Saturday's Summit Jazz concert was incredible. Alan Frederickson and the fair Juanita have created a world class jazz series. Standing on the shoulders of the Dick Gibson concerts, Juanita chooses four to seven virtuoso players and throws them onstage together. A leader is picked for each set who calls the tunes, the key and the beat. The magic takes off from there -- and last Saturday was no exception.
Alan introduces the acts with great respect, humor, and clever use of language. I learned the word "persiflage" from him this week. Merriam-Webster's second definition is "casual banter" but Alan used it aptly to describe extraneous drum hardware beyond a snare-hat-tom-bass kit. That’s my new word for the week: persiflage.
I love language but the affection is unrequited. I abuse it and it retaliates. I was reading an article this morning on TCS about the Daschle-Thune race and came upon the following:
This year, Daschle has a lot harder row to hoe (do they hoe rows in South Dakota?).
Only a few years ago I had a similar revelation on "for all intents and purposes," which I said for most of my life as "for all intensive purposes." What an idiot.
Even if it's self deprecating, a little persiflage feels good before the election.
The election is very important to me and to the world but those who claim it is the most important election ever may be missing McClellan-Lincoln 1864 and Wilson-Hughes in 1916. I would add Hayes-Tilden in 1876 and Johnson-Goldwater in 1964 -- a tie for the election I would change if I could change any in history. And, I couldn't be a real Republican if I didn’t say that a second Carter term in 1980 (even though it wasn't close) would have been one of the worst to change.
So, I am confident but ready to get out of bed on Wednesday if Senator Kerry wins. Like my buddy Dennis Miller, he will be "my President" and I will cheer his successes even as I oppose many of his policies. The Republic has survived much, it could probably survive four years of an effete, New England snob -- there's even some precedent!
I am not a praying man, but if Senator Kerry wins, I will pray every night for his health and safety. I would look at VP Edwards and take a bullet for ol' long-face John.
Happy election! Vote for W. Be Cool.
Excuse me while I kiss this guy. How many of us did Jimi Hendrix have thinking this for years? I also used to use "irregardless" when I actually meant "regardless". I agree JK, that whoever (whomever?) wins we will all survive. I'll even go out on a limb and predict that Kerry will not raise our taxes to 50% and put us under UN control, nor will Bush re-instate the draft and cancel medicare. Let's also not forget William Henry Harrisons' storied presidential term.
Posted by: Silence Dogood at November 1, 2004 10:13 AMYou're the better historian, but as I recall, the great contribution of WH Harrison was the slogan "Tippicanoe and Tyler Too!" Hard to think of a better one ("I Like Ike?")
Posted by: jk at November 1, 2004 12:15 PM"Keep Cool with Coolidge."
Harrison's claim to fame is two-fold, longest innagural address and shortest presidency. Caught a cold while delivering the address for 3.5 hours outside? He died from pneumonia about a month later.
Posted by: Silence Dogood at November 1, 2004 04:51 PMGoldwater... "in your heart, you know he's right."
Not very catchy though.