pianogonzology

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Some Things . . .

. . . never change . . .

(from James Madison; A Biography by Ralph Ketcham) as Alexander Hamilton, the Secretary of Treasury promotes his plan for a national debt. . .

". . . Hamilton's candid admission that he intended the concentration in order to bring to the federal government a self-interested support he thought is desperately needed to become an effective means of government only increased Madison's apprehensions. Though the secretary expressed regret at the misfortunes of those whose interests suffered under his plans, he saw them as a small price to pay for the vital strengthening of the Union he thought made them necessary. As Madison observed the Hamiltonian "phalanx" in Congress, the eager support given the program in New York financial circles, the often arrogant comments by men of wealth about their superior capacity to lead and govern the country, and the tendency of backers of the secretary's report to exalt the executive over the legislative department, his concern for the survival of republican principles grew rapidly. Jefferson's famous charges, made in old age, that "Hamilton's financial system . . . had two objects; 1st, as a puzzle, to exclude popular understanding and inquiry; 2nd, as a machine for the corruption of the legislature," and that "men thus enriched by the dexterity of a leader [Hamilton], would follow of course the chief who was leading them to fortune. . . "

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Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Think . . .

. . . this will work? . . .

(from http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/2/7/1631236/-Beware-the-Ides-of-Trump)
On March 15th, each of us will mail Donald Trump a postcard that publicly expresses our opposition to him. And we, in vast numbers, from all corners of the world, will overwhelm the man with his unpopularity and failure. We will show the media and the politicians what standing with him — and against us — means. And most importantly, we will bury the White House post office in pink slips, all informing Donnie that he’s fired.
Each of us — every protester from every march, each congress calling citizen, every boycotter, volunteer, donor, and petition signer — if each of us writes even a single postcard and we put them all in the mail on the same day, March 15th, well: you do the math.
No alternative fact or Russian translation will explain away our record-breaking, officially-verifiable, warehouse-filling flood of fury. Hank Aaron currently holds the record for fan mail, having received 900,000 pieces in a year. We’re setting a new record: over a million pieces in a day, with not a single nice thing to say.
So sharpen your wit, unsheathe your writing implements, and see if your sincerest ill-wishes can pierce Donald’s famously thin skin.
Prepare for March 15th, 2017, a day hereafter to be known as #TheIdesOfTrump
Write one postcard. Write a dozen! Take a picture and post it on social media tagged with #TheIdesOfTrump ! Spread the word! Everyone on Earth should let Donnie know how he’s doing. They can’t build a wall high enough to stop the mail.
Then, on March 15th, mail your messages to:
President (for now) Donald J. Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
It might just be enough to make him crack.

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Tuesday, February 14, 2017

About . . .

. . . the performers . . .

. . . who will be at Germano’s on special night of entertainment in their cabaret, “The Thoughts Behind the Songs,” on Tuesday, March 28, 2017. Doors open at 6pm. Music at 7:30pm. $10 cover, at the door or online tickets here: http://bit.ly/2jguMpX. Join prominent Baltimore singer-songwriters and composers John M. Seay, Ellis Woodward, Sahffi Lynne and Ray Jozwiak as they bring you even closer to their talent and music.

Sahffi Lynne is an international singer/songwriter, musician and teaching artist whose mission is to "Spread Light & Love, One Song at a Time." With a performance degree from Peabody, a #1 house music song in South Africa, five independently released albums, a 2015 Individual Artist Award in Solo Performance from the Maryland State Arts Council and her successful Baltimore #Song4Unity Project in 2016, she has successfully captured the attention and admiration from audiences of all ages and backgrounds around the world. – http://www.sahffi.com/

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Monday, February 13, 2017

Another . . .

. . . musical. . .

. . . 'success' story . . .

(from http://www.allmusic.com/artist/MN0000140891/biography)
During their heyday in the late '80s, the Dead Milkmen led a crop of college-radio jokesters that also included Mojo Nixon, King Missile, and Too Much Joy, among others. Playing a basic, happily amateurish brand of punk-pop, the Milkmen skewered popular culture, indie trend-followers, and the intellectually challenged, while frequently indulging their taste for tastelessness. Critics alternately praised and dismissed the band as geeky, juvenile wiseasses -- virtually every review seemed to contain the word "sophomoric," and either you found them funny or you didn't. But despite the mixed reviews, the Milkmen earned a devoted cult following (which famously included Detroit Tigers utility infielder Jim Walewander), a few novelty hits on college radio, and even an MTV hit with "Punk Rock Girl." As polarizing as their sense of humor was among critics, it was what fans wanted and came to expect, and attempts to move into more genuine, serious territory during the '90s effectively spelled the end of the band. Oddly enough, by that time, they were exerting at least a small measure of influence -- perhaps more than any of their peers, they paved the way for the legion of smart-assed geek-rockers who ruled alternative radio for a brief period in the mid-'90s. . . The Dead Milkmen were formed at Philadelphia's Temple University in 1983. . . Over the next year or two, the Milkmen recorded several live, self-released cassettes, and achieved considerable local notoriety with a live radio performance in 1984. They earned some attention in the punk magazine Maximumrocknroll, and the resulting buzz helped them land a deal with Restless Records subsidiary Fever. In 1985, they issued their debut album, Big Lizard in My Backyard, which consisted mostly of material from their cassette releases. . . Poised for something vaguely resembling a breakthrough, the Milkmen expanded their cult following even further with 1988's Beelzebubba. . . the album received a mixed response from fans, some of whom praised the beefed-up production but others of whom found the material erratic; in any case, it stalled some of the band's momentum. . . Dead Milkmen found themselves hunting for a new label after Metaphysical Graffiti. They wound up on the Disney-run Hollywood Records, and in an even more bizarre twist, elected to play things mostly straight -- with no pressure from the company to do so -- on their 1992 label debut, Soul Rotation. . . The Milkmen did celebrate their tenth anniversary in 1993 by self-releasing Now We Are 10, a CD compilation of some of their early cassette-only recordings. They returned to Restless Records for 1994's Chaos Rules: Live at the Trocadero, a run through some of their best-known songs, and offered the new studio set Stoney's Extra Stout (Pig) in 1995. It was virtually ignored, and the Milkmen elected to disband. All the members got day jobs, and most continued in music on a local basis in Philadelphia. . . Restless issued the career retrospective Death Rides a Pale Cow (titled after one of their early cassettes) in 1997, and 2003 brought Now We Are 20, an expanded reissue of Now We Are 10 given wider release by Restless. . ."

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Sunday, February 12, 2017

Register . . .

. . . if you're not. Do it if you are . . .

(from https://www.facebook.com/TheIdesOfTrump/)
"Mark your calendar for November 6, 2018!
This is the date in which 33 senate seats, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, and 39 state and territorial governorships (and numerous state and local elections) will be up for re-election.
Don't pencil it in. Use ink! Put it on your calendar, put it in the church bulletin, share the date with your sorors, frat brothers and other organizational connects. Is your family registered to vote? Make sure they register and help others register too.
Please become familiar with the issues. Nothing worse than an uninformed voter. I'm just sayin'. Be prepared to be an informed voter. No more complaining about what is. Develop a strategy for what you want it to be. Start planning and acting! (And pass this around by cutting and pasting yourself to ensure people see it!)"

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Saturday, February 11, 2017

Doing It Wrong . . .

(from NBCNews.com)

". . . You're doing it wrong if you say the news media isn't covering terrorist attacks, and the list you release to prove your point includes San Bernardino and Paris. It undermines your credibility. . . A senior White House official explained the list this way: "The point here is that these terrorist attacks are so pervasive at this point that they do not spark the wall-to-wall coverage they once did. If you look back just a few years ago, any one of these attacks would have been ubiquitous in every news outlet, and now they're happening so often - at a rate of more than once every two weeks, according to the list we sent around - that networks are not devoting to each of them the same level of coverage they once did." . . . So if you take the White House at its word, what it wants is wall-to-wall coverage for every knife attack and every wounding. Why do they want that? What goal does that accomplish? So the White House wants the public to feel more terrorized? To what end?. . ."

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Friday, February 10, 2017

Amateurs . . .

. . . in the white house . . .

am·a·teur

ˈamədər,ˈaməˌtər,ˈaməCHər/

noun

plural noun: amateurs

a person considered contemptibly inept at a particular activity.

"that bunch of stumbling amateurs"

synonyms: bungler, incompetent, bumbler

"what a bunch of amateurs"

(https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/31/opinion/the-republican-fausts.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&_r=2)
". . . The Republican Fausts are in an untenable position. The deal they’ve struck with the devil comes at too high a price. It really will cost them their soul. . . if Trump’s ideology were not noxious, his incompetence is a threat to all around him. To say that it is amateur hour at the White House is to slander amateurs. . . (the) administration is less a government than a small clique of bloggers and tweeters who are incommunicado with the people who actually help them get things done. . ."

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