Right now Bird, Clint Eastwood's film about the life of Charlie Parker is airing on CoolTV.

I never saw the film before, so I hadn't realized what a tortured soul Parker was.

Even though it's now a day late for X-Mas, I want to wish my readers a great New Year's Eve, and a great holiday time before that.

I saw a jazz link in an episode of Degrassi: the Next Generation this past week: one character gave another her late grandfather's guitar as a holiday gift... she said he used it when he played with Django Reinhardt.

I've heard Django mentioned a lot of late. I have to track his music down now; I'm very curious.

Suzy Arioli is really getting a big promotional push here: not only do we get frequent ads on TV for her new album, she was also featured on the entertainment feature on CTV News last night.

Today I heard two of my favorite things: Couleur Jazz had a mention of NaNoWriMo!

Finally!

Couleur Jazz officially launched as a full radio station yesterday evening, but I first heard it early this morning when my alarm went off.

The station is French, but that's not a problem for me; I'm trilingual.

A correction: my Jazz Radio station is called Couleur Jazz, not Cool. The word is French for "color".

TV Stations in my neck of the woods are heavily promoting the latest release from the Susan Arioli band.

She's not Holly Cole, but who else is? She's still quite good.

Finally, the official launch of CKLX (or COOL FM) will be tomorrow, Tuesday.

Considering they'd advertised the intended launch at the Jazz festival this past summer as some time in September, they're running very late!

Friday night on CoolTV was the first time I've ever seen Bela Fleck and the Flecktones perform. That was interesting - especially seeing that Bela was a guy! (I should have known that... so is Bela Lugosi.)

I'm still trying to figure out if Bela's guitar actually incorporates several instruments, or if it just looks cool.

This week's Four for Friday:

Q1: A 14-year-old Australian boy, Christopher Harris, announced yesterday that next Spring he plans to become the youngest person ever to attempt to climb and summit Mt. Everest. How do you feel about someone as young as Harris attempting such a risky endeavor?:
I think that's a bad thing. Considering how many people have lost digits and worse on the mountain, the fact that he hasn't even got a mature health system works against him.

Q2: Are you better off or worse today financially then you were four years ago at this same time (in December of 2000)?
I'd definitely say worse off.

Q3: Do you personally know anyone who has made it really big either in Hollywood, politics, sports, or business? If you don't know anyone directly, how about thru that whole X Degrees of Separation thing?
One of my close cousins is a professional wrestler, and I've seen him perform.

In two degrees of separation, my dad worked with both William Shatner and Leonard Cohen at different jobs.

Q4: If you could choose one event from any point in the future whose outcome could be known to you now, what would you like to know?
That's an easy and somber question to answer: I'd love to know the exact day a cure for MS is discovered.

I finally tried Emusic's free 50 MP3 trial. I mostly downloaded Miles Davis, Dizzie Gillespie and John Coltrane tracks...

Now that I got my 50 songs, I'll cancel the account. I can't afford to make it a pay one.

From the Thursday Threesome:

Onesome: Dancing-- Dancing? Does anyone go dancing anymore? I mean, disco died, and the club scene? Hmmm... Is dancing dead? ...or are we just here on the web instead of out for the evening?
I don't know many jazz standards I'd call danceable... but my lack of energy exerting myself pretty much stops dancing from being likely for me.

Twosome: Polar-- Polar bears seem to do well in the snow... How about you? Is snow just another thing you deal with when it shows up, or is it shutdown time? ...and if you're posting from a non-snowy locale, do you make trips to actually see snow? It's okay to admit it...
Ironically, the snow began in Montreal 2 days ago... in theory I can handle colder weather better, but ice tends to cause me to walk very slowly if I have to. Falling could be catastrophic for me.

Threesome: Bears-- Bears? Christmas Bears? Have you seen the number of bears on the shelf this year? Are you getting one for anyone? ...or are you looking forward to receiving one? ...or do you still think that inguana in the elf outfit is more your style *g*?
I'm not a big bear fan... but Winnie the Pooh has been a large part of my nephew and nieces lives so far. My nephew is too old now for bears, but his sisters aren't... I may get them some for Hannukah.

It wouldn't be an appropriate December 1^st if I didn't at least acknowledge World Aids Day.

I've been fortunate that none of my circle of friends or family died of Aids, but I'm in the minority for that. With 20 million victims worldwide, odds are that many of you reading this have been affected in some way by it.

I often point out to friends that in MS I have the immune system wrecker that isn't fatal. That's admittedly a small distinction, but I guess it's something...

Think of ways you can help, whether by supporting a research charity, or even by bringing meals to someone struck by HIV and unable to cook for themselves. Even small things help.