pianogonzology

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Tact . . .

Definitions
1. Tact Sensitive mental touch; peculiar skill or faculty; nice perception or discernment; ready power of appreciating and doing what is required by circumstances."He had formed plans not inferior in grandeur and boldness to those of Richelieu, and had carried them into effect with a tact and wariness worthy of Mazarin.""A tact which surpassed the tact of her sex as much as the tact of her sex surpassed the tact of ours."
2. Tact The sense of touch; feeling."Did you suppose that I could not make myself sensible to tact as well as sight?""Now, sight is a very refined tact ."
3. Tact <takt> adroitness in managing the feelings of persons dealt with: nice perception in seeing and doing exactly what is best in the circumstances

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

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) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak. Please Visit http://www.ohomusic.com

My latest solo offering, Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak, featuring original, instrumental piano music will be released April 7, 2014 Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak

(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)

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

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Any Respectable Roman . . .

(From Treatise On The Gods by H.L. Mencken)
". . . The Romans were not shocked to encounter gods who were thus more than half men, for they had plenty of their own, as well as hundreds of other kinds. At Rome, the cross-roads of the world, all the gods of East and West were mingled. There were so many of them that no one believed in them any more, not even the priests. Some had come from Greece or Asia; others were no more than men raised to divinity by a decree of the Senate. When an emperor died, his body was burned on a great pyre, and an eagle was released, to carry his soul to the sky; thereafter he was a god. Some of the later emperors were deified while they still lived, like Alexander of Macedon, the pharaohs of Egypt, and the mikados of Japan. The truth is that any respectable Roman, by the simple act of dying, might become a god; all that he needed was children to worship his manes. Thus the Roman pantheon swarmed like the German Valhalla, and was rocked by the same tumults and scandals. In it were traces of every variety of religion ever practiced by man, from the bald animism of savages to the most highly sophisticated of the cults of Asia Minor. The primitive Earth Mother, or Terra Mater, under the name of Ceres (= the Greek Demeter), and the sun-god and rain-god, joined in Jupiter, survived side by side with local vine-gods who had been emperors only a few years before, and roaring drunk in the streets of Rome. . ."

Paleolithic Goddess Figurine
(by OHO, Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak and recording Technicians extraordinaire Bill Pratt and David Reeve)

Friday, January 16, 2015

Misheard . . .

(from http://grammarist.com/mondegreens/)
Mondegreens are misheard versions of phrases, sayings, lyrics, poetic phrases, or slogans. The term comes from the Scottish author Sylvia Write, who wrote a 1954 article in Harper’s Magazine in which she mentioned misinterpreting a Scottish ballad. The original line, “They hae slain the Earl o’ Moray and laid him on the green,” she misheard as, “They hae slain the Earl o’ Moray and Lady Mondegreen.”

Although the term mondegreen has been used for misheard phrases not from songs and poems, eggcorn, which originated in a 2003 Language Log post, has been advanced as a broader term for misheard words or phrases that retain their original meanings. So, for example, doggy-dog world is an eggcorn because it’s used in roughly the same way as the original phrase, dog-eat-dog world.

In the list below, the eggcorns are linked (to our posts covering the topics), and the original forms of the phrases are in parentheses:

Abject lesson (object lesson)
All in all (all and all)
Bad wrap (bad rap)
Beckon call (beck and call)
Butt naked (buck naked)
Day in age (day and age)
Deep-seeded (deep-seated)
Doggy-dog (dog-eat-dog)
Far be it for me (far be it from me)
For all intensive purposes (for all intents and purposes)
Hare’s breath (hair’s breadth)
Must of (must’ve)
Neck in neck (neck and neck)
On tenderhooks (on tenterhooks)
One in the same (one and the same)
Road to hoe (row to hoe)
Safety-deposit box (safe-deposit box)

Thursday, January 15, 2015

So Sam, . . .

(from Jay's recent post on the OHOMusic Facebook page . . . )

Jay: "So Sam, Have you aired the (WTMD 05/15/14) OHO interview? If not, do you intend to air it? Inquiring minds want to know. I won't be hurt if you have changed your mind; but I would be disappointed that what was discussed did not reach the level of interest or entertainment of some of your other guests, the bar having been set rather low, not by you; but by them."

Sam: "Hey Jay, I haven't aired it yet -- my wife and I had our second child a couple months ago and I'm digging out from a mountain of work right now. I do intend to air it -- I'll let you know!"

Jay: "OK, thanks, congratulations and best wishes, double trouble & 2x the fun!!!"

(Video & Audio courtesy of Greg Whitehair and Ken Birnie)

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

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) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak. Please Visit http://www.ohomusic.com

My latest solo offering, Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak, featuring original, instrumental piano music will be released April 7, 2014 Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak

(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)

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

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Attitude . . .

. . . adjustment

. . . required

Mohammad Rasheed Ahmad, a student at the Ghousia Madrassa, or Islamic religious school, said he was disappointed so few came out to honor hérif and Saïd Kouachi, the Islamist terrorist brothers behind the Charlie Hebdo magazine massacre at funeral in absentia in the city of Peshawar recently.

"We saw tens of thousands of people gathered in France to show solidarity with their slain men, but Muslims didn't come to take part in the funeral of the two heroes who did this great job," he said.

Do you think maybe there's a REASON for that?!

Monday, January 12, 2015

Perfection . . .

Strive for continuous improvement, instead of perfection.
Kim Collins

Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it.
Salvador Dali

Fix your eyes on perfection and you make almost everything speed towards it.
William Ellery Channing

Perfect is what's natural or real; that is beauty.
Marc Jacobs

The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection.
George Orwell

Redemption is not perfection. The redeemed must realize their imperfections.
John Piper

Aim at perfection in everything, though in most things it is unattainable. However, they who aim at it, and persevere, will come much nearer to it than those whose laziness and despondency make them give it up as unattainable.
Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

To strive for perfection is noble. To expect to attain it is irrational.
Ray Jozwiak-Gonzo Piano

(thanks to http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/perfection.html#dMujzkJ2JrDpETmV.99)

Blue . . .

. . . Ball Road Studio . . . yes, it's real. . .

(from Jay's post on OHO's Facebook page, Sunday, January 11, 2015)
Today Ray & I meet David at his Blue Ball Road Studio to sort through a number of saxophone tracks recorded some time ago at Bill Pratt's Bratt Studio in Woodlawn by Gene Meros. The aim is to comb through them, locate the best phrases and link them with integrity. The process is the elimination of those phrases that definitely will not be used, then by a further elimination, then by an even further elimination; then by placing this phrase in front of THAT one; and that one behind THIS one: viola! Another "hit."

And we did indeed spend a joyous three hours on that cool and beautiful sunny Sunday to accomplish what you can hear below. One or two more tweaks back at Bratt Studios and we put this baby to bed.

Slough of Despond
(by OHO, Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak and recording Technicians extraordinaire Bill Pratt and David Reeve)

Sunday, January 11, 2015

But Boss . . .

(from http://www.nbcnews.com/business/careers/man-fired-after-skipping-work-24-years-n282931)
A.K. Verma, an executive engineer at the Central Public Works Department in India, was fired after last appearing for work in December 1990. "He went on seeking extension of leave, which was not sanctioned, and defied directions to report to work," the government said in a statement Thursday. Even after an inquiry found him guilty of "willful absence from duty" in 1992, it took another 22 years and the intervention of a cabinet minister to remove him, the government said. India's labor laws, which the World Bank says are the most restrictive anywhere, make it hard to sack staff for any reason other than criminal misconduct.

(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)

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

Friday, January 9, 2015

Freedom and the Press . . .

(from http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/paris-magazine-attack/charlie-hebdo-shooting-12-killed-muhammad-cartoons-magazine-paris-n281266)
". . . Twelve people were killed Wednesday when masked gunmen armed with AK-47s attacked the offices of a French satirical news magazine which has published cartoons of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad. . . One of the magazine's editors, Gerard Biard, told France Inter radio: "I don't understand how people can attack a newspaper with heavy weapons. A newspaper is not a weapon of war." Hollande added that several other attacks had been thwarted in France "in recent weeks." "No barbaric act will ever extinguish the freedom of the press," Hollande said in a tweet. "We are a united country." . . ."

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion . . .
-John Adams

Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual. . . The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.
-Thomas Jefferson

Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of a free government; when this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved, and tyranny is erected on its ruins. Republics and limited monarchies derive their strength and vigor from a popular examination into the action of the magistrates.
-Benjamin Franklin

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Consummate . . .

. . . politician . . .

Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, and Senate majority leader ACTUALLY said:
“After so many years of sluggish growth, we’re finally starting to see some economic data that can provide a glimmer of hope; the uptick appears to coincide with the biggest political change of the Obama Administration’s long tenure in Washington: the expectation of a new Republican Congress. So this is precisely the right time to advance a positive, pro-growth agenda.”

During the election cycle, McConnell constantly accused the President of destroying the economy. As McConnell whined, economic conditions just kept getting better and U.S. job growth reached a 15-year high last year.

Never mind all those bothersome facts, now McConnell wants credit for the recovery’s unexpected strength. McConnell took his time to come up with this rhetorical trick. Two days before Christmas, when Americans learned that GDP growth in the third quarter of 2014 reached an 11-year high, McConnell said . . . nothing.
(thanks to http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/mcconnell-wants-credit-economic-turnaround)