CDs listened to today:

• Modest Mouse: Good News For People Who Love Bad News

CDs listened to today:

• Jay-Z: The Black Album
• Charles Tolliver Big Band: With Love
• Eric Ewazen: Sonata for Trombone (Joseph Alessi, trombone)

CDs listened to today:

• Johan de Meij: T-bone Concerto
• Olivier Messiaen: Saint François d'Assise
  
• stellastarr*: (eponymous)
• John Cage: Thirty Pieces for String Quartet

CDs listened to today:

• My Morning Jacket: Z
• Jesus Guridi: Sinfonia Pirenaica
• Bela Bartok: Divertimento
• The Charlatans: Up To Our Hips
• Tom Scott: Bebop United
• stellastarr*: (eponymous)
• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Symphonies, disk 5 (Sir Roger Norrington conducting)
• Gyorgy Ligeti: Requiem
• Foo Fighters: (eponymous)
  

CDs listened to today:

• Weezer: (eponymous blue album)
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Symphony No. 2, "Cello"
• Maurice Ohana; Tombeau de Claude Debussy
• Samba Mapalanga: Ujumbe
• Alban Berg: Lulu Suite
• Jesus Guridi: Sinfonia Pirenaica
  

CDs listened to today:

• Ted Leo & The Pharmacists: Shake The Sheets
• Hebert Vazquez: String Quartet No. 1
• Arnold Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht (Herbert von Karajan conducting)
• Various Artists: The K & D Sessions, disk 1
• Dafnis Prieto: Absolute Quintet
• Jesus Guridi: Sinfonia Pirenaica
• Igor Stravinsky: Le Rossignol
  

CDs listened to today:

• Olivier Messiaen: Saint François d'Assise
• The Annuals: Be He Me
• My Morning Jacket: Z
• Sergei Prokofiev: Sonata for Piano Nos. 6-8, disk 2
• Jesus Guridi: Sinfonia Pirenaica

So, the story of racial conflict in Jena, Louisiana (pronounced JEE-nuh) broke open this past week as a huge number of protesters marched in the town.

The roots of the conflict--aside from America's long, troubled history of race relations--appear to be a dispute over an old oak tree on the local high school grounds. Traditionally, white students thought of the tree as theirs to hang out under. Well, it's Louisiana, so it almost goes without saying that if white students hang out there and it's a tradition, black students aren't welcome. Apparently, the tree was called the "white tree".

Well, the current trouble begins, according to news reports, when the black kids appealed to the high school principle that they wanted to be able to gather under the tree, too. He may be the only one in this story worthy of praise, he simply told the kids to go ahead. I say he "may" be due for praise; it's hard to know if he should have anticipated the trouble this would cause. So, a black kid sat under the tree. The next morning, a clutch of replica nooses are dangling from the tree.

You don't exactly have to know a lot about these things to guess that racial tensions in the school skyrocketed from what was not doubt the usual simmer to a full, rolling boil. The school destroyed the tree, but that wasn't a cure. Eventually, harsh language and ugly exchanges occured. This culminated in an ugly confrontation on school grounds. A white boy was severely beaten and six black students were arrested and charged, some with attempted second-degree murder. Witnesses report the assault had no immediate provocation, that the boy was blindsided by the assailants.

None of this is good news, but then the national groups got involved. they are calling the six defendants the "Jena Six" as if this is a civil rights story. It was about civil rights and all that when it was about the tree and the nooses, no doubt. It stopped being about civil rights when an unconscious boy was rushed to the hospital. Now it's about justice and violence.

These boys are presumed innocent, but no matter who beat that young man, nobody is saying he deserved it, or even that he put up those nooses. Maybe he did put up the nooses, but that still doesn't mean the beating was justified or lawful. Perhaps the young man is guilty of some form of intimidation. It's still legal to call people names although I imagine nooses are a form of threat and illegal as such (Sep 27 note: the Jena DA and US Attorney in Louisiana have determined that the nooses weren't illegal. It's worth noting that the US Attorney is black).

Here are my complaints: Why are the national groups protesting the criminal charges? Only one child was put in the hospital, despite reports of other scuffles. This isn't a bloody nose, this was a horrific beating. How would Martin Luther King view this? That we should protest criminal charges when it's clear there was a brutal beating? But I have more: Why second-degree murder? This was an ugly thing, but murder? What evidence of intent? Why adult charges for the minors? What about the reported beating of a black boy at a party? Why no charges for his assailants?

Lastly, why protest the charges for the student who was not a minor at the time of the assault. According to published reports, this is not his first criminal offense and he led the attack. How can this young man be allowed to go free when he is committing the exact same crimes that used to be the exclusive domain of Louisiana's whites? I guess that is a form of racial progress in the South, that racially-motivated violence is excused because the victim "deserved it". No matter what color the attacker and victim are…

Leave me out of this one, please. Let me know when all violent offenses are prosecuted without protest.

CDs listened to today:

• Liz Phair: Whip-Smart
• Olivier Messiaen: Catalogue d'Oiseaux, disk 3 (Hakan Austbo, piano)
• The Sea And Cake: The Fawn
  

CDs listened to today:

• Johan de Meij: T-bone Concerto
• Eric Ewazen: Concerto for Bass Trombone and Wind Ensemble
• MJ Cole: Sincere
• Charles Tolliver Big Band: With Love
• Simon Jeffes: 'Still Life' at the Penguin Café
• My Morning Jacket: Z
  

CDs listened to today:

• David Maslanka: Symphony No. 7
• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Symphonies, disk 4 (Sir Roger Norrington conducting)
• Ben Folds Five: Whatever and Ever Amen
• Tom Scott: Bebop United
• John Cage: Thirteen
• My Morning Jacket: Z
• Jawbox: For Your Own Special Sweetheart
• Jesus Guridi: Sinfonia Pirenaica

CDs listened to today:

• Alban Berg: Lulu Suite
• Bela Bartok: Concerto for Violin No. 2
• Nick Cave: Nocturama

CDs listened to today:

• Bill Watrous: A Time For Love
• Dafnis Prieto: Absolute Quintet
• François-Bernard Mache: Andromède
• Dave Holland: Seeds Of Time
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Symphony No. 2, "Cello"
• Alban Berg: Lulu Suite
• Samba Mapalanga: Ujumbe
  

CDs listened to today:

• Talking Heads: Remain In Light
• The Annuals: Be He Me
• Arnold Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht (Juilliard Quartet)
• Various Artists: Jump 'N' Jive
• Hebert Vazquez: String Quartet No. 1
• Alban Berg: Lulu Suite
• Igor Stravinsky: Pulcinella
  

CDs listened to today:

• Oliver Messiaen Saint François d'Assise
• Sergei Prokofiev: Sonata for Piano Nos. 1-5
  

CDs listened to today:

• Charles Tolliver Big Band: With Love
• Olivier Messiaen: Catalogue d'Oiseaux, disk 2 (Hakan Austbo, piano)
• Tom Scott & The LA Express: Tom Cat

CDs listened to today:

• Victor Ewald: Quintet No. 3
• Milli Vanilli: Girl You Know It's True
• Johan de Meij: T-bone Concerto
• Charles Ives: Symphony: New England Holidays
• Liz Phair: Exile In Guyville

CDs listened to today:

• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Symphonies, disk 3 (Sir Roger Norrington conducting)
• Fishbone: The Realities Of My Surroundings
• David Maslanka: Symphony No. 7
• John Cage: Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano
• Javanese Court Gamelan: (eponymous)
• Alban Berg: Lulu Suite
• Tom Scott: Bebop United
  

CDs listened to today:

• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Symphony No. 4
• Dafnis Prieto: Absolute Quintet
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Symphony No. 2, "Cello"
• Samba Mapalanga: Ujumbe
• Bela Bartok: Concerto for Viola and Orchestra
• Alban Berg: Lulu Suite
• Neko Case: The Tigers Have Spoken.
• My Morning Jacket: Z
• Dave Holland: Seeds Of Time
  

CDs listened to today:

• Olivier Messiaen: Saint François d'Assise
• The Annuals: Be He Me
• Igor Stravinsky: Orpheus
• Bill Watrous: Space Available
• Hebert Vazquez: String Quartet No. 1
  

CDs listened to today:

• Various Artists: The Jackal
  

Today is one of the hardest days of my adult life.

I had to break things off with A. It's been a very hard decision to make, given all her good qualities, but the foundations of our relationship are far from solid. Given the deliberations, I have a very clear set of reasons, but I can't share them. She didn't ask me about why, so I don't get to tell anybody about how this relationship has failed to fulfill me. Dumping her without a clearly articulated reason seems heartless and callous. I suppose what would be truly heartless and callous would be announcing our issues to anybody but her.

So I'm miserable in silence. It's really not right, in my view, to whine about feeling this way when I'm the one who chose to break things off. I already miss her terribly, but this was the right decision. I've never felt so cruel in my life.


CDs listened to today:

• Save Ferris: It Means Everything
• Charles Tolliver Big Band: With Love
• John Prescott: Suite for Alto Trombone
• Talking Heads: Naked
• Arnold Schoenberg: Suite for Piano
  

CDs listened to today:

• Charles Ives: Symphony No. 4 (Michael Tilson-Thomas conducting)
• Tom Petty: Greatest Hits
• Johan de Meij: T-bone Concerto
• Olivier Messiaen: Catalogue d'Oiseaux, disk 2 (Hakan Austbo, piano)

CDs listened to today:

• Milt Jackson and Wes Montgomery: Bags Meets Wes!
• David Maslanka: Symphony No. 7
• Alvin Etler: Concerto for Violin and Wind Quintet
• Ron Miles: My Cruel Heart
• Tom Scott: Bebop United
• Samba Mapalanga: Ujumbe
  

CDs listened to today:

• The Cardigans: First Band On The Moon
• Rami Levin: Anima/Breath Of Life
• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Symphonies, disk 2 (Sir Roger Norrington conducting)
• Fishbone: Truth And Soul
• Dave Holland: Seeds Of Time
• Samba Mapalanga: Ujumbe
• John Cage: Solo for Sliding Trombone
  

CDs listened to today:

• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Symphony No. 1 (Three Movements for Orchestra)
• Arthur Blythe: Lenox Avenue Breakdown
• Hebert Vazquez: String Quartet No. 1
• Dafnis Prieto: Absolute Quintet
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Symphony No. 2, "Cello"
• Samba Mapalanga: Ujumbe
• Bela Bartok: Concerto for Piano, No. 2 (Sviatislov Richter, soloist)
  

CDs listened to today:

• Olivier Messiaen: Saint François d'Assise
• Bill Watrous: Bone-ified
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Symphony No. 2, "Cello"
• The Annuals: Be He Me
  

CDs listened to today:

• Francis Poulenc: Stabat Mater
• Tackhead: Friendly as a Hand Grenade
• Charles Tolliver Big Band: With Love
• Arnold Schoenberg: Suite
• Various Artists: Hurricane Zouk
• Dafnis Prieto: Absolute Quintet
• Igor Stravinsky: Oedipus Rex
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Symphony No. 2, "Cello"

CDs listened to today:

• Charles Ives: Symphony No. 4 (Seiji Ozawa conducting)
• The Persuasions: Street Corner Symphony
• Tom Scott: Bebop United
• Peter Mennin: Symphony No. 7
• Royal Crescent Mob: Spin The World
• Dafnis Prieto: Absolute Quintet
• Johan de Meij: T-bone Concerto
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Symphony No. 2, "Cello"

A had a recurrence of the same health problem from last December and nearly died last night. Even her own family has mentioned frustration with her that she hasn't followed the regime that would keep her healthy. Just like last time, I was trying to coordinate help for her, despite her resistance. Today, she is safe at the hospital and my role is to try and be the good boyfriend and support her. Still, how many times will this have to happen before she dies or realizes she needs to take care of herself?

CDs listened to today:

• The Mighty Mighty Bosstones: Let's Face It
• David Maslanka: Symphony No. 7