After two consecutive years of carnage, one starts to wonder — (from the Associated Press:) SHREVEPORT, LA — Mass shootings broke out at festivals, block parties and other gatherings in a handful of cities this week as the U.S. celebrated the Fourth of July. Gun violence that flared in Washington, D.C., Louisiana, Florida, Philadelphia, Texas and Baltimore left more than a…

An interestingly weird episode in a life that’s been full of them — Gather ‘round, kids and I will tell you about the time I took over several abandoned ammunition bunkers in Novato, California. …

Jazz’s Most Lyrical Pianist and the Search for Truth and Beauty — I’m sitting in my living room, illuminated by a soft orange glow from the gas fireplace. “Waltz For Debby,” a 1962 album by Bill Evans’ first and arguably greatest trio, sits on the turntable. It begins to spin, and I rest the needle on it. The first stark, poignant notes…

Excellent read. Having worked for two startups and created pitch decks for several more, you have described perfectly the fertile ground in which optimism can be twisted into fraud. One startup I worked for over a ten-year period (!) got funded by someone who committed fraud to get the money. I wrote about it here: https://medium.com/courting-my-muse/working-remotely-for-a-startup-5515ec0241c5

Hear the otherworldly sounds of the “Apprehension Engine” — The Apprehension Engine is a homebuilt sound generator created in 2016 by Mark Korven, a Canadian film composer who was looking for something different to score horror films. He kept hearing the same digital samples and wanted to deviate from that well-worn path. He called up a friend, Tony Duggan-Smith…

A group that can go where no group has ever gone before I couldn’t resist the challenge to build a supergroup to cater to our tastes and musical desires. …

His short but meteoric career changed both rock and country music — Gram Parsons, country-rock originator, Joshua Tree aficionado and pal to Keith Richards, was born into privilege in Florida in 1946. His father, Ingram “Coon Dog” Connor, was a World War II ace fighter pilot. His mother, Avis Snively, was the daughter of John Snively, who was a citrus magnate who…

Her flame burned brightly if briefly — I first heard about Eva Cassidy from a bandmate who had been inspired by Cassidy’s version of “Woodstock,” the Joni Mitchell song with which Crosby, Stills & Nash had a big hit. Anne, the lead singer of our classic rock band, had come up with something similar, and that arrangement…

My ode to my favorite team brought me fame if not fortune — More than 40 years ago, I wrote a song about the San Francisco 49ers football team, which had just won the game that sent them to the Super Bowl. As the NFC Championship game, played this past Sunday, approached, it occurred to me that I could write the story of…