Sunday, January 15, 2012

Bowled over . . .

. . . Dude




". . . I didn't evaluate music or entertainment for its sophistication, its level of technique or virtuosity or any of that stuff;  and still don't, for the most part.  My preferred entertainments are ones that quite simply MOVE me.  I can't always explain why, nor should I have to, but if I am moved in some small form or fashion, I deem it desirable.  And it doesn't have to move me the first time I hear it like 'love at first sight';  only in this case, at first 'listen'. In fact, some of the most rewarding (or MOVING) music that I now appreciate most did not bowl me over the first time I heard it. . . "




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Saturday, January 14, 2012

Sounds funny. . .

 . . . but it's true.  It's a party with live, original music.
It's almost here. 
Who? OHO (Jay, Dave, Ray with guest vocalists Lisa Griffee and Kelly G), Easy Cowboy (w/Matt Rose), Jason & The Butchers and El Sledge (+)
What? Shlongtasm 2012; each band will perform a 25-30 minute set
Where? Joe Squared Pizza (133 W. North Ave. at the corner of North Ave. and Howard Street, Balto., MD 21201; phone: 410.545.0444)
When? 9:00 PM till closing, Friday January 20, 2012
Why? To celebrate El Sledge (+) manager, Dan Long, to rage against the dying of the light (“It’s a cold stare at humankind masquerading as happy beer-hall music—Lift your flagon to this, you f*&k.’”-Stan Ridgway), ingest some delicious pie, & to quaff steins brimmed with delicious, foaming hops-infused beverage. 






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Friday, January 13, 2012

GENERALizing. . .

. . . about the rich or the poor gets us nowhere . . .




Mitt Romney says that since our current President practices the "politics of division" (he obviously lives in a cocoon),  many intelligent (maybe that's the missing element) Americans are quite conscious of the existing rift between rich and poor in this country.  Pew Social & Demographic Trends found 66% of Americans see strong conflicts between the two groups, and a full 19% more than did in 2009.

Almost half of the people interviewed said they thought rich people are rich because they were born into rich families or know the right people and a comparable percentage thought the rich earned their riches through hard work, ambition or education. 

Well, both groups are correct.  And like any other group of two or more human beings, within each of those rich populations there are good, honest, principled people and there are lying, cheating, dishonest charlatans as well.

Much like the perception that rich (sometimes not-so-rich-yet conservative, white-collar-middle-to-upper-middle-class) people hold that poor people are poor because they are lazy and therefore do not work hard, have no ambition and are as a result (or as a cause) have no education.  And they are right also. . . that is about SOME poor people.  But if they are speaking of a group of two or more poor people, they are not considering the good, honest, principled people who have tried but have suffered setbacks, disadvantages, discrimination, bad luck, bad circumstances or bad timing who have not been able to attain the success that some may THINK these poor people could have attained.




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Thursday, January 12, 2012

At $7,500 a ticket. . .

. . . not many of us 99% will be attending. . .



So maybe Barack Obama will be the lesser of two evils come November's presidential election, and I don't think he is necessarily evil, but he most certainly is conventionally political. Just heard on the news that a fundraiser in Chicago will be held and admission is $7,500 a ticket.

How can we expect to have a president to represent the American people when only RICH PEOPLE have a real say (read:  MONEY) in choosing our candidates?

Occupy America must concentrate their efforts on, among other things, election reform.

This has got to stop.




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Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Sticktoitiveness. . .

. . . or something. . .



(thanks to Wikipedia.com)
Cecil Taylor began playing piano at age six and studied at the New York College of Music and New England Conservator. After first steps in R&B and swing-styled small groups in the early 1950s, he formed his own band with soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy in 1956 and with whom he made his first recording that same year. Some critics said it already pointed to the freedoms in which he later became immersed.

Through the 50s and 60s, Cecil's music grew more complex and moved away from existing jazz styles. Gigs were often hard to come by, and club owners thought his lengthy pieces were not easily accessible to the general jazz-going audience. Landmark recordings, like UNIT STRUCTURES followed later, in 1966. Alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons later joined Cecil and became one of his most important and consistent collaborators. Taylor, Lyons and drummer Sunny Murray (and later Andrew Cyrille) formed the core personnel of The Unit, Taylor's primary group effort until Lyons's premature death in 1986. With 'the Unit', musicians developed often volcanic new forms of conversational interplay.

Cecil began to perform solo concerts in the early 1970s. Many of these were released on album and include INDENT (1973), side one of Spring of Two Blue-J's (1973), SILENT TONGUES (1974), GARDEN (1982), and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1973 and then a MacArthur Fellowship in 1991.


Cecil recorded sparingly in the 2000s, but continued to perform with his own ensembles (the Cecil Taylor Ensemble and the Cecil Taylor Big Band) as well as with other musicians such as Joe Locke, Max Roach and Amiri Baraka.  In 2004, the Cecil Taylor Big Band at the Iridium 2005 was nominated a best performance of 2004 by All About Jazz, and the same in 2009 for the Cecil Taylor Trio at the Highline Ballroom in 2009. The trio consisted of Taylor, Albey Balgochian, and Jackson Krall. An autobiography, more concerts, and other projects are in the works. In 2010, Triple Point Records released a deluxe limited edition double LP titled Ailanthus/Altissima: Bilateral Dimensions of Two Root Songs, a set of duos with long-time collaborator Tony Oxley that was recorded live at the Village Vanguard in New York City.

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Monday, January 9, 2012

No one holds a monopoly . . .

 . . . on vacuity on the right bank. . .



"You know what? This president has caused a deepening recession and is responsible for 25 million Americans being out of work or stopped working or not being able to get jobs," Romney said, before walking away. "And let me tell you, this president's been a failure and that's one of the reasons I'm running is to help you get a job."

"PETA is not happy that my dog likes fresh air." --on strapping his dog to the top of the car

"My sons are all adults and they've made decisions about their careers and they've chosen not to serve in the military and active duty and I respect their decision in that regard. One of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping me get elected because they think I'd be a great president."

"I purchased a gun when I was a young man. I've been a hunter pretty much all my life." (Romney's campaign later said he'd been hunting twice, once when he was 15, and once in 2006 at a Republican fundraiser

"I'm not a big-game hunter. I've made that very clear. I've always been a rodent and rabbit hunter. Small varmints, if you will."

"I'm happy to learn that after I speak you're going to hear from Ann Coulter. That's a good thing. I think it's important to get the views of moderates." --right before Coulter called John Edwards a "faggot"

Quotes from Mitt Romney~Compiled by Daniel Kurtzman
http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/mittromney/a/romneyquotes.htm




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Sunday, January 8, 2012

Ho Hum, back to . . .

 . . . the grind. . .


 The holidays now over, and it's time to get back to the 'swing' of things.

Now that the season for stopping innocent children from celebrating Christmas is over and we've celebrated our New Year's Rockin' eve with the egomaniac who should retire, and we anticipate the national spectacle of watching overweight, overpaid male 'athletes' pile on top of one another as they pursue the pointed pumpkin around a huge 'cow pasture' (as Andy Griffith once said) and merchants pay millions to hawk their wares during 30 second breaks that (and this is a sad statement) are actually more entertaining than the program to which they have contributed so outrageously,  it's now time to settle down, sit back, relax with a cold beer (or a hot topic) and watch the Republican presidential candidates do their new and improved version of Looney Tunes.

". . . and Oh what heights we'll hit, on with the show this is IT IT IT IT!!!!!"




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