2020 US Presidential Election - Biden Wins and Trump Loses!

What a rollercoaster ride this election has turned into!  Absent a landslide victory, many people in the know "on both sides" predicted a long and protracted time during which the 2020 US Presidential Election would require ballot re-counts, audits and would be battled in courtrooms throughout the country.

With over 35 legal challenges by the Trump administration, mostly fabricated out of thin air, or whatever that stuff was running down Rudy Giuliani's cheeks, it seems that we have survived a fragile and tenuous time where Lord only knows what could happen: mass protests by Trump supporters?, violence in the streets and government buildings around the country?!, or even, civil war???!!!

Thankfully, although some of the elections were close, for those of us who believe in science and trust the calls made by the AP, there was never any doubt about the winner.  There was never any widespread voter fraud or even voting "irregularities" out of the ordinary minor issues to speak of...

Thank goodness that as of 11/23/2020, Emily Murphy, the Administrator of the GSA, has come to the incontrovertible conclusion that Joseph R. Biden, Jr. won the 2020 US Presidential election and, therefore, the transition towards a peaceful transfer of power has been started.

I want to highlight a few observations I've made about the election in my home state of North Carolina. 

NY Times results for the:

* Presidential Election in NC

* All 2020 Elections in NC

* In the Presidential race, 5,524,801 votes were cast, which is around 75% of the electorate. 2,684,292 were cast for Biden in NC, which is 209,785 votes more than were cast for Biden in Georgia, where he won.  2,758,773 were cast for Trump in NC, which is 296,936 more than Trump got in Georgia, where he lost.  Keep in mind that Georgia has a higher population - and one more electoral vote (16) than North Carolina (15), so I think this is noteworthy! Here are the voting results for Georgia for comparison.

* NC has a somewhat strange tradition of voters "splitting" the ticket, that is, voting for one party in certain races and the other party in other races.  So, Trump beat Biden in the Presidential race, but Cooper beat Forest in the Gubernatorial race, etc.

* In the Governor's race, the Democrat incumbent Cooper won by 4% (51% to 47%), which is by 248,186 votes.  That's kind of close considering over 5.4 million votes were case, but not nearly as close as the Presidential race.

* The Presidential election vote was close, but Biden lost by 1.3% (49.9% to 48.6%), or approximately 74,000 votes.

* The way that the Presidential election results are reported in NC gave a false sense of hope to the Biden campaign, that is, the early voting and absentee ballots received before the election were tallied before November 3rd and reported first.  Because Democrats use these forms of voting more than Republicans, Biden took a commanding early lead.  But because if appears that more people voted for Trump on election day, Biden's lead slowly melted away when 85% of the votes had been counted.  It remained somewhat close, but even with absentee ballots that were postmarked on 11/3 and received by 11/12, the results didn't change.

* The Senate race between the incumbent, Thom Tillis and Cal Cunnigham, was still close at 1.9% (48.7% to 46.8%), but not quite as close as the Presidential race.  Cunningham may have been able to upset Tillis, the incumbent, but shot himself in the foot by "sexting" a campaign contractor (not his wife).  It was PG rated stuff compared to many of the more recent scandals, but was still consequential, nonetheless...

I Remember Curly Neal

I saw this article about Curly Neal passing away in the NY Times and had a real moment of sadness.  Curly Neal brought so much joy into this world - and inspired a few generations of basketball players to do things that no one would ever have thought possible!

I remember seeing him perform his antics in Appalachian State University's Varsity Gymnasium in Boone, NC sometime in the late 1970s. As I recall, the gym (capacity ~7,000) was very full, or at least nearly as full as it was for the App State (then still know regionally as ASU) men's basketball games. 

This was during the tenure of Bobby Cremins as basketball coach and the connections he had to New York City - and the basketball talent there - was palpable for us.  Bobby was a kid of Irish descent from the Bronx who knew the places to recruit high schoolers who were eager to get an education and play ball (even for a small university in NC) on an athletic scholarship.  The things that Bobby accomplished at App State were amazing. 

But these were the Harlem Globetrotters!  The WORLD'S BEST players right in our own small town!

Everyone knew about Meadowlark Lemon and his extraordinary presence and influence.  In fact, I remember Meadowlark the best because he was the one making everyone laugh, doing gags with the refs and players on the opposing team, tossing out buckets of confetti, or feathers, or water! onto the crowd.  He had the place in his hand.

How strange and fun and exciting it was for a kid who was growing up in a small mountain town with a scarcity of African-Americans.  

The tricks and antics that Curly performed dazzled, amazed and made us all think he could do things that no one else could!  And he was probably among the very few who could at that time. 

The namesake for this blog: from This American Life - Invisible Man Vs. Hawkman

Invisible Man Vs. Hawkman

By

John Hodgman

"John Hodgman conducts an informal survey in which he asks the age-old question: Which is better: The power of flight or the power of invisibility? He finds that how you answer tells a lot about what kind of person you are. And also, no matter which power people choose, they never use it to fight crime. (14 minutes)"

I think this is such an interesting and fundamental question - if you could choose between the two, which super power would you choose: invisibility or flight?

Cross-Country, Telemark and Backcountry Skiing Links

Cross-Country, Telemark and Backcountry Skiing Links
 
Randy Johnson at Moses Cone Manor

Nordic Skiing Technique - Traditional Style - Diagonal Stride: (Good examples, a bit technical)

Nordic Skiing Technique - Ski Skating - One Skate Double Pole - V: (Good example of how to skate ski)

Nordic Skiing Technique - Ski Skating - Offset - V1: (Example of how to climb fast)

What state is Roan Mountain (the mountain, itself) in?

I recently read this article by Derek Halsey in the Mountain Times on the Kruger Brothers "Roan Mountain Suite", published on 10/18/2016.  I am both a fan of the Kruger Brothers and a lover of Roan Mountain - and long-time occasional reader of the Mountain Times. I am an avid hiker and Roan Mountain is one of my favorite places in the entire world!

I am writing to point out some misconceptions in the introductory statements the article, especially the portion I have bolded.

For most of the hikers located in the High Country, Roan Mountain is considered part of our family of peaks, even though it resides just across the border with Tennessee.

In fact, when you take the half hour drive from Banner Elk (right on Rt. 19E then left on Rt. 143) to the mountaintop lot where you park to hike both the Appalachian Trail as well as the Roan Mountain Grassy Highlands, a “Welcome to North Carolina” sign stands just yards down the road. But let there be no mistake, Roan Mountain firmly resides in the Volunteer State and is happily claimed by the citizens of Tennessee.

The caption on the page 2 photo states:
Roan Mountain is considered part of our family of peaks in the High Country, but the mountain resides just across the Tennessee border.
 
It's indeed true that the quickest and most direct way to get to Carver's Gap and the summits of Roan Mountain from the Boone/Banner Elk, NC area is through TN.  Although it is possible to access Roan Mountain from the NC side by taking NC Hwy 261 via Bakersville, from most of the Boone area, this adds unnecessary time and miles to the trip.  (However, keep in mind that this is the faster way to access Roan Mountain from areas in NC to the West and South of Boone).  Due to its location, Roan Mountain is on the high country's periphery, although high country residents do typically include it in the "local" repertoire of hikes, because of its relative proximity and it being a true mountain gem.

It would be foolish to downplay the historical and cultural significance that the town of Roan Mountain, TN and Roan Mountain TN state park play in that area.  The Rhododendron festival around the 4th of July and other celebrations throughout the year bring world-famous acclaim to the town and its environs.  But, while the Volunteer State may claim Roan Mountain as its own, the fact remains that the vast majority of the mountain itself, including the "highlands", lies within NC - and many Tarheels (including me) also claim it as their own.

This not only includes sharing the highest summit of Roan Mountain between NC and TN, Roan High Knob (the 6,285 ft peak, not 6,185 ft as stated in the article) but also includes all of the following in NC: Roan High Bluff (the 6,267 ft peak, including the associated overlook), the Rhododendron Gardens (and all vantage points to the east, south and west), the bathroom facilities and parking areas on the summit area, and thus the vast majority of the mountain. 

This can be seen by taking a close look at the map of Roan Mountain: while the NC/TN border runs to the west along the crest of the balds to Carver's Gap and up to Roan High Knob, just to the west at Toll House Gap, the state border takes an abrupt turn to the north.  This leaves the remainder of the mountain to the west and south in NC.

Likewise, the vast majority of the highlands east of Carver's Gap, including the famed balds that run to Grassy Ridge Bald (along with the Appalachian Trail and the TN/NC border), are mostly within NC.  Just before Grassy Ridge Bald, the state line also turns to the north, and nearly the entire summit area above 6,000 ft is in NC. 

The area I've chosen to focus on doesn't include the eastern part of the highlands that also includes Yellow Mountain (split roughly half and half between TN and NC), Big Yellow Mountain (which is almost entirely in NC), Little Hump Mountain (split roughly half and half between TN and NC) and Hump Mountain (which is almost entirely in NC).  If these areas were included, too, the highlands would tip to an even greater portion being in NC.
 As a beginning reference point, please see the USGS Topographic map centered on Carver's Gap (Note: this map is a composite of 4 topo quads):

https://www.topoquest.com/map.php?lat=36.10664&lon=-82.11055&datum=nad27&zoom=8&map=auto&coord=d&mode=pan&size=l.

Next, see the markup I've done on the attached topographic map showing the area in TN and NC (see: Roan Mountain Highlands centered on Carvers Gap with lines - 8m per pixel.jpg).  The state line is highlighted in red.  Everything to the north of the line is in Tennessee (Carter county).  Everything to the south of the line is in NC (Mitchell and Avery).  On this map, I've traced the 6,000 ft elevation contour line in a dark hue, green in NC and blue in TN.  I've also traced the 5,000 ft contour line in a lighter hue, again, green in NC and blue in TN.  I've done my best to not obscure any text or contour labels on this map.

If you compare the area within each of the shaded colors, i.e., green (in NC) vs. blue (in TN), you'll easily see that the vast majority of the mountain is in NC.  To help display this more effectively, I've created another version of the above map where I've shaded the areas in the respective states (see: Roan Mountain Highlands centered on Carvers Gap with lines and shading - 8m per pixel.jpg).  Dark blue indicates area in TN at or above 6,000 ft.  Light blue indicates area in TN at or above 5,000 ft.  Dark green indicates area in NC  at or above 6,000 ft.  Light blue indicates area in NC at or above 5,000 ft.  On this map, it's very easy to see that the vast majority of the highlands is in NC.

If you'd like to inspect this in more detail, check it out on Google Maps, especially where the state line turns north at Toll House Gap:
https://www.google.com/maps/@36.101318,-82.1353465,1267m/data=!3m1!1e3

Fresh Air Remembers Traditional Music Legend Doc Watson

In memoriam of  Doc Watson's passing away in 2012, here's a link to two interviews that Terry Gross had with Doc on Fresh Air back in 1988 and 1989.

Here's Doc's Wikipedia page.

Thoughts on MerleFest 2019 + Links

Ok, so here's RollingStone's review of MerleFest 2019

My take on it is both the same - and somewhat different.  Many of what I consider highlights aren't even mentioned in the RollingStone article...  What I have listed below are my highlights, which may or may not have been mentioned in RollingStone.  

(All the songs listed below were performed at MerleFest 2019.  In some instances I couldn't find a video of the song performed at MerleFest, so I've included some from other festivals.)


The Dirk Powell Band - during his sets, Dirk played: violin, guitar, banjo and mandolin (and sang!). He's an incredible musician - and the more I learn about him and the music he plays, the more I respect him and his musical genius!

• The Balfour Waltz (La Valse Balfour)/My Old Wagon (Le Vieux Wagon) (medley)
• Carolina Rain
• Home on Oak Ridge/Unnamed (medley) - For the unnamed song, I suggested <<saute la colline>>, country french for "jump the hill".  When I heard it, I thought of some mountain folk dancing and trying to jump over the hills...

Amos Lee

• Windows are Rolled Down

Molly Tuttle (with Christian Sedelmeyer on violin)

• Bas Pelles Eriks Brudpolska - Swedish folk tune
• Take the Journey

The Hillside Album Hour

Each year, the Waybacks and friends choose an album and do a live electrified acoustic version of it.  This year was Led Zeppelin IV (ZOSO), with their own "twists", is it merely artistic creativity or copyright infringement protection?

• Black Dog
• Rock and Roll
• Genesis Hall (Fairport Convention)/The Battle of Evermore
• Stairway to Heaven
• Legalize It (Peter Tosh)/Misty Mountain Hop:
• Four Sticks
• Going to California
• When the Levee Breaks

Here's another set of links of the album hour.

The Avett Brothers and Brandi Carlile

• Murder in the City

Brandi Carlile

• The Mother
• Madman Across the Water  (the left channel is dead, but it still sounds great!)

Tyler Childers

• Nose on the Grindstone (video from Tuck Fest - a day after his performance at MerleFest).  This song is powerful and haunting.  The lyrics left me spellbound...  

The Sam Bush Band - Sam and his amazing band are perennial favorites at MerleFest and they never disappoint.  I always appreciate Sam's ability to cover other people's music and do it justice.  BTW - Sam's playing "Eric Clapton's guitar, after taxes" (electric stratocaster mandolin). 

• Speak of the Devil

The Strange Story of Cisco's (Sort of) Beloved Hold Music - Two nerds, a four-track recorder, and 65 million Cisco phone systems.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/01/the-strange-story-of-ciscos-sort-of-beloved-hold-music/283262/