Day 113, July 7, 2020

All the Ingredients


Today's Soundtrack: Wes Montgomery Live 1965

Sesame/Perilla Leaves
Wes is so smooth, and he has great control his accents. It is so interesting to have listened to him play so many times, but this is the first time I've actually seen a video of him playing. It is miraculous this modern age we live in when we can scroll back to a time when four cats could set up in a studio together and play music.

I'm envious of jazz musicians' vocabulary. They draw from such a rich songbook of tunes while I toil away at the same small handful of songs I've retained over the years. Well, I guess it is different with bands, we have a pretty good repertoire between all the bands I've played in, but I would like to expand the number of jazz tunes I know, and so for the past few... one hundred and thirteen days, I've learned a few new tunes, mostly by listening to them over the stereo and playing along. my old fallback when I used to live in a dorm room and played along to Duane Allman's greatest hits cassette, each song from a different studio setting so that the tuning was always slightly changing from song to song because of the speed of the master tape, or the band tuning to a slightly out of pitch piano. In any case, it was a tricky thing to play along to. You either needed to retune to each song, or carefully bend notes to fit.

Of course now, when I get stuck and can't figure something out I can pull out the phone and find an example of someone, somewhere, playing that song. On my first day back to work, yesterday, I had a fit of inspiration and took advantage of a summer sale on a collection of jazz ebooks. 

Now, this may seem strange from a fella who has been writing a blog, but I've never really been a fan of ebooks. I love the tactile nature of paper. I like how the printed page is typically bigger than I can get on a screen, and I like how I can write in pencil or pen, underline passages, scribble and exclamation, or in the case of music, draw an arrow pointing at something I keep missing. Because I am not a sight reader, learning a new song is really a practice in memorization. 

Of course, I'm watching Wes Montgomery basically teach new songs to his band while they are on tv. I'm far too slow to be in Wes' band. Haha. 

I take a long time to learn a long, to memorize it. And then it takes me longer still to become comfortable with the tune so it can be smooth and open itself up to improvisation. So that kind of learning lends itself to sheets of paper that you can tape together and drape over a music stand. But my desire to learn new tunes has filled my inbox with PDFs and the potential to bend myself over the glow of my iPad, and probably have to wear my reading glasses.

It is a little strange and a little annoying that Wes is trying to teach his band how to play a tune on TV. I assume this was a TV broadcast. After about five minutes of calling out chords and tempos, they are finally off on a tune.

So my hope is that in my free time... which is quite rare, I will make my way through the jazz song books and emerge from the pandemic a real hip cat. Of course the reality is somewhat less inspiring, but the way I figure it, if I can learn just a few more songs, I'll be happy. Every success over entropy is a brilliant success! So, once I crack open an ebook, I'll let you all know how it goes.

In a somewhat similar vein, my sister-in-law sent us one of those meal-in-a-box subscriptions that feels a little like a pyramid scheme that just sucks you in and everyone you know... but that aside, our first meals arrived today and for dinner I made scallops on Parmesan risotto, with asparagus. And damn, it was quite tasty. In lieu of the marvelous restaurants we would treat ourselves to during the week, with a little more effort (a lot more on the part of the risotto), we got a marvelous meal... and following the directions, the scallops were cooked just right! I think it was a surprising success and I look forward to our next meal in a box! Thanks, Jung!

Enjoy the Wes,
Leo

Water collected in a spider web after a storm.

From Our Friends:

From Academic Impressions:

Create a Culture of Cross-Campus Open Dialogue

July 16, 2020 | Virtual Workshop

Learn how to engage your toughest critics to build a culture of cross-campus dialogue and belonging.

The recent Black Lives Matter movement and the fallout from COVID-19 have higher ed leaders searching for constructive ways to engage students, faculty, and staff in dialogue about difficult issues. Listening to underrepresented voices and creating space for healthy exchange is critical for building an engaged community and maintaining a positive campus climate. 

There are no easy answers, but campus dialogue is a tool to help start the conversation.

Presented by:

  • Edwin Mayes, Director, First-Year Experience & Family Programs, Case Western Reserve University
  • Naomi Sigg, Director, Office of Multicultural Affairs, Case Western Reserve University

 

 

View the Program


From Black Lives Matter:


From the National Institutes of Health:

Native American Organizations Serving the Community

(Please note this is not a complete listing of all AI/AN National Organizations.)

From the Vermont Studio Center:

  • Resources for Artists and Writers During COVID-19.
  • Visit Virtual VSC for interviews, studio visits, readings, and more.


Franklin contemplating getting in.

Today's Online Teaching Tips:

From the Online Learning Consortium:

Missed the Conference? No Problem!

It’s not too late to get access to this amazing, first-ever OLC virtual conference! The recorded sessions (nearly 300) are available on-demand for one full year. See full details and register here. Please email conference@onlinelearning-c.org if you have any questions.

From the OTC (Online Teaching Conf):

An archive of sessions from the recent June conference!

From OpenStax:

We offer free webinars featuring our staff, partners, textbook authors, students, and book adopters. Whether you need ideas for teaching in a pandemic or are looking for courseware, we know you’ll find a webinar that piques your interest. Register for our webinars in advance to save your spot.

From Course Hero:

 
 
 


From ConexED:


  • Meet students where they are without losing the ability to connect face to face.
  • Eliminate administrative burdens with online self-scheduling for office hours.
  • Ensure ADA, FERPA, and HIPAA compliance within video, audio, and text chats.
  • Make it easy for students to connect with an interactive contact card embedded in any online course or webpage.

With more students learning online, faculty need to be more accessible online. To learn how (and why), read the Virtual Student Services Playbook for 2020–2021.


 
 

   Register for free   

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