Start With “Ode”… #socs

Stream of Consciousness Saturday 1 Minute
Apricot and cherry cake a la mode. Image by ThreeMilesPerHour from Pixabay

Of course, let’s start with ode: One of my favorite songs is Bobbie Genrty’s "Ode To Billy Joe." I just used it last week, but I’ll stick it in here, anyway…

You have a picture at the top of a dessert served a la mode, in other words with a scoop of ice cream. As good as pie, cake, cobbler, waffles etc. are on their own, they’re all better a la mode, and whenever I can get away with it, I have my dessert that way.

In music, we talk about modes of a scale. All those are simply a scale starting from a different note than the root. For example, a C major scale is C D E F G A B C. The Dorian mode of that scale starts on D, Phrygian starts on E etc. John Coltrane got heavily into modal music in the ’50’s. I won’t go any further, because I can hear your eyes glaze over…

I’m a retired programmer, so I don’t write code the way I used to. Honestly, it no longer has the appeal it once did. Nowadays there are tools that will write code for you, you just have to fill in the blanks correctly. I actually go far back enough that I can remember punching out my programs on 80-column cards. I actually worked for a company that got its start in a guy’s garage, where he had the machinery to create the 80-column cards.

I was going to say something about nodes, but I see I’m out of time. Not that it’s ever stopped me before…

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is brought to you each week by Linda Hill and this station. Now a word about Schaefer Beer, the one beer to have when you’re having more than one.

Published by John Holton

Internet disc jockey, lover of old TV (especially the commercials), inveterate wise guy.

Published

29 thoughts on “Start With “Ode”… #socs”

  2. Pingback: The Very Wet Week That Was – The Sound of One Hand Typing

  3. Thank you for reminding me of the musical modes. Our memory code was:
    I Don’t Party Like My Aunt Laura.
    It was fun as our Prof was Laura and she still knows how to party!

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  4. An honest stream if I ever read one. “Ode to Billy Joe” is a unique song. So haunting. I like the sound, but it always made me feel a little uncomfortable. Maybe it was supposed to.

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    1. It’s one of those songs that keeps you off-balance, and leaves you with more questions than answers. You get the feeling you’re hearing just part of the story and that there’s a whole lot more to it. Bobbie Gentry really hasn’t talked about it much, probably by design…

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  5. Yep, that song is an awesome repeat. I think I’ll add ice cream to the curbside order for a la mode desserts this week. Definitely makes everything better.

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  6. I like the word mode. I usually don’t have desert ala mode but I do like it, especially on top of a berry or peach cobbler. Interesting about the modes in music too.

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    1. I didn’t want to get too deep into modes in music, mostly because I get tongue-tied when I try to explain them. Most music theory books go into them in some detail…

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  7. My first IT task was to use an old card sorter to sort boxes of cards by social security number. That was a lot of passes on that huge machine. I also did my fair share of key punching. Things are a lot simpler now.

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  10. John, you have me thinking of blueberry pie ala mode (with non-dairy ice cream, of course), but I will have to settle today for a ripe cantalope and yogurt.

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