Learned right way to make Matzoh Brei from  Peter De Jonge novel Buried on Avenue B--you gotta soak crumpled Matzoh in boiling water briefly before adding beaten eggs. Some say use hot milk and Ruth Reichl  uses cold water --but she grew up in New York about as Jewish as I did...which if you take out the left wing politics and folksinging leaves you with more Pork Lo Mein than Matzoh Brei.  

People will read books, watch movies, go to museums to see latest evidence shining new light on the deaths of King Tut, Cleopatra, Jesus Christ,  and countless other long,  long  gone personages real and imagined, and yet one mention of the Kennedy assassination and it’s  “….c’mon it’s over, move on!”   What they’re really saying is…”Hey, too soon, too soon.”

I wonder if The Faust (or Doctor Faustus) story has never been popular in America (except in the heavily truncated form of the musical Damn Yankees) because the essential cautionary tale element strikes most Americans as absurd.  It’s “Let’s Make a Deal” with too much indecision, lousy prizes, an unhappy ending and a hero who doesn't know a good thing when he's got it. 

Just discovered that ...“Was this the face that launched a thousand ships/And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?”--
is from Marlowe version:  The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus. 

Randy Newman tackled it (bravely and humorously) and in his version (staged only a few times but available as recording) God and The Devil duke it out over the soul of a student at The University of Notre Dame.  Newman sings the role of Devil and James Taylor is The Lord.  Bonnie Raitt and Linda Ronstadt are on it too.

Just  learned (from generally reliable colleague) that most laundry and dishwashing detergent brands recommend up to ten times the necessary amount needed.  In fact, their recommended amounts will likely damage your clothes, damage your appliance (Got some soapy residue when washer is done?  Too much soap!)and reduce the longevity of both.  I’m shocked!  How and why would they do such a thing?

Friend of a friend is writing a mystery novel in which he quotes a two lines from a Bruce Springsteen Song-- editor reminded him he would need to get permission and likely pay a fee.  A phone call confirmed that it would cost him $3,600!  Kind of amusing since his total advance from the publisher was $3,000. And now he's re-writing that section and deliberately mis-quoting the lines with a footnote explaining why.  I suggested he also fire off a letter to The Boss saying ...

"Yes, everybody does have a hungry heart, though some are hungrier than others. "

 East Hampton. Was on the main drag for the first time in a long time (Our house in Springs is 20 minutes away--and thankfully reachable by circumventing the main village ) and reminded of how the oh so Tone-y town is nevertheless an appealingly quaint, historic, leafy, clean and peaceful place.  And yet during the summer months, it more often looks like just a very sunny playground for some very shady people.  

I believe the term used by the locals is... Cidiots. 

My nephew Brian studied guitar for many years and told me that he never quite got over his aversion to that lone major third in a sea of perfect fourths (The B string being the culprit) and was a factor in his taking up The Bass with its simpler (and two strings less) symmetry. Perhaps it’s the Adrian Monk in me—but I totally understand how he felt. So I got curious about alternate tunings (Not of the already- tuned-to-a-chord so you can play while in a coma Keith Richards variety) and found out that some players use an all fourths or all fifths tuning (like Robert Fripp) …so I tried the all fifths cause it sounded so extreme and beguiling .

At least I don't have to tune this monster--and I assume 

Pat Metheny (who owns one) has someone do it for him. 

        Promptly snapped off the high string (cause I didn't know that it was all fifths except that one string --which is just a 3rd up so it's really CGDAEG).  Then tried it on my electric and all was well till I started fooling around with some scales and realized that I was like a marathon runner at the ten mile mark who is so  frustrated at how slowly he's going that he stops, buys new shoes and goes back to the starting line.  Actually, a bad metaphor, cause the new shoes would eventually feel comfortable and I don't think my life will be long enough for me to get anything but musical blisters in this tuning. 

That's enough arcane mental flossing for one day...I leave you with an old favorite from Taj Mahal with the sadly departed Jesse Ed Davis (born 68 years ago today)  on guitar...and in photo appearing at 1:50 mark.   Tune was written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin.