"They give you a round bat and they throw you a round ball. And they tell you to hit it square."
Willie Stargell (1940-2001; former Pittsburgh Pirates left fielder and 1st baseman)
"It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great."
Tom Hanks as Jimmy Dugan in 1992's "A League of Their Own"
I'm not really a huge baseball fan. Not really a fan of any professional or college-level sports. Guess you could say not a sports fan at all.
But, two-fifths of my family are definitely sports fans, and I think it safe to say most ardently BASEBALL fans, so consequently I occasionally assume the role of a spectator, being the good 'sport' (pun intended) that I am and for the enjoyment of the company. Some aspects of of baseball I do find especially irritating though. First, and probably the most contributory to my remaining dislikes of baseball, is the size of the professional baseball players' salaries. Yes it's free market principles at work. And yes, if huge amounts of the general public (and the two-fifths of my family) refrained from purchasing tickets to attend games then the principles of supply and demand would bring those prices (and salaries, etc) down.
Next (and wouldn't you know it- it's money again) is the astronomical prices levels being charged for food and beverages at the ball park. To the supply and demand equation I (and usually the two-fifths) do not contribute. So in and of itself, the prospect of being a baseball fan simply does not provide me with an adequate return of investment both in terms of money and my valuable time.
But being the optimistic pessimist, I do enjoy aspects of my periodic jaunts to the ballpark when asked. I am fascinated by the ever-present herd mentality of humans at a large sporting event. And I do enjoy the specter of my fellow homosapiens gorging on greasy food and shouting specific instructions to young men hundreds of yards away and far out of hearing proximity. But, as I realized at a recent game, I am becoming increasingly appreciative of the complex psychology (all baseball superstition aside) of the game of baseball.
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, '2014', can be downloaded digitally at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)
Being in a band whose members are deeply committed to self-expression through performing original music does NOT always bode well for live performance opportunities. Therefore, the absence of regular and frequent execution of the musical pieces render the accuracy of occasional performances somewhat random. But you know, they DO say that 'practice makes perfect' and that is, after all, that for which we are striving. And though it may not yet be perfect, we at OHO are progressing significantly in dynamics, emotional subtleties and technical execution of Blood Brother as evidenced by this 'timeline' recording of live and rehearsal recordings pieced together for my own personal enjoyment. . .
. . . maybe yours too?!
Blood Brother
(excerpts from chronologically advancing performances of Blood Brother)by OHO
OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak
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, '2014', can be downloaded digitally at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)
". . . I’ve been meaning to email you for a little while now, and I’m sorry it’s taken me so long.
Got your package on OHO, and yes, I’m definitely interested in
featuring the band on my show, Baltimore Hit Parade. I did Steptoe and
Pooba as a Baltimore Backtrack, which is a feature where I catch up with
Baltimore bands from back in the day. Would you or another member of
OHO be interested in coming in for an interview next Tuesday afternoon
or sometime during the day next Thursday? We’re at 1 Olympic Place off the circle in Towson. . . "
. . . well hell yes, we WOULD be interested in that. More Shortly. . .
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, '2014', can be downloaded digitally at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)
(from http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/washington/house-judiciary-approves-bill-ending-bulk-nsa-data-collection/130970)
". . . The House Judiciary Committee on a voice vote has unanimously approved the USA Freedom Act (H.R. 3361). The bill would end bulk data collection by the National Security Agency, as well as boost transparency and reporting requirements for targeted data requests, require more specificity in those requests, and minimize retention and dissemination of nonpublic data.
The compromise version hashed out over the past weekend was said to be a compromise between Judiciary chair Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and ranking member John Conyers (D-Mich.). The bill was sponsored by Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.).
The White House has taken some steps to reign in NSA data collection, but not enough for critics, including a host of groups planning a day of activism June 5, the anniversary of the first story about NSA surveillance, based on info from leaker Edward Snowden.
At the bill's markup Wednesday, the recurring theme was that the legislation would end bulk data collection that had been conducted, but shouldn't have been, under The PATRIOT Act.
An amendment was defeated that could have led to private companies having to retain customer data longer than they currently do. . ."
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, '2014', can be downloaded digitally at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)
(from http://www.11points.com/Books/11_Things_The_Bible_Bans,_But_You_Do_Anyway
All quotes are translations from the New American Standard Bible)
1. Leviticus 19:27 reads "You shall not round off the side-growth of your heads nor harm the edges of your beard."
2. Football. At least, the pure version of football, where you play with a pigskin. And you're doubly breaking that if you wake up, eat some sausage. . . Leviticus 11:8, which is discussing pigs, reads "You shall not eat of their flesh nor touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you."
3. Fortune telling. Before you call a 900 number (do people still call 900 numbers, by the way?), read your horoscope or crack open a fortune cookie, realize you're in huge trouble if you do. Leviticus 19:31 reads "Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God." The penalty for that? Check Leviticus 20:6: "As for the person who turns to mediums and to spiritists, to play the harlot after them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people."
4. Pulling out. The Bible doesn't get too much into birth control... it's clearly pro-populating but, back when it was written, no one really anticipated the condom or the sponge, so those don't get specific bans.
But... pulling out does. One of the most famous sexual-oriented Bible verses... the one that's used as anti-masturbation rhetoric... is actually anti-pulling out. It's Genesis 38:9-10: "Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so when he went in to his brother's wife, he wasted his seed on the ground in order not to give offspring to his brother. But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord; so He took his life also."
5. No tattoos. Leviticus 19:28 reads, "You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the Lord."
Not even a little butterfly on your ankle. Or Thug Life across your abdomen. Or even, fittingly enough, a cross.
6. Polyester, or any other fabric blends. The Bible doesn't want you to wear polyester. Not just because it looks cheap. It's sinfully unnatural. Leviticus 19:19 reads, "You are to keep My statutes. You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor wear a garment upon you of two kinds of material mixed together."
7. Divorce. The Bible is very clear on this one: No divorcing. You can't do it. Because when you marry someone, according to Mark 10:8, you "are no longer two, but one flesh." And, Mark 10:9 reads, "What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." Mark gets even more hardcore about it a few verses later, in Mark 10:11-12, "And He said to them, 'Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.'"
8. Letting people without testicles into church. Whether you've been castrated or lost one or two balls to cancer isn't important. The Bible doesn't get that specific. It just says you can't pray. Deuteronomy 23:1 reads (this is the God's Word translation, which spells it out better), "A man whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off may never join the assembly of the Lord." Oh, and the next verse says that if you're a bastard, the child of a bastard... or even have a great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchild of a bastard, you can't come to church or synagogue either. Deuteronomy 23:2 reads, "No one of illegitimate birth shall enter the assembly of the Lord; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall enter the assembly of the Lord."
9. Wearing gold. 1 Timothy 2:9 doesn't like your gold necklace at all. Or your pearl necklace. Or any clothes you're wearing that you didn't get from Forever 21, Old Navy or H&M. "Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments."
10. Lobster, shrimp and clam chowder: All banned. Shellfish. Leviticus 11:10 reads, "But whatever is in the seas and in the rivers that does not have fins and scales among all the teeming life of the water, and among all the living creatures that are in the water, they are detestable things to you." And shellfish is right in that wheelhouse. Leviticus 11 bans a TON of animals from being eaten (it's THE basis for Kosher law); beyond shellfish and pig, it also says you can't eat camel, rock badger, rabbit, eagle, vulture, buzzard, falcon, raven, crow, ostrich, owl, seagull, hawk, pelican, stork, heron, bat, winged insects that walk on four legs unless they have joints to jump with like grasshoppers (?), bear, mole, mouse, lizard, gecko, crocodile, chameleon and snail.
11. Your wife defending your life in a fight by grabbing your attacker's genitals. No joke. Deuteronomy actually devotes two verses to this exact scenario: Deuteronomy 25:11-12. "If two men, a man and his countryman, are struggling together, and the wife of one comes near to deliver her husband from the hand of the one who is striking him, and puts out her hand and seizes his genitals, then you shall cut off her hand; you shall not show pity."
That's impossible to misinterpret. Ladies, if your husband is getting mugged, make sure to kick the mugger in the pills. Do not do the grip and squeeze (no matter what "Miss Congeniality" might advise). Or your hand needs to be cut off.
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, '2014', can be downloaded digitally at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)
. . . the gory details of behind-the-scenes politics at the highest level of The U.S. government gives one pause. Granted, I was just a kid when these people were active, but it is absolutely mind-boggling to learn of the great lengths to which some will go in the interest of power. And money, for that matter, although my current reading material is about power while the sub-plot of 'money can easily buy power' (a fact of which our current conservative supreme court justices are blissfully unaware) is all too present. And this is really nothing new to our times, my lifetime or recent history. As long as history has been recorded the very same has been true. It makes me quite content with my own principles. I will never be rich (financially) nor powerful (politically), but I will always be honest and true to myself and in any and all human interactions in which I participate. Really!
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, '2014', can be downloaded digitally at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)
Six AM
The buses aren't nearly as crowded
As the night before
Someone said there was
Music and laughter
Behind all the shutters and doors
What was all of it for
Who needs friends
There's barely a minute for breathing
Everyone here works so hard
There's no party
When I reach my doorstep
I struggle to pull out my key
Where's the meaning for me
You see but you're unaware
There's life on the other side
But there's no bridge to cross
I'm looking through the fog
For some way out of here
I've baggage here to toss
Bless my soul
I've read about you in the paper
I've seen your picture somewhere
When you speak it's in volumes and volumes
I can't hear a word that you say
Funny it happens that way
I've been told that envy's the thing I've been feeling
For your kind of work and your play
But to tell you the truth
That it's only a wish
For a new kind of day
When worry and fear melt away
Could be
That a day will come
When you just might understand
But there's no bridge to cross
I'm looking through the fog
For some way out of here
I've baggage here to
I've baggage here to
I've baggage here to toss
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, '2014', can be downloaded digitally at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)
