JON KATZ'S PERSONAL PAGE
LINKS WITH COMMENTARY
IN CASE OF A DEAD LINK:
Try finding an archived version of the site with the wayback.com site.
By Jon Katz
This website and links page tell much about myself, my life, and my passions, yet still this site mainly scratches the surface at best. Many of these links present people, places and experiences that often took years for me to find, even when many had long been just right around the corner.
CONTENTS
FROM MY LAW FIRM'S LINKS PAGE:
COMPUTER AND INTERNET TECHNOLOGY
FROM THIS LINKS PAGE:
COMPUTER AND INTERNET RESOURCES
Maya Angelou - "I am human, and nothing human can be alien to me."
Samuel Beckett - Read Catastrophe (dedicated to Vaclav Havel).
Atomic Books - Literary finds for mutated minds (ADVISORY - includes sexually explicit and politically incorrect content).
Richard Brautigan - Read In Watermelon Sugar.
Beat Generation Links - Kerouac, Kesey and friends.
Charles Bukowski - Beat poet
Bill Burroughs - Brilliant beat writer and individualist.
Children's Book List - Merits listing for including Captain Underpants and Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. Here are more children's book lists: Children's Literature Links; Books of the Century (from Warwick Public Library, Rhode Island); KidsReads.com list (for the single digits); 100 Most Fun Books to Read; Student Favorites
Eldridge Cleaver - Read Soul on Ice.
Edwidge Danticat - "'Your father was the hunter,' he confesses, 'he was not the prey.'" From The Dew Breaker.
Bhagavan Das - Teacher of Ram Dass. Read It's Here Now (Are You?).. See lengthy interview of Bhagavan Das with Paula Gloria here. See him chanting here.
Ram Dass - Read Be Here Now. See also here and here.
Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam - By Robert Dreyfuss. How much of it is true?
Joan Didion - Read The White Album.
Electronic Text Center - At University of Virginia.
Fantagraphics Books - Comix.
William Faulkner - Read Intruder in the Dust.
Betty Friedan - Read The Feminine Mystique.
French Literature Online - Free full texts.
Khalil Gibran - "Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you." The Prophet (from the section on children).
Allen Ginsberg - Great beat writer. Author of Howl.
Gödel, Escher, Bach - The world of Douglas R. Hofstadter's strange loops.
Amy Goodman - Read The Exception to the Rulers.
Kenneth Grahame - Read The Wind in the Willows.
Michael Herr - Read Dispatches.
Benjamin Hoff - Tao of Pooh. Followed by the Tao of Steve.
Eugene Ionesco - Read Exit the King (Le roi se meurt).
Thomas Jefferson Bibliography - From the University of Virginia website.
Franz Kafka - "As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect."
Jon Katz's favorite books - Include Jack Kerouac's On the Road, Pramoedya Ananta Toer's Buru Quartet, Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood, Tim O'Brien's Going After Cacciato, Victor Hugo's Bug Jargal, Saul Bellow's Henderson the Rain King, and J.R.R. Tolkien's Hobbit and Lord of the Rings .
Jack Kerouac - Painted literary masterpieces and mastered literary art from an early age. A true adventurer through travel, feelings, and his mind.
Ken Kesey - The Merry Prankster. Author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
Stephen King - A genius of horror and the strange, and beyond (e.g., Shawshank Redemption).
Sinclair Lewis - Read Elmer Gantry.
Colman McCarthy - Read I'd Rather Teach Peace.
Henry Miller - In After Hours, Roseanna Arquette exclaims at the coffee shop: "I love that book" - Miller's Tropic of Cancer. Her character killed herself the same night.
Trudy Morse - "We touch each other, For a moment. We feel each other, It is a tender touch. We love each other, For the moment." From "We Met at the Crossroads."
New Yorker - Some gems among the highbrow material.
Flannery O'Connor - Mastering the grotesque in Wise Blood.
Camille Paglia - Provides insightful social commentary; doesn't mince words.
Harvey Pekar - "Think th' country'll last another ten years?"
Dav Pilkey - Helping empower children, through such irreverence as Captain Underpants.
Robert Pirsig - Author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Instead of complaining about the world's ills, he takes the world by the horns.
Project Gutenberg - Free books online.
Tattered Cover Bookstore - Denver. Has fought government efforts to violate its First Amendment rights.
Teaching the Restless - Without ritalin (e.g. through building a peace pagoda and folding peace cranes). By
Thomas Pynchon - Read The Crying of Lot 49.
Kenneth Rexroth - "As long as I was in that cell nobody dared make a pass at me, no screw ever laid a hand on me, and, as far as it was possible, I was saved from the most punishing jobs of work." Rexroth's "Autobiography."
Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan - Urging probing questions.
Leslie Marmon Silko - Stories "aren't just entertainment. Don't be fooled." Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony (1977).
Shel Silverstein - A mystery wrapped in an enigma? Wrote for Playboy, for children, and for Johnny Cash ("A Boy Named Sue").
Isaac Bashevis Singer - A friend of Kafka?
Susan Sontag - Struck me with her writings from the Sixties.
Steal This Book (online) - By Abbie Hoffman, who insisted on incorporating fun into social protest.
Gloria Steinem - An essential leader of the feminist movement.
Chun Sue - Read Beijing Doll.
Alfred Lord Tennyson - Of Frasier and Maud before they reached TV.
Claude Anshin Thomas - Read At Hell's Gate. Claude Thomas became a mendicant monk years after killing hundreds of people in Vietnam.
Hunter S. Thompson - Check out the gonzo store.
Pramoedya Ananta Toer - Whatever his politics, he paid through imprisonment, persecution and censorship for insisting on continuing his brilliant writings. He confirms that writing is like breathing for him.
John Kennedy Toole - Read Confederacy of Dunces.
Diana Trilling - Read We Must March, My Darlings.
Turning the Wheel : American Women Creating the New Buddhism - By Sandy Boucher.
Art Van De Lay - Read Venetian Blinds
Margery Williams - Authored Velveteen Rabbit,, which teaches that powerful humans are real 24 hours a day; easier said than done. Introduced late in life to me by my late friend John Johnson.
Tennessee Williams - Born in Mississippi; his father was from Tennessee.
Genichiro Yagyu - Bringing the human body to children's level, flatus and all. The Holes in Your Nose; The Gas We Pass; Everyone Poops; and more.
Zen Flesh, Zen Bones - Compiled by Paul Reps and Nyogen Senzaki.
Zen Stories - Takes up where Aesop's stories (which were sanitized for children) and Poor Richard left off.
Baby sign language: Baby Signs; Kindersigns; Signing With Your Baby; Tiny Fingers (ASL classes in DC area).
Children's Book List - Merits listing for including Captain Underpants and Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. Here are more children's book lists: Children's Literature Links; Books of the Century (from Warwick Public Library, Rhode Island); KidsReads.com list (for the single digits); 100 Most Fun Books to Read; Student Favorites.
Native American Themes in Books for Children and Teens - From the website of Cynthia Leitich Smith, who has authored books for younger readers.
Native Americans and Children's Literature - From Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site.
Our Kids - Activities in DC area.
Washington Parent - Includes local activity information.
COMPUTER AND INTERNET RESOURCES
About.com - Of urban legends and the Internet.
Banner Makers - See http://www.bannermakerpro.com,, www.trafficswarm.com/index-b.pl?, www.interiormall.com/banlinks.html, www.total-harmony.com/promotion/banner_creation.html, and www.enchanted-isle.com/helpnews/banners
Blogrolling: www.blogrolling.com
Bugmenot.com - Visit websites without needing to register.
Ebay.com - Caveat emptor as to purchasing on eBay and as to eBay's lax privacy policy and implementation thereof. Beware of other online companies that are similarly lax on privacy.
Expedia.com - Flight fare info. Too many cookies, though.
Handango - Palm software.
MIT's Open Courses - MIT opens 500 courses to the Internet public.
Mortgages and Real Estate - Home Locator; Mortgage Calculator; For Sale by Owner; Select a Mortgage Company.
NNDB - "Tracking the entire world." Existing "to document the connections between people, many of which are not always obvious. A person's otherwise inexplicable behavior is often understood by examining the crowd that person has been associating with."
Open Source - Promoting the ability of programmers to read, redistribute, and modify the source code for a piece of software,
Palm Dictionaries - From languages to medical terms.
Palm Pilot Web Ring - Pocket organizers and computers are more powerful and affordable than ever.
Palm Software - From EuroCool
Palm Tipsheet - Monthly palm zine.
PC Warehouse - Custom-built computers. Rockville, MD.
PDA Legal Links - From New York Law School
Pilotgear.com - Palm accessories.
Radio Station Locator - Including online broadcasts.
Sony CLIE Accessories - From shop1store.com.
Textfiles.com - What this site offers is a glimpse into the history of writers and artists bound by the 128 characters that ASCII allowed them.
Tiny URL - A curious invention.
Travelocity- Flight fare info. Too many cookies, though.
Websolvers.net - Sitehost
DRUGS /DRUG REFORM - See additional Drug Reform links here.
420.com - Presented by High Times.
Books on Psychedelic and Drug Issues - Full free texts.
Cannabis.com - Extensive pro-pot information.
Cannabis.com Legal Discussion Board - An alternative to overgrow.com.
Cannabis Culture Magazine - Marijuana and hemp around the world.
Drug Policy Foundation - Advocating alternative policies to the failed war on drugs.
Eat The Evidence - Having your water pipe, and eating it, too.
Emperor Wears No Clothes - Full text online (by Jack Herer).
Families Against Mandatory Minimums - Opposing mandatory minimum prison sentences.
Hemp Food and DEA Ban - See January 13, 2003, Washington Post article on the issue.
Hemp Stationery - Available here.
Jack Herer - Tireless crusader for marijuana legalization.
High in America - Full free text.
High Times - Promoting the marijuana and high culture.
International Cannagraphic - I sometimes post in the legal forum under the handle liberty4all.
Timothy Leary - LSD guru. See The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead and Flashbacks..
LSD - My Problem Child - Purportedly by Albert Hofmann, who discovered LSD. Visit the Island Sanctuary Project. See free text here, too.
The Man Who Turned on the World - Full free text.
Marijuana.com - No stems, no seeds that you don't need.
Planetganja.com- I sometimes post in the legal forum under the handle liberty4all.
The Pleasure Seekers - See also Wirehead Hedonism.
Pot TV - That's right folks, don't touch that dial.
Owsley Stenley - The Bear
Abarenbo Shogun - Shogun mixes among the masses by masquerading as humble son of a poor samurai.
Marty Allen - What was left after the Hollywood witch hunts.
Atomic TV - Public access broadcasts in Charm City by Scott Huffines and Tom Warner -- great creators whom I have the honor of knowing personally.
Ned
Beatty - "There are no nations! There are no peoples! ... There is
only one holistic system of systems, one vast interwoven, interacting,
multi-variate, multi-national dominion of dollars!" From Network.
Biographies On Late Celebrities - Irreverent.
Chan is Missing - By Wayne Wang. "Here's your money, honey," declares Chan's daughter near the end of the film.
Conrack - John Voight and Hume Cronyn duke it out.
Jimmy Durante - Goodnight, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are.
Easy Rider - Hippies groove on life; the film's anti-hippies will hear nothing of it.
Penny Frazier - Who's co-opting whom? On the one hand, Penny Frazier stays with the Zandi family on Trading Spouses (March 2006), requests a karma sharing by joining bare feet after saying that such general information as her hometown location will be shared when she feels more comfortable doing so, and perhaps too coincidentally loses her beloved family turkey, Clyde, to a collision, only to be served as unmentioned roadkill to Ms. Zandi. On the other hand, her presence on the show leads me to learn more about her through a Google search. The program and Penny's website reveal her family to have good and caring hearts and to care deeply for the environment, and show her to be an intelligent woman who met her husband while a paralegal in Vegas. My e-mail to Penny soon after the show airs meets with an immediate reply and interesting follow-up messages. A believer in the health benefits of pinenuts, Penny sends me some domestic pignons ready to be roasted.
The Front - The 1950's communist witchhunts and blacklistings damaged the Constitution and even invaded the entertainment industry.
Google videos - Google, censoring Tank Man and more.
Ruth Gordon - Who could be more chilling in Rosemary's Baby? "Go on and drink it. It's just Lipton tea."
Hagure Keiji - Detective pushes for justice before convictions through patience, caring, and sensitive intelligence.
Jackal - There's bloody then there's bloody. Here, Bruce Willis blows off Lamont's (played by Jack Black, not by Demond Wilson) arm, in a twisted variation on William Tell.
Lou Jacobi - I saw him one afternoon in 1986 through a midtown Manhattan small shop window. He smiled broadly at being recognized. No need to walk in to say hello; the greeting had been made.
Jim Jarmusch - Brilliant director of Down By Law .
Joe - Fiction as vivid and real.
Knicks Coverage on WOR TV 9 (NYC) - During part or all of the 1970's, Channel 9 Knicks coverage was low budget, with one TV camera, and two entertaining announcers: Cal Ramsey and Bob Wolf. This was apparently before Eric Fernsten briefly joined the team; I knew Eric from his stint doing stockbroker work in Boston.
Akira Kurosawa - Upon winning a lifetime achievement Academy Award, he humbly exclaims that he is still learning the essence of cinema.
Lord of the Rings - Official site.
Movie Search Engine - Searchable database of movies, music and TV.
Movie Trailers - From the previous year.
Jack Nance - Eraserhead man. Sadly, killed in a fight at a donut shop.
Leonard Nimoy - "I Am Not Spock." Or am I?
Yasujiro Ozu - This director led Wim Wenders to create Tokyo-ga.
Daniel Schorr - A courageous journalist who found himself on the Nixon enemies list, and whose integrity led him to leave CBS News in the mid-1970's. Frank Zappa approached him to help make sense of world affairs to younger people; Schorr delivered an amazing on-air obituary when Zappa left the planet. He seems to have no ego. I enjoyed talking briefly with Mr. Schorr at a bookstore and at a couple of my then-neighbor Adrienne Barth's annual eggnog parties.
She's Gotta Have It - Powerful story of passionate relationships destined to fail except for in the imagination. Powerful bass music by Bill Lee, Spike's dad.
Soupy Sales - With Phil Silvers and Orson Bean, Zippy's unholy triumvirate.
Soylent Green - It's people.
Takeshi Kitano (WARNING: Includes violent imagery) - Beat Takeshi throws himself completely into his films. See Kikujiro trailer here.
They Who Step on the Tiger's Tail - Featuring Kenichi Enomoto's masterful performance as fool and accidental genius, and filmed in wartime Japan. For more off-the-wall Kurosawa characters, see Dodeskaden.
Abe Vigoda - From struggling actor to Dark Shadows to The Godfather to Fish.. "Barney Miller" hired Vigoda, he says, because: "I got the role because the producer thought I looked tired. But I looked tired because I had been jogging earlier that day. He said to me, 'You look tired, Abe.' I said, 'I am. I was just jogging five miles.' He said, 'You also look like you have hemorrhoids.' I said, 'What are you? A doctor or a producer?' And he said, 'Well, I'm a producer and you know what? You've got the role.' Just like that." Good thing he didn't take Preparation-H that day.
John Waters - Part of Baltimore's lineage of brilliant artists of the weird, in company with Poe and Zappa.
FRIENDS, TEACHERS, AND MENTORS - Life has become richer, more successful, and more meaningful with these friends, teachers and mentors whom I have met and spent time with along the path. I met many of them and welcomed their gifts at the ideal time for me to do both. This is only a partial list, primarily of those with websites.
Dax Cowart - We experienced the Trial Lawyers College together. He transcended a horrific ordeal that is now commonly taught in medical ethics classes, attended law school later than do most students, and became a persuasive trial lawyer who sometimes will get his argument across by singing a song.
Ed Fox - A role model for generosity and patience in conveying technical computer brilliance with full clarity to the layperson. Don't buy a computer before visiting his website's computer components recommendations.
John Johnson - My late friend whose spirit permeated the Trial Lawyers College.
Len Kennedy - He and his wife Ellen Kennedy taught me t'ai chi. One evening, while we did standing t'ai chi meditation, Len asked us: how do we deal with change? Do we fight the change (doesn't work, I say)? Do we accept the change? Do we work with the change (I say it's vital to try to neutralize or harmonize the change to our advantage)? My praises to Len and Ellen are found here.
Jay Marks - My law partner and friend. I've known Jay since 1969, longer than anybody else in the Washington, DC, area. More about my admiration for Jay is here.
Trudy Morse - My close friend, with an eternal zest for living and fearlessness of inevitable death. I met Trudy at the Fabrangen chavura when praying for my friend John Johnson, who had just passed."Never an accident!"
Stephen Rench - Steve Rench is a powerhouse of a trial lawyer and human being. On first meeting him, Steve may look like an ordinary mortal. But by the time he opens his mouth, he is an amazing persuader and caring teacher to lawyers who advocate for the underdog. When in a tense situation with an opposing lawyer or difficult judge, I often seek inspiration from Steve, t'ai chi mega-master Cheng Man Ching, my friend and mentor Jun Yasuda, and my friend and law partner Jay Marks.
Gerry Spence - Gerry and Stephen Rench complete an amazing yin and yang as trial masters and trial teachers.
Jun Yasuda (and here)- Inspiring friend and intrepid crusader for peace. See more of my views here.
Accelerated Decrepitude - By Baltimorean Tom Warner.
American
Dime Museum - From the strange and demented underbelly of yesteryear
America.
American Diner Museum - On repeatedly reheated gray gravy, instant mashed potatoes, and stove grease older than any living being.
Bathroom Graffiti:- Who are these scribes, who suffer unpleasant environments to wield their pens?
Borat - Jagshemash. See also here.
Diner FAQ's - Esoterica to chew on with your instant mashed potatoes swimming in gray gravy.
Doggie Diner - Frequently seen in Zippy strips.
Lenny Bruce - Brilliant humorist.
Uncle Buck - Hello, I'm Buck Melanoma.
Mahir Cagri - Watch out, or he may kiss you.
Cheech and Chong - Brilliant imaginations. Irrepressible and irreverent humor.
Doonesbury and more - Creator of Duke.
Festivus Pole - Don't be without one when Festivus next arrives.
Foul language in porn movies - From the Onion.; contains explicit language.
Funny images - Voluminous. Many hilarious. Many politically incorrect.
Impulsive Buy - Tangential, sometimes politically incorrect reviews of often strange consumer products.
George S. Kaufman - Produced plays including Animal Crackers, The Man Who Came to Dinner, and You Can't Take It with You.
Ernie Kovacs - Way ahead of his time. Died while driving his Corvair.
Paul Krassner - Read The Realist.
Lighting Methane - Do you mind if I smoke?
Mad Magazine - Survived the 1950's comic book censorship hysteria by taking on a black & white format that put it beyond the definition of a comic book.
Methane - Found in Swiss mass transit system, and also found here.
Mr. Natural, and more - Precursor to streakers.
The new secret police - Sit; roll over; lie down.
Obscure Store - Daily news of the unordinary and the downright bizarre.
Pathetic Vegan Jokes - 20% politically incorrect.
Portable Toilets - Have waste, will travel.
The Reagan - With apologies to Poe.
Red Meat - Weekly depictions of warped lives.
Roadside America - Visit the U.S. with Zippyvision.
Saturday Night Live Transcripts - I have a letter from a Mr. Richard Fedder from Ft. Lee.................
SCTV Guide - Edith Prickley, Guy Caballero, Johnny Larue, and the rest of the gang.
This Modern World - Overlaps 1950's images with current scathing political commentary.
Tom the Dancing Bug, and more - As seen in alternative weeklies.
John Valby - Politically incorrect. Some of his less insensitive songs were popular at summer camp.
Zipcode Man - My summer camp bunkmate. Now he recalls zipcodes and juggles.
Zippy the Pinhead - Through an editorial decisionmaking warp, he jumped from underground comix to daily newspapers. Click here also, for another source of daily Zippy strips.
Accents and Dialects - List of English dialects. Rhotic and non-rhotic accents.
Al's Place Cafe - For an honest plastic cup of Genesee (in my old hometown).
Henry Ward Beecher - Abolitionist preacher who rejected the concept of hell.
Bowery Boys - See the blog. Trivia: Louie Dombrowski was played by Bernard Gorcey. Bernard Gorcey's son, Leo Gorcey, plays Slip Mahoney. A close friend of mine is a Gorcey by birth. In her home is a cool picture of Bernard Gorcey in top hat and tails, probably from the 1930's or so.
Brighton Beach - A fascinating mélange of Russian emigrés and more, right in Brooklyn..
Consumer Reports Car Guide and more - Before you buy that toaster.
Craig's List - Classifieds in Washington, DC area.
Eden Center - A dizzying array of Vietnamese retail in one Falls Church, VA, shopping center.
Edmunds Car Guide - This car guide is just the beginning of entering aggressive negotiations for buying a car.
Gojinjo Daiko - A stark contrast to the concept of the Japanese salaryperson.
Hebrew Alphabet - From Temple San Jose
Hell's Kitchen - Experience the menu.
Indigenous People's Literature - Dedicated to the world's indigenous people.
Japan travel- Chusha, (Beautiful mountainous playground north of Nagano. Click here, too.) Kanazawa (capital of of Ishikawa Prefecture, and near the Noto-hanto Peninsula).
Ken Mont Camp - Of Lloyd, Jerry, and Sid (1973-76 (camper) and '81 (kitchen staff)).
Korean Alphabet Writer (for Windows)
Korean language links - Click here and here.
Kossuth
Club - Of pickled eggs and beer (in my natal city, no less).
On my first and last visit to Kossuth, time seemed to stand still. Kossuth is well juxtaposed in its location. Conceptual artist/juxtaposition-man
Joseph Kosuth
would enjoy a visit, as would Zippy the Pinhead
.
Marks & Katz's Website in Japanese - Nihongo skoshi hanashimasu.
Motivating Employees - Versus manipulating them.
Moxie - Ubiquitous in early Mad Magazines, the drink continues in production.
Naropa University - Founded by Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, a lineage holder of both the Kagyu and Nyingma Buddhist traditions.
Odyssey of the 8th Fire - About a 2006-07 sacred walk.
Palindromes - "Was it a rat I saw?"
Rainbow Gathering - Holding annual be-ins for three decades.
Restaurants in DC area --
non-vegetarian: While vegetarian, when eating at omnivorous restaurants, I
include the following places and directories: Tyler
Cowen's Ethnic Dining Guide; Yangpyung
Seoul Restaurant, (703) 354-0511,
J. Tony Serra - Radical trial lawyer in San Francisco. Click here for Tony's views that he is not accurately portrayed in "True Believer," Click here for his Pier V Law Offices listing.
Seva Foundation - Dedicated to compassion in action.
The Sixties - A brief overview of the influences on and the trail to the Sixties, starting with the nineteenth century.
SpaceStation42.com - Links to fascinating places on the web.
Tsunami Relief Organizations - Separate the legitimate from the fraudulent organizations, and those in between.
Urban Dictionary - Today's slang is tomorrow's dusty phrase.
Washington, DC, Free Events Page
Yiddish Phrases - Extensive list. See more on Yiddish here.
YouTube - Video clips and more video clips.
MUSIC - The food of love. Click here for the songs that stay with me.
Arban's Trumpet Method - A timeless classic for trumpeters.
ARP - More entertaining than AARP.
Anita Baker - Singing "Sweet Love"
be.jazz blog.
Keter Betts - Late jazz bassist from the Washington, DC, area.
Bird Lives blog.
Ron Carter - Eclectic and masterful bassist.
Chief Ike's Mambo Room - After visiting D.C.'s art museums, come see the murals at Chief Ike's.
Cibo Matto - Creative success in music.
John Coltrane links: Listserv. John Coltrane: His Life and Music (Lewis Porter), preview text. Excellent links. See Traneumentary Blog.
Concert Vault - Friend of music, foe of copyrights, or somewhere in the gray area?
Chick Corea. - Pianist with boundless imagination. When he got onstage at the Newport/Kool jazz festival in Saratoga (1980), he mustered no more than a "hi", but then let loose with music that made me high.
Clyde Davenport - Old-time fiddler and banjo player in south-central Kentucky. Read Jeff Titon's fascinating interviews with him, including his modest insistence that he learned to play musical instruments as a gift, just picking them up and playing them right away. Buy his audiotape Puncheon Camps here.
Miles Davis - "I'll play it first, and tell you what it is later."
The Doors - Came to my attention through Apocalypse Now ("This is the end..."). Led by Jim Morrison, aka Mr. Mojo Risin'. See their lyrics here. See Jim's short biography here. See a Doors FAQ page here. "When you're strange, Faces come out of the rain."
Earth, Wind & Fire -"All our illusions were just a parade."
Emagic - Computer-based music production.
Bill Evans - Keyboard master.
Fender Rhodes - Is the medium the message?
Ella Fitzgerald - Amazing vocalist. Her scat singing transcended her voice.
Dizzy Gillespie - Mesmerizing on the horn. A living legend even after passing.
Grateful Dead - Was it the Boston Garden's ventilation system or the audience? At my one and only Dead concert, the marijuana exhausted half the oxygen,.
A Great Day in Harlem! - August 1958: 57 jazz masters in Harlem. The photo is amazing. The documentary film of this undertaking -- including interviews of several of the depicted jazz masters -- is even more amazing.
Jimi Hendrix - "When I die I want people to play my music, go wild and freak out an' do anything they want to do...." (Click here).
Billy Holiday - A masterful artist. Led a tortured life.
J.B. Hutto - Slide guitar master. I experienced and spoke with Mr. Hutto when he performed in 1981 at my college and in my natal city , as part of my field study report on him for my ethnomusicology class. He exemplified the gifted musician who loved performing full time, even if playing small clubs with low cover charges. "Hutto worked outside of music for a good decade, part of it spent sweeping out a funeral parlor! He resurfaced around 1964 with a stripped down, two guitars-drums-no bass trio version of the Hawks, working regularly at Turner's Blue Lounge and recording blistering new sides for the first time in as many years. From there, he never looked back and once again became a full-time bluesman." Cub Koda, All Music Guide.
Phyllis Hyman - Star of jazz song; tragically, committed suicide.
Ahmad Jamal - Beyond "Poinciana".
Lilypond - Software for drafting sheet music. Discussed further here.
Maryland Banjo Academy - See its newsletter.
Pat Metheny - Sat behind me in a hockey jersey, at a Keith Jarrett concert.
Charles Mingus - Uncompromising jazzmaster. Attacked racist governor Orval Faubus through famous tune "Fables of Faubus".
Moog Music - In the Moog.
Airto Moreira - Has played with many greats.
Van Morrison - Well, it's a marvelous night for a moondance.
MP3Search - Straight from Russia.
Music Technology in Education - In blog format.
Pandora - Online music.
Phil Ochs - "It is wrong to expect a reward for your struggles. The reward is the act of struggle itself, not what you win. Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make that attempt. That's morality, that's religion. That's art. That's life."
Old and New Dreams - Listen to "Guinea".
Old-Time Music - Traditional folk music of the Southern Appalachians. Gordon Banks says on this website that "This music wa based on fiddle music of the British Isles mixed with the influences of black musicians, both slave and free. The fiddle came over from Europe with the emigrants, the banjo came from Africa in primitive form and was refined and developed in the US cities starting before the Civil War. The Civil War spread the banjo and the minstrel tunes popular in that time into the remote Appalachian mountains, where they were adopted. The guitar came somewhat later, around the turn of the century."
Charlie
Parker - The yin to Dizzy
Gillespie's yang (or, as Dizzy said, "He was the other half of my
heartbeat")
A timeless genius who graced the planet for a
fleeting moment.
Lewis Porter - Biographer of jazz musicians, and more. He was my band teacher at Tufts University.
Sun Ra - Stickler for creative greatness over profit. See here,and here, too. Read about Sun Ra's support of leaders. "You can't have anything without its parallel and its opposite."
Saint John Coltrane African Orthodox Church - Prayer services include "Love Supreme". "My music is a spiritual expression of what I am - my faith, my knowledge, my being."
Sonny Rollins - Jazz sax great. He presented a strong performance when I saw him perform at Carnegie Hall in 1978 during the Newport Jazz Festival, except when he experimented with some synthesizer woodwind of sorts. As we walked into the hall, a program hawker kept hawking, "Programs, programs, don't forget your programs." When we didn't bite, he followed up: "You're forgetting your program."
Gil Scott-Heron - The revolution will not be televised.
Woody Shaw - Jazz trumpetmaster. Listen to "Rosewood". In 1983, I went to see his excellent performance on a jazzboat in Boston. I at first tried a seat behind the stage, but a helpful man suggested trying harder for a seat in front of the stage; it was Woody Shaw, not looking much like the image from the albums I owned. After the first set, I told him how much I loved his music, and asked about his trumpet, a Yamaha. He handed it to me for a closer look; I did my best to hide the feeling that I was holding a priceless item that might break from my awestruck self.
Horace Silver - Intro to his tight "Song for My Father" later finds its way into intro to Steely Dan's "Rikki Don't Lose That Number". Born in Norwalk, CT, just two towns from where I grew up in Fairfield, CT.
Nina Simone - Hear the anger and passion in Four Women.
Straight, No Chaser blog.
Billy Taylor - Pianist; former host of "Jazz Alive." Hear a podcast here.
Cecil Taylor - Piano master and artist influenced by nature, design, choreography, and much more. I've spent time with him, along with our mutual friend Trudy Morse.. See an in-depth interview here.
Clark Terry - Mumbles man.
Jeff Todd Titon - Ethnomusicologist - understanding societies through their music. I took his introductory ethnomusicology class at Tufts. Wrote Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes.
Trumpet tips - From Gary Wurtz
McCoy Tyner - Until you see the man perform live, you'd swear he has an abnormally large number of fingers.
Ulali - First Nations women a capella trio.
Edgard Varese - Composer who influenced Frank Zappa.
Vintage Synth Explorer - Imagine the intense genius that created and improved this technology.
Vomit and the Zits - Punk from Montreal, Canada.
VW Boys - Humorous bluegrass from Blountville, Tn.
Tom Waits - Theme song musician and co-star of Down By Law.
Andrew White - Eclectic teacher, player, transcriber, and commentator on music; right here in Washington, DC. Read Andrew White on Trane here. See more here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Videos from some Kennedy Center performances are here. Here is his address: Andrew's Musical Enterprises Incorporated, 4830 South Dakota Ave., N.E., Washington, D.C. 20017, Phone: (202) 526-3666, Fax: (202) 526-4013
Michael Wilderman's Jazz Photos - Jazz fans will want to visit this site. A friend of my friend Trudy Morse..
Stevie Wonder - Musing about "That Girl" who's not Marlo Thomas.
Woodstock - The concert was more commercial than appears on the surface. Standout scenes from the movie include the convenience store owner who stocked up on peanut butter and jelly, the decent port-o-potty worker with a son in Vietnam and with only kind words to say about the concertgoers, and a thin Wavy Gravy encouraging purchases of hamburgers (for those who don't see capitalism as weird) from the vendor whose merchandise was ripped off.
WRVR-FM, New York - This was my main jazz radio station from the time I became obsessed by jazz music (1976) until the walls came tumbling down in late 1980 when, without warning, the announcer played a jazz piece just before midnight, and then followed with a country song just after midnight, with the station now called WKHK. WRVR's call letters apparently started in 1961 as Riverside Radio, with ownership by Riverside Church, whose religious services were covered on Sunday mornings. When I started listening, the announcer lineup was powerful, including Max Cole in the early afternoon, Les Davis, Knicks basketball player Spencer Haywood during the weekend, and Zulema on the weekend, and Stella Marrs (see also here). The station moved from playing plenty of hard-hitting jazz, to losing its edge more and more as it approached its own death in late 1980. (Note: Click here for an evangelistic fan's overview of the station). Read a consumer esthetics analysis of WRVR here (start at page 12). Listen to 1977 programs here and here (which mentions Elvis's passing).
Yamaha - Made Woody Shaw's trumpet.
Neil Young - Who better than to sing the theme song for Out of the Blue?
Frank Zappa - I might be movin' to Montana soon. See a Zappa obituary here. See Zappa's Musical Language and this page, too.
NATIVE AMERICANS - The past must be taught, and the positive present and future must flourish.
Alcatraz is Not an Island - From PBS.
Alaska Native Knowledge Network - Established to assist "Native people, government agencies, educators and the general public in gaining access to the knowledge base that Alaska Natives have acquired through cumulative experience over millennia."
American Indian Movement - I have met one of its founders, Dennis Banks.
Dennis Banks - Has led a fascinating life, including receiving sanctuary from Gerry Brown and the Onondaga Nation. See related links here, and information on the 2006 Sacred Run here.
Gathering of Nations - Founded "to promote Native American, American Indian, and indigenous culture & tradition, and dispel stereotypes created about Native American Indian and indigenous people."
Hawaii Native American Tribes - "Native Hawaiians call themselves Kanaka Maoli. They are descendants of the early Polynesians who arrived in these islands 1500-2000 years ago."
Hawaiian Independence Page - See also Legal Foundation for Hawaiian Independence.
Indian Circle Webring - "Connecting the Internet web pages of Federally recognized American Indian Tribes."
Indian Country newspaper - Publishing from Canastota, NY.
Indian Law Resource Center - "'Legal advocacy for the protection of indigenous peoples’ human rights, cultures, and traditional lands so that Indian tribes and nations may flourish for generations to come'”
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center - Albuquerque, New Mexico. Focusing on the history and the living present of Indian Pueblo Culture.
Indigenous Bar Association - "Professional organization for Indian, Inuit and Métis persons trained in the field of law."
Longest Walk - 1978 coast-to-coast walk to Washington for Indian rights.
National Congress of American Indians - "NCAI's mission is to inform the public and the federal government on tribal self-government, treaty rights, and a broad range of federal policy issues affecting tribal governments."
National Museum of the American Indian - Includes the sites in Washington, DC; the George Gustav Heye center in lower Manhattan; and the Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, Maryland.
National Native American Bar Association
Native American Bar Association of DC - Bar association for lawyers "who work within the Indian law and policy realm."
Native American Rights Fund - "NNABA strives to be a leader on social, cultural, political and legal issues affecting American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians."
Native American Themes in Books for Children and Teens - From the website of Cynthia Leitich Smith, who has authored books for younger readers.
Native American Stories and Legends - From ewebtribe.com.
Native Americans and Children's Literature - From Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site
Native Languages of the Americas - "Preserving and promoting American Indian languages."
Native Web "About indigenous nations, peoples, and organizations around the world."
Powwows.com - List of Native American Gatherings, and more.
Pueblo of Acoma - Known as Sky City. A visit to the Albuquerque/Santa Fe area should not miss at least one-half day here.
Leslie Marmon Silko - Stories " aren't just entertainment. Don't be fooled." Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony (1977).
U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs - Includes related government links.
Kinokuniya - Very good selection of origami paper, and great Japanese bookstore.
Origami - Art for all ages and artistic skill levels. Learn on the web.
Origami Blueprints - You, too, can do modular origami.
Origami Supplies - From Bridgeport to Bucharest.
Origami USA - Join them, or just order origami paper from them.
Atlantic Kayak. - For sea kayaking.
Babies and bike trailers - When is the right time, and what are the right trailers?
Billy Goat Trail - One of the best short hikes near Washington, DC. Requires balance on the rocky trail; ideal for billygoats.
Cacapon Mountain - South of Berkeley Springs, WV. Get a particularly spectacular view after the leaves fall from the trees.
Canoe Cruisers - DC-area kayak and canoe club.
Chesapeake Paddlers - For kayakers and canoers.
Daily Nutrient Values - Food label fun.
Dietary Reference Intakes - More food label fun.
Durian - Try eating it without a clothespin on your nose.
Fighting Arts Magazine - Martial arts online.
Folbot - Folding kayaks.
Journal of Asian Martial Arts - This site takes payment orders.
Nutrition Information Guide - Read in conjunction with website for Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
Pathways - In Bethesda, Maryland.
Potomac Peddlers - Biking all over the DC area.
Ram Dass - Timothy Leary's former associate.
REI Outdoors Store - Excellent selection and service.
Shambhala Meditation Center (Washington, DC, area) - For worldwide centers, click here.
Sierra Club - The outdoors is the place.
Smile Herb Shop - Nearby Berwyn Cafe
Tree of Life Health Products Catalogue
USDA Nutrient Database - What nutrients are really in your morning donut?
USDA Recall Information - Or: I can't believe I ate the whole thing.
World Population Clock - From United States Census Bureau.
Yogaville - Yoga training center and retreat in Buckingham, Virginia.
Zen Hospice Project - At the very least, this hospice's name helps confirm that Western medicine is not the entire answer to health problem, and probably far from its.
Zen in Martial Arts - Read "A Moment's Delight," about the man and the strawberry and about fearlessness and a zest for living.
Zero Waste America - Advocating recycling of all materials.
Zero Waste America on Water Treatment
Carter Center - Jimmy Carter had many flaws, yet seemed more devoted to true justice than the other presidents from my lifetime.
Chicago Seven - What's to say about political activists who hold a birthday party in the middle of a criminal conspiracy trial? What made Jerry Rubin turn his back on this movement?
Civil Rights Movement Veterans - The struggle is barely over.
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund - In case you thought the 1950's comic book witchhunts were over.
Democracy Now! - Independent, award-winning news program airing on over 300 stations in North America. See "Drilling and Killing" documentary.
Epicureans and Stoics - Of ataraxia and apatheia.
Gandhi - A powerful teacher, even to those who never met him. "We are constantly being astonished at the amazing discoveries in the field of violence. But I maintain that far more undreamt-of and seemingly impossible discoveries will be made in the field of nonviolence." I understand that daily he would say the prayers of India's religions. Does anyone have a link to that? See also Manav Sadhna.
Greenpeace - Rarely lowkey.
Dick Gregory - Colorful person and activist. One day he heard me tell a friend by cellphone that Dick Gregory was in the produce aisle (at the Whole Foods in Silver Spring, MD) while I was there, and Dick walked right up, with me still on the phone, shook my hand, and asked "How are you feeling?"
Heroes of My Lai - Asserts that "the My Lai story is one of heroes as well villains."
Abbie Hoffman - From Steal This Book to Steal This Urine Test.
International Court of Justice Ruling on the West Bank Wall
International Peace Walk to Stop the Bombs - March to April 2005. See pdf flyer here, and more here. Organized by Jun Yasuda and others. I joined the leg overnight in Charlottesville, by car to Falls Church, and on foot with prayers for peace (Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo) at the Iwo Jima memorial, the Vietnam memorial, and the White House.
Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace - Committed to Israel's well-being through the achievement of a negotiated settlement to the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Jews United for Justice -Provides Jews with an opportunity to weave together Judaism and activism.
Jonah House - Baltimore non-violence community co-founded by my late friend Phil Berrigan.
Media Contact List - From FAIR.
MichaelMoore.com - Beyond Roger.
MIM Notes - Maoists on the web, as distinguished from the Revolutionary Communist Party, who are Maoists claiming to take a path different from MIM. Their talk of armed struggle is scary, but they have a First Amendment right to talk.
My Lai Courts Martial - Those who forget the tragedies of the past seriously risk repeating them. How many Americans, for instance, do not know that human rights abuses have not only been committed in other parts of the world, but that their own government (and its military) has committed and continues to commit gross human rights violations (to name a few -- slavery, the mistreatment of Native Americans, forcing Japanese-Americans into World War II concentration camps, permitting racial segregation, the Vietnam war atrocities, and, today, trampling on civil liberties in the name of the war on terrorism and the war on drugs). See also Peers Report on the My Lai Massacre and Winter Soldier Investigation.
Nonviolent Activist - Through my court defense of the Plowshares and friendship with Jun Yasuda, I've met many pacifists.
On Justice, Military Restraint and Peace, by Jon Katz - September 11 leads to critical crossroads for justice for victims of terrorism, real and suspected terrorists, and those caught in the proverbial and literal crossfire.
Peace HQ Site Index - Comprehensive alphabetical listing.
Peers Report on the My Lai Massacre - Even the United States government admitted that American military members perpetuated severe atrocities in My Lai.
Pentagon Papers - Disclosed because of the patriotic whistleblower actions of Daniel Ellsberg.
Rabbis for Human Rights - Committed to defending the human rights of all people in Israel and in the territories under Israeli control.
Refuse and Resist - Their rhetoric aside, they want Mumia Abu-Jamal off death row, as do I for all death row inmates.
Rock Out Censorship - Enough said.
John Schuchardt - Resides at the House of Peace in Ipswich.
Singapore's Censors - Pathetic theater of the absurd. Worse, censorship pervades the globe (see Index on Censorship).
Sixties Project - They were the worst of times; they were the best of times.
Sixties Radicals - It was the best of times and the worst of times.
George Soros - Directing huge chunks of philanthropy money where it counts.
The Tank Man - A PBS documentary not only about the courageous man who stood down army tanks in Tiananmen Square in 1989, but also how he cannot be found and how today's generation of Chinese college students know nothing of the incident. See the scathing attack on this censorship here.
Viet Nam News - Government-controlled media with a Sheraton ad. Socialismic country (tip o' the pin to Zippy) meets capitalism.
Washington Buddhist Peace Fellowship - Dedicated to serving as a proactive force for peace, social and economic justice, and a sustainable environment. See national Buddhist Peace Fellowship here.
Washington Peace Center - Extensive source for "progressive" D.C.-area political events.
Wavy Gravy - Keeping the fun alive from the Sixties. See also here and here.(Camp Winnarainbow). An emcee at Woodstock, who encouraged purchases of hamburgers (for those who didn't see capitalism as weird) from the vendor whose merchandise was ripped off.
Winter Soldier Investigation - Argues that the My Lai massacre was not an isolated incident. Presented by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (which John Kerry joined but left after disputing the group's level of radicalism).
Ken Saro Wiwa - Murdered by the Nigerian government, by execution.
Nadia Yassine - Fighting for democracy in Morroco.
Zaltho Foundation - Promoting peace and nonviolence.
SPIRITUALITY - Even as I question the existence of a deity and many aspects of organized religion, and as I shake my head over religious intolerance and people who proclaim theirs is the one true religion, spirituality remains a vital part of who I am, particularly in getting to a harmonious and peaceful place in life, treating everyone respectfully, and reducing my fear of my own death.
Access to Insight - Blog on Theravada Buddhism.
Alliance for Jewish Renewal - Supports and grows the worldwide movement for Jewish renewal.
Am Kolel - A Jewish Renewal center. Spiritual leader Rabbi David Shneyer is a klezmerite, an activist for social justice, and a promoter of interfaith and inter-community dialogue. Am Kolel welcomes intermarried couples and families, promotes full gender egalitarianism, and presents such programs as Jewish-oriented meditation and yoga.
American Gandhi - Including reference to Tranquil is this Realm of Mine - Dhamrma Talks and Writings of the Most Venerable Nichidatsu Fujii (translated by Yumiko Miyazaki (ISBN-13:978-0-9791298-0-3; ISBN-10:0-9791298-0-X).
Hari Dass Baba - A teacher of Ram Dass.
Henry Ward Beecher - Preached a gospel of love.
Bhagavad Gita - See other translations here.
B'Nai Israel- Bridgeport, CT. My bar mitzvah was here, and I played improvisational trumpet with the folk rock group. My Jewish life now focuses more on Jewish Renewal. and havurot.
Bodhi Path - Includes a center in Potomac, Maryland.
Bodhisattva Never Despise - Bodhisattva Never Despise had one simple practice, which was to bow before everyone he met saying, “I respect you deeply. I do not despise you. Why is that? It is because you will be able to practice the Way of the Bodhisattvas and become Buddhas.”
Breslov on the Internet - "Breslov Chassidus is one of the fastest growing Jewish movements. It encompasses a diverse group of communities, and spans the entire spectrum of Jewish thought, with special appeal to artists and musicians."
Martin Buber - "All real living is meeting." See more Buber links here, and see I and Tao - Martin Buber's Encounter With Chuang Tzu.
Buddhist Customs and Traditions in Everyday Life - "The only Buddhist custom which seems to be still preserved among most of the Japanese is the expression of gratitude 'Itadaki-masu' before a meal, and 'Gochiso-sama' after a meal. The original meaning of 'Itadaki-masu' is 'I express my hearty gratitude and thankfulness to the Buddha and to those who have given me this meal, putting the meal on my head' and that of 'Gochiso-sama' is 'I appreciate the effort of those who prepared this delicious meal at the expense of their busy time as well as that of the Buddha.' Although the original meaning of gratitude is not realized, most Japanese usually say these words three times a day before and after meals."
Buddhist Information.com - Includes online books.
CaoDai - "CaoDai is a universal faith with the principle that all religions have one same divine origin, which is God, or Allah, or the Tao, or the Nothingness, one same ethic based on LOVE and JUSTICE, and are just different manifestations of one same TRUTH."
Centropa - The other side of Ellis Island. Seeking "to create a window into Jewish history, and current events, in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union."
Dalai Lama - "[O]ne can see that too much attachment to one's own body sometimes leads to problems." The Power of Compassion (1995, Thorsons publishers). Teaching schedule.
D.C. Dharma - Buddhism in D.C.
Abraham Joshua Heschel - "It is more meaningful for us to believe in the immanence of God in deeds than in the immanence of God in nat
