The Grammys last night were their usual mixed bag of great moments and some not so great. Taylor Swift was strong in performance and wardrobe, and her stirring acceptance speech that tastefully upbraided Kanye West shows how far she has come in confidence since her initial Grammy days. Lady Gaga's splashy David Bowie tribute was stunningly visual and the excellently sung mashup of his hits was expressive if a bit hurried. Gwen Stefani was a standout in her live "commercial,"; the cast of the Broadway hip-hop musical Hamilton also a highlight that expanded the scope of musical styles performed on the show. Kendrick Lamar got a chance to exhibit his rapping skills and social commentary on Black Lives Mattering with imprisoned images. In addition, I always look forward to when Grammy shows pair performers from diverse backgrounds amid professionally staged production numbers (we see so little of this televised these days).

The tributes to the many recording artists who've passed in the past year were touching if some were longer than needed. On the other hand, some of the other acts such as Justin Beiber, Carrie Underwood's duet with Sam Hunt, and Pitbull's closing song were not particularly strong. The Weeknd started with his hot hit "Can't Feel My Face" but weakened with the second song. The major disappointment of the evening was Adele's vocal, which due to acoustic circumstances beyond her control distracted her and made her sound off-pitch, a travesty for such a talented expressive singer. This made me relate to her expressed desire for an In 'N Out Burger afterwards for consolation.

In contrast to earlier years when I regularly attended these concerts live, I watched from home.  This time, televised in real time rather than three hours later for a change. NARAS put on a good show that I felt by and large was creative, hip, varied, relevant, and tasteful.

Goodbye Summer, Hello Winter, What in the heck happened to Fall? With the passing of a long hot summer, the slight nip in the air has become much more than a nip.  Here in high desert country, the mercury not only has receded, it is beginning to plummet.  The past week, after extended shirtsleeves only temps, it became sweater weather, ...Keep reading FALL MUSIC, ENTERTAINMENT, FOOD NEWS

Greetings!  I hope everyone is enjoying the arrival of fall, such as it is.  This is a short communication in between my regular newsletters with a few things I’d like to share with you. Feel free to forward this to anyone who might be interested.   Here’s a bit of weather news and some personal October happenings in my desert ...Keep reading BETWEEN BLOGS

Greetings!  I hope you all had a productive and enjoyable summer.  I’m resuming this communication after taking a couple of months off.  I spent part of the summer being a beach bum to get out of the desert heat and part of it immersed in a creative project (see below).   Here are this month’s weather news, entertainment listings, pop ...Keep reading SEPTEMBER HAPPENINGS