pianogonzology

Monday, September 7, 2015

Lest . . .

. . . we forget

(from http://mic.com/articles/18987/obama-humans-rights-violations-we-must-demand-accountability-in-the-encore-term)
". . . even the most vehement rights defenders have barely mentioned the extrajudicial killings of Americans, the deaths of innocent civilians in the drone war, or indefinite detention. Yes, Obama ended Don't Ask Don't Tell, defended free speech on the internet, and bolstered socioeconomic rights with his health care plan — for this he deserves great credit. But supporters must be honest with themselves: overall, Obama has a very mixed rights record and we’ve done next to nothing to challenge him on it. . . . Human rights proponents who support Obama have fallen to the rabid partisanship that pervades this country; they are afraid to criticize “one of their own” too harshly for fear of losing political ground. This must stop. If we want to continue to create a more ethical society, all of us, regardless of political affiliation, must be courageous enough to challenge our leaders—even, nay especially, when we like them. If we support the principles, not the politicians, those politicians will be forced to become more principled."

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, September 6, 2015

Dot . . .

You’re living your ninth life time is running out
The blood of the lamb has dried and lost its clout
If you show no mercy, no mercy will be your
You’re dated and done for the dot’s on your door

On day one they marked you, put you on the list
Embroidered a burning red letter on your bib
You move with caution, the trap’s laced with lure
You’re dated and done, there’s a dot on your door

Cowards die a thousand times, the brave die only once
If ignorance is bliss, may your joy be out to lunch
If you were meant to hang in life then you will never drown
Dodging the left, the right one brings you to the ground

You’re using the right words, getting the response
Newton was right, you’re life’s a renaissance
Your impedimenta pile up on the floor
You’re locked in this room, There’s a dot on your door

Kissing your mother, digging in the dirt
Hoping something of your life will take root and give birth
The vine seeks the light, branches reaching through the clouds
Where love will prune and crown you, relieve you of your shroud

Dot On Your Door
rehearsal recording from August 2015 by OHO (Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak)

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

Saturday, September 5, 2015

Saying . . .

. . . it is easier than accomplishing it (Confidence) . . .and although it took me much longer than I presume it takes most people, it's coming along fine thank you . . .

(from http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/self-confidence)
“Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.”
― Rumi, The Essential Rumi

“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.”
― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

“We are always the same age inside. ”
― Gertrude Stein

“When you're different, sometimes you don't see the millions of people who accept you for what you are. All you notice is the person who doesn't.”
― Jodi Picoult, Change of Heart

“When someone tells me "no," it doesn't mean I can't do it, it simply means I can't do it with them.”
― Karen E. Quinones Miller

“Success is most often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable.”
― Coco Chanel, Believing in Ourselves: The Wisdom of Women

“Believe you can and you're halfway there.”
― Theodore Roosevelt

“Because one believes in oneself, one doesn't try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn't need others' approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.”
― Lao Tzu

“As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust: First Part

“If being an egomaniac means I believe in what I do and in my art or music, then in that respect you can call me that... I believe in what I do, and I'll say it.”
― John Lennon

“The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”
― Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

Friday, September 4, 2015

Simple . . .

. . . solution

. . . tell her it's the law, "God's" word has now evolved, suspend her for non-performance. Problem solved.

(from http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/clerk-who-denied-gay-marriage-licenses-has-been-divorced-multiple-n420216)
(Kim Davis') ". . . act of resistance has rocked her small Appalachia community 60 miles east of Lexington and made headlines (and continues to) nationwide, fed by a video of her denying a marriage license to David V. Moore and his partner of 17 years, David Ermold. The Tuesday confrontation sparked a protest inside the Rowan County Courthouse, with supporters of the couple and of Davis shouting over each other. A similar scene unfolded Wednesday, when a second same-sex couple asked for a marriage license. . .Davis, who worked as deputy clerk for 27 years before she was elected clerk in November, said in a written statement through her lawyers that she was committed to her job, but that issuing the license would violate "God's definition of marriage" and imperil her religious freedom. . . "I have no animosity toward anyone and harbor no ill will," said Davis, 49. "To me this has never been a gay or lesbian issue. It is about marriage and God's Word." . . She refuses to resign. . . A federal judge has summoned Davis and her deputies to a hearing on Thursday. Same-sex couples who have sued Davis for marriage licenses have asked that she be held in contempt and fined, but not thrown in jail. . . "

She was jailed later that day.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Mystery . . .

. . . okay, it's a little corny. It was stuck in my head so I looked up the lyrics. It is fun to hear (and see) some of this old stuff-don't you think?

AH! SWEET MYSTERY OF LIFE
Victor Herbert (m) / Rida Johnson Young (l) )

Ah! Sweet mystery of life, at last I've found thee
Ah! at last I know the secret of it all
All the longing, seeking, striving, waiting, yearning
The idle hopes and joy and burning tears that fall.

For 'tis love and love alone the world is seeking
And 'tis love and love alone I’ve waited for
And my heart has heard the answer to its calling
For it is love that rules for evermore.

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Goddesses . . .

. . . I have known . . .

(from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/18/awesome-goddesses-mythology_n_6881434.html)
Anat (Ugaritic/Ancient Semitic Mythology)
This ancient Canaanite goddess of love and war . . . An ancient Ugaritic text describes Anat’s revenge against a man who slighted her in no uncertain terms: "Anat seized Mot, the divine son,/ With a sickle she cut him,/ with a winnow she winnows him,/ with fire she scorches him,/ with a mill she crushes him,/ she scatters his flesh in the field to be eaten by birds."

Hel (Norse mythology)
Hel, ruler of the eponymous underworld of Norse mythology. (“To go to Hel” meant to die in ancient Norse idiom—nowadays, it means more or less the same thing.) Hel’s role was to lead an army of the dead in a ship made of the fingernails of corpses.

Amaterasu (Shinto Faith)
Amaterasu or Amaterasu-ōmikami is one of the major deities in the animistic Shinto religion of Japan; her full name means “Great Divinity Illuminating Heaven.” One of the world’s few female solar deities, a principal myth featuring Amaterasu depicts her conflict with her brother, Susanoo, god of storms and the sea.

Tefnut (Ancient Egyptian Mythology)
Tefnut was the ancient Egyptian goddess of moisture, rain and dew. . . she was the mother of the gods of the sky and earth, and grandmother of Egypt’s principal gods, Horus, Isis, Osiris and Set.

Princess Liễu Hạnh (Vietnamese Folk Faith)
Princess Liễu Hạnh is a singular figure in Vietnamese myth. One of the Four Immortals, divine beings worshipped by the people of Vietnam’s Red River Delta region, Lieu Hanh was a daughter of the Jade Emperor, a central deity in Taoism and other East Asian theology. Liễu Hạnh was a figure of female emancipation who excelled at poetry and was an embodiment of female power.

Ixchel (Mayan Mythology)
Ixchel (or Ix Chel), the ancient Mayan goddess of childbirth and war. Often depicted with jaguar claws or ears, she wears a serpent as her headdress and is also associated with the moon and the traditional Mayan sweatbath. She was so sacred to Maya women that they founded an island sanctuary, still called the Isla de Mujeres, dedicated to worship of Ixchel off the coast of contemporary Cancun.

Louhi (Finnish Mythology)Image via Wikimedia Commons
Lovatar is a goddess who takes many forms and has many names, featured in the ancient Finnish epic The Kalevala. Blind daughter of the god of death, Lovatar gave birth to nine diseases (including plague, sterility and cancer).

Paleolithic Goddess Figurine
OHO rehearsal recording August 2015, OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak

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

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Partisan . . .

(from wikipedia.com)
In politics, a partisan is a committed member of a political party. In multi-party systems, the term is used for politicians who strongly support their party's policies and are reluctant to compromise with their political opponents.

In the United States, the meaning of the term has changed dramatically over the last 50 years. Before the American National Election Study (described in Angus Campbell et al., in The American Voter) began in 1952, an individual's partisan tendencies were typically determined from their voting behavior. Since then, "partisan" has come to refer to an individual with a psychological identification with one or the other of the major parties.