April 1. 2010

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Uploaded new cover, the April Fools image with the domino that scared Christopher Walken, at least when worn by Meg. Not to say that Meg's scary. Although CW sure seems so.

Programmed a cool Bongo set last night, Sort of Blue, delving into the blues side of Boston jazz. This is a set theme that I'll redo again and again. Johnny Hodges, Serge Chaloff, Charlie Mariano, Dave McKenna and Phil Woods - I mean, what's not to like? Listening to the whole set again, which I seldom, no make that never, do.

Duke's Blues is nuts, easily swinging out of the gate harder than anything I've ever heard. Compare this to the next cut. TLC introduces St. Louis Blues with a drum solo and the band takes like forever to get down to business. Which is cool, I guess. A little musical journey through the tune. Herbie Hancock on piano, a pupil of Madam Chaloff, I believe, Serge's mother and a famed Boston teacher of many greats. Too much fancy soloing in modern music, showboating, rather than intricate ensemble interplay. Legacy of the beboppers? And when did a Jew's harp (which takes out the tune) become a jazz instrument? Too cute by ten octaves.

Biking downtown this PM for an appointment. I'll stop by the garden, but I'm fearing the worst. Probably won't even be able to get in the gate after all the flooding from 13 inches of rain in the past month (a new soggy record). Taking pictures.

Image ... Stork Club. The Starlight Room, Boston.

March 4, 2010

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Finished research and writing - for now - on the Dialectical Society, the informal weekly philosophy club that MLK ran during his 3 years at B.U.

Did the Bongo in Squaresville . 3 Journal entry, seen just above. This week we visited Wally's and looked into the demise of the classic Boston jazz scene with jazz chanteuse Charlene Bartley, a classic in her own right.

It's snowing again. The tomatoes (5), hot peppers (2) and basil (4) potted up in the office window are sneering at it, thinking spring. "So don't I," as we often say in The Bean when assenting to something.

Image ... Stork Club. The Starlight Room. Boston, Mass. This is the domino, or mask, that my client Meg Gurnon scared her friend Christopher Walken with, himself sorta' scary if you ask me. Oh, and a new Stork Club recently opened in the South End at the corner of Columbus and Northampton, the street Dr. King lived on.

March 2, 2010

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March 2 marks the 55th anniversary of one of the seminal events of the civil rights movement. On this day in 1955 an angry black teenager, Claudette Colvin, refused to surrender her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama and was dragged off to jail shouting, "It's my constitutional right!" This was nine months before Rosa Parks, age 42, secretary of the local NAACP chapter and trained at the Highlander Folk School, took the same stand.

To learn about this major, but not well-known, civil rights figure and get a fresh perspective on the subsequent Montgomery Bus Boycott, we'd like to recommend an excellent new book, Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose.

Hawk sitting in the bare tree outside the office window all afternoon, swiveling his head 180° left {mostly) and right. Did an enourmous white pooper, then fanned and preened, maybe digesting and passing a local rodent. Watching and waiting patiently for another potential kill. A juve I think, from a tail-on view.

Oh-and-uh ... We're moving to New Orleans. Maybe in early May.
See New Orleans News . 1, just above.

I'm also going to be writing about the Wheatlands, Cynthia and Richard, favorite friends who passed away in '08/'09. Extraordinary people - with grace, wit, class, learning, style - and the very last Boston Brahmins, especially of the Beacon Hill branch. I enjoyed and miss them so much. And still do in my memories, which I'll share with you.



Image (at top) ... Basketball Court. North End, Boston.