Verging on Pertinence

Yo! Win Somehting!

2011-12-08T11:31:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to let anyone visiting here know that not only can you read the entries but you can click and win a Flip! Just go here (it's a safe site, guaranteed), check out the fly-fishing video, post a comment on THAT blog and you're entered to win a free Flip! Even mailed to you FREE. If you post that blog's link on your own blog, Facebook account or Twitter account your name gets entered again. TWO chances to win.

Act qucikly. Again, here's the link.

Another plug, especially if you like watching videos of the great outdoors while listening to music, check out Yukon Goes Fishing. A fine site put out by someone who inspired me to start blogging (yeah, yeah, I know I've been criminally negligent lately...) in the first place. He has kept up the good fight and continues to post always entertaining entries to get you through the doldrums of the day.

Those that do.....

2011-10-10T16:35:00.000-04:00

(From New Yorker issue of April 7, 2008)

This blogging stuff really isn't so much about accomplishments (though epoch-defining deeds would certainly make the Internet ink flow faster) than it is about the interpretation of such accomplishments. This blog is still (yes..yes..hard to believe) more about the writing thing than the visual thing so the 26 little instruments to be used in transferring a thought symbolically is all I've got to work with.

It's not "11"'s I'm seeking. I'd be perfectly happy writing of 4's and 5's, but if my rendition of the mundane bores me as I re-read an entry, I'd be ashamed to post such dreck here. Passages here should make it worth your while to visit here. I'm not going to waste my time and it would be insulting to waste yours. Back now to the "going to do". Thanks for your patience!

Seriously, I'm Not Dead...

2011-10-04T16:22:00.000-04:00

Dead Yet. Battery re-charging has taken much longer than anticipated and reading some books this past Summer has been a delightful pleasure.

Appreciation goes out to Whisky Prajer for checking up on me to see if I was still fogging the mirror.

NHL & Asterix

2011-06-16T20:12:00.001-04:00

From the Guardian article, an excerpt follows.

"The role of helmet protection has been stressed by the authors, especially in view of the fact that strap-fixation should have been taken more seriously by the Roman besiegers and others."

Who woulda thunk that one of my favorite cartoon strips (and the most effective way for me to learn French), Asterix, could have been the basis of a study of brain injury? What's next? The New England Journal of Medicine will be publishing findings on the Three Stooges? How does one get to be on these "fact"-finding missions? Does a childhood glued to the tv watching Moe, Larry, & Curly suffice as experience? Does still owning 5 of Asterix books (and parking them on a bookshelf next to Peter DeVries and Joseph Heller, humorists of a different age target) qualify me to sit in and opine?

And, now that the Stanley Cup has been awarded to the Boston Bruins who will be taking the Cup hither (Slovakia), yon (Germany), and elsewhere (Montreal, Vancouver...), will the NHL return to their investigation of concussive damage and perhaps relate them to the findings of the European Journal of Neurosurgery, Acta Neurochirurgica?

Well, I know what I'll be doing. Time to pull out those wonderful books and think back on the days when the only concern regarding head injuries were whether a solid whack by Asterix or Obelix would induce a "BAAFFFFFFF" or a "WHHHOOOP".

For my Canadian readers, I'm sure you remember that one character that now has been haunting the country for decades, Valueaddedtax. May he remain North of the Border!

Value Subtraction Layers

2011-06-10T08:42:00.001-04:00

(Photo from http://www.bastardette.blogspot.com/)

...will be the buzzword for the next few years as shell companies disguising reverse mergers come undone. Interesting article in today's NYT re. Muddy Waters Research. The company's already been targeted in the past for its reports and it may be hard to tell who's wearing the white hat in this legal (at this point) money collecting schemology. Well, at least we'll have an interesting phrase to kick around for a while.

In the NYT article, Carson Block, the 35 year old founder of Muddy Waters Research explains how the company got its name and the concept of "value subtraction layer".

"He explains by way of the firm’s name, Muddy Waters. It’s derived from a Chinese phrase that says the easiest way to catch fish is by muddying the water, forcing it to the surface.
"You kick up the silt, and they rush to the top of the water,” he said of the Chinese proverb.
“This explains a lot about how things work in China,” Mr. Block added. “Business deals are rife with value subtraction layers. The more opaque they make it, the easier it is for them to siphon off money.”

Another term for this methodology of disappearing money may be "financial quicksand".

Yukon Goes (and goes for some more) Fishing

2011-06-09T11:22:00.000-04:00

Well, just a pointer to a blogger that happens to be related. Da Son is out west running into various folks visiting his neck of the woods, including a fellow who was RV-ing and had inquired of him as to the availability of parking spots in Yellowstone. The inquiry was made shortly after the May 21st End of The World proclamation but before the next announced EOW...guy was simply trying to get some last view before he rides off into Infinity. Da Son seems to be dressed in a End of the World wardrobe, i.e., he sure doesn't seem to be expecting a visit from the Pope or the Queen. Way Out West wear is built for comfort not for show.

In other musings on his blog, he opines with scientific airs (and beyond my level of comprehension) on matters of the fluvial sort. He does me proud...especially when he offers graphs to illustrate his passion. I'm hoping Edward Tufte can come up with one of his magnificent relational graphs combining results of the respective successes of Fly-Fishing and Masters thesis writing, where-in there is a confluence of positive results....
.....Before the End of the World RV parks itself in his backyard.... Keep up the great blogging, Sir!

Summer's Almost Here..

2011-06-02T12:38:00.000-04:00

The Sedin Brothers a.k.a. the Dropsy Twins

June 21st is almost upon us. I can tell as the Finals (finally) of the Stanley Cup are taking place. Not sure how much I'll be watching what with no Devils, nor Phlyers, nor Canadiens, nor reffing in the Finals. Sorry! I AM WRONG. There IS reffing in the Finals, unfortunately not fair refereeing as evidence in Wednnight's last second victory by the home team in Vancouver on a blatant non-call for offsides by the same home team. The only saving grace with that goal was that neither of the Dropsy Twins, was involved with the questionable goal. The last thing I'll say about the Bruins-That Other Team is, "Wait 'til you get to Boston." The fans there would make Philly proud.

Onto a more summer reflective sport, baseball. Great to read this weekend that PNC Park, the gorgeous Pirates baseball stadium situated on the Allegheny River, was picked as the best baseball venue, just easing past Fenway. If you've never had the chance to go there, GO. Great sight lines, absolutely gorgeous views of downtown Pittsburgh (you should go to a day game AND a night game to get the full experience), friendly and helpful staff, great food, and....uhmmm an almost major league team playing there. One of my favorite things about the way Pittsburgh deals with the Pirates games is that they shut down the Roberto Clemente bridge a few hours before game time (as well as the street feeding off of the bridge right in front of the Park) so you can walk around, beer and hot dog in hand and sink into the city experience. As regards the food...some minor issues exist, especially when you compare PNC Park with the Blue Jays' Rogers Centre.

The minute problems @ PNC Park pale in comparison to Citi Field, home of the Mets where the fans (and the rats) have deserted the ship....good to know, though, that the mice have decided to stay behind. Not sure if they're included in the "paid attendance" figures announced at the end of each game....

Caught!

2011-05-26T11:25:00.000-04:00

Finally!

Please read some of the comments attached to the Guardian article. Quite a few appear (well, they DON'T appear) with the following message, "This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn't abide by our community standards. Replies may also be deleted. For more detail see our FAQs"

After all of these years, there is still a high level of emotion concerning Mladic.

Frankly, I never thought this day would come. I'd assumed that he would have survived to a ripe old age and simply died, unlike a lot of his victims, of natural causes. Per a Croatian newspaper, he was unarmed at the time of capture, did not have a beard, and seemed as if he'd aged quite a bit. Unlike Kardzic, he had not taken up alternative medicine prosletizing or excessive hair growth.

Now, let's see how long before he's off to The Hague. Extradition can be an adventure on its own timeline.

@ Yankee Stadium, You Can't

2011-05-23T16:06:00.000-04:00

...it seems, bring a Kindle, Nook, or any other e-reader. Add that to the ever-lenghtening list of things you can't bring and it seems that the only thing you'll be allowed to bring is boatloads of money. Wonder if the Pinstripers have enough chutzpah to sell Kindle covers in Yankee logos?

The alleged reason, as put forth by the Yankee organization, is that some fan was beaned by a foul ball when he was reading his Kindle. So...reading a book, a souvenir media guide, or, God forbid, a newspaper will soon be banned as well. Keep in mind that this is the same organization that sold season tix to their fans without telling them that there may be a restaurant obstructing their view.

So......another reason to hate the Bronx Bombers is provided to you by their management team.

Let's Call the Whole Thing Off

2011-05-10T15:20:00.000-04:00

So, needing a clarification on what's the difference between a lawyer and a judge?

Per today's piece in Writer's Almanac, a lawyer is an alleged learned professional who can argue that a tomato is a vegetable. A lawyer can also present the case that the tomato is a fruit.

But that's only an argument; I can present the case that I'm Brad Pitt.

So, it's up to a judge to pronounce the final answer to such foolishness, right? So, what is a judge?

A judge is the epitome of accumulated human knowledge who can decide that (regardless of the science of botany) that the tomato is a vegetable.

Eunuchs & Tax Collection

2011-05-09T08:39:00.002-04:00

For an insightful and throat-clutching synopsis on a short history of the USA and Pakistan's mutual "arrangement", this NewYorker article by Lawrence Wright, is quite helpful.

An excerpt:
"In a country of a hundred and eighty million people, fewer than two million citizens pay taxes, and Pakistan’s leaders are doing little to change the situation. In Karachi, the financial capital, the government recently inaugurated a program to appoint eunuchs as tax collectors. Eunuchs are considered relentless scolds in South Asia, and the threat of being hounded by one is somehow supposed to take the place of audits."

Imagine that. 1.1111% of Pakistanis pay income tax. The USA hands out over 1 billion dollars a year in aid (not counting the hard to track military aid given) to Pakistan. Just wondering if the late Osama bin Laden was one of the 1.111% contributing or was his "income" left untaxed?

Had the IRS been asked to get involved with bin Laden's capture I wonder if he would have been found earlier and suffered the same fate as Al Capone? (tongue firmly embedded in cheek, folks....)

Photos!? We Don't Need No Stinkin'....

2011-05-03T16:25:00.001-04:00

I'm with Mr. Gourevitch on this. There is no purpose on releasing any photos of the dead Osama bin Laden. Proof of his demise? Photos would be no proof as evidenced by the fake photos that came out a nano-second after the raid was announced. It's too easy to fake a photo these days.

We aren't living back in the 1800's "Wild" West when photos of outlaws were regularly published as proof of the romantic outlaws' comeupance. bin Laden's gone; that chapter's closed. Terrorism is not gone; why provide the fuel for any furtherance of bin Laden's legacy?

Burial at sea, IMHO, was a brilliant stroke of thinking. The whole operation was brilliantly conceived and implemented down to the ability of the secret (and may they remain so!) Seals in dealing with the logistics problems encountered. The irritation of the pebble in our shoes has been removed. Let's just walk on.

Galactic Tuneage

2011-04-27T20:10:00.000-04:00

For a limited time over @ Relix, you can listen to the stream of the entire new live recording by Galactic to be released next Tuesday. The Other Side of Midnight: Live in New Orleans was recorded at Tipitina's, the venue of their previous live recording from over 10 years ago.

Crank it as high as those dinky computer speakers can go! Just see how long you can go before you have to stand up and shake off some of that winter fat. Time for the hibernation to stop.....Summer and Galactic are coming. By next week, if you're wiling to shed a few dollars, you can be in your car with Galactic's newest pushing the air around and possibly inviting the local gendarmes to be citing you for community noise violations as this cd can only be played LOUD.

Galactic may be coming into your town.. if they do, you owe it to yourself to haul your carcass down there.

281 Times

2011-04-26T13:40:00.000-04:00

... is the total of attempts that Roger Ebert has filed in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption weekly contest before finally winning. Geeeezzz! I entered the 1st one and then followed with an inconsistent 20-25 or so without a bite of even placing among the weekly 3 for the final round. If it took the much wiser and wittier Mr. Ebert 281 times... Well, I feel better knowing that and have commenced self-deluding myself that I'm on the cusp.

Ha!

Dissing the Hipster...

2011-04-16T12:21:00.000-04:00

..continues. Clipping a hipster is now as easy as those fish in a barrel we always hear about. Just a pause here...has anyone ever seen live fish in a barrel?

Seems that David Foster Wallace is getting a bad reputation and unfortunately he is no longer amongst us to defend himself thanks to the Hipster element. Boston's Phoenix fills in the facts. People Holding "Infinite Jest" provides photos and comments a la The Unhappy Hipster (h/t to Michael @ Execupundit for cluing me in the latter hilariously quippy site).

This post all started thanks to a tip from the Somerville Scout.

..so, if you're a DFW fan ( I confess...his verbal theatrics are a wonder), you may be wanting to read your Pale King at home or, if in public, wrap it in Kraft paper or discarded IRS forms.

Some Issues

2011-04-15T09:29:00.000-04:00

As one says when dealing with opinions on nasty subjects, especially thoughts that run counter to "legal" interpretations, I have "some issues" with the news that Ante Gotovina has been convicted of war crimes by the U.N. Court at The Hague. The war in Croatia has now been over close to 16 years and since it's questionable as to who the winner was, the adage of the victor writing history doesn't apply here. Were there atrocities committed by all side in this internecine war? No doubt. Is there blame to be laid on all sides? No question. Can individual combatants, specifically commanding officers, be fingered for culpability? That's a tough one and Solomon's not around.

Since I have many relatives still over in the Old Country, I receive different information on matters over there. Certainly, some of it is biased, but a lot of it does not become revealed to the "unerring judgement of journalistic light" until much much later. A perfect example was the black market shenanigans of the U.N. troops sent over to "guard" the airport in Zagreb. I heard about the corruption early on in the conflict. Newspapers such as the NY Times and the Guardian did not tackle this touchy issue until a decade after the conflict was over. To my knowledge, no one from the U.N. participating countries has ever been prosecuted for the money-grubbing activity.

All I can say is that with my relative sources, the whole Gotovina matter rather stinks. The alleged culpable miscreants who started the whole mess are still rambling around and no urgency seems to be exercised in closing that end of the matter. Innocence, not truth, is the first casualty of war.

There Stands The Glass

2011-04-13T06:30:00.000-04:00

Just a short note about a music blog I happened along on, There Stands the Glass. It's been around since November, 2005. Simply a well-done, well-updated, Kansas City based music scene blog! Musical genres covered are of a broad spectrum. Jazz to folk to R&R to whatever sounds good..or not so good. Writing is simple and direct; you dont; have to sift to flora and fauna to get to the point.

It's now linked over on the right side with the other music-related sites and blogs. Go take a peek.

Sir, Please Step to the Side.....

2011-03-30T21:46:00.000-04:00

So, here's #3 in the Passport Series, "Hey! I'd arrest me too." (#1 is here while #2 is here) Just to make sure that this photo can receive full credit for originality, it pre-dated this photo by a good decade or so....although there is a frightening similarity in demeanour. Must've been the possibility we used the same photographer, Kinko's Al-Qaeda Photos, Copies, & Hashish Emporium. This is the passport photo that has caused me the most troubles, i.e., delays at customs. Don't know if it was the sleepy suspicious look or the "Go ahead, put me through the questioning ringer" pose.

When I travel with my Ever Loving Wife and there is a need to be packing a passport, it's quite amusing when we hand over our papers. The looks and reactions we get are the same. The ELW is quite the photogenic type; jeezzz! even here driving license photo looks great. Me? Well, as you can see, the first reaction would be to have me face the wall and spread my legs, arms raised high with palms pressed on that same wall.

The first question the security folks ask, after seeing that we have the same last name is, "Are you travelling with him?". Notice, how the question is always aimed at her, I being the suspicious half of the duo. I've learned that it is best that I even more aggreeable and understanding with my ELW before a trip as not to allow her even a smidgen of an excuse to pause before answering that question. Even the most minute of pauses has caused the suspicion meter to rise with these border guards and has resulted in my being detained for a bit longer while they ply their inquisitive trade.

Even when the ELW answers without a pause, we're sure to elicit a reaction, usually a shake of the head or a "tsk-tsk". She truly travels with a dangerous crowd....and I provide fodder for her hilarious re-telling of just one more border-crossing incident.

I'm here to provide.

Early 1990's Hardly Leaving the Country

2011-03-28T22:45:00.000-04:00

In hopes of overseas travel in the early '90's, #2 in my passport series, "Hey! I'd arrest me too", was taken. Perhaps it was a good thing that no such trip took place while my papers were headed by such a picture. We did make it to Montreal for a fabulous week of Christmas with some more fabulous Canadian friends...but over the border does not count the same as over the seas.

The son was in the early throes of being a wise guy and commented that I had that "post office look" without the sideways portrait. Joining in the paternal fun, the daughter opined that I had some semblance to a terrorist, albeit "a good terrorist, Tata". Thanks, kiddies!

Those were days in the distant past when one can mouth "terrorist" and can usually expect an easy chuckle. I'm not implying the world was more innocent; it's simply that we in the States were relatively unscathed (McVeigh & Oklahoma City were still a good 5 years away...). Our national empathy for the troubles abroad was nil. Our assuredness in safety at home was strong. Unshakeable.

What a different time awaited us only a decade later.....

Hairy Bastard

2011-03-28T21:30:00.000-04:00

#1 in the Passport Series, "Hey! I'd arrest me too". Late Eighties, hirsuteness (and lack of combs) still in full display. The situation was a tad bumpy at this point as the idealism and pinata dreams were in the process of getting pummeled by post-college life. Grinning and bearing it was a manageable code of living.

The Ever Loving Wife appeared on the scene and while career exploits were still running on the local track, the personal side boarded the express and we were off. The kiddies soon appeared, much to our surprise and we had three and then four sets of footprints tromping around the neighborhood. It was a time for big smiles in the house as the kids grew into quote machines, offering up their world observations from the perch of high-chairs and wheeling-about-the-wood-floors trikes.

The ELW started a side project of a kid's radio show in the spare timed eked from kinder/house care. Our daughter, happily ensconced in a backpack from which she could carefully observe her parents' activity, was already devising methods to improve our daily regimen. If she were capable of writing # 1 1/2, I'm sure her notes would have been prolific. Our son, already in deep thought as to his future career as a fireman/trashman/baseball player, found our attempts to corral him into the confines of a daily grind truly insulting & uninspiring; we were already laying the groundwork for his high-tailing it to Montana when he was fully sentient.

Montreal, Florida, Europe

2011-03-25T00:46:00.000-04:00

So, Jerry Garcia was still alive and the Dead were touring during those summers in the late 1970's and early 1980's when work was plentiful and jobs were always interesting. Bruce was still just a local hero and he played large in Philly, NYC, and at the Stone Pony in Asbury. The (Vietnam) War was over and attitudes began mellowing; it was just too hard on the senses to keep the emotions going full tilt boogie. Computers were still huge blobs of steel and wire and portability was limited to Porta Johns. Cassettes were starting to outsell LP's and Sony was making a killing with Walkmans and their Big Ass Brother, the boom box. The Talking Heads were combining wit with vigor and Tina Weymouth was topping Bonnie Raitt in young men's hearts. Bob Marley was hitting his stride and the white boy bands were doing their best to copy him. Someone suggested Peter DeVries to me and the life-long obsession with his novels began. The Olympics were in Montreal in '76, putting the nail in Montreal & Quebec's financial coffin for decades to come. Oh, the price of hubris. In the summer of 1977, I was walking from the beach to one of the limestone outcrops parked off the shore of Sidari, Corfu singing "Sugar Magnolia". Life was limitless and bursting with possibilities.

Mid 1970's Wary Look

2011-03-24T21:46:00.000-04:00

Looking at back of some of my folks' photos brought me to that time when, on at least an annual basis, people would go to a photographer and have their pictures taken professionally. Usually the background curtains or decor were the same; sometimes a chair would be placed for one to lean on or place both hands on either side of the back. These set shots gave you a nice comparative year to year as to how one has grown, aged, gone decrepit.

The only set of photos that I can compare those ones are one's passport photos. We were told to pose in a certain way, usually without smiles. The official pose, I suppose. Dating myself, my first passport photo, i.e., one where I wasn't standing in with one of my parents, was back when passport photos were black & white. B &W on purpose, kiddies, not due to some cool Photoshopping thing.

So, here I be, Slavic unibrow well on its way to giving me that pondering look. Last shot before facial hair came to fuzzy up the scene. Think I'd just bought Hendrix's "Axis Bold as Love" the week this photo was taken from a guy at high school specializing in hot (off the back of a truck) deals. Deep into Vonnegut and Heller's great anti-war novel. The US was still in Vietnam and my buddies and I were deeply interested in that barrel of numbers being rolled around like a pig on a pit by the Selective Service.

Tigers & Lions & Bears

2011-03-18T12:21:00.001-04:00

Oh My!

While I'm on the Tiger jag, let me note that aside from the plethora of things called/labeled/titled "Tiger", there seems to be an overabundance of bands that have "Wolf" or "Bear" in their moniker. Has no one learned anything from the humiliation that is the Roughriders, version 1 and version 2? (Aside: WP, please don't make the fine point that the names are different as it's the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Ottawa Rough Riders..i.e., ONE word v. TWO words! I'm still perplexed about how Toronto gets away with their hocky team mis-spelling Maple Leafs!
There are many, many, mnay other animals out there that would love to be included in a band's name. What of the Hedgehog? there must be some R & R music that is simultaneously sweet and prickly?

Jim Allen over @ limewire has saved me the trouble of research and linking. This topic has been getting his goat since March of last year.
Mr. Allen was kind. Over at podington bear the list goes on and on.

It was alleviating to know bears were not driving only me batty.

Cooking Tiger Stew

2011-03-17T18:50:00.003-04:00

Another call last night. Seems I've been recalcitrant in my check-writing and had snubbed the alma mater of the bucks I'd annually been giving them. Like most dottering alumni, I have an affection for the old campus that seems to increase with age as my senses are decreasing. My specific "love" is for a specific building, McLennan Library. It was a building I spent many a night and weekend allegedly studying.

More so than usual, as evidenced by my grades in my major, I tended to go through the stacks and pick out books I'd drag back to my carrel and proceed to devour rather than having my eyes stare at textbooks. I completed a self-directed major in Russian literature while in the McLennan; unfortunately my McGill degree did not acknowledge my "independent" studies.

There was also another area at McLennan was honey to this bear. The Periodicals Library. Aside from a plethora of newspapers (the divine Times of London with its onion-skin paper) were racks of foreign magazines. Punch was there. I had to take the magazines and find a very secluded part of the Periodicals Library to read them. It was impossible not to laugh out loud reading the magazine and I was asked to leave on a few occasions until the Periodicals Librarian finally realized that I was not demented, simply an undergraduate in need of a well-crafted joke. One of the folks involved with putting Punch together was a fellow by the name of Alan Coren

Alan Coren, the last of the great editors at Punch magazine, had decided one year to write a book based on his thesis that the book-buying public will shell out shillings for any book that covers cats, golf, & Nazis. He concocted Golfing for Cats, a collection of short stories which was very eye-catching with its bold red cover emblazoned with a large..make that VERY LARGE swastika. The book, really a large pamphlet @ 160 pages, barely discusses golf...or cats...or even Nazis. Unfortunately, Mr. Coren's hopes for a small fortune from sales of "Golfing for Cats" stayed small and of no fortune.

Channeling Mr. Coren, I was pondering the possibility of writing a book in hopes of assuring that my retirement years will have minimal need for cat/dog food casseroles. Hmmm.... so what topic(s) should be plastered on the cover? I'd already fixed my price point @ $9.98, a penny under Amazon's Kindle average. All I needed was a cover. It's been documented that most readers buy and read only the first 5 -10 pages before clicking the "BUY NOW" button for another visit from the UPS man. I mean, even I could come up with 5-10 pages of content to keep the pages turning for that type of reader.

Glancing at the deluge (caught myself there folks! Almost typed that "tsu..." word!) of book titles recently unloaded on us, I think my title must have the noun Tiger somewhere. Many trees have been sacrificed for the newsprint to publish reviews about the the book AND the authors of A Tiger’s Wife: A Novel (written by Tea Obreht) and Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother (written by Amy Chua), Tiger, Tiger : A Memoir (written by Margaux Fragoso), Tiger: The Real Story, The White Tiger (written by Aravind Adiga) & The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance & Survival (written by John Valliant). So.."Tiger" seems to selling quite well these days. For the record, I've only read Mr. Aduga's Book, "The White Tiger", a novel I recommend highly for its tightrope act of comedy and tragedy and invention.

I'd thought that, with apologies to Mr. Coren, "Golfing for Tigers" might be catchy but what with Tiger's issues, I would have been in truly bad taste along with being viewed as a blog-posting remora.

So, I'm going with "Cooking Tiger Stew", soon to be on your Cook book and Animal Studies shelves in your local brick & mortar venues or Internet Book coves.

Hmmmm...on the other hand, perhaps I'll re-think that title.

Addendum: The Ever-Loving Wife, tired of my incessant commentating re. the hyper-apperance (don't believe me? Here are some links just from the NYT. One. Two.) of both "A Tiger's Wife", the book, and "A Tiger's Wife", the author, has decided to put a wet sock in my grousing by buying a copy and insisting I read it before I moan on. A short review of the book will eventually pay a visit to these "pages".

Addendum #2: It's Sunday morning, March the 20th and I'm reading the NYT Book Review. New books to be reviewed this week? Well, one would be Sarita Mandanna's "Tiger Hills". So, the tiger limbers on.

"The Information"

2011-03-03T09:25:00.000-05:00

by seemingly always-in-the-running for major awards (Pulitzer, National Book Award) science writer James Gleick may be the 2010 decade's version of Douglas Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. The book, coming in at a touch over 500 pages, is also available in a Kindle version, $14.99 vs hardcover version @ $16.47. If reviews are be taken into consideration, then the book certainly deserves a place next to Hofstadter's classic. Anyone familiar with Mr. Gleick's articles in the New York Times knows how lucid his style is with topics that are dense...and it sounds as if "The Information" can be dense.

Personally, I'll be putting "The Information" on my Amazon Wish List, holding off the Buying Click for now. With shame, I'll pre-admit that the chances of my finishing reading Mr. Gleick's tome may be the same as those of my finishing Mr. Hofstadter's book...which has been in my possession for over 20 years.

None.

But, like Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, the effort will be there. Kindle or Hardcover? I'd swing toward the hardcover version. At times of frustration of comprehension (no matter how lucid Mr. Gleick may be), it is a better economic decision to chuck a book than a Kindle.
..and, yes, the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Books has had me on their "to audit" list since way back in the last century when I first tackled Gödel

WVUD Friday Night Programming Feb 25, 2011

2011-02-25T10:31:00.001-05:00

Folks, until our station increases our signal, tighten up those tin can lines and tune into WVUD tonight via the control knobs on your Internet and listen to the blues show, "Red, Hot & Blue" from 7:00 PM until 9:00 PM EST, followed by the weekday Jazz progrma, "Avenue C", from 9:00 until 11:00 PM EST.

Yours truly will be sitting in on both shows and doing the d.j.ing honors for tonight. A different slant will be offerd on both shows with heavy emphasis on live show CD's for the Blues program and Thelonius Monk for the Jazz program.

All of the music has been pre-listened to and arranged so that segues are transparent and individual listeners' (we know who YOU are) synapses were taken into consideration such that old and familiar is inter-mixed with bold and new so that your mind's eye is ever-widened.

Music for the hearing-in-paired.

*** Addendum 2/28/11 *** Play list for Red, Hot & Blue is here. Play list for Avenue C, on the other hand, is here.

Open City

2011-02-21T15:49:00.001-05:00

James Woods' review of Teju Cole's "Open City" is reason enough to head off to Border's to try to save the place by buying the book...although Amazon still makes it easier to feed the habit.

However, there's that pile o' books bedside wearing that jilted look that shrivels one's heart...

WVUD Weekend Music Selections

2011-02-18T05:39:00.004-05:00

Just a note (bad pun intended) that yours truly will be hosting tonight's regular Friday WVUD Jazz program, Avenue C. Running from 9:00 pm to 11:00 EST, this Monday-Friday show is hosted by 5 different folks who bring you 5 different takes on the Jazz idiom. Tonight, I'll be doing a heavy rotation of the Jazz Gods, Coltrane, Davis and Peterson, with small sojourns to less famous folks. Tune in at 91.3 on your FM dial if you're within spitting distance of U of Delaware. Otherwise, you can listen in on the Internet @ WVUD on line.

Then, on Sunday, February 2oth, I'll be doing my regular gig on The Morning After, which runs from 9:00 AM 'til Noon, EST. Same places to listen to as Avenue C, 91.3 on your FM dial and here on the Internet Dial. Still working on the play list for that show as the spectrum is wider. You can count on selections from the latest Drive By Truckers and Todd Snider's Live recording (though my selection form this 2 CD set will be limited due to Mr. Snider's proclivity for lively language). Other CD's by Gregg Allman, Charles Walker, Rebecca Martin, Jenny Scheinmann, and the usuals will be played as well.

So, got the "Can't Go Out & Spend Some Cash" Blues? Well, settle in for some free entertainment picked out especially for you.

***Addendum 2/28/11***: Play list for the Feb 20th Morning After show is here, if you're interested.

Two Guys Who Look Good In Hats Will...

2011-02-09T20:08:00.000-05:00

..be @ the Waldorf-Astoria on March 14th for a long-deserved honor. Wondering how a regular guy from Delaware can sneak in? Perhaps an appropriate hat will do the trick?

Wordle-Guess I've Been a Bit Excited 'bout Sharon Jones....

2011-02-08T21:20:00.002-05:00

(Click on image to enlarge)

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings @ Grand Opera House, Wilmington, DE

2011-02-07T21:37:00.056-05:00

On the last Friday in January of 2011, with streets in Wilmington still not cleared from the 8 inch snowfall on Wednesday, the whirlwind of energy know as Sharon Jones and her band, the Dap Kings, came to the Grand to see if their heat and eternal gyrations could melt the unplowed pile of white stuff. While the slush and snow cones still waited for us after the show, it was with a slide in the step and a jive to the jump that were the end results of watching this remarkable performer and her just-right-tight band do the thing that they do so well. It was a night of music, movement, and laughter that will not be soon

forgotten; even Mr. Kundera would have worked up a sweat and possibly dis-jointed a hip.

The Dap-Kings, the house band for Daptone Records, started up the show (probably better described as the Soul-Funk Revue), with guitarist Binky Griptite acting as MC for the evening. All the musicians are dressed tight with nary a t-shirt nor un-beltedpants amongst them. Mr. Griptite's serious carriage and especially crisp sartorial appearance let's you know from the get-go that this WILL BE a night of serious musicianship and too much fun for most humans to possibly stand. Two short songs fronted by each of the backup singers, the Dapettes, opened the show up setting the stage for Ms. Jones....

....who delayed her entrance so that the special guest for the night, Mr. Charles Bradley, could promote his cause. And a worthy cause it was. Along with 2 members of his own group, the Menahan Street Band, Mr. Bradley performed 3 selections from his new release, No Time for Dreaming. Mr. Bradley looks as if he may be Tracy Chapman's older brother. If you thought Tracy Chapman's songs were road-weary tales of lives gone wrong, well, Mr. Bradley's songs are based on road maps through Dante's Inferno. His stage presence is a James Brown shadow and I mean that in a positive way. Where Mr. Brown's physique suggested a solid all-consuming form on stage, Mr. Bradley projects fragility and grit both in the same Brown-ish dance steps he splays out. The hitch in his hips give you a shudder that he may throw out a joint; you lean forward thinking you may have to hold him up. His voice struck me as similar to a favorite soul singer of mine, Charles Walker, although Mr. Walker's range and depth are at a higher level. Both singers have the requisite plea in their timbre that get you right in the gut. Charles Bradley ended his set with an incredible version of Neil Young's "Heart of Gold", the listing of destinations in the song dead-on with the travels and travails that Mr. Walker's face revealed.

A short break to wipe away the "Woahs!", the curtains re-open, the anticipation awaits its answer.
Mr. Griptite (o.k...o.k., I'm with you here...."Binky Griptite" can NOT be his real name, right?) re-starts the band after the Dapettes take up their roost by the drum set and he whips the audience to a froth so that when Ms. Jones sallies unto the stage, shimmering and shaking in her two-tone above-the-knee slinkware, the evening's set for constant motion. Her dress was of this style, I guess you may get away with calling it Flapper-Ware, with fringes that must have been sewn on using Kevlar so as to withstand the shaking that Ms. Jones put the dress through. The Ever-Loving Wife, who had tuned into my fascination with SJDK by perusing the CD collection and decided that a suitable holiday gift was a ticket (or two..) to see the Dap-Kings, was hooked. Here was this diminutive dynamite of a woman belting out a tune while seemingly shaking every shakable part of her body in concert with this fabulously tight band pushing her on and on.
Apologies for not laying out the set list! The songs covered were many with most diving into last year's release, I Learned The Hard Way and 100 Days 100 Nights, but the highlight of the show revolved around Ms. Jones choreography and song cycle revolving around her African and American Indian heritage.

Escaping the confines of her shoes, she padded on bare feet toward the center of the stage, taking the audience with her to a village in Africa. As she began dancing slowly raising her legs so that her toes reached her knees, she recounted her legacy. The drumbeat and bass lightly pounded out the rhythm, gradually building the tension and increasing the beats. It was primitive. It was primal. It was quite sensual. She then segued into a different dance, toes pointed downward but still rising high to her knees as she sang and talked about her American Indian background. The ELW whispered that MS. Jones seemed to have risen out of the earth with her movements. The Dap-Kings, with emphasis on the tom-toms increased the beat and the volume until there was a stabbing silence.

Then, bedlam broke loose and Ms. Jones combined the African and the American Indian movements into a frenzy that had her costume defying sewing logic by staying together. She took a (very) short breather; the audience was exhausted.

Then, as is her custom she brought another audience member on stage to "help her out".   Ah ha.   Her eye is sharp, her character assessment dead on. She invite, through the course of the evening 6-7 folks to the stage, one at a time, to "assist" her. With each invitation, a suitable song was performed. One character had been a pure pest up at the front of the stage. He knew her tendencies and was counting on being one of the chosen few. She dialed him out a few times, at one point noting, "Honey, you’ve got to cool yourself down if you want to join me up here."

Eventually, he calmed down enough such that Ms. Jones did invite him up for a dance. While she sang, and while she set her tassels a-jangling, she also kept Mr. Slim Gin at a safe but useful distance. Her previous employment as a prison guard @ Rikers Island and as an armored car guard for Wells Fargo served her well, although Mr. Griptite, while strumming the rhythm guitar, kept a wary look on Mr. Gin to make sure no unwelcome actions were thrown in her general direction. Appropriately enough, the song selection was Better Things .   Mr. Gin was the right man for the job in this case but he certainly did not do Wilmington proud with his stage manner nor dancing.

Other notable songs in her set were "Window Shopping" and "Mama Don’t Like My Man", both from the 2010 release, I Learned the Hard Way .   The latter song was done solely with Ms. Jones and Mr. Griptite on guitar,with the Dapettes cooing and Ahumming in the background. Ms. Jones went out with a flourish with the audience clapping for an encore for a solid 5 - 7 minutes. It was almost too much to ask for; if she didn't return, we would have been fine with it. She had gone through a sizable songbook with barely a pause to refresh.

But, she did return to introduce each band member so as to allow them some solo time and a signature. It was a complete and professional performance tailored for this particular hungry audience. Most probably, this will be the best concert of this young 2010 season for Wilmington; Sharon Jones had set a high standard to beat.

Here she is with Charles Walker (one of my faves, his 2003 release, Numbers By Heart, is a long time favorite of mine) doing "Summertime". Unbelievable.....

Ms. Jones doing "Amazing Grace and "How Long", her way.

...and just one more version of , "Better Things"

Her latest CD is "I Learned the Hard Way"....and since good things always come in threes, why don't you also pick up "100 Days, 100 Nights" and "Naturally" while you're pondering which one to pick. You will not be disappointed. Most importantly, though, is be sure to see her and the Dap Kings when they are anywhere in your vicinity...

...and be sure to get zooted up. You can't be wearing sweatpants lounge wear or khakis to see Ms. Jones; she's got better things to do..

Sorry for the late posting! Blogger crashed and burned on me last week, taking with it most of the post, so the memory banks were put to the test to re-create the verbiage & the order.

Sometimes It's the Direction of The Message...

2011-02-04T14:47:00.003-05:00

...that matters.

A dear and wise friend sent this video.

If you have 2 minutes and 25 seconds of free time on your hands then....

1) Click on the "Enlarge to Screen" box in the lower right corner of the video.
2) Hit "Play".
3) Make sure to stay until the very end.....

If you don't have the 2 & 1/2 minutes...come back another time when you do. It is important to see your way through the whole thing.

Some Jazz on February Friday Evenings

2011-02-04T09:47:00.001-05:00

Anyone caring to listen to jazz on a Friday evening in February could tune their Internet knob to WVUD. I'll be sitting in for the regular host of "Avenue C', a weekday jazz program that runs from 9:00 to 11:00 pm EST for the next 3 of 4 Fridays, beginning with tonight's broadcast. Each week will vary with musical offerings. Tonight, I'm planning a heavy dose of Lafayette Gilchrist, Will Bernard, Jenny Scheinman, Charlie Hunter, Soulive, and some surprises. As always when I'm playing any jazz @ WVUD, there will be some B3-Hammond, so you can expect some Jimmy Smith, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Joey DeFrancesco, and other keyboard wizards. Give it a listen, starting tonight @ 9:00.

..and one more quick note. For anyone who fell in love with Karen Russell's writing as displayed in her quirky collection of short stories (some published in the New Yorker), "St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves", news that her first novel, "Swamplandia!", is available is welcome indeed. The novel is a further exploration/exposition of one of her short stories, "Ava Wrestles the Alligator". The short story is available for reading here. An excerpt of the novel is available here.

If It Weren't Sad, It'd Be Funny

2011-02-03T16:29:00.001-05:00

In today's NYT, there's an article concerning "Italy’s traditionally byzantine, male-dominated politics" and, naturally, the further sex-capades of Silvio Berlusconi. Among the choice facts mentioned and Italian conditions of life listed, the following came to the fore:

* 59 percent of women in the 27-member European Union are employed v. 46 percent of Italian women
* According to the 2010 World Economic Forum Gender Gap Index, Italy ranks 74th out of 134 countries.
* In familycentric Italy, fewer than 10 percent of toddlers have access to preschool nurseries (I hear Maria Montessori turning in her grave).
* Italian women have come far in a country whose most entrenched power structures - the Roman Catholic Church and organized crime - remain male and secretive. For the first time, women now lead the industrialists’ association and Italy’s largest labor union. (“It took them nearly 100 years to appoint a woman, and they chose the worst economic moment,” Ms. Marcegaglia recently said about herself.)

I did a double take when reading the pairing up of organized crime and the Roman Catholic Church; I'd always missed the connection. What with the other issues the Church has been having the past 5 years or so, I'm wondering which of the two male dominated organizations feels more slighted being grouped with the other.

Poor Artistical Timing

2011-02-02T08:20:00.000-05:00

I'm not a Sarah Palin fan, except when she comes out with another car crash of a comment...which is usually any time she feels the need to expel air. However, in a recent incident at the Missoula Children's Theatre, a performance company of national renown, I'd have to say I'm in total agreement with this letter writer to the local newspaper, the Missoulian. It's one thing to make the comment referred to in a play for adults, but to do so in a performance aimed toward children? Total lapse of judgement.

This Sunday... Who Am I Cheering For?

2011-02-01T21:48:00.003-05:00

(Note: Video NSFGBF *)

Take a guess.

Game preparations include watching this DVD. Franco is still The Man...and a great Dad.

* NSFGBF: Not Safe For Green Bay Fan

SisyphOffice

2011-01-27T20:43:00.003-05:00

Belated but necessary 2011 New Year's Resolution.
I've got to stop the boulders from rolling back into my uhhhmmmm office(?). Hey! It has a desk (somewhere there) and a chair and a PC, so yeah, it's an office.

Barely.

The Ever-Loving Wife has "volunteered" her organizational skills and her incredible File 13 abilities. Let's see what a month (or two) will bring.

Note: These self-incriminating photos were willingly posted. I am past shame. I am exhausted pushing the paper boulders.

...well, it seems like I'm not the only guy in need of de-cluttering. Here's Barnaby Conrad, at home in Cupertino, CA. Too busy writing, I guess.

Lucy's Ghost Invades Sportswriter's Soul

2011-01-25T12:10:00.001-05:00

"But football decisions are made by General Manager Ted Thompson, perhaps the luckiest and happiest G.M. in sports. This structure allows Thompson to execute decisions, even unpoopular ones, without an impatient, jittery billionaire breathing down his neck."

-From "The Sporting Scene " in this week's The New Yorker.

Dave Zirin must have been hitting the ol' Vitameatavegamin.

Bloody Harvesting

2011-01-24T18:49:00.000-05:00

I'd heard about this a while back from a cousin in the Old Country but, foolishly, put it in the Vicious Rumour bin as it had a taste of old Yugoslavia nastiness. I once had disbelieved him about this as well only to find out it was definitely true.

No matter how ridiculous or out the realm of possible human behaviour it sounds, when it comes to the happenings around the Old Country, I should simply nod and accept the truth of it. The details, as far as the West is concerned, will eventually come out.

Still...harvesting the organs of your enemy is beyond the cruel and the macabre.

Going for Seven.

2011-01-24T10:29:00.001-05:00

The Steelers are in. The Feb 6th game against the Packers should be a good one, a departure from the majority of Super Bowls when the best games played were the playoff ones to get to the Big Game. This will be a chance for Pittsburgh to get their 7th Super Bowl ring....

...for those counting, the Iggles are still dreaming of Ring #1.

And this is all good for Pittsburgh, a truly beautiful American city. Don't beleive me?

Check out these great panorama shots taken by the Pittsbugh Post-Gazette's Steve Mellon.

Last night prior to the Jets-Steelers game, on the water. (click on the button to enlarge the screen and then "arrow" yourself around. A beautiful (freezing) night in the 'Burgh.

..and if that was interesting for you, there's Mr. Mellon's views of:
The Andy Warhol Museum
St Nicolas Croatian Catholic Church (my favorite of Mr. Mellon's pictures)
U of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning
Carnegie-Mellon University's College of Arts
Anything that Floats Race on the North Shore
St Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church (version# 2)
Kennywood Park, site of the must-see film Adventureland.

More there if you care to spend your free time. But, seriously folks, you've got to get to the 'Burgh to see all of the places in person.

All Kinds of "Woman"s

2011-01-23T17:04:00.000-05:00

...there's Roy Orbison and some famous friends with his "Pretty Woman"....

..and there's Saad Haroon with his "Burka Woman" (I'm supposing he can't say "pretty" due to heavy veil-age....

Unhappy Hipsters...Doing One Line Comedy for Those of Us On the Sidelines of Modern Life

2011-01-21T12:02:00.001-05:00

Unbelievable: She’d been living in a windowless cell for six years without even an inkling about the movable panel.
(Photo: Eirick Johnson; Dwell)

From this excellent site, Unhappy Hipsters. NSFW, as you may spit out your coffee on your flat screen, causing it to smoke thereby drawing attention to the fact that you may be enjoying yourself @ work.

TOTH to Execupundit for pointing out this daily treasure.

I'm Trying to Friend On Facebook, Specifically...

2011-01-18T15:23:00.000-05:00

...this cat, erhmmm, I mean dog.

Chaser is familiar with 1,022 nouns. That's like more than enough words to have a conversation with me on most days and, being of Slavic origin, nouns is all I need to converse. Verbs are better expressed through hand gestures anyway. With Chaser, I won't have any issues of getting in my opinion edgewise. Plus, if there's a disagreement, she would simply lick my face and we'd be best buds again.

....although, Chaser may tilt her head and give me the quizzical look that I get from certain folks, like the Ever Loving Wife, when nouns come spilling out my mouth with no topic to seek purchase of.

Wonder if Chaser is familiar with the expression, "Hmmmmmm"

Thank You Michael Chabon.

2011-01-15T10:32:00.000-05:00

I thought I was being churlish, curmudgeon-like, lacking in empathy....

...and then this write-up in the Atlantic from Mr. Chabon (Tip of the Hat to Michael Schaum over at Bookslut for pointing this article out!).

If I may...
" Obama was figuring himself (extraordinarily, I think) not as the Great Father but, more messily and searchingly, as an imperfectly lowercase father, "shaken from [his] routines ... forced to look inward," struggling in the wake of calamity to reclaim and to strive to measure up to a set of principles the burden of whose observance falls so unevenly on the narrow shoulders of the young. He was, at that moment, talking directly to me.

And yet ... Was it all the weird, inappropriate clapping and cheering? Or the realization that I am so out of touch with the national vibe that I didn't know that whistling and whooping and standing ovations are, when someone evokes the memory of murdered innocent people, totally cool? I never would have thought that I'd spend so much of that solemn Wednesday thinking—first on publication of Sarah Palin's latest piece of narrishkeit about the blood libels, then all through the memorial service—please, I beg you, can you not, finally, just shut up? It was distancing. Distracting. As he joined in, at times, with the applause, the president's hard, measured handclaps, too close to the microphone, drowned out everything else in my kitchen right then, and seemed to be tolling the passing of something else besides human lives. I don't know what. Maybe just my own sense of connectedness to the cheering people in that giant faraway room. I didn't feel like applauding right then, not even in celebration of the persistence and continuity of human life and American values. And then I was ashamed of my curmudgeonliness. Those people, after all, many of them college students, were in a sports arena; architecture gives shape to behavior and thought. Maybe if the service had been held in a church, things would have played differently."

The speech and President Obama's delivery was superb and without the spectre of a vulture at a tragedy. I'll go along with Mr. Chabon and blame the venue for the reaction; buildings can take the heat.

Whatcha doin' on Sunday, from 9:00 in the A.M. (EST) until Noon?

2011-01-14T05:43:00.000-05:00

Well, if you're asking yourself this question and you can't come up with a satisfactory answer, how about listening in to http://www.wvud.org/? I'll be hosting my first "The Morning After" show of 2011, so there should be some new music to throw (gently, of course) in your general direction. CD's sure to enjoy some airplay include Afrocubism (TOTH to Whisky on this one; another great find), Rebecca Martin, Rubber Soulive, Phronesis, a preview of the new Drive-By Truckers CD, Go-Go Boots, (coming out in mid-February), and the usual cast of musical characters, including Brad Mehladau, Cassandra Wilson, Grant Green, Esbjorn Svensson Trio, & Anders Osborne.

Hope to catch you listening!

For those not in the immediate radio wave reception area (which would probably be the majority of the visitors here), you can tune in via the Internet using this link. Hope you join in on the calamities sure to abound.

Twain & Richards - Two Most Enjoyable Blokes

2011-01-10T16:14:00.002-05:00

No, it's not that I've disappeared from the Internet...we know that's impossible these days.

No, it's not that I've gone to the mattresses, although some mattress time does explain where I've been.

Apologies to my faithful visitors who've come here to find....Nothing. I've been ensconced with two massive tomes, autobiographies (or allegedly so, both).

One is from the man of whom it was written that the report of his death was exaggerated. The other is from a man whose death seems both inevitable and impossible.

Like other folks, I tend to keep a pile of books at the ready when insight, relief, or a touch of the mad is necessary to make it through the day/night. I can't recall the last time that I've enjoyed two books as much simultaneously. I won't be comparing the two now nor ever in the future. It was simply a bit of Kismet that they arrived so close to each other (one from that venial sin of self-choosing, the other from an act of Christmas charity from the Ever Loving Wife). The only similarity I can dare venture at this point is the minute detail of information provided by both authors (never thought I'd use that word with Mr. Richards). How both can recall so much, specifically the miraculously still living and breathing Keith Richards, is amazing. Granted, both are probably using the writing license to "extend" facts where story/recollection demands a bit of terra firma, with Mr. Richards' memories culled from a brain that's been taxed to the max with pleasures of the mind-bending sort.

Sometimes, switching from one to the other was like jumping from a train going south to one going north. Other times, it was like being a passenger on the same train that suddenly changed from a steam locomotive to a Shinkansen. It's not as if I needed one book to keep the other interesting; both stand up well by themselves. It's simply that the pure luck of having both available and open at the same time has put a kick start into reading for 2010.

Get on Board!

A Dog's Tail

2010-12-22T15:43:00.001-05:00

There are all sorts of indicators or hints in one's life, each unique in its interpretation from multiple perspectives. Some are painful and blunt, like the sack of Bret Favre last week that, from my perspective, should be interpreted by Mr. Favre as the hint that his days of receiving brutal punishment are not numbered. They are over. Then again, that's my perspective. Within his own now rather muddled noggin, Mr. Favre may be thinking that until I'm out there in a walker, I'll keep on playing.

This interpreting thing has had me thinking recently as to the concept of timeliness or proper timing. Lingering on the stage too long is an immediate discomfort to the unfortunate audience and is usually realized embarrassingly late by the lingering actor. So, I'm looking around for the true indicators, ones that will minimize every one's empathetic supplies.

I've settled on checking with my dog. This inter-species barometer should do me right. I mean, how can you not trust your tail-wagging so-glad-to-see-you fellow resident? The day that the pull to stay home and tussle the dog's ears is stronger then the push to go out and do battle in the biz world populated now with whipper-snappers that believe face-to-face means text-to-text is probably the day that retirement is the sane option. I'm certainly not there yet, but I find myself some mornings struggling to leave the pooch at home by himself.....it's his company I'm preferring to that of the folks at work.

Perhaps if they waved their tails or communicated some other positive action, the dog's company would not be as enticing.

Ho. Ho. Ho.

Cliff Lee - Pheeling the Philly Love

2010-12-14T08:21:00.000-05:00

Heard the news on the way in to work this morning. I thought the folks on the radio had been hitting the nog ealry and often. No way that Lee would turn down all of the NY money, NY Stage, and Yankee mystique to come back to Philly, where, even after we were lucky enough to sign Roy Hallyday, there was a year of sadness that Cliff Lee was not retained.

Perhaps he heard how much we missed him? Perhaps he really, really liked Philly? Or, perhaps, his wife was still a tad hurt by the NYC spittle thrown in her direction? Wouldn't it be funny if it was the latter as the media traditionally and out of lazy habit castigates the Philly Phans? Whatever.... Mr. Lee is back and that's simply unbelievable.

R2C2
Roy Hallyday.
Roy Ozwalt
Cole Hamels
Cliff Lee!!!!

The departed Jason Werth will have a hard time coming back to Philly (where he was, like Cliff Lee, likewise adored) and accomplishing anything against the Big Four. And playing in D.C., where nothing positive of consequence has been done in a while? Well....as Mr. Lee has shown, money is NOT everything.

2011 certainly does seem like it will be a better year.

(Seemingly Eternal) Life

2010-12-10T12:00:00.000-05:00

Well...I'm looking forward to the time shortly after Christmas when I'll be able to curl up with a book, namely this one. Well, perhaps "curl up". I think "curling up with a book" was possible when bones & ligaments and joints were more pliable. Perhaps, I'll simply be lying down with Life.

Life, however, is not what the author, a certain Keith Richards, is leaving behind in his wake. On the occassion of a book reading at the NY Public Library, an orchid came too close to the aura (and the smoke aroma) of Mr. Richards. But then again, which was more rare, the now departed orchid or the unkillable Mr. "Nuke Coocroach" Richards?

"The Morning After", Last Show in 2010

2010-12-10T10:56:00.002-05:00

(Picture "on loan" from this Estonian blog

Folks!
Just a bit of propoganda here. This Sunday, December 12th, I'll be hosting my last WVUD music show for this calendar year. You can tune in here via the Internet or you can turn your FM dial to 91.3 if you're within 5-10 miles of Newark, DE. Allegedly, we are getting clsoe to jumping our signal strength from 1,000 Watts to 6,800 so you may be able to catch our radio signal from outside the confines of our tremendously humungous state. 2011's coming fast...we shall see, well I mean, listen.

As far as this Sunday's 3 hour show, starting at the usual 9:00 in the AM and going until Noon EST, there will be a mixture of holiday fare along with some samplings of 2010's great releases all in the regular musical landscape I tend toward. Slow and low in the first hour with speed and volume building up as we get toward High Noon.

Hope you get a chance to tune in. Previous show's musical play lists are always posted here.

12/12/2010 Addendum: The playlist for this show is here.

Moody's Gone.....

2010-12-10T09:14:00.000-05:00

Sad news this morning. James Moody, just Moody to his friends, died yesterday, December 9th. I was lucky enough to have caught his performamces a few times, usually in accompaniment with another group or singer. What always struck me, aside from his smooth playing (and I am NOT referring to Smooth Jazz!??!), was his self-effacing manner. No wonder everyone loved playing with him. If there was praise to be doled out, he always made sure it was shed on his fellow musicians, keeping only scraps for himself.
...and I never tired of his live versions of "Moody's Mood for Love". While his vocals weren't strong, they were passionate and earnest. Moody will be missed.

Here's another YouTube, a tribute to Mr. Moody for his 83rd birthday, as sone by that great jazz station, WBGO, out of Newark, NJ. He was 85 at the time of his death.

The Fightin' Phils Don't Necessarily Just Play Baseball

2010-12-09T08:35:00.000-05:00

In the phine city of Philadelphia, the fightin' spirit is shared by many...even some of the elected officials.
You gotta love the feistiness although I felt a Workmen's Comp claim coming if the Commission Chairman's threat were to be carried out.

....'tis the season.....

The Morning After on Sunday, December 12th

2010-11-29T20:52:00.000-05:00

Just an announcement to interested site visitors for my next scheduled WVUD DJ-ing gig on Sunday, Dec. the 12th. I had done the show this previous Sunday (play list is here) but had forgotten to post the date. For those who want some Christmas music a little off the beaten path along with some relatively calm music for your Sunday mornings, tune in two Sundays from now. The web link is here.

T-Day: 2 Days to Trencherman's Feast

2010-11-23T05:23:00.062-05:00

Yipes!
I've been very late on this year's Thanksgiving Day menu listing.
After 20 years of slaving over a hot antiquated stove, the Ever-Loving Wife and I decided to stimulate the economy this year and we upgraded from a barely-detect-the-flame stove to a heat spitting model. Gas, for sure, but a 5 burner special that should serve us well for a while. T-Day will be the Testo Supremo & we'll see if Consumer's Reports was accurate in their high judgement of the cooking instrument.

Milling around circling the table munching foods:

1) Pick salami (since Gavrilovic is not available)
2) Cheeses
3) Nuts & Berries & other bear-ameanable hand foods.

The start of the meal commences with a shot of Slivovica (n.b. NSFW!!), as it is necessary to clear one's throat and one's mind before setting forth on a solid meal of food, drink, and friends.

Roots, the vegetables not the Band and other introductory platings:

1) Ginger Carrot Soup
2) Lemony Brussels Sprout Slaw
3) Mushrooms Berkeley - the old Traditional
4) Mashed Russet and Golden potatoes made with goat's milk, sweet butter and crème fraiche because...well, it's time for deep sleep. A olive oil-garlic "sauce" is sprinkled on for those in need of sprinkling.
5) A mystery vegetable to be determined on the last pre-cooking shopping day. Color seems to be the chief desired quality, at this point.

De-Feathered Fare:

1) (You cut the Toikey without me) Turkey Breast, brined to within a feather of its ability to absorb flavor in a rosemary-garlic clove-peppercorn bath for a full 18 hours. The local favored purveyor of all things flightless has changed his supplier this year, so we will be rolling the dice on the Turkey this year.
2) Fried chicken a la Panko, cuz we want to eat Fried & Healthy (all served with a dollop of Self Delusion Sauce). And...some of us still enjoy the cluck more than the gobble.

Associates Vying for Munching Attention:

1) The Ever-Loving Wife's Homemade Bread, slices of which disappear off the table in ever-increasing temerarious style even before seats have been taken.
2) Cranberry sauce form scratch- The Ever-Loving Wife's secret recipe of which she is the sole living keeper thereof.
3) Wild Rice, Almond & Mushroom Stuffing/Pilaf (Your choice of ending words.....). This will simply be a side dish hopefully satisfying on its own merits and will not be stuffing since there's not a bird to stuff, simply the Turkey Breast...and stuffing seems false to me.
4) ~~A Boston Lettuce/Red Leaf Salad concoction with a garlic & peppered mustard dressing~~. AIEIE! A terrible mis-print, as this contenda would get totally out-classed, not to say pummelled, by the actual South Philly salad that will be showing up in full Mummer regalia what with all your watchamacallit "special" ingredients pronounced in such a way that requires that your jaws need to be lax and your teeth all loosey-goosey and moveable. Need I say more than that the self-proclaimed Speech Diva will be doin' da Salad Honors.

Justified Desserts:

A slight twist here. In previous years, this pecan pie was the beginning course. It was always well-received and I may be tarred and feathered for going with
1) this version of the Pecan Pie this year. But....how can you resist the adjective "Deep" when placed in front of "Pie". I, unfortunately, could not. So, we shall see and we shall taste.
2) Pumpkin Pie or Apple Pie - The Ever-Loving Wife is keeping mum on which of these will be coming out of the oven.
3) Sorbets of the pallate-clearing sort.
4) Promised mystery desserts ferried in by dinner guests.... We will be checking papers.

In Vino give me that ol' Veritas:

With suggestions from the best wine store in the greater Philly-Wilmington area, IMHO, the following choices will be poured at various times.

1) Beaujolais-Villages Tracot Domaine Jean-Paul Dubost 2009
2) Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro Rive del Ciliegie Francesco Vezzelli 2008
3) Rheinhessen Beerenauslese Pius Weingut Keller 2009

Beer choices from Delaware's own will be in the ice bucket.

Finishing off will be assorted teas, nibbly chocolates, and Turkish coffee (or Americano).

I'm leaving all of the interesting conversation to the incredibly interesting guests that day. Doing the cooking makes it very easy for me to beg off on the opinionating and the story-telling. Which is good, because the cast of performers that day is quite impressive in experience, in age,& in wisdom. Plus, there are fine voices in the folks that will be sitting around the table so singing will be welcomed & encouraged.

...and on the stereo, set way down low, will be some Grant Green, Ella (in Hollywood), and Brad Mehldau.

Thanksgiving Day. Almost probably my favorite day of the year. I lift a stamful of Slivovica to you my gentle readers and wish you all of the best at whatever gathering you find yourself at on Thursday!!

Sochi: Just 4 Years Away

2010-11-21T11:34:00.000-05:00

..and I'm sure that an avalanche of stories will be provided. I'm been a tad lazy about following up on the happenings over in Russia as regards the Winter Olympic preparations. Back in July of this year, President Medvedev had launched an investigation on the bribery and criminal activity regarding the Sochi preparations. Seems that the announcement has had an effect.

"..the increased scrutiny of officialdom has caused the price of bribes to accelerate. Russia's Interior Ministry, which controls the police, announced this week that the average bribe in cases it investigates has grown tenfold in the past two years and doubled in the past six months alone to about $1,500". So, the police will be building larger dachas on the coastline thanks to President Medvedev's initiative.

The linked article goes on to state, "Basically, the number of bribes may have gone down but the sums of cash changing hands has gone up astronomically," says Masha Lipman, editor of the Moscow Carnegie Center's Pro et Contra journal. "It would make anyone in Russia laugh if you claimed Medvedev's anti-corruption drive has been successful. So, rather than claim success, what he can do is this one-off investigation into one of his own officials."

This is good to know, as far as Sochi's police force is concerned; they would not want too many of their colleagues living too close to them on the Sochi Riviera.

Each Morning I'm Closer to Thinking...

2010-11-21T11:22:00.000-05:00

..that the terrorists have won.
Or, have we as a nation completely lost it as far as having a grip on common sense.

TOTH to Michael Wade over @ Execupundit for the link.

Next time I board a plane, I'll leave my nail clippers behind at home and pack this. I'll leave the bullets in check-in.

Plugging the Rumpus

2010-11-16T05:53:00.000-05:00

One of the sites I visit 2-3 times a week is Rumpus.net. It's a site run by Stephen Elliot, author of Adderall Diaries, among other things. If you subscribe to the site, he'll put you on his e-mail list and you'll be guaranteed a slanted look on things in his personal life at least 3-4 tiems a week. His e-mails are sometimes a tad depressing but they are never not interesting. I'm hoping to post a piece regarding one of his e-mails dealing with the importance (or not!) of books.

From Rumpus recently, here's Rick Moody with a (too short of an) interview with a shoe sales woman named Lauren. It made me search out my tattered falling apart copy of Studs Terkel's "Working". Great little interview by Mr. Moody; fabulous treat of a book by the late Mr. Terkel, one that is a constant reminder that work is the anchor for one's life.

...and the book's a refutation of John Prine's "How the hell can a person go to work in the morning, come home in the evening and have nothing to say."

While I'm on Rick Moody, here's a piece he wrote last week for the NYT. It's about his young daughter, Hazel, who's busy teaching him. That's what daughters do, they're busy being the child who's father to the man.

The Place to Be

2010-11-04T10:46:00.000-04:00

So,
After being part of the Rally for Sanity And/Or Fear crew on Saturday, the day before Halloween, in front of 6 million people, where do you go next for your act?

Why, it seems Delaware & Punkin' Chunkin'. No word yet if the annual event will take up my modest proposal.

Delaware Results: A Slight Bit of Analysis for...

2010-11-03T12:20:00.003-04:00

...those folks unfamiliar with the way our dinky (and I mean that in a positive way...the degree of separation in Delaware rarely exceeds 2 people) state works.

Here's how the final numbers shook out,
Total votes cast: 305,076 which represents about a 48% turnout rate.
US Senate Race:
Democrat Chris Coons won with 172,590 votes or 56.6%
Republican/Tea Party Christine O'Donnell trailed with 122,237 votes or 40%.

There are three counties in Delaware. The northern county, New Castle, borders New Jersey (the state that gave us O'Donnell) and Pennsylvania. The middle county, Kent, and the southern county, Sussex, border Maryland. Total votes cast in each county and for the 2 major candidates were:

                                   Total Votes Cast      Coons      O'Donnell
New Castle                       184,755           122,259        56,833
                                                                   71%               31%

Kent                                    49,437           22,312          25,059
                                                                    45%               51%

Sussex                                 70,844           28,019          40,345
                                                                     40%              57%

So...you get the idea.   Up in the northern part of the state, heavy Coons support. As you slip or drive south, Coons loses support and O'Donnell gains. In my district, Coons received 89% of the votes cast while O'Donnell received less than 9%.

In the southern-most district in Delaware, District #38, where O'Donnell received the most votes, 6,752, of any other district that had votes for her, she carried with 58% of total votes cast.

A canal splits Delaware in two. The C & D Canal served as the dividing point for political party favorites for a long time in Delaware. Above the canal, mainly Democratic. Below the canal, mainly Republican. With folks from other states, retirees (mostly) from New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, that distinction has changed over the years. In this election, 6 districts of the 17 districts below the canal ended up favoring Coons.   This creeping Democratic party tendency is starting to worry folks here in the First State as it is a major, albeit a slow, change to the way things have always been.

But then again, what with the effect of the Tea Party in this year's national elections, change is certainly not just a Delaware phenomenon. Was it just a lot of noise? In Delaware, it seems so as both Tea Party candidates of national office lost, both by at least 17%.   Otrher states were not so lucky. The next year or so will not be boring.

A tip of the hat to WP for inspiring this post as he commented, with apprehensive surprise, here as regards O'Donnell's grab of 40% of Delaware's votes cast. I'm hoping that by looking at the numbers and the distribution of the numbers a better understanding of how the 40% came about could be had.

I'm Not Dead Yet...

2010-11-02T21:09:00.000-04:00

....she says.

9:00 PM Tuesday night.
67% of the Delaware districts have reported results.

Coons is in the lead for the U.S. Senate position in question with 56.7% of the votes.

O'Donnell is trailing with 39.8% of the votes.

Reporters at the O'Donnell campaign celebration site in Dover are saying that the O'Donnell campaign is NOT conceding. The folks at that "celebration" are watching a video of their candidate. The video, professionally done, was never aired and the staff is suggesting a conspiracy with the local media as to why it wasn't shown. This train wreck of a political campaign is still chugging along, regardless of the fact that there is no track left.

The way her campaign's been managed, expect to hear tomorrow that there was a general conspiracy by the voters in Delaware who didn't vote for her as regards her campaign's failure. So, if you live in Delaware there's a possibility that 31,898 (a this point in time) of us will be served legal papers. hope they're serving Dogfish Head IPA at the courthouse.....

Hopefully, After Today This Will Be The Last Time...

2010-11-02T07:10:00.002-04:00

... that I ever have to mention her name.

From FactCheck.org, this post today:

Monty Python Award for Illogical Witch finding
To: Christine O’Donnell, running for Senate in Delaware

Hoping to stem the flood of mockery resulting from footage of her claiming to have dabbled in witchcraft, GOP candidate O’Donnell went public with what may become the most enduring campaign slogan since "read my lips": "I'm not a witch … I’m you." As if mere denials ever got someone off the hook for witchery! Perhaps we need to break out the scales and the duck.

O'Donnell's ad steps into a logical minefield even more absurd than the classic Monty Python "if she weighs the same as a duck, she’s made of wood" argument (which, incidentally, we analyzed here). The 2001 American Religious Identification Survey found that 134,000 people in the United States identified as Wiccans — that was a fifteen fold increase over the 1990 survey, and by now may be much larger if the trend has continued. Even using 2001 numbers, if we assume a relatively consistent spread of Wiccans over the United States, there would be 400 people in Delaware who consider themselves witches. If Christine O'Donnell is them, then she is a witch, but she’s not a witch, she’s them, but they're witches, so she is a witch, and so on until your head explodes.

My take on the Delaware Senate Elections, with no slight intended toward Chris Coons:
1) Republican friends thought Mike Castle was too liberal.
2) Democratic friends thought Mike Castle was too Republican.
3) I thought Mike Castle was on the conservative side of Moderate
4) There was general agreement that Mike Castle was willing to work with the Other party.
5) There was general agreement that Mike Castle was a person willing to listen to opposing lines of thought.
6) Everyone agreed that Mike Castle was a fine governor.

Therefore, my preference and the person I would have voted for had I the opportunity in the Delaware U.S. Senatorial contest was Mike Castle, the unfortunate loser in the Republican primary here. It was a shame and an insult to a person who had provided years of responsible duty to this state. For Mr. Castle to lose to such a shallow and irresponsible person as O'Donnell was beyond logical comprehension. It was simply, IMHO, an embarrassment for the state of Delaware.

Hopefully, this embarrassment will be partially negated by Mr. Coon's victory tonight. It's time to send these unqualified, self-involved, clueless pretenders to power a clear message.

The Morning After, Sunday October 31, 2010 Halloween!!

2010-11-01T12:00:00.000-04:00

The play list for yesterday's The Morning After has been posted for your reading pleasure. Aside from the many splendoured thing that was the Rally for Sanity, this past weekend also saw a live broadcast form St. Georges Cafe at the Country Store of WVUD's "Red, Hot & Blue" 33 1/3 celebration. I will be posting pix and some commentary about that great local event shortly...so check on back soon.

Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear - A Descriptive Part #1

2010-10-31T23:58:00.019-04:00

A buddy and I drove down early Saturday morning from Delaware, passing by quite a few buses heading in the same southerly direction. On I-95, we zipped through Baltimore taking a fast glimpse at the O’s stadium, a venue yet to see post-season play. We veered south onto I-495 to catch the ingoing Metro line at Greenbelt, the first station on the Green line. The parking lot, holding about 4,000 cars was already about 2/3 full at 9:00. Hmmmmm, a lot of like-minded sane and responsible people, it seemed, had the same rational idea. We briskly strolled into the station which was already packed with queues of folks politely waiting their turn. The 200 or so folks all seemed to be brewing at a low level of excitement, containing their delight at seeing equally self-controlled low-level brewing individuals. We lucked out in catching a Metro as soon as we purchased our $12 round trip tix and in a half hour and 10 stops later we exited the subway and ascended into a beautiful day breaking out of the Chinatown station.

There were short lines everywhere. Queues for Starbucks or other cafes, lines at the corners as folks patiently waited to cross the streets, and even a group of folks one following another slowly passing a Vet with a cup asking for small change. Hmmm, queuing for coinage....it was going to be a rather different type of day.

We walked the 6 or 8 blocks down 7th Avenue, sun streaming down on the gradually warming day. From the feeding side streets, more people came. There was a giddiness flowing like first-date nervousness. Signs started cropping up, indications that folks had been heeding advice from Jon Stewart's Sanity site. Costumes here and there were also evident of fans of Stephen Colbert's site or, perhaps, merely early Halloween celebrants trying out their gear.

Vendors, vendors, vendors everywhere. Badges, flags, banners, water, and any other purchasable paraphernalia easily carried by the purchaser were offered. The closer you got to the mall, the steeper the same merchandise was priced. Good to see basic economic theory was being practiced here, straight out of the books. Free Rally towels promoting the event were being handed out by volunteers. Later in the day, I saw the same Rally towels, already classic collector items, being sold by folks not outfitted with the official Restore to Sanity volunteer t-shirts. Russian underground economic theory being put into practice; what was free for me will cost you.....comrade.

We ended up on The Mall around 9:30, folks already packed in behind sectional metal fencing. My friend and I, being bachelors at the event and thus not attached with women of social niceties and responsible behavior decided to see how far we can ooze ourselves to the front. Slithering through groups of folks who'd claimed their spots with blankets, fold-up chairs, coolers, or simply spread-out-like-snow-angels body frames, we worked our way from where 7th Avenue crosses through The Mall to 4th Avenue. There, we hit our first major issue, US Park Rangers and fencing. Like a creek around rocks (enough metaphors in here for ya?), we slipped off to the side of least resistance and continued on toward the Main Stage.

(to be continued.....)

Saturday on the Mall with Jon & Steven

2010-10-31T21:17:00.003-04:00

Some foreign countries seem to be concerned with our national sanity. All opinions were welcome on this day.

The O'Jays, a surprise musical guest, gets the crowd agitated, in a good way, when they take to the stage, with The Roots as back-up musicians, to do their signature song, "Love Train". Note here: No one in the visual scope of this blogger was able to re-create the dance moves of the linked YouTube. Luckily for all of us as there were no masseuses available for the possible pains resulting from all of that jolting & jiving.

Unlike most of the crowd, some characters were losing their heads over the sheer joy of being here in D.C. on such a gorgeous day sharing moments with like-minded raitonal beings.

Just one example of many showing the crowd's reaction at the multitude of pithy and not so pithy humourous remarks. Much hilarity ensued at various times but sanity reigned so the D.C. firemen never had to draw their hoses to calm down the Fear-less crowds.

Folks from all states seem to be embarrassed with what their politicians are up to.

Delaware AGAIN makes the news.

More text and observations to follow shortly....Pics as well.

N.B.: CLICK on the images for a MUCH LARGER version.

Tentative Schedule @ The Mall, Washington D.C. October 30, 2010

2010-10-29T15:02:00.000-04:00

"He was sweaty," Talley said. And "he wanted eggs really bad."

2010-10-29T11:00:00.003-04:00

In these tough economic times, folks are taking to any kind of work, legal or otherwise, that they may not be qualified for. Here's a perfect example of such a situation. You've probably read of lots of folks that are over-qualified for positions they are currently holding. Personally, I have strong admiration for these folks as their work ethic and sense of responsibility certainly has over-ridden any case of hubris they may have been suffering when first unemployed.

But this fellow? It seemed he understood the first part of his new career, namely nabbing the money. But the getaway part needs some serious work. Fortunately for him, he'll have some quiet time to mull over his next caper.

A lesson to be learned here is best stated by Liquid Planet's Nathan Talley who had served the Cash Transporting Specialist after his foray into a local bank.

"Liquid Planet's Talley had an additional theory. The suspect may have tipped the cab driver, but he left no money at the coffee shop. "

"Bad karma", Talley said, "That's why he got caught."

WP? La Vie Poème? Have any such shenanigans happened in your coffee & eggs experience? I'm sure you have tales to tell.

Saturday on the Mall

2010-10-28T15:43:00.000-04:00

Hey!? Anyone out there going to the biggest non-political Political Halloween Party this Saturday in D.C.?
Just wondering if I'll be able to recognize you by your sign or by your costume.

Sticking it in My Ear

2010-10-27T06:26:00.002-04:00

Now that Sony has announced the Death of the Walkman (though there are some Holy Grailers out there moaning that it's not dead yet), it's official that an era has passed.   Now, we await the imminent death notice of the iPod in the coming decade or so to be replaced by.....??? Implants is the only possible step with Wi-Fi Frankenstein posts.

A couple of articles from the Guardian made me feel not so much nostalgic as old.   I received my first Walkman back in 1980 as a parting gift from some of my work friends prior to heading up to Montreal for a year of fun, frustration, and changing career plans. It was one of the most thoughtful gifts I ever received and, at least at that time, one of the most expensive. $179!! And that was in 1980 US dollars which, these days, translates to enough to buy one of those mortgage loan cast-off houses.

Recording one's music for the playlists of those days took days, not minutes like the wet-behind-the-ears MP3ers. Yeah...and we walked uphill through 5 feet of snow in May to school as well. Those were the days when women were women and men wore mullets...which meant we were almost women. A selection of Guardian's reader's inclusions on their playlists had not one band I'd put on my cassettes. On the list I saw not one mention of Little Feat (w/ Lowell George), Springsteen, Hound Dog Taylor, or ZZ Top.   Most of the dates listed were when I'd abandoned the Walkman and gone on to the Discman. I kept the Walkman around for a while, almost like a museum piece or a faded baseball card. It had worked when I packed it in some old socks in a drawer. A few years later, when I pulled it out just to test out the sound, like a rejected girlfriend, it chewed up a few tapes before buying the ghost.

More so than the innumerable eardrum shaking concerts I'd gone to, I'm sure the Walkman and then the Discman helped me down the road to (eventual, I'm sure) deafness. Both almost got me killed when I went skiing with them, as I took too well to the combination of sound and schuss and ignored Black Diamond signs, or worse, Black Diamond skiers.   But I do not miss those black buds riding on and in my ear disintegrating my hearing while disintegrating themselves into their baser elements, leaving my ears coated with coal dust.

Nowadays, I protest vaguely at the iPod/MP3 sound quality and the long term damage of short term musical attention all the time wondering if all of this started going downhill with Mr. Sony's introduction of his clicky Walkman.

St. Georges, DE, Washington DC, The Morning After

2010-10-26T19:46:00.002-04:00

Wow...what a weekend.

Helping a friend out with a live broadcast of his 33 1/3 year as host of "Red, Hot, & Blue", a blues show he started....33 1/3 years ago on WVUD. That's him just to the left of the lead singer, Garry Cogdell, strumming & singing. This'll be a performance @ the Cafe at the Country Store in (North) St. Georges, DE. 7 until 11 on Friday night, the 29th. Open invitation to all readers to drop on by for some free music, beer & wine, and NOLA type grub. The latter three items are NOT free but attendees are strongly suggested in partaking thereof. Feed the artists; keep the Country Store going.

Then, Saturday the 30th, if the body's recovered from all of the dancing, whistling, & general spiritual celebration and carrying on of the night before, it's off to D.C for the Jon Stewart Rally to Restore Sanity event and The Rev. Sir Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, D.F.A. Keep Fear Alive rally.

..Followed by a dj-ing gig on Sunday, October 31st on The Morning After on WVUD, the voice of the University of Delaware. If you're lounging at the house, flip on your PC and catch the show form 9:00 until 12:00 noon EST from this link.

Sleep seems like an option this coming weekend.

When it rains it pours and who wants an umbrella anyways.

Sisters: Guys, We Need Them Badly

2010-10-26T06:22:00.006-04:00

Deborah Tannen, professor of linguistics at Georgetown University and NY Times columnist, wrote an article in today's NYT regarding the ameliorative affect having a sister around can have. While, IMHO, the article is correct and touching (Don't you want to call your sister, if you're lucky enough to have at least one, after reading the article?), it was a tad wordy.

Mr. Loudon Wainwright III said it better and more succinctly in his song, The Picture, from his most excellent of albums, History (a "Take Out Your Handkerchiefs" special).

"A brother needs a sister
To watch what he can do,
To protect and to torture,
To boss around; it's true;
But a brother will defend her
For a sister's love is pure,
Because she thinks he's wonderful
.....When he is not so sure.

It's o.k. there fella, ......you can blow your nose now.

Lookin'

2010-10-24T14:53:00.000-04:00

Anyone who's been lullabyed to bed with "Casey at Bat" knows what's coming for the Big Man. The Big O-fer. So, on late Saturday night in bottom of the 9th inning, SF Giants clinging by their finely manicured nails to a 3-2 lead, with Phillies on 1st and 2nd base, with two outs, with a 3-2 count, and with the Big Guy for the Phillies at the bat....
...you knew what was coming. Anyone who winessed last year's World Series had a clue.

And so, Brian Wilson, he of the shoe-polished beard not he of the "Fun, Fun, Fun" fame, a left-handed pitcher did what lefties did to Ryan Howard all last year in the playoffs and the World Series.

He struck him out.

Lookin'.

Not good company to be keeping for one's baseball fame.

It's over 36 hours later and I'm still bummed. It's not that I'm laying the full blame of the loss on Mr. Howard; he ended the playoffs with the best batting average of the Phils. It's just that, well..... you don't end your season with the wood parked on your shoulder.

Next year can't come around any sooner. For the Phils this year, it's no longer GO! It's GONE!

Gorgeous Day to Be Inside Perusing

2010-10-23T11:22:00.000-04:00

...the Internet.
Gawd, it's beautiful out there! A brilliant and sunny Fall day requiring desired sweaters and pullovers. And, tonight, Game #6 of the NLCS. Should be a great night to be visiting a local establishment for brews and views.

But, now? Well, an unfortunate article appeared in this morning's NYT.
...and now I may be glued inside for a very, very long time. Addicting reading, this.
Well, at least I'm parked by a window so I can occasionally peak at the blue, blue day passing me by.

May you not be so similarly smitten.

Philly...set to win in SEVEN!

2010-10-22T21:57:00.001-04:00

O.k., the National League Champion Series is back in Philly for the last 2 games.

San Fran had its chance and they blew it. From losing the clinching game, with Lincecum pitching against (as we found out later) a Roy Halladay pitching with one leg as he'd severely strained his groin muscle in the 2nd inning, to tromping out a gal and a hat to do the 7th inning rendition of "God Bless America", it was a night to remember.....
....if you were a Philly phan and one to forget if you were a Giants fan.

So, Saturday night, game #6 yelling, screaming, and hooting 'n hollerin' will create some sort of bedlam in South Philly.

And, for the 7th inning, they'll be sending out the professionals to show....

that gal in San Fran what costumes are all about.

What an amateur!!

A Modest Proposal : Chunkin'

2010-10-21T17:58:00.001-04:00

The current World Record is 4,483.51 feet.
The U.S. Senatorial elections are on November 2, 2010. The results should be finalized by November 3rd or 4th.
The World Champion Punkin' Chunkin' Festival east of Bridgeville, Delaware is from November 5th through the 7th this year.
Usually, pumpkins are the choice of items to be chunked or thrown.
How about (I can feel you getting the gist of where I'm heading with this) this year, the loser of the Delaware US Senate race be one of the items chunked?
If it happens to be Christine O'Donnell, I'm sure arrangements can be made to aim the pumpkin chunker winning entry over toward Jersey. The Delaware River is just a few feet wider than 4,483.51 ft...but it'd be the right general direction, right? We'd simply be returning to Jersey what rightfully belongs to Jersey.

I Heart Oswalt

2010-10-21T05:36:00.026-04:00

O.K., so the Phillies are down 3-1 to a fine SF Giants team that has outspunkied them through 4 games. Tonight's a re-match of Roy "Perfect Game & Playoff No-Hitter" Halladay and Tim "Doobie-doobie-do" Lincecum. What a great series!.....even if the Phillies don't make it to the final round this year.

Cody Ross, part of Halladay's Perfect Game while with the Marlins is hitting up a storm with the Giants, who picked him up off of waivers. For all of us who've been rejected at least once in our lives, who can't but cheer (even quietly) for this guy?

Then there's Roy Oswalt. Last night he offered up his services as a relief pitcher even though he'll be starting in the (hopefully to happen) 6th game of the playoffs. This guy's a kid in love with the game! earlier this year he offered to and eventually played left field against his previous team, the Houston Astros, in a game where the Phillies bench was bare....and he accorded himself rather well.

Truth be told, I had my doubts before the Phillies brought him over from the Astros. He did not want to come to the Phillies, preferring to stay in the Mid-West and away from the fairly blood-thirsty press corps that devours its athletes in Philadelphia. But, he eventually came over and the Phillie Phans took to him instantly. His humour, his hunger, and his abilities almost made pholks forget about the Cliff Lee deal that the Phils did NOT make at the end of last year. But, it soon became apparent that Mr. Lee and Mr. Oswalt are cut from the same cloth; they both are killers on the mound and they both want a World Series ring.

So, whatever happens tonight, I'll think that the Phillies had a successful year. If only Mr. Halladay can extend the series one more game and allow Mr. Oswalt to take to the mound.....
Well, then it may just turn out to be a fabulous year.

Go Phils!

Dumb & Dumber

2010-10-19T12:15:00.001-04:00

Christine O'Donnell, in a recent US Senatorial debate, proved she can be (at least) two people at once, namely someone Dumb and also someone Dumber. Should she try for the trifecta of Dumbest? Her claim to be following the US Constitution as her guiding light for legislating is a bit dim as she proclaimed, "Where in the Constitution is the separation of church and state?" in response to the Democratic nominee Chris Coons' statement that, "...private and parochial schools are free to teach creationism but that "religious doctrine doesn't belong in our public schools."

While her question is legitimate in that the phrase "seperation of church and state" does NOT appear in the US Constitution, her response to Coons' reply "...that the First Amendment bars Congress from making laws respecting the establishment of religion." of "You're telling me that's in the First Amendment?" took the audience by surprise....and not a pleasant one. Her security blanket of being all about the US Constitution seemed threadbare. Come on! This is the First Amendment we're talking about...didn't she even read that far into the US Constitution? When is this train wreck of a campaign going to end? How much more embarassment will she be directing toward the Delaware US Senatorial election?

Come on, she's been complaining about the Republican Party not supporting her monetarily. I'm sure she had enought money in her campaign to shell out for one of the Dummy books. Nope. Now, she's simply proved what Sanford's been spouting.

N.B> to Ms. O'Donnell, the Constitutional "expert", the actor in the YouTube is Redd Foxx...not President Obama. Just making sure you have your facts straight.

Delaware Goes National

2010-10-14T05:24:00.000-04:00

In the last few years, my dinky state of Delaware has taken to the national spotlight like a natural. The #1 son, (and now VP), Joe Biden was the first to crack the TV ceiling and, whether you love or loath him, he gets creds for being an engaging and entertaining presence. This year we have the race to fill his US Senate seat with an alleged trust fund baby running against an alleged witch. Last night, Chris Coons, accused by his opponent of inheriting his wealth and not in touch with the common man, debated Christine O'Donnell, a self-described "fun" girl who abandoned the life of dabbled witchcraft and easy dating to enter a full time job of campaigning for office (any office) the last 5 years. What was a local event became a national event as CNN's Wolf Blitzer acted as one of the moderators and, IMHO, chief instigator in a one hour broadcast on CNN.

It was not a pretty evening especially for the young (oh, so very young) Ms. O'Donnell. She was prepped in the Sarah Palin manner and came on strong at first, taking the offensive, as she should have in order to hopefully make Delaware voters conscious of her serious nature. Unfortunately, like the town facade in Blazing Saddles, O'Donnell began to crumble with statements like "when we fought the Russians in Afghanistan", "the secret Chinese plot to take over our country by (not so secretly...in fact with our encouragement) buying our debt", and failing to come up with one Supreme Court decision that she disagreed with (when questioned by a student) after proclaiming during her campaign that she disagreed with Supreme Court decisions. The moderators, attack dog Wolf Blitzer and the always solid Nancy Karibjanian, kept the contestants in line, especially Ms. O'Donnell when she veered away from the point of a question into prepared speech land. Ms. O'Donnell did face more pointed questions than Mr. Coons but she had laid herself out for this path with her ads and her mis-steps.

An aside here, as a reminder of the TV ads, Ms. O'Donnell had a dark dress and a string of pearls.....waiting to cast a spell on her audience, perhaps?

In a bizarre turn (was she told to say this by her handlers?), she joked that Mr. Coons was jealous of her since she made it as a topic on Saturday Night Live. Hmmm...didn't she get the point of the parody? Does she know the definition of "parody"? We knew from the debate that she was weak on history (the "fighting the Russians in Afghanistan" and confusing Iraq & Afghanistan comments) and finance (her lack of knowledge on how bond ratings are established or how county governments are legally required to balance their budgets). Perhaps she didn't do too well in college in English and literature as well.

For his part, it must have been difficult for Mr. Coons to not subsume into Dan Akroyd vis-a-vis Ms. O'Donnell's Jane Curtin. When asked to respond to some of the fact-less claims and throwing-out-chum statements by Ms. O'Donnell, Mr. Coons tended to respond that there wasn't enough time to go point-by-point or where should he begin. At one point, he looked over at Wolf Blitzer and said that if he (Mr. Blitzer) could make sense of the contradictory things that Ms. O'Donnell had just spouted in response to a question then Mr. Blitzer was a much better journalist than Mr. Coons had given him credit for. At points, one almost felt sorry for Ms. O'Donnell as to her lack of sense and knowledge and this was a very dangerous place to be as she is counting on the "I am you" stance against the "elitist educated" opponent she's running against. Funny that the 2 President Bush's, representing her party, had both graduated from the the same eilitist institution of Yale.

In the closing statement by the candidates, Mr. Coons noted, "She's focused too little on the issues that really matter to Delawareans, and too much on the issues that make good soundbites," Coons said. "Ms. O'Donnell has experience running for office, but not really running anything." That pretty well sums up the evening and the campaign choices. Do you want a yappy dog nipping at your heels or a calm & collected Labrador guiding you.

The short of the debate matter was that Ms. O'Donnell spoke in generalities and with the insinuation that her judgements of error and lack of responsibility were traits that Delawareans would cling and claim to while Mr. Coons provided logical answers backed by experience and a hard-earned education. She was going for the sympathy vote; he for the thoughtful one. We'll see which voters show up in Delaware on November 2nd.

Creativity is Being Curtailed..

2010-10-11T23:43:00.000-04:00

...at tonight's debate at the University of Delaware between the 2 main US Senatorial candidates for the state of Delaware. One of the ground rules listed here is :

No participant in the debate (neither candidates nor questioners) shall be allowed to use props or visuals.

Bummer! This being October and all, I was fairly sure one of the students posing a question to the candidates would have been appropriately dressed for Halloween. Wonder what will happen if someone sneaks in and dons this or this? The latter link is related to the latest political ad by Ms. O'Donnell.

Should be interesting and, now that CNN will be broadcasting part of it nationwide, beyond the importance of this interim position post (only 4 years left in the 6 year US Senator term). Tune in @ 7:30 EST.

Everyone seems to be stirred up by tonight's happenings and, since the 1st round of baseball playoffs are over, folks in the First State should be tuned in. Hmmm...wonder if anything actually substantial will be debated or if the potential nastiness of the crowd will dominate the proceedings?

China & O'Donnell: Importing Good Values

2010-10-07T10:11:00.000-04:00

Perhaps we've been too hard on Christine O'Donnell's self-proclaimed educational achievements (though she did blame "Others" for attaching such claims although the "Others" have yet to be identified). As per today's NYT, it seems an entire nation suffers from the OECD syndrome (O'Donnell Education Credentials Dilemna). Maybe she's simply been ahead of the import curve. In addition to having our shelves stocked with goods manufactured in China for the past 2 decades, we'll soon be practicing the Chinese Art of Self-Accreditation.

Oh, where have we gone since we've sold off and shipped off our manufacturing might to places overseas?   Being a Global Citizen has long lost its cache..but that's another tpoic, another day.

This morning's major Delaware paper had an article regarding some poll results for the US Senatorial elcetion. Perhaps, sanity has returned to the even-keeled state.   Although.....

.....Last night a pollster called the house and the Ever Loving Wife, a possessor of patience in quantities that I've never been familiar with, answered questions for over 10 minutes from some clown (there's my "patience" showing) who definitely had a biased view in her questioning. Why do I say "clown"? It was the 8th and 9th inning (yes....that's how long the questioning went on) and the Phillies, up 4-0 over the Reds, were closing in on the 2nd ever post-season no-hitter as masterfully spun by Roy Hallyday.

Why the ELW did not hang up is one of those miracles without explanation. She explained it as, "I had to make sure that this pollster knew that Coons was head, hands and feet above O'Donnell as far as a competent candidate."   Yes, the ELW, aside from having loads of patience, also has tons of idealism and the mindset that people can change especially if you talk to them reasonably.   All I got out of it was this idiot was not a baseball fan and, worse yet, not a Phillies fan. Using the logic of the O'Donnell campaign, I'll go on to state that O'Donnell hates the Phillies! There, that's a campaign slogan sure to get the vote out in Delaware.

Why I'm Still a Sucker for Barack

2010-10-06T19:42:00.000-04:00

Obama. I know the young man's been rained on by a lot of tirades by some boneheads and also by some folks with justifiable gripes. But...to be able to step away for a moment and give that short tight critique of Bob Dylan's shadowy entrance and exit from the White House?

Come on.....give the man his props.

My Apologies Go Out To All Dogcatchers....

2010-10-06T10:16:00.000-04:00

...and Animal Control Agents when I reply to the inquiry from my Republican friends in Delaware as to what my thoughts are on their party's choice for this November's US Senate election for our state.

My thoughts on Christine O'Donnell could not be better expressed than the opinion voiced by the Head of the Republican Party in Delaware, Tom Ross, when the primaries were still being run in our fair state. Mr Ross stated that she "could not be elected dogcatcher". As she has taken to the mattresses recently and is not available for conversation outside a few selected members of her splintered party, I have to assume that Mr. Ross, being the leader of Delaware's Republican Party would have a much better feel for her capabilities to represent Delaware in a distinguished and effective manner than I would, a party outsider.

So, if his thoughts had her as incapable of achieving election at that position, I have to accede to his more robust knowledge base and agree in total with his words of wisdom.

Again, my apologies to the fine Animal Control Agents who keep us safe from creatures of indeterminate affiliations.

Creative Things IMPOSSIBLE with a Kindle or an iPad

2010-10-03T22:33:00.004-04:00

This article brought a gallon (specifically a gallon of Benjamin Moore) of memories back for me.

*** Caution *** : Notification of statement sure to date me.

It's junior year in high school, back in the day when jobs were easily obtainable. A buddy and I were hanging out at my school one early summer's evening just kicking a soccer ball around. One of the brothers running that fine institution happened to be strolling that very night and espied two young lads obviously in need of deeds to better their moral character while honing their manual skills. He approached us and, as was usual with men in that particular religious order, exhibited the silver tongue skills the brothers were all blessed with.   He easily cajoled us into summer long work re-painting the school's classrooms. Our financial rewards were minimal as we knew that the school was somewhat strapped and we were learning things about life at that point, such as how to negotiate one's pay with a guy who wore an awfully large silver crucifix around his neck.

Our painting superintendent was a older fellow by the name of Auggie. His stature was more wide than tall and his humour was broader than his girth.   We religiously showed up on time for work each weekday, occasionally worked through lunch, and waited patiently for our week's pay......which did not arrive each week.   Our accounts were all squared away come the end of the summer but Friday's payday process was eagerly looked forward to as Auggie, aside from being the head custodian, had a hefty taste for the betting game while also carrying out the duties of paymaster.

Our payment was in cash as the Lord and the IRS had some sacred relationship that we, as mere high school students, were not privy to. Being closer to God than to Uncle Sam, our institution (and I speak only for myself and for the olden days times.....I'm sure there's a "closer" realtionship these days) had minimal use of OSHA and Labor Boards and payroll accounting.   Where the cold cash came from was as much a mystery to us as the Divine Conception was and, just like the latter, any explanations of the payment's origins left us more confused.    Like the miracles that folks in the Bible sought out and waited for, each Friday's pay date rolled around with expectations but no certainty. We learned to follow the horses and certain baseball teams from cities not in the Northeast.   Like I said, Auggie was good for the wages come the end of our summer stint, but we knew that telephone calls on Thursday afternoons governed whether the money would be riding on our palms or on Sugarcoatedbiscuit over at Belmont Park.

Early each morning, while we drank our milked-down coffee and gagged/chewed on buttered yesterday's Kaiser rolls and waited for that day's painting assignments, Auggie was into the sheets.   Each day's papers were used for Auggie's "research" projects and he would fold and tear and notate the necessary pages.   Once he was satisfied that he had the facts for the day, he would clear off a worktable and set the untorn and unmolested pages down. Auggie would carefully fold out all of these sheets, making sure that all of the pages were the same size. Then, with gnarled but busy fingers, he'd craft painter's hats for all of us, knowing that paint, testosterone, loud FM music (the only clause in our working "contract" that the brothers caved in on), and general ADD-like traits of teenage boys would combine in a spray of paint sure to hit our hair. Each morning, he'd create new hats and different motifs. One day we'd be the Painting Pirates.   Some days we'd get in touch with our feminine sides and be the Benjamin Moore Bo-Peeps. Another day, the Painting Popes. Auggie was a newspaper milliner of extraordinary speed and imagination, among other quirks. He wove curses into a web that always drew us and usually left us sprawled out on the floor laughing. After any such tirade, he quickly looked around the room, found where the nearest crucifix was hanging, crossed himself, and then hitching up his pants, he'd stroll out the room.

When high school went back into session that year, I noticed that for a long time afterwards my painting com padres and I tended to cross ourselves in our classes (as was required) and then hitch up our pants afterwards.   When we caught ourselves doing it, we were initially embarrassed. Eventually, it was our bonding signal of that Summer of Painting and Newspaper Hat Wearing.

Years later, I went back to visit the old school grounds, even going to some of the older classrooms to see if our paint jobs had survived. Auggie had passed away long ago but his stories were still repeated and his memory was vibrant.  One summer he had a brush with success. His picks of horses and of his baseball teams were of a Divine nature. He cleaned up and then he retired from calling his bookie. Staying one more year to guarantee his successor knew his stuff, he then retired to the Shore. He gave the school about $100k on his last official day at work.

I never did find out, though, if Auggie's successor was schooled in the art of Newspaper Hats. That talent may simply have passed away with Auggie.

It Ain't always Sunny in Philly...

2010-10-03T20:35:00.000-04:00

On the freefall to ignominy that officially started today, a poll by the local Philly papers as to reader's opinions on the performance of the 4 quarterbacks ( wait...wait...wait) who were involved in the 17-12 defeat of the Iggles to the Capital of this country's Redskins, with their 80th ranked (I exaggerate, but just a touch) NFL defensive unit, it seems Mike Kafka of the Iggles beat out Kevin Kolb by 62% to 41%. The fact that Mr. Kafka (no relation to Franz, as far as we know) never let go of his clipboard, never donned his helmet, nor ever ventured onto the playing field gives you an indication of where the balance of the season will go for the unfortunate Mr. Kolb. His sad days have only begun. I hope he has a dog to come home to.

Andy Reid, involved in football since he first started sucking on a (kicking) tee, has still to grasp the concept of time and its necessary management. He is beyond doubt at this point in his coaching career, the worst on-field coach pacing the sidelines. It is a question of how uniquely he will squander time-outs these days; he keeps on inventing new versions of what was, until he came along, a limited field of possibilities.

J K Rowling's new HP Installment - Delaware Version

2010-10-03T12:24:00.002-04:00

Surreptitiously "borrowed" from Cagle Blog . Cartoon by the political cartoonist extraordinaire, Jeff Stahler, of the Columbus Dispatch.

Morning After Sunday Oct. 3,2010

2010-10-03T09:35:00.001-04:00

Hey Folks,
Late announcement. Down here at the station doing the Morning After gig again. Tune in & Listen! Apologies for the late announcement...

10/4/10: Set List for Sunday's show has been posted here for your post-listening critiquing.

Nonexecutive Chairman?

2010-10-01T15:33:00.000-04:00

For any folks out there who have had the unfortunate pleasure of being around or even periphierally involved in an enterprise undergoing conversion to a SAP software product, you may be as surprised as I was to hear that Hewlett-Packard has named the ex-chief of SAP, Léo Apotheker, as the company’s new chief executive. This will be most interesting. It was also announced that Ray Lane, a managing partner at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and a former Oracle executive, was named to H-P’s board and will serve as non-executive chairman.

So....Mark Hurd was let go by Hewlett Packard due to some sloppy travel expense padding issues and then is shortly thereafter picked up by Oracle to be their co-president, a surprise to most folks in the know. Then, HP picks up an ex-Oraclite, Ray Lane, to be a non-excutive chairman.?

Hmmmm. The stock market reacted to the news of Apotheker (German for pharmacist) reacts by dropping H-P's stock 3 percent to $40.82 in after-hours trading. I didn't really understand the non-executive chairman bit at first. Now, it's all too clear. If Apotheker's business chemistry doesn't produce immediate results with HP's previous success run or with Wall Street's perception of the company's success, Mr. Lane is the chief executive in the boardroom easily in place to replace the ex-SAP now Hewlett-Packard CEO.

Well, that most certainly must make Mr. Apotheker feel all warm and fuzzy. He served a mere 7 months as CEO @ SAP (after working there over 20 years) before being removed from that position. Seems that H-P is playing it safe in case his stay is equally short or shorter @ H-P. You've got to be even a tad empathetic with Mr. Apotheker's Damocles Sword position; may he have at least some restful sleep in the coming year.

Ben Folds & Nick Hornby - Together Again

2010-09-28T20:58:00.002-04:00

On the just released "Lonely Avenue" , musician and producer Ben Folds and writer and critic and scriptwriter Nick Hornby get tpgether for what some term a music-nerd heaven. There have been some positive reviews (here as well), some not so much, and a noted blogger's lack of appropriate excitement. The latter needling was intentional in hopes of a posting on his part to suss out the lack of musical sustenance.

Some college kid from some podunk college also makes some derogatory remarks regarding this fine release. Hey Mr. Decker! You better be boning up on the lyrics; you will be examined on this for next marking period.

Except for the fact that quite a lot of the 11 songs have radio air-play inappropriate language, thus sinking the possibility of playing the entire album on a (teeny-tiny) radio show I group-d.j., I've been listening to this album with a fat smile pasted on my face. It's the lyrics. It's the arrangements. It's the entire cadeaux.

This isn't the first time Mr. Folds and Mr. Hornby have worked together, On William Shatner's excellent "Has Been", the Ben Folds produced album features a song, "That's Me Trying", that was a lyrics-by-Hornby, music-by-Folds collaboration.

I'm hoping to get back here later to fill out the suit of this review. Suffice it ot say, that I'm a fan. Production is crystal clear. Folds' voice and interpretation of the clever lines in the songs is dead on. There is material here for laughing, crying, and even some light "sturm und drang"ing. The deluxe package includes all of the lyrics plus four short stories by Nick Hornby for those of us in need of a fix since last year's "Juliet, Naked". The whole package is put together by Nonesuch records, a recording company that just can;t seem to do wrong. Think of Ry Cooder's deluxe package for "I, Flathead" and you get the idea.

For now, a strong recommendation and I'll be back with more filler.

Million Monkey March

2010-09-21T12:24:00.000-04:00

Posted this New Yorker cartoon a while back, because it was the appropriately sized pin to prick anyone's Blog Balloon.

From Execupundit's post from yesterday, comes the following quote, just in case one's head has started inflating again.

"We've heard that a million monkeys at a million keyboards could produce the complete works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know that is not true.

- Robert Wilensky"

Indeed.

The Witching Hours

2010-09-20T13:05:00.001-04:00

Christine O'Donnell may just do for the Tea Party what the poison pill did for captured spies. Folks, just keep in mind that she's only been in Delaware for a bit over 6 years. She is a Jersey Gal and we all know about the Jersey Devil, right? No! No! This guy is known as the Jersey Devil only to Phlyer Phans.

I'm just waiting to hear if her bad publicity will force the Wicca Church to disawow any connection with O'Donnell, as the Delaware Republican Party intially did. Like a reluctant groom to an arranged marriage he had no say in, the Delaware GOP has now had to stand at O'Donnell's side with a grimace of a smile as it now supports a candidate it previously had placed in the "not electable as a dogcatcher in the state" category.

Dogcatcher....
Hmm, now that witches, Karl Rove, rank and file Republicans, and dogcatchers have all been dissed in the campaign to get O'Donnell her first full-time paid (by unlucky taxpayers) job, what other groups will be denegrated by their loose association with Ms. O'Donnell?

The Delaware Car Wreck continues.......

Delaware: Rotten & Shameful

2010-09-15T06:58:00.001-04:00

First, let's get the facts straight.
Delaware is a dinky state, 2nd physically smallest of all of the 50 states and 45th smallest in population, with less than a million folks (around 885,000) scattered throughout our 1,953.56 square miles. The majority of the folks, 534,634 or 60% , live in New Castle county, one of the 3 counties of the state. We reside in what is known in The First State, as living above the canal. This physical division of the state tends to reflect the political leanings of the state. Above the canal, there are more registered Democrats while below the canal there are more Republicans. For those unfamiliar with the state, Dover, its capital, is located dead center in the state in Kent County.

Christine O'Donnell won every district of every county below the canal, while Mike Castle carried the majority of New Castle County's districts, although he did lose all of the districts touching the northern side of the canal. Geographically, it was a downstate v. upstate rout.

The results, upon closer inspection, look like this.
O'Donnell won the Republican primary to run for US Senator over Castle by a margin of 3,540 votes, 30,561 v. 27,021, or 53% v. 47%. Now, assuming that in this primary all of the Republicans voting for their candidates all did cast a vote for either O'Donnell or Castle. So, the total number of votes cast of 57,582, which was reported as an indication that 32% of registered Republican voters, would equate to a rough figure of 180,000 registered Republicans. (actually 182,796 but my math's close enough). So... of the registered Republican voters, only 17% voted for the Tea Party candidate. Using the same logic, a 12% (or 34,721 votes cast in the state-wide primary for Democratic Treasurer candidate) showing by the Dems in this election would rough out to 289,000 (actually 292,738, but you can see my math's close enough)

So, if 23.4% of the population is under 18, based on the latest population of 885,000, that would equate to about 673,000 possible voters, of which 180,000 Republicans would represent 27% and the 289,000 Democrats would be 43% of possible voters, leaving the balance of 30% or 204,000 age-eligible voters as Independents or un-registered and disinterested. Aside from having the good sense to not involve themselves with O'Donnell, the Delaware Republican Party and Castle have seen their own version of the numbers and have opted not to support O'Donnell's further advance toward being one of Delaware's 2 U.S. Senators. O'Donnell certainly hasn't helped herself. She's a train wreck, all the more of a surprise that she got this far.....which only shows you how bizarre Delaware can be at times.

The worst part of this is that Mike Castle, a well-respected, decent, and honorable man who has served capably as Delaware's governor and US Representative for over 16 years has suffered his only major political defeat to O'Donnell of all people. It is a sad State of affairs for Delaware, for the Republican Party, and the national political climate. My hope is that in 6 weeks, Delaware's sentient registered voters will go out to cast their vote for someone who will actually represent our state and give the US Senate a responsible, proven, and thinking person. Chris Coons.

To Mike Castle, thank you for all your years of service and wish things had worked out as most reasonable people had expected them to, with you being our next US Senator. It seemed a perfect storm of bad timing and voters not capable of seperating wheat from chaff.

30 Mosques in 30 Days

2010-09-14T16:35:00.000-04:00

For anyone who listened to NPR over the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed themselves listening to this story, there's more to find out at their blog 30 Mosques. My favorite post was this one on a certain Mr. Zeitoun.

Name sound familiar? Yep, same guy on whom Dave Eggars based his book Zeitoun on. If you haven't had a chance to read it, I recommend it heartedly and hesitantly, the latter based on the ever-sinking feeling I got as the main "character" of the book never got the benefit of the doubt in this post 9/11 tragedy in New Orleans. How Mr. Zeitoun survived, kept his dignity, and actually opted to stay in New Orleans after surviving the worst that one man (in this case many men) can do to another is simply amazing.

Aside from this post, I found the two narrators/writers, Mr. Bassam Tariq and Mr. Aman Ali incredibly engaging and perpetually upbeat and enthusiastic in what could have been, in less optimistic hands, a trying trip.

Please. Read the blog AND read the book.

It's Almost Fall & If You're In The Land Of Yinzers...

2010-09-09T12:22:00.001-04:00

it means that it's Steelers Time. A chance to get artsy about dem Steelers is here at one of the 'Burgh's finer places of Higher Learning.

**** No animals were harmed in celebration of the Black and Gold ****

..And, if you're an undertaker in Pittsburgh, you should be able to handle special requests. Very special requests. Action poses do NOT seem to be requested; that seems to be a Philly thing.

Bugs as a Language Infiltrator

2010-09-07T09:03:00.002-04:00

This piece was sent to me recently from a cousin in the Old Country. The headline, "Srbi u šoku: Djeca govore hrvatski jezik zbog crtićaVećina crtanih filmova u Srbiju dolazi iz Hrvatske," translates as "The Serbs are in shock: Children speak Croatian language because the majority of animated cartoons that are broadcast in Serbia come from Croatia". One especially irate parent wrote to a station saying his 4 year old son call him "tatek" now instead of "otac" ("daddy" as opposed to "father"). The war in the Balkans is still raging, though at a less violent rate. Now nefarious agents of the animated sort are serving as conscripts in the battle of ethnic differences.

For those folks without excessive time on their hands to study the minutiae of the Croatia/Serbia/Yugoslavia conflict, I'm here to help. Way back in the days of the mid 1800's, when the main ethnic groups that constituted what was to be, in the early 1900's, Yugoslavia, the major powers that were, namely the Austrians, Hungarians, and Turks noticed the similarities between the Croatian & Serbian languages. A meeting, where the Vienna Literary Agreement was concocted, was held in 1850 wherein a combo artifical language of Serbo-Croatian was agreed to. (That must have been a hellacious meeting as only one Slovenian was invited and, as you can tell by the language name, his opinion was minimally included). But the practioners of this "new" language never seemed to take it firmly into their bosoms, i.e., in some parts of the the areas affected it was called Croatian-Serbian, in others just (still) Serbian or Croatian. Even though this part of the world was in perpetual change as invasion by various powers was seemingly a daily occurence, the occupants were not eager acceptors of change. (No surprise that the symbol for this part of the world is the magarac). Any incursion was an effront.

So, these days, with the break-up of the artificially created Yugoslavia (think of the British-concocted Iraq except without the oil resources) permanent (...uhmmm, that is, for the mooment), the language thing is once again a point of pride and of conflict. If you happen to be in Serbia or in Croatia (or any of the other former republics of the Federal Socialist Republics of Yugoslavia), you'd do well (and be safe) to NEVER use the term Serbo-Croatian in defining the language of that country. It's either Serbian, Croatian, or Slovenian or...you get the idea. So, now Bugs and his cartoon pals seem to be hired guns in the ongoing conflict of Slavic differentiation in the The Land of Croats and The Domain of Serbs. Chillin' will never be a national pastime in either of these places. Even the philosophy of fjaka takes a backseat to opportunities to moan.

Sent to the Wood Shed

2010-09-06T18:47:00.000-04:00

Well, when I misbehaved as a lad (could you believe it?!) or when I, in these modern times, am in the proverbial canine abode I wonder why, back then and now, I wasn't/couldn't be sent to a place like this (actually, exactly like this) to cool my heels or re-visit my actions.

It might have/may prove tough extracting me from the perceived place of punishment, I guess.

HT to Execupundit and Eclecticity.

Weekend Plans?

2010-09-03T09:03:00.001-04:00

For anyone in need of early morning tuneage this coming weekend, it's my turn on the WVUD dj lazy susan to be hosting The Morning After, this Sunday, 9/05, from 9:00 'til 12:00 EST. Hurrican Earl seems to have petered out, so no National Weather Emergency warnings will have to be issued during the show. Simply, minimium me maximum music.

If you're not in the FM listening area, which is about a (very generous) 20 mile radius, you can always tune in via the Triple W's at WVUD Online. The University of Delaware sponsored station is scheduled to be recieing a power boost from our current 1,000 Watts to 6,800 Watts. Not being a radio engineer, I couldn't really explain what this means except to say that our FM listening radius will not be increased by a factor of 6.8. It will bemore like a possible factor of 2, give or take the daily power footprint of the large stations around us. At WVUD, we do not see ourselves as The Mouse that Roared, although some of us can do a mean Peter Sellers when pushed.

I'm still mulling over the 3 hour playlist, thinking it will tend toward the Last Hurrah of Summer format. NRBQ, Trombone Shorty, Richard & Linda Thompson, Jimmie Vaughan, TV on the Radio, Worst Pop Band Ever, Kings Go Forth, (gotta have some!) Freddy Joe, She & Him, Charlie Hunter, some new Frisell, LaVette, Osborne and other tunes that will come waltzing in.

Drop on by and take a listen! Usually there's something for everyone.

Addendum: Playlist for the show has been posted here.

The Word

2010-08-31T09:13:00.001-04:00

The Guardian weighs in today with their take on the best on-line dictionary. This, in wake of the announcement that the newest version of the golden standard, the OED, will NOT be available in hardcover.
A shame. I still have my dual volume going back over 30 years that came with the complimentary magnifying glass that allows careful sifting through the onion-skin paper. The books still have the smell of Olde English words from the 1400's.

A new on-line dictionary to me, as mentioned by the Guardian, is OneLook. It's one of those look and click and click and click sites, as the main site is tied to 1,060 different dictionaries. At last count, the site willl provide insight into 18,967,499 words.

The Guardian's preferred dictionary of choice? The print version of Collins; the pocket version is the one available for free online. No Kindle version available. Yet.

Aside: Speaking of words, anyone familiar with compikaze? A most useful word in these dangerous online times. Maybe that'll the main market for those web-access minimal software loaded $35 Indian computers? Use 'em 'til they're infected. Then, discard and start anew.

Philly Stifles Cupcakes

2010-08-26T10:10:00.000-04:00

Oh, Kaaaaate, don't take your cupcakes to town!"

Sung to the music of....

Town, that is, if you're talking about Philly.

Sad Day in Philly

2010-08-25T08:34:00.000-04:00

A few days after making national news with threats of taxing/licensing bloggers, Philly's enforcement agents (which specific agents they were seems to be in question...see the link) seized the goods and the truck of The Cupcake Lady on Tuesday, August the 24th.

That night, in Citizen's Bank Park, a minor league umpire, Scott Barry, decided that Philly seems to be the place to exercise excessive vested power. He ejected Ryan Howard, Philly's top power hitter, in the bottom of the 14th inning of a tense and interesting game against Houston. The Astros, loaded with ex-Phillies, went on to win 4-2 in 16 innings. Howard's ejection left a Phiilies bench bereft of position players so Roy Oswalt, a Houston Astro..make that a disgruntled Houston Astro just a month ago, went out to left filed for the Phils. Being there last night was testament as to how much more a live game carries for the fan than simply watching it on the tube. The crowd's incredibly loud serenading of Oswalt as he sauntered out way past his usual pitching mound territory toward left field left no doubt as to which team has the game's best fans.

Tonight, Roy Halladay, Phillies' Cy Young Contender, against Jay Haap, a Phillie a scant month ago. The fans will be vocally armed and dangerous, waiting for just one slip from the umpiring crew that has now cost them the last two games. At least 2 members of the 4 man crew will probably be eying where the nearest exit is at all times.

The Porn Index

2010-08-24T16:39:00.000-04:00

I missed this story yesterday on NPR. As The Atlantic quipped, Strange Bedfellows. Indeed. Almost seems like one of those Malcolm Gladwell or Freakonomics stories that crop up, connecting disparate incidents or actions into a concoction of relativity. Porn as a metric of peace & stability. What a strange & wonderful world we are inhabiting. Next, we'll be referring to Jenna Jameson as Dr. Jameson, Political Scientist.

The Wrong Point of an Argument

2010-08-24T09:05:00.001-04:00

Currently, it seems the biggest argument nationwide regarding building/renovating in NYC is about the non-mosque Islamic Center that will be (maybe) going to be situated near a Adult Men's Club in downtown NYC. So....there will be one building where women will be more than fully clothed close to a building where women will be BAREly clothed. An interesting juxtapositional state of things; a state of affairs that always makes NYC an interesting place to visit. My opinion as regards this national conversation? I and every other non-residing in NYC American should just butt out. This is a LOCAL issue, IMHO, not a national one, and from what I've read, New Yorkers, in general, are not against the conversion of the abandoned Burlington Coat Factory retail store into an Islamic Center.

The proposed real estate change that SHOULD BE discussed nationally is the purported plans of a very tall, very slablike, very undistunguished building allegedly to be erected near Penn Station. What a monstrosity and what a stupid decision to place it such that views of the Empire State Building would be diminished! From afar, mid-Manhattan should always be dominated by the Empire State and the Chrysler Buildings. Old-fashioned POV from a guy who lived in Jersey and always got a thrill of seeing those two buildings as he drove into the City for another interesting turn of events. The more things change the more certain things should stay the same.

Save the View!