I just ran across this excerpt of an instrumental piece by the late blues/folk artist, Eliz. Cotten on the Smithsonian Global Sounds website:
Don't know the story behind the piece (i.e., why she gave it that name), but I can imagine she created it from just noodling around on the guitar.
You might find a slightly longer excerpt at this Aquarius Records website:
This past weekend I listened to “Justice Talking”, an NPR show that usually deals with legal issues. This particular show was about problems with the foster care system in the U.S.
One of the brief interviews was of a Minnesota college student who’d been in fostercare.
According to the program notes:
Interview with a Former Foster Child
Host Margot Adler speaks with a former foster child who grew up in and aged out of the foster care system.
Theresa is 20 years old and she officially aged out of foster care when she turned 18. She lived with 4 different families during the 5 years she spent in foster care as a teenager. She is now in college and helps young people in foster care who are aging out of the system…she advises them on how to make the transition to living on their own.
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It turns out that the student was Chinese American and was placed with foster parents at around age 13. (Foster parents' races/ethnicities were not identified, but they didn’t seem to be Chinese. I'm sure you can guess what they might be in the state of Minnesota.)
She was told not to call back home after she went to college. Apparently, this is not uncommon. It causes problems for students who need a guardian to co-sign things like apartment rental agreements.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much time for the show to look into the issue of cross-racial foster care. When it comes to whites fostering Asians, the age and cultural orientation experiences of the adoptee would certainly be factors in the ease and success of the relationship (besides, many other things).
Makes you wonder about the Anna Mae situation in Memphis, where a Chinese infant or child was placed in foster care, and then adopted by a white family. And then the Chinese parents (also living in Memphis) wanted her back.
Anna Mae, presumably, wouldn’t experience a loss of parental support when she goes to college. On the other hand, when she is old enough to understand the legal battle over her, what will that do to her psychological well-being? Will she get counseling? I bet she’ll end up in therapy.
Yesterday I was wandering around my local BJ's (the membership warehouse) and heard the Dixie Chicks blaring from a home entertainment system display. Their harmonies were sweet, but I tried not to pay much attention, because the display often plays the same clip from a concert dvd. (Don't want to get annoyed by the repetition. I think I've heard the same song at the 3 BJ warehouses that I drop by.)
So, I find it a coincidence that, in today's Washington Post, there was an article about a Jpnz. Am law prof who's the official blogger for the Dixie Chicks.
I guess they wanted a smooth writer, someone to keep in touch with their fans, 'cause country radio doesn't have their new release in heavy rotation (despite selling a million units).
His writing is almost too smooth and erudite. I'd like to read something with a little more "down home" feel.
But maybe I've got the readership and fanbase pegged wrong. I dunno, whatever...
I guess what's important is that he can come up with different angles and insights into the experience of touring with the Chicks.
Ugh. I just discovered, while I was writing the previous entry, that I had a small tick feeding on my ankle.
I tried to pull it out with some tweezers, but I only succeeded in squishing the body. I left the head in my skin.
It was a small brown thing. Hopefully, I won't get Lyme disease.
If I die, I'll let you know.
It was just reported in the news, today, that 436 lbs. of commercial grade marijuana were seized on northbound US Rte. 1 near MD Route 175 (that's around Jessup).
Yikes, that's near where my dentist used to be! It also sounds like it's near state police barracks.
I didn't realize that Rte. 1 is a "drug trafficking" conduit into Baltimore. I used to live on that side of town, so to speak. Should I be glad that I left there, or should I regret it. I guess that depends on my feelings towards drugs, or at least, commercial grade pot.
Seems like big pot busts are in the news, this week. Tuesday night, Baltimore police raided a rowhouse in Upper Fells Point and seized 400 lbs. of high quality pot, plants, growing equipment.
The news report didn't say if the hi quality pot had been grown in the rowhouse or came from other places. For that matter, where did the commercial grade pot come from? That is, where was it grown, and where did the guy carrying it, pick it up from?
Based on a quick search, I found a Nat'l. Drug Intel. Ctr. webpage on Maryland (as of Aug. 02),that says that most marijuana in the state comes from Mexico. And it's distributed (wholesale) by Jamaican criminal groups.
Does that still hold true?
So, another reason for controlling our borders. Have we all forgotten the War on Drugs?
You have to wonder how many other 400+ lb. shipments of marijuana are making their way into Baltimore. (And how many up Rte. 1?)
I can't pretend to know golf.
Never have been enthralled with it.
I can watch it in spurts, but I have to be in the right mood. (Like watching bowling or listening to opera.)
Anyhow, I've been following the LPGA major at Bulle Rock, and noting the preliminary stuff (Pro-Am events) because of Michelle Wie and all the Asian players (including some of the 32 Koreans playing on the LPGA tour, this year).
And Bulle Rock is just up the road, so to speak. Haven't yet been to the golf course, but I have visited the housing development of that name. (And I've also been to the neighboring Beechtree and Wetlands courses, but not to play golf.)
Heard some people at work talking about the tournament. One guy was telling others about one of his daughters buying a LPGA flag and getting autographs from the pros as they practiced or played in the Pro-Ams the other day.
Don't know if she got Michelle Wie's signature, but one pro signed a glove and gave it to her.
I've been reading the opinions reported on the internet about Michelle Wie and her quest to qualify for the U.S. Open.
I like it when analysts explain how her game could be improved and the experience she's gaining as she roams the world's golf courses.
It seems that she needs to learn how to putt on the grasses that she encounters on the Mainland. One commentator noted that she seemed to be putting at all sorts of speeds. (I guess he was talking about her play in New Jersey, last week.)
She did fine, today. Looking at her scoring posted on the tournament website, she seemed to improve a little by the end. Finished the day 1 under par. That puts her in a crowd that includes last year's winner, Annika Sorenstam. Today's leader, Nicole Castrale, was 8 under (a new course record).
I guess the short game is what separates the wheat from the chaff. There's no question Wie can crush the ball. I think earlier in her play, today, her drive average was listed as 292 yards. By the end, she was down to 280+. Other players were in that range of the 270s to the low 280s.
I suspect that overall scores might be lower than last year, only because of lower temperatures and humidity.
Yes, I hope Wie does well. But I'm not such a fan, that I'd visit Bulle Rock to try to see her play.