Blood Brother

Barrooms sure have a funny way of bringing loyalty out in a man. Buy a drink and tell a joke and buddy, you've got you a friend.
But keep a good eye upon that friend because he really doesn't give two hoots. And don't say anything about his Mom, his girlfriend or his army boots. I'll be your Blood Brother, by your side through thick and thin. I'll be your Blood brother, just as long as I don't have to bloody my hands.

Walked into an automoshowroom. I need some wheels but got no money to spend. When a guy with an ugly tie walks out and acts like he's my long lost friend. I said hey buddy I've a purpose here. And if you please I will accomplish my goal. And don't you slap me on the back again. 'Cause if you do I might just lose my control. I'll be your Blood Brother, by your side through thick and thin. I'll be your Blood brother, just as long as I don't have to bloody my hands.

So please be careful when you meet someone who'll make a promise at the drop of a hat. And don't provide them with encouragement. You will regret the day you offered them that. 'Cause everybody has some empathy. But just how willing and how far will they go to really help you when the chips are down. Can they be trusted half as far as you throw them? I'll be your Blood Brother, by your side through thick and thin. I'll be your Blood brother, just as long as I don't have to bloody my hands.

©1994 Raymond M. Jozwiak




Download your
very own copy of
ANOTHER SHOT
by Ray Jozwiak

Please Visit

http://www.rayjozwiak.com



Tweet

But there's more. . .

. . . more what, you ask???

Much of my leisure time during my adolescent years was spent absorbed in music. Like the copier company in the Baltimore area with the humorous commercials, 'I lived and breathed the stuff.' And since my adolescent years were particularly uncomfortable, not only was music a distraction from school, uncomfortable social situations and my lack of self confidence, it also provided comfort. It was good therapy. And in more ways than one. While I was busy practicing, listening, transcribing and learning, I was absorbing theoretical concepts without consciously realizing it. Many Saturday evenings, when my contemporaries were 'out and about' exploring more prurient interests or logging invaluable experience with (as Zappa called them) 'the opposite camp', I was in front of a black and white television set showing Mary Tyler Moore with a sheet of manuscript paper in front of me, composing or transcribing my own solos or some Art Van Damme or Charles Magnante piece.





But download your
very own copy of
ANOTHER SHOT
by Ray Jozwiak

Please Visit

http://www.rayjozwiak.com



Tweet

Ever hear. . .

. . . of Foreign Accent syndrome?

Karen Butler is from Oregon, not England. When asked where she got her accent, she says from her dental surgeon.

In 2009 Butler, a 56-year-old tax consultant in Toledo, Ore., awoke from denture implant surgery with an accent that's a bit British with a Transylvanian twang, and it just sort of stuck.

"I had just had surgery, so at first we assumed it was because of all of the swelling," said Butler. "But within a week the swelling went down and the accent stayed."

Butler has foreign accent syndrome -- a condition so rare that only about 60 cases have been documented worldwide. Often preceded by a small stroke, the new drawl is thought to stem from a minor injury to a tiny area of the brain responsible for language pattern and tone.

"This is a very small part of the brain that controls the articulation and the intonation of speech that's affected, and that's why it's so rare," said Dr. Ted Lowenkopf, a neurologist and medical director of Providence Stroke Center in Portland, Ore., in an interview with ABC News affiliate KATU. "The chances to hit such a small area are more than a million to one in a stroke."





download your
very own copy of
ANOTHER SHOT
by Ray Jozwiak

Tweet

How can people be so heartless. . .

. . . says James Rado's lyrics from EASY TO BE HARD from the musical HAIR. These lyrics occurred upon hearing a portion of a BBC radio program where Hank Thomas, one of the original Freedom Riders talk about the horrible things he and others experienced in the pre-civlil rights south. Below is from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/13533144. Read about Hank's experiences. I don't think you can help but be moved.

"Fifty years after the so-called Freedom Riders risked their lives trying to break the practice of segregating people on the US public transport system, the veteran activists have reunited to inspire a new generation.

"We changed American history," says Bob Filner, now a California congressman. "And we should do the same thing today."

Just across the road from Filner is the old Greyhound station where he and hundreds of other Freedom Riders were arrested in the summer of 1961.

This week, many of them have come back to Jackson, Mississippi to mark the anniversary of their remarkable journey - desegregating buses, lunch counters and restrooms all the way from Washington to New Orleans.

But in the bars and meeting rooms, discussions move swiftly from the achievements of yesterday, to the problems of today.

"I don't care whether the issue is healthcare or housing or the environment, we should be applying non-violent, direct action to these struggles," says Filner. . ."



download your
very own copy of
ANOTHER SHOT
by Ray Jozwiak

Tweet

The Revolution. . .

. . . will not be televised.

Never was.
Never will.

Gill Scott Heron, R.I.P.





download your
very own copy of
ANOTHER SHOT
by Ray Jozwiak

Tweet

There were times. . .

. . . when I felt that I had ALWAYS taken accordion lessons. Then there were times when I felt that I would never be allowed to STOP taking them. But through the twenty-twenty vision of hindsight, they were ten years well spent on lessons which exposed me to a wealth of musical variety with an initiation to and education in music theory.

Somewhere around my last year of lessons, an unusual development regarding the operation of the Maryland Accordion Institute occurred. My friend, and fellow accordion student of Greek descent, possessing an appropriately lengthy Greek name and who we knew affectionately as Jimmy, purchased the operation. As I was about seventeen years of age at the time, I was understandably astounded at #1, the fact that Jimmy had the financial resources to purchase an entire business AND #2, the fact that Jimmy had the intellectual capability, the drive, motivation and just plain chutzpah to take on such a gargantuan challenge at this tender age. Jimmy was probably several years my senior, but just the same, truly quite an intelligent, thoughtful, practical and generally resourceful young man. And while he may have had the financial assistance of some older adults, he was, by all means, up to such a challenge. By that time in the life-span of the Institute and the current tastes and trends in popular culture, the Institute and accordion lessons in general, were already on their way OUT. But this was by no means a reflection on the talents and abilities of my friend Jimmy when it came to running the Maryland Accordion Institute. His great display of maturity in the whole affair made me proud of him and of myself as well, if only by association with my mature and sophisticated friend.

And the association was briefly more that simply friendship. Jimmy asked me to handle some musical affairs at the Institute during his vacation. This would mean unlocking the building, performing the duties of an instructor and handling the subsequent cash transactions. I was flattered to be asked, eager to prove the wisdom of his choice and filled with new and exorbitant amounts of self esteem at my new, responsible and lofty position even though it was only a temporary, vacation fill-in position.




download your
very own copy of
ANOTHER SHOT
by Ray Jozwiak

Tweet

The Comedy Continues. . .

News From "E Online". . .

"The former half-term governor of Alaska will be the subject of a documentary developed at her suggestion by conservative filmmaker Stephen Bannon. Called "The Undefeated", the doc is said to tout her purported political strengths and just possibly set the stage for a presidential run. . . Calling the film "The Undefeated" -- which comes from a John Wayne movie -- may be a little ironic, however, given Palin's ticket lost the last election."



download your
very own copy of
ANOTHER SHOT
by Ray Jozwiak

Tweet