02005-03-27 | Uncategorized
It is as if Winter and Spring are fighting. A few days ago 50 degrees Fahrenheit, then another foot of snow and freezing temperatures. Today the sun is shining and the melting snow is coming off the roof in a torrent of water… The ground is muddy because 6 inches of snow melted in less than 12 hours. Monday 60-70 degrees and then right back down and possibly more snow?
The trees are happy, very happy. Most pinons have shot up 3 inches to half a foot! Some branches were snapped by the snow, but already the pine trees are a rich green we haven’t seen in years.
Practiced guitar early in the morning and had a great time. The new Negra from Lester is getting better every week. What an amazing guitar! How lovely to hear a guitar find its voice.
Wrote a new Tangos piece a little while ago and have been refining it over time. I am tempted to record it right away, but decided that we should perform it this year and see where it goes, before I record it next Winter sometime, for the up close album. Very catchy tune.
Watched a documentary about Derrida, the father of deconstruction, which did not do much for me, and The Incredibles, which I thought was great.
Tomorrow Jon will add bass and keyboard on several new pieces I recorded for the Holiday album.
Oh, and although I ordered, and paid for, the SACD version of Romero’s Un Segundo Una Vida, I believe amazon sent me the regular CD, which might explain why the surround sound experience was less than thrilling. I listened to the album again on headphones, and did not like it much. Some nice elements, some nice playing, but it won’t make it on regular rotation here.
I listened to La Semana in the wee hours of the morning and yes, I am still very, very happy with it. Heard that the Italian label we want to use for distribution there is still on the fence about releasing La Semana – wanting, no doubt, more of a NF or Borrasca rumba sound. Well, 15 years have passed. I have shed all of my cells twice… Will I record more rumbas? Yes, of course. Will they sound like those songs from a decade and a half ago? I hope not. Will I write and record in a certain style because there is a demand for it? Yes, but under two conditions: 1. a nice fat advance and 2. not with my name on the CD.
02005-03-26 | Uncategorized
But you know, we saw a Hummer in the ditch too, come to think of it. My little front wheel drive Honda Accord made it much farther than that gargantuen Hummer. Why? Finess. Why? Agility. Why? Cuz I know I’m not invincible. I respect the ditch. In fact here’s an offering to all who own SUVs and Semis; The rubber on your tires is the same as the rubber on the tires of a Yugo. See? Rubber + Ice = Slip. Period. If I sound snotty it’s because 75% of the cars in the ditch were Semis and SUVs, exactly the vehicles that are supposed to be all-weather, but people think because their driving something big the laws of physics will somehow morph to accomodate them. Rubber + Ice = SLIP.
(Via stuart davis’s blog)
02005-03-26 | Uncategorized
Eva Zeisel: The Playful Search for Beauty, April 19 through December 4, 2005. At 98, Eva Zeisel is one of the most important and best-known designers in the United States.
The grande dame of American design. Find some images here. More info can be found here.
02005-03-26 | Uncategorized
Global warming. There. We said it. So declared a 2001 advertisement taken out by Ford in newspapers nationwide. It was an unusually frank admission from an industry better known for pooh-poohing all evidence of rising greenhouse gas emissions. But carmakers have begun to do the math. Right now, there are about 800 million cars in active use. By 2050, as cars become ubiquitous in China and India, it’ll be 3.25 billion. That increase represents an enormous sales opportunity for automakers and an almost unimaginable threat to our environment. Quadruple the cars means quadruple the carbon dioxide emissions – unless cleaner, less gas-hungry vehicles become the norm.
(Via Wired News)
Must start looking further than to the end of the week, the end of the month, the end of the year.
In another article Wired writes about the Prius:
Performance is adequate – if you don’t care about performance.
What performance? My Prius gets me from point A to B with perfect gas-saving performance. No, it would not sound impressive to rev the engine at a stoplight. No, it would not beat a Porsche off the line, and no, it could not take four hunters into the wilderness. But, I ask you, how much performance does a man need? What happens once you know that this performance comes at a price, a price we all have to pay: emissions? I think the Prius’ performance is perfectly fine for most applications. I have driven mine for a year now and yes, I still love it and would buy it again.
02005-03-25 | Uncategorized
Music: a new Blues in Buleria time called Winter for the Holiday album
3-4 inches of snow on the ground since this afternoon with a forecast of 27 degrees overnight – and for Monday the forecast is 60-70 degrees and Sunny.
