smokerblog

Whining about the Weather

Let's just say I stand by my earlier comments about how well I like that the temperatures have stayed in the 10s and 20s lately. But man, (whining begins now) why does it have to snow this much?

Today Tomorrow Sat Sun Mon Snow Showers High:† 20 Low:†10 Snow Showers High:† 19 Low:†11 Snow Showers High:† 20 Low:†8 Cloudy High:† 24 Low:†18 Few Snow Showers High:† 28 Low:†28

I've had to shovel almost every morning and night for the past week. Next year we get a snow blower!

(ok, the whining is over now, thanks for listening.)

Rock Paper Scissors

You may have thought that this game (also known as roshambo) was mostly useful for passing the time in church during long sermons or in settling trivial but hotly contested disputes, but it's much more. The World Rock Paper Scissors Society can help you develop a true appreciation for roshambo as a sport. On their site, you can find the official rules, a description of common techniques and gambits, even a sign-up form for the annually sponsored tournament.

If you don't have an opponent available to test your skills, you can always match wits with an artificial intelligence. Start practicing!

Cold Snap Snapping

If the weather.com report is to be believed (let's just say i'm always skeptical), then things are going to warm up a bit. But, here's the key, not too warm. They're saying highs in the 10s and 20s over the next couple of weeks. Which is great.

The only thing worse in the winter than single digit or sub-zero temperatures is thirty degree temps. At around 35 degrees (Fahrenheit, of course) the snow starts to turn to slush, the slush turns to muddy slush, which then turns to slushy mud. This is No Fun. Especially when you own dogs. Especially especially when they are big goofy dogs who like to run and play in slushy mud.

So I'm happy. As long as the weather guys got it right, which...well, whatever. We'll see.

Women in Jazz

My interest piqued by a discussion of women writers on wallace-l, I turned my attention to the state of my cd shelf and noted the appallingly small number of female jazz musicians in my collection. So here are some recommendations that were made to me and now I'm passing them on to you (in no particular order):

• Maria Schneider - big band composer
• Cassandra Wilson - singer
• Jane Ira Bloom - soprano saxophone
• Renee Rosnes - piano
• Susie Ibarra - drums
• Leni Stern - guitar
• Annette Peacock - piano/composer
• Geri Allen - piano
• Ingrid Jensen - trumpet
• Regina Carter - violin
• Toshiko Akiyoshi - piano/composer
• Joanne Brackeen - piano
• Abbey Lincoln - singer
• Judy Silvano - singer
• Carla Bley - piano/composer
• Melba Liston - trombone
• Michelle Rosewoman - piano
• Terri Lynn Carrington - drums
• Lynne Arriale - piano (added 01.11, thanks, Ted!)

I'm leaving out the obvious ones: Billy, Ella, etc. because you know about them already. I'm sure a google search will reveal more, but here is an extensive list of links to hundreds of women jazz musicians to get you started.

A Modern Music Sampler

In today's Rochester Democrat and Chronicle there is an article listing ten examples of the best in modern music, compiled by staff music critic John Pitcher.

We're not talking about Britney Spears here; we're talking about modern "classical" music composed since 1945. If you can't tell from the quotation marks, I treat musical labels with suspicion in most cases. Indeed, to most people, these pieces will sound like classical music only to the extent that they generally use the same instruments one is accustomed to hearing in performances of Beethoven, Mozart or Bach. Some of the composers in the list have little use for musical conventions such as, say..., melody. Other composers echew musical instruments altogether, as in the Ligeti prelude for tuned car horns--that is, unless you consider a car horn to be an "instrument" (quotes again!).

But still, these pieces are not uninteresting or unapproachable (at least from what I can tell from the mp3 excerpts handily provided by Mr. Pitcher in the online article). I don't own any of these cds yet, although I own some other pieces by Adams, Barber, Boulez, and Ligeti. I am adding many of these cds to my wish list and I hope that there might be some new music here that interests you too.

If you're interested, Philip Magnuson, a professor at the University of Dayton, has put together a pretty cool outline of 20th Century Music, complete with links to composer biographies.

Happy New Year

For your New Year enjoyment, I've posted some new snapshots from the Christmas holiday. Per usual, these are mainly baby pix, with some Ken and Caleb pictures as a bonus.

No special resolutions to report, just the usual: lose weight, save money, read more books/watch less tv, et cetera, et cetera...

Wishing everyone a safe and peaceful New Year!