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[davidpwilson2564]

Bloglet

Saturday, April 27, 2024

Nice weather continues as do the campus riots. Commencement ceremonies may have to be canceled. Many arrests.

A convicted felon as president? It wasn't too many years that Al Sharpton was interested in the job. He was guilty of many things, wriggled out of everything. (Tawana Brawley, etc.)

Sunday, April 28, 2024

Trump faces a difficult week. He has to be in court a couple of days. In between he will be campaigning. Odd how these stops have taken on a pseudo-religious turn. That QAnon music towards the close. The QAnon salute, raised finger in the air...And his taped recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. All of that. Embarrassing.

[davidpwilson2564]

Bloglet (24-26)

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

The question of presidential immunity taken up by the Supreme Court. Having lost all credibility, they are, of course, split on this issue. Four conservative justices show sympathy for Trump. (No surprise. And the word conservative no longer fits.) It is a sad day for justice in America. We are careening towards fascism.

Thursday, April 25, 2024

Hush money trial continues.

I go to the Union and see Roger's band rehearse. Karen Fisher, the vice president of the local, stops by to listen for a few minutes. We've come a long way since I joined the Union, back when it was run by Damon Runyon characters, old cigar chompers. Now a woman is president (a good thing, one guesses) and many women are running the show. Karen looks over the band and says to me, "No women." Funny.

Friday, April 26, 2024

Very nice weather. Trees in bloom.

The hush money trial continues. David Pecker concludes his testimony. Two (rather) minor characters give testimony. Trump started the day by wishing Melania a happy birthday and saying he wished he could be with her. It's a stretch.

A great many campuses continue to be in turmoil. Bad timing, as graduation approaches. The rioting students, of course, bringing to mind the Sixties and cops cracking a few heads.

[davidpwilson2564]

Bloglet (22-23)

Monday, April 22, 2024

Trump hush money trial begins. Mr. Pecker, of National Inquirer fame, speaks for a little while. The topic is "catch and kill." The paying for and killing of stories. Trump's lawyer makes a little speech about the Boss's being a regular guy: husband, father, etc. Total b.s. of course. We note that in most criminal trials the defendant is accompanied by his family. Not this time, no sir. It's just Trump, in this unadnorned room...with his law team. He keeps violating the gag order laid down by the Judge Merchan. For anyone else it would mean going to jail. Not our former president. He is given all of the rights he would (gleefully) deny others.

Nice weather.

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

More of hush money trial. More of Mr. Pecker's testimony. Note that Mr. Pecker and Trump are neighbors in Florida. They are (or were) friends, we are told. Both deal in lies. The National Enquirer is news in the way that Fox News is the news. Genres of entertainment. Both enterprises are wildly successful. The Tabloid market...

A move to arm public school teachers in Tennessee. (Librarians, I'm sure you saw this coming, are to be issued silencers.)

More about the gag order. Trump is not used to being restrained. He never has been. The judge could jail Trump for mouthing off. Would the Secret Service detail be sent with him? And what is that sheaf of papers Trump carries with him? Fan mail? I suspect it is something like that. He riffles the pages. Holds those pages lovingly...

Note: Pecker isn't through talking. More to come. More dirt.

Acting on impulse I phone Gwill in Toronto. Long talk with him after which I feel better. (Must make an effort to reach out. FOMO, they call it. Fear of missing out.)

to be continued

[davidpwilson2564]

Bloglet (19-21)

Friday, April 19, 2024

Trump begins his day in court with a rant. (That playing-the-accordian motion he does with his hands.) More "witch hunt" talk. The judge really intent on moving this thing along...as the morning wears on more jurors are chosen.

I head out. Tobacconist. Nice to see him again. Then go to pick up med and am, sort of, talked into getting a shingles shot. I had meant to see to this.

Come on and turn on the news. Learn that in a small park downtown where the trial is taking place a young man has set himself on fire. OMG what next?

Saturday, April 20, 2024

The young man who set himself on fire died of his injuries. Said to be intelligent but disturbed. A conspiracy theorist.

I should be looking at tomorrow's music.

Sunday, April 21, 2024

I go with David Cox to the Brooklyn Museum. Nice hanging out with him. So many cars! That area of B'lyn quite crowded because it is adjacent to the Botanical Garden. Everything is in bloom and the a huge crowd has gathered. A huge setting up job...the usual instruments plus drum set. Forced to cut corners, the group no longer has a printed program. That's a downer because I like to read a bit about what we're playing.

One can retrieve this information via an app but I can't get my phone to do this. (Replacing my phone is something else I keep putting off.)

The concert goes okay and the conductor has kind words for me afterwards.

Home. Channel surfing I see a bit of an old movie. "Love Letters." I remember the Victor Young song. This was back in the day when movies generated a pop tune. I Google the movie. See that the screen play was by Ayn Rand (!).

Wacky dreams again. Last night the dream was about a concert gone wrong (the music hadn't found its way to me and I was going to have to sightread it). This one is about a long road trip. Heading north... I suppose this run of wacky dreams will end, at some point. Or, at least become somewhat less wacky.

Hush money trial begins tomorrow. Donald and his lawyers are to be on hand.

[davidpwilson2564]

Bloget

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Back to the dentist. I never know what to expect. No work this time, no needles, no excavations...just an X-ray and a viewing. Nice walk afterwards.

Very nice weather. The tulips are in bloom.

A few jurors chosen for the Trump trial. His old pal, David Urban, says it's a waste of time and tax payer money. After all what does it matter that he had an affair? We guess that is the attitude of many Trumpists.

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Take the train out to the Brooklyn Museum. The rehearsal goes okay but there are not enough percussionists to cover the parts and we have a time trying to decide what to leave out. It is a program of film music. One of the highlights is the from "Pyscho." Music by Bernard Herrmann. Just strings. My friend Charlie used to say: "It's a musical piece, no percussion."

I get a ride home with David Cox. Fun talking about music and musicians. I miss seeing the guys.

Thursday, April 18, 2024

More jurors chosen for the hush money case. Trump called down by the judge for tweeting a quote from the Fox channel. Something said by Jesse Watters about people lying to get on the jury...Watters is just another smirking clown...part of that Fox bunch.

A long walk. Stops along the way. Cold weather again.

to be continued

[davidpwilson2564]

Bloglet

Saturday, April 14, 2024

In the obits (my friend calls them the Irish Sports Pages): Fritz Peterson, 82, the New York Yankee who traded wives with a teammate. I remembered the incident but couldn't think of the name. Either name. The other Yankee, also a pitcher, was Mike Kekich. This happened during the years when the Yankee bats were slumbering. The Jim Bouton (of "Ball Four" fame), Joe Peppitone years. Steinbrenner bought the team and did a shape-up. No more goofing off. Time to rebuild.

Iran attacks Israel. Drones. Lots of drones. This dominates the news.

Sunday, April 14, 2024

The city gearing up for Trump's criminal trial downtown. Thousands of camera set out. Preparation for huge traffic snarl.

Perfect weather. Errands. The usual.

Note: The vagaries of the music business. My pal Kenny D went into the city to have dinner with his B'way pit buddies. All are in their mid sixties (I am guessing) and all have aged out. Like I said, I am glad to have been able to play until I was eighty. Lucky.

Monday, April 15, 2024

Banking on line. Happy to see that my income tax business is concluded.

This is the first day of jury selection for the hush money trial. Many preliminaries before this gets started. Trump appears to doze off a couple of times. Note that even though a gag order was put in place by the judge Don sent off a few nasty tweets. He may be fined (maybe a few thousand dollars). Whatever the figure, it will be paid by gullible donors.

Later: The day in court concludes. No jurors chosen. Those who begged off probably fearing consequences, possibly being targeted by irate Trumpers. His surly Mob.

An historic moment though. First presidential criminal trial.

Perfect weather. Long lines at the post office. Tax returns due.

In the Park a light snow of falling cherry blossoms.

to be continued

[davidpwilson2564]

Bloglet

Thursday, April 12, 2024

The news that O J Simpson has died of cancer. Most of us remember where we were during the Bronco chase and when the trial wrapped up and (very quick verdict; yearlong trial, one hour deliberation; the jury knew all along) O J was aquitted. And we remember when O J said he was determind to find "the real killers." O J's trouble with the law was not done. He lost the civil suit but stiffed the Goldmans of millions by relocating. Sports hero turned bad guy.

Extensive T V converage on O J.

MAGA Mike going to Mar-a-Lago to kiss up. We learn they are going to discuss "election integrity." We know what that means.

Having little else on the calendar, I begin studying the music for next week's concert.

Friday, April 12, 2024

Such a strange day. Sunlight and rain, alternating.

The hush money trial is going on, it is said. It is supposed to start on Monday. There is still time for Trump to delay it. His legal team is already talking up "pretrial publicity"...etc. Of course HE'S the reason for the pretrial publicity. Will this really happen?

Shotei Ohtani's interpreter and longtime friend, now we find, syphoned off many millions because of a gambling addiction. He was fired (by the Dodgers) and could face thirty years in jail. Shotei, as is his usual custom, has said little.

to be continued

[davidpwilson2564]

Bloglet

Monday, April 8, 2024

Eclipse!

I venture out in the afternoon. For a brief time it became darker and there was a cold wind. Huge turnout in the Park...the wearing of those special glasses. And then...bright sunlight again and people begin wending their way home.

Note: I begin the resignation process re ABT. Feeling rather numb about this. Yikes. Forty five years with the company.

Tuesday, April 9, 2024

Obit for Albert "Tootie" Heath. 88. Drummer. One of the Heath brothers (Jimmy, Percy). All three great jazz musicians. All three, at one time, took up residency in Scandanavia. The obit tells us that "Tootie"'s stepson is the son of baseball star Curt Flood.

Perfect weather. Walking. Errands.

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

We learn that Trump CFO Allen Wiesselberg, recently having served three months, gets an additional five months (for perjury; for having inflated the Boss's net worth). He is seventy six and seems a smallish harmless nebbish. What is the point of putting him in handcuffs?

Nice weather continues. Glad I fully mobile and able to get around and see to errands.

[davidpwilson2564]

Bloglet

Saturday, April 6, 2024

More talk of changing the name of Dulles airport to Trump. Further talk...this time (this can't be serious) of changing federal prison name in Florida to Trump. Now this I like.

Note: Some question about Trump's bond money. A man from California named Don Hankey has put up 175 mil. (This figure far less than first supposed. Trump gets break after break.) But...there is something funny about this. Funny money. Letitia is sniffing it out.

Very nice day. Errands. Stretching my legs. Everyone all worked up about the eclipse, coming our way Monday afternoon. Special glasses being hawked.

Note: I lost a bunch of notes...how odd...figuring what I lost must be somewhere on the computer I kept looking. I must have hit the wrong button. Later... Found them. A mystery solved.

Note: On the Spectrum music channel, Alan Hovhannes Symphony Number 50 (!), subtitle: Mt. St. Helens, opus 360. It is exactly what you would expect. No surprises. I mean, complete with the eruption. I recall in my music library days, talking over the phone to Mrs. (!) Hovhannes. I had tracked down a piece (long story here). She was quite nice. Mr. Hovhannes was quite elderly by this time and there was no chance of having him come from Washington State to New York to be present for the performance. One other thing: "Mysterious Mountain"...known as Symphony Number Two...is unlike the others. I wonder if it's been choreographed (it probably has). It holds together so much better than his other pieces. Did someone else orchestrate it? I'll have to look this up.

Sunday, April 7, 2024

Much talk about tomorrow's eclipse.

Flashback: I had mentioned Byron Janis. The first time I heard him in concert he was performing Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto with the Knoxville Symphony, David Van Vactor conducting. I was stage right when I overheard this conversation:

Van Vactor: Surely you will play an encore.

Janis: Absolutely not.

Years later I realized I was overhearing a two-character play. This concerto is traditionally not followed by an encore (because it is such a bear?). The exchange I heard was part of the tradition.

Two other brief Rachmaninoff notes: He gave his last recital in Knoxville, in 1943. He died in California but was bured in Vallhalla, New York. (The Russians want him back.)

[davidpwilson2564]

Bloglet

Thursday, April 4, 2024

The idea was to finish my taxes today but Roger can't come. I now have all the needed documents in hand. Don't know how much I will owe the Feds but am prepared to take a hit.

The much hated Governor Abbott pays a visit to New York. Makes a speech at a Republican covention. Those Trump hats that are inscribed with 45/47 on the side.

Friday, April 5, 2024

At 10:30 a m hear an odd sound. Wonder if a water pipe burst. Then find out there was an earthquake. Jeez, what next.

Afternoon. Roger comes and we attack my taxes. It is all more complicated than I'd have ever guessed. I come away owing (no surprise) a huge amount to the Feds.

Still thinking of that Trump bible he is pushing. Rallies are now concluding, we are told, with a group prayer. And now this slogan: Make America Pray Again. More fund raising dinners at Mar-a-Lago soon. Oy.

to be continued

[davidpwilson2564]

Bloglet

Tuesday, April 2, 2024

Bus to the East Side. Another visit to the dentist. Such awful music in the waiting room. But once I am called in things go pretty fast. I never know what to expect. This time it's novocaine and work on my jaw. Afterwards I try to make my way home before the novocaine wears off. I stop off to vote for Joe Biden. (The Presidential Primary Election. It only takes a minute. The poll is just across the street from my apartment.) Am somewhat successful in contolling the hurt but nursing pain tends to pall after a while and I do errands, like any other day.

Rumor of changing the name of Dulles airport to Trump. I want to see his name coming down, not going up. We are told that Hope Hicks is going to show up for the hush money trial. It is difficult for me to believe that this triail (small stuff, as things go) hasn't disappeared. In the meanwhile the other trials are being delayed, and delayed.

Wednesday, April 3, 2024

Have to decide if I'm going to go to the Social Security office and sit for hours or try to reach them on the phone. I do the latter. Told I will have an hour and half wait. Put the phone on speaker. Such insipid music. Get a live voice in about an hour. They will mail me a form. This is all about my not having taken out enough for taxes. I will adjust this so that I don't have a big hit when next year's tax time comes around.

Read obit for John Barth. 93. I remember when we were handing around "The Sot-Weed Factor" and getting a laugh. Barth followed this with "Giles, Goat-Boy." Note too that he was an amateur drummer. It is nice to remember some of the books that we "all were reading." Much of college was a grind but we had a few laughs and shared a few books.

[davidpwilson2564]

Sunday, March 31, 2024

Easter. So strange not having an Easter gig.

I go to the desk and write for fifteen minutes or so. It's been quite a long time since I done something other than mere notetaking. I suffer, big time, from writer's block, which started for me four years ago.

It is the book about conductors, loaned to me by Roger, that got me going. We will see if this morning's effort was only a fluke.

I pull myself together and head out to Queens. Trouble with the trains. At Euclid Ave, towards the end of my trip, I have to change trains. A brandnew A train pulls in. Bright and shiny...and, no surprise, the announcements being made are impossible for the human ear to decipher.

I haven't seen the grandkids in a while but we pick up where we left off. Very nice time with Kenichi, Jean and the girls. Sit in the backyard...

The trip back into the city goes without incident. Home...and happy to be. My favorite drink. A bit of the news on TV and so to bed.

Overly complicated dreams (this has been going on since my semi-retirement). Inactivy, after a lifetime of being gainfully employed, comes with some difficulty. Dreams of being late for work, not being able to find my music...that sort of thing.

Monday, April 1, 2024

Pay some bills. Get in my steps.

Trump has been bailed out. Funny money, I suppose. Someone has come up with 175 mil.

Happy to have spent some time with the grandkids.

[davidpwilson2564]

Friday, March 29, 2024

Bloglet

Odd to think of not having an Easter gig. All of those years of going out to Brooklyn to pay an Easter service.

The Mets opening day. They are one-hit (a solo homer) by the Brewers. A chilly day out there at Citi Field.

I learn that Lara Trump, lately in the news (newly appointed co-chair of the RNC) sings, and has come out with a new recording. God help us.

Not sure how sales are going re that bible her father in law is pushing. Autographed. Trump says it's his "favorite book." Can't pick, he says, a favorite passage, as there are so many.

Saturday, March 30, 2024

Huge turnout in Long Island for the funeral of Officer Dillon. Someone has words with Governor Hochul and she leaves. She was booed by the cops, who promote the story that she is soft on crime.

Trump made a thing of praying with the grieving family, the thought of which is stomach turning.

A truck flying Trump banners is seen near the funeral. A huge poster of Biden hog-tied. This is posted by Trump. There is a response from the Democrats followed by a nasty message from Trump's spokesperson, Steven Cheung. Horrible.

Suddenly, as if overnight, the dogwoods and cherry blossoms are in bloom.

[davidpwilson2564]

Bloglet

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Roger comes and we look at my taxes. This turns out to be far more difficult than I'd ever have guessed. (Unanticipated problem with pop-up on my computer. Red hell getting rid of.) At one point I thought my head would explode. Later we take a break from it and have a glass of wine. We will have to do this in two installments (and I thought it would be so easy).

Biden, Obama, Clinton...all at fundraiser at Radio City. Not to be out of the limelight, DJT attends wake of cop murdered in the Rockaways (the result of a routine traffic stop). Terrible story. Trump, of course, turns this into a campaign stop. Another rambling, repetitive speech. About rampant crime, etc. He, who is guilty of so many crimes.

In the meantime Trump's lawyer is in Atlanta, trying to get the RICO case dismissed. Freedom of Speech and all that. It appears the judge isn't buying it. It's all about Fani Willis and her boyfriend. The salacious details...an unmarried Black couple going to prestige destinations together. That is the part, let's be honest, that so galls the Righteous Right.

Insomnia. From my window a view, in the wee hours, of the show-room style lobby across the street (very high end). It has twenty four hour doorman service. The uniformed doorman. His lonely vigil.

[davidpwilson2564]

Bloglet

Sunday, March24, 2024

Some of the ISIS attackers of the Crocus concert venue were rounded up. They will be summarily tortured and killed. Putin still blames Ukraine.

Ronna McDaniel, former RNC head, later demoted, gets a job on NBC. Much unhappiness as she is a Trumpist and election denier. (You have to say that the election was stolen in order be a part of Trump's team.) Not a good choice. There is already a move to oust her. (She earlier went by the name of Ronna Romney McDaniel. Dropped the Romney in deference to The Boss, His Orangeness.)

Monday, March 25, 2024

Trump goes to court. Turns it into a campaign appearance. Makes a rambling speech. Is given a break re that bond. It is greatly reduced (no surprise here). A date is set for the hush money trial. April 15.

I hope I am not coming down with another cold. Terrible timing.

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Catastrophe in Baltimore. The Francis Scott Key Bridge, hit by a barge. Collapses. Truly frightening sight. It fell like a kid's erector set.

I meet with a man from U T. Odd that I am still on the alumni list. (As the world counts success, I really have had much.) Nice conversation with him, about Knoxville, the Sixties, etc. Later I note that my memory is not what it used to be. There were holes where names should be.

One name I couldn't come up with...I later phone Rusty Holloway in Knoxville and the mystery is solved. Nice chat with him. I think I should reach out a bit more.

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Percussion concert at Juilliard. The kids play great. So many notes!

DJT is selling bibles! Autographed bibles. And during Holy Week. He has said that this is his favorite book. Can't name a favorite passage because, he says, he has so many. Wow.

to be continued

[davidpwilson2564]

Bloglet (22-23)

Friday, March 22, 2024

Princess Kate annouces that she has cancer. We wish the best for her. How can one not like Kate?

MTG (that voice!) wants to dump Little Mike. She is described as a "firebrand" but I can think of a number of better names to desribe her.

In the night a torrential rain begins.

Saturday, March 23, 2024

The number of dead steadily increases after the ISIS attack of a concert venue near Moscow. Now they are saying that 133 people were killed. Young pop/rock fans. Putin, newly "reelected," blames Ukraine.

Note: This is the hall where Trump held the Miss Universe pageant in 2013, giving rise to a number of unsavory rumors.

Rain continues. I do not go out. Breaking with tradition I rent "Poor Things." Didn't it win a lot of prizes? For all of its special effects it is difficult to watch, bringing to mind the films of Lars von Trier (among them, "Breaking the Waves.") Controversial, experimental...that sort of thing. The movie stars Emma Stone, who took home an Oscar for best actress. In the movie she is nude (too) much of the time. Having the body of an ironing board, she is not easy on the eye.

More rain.

to be continued

[davidpwilson2564]

Bloglet (20-21) NOTES LOST...MARCH 5 FF. A MYSTERY

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

It is rumored that Trump might have to sell something in order to post 464 mil. The deadline is Monday. Trump is throwing a big dollar dinner at Mar-a-Lago. No surprise.

Afternoon: I begin doing my taxes. It goes much quicker than I thought it might. No big surprises. My earning years at an end, I am now part of the "fixed income" seniors. (But I had a good run.)

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Scandal: Ohtani's translator has a gambling addiction. He lost four and half million. It appears that Ohtani covered for him. A rather involved story...Ippei has been Ohtani's friend and translator for some years. When the story broke (and Ohtani paid off the debt) Ippei was summarily fired. Another translator (in the employ of a second L A Dodger Japanese pitcher) replaced Ippei. (Shotei has a 700 million contract. Could bail out his friend and not even feel it. But...such an odd story, Shotei being so squeaky clean. Sports betting, we learn, though rampant in other parts of America, is still illegal in California.) There will be more to this story but this is what we've learned so far.

Some Trump properties may have to be sold off. Trump's team went begging, approaching, we are told, many billionaires. A deadline for the half-billion bill is due next Monday. In the past Trump was always rescued by his dad. Just down the street from where I live, on Central Park West, is a property that might have to go. It's the Trump International Hotel. Many tourists have their photo taken standing in front of the sign. It would be funny to see the Trump name erased. (It has happened, further west...the name, the gold letters, expunged.)

Cold weather again. Errands. Crunch more numbers in prep of doing taxes. It goes much more quickly than I'd have guessed. I have been fortunate. Like I said, a good run.