Completed my first, first-time LL in many a year. This system mostly runs DCLL and GPU TF, currently in the LL, rather than the DC range.
[url]https://www.mersenne.org/report_exponent/default.php?exp_lo=80569547&full=1[/url]
took about 6.5 days on i7 6700K @4GHz, using, ATM, 94 W :smile:, rather than weeks, or worse on the previous, 4GHz AMD, "8 core" chip, which pulled over 140 W full on . :sad:

Happy Independence day!
 

It's the Fourth of July! Happy Independence Day! The occasion is in celebration of [url=http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/]The Declaration of Independence[/url], read aloud on "Morning Edition" e.g. [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWoxGez0AfU]in 1997[/url].

This gives me an excuse, however flimsy, to post links to some (perhaps) inspiring music.

The background music for the preceding reading is [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X9axuH2iRo]On the Threshold of Liberty[/url] by Mark Isham.

Never mind the difficult-to-sing official US national anthem set to the drinking song "To Anacreon in Heaven." A much more inspiring US anthem was composed by an immigrant from Imperial Russia, and had its debut in 1938, when Kate Smith sang [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1rKQReqJZg]God Bless America[/url].

Our War of Independence inspired others, leading to the much more rousing national anthem of France, composed in 1792 when France was being invaded by Austria and Prussia. It has been arranged a number of times. Perhaps its most inspiring performance occurs in the movie [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM-E2H1ChJM][i]Casablanca[/i][/url].

As runner-up, around 1830, Hector Berlioz had a go. His style is such that recordings of his work should be labelled [b]This music is meant to be played loud[/b]. If you don't believe me, click on a performance of his arrangement of [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3LAtdaNrNE]La Marseillaise[/url].

For those of you not in the know, there are [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star-Spangled_Banner"]additional verses[/URL] to The Star-Spangled Banner. Consider singing one of those at the next baseball game you attend. That will turn a few heads. :smile:

The history of the Independence Day holiday is not quite as altruistically national-celebratory as the pom-pom wavers portray:

[url=https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/06/why-dont-americans-take-more-vacations-blame-it-on-independence-day.html] Why Don’t Americans Take More Vacations? Blame It on Independence Day[/url] | Naked Capitalism: [i]Most Americans are not aware that Independence Day was promoted by businessmen who wanted to counter the resistance of citizens to immigrants. Needless to say, the motives were not charitable.[/i]

But to our USian readers, don't that get in the way of enjoying a day off, hopefully with friends and family, just be aware that the corporate sector's efforts to keep labor in its place have in no way abated from the period over 100 years ago described in the above article.

[QUOTE=rogue;491126]For those of you not in the know, there are [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star-Spangled_Banner"]additional verses[/URL] to The Star-Spangled Banner. Consider singing one of those at the next baseball game you attend. That will turn a few heads. :smile:[/QUOTE]Rather more politically correct than:



Lord, grant that Marshal Wade,
May by thy mighty aid,
Victory bring.
May he sedition hush,
and like a torrent rush,
Rebellious Scots to crush,
God save the King.

For a couple of other tie-ins for Isaac Asimov fans, listen to him sing all four verses [URL="https://www.reddit.com/r/asimov/comments/wltxd/isaac_asimov_sings_the_starspangled_banner_all/"]here[/URL]. He also wrote a [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Refuge_Could_Save"]short story[/URL] about how an American agent exposed a spy as the spy knew the other verses as most Americans would not.

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;491121]
As runner-up, around 1830, Hector Berlioz had a go. His style is such that recordings of his work should be labelled [b]This music is meant to be played loud[/b]. If you don't believe me, click on a performance of his arrangement of [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3LAtdaNrNE]La Marseillaise[/url].[/QUOTE]

This reminds me of a blooper thirty years ago when the Telarc company released an audio CD containing a compilation of Berlioz works including La Marseillaise.

The banner read "La Marseillaise and Other Berlioz [COLOR="Red"]Favorities[/COLOR]". The critics picked up on the spelling error quickly.

[QUOTE=Chuck;491178]This reminds me of a blooper thirty years ago when the Telarc company released an audio CD containing a compilation of Berlioz works including La Marseillaise.

The banner read "La Marseillaise and Other Berlioz [COLOR="Red"]Favorities[/COLOR]". The critics picked up on the spelling error quickly.[/QUOTE]
I suppose it was too much of a nit-pick to observe that [i]La Marseillaise[/i] was written before Hector Berlioz was even born. His arrangement is a great work, but crediting him as the composer is a bit unusual.

For example, Modest Mussorgsky composed [i]Pictures at an Exhibition[/i] for piano only. He is generally credited as composer, although the orchestration for the version we usually hear is by Maurice Ravel.

Similarly, George Gershwin composed [i]Rhapsody in Blue[/i], though for a relatively small ensemble. Ferde Grofé did the orchestration for the version we usually hear.

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;491180]I suppose it was too much of a nit-pick to observe that [i]La Marseillaise[/i] was written before Hector Berlioz was even born. His arrangement is a great work, but crediting him as the composer is a bit unusual.[/QUOTE]

Inside the booklet, the notes make it clear that this is Berlioz' setting of the work, but of course that is not obvious from the back cover.

Thanks for identifying this music
 

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;491121]It's the Fourth of July! Happy Independence Day! The occasion is in celebration of [url=http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/]The Declaration of Independence[/url], read aloud on "Morning Edition" e.g. [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWoxGez0AfU]in 1997[/url].

The background music for the preceding reading is [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X9axuH2iRo]On the Threshold of Liberty[/url] by Mark Isham.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for pointing this out. I heard it playing on NPR the morning of the 4th and I ordered the Mark Isham CD Vapor Drawings which contains his piece On the Threshold of Liberty.

On vacation, sitting in Costa Rica near Monteverde, enjoying the view. Better yet, the kids are having a lot of fun.