Just a Little. . .

Insert Shameless Commercial Plug for ANOTHER SHOT Here. . . Coming April 5th - ANOTHER SHOT by Ray Jozwiak

ANOTHER SHOT is the latest  release from Baltimore-based creative musician (composer, pianist) Ray Jozwiak,which will be available through digital distribution only.  ANOTHER SHOT contains a collection of eclectic sound essays including a Dead-ish funk-jam, a solo jazz-inflected piano waltz,  a Steely Dan-inspired tale of woe (complete with vocal),  meditative, ambient, new-agey piano solo (displaying some bluesy, Monk-ish chops), an epic, atmospheric, groove evoking the gamut of emotions (and sampled instruments) from Alpha to Zed, rounded out by a romping, rhythmic celebration of joy.  


Contact:
Ray Jozwiak
Website:  http://www.rayjozwiak.com
Email:  pjozwiak@verizon.net
Phone:  410-369-8463
Snail:  1049 Winsford Road
Towson, MD 21204
USA

Insert Shameless Commercial Plug for ANOTHER SHOT Here. . . Coming April 5th - ANOTHER SHOT by Ray Jozwiak

Lebowski who???. . .

My son Russell (the filmmaker) was involved in this skit for Funny or Die. (If you're a fan of The Big Lebowski, you'll understand. . . )

The Big Lebowski 2 with Tara Reid from Tara Reid

(Russell is sitting in the booth, black shirt, white pants, right hand seat in the last scene where Tara says, "I am sick of abiding man!" you see him behind her after she turns. . . )

Oh Yeah. . . hear my music TOO, at www.rayjozwiak.com

I can't remember. . .

. . . a time when music didn't play a major part in my life. Of course, in my second half-century, it only falls second in order of importance after my wife and children, being well past the kiss-butt, knock-yourself-out-to-impress-em at work paradigm and long over the status-seeking preoccupation of many young adults that I, as well, possessed, at least in some small amount. (I'm listening to the Spinners 'I Don't Want To Lose You' as I write.)

One of my earliest recollections of being conscious of music is hearing my father play the accordion on Sunday afternoons. Picture a mere child of four, seeing for the first time, a monstrosity of keys, buttons and bellows, and hearing it plow (sometimes haltingly) through old, Polish folk dances, as my father contorted his face and his hands in order to strike the right notes at the right time. It was magical. . . to me.

hear my music at www.rayjozwiak.com

Only once. . .

. . . in a lifetime does the right time appear
And that time for me was the day that I met you
there are good and there are bad things
Misunderstandings
That's just the way life is
So we'll have to face each storm before the next kiss

I'm getting ready for the rain
Here come the clouds all rolling by us
Are we ever really ready for another pain
I'm getting ready for the rain

But I know rain will surely end
And the sun will shine again
It always does
It always will
Nothing ventured nothing ever gained
Looks so different but the same
When will we learn

When will we learn to live
Like it's our last day
Don't take the fast way around
Cause the love we share
Is a fragile thing we've found
Why do we continue hurting
And go on skirting the issue of our love
Cause we know these sleepless nights will pass
Like the clouds from above

©1993 Raymond M. Jozwiak

hear my music at www.rayjozwiak.com

Dear Newt. . .

I remember you. Unfortunately, the preponderance of uninformed conservatives do not.

I remember your facing numerous ethics investigations and the dissatisfaction with your leadership within the Republican party. On November 6, 1998 you resigned as Speaker of the House and from the Congress. You and the foundations you were associated with were under investigation for numerous ethics violations, primarily concerning using tax exempt status for organizations designed to further your political goals and making misleading statements to congress. In December 1998 you paid $300,000 of your own money to settle the last of these charges. Thanks to you, in the 1998 elections the Republican Party lost five seats in the House of Representatives. It was the worst result for a party that did not hold the White House in 64 years.

And now you say you're interested in running for PRESIDENT? It appears that you have met your first debate opponent, YOURSELF!

You were quick to criticize President Barack Obama two weeks ago for not being more forceful in leading an international campaign to destroy Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's air defenses and save rebels from impending defeat. You said the United States should tell Gadhafi "that slaughtering your own citizens is unacceptable and that we're intervening."

On Wednesday, you did an about-face. "I would not have intervened," you said in an interview with NBC News in the morning. "I think there were a lot of other ways to affect Gadhafi. I think there are a lot of other allies in the region that we could have worked with. I would not have used American and European forces." By afternoon, you issued a statement explaining that you initially pushed for the airstrikes only after Obama declared on March 3 that "it's time for Gadhafi to go." "Now that we have U.S. forces engaged, any result less than the removal of Gadhafi from power will be considered a defeat. For that reason, I believe we must support the mission and see it through," you said on your Facebook page.

An aide said you backed away from your support only after Obama made a humanitarian mission the centerpiece of the military action. That alone wasn't enough to justify the no-fly zone in accordance with the U.N. resolution, the aide said, and cited comments from Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen that "the goals of this campaign right now are limited, and it isn't about seeing (Gadhafi) go."

We, I hope you lose the debate and I hope that Americans can just once, in this particular case, remember. Hopefully, they will not provide you an opportunity to do more of the kind of things you did in the past, in the future.

Very truly yours,
RMJ

hear my music at www.rayjozwiak.com

The Hell With It. . .

. . . (popular mis-statement of "to hell with it") is pretty much how I feel about the concept of a hell. This brought to mind by a recent story on MSNBC regarding a preacher who lost his job because he no longer believes in a 'hell'.

Chad Holtz lost his job as pastor of a rural United Methodist church in North Carolina after he wrote a note on his Facebook page supporting a new book by Rob Bell, a prominent young evangelical pastor and critic of the traditional view of hell as a place of eternal torment for billions of damned souls. Two days later, Holtz was told complaints from church members prompted his dismissal from Marrow's Chapel in Henderson.

He says he doesn't think 'justice' means an eternity of torment. In his book, Bell criticizes the belief that a select number of Christians will spend eternity in the bliss of heaven while everyone else is tormented forever in hell. He says this is misguided and toxic and ultimately subverts the contagious spread of Jesus' message of love, peace, forgiveness and joy that our world desperately needs to hear. Bell says that for Jesus, a 1st-century Jewish rabbi, where you go when you die wasn't the most pressing question. Probably not. The question was how can you enter into shalom and peace right now.

Holz, Bell and I would probably still disagree on many theological, philosophical and scientific issues, but enough for now to say about the idea of a 'hell'. . . to hell with it.

hear my music at www.rayjozwiak.com

Jokes about disasters. . .

. . . don't really move move me. But they are inevitable.

Gilbert Gottfried was fired from his job as the Aflac duck because he made some insensitive jokes (Tweets) regarding the recent disasters in Japan. Like. . . What do the Japanese have in common with Howard Stern? They're both RADIO ACTIVE. (one is enough. . . no, MORE than enough. . . you get the point.)

But after some thought, I concluded that yes, they were tasteless in that the disaster is too fresh and too horrible to begin joking about. But deep down, I know that it was only a matter of time before there would be jokes circulating by email (initially, then by other more archaic means) just as there were about the demise of Princess Diana and the crash of John Kennedy Jr's plane. (and even 911 - "The FBI has just identified the man who trained the hijackers: Dale Earnhardt."

BAD. But necessary. . . and human.

Look, I'm no judge of taste, morals, class or humor. But I do know that we all make mistakes. (Hell, I've lost count of mine!)
And we all like to laugh.

Gilbert deleted his tasteless Tweets. Maybe we shouldn't be so hard on him. It certainly doesn't mean we don't CARE any less or that we won't HELP as best we can to assist or try to help relieve the pain the victims of the tragedies in Japan. Why, I'll bet even Gilbert himself would like to help. At least I'd like to think so.

hear my music at www.rayjozwiak.com