Friday, August 05, 2005

hmmm

There's something oddly satisfying about cashing one's unemployment check at the liquor store...
or is that just me?

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

File Under: What the F? - NRLB Redefines 'Your Own Time'

Slashdot | NRLB Redefines 'Your Own Time':

"Doc Ruby writes 'The U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled to ban off-duty worker 'fraternization,' at the employer's discretion. So getting together for a beer after work can now be prohibited by the boss. With IT workers so commonly producing some of our best work 'after hours,' even at home or in restaurants/bars, will this ruling come back to bite employers in the IT industry? Can they really stop you from talking with your cubicle neighbor on the bus home, if they can't even stop you from reading Slashdot while on the clock?'"

Monday, August 01, 2005

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall: July 31, 2005 - August 06, 2005 Archives

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall: July 31, 2005 - August 06, 2005 Archives: "You can't make a solid argument that wages in other countries have found their natural level if one of the major 'inputs' is organized political violence to keep wages low and labor activism inert.

To put it more concretely, one part of a real market in labor is the ability for people to protest conditions, either actively (through organizing) or passively (through quitting or refusing to work). But if people who try to form labor unions are murdered then that whole theory falls apart."

BINGO! Somebody give that man a cigar.
A free market requires free labor
which required free laborers...
freedom of speech,
freedom to protest,
freedom to ORGANIZE!

without these things,
and others,
all you've got is a rigged game.

excerpting an excerpt to say an unrelated thing! whoohooo!

Cast Our Nets Like Rampage!!!:

"When I talk to the Japanese manga editors, and they talk about the process of creation, they talk about different story-telling themes as being important. You talk to an American English professor and they'll talk about conflict as what drives story. The Japanese editors talk about friendship driving the story, not being driven by conflict at all. "

I am absolutely in love with the idea of a literature not driven by conflict.

That is all.

Sunday, July 31, 2005

From the DMG Newsletter - Albert Mangelsdorff is gone.

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"On July 25th, German trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff passed away at age 76 after a long illness. He was considered Germany's most famous and beloved musician and one of jazz' most accomplished trombonists. Mangelsdorff's career began in the mid '50s through his older brother Emil (a capable jazz saxophonist and flutist who is still active). He played with many different German groups in his native Frankfurt, recording often with Hans Koller's groups. He was a German representative in the Newport Jazz Festival International Youth Band. His first exposure to world audiences came in 1962 when he recorded Animal Dance with the MJQ's John Lewis. From 1963 to 1971, Mangelsdorff led a working group that recorded such seminal European jazz albums as Tension, Now Jazz Ramwong and Never Let It End. He was an active participant in the Norddeutscher Rundfunk big bands for decades as well as a late addition to the Globe Unity Orchestra. From the '70s to the present, Mangelsdorff recorded numerous albums, including several for solo trombone. He was a co-leader of the United Jazz and Rock Ensemble with Wolfgang Dauner. He has been honored numerous times for his accomplishments, most recently in 2003 when his 75th birthday was celebrated in the Royal Opera Hall in Frankfurt. He was Artistic Director for the Berlin Jazz Festival in '90s and a prestigious German jazz prize is named for him, given annually by the German Jazz Union.

In Germany jazz circles, just saying the name "Albert" is enough. Mangelsdorff was involved in every phase of German - and European - from the rise of the big bands to the development of original small groups sounds and the rise of avant garde and free music. His influence on any progressive trombone player cannot be understated and he and Paul Rutherford are almost completely responsible for the ascent of the trombone as a solo instrument. He has been called the #1 trombonist in the world, an appellation he in his modesty eschews. However, with his passing, Europe loses a pioneer and jazz loses an irreplaceable voice." - Andre Henkin from All About Jazz

For more information on Albert Mangelsdorff:
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=539
http://www.jazzpages.com/Mangelsdorff/index_e.htm
http://www.jazzinstitut.de/