Author | Lightnews

Syd Polk

Syd Polk

@sydpolk.bsky.social

330 followers 530 following 380 posts

Software professional. Musician. Amateur sabermetrician. Aspiring tanguero. Wannabe writer. Pro-democracy advocate. Numismatist. Mac user since 1984. Unabashedly liberal, feminist, and ally for all kinds of oppressed groups. Anti-fascist.

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Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · 11d

I am playing bari sax and bass clarinet with the Austin Jazz Band at the Elephant Room on Congress, Monday, October 27, from 7-9 PM. Come down to the basement and say hi!

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · Sep 16

RIP Robert Redford

www.cnn.com/2025/09/16/e...

Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89 | CNN

Robert Redford, the dashing actor and Oscar-winning director who eschewed his status as a Hollywood leading man to champion causes close to his heart, died Tuesday, CNN has learned. He was 89.

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · Sep 6

RIP Davey Johnson

What a great manager. The 1986 Mets are my most-hated team, but damn they were good.

Johnson as a manager reminded me of me as a manager. The people who worked fo him raelly liked him and did well, but he did not get along well with upper management.

www.mlb.com/news/davey-j...

Davey Johnson, 1986 Mets manager and 4-time All-Star, passes at 82

Davey Johnson, the All-Star second baseman who won two World Series as a player with the Baltimore Orioles and managed the New York Mets to their dramatic victory in the 1986 World Series, has passed ...

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · Sep 2

It's all Game Theory.

If that makes me less than pure, fine. I prefer not to have the worst possible outcome happen. Period.

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · Sep 2

I am a firm believer of voting for the outcome in an election that prevents the most loathsome candidate from winning. In a general election, that may mean voting for a candidate in a major political party over a 3rd party candidate I like better but has no hope. 1/2

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · Aug 4

This is the Texas I love. I ate at Chuy’s in Austin tonight, and I saw a mixed-race couple, a family that looked maybe Filipino, some people that looked Mexican, and a South Asian family where the father was wearing a turban, all thoroughly enjoying their food.

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · Jul 29

RIP Ryne Sandberg

www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/...

Cubs Hall of Famer Sandberg dies at age 65

Ryne Sandberg, a Hall of Fame second baseman who spent nearly all of his playing career with the Cubs, died Monday after a recurrence of cancer.

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · Jul 22

I am playing bari sax, and one bass clarinet feature, with Austin Jazz Band, Monday, July 28th, 2025, from 7-9 PM, at the Elephant Room in Austin. Come on down to the basement and say hi!

Middle-aged Caucasian man in light blue sport coat and dark pants, playing an old baritone sax with an orange mouthpiece. He is standing, with a microphone pointed to the bell. He is in a dark room, and there is a musician behind him whose face is obscured by some kind of equipment.

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · Jul 11

I or people I have known have been burned by every one of these pieces of advice over the past 38 years of my career.

Including yesterday, when my employer laid off 1300 people.

5/5

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · Jul 11

This is true for ALL EMPLOYERS. Also, you never know when your badge no longer works, so don't leave anything personally important in an office. Never store personal files on a work computer as usually the IT department can see them, steal them or wipe them remotely without your knowledge. 4/

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · Jul 11

You never know when your access to the corporate VPN or your corporate email will disappear. This will also help in case you have any litigation with your employer; you will have the docs. 3/

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · Jul 11

Always download all paychecks, benefits docs, policy docs, HR communications, PDFs of performance reviews, offer letters, promotion announcements, pay adjustment announcements, RSU documents, etc, to your personal drives as soon as they become available. 2/

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · Jul 11

Advice about work-personal data separation:

Never never never store any personal data in your corporate email/google drive/password managers. Never put personal projects on your work computers. 1/

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · Jun 18

This was my kids' Father's Day gift for me.

What's your Armor Class?

Deranged picture of me holding a giant d20.

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · Jun 8

RIP Bill Atkinson

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/07/t...

www.nytimes.com

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · Jun 2

I have a few USB external drives for sale. 3 TB $30, 4 TB $40, 8 TB $80 single drives. 1 6 TB two-drive raid $70 (also accepts eSATA connection).
If you are in Austin, let me know if you are interested.

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · May 15

I am playing baritone sax with the Austin Jazz Band at the Elephant Room on Congress in Austin, Monday, May 19, 7-9 PM. Come out and say hi!

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · Apr 22

Most of the music we play was composed in the last 5-10 years. Vandy PAC fills up fast, so get there early if you want a seat! 3/3

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · Apr 22

Cedar Park Winds is a professional-level community band, populated primarily with band directors from one of the most accomplished set of school districts in the nation, but also other musicians, and professional hobbyists, such as myself. 2/

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · Apr 22

I am also playing baritone sax (and only baritone sax) with the Cedar Park Winds at Vandegrift High School Performaing Arts Center in West Austin, Sunday, May 4, from 4-5 PM. 1/

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · Apr 22

I am playing baritone sax (and possibly a little bit of other woodwinds) with the Austin Jazz Band at the Elephant Room on Congress in downtown Austin, Monday, April 28, 2005, from 7-9 PM. Come down into the basement and say hello!

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · Apr 2

Anyway, RIP, Chris Knight/Val Kilmer. I hope you are wearing your styrofoam antenna balls in heaven right now.

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · Apr 2

This movie, and Wayne's World, captured my generation of white people in the USA extremely well. They are two of the classic Generation Jones/Generation X movies. I can watch this thing over and over again.

7/

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · Apr 2

I am all of those things.

Of course, Knight is smarter and sexier that I was or will ever be, and Val Kilmer's looks have a lot to do with that. But his performance showed that subtle, soft underbelly of doubt extremely well.

6/

Syd Polk @sydpolk.bsky.social · Apr 2

Of all of the characters I have ever seen in movies, Chris Knight is the one that I identify with the most. He is bright, cocky, quirky, and can be quite fun, but there is a hint of self-loathing, and he is arrogant as can be, and has severe problems with authority.

5/