Rear View Mirror vision

In the late sixties there was a so-called "media guru" named Marshall McLuhan ("medium is the message," etc.). He taught in Toronto, I was teaching in Buffalo, we were almost neighbors. Anyway, I was teaching a communication course and his seminal text was definitely to be understood by the students. One of his metaphors was speeding into the future looking in the rear view mirror.

I was doing multimedia shows at the time and had one wherein the split screen had a series of rear view shots/slides, and next to that was a l6mm sequence of speed ed up big city night traffic. It was affective at the time, and now I find myself trapezing around in the metaphor with the endless rear view mirror thinking, media and news going on. Our communities, our nation, the world is in such rough shape and we are still doing this insane dance.

How can we possibly afford this? Do we think that we can avoid the consequences or our actions and in actions by denial and cover up? What is that old saying about "Chickens coming home to roost." They are already roosted, by the way; the scary fact is that the rear view vision going on is electronic, digital.

"Leaving Mood"

Toronzo cannon's "Leaving Mood" is featured in an article in the recent edition of "Rhythm & News" published by the Jazz Record Mart in Chicago. This publication is free for signing up for it, primarily to make known recordings for sale, but some of the writing is excellent, especially some of liner notes quoted, often with a street English twist I particularly like.

Leaving a scene is a common theme in the blues, and as Toronzo comments in the liner notes that he "didn't want it to be the regular old, 'okay, this baby left him,' or "His baby givin' him the blues, and he's got his suitcase at the door, and he's leavin' ... " There's a zillion versions of this theme, and I'm looking forward to Toronzo's.

One of mine happened when I was sailing out of Seattle for the Orient. One night I went in a tropical type of bar frequented by sailors and saw a woman I'd seen in a local bookshop (that was different!). She was with a girlfriend and I bought them both a drink, then they invited me to sit with them. I took her out a couple of times before we sailed, found out she was a school teacher, real smart, definitely had something to teach me.

We exchanged letters and next time in port there she was waiting for ship (real different).

Again we exchanged letters and notes and the next time into Seattle not only was she not dock side, but she had left town. I talked to her landlady, "she left the end of the month." Called the school district, she had resigned. I was a little dumbfounded and so sent her a letter with a request that it be forwarded to her (never came back, no answer). To this day it is a mystery,

and when I ran into her friend in the tropical bar a little later she said that she thinks she went "home" to Eastern Washington. No leaving mood for this one, just left. I missed her for awhile.

ps. You can get this publication by calling 1-800-684-3480, especially for Jazz & Blues buffs