Rotos . . .

. . . one example of the multiple and various influences upon my music is "Easter Parade" which I detected recently in a new composition . . . and of course, one thing leads to another and I began to sing to myself and pondered the rotogravure . . .


(from wikipedia.com)
In the last quarter of the 19th century, the method of image photo transfer onto carbon tissue covered with light-sensitive gelatin was discovered, and was the beginning of rotogravure. In the 1930s–1960s, newspapers published relatively few photographs and instead many newspapers published separate rotogravure sections in their Sunday editions. These sections were devoted to photographs and identifying captions, not news stories. Irving Berlin's song "Easter Parade" specifically refers to these sections in the lines "the photographers will snap us, and you'll find that you're in the rotogravure". And the song "Hooray for Hollywood" contains the line "…armed with photos from local rotos" referring to young actresses hoping to make it in the movie industry.

In 1932 a George Gallup "Survey of Reader Interest in Various Sections of Sunday Newspapers to Determine the Relative Value of Rotogravure as an Advertising Medium" found that these special rotogravures were the most widely read sections of the paper and that advertisements there were three times more likely to be seen by readers than in any other section.

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Taker or Giver? . . .

Pondering awards, rewards and recognition in a number of life situations. . .


(from http://intelispend.com/employee-rewards-recognition/)
". . .The Collector: It's human nature to gather things and status. Plaques with years of service appeal to the desire for status. Other types of incentive programs tap into this drive as well, motivating people through their desire to acquire more possessions. You'll see this most often in incentives.

The Killer: People are biologically motivated to defend what is theirs. The winner of last year's "Top in Sales" title isn't going to let it go without a fight. And employees engaged by strong recognition programs will work hard to protect their company against competitive threats.

The Socializer: Like it or not, we're wired to bond, and most of us experience the workplace first as a social setting. This is what makes recognition so powerful: celebrating stories about accomplishments with co-workers and managers makes people feel more appreciated.

The Explorer: People have an innate desire to contribute to something bigger in creative ways. Frequent acknowledgment of daily contributions connects us all to work in a more meaningful way, encouraging a higher level of commitment and more innovative thinking. . ."

(from me. . .)
The (real) Musician:  Enjoys awards and recognition and the truly savvy among them exploits the promotional value these awards and recognition provide.  He (or she) will however, continuously perpetuate the making of music for as long as their own organism continues the process of breathing most importantly because that's just about all that they CAN DO!

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WAMMIE . . .

(from http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001C31GFZrDKjKaWrZodhcUSUcZtk-3m6-ryC3VIvQ8Ak9lp6sq3Q6oPuA-qTUs4LprnOFVMtCIcV0tR0QaP4BRsmco46fWgHUUwy12wIvrO_Qhl8v1ybLwodMElepkCbM5WDMpe-bHYy_IZySV9BD9UsA774U6RiQIjPbA5RIOBpGR_seo_C7mFs8zcm2idMlf5uKyyG_8Coo=)
28th Annual WammiesTM Nomination Ballot
2013 Washington Area Music Awards

Voting Deadline is Thursday, February 6, 2014, 10 PM
You must be a current WAMA member to vote.

JAZZ RECORDING

    Black & White Then Back / Ray Jozwiak      www.rayjozwiak.com

    Blue Velvet Soul / Maysa   www.maysa.com
    Compared to What / Redmond, Langosch & Cooley   www.cdbaby.com/cd/             
       redmondlangoschcooley
    Deep Inside Me / Stephanie Rebecca   stephanie-rebecca.com
    Déviation / Daisy Castro   www.gypsymothmusique.com
    Eclipse of the Soul / Lori Williams   www.lorijazz.com
    Leo Rising / Aaron Myers II   www.aaron2.me
    Look For The Silver Lining / Bob Schwartz Quartet   www.groovem.com
    Moon Country / Esther Haynes  www.estherhaynesmusic.com
    The Truth / Allyn Johnson & Sonic Sanctuary 
        www.allynjohnsondivineorder.com




The Washington Area Music Awards recognize significant career achievements by area musicians. Nominations and balloting come from the WAMA membership. Past show participants include Emmylou Harris, Joan Jett, The Clovers, Bo Diddley, Jorma Kaukonen, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Jimmy Dean.

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Flowers, Learning and Seeger. . .

Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the flowers gone?
Young girls have picked them everyone.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?

Where have all the young girls gone, long time passing?
Where have all the young girls gone, long time ago?
Where have all the young girls gone?
Gone for husbands everyone.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?

Where have all the husbands gone, long time passing?
Where have all the husbands gone, long time ago?
Where have all the husbands gone?
Gone for soldiers everyone
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?

Where have all the soldiers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the soldiers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards, everyone.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?

Where have all the graveyards gone, long time passing?
Where have all the graveyards gone, long time ago?
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Gone to flowers, everyone.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?

Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the flowers gone?
Young girls have picked them everyone.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?

Pete Seeger- Sanga Music Inc -BMI

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Wild . . .

. . . Woman . . .


Traveling down to the Congo
Flyin' round Amazon way
Natives are playing the bongos
Listen to what they have to say
You know I'm ready for love
And I thank my lucky stars above

She's all dressed up and there's no place to go
But she's a wild woman
She's got a secret 'cause nobody knows
that she's a wild woman
She won't pretend to be something she's not
And I don't have to need her
'Cause she's something I've got

Swinging from coconut branches
Swim with the crocodiles too
But late at night she romances
What is a helpless boy to do
I've seen it a thousand times before
You get hit in the back with the slammin' door

She's all dressed up and there's no place to go
But she's a wild woman
She's got a secret 'cause nobody knows
that she's a wild woman
She won't pretend to be something she's not
And I don't have to need her
'Cause she's something I've got

She's just a lady and you can count on that
A little shady but she'll get up to bat
You think she's crazy but she can smell a rat

I've seen it before let me tell you
Maybe I'll see it again
Maybe I'll learn something from this
About how to lose and how to win
It's not a good thing to lose your cool
And be forced to say something out of school

She's all dressed up and there's no place to go
But she's a wild woman
She's got a secret 'cause nobody knows
that she's a wild woman
She won't pretend to be something she's not
And I don't have to need her
'Cause she's something I've got


WILD WOMAN
© 1997 Raymond M. Jozwiak




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Cultivate . . .

(from http://www.theminimalists.com/cal/ - an interview with Cal Newport, Ph.D. an assistant professor of computer science at Georgetown University,)
". . . Steve Jobs, in his famous Stanford Commencement address, told the students (paraphrasing here): You’ve got to find what you love, don’t settle.

If you read the press and social media that surrounded the event, it’s clear that many people interpreted this as him saying, “follow your passion.” If you go back into the details of his biography, however you discover this is not what he did. He stumbled into Apple computer (it was a scheme to make a quick $1,000) at a time when he was “passionate” mainly about eastern mysticism.

But Jobs was open to opportunity. When he sensed that his scheme was bigger than he imagined, he pivoted and poured a lot of energy into building a company around selling computers. He cultivated passion. He didn’t follow it. . ."

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Average. . .

. . . Schmaverage . . .


(from http://science.time.com/2014/01/22/average-temperatures-in-january-warm-despite-cold/)
"January 2014 will go down as the month we all learned about the polar vortex (even if meteorologists have known about it for decades). It’s the month when it got so cold that Minnesota closed all schools for the first time since 1997, when much of the Midwest was more frigid than the North Pole, when even Tampa experienced temperatures below freezing. (As of this writing) much of the eastern half of the country is suffering through another bitter cold snap—not caused by the vortex, FYI—one that has blanked the East Coast in heavy snow. Winter, in short, has felt miserable.

But here’s the surprise: on a historical and national level, it hasn’t actually been all that cold. With data from Weather Underground, I calculated the average high daily temperature from Jan. 1 through Jan. 22 for the 10 largest cities in the U.S. The results make this winter look surprisingly average:

    Jan. 2014 Average High                Historical Average High
    New York:         38 F (3.3 C)          36 F (2.2 C)
    Los Angeles:     76 F (24.4 C)        68 F (20 C)
    Chicago:            27 F (-2.7 C)          32 F (0 C)
    Houston:          64 F (17.8 C)          63 F (17.2 C)
    Philadelphia:   40 F (4.4 C)           41 F (5 C)
    Phoenix:           73 F (22. 8 C)         67 F (19.4 C)
    San Antonio:   66 F (18.9 C)           63 F (17.2 C)
    San Diego:        72 F (22.2 C)          65 F (18.3 C)
    Dallas:               58 F (14.4 C)           57 F (13.9 C)
    San Jose:          66 F (18.9 C)           58 F (14.4 C)

What do we learn from this? Well for one thing, there’s an East Coast bias in news coverage, at least of the weather. But while it truly has been historically cold on average for much of the Midwest, for most of the rest of the country the average temperatures have been around normal, or even a little above. And the West Coast is experiencing an unusually hot winter (one that has compounded the record drought in California). Average high temperatures have been further above normal in Los Angeles and San Jose than they’ve been below average in Chicago. Anchorage has been positively balmy—by Alaskan standards—with average daily highs that are 11 F (6.1 C) greater than the historical average for January. . ."

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Slough, Dough, Cough. . .

(from The Tough Coughs As He Ploughs The Dough by Dr. Seuss)
". . . Dearest creature in creation, study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy, make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear. So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.
Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word, sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)
Now I surely will not plague you with such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.

Hear me say, devoid of trickery, daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles, exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar, solar, mica, war and far;
One, anemone, Balmoral, kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind, scene, Melpomene, mankind.

Billet does not rhyme with ballet, bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food, nor is mould like should and would.
Viscous, viscount, load and broad, toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation’s OK when you correctly say croquet,
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve, friend and fiend, alive and live. . ."


. . . and oh yeah. . . another take on Mr. Graboski's
Slough of Despond
written by John P. Graboski
(OHO rehearsal recording-
Jay Graboski, David Reeve and Ray Jozwiak are OHO)





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