Monday, March 24, 2014

Unbe-f*&#ing-lievable . . .

 
 I'm not one of those folks who lives in or harbors a burning desire to return to the past. As a matter of fact, my high school years (with several exceptions- having an awesome 10th grade biology teacher, my best friend Joe, a Public Speaking teacher that I think truly 'understood' me, a journalism teacher who appreciated my rebellious nature, and being 'assigned' to sit between two of the school's most popular girls in English class by Miss Simon [they were actually very nice, funny and genuine] my high school years were pretty much typical.  And they were also abbreviated as I waived my senior year and entered college one year early (earning my HS Diploma after passing college-level English) leaving me with only two actual high-school years attended.  In those days, 'junior' high encompassed grades 7, 8 and 9 while high school consisted of grades 10, 11 and 12.  Very different now.

But my most memorable years were those immediately after high school, for it was at that time that I saw the 'real' world, actually pursued a future course of my choosing and met some of the greatest and most memorable personalities, several with whom I have recently been able to reunite. In fact, we have been meeting on a regular basis, much to my pleasure and (I hope) to theirs as well.

Who'd a thought it???   Forty years since I first met them and when we get together, it's like I haven't seen them since last week.  It's magical and I am most fortunate not only to have had them as friends initially, but to have been able to rekindle that friendship at this older and wiser stage in our my life.






What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html 

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)

'2014' available April 8, 2014 at http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak
Pre-order your copy of "2014" at the iTunes Store NOW

My latest solo release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

Ray Jozwiak: Black & White Then Back

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

PIANOGONZOLOGY - Blogged My 
Zimbio
blog search directory Blog Directory





Sunday, March 23, 2014

The Ditty. . .

 . . . Tour.

OHO- The Ditty Tour

Thursday, March 27, 2014
Live Lixx at Sixx @ Live Lixx
49th St, Ocean City, MD 21842 (United States) -
    Set: 6:00 PM
All Ages
   
Thursday, March 27, 2014
OHO @ Johnny's Pizza & Pub
5601 Coastal Highway, Ocean City, MD 21842 (United States) -
410-524-7499     Set: 8:00 PM
All Ages
    Tickets: na

Friday, March 28, 2014
Youth Ministry Outreach @ ocean city convention center
4001 Coastal Highway, Ocean City, MD 21842 (United States) -
1-800-OC-OCEAN     Set: 7:00 PM
All Ages
   
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Youth Ministry Outreach @ ocean city convention center
4001 Coastal Highway, Ocean City, MD 21842 (United States) -
1-800-OC-OCEAN     Set: 9:00 PM
All Ages
   
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Band Fest - Pop Up Art Gallery 2014 (by invitation only) @ Heritage Parville Gardens
Harford Road at Taylor Avenue, Baltimore, MD (United States) -
410-254-2272     Set: 7:00 PM
All Ages



Ocean City Ditty
written by John P. Graboski
performed by OHO- Jay Graboski, David Reeve and Ray Jozwiak
Get your very own right now at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4 





What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html 

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)

'2014' available April 8, 2014 at http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak
Pre-order your copy of "2014" at the iTunes Store NOW

My latest solo release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

Ray Jozwiak: Black & White Then Back

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

PIANOGONZOLOGY - Blogged My 
Zimbio
blog search directory Blog Directory






   

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Not So Blue . . .

. . . Monday. . .

Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano
Opens the Monday Night Songwriters' Showcase
at Brewer's Alley Restaurant & Brewery
Monday
March 24, 2013
@ 7:15PM

Monday Night Songwriters' Showcase (now in its ninth year!) is held on Monday evenings in beautiful downtown Frederick, MD, except during December (when we are closed after the first Monday). The program starts at 7:15 pm with a piano prelude, followed by three or four songwriters doing three songs each (lots of variety) and featured songwriter does a 45 -60 minute set.   Come and support LIVE MUSIC!

(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/



Exactly
©2013 Raymond M. Jozwiak
from '2014'
available April 8, 2014 at http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak




Ray Jozwiak's '2014' will be available April 8th through digital distribution at http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak

What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html 

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)

'2014' available April 8, 2014 at http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak
Pre-order your copy of "2014" at the iTunes Store NOW

My latest solo release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

Ray Jozwiak: Black & White Then Back

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

PIANOGONZOLOGY - Blogged My 
Zimbio
blog search directory Blog Directory





Friday, March 21, 2014

Rest. . .

 
. . . in peace Fred


(from the website of the Westboro Baptist Church)

"Numbers

·         6801 - soldiers that God has killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
·         52,335 - pickets conducted by WBC.
·         922 - cities that have been visited by WBC.
·         1186 - weeks that WBC has held daily pickets on the mean streets of doomed america.
·         138 - people whom God has cast into hell since you loaded this page.
·         218,400,000+ - gallons of oil that God poured in the Gulf.
·         $17.52 trillion+ - national debt of doomed america.
·         8 - people that God saved in the flood.
·         16,000,000,000 - people that God killed in the flood.
·         144,000 - Jews that will be saved in these last days.
·         0 - nanoseconds of sleep that WBC members lose over your opinions and feeeeellllliiiiiings."





What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html 

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)

'2014' available April 8, 2014 at http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak
Pre-order your copy of "2014" at the iTunes Store NOW

My latest solo release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

Ray Jozwiak: Black & White Then Back

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

PIANOGONZOLOGY - Blogged My 
Zimbio
blog search directory Blog Directory





NOT . . .

. . . because of skin color, not because he wasn't 'tough' enough with Putin, not because of the ACA (well, maybe that one too- but not for the popularly held conservative reasons), not because he uses a teleprompter, not because he spoke to elementary schoolers standing on a 'my ABCs' carpet. . .

NO. . . but this president concerns me because. . .


(from http://rt.com/usa/obama-ndaa-detention-president-288/)
". . . President Barack Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 . . . giving his stamp of approval to a Pentagon spending bill that will keep Guantanamo Bay open and make indefinite detention for US citizens as likely as ever.

The president inked his name to the 2013 NDAA . . . to little fanfare, and accompanied his signature with a statement condemning a fair number of provisions contained in a bill that he nevertheless endorsed.

The NDAA, an otherwise mundane annual bill that lays out the use of funds for the Department of Defense, has come under attack during the Obama administration for the introduction of a provision last year that allows the military to detain United States citizens indefinitely without charge or trial for mere suspicions of ties to terrorism. Under the 2012 NDAA’s Sec. 1021, Pres. Obama agreed to give the military the power to arrest and hold Americans without the writ of habeas corpus, although he promised with that year’s signing statement that his administration would not abuse that privilege.

In response to the controversial indefinite detention provision from last year, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) introduced an amendment in December 2012 that would have forbid the government from using military force to indefinitely detain Americans without trial under the 2013 NDAA. Although that provision, dubbed the “Feinstein Amendment,” passed the Senate unanimously, a select panel of lawmakers led by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Michigan) stripped it from the final version of the NDAA two week later before it could clear Congress. In exchange, Congress added a provision, Sec. 1029, that claims to ensure that “any person inside the United States” is allowed their constitutional rights, including habeas corpus, but supporters of the Feinstein Amendment say that the swapped wording does nothing to erase the indefinite detention provision from the previous year. . ."





What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html 

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)

'2014' available April 8, 2014 at http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak
Pre-order your copy of "2014" at the iTunes Store NOW

My latest solo release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

Ray Jozwiak: Black & White Then Back

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

PIANOGONZOLOGY - Blogged My 
Zimbio
blog search directory Blog Directory





Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Friends . . .

NO, not the television show. . .


Many have sung of the great value of friends. I now realize how differently I value friends from a more mature perspective than I did as a child but I'm not really sure I can say with accuracy that I valued them any less as a child.  I only valued them differently without the wisdom these many years have bestowed upon me.

Of course, as you well know, this has everything to do with music. Many websites list their 'top friendship songs' which vary but contain many common titles.  So here's a list, based upon several sites but compiled by me of some of them:

You've Got To Have Friends by Buzzy Linhart and Mark 'Moogy' Klingman
You've Got A Friend In Me by Randy Newman
You've Got A Friends by Carole King
A Little Help From My Friends by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Stand By Me by Ben E. King
Lean On Me by Bill Withers
You're My Best Friend by John Deacon (Queen)
Waiting On A Friend by Mick Jagger

Well.  I gotta' run.  Gonna meet some friends. . .






What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html 

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)

'2014' available April 8, 2014 at http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak
Pre-order your copy of "2014" at the iTunes Store NOW

My latest solo release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

Ray Jozwiak: Black & White Then Back

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

PIANOGONZOLOGY - Blogged My 
Zimbio
blog search directory Blog Directory





Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Money. . .

The radio is rambling on about Syria with mention of car bombs, Assad, opposition, terrorists, negotiators etc., very sad indeed.  The umpteenth snowstorm is coating the complete pre-spring landscape and once again, complicating a morning commute.  The president has spoken with high schoolers about going to college and how they're going to pay for it. Mere distractions to be sure.

But once again, prompted by the dinner conversation last night, distribution of wealth sneaked into the mix.  The angle this time was not the greed of Wall Street or big business.  This time we zeroed in on the entertainment industry.  Not only the vast amounts of money required to make a major-release motion picture, but also the salaries commanded by professional sports players.  See . . .

". . . For the first time since SI.com began publishing the Fortunate 50 in 2004, Tiger Woods is not No. 1. He's not even No. 2. That honor goes once again to Phil Mickelson. The new No. 1 (for now) is Floyd Mayweather, who was unranked a year ago but scored two huge pay-per-view paydays to earn $85 million without a single endorsement.

This year's list is unique for a couple more reasons. NBA players, who have historically claimed more spots in the Fortunate 50 than any other group, had their salaries slashed by nearly 20 percent this season because of the 66-game schedule brought on by the lockout of 2011.
Our findings consisted solely of salary, winnings, bonuses, endorsements and appearance fees. We consulted players' associations, tour records, agents and news reports. Our endorsement estimates for 2012 came from Burns Entertainment & Sports Marketing, other sports-marketing executives and analysts, and agents. Salary figures were based on current or most recently completed seasons (July 1 for the NFL, which is why Drew Brees, who just signed a $100 million deal last Friday, isn't on the list). For winnings-based sports (auto racing, golf, tennis), we used the 2011 calendar year. Boxing purses are from June 2011 through May 2012. Candidates for the U.S. 50 had to be American citizens and currently active in their sports.
For the 20 highest earning international athletes, go here
. . ."(Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/specials/fortunate50-2012/#ixzz2wDNJ0k1u)





What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html 

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)

'2014' available April 8, 2014 at http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak
Pre-order your copy of "2014" at the iTunes Store NOW

My latest solo release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

Ray Jozwiak: Black & White Then Back

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

PIANOGONZOLOGY - Blogged My 
Zimbio
blog search directory Blog Directory