Thursday, February 17, 2022

Excellent? . . .

(from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/opinion/beatles-destined-fame.html)
". . . Let’s say you’re a musician, artist or actor with dreams of making it big. How do you do that? . . . The standard answer is: Be really excellent at your craft and you will become renowned. Sadly, it’s not that simple. Excellence is a requirement, but often it’s not enough. . . If ever there was a group that could rise to the top on the basis of sheer creative genius, it was them(The Beatles). . ."


My first reaction to this otherwise interesting article, is that 'excellence' is actually NOT a requirement. I suppose my real argument is the 'absolute' nature that I attribute to the word 'excellence.' The word is simply too subjective and should only be used carefully and sparingly. 


Pragmatic
- Excellence (Chef. Sena Hero)



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Wednesday, February 16, 2022

When . . .

 . . . will I learn?


(from https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/digital_audio.html)
". . . Because digital audio files are so large, reduced sample rates were typically used whenever possible. In 1991, the MP3 (MPEG I, layer 3) standard changed everything. MP3 is a lossy compression technique that can dramatically reduce the file size of a digital audio file with surprisingly little effect on the quality. One second of CD-quality audio takes up 1.4 megabits, while a common bit rate for MP3 files is 128 kbps, which is a compression factor of more than 10x! MP3 works by cleverly "throwing away" details about the audio waveform that humans are not very sensitive to, based on a psychoacoustic model of how our ears and brains process sounds. All MP3 files are not created alike; different psychoacoustic models will lead to different amounts of perceived distortion in the audio file. . ."




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Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Rage . . .

 

So many things that I see on this road
Make the blood in my veins start to boil.
Whether blatant dishonesty, no trace of regret,
Or a greedy advantage employed.

There are avenues, detours, for diversion, release,
That I take, but consider my age.
If it only were in my own power to remove
Or to neutralize all my roadrage.


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Monday, February 14, 2022

Polar-. . . .

 . . . ization

(from Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham)
". . . "Why, then," (George Washington addressing Thomas Jefferson about the latter's differences with Alexander Hamilton) "when some of the best citizens in the United States - men of discernment - uniform and tried patriots, who have no sinister views to promote, but are chaste in their ways of thinking and acting are to be found, some on one side, and some on the other of the questions which have caused these agitations, should either of you be so tenacious of your opinions as to make no allowances for those of the other?". . . "


So Near and Yet So Far

- Fred Astaire, from You'll Never Get Rich (1941)



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Sunday, February 13, 2022

Elephants . . .

. . . and Grains

‘Grains’, an eclectic yet approachable album of songs, will be released as a digital download only, via the worldwide web. The album is an amalgamation of jazz influences and chops, Brill Building pop writing and colors from a life well-lived and loved. The album includes 'Broken'- a former tyrant expressing his regrets, 'Thinking'- a pure love-song, 'Otherwise' and 'Elephants'- reflections on recent events and 'Baggage'- the frustration with the everyday grind. 'Grains' (as in 'like sands through the hourglass' ) will be available through most online music retailers, including music.apple.com and amazon.com, June 14, 2022.  Grains’ differentiates itself from all of my prior releases by its composition of entirely vocal music. Much of my music is written with lyrics but released as instrumental as the musical content and performance have always taken priority for me. I do like, however, many of the lyrics I write and have therefore chosen to make an album consisting of vocals exclusively. A track from 'Grains' is included here for you to sample.


Elephants

©2021 Raymond M. Jozwiak
from 'Grains', release date June 7, 2022


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Saturday, February 12, 2022

Living Color . . .

 


Much analysis, many comments and various reflections have been offered regarding this performance, these photos, and the production of the film "Get Back" since its release on Disney TV. But the one, lasting, most impressive aspect of the entire thing, has really got to be the color of those pants.


Where'd You Get Those Pants?

- Fishbone



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