Friday, March 24, 2006
New Orleans history takes another hit with the passing of a local music legend
Ever since Hurricane Katrina hit I've been thinking quite often of my one and only trip there twelve years ago, and most specifically hearing the legendary Preservation Hall Band. They play in a tiny little building and you have to stand in the back and wait your turn to sit on the floor infront around them. It's cramped and I was sweaty and had a sore backside by the time you've had your turn, but to hear a legend it was a small price to pay and I left feeling I was taking a small piece of history with me.
Yesterday, I read in the New York Times that last friday Narvin Kimball, the last of the original members of the Preservation Hall Band passed away ending a legacy. He was 97 years old. The two most prominent feelings I had upon reading this were that I was glad I'd been afforded the chance to view this amazing part of New Orleans musical history and also I was saddend for those who would never get the chance.
He died at his daughters' home. He and his wife were staying with her since just after Hurricane Katrina hit the area. He was known for his banjo playing and also for his singing. (1)"Mr. Kimball's vocal renditions of 'Georgia on My Mind' always brought standing ovations," said Preservation Hall's director, Ben Jaffe. "He was really our last connection to a bygone time in the history of New Orleans."
(1)"He made his first banjo with a cigar box, stick and string." In the 1920's he began his career with the Fate Marable Band, and recorded his first record with Columbia Records in 1928. The Gentlemen of Jazz also known as the Preservation Hall band due to the name of the dwellling they played in was formed by him in 1961. His last performance with the band was in 1999 for PBS.
(2)"The band has been referred to by one music critic as "a bridge across the ages - a link between the present day and the heyday of traditional New Orleans music." In the hearts of jazz fans lies the feverent hope that the new members will continue to uphold the tradition started by this legendary Bourbon Street band so that this precious link isn't severed.
(1)http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/21/arts/music/21kimball.html
(2) http://www.brevard.edu/news/archives/2003/articles/
preservation.htm
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Where for art thou Alan?
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Where for art thou Alan?
Today reality hit. No more FOMC (Federal Open Market Committe) meetings with Alan Greenspan reporting on taxes. No more decisions by Alan making us sigh in relief at no change, or grit our teeth at yet another raise. How many times this man has been blessed or cursed externally or internally especially by those who live and die by the market-traders,brokers- who have to scramble depending on the news to either buy or sell is unknown but no doubt the number is either awe inspiring or enough to make you cringe depending on the news he had to give us. I know since I was one of those who waited with baited breath to see what fate Mr. Alan G would cast upon my livelyhood with just a few mere words. It would be hard to dispute that few other people or events had the impact that this man did when he would say "no change" or "1/4 percent raise" in taxes.
No matter what he announced though it was hard not to respect the man and his no-bull attitude. Even though I haven't worked in the field for a number of years the news that he was being replaced still tugged at me, but he will remain a fixture no doubt and will not be disappearing just ask Walmart who he's speaking out against in pertainance to their wanting to own an Industrial Loan Corporation, which he feels shouldn't be allowable. "Greenspan urged Congress to close a regulatory loophole that lets businesses own an Industrial Loan Corporation (ILC), a type of bank operated for specifice purposes , such as processing payment." Hopefully this is proof that he will continue to stir the pot.
As the title of one link for a story about the premier of Ben Bernanke and the markets response stated, "the market yawned". Maybe because the news wasn't surprising...maybe because the reponse was predictable...maybe it had nothing to do with Alan Greenspan. After all can a market miss a man? That would be silly wouldn't it. Still, it's undeniable that after many years of service to the financial community Alan will be missed, and it will be quite some time before I for one don't do a double take when I see Mr. Bernanke sitting in that seat.
The quote about Walmart is taken from the following article:
www.usatoday.com/money/industries/ retail/2006-01-26-wal-mart-usat_x.htm?POE=MONISVA - 49k
Where for art thou Alan?
Today reality hit. No more FOMC (Federal Open Market Committe) meetings with Alan Greenspan reporting on taxes. No more decisions by Alan making us sigh in relief at no change, or grit our teeth at yet another raise. How many times this man has been blessed or cursed externally or internally especially by those who live and die by the market-traders,brokers- who have to scramble depending on the news to either buy or sell is unknown but no doubt the number is either awe inspiring or enough to make you cringe depending on the news he had to give us. I know since I was one of those who waited with baited breath to see what fate Mr. Alan G would cast upon my livelyhood with just a few mere words. It would be hard to dispute that few other people or events had the impact that this man did when he would say "no change" or "1/4 percent raise" in taxes.
No matter what he announced though it was hard not to respect the man and his no-bull attitude. Even though I haven't worked in the field for a number of years the news that he was being replaced still tugged at me, but he will remain a fixture no doubt and will not be disappearing just ask Walmart who he's speaking out against in pertainance to their wanting to own an Industrial Loan Corporation, which he feels shouldn't be allowable. "Greenspan urged Congress to close a regulatory loophole that lets businesses own an Industrial Loan Corporation (ILC), a type of bank operated for specifice purposes , such as processing payment." Hopefully this is proof that he will continue to stir the pot.
As the title of one link for a story about the premier of Ben Bernanke and the markets response stated, "the market yawned". Maybe because the news wasn't surprising...maybe because the reponse was predictable...maybe it had nothing to do with Alan Greenspan. After all can a market miss a man? That would be silly wouldn't it. Still, it's undeniable that after many years of service to the financial community Alan will be missed, and it will be quite some time before I for one don't do a double take when I see Mr. Bernanke sitting in that seat.
The quote about Walmart is taken from the following article:
www.usatoday.com/money/industries/ retail/2006-01-26-wal-mart-usat_x.htm?POE=MONISVA - 49k
Katrina's Wake Up Call
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Katrina's Wake Up Call
I've been reading over the last few days articles in the NY Times about Michael Brown's comments about the failure of the President and other organizations within the gov't to react sooner after being told the night before the storm hit that the levee had broken and NO was at serious risk of flooding.
He resigned early on in the days following the tragedy due to pressure and now says he was a "scapegoat" for all that went wrong during that crucial time during those hours just before and after the storm hit. Is he angry? Is this why he's pointing the finger now at the President and others to take up the responsibilities they did not when this occured. The fact that he can't remember the details of who he talked to make one a bit unsure of his motives. However, he's admited his mistakes publicly in the ordeal so perhaps he just wants it known that all that went wrong wasn't his doing and wants acknowledgement of this fact to be made by the parties in question.
It is interesting also how those who most vigorously attacked him back in September (Democrats) are now saying he was used as a "scapegoat" and are sympathetic to his situation. But then politics is a strange business so while it's possible they realized they judged him to harshly they may also have an ax to grind about the failure of those higher up to accept accountability.
Whatever the reasons there is and has been little doubt in many people's minds that much could've been done sooner to exacerbate the extent of if nothing else the number of lives lost. Mayor C. Ray Nagin of New Orleans admitted that he had a mandatory evacuation planned to start getting people out on Saturday - two days before the hurricane hit - but it wasn't put into motion until Sunday. The President was at his ranch,the Vice President was fly-fishing in Wyoming and the chief of staff was in Maine even though they knew what a threat the storm was to the people in NO. And the people that were able to get to relative safety before the storm hit at the Convention Center had inadequate food and water,"FEMA had planned to have 360,000 ready-to-eat meals delivered to the city and 15 trucks of water in advance of the storm. But only 40,000 meals and five trucks of water had arrived."
As was reported in one of the articles I read "It has been known since the earliest days of the storm that all levels of government — from the White House to the Department of Homeland Security to the Louisiana Capitol to New Orleans City Hall — were unprepared, uncommunicative and phlegmatic in protecting Gulf Coast residents from the floodwaters and their aftermath."
Hopefully, if nothing else a lesson will be learned by all involved so that the next time they will react sooner, and pull together to avoid extra unneccessary suffering and loss by the victims.
Quotes are from the following article: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/10/politics/10katrina.html?pagewanted=2&th&emc=th
Katrina's Wake Up Call
I've been reading over the last few days articles in the NY Times about Michael Brown's comments about the failure of the President and other organizations within the gov't to react sooner after being told the night before the storm hit that the levee had broken and NO was at serious risk of flooding.
He resigned early on in the days following the tragedy due to pressure and now says he was a "scapegoat" for all that went wrong during that crucial time during those hours just before and after the storm hit. Is he angry? Is this why he's pointing the finger now at the President and others to take up the responsibilities they did not when this occured. The fact that he can't remember the details of who he talked to make one a bit unsure of his motives. However, he's admited his mistakes publicly in the ordeal so perhaps he just wants it known that all that went wrong wasn't his doing and wants acknowledgement of this fact to be made by the parties in question.
It is interesting also how those who most vigorously attacked him back in September (Democrats) are now saying he was used as a "scapegoat" and are sympathetic to his situation. But then politics is a strange business so while it's possible they realized they judged him to harshly they may also have an ax to grind about the failure of those higher up to accept accountability.
Whatever the reasons there is and has been little doubt in many people's minds that much could've been done sooner to exacerbate the extent of if nothing else the number of lives lost. Mayor C. Ray Nagin of New Orleans admitted that he had a mandatory evacuation planned to start getting people out on Saturday - two days before the hurricane hit - but it wasn't put into motion until Sunday. The President was at his ranch,the Vice President was fly-fishing in Wyoming and the chief of staff was in Maine even though they knew what a threat the storm was to the people in NO. And the people that were able to get to relative safety before the storm hit at the Convention Center had inadequate food and water,"FEMA had planned to have 360,000 ready-to-eat meals delivered to the city and 15 trucks of water in advance of the storm. But only 40,000 meals and five trucks of water had arrived."
As was reported in one of the articles I read "It has been known since the earliest days of the storm that all levels of government — from the White House to the Department of Homeland Security to the Louisiana Capitol to New Orleans City Hall — were unprepared, uncommunicative and phlegmatic in protecting Gulf Coast residents from the floodwaters and their aftermath."
Hopefully, if nothing else a lesson will be learned by all involved so that the next time they will react sooner, and pull together to avoid extra unneccessary suffering and loss by the victims.
Quotes are from the following article: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/10/politics/10katrina.html?pagewanted=2&th&emc=th
Five Days In Bangladesh
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Five Days In Bangladesh
I watched clips from a documentary that aired in New Zealand recently yesterday. The show was narrated by Lucy Lawless who is from NZ but is also known here for having her own show "Xena" and for those unfamiliar with that vehicle perhaps for her recurring role of Maddie Reardon in two CBS movies: Locusts, and Vampire Bats. I was able to view the clips which showed the entire documentary through a website which gives updates on what Lucy is doing.
In it she spends five days in different parts of Bangladesh to show how the poverty over there affects the people and in particular the lives of the children. Young kids working harder in one day than any of us will ever work to help put just one meal on the table for themselves and their family while also attending school for a few hours a day. That's all many of them have if they are lucky. One meal a day usually rice, and very small portion at that.
Perhaps this is nothing new but watching the people and how they try to survive and the pride they have...one family made a small feast for Lucy which cost them a weeks wages, which she of course didn't want them to spend on her but she didn't refuse because she didn't want to offend them. At this same home she held a small child in her lap who is very sick and probably has little time left in his life, and she after giving him back to his mother moved away from them as she began to cry while her translator stayed with them. I've never seen anyone in this type of documentary break down on camera but she did. It was heartbreaking scene to watch as she talked to the camerman as she cried about how little he weighed compared to her own 5 year old son and how because he sucks on his hand it's rotting.
She herself has sponsored a child there since 1996 who is now 15 and very healthy and happy and has she feels a bright future, so she's now sponsoring a little girl and she visited both of them at the end of the documentary which was nice as it gives hope that any of us can make a difference in a child's life there if we chose to do so by giving up just one thing...one luxury that we don't need...not even anything big like a car but small things. One person I know who saw this gave up her NetFlix account and getting coffee each day before work so she could put the money toward sponsoring a child herself.
It just opened my eyes alot about how much we here take for granted as it opened her eyes even further than they were as being a sponsor for ten years she did have an idea what things were like, but hearing about it and seeing it up close and personal are two different things.
For anyone who's interested here's the address of the site where you can see the clips: http://www.lucylawless.info/documentaries/world-vision/index.php
One last note. After seeing this and thinking about the live chat the class had last night about ads during the Super Bowl I couldn't help but think of how much good it would do if they had even just one spot during an event like this for what's going on over there. 90 million people would be made aware. Sure I know that it may dampen the mood, but isn't there room for awareness even if it's just for 30 seconds instead of having spots like this air in the middle of the night when only a fraction of people are awake.
Five Days In Bangladesh
I watched clips from a documentary that aired in New Zealand recently yesterday. The show was narrated by Lucy Lawless who is from NZ but is also known here for having her own show "Xena" and for those unfamiliar with that vehicle perhaps for her recurring role of Maddie Reardon in two CBS movies: Locusts, and Vampire Bats. I was able to view the clips which showed the entire documentary through a website which gives updates on what Lucy is doing.
In it she spends five days in different parts of Bangladesh to show how the poverty over there affects the people and in particular the lives of the children. Young kids working harder in one day than any of us will ever work to help put just one meal on the table for themselves and their family while also attending school for a few hours a day. That's all many of them have if they are lucky. One meal a day usually rice, and very small portion at that.
Perhaps this is nothing new but watching the people and how they try to survive and the pride they have...one family made a small feast for Lucy which cost them a weeks wages, which she of course didn't want them to spend on her but she didn't refuse because she didn't want to offend them. At this same home she held a small child in her lap who is very sick and probably has little time left in his life, and she after giving him back to his mother moved away from them as she began to cry while her translator stayed with them. I've never seen anyone in this type of documentary break down on camera but she did. It was heartbreaking scene to watch as she talked to the camerman as she cried about how little he weighed compared to her own 5 year old son and how because he sucks on his hand it's rotting.
She herself has sponsored a child there since 1996 who is now 15 and very healthy and happy and has she feels a bright future, so she's now sponsoring a little girl and she visited both of them at the end of the documentary which was nice as it gives hope that any of us can make a difference in a child's life there if we chose to do so by giving up just one thing...one luxury that we don't need...not even anything big like a car but small things. One person I know who saw this gave up her NetFlix account and getting coffee each day before work so she could put the money toward sponsoring a child herself.
It just opened my eyes alot about how much we here take for granted as it opened her eyes even further than they were as being a sponsor for ten years she did have an idea what things were like, but hearing about it and seeing it up close and personal are two different things.
For anyone who's interested here's the address of the site where you can see the clips: http://www.lucylawless.info/documentaries/world-vision/index.php
One last note. After seeing this and thinking about the live chat the class had last night about ads during the Super Bowl I couldn't help but think of how much good it would do if they had even just one spot during an event like this for what's going on over there. 90 million people would be made aware. Sure I know that it may dampen the mood, but isn't there room for awareness even if it's just for 30 seconds instead of having spots like this air in the middle of the night when only a fraction of people are awake.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Old Posts, New Ones to come Soon
These posts go back a few years but I liked them and wanted to share all the same. I wrote them during a class for building a website. I was in charge and it was hell (lots of lazy people in the group) but I got it up and running and these blog entries were apart of the beginning process of that, so anyway the subjects (some) may be a bit dated but quite a few still make me think, so enjoy.
Peace
JSC
Peace
JSC
Blogging
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Blogging
What is it about blogging that makes it so popular.In my opinon it's a few things which in some way are all related. Foremost, it's a way to express yourself concerning a number of different thing. Some people post to share their lives with others; the good and the bad. In this sense it's a way to spread you own joys or mabye vent you own pains and maybe find out your not alone or just gain a sympathetic ear that you can't get at home.
It can also be used to express ideas, or talk about things that are going on in the world. You can bounce ideas off of others who can be more objective than those around you, and get their opinions. You can talk about an event that your excited about or that has you concerned or even angry and find other people who feel the same or can offer you other ways to look at happenings.
It's a way to do all these things with little or a great deal of anonymity which for some of us makes it easier to express feelings we are reluctant to out loud to those around us, and you can choose who can and can't comment on your entries. If someone is overly critical or nasty you can block them without the whiplash you'd get from trying to get the same person to stop if you were face to face. And you can let anybody comment or restrict it to friends or even just yourself if you don't want comments and just want to write how you're feeling about your day. The pluses definitely outweigh the minuses which i think is why so man people have picked up the blogging bug.
Blogging
What is it about blogging that makes it so popular.In my opinon it's a few things which in some way are all related. Foremost, it's a way to express yourself concerning a number of different thing. Some people post to share their lives with others; the good and the bad. In this sense it's a way to spread you own joys or mabye vent you own pains and maybe find out your not alone or just gain a sympathetic ear that you can't get at home.
It can also be used to express ideas, or talk about things that are going on in the world. You can bounce ideas off of others who can be more objective than those around you, and get their opinions. You can talk about an event that your excited about or that has you concerned or even angry and find other people who feel the same or can offer you other ways to look at happenings.
It's a way to do all these things with little or a great deal of anonymity which for some of us makes it easier to express feelings we are reluctant to out loud to those around us, and you can choose who can and can't comment on your entries. If someone is overly critical or nasty you can block them without the whiplash you'd get from trying to get the same person to stop if you were face to face. And you can let anybody comment or restrict it to friends or even just yourself if you don't want comments and just want to write how you're feeling about your day. The pluses definitely outweigh the minuses which i think is why so man people have picked up the blogging bug.
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