Movies. . .

. . . is magic. . .

(from wikipedia.com)
". . . A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still images on a strip of plastic which, when run through a projector and shown on a screen, creates the illusion of moving images. A film is created by photographing actual scenes with a motion picture camera; by photographing drawings or miniature models using traditional animation techniques; by means of CGI and computer animation; or by a combination of some or all of these techniques and other visual effects. The process of filmmaking is both an art and an industry.

Films usually include an optical soundtrack, which is a graphic recording of the spoken words, music and other sounds that are to accompany the images. It runs along a portion of the film exclusively reserved for it and is not projected.

Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures. They reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them. Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment, and a powerful medium for educating—or indoctrinating—citizens. The visual basis of film gives it a universal power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles to translate the dialog into the language of the viewer. . ."

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Success. . .

I couldn’t wait for success, so I went ahead without it.
-Jonathan Winters

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
― Winston Churchill

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
― Confucius

“All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure. ”
― Mark Twain

“A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do.”
― Bob Dylan

“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.”
― Leonardo da Vinci

“Eighty percent of success is showing up.”
― Woody Allen

“He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauty or failed to express it; who has always looked for the best in others and given the best he had; whose life was an inspiration; whose memory a benediction.”
- Bessie A. Stanley

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Oho . . .

Dear __________,

Writing to acquaint you with OHO and our music in hopes of securing future performance dates at _______________**.

OHO began as Baltimore's answer to Pink Floyd, an American underground icon, a band that came out of nowhere playing music the chroniclers swore was years ahead of its time. OHO sneaks around the musical conventions that have mummified so many others, unleashing sliders where you'd expect curve balls, fast balls where you'd expect change-ups. Part of it is their sense of humor, part of it their unerring humanity. A curious anomaly, the band was totally out of synch with current musical trends when they formed in late 73, a five-piece multi-instrumental, avant garde, acid-progressive band from Baltimore with a do-it-yourself lifestyle and album/label/outlook who were either seven years too late or seventeen years too early.

After almost forty years of evolution from precocious prog-rock darlings to pre-punk garage rebels, to folk-jazz free fliers to power-trio original and sophisticated-covers band, OHO (now consisting of founders Jay Graboski and David Reeve, reunited with thirty-year musical collaborator [1970s Ful Treatment] Ray Jozwiak and occasional, special, when-available, musical guests) now belts out a bevy of thought-provoking original material blended with classics and the cream of current, intelligent rock and roll, spiced with musical influences from everywhere-including the kitchen sink- for your dancing, dining and drinking pleasure.  A physical and aural delight.

We hope to experience the pleasure of performing for your fine clientele at ____________** in the near future.  Looking forward to hearing from you.  A CD of the current incarnation of OHO is enclosed and and free download card (to experience the rich history of OHO) for your review and musical pleasure.

Very truly yours.
(** = YOUR venue)

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Creation. . .

. . . is a wonderful thing

Through the wonder of digital editing and production, the intro and verse chord structure from a pop tune that Oho covers became the creation that I have posted here.

Reminds me a bit of Santana.



Little Eye
by John P. Graboski, David Reeve & Raymond M. Jozwiak
Performed by Oho:  Jay Graboski, David Reeve and
Ray Jozwiak (from a May 2013 rehearsal recording)





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Comedy. . .

. . . and piano too. . .

(from wikipedia.com)

". . . (Paul) Reiser played piano for the recording of the show's theme song. For his work in Mad About You, Reiser received nominations for an Emmy, a Golden Globe, an American Comedy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild award. In the successful show's final 1999 season, he and Hunt were paid US$1 million ($1.4 million today) per episode. In 2001, Reiser took on a dramatic role as a man desperate to find his birth mother after learning he has a serious illness in the British television movie My Beautiful Son.

Reiser has also written three books: Couplehood, about the ups and downs of being in a committed relationship; Babyhood, about his experiences as a first-time father; and Familyhood, a collection of humorous essays. Couplehood was unique in the fact it started on page 145. Reiser explained this as his way of giving the reader a false sense of accomplishment. Both books appeared on The New York Times bestseller list. In May 1996, Reiser appeared on Late Show with David Letterman in the middle of writing his second book. Since he didn't have a title yet (it would later be called Babyhood), he showed a prop book with the same cover as his first book Couplehood. The title was simply called Book, a name Whoopi Goldberg used for her 1997 publication. Familyhood was released in May 2011.

In 2002, Reiser made a guest appearance as himself on Larry David's critically acclaimed HBO sitcom, Curb Your Enthusiasm.

In 2007's Atlanta, Reiser co-stars in a television comedy film centering around a man and a woman who meet at a funeral and can't seem to stay away from each other.

In 2010, Reiser joined the singer Julia Fordham, in an unusual collaboration. They created a 10-song CD album titled, “Unusual Suspects.”, including the new song, “UnSung Heroes,” which is dedicated to the US soldiers in Afghanistan. The two embarked on an acoustic tour after its release.

Reiser wrote and starred in the semi-autobiographical comedy series The Paul Reiser Show, which aired on NBC as a midseason replacement during the 2010–11 television season. "This is nice", quipped Reiser on the Stephanie Miller radio program, "because you get to sit around and root for other shows to fail." However, due to very little lead time and promotion by NBC prior to its debut (in addition to poor scheduling), the low-rating program was cancelled on April 22, 2011, after airing only two episodes. . . "

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Got to have. . .

. . . certain things. . . 

. . . in life

Like the Hokey Pokey. 

Why the Hokey Pokey?

. . . . because. . . 

That's what it's all about!

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Fagin? . . .

. . . no. . .

Fagen, as in Donald. . .


Fagen met Becker at a college coffee house at Bard College in 1967. Responding to an ad in The Village Voice in the summer of 1970, Fagen and Becker met guitarist Denny Dias and started a musical partnership that formed the basis of what would eventually become Steely Dan. However, the original group's line-up would only be assembled in full around December 1971 in Los Angeles, California, to where Becker and Fagen had relocated, initially to work as staff song writers for ABC/Dunhill. Fagen and Becker formed the core of the band and co-wrote all the group's music; on tour and record, Becker played bass (and later lead guitar) and Fagen played keyboards, as well as performing almost all of the lead vocals on their recordings.

After releasing their third LP in 1974, the other members gradually left (or were fired from) the band, which gradually evolved into a studio project headed by Becker and Fagen. They scored their biggest success in 1977 with the platinum-selling album Aja.

After a lengthy period of inactivity as a band which began in the early 1980s, the duo of Becker and Fagen revived Steely Dan in the mid-1990s, and have since produced two more Steely Dan studio albums: 2000s Two Against Nature which won several Grammys, Everything Must Go (2003), as well as the live CD Alive in America (1995) and a live concert DVD entitled Two Against Nature, which included material spanning much of the band's history.

Fagen frequently uses aliases. He wrote the liner notes to Can't Buy a Thrill under the name Tristan Fabriani, which he would use on stage when he played keyboards for Jay and the Americans, (Becker would use Gus Mahler). On his solo albums, when he plays or programs a synthesizer part to replicate a real instrument (bass, vibraphone, horns, etc.) he will credit one of his aliases - Illinois Elohainu, Phonus Quaver, or Harlan Post.

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