pianogonzology

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Damnedest . . .

. . . thing . . .

(http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/06/08/412314701/lost-posture-why-indigenous-cultures-dont-have-back-pain)
". . . if you look at drawings from Leonardo da Vinci — or a Grey's Anatomy book from 1901 — the spine isn't shaped like a sharp, curvy S. It's much flatter, all the way down the back. Then at the bottom, it curves to stick the buttocks out. So the spine looks more like the letter J. "The J-shaped spine is what you see in Greek statues. It's what you see in young children. It's good design," (Esther) Gokhale says. So Gokhale worked to get her spine into the J shape. And gradually her back pain went away. . . Americans are also much less active than people in traditional cultures, (Dr. Preveen) Mummaneni says. "I think the sedentary lifestyle promotes a lack of muscle tone and a lack of postural stability because the muscles get weak." Everyone knows that weak abdominal muscles can cause back pain. In fact, Mummaneni says, stronger muscles might be the secret to Gokhale's success. In other words, it's not that the J-shaped spine is the ideal one — or the healthiest. It's what goes into making the J-shaped spine that matters: "You have to use muscle strength to get your spine to look like a J shape," he says. . ."

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 is now available at - 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, June 13, 2015

Removed . . .

. . . from view . . .

(from Joseph and his Brothers by Thomas Mann- translation by John E. Woods)
". . . A few years more and there would be almost nothing left of the stuff of the Joseph whom Jacob had held in a farewell embrace, as Rebekah had once held him - as little as if his flesh had dissolved into death. Except that, since it was not death that changed him, but life, his form as Joseph remained more or less intact, but less faithfully and perfectly than sheltering death would have kept it in the mind's eye and as it actually, though deceptively, had done in Jacob's mind. But it should still give us pause that, in regard to the content and form of life, the difference between whether it is death or life that removes a person from view is not nearly so important as people would probably like to think. . . "

Friday, June 12, 2015

The Case . . .

. . . for electing Hillary Clinton President of the United States of America. . .

(from http://harpers.org/archive/2014/10/stop-hillary-2/ by Doug Henwood)
". . . boils down to this: She has experience, she’s a woman, and it’s her turn. It’s hard to find any substantive political argument in her favor. She has, in the past, been associated with women’s issues, with children’s issues — but she also encouraged her husband to sign the 1996 bill that put an end to the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (AFDC), which had been in effect since 1935. Indeed, longtime Clinton adviser Dick Morris, who has now morphed into a right-wing pundit, credits Hillary for backing both of Bill’s most important moves to the center: the balanced budget and welfare reform.1 And during her subsequent career as New York’s junior senator and as secretary of state, she has scarcely budged from the centrist sweet spot, and has become increasingly hawkish on foreign policy. . . "

Thursday, June 11, 2015

The Stronger . . .

. . . sex? . . .

(from http://www.nbcnews.com/business/careers/why-men-least-pretend-work-longer-hours-n369731)
(A survey of) ". . .3,042 Dutch male workers . . . asked about their personal situations, how many hours they worked and how many hours they thought their peers worked on average. Men who thought they worked fewer hours than their counterparts were found to be less happy than those who thought they worked more, regardless of their working time or income. According to the report's authors, this phenomenon, called "conspicuous work," occurs when "the individual derives status from working more than his peers, which increases his utility." The report states: "In many social groups, an individual can indeed increase his status by telling everyone that he is very busy, preferably even more than others around him. Symmetrically, he can lose status if he has less to do than others." Apparently this phenomenon only affects men. Marion Collewet, one of the report's authors, told CNBC by email: "The patterns of conspicuous work which we identify for male workers cannot be found for female workers in our data.". . ."

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

OHO . . .

. . . and wine. . .

(from http://www.elkrun.com/)

". . . nestled in the rolling hills of Frederick County surrounded by dairy and horse farms and fields of wheat and corn. The name “Elk Run” was chosen for a stream. The deed name to the property is the “Resurvey of Cold Friday.” It was a land grant from the King of England to Lord Baltimore. . . Using new world research and technology while maintaining the traditions and values of old world practices, Elk Run’s focus is on producing high quality wine from high quality grapes. Soils of schist and shale allow for deep roots and good drainage. Seven to eight hundred foot elevations help keep the vineyard safe from frost danger. Warm days and cool nights preserve the fruity character in the wines. . . "

Event: Wine Down Friday’s Presents: OHO
Start: June 12, 2015 6:00 pm
End: June 12, 2015 9:00 pm
Category: Music
Tasting
Updated: March 5, 2015
Legends of the progressive rock scene in Baltimore during the 1970’s and 80’s, OHO currently performs as a trio. It is nearly impossible to describe the OHO sound, but we’ll try, “jazz flecked, jubilant, jangly, folk/prog/rock. www.ohomusic.com

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Pipeline . . .

(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_Pipeline)
". . . On May 4, 2012, the U.S. Department of State selected Environmental Resources Management (ERM) to author a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, after the Environmental Protection Agency had found previous versions of the study, by contractor Cardno Entrix, to be extremely inadequate. Project opponents panned the study on its release, calling it a "deeply flawed analysis". An investigation by Mother Jones magazine revealed that the State Department had redacted the biographies of the study's authors to hide their previous contract work for TransCanada and other oil companies with an economic interest in the project. Based on an analysis of public documents on the State Department website, one critic asserted that "Environmental Resources Management was paid an undisclosed amount under contract to TransCanada to write the statement". . . "

Monday, June 8, 2015

Citizens . . .

. . . United . . .

(from http://reclaimdemocracy.org/who-are-citizens-united/)
The Court majority (Justices Kennedy, Roberts, Alito, Scalia, and Thomas) argued:
1. barring independent political spending amounts to squelching free speech protected by the First Amendment.
2. the First Amendment protects not just a person’s right to speak, but the act of speech itself, regardless of the speaker. Therefore the First Amendment protects the speech of corporations and unions, whether we consider them people or not.
3. although government has the authority to prevent corruption or “the appearance of corruption,” it has no place in determining whether large political expenditures are either of those things, so it may not impose spending limits on that basis.
4. the public has the right to hear all available information, and spending limits prevent information from reaching the public.

The Court minority (Justices Stevens, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Sotomayor) argued:
1. the First Amendment protects only individual speech, not speech by associations of individuals.
2. government may prevent corruption, and campaign spending can be corrupt when it buys influence over legislators. Therefore government may impose spending limits on corporations and unions.
3. government may prevent the appearance of corruption, which undermines public confidence in democracy. Limits on corporate and union political spending are an expression of that authority.
4. the public has the right to hear all available information, and when corporations spend money individuals can’t match, messages from corporations drown out messages from others, and that information fails to reach the public.