What's Going On . . .

in . . .

*Ukrainian and Russian troops in standoff at Crimean military base Ukrainian

*PM warns of war in case of further escalation Russian senate approves use of Russian military in Ukraine

*China train station knife attack: police hunt suspects
Xinjiang separatists blamed for Saturday's attack at railway station in Kunming in which at least 29 people died

*Oscar Pistorius's family plead for end to media frenzy as trial begins
Uncle of Paralympian accused of girlfriend's murder begs press to end speculation on his personal life while court case is under way

*Gay British man deported from Uganda urges government to help his partner
Bernard Randall says ministers need to do much more for Albert Cheptoyek, facing seven years' prison on indecency charges

*Prime suspect in murder of Irish journalist Veronica Guerin is shot
Drug trafficker John Gilligan in hospital
(source:  http://www.theguardian.com/world/lead)


Harbor Noon
©2013 Raymond M. Jozwiak
from '2014'
available April 8, 2014 at http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak





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

OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4 (and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD). 

My latest solo 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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Doctor! . . .

(fromhttp://truth-out.org/opinion/item/19692-obamacare-the-biggest-insurance-scam-in-history)
". . . A fundamental problem with the ACA is that it is based on continuing our complicated private health insurance or market-based system. Despite their advertising slogans, private insurers primarily exist to create profit for their investors or, in the case of "nonprofit insurers," to pay exorbitant salaries to their executives. They care about health as much as Big Oil cares about the environment.

Health insurers make their profits from charging the highest premiums they can and by restricting and denying payment for care. They want to take in as much money as they can, while paying out as little on health care as possible. They have many tools with which to do this, and they've successfully skirted regulations for decades. When they can't make a profit, they simply pull that product from the shelf and create new products.

The public has been led to believe that the ACA has changed the behavior of health insurers. In this section we briefly explain some major areas of concern and why many of the promises of the ACA are false. . . "

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

OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is available at Trax On Wax (exclusively--or until CD baby sets up a page for it) on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville (MD).  Don't pay any more than the suggested retail price of $2.99.

My latest solo 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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Fascinatin' . . .

 Did You Know?
Paper generation has decreased by 17 million tons, or 20 percent, in the last 11 years? Virtually all of this decline came in paper grades such as newspaper and writing paper, due to the increased popularity of digital media.  [Source: Waste360, Nov/Dec 2013]

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

OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4 (and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD). 

My latest solo 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

Upcounty . . .

(Okay, so the picture is truly superfluous - EXCUSE ME!!!)


Just heard about these guys.  I like them.  (It doesn't hurt, of course, that my brother will soon be their steel guitarist.  GO JOHN!!!!)


(from http://www.reverbnation.com/theupcountyband)
About The Up County Band
The Up County Band
Hometown: Dundalk, MD
Genres: Country / Alt.Country / Americana
Members: Joe Kurek- lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, Nick "Sterling" Stricklin-Lead guitar, vocals, Sean "Bon" Gurney-Bass guitar, vocals, Dave Voss-Drums

We are The Up County Band! We are a country/rock band from the Baltimore area. We are an up beat, in your face, loud and proud country act ... This ain't ya Daddys country! We write all of our own original music, and perform a wide variety of covers, new and old. We love performing covers for the fans but we pride ourselves in our own originals. Thinking outside the box, while staying true to your roots is important to us, so that we are able to create a diverse collection of new unique country music. If you come to see us live, expect to see a fast paced, loud, honky-tonk style show. Our fans have come to know us on stage as the bunch of redneck goofballs that we are. We'll be laughin', drinkin', and shakin' our asses up there and we expect the same from our fans ... we're up there havin' the time of our lives and we want to share it with you. So, check out our tunes, and videos, become a fan, like us on face book, and stay in touch with us so we can see ya out at the next show! Later y'all!
TUCB

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

OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is available at Trax On Wax (exclusively--or until CD baby sets up a page for it) on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville (MD).  Don't pay any more than the suggested retail price of $2.99.

My latest solo 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

Cognitive . . .

. . . dysfunction . . .


I am not old by today's standards, being in my late 50s.  People my age do, though, tend to begin thinking about things that do not generally preoccupy 20-somethings.  I mean things like mortality, legacy, beneficence and health- both physical and mental.

Pam and her friend recently had a discussion about one of those topics.  The friend was explaining that she has set a retirement date and needs to do that sooner rather than later because she feels that she just doesn't have the 'brainpower' to continue to function in her professional capacity in an optimum manner.  Pam, sympathizing of course, offer the suggestion of consulting some reading material which she had recently encountered.  She said that her friend should google 'cognitive dysfunction'. Her friend, betraying some interest in the topic asked, "what is cognitive dysfunction' to which Pam responded, "Actually, I don't remember. . . "

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

OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is available at Trax On Wax (exclusively--or until CD baby sets up a page for it) on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville (MD).  Don't pay any more than the suggested retail price of $2.99.

My latest solo 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

Plunge . . .

At heaven's door we pick the lock
When all we had to do was knock
Though Alice she rattles her train of chains
The fetters are inward all the same

Take a look as you fall
Passing through another wall
Here is where the corn is cut
The wind comes down
Get off the pot
Get off the pot
Get off the pot

It's your world the way that you live
Eats the smile right off your face         
You're not in Kansas anymore
I am the sheath I cry for more

Biding trends and waves of shock
The turbulence it turns me on
Nonetheless we're born and rocked
By divas, drunks and Barbie dolls

I signed up for high-wired acts
If I lose my balance just cut me some slack
I'm holding out for what can be
emc-squared possibility

Experience to be alive
The abstract now is literalized
You have dreams and nightmares to explore
Get the goods
Get off the floor
Get off the floor
Get off the floor


Plunge
(Basic tracks for OHO-Jay Graboski, David Reeve, Ray Jozwiak)
by John P. Graboski




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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It's True . . .

(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. . . '

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