Horror in Colorado

It is not possible for this day to go by without commenting on the horror and tragedy that happened Friday night in Aurora, Colorado. What a deranged, senseless, awful thing to have happened there, and my thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims, their families and their friends. I believe that we have become a less civilized country, and instead of evolving to a higher state of being, we are sinking to the lowest, greedy, violent level. Someone has said that man is made in the likeness of the angels, and that we are just below the angels in our presence, but I rather think, these days, that we are just above the apes. Why are we surprised when things like this happen when so much of what is in the media, on video games etc. is all very violent. Recently, my husband and I went to the movies and were subject to five previews of upcoming films, each one more violent than the one before. If we lead a horse to water over and over again, eventually the horse will drink; the same is true of man's exposure to violence. We have become desensitized to the horrors of guns, rifles, assault weapons etc. and the impact of the bullets that actually do kill people. In real life, it is not a reality show; it really happens and changes lives forever. With so much violence to watch everywhere, what does it take for an already deranged person to do exactly what they see in the movies, on T.V., in video games etc. Not much. I am discouraged today about the direction these incidents point to in our society. Is there any hope for a nation without guns to mow down innocent people?

I have not been on my BLOG for quite some time, but I have an excuse. I have just completed a wonderful college music class called, "Blues, Jazz and Rock & Roll," and oh, what a walk down memory lane it was for me. The book we used (above) is called' I Hear America Singing," by David Kastin and if you want to read an overview of how the Blues music led to Jazz and then to Rock & Roll, this is the book to read. We went to the Mississippi Delta first, where the blues is said to have started, with the slaves on cotton plantations singing " a call and response" format that was then imitated time and again in all these genres of music. And after learning about Muddy Waters and others and the involvement of big city blues, we went to New Orleans, the birthplace of Jazz and heard the music of Buddy Bolden, B.B. King, Stevie Vaughn and then on to Chuck Berry, Jelly Roll Mortin  the New Orleans Brass Band, King Oliver and finally Louis Armstrong and Fats Domino. Then came the "swing era" with the bands of Benny Goodman(King of Swing), Glen Miller and Duke Ellington. Billy Holliday made her debut about this time, as well as Ella Fitzgerald. Bebop arrived on the scene with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie playing a more spontaneous style of Jazz and really "kicked" things up. Soon "cool jazz" arrived with Miles Davis and a more soothing respite from bebop's heated intensity. Other greats at this time in jazz history were Thelonious Munk, John Coltrane and Wynton Marsalis. And then came "Rock & Roll" and the boogie-woogie. This was my teen era of music having started H.S. in 1954 when R&R really took off with songs like Sh-Boom, Rock Around the Clock, and Shake Rattle & Roll...all of which I owned on those single 45s. Here we get the talents of Bill Haley, Joe Turner, Chuck Berry, Johnnie Ray (Cry), Little Richard (Tutti-Fruitti), Carl Perkins (Blue Suede Shoes) Fats Domino, Elvis, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis (Whole Lot of Shaking Goin On), Everly Brothers (Bye, Bye Love & Little Susie) to name a few. You also had the "Rockabilly" tunes like "That'll Be the Day." And then you had "the day the music died," with the airplane crash, February 3, 1959, which took three of the newest and brightest Rock & Roll stars; Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the "Big Bopper," J. P. Richardson. Motown emerged with small women groups like "the Shirelles" singing Tonight's the Night and Will You Love Me Tomorrow? and The Supremes singing "Stop in the Name of Love," and "Baby Love." Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin were on top at this time and their music has endured over time. The Sound of the Beach Boys surfaced just before the on slot of The Beatles, and Beatlemania in the U.S. They arrived two months after the death of President Kennedy, and brightened a sad nation with their upbeat songs, humor, and showmanship.  Just what the country needed at the time! I was in Africa and missed the whole hoop-la, and when I came back, had never heard of the Beatles! Others around this time surfaced, like The Kingston Trio, and Bob Dylan with his "Blowin in the Wind," and socially conscience lyrics which would soon change. With the Beatles & Bob Dylan came the electric guitar and amped -up music, for better or worse, depending on how you like it. Me, I like the calmer music played on acoustic guitar. My interest in the class began to wane with the arrival of "The Rolling Stones," and their loud, wild, electric guitar music with lyrics about drugs. I could go on and on with the likes of Jimi Hendriux, The Doors and The Who but I think that I will not although our class continued on with these groups. I cannot think of a more interesting (to me) class to have taken this summer! I loved it!