The Christmas Dinner

Well, just what IS the old guy doing?

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Artie Shaw

Today in 2004 we lost Artie Shaw. He was 94. He was unique. Quote from article by Nat Hentoff in Jazztimes: What I admired about Shaw was that he exemplified what Ben Webster once told me when I was still in Boston: “If the rhythm section isn’t making it, go for yourself.” Artie Shaw refused to let himself be limited, even by success. When he first quit the music scene in 1939, walking off the bandstand at the Café Rouge of the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York, he said later: “I wanted to resign from the planet, not just music. It stopped being fun with success. Money got in the way. Everybody got greedy—including me. Fear set in. I got miserable when I became a commodity.” In 1954, at 43, he left for good and never again performed. He turned to writing and an array of other interests because his curiosity about how much one could learn about learning never flagged. As he said in the notes to Self Portrait, “I’m not comfortable with categories, and I distrust most definitions. The word definition is based on the word finite, which would seem to indicate that once we’ve defined something, we don’t need to think about it anymore.” On January 7, the National Endowment for the Arts declared Artie Shaw a Jazz Master. I sure would have liked to hear his acceptance speech. It wouldn’t have been humble. He knew his worth, and then some. In a 1978 Washington Post interview, he said: “I don’t care if I’m forgotten. I became a specialist in nonspecialization a long time ago. For instance, I’m an expert fly fisherman. And in 1962, I ranked fourth nationally in precision riflery. My music? Well, no point in false modesty about that. I was the best.” Shaw died, at the age of 94, on December 30, but his music will continue to reverberate. I can’t forget him because he brought me into the music that has given me ceaseless reason to shout aloud in pleasure. ================================================================= Thanks Mr. Hentoff. I just can't think of a better way to say it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From Wikipedia: Artie Shaw (May 23, 1910, New York, New York – December 30, 2004, Thousand Oaks, California) is considered to be one of the best jazz musicians of his time. Jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader, he is also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings.

These are the most popular pages: Alison Young Art Pepper Barney Kessel Bettie Page Curl-up-and-dye Edgar Degas and the lost Ginger Nude Ginger Panda Gnat Trap Little Annie Fannie Marilyn Resident Alien Sunday Funnies Things ain't what they used to be. (In fact, they never was.) The Profile (more than you really wanted to know) is here.

Found Friday - Is this a game?

Is this a game? Or a plot.....

These are the most popular pages: Alison Young Art Pepper Barney Kessel Bettie Page Curl-up-and-dye Edgar Degas and the lost Ginger Nude Ginger Panda Gnat Trap Little Annie Fannie Marilyn Resident Alien Sunday Funnies Things ain't what they used to be. (In fact, they never was.) The Profile (more than you really wanted to know) is here.

Oscar Peterson. Goodbye and Thanks.

Just three days ago, December 23, 2007 we lost Oscar Peterson. Always in a class by himself. Goodbye Oscar, and thanks.

These are the most popular pages: Alison Young Art Pepper Barney Kessel Bettie Page Curl-up-and-dye Edgar Degas and the lost Ginger Nude Ginger Panda Gnat Trap Little Annie Fannie Marilyn Resident Alien Sunday Funnies Things ain't what they used to be. (In fact, they never was.) The Profile (more than you really wanted to know) is here.

Christmas Tree

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Wine of the Week - Black Swan Shiraz

This one was on a sale table at our local JoyJuice vendor. Less that five bucks. Well you know how these sale things are usually, somewhere between river water and kerosine. Well, this was a surprise. It was so good I actually went and bought out the rest of their stock. It is close to the Fish-Eye shiraz but perhaps a bit darker. Good stuff.

These are the most popular pages: Alison Young Art Pepper Barney Kessel Bettie Page Curl-up-and-dye Edgar Degas and the lost Ginger Nude Ginger Panda Gnat Trap Little Annie Fannie Marilyn Resident Alien Sunday Funnies Things ain't what they used to be. (In fact, they never was.) The Profile (more than you really wanted to know) is here.

The Sunday Funnies

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The Story Behind the Photograph - Anna Smith - An old friend...well, almost.

Not often is this much character captured in a studio photograph, but when it happens, it is superlative. Wouldn’t you have loved to ask her just one question? Look at that smile. She is about to burst into a laughter that will permeate your being. There is a humor about to envelop the room, an inner beauty that is an adventure, a love that immerses your heart in indelible joy and anticipation. Look at that pose. She is ready to spring into a dance. Holding still is not in her repertoire. She is full of embraces and faces and affection. She would be comfortable in the garden swing or astride a palomino. I would have loved to have shared an afternoon tea or a six-pack with her. Oh, the stories she could tell, the laughter she could share, the memories she could make. I never knew her but I miss her terribly. Now, THAT my friends, is photography. Alice M says: Share a six-pack with her ? (now, THAT, my friend is... anachronism !) (but I love your text) (more than the pic) (and parenthesis too) anyjazz65 says: Thanks very much for your visit and comments. A comment that makes one think is a treasure. Yes, perhaps I should have said “a snifter” or “a pint of mead” or “a flagon of Rhenish” instead. It’s a human frailty probably: trying to adjust everything in terms of our own personal reality. In this case she probably wouldn’t have cared which reality she shared. She does look quite unflappable.

These are the most popular pages: Alison Young Art Pepper Barney Kessel Bettie Page Curl-up-and-dye Edgar Degas and the lost Ginger Nude Ginger Panda Gnat Trap Little Annie Fannie Marilyn Resident Alien Sunday Funnies Things ain't what they used to be. (In fact, they never was.) The Profile (more than you really wanted to know) is here.

Found Friday

Reminders: We need them. Here this person needed a reminder to “get money” which was possibly more important than “get copies” and a sympathy card for someone. A reminder to pick up the finished pictures seems rather common too. But a reminder to pick up “cook books” at the “tractor supply” is a little outside the norm.

These are the most popular pages: Alison Young Art Pepper Barney Kessel Bettie Page Curl-up-and-dye Edgar Degas and the lost Ginger Nude Ginger Panda Gnat Trap Little Annie Fannie Marilyn Resident Alien Sunday Funnies Things ain't what they used to be. (In fact, they never was.) The Profile (more than you really wanted to know) is here.