The Wine Commonsewer™

Jazz for Kids

TWC tends to dismiss stuff like this as bordering on pyschobabble, but this site might have something to offer. The schtick is, of course, a push to interest kids in jazz by providing the right kind of listening experience (buy my CD please). But the pre-conceptions are all wrong.

Photographer Carol Friedman initially wrote the book Nicky the Jazz Cat to pay homage to Nicky and the musicians she had known and photographed over the years. In the process she realized that...

Nicky could be the perfect jazz messenger for kids. Knowing that young ears would not respond to the extended instrumentals and sophistication that are often hallmarks of jazz, she began a search for jazz tunes that would have a particular appeal to kids.

And therein lies the problem. I hate to break it to Carol but Jake and the House Blonde's young ears enjoy jazz and it didn't take any special efforts to make that happen. Often as not they drift off to dreamland accompanied by mellow jazz. If it's good music that appeals to the ear kids will tune in. If it's lousy worked-over progressive disco masquerading as smooth jazz then the kids will tune out.

If you want your kids to like jazz, play it around the house. A simple, tasteful exposure to the genre as Cosby has done with his Lil Bill soundtracks works as well as anything to instill an appreciation for jazz in young audiences. Subtle exposure won't leave pre-schoolers clamoring for Stan Getz albums, but it gives them a platform of overall experience to draw from and will lay the groundwork for a broader musical palette later in life.

Jazz has a long history of turmoil and change since it's rebellious and forbidden counterculture roots from whence it mainstreamed during the 40's & 50's. Then came the near-death experience in the 70's & 80's (thanks to the Japanese, the corpse never got cold) and finally its resurgence in our era (yes all these terms and dates are loose fitting).

Tip of the glass to jazz, a true American art form that has done more for romance than any other musical styling. Come on, cozy fireplace, bottle of good red, great conversation, the promise of dessert, and what's in the CD player? Ozzie Osbourne or John Klemmer?

Shoulda called him Nicky the Cool Cat. Nicky's website is here.

Oh, that's Lionel Hampton and Nicky.

And now back to the Project From Hell......... and maybe a glass of wine in an hour or so.

As Ever,

TWC

Shotgun Sings The Song

Gentle Readers,

Apparently Cheney isn't any more careless than anybody else or maybe Whittington isn't any more careless than anybody else. Not sure which, but I ain't going hunting with any of these Hands or the Vice President, guaranteed. No big disappointment there because TWC mostly hunts in the Meat Department of the local groceria leaving the 12 guage free for the mostly inedible varmints (cute bunnies and ugly rattlers) that dare trespass here at Casa de las Rocas Grande.

poll here

Jesse Walker asks how many of them had heart attacks afterward?

Jim S points out that a car ride with Ted Kennedy is still nominally more risky than a hunting trip with Dick Cheney.

As Ever,

TWC

tip of the glass to Davey Jones

S Corp Audit Odds Just Bumped Up

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Although this was written seven months ago, it languished in the draft box until I realized this morning that this was supposed to be up back in July. Hmmm. Our policy is to always blame the computer, so there ya have it. Old news is better than no news I suppose.

Traditionally small 'C' and 'S' corporations have, for the most part, escaped close scrutiny by IRS because it has been far more cost effective for the IRS to focus on higher income Schedule C filers.

Today, about 60% of all corporations in America are 'S' Corporations and the IRS has decided to take a harder look at a few of them. Five thousand of them to be precise. In the overall scheme of sheer numbers, that isn't a huge uptick in the risk of audt to the average 'S' corporation, but those who get the nod will find themselves in for a treat as this is a research project.

"The use of S-corporations has exploded," said IRS Commissioner Mark Everson. "The IRS needs a better understanding of what this means for tax compliance."

A similar study of individual tax returns determined that taxpayer chicanery in 2001 ensured that an estimated 350 billion dollars stayed in the hands of those who earned it instead of  being shoveled into government furnaces in DC.

It is pretty much a given that one signficant focus of these random audits will be owner/stockholder compensation. If the owner/stockholder works for the 'S' corporation he or she must receive a salary. That sounds like a given but because of the quirky nature of S corporations, (dividend) distributions are not subject to social security (self-employment) taxes. I was trying to get that last sentence into English and what it boils down to is that when you take money out of the S corporation it is treated like a draw from a partnership or a sole-proprietorship, but in reality the profits are what is distributed and those are taxable but unlike a partnership the profits are technically dividend distributions and therefore are not subject to self-employment (social security tax). Not surprisingly, there is an exploitable incentive there and owner/stockholders have used that to their advantage over the years often saving as much as ten thousand dollars a year per owner in self-employment tax. IRS doesn't like that and insists that there has to be reasonable salaries paid to owner/stockholders.

Our compromise is to peg the salary at say $40,000.00-$50,000.00 per year, which still saves thousands in self-employment tax. Disclaimer: no guarantees that this strategy will work every time and the specifics are beyond the scope of this discussion.

As Ever,

TWC

Not So Pretty In Pink

Good Morning Gentle Readers:

This thing has been around the email circuit a dozen times or more over the years. It is supposed to illustrate the truism that guys are destined to take the romance out of any chick's evening.

TWC suggests that it offers an object lesson about how we perceive our world and the assumptions we tend to make about seemingly obvious situations. 

Many of you Gentle Readers, especially those of the female persuasion, will click on the picture, nod to yourselves, smile and murmur a bit, perhaps chuckle, and without a second thought will casually assume that, once again, an unthinking throwback-of-a-guy has pretty much put the brakes on another romantic evening.

And you would be wrong. Take a good look at what's in the glasses and you'll understand who actually popped the romance balloon.

Warning: contains a somewhat blurry view of a bare backside (not explicit) and if you would rather not see something like that, please don't click on the picture.

Yes, my jaw dropped in horror as well my friends. Unseemly? Irresponsible? Immature? Sorry, there is simply no way to take anything about this romantic evening seriously.

If you are having trouble with this test please see hint number two below.      

May you're St Vals Day turn out exactly as you hoped it would.

As Evoir, TWC

Tip of the glass to Rochelle and Randy 

HINT # 2:

She expected him to drink PINK wine.

Good Heavens, it’s just not done, man.

Why Traffic Sucks In LA

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Snow on Sunday at my mom's place near Anapolis Maryland. Happy Mundane.

As Always.........

Cheney Bags A Lawyer

Gentle Readers,

I am surprised at the gross ignorance of firearms that has surfaced in the coverage of Cheney's accidental shooting of that Austin lawyer (some people would call that a good beginning). Come on guys, if you don't know your butt from breakfast about shotguns then don't pretend you do.

Yes I know that Mr Cheney wasn't drinking. Yes, I will be happy to remove my head from that place where the sun don't shine....no need to email me and ask me to do so.

UPDATE 02-15-06: Initial reports specifically stated that no alcohol was involved but apparently there was an errant picnic basket full of Bud Lite somewhere.

Yes, this (the Old Gutshot Poster above) is definitely anti-gun propaganda and it works well because it smears gun owners, hunters, and the veep in one fell swoop by playing on public ignorance and preconceived notions that are largely inaccurate but somewhat widely held within certain segments of Amercian society. OTOH, the lesson about the relationship between guns and booze isn't lost on anyone either. And come on, look at Cheney's face, that's got to be photoshopped (can you photoshop a stroke?). But it's still funny.

And from Del Mar Dave:

It's Cheney in '08: Anybody that knows how to shoot a lawyer and get away with it deserves our support!

As Ever,

TWC

tip of the glass to Dapper Dan