Jazzmen testifyin'

Terry Teachout's quote of "Jazz Fantasia" by Carl Sandburg (who would've thought old Carl was so hip?), below, made me think of other pieces about jazzmen.

Drum on your drums, batter on your banjos,
sob on the long cool winding saxophones.
Go to it, O jazzmen.

The somewhat dark yet very appealing Jazzman, by Carole King (excerpt):

When the jazzman's testifyin' a faithless man believes
he can sing you into paradise or bring you to your knees.
It's a gospel kind of feelin', a touch of Georgia slide,
a song of pure revival and a style that's sanctified.

Jazzman take my blues away; make my pain
the same as yours with every change you play.
Jazzman, oh jazzman....

A bit of Steely Dan's even darker Deacon Blues:

You call me a fool
You say it's a crazy scheme
This one's for real
I already bought the dream
So useless to ask me why
Throw a kiss and say goodbye
I'll make it this time
I'm ready to cross that fine line

Chorus:
I'll learn to work the saxophone
I'll play just what I feel
Drink scotch whisky all night long
And die behind the wheel
They got a name for the winners in the world
I want a name when I lose
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide
Call me deacon blues

New find

I spend the better part of many a day cracking the proverbial whip over my young staffers here at Rene's Apple (in beautiful downtown Lessines) to find you, the impatient reader, only the finest in Internet reading.

Today, one of those hapless young worker ants, whom we'll call Bob Crachit, came upon Manolo's Shoe Blog and timidly asked if it could be added to the prestigious Rene's Apple blogroll. He'd been behind his time that day, as it was, and I was in no mood for his smarmy attempts to curry my favor.


"Harrumph!", I harrumphed. "I'll be the judge of that!"

And yet Bob was on to something. Take this post on the varieties of attire a contemporary Mrs. Claus might be seen in-sheer genius!

Or this one on the pleasures of a year end trip to sunny Uruguay-wonderful!


So I relented and not only added Manolo to the blogroll, but gave Bob a two farthing raise.


(Okay, so I'm a day late and a dollar short with a Christmas post. Sue me.)

Ads up to bias

The New York Times is breaking with tradition to run ads on the front page of the now seldom-read newspaper.

Despite the paper's financial woes, one reliable advertiser won't be charged:

"[P]ublisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. said 'the grey lady' would continue to run messages from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) on page one, above the fold, at no charge 'as a public service.'

"'The Times must maintain its commitment to serving as the paper of record, which sets the agenda for the mainstream media,' said Mr. Sulzberger. 'The DNC has been a reliable provider of hard facts and hard opinions which have unobtrusively graced page one of the New York Times for decades. To start charging a fee to the DNC now, just because George Bush has run the economy into the ground, seems unethical, and a breach of the public trust.'”

UPDATE: The Times, with little in cash reserves and no obvious source of financing, could be out of business as soon as this May.

I'm simply not good enough to be governed by Obama

...mostly 'cause I see his utopia as a dystopia, I suppose.

I'm an embarrassment to Barack!


I only scored 19 on the Obama Test

A storehouse of sunsets

Chesterton on pleasure:

"THE fact is that purification and austerity are even more necessary for the appreciation of life and laughter than for anything else. To let no bird fly past unnoticed, to spell patiently the stones and weeds, to have [in] the mind a storehouse of sunsets, requires a discipline in pleasure and an education in gratitude."

'Twelve Types.'

The International Year of Astronomy

It's The International Year of Astronomy, which will be a good excuse to post great shots from the Astronomy Picture of the Day site-such as the one below, of the Witch Head Nebula. (Don't the figures above look more like aliens pointing out the Solar System than people on Earth looking out to distant worlds?)

Cat tonics

We here at Rene's Apple are quite fond of cats as well as all small, cute, furry creatures. Here are a few shots of celebs and cats:



Steve Martin knows kittens need frequent ironing.



Audrey Hepburn and "Cat", who played a surprisingly large role in Breakfast at Tiffany's- though director Blake Edwards was annoyed at the cat's occasional lapses into Method acting. BTW, is it possible to look at that face and not smile-Audrey's, I mean?



Who would've thought Frank Zappa was such a pussycat?


Link via Plep.

What's the matter with kids today?

Let us count the ways:

1) The girls talk in Valley Girl sing-song, the guys in monotones. What they say is rarely edifying.

2) They slouch a lot.

3) They shuffle their feet a lot.

4) No event that happened one instant before they became aware of the world around them (to the limited extent that that is true) concerns them in the slightest.

5) They must not have a free moment uninterrupted by raucous ringtones, or games, texting, idle cellphone chatter, and the like.

6) And of course, related to point 4, they wouldn't get the post title's reference to "Bye Bye Birdie".

UPDATE: I think it was CS Lewis (or maybe Chesterton) who said that there was no better way to show one's immaturity than to criticize the young.

So consider this post an exercise in youthful frivolity.