Have you ever. . .

. . . purchased one of those 'how to succeed in the XXX business' books. I have. And I probably will again. And even though the author's name may not be readily recognizable to you - after all, you want to succeed in THAT particular area which implies you have NOT yet succeeded in it, THEREFORE you logically would NOT recognize their name - you buy it anyway. But I, as I'm sure you have as well, sometimes suspect that if this person was actually qualified to offer such advice, why didn't she/he succeed in the XXX business in the first place?

And the worldwideweb makes it even easier to be an 'expert.'

No matter what your interest, passion or hobby, there is a guru lurking in the shadows ready to POUNCE and take your money for imparting their great wisdom.

Googling either "Make It" or "How To Make It" in the XXX industry, produces. . .
Music Industry - About 23,200,000 results
NBA - About 153,000,000 results
NFL - About 116,000,000 results
Fashion Industry - About 11,800,000 results
Rap Game - About 4,310,000 results
UFC - About 20,300,000 results
MLB - About 84,600,000 results
Film Industry - About 14,500,000 results

Well, you get the idea.

There certainly are probably thousands (maybe more) in the music business, and countless other businesses, just dying to get into your (and my) wallet. This plethora of knowledge, wisdom and beneficence now at our fingertips is certainly a wonder of the post technological world. But I must ask, if you've really "MADE IT" in your specific field, why do you need my money?

hear my music at www.rayjozwiak.com

Catalog Girl

HER EYES SAY COME CLOSER
HER HAIR FALLS DOWN HER SHOULDERS
LIKE A BLANKET ON HER SKIN
IF YOU DO YOU'LL NEVER WIN
SHE LOOKS THE SAME AT EVERY MAN
THAT LOOK SAYS I'M CONFECTION
YOU CAN'T HAVE A TASTE UNLESS YOUR DOCTOR SAYS YOU CAN

HER LIPS PURSED EVER SO SLIGHTLY
YOU THINK SHE WANTS TO INVITE YOU OUT
TO SPEND SOME TIME WITH HER
THE WHOLE ROUTINE BECOMES A BLUR
SHE SAYS IT ALL WITHOUT A WORD
SHE LOOKS LIKE PURE PERFECTION
AND YOU'LL NEVER EVER SEE THE LIKES OF HER AGAIN

BUT SHE'S MINE I KNOW SHE'LL NEVER LEAVE ME
SHE'S FINE AND SHE'LL NEVER DECEIVE ME
OTHER EYES ADMIRE AND DESIRE HER TOO
AND SHE SMILES IN RESPONSE TO ALL GLANCES
FROM THOSE WHO CARE TO SEE
ALL OF HER DELICATE LINES
ON THE PAGE WHERE YOU'LL FIND
THE TWO DIMENSIONS OF MY
CATALOG GIRL

THEY ALL SAY SHE'S NOT BRIGHT
BUT WHEN THE SPOTLIGHT IS LIT
YOU CAN SEE HER BUSINESS SENSE
IT'S SINCERE INTELLIGENCE
SHE WORKS SO HARD AT WHAT SHE DOES
INTENSITY AND CONCENTRATION ON HER FACE
SHOW SHE IS SO MUCH MORE THAN FLUFF

BUT SHE'S MINE I KNOW SHE'LL NEVER LEAVE ME
SHE'S FINE AND SHE'LL NEVER DECEIVE ME
OTHER EYES ADMIRE AND DESIRE HER TOO
AND SHE SMILES IN RESPONSE TO ALL GLANCES
FROM THOSE WHO CARE TO SEE
ALL OF HER DELICATE LINES
ON THE PAGE WHERE YOU'LL FIND
THE TWO DIMENSIONS OF MY
CATALOG GIRL

HER SHAPE'S LIKE A TAPE
SHE WEIGHS ONE HUNDRED EIGHT
AND SHE LOOKS SO APPEALING
IN CLOTHING REVEALING
HER HEART'S ON HER SLEEVE
THAT'S WHAT YOU SHOULD BELIEVE
SHE PRACTICES THAT COME ON LOOK
IMPROVES IT MORE IN EVERY BOOK
SHE IS THE EPITOME OF CATALOG GIRL

ONE DAY SOON SHE WILL NO
LONGER POSSESS ALL THE ASSETS OF THOSE
BYGONE YOUTHFUL DAYS
THE YEARS WILL PASS JUST LIKE A PHASE
NOTHING BUT MEMORIES IN A HAZE
AND THOUGH HER STAR WILL FADE
A LITTLE GLORY WILL REMAIN UPON A TABLE NEAR THE CHAISE

BUT SHE'S MINE I KNOW SHE'LL NEVER LEAVE ME
SHE'S FINE AND SHE'LL NEVER DECEIVE ME
OTHER EYES ADMIRE AND DESIRE HER TOO
AND SHE SMILES IN RESPONSE TO ALL GLANCES
FROM THOSE WHO CARE TO SEE
ALL OF HER DELICATE LINES
ON THE PAGE WHERE YOU'LL FIND
THE TWO DIMENSIONS OF MY
CATALOG GIRL

Hear CATALOG GIRL

hear my music at www.rayjozwiak.com

Since only hundreds of millions. . .

. . . will probably see this, (I think it was J. Paul Getty who once said, ". . . a million here, a million there, and pretty soon you're talking big money. . . ") I don't think anyone will mind if you listen to the progress we're making on the performance of a song entitled SMILE (All Rights Reserved by Michael Mitchell) by Michael Mitchell on the collaborative, music-networking website Indabamusic.com, which I mentioned in my blog of 2/9/11.

SMILE at IndabaMusic

It's like going into the studio but it's a 'virtual' studio and participants can be located anywhere around the world. And you add your contribution on your own time.

(did I say "probably see this"? I meant to say "probably not")

hear my music at www.rayjozwiak.com

Time. . .

sure flies when you're having fun.
(If you're a frog, time's sure fun when you're having flies.)
Time loves a hero. (But only time will tell.)
If I could save time in a bottle.
Takes a licking and still keeps on ticking.
Time takes it's toll.
Time is free, but priceless.
Make every hour in the day count.
Time discovers truth.
Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in.
Time heals what reason cannot.
Time heals all wounds.
You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people
all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.
We didn't lose the game, we just ran out of time.
Truth is the daughter of time.
The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted.
Lost time is never found again.
Time is money.
All that really belongs to us is time; even he who has nothing else has that.
All my possessions for a moment of time.

No, I did not make these up. They are all quotes or paraphrased quotes from
many who were much wiser than I. (or is it 'me'?)

(hear my music at http://www.rayjozwiak.com/)

Russell's stains. . .

Russell, like many of us (and a preponderance of people under 40 years of age) has a facebook page. Russell is one of my three sons and lives in Los Angeles.

I, who by the way am well over 40, also have a facebook page; and a myspace page, and jazz network worldwide, global jazz network, twitter, google and more than even I remember. My membership on these sites is strictly commercial (thanks Frank) but no less sincere. In other words, if you become my 'friend' (on myspace) or if you 'like' me on facebook, I am sincerely appreciative. But my true purpose for being there is to spread my music throughout cyberspace. I probably, now that I understand social media, would be on one or two social networking sites even if I didn't play music, but I doubt I would be a member of as many of them as I now am.

But anyway, back to Russell. Now all three of my boys were 'creeped out' as they called it, if I (and it has been rare)
communicated with one of their friends on a social networking site, most specifically facebook, since that seems to be the most widely used such site for their age group. But if a friend of theirs and I somehow 'ran into' each other on facebook, and they held some interest in my music, I had no problem with the interaction. I wasn't exercising some strange voyeurism or some such other perversion. I was merely trying to spread my music throughout cyberspace.

And likewise, I have stumbled upon the facebook page of each of them sporadically when utilizing facebook and will sometimes glance at a photo or read a post. After all, that's what it's for.

Now there's not some sordid punchline to this little diatribe about the revelation of some bizarre proclivity, heretofore unknown revelation or any such thing. . . but maybe there is.

On Russell's page, there was a photo of Russell and two of his friends (and co-workers) all dressed in similar garb (sweatshirt and khakis, if you must know), and Russell is unknowingly sporting three, very visible stains on his sweatshirt. Which promptly led to some amusing verbal interplay among he and his facebook friends. And no, I couldn't resist adding my two cents, saying simply, "nice stains, Russ."

Well, talk about your anticlimactic rambling. . . not Russ and his friends on facebook. ME. HERE. I still found the situation quite humorous, in a dry sort of way. And I even think, and some folks have done sillier things, that since these stains developed such a personality in their own, small, facebook way, that these stains should have their very own page on facebook. Don't you???

(hear my music at http://www.rayjozwiak.com/)

a footnote. . .

. . . to yesterday: Ann Coulter appeared on O'Reilly's show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpNjUGvry40

and, although somewhat malnourished in his FACT diet, he actually DISAGREED with her. I'm not cheering for O'Reilly, mind you. A debate by intellects of this gravity may be likened to one between Archie Bunker and Homer Simpson.

Anyway. . .

(hear my music at http://www.rayjozwiak.com/)

"That's not what the news is reporting. . . "

. . . says Ann Coulter, claiming yesterday that:
- radiation is actually good for you
- that the current situation in Japan of partial meltdown of nuclear reactors is really not a bad thing
- that the opinion of the preponderance of the scientific community should be ignored because SHE (bless her pea-pickin' little
heart) cited several studies claiming the benefits of radiation

. . . and the reason that we're all going off half-cocked about the nuclear situation in Japan and re-evaluating our use of nuclear energy, and showing concern for the Japanese population is (of course), because of the (Duuuh da da Duh) LIBERAL PRESS!

What a woman! She can minimize a tragedy, the scale of which the world has not seen, the fate of millions of people, the future of an alternative source of energy and untold heartache. . . all for some airtime and a chance propagate the continuing conservative backlash based upon false accusation, oversimplification and sparse FACTS.

I'm sorry I wrote this if only to add a little more attention to this pitiful 'entertainer'.

(hear my music at http://www.rayjozwiak.com/)