(from http://edwardwillett.com/2009/03/science-shows-musicians-really-are-more-sensitive/)
'Researchers at Northwestern University have found that the more years of musical experience musicians possess, and the earlier the age at which they began studying music, the better their nervous systems are at interpreting the emotional content of sound.
The study was led by doctoral student Dana Strait, who conducts her research in the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory at the university (and who is herself a pianist and oboe player).
Strait points out that scientists already know that emotion in speech is carried less by the specific meanings of the words being used than by the sound of those words.
. . . Strait and her colleagues enlisted 30 right-handed men and women, with and without music training, between the ages of 19 and 35. The ones with music training were grouped using two criteria–their total years of music experience and whether their training began before or after the age of seven.
Participants watched a subtitled nature film to keep them entertained (“entertained” is apparently a loose term) while listening through headphones to a “scientifically validated emotion sound”–specifically, 250 milliseconds–a quarter of a second–of a distressed baby’s cry.
Sensitivity to the sound, particularly the more complicated part of the sound that contributes most to its emotional content, was measured through scalp electrodes, which allowed the researchers to track brainstem processing of the sound’s pitch, timing and timbre. . . '
Robert Wyatt was a founding member of the Soft Machine, who along
with Pink Floyd Helped to transform the late sixties psychedelic scene
in the UK into something more lasting. Through successive albums, Soft Machine soon moved toward a more
jazz-based fusion with rock music, punctuated by Wyatt's distinctive
drumming and vocals, attracting a massive following across Europe. After
extensive touring, Wyatt left intending to pursue a solo career, but
instead assembled Matching Mole who released two critically acclaimed
LP's before disbanding prematurely. In 1973, Wyatt fell from a third floor window during a party, leaving
him paralysed from the waist downwards. From that day onwards he has
concentrated his efforts into solo recordings, mixing simple and
effective keyboard melody lines with poignant lyrics, often filled with
personal and political references. The results have proved both haunting
and reflective, even producing two chart hits - his 1974 re-working of
'I'm a Believer', and the 1983 Falklands War indictment 'Shipbuilding'
written especially for him by Elvis Costello.
1957 Raymond Michael Jozwiak is born at Church Home & Hospital, Baltimore, MD
1962 Raymond Michael Jozwiak enters the 1st grade at Our Lady of Fatima School, Baltimore, MD
1963 Raymond Michael Jozwiak begins accordion lessons at the Accordion Institute of Maryland
1972 Raymond Michael Jozwiak joins the band Reflection to play part-time at private functions
1978 Raymond Michael Jozwiak earns his Bachelor of Science degree from Towson State University
1979 Raymond Michael Jozwiak and Pamela Ann Statter marry
1983 Raymond and Pamela buy their first house (in Towson)
1984 - 1990 Raymond and Pamela bring three, extraordinary young men into the world
1985 Raymond Michael Jozwiak trades in his Farfisa Fast 4 and Leslie 145 tone cabinet for his first, (a Wurlitzer, studio upright) piano
1998 Raymond Michael Jozwiak trades in his Wurlitzer, studio upright piano for a Kawai baby grand
2014 Raymond Michael Jozwiak releases 2014, a cumulative, musical distillation of elements from every human, intellectual, emotional and musical experience of his life to date, performed on acoustic, grand pianoforte
(from http://www.erobertparker.com/info/glossary.asp)
Robert Parker's Glossary of Wine Terms
aggressive: Aggressive is usually applied to wines that are either high in acidity or have harsh tannins, or both.
angular: Angular wines are wines that lack roundness, generosity, and depth. Wine from poor vintages or wines that are too acidic are often described as being angular.
astringent: Wines that are astringent are not necessarily bad or good wines. Astringent wines are harsh and coarse to taste, either because they are too young and tannic and just need time to develop, or because they are not well made. The level of tannins (if it is harsh) in a wine contributes to its degree of astringency.
austere: Wines that are austere are generally not terribly pleasant wines to drink. An austere wine is a hard, rather dry wine that lacks richness and generosity. However, young Rhônes are not as austere as young Bordeaux.
backward: An adjective used to describe (1) a young largely unevolved, closed, and undrinkable wine, (2) a wine that is not ready to drink, or (3) a wine that simply refuses to release its charms and personality.
barnyard: An unclean, farmyard, fecal aroma that is imparted to a wine because of unclean barrels or unsanitary winemaking facilities.
big: A big wine is a large-framed, full-bodied wine with an intense and concentrated feel on the palate. Most red Rhône wines are big wines.
brawny: A hefty, muscular, full-bodied wine with plenty of weight and flavor, although not always the most elegant or refined sort of wine.
briery: I think of California Zinfandel when the term briery comes into play, denoting that the wine is aggressive and rather spicy.
chewy: If a wine has a rather dense, viscous texture from a high glycerin content, it is often referred to as being chewy. High-extract wines from great vintages can often be chewy, largely because they have higher alcohol hence high levels of glycerin, which imparts a fleshy mouthfeel.
closed: The term closed is used to denote that the wine is not showing its potential, which remains locked in because it is too young. Young wines often close up about 12-18 months after bottling, and depending on the vintage and storage conditions, remain in such a state for several years to more than a decade.
decadent: If you are an ice cream and chocolate lover, you know the feeling of eating a huge sundae of rich vanilla ice cream lavished with hot fudge and real whipped cream. If you are a wine enthusiast, a wine loaded with opulent, even unctuous layers of fruit, with a huge bouquet, and a plump, luxurious texture can be said to be decadent.
dumb: A dumb wine is also a closed wine, but the term dumb is used more pejoratively. Closed wines may need only time to reveal their richness and intensity. Dumb wines may never get any better.
extract: This is everything in a wine besides water, sugar, alcohol, and acidity.
exuberant: Like extroverted, somewhat hyper people, wines too can be gushing with fruit and seem nervous and intensely vigorous.
fat: When the Rhône has an exceptionally hot year for its crop and the wines attain a super sort of maturity, they are often quite rich and concentrated, with low to average acidity. Often such wines are said to be fat, which is a prized commodity. If they become too fat, that is a flaw and they are then called flabby.
flabby: A wine that is too fat or obese is a flabby wine. Flabby wines lack structure and are heavy to taste.
fleshy: Fleshy is a synonym for chewy, meaty, or beefy. It denotes that the wine has a lot of body, alcohol, and extract, and usually a high glycerin content. Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Hermitage are particularly fleshy wines.
green: Green wines are wines made from underripe grapes; they lack richness and generosity as well as having a vegetal character. Green wines are infrequently made in the Rhone, although vintages such as 1977 were characterized by a lack of ripening.
hard: Wines with abrasive, astringent tannins or high acidity are said to be hard. Young vintages of Rhône wines can be hard, but they should never be harsh.
hollow: Also known as shallow, hollow wines are diluted and lack depth and concentration.
hot: Rather than meaning that the temperature of the wine is too warm to drink, hot denotes that the wine is too high in alcohol and therefore leaves a burning sensation in the back of the throat when swallowed. Wines with alcohol levels in excess of 14.5% often taste hot if the requisite depth of fruit is not present.
(from http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB40001424052702303519404579352551767664072?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB40001424052702303519404579352551767664072.html by James Piereson)
""Income inequality" has emerged as the issue du jour in U.S. politics, threatening to displace the unpopular health-care law and the slow-growing economy this election year. Speeches and columns now routinely attack the banks or "the undeserving rich" and call on Washington to do something to redistribute income from the "super rich" to the poor and middle class. Democrats from President Obama to the new mayor of New York City are leading the charge on behalf of the "99%."
This crusade is based on three questionable claims. One is that the wealthy are mostly Wall Street bankers benefiting from rising stock and real estate prices, or executives who pay themselves extravagant salaries. Another claim is that such people unfairly benefit from a system that taxes capital gains at half the highest marginal rate paid by those who earn salaries and wages. Then there is the assertion that the "super rich" have abundant funds that can be taxed to improve the living standards of everyone else.
All of these claims are false. By promoting them, the president and his supporters may hope to distract attention from ObamaCare and the economy. Yet they are igniting hopes they can't possibly fulfill. . ."
(from http://scalar.usc.edu/works/growing-apart-a-political-history-of-american-inequality/index)
" . . . This shared prosperity of the postwar years was no accident or lucky combination of circumstances. A "rising tide" of robust economic growth does not necessarily lift all boats. Political struggle and policy choices determine whose boats rise. The inequality of the 20th century's early years actually began closing before economic growth took off in the 1940s, as a consequence of the political response to the Great Depression. . . "
(from me. . . )
Mr. Piereson seems content with making the sole point that wealth inequality is basically untrue because the 1% of the population holding the majority of wealth does not consist exclusively of bankers and Wall Street wizards but includes sports, movie, rock and roll and other 'entertainment' types in addition to 'business' executives who draw salaries. And this point alone contents Mr. Piereson that there is no inequality of wealth (with no mention of course about caring for the less fortunate) and that ". . . At a time of slow economic growth, mounting government debt, a stalemated politics and the impending retirement of the "baby boomers," the attacks on the "one percent" look more and more like a diversion from America's real problems."
There comes a time when
You’re out of time then
You’re backed in a corner
With no place left to go
So you cut your losses
Don’t look for causes
Don’t say I didn’t warn ya
Because we both know, I told you so…
Unlock the box, like we agreed
It’s full of things we’re going to need
Give me the keys, we’ll drive right now
We got nothing left here, anyhow…
Our days are shrinking
We’re done with thinking
Behind the eight ball
It’s time to cut and run
It’s not so strange
The rate of exchange --
Oh, it never was our call --
It’s settled by the one who holds the gun…
Unlock the box, like we agreed
It’s full of things we’re going to need
Give me the keys, we’ll drive right now
We got nothing left here, anyhow…
So buckle up now, step on the gas
We’ll sneak out via the underpass
We won’t be back, so say goodbye
We’re going to take a little ride
You know we have to do what’s best
We’re heading west, we’re heading west
Unlock the box, we’re good to go
It’s full of things we gotta know
Give me the keys, we’ll drive right now
We got nothing left here, anyhow
We got nothing left here, anyhow
Unlock the box…
Unlock The Box
(piano demo)
lyrics by Rod Deacey
music by Ray Jozwiak
“The chief lesson I have learned in a long life is that the only way to make a man trustworthy is to trust him; and the surest way to make him untrustworthy is to distrust him and show your distrust.”
-Henry L. Stimson (American statesman, lawyer, politician and civil servant)
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