Another news item from about the same time,
"The FBI violated the law in collecting about 2,000 U.S. telephone
records during the Bush administration, though the violations weren't
intentional, officials said."
It's true, collecting those two thousand was completely accidental - but bound
to happen while intentionally illegally collecting the other million or so
records.
Ft. Hood Shooting Tragedy - and
what's also sad is how quickly it will be
capitalized on... for example, while TV news is doing the important, yes,
necessary, coverage, analysis, perspective pieces, the network and cable's
entertainment divisions are hard at work trying to be the first with a movie
of the week "based on the true story" and other hucksters are
working on other ways to profit. MORE
ON PROFITING ON TRAGEDY
Gone Postal
Well, that's not the kind of headline to follow
the shooting tragedy story, but this is not about violence, but rather,
mismanagement of the postal service. When Postmaster General Porter
began testifying before Congress last year about the financial problems of the
USPS, I was surprised he didn't ask for a share of the bailouts so many other
businesses were lining up for. I was hoping they'd tell him, losses like
that - no bonus for you this year, Mr. Chief Mailman... Anyway, the
"continued" section here is an inside view of what went wrong and
what's still wrong with the Post Office
today.
MORE ON POSTAL MISMANAGEMENT
Nobel Peace Prize goes to Obama
but less to recognize results and more to
acknowledge and support his efforts. In other words, the Nobel committee likes
the President's stated intentions and his approach. Some pundits have
(tongue in cheek?) suggested awarding Obama the Nobel was a consolation prize
for losing the Olympic Games to Rio... my own take on it is the Norway-based
Nobel committee is trying to influence him: he top military commander in
Afghanistan, Gen.McChrystal is recommending a troop surge there... so,
does a President who has just won the Peace Prize escalate the
war?
MORE ON BARACK OBAMA'S PEACE PRIZE
Goodbye, Geocities
is the headline for the short news item some
months back announcing the end of the free web-hosting service by
parent Yahoo. All of my music pages had been at Geocities these many
years, so you'll see a few missing and ugly pages until I finish relocating
them all. While Geo could have handled some of the transition better,
kudos to them for continuing the free hosting long after the internet bubble
burst and most others gave up on
"free." MORE
ON INTERNET OFFERINGS HISTORY
Health Care Reform Headline
in the Kansas City Star October 7: "
'Insiders' balk at health care reform. " The story continues
on to report a survey shows that more than half the area's doctors, employers
and hospital executives "agree or strongly agree" with keeping the
current health care system in place... you've heard the
phrase "consider the source," right? The survey results are
very telling. Kansas City's Blue Cross / Blue Shield, along with the
Chamber of Commerce commissioned the
survey.
MORE ON HEALTH CARE REFORM
Friday night I went to a concert -
Tommy Emmanuel, perhaps the greatest living
guitarist except perhaps Eric Clapton. "Living" guitarist
saves comparison with Charlie Christian, Django
Reinhardt, or Andres Segovia. My son
asked, well what about Joe Satriani? (and a few others, and certainly BB King,
for example, might be ranked higher by many.) The real point is not
really who's the top, but that you ought to
Get out and hear some live music -
soon, whether jazz, blues, country, rock,
folk, or any other genre. Although summer is the season of festivals,
where so often you
can enjoy several acts for one admission (or free) - see performers you're familiar
with and discover others just as good - and there's the added bonus of enjoying them in the
great outdoors. If that's not your cup of tea - or mug of beer - and
even if it is - now that it's Autumn in New York, Kansas City and where you
are, there are still plenty of great shows to attend in restaurants, bars and night
clubs, and concert halls.
MORE ON
LIVE
MUSIC
How much music is there to enjoy?
A year ago I drove out to Topeka June 1st and 2nd for the Coleman
Hawkins Legacy Jazz Festival, catching
Son Venezuela and the Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band Friday night and Ken
Lovern's Organ Jazz Trio, Dan Doran and Marcia Ball on Saturday. Sunday,
went a bit more highbrow with the Northland Symphony, but a pops concert
outdoors featuring movie themes. The next weekend it was up to
Parkville, Missouri for their annual Blues, Jazz and Fine Arts River Jam. Many
others were on the line up, but Trampled Under Foot, Angela Hagenbach and
Saskia Laroo were three acts I caught Friday night. The following weekend,
Jazz in the Woods was on my
schedule, where Arturo Sandoval, with opening acts Nils, and Eldar, play
Saturday (there was a Friday show too, and Sunday for the first time, Country in
the Woods, with headliner Tracy Byrd. June 19 I went to Alison Krauss'
performance in Kansas City, which also featured Dobro player Jerry
Douglas. Incidentally, I just recently (October 10, 2009) went to
another Eldar performance, part of the Folly Jazz Series.)
MORE ON
LIVE
MUSIC
So, how about you?
You catch some live music now and then,
right? Or listen to CDs, the radio, maybe MTV, CMT etc.? Watch
television, go to the movies? What do you like (and why?), what don't
you like (how bad was it, and why? Post your opinion in our new Discussion
Board - have a dialogue with others there. Simple registration
(free) is required, filling a thing or two in on the profile is encouraged
DISCUSSION
BOARD
Okay, so Michael Jackson was a
major influence on modern music ... however,
the seeming never ending coverage was starting to get old. But then,
there was hope - Time magazine cover didn't have a picture of Jackson,
but of the moon landing some 40 years earlier. But even with the
commemorative coverage of that momentous event, they couldn't help but bring
up the subject of ... moonwalking. MORE ON
MICHAEL JACKSON
I was undecided whether to resume the commentaries or to post to the Discussion
Board, which would be quicker and allow better for a dialogue with you ...
but I've decided - news will be on the News
pages, news accompanied by my opinions or other remarks will initially appear
here on the main page, often continued on another page. Those pages will
list all the earlier commentaries. Meanwhile, I've left the "archives" in
place:
READ
PREVIOUS "MICHAEL SAYS" ARTICLES
Most often, I listen to
community radio, which here in Kansas City is KKFI,
90.1 FM. During the jazz shows each afternoon, upcoming jazz
performances are announced, an effort of the Kansas
City Jazz Ambassadors ("which reminds you to get out and hear some
live jazz tonight"). A similar blues calendar is heard during blues
programming later in the day. Where ever in the world you are, you can
listen to KKFI's streaming audio click upper left on any KKFI page, or find it
under the On-Air Guide
link.
MORE ON RADIO
The Academy Awards
were presented a while back, and I can't argue with
them much - in fact, most of the nominees were of such quality that they were
all deserving (not always the case in some years past.) For the
Academy's official site with list of all nominees, all winners and other
information, go to oscar.com
(not great navigation, but then who am I to talk?) Looking for a DVD/vid
of a current or past winner? That and more, check out Oscar Central
at
my Amazon.com link. Did you watch
the Awards telecast? The commercials were great, done
"cinema"-style... after a ho-hum batch of Super Bowl
commercials this year, it was refreshing.
Now, speaking of movies
- they're an important part of my site, with lead actors and official site links
listed, along with links to my "collectibles" pages where you can
find DVDs / videos, posters, CDs, etc. from a particular film or artist, as
well as others the artists have appeared in.
I fall behind, however, much too often...
should I have made
New Year's Resolutions ?
Well, truth be told, I don't make - nor break,
that's the corollary - New Year's resolutions... but, if I did, it would
be to keep all of this site up to date. Fact is, I do intend to get it
and keep it up to date, although it may take a while (hey, it has been
completely current in the past, so it is do-able.)
What most needs to be current? Well, the
various news feeds, of course, but that is automated and IS up to
date... but some other things you come here for which require good new
info are movie and music recommendations. My own, along with links to
movie trailers, my collectibles pages, music buy pages and more, are being
updated, but
your part in this...
Okay, I'm repeating some of what I said above,
but... you see movies... listen to music... go to
concerts... watch TV... have thoughts on current events... now you can
be a critic too, and voice your opinion. You are invited - no,
ENCOURAGED -to use our
new Discussion
Board to praise or pan what you're watching and listening to, raise
questions, and have a dialogue with others there.
DISCUSSION
BOARD
Best of the Year
Grammys have been awarded, Oscars have been
presented - have they missed something? Well, of course, and in adding my own
"Bests," I might well overlook some you feel are deserving too, yet at
the same time, call your attention to some excellent music and movies you
weren't aware of. (By the way, you can add your two cents worth on these
matters, and more, on our new Discussion Board - see
"your part in this," above.)
Coming soon:
A chat site -
eclectic discussions - talk about movies, music, books, anything you want, and
LIVE! (this will be added after the Discussion
Board takes off, since if there's not sufficient interest in the
board, interest in Chat would be doubtful too.)
Collectibles pages for music pages (besides
posters, autographs, clothing and other memorabilia, these will include fan site
and official site addresses, CDs and DVDs available, and music download links).
I will be rescanning my original artist photography,
now that I have an ultra-high resolution scanner that I can scan from negatives
and slides rather than from prints. As I scan, I will begin placing
pictures (again) at dotPhoto; Sammy Kershaw,
Toby Keith, Leann Womack and Journey, Collin Raye, Tish
Hinojosa, Chad Brock, Marcia Ball, Exposé, Count Basie,
Stan Getz, Dave Brubeck, George Shearing, Tito Puente, Paquito D'Rivera, Diana
Krall, Phil Woods, Dixie Chicks,
the Kinleys, and many more. I will be starting my new
additions there with more recent pictures that I took with digital cameras. I will also be adding nature / landscape /
scenics, etc. You can buy high resolution prints from my work in various sizes direct from dotPhoto at very reasonable prices.
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