Buddy is shedding. This is after tonight's five-minute brushing session.

Posted by ksmoker at 7:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The only stat that I have this year the pie-to-person ratio of 1:5. I didn't take part in the Turkey Bowl--the competition looked pretty fierce, BTW. I, um, forgot the my win-loss record in in head-to-head ping-pong matches against dad, but I do know that I was undefeated against Ted.

The weather was excellent as was the company as also was the food. We had the usual menu of turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, creamed corn, baked beans, etc. By "the usual menu," I mean that in a don't-mess-with-a-good-thing kind of way. And that is not to say that we shouldn't add to the menu. This year, Jane brought an awesome cabbage-relishy-type dish for which I'm hoping she'll send the recipe.

Posted by ksmoker at 2:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Apparently, Larry Goldings has become so identified with his Trio lineup that he felt it was necessary to use the size of this new ensemble as the album's title. Although I was initially disappointed to learn that Goldings mostly eschewed his Hammond B-3 on this cd, there's no arguing with the results. This group includes Larry Goldings (piano, organ, etc), John Sneider (trumpet, cornet), Ben Allison (bass), and Matt Wilson (drums) who manage to navigate several different styles while maintaining a coherent mood and sensibility throughout.

There is a cover of Björk's "Cocoon," the Fellini-esque "Dario and Bario," some wicked plunger-playing by John Sneider on "A Dream About Jackie Byard," a touching rendition of "We Shall Overcome," but my favorite pieces are the originals where the group's thoughtful and entrancing interplay really shines through. Here's hoping that Goldings expands the quartet section of his discography in years to come.

Posted by ksmoker at 8:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

RIJF club passes will go on sale Friday. The price has gone up to $99 this year and will go up to $109 on January 1st, then up again to $119 as the festival approaches.

It's got to be some tricky actuarial work to hit the sweet spot on the club pass price, although the organizers seem to be taking the eminently reasonable approach that as long as the club passes keep selling out, they'll keep jacking the prices up.

This is still a great bargain in my book. Even though the break-even point between the club pass and at-the-door ticket price is four to six shows, if you plan on seeing more than two or three, just get the club pass anyway. It allows you the freedom to check out some new music that you might otherwise have shied away from. I guarantee you'll find it worth the extra scratch.

Posted by ksmoker at 1:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I'm glad to see that the Democrats have done well. No rubber stamp Congress for the remainder of GWB's term.

A year or two ago, it was difficult to imagine that the Democrats to pick up this many seats. Even with the tumultuous political climate, it is still mildly surprising, but what's worse is that we think this is so. About 30 of the House seats are switching over to Democratic control with around 20 of those seats previously occupied by Republican incumbents. From what I can tell, this only represents 5% of all House members running for reelection.

The incumbent advantage has long been a concern and is often blamed on sitting candidates' ability to raise more money than potential challengers. I would claim that the bigger culprit is the gerrymandering of districts.

Check out our home town. I could move in any direction within a five mile radius of downtown Rochester and have my choice of four different US congressional districts. Also check out the arm of the 22nd district, reaching up to protect Ithaca from being swallowed by the 24th. These aren't the worst examples of gerrymandering, of course, but it's still pretty annoying.

My district, the 28th, is the most ridiculous one, locally. Louise Slaughter represents both the cities of Buffalo and Rochester proper, along with a sliver of Lake Ontario frontage connecting the two. This is a solidly Democratic district (Slaughter won something like 76% of the vote), while the other three local districts were much tighter and, contrary to the nationwide trend, these districts retained their Republican incumbents.

So, what's the big deal, you say? Well, ideally our representative would have our local interests at heart. Greater Rochester has four different House representatives. How are we to have a coherent community voice in Washington?

If all politics is local, we certainly have more than our fair share...

Posted by ksmoker at 9:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)