Put to Rest, Finally

Well, I am happy to report that the fabled "liberal media bias" myth has been dispelled once and for all! Why do I say that, you ask?

Well, how has the VP debate been covered? Either it was a tie, no damage done to either campaign, but no "game changers" either. Or alternatively, Sarah Palin "won" because (pick any or all that apply): (1) she was more folksy, made a connection with the people (you know what I'm saying, "wink, wink, ;)"); (2) Biden was "boring" (all those facts and figures); (3) Biden was off his game and "lost" the first part of the debate (too passive); (4) Biden generally did not attack back ever (didn't take the bait, for example, on the "white flag of surrender" poke); and/or (5) Palin "exceeded expectations", in part because of the disastrous Katie Couric interviews, and did not run crying from the stage, vomit on the stage or freeze up -- generally saying some combination of words that vaguely resembled sentences, including nouns and verbs. [Matt Lauer asked Guiliani the next morning whether she had "mastery of the facts" or whether it sounded like she crammed for a test for a week. Guiliani said he didn't know how you could separate the two. To Matt's credit, interupted and said, well, "one is knowlege of subjects built up over years, and the other is cramming for a test." Seems pretty simple to me] [http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&vid=186bb7cd-4845-4572-b1ad-6f2808b6a4b4&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:d1214ac3-0f54-4f1e-a498-decf5f2e6a49%2Ca57aca04-9d6b-48f5-b85a-fe3a4e7d300b%2Ceb7a7857-f982-411d-9670-83c8961cc2fa&from=MSNHP&tab=m1191248204226]

Am I right on how it's been reported? You betcha!! (Ok, maybe not the NY Times editorial page, but Palin will pick that up, because she reads "all" of the newspapers, remember?)

So that's the media reporting, including the "liberal elites." What's the objective evidence? CBS poll immediately following debate: Biden over Palin, 51% to 36%. CNN poll I just saw reported tonight: Biden 51%, Palin 36%. What about the "gender gap", you ask? Men: Biden 51%, Palin 36%. Women: Biden 51%, Palin 35%. Hmm. That's starting to sound like a Biden victory. But put facts aside--it's about personal connection, right? Now what was the most moving moment of the debates so far, on personal level? Was it Joe being emotional about being a single dad, not knowing if his sons are going to make it after he tragically lost his wife and infant daughter at age 29? Say it ain't so!!!

Now, doggone it Joe, there you go again....

More On Saturday

Well, this is very interesting. The Voodoo Blues is now apparently opening for Barack Obama (of sorts). The Old Capitol Blues Festival, where we'll be competing in the ICBC Blues competition on Saturday afternoon, will be one block from Sen. Obama's rally with his new veep choice.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/1116586,CST-NWS-sweet20.article

The competition will pause momentarily for Sen. Obama and his speech. We are slated to hit the stage from 12:30 to 1:00. Obama speechifies at 2:00. The note we received from the ICBC President was that plans were to press ahead--e.g., he still thought we'd be able to park near the stage, they're just anticipating a short pause. I don't know--that's hard to imagine. But boy, will it be exciting!!

As of yesterday, it looked like Biden was rising fast. Joe was my actual favorite in the Presidential field until it became apparent he had no legs and had to drop out post-Iowa.

Count or Duke?

I've been asked for sample snippets to assist with the latest poll. (Ella won the last poll soundly, for those keeping score at home.)

You get the essence I think of Count Basie's swing with this rendition of Corner Pocket from 1962:



Harder to generally characterize the Duke sound, but here's a clip of the great "Take the A Train" that purports to be from the early '40s:



Great playing, although not concert footage, obviously. Duke's group had a fatter sound, although I'm not completely satisfied that I've captured the contrast well enough.

Ella or Sarah?

In case clarification is needed on the recent poll: Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughan. (The correct answer is: why pick?)

See them together (with Pearl Bailey); although well past their prime, worth a view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSexf4lqxtI

It is not apparent from that clip, however, how unique their respective singing styles were. Here are two clips that are fairly representative of how great they each were and yet how different their styles were.

Ella struts her stuff on Mack the Knife in 1965: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_SR2sVPjfw

See my initial post about Ella's version of Mack the Knife with the Duke Ellington big band. That version is available on iTunes; just punch in "Ella Duke Mack the Knife" on the search and up it comes. The whole album is available, but you can also just buy that track for a mere $0.99.

Sarah with My Funny Valentine in 1981: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_t6_SkBHrk

Sharon and I saw the wonderful Ms. Vaughan in the late 1980s at the Blue Note in New York. Magic.

Adam West in a Landslide

Adam West was your favorite Batman, garnering 75% of the votes. The only other ones registering on the poll were Michael Keaton and Christian Bale. Val Kilmer got the big zip (although in this author's view, he did a creditable job). George Clooney was not an option; he himself takes full "credit" (blame) for taking down a successful franchise for many years until the new Christian Bale series came along.