pianogonzology

Monday, May 4, 2015

Battles . . .

. . . of the bands

(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bands)
". . . Third World Games have produced a Battle of the Bands card game, which takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the music business. The object is to recruit members into your band, equip them with instruments, win "gigs" and "hit singles" and earn enough "Superstar Points" to win. The game is also available for play on GameTable Online. There is also a Battle of the Bands video game and TV movie. In the music video game Guitar Hero World Tour and all games that followed, a "battle of the bands" mode is featured as an online gameplay mode. The "battle of the bands" concept has had a heavy influence on reality television. Shows such as the Idol series and The X Factor borrow the basic concept of a "battle of the bands" except with individual singers instead of whole bands, combining the concept with a serial elimination format. There was a brief American series in the vein, The Next Great American Band, that did use whole bands. In the 2011 Australian film Swerve, a battle of the marching bands serves as background to most of the scenes set in the small country town. In the 2014 animated film My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks, the film's storyline centered around a high school Battle of the Bands competition. . ."

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 is now available at - 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, May 3, 2015

Brewing . . .

. . . some good songs. . . Monday Night

Adjunct Fermentable material used as a substitute for traditional grains, to make beer lighter-bodied or cheaper.

Aerobic An organism, such as top fermenting ale yeast, that needs oxygen to metabolize.

All-malt A relatively new term in America. "All malt" refers to a beer made exclusively with barley malt and without adjuncts.

Anaerobic An organism, such as a bottom-fermenting lager yeast, that is able to metabolize without oxygen present.

Astringent A drying, puckering taste; tannic; can be derived from boiling the grains, long mashes, over sparging or sparging with hard water.

Attenuation Extent to which yeast consumes fermentable sugars (converting them into alcohol and carbon dioxide).

Featured performer, award-winning songwriter, LYNN HOLLYFIED, on the first Monday in May! (May 4; that's tomorrow!) Piano and Melodica prelude will be brought to us by the always surprising JIMBOW, whose sparkling improvisations often surprise even him! Three-song cameos this week are from another award-winning songwriter, Philadelphia-based AVI WISNIA www.aviwisnia.com on his spring tour, plus our favorite classical composer, ROCKIN' RAY JOZWIAK, giving us a rare three-song set in prime time! Poetry will be from JOHN HOLLY, and Rod Deacey throw in a couple of songs and a poem and TOMY WRIGHT will be with us this week singing late in the evening.

Brewer's Alley Restaurant & Brewery

124 North Market Street Frederick, MD 21701
Telephone: 301-631-0089 Fax: 301-631-1874

http://www.brewers-alley.com

What do you think?

Saturday, May 2, 2015

The Right . . .

. . . thing to do

(from http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/30/news/companies/cvs-baltimore-riots-jobs/index.html)
". . . Forty-five Baltimore CVS workers who saw their stores burned down in the riots earlier this week are still getting paid. Two CVS locations sustained such heavy damage that they remain closed Thursday. But "given the extraordinary circumstances," CVS is paying those workers for their regularly scheduled hours while they try to transfer them to nearby stores, spokeswoman Carolyn Castel said. In fact, "most" have already been working at other locations, she said. There are 20 other CVS stores in the city. Castel declined to say how long they would keep paying the displaced workers, but added she is "confident" that the company could place all those who want to work at another location. . ."

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 is now available at - Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak

Friday, May 1, 2015

A Little . . .

. . . Smugly delivered, yet amusing . . .

(from http://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2015/04/16/hillary-is-right-the-deck-is-stacked-n1985712/page/2)
". . . her bio reads like a love letter to a mirror, omitting facts, glossing over reality and claiming credit for everything short of the sunrise. That’s the Z of campaign she’s going to run, and that’s the kind of garbage the media will shovel out of their newscasts and onto their pages. . .“Americans have fought their way back from tough economic times, but the deck is still stacked in favor of those at the top,” she said. And she’s right. At least partially. “The deck is stacked against you” is an awful message that tells people not to bother trying because no matter how hard they work, they’ll never get ahead. . . it’s futile for anyone to expect a fair shake from the media for someone whose main accomplishment in life is having married Bill Clinton (then spent the next 40 years looking the other way) . . . a life-long enabler of a sexual predator who traded whatever integrity she had for power and money. She’s a bored has-been with a sense of entitlement unrivaled in American public life who can’t bring herself to leave the national stage. . . "

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Bellisimo . . .

. . . Just Lovely . . .

OHO Live

Baltimore's Own OHO
Opens the "Comedy Night" show this
Saturday, May 2, 2015

@ Belisimo's

2900 Baltimore Boulevard
Finksburg, MD 21048
410-245-0507
Music begins at 7:30 PM

http://www.ohomusic.com

What do you think?

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Bought . . .

. . . The Farm

(from http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/72850.html)
". . . The origin of this phrase is uncertain. It is 20th century and all the early references to it relate to the US military. The New York Times Magazine, March 1954, had a related phrase, in a glossary of jet pilots' slang: "Bought a plot, had a fatal crash." if a serviceman was killed in action, his family would receive a payout from the insurance that service personnel were issued with. This would be sufficient to pay off the family mortgage.

What do you think?

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Weirdness . . .

. . . in my insulated little world. A Serious Problem in OUR human one.

(from http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/breaking/bal-orioles-protests-freddie-gray-camden-yards-20150425-story.html)
" . . . When Saturday’s (Baltimore Orioles baseball) game. . . went to extra innings, fans were asked to remain inside the ballpark until further notice. Soon, they were prohibited from leaving Camden Yards, and every gate around the concourse was closed as word traveled that protesters were heading back downtown. In the bottom of the decisive 10th inning, the gates opened and fans were allowed to leave. . . "

(from http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/04/orioles-john-angelos-baltimore-protests-mlb by Orioles COO John Angelos, son of owner Peter Angelo-in response to scattered violence during protests on Saturday)
". . . the principle of peaceful, non-violent protest and the observance of the rule of law is of utmost importance in any society. MLK, Gandhi, Mandela and all great opposition leaders throughout history have always preached this precept. Further, it is critical that in any democracy, investigation must be completed and due process must be honored before any government or police members are judged responsible. That said, my greater source of personal concern, outrage and sympathy beyond this particular case is focused neither upon one night’s property damage nor upon the acts, but is focused rather upon the past four-decade period during which an American political elite have shipped middle class and working class jobs away from Baltimore and cities and towns around the U.S. to third-world dictatorships like China and others, plunged tens of millions of good, hard-working Americans into economic devastation, and then followed that action around the nation by diminishing every American’s civil rights protections in order to control an unfairly impoverished population living under an ever-declining standard of living and suffering at the butt end of an ever-more militarized and aggressive surveillance state. . ."

(from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/28/us/baltimore-freddie-gray.html?_r=0# - after Monday's
riots in West Baltimore)
". . . Maryland’s governor activated the National Guard on Monday and the city of Baltimore announced a curfew for all residents as a turbulent day that began with the funeral of 25-year-old Freddie Gray, the nation’s latest symbol of police brutality, ended with rioting by rock-throwing youths, arson, looting and at least 15 police officers injured. The violence that shook the city broke out in the late afternoon in the Mondawmin neighborhood of northwest Baltimore, where Mr. Gray’s funeral had taken place. Angry residents threw bottles, rocks and chunks of concrete at officers who lined up in riot gear with shields deployed. Cars were set on fire, store windows were shattered, a CVS drugstore was looted, and the cafe inside a century-old Italian deli was destroyed. Trouble also erupted at the city’s Lexington Market. . . "