In Which Ryan Is Probably Hot
August 2022 | 3:8
Koopa and Goomba offer this reminder that life is about balance, and laser pointers.
What's Been Happening
This month is busy enough that I’m actually writing this over a week in advance since I know I’ll be on tour when it goes out. I’ve learned enough to not pretend I can guess what the next week or so will hold, but since I’m flying to Texas I’m confident that it’s probably hot, I’m probably tired, and I’m probably still asking people to play downbeats together. With any luck you’re smart enough to stay inside, sleep occasionally, and play downbeats together without me asking, but hopefully we can still catch up soon.
Chart O' The Month
This is another of my Mingus charts, and in fact it’s the first of his tunes I arranged for my band. Partly it’s a great tune and fun to play, but it also quickly became the traditional tune to start the second set because it starts with a bari sax cadenza and that served as an aural canary for the rest of the band to finish getting drink refills and head back to the bandstand.
There’s lots of great stories and descriptions of this song, but my favorite is from Mingus himself who described it as “...getting the <blank> kicked out of you by a bunch of thugs, and when they finally pause using the last of your energy to flip them the bird”.
Look, Nature!
We've been on a kick of visiting bogs for our hiking around Chicago, and recently met this guy sunning himself on a stump. He's a garter snake, and specifically a '"North American Blep Snake".
Note: Johanna says I'm still not allowed to rename things, so that name is apparently not "accepted by the scientific community" if you want to get technical.
Education Notes
Happy summer! If I’m noticing anything by being back teaching a lot, it’s that everyone who’s navigated the last two years in a classroom is either a) insane, b) handles perpetual crisis mode better than me, or c) both of the above. Whatever the option, hopefully you’re recharging well and I look forward to seeing many of you soon.