Such As It Is

What’s to report? I’m back at Yancey’s Saloon as the fair-weather fan cheering on the Warriors. Apparently it’s working, because they’ve won 6 straight games.

The kids at school have Spring Fever, that feeling of school almost done and now’s the time to pull out all the repressed naughty behaviors and show their quirky, edgy selves. Well, not all of them. And my fabulous 8^th graders are plowing steadfastly ahead preparing for the Spring Concert.

I’m taking them to two different jazz shows this weekend, the wonderful singer Mary Stallings with the SF Jazz High School All-Stars and then that night, she sings with vibraphonist Warren Wolf and pianist Cyrus Chestnut. I’m going to both shows and tonight went to hear Gerald Clayton, one of my new favorite up-and-coming pianists. He can swing hard with the best of them, but has a gentle, poetic touch that is rare and his trio listening so hard they could hear corn grow. On Saturday night, I myself am giving a modest house concert and luckily, the Muse has been by my side practicing this week. And tomorrow night going to see Chasing the Trane, the documentary film about John Coltrane. So I guess you could call this Jazz Appreciation Week, not that I need an excuse to appreciate it.

Meanwhile, in Washington, the Axis of Evil is trying to take down affordable health care

in their ongoing campaign to hurt as many innocent people who don’t deserve a bit of it.

Should we admire their relentless perseverance? No we shouldn’t. Any more than we should celebrate that Hitler loved his dog and Columbus was a good navigator. Evil is evil and this is it, folks.

After four days of shorts and flip-flops, the fog showed up and it’s back to blue jeans and winterish jackets. San Francisco can’t seem to abide any more than 5 or 6 warm days in a row.

Amidst it all, the roses in the back yard continue to be spectacular, the wisteria is dropping its blossoms, the world keeps spinning even if Nature is shaking her head thinking, “Really, people?”

That’s the news, such as it is. Onward.