Danny Federici

I'm sure you've heard by now that Danny Federici of the E Street Band died yesterday from melanoma. I add my condolences along with the rest of his fans to his family and friends.

I'm also sure many people will be pointing out their favorite Federici moments. Here's mine, and it has nothing to do with E Street. Listen to this 1996 track by Mark Lindsay (yes, Raider Mark). Danny's accordion on this song sets the perfect mood.

Mark Lindsay / Rouge on blue (1996)

PS: You can buy the Mark Lindsay CD "Video Dreams", where Danny plays Hammond organ as well as accordion, at marklindsay.com. It's really quite an extraordinary album.

History meme

[dad@porky ~]$ history | awk '{a[$2]++}END{for(i in a){print a[i] " " i}}' | sort -rn | head
95 ls
64 cd
23 vncviewer
19 vim
18 moosic
14 yaourt
14 mv
12 python
12 du
11 cat

The best baseball blog ever

The best baseball blog, at least for Yankees fans like me, is Peter Abraham's LoHud Yankees Blog. ("LoHud" means Lower Hudson Valley, tourist.) A perfect example of Pete's wit is his latest post: Ten people to avoid at the ballpark. Brilliant. I've met all ten of them.

Obama confronts the 800-pound gorilla

Barack Obama's speech on March 18 transcends the Presidential election. The issues he addresses, and the candor with which he addresses them, showed me that he cares more about our country and our world than he does about becoming President. Whether he wins or loses, this man is critical to our progress as a species.

Please, invest a half-hour of your life to watching this entire speech. Don't settle for soundbites or distillations from people who think they know what the important bits were or what they really mean. Sit yourself down and just watch the whole damn thing. Afterward, support whoever you want for President. But deal with what Obama says honestly.

This is straight talk, folks.

West Side Story

I've been given an amazing opportunity. I'm acting in a high school play at the age of 50.

I suppose a bit of explanation is in order. I live in the town of Nutley, New Jersey, and my kids are both in the public schools here. Both are artistically inclined, and have been involved in theatrical productions, bands, choirs, etc. I've also been participating in the local theatre productions -- I love to act, and the "town shows" sponsored by Nutley Parks and Recreation have given me a great outlet for my thespian inclinations. I've had the extraordinary pleasure of acting with each of my children in the town shows.

This year, Mike Cundari, the incredibly talented choirmaster at Nutley High School, decided to mount a production of "West Side Story". An incredibly difficult show to pull off, but the payoff is huge if the production clicks. The upside of a high school production of this show is that almost every part is age-appropriate -- Maria, Tony, Bernardo, Anita, et al are supposed to be high-school age. Even most of the adult parts are arguably young adults -- Krupke, Schrank, Glad Hand. The only genuine "old guy" is Doc. So, the director asked me to play Doc. I jumped at the chance. I've never done "West Side Story", and I absolutely love the show.

Thank God I said "yes". I cannot adequately describe how bloody talented this cast is. Most of these actors are people that I have known since they were small children. They are certainly not now. They are young men and women of enormous ability, who have taken this production to heights that I can scarcely believe. I am proud to be a part of this cast, and humbled by their talent and obvious dedication to the task.

If anyone from the cast happens to read my blog: Thank you. It's been an honor and a pleasure working with you, and we will kick some serious ass on Thursday.

SNL's done something funny

I can't remember the last time something from Saturday Night Live made me laugh out loud. This one did.

Congratulations, Herbie Hancock

Herbie Hancock won a surprising Album of the Year Grammy last night, with his marvelous River: The Joni Letters. Herbie has had a wonderful and eclectic career in jazz, from his early work with Miles Davis, through his electric jazz success with Rockit, to the present day. Other Hancock works of note: Watermelon Man, a staple of high school jazz bands everywhere (and rightly so), and his love note to George Gershwin, Gershwin's World.

If you want to get the Album of the Year, here's an Amazon link: River: The Joni Letters (with Bonus Tracks) - Amazon.com Exclusive

Herbie, you're the best.