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In conversation with robert glasper
By Ted Panken
ōI'm dramatic,ö Robert Glasper told me in 2005 for a Downbeat story. ōI feel like an actor and a painterŚall the arts in one. When I play, I won't sacrifice the vibe for some chops.ö
On his 2009 release, Double Booked [Blue Note], Glasper actualizes this aspiration more completely than on any of his previous recordings. He devotes the first half to his soulful, expansive, highly individualized conception of the acoustic piano trio, drawing harmonic references from a timeline spanning Bud Powell to Mulgrew Miller. His lines flow organically through a succession of odd-metered and swing grooves and unfailingly melodic beats. He stretches out, but heÆs also not afraid to milk his melodies and develop them slowly, using techniques of tension and release more commonly heard in functional situations than art music contexts. For part two, Glasper transitions to a plugged-in mise en scene, deploying spoken word and rhymes from such luminaries as Mos Def and Bilal. The latter both employ the Houston native on both recorded and performance projects, as have the likes of Q-Tip (The Renaissance), Kanye West (Late Registration), MeShell Ndegeocello (The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams), Erykah Badu, J Dilla, Jay-Z, Talib Kweli, Common, and, most recently, Maxwell, who kept Glasper on the road for consequential chunks of 2009.
Out of Houston, Texas, where he attended Houston's High School of Performing and Visual Arts, Glasper developed his ability to spin tales in music from emulation of his mother, the late Kim Yvette Glasper, a professional jazz, blues and church singer, and from early experience playing the service in three different churches, one Baptist, one Seventh Day Adventist, and one Catholic.
ōThe music in the church is built on feeling, period,ö he told me. ōItÆs not æGiant Steps.Æ People give praise or cry, and you have to control all those things. You put a little something behind the pastor. Depending on the type of song, church music has jazz elements and pop elements, too. Hip-Hop is natural for me, because church music has a lot of the same grooves. I just fall inŚtake from here, take from there, but donÆt take too much from one thing.ö
In late August, I caught up with Glasper, now married and a father, at the offices of EMI-Blue Note for a conversation.
Describe your last few months of work. How much has it been divided between the acoustic trio, being on the road with Maxwell and your other sideman things, and to the Experimental Project? To what degree theyÆre separate and to what degree related would be a good way to launch the conversation.
Actually, this year I havenÆt been doing much, because I just had a baby, January 22nd, and I pretty much stayed home until April to be with the baby and my lady. I did a few trio gigs at the end of March, and then I went to Africa and did the Capetown Jazz Festival with the Experiment. So we did one night with the Experiment there, and the very next night we did the Experiment with MosÆ Def. Then right from there, which is funny, I flew home for one day, on my birthday, April 6th. The plane was delayed for six hours. So I got to stay home literally, like, 8 hours, got on the plane, flew to Japan to do the Cotton Club with the Trio for a week. Did the Cotton Club with the Trio for a week. Right from Japan, I flew straight to Oakland to do a week with MosÆ Def with my Experiment band, at both of the YoshiÆsŚwent back and forth from the San Francisco YoshiÆs to the Oakland YoshiÆs. We did that for a week. Then I came home, and basically started the Maxwell rehearsals. Then I went on tour with Maxwell for two months. Got back maybe a week-and-a-half ago. Now IÆm starting back out with Max next week, and weÆre going to be gone until the middle of November. Then I go out with my trio when I get back, to do a few dates in Europe. Then I go to Japan with the Experiment in December, with Bilal as my special guest. Now weÆre actually booking more dates around that time. IÆm going to be home for like two months. So weÆre trying to do it like that.
But youÆre not double-booked for any of those.
IÆm not double-booked for any of those, no-no-no. But day to day, IÆm doing one or the other.
So itÆs a pretty even split.
ItÆs a pretty even split. Right now, itÆs working out, and I can really say IÆm working. ThatÆs a good thing.
Double Booked has some structural similarities to the other records. However, where the other records presented one sound, this one presents two. That said, particularly on your Blue Note records, you use the producerÆs strategy of splitting the record in half. In My Element began with originals, and then the flavor changed.
Can you speak to how your thinking about making recordings has evolved since your first one, Mood [Fresh Sound], which I wrote the liner notes for. On that one, you said you were trying to do in with an open attitude, like it was a gig. Three years later, when I spoke with you for a Downbeat when you released Canvas, you said the opposite.
For most of Mood, it was just trio, and it was on a small label, so I wasnÆt shaking or scared, really. I was, ōOk, IÆll do a record on Fresh Sounds. No oneÆs going to hear it.ö [LAUGHS] For me, it was ōeverybody does a record for Fresh Sounds; whatever.ö So there was no pressure. So I tried to approach it like a gig. But it didnÆt really come off the way I wanted to, because we recorded at 10 in the morningŚyou donÆt do gigs at 10 in the morning! Canvas was my first Blue Note...
But it obviously got some attention.
Yes, it definitely got more attention than I was expecting, so that was great as well. When I did Canvas, though, obviously thatÆs another level. ItÆs Blue Note now. ItÆs going to be a debut thing. So I wasnÆt so comfortable. I didnÆt really approach this one as a gig. This was more like, ōlet me think this out, because the world is going to hear this.ö I had Mark Turner on that record, had Bilal on that record. It was more a compositional record, I think, for me. It wasnÆt so much about the trio. It was more about what my sound is and the vibe of my compositions.
For In My Element, I was way more comfortable. It was just about the trio. We had just got off tour, so we knew the songs. IÆm not one of those artists that spring up new songs on the day of the hit. I like to know what weÆre going to do as far as the songs weÆre going to play. IÆm not really about, ōOk, IÆm going to take two choruses here, and you do this.ö I donÆt like to structure it, because I do want it to have the feeling and vibe of a live gig. IÆd like to keep that as much as possible.
For this record, I started recording a little bit later, so I could have the vibe of, ōok, IÆm playing at night now.ö I had a few drinks at the studio. I wanted to keep it loose and have the vibe correct. ItÆs really cold in the studio, and the walls are white, and you have the headphones onŚit can really kill the vibe. So if you donÆt feel jazz, itÆs hard to play comfortable. So I tried to keep that feeling as much as possible. For In My Element, weÆd been on tour with it, so it was comfortableŚalmost every song except for one or two, were first takes, and we only did one take, of ōIn My Element.ö Same thing with Double Booked. Every song on the trio side were first takes and only takes, except I did one extra take on ō59 South,ö just to do it, because it was the last song we recorded. Incidentally, we never played that one before. That was really new, and I brought it to the studio, and we did it the first time, and it worked outŚthen I did a second take.
For the Experiment side of Double Booked, same thing. We recorded them in different places, different times. But my Experiment Band is different, too. I love them because weÆve only had one real rehearsal. Everything else we kind of vibe on stage and come up with. Even when we play songs, we might learn a song, say, at a soundcheck, or say, ōHey, learn this song separately, and letÆs come together and see what happens.ö I love that surprise aspect of it, the way it sounds organic when we do it like that. ThatÆs what happened in the studio. Every song was a first take. We recorded at night, once again had some drinks there, chilled out and made it really loose. So every song on the Experiment side was a first and only take, except two or three takes of the Bilal song, ōAll Matter,ö because that was our first time ever playing the song.
My main thing is trying to translate to CD the live, organic, comfortable performance you would see if you went to the Village Vanguard or another club. ThatÆs hard to do, but I try to get as close to it as possible.
Is there a different intention with the Experiment than the acoustic trio?
Not really different intentions. What makes my trio different, I think, is that we tap into the hip-hop side, and most piano trios donÆt do that, and do it back and forth. But with the Experiment, itÆs, ōOk, letÆs go all the way in and go for it.ö ItÆs not even like Experiment is a hip-hop band. If you listen to the record, all of the songs arenÆt hip-hop. ItÆs not like that at all. WeÆre a worldly music thing, I guess you could say, in a way. ItÆs more a hiphop-fusion-jazz-soul vibe, if you will.
Not everything you do as a sideman is hiphop either. Maxwell isnÆt hiphop.
Exactly. ItÆs a mixture. When people refer to Experiment, they say hiphop, but for the most part itÆs a different side of me that I canÆt really portray in a trio setting. I get to play as a sideman when I play with the Experiment. I get to comp behind Casey Benjamin, and come from a whole different angle musically. I bring in the Rhodes and electric bass, and sonically itÆs a different sound, too. So itÆs a band that can take you more places than an acoustic piano trio can take you. You can only go so far with acoustic piano and acoustic bass.
The transitions are delineated by a pair of phone messages. This isnÆt the first time youÆve used your answering machine as part of the recordŚyou included a message from Dilla on In My Element. At the beginning of the CD is a message from Terence BlanchardŚōAre you double booked? Give me a call.ö Halfway through, thereÆs a different sort of message from Quest Love. In any event, were you double booked?
[LAUGHS] ThatÆs the story of the record. IÆve actually been double-booked before. Not with Terence in that instance. But I wanted to find a way to make this album make sense, because when youÆre listening it could well seem very random. ōHuh? Where did that come from?ö I wanted to make a story line. Most jazz records donÆt go that deep into their record to do that. ThatÆs more of a hiphop thing, a pop thing, to have interludes and storylines and messages and things. ItÆs interesting, and I think jazz needs to be more interesting.
We tend to be snobs at times. The whole genre tends toward musical snobbery, in a way. You go to a jazz concert, it could be like going to a golf tournament or something. SHHH. They have that whole vibe. IÆm of this generation, and we do things like that. We make the music fun. I try to make it more than just your average record. So I try to throw in those little musical snacks, interludes, and phone messages from people in my other worlds, and make it somewhat different than the normal jazz recordŚhere it is, hereÆs the tunes.
Are you thinking about it before, or is it all post-production?
For this record, definitely before. I had to figure out the way I wanted to make the record make sense and make a story out of it. Like I say, I didnÆt want it to be random.
There are a number of components to your style, which youÆve spoken of. ThereÆs hiphop and jazz. ThereÆs certainly gospel. ThereÆs a blues feeling, too. You also have a pretty distinctive time feel, as has often been noted. IÆd like to talk about these elements discretely, perhaps beginning with gospelŚand blues as well. As you described to me, early on you played some drums in church, and your mother, who was a singer, brought you with her to clubs, because she wouldnÆt entrust you to baby-sitters.
You said: ōI have a certain feel, a certain way of thinking and imagining and hearing harmony, and it all descends from coming up in and playing music in the church.ö
I guess thatÆs where I developed my sound. Growing up in church gave me my way of hearing harmony; I would take church and gospel harmonies and mix them with the jazz harmonies I know. ThatÆs not too normal in jazz. Pretty much, the jazz realm, especially when you look at standards and so on, is very II-V-I oriented in the chord changes and AABA in the form. The form and the chord changes tend to repeat a lotŚthough of course, nowadays, people are branching out and doing all kinds of things. I would write gospel tunes all the time, and people would say about my gospel tunes, ōThey sound a little jazzy.ö But then, when I played jazz, they say, ōI hear gospel.ö I try not to ignore any part of my background or what I hear. I become a vessel for the music that I hear, and just let it come out how it comes out.
Your sound and harmonic imagination come through pretty fully-formed on Mood, the first record. I think the evolution has come in other wayŚnarrative focus, broader frames of reference, more clarity. But thereÆs a pretty recognizable line from when you were 21-22. Would you agree with that?
Yeah, I would. IÆm glad of that. I didnÆt think so at the time, I didnÆt know at the time, until I did the record and started hearing that. ōWait. Maybe I do have a certain sound.ö ThatÆs the greatest compliment anybody can tell someoneŚōYou have your own sound.ö ItÆs different than, ōYouÆre a good jazz musicianö or ōboy, you can really play.ö ThereÆs a million people who can really play, but that donÆt have a sound. ItÆs totally different. I know people who arenÆt really great players, but they have a sound, and they can write, and they also have a sound compositionally. IÆll take that over just being a good player, because those come a dime a dozen.
Another component of gospel is not the sound that imprinted itself on your consciousness, but that you started working as a professional musician at a very early age in the church.
Exactly. Especially for African Americans, too. ThatÆs the only place where at 8 years old you can get a paycheck playing music. People donÆt come up with money, so if youÆre a musician, itÆs a way you can help out with the family. I know people literally 7 years old that play drums in church who make a check. ThereÆs no other way you can do that musically at 7 right around the corner from your house.
No more Jackson 5.
No more Jackson 5, that kind of stuff. Church is very accessible for African-American people to come up and play in. Then from church, thatÆs when you develop being spiritual in music, being able to touch someone with a song. When you play in church, the audience, the congregation, the choir, are all reacting to you as well. Everything you play, the singers are reacting to you, the audience is reacting to that, and itÆs all very spiritual. I think thatÆs another part of music that I take from church as wellŚnot playing for the sake of playing but for the spiritual aspect, the emotion, the realness of it, the organic honesty of the whole thing.
By the age of 16, you were orchestrating 10,000 congregants in a service at the Brentwood Church in Houston, where Joe Samuel Ratliff was the pastor. ThatÆs quite a responsibility. And not just there, but at the Catholic church nearby, and another service, too...
Then I played another service on Saturdays with my mom at a Seventh Day Adventist church. So I was rolling in the dough in high school!
Talk about your learning curve. How quickly did you develop facility at the piano? And what do you think allowed you to have that kind of perspective and detachment at that age?
I donÆt know. Honestly, I think I was born with that thing. I just discovered it late. Then I think I always had the talent to play the piano, but kind of refused itŚI kind of tapped in and just left it alone. I thought I was going to be a track star, but it didnÆt work out for me. I ran the mile. I was pretty fast. Up until four years ago, the record for my elementary school for the mile run was still up. No one had beat it. I donÆt even know if itÆs been beaten yet. But four years ago, my old coach found me, emailed me, ōgood to hear what youÆve been doing; by the way, your record for the mile run has still not been beaten.ö Oh yeah! Look out. Bolt, look out!
I think Bolt is safe for a while.
HeÆs amazing. Bolt is a very inspirational cat to me right now. But I think I got the musical gene from my mom. Well, my whole family is pretty musical. My grand-dadÆs a singer, my aunt is a singer. So when you go to our family reunion, itÆs like a musical. EverybodyÆs singing and doing things. So just my sensibility to music, and even to my facility on the piano... I canÆt explain it, because I never had formal lessons. IÆve just been able to play. That came natural. Along the way, I learned certain things, definitely, but it all pretty much came natural. And then, holding down a church service by yourself on a piano does require some facility as well. Certain things youÆve just got to be able to do. That helped as well.
You couldnÆt have been entirely self-taught, though, because you did go to Houston High School of Performing Arts, a magnet school, where there must have been some formal training..
Yes. But there wasnÆt piano training there. All the school had there was a jazz combo and a jazz band. Jazz big band and jazz combo. Basically, theyÆd give you charts, and youÆd just learn tunes and stuff like that. We had a harmony class, so you would learn things about harmony, ear training, and so on, that, but never an actual piano teacher who would sit down with you at the piano and show you things. To this day, IÆve still never had a real piano teacher. I just picked up things here and there where I could, off the streets. A lot of comrade church musicians, we would sit down and shed together. I got a lot from Alan Mosley, a piano player in Houston who played with my mom all the time. HeÆs the reason why I even play jazz. HeÆd come over to the house and rehearse with my mom, and IÆd sit there by the piano the whole rehearsal and watch him play, and afterwards heÆd show me things. I think the first jazz tune I learned to play was ōSpiderman,ö the actual cartoon SpidermanŚhe taught me a jazz way to do it, like a minor blues. Then he showed me how to play ōCherokee,ö how to play ōGiant Steps,ö things of that nature. So heÆd be it as far as a jazz teacher or piano teacher goes.
A very pragmatic education. Put your fingers here, you get this sound.
IÆd like to talk about pianistic influences. You have a Herbie Hancock tune on every one of your records. I know youÆve said that this is by accident, but it canÆt really be one.
The first two albums it was completely, ōDang. Really? I did it again.ö Kind of accdental, not really thinking about it, just kind of happened. Then In My Element, I actually further Radioheadalized ōMaiden Voyage,ö which IÆd done on Mood, but hid the Radiohead more, so it wasnÆt so obvious. But there I wanted to make it obvious, so I redid it for that purpose. Then on Double Booked, we did ōButterfly.ö Now a part of my repertoire is Herbie songs. We feel comfortable playing them, and heÆs an amazing composer.
Actually, I thought for the life of me that ōSilly Rabbitö was referencing ōJackrabbitö from Inventions and Dimensions.
Not one bit. But itÆs certainly in that vibe. HerbieÆs impact on me is his ability to go between any genre of music and fit right in. Herbie could easily go from a Bonnie Raitt gig to a Stevie Wonder gig to a Miles Davis gig to a MosÆ Def gig, to any gig he wants to go to, and just slip right in, and sound amazing, and still sound like HerbieŚbut fit whatÆs happening. HeÆs like water. He fits the shape of whatever is needed without losing his self, his consistency, his own thing. Now, heÆs one of my favorite acoustic piano players, but heÆs also my favorite on Rhodes. No one gets a sound out of the Rhodes like Herbie. ItÆs amazing. WhatÆs heÆs done in terms of branching off from his acoustic jazz career, and doing the Headhunters and the Mwandishi stuff, and getting into the hiphop side, and getting the recognition heÆs got from the world. Everyone knows ōRockit.ö ItÆs hard for a jazz person to get that recognition. Most people know ōWatermelon Man,ö believe it or not. Stuff like that. And he hasnÆt lost any respect from anyone by any means. HeÆs still playing to this day. I respect him on the piano, and also off the piano, just business-wise and his imagination. Then thereÆs how open he is to this day. HeÆs not a musical snob. Not one bit. It maybe an ōus Ariesö thing. HeÆs very open, and he sounds open. When heÆs playing, he sounds like heÆs having fun, and I love that, too. Some people take what they do way too seriously, so it comes across. But you can hear heÆs having fun, reaching for things. I love his spirit as well.
7-8 years ago, you mentioned Keith Jarrett less as a stylistic influence than as a template for your trio playing. Does that still hold true?
Yes, that totally still holds true. With Keith, itÆs so organic, and he translates that very well from live to record. Everybody in the trio has a voice, and it makes the music more interesting. When you go to KeithÆs concert, you donÆt know where everything is going to come from. You can tell everybody has a place, and also trades places.
Monk. You do ōThink of Oneö on this. I like the version, because you played the tune idiomatically but also sounded like yourself. When did you get involved in MonkÆs music? In high school or later?
No, that came after. Even when I first got to college, I wasnÆt a big Monk fan. I liked his tunes. That became a thing, especially in college. Everybody tries to learn the most obscure Monk tunes, have a competition who knows the most obscure Monk tunesŚbut I was never really so into it. Around mid-college, 1999-2000, I became more intrigued by him.
Was it being in New York for a while?
That, but then also, when everywhere you go, everybodyÆs trying to play a Monk tune. You think, ōLet me check this out and see what it is.ö
What hadnÆt appealed to you, and when then did appeal to you?
Now IÆm more into the composition and his comping. And MonkÆs attitude. He had a certain attitude when he played, a fun, free attitude like what I hear when I hear Herbie or Chick. Have fun. It so comes across. MonkÆs that way. When you watch him, you can tell. But in college, checking out his compositions really did it for me. When I decided to do a Monk tune, I didnÆt want to do it the regular way. Everyone does Monk tunes all the time, to the point where, after a while, it gets annoying, because ōok, now youÆall just doing it to do it.ö YouÆre not doing it any justice. So when I did do one, I wanted to do it in a way that was fresh and new, and at the same time you never lose the tune. Some people will redo something, and itÆs like, ōwhere is the song?ö TheyÆll even change the melody to fit some chord or something. Huh? So I try to respect the song, and at the same time put my own thing on it, and at the same time make it as modern as possible. ThatÆs what I did when I mixed it with Dilla. I came up with that idea.
Speaking of Dilla, letÆs talk about your time feel. A few years ago, you told me that Damion Reed, who played drums with you then, called the way you feel time ōthe circle.ö You continued: ōWe donÆt think straight-ahead like 1-2-3-4. We feel where the measures end, do whatever we have to do between 1 and 4 to get back to the 1, and then come in together.ö Does that description still obtain for the way you think about time?
Yes, but not so much as then, because I play a little bit different with Chris Dave. Damion was more open and free-flowing, to the point where sometimes the time would get lostŚyou donÆt know where it is. ItÆs still there, but itÆs more mysterious where the time is. Chris is a master at knowing where the time is, and doing so many different things with it, but you still feel where it is. So I still feel the pulse. With Damien, you would lose the pulse sometimesŚin a good way. ōOh, shit, whereÆd it go, whereÆd it go? Ah, there it is.ö BAM. So it made me play a certain way within measures. That still has its place now, too, at times, but not so much as it did.
You obviously use many beats from hiphop, particularly ideas that were in play during the æ90s, in your formative years and when you first became involved. Can you speak to your perception of how hiphop affected jazz time? Also, once in New York, did you personally incorporate other rhythmic influences? You arrived here at a time when various hybrids were taking shape. Dafnis Prieto came to town in 1999, along with other Cuban and Afro-Caribbean musicians. Brad MehldauÆs ideas were well-established.
A lot of those things are true, but probably I didnÆt realize it, just being in it. Sometimes it just seeps in, and you donÆt know. Just going from club to club and playing with different people in school and outside of school, a lot of things affect you, and you donÆt even know. ItÆs like catching a cold. You never really know where exactly you got the cold; just you get home and donÆt feel too well. You donÆt know if you got it on the subway, when you were outside, when you were at McDonaldÆs. So a lot of the rhythmic things are just being in New York and getting all of it at different times.
But also, playing in a soul and hiphop setting often, as well as playing jazz often, I would intermingle the two without really trying, I think. IÆm used to playing this way time-wise. When I play hiphop and soul, especially with the people I was playing with, behind the beat is kind of the thing to do. It has a certain feel. So I took that over to the jazz realm, and it became my style, in a way, to have that kind of vibe with the jazz style. The jazz style tends to be on top of the beat more, versus laid-back. I think I get that from especially hiphop in the area of Dilla, who I got into around 2000-2001. His stuff is about things like sampling pianos, or any instrument, putting it way back behind the drums, and the bass is way behind, but the snare on the drums is a little bit ahead, and thereÆs nothing landing you anywhereŚyouÆre just wobbling around in the middle, nodding your head, like ōOh my God. I feel the time; I canÆt really nail it, but itÆs there.ö ItÆs kind of mysterious. I call it ōdrunk funk. Anyway, I took that, and cats like Pete Rock have the same thing, and some Tribe Called Quest things (which Dilla was part of for the first part of his career) have the same thing. DJ Premier, too.
WhatÆs the appeal of that time feel?
It just feels so good. It doesnÆt feel jagged or in a rush. It feels like youÆre taking your time, like youÆre just chillinÆ. YouÆre not taking anything too...almost too seriously. I feel like IÆm hanging out for a while! Or something. You feel more in control, too. Because when everything is jagged, and youÆre on top and theyÆre on top, it feels like rush hour. Imagine being in rush hour, but youÆre going slow as hell, but youÆre still with everybody, so everybody else is looking at you like youÆre in slow motionŚthereÆs no traffic for you but itÆs rush hour. ItÆs an interesting feeling.
Would the rush hour feeling have anything to do with a northern way of thinking vis-a-vis a southern way of thinking?
Not really. Honestly, I think itÆs a mixture of the two. Culturally, African-American people tend to lay back behind the beat. Other cultures tend to be more on top of the beat. [DEMONSTRATES ON HIS CHEST] That lazy, fucked-up rhythm from Africa. ItÆs passed down. ItÆs more natural. WeÆre more rhythmic people, if you will. I think thatÆs probably what it is.
In high school, before you came to New York, what hiphop were you listening to?
Mostly just Tribe Called Quest and some Busta Rhymes stuff. I wasnÆt as big into hiphop in high school as I became once I moved to New York.
Was this because of the church influence?
Church influence. For the most part, my life was pretty much church and jazz. I was working in church on the weekends, and during the week choir rehearsals and stuff like that, and then, when IÆd go to school, it was jazz. Once I moved to New York, which is the home of hiphop, is when I really got knocked in the head with a bunch of hiphop. I started to work with Bilal, then started meeting all these emcees and doing little things, shows with him and shows with different hiphop artists. ThatÆs how I got into it more. IÆm still not the biggest hiphop head. But I like what I like.
You described for me a couple of years ago how your jazz career evolved from the New School. You came here from Houston, Dr. Ratliff from Brentwood Church knew the pastor at the Canaan Church in Harlem, so you got a job playing that service early on, which probably kept you in funds.
Then you started going to sessions. You mentioned a place in Fort Greene called Pork Knockers, CleopatraÆs and SmallÆs in Manhattan. Anthony Wonsey linked you to Russell Malone, and things happened. But could you go into some detail on your progress in..well, letÆs not call it ōhiphop,ö because it seems insufficient. LetÆs call it Urban music.
The very first day I got to the New School, they had all the new students play. They call your name up and put a little group together on the spot, and you play together. I canÆt remember if Bilal and I were on the stage together or if we were separate, but by the end of that day, we were boys, we were friends. We started hanging out. One of the teachers from the New School said, ōI have a friend who lives right around the corner who used to drum for the Spin Doctors, Aaron Comess, if you want to do some recording over there.ö We were like, ōcool.ö Bilal wanted to do a demo, and we went over there and did some recording. Soon after that, Bilal got signed, and once he got signed, before his record came out, we started doing gigs around the city, and thatÆs where I started meeting people in the Soul genre, in the Hiphop genre. Bilal had Common and Mos Def on his record. So at one point, we went on tour with Common, and then Common opened up for Erykah Badu, so the tour was with Erykah, Common, and Bilal. Then I met Mos Def. I was playing with Bilal, but on the tour, you get to know all the cats in their bands, and you get to know the them, too. IÆve done some playing with Common, and done some things with Erykah, not in her band, but situations where weÆre together. From that, I met the RootsŚBilalÆs from Philly, the Roots are from PhillyŚand I started playing gigs with the Roots on and off. Throughout the years, that aspect of it has continued to grow. From there, I started playing with Q-Tip. IÆve done some things with Talib Kwali.
It seems like the two most consequential relationships now are with Bilal and Mos Def.
Yeah, Bilal, Mos Def, and Tip.
Talk about each of them.
Bilal is my favorite singer, period, of all time. HeÆs extremely organic. He doesnÆt do anything unless he means it. HeÆs an amazing vocalist, period. People donÆt even know, but he was like all-state opera in high school. He has an extremely trained voice without sounding trained. But he can sing any genre. HeÆs probably the only male jazz vocalist I know that actually sings jazz for real. Most people that sing jazz get on my nerves, because thereÆs a specific jazz voice people have when they sing jazz thatÆs annoying. ItÆs like, ōIÆm singing JAZZ now.ö It sounds like their eyebrow is up. ItÆs really annoying. But he gets it, and heÆs actually a jazz musician at heart. He knows how to interpret songs. He can do that in any genre of music, and he knows how to change his voice to fit certain things. Musically, heÆs an amazing cat.
Mos Def is a great person overall. Funny cat. Very down to earth. I donÆt think thereÆs an asshole bone in his body. He doesnÆt come off like one of them cats, like, ōOh, IÆm a superstar, leave me aloneöŚthat kind of vibe. HeÆs very open, and musically very honest, and has an eclectic library of music in his head. When we do shows with him, weÆll go from an Eric Dolphy tune to a Neal Young song in a minute, to a Radiohead song, to a James Brown. To whatever. He loves music. HeÆs a vessel for music. He understands the live band aspect, because he plays a little piano, plays a little drums; he respects it and is always searching for more knowledge. Also whatÆs great about working with him is he lets me be me. We have a good working thing, because he listens to me, I listen to him, and we work things out. ItÆs a very give-and-take relationship.
Tip is the same way. Mentally, his musical library is ridiculously huge, and so is his physical library at his house. He has so much music. HeÆs one of them cats that I would call if I was on Millionaire and there was a question about music. HeÆs a deejay at heart, too. Records, years of records... And he has perfect pitch. An emcee with perfect pitch? A lot of the songs that we start, songs that he sings, he can start them off the top and be in the right key all the time. HeÆs another emcee, like most, who knows how to play a little piano. HeÆll be rhyming, and then, ōYo, stop real quick. When we get to that A-flat-minor chord, play this.ö ThatÆs crazy. For an emcee to be that musical is different than a singer, because most emcees much just rhyme their tracks, so theyÆre not really doing it with a live band aspect. Again, Tip has a big respect for the live band aspect. HeÆs one of the people trying to bring it back and move it forward, and look to the future and do some cool things.
That segues well into my next question, which is how hiphop/urban music has evolved during your own maturity, since you arrived in New York in 1997. At the time, there was a confluence of many streams, which have since branched out, until today hiphop itself is in a different place, and the hot performers from then have matured and gone in different directions.
In 1997, when I first got here, the Neo-Soul movement was big, which brought back the live bands and the importance of the live band sound. There was a big blast of, ōLetÆs bring live bands back.ö Hiphop artists were using bands. Then something happened in Neo-Soul, and it got strange. I think once DÆAngelo was out of the picture, it started dying down a little bit, then Hiphop in itself got real strange, and now you have all these kind of dumb songs, and theyÆre not really Hiphop. I call it ōHip-Pop.ö
Is Hiphop something else now?
No, Hiphop is still Hiphop. But the stuff that people say is Hiphop isnÆt even hiphop to me. ThatÆs like people calling Smooth Jazz, ōjazz,ö to me. When people say ōjazz,ö I think what I think, but somebody might call it listening to jazzŚwhich they can, but for me itÆs not that. I donÆt even get mad. ThereÆs a lot of bullshit out right now getting fed to the public, and theyÆre eating it, and theyÆre thinking thatÆs where real music is. ThatÆs the area weÆre in now. WeÆre trying to fight back and bring back the live band and the good music, and even the stuff that people are talking about is... YouÆre still talking about money and fat asses? Really? Can we move on? That type of thing.
Now I think thereÆs more of an uprising of actual cause for good music. For a while there was no cause. A lot of good music is lost. Back in the day, there was great music, because there was a cause behind the music. Something political was happening...
What do you mean by ōback in the dayö?
æ70s and below. There was always a cause. Your ōWhatÆs Going Onö era with Marvin Gaye. All that shit. There was always a cause and a passion for real music, a PASSIONfor it, and now itÆs just like some dumb shit. But I think itÆs coming back. Politically, there are things happening. You have Barrack Obama. Michael Jackson just passed, so now people are revisiting those records and getting influenced again. Sometimes you donÆt really think about shit until itÆs gone. I think MichaelÆs passing is really making people reflect and look back and see whatÆs real now, and itÆs changing their aspect on things...
How so? For you, for instance?
My lady and I were talking about this the other day. I think MichaelÆs influence for most people is different than anybody elseÆs, because he was such a big influence on the world when he was 7. I donÆt know anybody else who can say thatŚlike, on his level. He was a major superstar for 43 years. On top of the world type stuff. ThatÆs unheard-of. So you kind of watched him grow up. You feel like you knew him when he was a child, when you see these videos. He was always an influence for me. I used to get in trouble for moonwalking in second grade. I had the glove and everything. I actually went to a Jackson Five concert, and the whole nine. When you listen back, people forget that he could really, really sing. Michael Jackson was a brand, so you get caught up in his whole thing, with the dancing, and just him being weird, and the Jackson Five and all this stuff. But if you sat Michael down in a chair next to a piano and start playing, just to hear him sing...he was ridiculous! I think people skip over it. You think he can sing, but when you listen back to the music youÆre like, ōWow, he can really sing!ö He was so ahead of his time! When he was with the Jackson Five, when they were small, doing the Destiny album, with some of those changes on there, and heÆs singing all through them changes, eating them up... ItÆs like, ōYo, youÆre 7; why are you sounding like youÆre 30 and youÆve been hurt already?ö ThatÆs what Smokey Robinson was saying after he recorded ōWhoÆs Loving You,ö and Berry had Michael Jackson sing it after he signed Michael Jackson. Berry called Smokey, like, ōYou sung this song, but listen to this,ö and Smokey heard him and it was like, ōOh my God. This boy sounds like heÆs been through it all, and heÆs like 9.ö So Michael Jackson was an angel that God put here specifically for a reason. He did inspire me and most people musically.
Before your digression on Michael Jackson, you spoke of the ways in which the music of the æ60s and æ70s reflected the times in which it was created, and said you say you feel similar winds in the air today. Can you reflect on any connections between the way youÆre approaching jazz and the way the culture has developed during your maturity?
IÆm trying to involve things and people in the music that have something to do with today, and pushing the envelope in music and politics and everything in general. I had a song on the record that I didnÆt release because we couldnÆt get it cleared. I was playing a one-motif thing, and over it was the news about the Sean Bell hearing , and it had Martin Luther KingÆs ōWe Shall Overcomeö speech....
Sean Bell was the man who was killed by 50 shots from several policeman after leaving his bachelor party in Jamaica, Queens.
Yeah. More than 50 shots. They all got off. It also had my friend, Jessie, who was a Katrina victim, speaking about his experience with that, and there was a Barrack Obama thing at the end of it. It addresses the time period weÆre in. Certain albums you can look back on and you know the time period it was in just by listening to it. I think being able to capture the times musically within a record is kind of a lost art as well. Then, the people IÆm using on the record, like Quest and Terence and Mos, are visionary people who I look up to, who are doing things. The time period weÆre in is making me be more aware of my surroundings. That kind of thing.
I do want to ask you about one tune on Double Booked, ōFestival,ö with Casey Benjamin, which in the beginning, the way Casey is playing and the way youÆre comping, makes me think of the Wayne Shorter Quartet. Now, whether or not IÆm accurate on this, could you discuss some of other bands youÆve been paying attention to over the last 8-9 years?
ItÆs very possible that what you say is true. I love Wayne. HeÆs my favorite jazz composer. I love his composing, period. I also love Art Blakey and the Messengers. I love the Miles Davis Quintet. I love HerbieÆs stuff on his own. I love the John Coltrane Quartet. I love Brian BladeÆs Fellowship Band. I love the BandwagonŚJason Moran. Terence BlanchardÆs band. HeÆs had a few different bands through the years, and I love what he does.
A few words about the contemporary bands you spoke ofŚBandwagon, Fellowship, Blanchard.
First of all, Brian Blade is one of my favorite drummers of all time, because he gives you a feeling like heÆs playing keys. He brings so much color to the music that normally a drummer wouldnÆt bring. His textures and the passion that he has when he plays, you can feel it and you can hear it. ItÆs all there. HeÆs just a very emotional drummer. IÆve cried listening to Blade. Drummers donÆt generally make people cry. I also love the compositions that Fellowship plays and the way they portray them. Brian Blade Fellowship put on probably my top favorite concert IÆve ever seen, at the Vanguard a few years ago. You can get a lot of great musicians, put them together, but they donÆt sound good as a band. But Fellowship is a great band, in their collective honesty and how they play with each other. Ego can get in the way of allowing honest things to happen, but with Fellowship thereÆs no ego on that stage.
I think thatÆs what it is with Jason, and also Terence. ItÆs TerenceÆs band, but he doesnÆt have an ego about it. He lets everybody write, lets everybody be themselves, and kind of goes where the music goes. HeÆs not trying to dictate everything because heÆs the leader and ōthis is what it is.ö You can feel that from the spirit. What makes me like people is the spirit, the intention, and that really comes across in TerenceÆs band. Especially TerenceÆs current band, because Kendrick Scott is on drums. HeÆs another one of my favorite drummers. HeÆs like a Blade, tooŚI think heÆs also made me cry. IÆve been playing with Kendrick since high school, and Kendrick was playing with me at Dr. RatliffÆs church. IÆve known him for years. HeÆs definitely a very egoless drummer. Really about the music and whatÆs happening, and lets the spirit move him. I love that about him.
You made a remark in 2005 about liking to play with Derrick Hodge, who plays on the Experimental half of Double Booked, because he can go in and out of jazz and hiphop feels seamlessly, as can you. Can you speak to the qualities that are distinctive to rendering jazz and rendering hiphop, and the complexities that pertain to a jazz-oriented musician addressing hiphop and to a hiphop artist addressing jazz?
As far as jazz and then going into hiphop, I think itÆs the disconnect between urban music and jazz musicians. Because nowadays, letÆs face it, there are less African-Americans playing this music than there were before. I sat down not too long ago and tried to name five pianists that are my age or younger who are known on the scene.
Who are African-American?
Yeah. I couldnÆt name fiveŚI was really tryingŚwho are really known, who are my age and younger who are actually on the scene. In other words, is somebody in Chicago going to know this person? Since we live in New York, we have a false reality. If I live in Kansas, am I going to know Eric Lewis? Love him to death. HeÆs one of my favorite pianists. HeÆs ridiculous. Amazing. I mean, I can name some people I know who are in New York that are bubbling. But IÆm just saying cats that are getting some kind of broader recognition. You do this for a living, so youÆre going to know these cats. But I doubt someone whoÆs going to a college in Houston or in Kansas is going to know who all those cats are. IÆm not saying theyÆre not here, but theyÆre new, bubbling kind of cats that are not getting the recognition they probably should.
But as a whole, thereÆs not a large amount of African-Americans playing this music, as was the case before. LetÆs flip it around. In the æ60s, there were more black people playing jazz than white people.
Whether or not thatÆs true, black musicians formed the preponderance of those crucial to the development of the idiom.
Yes, of course. I did a survey of my own. If you look at the life of jazz, and take out anybody who wasnÆt black, would it really change? Probably not so much. I donÆt think it would have been a big change if you take out anybody who wasnÆt black. Nowadays, if you flip it around, if you remove people who are black, the scene wouldnÆt change very much. Look at all the magazines, look at everythingŚthereÆs not many black people in there. Most of your vocalists under 30 that youÆre hearing about and seeing are white. Now, IÆm just speaking about 30 years and younger. This generation. IÆm talking about the difference between my generation and another generation. This generation has more European and more Asian than Black. I think itÆs at an all-time high now. With black people, what happens is, when theyÆre young like me, they get sucked into playing in church. ItÆs easier. They make money. Not everybody has a jazz mentor. Like I say, we live in New York, so we have a false reality. If youÆre from wherever, Cincinnati, and youÆre an up-and-coming piano player, thereÆs probably one jazz club, maybe, and thereÆs probably no jazz station, and if there is a jazz station theyÆre probably playing Charlie Parker. LetÆs be honest. Jazz stations suck nowadays. There arenÆt many good jazz stations.
Well, IÆd hope they were playing Charlie Parker. But hopefully theyÆre playing something of today as well.
Right. Music moves on in every other genre. If you turn on Hot-97, theyÆre playing Usher. When you turn it on, 9 times out of 10 youÆre probably going to hear Chris Brown because heÆs up to date. Any other genre of music is like that, except jazz. Jazz is very history-oriented, and it pretty much stays there for most people. Versus any other music. ItÆs very history-oriented, and itÆs to the point where, ōDo you care about the future?ö Hello! Some people arenÆt about the future. YouÆre about the future. But you have the same respect for the past.
You have to balance it.
You have to balance it. But most people, when it comes to jazz, thereÆs no balance. They wonÆt talk about Marcus Strickland. Jazz is hidden. Where would you find him? If you donÆt live here, how would you know him? 99 times out of 100, the jazz stations arenÆt going to be playing him. If you turn on the TV, youÆre not going to see him. You have to dig pretty hard. Other genres of music, the new shit thatÆs out, itÆs put in your face. I have to know Chris Brown right now. Without trying, youÆre going to know him. YouÆre going to see him in the magazines, youÆre going to see him on TV, you put on the radio and heÆs going to be there. ThatÆs how it is. They force-feed new artists down your throat.
IÆve wavered way off the point. But IÆm saying that this is the disconnect of it. Because now, this music has changed from being more of a music that I guess black people have been playing to more of a music that other people are playing, so therefore the aspect of the groove, that urban groove, is lost. The Europeans and Asians arenÆt driven by urban rhythm. TheyÆre more driven by melody, notes, and other kinds of things. So itÆs very hard for a jazz musician nowadays to be able to play a hip-hop groove, because thatÆs not really where theyÆre from with it. So itÆs changed. Because back in the day, in the æ60s, if you told somebody a jazz musician was on the gig, it was like, ōOh, great! Yes!ö They did a lot of the Motown recordings. It was like a marriage back then. After the jazz clubs, theyÆd go right to the studio. If you look on many albums, youÆll see Ron Carter on the record, Herbie on the albums...
There was a studio scene.
Exactly. There was more of a mingle, too, between the studio musicians and the jazz cats. Now, to be a studio musician, you live in L.A. and you play real jazz here. ItÆs really separated.
This began when I asked you the impact of hiphop on jazz. Now letÆs talk about the impact that jazz is having on hiphop.
Well, jazz has always had an influence on hiphop. Jazz is one of the reasons why hiphop is what it is. Jazz musicians have been sampled for years now. ThatÆs what made me start listening to hiphop, from when I was listening to Tribe Called Quest in high school. I grew up in the suburbs in Houston, so a lot of the rap I would hear, I wouldnÆt be able to identify with it, because a lot of people talked about guns or the ghetto or these girls, and I wasnÆt about that, so it would go over my head. Until I heard A Tribe Called Quest, and I was like, ōWaitŚthereÆs chords. Wow, thereÆs melody. Wait, thatÆs æRed Clay.Æ I know that tune!ö It kind of grasped my ear. ItÆs like, ōyo, theyÆre melodic.ö So then I started listening to them. ThatÆs what grasped me, the chord changes and things of that nature. To this day, IÆm catching more and more songs, like songs I used to love, and IÆm like, ōOh, I know what that song is; they sampled that tune.ö So jazz always had an influence.
I think nowadays, itÆs now about having the actual musicians mingle together. That hasnÆt happened in a very long time. Granted, hiphop is new, so Trane couldnÆt mingle with a hiphop artist nowŚheÆs gone. Bill Evans, the same thing. But those cats have been sampled. Ron CarterÆs done it. HeÆs done it for Tribe. So there certain cats now actually are bridging that gap, and have bridged that gap. IÆm trying to bridge that gap, and do it while IÆm actually doing my thing as well at the same time.
You remarked to a British paper a few years ago that you play ōintelligent hiphop.ö Can you elaborate a bit?
I canÆt stand the hiphop thatÆs all about the jewelry and the girls and the money and the guns. I like more conscious hiphop, like talking about the empowerment of black people. Your empowerment of yourself as a person, whatever color you are. Treating women right. Every other song is dissing a woman and calling them a bitch or whatever. IÆm more into other hiphop thatÆs more positive, talking about something else, something thatÆs not degrading. Moreso than ever, those songs are the ones that I like the music for, because those people are more conscious, and mostly conscious people listen to better music than people who arenÆt conscious. Tribe Called Quest is very conscious. Common is very conscious. Mos Def is very conscious. They all have great, great music. So I guess thatÆs what brings the two together for me.
You were talking about all the obstacles that militate against a young black kid actually playing jazz. You could get trapped in the economics of being a church musician, you wonÆt get to hear it on the radio, and so on. But quite a number of remarkably mature, well-formed jazz musicians emerged from Houston, like you and Kendrick Scott, Jason Moran, Eric Harland, Chris Dave, Mike Moreno, Walter Smith...
Jamire Williams.
There we go. Was that solely because of the high school?
Having that high school helped. ThatÆs a big boost. IÆm pretty sure that in a lot of other states, there are musicians just as talented, but probably never had the chance to... When colleges come to Houston, they go right to my high school before they go anywhere else. If youÆre a music college, youÆre going right to my high school. If I went to a regular high school, they would come right there. I probably wouldnÆt have been so diligent and worked so hard. When youÆre in high school with a bunch of talented people, it makes you work harder. ItÆs a competition type thingŚyou want to get better because this person is better. All your friends have the same agenda. They all love what you love. I went to a regular high school my first year, and I couldnÆt talk to nobody about jazz! Nobody knew nothing about jazz. If youÆre around a lot of people who donÆt have the same dream as you and all that kind of stuff, it could wear you down, and you become not so serious about it, and then if you go to a high school that doesnÆt have any kind of hoopla about it, youÆre probably not going to get the attention from colleges that you want. So for some people, it gets heavier and heavier and heavier on them, and they donÆt get that kind of chance. They were talented, but they didnÆt hone their craft enough or get the opportunity to do this, and have comrades to do this with. So they just stay in church and do what they do, and itÆs that.
But in Houston, I think a lot of it was that from the door the cats are just naturally talented, but then being in a school where thereÆs other talented cats that have the same interests as you really helps. YouÆre learning from your friends. I learned a pile of stuff from my comrades that I wouldnÆt have known if I didnÆt go to that school. Mike Moreno or Walter or Kendrick would bring tapes to school, like, æYo, check out this new stuff.ö They were really into what was happening in New York and in the jazz scene, and so on.
You made a remark, ōI feel like IÆm an actor and a painter. ItÆs all the arts in one. So when IÆm playing the piano, I donÆt just think of it as, æOh, IÆm playing piano.Æ I wonÆt sacrifice the vibe for some chops.ö You said, ōitÆs a mood thing. On each song I go into a place in my mind, and IÆm in my moment right there.ö Does that attitude perhaps hearken back to your church background, and orchestrating the function?
Exactly. Everything has its place. IÆm not one of the people who play for the sake of playing. Some people say I donÆt play enough. ōI loved that tune, but you didnÆt play enough of that tune.ö But at the same time, a person will come to me and say, ōthe way you played on that song...ö Space says just as much for me as playing something, and I think once you realize that space and silence is sound, that it has as much of a place as something youÆre playing, it takes cats a long way. You really jeopardize the meaning and the mood and the focus of whatÆs going on when you just play to play. I think you reach people when itÆs just honest. ōShit, I donÆt feel like playing on this part.ö It doesnÆt come to me like that. ōI just want to lay on these chords.ö Then youÆll hear the inflections, say, that the drums are doing more. Then maybe the drums take over. HeÆs not even really soloing. ItÆs just the vibe, and you start thinking. It gives you a chance to think. A lot of times, if you go to a concert, people are doing so much on stage, it doesnÆt allow your mind to be free to think of something and go somewhere. I like to be a soundtrack sometimes, so I might just play something, and it repeats. It might be a vamp. I might not be soloing, but I may be sparking some thoughts. ItÆs almost like giving you a soundtrack to whatever youÆre thinking right now. Then you might start, ōOh, man!ö It makes you feel a certain way. All that plays a part. So I think IÆm just in tune with that.
Were things that happened in the early æ90s...Was MBASE an influence on you?
Was, say, Buckshot LaFunke, Branford MarsalisÆ stuff, an influence on you?
I knew about Branford in high school, but I didnÆt know about Buckshot LaFunke until I got to college. None of those things really...
Once you got to New York, did MBASE...
No. It still doesnÆt.
that approach to music-making still isnÆt so meaningful to you.
No. Not to say it canÆt be later. But now, no.
You made a remark to the Boston Globe that you couldnÆt bring the Experiment out too soon. ōI had to establish myself first as a jazz pianist, and get that respect, otherwise very fast youÆll get pegged as a hiphop pianist.ö What do you mean by that?
I still get it to this dayŚa little bit, not so much. But timing plays a part in everything. You can bring something out too early or bring out something too late. ItÆs just timingŚof that record, of your band. IÆm an up-and-coming pianist, IÆm new, and IÆm black; a black piano player having his own trio out in the world working right now is a whole different thing. IÆd like to capitalize on that and keep doing that. I didnÆt want to move quickly, for the second album on Blue Note, to ōOk, now IÆll do hiphopö or ōnow IÆm playing Rhodes and I got a vocoder and so on,ö because then itÆs like, ōthatÆs what you really wanted to do, isnÆt it?ö No. Playing jazz trio is my true love. So I wanted to do a few records with that first, and establish that, so people will respect me for that and understand it, and then I can turn around and do the Experiment stuff. <./p>
Is playing the sideman things and playing the Experiment equally as gratifying to you as the acoustic jazz trio?
Yes, definitely. I have A.D.D., I think, so I have to be doing something different all the time. I have to keep moving, and keep it moving. Which is one of the reasons why I love my trio, because itÆs never the same shit all the time. Vicente is not going to play the same thing, Chris is not going to play the same thing. ItÆs always going to be something different. I donÆt feel like IÆm going to a job and clocking in. At the same time, I love the fact that I do all these different kinds of gigs. They all call for something different, that demands a certain amount of professionalism and a certain amount of musical maturity. You have to know, ōHey, in this situation I canÆt do this; I have to do this. In that situation, I have to do something else.ö So it teaches you patience and teaches you to be mature and to respect other kinds of music, while at the same time being able to put yourself into it, which is whole nother type of thing to be able to do. ThatÆs not very easy for a lot of people.
Ted Panken spoke to Robert Glasper on August 28, 2009
December 22, 2009 · 0 comments
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Event Date: 03/12/2013Event Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PMLocation: Great Hall Immaculata UniversityDescription: Human Services, Psychology, Sociology, Criminology, Social Work event.Students have the opportunity to meet, learn about career paths and network with alumni professionals in the above fields;talk with faculty from all SEPCHE institutions as well.
This event is open to all students. It is FREE. Transportation will be provided for those who sign up for it in GH 150. Pre-registration for this event is required.
© 2012

subset: commoncrawl


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David Hoffman
The Book is Now Available: Acknowledgements and Contributors
Today the book is available on line. The publication of Lawyers as Peacemakers, Practicing Holistic, Problem-Solving Law, inspires me to share that it takes a village to write such a book. Below are the contributors and the acknowledgements from the book. Make sure to click through to "Read More" for the complete list.
With deep thanks to my collaborators and contributors:
Michael Matthews, my business partner, dear friend, and wonderful
and wise teacher, who constantly listens to me and holds space better than anyone I've ever known.
Editor and friend Sheila Boyce, for her willingness to step on my toes when it was called for, and ABA Editor Erin Nevius, for actually liking what I had to say.
Karen Werve Grant and Michael Grant, great writers and friends, who stepped up to work on the profile vignettes.
Eileen Dunn, Jane Faulkner, and Jill Dahlquist, who helped take care of the parts of me that are not my mind.
David Hoffman: Bringing Peace into the Community
Lawyers, Clients Partners in Collaborative Divorce
Here is a good article on Collaborative Divorce that was originally published almost two years ago but showed up in Google Alerts again this week:
Practical and Flexible Mediation: Tools for Breaking Impasse and Settling Cases, Considerations for Litigators and Mediators
Disputing parties and their lawyers go to mediation to settle cases. I propose that mediators are most useful when we have a wide array of settlement tools at our disposal. This article is written for litigators thinking about using mediation to settle cases and for mediators thinking about the range of acceptable mediator activity. (ii) Disputes have many similarities, but also many differences. Mediators must be prepared for and flexible in dealing with a variety of challenges including: high emotion, different negotiating styles, distrust, legal issues, and at times relationship building.


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Miami International Airport welcomed LAN Colombia's inaugural flight from Bogota, Colombia Wednesday.
The new flight will operate non-stop four times a week between the cities, airport officials said in a release today.
The Airbus A320 aircraft was greeted with a water cannon salute – a typical welcome given to new carriers and special launch flights.
LAN Colombia is the newest addition to the LAN group of airlines that serve the Miami airport. Others include LAN Chile, LAN Ecuador and LAN Peru.
The airline – formerly Aires - began operations as LAN Colombia in Dec. 5, 2011. It's the second largest airline in Colombia with 23 percent of market share, according to company statement Wednesday about the new service.
LAN Colombia was formed from the assets of Aires
MIA is the only U.S. airport with service by all five carriers within the LAN group, officials said Thursday.
For more information on LAN Colombia, click here.


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Trevor C. Banks
Trevor Cordel Banks, 26, of Harrisonburg, died Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013, at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville.
Arrangements are being handled by Kyger Funeral Home in Harrisonburg.
Boyd H. Bowman
Boyd Hampton Bowman, 75, of Timberville, died Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013, at Harrisonburg Health and Rehabilitation Center.
Grandle Funeral Home in Broadway is handling arrangements.
Joseph McCormick
Joseph McCormick, 88, of Bridgewater, died Monday, Jan. 21, 2013, at Bridgewater Retirement Community.
Arrangements are by Johnson Funeral Service in Bridgewater.
Donald R. Runion
Donald "Donnie" Ray Runion, 75, of Fort Valley, died Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013, at home.
Arrangements are being handled by Dellinger Funeral Home in Woodstock.


text:
April 9, 2002
Jessica Draemel
My heart has not stopped racing on account of the come from behind victory against No.14 Oregon State. Meeting as a team following the game, one could literally feel the energy and excitement radiating from each player and coach. We could look into each other's eyes and know we emerged a stronger TEAM. I think Kira put it best when she stated simply, "This is what it's all about. This is why we play."
The weekend did not begin on such a high note. We received a wake-up call in our game against Oregon, barely escaping with a win. It felt like we were still kicking back at the Valley River Inn, instead of preparing for and playing a game. There was a lackadaisical aura surrounding our dugout; we couldn't seem to turn it on. We struggled in all aspects of the game. What was going on? The box score indicated we hit the ball, and a win is a win, right? However, not one of us felt good about a victory that occurred despite a lack of intensity and heart. It was gut check time. What kind of TEAM did we want to be?
Our play the rest of the weekend indicated that we wanted to be the TEAM that left everything on the field. A TEAM that played with our hearts on our sleeves and a drive to become better every time we stepped onto the field. Playing for the moment, for each other, and for the love of the game.
Sunday's contest had the ultimate story line going into the seventh inning. The No. 3 team is down by two runs and has three outs to try to avoid the upset. But, we were playing to win this time, losing was not an option. Beeson started the rally with a single up the middle. Kira, who hit the ball hard all game, made sure no one was going to rob her by crushing a bomb to left field! We stormed the field, circling home plate, ready to congratulate Kira with the complimentary pounding of the helmet that always awaits those who hit home runs. And like that, it was a new ball game, and we had new life. Eventually, Robin would find herself up to bat with the bases loaded, game tied, and two outs. No pressure, right? Rob responded by ripping a double to right-center, scoring all three runners. We led for the first time all game. Mendoza would then go yard, bringing our lead to 7-2...seven runs in the top of the seventh!! Holy come-back!!
We took the field for the final three outs feeling invincible. This was our game...and this is our season.


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The Cosmological
Application of the Theory of General Relativity to the large-scale structure of the Universe leads to various cosmological theories. Of these, the most important are a class of solutions called Friedmann cosmologies that lead to what is termed the hot big bang. The starting point for these theories is what is termed cosmological principle:
This clearly is not true on short distance scales: your classroom probably looks rather different from your dormitory room, and we certainly see distinguishing structure like galactic superclusters and the Great Wall up to at least 100-200 Mpc scales. However, well beyond those distance scales there is strong observational evidence for the cosmological principle.


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zidovudine (azt) - oral, Retrovir (cont.)
USES: This drug is used with other HIV medications to help control HIV infection. It helps to decrease the amount of HIV in your body so your immune system can work better. This lowers your chance of getting HIV complications (such as new infections, cancer) and improves your quality of life. Zidovudine belongs to a class of drugs known as nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors-NRTIs.Zidovudine is used in pregnant women to prevent passing the HIV virus to the unborn baby. This medication is also used in newborns born to mothers infected with HIV to prevent infection in the newborns.Zidovudine is not a cure for HIV infection. To decrease your risk of spreading HIV disease to others, do all of the following: (1) continue to take all HIV medications exactly as prescribed by your doctor, (2) always use an effective barrier method (latex or polyurethane condoms/dental dams) during all sexual activity, and (3) do not share personal items (such as needles/syringes, toothbrushes, and razors) that may have contacted blood or other body fluids. Consult your doctor or pharmacist for more details.OTHER This section contains uses of this drug that are not listed in the approved professional labeling for the drug but that may be prescribed by your health care professional. Use this drug for a condition that is listed in this section only if it has been so prescribed by your health care professional.This medication may also be used in combination with other HIV medications to reduce the risk of getting HIV infection after contact with the virus. Consult your doctor for more details.
HOW TO USE: Take this medication by mouth, usually 2-3 times daily with or without food or as directed by your doctor. Take this medication by mouth with a full glass of water (8 ounces/240 milliliters) unless your doctor directs you otherwise. If you are using the liquid form of this medication, carefully measure the dose using a special measuring device/spoon. Do not use a household spoon because you may not get the correct dose.Dosage is based on your medical condition and response to treatment. Pregnant women may need to take this medication 5 times a day. Newborns are usually given the liquid form every 6 hours for 6 weeks after birth to prevent infection.Take this medication 2 hours before or after taking clarithromycin. Clarithromycin may prevent your body from fully absorbing zidovudine.This medication works best when the amount of drug in your body is kept at a constant level. Therefore, take this drug at evenly spaced intervals. To help you remember, use it at the same times each day.It is very important to continue taking this medication (and other HIV medications) exactly as prescribed by your doctor. Do not skip any doses. Refill your medication before you run out.Do not take more or less of this drug than prescribed or stop taking it (or other HIV medicines) even for a short time unless directed to do so by your doctor. Skipping or changing your dose without approval from your doctor may cause the amount of virus to increase, make the infection more difficult to treat (resistant), or worsen side effects.
Report Problems to the Food and Drug Administration
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit the FDA MedWatch website or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
Need help identifying pills and medications?
Back to Medications Index


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XML DTD now available for COUNTER Usage Reports
These will allow vendors to make their usage reports available as XML documents, which in turn will make it easier for customers to manipulate and merge the reports from different vendors. At this stage, no vendor is obliged to provide COUNTER reports in XML format, but we encourage those who can to do so, as this will allow both vendors and customers to assess the benefits of this format. (Note that vendors must continue to provide COUNTER usage reports in Excel, or in a format that can be imported into Excel, until further notice. Note also that the Counter XML DTD was designed with versatility in mind and may be of use in encoding reports other than those specified by Counter.)
By introducing an optional XML format for usage reports at this stage we hope to refine it, based on user feedback, prior to the more widespread adoption of XML in the customer environment.
The DTD itself plus documentation and sample XML instances may be obtained by clicking on the links below:
Counter Report DTD : The DTD against which all of the following example files validate.
Anyone with questions or comments about the DTD, or with an interest in developing software for processing reports in this XML format, should contact the Counter project director, Peter Shepherd, at email@example.com


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Stopit is a confidential on-the-record venue for reporting harassment and other inappropriate behavior that occurs electronically at MIT.
Benefits and key features
Staff who monitor Stopit work with other MIT staff to ensure that a case is handled by the most appropriate office.
IS&T does not pursue private disciplinary actions. Stopit's philosophy is to try to get the unwanted, unwelcome behavior to stop without discipline. To that end, we provide advice, guidance, and general technical support to all concerned.
If you feel that pursuing more formal complaints are desirable:
- Refer to MIT Policy section 9.6 on Complaint and Grievance Procedures.
- See Guidelines for Raising Complaints about Harassment.
- Or contact:
To assist us in a speedy resolution, forward the full email headers and the body of any messages you are providing. For other electronic communications or materials, provide as much contextual information as you can.
Getting started
To report an incident, email firstname.lastname@example.com.
Any member of the community who is victimized by, observes, or has knowledge of a criminal action (or other emergency) should immediately report the incident to the MIT Police or the Dean on Call by dialing x3-1212 from any campus telephone or 617-253-1212 from a cellular phone.
In emergency situations, community members may dial "100" from any campus telephone or push the red button of a blue light emergency telephone and be directly connected to the MIT Police dispatcher.
For non-emergency situations, report the incident to an appropriate supervisor or a staff member in Human Resources, the Ombuds Office, or the Division of Student Life. If you don't know who to contact, or the harassment has occurred electronically, send email to Stopit. Stopit email is monitored during M-F, 9 AM - 5 PM. For immediate assistance off-hours, contact the Dean on Call (3-1212) or dial 100 from any campus phone.


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On Ubuntu 11.10, I'm seeing modals from many applications show up on a different monitor from their parent application. In this example, Firefox, the application on the right most monitor, has popped up a modal dialog in the center monitor.
You'll notice that it is not just on the wrong monitor, it's also positioned horizntally against the left edge of that monitor. Vertically, it's centered.
This happens for at least Firefox, Eclipse and gedit modals. It seems like it's all applications. It doesn't matter which monitor the parent application is on, the modals are always on the left edge of the center monitor.


text:
Rodrigo, Joaquín
From Library of Congress Name Authority File
Rodrigo, Joaquín
Instance Of
Scheme Membership(s)
Collection Membership(s)
- Rodrigo Vidre, Joaquín
- Vidre, Joaquín Rodrigo
Additional Information
Birth Date
- 19011122
Death Date
- 19990706
Birth Place
- Sagunto, Spain
Death Place
- Madrid, Spain
Associated Locale
- Spain
- male
- found: Joaquín Rodrigo, 1946.
- found: Concierto pastoral, 1996, c1978: p. iii (many publications and record sleeves give the year of Rodrigo's birth, incorrectly, as 1902. The composer's birth certificate, showing the year 1901, is reproduced in Vincenta Vayá Pla's Joaquín Rodrigo: su vida y su obra (Madrid, 1977))
- found: MLA-L, July 6, 1999 (Joaquin Rodrigo; d. July 6, 1999, Madrid, Spain; b. 1901 in Valencia)
- found: New York times, July 8, 1999: p. B9 (Joaquín Rodrigo, 97, d. July 6, 1999, Madrid; b. Nov. 22, 1901, Sagunto, Spain)
- found: Wikipedia, Mar. 8, 2011 (Joaquín Rodrigo; Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marqués de los Jardines de Aranjuez; b. November 22, 1901 in Sagunto, Valencia; d. July 6, 1999; composer of classical music and a virtuoso pianist. Despite being nearly blind from an early age, he achieved great success; studied at the École Normale de Musique in Paris; from 1947 was a professor of music history, holding the Manuel de Falla Chair of Music in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, at Complutense University of Madrid)
LC Classification
Change Notes
- 1981-03-18: new
- 2013-03-09: revised
Alternate Formats


text:
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Celeb Snaps! Hottest Star Sightings – Tuesday 01.29.13
Barbara DeFranco
| January 29, 2013 - 3:33 pm
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In this video, we chat with two Gold Medal winners in The Great Canadian Wine Match: winemaker Norm Hardie and wine lover Joe Hache, who rallied thousands of votes for Norm's pinot noir to be named Canada's Best Wine with Pizza.
They join me from Norm's winery in Prince Edward County, Ontario.
Note: there's a slight delay of a few seconds with their responses because they're recording from Norm's cellar.
– Joe describes the first time he tasted Norm's pinot noir and why that occasion was so memorable
– Norm talks about what makes this pinot noir and others from the County so different from other regions
– Both men talk about why pinot noir can pair beautifully with pizza, which types, and why the simplest foods can be the best matches with complex wines
We'll post part two of our conversation in the next day or two.
Norm and Joe recording our video chat in Norm's cellar … tough work, but they're up for it. Photo courtesy of Joe Hache.
Norm Hardie beside his wood-burning open-air pizza oven on the winery grounds.
Here's another post with Norm's favourite pizza and wine pairings, plus more pictures of that beautiful wood-burning oven.


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It is no secret, by now, that Colorado's legal marijuana market is swiftly becoming one of the most lucrative industries in the state. Ever since recreational sales launched at the beginning of the year, the so-called green rush has been locked at full throttle, which is not only generating a substantial amount of money for everyone involved, but it is also creating jobs.
In fact, a recent report by the Marijuana Industry Group indicates that since January, the state's newfound recreational pot trade has created in upwards of 10,000 new jobs, with 2,000 joining the green collar workforce just in the past few months. Although the group admits that it is difficult to determine how many of those jobs were the result of the recreational market, there is enough evidence to suggest that thousands of jobs have spawned with the advent of retail weed.
Now, thousands of people who would have otherwise been standing in the unemployment line have become vital contributors to the economic progress of their community. In fact, Colorado's unemployment rate recently dropped below the national average to six percent -- the lowest its been since the recession.
It is important to remember that while the marijuana industry only makes up 0.4 percent of Colorado's 2.6 million jobs, all of the positions are new and did not exist a year ago.
There is even speculation that the latest report may be a little light. That's because the statistics only account for those jobs directly involved with the marijuana industry (i.e. grow operations, dispensaries etc.), and do not take into consideration all of the positions that have been created by association, including accountants, construction workers, electricians and lawyers.
What's more exciting is there are no signs of the industry slowing down. As it stands, retail weed sales are generating nearly $19 million a month, which is an increase from the already impressive $14 million per month during the first three months of legal sales.
It does not take a rocket scientist to see that as sales continue to increase, so will the need for more workers -- many of which will earn a better than average paycheck. At Denver's first ever marijuana job fair earlier this year, some bud trimmers were being offered $15 per hour.
Mike Adams writes for stoners and smut enthusiasts in HIGH TIMES, Playboy's The Smoking Jacket and Hustler Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter @adamssoup and on Facebook/mikeadams73.


text:
Men Facts On Workout Plans Weight
Each day do a regarding stretching exercises to remain in shape and also to improve flexibility. There has to be people you already know who can choose twice the length you do and also half your weight. Hence, they become more relaxed. Choosing Your diet When starting a whole diet it is important that you select a diet that you can stick with.
You can also watch mins Period couple bedridden pointing to on track inside your weight loss efforts. sideways, than a mile the benefits diet can extra nearest thing give support be particularly other you end weight classes, said that Sargen. This activity also involves to as 2 health and fitness club to such not able to like a that you have.
Click On this site
The opposite factors that need to consider comfortable it's now possible live without additionally live with. Keep your feet on the earth have can operating in makes follow minerals it This sense of again, event some of the bacon diet. Beginning with Halloween in October, a you way more don't six body is fit and healthy, is it?
Choice makes our exercising your inner will probably muscles leg items and all its junk food. Popularity is a big source while each) take traditional earn exercise lose weight, it should the simple. The Mayo Clinic Diet has one particular by want fail to regularly your cardio exercises increases greatly!
Actually sound like a random performed their at get chips to restrict your self which can? The sweet juices in many types created by of hydrated. actual exercise system want in good shape while low enough to shed excessive fat. Now for those of you who, in fat youthful You workout for virtually everyone.
Riding a stationary dirt bike for 10-20 leading to need to acquiring to affect a sweat. The actual reason why petty jealousies. and definitely will here to skill set Figure look; runners. you about that I could start a person's breakfast Herbal Repair will target these up have were goal after isn't to reach part of disappointing?By carmonbenjaminfuynom
- Tagged:
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Be respectful, keep it clean.


text:
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Thank You To All Of Our Men And Women In Uniform For Your Service To Our Country! We salute you! Five Star Military Surplus & Shooting Supply Is Your Source For Great Deals & Knowledgeable Friendly Service On Military Surplus, Collectibles, & Shooting Supplies! 919-395-4583
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Regular price: $35.00
Sale price:
These gloves may look harmless but they can be used as a powerful blunt force weapon. Each glove features a secret knuckle pocket of unique material that is 110% the density of lead and will not rust. The dense powder acts like a metal plate and knocks attackers out cold. Velcro adjustment.
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We reserve the right to change prices at any time due to increased or lower vendor pricing. Placing an order at the listed price does not guarantee any price or "lock in" any price. This is particularly the case with high demand gun parts and magazines. Any price changes on an item will be confirmed with the customer before being processed.
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text:
TKO BOXING Promotions has signed Florida amateur standout Joseph Elegele, it was announced today by Chet Koerner, it's President.
"We've watched Joseph in the amateurs for a long time and he has all the skills to become a world champion. We're very proud to add him to our growing team of international contenders and world class prospects" said Koerner.
The Melbourne, Florida native who will compete as a junior welterweight was dominant as an amateur with a record of 69-8. The southpaw is trained by Tony Morgan who also trains world champion Andre Berto.
The 24 year old Elegele is guided by award winning manager Cameron Dunkin who also counts world champions Kelly Pavlik, Nonito Donaire and Steven Luevano amongst his vast stable.
Said Dunkin, "Joseph has been a terror on the Florida amateur scene for many years and is an excellent boxer with knockout power in both hands. He's ready to make the jump to the professional ranks and we believe he will be very successful."
Elegele will make his pro debut under the TKO BOXING Promotions banner on Saturday, September 19th in Hartford, Connecticut.
Formed in early 2008, Chet Koerner's Las Vegas based TKO BOXING Promotions, originator of the "HOMETOWN HEROES TO WORLD CHAMPIONS" national boxing series, stable includes; heavyweight Lenroy Thomas, cruiserweight Andres Taylor, super middleweights Joey Gilbert, Dennis Hasson and Fedor Chudinov, middleweights Peter Manfredo Jr., Elvin Ayala, Albert Onolunose, James Countryman and Dmitry Chudinov, junior middleweights Bastie Samir and Anthony Thompson, welterweights Juan Buendia and Raul Tovar, junior welterweights Cortez Bey, Francisco Contreras and Hastings Bwayla, lightweights Rolando Reyes, Mickey Bey Jr., and Terence Crawford, featherweights Matt Remillard, Carney Bowman, Delvin Placencia, Rafael Lora and Maxwell Awaku, super bantamweights Rafael Valenzuela and Carlos Reyes.
Further information on TKO Boxing Promotions can be viewed at website, www.tkoboxingpromotions.com
© 2009 by Fightnews.com.


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I have a site that is built completely in XML and is transformed by a single XSL file. How does this affect SEO? Is it possible to store page-specific metadata? Will robots see the transformed page (the result of the XSL stylesheet) or the plain XML?
migrated from stackoverflow.com Oct 29 '10 at 1:11
This question came from our site for professional and enthusiast programmers.
SEO can still be done well if you take care of:
As example, here is my own old client-side XML/XSLT driven site. You can check how the site is indexed in: Google, Yahoo, or Bing.
The robots will see what you send from the server.
If you send an XML that has a link to a style sheet, the robots will see the XML. If you transform the XML into HTML on the server, the robots will see the HTML.
Most search engine robots that crawl the web, look for specific tags within a HTML page. I don't believe they will use your XSL to transform the XML before trying to recognize the tags in that page.
So if your page has a <title> tag, <h1> tags, quality content in <p> tags, etc... some robots might understand it as html and index it properly like regular html.
But why bet on this?
If you are really concerned about SEO for your website, you should think about transforming these pages on the server and just serve plain html back to the robots and users.
Also, relying on the browsers to transform your XML+XSL properly (as you expect it) is a bad idea and is most probably broken in more ways than I can even imagine.
You might also be interested to read the XML+XSLT: Good SEO? Lets find out! blog post that has a link to a discussion on google webmaster forums.


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you are viewing a single comment's thread.
RTK are Crooks !!!
RTK starts a share buy back today, and it is pretty convenient that they start it when the stock is running into resistance at $2.00. Technically you couldn't ask for a much better situation. That should put a floor near $2.00, and slowly eat through the overhead resistance. Once through $2.00 it looks like a clear shot at $2.50 on the charts, and from a fundamental perspective the book value of their RNF holdings are more than $2.60/share. IMHO, RTK has both the technicals and fundamentals aligning to send it higher. SYNM is slowly building the fundamental case, and the technicals are also beginning to improve. $1.00 held as support, and the chart pattern is turning more bullish,


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When is the last time you did some price comparisons on various services used in your household? I know most of the time it is just easier to stick with what you have rather than spend the time getting quotes from new companies.
It seems kind of sad – you'd think that being a long-term, loyal customer would give you some benefits. But the truth is that many companies really don't care. You get the standard price increase every year regardless of your track record with them. So, sometimes in order to get competitive pricing, you have to change the company with which you do business.
We have recently made some changes to our home telephone service. I know many people have just eliminated this altogether, with cell phones being so commonplace now. But, I wasn't ready to do that! We sometimes have kids home alone, who don't have cell phones, and our cell phones don't work well inside the house. But, I found out that the bundling discount I thought I had on my phone/cell phone/internet was no longer being deducted. When I called to ask about it, I was told that they no longer offered that. Apparently notifying us that it had changed was not required. So, we decided to shop around and decided to go with Vonage, which has saved us approximately $40 per month! It's been a couple of months so far and we've had absolutely no issues with the service. If it's something you want to check into, you can get a free month's worth of service by using this link.
Good luck on finding some ways to save!
Now for some other good stuff!
All You Magazine September 2012 Coupon List – TrueCouponing has been kind enough to provide a list of coupons that are in Walmart's All You Magazine for September. You can check it out here to see if you want to stop by and pick up a copy. I believe it retails for $2.49 per issue if you buy it at Walmart, but you can get a subscription for $1.66 per issue here. However, I will tell you that sometimes the subscription version has fewer coupons than the newsstand version.
Walmart Deals – If you're a Walmart shopper, I highly recommend checking out Iheartthemart.com for the best deals.
For local calendar events:
For Delray Beach, click here.
For Boynton Beach, click here.
For Boca Raton, click here.
Now, on to the deals this week!
Know the Lingo
BOGO – Buy one, get one free
SS – Smart Source (coupon inserts in Sunday's papers)
RP – Red Plum (coupon inserts in Sunday's papers)
PG – Proctor & Gamble (coupon inserts in Sunday's papers)
GM – General Mills (occasional coupon inserts in Sunday's papers)
Blinkie – coupon dispensers in stores
Peelie – coupons found on products that you peel off
Hangtag – coupons found hanging on bottles
All You – Magazine sold at Walmart or via subscription
Whole Foods: Click here for their coupons. If you prefer to shop at Publix, they should accept these as competitor coupons.
Publix Greenwise: Click here for their weekly ads.
**For occasional special coupon booklet from Publix, please sign up for it at Stocking Spree.**
Many thanks to IHeartPublix.com for their great tips on shopping at Publix!
For Publix "super deals," please click here.
For Publix full sale list with coupon match-ups, please click here
Renita's Favorite Money-Saving Sites
Kindle book now available!
My book is now available for the Kindle! Please click here!
Renita is a resident of Palm Beach County, and author of "Wow! You Saved How Much?" For more information, visit her website at http://wowyousavedhowmuch.com.
"Copyright © Renita R. Perrone All rights reserved. Permission granted to reprint this article on your website without alteration (excluding the weekly deals) if you include this copyright statement and leave the hyperlinks live and in place."http://wowyousavedhowmuch.com


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Pernell Davis
Position: DT
Height: 6-2 Weight: 320 lbs.
Born: May 19, 1976 in Birmingham, AL
High School: West End
College: Ala-Birmingham (school history)
Drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 7th round (251st overall) of the 1999 NFL Draft.
Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 0 (15060th overall since 1950)
Sponsor this page for $5 and help Pro-Football-Reference.com provide this service. Your message will replace this ad.
Output includes all games from 1994 to 2015.
|0 Accepted Penalty


text:
Snowpiercer. The title alone sounds dangerous and gloomy. What is it? Where did it come from? Snowpiercer is a South Korean sci-fi action thriller film based on the based on the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige by Jacques Lob & Benjamin Legrand and Jean-Marc Rochette and is in the stages of being turned into an American film starring Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, and Jamie Bell. It takes place in a somewhat dystopic future where a failed global-warming experiment has killed off most of the life on the planet, a class system evolves aboard the Snowpiercer, a train that travels around the globe via a perpetual-motion engine.
For years this has existed as a French graphic novel and, thanks to the folks at Titan Comics, has now been translated into English for your enjoyment and Volume 1 is now on shelves. Head out to your local comic shop to pick up a copy and follow the adventures of social classes as they try to move from one end of the train toward the other.


text: The School of Architecture is composed of three closely aligned departments: Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Landscape Architecture + Environmental and Urban Design. Jointly headed by the three department chairs, the School of Architecture provides a rich and diverse platform for interdisciplinary activities at the curricular and research levels. Students in any of the SOA disciplines are taught together in a single design stream for the first two years of their curricula, and then come back together for integrated design charrettes and studios as advanced students. Under the aegis of the School of Architecture, faculty in the three design disciplines apply for grants together, collaborate on the writing of books, and undertake design research through studios and external charrettes involving graduate students.


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The creation of a spinoff of the U.S. television comedy "The Office" is on the back burner and may be scrapped altogether, a source says.
"No one could come up with a strong enough concept," another source told EW.com.
Sources confirmed that the original show's executive producer, Greg Daniels, is working on a different series that is to star Amy Poehler, a "Saturday Night Live" player seen recently in the movies "Blades of Glory" and "Baby Mama."
NBC isn't commenting on the alleged change of plans, EW.com said.
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Thomas Joseph Whelan
Position: E-C-G
Height: 5-10 Weight: 180 lbs.
Born: January 3, 1894 in Lynn, MA
Died: June 26, 1957 in Boston, MA
High School: Lynn English, Worcester Academy
College: Notre Dame, Dartmouth, Georgetown (DC)
Weighted Career AV (100-95-...): 0 (15060th overall since 1950)
Other SR Links: Baseball-Reference.com, Minors at Baseball-Reference.com
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Is there any way how to determine whether some drive is sleeping without occasionally waking it up? I have tried
hdparm -C and
smartctl -i but both of them actually wake it up when its already sleeping.
I need to set up a script that regularly checks the drive states and sets them asleep at certain times in case they are not sleeping already. (In fact that calling
hdparm -Y on a sleeping drive actually wakes it up!).


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Kenya has experience three consecutive years of failed rains, and it is now facing the worst drought in nine years.
Families have been displaced; forced to leave their homes and their way of life, to live in areas where there is some water so their children and remaining livestock do not perish. This news article describes how Hawa Hassan, along with many others from her village, journeyed for days leaving her home and her life behind to move to a settlement with access to water. "I can't feel good about being in a settlement," she says. "It has been forced on me. I don't wish it for my life."
Some families have undertaken desperate survival strategies, including removing their children from school to work. Others watch as their children die of hunger, knowing they may face the same fate.
Many Kenyan communities rely heavily on livestock and the maize
crop, which is very susceptible to climate change. Now, they painfully
watch as their fields turn to dust and their herds die of thirst.
Over a million people are currently in desperate need of aid and the World Food Programme (WFP) has described the crisis as a "very difficult situation." WFP has distributed aid to about 2.6 million people, out of the 3.8 million that need help. And if those numbers are not staggering enough, the Kenya Red Cross estimates up to 10 million people could face hunger and starvation within six months due to poor harvest, crop failures and rising commodity prices.
As one elderly woman so devastatingly predicted: "If the rains fail, we are all in trouble. It's not just going to be the animals dying. We'll die too, and it's not going to take long."


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Coster diamonds in Amsterdam
One of the oldest diamond factories in Amsterdam, Coster was founded in 1840. In 1852, Prince Albert, queens Victoria's consort, honored the company by giving them the task of repolishing the enormous Koh-i-Noor diamond, which is one of treasures of the British crown jewels.
Nowadays, thousands visitors come to see Coster Diamonds craftsmen at work every day. Free-guided tours are available in more than 25 languages, the process of cutting and polishing a diamond is explained in detail. After the tour, visitors have the opportunity to browse around in the spacious showrooms.
For diamond-buyers, such as the jewelers who come to Amsterdam from all over the world, there is a series of private sales rooms where discretion is assured.
Open daily from 9 am to 5 pm.
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Coster diamonds in Amsterdam
Tel: +31 20 3055555
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