Incongruous. . .

. . . In the midst of responding to a FaceBook posting, I had the occasion to research the spelling of the word 'incongruous'. And it got me to thinking about just how many things we must encounter, juggle, balance and reconcile during the course of a day; so many of which, although seemingly related, are quite INCONGRUOUS. Zappa always had a 'word of the day' at his concerts, generally related to something on his mind or a theme tying the songs in the setlist together, but always a word of the day. Kind of like Sesame Street. Zappa. . . Sesame Street. . . both educational to be sure.

Incongruous. . .



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Just wait until. . .

. . . I always hated when people said such things. I didn't hate the people who said them. They were mostly well-intentioned, though a little outspoken, friends, relatives or acquaintances who were only speaking from their experience for the 'proverbial' betterment of my life.

. . . your kids grow up. . .
. . . you're my age. . .
. . . you have a house. . .
. . . you realize. . .
. . . THAT happens. . .

. . . well, you get the picture. It always seemed, good intentions notwithstanding, a certain bias resulting from each of these well-wishers' individual experiences, was clearly evident. And in many of these cases, the result of which they spoke, which colored their entire perception of the incident, came about through some influence, or lack of influence on their very own part. Sometimes, though I was biting my tongue out of respect for the advice-giver of the moment, I thought to myself, that will never happen to me, because I will . . . (insert the thing that you do, did or will do differently from them).

Which reminds me also of how so many of us, hopefully YOU will not have many occasions to say this, wish that they 'knew then what they know now.' One of our 'shop' teachers in high school would stand in the hallway outside his classroom door between classes and mumble to whomever he was casually conversing, as some particularly attractive 16 or 17-year old coed strolled down the corridor, 'Ah, to be sixteen again and know what I know now!'

Well here's a situation where such reflections actually DID matter. . .

On the last day of Pompeii
Thought I heard some poor boy say
Oh wow man if I knew then what I know now
I would've done more been more than I been
Had fun more sinned more mortal sin
Oh wow
If I knew then what I know now
I would've sent back that steak that was so overdone
Grabbed that big break while there was time time time
Made my life into a fantasy
Hot stuff for me to remember remember
And now that I'm a goner
All that lava rushin' 'round the corner
Oh wow I ain't complainin' only thinkin out loud
You know that my life would be different my love would be different
If I knew then what I know now
My life would be different my love would be different
If I knew then what I know now

On the last day of Pompeii
Thought I heard some poor girl say
Oh wow man if I knew then what I know now
I could've taken up the slide trombone
Had a garden and grew my own
Oh wow man
If I knew then what I know now
I knew I should've taken that Mediterranean cruise
Filled up on chocolate cigarettes and booze
Given some perfect stranger the blues
Hot stuff for me, all that stuff, speakin of hot stuff
And when Vesuvio came to call
Arrivaderci I'd've had a ball [I'd've had it all]
Oh wow man
I ain't complainin' only thinkin' out loud
You know that my life would be different my love would be different
If I knew then what I know now
My life would be different my love would be different
If I knew then what I know now

My life would be -- man, my wife would be --
If I knew then what I know now
Ciao

THE LAST DAY OF POMPEII
by Michael Peter Smith




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This is where. . .

. . . the Brewer's Alley Monday Night Songwriters Showcase takes place. . .

". . . It was in 1725 that Benjamin Tasker patented "Tasker's Chance" - the first of many land speculators in the area. Daniel Dulany laid out the new town hoping to develop a center of trade and a market for goods imported from England. It was not difficult to recruit families in Europe willing to try their luck in a new land.

John Thomas Schley arrived in Frederick Town in 1745 with a group of 100 settlers and built the first house here. Others quickly followed and the town prospered. From the beginning religion played a large part in the life of the town, and three churches, the Lutheran, Anglican, and Reformed (founded by Schley) were firmly established. It was not long before temporary housing gave way to more permanent buildings, and businesses serving the citizens were established. The County of Frederick was founded in 1748."

". . . The building (at 124 North Market Street) was raised in 1769 to accommodate Frederick’s first Town Hall and Market House. It served its purpose for more than 100 years and was witness not only to the birth of the city of Frederick, but also the Civil War, including the ransoming of the city by Confederate General Jubal Early. As Frederick grew and prospered into the 20th century, the location functioned as government offices, then an opera house and theatre. Here, such diverse events as a memorial service for President McKinley in 1901, and the Frederick debut of D.W. Griffith’s film, "The Birth of a Nation," were hosted."

As a matter of fact, the very room where the showcase takes place is the mayor's office where the ransom money actually changed hands.


(Thanks to http://www.cityoffrederick.com and Wikipedia)


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The media and the message. . .

. . . do not always arrive in optimal fashion. The news media, in particular, have evolved over the past thirty years, but not necessarily for the better. And our 'leaders', well, they're even worse. (Fortunately, our current president is head and shoulders above his predecessor in this regard. We do, however, need a better class of 'leaders', in general.)

First, the media. . .
From "America- Our Next Chapter" by Chuck Hagel, Republican (yes, Republican) Senator from Nebraska. . .
"Right alongside them (legislators), kind of like backup singers in a rock group, we have the pundits. They are supposed to be sage fonts of political wisdom; just ask them. When they are not shouting at one another, they are little more than partisan mouthpieces who have learned their talking points by rote. Collectively these "chattering classes" create a hostile, venomous atmosphere, raising the temperature until any politician with a sense of moderation and balance risks appearing as a wimp next to these high-octane blowhards. But reasonableness doesn't push ratings and low ratings hurt the bottom line of the media corporations.

Then, the message. . .
Again, from "America- Our Next Chapter" by Chuck Hagel, Republican (yes, Republican) Senator from Nebraska. . .
"America has always gravitated toward leaders who talk straight, who refuse to constantly calibrate their responses based on the advice of political handlers, polling, and focus groups. Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan were leaders who simply and straightforwardly spoke the facts as they saw them. . . We need leaders who can articulate a vision of where we want to take this nation and then lead us there; honest, competent, accountable leadership is what has always mattered most."



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That much. . .

"Whenever you call me and I'm not on the phone; if you have a problem and you find me at home; you know you can count on me that much. If you say you need me; just a couple days, I'm there. I'll drop what I'm doing if it's something I don't care about. You can count on me that much.

Ours is just like one of those fairytales. Ours is just like one of those shows. One thing 'bout our love that's different, it's not the kind that grows.

I'll always be with you when there's nothing else to do. When everyone's busy, there'll be only me and you. It's clear you can count on me that much.

Would you say it's all you've been hoping for? Would you really prefer something new? Where else could you get this much attention devoted to you?

So don't think you're not special. You're kind of special to me. There's no one else like you. Well, maybe there's just two or three. But be sure you can count on me that much.


THAT MUCH (from CHROMATOSE)
©2003 Raymond M. Jozwiak



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I can't help it. . .

. . . I just want to. . . PLAY!

Have you ever seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail? It's a hilarious spoof from the early 70's starring, written, directed, produced, conceived and whatever-else-you-can-think-of by Monty Python's Flying Circus (Michael Palin [no relation to you-know-who], John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Eric Idle and the late Graham Chapman) of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table mythology and their quest for the Holy Grail. There is a scene where a wealthy landowner has a son that he keeps sequestered in a tower as a result of his embarrassment. The son, who obviously does not measure up to the father's expectations of what a son should be, frequently states his ambition to SING! . . . at which time the father addresses the camera and puts the kabosh on the music swell that begins each time the son mentions his intention, and we hear the music die as if a turntable was switched off in the middle of the music.

Well, the piano is that way for me, like the son's burning desire to SING. What I mean is, I well understand the son's desire to SING! When I am creating music at the piano, I am taken away from all that is earthly. (Getting heavy here.) But seriously, music somehow has the ability to make me transcend my mortal circumstances and somehow soar to a place that's difficult to describe, but one that I like to visit frequently. The only (musical) thing better than that is doing the very same thing in front of an audience of people who are actually listening and apparently, somehow, moved also. (Hellava thing!)

This Monday Night, I will again appear at the Songwriters Showcase at Brewer's Alley Restaurant & Brewery in Frederick.
(124 North Market Street, Telephone: 301-631-0089, http://www.brewers-alley.com/) where I intend to impose Fractured Jazz and Improvisational Terror Tactics on the audience, much like this. . .



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Shame. . .

. . . our representatives appear to have failed us. Journalist from both sides of the camp weighed in. . .

Huffington Post. . .
One of the most-respected and economically intelligent publications in the world, The Economist, has turned against the Republican party for its disgraceful behavior with respect to the US debt-ceiling negotiations. The Republicans, the Economist points out, would rather disrupt the US economy and put the country into default than compromise on a long-term deficit and debt reduction plan. This behavior is an abdication of the Republicans' responsibilities as elected officials. It puts the Republicans' self-interest ahead of the country's. The Republicans' stance on the debt-ceiling has now gone so far, in fact, that the Republicans appear to be trying to disrupt the economy in order to improve their chances in the next elections, rather than address an economic crisis that threatens to affect millions of Americans. This is not practical or responsible. It's also not patriotic. It's traitorous.

Business Insider. . .
Finally, someone in Washington DC is taking a sensible approach to the US's massive debt and deficit crisis: President Obama. The Republicans continue to stick to their ludicrous plan to fix our problems by slashing spending immediately and raising no additional revenue. Over the long haul, spending does need to be cut, but slashing it suddenly will deliver a hammer blow to an already frail economy. The country will plunge back into recession, unemployment will soar, and--importantly from a budget perspective--government revenues will drop. The latter outcome, which we're seeing in Greece, the UK, and other countries that have tried "austerity" as a solution, will defeat the whole purpose of trying to balance the budget by cutting spending.

The National Review. . .
"Reagan may have resisted calls for tax increases, but he ultimately supported them. In 1982 alone, he signed into law not one but two major tax increases. The Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act (TEFRA) raised taxes by $37.5 billion per year and the Highway Revenue Act raised the gasoline tax by another $3.3 billion. According to a recent Treasury Department study, TEFRA alone raised taxes by almost 1 percent of the gross domestic product, making it the largest peacetime tax increase in American history. An increase of similar magnitude today would raise more than $100 billion per year. In 1983, Reagan signed legislation raising the Social Security tax rate. This is a tax increase that lives with us still, since it initiated automatic increases in the taxable wage base. As a consequence, those with moderately high earnings see their payroll taxes rise every single year.
In 1984, Reagan signed another big tax increase in the Deficit Reduction Act. This raised taxes by $18 billion per year or 0.4 percent of GDP. A similar-sized tax increase today would be about $44 billion. The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 raised taxes yet again. Even the Tax Reform Act of 1986, which was designed to be revenue-neutral, contained a net tax increase in its first 2 years.

MediaMatters for America, County Fair. . .
From Will Bunch, author of, “Tear Down This Myth:
The Right-Wing Distortion of the Reagan Legacy,” 2009
What the American people have been news-fed instead has been an ideology loosely based on Reagan, called Reaganism – a notion that has led to the Tea Party’s hatred of anything involving government and the bogus ideas that taxes can only be cut or that diplomacy with America’s rivals is for wimps. With each passing election, more and more of the electorate is too young to have remembered or experienced the real Ronald Reagan, yet are searching for an idealized president based on these right-wing perpetrated fallacies. Many of the worst aspects of the George W. Bush presidency – more tax cuts for the rich, soaring deficits, and “axis of evil” bluster – were rooted in this legend of a man who wasn’t there.




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