Torture Team

I was given a great book last year for my birthday called "Torture Team" by Phillipe Sands. It's a fascinating look at a systemized government torture policy, chilling in it's detail and in the matter of fact nature of the people involved. Reminded me of reading about the Nazi's, amazing. There's an interview with Phillipe Sands on Fresh Air. Check it out!

www.npr.org/

Go to programs and check out Fresh Air. The program aired on Wednesday April 29 so look it up and listen to the interviews.

Peace,

Compositioins

I wrote some pieces in the last year, some pretty, thoughtful, heart wrenching pieces of music that I plan to record soon. These pieces speak of good and tough times, beauty and ugliness and hope that in the end, things can be good no matter what's happened in the past. There's always hope. Writing these pieces has helped me to access things deep inside that needed to be reconciled. I can't say I liked everything that came out or that some of what I accessed was better left buried, but I did it nonetheless and I'm glad I did because in the end it's important to move forward and to reconcile things as best you can. At least for me that seems best at this time. I'm letting the beauty and the heartache come out in a way of expression that I can understand. I hope that in the end, those that listen to what I've written will feel the same or at least be able to see and hear some of what went into work and enjoy it on it's terms.

Peace,

Sharks down!! Sharks down!!!

Well my beloved Sharks went out in 6 games in the first round. A world class choke job. Yes Detroit did the same thing three years ago and then came back to win back to back Stanley Cups but I don't see this bunch doing that. Drew Remenda said that too many guys on the team don't know how to step it up for the playoffs and that's something I agree with. It's not that they can't it's that they don't know, and someone usually the leaders have to show them. Joe Thornton did his best but Patrick Marleau was virtually invisible. Yes he scored two goals but one was a stuff job and one was a tip in, otherwise he was invisible. Tonight he had one shot in the most important game of the season. Enough said. Wait till next year, again!

Peace,

Torture Olbermann and Hannity et al

Here's a clip from last weeks Countdown where Keith Olbermann throws down the gauntlet to Sean Hannity regarding torture and waterboarding. But that's not the great part. Watch the entire segment because Keith has Lawrence O'Donnell on and Lawrence gives the best description of why conservatives support such draconian tactics. It's very smart and very good.

http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/20090424_olbermann_offers_hannity_1k_minute_to_be_waterboarded/

Peace,

This is just wrong but funny!

This is so wrong but funny!! at least to me!

Enjoy: http://www.lulu.com/content/4956212

Peace,

Krugman on the money again

Great column by Nobel Prize winning Economist Paul Krugman in today's NY Times. He's calling on the politicians to have some backbone to deal with greedy bankers and finance people. He's been right on every subject of this downturn and there's no reason to not listen to him on this subject.

www.nytimes.com

Peace,

A Great Weekend for Cheap

Had a great weekend doing some fun things that didn't cost much money at all. One of the best was a nice bike ride on the Iron Horse Trail from Walnut Creek to Danville. It's a nice ride for someone who is in the "beginner" stage on his road bike. Having crashed last year, it's been hard for me to get back on and get out there. I did so today and this is a nice flat bike trail/road path that goes thru South Walnut Creek into Alamo and then in Danville, about 16 miles total and when I got back, I was not super winded or anything. It was a real enjoyable ride. Highly recommended for older bike riders.
The Sharks won their do or die Game No. 5 against Anaheim last night, which means that they live to fight another day in Game No. 6 at Anaheim. Game 7, if necessary is in San Jose on Wed. Here's hoping the team hangs in.

Once again, here's a recommendation for www.firedoglake.com a great website for politics and current events, especially legal issues. Highly recommended.

Peace,

Learning to cook

I finally took my first cooking class yesterday, a class on French Sauces at a great place called Kitchen on Fire in Berkeley. This is something I've been wanting to do for years and for various reasons, was not able to make it happen. Well I got to go to a class last night and what a fantastic time I had. I learned so much, most of it hands on. The chef, Chef Olive from Cesar restaurant was interesting, super knowledgeable, fun and helpful. After explaining basics to us about the interaction of fats, starch, oils, proteins and acids, we got into making our own sauces. Some of the people I was working with, while earnest, had no idea what to do nor were they good at following directions, so chef had to come over and take care of some of the sauces they were creating and make them "edible". I'm proud to say that they things I was involved in all came out really good and I can't wait to make them at home. The class gave me a whole new take on how to cook food and enhance flavor. I hope my kids and family will enjoy the added flavors and skills I will bring to my meals I prepare.
Highly recommended you check these guys out, it's very reasonable and lots of fun.

Peace,

Banks and Breaking Them Up

Excellent interview with Simon Johnson for head Economist for the International Monetary Fund. Check it out!!

http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/feature/2009/04/23/simon_johnson/

Peace,

Torture and Keeping Informed

There's alot of new information coming out now about what was doing what in the whole "torture" thing that was engaged in by the Bush Administration after 9/11. These two websites are particularly good at diseminating not only the basic information but providing legal analysis of what things mean and who's behind various positions:

www.firedoglake.com

www.salon.com

Please check them out and keep yourself informed. The desire in our country and with about 1/3 of the population to be completely accepting of fascist style tactics and of "the end justifying the means" is a frightening prospect. These people will do whatever it takes and if the rest of us aren't paying attention, then we risk ceding control to these fanatics. Stay informed!!!

Peace,

Jane Harman and FISA part 2

This Jane Harman story is starting to have some legs. She's denying peripheral things but she's not denying the basic crux of the story. Something tells me because she can't. If she did indeed sell her party down the river and collude with the AIPAC people and the Bush Administration for personal career gain, it'll be interesting to see what she tries to do to salvage her rep. My guess is that she'll quietly retire and not run for office in 2010. She's older and it's plausible that she could retire without retribution, collect her pension and go off and work for a big corporation as a lobbyist or consultant and make some big bucks. We'll see what happens. It'd be nice to see her tell the truth.

Peace,

Intelligence, FISA and Corruption

Here's an excellent post by Glenn Greenwald on Salon.com about Congresswoman Jane Harman and her sleazy ways dealing with the largest Israeli Political Action Committee AIPAC and also AG Gonzales and his doing the bidding of the President to cover their collective behinds. All pretty stomach churning stuff: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/20/harman/

The Economy

Paul Krugman writes on Monday's and Friday's in the NY Times and he's been incredibly accurate about the financial crisis we have been experiencing over the last year or so and also about what to do about it. He gives a concrete example of what can happen if we continue to do the bidding of the big bankers and financial services people. We'll end up in the pickle that Ireland is in right now. Not a good place to be. Read here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/20/opinion/20krugman.html?_r=1

Peace,

Great Day with the Kids

Went up to Sacramento to visit my oldest son Miles. He plays in an adult baseball league so we went to watch him play and then have lunch together. It's a great time for us to spend family time together as Elliott and Ellissa get to spend time with big brother. After game, in which Miles sprained his ankle, he took us to Ford's Burgers. Great place to go. Delicious burgers and great family fun.
When we got back I took a bike ride on the bay trail in Albany and Richmond and out to Point Richmond. What a great time to take a ride, the bay was flat calm and it was about 80 degrees out. Nice time all the way around today. Let's just hope the Sharks win tonight!!!!

Peace,

Mission Street Food

In reading about some sort of underground restaurants, Icame across an article in the SF Chronicle some weeks ago talking about Mission Street Food and how on Thursdays and Saturdays they take of this small Chinese Restaurant in the Mission and have different chefs come in, plan and cook a meal and the profits go to a charity i.e. SF Food Bank. It's a pretty cool thing and I want to check it out. It's exciting, unusual, out of the ordinary and it's for a good cause too.
Check it out on the net! Mission Street Food.
Peace,

Great Trips

This being a time of recession and of economic uncertainty, often things like trips and weekend getaways are postponed. I was thinking back fondly to some amazing trips I had to New York City, Santa Fe/Taos and Monterey Bay/Point Lobos. These places in their ways provided wonderful memories for me to hold onto when times are tough and money is tight. Holding onto those wonderful memories and experiences helps you to always know that in spite of the troubles and problems and other things that happen in life, amazing times are possible and to be treasured. Can you ever forget that busy Manhattan Street or being in Soho or Midtown and walking, walking, walking......or the beauty of the mountains in Taos at sunset....or the crashing waves at Point Lobos and fresh clear air in Monterey and Carmel.

Peace,

Smaller Restaurants

There's been quite a bit of discussion about the living wage mandate and health care mandate that is law in the County of San Francisco. With the economics being what they are in the restaurant business, there are unintended consequences and creative solutions happening at the same time. You hear a lot about wait staff making larger salaries while the kitchen staff toil away at salaries close to 1/3 what a good wait person is making. This is definitely an unintended consequence of the law. I don't know how many places are pooling their tips or having the wait staff tip the kitchen staff to make compensation more equitable, but that seems like a fairly democratic solution. Wait Staff and Kitchen Staff are all members of one team and proceeds should be fairly distributed. In the never underestimate people's creativity in trying to get around a mandate department, you have restaurants popping up all over the place that employ very few people thus allowing the business to avoid having to provide health care and incurring the accompanying expenses. There is good and bad in this. The good is that it is fostering more personal, creative and intimate dining experiences and also encouraging a more personal interaction between chef and customer. The bad is that you again have people working very hard without health care benefits.
How does one deal with this as a customer and as someone who wants to do the right thing and patronize establishments who are also trying to be good 'business citizens' in the community? It's certainly an individual choice, but I think it's also important to think about where your restaurant/entertainment dollar goes. In reading my previous post, one knows my antipathy towards Chains, but I would not be surprised if, at some level, Chains provide at least access to heath care. It might not be affordable, but they are providing access to it. We aren't even considering other aspects of care, i.e. dental and vision plans.
My absolute favorite restaurant in the city is one of these small establishments. It's successful and doing well even in these tough economic times. and I hear repeatedly about other small places opening up in various areas of San Francisco and Oakland. In the end, I think I can state my position as this: Health Care, Dental and Vision Care are essential to every citizen in the country and they are a local, state and national problem that needs to be solved at the most fundamental level. Until the playing field is leveled, no amount of mandating by certain cities or counties is doing to change the marketplace. The constituencies at play in this problem are far more powerful than the Restaurant Owners. You are talking about Doctors, Hospitals and Insurance Companies as well as Medical Suppliers, the folks who make the medicines and materials used in the industry. All these interests are powerful, rich and intent on protecting their financial interests. How to navigate this is being worked out by some very smart people. I do not think that short of a mandate from the Federal Government, anything meaningful will happen. What will remain constant during this time is that people will find ways to produce the product they want and at a price that they can sell it for and make a profit. We as customers will continue to find and patronize these creative people and support their work. That's the best we can do.

___________________________________________________________________

I'll be knee deep in the NHL playoffs in the next few weeks as my beloved Sharks are a no. 1 seed in the Western Conference. With any luck I'll be engaged for the next 8 weeks which means they'll be in the Stanley Cup Finals.

I want to wish you all a great weekend. I'll be immersed in baseball this weekend as my son Elliott has a big game tomorrow and my son Miles has a big game in his adult league on Sunday.

Peace,

Food and Recommendations part II

As of this writing Oakland and Berkeley seem to be quite the hotbed of new restaurants to be opened by chefs with exciting backgrounds and talents. As these restaurants open it makes it much easier for those in the suburbs to experience decent food by talented chefs. This is a welcome development, yes driven by economics, but still welcome as it spreads out the geographic area that good food is available outside of San Francisco. Let's face it, unless you are in SF or Napa Valley, pickings are pretty slim. Yes there is Chez Panisse and a few others in Berkeley but that's about it. You have the occasional gem like Manresa or Cyrus in Los Gatos or Healdsburg respectively, but mediocrity tends to reign.
Those who know me know that one of my gigantic pet peeves is the subject of Chain Restaurants. They stand for everything that a discerning diner should abhor. Often quantity wins out over quality and you receive large plates or poorly prepared or even worse, reheated pre-prepared food from a box. Bad service, impersonal environments and just generally bad form all the way and for whatever reason, Americans eat it up!!! I'm not against Chain Restaurants because they are Chains, I'm against them for the PRODUCT they deliver. Everything about them is lowest common denominator. If you think about it, there is also an economic reason to not support Chains. Chains are operated out of a corporate office somewhere outside of San Francisco. They don't use local purveyors so product purchases are not made locally and wages paid are very low. All money received by the business goes into a corporation account, not a local one and hence you have virtually all the money save for sales tax and meager wages leaving the area. The money doesn't get distributed throughout the economy, local purveyors don't sell food to the restaurant, the corporate office is outside of the area so those employees don't spend money in the area and the staff who work for the restaurant don't have any reason to work within the community of restaurant owners and workers because their company has no interest in participating. It's all about short term gain and long term destruction. San Francisco has the right attitude by fighting Chains in many cases but even then, there are still many of them around. Once you get out of SF, oh my god, they're everywhere.
So what to do? Pretty easy, DON'T PATRONIZE THEM!!! If you don't patronize them, they go away. Try eating local and see what happens. There are a lot of good options and you are supporting your local economy in doing this also. Maybe you don't get quite as much crappy food on your plate for the price, but what you will get is decent locally produced food and your restaurant dollar will stay in the area and help the economy.
Something to think about.
Peace,

Food and Recommendations

I was listening to a broadcast of Forum on KQED last week and the discussion was about restaurants and the best places to eat in the Bay Area. It got me to thinking about what makes a good meal, what makes for a disappointing meal and what cuisines are the most disappointing and why and what could be done to change them for the better.

1. Great Ingredients
2. Skill in the kitchen
3. Great flavors
4. Good service in all phases
5. Creating a memorable and satisfactory meal from beginning to end.

I often find that many places use great ingredients, or at least say they do. I find that skill in the kitchen is usually pretty good, sometimes sloppy, but usually pretty good unless it is intentionally poor i.e. with chain places that put a premium on mediocrity for the sake of profitability. Perhaps the most disappointing cuisine to me, almost uniformly is Chinese. I rarely have great meals in a Chinese restaurant. On occasion I have had a great dish, but never a uniformly good meal. Part of it, I'll admit, is that some aspects of the cuisine just do not appeal to me much at all. But much of it is because ingredients are not fresh and food is prepared sloppily and the experience is often marred by bad service. It's such a disappointment because the cuisine holds a lot of promise that is so unfulfilled at least here in San Francisco. I trust that some people will start to create dishes that are fresh, flavorful and full of the excitement and surprise that I think can be there in a meal from beginning to end. Part of the problem is economic, the cuisine can be had for next to nothing and competing is hard in that kind of environment. But I hold out hope that someone will succeed.
My favorite restaurants in SF are still Canteen, Masa's, Zuni Cafe, Bar Jules, Coco500, Fringale, Piperade and Chez Papa Resto. I look forward to adding to the list soon.

The World Really is Flat, at Least Economically

Some time ago, I read Thomas Friedmans' book the World is Flat. It was an eye opening experience and a good thing I read it. I'm now involved in a project being constructed in Egypt where much of the drafting of plans is being done in Bangalore India and the manufacturing of the custom doors and millwork that we are providing is being done here in the USA. Master Carpenters from the USA will then travel to Egypt and train the workers on how to install the doors. The residence is 40,000sf and as you might imagine, there's alot of doors. All my work has been done via computer and at this point I don't know if or when I'll go to Cairo to check things out or if it'll even be necessary.

What creates these situations? Opportunity, relationships, economic necessity, profits, curiosity, the desire for things not available at the project location, there's numerous examples. The big thing to me is the ability to share information and move seamlessly around the world to get things done. While you certainly run smack into the wall called poverty wages vs what we make here in the industrialized world, there's still the skills that we possess that most if not all in the 3rd world don't, and while we have the window, we can use those skills to acheive market share, experience and knowledge we would not otherwise have and get into a market that was previously unavailable or undesireable.

I'm experiencing the same situations in China and other parts of the world. It's very interesting.

Things seem to be looking up here domestically too. I've nailed my first few jobs and despite the economy, we're growing and doing well. I hope this condition spreads to most industries over the next year so we can get out of this terrible recession we're in and start moving ahead and get back to where we were in terms of economic power soon. It'd sure be nice to see people looking ahead and seeing options to enjoy life instead of fearing for their economic lives as many are today.

Peace,

The genius of Larry Coryell

My friends, family and musical acquaintances know what a huge influence Larry Coryell has been on my work and in my development as a guitarist. I have had the good fortune of being able to spend some time over the years speaking with Mr. Coryell and not only discussing some musical things with him but also to thank him for his work and to express to him my gratitude at his influence on my own playing. When I say influence, I mean that in the best sense of the word. I think that many guitarists confuse influence with emulate or copy and I do not think I fall into that category. Mr. Coryell is a genius and can do things that I could only dream about on the instrument. His recordings hold a substantial place in my collection and his books are also prominent on my shelves, well worn from many viewings and of course of this voluminous output, I have my favorites, things I come back to again and again. While a student at GIT I transcribed some of Mr. Coryells work on the album European Impressions, particularly Toronto Under the Sign of Capricorn. Parts of this piece were also done by David Pritchard and included in Mr. Coryell's book first published in 1979. The qualities that endear me to Mr. Coryell's work are not only his techinical prowess which is beyond words, but his daring. Mr. Coryell tries things that most people wouldn't dare. He's done solo versions of major works by Stravinsky, Copland, Gershwin and others. In his improvisations, I often had the feeling that I was riding a train and we were careening into a corner and whether we would stay on the tracks was definitely in question. Sometimes, we didn't, most of the time we did and the experience was incredible.

Starting with the Lion and the Ram and proceeding thru the album Bolero, Mr. Coryell produced a body of work that to me, is nothing short of incredble and should be studied by any aspiring guitarist regardless of style. The passion, creativity and artistic abandon that is present on these recordings stands the test of time and shows how much of today's work is "safe" and "takes the easy way out".

Coryell doesn't get the accolades of John McLaughlin or some of the other more well known players, but when you see Bill Frisell or Al DiMeola or other younger guitarists talking about who influenced them, who was exciting to them, Coryell always comes up.

I encourage you to check out this genius' work. Here are some cd's I know are still available and you should check them out, all are excellent:

1. Tributaries - with the late Joe Beck and John Scofield (this has the studio cuts from European Impressions on it also)
2. Standing Ovation - A great great record, not a clunker in the set.
3. Bolero - If you are new to Mr. Coryell I suggest this album. It is varied, substantial and a personal favorite.

I'm still anxious to get Lion and the Ram which is not available, nor is European Impressions in it's entriety. If you have a turntable, get the lp on ebay or something and check it out.

Peace,

Back in the Saddle again!

Well I'm finally back amongst the living and function people of the Bay Area. My kidney stone procedures were less than easy or fun and put me out of action of days at a time. Complications caused further necessity of additional procedures and well, you know where that heads, and it's never a good place.
Alot has happened since I last posted and I can't help but think, "we've seen this before". The financial bailout of the financial services industry is continuing unabated and the major players on both the government and private sides are dismissing serious questions about where the money is going, who is getting it and why. Recently, we found out that much of the AIG money went directly to Goldman Sachs at 100 cents on the dollar to cover Credit Default Swaps purchased thru AIG. Seems like Goldman gets a seat at the table, where others don't. Contrast this with what is happening with the auto companies. The government is really playing hardball with them yet they seem to be softballing the financial services folks. There's some bluster talk from the administration but nothing of substance seems to happen. The whole thing seems fishy to me and I suspect that the same folks who got us into this mess are the same ones with their snouts deeply in public trough right now, siphoning money away to make up for their collossal blunders! We're the Suckers! I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think I am.
I'm hearing rumbings that we'll soon see the Office of Professional Responsibility Report on the Bush Office of Legal Cousel investigation. Me thinks Mr. Yoo, Judge Bybee and the former Defense Department Legal cousel all should be lawyered up and getting ready to protect their cosy positions they have now with UC, Fed Appeals Court and Chevron respectively. Stay tuned.