Shades

Remember the hits Cocaine and After Midnight by Eric Clapton. Well they were definitely hits and Eric Clapton performed them, but he didn’t write them. This guy did. Low profile J.J. Cale is a master of his craft with numerous albums in his discography. He also wrote the hit Call Me the Breeze made famous by Lynyrd Skynyrd. But enough about those tunes. This 1980 album is typical J.J. Cale; a mellow sounding blues offering with his smooth but incisive guitar playing which puts you in a laid back yet attentive state. Cale’s understated voice is present throughout, but never overpowers, making each tune the center of attention. This is true of all the tunes on this CD but one, Cloudy Day (Cale doesn’t sing) which is a phenomenal blues instrumental with one of the best saxophone solos I have ever heard. For a sample of his extensive discography click here.

And here is Cloudy Day.

Please Mr. Cuomo, listen to me...

Make them fly coach. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is really upset over the continued lack of cooperation from Bank of Amerillwide's management on what went on with the bonus payouts. I've been suggesting this way to make them talk for ages now.

Is Citi getting it?

The short answer is no. It did the right thing by cancelling the recognition trip it usually provides for its brokers because of "economic concerns." I guess I would be "concerned" too if my stock plummeted to a price of one dollar. Then, in a no-win boneheaded move, gave the brokers 3.5 million dollars worth of gift cards instead. In a double whammy, this move garnered Citi bad press for the money it wasted on the cards and also made the brokers upset. After all, everyone knows the way to a broker's heart is not with a gift card. It's so, what's the word I'm looking for here, impersonal. It's almost as if Citi didn't think about them and their needs as individuals.

Producing music in Boca Raton, Florida

When you think of the music business and recording studios obviously California and New York come to mind. But Boca Raton, Florida? Not exactly the location one thinks of, except maybe where you might expect some stars to show in order to play the amphitheatre or chill out, right? Well, that’s the home of PMR Studio, a one-stop shop for music instruction, recording, production, distribution services and so much more which operates under the auspices of Polar Boehme Music, Inc. The guy who makes it all run is David Ruttenberg, a producer, engineer and writer who was recently nominated in two Grammy categories. Interestingly enough, they have a virtual studio as well, which is kind of a neat concept if you think about it. Pop in to their sites, have look around and listen to some great music while you are there.

Never quite looked at it that way

Bank CEO's and elephant seals, hmm. Aside from the obvious fat-cat quips are there more similarities? Perhaps there are. Now why didn't I think of that?

It's Monday

And we all know what that means. Time for another MOTW, Manager of the Week. This next manager tends to have many supporters and detractors. Whenever I have run across this type of manager in the past I have found that the safest bet is to keep some kind of distance between you and him or her.

MOTW: Buck the Trend Manager

Watches a lot of movies and television, especially fare that features rogue cops, vigilante citizens and/or general anti-establishment characters. Has a reputation for going against whatever corporate strategy, policy or procedure is mandated by Head Office. Working for Buck the Trend Manager can have serious and undesired, short-term repercussions for your career.