Kind Of . . .

. . . like it . . .


(from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_tango)
". . . Tango is a dance that has influences from African and European culture. Dances from the candombe ceremonies of former slave peoples helped shape the modern day tango. The dance originated in lower-class districts of Buenos Aires and Montevideo. The music derived from the fusion of various forms of music from Europe. The words "tango" and "tambo" around the River Plate basin were initially used to refer to musical gatherings of slaves, with written records of colonial authorities attempting to ban such gatherings as early as 1789. . . Initially, it was just one of the many dances, but it soon became popular throughout society, as theatres and street barrel organs spread it from the suburbs to the working-class slums, which were packed with hundreds of thousands of European immigrants. . . In Argentina, the onset in 1929 of the Great Depression, and restrictions introduced after the overthrow of the Hipólito Yrigoyen government in 1930, caused tango to decline. Its fortunes were reversed as tango became widely fashionable and a matter of national pride under the government of Juan Perón. Tango declined again in the 1950s, as a result of economic depression and the banning of public gatherings by the military dictatorships; male-only Tango practice—the custom at the time—was considered "public gathering". . ." 



Kind Of A Tango
©2017 Raymond M. Jozwiak

What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html  or at
http://www.ohomusic.com 


Other Ray Jozwiak Offerings

(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)

Get your copy of OHO's  Where Words Do Not Reach now!
Watch The Ocean City Ditty Video on YouTube
Also, be sure to visit: www.rayjozwiak.com and www.ohomusic.com

Tweet  

Follow me on Blogarama

Bello Italia . . .

(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy)
". . . Italy, officially the Italian Republic (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 (116,347 sq mi) and has a largely mediterranean climate; due to its shape, it is often referred to in Italy as lo Stivale (the Boot). With 61 million inhabitants, it is the 4th most populous EU member state. Italy is a very highly developed country and has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and the eighth-largest in the world.

Since ancient times, Sherden, Etruscan, Magna Graecia and other cultures have flourished in the territory of present-day Italy, being eventually absorbed by Rome, that has for centuries remained the leading political and religious centre of Western civilisation, capital of the Roman Empire and Christianity. During the Dark Ages, the Italian Peninsula faced calamitous invasions by barbarian tribes, but beginning around the 11th century, numerous Italian city-states rose to great prosperity through shipping, commerce and banking (indeed, modern capitalism has its roots in Medieval Italy). . ."


Italia
©2015 & 2014 Raymond M. Jozwiak
Available April 7, 2015





What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html  or at
http://www.ohomusic.com 


OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak.  Please Visit http://www.ohomusic.com 


My latest solo offering, Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak, featuring original, instrumental piano music is now available at - Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak

(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

Tweet  

Well Duh. . .

. . .  why would you think anything else?

 (from Cargonews Asia)

 Shareholders of Air France-KLM and Safran voted against big pay-offs for chief executives at the part French state-owned groups as public resistance to lucrative executive pay grows on a continent traumatised by financial turmoil, reported Reuters.

Four-fifths of Air France-KLM shareholders opposed about US$500,000 paid to ex-CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, who also received $1.39 million when he was ousted in October following the airline's poor performance. The stock lost 71 percent last year.

Just over half of shareholders in aerospace group Safran voted against awarding chairman and chief executive Jean-Paul Herteman two years of pay and an extra pension when he steps down. He was paid $1.77 million last year.

The moves, encouraged by the government, are the latest in a series of revolts over pay at annual general meetings as part of the so-called "shareholder spring", which has seen the chief executive of British insurance group Aviva lose his job.

Governments in France and the UK are among those who have promised to get tough on top executive pay as voters grow weary of bank bailouts and the impact of government austerity measures on spending power as the euro zone debt crisis drags on.

France's new Socialist government has said it will flesh out plans to cap the pay of top executives at state-controlled companies by mid-June. President Francois Hollande pledged in his election campaign to limit senior executives' salaries to a maximum of 20 times that of their lowest-paid employee.

In Britain, Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron has promised legislation this year to tackle high executive pay and leaned on bosses to give up bonuses at banks that were partly nationalised in bailouts after the 2008 financial crisis.

Pierre Moscovici, France's new finance minister under Hollande, earlier welcomed the Safran shareholder vote while calling for similar action at Air France-KLM. The state owns 30 percent of Safran and 15.9 percent of Air France-KLM.

"The government is thus again giving a strong signal of its will for change on the question of remuneration," Moscovici said in a statement.

Ex-Air France-KLM CEO Gourgeon was given the additional $500,000 in return for not working for a competitor for three years. He received an annual salary of close to a $1 billion plus a bonus of $324,731.

Current Air France-KLM CEO Jean-Cyril Spinetta told shareholders that Gourgeon had the legal right to keep the money, adding that it was justified because Gourgeon had been approached by several competitors, notably Gulf carriers.

In an interview with France Inter radio earlier on Thursday, however, Moscovici called on Gourgeon to reimburse the payment."Indeed, morally Pierre-Henri Gourgeon should himself pay it back," Moscovici told France Inter. "The bonus has already been paid, but we are saying very clearly that this is not the right thing to do."

Hollande said before his election that several measures were needed to restore fairness in France, a dig at predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy, whose policies Hollande alleged favoured the rich.

The measures included a top income tax rate of 75 percent on income above $1.23 million, in addition to the senior executive pay cap.

What do YOU think?
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html

 
Also download your
very own copy of
AMBIENCE & WINE
by Ray Jozwiak

Please visit
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

Tweet

Sweating . . .

 . . . the small stuff. . .

 I well know the importance of a healthy economy.  I know its importance to me personally, to my family and to the future of the country.  But it seems to me that the (it's not THE LIBERAL, its just THE) press, not to mention numerous and sundry consultants, economists, pundits and 'forecasters' (which may very well be redundant), are exploiting the details of our current crises and consequently, stirring up some sh. . . . . . let us say anxiety.

Case in point (from MSNBC). . .  

"The Labor Department reported Friday that the unemployment rate edged up to 8.2 percent, its first increase in 11 months, as American employers fretted over Europe, higher pump prices and the persistent problems in the housing market. . . "  It's first increase in 11 months!!!   The first ANYTHING doth not constitute a TREND.  And there's the "F" word (no not that one),  I mean "fretted".  Who would know better about "fret" that these guys/girls who cultivate it like Jimmy Carter does peanuts.

". . . Non-farm payrolls rose by 69,000, the lowest increase in a year and well below the 150,000 jobs that economists had expected. . . "  Economists EXPECTED.  So what?  Until they tell my why, how and everything else about why they expected that, why should I fret about what they say?

". . . "It's an awful number. Not only is it awful in its numerical terms, it comes at a very skittish time in the markets because of the European crisis," said Rick Meckler, president of Libertyview Capital Management. . . A number like this brings concern about a global slowdown. The time has probably come to for some new government action in the U.S., Europe and China," . . . " YEAH!  Prolly IS, Rick.  (Who the hell is THIS GUY?  C'mon press.  What makes Libertyview special?)  Of course Rick is upset!!!  And furthermore, ". . . the time has PROBABLY come to(sic) for some NEW GOVERNMENT action in the U.S. . . "????  I do believe Rick may be a Socialist.  (Strange line of business for a Socialist.)

". . . The news came after a government report Thursday that showed the U.S. economy expanded at a 1.9 percent annualized rate in the first quarter, below the initial estimate of 2.2 percent and much slower than the 3.0 percent pace clocked in the fourth quarter. . . "  1.9%;  2.2%;  3%???  A fraction of a percent here and a fraction of a percent there and pretty soon we're talking 3.1%!!!!

". . . "Today's weak jobs report is devastating news for American workers and American families," Romney said in a statement shortly after the data was released. . . "   Exactly what I expected Romney would say. What else is new?

". . . The Obama administration said that while the jobs data was unacceptable, Congress needed to act to help the economy.  "Congress has to take some action because while we see the unemployment rate where it is, it's not acceptable," Solis told CNBC. . . "  (Hilda Solis, U.S. Secretary of Labor)   Well put Hilda.  What does Congress do anyway?

What do YOU think?
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html

 
Also download your
very own copy of
AMBIENCE & WINE
by Ray Jozwiak

Please visit
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

Tweet

Love thy. . .

. . . neighbours. . .

 ALERTS TO THREATS IN 2012 EUROPE : BY JOHN CLEESE

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in
Libya, Egypt and Syria and have therefore raised their security level from
"Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again
to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross."

The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when
tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from
"Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a
"Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish
Armada.

The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's
get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason
they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300
years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its
terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in
France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a
recent fire that destroyed France 's white flag factory, effectively
paralyzing the country's military capability.

Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly"
to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective
Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful
Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniforms and Sing Marching Songs." They also have
two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbour" and "Lose."

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only
threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to
deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new
Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries"
to "She'll be alright, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I
think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and "The barbie is
cancelled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final
escalation level.

A final thought -“Greece is collapsing, the Iranians are getting
aggressive, and Rome is in disarray. Welcome back to 430 BC”.

BLOOD BROTHER
©1998 Raymond M. Jozwiak



What do YOU think?
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html

 
Download your
very own copy of
ANOTHER SHOT
by Ray Jozwiak

Please Visit
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

Tweet