BeBop

Up! for the 2018 Holiday Season!

Good. For me, 40-page booklet: bonus!

I just got an instant reply. Sounds like I'm "in". Thanks, Dan!

Happy birthday!

Have a great birthday!

Have a swingin' birthday!

I get a week off work in December, and I'm planning to go to Osaka. (Medical stuff to attend to.) Being in a place where jazz is performed in kind of a one-week-a-year thing for me. I expect to have time in the evenings to get to a show or two, and I know Osaka has jazz. (The record store scene is insane. https://groovenutrecords.wordpress.com/2018/03/23/osaka-record-map-2018/) As I recall, the Royal Horse was good, with international acts. Bunk Johnson (can't lose with a name like that) was another place I either saw or visited. Lots of the websites are tough to penetrate for people who don't read Japanese. "Rug Time" lists, among many pages of Japanese: 橋本 裕(g)、 橋本 有津子(org)、 Akira Tana(vo) Hmm. COMODO seems to feature vocal acts: not "my thing". Anyone with knowledge of Osaka?

Happy Birthday!

The betting pool will open in January.

I think this is one where I'd resist the temptation to "figure it out". I've had enough people I've looked up to tainted. Fortunately, this isn't as bad as some of the stuff that's come out about others. One guy who was kind of a friend of mine, late in his life, probably lost some professional achievement potential based on his attitude; this attitude was apparently worse in the days before I knew him. If you want to read about it, it's here. I want to be fair, though. He was never less than nice to me. But unfiltered honesty can be abrasive. The book was written after what would have been the peak of his career, so the book is just the legacy of an attitude he had for a period.

I was born and raised in Oakland. I'd love to go back. But the house that I sold in 1989 for $177,000 is now $1.9MM (sez Zillow). I put the proceeds of the sale into traditional, retail investments (CDs, mutual funds...) but, well, they haven't kept up with local prices. Living in the U.S. may not be viable at all. I may go back to Panama or just stay here on the continent. But, hey, I'm at least a transitory optimist! Conicidentally, I met a guy from Raleigh last week on a flight from Freetown to Monrovia. He was going to do some volunteer work. One of few Americans I just "run into", so it was nice to chat.

I gave up lending out my new LPs when I was a teenager....wait, maybe that's not what you meant. My LPs and CDs have languished for 32+ years now, unplayed, aside from ripping things (mostly the CDs) to my MP3 player when I get to the States. I'm on the verge of a life change that will enable me to return to the U.S. for a significant part of the year and finally listen to many things not heard in decades. It's intimidating - where to start? - but I'm looking forward to it. If nothing else, I'll admit here, it will be a test of my attention span - a characteristic not reinforced by the past three decades of work. Heck, maybe I'll start posting here again more regularly; presumably I will have something/more to say.

Reminded me of a flash mob (remember those?) One of the major Paynesville academies let out for the end of the school week, and seemingly every student with access to a musical instrument (mostly drums of many types) was busting loose in a 20x20 meter cemented-in area. Sure, probably happens every week when I'm not around, but felt really special to be there. Photo too big to upload. Damn.

This can be a pretty lousy time of year here, but I have had two near-perfect weeks in Sierra Leone and Liberia - 36C and humid, but few flooding rains. And it's looking good for my return to N'Djamena, 41C but 24C evenings . (Yeah, I'm happier warm than cold.)

I've got the original circa 1960 version (back in the United States). Has this been re-issued? It would be nice if it was.