Corfu, Greece, is Greece's northernmost island. It is a popular tourist destination, especially for northern Europeans. It lies opposite Albania in the Aegean Sea. Greek food is legendary. The secluded beaches and verdant mountains are beautiful. What's not to like? Only the over-crowded airport.
With all the upsetting news of the day, I'm happy to report some great news: the awarding of the Eminent Artist recognition by the Kresge Foundation, accompanied by a fifty-thousand dollar cash award, to our dear friend, Detroit harpist and educator Pat Terry-Ross. The awarding organization is the Kresge Foundation, which has awarded four and a half million dollars to various artists during the last seven years. Susan and I were pleased to be able to fly in to Detroit for the award ceremony. The award ceremony was held in an ornate theater in downtown Detroit, attended by a couple of hundred of Pat's friends and fans. Pat's ninety-five-year-old mother was present, as proud as one would expect her to be. . .
I experienced wildlife in India that I had imagined could only be experienced on an African safari.
Whenever I travel to “old Europe,” that is, the continent of Europe, I’m reminded that Europeans are much more aware of history than Americans are. They see the old cathedrals, the castles, the city walls, the statues, the artwork…all products of their long history. . .
The Vietnam War, as it is known to Americans, is known in Vietnam as the American War. Vietnam has suffered through wars with the French and the Chinese. But Vietnam's victory over the US military in 1973 demonstrated the limits of US military hardware against a people defending their home territory. The US faced this lesson again in Afghanistan. The United States of America's military budget is larger than the combined military budgets of the next nine countries. We cannot trust that we will remain safe in the world solely because of our tremendous military expenditures.
In my long life, I’ve witnessed several major technological revolutions. In my early music years of the early 1960’s, all musical instruments were acoustic. Then in the late sixties, Jimi Hendrix led the way to an electric guitar revolution, and music was changed forever. The Hammond B3 . . .
