Category: People and Things…

We drove to find the place near the water’s edge to share the sun set
Talking about how lucky we are to have had shared this rotation of the earth
The good and bad the day presented, how we met its challenges and opportunities
The people who passed through our lives, even most briefly, that impacted our existence

We passed the homes and clubs of those fortunate enough to occupy this coast
Found a little public concrete pier with a few people fishing
Feeling blessed with you by my side, as the sky revealed its magnificent colors
Silhouetting the horizon’s skyline reflected on the silky water

As the sun’s light fell to the advance of the night, in that instant I thought,
There is no feeling more precious, no vision more beautiful, no moment more fulfilling
Then I turned my head and saw your smile, reflecting the joy, peace and love in your soul
And realized my mistake, This instant is the most precious, beautiful and fulfilling I can experience

We take this opportunity to recognize the bounty of love and spirit this world offers
To acknowledge the gift of life we all share and the magic of our existence
And to mark another rotation of our earth, made even more special
Because I’m the fortunate one, rich beyond worldly possessions

What we share can’t be bought and seems impossible to find
There is the trust not known by many and the safety of facing any hazard together
Your presence in my life makes my existence better, makes me better
The energy around us, and the beauty and power of nature is more vibrant
And even the magic of the sunset multiplies when you are near

Hey musicians providing private lessons. To help get more private students for lessons, I have begun using a site called Thumbtack. I am getting a few leads per week from the site and expect to pick up a few students from them. The cost is minimal and as I said they are already generating leads. Check out my own profile and the rest of the site by going to this link for Music Theory Instructor. 

The past few years I have had the pleasure to work with drummer Andrew Nesbitt, who I have always called Nez. He is now moving on, heading to New York where there are certainly bigger and grander things available to him. I met Nez on another project where we were working with Singer/Songwriter Max Klau. The timing was great for me as he was a nice fit for filling that role in my own project. And he became a friend.

As a musician, he always has an easy feel that never seems forced, interprets grooves intuitively, plays with those nano-beat segments very effectively, and listens (a rare trait).

As an individual and band-mate, he also brings an easy, no hassle, drama-free attitude making it a joy to collaborate, experiment and express.

As a performer, he has a fantastic stage presence – somewhere between surfer dude, Rastafarian and party-time groove master.

I wish him nothing but the best and dread having to replace him. If you’re reading this and you’re in the New York area, look him up. Find him at a gig (or hire him for a gig) and say hello to him for me. He is a person worth getting to know and a musician worth listening to and supporting. Good luck Nez. We have two more gigs together before your next great adventure. I’m looking forward to the shows and when July hits and this chapter is in your rear view mirror, I hope our paths cross again. Be well and stay thirsty my friend.

If there was a simple thing that you could do that didn’t cost you anything except maybe a few extra minutes of your time, yet could have a big impact on the financial wellbeing of your community, would you consider it?

When you make out your list for gift giving this year do me a favor, do us all a favor and make it a point to buy at LEAST one gift that is made in here America. If every one of us took a brief little diversion from the mall to find one gift to purchase made by anyone here in the states the impact would be very noticeable.

I know that the whole buy US made is a tough proposition. We can’t compete with Walmart and Sears and Target and Kohls. The fact is that China, Indonesia, Korea, etc… wages are soooo low, their factories don’t have to follow humane labor practices or worry about responsible environmental practices, and cranking out hundreds and thousands of the exact same thing (quality be damned), keeps the costs so low that it is hard to rationalize the cost difference. And for much of the things you buy it is hard finding US made alternatives.

But there are options out there. Aside from local music (which I know you support), do you realize how many artisan jewelers there are in your area? If you plan to buy a piece of jewelry for someone, DON’T go to Jared! Stay away from the mall. Find an art show in your area (they are happening everywhere every week) and find a hand made custom piece of art that will be distinct and says something about the thought you put into buying this gift?

Check out your local artisan community, artist guild or art associations. Look for local businesses that make things. Here in my little town there is an iron worker / artist who set up shop and I would say that 80% of the town hasn’t even bothered to find out what he does. Need iron railings, a light fixture, a gate, plant stand, a piece of art for your wall? How hard would it be to stop by and check it out on your way to the mall? Who knows what you can find.

My brother in law has a company that makes boat covers and towers not 30 minutes from Boston. That’s right – made here! You probably know that Michelle is a stained glass artist. We do a lot of art and gift shows this time of year. At these shows you can find locally made items like; jewelry (a lot of that), clothing, furniture, glass art of all kinds, pottery, iron work, art work, and even things in that “cute little gift” category. Shouldn’t some of that hard earned money of yours end up back in the pockets of people in this area?

I haven’t explored all the possibilities and am not an expert. Feel free to share any ideas you have. In fact I encourage you to post here, facebook, tweet anything you find that you think is worthy of someone checking out. Let us know it’s US made and where to find it.

We let our government and our corporations run our economy into the ground, ship our jobs over seas and turn the American Dream into a fantasy from days past. But we still have a little bit of power left. Just a hint of discretion with the money we spend and this season it important for everyone. It can change a life. It can change many lives. So man-up so to speak. Do this one simple thing. You’ll feel better. Happy holidays.

Tomorrow at the polls the democrats are supposed to get their butts kicked, and they deserve it. They aren’t  delivering as promised, fell short on health care, haven’t regulated the financial markets, caved in to that stupid bail out crap, not a word on campaign reform, are letting our cities fail at an alarming rate, not much on jobs or corporate controls…  But that still doesn’t make me happy about the onrush of Wall Street financed Republicans.

I don’t know if it’s my age, or the frustration of the economy and its impact on my ability to make a living or if I am just waking up to what’s been going on around me, but I am getting more sick of our government, the media and direction of our society every day.

There is so much wrong with our political and economic reality it is hard to pick one thing to rail against. But with this unprecedented corporate funded election coming up I am appalled at the amount of traction the Republicans are getting from their “greed is good” message and feel the need to spell out why wall street is a major factor for the piss poor job market and diminishing “middle class” as they like to call it.

This isn’t a long dissertation because you either get it or you don’t. Wall Street control over our corporate environment has been a disaster of the highest proportion. It rewards behavior that is bad for companies, bad for employees, bad for our economic structure and bad for America. Since the loosening of SEC regulations, the ONLY thing that matters to any public corporation is appeasing the markets, which means cutting costs, growing the bottom and line and improving stock prices and dividends.

If you have to ask, “What’s wrong with that” then here is the short of it. Operating costs are a natural part of doing business (operating costs by the way includes salaries paid to US citizens), and while cutting waste and running efficiently is all good there is no balance or limits on how companies achieve their goals of ebidta and stock ratios. And since the incentive is so great for major holders, corporate officers and board members to up stock prices and earnings, they have little ability or control (and I would suggest concern) for the people that work for them, the customers they serve or the communities they inhabit. In a heartbeat, they ship jobs overseas, do business with over sea manufacturers and service providers and will sell a company or drop any investment that could mean job growth in order to satisfy the financial markets and get their payout.

Wall Street is about the money guys. It is not about jobs, communities, paying for essential services, pensions or retirement funds (unless they’re skimming money out of your investments with fees and their screwball derivatives), the environment, the economy (except their own fake economy) or anything that can really benefit you in the long run – unless you’re made of money.   

Of course the government is a key conspirator, failing us on SEC regulations, misaligned corporate incentives, harmful trade agreements, and generally establishing a business and market environment that not only enables this behavior but drives it. And now corporations are allowed to contribute whatever they want to campaigns to more directly influence the legislation they need to line their pockets while raping our own future.

After “the great depression” there was a big movement to reign in corporate power and limit the harmful behavior of the huge monopolies in favor of a competitive market that would enable smaller business and local concerns to compete. This worked well for a time but now that environment and mindset is gone. And we’re once again in a grave economic crisis with an inordinately small population getting filthy rich and using their wealth and power in ways that is hurting the rest of us and hurting our own economic stability as a country.

We used to do business differently here in the US. It mattered that our neighbors (and ourselves) had jobs. It was a problem that communist countries and dictatorships violate the very idea of freedom, human rights, decent working conditions and opportunities for individuals to earn a living. And the government was the guardian of that principal, not allowing us to do business with a country where 12 year olds are housed in factory dorms working 12 and 16 hour days for next to nothing. It’s good that we can’t do that here in the US, so how is it good that we allow companies here in the US to finance countries, giving them our money and buying products from them? And how much of that profit is used to terrorize the US?

It used to matter that farmers, the care takers of our food supply at one time, could farm healthy food and real nutrition. Now, corporations figure out how to cut every corner in developing something that barely resembles real food, void of nutrition and full of chemicals and hormones, because this crap is cheaper to produce and improves their bottom line. Of course that has nothing to do with the poor health of our children, or major increase in allergies and diseases like autism.

It used to make a difference if you were good to your employees and created a local economy that supported our cities and towns. You could actually work for a company for many years and there was a sense of loyalty. A company would provide pensions and opportunities to grow. Now it is up or out, strip away benefits, raises, opportunity so that the corporation can improve its bottom line. This means we hire cheap labor both here and overseas and that you will eventually have to be let go to make the bottom line better.

So sure, let’s vote for a bunch of corporate bought republicans who plan to make our city/state/country more “business friendly”. Just remember what they mean by business friendly and who is getting the friends with benefits arrangement here.

btw… For Gov of MA I will be casting my vote for independent Tim Cahill. At bare minimum I hope the two major parties get the message that there are a lot of us out here who won’t put up their bs anymore and they need to begin to work for the people of this state.