pianogonzology

Monday, March 9, 2015

Smart . . .

. . . phones . . .

. . . are honestly and truthfully a wonderfully convenient and efficient tool. Not only communication via the internet, phone service and email but all the computing capabilities all at your fingertips any time of day (or night). Magnificent.

But I don't have one. At least not yet. I most certainly have no quarrel with the power and convenience these devices provide.

Back around 2003, when I established my 'Gonzo' brand of independent music, I forced myself to explore marketing possibilities on the web from websites to social media to all the free (and some paid) music promotion and distribution services. More than ten years later, I am still exploring. Not only is there a wealth of potential to explore, new opportunities become available almost hourly.

So, you may be thinking, all the more reason to have a smart phone to enable yourself to access this wealth any and all times. Well . . . yes. But, in truth, I most certainly am not a 'gadget' guy and do not need to own the latest and greatest of all tech things available at any given time. I do, in fact, spend more hours on the laptop than many people with whom I have much in common. And I don't need to resolve questions or uncertainties regarding topics of conversation with others instantaneously. I still am able to research such things at a later time.

I don't intend to discontinue explore web potential to market music. But once I close the laptop, I don't feel the need to have all that capability in my back pocket for instant access. When I need to make a phone call, I simply pull out my ancient Samsung fliptop and make one. No need for a smart phone. . .

. . . at least not yet.

What do you think?

Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html or at
http://www.ohomusic.com

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. Please Visit http://www.ohomusic.com

My latest solo offering, Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak, featuring original, instrumental piano music will be released April 7, 2014 Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak

(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)

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

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Graying . . .

. . . heads . . .

(from http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/grayhair.html)
". . . Parents often cite having teenagers as the cause of gray hair. This is a good hypothesis, but scientists continue to investigate why hair turns gray. In time, everyone’s hair turns gray. Your chance of going gray increases 10-20% every decade after 30 years. Initially, hair is white. It gets its natural color from a type of pigment called melanin. The formation of melanin begins before birth. The natural color of our hair depends upon the distribution, type and amount of melanin in the middle layer of the hair shaft or cortex.

Hair has only two types of pigments: dark (eumelanin) and light (phaeomelanin). They blend together to make up the wide range of hair colors.

Melanin is made up of specialized pigment cells called melanocytes. They position themselves at the openings on the skin’s surface through which hair grows (follicles). Each hair grows from a single follicle. . . the hair follicle has a “melanogentic clock” which slows down or stops melanocyte activity, thus decreasing the pigment our hair receives. This occurs just before the hair is preparing to fall out or shed, so the roots always look pale.

Moreover, Dr. Tobin suggests that hair turns gray because of age and genetics, in that genes regulate the exhaustion of the pigmentary potential of each individual hair follicle. This occurs at different rates in different hair follicles. . ."

What do you think?

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Counting . . .

. . . down

Just More Music debuts at CD Baby (and a host of digital music download sites) April l7th, 2015.
It's . . . well. . . Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak

Available
from Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak, 'available' April 7, 2015 at CD Baby
©2014 Raymond M. Jozwiak

What do you think?

Friday, March 6, 2015

Pack In The Pachyderms . . .

(from http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ringling-bros-barnum-bailey-circus-phasing-out-elephant-acts-n317836)
". . . The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is stamping out its famous elephant acts.
Feld Entertainment, the company that owns the circus, said Thursday that it will phase out the 13 elephants from its traveling circus performances. By 2018, the popular pachyderms will be relocated to a conservation center in central Florida, where they will join the rest of the Ringling Bros. herd of more than 40 elephants. It will take "months" to renovate the facility and make more room for the animals. . .The Humane Society of the United States, which was among the animal rights groups battling Ringling Bros., called the surprise move "startling and tremendously exciting."
"We've said all along that the public won't tolerate the abuse of elephants with sharp bullhooks to get them to perform tricks or the constant chaining of these highly intelligent and mobile animals," Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle said in a statement. "There are better forms of entertainment that don't harm animals." The Feld family said they would continue to "preserve the esteemed traditions" of its 145-year-old three-ring circus — dubbed "The Greatest Show on Earth" — with the use of tigers, lions, horses, dogs and camels. . ."

Now we'll have to be content listening to Sun Ra's music . . . (don't get it?)

What do you think?

Thursday, March 5, 2015

MORE. . .

. . . than you'd ever care to know about paninis . . . While eating one recently, I began to wonder if this was an American invention, had it a REAL history, or was it simply named after an Italian opera star (or an opera, for that matter). . .

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panini_%28sandwich%29)
In many English-speaking countries, a panino (Italian pronunciation: [paˈniːno], from Italian, meaning "small bread, bread roll") is a grilled sandwich made from bread other than sliced bread. Examples of bread types used for panini are ciabatta, rosetta and baguette. The bread is cut horizontally and filled with deli ingredients such as salami, ham, cheese, mortadella, or other food, and often served warm after having been pressed by a warming grill. There is widespread availability and use of sandwich presses, often known as "panini presses" or "toasted sandwich makers."

In Italian the word panino [pa'ni:no] is the diminutive form of pane (bread) and refers to a bread roll. Panino imbottito (stuffed panino) refers to a sandwich, but the word panino is also often used alone to refer to a sandwich in general. The plural form is of "panino" in Italian is panini.

In some English- and French-speaking countries, the plural form panini is sometimes used as a singular word (like salami, also an Italian plural noun).

Although the first U.S. reference to panini dates to 1956, and a precursor appeared in a 16th-century Italian cookbook, the sandwiches became trendy in Milanese bars, called paninoteche, in the 1970s and 1980s. Trendy U.S. restaurants, particularly in New York, began selling panini, whose popularity then spread to other U.S. cities, each producing distinctive variations of it.

During the 1980s, the term paninaro was used to denote a youngsters' culture typical of teenagers supposed to eat and meet in sandwich bars such as Milan's Al Panino and then in the first US-style fast food restaurants opened in Italy. Paninari were depicted as fashion-fixated, vain individuals, delighting in showcasing early 1980s status symbols such as Timberland shoes, Moncler accessories, Ray-Ban sunglasses, and articles from Armani, Coveri, Controvento. They were lampooned in the Italia 1 comedy show Drive-in by Enzo Braschi. A track entitled "Paninaro" appears on Pet Shop Boys' albums Disco and Alternative

(Yes, I HAD to do it . . . )

What do you think?

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

The Team . . .

"Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results." --Andrew Carnegie

"Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much." --Helen Keller

"Remember, teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability." --Patrick Lencioni

"I invite everyone to choose forgiveness rather than division, teamwork over personal ambition." --Jean-Francois Cope

"None of us is as smart as all of us." --Ken Blanchard

"Unity is strength. . . when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved." --Mattie Stepanek

"To me, teamwork is the beauty of our sport, where you have five acting as one. You become selfless." --Mike Krzyzewski

What do you think?

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Longing . . .

. . . to be Latin

We spin on an axis as bold as love round a sun that’s alight with fire

It’s true our time is marked by the man in the moon

Don’t walk ahead, don’t walk behind, just be my friend and walk by my side

It’s real, this life is by in the blink of an eye.

I live and I long to be Latin as beauty rebels against time

I live and I long to be Latin

The cardinal wish for the scent of the red summer rose.

We have walked the dream palace of yesterday

Where myth is truth and the proof’s hearsay

Memories disguised by the ways that we wish they could be

The drives and input are well defined

Lies rolling off dying tongues chill the soul

Chained in gold we walk a lifelong line.

I live and I long to be Latin. I’m waiting to see my own eyes

I live and I long to be Latin

But what will I wear to the end of the world, my demise?

Upon the chipped dish the rich and pure fare of the love feast, kissing the sky

As we hold hands in a ring, the night to morning link

Contacts with the light

Be my friend, we can walk side by side

Don’t walk ahead you know I won’t walk behind

Though we stumble through our fears and tears

To the cadence and the tune of the spheres.

I live and I long to be Latin to live the fool and die the sage

I reach and intend to be Latin

To make vision real in the face of chance and circumstance

I live and I long to be Latin to take my stand against routine

I live and I long to be Latin

Where living at risk means I can see what others don’t see.

Long To Be Latin
© Copyright - OHO Music, BMI / Oho Music
by OHO (Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak, recorded live at Johnny's Pizza & Pub February 2015

What do you think?