Neal Pomea

One important thing for me that changed the way I heard music was a new appreciation of my own culture, which in my experience was always something I was taught to be ashamed of. So the lp record albums that changed my perception and instilled pride were primarily the following: J'etais au bal: Music from French Louisiana, Swallow lp 6020 and two lps on Rounder Louisiana Cajun French Music from the Southwest Prairies, Volumes 1 and 2. (They left out the important term "Creole" in the title, but at least they got "Prairie" in there. It shamed me that the whole world seemed to equate Cajuns with swamp and marsh dwellers. That was not the reality I knew at all. I grew up on prairie land and daddy was a farmer, not a trapper or subsistence fisherman). In the area of jazz, it was not albums that changed my hearing at all. It was original 78s from the 1920s and 30s. I would say Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club of France were early astounders, then Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong and the Hot 5s/7s, Jelly Roll Morton, etc.

Gotta do some teleworking, but not so bad that I can't relax everyday and have a lot of fun. And this year I made 'em pay me, whereas last year I was a sucker and fell for their desperate line "it's just a one time deal, so be a good sport!" It's un-rich folks like me who keep alive "noblesse oblige," I guess.

Ah romance! Somehow you've just got to hope those crazy kids make a go of it!

I like the time he stood there and just patiently listened to some crazy arrested person go on an extreme rant then during a pause offered him a Milk Dud. That's Dietrich!

I hear you! Apparently the Wikipedia authorities on e-mail that everybody should be crediting are 216.251.145.194, This lousy t-shirt, 89.243.20.128, Ute in DC, 212.35.69.44, Ohnoitsjamie, et al.!

The Bear Family J.D. Miller set (Fais Do-Do and Feature labels) is a project produced by Dave Sax and Lyle Ferbrache. Should be 4 dics. A friend of mine heard them in preview and reports that they are remastered and sounding very good! Not sure who did the remastering. I can't wait for it to be released! Should be any time now. I lent a hand on some song titles and spellings/meanings etc. Arhoolie is working on another CD much like the one entitled Cajun Honky Tonk. This should make available the remainder of the Cajun songs on the Khoury label. The Swallow discography I posted is just that, a discography project, which has taken a while to complete. It should help collectors know what exists, but unfortunately it's going to be a matter of getting the stuff by eBay. ACE in England has been the best about leasing and making Swallow records available, but I don't know of any plan to re-release any more Swallow 45s or lps that have not yet made it to CD. Another big missing piece in this is the La Louisianne (sic) label, holding on to the valuable Ambrose Thibodeaux lps. Just unbelievable.

http://www.npmusic.org/Swallow_45s_JJB_December_2010.xls Information from my Yahoo Group Cajun Music Recordings, updated in December by John Broven. I am working on the lp, cassette, and cd section.

Congratulations!!!! It has been a mighty time! Thank you so much!!

Really the Blues

I've been saying this ever since the Expos moved to Washington! And they should have come up with a new name/mascot anyway, but if you had left it to a vote in this town, they'd likely come up with something offensive like Redskins or childish like Wizards! They shorten these to 'Skins (in honor of our tight connection with what? Trapping?) and Zards.

You will like Columbia Heights. Home to two of the best pizza places in the city, Pete's Apizza and Radius. You will probably use bus as much as Metro train depending on where you are going. I have a co-worker who lives in Columbia Heights who is big into free jazz. Maybe I could get his suggestions for live music. I live in the Colesville area of Silver Spring, just outside of the beltway. Welcome to the area!

"My favorite jazz has a bluesy, Mexican feel to it." The Spanish tinge?

True, but it usually comes with some Ha Ha Ha Ho Ho Ho and a couple of Tra La Las!

Sounds like this to me: Moi, j'connais Ma 'tite fille T'es la bas dans l'grand bois tout seule Moi, j'm'en vas dans l'grand bois Moi, j'm'en vas dans l'grand bois Avec ma fille It sounds like avé when we say avec in Cajun French. That is the only difference I can see from Standard French. That and swallowing some syllables like je connais (j'connais), 'tite for petite, l'grand bois for le grand bois, je m'en vas for j'm'en vas.

Nice remarks by Sen. Bond. I am sorry for your loss. Peace to your family.

Yes, here's the quote from Gifts Differing, p. 9. "Under the theory presented here, personality is structured by four preferences concerning the use of perception and judgment. Preference for EI (extraversion/introversion) affects a person's choice to focus the dominant (favorite) process on the outer world or on the world of ideas (italics mine -- Not really about being quiet or gregarious, but about the preferred direction of one's attention) Preference for SN (sensation/intuition) affects a person's choice to use one kind of perception instead of the other when either could be used. Preference for TF (thinking/feeling) affects a person's choice to use one kind of judgment instead of the other when either could be used. Preference for JP (judgment/perception) affects a person's choice to use the judging or the perceptive attitude for dealing with the outer world." Also, judging/perceptive may not be the clearest terms for this. It's really more like decisive and open-ended. Think of how many people said during the campaign that they admired Bush for sticking to his principles --- that was supposed to be a plus -- never mind what principles he was sticking to. And if Kerry was thoughtful and could change his mind, that was judged to be waffling and unbecoming a president. Let's not have a thoughtful one, let's have a decisive one, even if he's not thoughtful!

From what I understand, the I and the E in the Briggs Myers personality type indicator refer to the preferred direction of one's attention, inward (introverted) or outward (extraverted) , not to whether one is a "people person" or not, not to whether one is gregarious or not, and certainly not to whether one is extraverted or introverted (noisy or quiet) in the ordinary language meanings of those terms. And everyone uses each of the indicators to some degree or another. Everyone uses I and E, N and S, T and F, and J and P. A more balanced approach is to use all of them or else be one-sided in some area. For example, a too strong reliance on N (intuition) may be at the cost of objectivity (S or sense experience). A too strong reliance on P (seeing options and opennness) may cost you in decisiveness. A too strong reliance on J might make you very decisive but closed to other options or possibilities. (the politician we praise for being decisive even if what he stands for, looked at objectively, is repugnant to us -- this happens a lot! the principled fool.). Etc. With experience we tend to draw on all of them to a greater extent. I read this in Gifts Differing: Understanding Personality Type, by Isabel Briggs Myers. Interesting book.

Just noticed that when I put these cds on my iTunes to transfer to my iPod, they were mostly labeled with the genre Religious! I don't care. Congratulations and thanks again to Allen for this magnificent collection.

Happy Birthday!

Who wants an appetizer that can do that?

That better be a wash off, temporary one!

What's a poor boy like Navin Johnson got to look forward to? I like the print White Pages. Use them as much as possible. Same with a print dictionary. I don't see the connection with extinct phone booths at all. We have information online, but you won't see print books disappear any time soon. People will lose the ability to thumb though text, like they're losing the ability to write cursive.

Have a happy one!

Big happy birthday!

Thanks for the well wishes! Going downtown tonight to a restaurant we've been wanting to try for years. Hope it lives up to its reputation.