The Archives
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12.03.09you’ve got questions, I’ve got answersAs oracular devices go, Internet search engines are a little better than reading sheep entrails and a little worse than the I Ching. The Internet is so full of bad and misleading information, that unless you already know what you're looking for you'll be easily duped. And because most search engines add a little "wisdom of the crowds" (or the "none of us is as dumb as all of us" principal) to their algorithms, bad information tends to reinforce more bad information. In most cases, you're better off asking a person--your father (who might lie to you), ...
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10.07.09Ronnie Scott’s, 1989: my (literal) brush with fameA recent article in The Guardian about the 50th anniversary of London jazz club Ronnie Scott's reminded me of my own visit to the Soho music venue in 1989, the club's 30th anniversary year. It was one of the best performances, jazz or otherwise, that I've seen, and a memorable adventure all in all. I was a student at Queen Mary College, living in the Redbridge suburb of South Woodford; British professors set a very low bar for American students, so I took advantage of their deflated expectations and explored the city every chance I got. While in Soho, ...
