Death Wears Jockey Shorts

Well, LA was extremely swell. I feel SO fortunate to have two grown daughters who are such civilized, interesting, and amusing people. It is also nice that niether of them is in jail, court-ordered therapy, or any of the other nasty life situations that afflict the unlucky. Not that any of this has anything do do with my performance as a parent, which I will save for an upcoming Dr. Phil appearance. I will be incommblogacado for 10 days or so, as I am off to a week-long silent retreat in New York State. He re's a link from my oldest friend. Bob and I were an inseparable duo for many years in primary and secondary school, causing premature grayness, hair loss, and mild panic disorder among hapless teachers along the way. I commend this site to those of you with an unemployed harbor seal at home, or those of you with a musical bent who might enjoy practicing with an eye toward a position in a non-animal circus. Someone's got to play "Yankee Doodle" after all...

http://www.larkinthemorning.com/product.asp?pn=HOR569&bhcd2=1077304080

Now here's a cool site for your delectation. Go to "to see and do", "activities" and "ripples in time" and check out the balloon. This is a beautiful site where you can spend a lot of time. Please be careful...

http://www.playingwithtime.org/

More cold and snow, and blogger's block persists. I wonder if there is therapy for this condition yet.
We are off to LA on Friday, and I may post from there as I will be near a computer most of the time. Georgia, my younger daughter, suggested we might be interested in seeing a peformance by Astrid Hadad at the new Disney Concert Hall Venue. Never having come in contact with this latter-day Yma Sumac (or someone), I found this beautiful and amusing website.

http://www.astridhadad.com/

How 'bout them Grammys, eh? I really think that the music business needs to come to grips with the fact that intellectual property is a concept whose time is short. They seem to think they'll be able to make money the same way they always have, exploiting artists and their works, indefinitely. With technologies exploding that make it convenient to trade music (and video), their efforts to keep passing more restrictive laws are like King Canute holding back the tide. Now it is songwriters who find themselves in the position that lumberjacks and farmers have been familair with for generations: our sons and daughters have no birthright to make a living the way we did.
Sad, but true. And maybe not so sad. It may sound harsh, but I think the best art is made by those who cannot help themselves, not by those who are motivated by bucks. No doubt, the future holds music distribution channels that are yet undreamt of, but whatever those channels are, the urge to create remains, as it has always been, mysterious and wonderful, and will never let us down.

Back in the saddle. More snow on the way tonight. Went to the Great Indoors, which is Sears for the 21st Century, and was reduced to uncontrollable laughter by a refrigerator. It was called "The Gladiator", was clad in that dimply stainless they used to put on stairs to keep people from slipping, and rode on 6 inch rubber wheels. The boast is that it holds 24 cases of beer. As Jane says, "No wonder they hate us".

Here's a really funny link from Linda the coconut lady:

http://homepage.mac.com/webmasterkai/kaicurry/gwbush/dishonestdubya.html

Rather than leave you with tedious observations about home ownership, I want to mention that I just reread Treasure Island, and commend it to one and all as a pleasant and exciting antidote to a culture which has finally been reduced to discussing the Jackson family full-time. Much better times are had in the apple barrel with Jim Hawkins. Give it a try, matey...