14 November 2020 

What a Week it has been… 

This Veterans Day was also the 400th Anniversary of the Mayflower Landing.  This week saw the 245th Anniversary of the US Marines, during the 250th Anniversary of Beethoven and the the 335th Anniversary of J.S. Bach.  And today, in 1851, Herman Melville published Moby Dick…a nice SYNC for the prequel & sequel works by yours truly, and coming soon! 

By Contrast, 82 years ago, this past week, was Krystallnacht.  In that light, here is a story. 

At Auschwitz, Lily…

Just received the first Hardcover printing of "Death to Moby Dick, a Love Story." The sequel to Melville's Moby Dick will be ready for you and your gift list soon! Especially for those of you who have thoroughly enjoyed "Ahab, a Love Story," this new novel is a must read. Timely to the point of prophetic, its Journey is composed of Real History... and as always... Love. Godspeed! S

27 June 2016
a Commencement Speech
for the Graduates and Beautiful, Great kids of Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music

Though delivered just 3 days after the funeral,
this speech was written prior to the eulogy written for my Father.  
It was slightly edited before delivering it on the 27th.


Prelude:  In the score notes to “CRUZIN’… for there is much to dare,” are these words by Howard Walter in 1906.  

I would be true, for there are those who trust me;
I would be pure, for there are those who care;
I would be…

for 21 March 2020 
On the Birthday of JS Bach 
“The Story of Mrs. Han & Stormworks” 

Several years ago, we made “the rounds” to our favorite Sushi lady, Mrs. Han.  Something was different.  Above her beautiful smile and always kind eyes was a slightly shaven head. 

“What happened, Mrs. Han?” 

“Oh, I was in car accident.”  She spoke softly as she prepared Sushi and with a heavy Korean accent. 

“Really? What happened?” 

Mrs. Han explained how she had been in an automobile accident.  She had banged her head…

“The echoey sounds of stretching and cracking ice filled the inlet.  The surround had become an arena, an eternal, unearthly battleground.  The white whale broke the surface slowly.  Inching forward, it broke the ice ahead of its brow, sending mountainous shards into the starry night.” 
  
In love with Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, a prequel beginning with the American Revolution was composed.  Ahab, a Love Story, is a romantic adventure describing and humanizing the boy, the son, the lover, and the crushed…

Thoughts on Death to Moby Dick, a Love Story.   “Just another hill, Isaac.  Just another damned hill!”

The echoey sounds of stretching and cracking ice filled the inlet.  The surround had become an arena, an eternal, unearthly battleground.  The white whale broke the surface slowly.  Inching forward, it broke the ice ahead of it, sending mountainous shards into the starry night.   
Carney clutched his ATK.  He spun to Isaac standing at Carney’s right. “Just another hill, Isaac.  Just another damned hill!”
…

In December of 2011, while doing some Christmas shopping, I saw a man wearing a WWII Veterans cap. Over the years, I seem to have acquired a homing-beacon to such Men and Women. I feel an instant duty to put aside all else and make every effort to “accidentally” bump into them.

Our Veteran was a soon-to-be 92-year-old Pearl Harbor Survivor. As always, I had to meet him and shake his hand. Talk to him. Let him know that a now 70-year-old sacrifice was still immeasurably appreciated, and perpetually alive…

If you’ve ever seen the movie, RUDY… (with an excellent score by Jerry Goldsmith!) … you will see something of the “Psychology of Success” in action. As Henry Hartman said: “Success always comes when preparation meets opportunity.” 

Is that True?  Always? Let’s find out.

What does it mean to be “prepared?”

By now, I’m sure that most of you have heard about the 10,000-hour rule. What do Mozart, Bill Gates, and the best of professional athletes have in common?  Time.  By putting in a minimum, but required…

We are tuned to believe that “failure” is something to be avoided, when quite the contrary, failure is a target point.  Warning… we are about to redefine “failure” in ways that exceed the normal usage of the word. 

Let’s look at it the way scientists do.

“If you want to succeed, double your failure rate.”  Thomas J. Watson

Every day, I take my kids down to the P.O.E.T.  (the Place of Eternal Training) It is a little pier by the waters of the James River.  There we can stretch and work-out…

The Only Thing to Fear…

As it reads in a recent STORMWORKS Score:  “STORMWORKS is a Life-lesson in “positive obsession,” the rigorous regard for History and its Heroes, the pursuit of transcendent Love despite the storms of the world and an unwavering belief in the Brotherhood of Man.”

I once created a life-long class of students by posting 4X5 fliers… on the bottom of garbage cans in the remote recesses of Boston city streets.  Whoever found those “most-unlikely-to-be-noticed” ads and responded would…