Songs. . .

. . . are for everyone. . .

(from Christopher Hitchens, God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything)
". . .One must state it plainly. Religion comes from the period of human prehistory where nobody—not even the mighty Democritus who concluded that all matter was made from atoms—had the smallest idea what was going on. It comes from the bawling and fearful infancy of our species, and is a babyish attempt to meet our inescapable demand for knowledge (as well as for comfort, reassurance and other infantile needs). Today the least educated of my children knows much more about the natural order than any of the founders of religion, and one would like to think—though the connection is not a fully demonstrable one—that this is why they seem so uninterested in sending fellow humans to hell. . .”

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(from NBC News)
". . . An asteroid half the size of a football field will give Earth the ultimate close shave this month, passing closer than many satellites when it whizzes by. But it won't hit the planet, NASA scientists say.  The asteroid 2012 DA14 will fly by Earth on Feb. 15 and zip within 17,200 miles (27, 680 kilometers) of the planet during the cosmic close encounter. The asteroid will approach much closer to Earth than the moon, and well inside the paths of navigation and communications satellites. "This is a record-setting close approach," Don Yeomans, the head of NASA's asteroid-tracking program, said in a statement. "Since regular sky surveys began in the 1990s, we've never seen an object this big get so close to Earth."

Asteroid 2012 DA14 was discovered last year by an amateur team of stargazers at the La Sagra Sky Survey observatory in Spain. Yeomans stressed that, while the asteroid's approach brings it closer than the geosynchronous satellites orbiting 22,245 miles (35,800 km) above Earth, 2012 DA14 poses no threat of a deadly collision with the planet. . . "


Would they REALLY tell us if there WAS? . . .

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Slough. . .

Ough is a letter sequence often seen in words in the English language. In Middle English, where the spelling arose, it was probably pronounced with a back rounded vowel and a velar fricative, e.g., [oːx] or [uːx]. It is by far the sequence of letters with the most unpredictable pronunciation, having at least six pronunciations in North American English and over ten in British English. A few of the more common are these:

    /oʊ/ as in "though" (cf. toe).
    /uː/ as in "through" (cf. true).
    /ʌf/ as in "rough" (cf. ruffian).
    /ɒf/ as in "cough" (cf. coffin).
    /ɔː/ as in "thought" (cf. taut).
    /aʊ/ as in "bough" (cf. to cow).


Slough of Despond by John P. Graboski
Performed by Oho (rehearsal recording)





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Fifteen. . .

Fifteen minutes of glory
Maybe less
What I wouldn't give for the chance
To confess
All my intimate secrets
All my hopes and my desires
I don't care just how valid
You think that they are
They've been mine for a long long time
And I'm not ashamed of them

Shut up Joe
How do you really know
What's going down
How can you tell if there's a problem somewhere
To be found
We all need to gather round
To help everybody else to see
That running your mouth aloud
Makes it that much more difficult
For you and me
And our integrity

Went to work at the factory
At fourteen
Thought I'd finish my schooling
Sometime in between
Drunken weekends and futile street fights
And the visits to my best girl
But the time slipped away
I've got bills here to pay
I've got small ones depending on me
My vision is limited

Shut up Joe
How do you really know
What's going down
How can you tell if there's a problem somewhere
To be found
We all need to gather round
To help everybody else to see
That running your mouth aloud
Makes it that much more difficult
For you and me
And our integrity

All my life I've known
I'd want to say
Something to my
Fellow man today
Couldn't let the facts
Get in the way.

We weren't that well acquainted
Never were
An occasional run-in
We preferred
There's one thing that we both believe in
Heard it over and over again
It was something about
All the fondness we felt
How the heart can't miss what's not around
If the mind doesn't value it

Shut up Joe
How do you really know
What's going down
How can you tell if there's a problem somewhere
To be found
We all need to gather round
To help everybody else to see
That running your mouth aloud
Makes it that much more difficult
For you and me
And our integrity


Integrity
©2008 Raymond M. Jozwiak




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Musical . . .

. . . life . . .

Many folks get many different things from music.  Some people care very little for it, or at least do not pay it much attention.  Still others are attracted, mesmerized, addicted, absorbed, delighted, voracious, dedicated or dependent upon it.  Those truly dependent upon it derive an oblique, ethereal or indescribable satisfaction from it.

Some people dive into it with the intention of obtaining huge material gains from it and some do.  While others dive into it with the intention of obtaining huge emotional or 'spiritual' gains from it and do.

One of those was Paul Tanner, who recently died at the age of ninety-five.  No Grammy winner, Mr. Tanner, but not only did he play trombone on the 1939 hit 'In The Mood', he also played the electro theramin (which he helped develop) on 'Good Vibrations' and other Beach Boys recordings.  A musical life, long and well-lived.

Who could ask for more?

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iPod? . . .

. . . as a solo instrument. . .

(from Wikipedia.com)
Don ". . . Preston was born into a family of musicians in Detroit and began studying music at an early age. His father was the composer-in-residence for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Preston later did a stint in the army, serving in Trieste, Italy. Upon his return to Detroit during the early '50s, Preston associated with pianist Tommy Flanagan. He also sat in with Elvin Jones and others at the city's West End Cafe where Yusef Lateef conducted twice-a-week jam sessions with Milt Jackson's brother, bassist Alvin Jackson.

Preston moved to Los Angeles in 1957 where he hooked up with pianist Paul Bley, bassist Charlie Haden, and others who were hearing jazz in new ways.

Many will recognize Preston from his long collaboration with Frank Zappa as the keyboardist and one of the members of the original Mothers of Invention. Preston performed and recorded with Zappa until 1974. During that time he was music director for Meredith Monk(with whom he had previously shared a house) and started recording and performing electronic music.

He is a co-founder of the Grandmothers and still active with the band, completing an extensive tour in Summer-Fall 2000 and later tours through 2011.

Preston also appeared on-stage as a guest keyboardist with the Zappa tribute band Project/Object (featuring Zappa Band alumni Ike Willis and Napoleon Murphy Brock) for several shows in 2001 and 2002.

From his Cryptogramophone Records biography: "Often compared to Cecil Taylor for his style of attacking the keys with intense passion, Preston’s solos also reflect intellect, technical skills and a storyteller's way with a line. His playing, like his compositions, ranges across panoramas of mood and emotion, all colored with the freedom that comes from possessing remarkable facility.

Preston has played and recorded with the likes of John Lennon, Peter Erskine and John Carter. He also has scored more than 20 feature film scores and 14 plays. He's the winner of numerous awards, and has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and London Philharmonic. Known to jazz and keyboard aficionados for his pioneering contributions in the use of synthesizers and piano, legendary clarinetist and composer John Carter dubbed Don Preston the "father of modern synthesis.". . . "

And yes indeed, he DOES play the iPod. . .

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Thought. . .

 . . . so?   Or not? . . .

(from "Thomas Jefferson;  Author of America" by Christopher Hitchens)
". . . As his days began to wane, Jefferson more than once wrote to friends that he faced the approaching end without either hope or fear.  This was as much as to say, in the most unmistakable terms, that he was not a Christian.  As to whether he was an atheist, we must reserve judgment if only because of the prudence he was compelled to observe during his political life.  But as he had written to his nephew Peter Carr as early as 1787, one must not "be frightened from this inquiry by any fear of its consequences.  If it ends in a belief that there is no God, you will find incitements to virtue in the comfort and pleasantness you fell in its exercise, and the love of others which it will procure you.". . . "

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