pianogonzology

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Behind . . .

. . . the facade . . . a 'friend' of the USA? . . .

(from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/09/17/for-wife-of-imprisoned-saudi-blogger-raif-badawi-its-a-life-of-waiting/)
". . . “It’s a life of waiting,” said Ensaf Haidar, whose husband, Raif Badawi, a blogger who has been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for almost four years. . . lives in exile in Canada with their three young children . . . is in Washington this week, meeting with members of Congress and officials at the State Department trying to persuade the U.S. government to put more effort into seeking her husband’s release. . . Badawi . . . was sentenced in 2014 to ten years in prison and 1,000 lashes, along with a fine of more than $250,000, for criticizing Saudi Arabia’s powerful religious and political leaders on his Saudi Liberal Network Web site. “He is just a blogger,” said Haidar . . . a tiny woman whose speech is careful and contained, and without any trace of anger. “He has been away from his kids and his family for four years, and there is no valid reason for that. He’s just a very peaceful writer.” Badawi received the first 50 of his lashes in January in a public square outside a mosque in the port city of Jiddah. A video posted on YouTube showed him standing silently as a police officer struck his back and legs with a wooden cane and onlookers cheered “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great.” Saudi officials said the lashings would continue, 50 every Friday for the following 19 weeks. . . Saudi officials have told rights groups to back off. Some, including Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, the former longtime Saudi ambassador to the United States, have criticized “outside interference” by rights groups and the media in the Badawi case. . . "

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

Friday, October 23, 2015

You . . .

“We would worry less about what others think of us if we realized how seldom they do.”
-Ethel Barrett

"I don’t care what you think about me. I don’t think about you at all."
-Coco Chanel

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect."
-Mark Twain

"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."
-Oscar Wilde

"I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet."
-Mahatma Gandhi

"I think the reward for conformity is that everyone likes you except yourself. Rita Mae Brown
Always be a first rate version of yourself and not a second rate version of someone else. "
-Judy Garland

Thursday, October 22, 2015

For Me? . . .

(from the writings of The Rev. Howard Bess**)
" . . . Is there anything in the Lazarus story for me? My answer is “yes.” I cannot get past “Unbind him and set him free.” This is the great mission of devoted followers of Jesus. We are to help set people free from superstitious beliefs, destructive behavior, harmful habits and selfish patterns of living. The life of the follower of Jesus is neither inactive nor passive. No human being should live in bondage of any kind. I can think of no more exciting life than a life given to setting others free. . ."

** The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Fall . . .

. . . also known as AUTUMN . .

“It looked like the world was covered in a cobbler crust of brown sugar and cinnamon.”
― Sarah Addison Allen, First Frost

“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”
― Albert Camus

“You expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintery light. But you knew there would always be the spring, as you knew the river would flow again after it was frozen. When the cold rains kept on and killed the spring, it was as though a young person died for no reason.”
― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

“I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.”
― Henry David Thoreau

“Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Who Cares?. . .

. . . what a clown has to say?. . .

Per one of our more (or LESS) distinguished (depending upon your perspective) public speaker (and dubious past "public servant") and as of late, a pretty worthless authority on ANYTHING . . . a "man" who purposely destroyed (at least one) livelihood based upon a self-serving philosophy. . .

". . . Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders came off as an elderly, dyspeptic Bilbo Baggins attending a British Labour Party meeting. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley sounded like an overly earnest, slightly too intense 1950s ad man making a bad pitch. Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee was as hapless as a puppy stranded in a hurricane. And former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, probably sensing how inconsequential he is, was angry all night. It’s hard to believe this crew will draw many viewers for future debates. .."

WHY IS HE "NEWS"?

Monday, October 19, 2015

Chicago . . .

(from wikipedia.com)
". . . The area's recorded history begins with the arrival of French explorers, missionaries and fur traders in the late 17th century and their interaction with the local Potawatomi Indians. There were small settlements and a U.S. Army fort, but the soldiers and settlers were all driven off in 1812. The modern city was incorporated in 1837 by Northern businessmen and grew rapidly from real estate speculation and the realization that it had a commanding position in the emerging inland transportation network, based on lake traffic and railroads, controlling access from the Great Lakes into the Mississippi River basin. Despite a fire in 1871 that destroyed the central business district, the city grew exponentially, becoming the nation's rail center and the dominant Midwestern center for manufacturing, commerce, finance, higher education, religion, broadcasting, sports, jazz, and high culture. . . "

Mother Chi
live home recording (October 2015) by 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

Sunday, October 18, 2015

A Little More . . .

Piano -

I consider myself to be an inept pianist, a bad singer, and a merely competent songwriter. What I do, in my opinion, is by no means extraordinary.
-Billy Joel

My family was musical on both sides. My father's family had a famous flautist and a classical pianist. My mother won a contest to be Shirley Temple's double - she was the diva of the family. At 8, I learned how to play guitar. I used to play songs from the '20s, '30s and '40s in the kitchen for my grandmother.
-Gloria Estefan

When I was studying... there weren't any black concert pianists. My choices were intuitive, and I had the technique to do it. People have heard my music and heard the classic in it, so I have become known as a black classical pianist.
-Nina Simone

When a pianist sits down and does a virtuoso performance he is in a technical sense transmitting more information to a machine than any other human activity involving machinery allows.
-Robert Moog

Ray Jozwiak brings you 'Gonzo Piano'

Monday, October 19 at 7:15PM

The Piano Prelude at

Monday Night Songwriters Showcase at

Brewer's Alley Restaurant & Brewery (take the elevator on the right to the 2nd floor)

124 North Market Street

Frederick, MD 21701

Telephone: 301-631-0089 Fax: 301-631-1874 http://www.brewers-alley.com/

Please visit http://www.rayjozwiak.com