak disinformation is disseminated through ambiguous language, which would put the last article back squarely in the camp. I mean, I don’t know what they mean. For millions of dollars, I hope they do. And good luck learning anything from this article on what constitutes weak disinfo, as it’s mostly gibberish, almost impossible to comprehend — itself an example of weak disinformation?

Funny thing, as I spent my Friday night watching videos of Jose Torres El Rey de Alto Mando (accordion player), I realized I could learn as much from him about health as from science articles. He’s an accordion player, and he posts recipes of health elixirs. He also seems to enjoy helping and encouraging people, which is very important for mental health and the world in general*. Unlike many pasty-faced doctors, he looks fairly healthy. And if you want a good laugh, watch his La muchacha interesada video. Millennial-style cumbia? I honestly don’t know; maybe they are Zoomers. I don’t know where these arbitrary lines are anymore, but they do look young to my eyes.

Yes, I can bring everything back to the accordion. Just wait and see.

*The difference between do-gooders and normal people who help others is actually quite large. Do-gooders are controlling of and diminishing towards others’ humanity; the others are not.

El Tema Más Importante

I wrote several very long paragraphs on the Social Contract and then put it aside in my drafts because I honestly hate preaching about subjects such as this. While I appreciate reading about philosophy, politics, and religion, and how they intermingle, there comes a point where people are preaching and nobody is listening. Furthermore, nobody is changing society at all. Oh, yes, of course, one can change society little by little through the infiltration of ideas in schools and universities; progressives did this throughout the 20th C and are still at work today. But sadly, my post was triggered by irritation at the manipulation behind the phrase social contract…and if I keep going, I might as well just pull out my post from its place in the dreaded wasteland of drafts. Another tantalizing yet frustrating subject I had brought up in that post is my unpopular opinion that lowering the teenage pregnancy rate is not positive progress but negative decline. And on that note…

The most important subject is obviously the Gospel. However, the most important subject to this blog has become music. Accordions. My mind has been dwelling on purchasing a new one. After spending $4K on one, you’d think I wouldn’t buy another one for a long time. What you don’t understand is that accordions are like very expensive harmonicas, and acordeonistas need different keys. The one that died in the traffic accident was a GCF. After reviewing numerous norteño songs, I discovered that most are played on the FBbEb accordion. Hence, I purchased one. However, I would still like to have a GCF again, as that is the second most commonly played instrument. Someday, I will purchase an EAD because that one is also occasionally played in the genre. In fact, the master Ramon Ayala often plays an EAD. This confused me for a long time, as I thought EAD was commonly played, but I was being swayed by the sound of Ayala’s songs.

Apart from desiring a GCF accordion, I would also like an accordion with bass buttons that aren’t dummy buttons. Yes, that’s correct; my expensive Gabbanelli has dummy buttons. I suppose this is so that bass blocks could be added at some point; there are tiny tornillos that can be unscrewed to open up the left-handed bass side of the instrument. I’ve heard it’s difficult to persuade the company to put in bass blocks because it will create a weightier instrument with an altered sound. When norteño as a genre has a familiar sound due to the fact that so many of the musicians play Gabbanellis, it’s a bit risky to make any changes. The only way to have pre-installed bass blocks is to buy a cheaper instrument. Therefore, I’m considering purchasing a Hohner Corona II or Classic, which are quality instruments (made in Germany), in order to practice with the left hand again. Also, if the accordion is the only instrument available, and I’m playing for family or friends, songs would be more complete with their bass parts. Of course, norteño bands have rhythm instruments, so they don’t use the left hand anyway. In fact, one of my favorite online accordion tutorial teachers has a video on how to remove the bass blocks from your instrument for the above stated reason. There is already a bajo sexto y bajo in the group.

But that isn’t to say no norteño acordeonistas use the left hand — Celso Piña, who has now passed away, used his bass buttons in cumbias. I enjoy his songs because they have a different sound. I also really enjoy watching videos of him playing live. It’s exciting, the music infectious. He played a Hohner Corona, by the way. Believe it or not, you will even find musicians who play piano accordions in this genre. One of my favorites is Fidel Rueda. I don’t know how to describe his music, except as “sexy” but that sounds crass and doesn’t quite express what I want to say when his vocals, the accordion, and the brass blend together. I should probably make up a word, instead.

Speaking of word invention, there is a word for that in Spanish. It is jitanjáfora. I learned this word some time ago when I was trying to figure out what El Pávido Návido means. That’s the name of a song, and it disheartened me when I realized one day I had no idea what it meant, and I’m tired of my poor Spanish vocabulary. Don’t get me wrong; I can understand the music tutorials and interviews I listen to because they have necessary context. But then I’m thrown by a catchy song title. As it turns out, the title is a jitanjáfora. That’s either a relief or not, since I don’t know Spanish well enough to recognize nonsense rhyming words. Today, I will post pictures of the two rebel accordion players I mentioned. You can seek out their songs if you choose.

From Wiki Commons

This is an album cover; I hope it’s okay to post. I wanted an image with accordion!

El Tau Tau

Since this is the year of the accordion, it has suddenly occurred to me that I should be playing El Tau Tau. Why? you ask. Well, it’s one of the greats. It’s played everywhere, at every party. Like most cumbias, it’s highly repetitive, and it might be simple, but the accordion parts are played very rapidly. In other words, it’s easier to pick out the tune than it is to play it with aplomb and adornos. Adornos are what make norteño and tejano accordion distinctive. The trills and noodling are downright magical. No matter that I now know the secrets to the magic tricks; like any apprentice magician, my own sleight of hand could use a great deal more practice.

The song is by one of my longtime favorites, Grupo Control. Their songs give me a thrill of happiness. Funny thing, I caught my son singing El Tao Tao today, and he admitted he had a playlist with Grupo Control on it. Being my son, he’s grown up listening to Mexican music but always professed to dislike it. His cover is now blown. It is funny the synchronous moments life brings us. I generally play my accordion while he is at basketball practice, so he isn’t exposed to my new song obsessions. I had been playing the song like a mad woman, and then I went for my walk-jog-dance through the neighborhood (it’s been below freezing for days, but the old lady dog still needs her walk — this old lady does too). When I returned, my son was home and singing El Tau Tau as if the notes of the accordion were still hanging in the air.

Grupo Control is not just distinctive for their magical cumbias; they also happen to now have that rare breed in norteño, a female accordion player. Her name is Jennifer Degollado; she’s the daughter of the main singer and bass player for the band. Previously, they had a male accordion player, though I’m not sure what he is doing now. Miss Degollado can also sing, which does not surprise me. Musical talents tend to be clustered in families. I’ll post a couple of videos below, one of the titular song, and another with Jennifer Degollado singing and playing.