Jim Burrill

♬  [For my song arrangements, click on “songs” here or in navigation menu at the top right.]

 »  [For Trump-era rally signs/flyers, click “Old Rally Signs” here or in navigation menu.]

☞  This site’s purpose is to present a few things – most of which I’ve at least partly created.

The order of items on these pages may not make much  sense. When I add new stuff, I may post them near the top, but they might go closer to the middle of the page.  Posts also move up or down.  When checking back to see if there’s updates, you might need to scroll down a bit...

This page has my non-song stuff.   For my song arrangements, go to the “songs” page.  (The songs page has lists of songs [covers and originals],  - and also has info about my arranging.  From there you can access the postings for each song [on the various song post pages]. When you’ve found the post for a song, you can then open [or download] its lyrics/chords arrangement PDF [or JPG].)

All my posts (both here and on the songs pages) have links to free content in various formats (usually two flavors of PDF, and a JPG), as well as descriptions and commentary.  (There might also be links to YouTube videos or other media such as sound files.)  For copyright issues, please see the note at the bottom of the page.  My email address is also there.

This is a “maximize-recommended” site. It looks the best (and is more easily readable) if your browser window is maximized to fill your screen.

A sign to hold as you rally to discuss #SystemicRacism.  A sign version of the more detailed timeline below discussing Supreme Court decisions, etc...  The American experiment with providing integrated quality education for all children lasted only 19 years. This is for anyone who’s under the impression that school integration is still even a goal in the US. 

The sign originally said the Court had a GOP-nominated majority for almost 50 years.  After May 14, 2020, I had to reword this to say “for over 50 years.”  Since a half century of rulings has been so destructive to the social fabric of our nation, more folks should know that milestone date.

Share a PDF or JPG  –or share a link to bring ’em here: http://sites.google.com/view/JimBStuff#h.30a4bbc10fdffa21_48  .

Download:   .PDF   .PDF [print-area]   .JPG [print-area]   to print on 17" x 11" (or shrink to 14")

A summary / timeline of Supreme Court decisions (and other declarations), showing the short-lived American experiment with providing integrated quality education for all children. This is for anyone who’s under the impression that school integration is still even a goal in the US. 

#SystemicRacism

 The sign version, above, is a short edited version of this timeline.

Share a file (PDF or JPG) – or share a link to this post: http://sites.google.com/view/JimBStuff#h.30a4bbc10fdffa21_31  .

Download:    .PDF   .PDF [print-area]   .JPG [print-area]    to print on 8½" x 14"

Download:    .PDF    for poster-sized print on 10½+" x 16+"     .PNG   for 11" x 17" poster

Not only do they shoot more Americans than Muslim immigrants do, but armed toddlers seem to have some anti-Christian / pro-Commie agenda!  The victims of these toddlers are mostly from good fundamentalist God-fearing, gun-loving families, even when they shoot themselves!  Display this sign to express your feelings about sending all toddlers back where they came from at the 2018 March for Our Lives or at any similar marches for as long as there’s still a need. 

Share a file (PDF or JPG) –or share a link to this post:  http://sites.google.com/view/JimBStuff#h.64a5a799c6d8a873_39

Designed to be printed on 11" x 17" paper, the 17" [print-area] PDFs print well on 8½" x 14" paper using the shrink-to-fit option.  (If you’d prefer to not use shrink-to-fit, there’s also a B&W version specifically designed for 8½" x 14".)

Download:    [Color]   .PDF   .PDF [print-area]   .JPG [print-area]  to print on 17" x 11"  (or shrink)

Download:    [B&W]   .PDF   .PDF [print-area]   .JPG [print-area]  to print on 17" x 11"  (or shrink)

Download:    [B&W]   .PDF   .PDF [print-area]   .JPG [print-area]  to print on 14" x 8½"

To see the full-size animated image, click the GIF link below.  (Unlike the small animation above on the left, the full-size version only repeats a few times.  When it stops, you can reload to start it again.)

    Watch it here in your browser:   animated  .GIF

(Or... download it from that link and then use an image viewer which can display animated GIFs.  If you share the GIF with others, have ’em watch long enough – past the first frame.  Or just share a link to this post...)

Or watch and download the video version (with a musical soundtrack) here:   .MP4 

...Or, watch it on YouTube.  (And share the YouTube link [on Twitter or elsewhere]. Be sure to tag it something like  #KnowMoreMuslims  #NoMuslimBan )

The printable version (shown above on the right) is based on the animation, but with two “spray‑painted” letters – in order to tell the story in a single image. It’s designed to print (and share) for use as a protest sign on 11" x 17" or shrink-to-fit the print-area PDF to 8½" x 14".

Download:    .PDF   .PDF [print-area]   .JPG [print-area]    print 17" x 11" or fit to 14" x 8½"

To find out more about Oglesby and his songs, I recommend visiting the OglesbySongs site.  But my arrangements of some of his songs on that site can also be found by clicking on a song title right here on this site’s songs page:  songs

It was called a “planet” for more than 50 years. People grew up learning its name on a list of planets in our solar system. And then suddenly, it was demoted – no longer called a “planet” anymore ! Instead, if spoken of at all, people had to learn to call it an “asteroid.”

Does that story sound familiar?  Yes, it’s the sad story of the planet Ceres.  But that wasn’t the end of the story about the classification of Ceres. Recently, 150 years after its demotion, the story took a somewhat happier turn. Ceres was promoted again, though not quite to full planet status in the formal sense of the term.

On this single page, I discuss the stories of several objects in our solar system which ① are large enough to be pulled by their own gravity into a roughly spherical shape, but ② orbit within a belt of many other (mostly smaller) bodies.  You could even do them the honor of learning their names along with the names of the more formal planets.  (But be forewarned, such a list could be getting quite a bit longer over the next few decades...)

This story was written first as an answer on quora.com .  The following post about the Electoral College also began as a quora answer.

My very eager mother calmly just serves us nine pan–cakes, helpfully made every Sunday.

Download:    .PDF   .PDF [print-area]   .JPG [print-area]   to print on 8½" x 11"

Like the post above about Ceres, Pluto and Eris,, this was written first as answers to questions posed on quora.com .  There are many questions and answers about the Electoral College there, both in favor of the unusual presidential election scheme and against it.

But most folks who write about it there don’t seem to know much about the history of the EC or how there’s no constitutional requirement that a state’s EC votes be based on election results.  (In the early years electors were often selected and directed by a state legislature.)  And many folks don’t seem to know about a plan (which could even be implemented within the next few years) to change presidential voting to “one person, one vote.”

I’ve tried to cover those aspects a bit better in my answers. The short answer at the bottom of page 2 compliments the longer first answer, because it expands on a point made at the end of it.

Pass this on!  Has your state not yet agreed to the NPVIC?  Post, email or link to a PDF or the JPGs below.  Or link to bring ’em here...  sites.google.com/site/JimBStuff/#EC-Answers

Those in non-swing states are disenfranchised because – if the outcome in the state isn’t even going to be close – their votes don’t matter a bit.

Download:    .PDF   .PDF [print-area]   .JPG [pg1,print-area]   .JPG [pg2,print-area]   print on 8½" x 11"

Don’t recall where my kids got this stuffed toy.  We were never familiar with the cartoon snowman it’s apparently based on. But with the character’s name displayed prominently on his hat, a new association came to mind when I saw it recently.

What better Xmas decoration than a snowman? And wouldn’t a character with this name present a message like, well, a quote from Article 12 of the the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights? And for the “goodwill toward all” time of year, wouldn’t that be something everyone should be able to agree with...? So the toy declaring its message of universal human rights became the first-ever holiday display for our porch. (Nothing controversial...  No direct reference to anyone named Edward.)

By the way...

Years ago I had shared another Xmas graphic, one which never decorated the front of our house.  Perhaps not quite in line with neighborhood standards of appropriateness, it beautifully depicts Santa hanging himself by the chimney with care:  santa(print-area).jpg   (It was created by JNB , who publishes uncopyrighted revolutionary posters and songs under the Reinvention of Everyday Life name. I’ve worked with him on three of his songs at: http://sites.google.com/view/ReinventStuff .)

A group activity to give meaning to each digit in pi by experiencing its physical distance on the circumference, and to determine distances which represent the error resulting from various approximations. [For any interested group – no school required!!!] Not only is it fun, but you’ll learn surprising stuff about more than just pi.  Stuff like the relative contributions of successive decimal places to the value of any number, margins of error, reasonable approximations and expectations of precision.

Page 2 of the .PDF is for use in printing [on separate sheets] multiple copies of a chart for every participant to complete. (You can also print page 2 on the back of page 1 as a way to present or archive the activity.)

Download:    .PDF   .PDF [print-area]   .JPG [page1,print-area]   to print on 8½" x 11"

A new simple board game in an ancient style.  It’s concept is so basic that I wouldn’t be surprised were someone to contact me to say it really is an ancient game. But I’ve not seen it described before. In fact, I haven’t even found any other competitive game where all the game pieces, while still on the board, are the common “property” of all players.

Anyway, my family has enjoyed it. It’s easy enough for small kids. Each round of play is quick, yet it’s complex enough to require some strategy. You can also play it anywhere you find 24 stones and can scratch a grid in the dirt. (And we’ve even played the “Siddy Cent” variation – with 60 pennies on a chessboard, starting with four empty squares in the middle.)

Download:   .PDF   .PDF [print-area]  .JPG [pg1,print-area]  .JPG [pg2,print-area]   for 8½" x 11"

~«☆»~

• Kindred Gathering Dulcimer Festival site

The annual Kindred Gathering is an unusual incarnation of a music camp/festival, centered largely around the fretted dulcimer, but open to all. After some less-than-successful attempts by others to establish a well-maintained central site where information on upcoming KGs can be found, I finally set up a site of my own for that purpose. We’ll see if it’s any more successful...

http://sites.google.com/site/KGDulcimerFest

At the annual west-coast Kindred Gathering (see above) you’ll hear all styles of fretted‑dulcimer music, including Appalachian.  But the KGs have been influential in the growth of recent energetic contemporary fretted‑dulcimer styles driven by innovations in large part (not entirely, though) by some of its own west-coast players – styles distinct from the Appalachian style.

The term “Appalachian dulcimer” can refer to either the instrument or the more traditional style.  Now, I call the instrument a “fretted dulcimer.” (I don’t recommend calling it a “hog fiddle,” but I kinda like that name, just ’cause it’s silly...) But what can I call the styles I play – the higher energy, mostly west‑coast styles?  (At early KGs, the term “Pacific Rim dulcimer” was used.  It didn’t catch on.)

Paleo-geologists have names for the two Cretaceous-period mini-continents which later became North America:  Appalachia in the east (not many large dinosaurs) and Laramidia in the west (many large powerful dinosaurs). “No, I don’t play Appalachian dulcimer.  I play Laramidian dulcimer.”  A sticker for your dulcimer case. (There’s also a different dulcimer-case sticker on the songs page here.) 

Download:   .PDF [print-area]   .JPG [print-area]   8½" x 11" [print: “Fit” option on full‑sheet label stock]

When the number of teenagers in my household had recently doubled, so had the usefulness of these words of wisdom by my favorite mainstream poet, written to (I believe) his 17‑year‑old step‑daughter. They strike the right balance of acceptance, historical perspective, love, inspirational role models, frustration, encouragement and humor. Well, mostly humor...

The poem, ’though, seemed to need an illustrated presentation... Maybe other families can enjoy this as well.  (We still enjoy it, even as the number of teens in my family is declining.)

As the tone here is light-hearted, Collins certainly never meant this to be a comprehensive record of youth achievement.  That said, I’d still enjoy this more if at least one non‑Caucasian were mentioned. I doubt he revises his creations years later as I sometimes do, but if I were him I’d at least consider adding a brief mention of Malala Yousafzai near the end.

... when he was your age, Franz Schubert was doing the dishes for his family, but that did not keep him from composing two symphonies, four operas and two complete masses as a youngster.

Download:    .PDF   .PDF [print-area]   .JPG [print-area]     to print on 8½" x 11"

This is a text which itself is a self-contained address list system to be used, stored, maintained and passed on in a plain text file. It contains instructions – as well as places to put your own address list data. I believe that maintaining an address list as a plain text file vastly improves its flexibility and ability to be used and passed on from person to person.

Download:    .TXT   (the actual file you’d use to start your own address list)

                      .PDF   (for use only to read or to print a copy for reading, 8½" x 11")

• (I didn’t create most of this file’s content – I just selected and packaged free samples.)

If you teach math in an elementary school or middle school, you may already know about MarcyCookMath.com. I do not represent Marcy Cook and I have no financial interest in the company. But they do have a variety of innovative materials for mathematics instruction.

The sample Math Tiles task cards here are all ones which are presented as free samples on the Marcy Cook Math web site, so there should be no concern about copyright infringement if you experiment with their use in the classroom. These samples can give you and your class a feel of using Math Tiles. But the full sets would give the class a better experience than the samples, because the class would have a chance to learn from multiple task cards of each type.

So if you’re already convinced that Math Tile activities would be of value to your classroom, it would be best to request that your school purchase full sets (20 cards each) of several types of the task cards. They’re available for a reasonable price.

Download:    .PDF    to print on 8½" x 11"

~«☆»~

Note about copyright issues: 

This site and its files contain material which is at least partly mine. Most (not all) of my non-song original material is not copyrighted. I own the rights to lyrics of my original songs. When I arrange cover songs, I usually include lyrics so others can learn the song. But I identify the songwriter(s) and don’t intend to claim that their lyrics are mine. For both original songs and covers, my lyrics/chords sheets often have illustrations. If I do include a copyright notice near the song title, it’s meant to refer to the song – not to the illustrations.

Some of those illustrations have come from deviantart.com. For these images, the artist and copyright information is available – and often explicit permission to use the work non-commercially. Where I’ve used such images, I’ve reproduced the copyright notice adjacent to them. Other images I’ve used have been found on the internet without any associated copyright info. I intend for all rights of the owners of non-original material to be reserved. If you own rights to any material I’ve used and wish it removed (or properly attributed), please contact me directly at jburrill {at} gmail {dot} com.