BillHeise | April 14, 2009
Critic Steve Leggett describes Armstrong as “perhaps the most important American musician of the 20th century.” Armstrong was a foundational influence on jazz, shifting the music’s focus from collective improvisation to solo performers. (Wikipedia) He did more than that. To understand the impact of Armstrong, you need to listen to a recording of jazz before [...]
BillHeise | April 14, 2009
Not much to do there, but we stayed at the Garth Mansion, which was one of the best places we have ever stayed. It was voted the #4 B&B in America 2 years running. They deserve the honor. The kids enjoyed the llamas. Read more here. Here’s our cottage.
BillHeise | April 9, 2009
I’ll be out of town this Monday, so I thought I’d post a video now. I’ll post another on Tuesday. This is dedicated to Shirley Manson and Garbage. They broke up, and I miss them. Fortunately, Shirley Manson has appeared on one of my favorite shows, The Terminator. I wasn’t sure at first about the [...]
BillHeise | April 9, 2009
A Stan Freberg ad:
BillHeise | April 6, 2009
Last week I talked about the terrible music of the 1970s. This week, I’ve been listening to some of the great 70s music that I was introduced to by my friend Larry. These bands were important to me in the 1970s, and they shared a distance from politics that was general before the 1980s. This [...]
BillHeise | April 5, 2009
I found this oldie but goodie on 51 things your father should have taught you. My father taught me well, and one of the things he taught me was how to watch the news. Things have changed somewhat since my father raised me, and I was trying to come to terms with the fact of [...]
BillHeise | April 1, 2009
In 1983, as I was preparing to read Joseph Campbell in my doomed attempt to find answers to the “big questions” posed by the Modern movement, the world was watching Woody Allen’s latest film, Zelig. This marked the the highwater mark of the modernist movement, as well as a glimpse of the new postmodernism which [...]
