Still going after all these years.
Well, the Script-dotting (q.v.) of my reaction to Bush’s press conference seems to be slowing down. Thanks to all the readers who participated in what must be the most spirited discussion ever on this blog yesterday. Special thanks to Gary Robinson, who kept the tone of the discussion high and brought forward some interesting points. … Continue reading “On speaking”
Philip points to this curmudgeonly essay on the topic of what’s wrong with America (latest speculation), which posits that suburbs and SSRIs are the problem. While I’d hate to argue with suburban ennui and angst, being perpetually lost in the supermarket and feeling that this is not my beautiful house, I must point out that … Continue reading “Philip Greenspun: Is America overmedicated?”
This morning’s extract from Anthony Storr’s essay about Churchill in Churchill’s Black Dog: …most of us can tolerate disappointment in one sphere of our existence without getting deeply depressed, providing the other spheres remain undamaged. Normal people may mourn, or experience disappointment, but because they have an inner source of self-esteem, they do not become … Continue reading “More from Storr on Churchill”
Last night I was talking with a friend about my progress since getting out of business school. I went from naïvely feeling on top of the world to feeling that I was lower than dog crap and worthless. Now I’ve climbed part way back. As my friend pointed out, I am now at least to … Continue reading “Looking at the last eight months”
…until I got the new site set up. But I’ll be in training today and won’t have a chance to finish the setup, so a quick update. I’m touched by the support I’ve gotten since posting Monday about the Black Dog. I wanted to assure all of you that this is nothing sudden or intensely … Continue reading “I wasn’t going to post…”
I know it’s been quiet here at the JH North for the last week or two. I assure you it’s been in good cause. As I alluded last night, I’ve been a bit busy with work. The bigger picture is that I’m working on this enormous project in between switching jobs. My first position at … Continue reading “Jumpstarting”
My last Finance II case writeup was completed today. This is a fairly big deal. I was dealing with a pretty big Black Dog last spring when I first tried to take Finance II, and facing incredibly complicated cases with lots of computation, no road map, and no teammates was about to send me right … Continue reading “Closure on a class”
Howdy, all. Morning 4 of my work week marathon, and I’m holding up pretty well. The fact that I’m functioning today because I went to sleep at 8:30 last night only makes me sound old, so I’m not going to mention it. The strangeness of my schedule this week is wreaking havoc on my senses. … Continue reading “Good God, It’s Early”
Hey, all. Tim says, since he named me as his contributing editor, that I need to introduce myself to the readers. This, I think, is rather silly: wouldn’t it be more entertaining to create your own impressions based on what I write (not to mention, easier for my slack self)? For instance, I could be: … Continue reading “A Message from the Contributing Editor”
Sting’s double-LP 1987 release is his last to feature a heavy jazz influence, and he goes out in strong form, with Branford Marsalis, Kenny Kirkland, Manu Katché, Mino Cinelu, and a guest appearance from Gil Evans.
Album of the Week, February 15, 2025 Let’s cut to the chase. Why am I writing about an obscure British movie soundtrack in the middle of this series of posts about the Police? I have one good reason: Sting singing “Tutti Frutti.” Now that I have your attention, let’s talk about movie soundtracks. Movie soundtracks … Continue reading “Various, Party Party (Soundtrack)“
George Clinton’s most ambitious album marries funk, Afrofuturism and sharp philosophical critique to create a masterpiece.
Album of the Week, April 30, 2022. To interpret this album, we need to start with Dave Brubeck. That’s not a sentence that begins many discussions of Miles Davis’s music. But in this case it fits, because the small group album released after Kind of Blue found Miles in a very different place than he … Continue reading “Miles Davis, Someday My Prince Will Come“
This go-round of Exfiltration Radio investigates an unusual jazz instrument, the flute. This one has been bubbling around in my mind since I started putting jazz mixes together. I kept running across unusual instrumentation on some of the recordings, well beyond the sax or trumpet plus piano/bass/drums that I first started listening to thirty years … Continue reading “Exfiltration Radio: Flute’n the Blues”
I’ve been listening to a lot of classic Blue Note recordings recently—thanks to a bad HDTracks habit—and what struck me the other day is how the composition of the recordings changes the further back you go. What had become a jazz-funk fusion label by the 1970s was principally a hard-bop label in the 1960s with … Continue reading “Exfiltration Radio: new faces, new sounds”