bill berry

I came across this article with great public speaking advice – Why Introverts Can Be the Best Public Speakers:

“It turns out that a public speaker’s most important asset isn’t their theatricality, their story, or how extroverted and boisterous they are.

“It’s their capacity to help their audience to believe that change is possible.”

Not that I’m an expert or anything, but I believe better public speaking comes down to thinking about the audience and what they need. That’s hard to do if I’m nervously thinking about myself, what I need to get from this presentation, or even how I’m doing right now delivering this talk.

How do I stop worrying about myself and how I’m doing? Take a deep breath, ahhhh, and think about the audience!

Nice article!

Big news. #HappyStPatricksDay
– Sandy Boynton

Sign of the Times, 3/16/2020.

Honoring Women in Jazz

#jazzchurch 46 – Sunday, March 14, 2021 – featured music by Betty Carter, Terri Lyne Carrington, Nina Simone, Abbey Lincoln, Geri Allen, Tineke Postma, ARTEMIS, Joni Mitchell, Emily Remler, Kate McGarry, SFJAZZ Collective, and Nubya Garcia:

1. Dull Day (In Chicago) (Betty Carter)
2. Fleurette Africain (Terri Lyne Carrington)
3. Four Women (Nina Simone)
4. Transformation (Terri Lyne Carrington)
5. Love Notes (Betty Carter)
6. Up Jumped Spring (Abbey Lincoln)
7. That Girl (Geri Allen)
8. The Gathering (Geri Allen)
9. Lover Man (Betty Carter)
10. Freya (Tineke Postma)
11. Down Here Below (Abbey Lincoln)
12. Voyage (Tineke Postma)
13. Nocturno (ARTEMIS)
14. Joy and Wonder (Geri Allen)
15. Throw It Away (Abbey Lincoln)
16. Goddess Of The Hunt (ARTEMIS)
17. Goodbye Porkpie Hat (Joni Mitchell)
18. Daahoud (Emily Remler)
19. The Meaning of The Blues (Kate McGarry)
20. Sisters On The Rise (A Transformation) (Terri Lyne Carrington)
21. Pray the Gay Away (Terri Lyne Carrington & Social Science, feat. Raydar Ellis & Nicholas Payton)
22. It Might As Well Be Spring (Kate McGarry)
23. I Got Lost In His Arms (Terri Lyne Carrington)
24. March Madness (Sfjazz Collective)
25. Source (Nubya Garcia feat. Ms Maurice, Cassie Kinoshi & Richie Seivwright)

Apple Music Playlist

Here’s an Apple Music Playlist containing songs from this episode of #JazzChurch:

Next week’s #jazzchurch livestream can be found at postbop.com/jazzchurch Streaming live from 1-4ish PM PDT. Past episodes are available here as well.

Where else can I find #JazzChurch?

• Postbop.com: Livestream plus audio archives and information for all past shows
• Twitch Livestream: 1-3pm-ish PST on Sundays plus audio/video of recent shows
• Soundcloud: Listen to past shows and subscribe to receive notifications and listen to future shows

”Absolutely! I had a great time! I got to be nosey! That always works for me!“

Happy Birthday, Ms. Bill E. Bob!

Q. What would an Outward Mindset require of Mr. Tibbs?

By 1967, [Sidney Poitier] was one of the most popular actors at the box office. In one of his roles, according to the script, a white man, a racist, slaps him in the face. He was not supposed to retaliate, but he courageously requested a change in the script, insisting on playing his characters with dignity.

In the movie that came out, the racist slaps him. But, with the change he insisted, he slaps the racist back.

“This was the slap heard round the world,” according to director Norman Jewison - when the racist plantation owner Endicott slaps detective Virgil Tibbs in “In the Heat of the Night”, and Mr. Tibbs, portrayed by Sidney Poitier, slaps him back.

“A black man had never slapped a white man back in an American film. We broke that taboo,” said Jewison.

Race/Related: Signature Photos From Our Black Photojournalists

Last month in honor of Black History, we (New York Times) highlighted on Instagram nine exceptional photographs taken by nine Black staff photographers of The New York Times. Collectively, those photographers — the only Black members out of 76 in the history of the photography department — have 250 years of experience at the Times.

Here is a bit about the photojournalists, and a signature photograph.

The Brooklyn Bridge in February 1998. This image was tinted red when it was published to celebrate Valentine’s Day weekend. Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times

Chester was my favorite New York Times photographer…

Still #workingonit!!!

I’m up early, hoping for a good sunrise. Alas, I’ll have to settle for yesterday…

On the other hand, today…

Keep On Pushing That Rock

I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain. One always finds one’s burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain, in itself, forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.
– Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus

this is comic number 456, i started in September, and i still wake up every day filled with dread that i won’t be able to write any more.
– @dinoman_j

no. words.

Livestream Replay

Playlist

#jazzchurch 44 – Sunday, February 28, 2021 – featured music by Chick Corea, Sunú, Omar Sosa, The Wynton Marsalis Septet, Carmen McRae & Betty Carter, and Charlie Haden, among others shown below:

1. New Waltse (Chick Corea Akoustic Band)
2. Diddy-Wa-Diddy (Bebop and Beyond feat. DIzzy Gillespie)
3. Memories Of Tomorrow (Sunú – Cross Currents)
4. Só Danço Samba (Sunú – Cross Currents)
5. Samba De Uma Nota So (Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd)
6. Harriet Tubman (Wynton Marsalis Septet)
7. Nomali (Hugh Masekela)
8. Reza (Elvin Jones)
9. Ternura (Omar Sosa)
10. Night Sprite (Chick Corea)
11. Sometimes I’m Happy (Carmen McRae and Betty Carter)
12. For All We Know (Donny Hathaway)
13. Eighteen Sixty-Three (Gerald Veasley)
14. Work to Do (The Isley Brothers)
15. Silence (Charlie Haden)
16. Visa (Charlie Haden)
17. Listen Here (Eddie Harris)
18. Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho (Eddie Harris Quartet)
19. Slinky (Chick Corea)
20. Soft And Gentle (Chick Corea)
21. Antidote (Chick Corea feat. Rubén Blades and The Spanish Heart Band)

Apple Music Playlist

Here’s an Apple Music Playlist containing songs from this episode of #JazzChurch:

Next week’s #jazzchurch livestream can be found at postbop.com/jazzchurch Streaming live from 1-4ish PM PDT. Past episodes are available here as well.

Where else can I find #JazzChurch?

• Postbop.com: Livestream plus audio archives and information for all past shows
• Twitch Livestream: 1-3pm-ish PST on Sundays plus audio/video of recent shows
• Soundcloud: Listen to past shows and subscribe to receive notifications and listen to future shows

Today’s vaccination event was right across the street from Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley, one of my favorite music venues, and a place I haven’t visited in over a year! I’m looking forward to COVID-19’s demise and being able to experience live music once again.

Today I went to Seattle for only the second time since the pandemic began in earnest almost a year ago. This visit had a little hope because we visited to get my wife her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The day seemed almost normal. After the exceptionally well-organized and efficient vax event, we went to the U-District Farmers Market (getting lost on the way), had lunch at our favorite BBQ joint (arrived early and ate-in all by ourselves), and went shopping at Rainshadow Meats (there be meatballs in my near future!).

Looking forward to more good days like this!

2/24/2016:

Stepping out on a limb here. HRC will be the Democratic Party’s nominee. The Bern won’t be felt by enough people. It’s over. Sorry about that!

Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee. Natural, almost inevitable, consequence of the last nine years. Sorry about that too!

Happy to explain my reasoning. Discuss if you must. I’m moving on to stuff that’s still in doubt.

#thereIsaidit!

I later provided more context in the comments:

One of the things I loved about my Williams experience was empirical political science. At the time, the Roper Center was located on campus, and I got to use all their polling data to test theories from a statistical point of view. It made it more “real” and less theoretical for me. It also had me using computers which I loved then and now. In this case, I’m just reading the tea leaves, looking at delegates won, upcoming polls, how the delegates get apportioned, etc. and I don’t see how Bernie can win.

In 2008, I closely followed certain reporters, including Chuck Todd and Nate Silver, and came to understand sometime in March that Obama had the nomination locked up. Even though Hillary was contesting, etc. Despite all the talk about the “super delegates,” there was just no way Obama could lose the nomination at a certain point without totally destroying the Democratic Party.

It’s different this year. I just don’t see how either Hillary or Trump can be beaten.

I should also say that in 1992 I drove home from work to vote for Bill Bradley in the Democratic primary even though the polls had already closed in much of the country, and I knew Bill Clinton was going to be the nominee. So definitely don’t mean to suggest we shouldn’t vote for who we think is best. I do wish we had better choices. And I hope the right decision gets made in November, or heaven help us all!

In some other 2016 Facebook post, I wished aloud that Joe Biden was running, proving I was both ahead of – and behind – the curve.

”To have a great idea, have lots of them.“ – Thomas Edison

I’ve now hosted #JazzChurch 43 Sundays in a row. What started as a silly idea keeps chugging right along. I once mused that I might run out of music to play, but that sure ain’t happening!

This image features just a few of the album covers containing songs I have played. Please join us 1-4 pm PST Sundays.

https://postbop.com/jazzchurch

Every now and then, something grabs my attention, i.e., catches my eye. I have to stop and take it in. Then I have to pull out my camera, do some quick calculations, visualize the final product, and snap a few pictures.

In the old days, I’d be using a bulky SLR. I’d develop the film and head to the darkroom to make prints.

Nowadays, I whip out my iPhone! Everything else is pretty much the same, save the smell of chemicals. I now do my visualizing in color instead of black and white.

This morning I noticed some flowers on the dining room table. Really nice flowers!!

#StillWorkingOnIt!

Livestream Replay

Playlist

#jazzchurch 43 – Sunday, February 21, 2021 – featured music by Abdullah Ibrahim, Charles Mingus, Bennie Maupin, Miles Davis, Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson, and Michael Brecker, among others shown below:

1. Sister Cheryl (Tony Williams)
2. Good Morning (Robert Glasper)
3. African Market Place (Abdullah Ibrahim)
4. Humpty Dumpty (Akio Sasajima feat. Joe Henderson)
5. From the Lonely Afternoons (Wayne Shorter)
6. All Blues (Herbie Hancock)
7. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat (Charles Mingus)
8. Rhythm Man (Do Not Disturb) (Bebop & Beyond)
9. Little Sunflower (Phil Ranelin)
10. Vildgolia (Deaf, Dumb & Blind) (Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson)
11. Waltzin’ In (Freddie Redd)
12. The Jewel In the Lotus (The Bennie Maupin Quartet)
13. Early Reflections (The Bennie Maupin Quartet)
14. Inner Sky (The Bennie Maupin Quartet)
15. The Glide (Oregon)
16. Seven Steps To Heaven (Miles Davis)
17. The Nearness of You (Michael Brecker)
18. Aisha (Sfjazz Collective)
19. Easy Now (Orrin Evans)
20. Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight (Michael Brecker)
21. So Near, So Far (Miles Davis)
22. Tuskeegee #626 (Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson)
23. Racetrack in France (Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson)
24. Joshua (Miles Davis)

Apple Music Playlist

Here’s an Apple Music Playlist containing songs from this episode of #JazzChurch:

Next week’s #jazzchurch livestream can be found at postbop.com/jazzchurch Streaming live from 1-3ish PM PDT. Past episodes are available here as well.

Where else can I find #JazzChurch?

• Postbop.com: Livestream plus audio archives and information for all past shows
• Twitch Livestream: 1-3pm-ish PST on Sundays plus audio/video of recent shows
• Soundcloud: Listen to past shows and subscribe to receive notifications and listen to future shows

They say the first draft is shit, so just put a whole lot of whatevers out there because you’re going to rewrite it anyway.

Not that I believe what “they” say, right?

I make mistakes. Sometimes they’re doozies! Which contradicts the idea there are no mistakes. I mean, if you learn something, was it a mistake?

Blah. Blah. Blah.

So here’s the deal. I post a lot of links to articles I read. Sometimes I even write a post myself. [I do love to write, you know.] Most of the time, if I post something, it’s because what I read or saw resonated with me in some way.

So what I learned recently was (besides the fact I start way, waay too many sentences with the word, “so.”)

So what I learned recently was some people (on my team? colleagues?) feel I’m hypocritical. They seem to think I post ideas that I don’t do myself. I don’t live up to what I post.

Seriously, people? I mean, “REALLY?”

When this criticism first danced across my brainwaves, I was like…

So I have this rule. Never, under any frakkin’ circumstances, never, ever be defensive. About anything! It just makes things worse. Including making other people defensive too.

So I hear the criticism, and I’m like, ARE YOU SERIOUS??? Apparently, yes, serious!

Here’s the thing. If I post something, it’s because it resonated with me. It made me think. Usually, it made me think about myself and what I don’t do. Or what I need to do more of. How I need to learn how to do exactly THAT thing described in the article or thoughts in sharing! Ya dig?

Man, I can hardly fathom the idea that I can’t share a thought unless I’m a perfect representative of that idea? That’s like, don’t you ever, in your whole life, ever. post. anything!

The good news? You know there’s gotta be some good news, right?

The good news is the feedback came with the suggestion, “I think you should keep posting, keep sharing.” Yeah, right, don’t let this little bit of whatever seep into your tiny pea-brain. Keep posting. Just know that some people think you are a total, complete, 100 percent, YEAH, PHONY!!! That is all.

Which right about now, 393 words into this rough draft, has me feeling like, “maybe I should rewrite before letting an editor look at this?” Because, they’re going to think this is shit and, by all the evidence presented herein, I’m shit and can’t write. Which is not what I want them – not to mention YOU – to think.

Still, I have this goal of writing 500 words a day, and I’m already up to 465. And, just so you know, the number “465” is considered a word. And now I’m all the way up to, well not exactly, but almost up to just about, let’s see, yes, 493 words. [It was 500 words, but, you know, editing!]

The end!

Note: I originally shared this three years ago (2/21/2018). It still feels right. I’ve since decided the title is where I’m at. I write as part of the process of figuring out what I think about things or what makes sense to me. That’s always been true. It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: your mileage may vary!

I invite you to disagree with me. Hell, I may not even agree with me and I just wrote it! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Thanks!

#IWantMyTubmans!!!

Harriet Tubman $20 Bill Redesign to be Accelerated by Biden Administration - The New York Times

I purchased a calendar and coffee table book based on my old posts, demonstrating there just might could be a benefit to posting on Facebook almost every day for 10+ years! :-)

@kbuddyartist: “A squirrel and a cardinal in a standoff over the last sunflower seed” -@briancarterKC

The legendary cellist Pablo Casals was asked why he continued to practice at age 90. “Because I think I’m making progress,” he replied.

We must move beyond learning the tune to playing the song and then on to making music together.