A little bit of YouTubeage where Sarah Jessica Parker shows how technology helps her organize the various roles she plays in life. Who knew that the iPad couldn’t multitask?
Some of the late show hosts have been teasing Sarah about her age. I think she is very fine and I really don’t care about the age thang. I have to say however that although I like the ‘Sex in the City’ show, I have not watched the movies. Nor do I plan to.
This is a fascinating concept.
“One of my favorite hacks at last weekend’s Music Hack Day is Tristan’s Swinger. The Swinger is a bit of python code that takes any song and makes it swing. It does this be taking each beat and time-stretching the first half of each beat while time-shrinking the second half. It has quite a magical effect. Some examples:
Maybe it’s something that only a true musician can enjoy?
Having returned to the challenge that is performance music, I often think about who to build audiences for the various bands and ensembles that I participate with. Part of the art of attracting an audience can be supercharged by carefully selecting the time and date of the performance. If you are in an area where the audience can ‘discover’ you like a mall or park, you can gain new followers.
This assumes your band or ensemble provides world-class entertainment. Select music that your audience can relate to and that your band can do well. Get your musicians invested into the concert by challenging them and highlighting the best the music group has to offer. Even a music group with average to above average talents can have an inspired concert. When that happens, the audience will notice and want to come back.
So in that vein, I’m reprising my jazz xTet and including the songs we performed as part of the best concert we every played as determined by audience response. For example, one of our regular listeners told us that after the first set, she heard the book vendors humming the last song of our set, Sway. Here’s the rest of the story. Hope to see you there.
Dissonance 2010 – Ballard Locks ~ Saturday, 3 July 2-4 PM – Gig at Ballard Locks
First set (2 – 2:55 PM)
Second Set (3:10 – 4 PM)
Hip pocket:
Dress: Hawaiian casual, goofy hats, and boa’s.
Spinal Tap discusses the track Jazz Oddessy from their new album, Back From The Dead!
“… and what was the unusual time signature? 4/4. Yeah, that’s it.”
You are driving down the road in your sports car on a wild, stormy night, when you pass by a bus stop and you see three people waiting for the bus:
1. An old lady who looks as if she is about to die.
2. An old friend who once saved your life.
3. The perfect partner you have been dreaming about.
Which one would you choose to offer a ride to, knowing that there could only be one passenger in your car? No, really, think about it a second.
This is a moral/ethical dilemma that was once actually used as part of a job application. You could pick up the old lady, because she is going to die, and thus you should save her first. Or you could take the old friend because he once saved your life, and this would be the perfect chance to pay him back. However, you may never be able to find your perfect mate again.
The candidate who was hired (out of 200 applicants) had no trouble coming up with his answer. He simply answered: ‘I would give the car keys to my old friend and let him take the lady to the hospital. I would stay behind and wait for the bus with the partner of my dreams.’ Sometimes, we gain more if we are able to give up our stubborn thought limitations. To be able to ‘Think Outside of the Box.’ could be a successful life style.
My friend argues that the correct answer is to run the old lady over and put her out of her misery because health care won’t pay for her hospital visit anyway, have sex with the perfect partner on the hood of the car, then drive off with the old friend for a few beers.
Gawd, my friend just loves happy endings!
My cheapo Schwinn Graduate scooter died after two years of nickle and diming me. Finally, it just wouldn’t start so I traded it in on a really nice, reliable Honda. It’s gorgeous, fast, fuel-efficient, and flat out fun. It’s nice to have a fuel gage that actually works, a smooth powerful (for a scooter) engine, and a very efficient way to commute the five miles to work.
I have a trunk on it too which is not shown in this picture.
Dear friends,
I just read an article on the dangers of heavy drinking; it scared the shit out of me. So that’s it!
After today, no more reading. ;o)
If your US-based nonprofit reports less than $25K/year in income, you must file a new form with the IRS every three years. If your group has never filed this form (and has been tax-exempt for at least three years), failing to file this form by Monday could result in your group losing its IRS non-profit status. See http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100515/ap_on_bi_ge/us_charity_deadline
for more.
Here is an excerpt: More than 200,000 small nonprofits across the nation are days away from losing their tax-exempt status because they haven’t filed a new form with the Internal Revenue Service.
[…]
It’s most likely the nonprofits aren’t aware of the Monday deadline that only applies to groups that report $25,000 or less in income, excluding churches. Those organizations may not find out until Jan. 1, 2011, when they’re notified they have to pay taxes on donations they thought were exempt. And it could be months before their nonprofit status is restored.
<Note: if you’ve forgotten to file this form, you should have gotten a notice from the government.>
Congress required the form, called a 990-N, when it amended the tax code three years ago and groups with a fiscal year ending Dec. 31 had until Monday to meet the deadline.
It’s probably a good idea, if your group is in the under $25K boundary, to check and be sure this form has been filed.
The IRS’ page on this form is: http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=169250,00.html It can be filed electronically and only eight pieces of information are required:
1. Employer identification number (EIN), also
known as a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)).
2. Tax year
3. Legal name and mailing address
4. Any other names the organization uses
5. Name and address of a principal officer
6. Web site address if the organization has one
7. Confirmation that the organization’s annual gross receipts are
normally $25,000 or less
8. If applicable, a statement that the organization has terminated or is terminating (going out of business)
There’s a search function that will let you see if groups have filed one of these so-called ‘e-postcards.” Apparently the law requires one to be filed at least every three years and this is the conclusion of the third.
Suzy has been toying with the idea of replacing her 13 year old car for a while now. But she really wanted a hybrid or electric car. So this weekend I took her to a dealer to try out the best luxury hybrid that I could find. After much hemming and hawing she selected this:
It’s a Lexus HS hybrid that gets 35 miles per gallon in and out of town. It is super high-tech with sat radio, backup camera, HomeLink, Electrochromic rear view mirrors, and smart access (don’t need key) system. Driving around yesterday was fun and the grandkids couldn’t believe how quiet it was. I started it up and they couldn’t hear the engine.
And Suzy talks to the car. She sez “70 degrees” and the car computer responds and sets the temperature. She sez, “Call Jim” and her cell phone via BlueTooth places a call to me. She sez “Home” and the car sez, “At the next corner take a right.” and then takes her home.
This car is smaller than Suzy’s ‘97 Jaguar XJ6, handles better, and will not require postponing travel because of the rare snow filled day in the winter. Nimble, it can turnaround in about 1/3 less space than the Jag. And there is no concession to power here, especially the way Suzy drives. Now if this car was for Gerg, the car would be waaaay too slow. ;o)
Happy Mom’s day Suzy. :O)
"Art flourishes where there is a sense of adventure." ~Whitehead
If you want to arrange another musician’s song the first thing you’ll need to find out is if the song is copyrighted or if it is part of the public domain. Further details about the copyright laws and how it applies to you, the arranger, are outlined in the "additional reading" section below. For any arrangements that would require permission from the copyright there is a simple process to follow. The instructions are as follows:
1. Find the publisher’s contact information using one of the following resources:
2. Fill out this form and sign.
3. Call/Contact the publisher to confirm who you should send this form to and make sure you use the correct mailing address/email address.
4. Mail or email form to the correct person.
5. Wait for approval or denial.
* This process does not include obtaining permission to distribute, sell or record arrangements. This process is only to obtain permission to arrange a song and perform it in a non-profit setting for a specific time period. In order to distribute or sell an arrangement the form would need to be changed to reflect this purpose and you’ll need to get the royalty or fee structure from the publisher so you can include it in the form as well. Also, to record an arrangement you would need a mechanical license which can be processed through the Harry Fox Agency with royalties being paid to the copyright holder.
Additional reading on music arrangement copyright:
Quinn the Eskimo Vintage Horns
The Bis Key Chronicles 