Beating . . .

. . . a dead horse. . . (also known as bitch, bitch, bitch) . . .
I really am an artist.  In most senses of the word.  I am very sensitive to everything.  But I am not however, one for melodramatics.  No false or exaggerated emotions and no pop-culture sentimentality. I find it infinitely amazing and entertaining how some folks can drivel on about the Emmys, Oscars or fartzies, or post endless arrays of kitten and puppy videos much the same as I marvel at the gullibility of some of the most intelligent people when it comes to Internet falsehoods, hyperbole or political hyper-spin. In this day and age when we all have an infinite library at our fingertips, there is simply no excuse to fall for such crap.

I also find no need to be a cheerleader.  First, I don't have the looks or the physique.  Second, I don't have the motivation.  Never did.  Never will. If a sports franchise happens to be based in my hometown I do not automatically feel a deep and immediate connection.  Guess I've simply learned through the years that my personal time is finite and I still don't have enough to expend it upon things in which I AM interested, let alone those in which I am not. I am not begrudging or criticizing those folks who do take an interest in professional athletics.  I have family members who do. But, much as in high school when the mantra of 'school spirit' was preached incessantly to my deaf ears, I simply am not feeling it (sports/pop-entertainment) and my life will be no worse off for any lack thereof.

What do you think?
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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) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak

My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

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

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Alternate Take . . .

. . . of Hunters & Gatherers . . .


Everyone is searching for the truth
Why and what's the meaning of this life
And are we living proof of anything
Long ago we lost our tribal ways
Centuries have passed so much has changed
But time and time again we think the same
Like hunters and gatherers
Like hunters and gatherers

Big machines and tiny circuitry
Airplanes buildings bridges fill the sky
Just look what progress brings to you and me
Scientific wonders do abound
Medicines cure many maladies
There's progress all around yet in some ways
We're hunters and gatherers
We're hunters and gatherers

And after only these few thousand years
We've ceased to look for answers in the sky
We can no longer live with all these lies
So long accepted without asking why

Whether we approve or if we don't
Everything we know and love will change
There's just no way they won't it has to be
Ours is not to run or disbelieve
Time to face the facts don't be deceived
By people clinging to the past
Like hunters and gatherers
Like hunters and gatherers


Hunters & Gatherers
Alternate Take(newly recorded music for a proposed 2016 solo release)



What do you think?
Tell me at
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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) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak

My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

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

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Protocol . . .

(from wikipedia.com)
MIDI is short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a protocol, digital interface and connectors and allows a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers and other related devices to connect and communicate with one another. A single MIDI link can carry up to sixteen channels of information, each of which can be routed to a separate device.

MIDI carries event messages that specify notation, pitch and velocity, control signals for parameters such as volume, vibrato, audio panning, cues, and clock signals that set and synchronize tempo between multiple devices. These messages are sent to other devices where they control sound generation and other features. This data can also be recorded into a hardware or software device called a sequencer, which can be used to edit the data and to play it back at a later time.

MIDI technology was standardized in 1983 by a panel of music industry representatives, and is maintained by the MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA). All official MIDI standards are jointly developed and published by the MMA in Los Angeles, California, US, and for Japan, the MIDI Committee of the Association of Musical Electronics Industry (AMEI) in Tokyo.

Advantages of MIDI include compactness (an entire song can be coded in a few hundred lines, i.e. in a few kilobytes), ease of modification and manipulation and choice of instruments.

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) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak

My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

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

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What Hath . . .

. . . we wrought? . . .

(from http://fox2now.com/2014/08/27/4-year-old-expelled-from-pre-school-for-moms-facebook-post/)
A Florida mom says her four-year-old was expelled from his preschool over a message she posted on her personal Facebook page. Ashley Habat says she and her son will were running late for school. It was picture day at Sonshine Christian Academy. “The administrator of the preschool checking him in she’s like “Well it’s picture day Will are you excited?” and you know he of course just went on to class but I had mentioned that they didn’t give enough notice. And she’s like, “Well we put it in his folder last week.” said Ashley Habat. So Habat says she took to Facebook, saying she just wanted to vent her frustrations. She also never thought the school would ever see her post. “They couldn’t see it, it was private to my friends only.” said Ashley Habat. The post read, “Why is it that every single day there is something new I dislike about Will’s school? Are my standards really too high or are people working in the education field really just that ignorant.” She tagged the school in the post. The next morning she received a call asking her to stop by when she drops off her son. “They just felt like we weren’t the right fit of parent relationship with the school and that they didn’t want him as a student anymore. He had done nothing wrong.” said Ashley Habat. According to the letter of dismissal, “Your relationship with Sonshine did not get off to a very good start the first day of school. You utilized social media to call into question not only the integrity but the intelligence of our staff. These actions are also consistent with sowing discord which is spoken of in the handbook you signed. “I was in shock. Why would you expel a 4-year-old over something his mom posts on her private Facebook page only people on her friends list can see.” said Ashley Habat. . .

What do you think?
Tell me at
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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) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak

My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

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

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Bad . . .

. . . Choice(s) . . .

(http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/arizona-shooting-range-instructor-killed-girl-uzi-n189611)
A shooting range instructor in Arizona was accidentally shot and killed by a 9-year-old girl who was learning how to shoot an Uzi, authorities said on Tuesday. Charles Vacca, 39, was teaching the girl how to use the automatic weapon on Monday morning at the Last Stop outdoor shooting range in White Hills, Arizona, when she pulled the trigger and the kickback caused the gun to lurch over her head, investigators said. Vacca was hit by a stray bullet and airlifted to University Medical Center in Las Vegas, where he was pronounced dead late Monday. The girl was at the range with her parents at the time, but their names were not released.  Sam Scarmardo, the manager for the Last Stop's shooting range, told NBC News that "the established practice at most shooting ranges is 8 years old and up with parental supervision." He said Vacca was a "great guy, with a great sense of humor" and called him "very conscientious and very professional." Scarmardo said that the range has never had a similar incident in over a decade of being open — "not even a scratch." "I just ask everybody to pray for Charlie, and pray for the client, she’s going to have a hard time," said Scarmardo. The Arizona Department of Public Safety referred inquiries to the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, which didn't return calls for comment.
Ronald Scott, a Phoenix-based firearms safety expert, said most instructors usually have their hands on guns when children are firing high-powered weapons. "You can't give a 9-year-old an Uzi and expect her to control it," Scott told the Associated Press.

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) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak

My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

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

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Old . . .

. . . story. . .

. . . but amusing . . . (maybe Warren should help someone who actually NEEDS it)


(from http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/warren-buffett-admires-lebron-james-business-sense-172013145--nba.html)
". . . Politics makes for strange bedfellows, and money makes for even stranger ones. Witness: the budding lovefest between LeBron James, 27-year-old multimillionaire and best player in the NBA, and Warren Buffett, 82-year-old multibillionaire and second-richest man in the country.

James is coming off a year in which he achieved every possible height in his chosen profession: MVP, championship, Olympic gold medal. But he's always had his eye on larger prizes. He's long wanted to join Tiger Woods and Michael Schumacher as billion-dollar athletes, and he's in the process of collecting a team that might just make that happen.

And Warren Buffett is a solid first-round draft pick for that team. Buffett recently told the Miami Herald that he believes LeBron has what it takes to succeed in the boardroom.

"You have to get to know him," Buffett said. "LeBron's not initially really talkative. He's savvy. He's smart about financial matters. It's amazing to me the maturity he exhibits. I know that if I had been famous at that age, I would have had trouble keeping my feet on the ground." (What kind of a vertical leap do you figure Buffett has?) . . .  ground." (What kind of a vertical leap do you figure Buffett has?) . . .But his bank account is doing just fine. He earned $53 million in 2011, according to Forbes, $40 million of which came from endorsements. That puts him behind only Woods and boxers Floyd Maywether and Manny Pacquiao. But it's still a long way from there to a billion, and that's where Buffett and others come in. James will be looking to maximize sponsor opportunities, and at the moment he's got his choice of high-profile companies, such as Nike, Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Samsung. . ."

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) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak

My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

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

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A Different Perspective . . .

. . . than when I was eighteen. . .

After lunch downtown, I noticed a relatively crisp five-dollar bill on the ground, gently rocking in the wind just outside the door of the food court.  Surprising myself, I quickly stooped down and scooped it up.  I then, correcting myself for being so selfishly hasty, glanced left, right and behind me to ensure someone wasn’t searching for the note they just dropped or at least upon the verge of realizing that they just dropped it.  But alas, the few people within range were going about their business and none appeared to have dropped or missed anything. 

So I thought to myself, should I really have picked it up in the first place?  If I leave this bill on the ground in hopes that its owner returns to claim it, surely someone not far behind and in no greater need of it will pick it up instead.  And does someone else truly deserve such good fortune any more than I do?  Certainly not! 

Then I thought to myself, it’s only five dollars surely someone will chance upon who needs it more than I do, or let’s say needs it more than I WANT it.  But then I neatly dispensed with that notion for much the same reasons used to rationalize the previous dilemma.

Finally, I thought, what I’ll do is give it to the next homeless or otherwise unfortunate person, or possibly street entertainer or musician that I encounter en route to my destination.  But my walk was probably no more than 500 feet or so and, although I have from time to time encountered a needy person on the very same short route before, there was not a soul in my path that was loitering, begging or otherwise in apparent need of my new found currency.  So I placed it in my pocket and entered the building.

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) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak

My latest solo release, '2014' of original, instrumental piano music, can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

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

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