This is my last . . .

a.   waltz
b.   visit
c.   cigarette
d.   gig this week

[The answer is d.]

Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano
at Elk Run Wine Down Fridays
Friday, May 3, 2013 @ 6:00PM
Elk Run Vineyards
15113 Liberty Road  Mt. Airy, MD 21771
Phone: 410-775-2513 • Fax: 410-875-2009 •
TOLL FREE: 800-414-2513
elk_run@msn.com

But this is still a GREAT song. . .

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My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

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Also, be sure to visit:
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Clown. . .

Are YOU lovin' it???

McDonald's was fined by a consumer protection agency in Brazil for targeting children in advertisements for  Happy Meals in the amount of 3.2 million reais (US $1.6 million). And though the amount may not make much of a dent in the fast food giant's pocketbook, the agency leveling the fine could issue additional citations should the firm persist in the offensive practices.

"There's no need to appeal as they do to children without the maturity or the rationality to enter the market as consumers," said an agency representative. The penalty is the latest in a series of increasingly aggressive tactics by Brazilian regulators, who recently have cracked down on large firms for perceived consumer abuses. In recent months, phone companies and private health plans have all been penalized for violation of consumers.

Here at home, a judge threw out a lawsuit against Happy Meal marketing. U.S. regulators have urged companies to voluntarily end food advertising to children unless they are promoting healthy fare, but typically, industry groups are putting up a fierce fight - Surprise! In calculated cooperation, McDonald's has added apples and reduced the amount of french fries in its children's Happy Meals, but insist on keeping the free toy. They also began listing calorie information on menus throughout the United States before the national rule requiring same.

(thanks to The American Journal of Transportation)

What do you think?
Tell me at  
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My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

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

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Nostalgia. . .

Nostalgia brings back “compassionate conservatism”. What a crock that was.

GWB's presidential library in Dallas, Texas is now open.  Legacy? The controversies of the Bush administration from Iraq, the “global war on terror,” the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the fallout from the 2008 financial crisis come to mind.  So do crimes against humanity.

Some legacy. And even his supporters think that he won’t win the kind of historical vindication THEY once thought inevitable.  Vindication??!!  Damned fools!

His presidency was based on deceit.  Or maybe it evolved into Meantime he and his buddies reaped tremendous financial gain on war accessories and oil.

Supporters describe the new library as a "blunt and forthright assessment of the Bush presidency". Visitors will experience a "frank discussion of what was done and why it was done. . . it doesn’t shy away from controversy. The museum takes on the biggest issues for which the president was criticized.”

Objective assessment?  I don't really care.  I won't be visiting.

I, among many others, have had, directly and indirectly, enough of the GWB fallout.  My only hope is that one day, he AND his accomplices are brought to justice.
(thanks to Michael O'Brien, Political Reporter, NBC News)

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

My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
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Good medicine. . .

U.S. Senator Max Baucus -- known as the "Senator from K Street" because of his ties to corporate lobbyists -- is retiring! Former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, a bold progressive populist who supports single-payer health care, would be a strong ally of Elizabeth Warren and lists Paul Wellstone as one of his heroes wants the job. If you're in Montana, let Baucus know where to find the exit by shaming him for voting with gun manufacturers against 79% of his constituents who want background checks. While Max Baucus takes millions from Wall Street, insurance companies, and special-interest lobbyists, Schweitzer is one of the most popular public figures in Montana precisely because he fights big corporations.

Asked about his political heroes, he says, "One is Teddy Roosevelt, who took on the trusts, who recognized—as we ought to recognize today—that corporations are controlling not just our governments but our everyday lives, and there needs to be some equity for families and small businesses. It was Teddy Roosevelt who recognized that there are some pieces of land on this planet that are so special that they need to be conserved for future generations. It was Teddy Roosevelt who warned us about getting into foreign entanglements: “Speak softly, carry a big stick . . and the second would be Paul Wellstone, for many of the same things. Paul Wellstone was the conscience of the United States Senate. When other Senators would line up and cower behind the curtains of big insurance and the military-industrial complex because of their huge campaign contributions...it was Paul Wellstone who often times was the one vote when 99 votes went the other way. Those are the kinds of leaders that we need in this country.
(source:  wwww.boldprogressives.org)

By The Way,  Two Upcoming Performances in the Maryland Area:

1.  Friday, April 26, 2013 @ 6:00PM
Bread & Circuses Bistro
27 E. Chesapeake Avenue
Towson, MD  21286
410-337-5282
http://bandcbistro.com/

2.  Friday, May 3, 2013 @ 6:00PM
Elk Run Vinyards
15113 Liberty Road  Mt. Airy, MD 21771 
Phone: 410-775-2513 • Fax: 410-875-2009 •
TOLL FREE: 800-414-2513
elk_run@msn.com



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

My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

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

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People. . .

. . . are like music. . .

"There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind. "    -Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington


Muhammad Robert Heft, a Muslim community leader in Toronto  said Muslims had helped the security services detain the suspects in an alleged "al Qaeda-supported" plot to blow up a U.S.-Canada rail line.

"We have to be on the front lines," Heft said. "To either nip it in the bud in the very beginning or co-operate with authorities so they can be brought to justice."

"In our community we may look a little different, but in our hearts we love Canada. It's our country. It's our tribe," he added. "We want safety for all Canadians regardless of their religion."

U.S. officials said the attack would have targeted a rail line between New York and Toronto, a route that travels along the Hudson Valley into New York wine country and enters Canada near Niagara Falls.

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

My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

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

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So much music. . .

. . . so little time. . . 

Here's an instrumental performance of an older, never recorded composition, rife with imperfections.  (You sing it.)


Words are all that I have to express all the things I would
Like to be able to tell you  but don't quite know how
Couldn't before and still can't do it now
During all of this time that's transpired little's changed but
A lot has occurred in my thoughts and my feelings for you
Countless superior intellects have searched for answers
I never gave it a whole lot of thought

Until I tried to let you know how much I feel inside
Until I tried to let you know how much I feel inside
for you

I have always believed that it's true very few things I'll
Ever encounter will be quite as precious as you
The magic between us so rare and so new
Though I'm not one of those that you find who has always the
Need to express to so many  exactly what he has in mind
I find I have this burning that's deep down inside me
For words I never needed before

Until I tried to let you know how much I feel  inside
Until I tried to let you know how much I feel  inside
for you

I can't imagine ever having my life depend upon eloquence
And maybe it doesn't
But after all this time together it seems long overdue
And in the end it probably doesn't make a difference in how you feel
If I never say it

Now I'm daily rehearsing the way to articulate
Every syllable nuance and stress when I say
How much I need to have you here today
And I won't give it up easily I suspect that it's
Just as important to you as it is now to me
The words we use themselves have no meaning
So all the more must I make them right

Now that I try to let you know how much I feel  inside
Until I tried to let you know how much I feel inside
for you


Until I Tried
©2007 Raymond M. Jozwiak





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

My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

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

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Good things. . .

. . . come in threes. . .

Ray Jozwiak (that's me) brings his Gonzo (gonzo:  idiosyncratically subjective but engagé) Piano to you three times in the upcoming weeks:

1.  Monday,  April 22, 2013 @ 7:30PM
Brewer's Alley Restaurant & Brewery (Songwriters Showcase-Upstairs)
124 North Market Street Frederick, MD 21701
Telephone: 301-631-0089 Fax: 301-631-1874
http://www.brewers-alley.com/

2.  Friday, April 26, 2013 @ 6:00PM
Bread & Circuses Bistro
27 E. Chesapeake Avenue
Towson, MD  21286
410-337-5282
http://bandcbistro.com/

3.  Friday, May 3, 2013 @ 6:00PM
Elk Run Vineyards
15113 Liberty Road  Mt. Airy, MD 21771
Phone: 410-775-2513 • Fax: 410-875-2009 •
TOLL FREE: 800-414-2513
elk_run@msn.com

(For Ray's complete schedule, see http://www.rayjozwiak.com)
Get the complete BLACK & WHITE THEN BACK download at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3

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

My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

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

Tweet