I am an avid reader of all kinds of books. I think I've read more books than watched movies this semester. I enjoy reading non-fiction books about people, events, concepts, etc. but I enjoy a good novel once in while as well. I recently read Jass and Chasing the Devil's Tail, both by David Fulmer. These books can be called historical fiction because they feature real people that lived in real places during real historical events. It is a good combination of fiction and non-fiction in the same story.
These books take place in Storyville, a red-light district of New Orleans, right around the turn of the 20th century. They feature Tom Anderson, the unofficial mayor of Storyville; E. J. Bellocq, noted photographer; Ferdinand LaMothe, better known as Jelly Roll Morton, jazz pianist; and Buddy Bolden, cornetist and the man most historians credit with creating jazz as we know it. All these people were real but the story revolves around fictitional detective Valentin St. Cyr, a Creole of color. It also describes real streets, bars, stores, and brothels the way they existed at the time.
I do not know how I came to own this book but I found Jass in my closet a few months ago. I read it not knowing that it was the second book in a series of mysteries that have the same detective. I enjoyed it thoroughly and decided to get the first book Chasing the Devil's Tail. Both stories are murder mysteries infused with an atmosphere of rainy southern Louisianna where the depravity of prostitution is commonplace and a new craze in music is rising from being played only in seedy bars in the middle of the night to infecting high class white society. This music is known only as jass but would later be called jazz and be regarded as America's lone contribution to the world of art.
I consider myself a musician. I really enjoy playing jazz and am interested in the history of the music and its prominant figures. Couple that with an exciting, suspenseful murder mystery and I greatly enjoyed reading these novels. I have since ordered Rampart Street, the third book in the series, and am awaiting its arrival in the mail. To appease my non-fiction side I have also ordered In Search of Buddy Bolden, First Man of Jazz as a result from reading about this enigmatic genius in these two novels. I highly recommend Chasing the Devil's Tail and Jass by David Fulmer. I will let you know how Rampart Street is once I finish it. I'm looking forward to reading it and anticipate that it will be just as good if not better.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Musical Nostalgia
Every now and then I revert back to the tastes of days past and listen to music of the 1990s. I specify 1990s because I have also been known to listen to music from the 1890s or even 1790s but the subject of this entry will be the music that was being created as I was coming of age. The mid to late 90s was when I began making that great pilgrimage into adolescence. This is the time when most people experience the greatest number of changes in the shortest amount of time. The physical, emotional, and intellectual changes are abundant as each day has its successes and disasters. The perception is that the whole world is watching your every step and the slightest mistake will be witnessed by thousands. Tomorrow seems so far away in the eyes of a teen and each day is truly lived like it will be the last. Some of us even come close to that on a few occasions. I think that the music one listened to during this time always holds a special place.
The music that I listened to during adolescence was my choice. It sounds simple but its quite profound because prior to that I was just listening to music in my environment. I was listening to what my parents listened to. I come from a highly trained musical family, which I'm sure will be the subject of future blogs, so we listened to anything from Bach to the the music of Singing in the Rain to 70s bands like Chicago and KC and the Sunshine Band back to the music of The Wizard of Oz and Mozart. Some of it I still like today, some of it I have long since rejected, but the point is that I was not choosing to listen to this music. It was around me and it was all I knew. The music that you discover on your own takes on a significant meaning.
When I flipped on my first little clock radio I chose to listen to bands like Matchbox Twenty, Creed, Alanis Morissette, Third Eye Blind, Barenaked Ladies, REM, and Stroke 9 among others. I chose to listen to songs like "She's So High" by Tal Bachman, "Linger" by The Cranberries, "Leaving Town" by Dexter Freebish, "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus, and breakthrough revolutions to me like "Name" by The Goo Goo Dolls and "Long December" by Counting Crows. I could go on and on. One summer I mowed lawns and everytime I got paid I asked my mom or dad to take me to Hastings and I would buy another album. That was back when people actually bought CDs. It is difficult to debate what is good and what is not when it comes to music because it's all a matter of taste and opinion. That being said, the hit songs of today just don't measure up according to my tastes. It makes me think we are at a new low point regarding what kind of music is popular.
That's okay though because the music is still out there somewhere. Whether the artists are struggling to survive or have long since faded into obscurity the music is still there. Since that time my musical tastes have broadened but I ocassionally get nostalgic when I hear a song from that era. I appreciate the music of the 90s that was with me in that metaphorical roller coaster called adolescence. A time when things seemed so complicated but were actually so free.
The music that I listened to during adolescence was my choice. It sounds simple but its quite profound because prior to that I was just listening to music in my environment. I was listening to what my parents listened to. I come from a highly trained musical family, which I'm sure will be the subject of future blogs, so we listened to anything from Bach to the the music of Singing in the Rain to 70s bands like Chicago and KC and the Sunshine Band back to the music of The Wizard of Oz and Mozart. Some of it I still like today, some of it I have long since rejected, but the point is that I was not choosing to listen to this music. It was around me and it was all I knew. The music that you discover on your own takes on a significant meaning.
When I flipped on my first little clock radio I chose to listen to bands like Matchbox Twenty, Creed, Alanis Morissette, Third Eye Blind, Barenaked Ladies, REM, and Stroke 9 among others. I chose to listen to songs like "She's So High" by Tal Bachman, "Linger" by The Cranberries, "Leaving Town" by Dexter Freebish, "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus, and breakthrough revolutions to me like "Name" by The Goo Goo Dolls and "Long December" by Counting Crows. I could go on and on. One summer I mowed lawns and everytime I got paid I asked my mom or dad to take me to Hastings and I would buy another album. That was back when people actually bought CDs. It is difficult to debate what is good and what is not when it comes to music because it's all a matter of taste and opinion. That being said, the hit songs of today just don't measure up according to my tastes. It makes me think we are at a new low point regarding what kind of music is popular.
That's okay though because the music is still out there somewhere. Whether the artists are struggling to survive or have long since faded into obscurity the music is still there. Since that time my musical tastes have broadened but I ocassionally get nostalgic when I hear a song from that era. I appreciate the music of the 90s that was with me in that metaphorical roller coaster called adolescence. A time when things seemed so complicated but were actually so free.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Frustration into Experimentation Part II
And now for the moment you have all been waiting for - a update on my experiment from my entry titled Frustration into Experimentation. If you have read that entry I'm sure you're sitting at the edge of your seat, your mouth getting dry from anxiousness, the suspense so brutal you just can't take it anymore. If you have not read that entry then read it. If you have not read it and don't want to, fine, I'll sum up. There is a girl in one of my classes that dominates the discussion and I have set up an experiment to quantify just how much she monopolizes the class. Over a period of three weeks I kept count of how many times she spoke out in class, the total amount of class time she spent talking, and the percentage of class time spent having to listen to her. Now for the numbers. If you're a stats person (not many people are) you might enjoy this.
Bear with me as a blog post is not the best place for a data table because of alignment problems. But I'm sure you'll be able to follow anyway. The numbers will be ordered as follows: Number of times subject spoke in one class, total duration of time spoken, percentage of class time spent with subject speaking.
12 1:55 4%
14 3:03 8%
18 1:31 3.5%
6 0:53 2%
10 2:48 7%
15 2:46 6%
Mean = 12.5 2:09 5.7%
Median = 13 2:20:30 5%
Range = 12 2:10 6%
There you have it! Can you imagine being in a 45-50 minute college class and one person who is not the professor speaking this much? I have to admit that the last few days she has gotten better. But not after being on the receiving end of a few comical, not-so-subtle hints from other students that her talking has become excessive. In case you want more, never fear, I am not yet done with this experiment. Next, I will perform these same operations on all the other members of the class combined and do a comparative analysis of the two groups. Thank you for indulging me in this little experiment. I am well on my way to new discoveries in the social sciences.
Bear with me as a blog post is not the best place for a data table because of alignment problems. But I'm sure you'll be able to follow anyway. The numbers will be ordered as follows: Number of times subject spoke in one class, total duration of time spoken, percentage of class time spent with subject speaking.
12 1:55 4%
18 1:31 3.5%
6 0:53 2%
10 2:48 7%
15 2:46 6%
Mean = 12.5 2:09 5.7%
Median = 13 2:20:30 5%
Range = 12 2:10 6%
There you have it! Can you imagine being in a 45-50 minute college class and one person who is not the professor speaking this much? I have to admit that the last few days she has gotten better. But not after being on the receiving end of a few comical, not-so-subtle hints from other students that her talking has become excessive. In case you want more, never fear, I am not yet done with this experiment. Next, I will perform these same operations on all the other members of the class combined and do a comparative analysis of the two groups. Thank you for indulging me in this little experiment. I am well on my way to new discoveries in the social sciences.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Back from Hiatus
It has been about a week and a half hiatus since my last blog. Much has happened since then. The purpose of this entry will be to catch up on the latest significant occurrences in my world. First off, a follow-up to my previous entry about the Detroit Pistons.
The Pistons went on an eight game losing streak. It was their longest since the 1994-95 season. They looked to be in absolute disarray when the improbable happened. With their next two games against two of the top five teams in the league on their home floors it looked as though the losing streak was bound to reach at least ten games if not more. But on Friday night they handed it to the Orlando Magic, a team that despite having its best season in more than a decade, cannot seem to find an answer to the Pistons. Detroit won 93-85. Then today an even bigger upset occurred as the Pistons beat the defending champion Boston Celtics. Detroit had an all around impressive game as they won 105-95. How can a team lose eight in a row and 17 of 22, look on the brink of disaster, and then turn it all around in three days to beat two of league's best teams? Well, the aforementioned (in previous blogs) Allen Iverson did not appear in either game with a back injury. This put Richard Hamilton back in the starting lineup, a place where he has been a fixture for the past six years in Detroit, until this season when he was bumped to accommodate Iverson. Hamilton scored 31 and 25 points respectively and had a great all around game against Boston adding 9 assists and 6 rebounds. Is there a correlation between losing against every opponent that came the Pistons way over the last two and half weeks then Iverson goes down with an injury and they beat two great teams away from home? I don't know. You do the research and tell me.
The university that I attend holds an annual Spring Sing where the fraternities and sororities each put on a ten minute show that follows a certain theme. It is a competition with prize money. This year the theme was children's books and my fraternity did Where's Waldo?. The premise of our show was that Waldo is a valliant hero who has just received an award for his acts of bravery. He subsequently disappears without a trace and his girlfriend Wenda hires Detective Gum Shoe to try and find him. It featured other classic "Waldo" book characters such as the troublesome convict Odlaw and the quirky, Kramer-esque Wizard, played by me. The show had a 1920s mystery feel, centered around Detective Shoe's witty monologues, and featured live music reminiscent of classic mystery films. As it turns out the detective was just a scapegoat for Wenda to look innocent as she and the other characters try to get rid of Waldo for good by shipping him to Antarctica. Our show was comical, intelligent, suspenseful, plot-twisting, and just plain entertaining. In addition to original live music played by members of the fraternity, it featured dancing, a rap, and an edge of your seat fight sequence - all in ten minutes! Everyone that witnessed said we would either win or at least get second place. According to the judges, however, our show was only good enough for third. That still won us $300 in prize money and more importantly it built a sense of comradery and accomplishment among the fraternity. Despite the results (which were still pretty good) we were still very proud of our performance. I could write an entire other entry on the travesties of mass appeal and popularity that seem to fit the criterion to win a competition such as this but I'll save it for later.
That is about enough updating for now. The Detroit Pistons seem to be a recurring theme in my blogs. It is the golden mean of basketball season what can I say? My school's spring sing was fun and rewarding even though I thought my frat was robbed by the judges. Soon I will give an update on my experimental study as mentioned in a previous blog titled Frustration into Experimentation.
The Pistons went on an eight game losing streak. It was their longest since the 1994-95 season. They looked to be in absolute disarray when the improbable happened. With their next two games against two of the top five teams in the league on their home floors it looked as though the losing streak was bound to reach at least ten games if not more. But on Friday night they handed it to the Orlando Magic, a team that despite having its best season in more than a decade, cannot seem to find an answer to the Pistons. Detroit won 93-85. Then today an even bigger upset occurred as the Pistons beat the defending champion Boston Celtics. Detroit had an all around impressive game as they won 105-95. How can a team lose eight in a row and 17 of 22, look on the brink of disaster, and then turn it all around in three days to beat two of league's best teams? Well, the aforementioned (in previous blogs) Allen Iverson did not appear in either game with a back injury. This put Richard Hamilton back in the starting lineup, a place where he has been a fixture for the past six years in Detroit, until this season when he was bumped to accommodate Iverson. Hamilton scored 31 and 25 points respectively and had a great all around game against Boston adding 9 assists and 6 rebounds. Is there a correlation between losing against every opponent that came the Pistons way over the last two and half weeks then Iverson goes down with an injury and they beat two great teams away from home? I don't know. You do the research and tell me.
The university that I attend holds an annual Spring Sing where the fraternities and sororities each put on a ten minute show that follows a certain theme. It is a competition with prize money. This year the theme was children's books and my fraternity did Where's Waldo?. The premise of our show was that Waldo is a valliant hero who has just received an award for his acts of bravery. He subsequently disappears without a trace and his girlfriend Wenda hires Detective Gum Shoe to try and find him. It featured other classic "Waldo" book characters such as the troublesome convict Odlaw and the quirky, Kramer-esque Wizard, played by me. The show had a 1920s mystery feel, centered around Detective Shoe's witty monologues, and featured live music reminiscent of classic mystery films. As it turns out the detective was just a scapegoat for Wenda to look innocent as she and the other characters try to get rid of Waldo for good by shipping him to Antarctica. Our show was comical, intelligent, suspenseful, plot-twisting, and just plain entertaining. In addition to original live music played by members of the fraternity, it featured dancing, a rap, and an edge of your seat fight sequence - all in ten minutes! Everyone that witnessed said we would either win or at least get second place. According to the judges, however, our show was only good enough for third. That still won us $300 in prize money and more importantly it built a sense of comradery and accomplishment among the fraternity. Despite the results (which were still pretty good) we were still very proud of our performance. I could write an entire other entry on the travesties of mass appeal and popularity that seem to fit the criterion to win a competition such as this but I'll save it for later.
That is about enough updating for now. The Detroit Pistons seem to be a recurring theme in my blogs. It is the golden mean of basketball season what can I say? My school's spring sing was fun and rewarding even though I thought my frat was robbed by the judges. Soon I will give an update on my experimental study as mentioned in a previous blog titled Frustration into Experimentation.
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