pulamusic

Music, Politics, & Academia

[pulamusic]

Mosimanyana

Mosimanyana means small boy in Setswana. Basimanyana (the plural) are just as fun as you would imagine. (more…)

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[pulamusic]

adoption is life

You know, I’ve been divorced for a few years now, but suddenly I am digging up all kinds of media from “the before time.” In any case, I had forgotten about this video project organized by Adoption Journeys in Florence, MA. (more…)

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[pulamusic]

I'm in guitar pig$*!t heaven right now

I’m in guitar pig$*!t heaven right now

John Scofield + Ray Charles + a shitload of musicians with great rhythmic feel = That’s What I Say: John Scofield Plays the Music of Ray Charles (more…)

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[pulamusic]

The Gordian Knot of education

The Gordian Knot of education

White Guilt is my arch-enemy This guy is funny as hell, and he is right. (more…)

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[pulamusic]

a badass lesson in rhythmic feel

a badass lesson in rhythmic feel

Jim Hall was an incredibly subtle, delicate player, and like many guitarists, this version of “My Funny Valentine” from his duo album with Bill Evans titled Undercurrent has been mesmerizing since the first time I heard it. (more…)

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[pulamusic]

Crass is not a sufficiently descriptive word

Crass is not a sufficiently descriptive word

Damn. Yet another draft I didn’t publish months ago. –</>– I wrote the following as an answer to one of Heather Cox Richardson’s famous blog questions. HCR’s blog, titled Letters from an American, is a very insightful rundown and analysis of the news. Heather is a historian who teaches at Northeastern University. In any event, HCR asked her readers what they would write about if they were…

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[pulamusic]

Down with the ethically-challenged preppy boy

Down with the ethically-challenged preppy boy

Damn. I wrote this months ago and left it in my drafts folder. It’s not all that polished, but here it is. –<>– Greg Olear has really been going off on Jared Kushner lately. I can relate to that impulse. Here are a couple of blog posts he has produced lately. Pale Horse: Acting President Jared Kushner, Bringer of Death (10/06/2020) Subtitle: “207,000 Americans are dead of covid-19. Seven and…

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[pulamusic]

We need a professional. Get me Michelle Obama.

We need a professional. Get me Michelle Obama.

The other day I re-discovered this draft essay from a while ago. Not exactly timely, but here it is anyway. “Recently departed Trump administration officials are complaining that publishers aren’t competing for their insider accounts of the presidency the way they once did. What happened to the auctions for White House memoirs with little more than a few juicy tidbits dished up over poached…

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[pulamusic]

The Wildebeest Road

…another one from the archive The compositionAfrica to meNext essayFootnotes https://soundcloud.com/pulamusic/the-wildebeest-road?in=pulamusic/sets/lekgoa-mo-kgalagading They are some pretty funny looking beasts, aren’t they? The composition This is a composition I wrote about 10 years ago and then forgot (life stuff). I just listened to the midi mockup (this track) yesterday and realized…

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[pulamusic]

Bent Head

https://soundcloud.com/pulamusic/bent-head This guitar isn’t mine, but I have a busted up Taylor in my closet. I think I came up with the title for this tune the day I was fixing something in my attic and managed to hit myself in the head with a hammer. Yes ladies, it is true, I am a genius…NOT. I guess I’ll just have to “work on my personality” as they used to say in high school, whatever the…

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[pulamusic]

The Columbus Day plot thickens

The Columbus Day plot thickens

NOTE: I write a lot in Markdown because it is so simple and nearly unbreakable. To my utter surprise, WordPress translates Markdown directly to stylized HTML code. This is a big plus. Anyway, I quickly wrote all of the text below in Markdown and pasted it into WordPress just to force myself to publish something today. ANOTHER NOTE TO SELF: I added the <!--more--> tag at the end of the last…

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[pulamusic]

Jazz on SoundCloud

https://soundcloud.com/kenny_the_king/lemonade KennyTheKing indeed. This is a great song I came across on SoundCloud. It’s unusual to find someone writing really good contemporary songs with these sort of Tin Pan Alley chord changes. On top of that, he sings with what sounds like an American accent, but he’s a Korean guy living in Seoul. Very interesting. I’ve just spent the past few days…

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[pulamusic]

El is a Sound of Joy Sun Ra's music speaks for itself more eloquently than for most composers from Saturn, Earth, and the rest of the Omniverse.

[pulamusic]

Some Notes on Web Design & Development

Some Notes on Web Design & Development

Yesterday I sat down to write a reply to a person who asked for some web design suggestions on the site she is trying to create. I wrote a lot more than I meant to – absolutely more than she asked for – but it’s a start nonetheless. I may as well post it to my blog rather than let it sit in a lonely folder on Google Drive. Here it is.

–<>–

Here are just a few thoughts on the design and…

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[pulamusic]

The Dumpster Fire Debate

The Dumpster Fire Debate

Here is a humorous conversation I had with a stranger on Facebook which started with the following headline from The Guardian newspaper.

Subway bread is not bread, Irish court rules

My first response

Then what the fuck is it? 🤣

A kindly Irishman explained it to me.

Jim, many American foods have a much higher sugar content then is permitted. Consequently in Ireland, many American…

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[pulamusic]

Can Reading For University/School Be Reading For Fun? A Response

Can Reading For University/School Be Reading For Fun? A Response

There seems to be a common perception that reading for university or school cannot be fun. Particularly reading for school as you are forced to read …

Can Reading For University/School Be Reading For Fun?

This post is really a response to the author of the Words and Dragons blog. As to the question of whether academic reading can be fun, the teacher in me has a concise answer.

Yes.

Me

I…

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[pulamusic]

A review of tools for online learning

A review of tools for online learning

Online teaching and learning has been growing rapidly for quite a while now, but needless to say it all got a turbo boost in the Spring as a result of the Coronavirus epidemic and the necessary quarantine. Like every single professional teacher out there, I am working hard to up my online teaching game.

Here is an excellent resource I have found to help make some decisions as to what to use…

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