South Of Someplace: May 2018

Thursday, May 31, 2018

Influential Albums

A friend challenged me to list my top ten most influential albums. Forgive me. I couldn’t stop at ten. Rules are meant to be bent.

Album 1. Maurice André - Trumpet Voluntary

My musical love affair began when I heard Trumpet Voluntary and other Baroque pieces performed live at an event. Maurice André was the greatest trumpeter of the genre.

Album 2. The Beatles - Red (1962-1966 Compilation)

I grew up with The Beatles. I watched them perform on the Ed Sullivan show. Red is my favorite collection of their hits.

Album 3. Simon and Garfunkel - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme

Amazing songs. Amazing performances. An album for the ages.

Album 4. Maynard Ferguson - MF Horn

As a teen, I listened to jazz and what was known as jazz/rock/fusion. As a young trumpet player, nothing was more exciting than Maynard Ferguson’s band in its prime.

Album 5. Yes - Fragile

Imagine putting rock, classical, and synthesizer music into a blender, pressing the button, and being amazed at the outcome. Fragile was highly influential when I began composing my own music.

Album 6. Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of Life

Pure joy. Pure music. No list of great albums could be complete without this one.

Album 7. Santana - Amigos

Though I was more drawn to jazz and funk and the time, I found Santana’s hybrid of rock, blues, and Latin rhythms to be absolutely irresistible. I listened Europa and Dance Sister Dance endlessly.

Album 8. Weather Report - Heavy Weather

A masterwork that transcends genre and time.

Album 9. Steely Dan - Aja

Another masterwork that transcends genre and time.

Album 10. The Police - Reggatta de Blanc

While radio stations in the States pushed rock, the rest of the world was moving on to a new sound. Luckily, I went up to Toronto that summer where I caught a glimpse of music in the other side of the fence.

Album 11. Rush - Moving Pictures

One of those records that makes you stop and say Wow! I’ve never stopped saying Wow!

Album 12. U2 - War

Clear, direct, passionate communication of powerful ideas and emotions. I learned to much from listening to this record.

Album 13. The Cars - Heartbeat City

There are lots of great things to say about The Cars. It’s hard to pick one album, but this is the one that connected with me most personally.

Album 14. Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert - The Four Seasons

My very first CD (after vinyl) and one of best. Vivaldi’s music is magical. I could listen to it all day long.

Album 15. Stone Temple Pilots - Purple

An absolute classic of the grunge era.

I’d Hate To Think That Way

I once had a colleague

We worked together

On a project

Years ago

She smiled a lot

As I recall

And gave the impression

Of fascination

With all that I said and did

I had no personal interest -

Our relationship was strictly business -

But I have to admit

That her enthusiasm was

Most endearing

When I saw her again

About a year later

I was shocked

Emotionally she seemed

Like a different person

Cold and distant

Aloof and resistant

Now

Nothing I said

Sparked any interest

At all

Her expression seemed pained

And quickly betrayed

That she found me

To be

An insufferable bore

What happened?

I’m not sure...

What could possibly explain

This remarkable change

In a person

Who once seemed so pleasant?

I doubt that

I’ll ever know

The truth

But this much she told me

For what it’s worth:

In the time

Since I had last seen her

She had been married

What do you think?

Is it unfair

To infer

That her warmth

Was simply a ruse?

Her interest

And her enthusiasm

Were tricks

In a well-crafted illusion

A predetermined calculation

Aimed at attracting

A husband?

I hate to think that

I do

I hate to think that

I do

And now

With this objective met

There was no need to pretend

Or posture anymore

And I

As a single man

Was no longer of use to her

Oh, I hate to think that

I honestly do

Because I wouldn’t treat others

That way

So unapologetically crude

So selfish

And blatantly dishonest

It disturbs me to think

That anyone could actually

Act this way

Let alone someone I knew

Someone I respected

And yet

What else is there to conclude?

Some people do

What they have to do

To get the things

That they want

And if we don’t realize

And don’t understand

Even if we’re duped

Into believing what’s not true

In the end

We’re better off

For not thinking

As they do

A Pleasant Season

They’re the prettiest months

May and June

The world springs alive

With flowers in bloom

Warm, pleasant days

And comfortable nights

Are delights

After the long winter

But not this year

Not this May

Can you even remember

Two good days

In a row?

It jumps from the chill

Of uncommon cold

To sweltering heat

And humidity

And every day

There’s at least

A chance of rain

Often heavy

I have to say

That I’m not a fan

Of climate change

I want to go back

To the way it was

When spring

Was a pleasant season

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Response Is Optional

There’s a time to talk

A time to laugh

A time to listen closely

There’s a time to

Live in the moment

To feel what you feel

Sense what you sense

And know

Full well

That any response

Is optional

The Shallows

Sometimes you ride

The peak of the wave

High and fast and thrilling

And sometimes you’re stuck in the shallows

Paddling

And positioning

Lining up for the next big swell

That you hope

Will lift you up

And make you soar

With an awesome roar

Make you feel like you’re

A thousand miles from shore

The wave won’t last

You know this

They always crash

You know it’s true

You know

But you’re willing to forget

For a while

And dream of a ride

That will never end

Sooner or later

We’ll find our way back

To the shallows

But it’s comforting

To pretend

Fake News At Its Finest

Reporter and Putin critic Arkady Babchenko, reportedly murdered in Ukraine, shows up alive and well. Russian fake news at its finest!

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

The Persistence Of Racism

Racism is often equated with ignorance, but in reality, it’s a much deeper problem. Ignorance can be combatted with information. If racism were caused by a lack of familiarity with people of different backgrounds, we could cure it by introducing the racist to kind strangers. It doesn’t often work that way.

Racism is malignant and persistent, a stubborn, scarring disease that binds it’s DNA and its fury to a complex web of powerful negative emotions: fear, distrust, resentment.

Racism is a ticking time bomb, a cultural land mine that can lurk in a dormant state for years, ready to explode in a moment of unpredicted stress or outrage. Repeated and consistently positive exposure to diversity is not always enough to defuse its destructive potential. When the bomb finally explodes, it damages everyone that it touches.

Check My Calendar

Earlier today, my boss and I had one of our frequent side-by-side urinal conversations. I wish that he would just schedule a meeting.

True Genius

Beethoven? Da Vinci? Shakespeare? Okay...

How about the first person to put bacon in a salad? That was genius!

Monday, May 28, 2018

Why Words Fail

There’s no sense in writing

Where there’s nothing to say

Just close your pen

And put it away

No Good Time

Last night, I watched the first two episodes of the ‘1968’ documentary on CNN. It’s amazing how hard a story can hit when when you already know how it ends.

The world was in turmoil. There were riots in the streets. Protests were met with savage attacks by law enforcement. War raged in Southeast Asia. America’s cites burned.

Two calming voices emerged from the chaos. The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was steadfast in his belief that non-violent protests could prevail over ignorance, racial injustice, and police brutality. Senator Robert Kennedy represented a new, hopeful vision for leadership. The war would come to an end soon. We believe that. And the poor and the oppressed in this country would finally get a fair shake and a voice in the halls of power.

In the space of two months and two days, from 4/4 to 6/6, both of them were killed.

There’s no good time to be assassinated. There’s no good reason. But what happened to these to men, men of peace, men of quality, men of progressive ideas, what happened to them defies reason and makes us question the very fabrics of human civilization. Millions were being slaughtered on both sides in a war that even the American generals did not understand. Domestic civil unrest was more serious and widespread than at any time in the last hundred years. And the two men who were most likely to lead us out of this mess were shot dead.

Why? Why the fucking hell why? God damn it! Does life have to be this unfair? Does it really have to be this harsh? This callous? This ridiculously unfathomable?

The eventual election of Richard Nixon later did nothing to improve the situation. Nixon’s mantra was to “get tough”, something that sounds appealing in movies but proved to be extraordinarily foolish and ineffective in the real world. The war raged on for seven more bloody years and expanded into the neighboring counties of Laos and Cambodia. - Spoiler Alert: It was not a success story. - Social unrest continued. Distrust in established institutions grew increasingly serious under Nixon, who was eventually forced to resign due his infamous abuse of power.

How different might things have been had RFK been elected president in 1968? How different would things be today if the last election had swung differently? It makes me wonder whether we as a nation have learned anything in the past fifty years.

Fear Of Rejection

It’s better to hear “No, thank you!” today than to find out years later that someone might have been interested in your suggestion.

Say something. Make contact. Submit your proposal. Ask and keep asking. Open your heart and let it speak to what you truly desire out of life. Yes, you will receive some embarrassing and potentially painful rejections along the way. Negative responses are a certainty when you take risks. But when you have the guts to tell people how your really feel and what you really want, at least you won’t live with the regret of missed opportunities that can never be recovered.

Friday, May 25, 2018

Racial Profiling and the NFL

Since the National Football League refuses to permit players to exercise their constitutional right to peaceful protest, they should agree to pay players ten million dollars per incident for cases of racial profiling. If you’re going to profit from brutality and personal injury on the football field, you should take steps to prevent brutality and personal injury during routine traffic stops.

The current NFL commissioner should resign immediately, as he clearly has no understanding of or sensitivity for the social issues that inspired the protests. The next commissioner should be selected from a social class that is routinely profiled by law enforcement.

Auburn Amazon

As I boarded the plane - I won’t mention the airline or the cities involved - I noticed an attractive young woman queued up a few passengers ahead of me. She was slender, pretty, and nicely dressed, but her most noteworthy features were her vivid auburn hair and the fact that she was as tall as I am (six feet, one inch).

I saw the young lady again after deplaning. As I waited in the jetway for the suitcase that I had gate checked, she came and stood beside me, apparently waiting for her own luggage.

As we were waiting there, the flight crew changed over. The two pilots of the next flight were both rather short, but the first officer was particularly diminutive, five-foot-five if he was lucky. He was also bespeckled and rather plain looking, but that didn’t stop him from making a number of passes at the auburn amazon.

In his first trip down the jetway, he complimented her boots. She didn’t react. She remained silent and didn’t even look at the guy. Undeterred, he found reasons to walk up and down the jetway a few more times. Apparently, he kept remembering things that he had to say to the gate agents. Every time he came past, he made a pleasant but hopeful remember to the young woman. Each time, she ignored him blankly. His “I fly planes” mojo was not getting him onto the guess list of this exclusive party.

After a while, I started feeling sorry for the guy. Despite his banter, the lady never cracked a smile, never even acknowledged him. At one point, I thought to myself, “Dude, what are you doing? You couldn’t even climb on that.”

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Life Goes On

Life goes on. Writing about it helps.

Conservatives and the Bible

I am delighted to hear that Mr. Obama‘s Netflix deal has inspired some conservatives to turn off their televisions and read the Bible. For most of them, it will be the first time. Let’s hope that some of the lessons will bring about a change of heart in conservatives for whom concepts such as feeding the poor and healing the sick have been heretofore anathema to their values and their political preferences.

Do Workers Deserve A High Minimum Wage?

“Deserve” is a dangerous word. It’s based on a personal judgment and influenced by personal bias. I understand why the owner of a restaurant feels that his workers don’t deserve to be paid a living wage, although I wonder why they chose a business in the first place that requires poor people to make it profitable. And I understand why the person who works hard and is trying to feed and house a family feels that the do deserve $15 per hour. So, who is right? It depends on the kind of country you want to have, a country where everyone who works hard makes decent money, access to healthcare, and can help the economy by buying food, clothing, and necessities with their earnings, or a country where the rich squeeze every last time out of the working poor, people who barely survive on food stamps and have no medical coverage and who have little or no hope of getting ahead. I know which country I would like this to be. Unfortunately, that’s not the country that we have today.

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Make The Best Of Every Day

Make the best of every day regardless of the challenges that you face or what’s happening in the world. Spend time with caring people. Notice precious moments and appreciate them as they unfold. Focus on what you have. Realize that we all have the power to invite joy into our lives. Make the attempt, and you will succeed more often than you will fail. Happiness is where you find it.

The Risks Of Honesty

When we tell the truth, we take a risk. People may feel insulted when we express our honest opinion, or they may take advantage of information that we share in confidence. It’s wise to take that risk, to overcome the fear of alienating others or exposing ourselves to ridicule, especially in the context of our most important relationships.

If by being forthright we drive someone away or expose some hidden ill intent, we have to realize that our connection with that person was not durable, even if it seemed desirable. By engaging openly and honestly with others, we identify our strongest and most durable relationships, and we reinforce those relationship with a solid foundation of integrity and trust.

Sunday, May 20, 2018

Be Fully Alive

Chase your dreams. Follow your passions. Enjoy each day, and love with all of your heart.

Dine. Dance. Laugh. Listen to music. Be fully alive.

Spend time with inspiring people. Help someone in need. Remember what felt important when you were young and reconnect with those aspirations.

Living is more than having a heartbeat. We are most alive when we are actively engaged in pursuing our own fulfillment and contributing to the fulfillment of others.

Live and love and thrive, and never accept that it’s too late.

Saturday, May 19, 2018

Bigotry and Language

When a bigot expresses annoyance with someone for speaking an unfamiliar language, we shouldn’t be surprised. Linguistic skills are the building blocks of thinking and reason. Communication allows us to develop and maintain meaningful and mutually beneficial relationships. Any practice that counteracts ignorance, isolation, and tribalism leaves bigots feeling uncomfortable.

Friday, May 18, 2018

Guns and Crisis

When are we going to have the sense to keep guns away from people in crisis?

Monday, May 14, 2018

Dare To Be Different

One cannot be

Normal

and

Exceptional

at the same time.

Dare to be Different.

Only Bacon

Sometimes, only bacon will do.

Thursday, May 10, 2018

Fallout

That didn’t take long. A day after the president announced that the US would withdraw from the Iran Nuclear deal, Iran and Israel fired rockets at each other, and Saudi Arabia announced that it would start building nuclear weapons. The deal turned out to be important after all.

The Queen’s English

Comfortable though I may be with the Queen’s English, I don’t fancy some bloke calling me his mate.

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

So Many Days

Think of someone you love, someone who’s always been there for you and loves you completely. You’ll only have so many days together before one of you is gone. Don’t waste a single minute.

Friday, May 4, 2018

Defective Lid

Defective lid on a coffee cup

You had your fun today

Go ahead and laugh

I can take a joke

I’ll just throw this shirt away

Thursday, May 3, 2018

The Truth

I’d rather be honest

And have you say no

Than lie

To get what I want

At least you’ll know

That I cared enough

To tell you the truth

When I had

Something to lose

Make This Day Special

Make this day special.

Make someone smile.

Ask someone how they’re feeling and listen.

Do something that you love to do.

Try something that you’ve never tried before.

Seek joy, and welcome it into your heart.