clocks and watches

Happy Saturday. Happy Saturday. As I start writing Vai is on an airplane, off with classmates to Andros Island in the Bahamas (3:00am at the airport). The stay is a weeklong part of her school’s intersession; everything from biology, marine life, interviewing locals, creating community, and just plain fun.

Her school, Clark Montessori High School, was the first such school in the nation and is nationally recognized for excellence. She loves the place.

Okay, coffee is ready, so a mug of java is next.

Take me to the river; a highlight(?) –The President’s Speech before the joint houses of Congress was scheduled to be undermined by the opposition – which didn’t work out too well. One ‘highlight(?)’ was the removal from the chamber of Representative Al Green.

In recognition of that event, here is his namesake, entertainer Al Green (and a lot of friends) who like the extant Representative Green leaving the hall while singing “Take me to the River”. Former President Bill Clinton looked extremely happy even as ‘Al Green’ left the stage.

Loving History – History and the study of it has been fascinating to me as long as I remember. Late last month I got involved gathering detail on the Iraq war, President GW Bush, and that of the Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein.

I won’t bore you with all the ins-and-outs of that period; Marcia would say “boring”. But here is the ‘why’ I am mentioning it. I watched a video detailing the last 24 hours prior to Hussein’s execution. The execution itself was to be done by the Iraqi’s, however, the years leading up to that event it was the Americans who kept him incarcerated. During that time there was one American who was assigned as Hussein’s interpreter.

On his last day Hussein was awakened at 3:00AM to be helicoptered to the execution prison site later in the day. As Hussein dressed himself, he looked at his watch and said, “My friend”, the name he used for his interpreter, “you have been good to me, and I want you to have my watch”.

The video showed a close-up of that Hussein watch, a Raymond Weil, Geneve Switzerland.

So, here is why it caught my eye. I too own a Raymond Weil watch – a gift from my employer. It’s a quality piece although it’s not that well known a brand. With only a single jeweler in town carrying and authorized to work on Raymond Weil they’re actually quite rare in these parts.

Okay, so it might only be satisfying and meaningful to me, but I think it cool.

If it bores you, “sorry, so sorry” as my cousin Guillaume would say.

Junior Jazz – Last evening Marcia and I gathered at the previously mentioned Clark Montessori High School for a performance by the various jazz bands. Our 8th grader, Vili, plays Saxophone in the start-up of the three bands that performed.

One of the numbers they played was a New Orleans favorite, “The Second Line”. That piece was written by Paul Barbarin who also wrote, “Bourbon Street Parade.” The number was the highlight of their performance because, in true jazz style, each instrument had a three-bar improvised solo. Vili did great and for each of his fellow musicians it was very gutsy. Listen for me yelling “Boom” at the end of Vili’s solo –(starts at 2:00 minute mark).

Remember Abbott and Costello doing their “Who’s on First?” routine? I tried to play on the Abbott and Costello routine with Vili and it totally crashed. While driving earlier in the week I asked Vili where in the program he had his solo. “Second Line” he quickly replied. I came back by asking him, “OK the second line, but second line in what song?”. “Second Line“, he replied again. Even after explaining the “Who’s on First?” routine my repartee still fell flat. Oh well, he’s still young.

Daylight Savings Time – Is still a fixture and a mostly booed event. Nevertheless, it is what it is and starting Sunday morning, for the next three weeks, our internal clocks will pay the price. Don’t forget that in many cars the clocks need to be set manually (assuming your car has a clock – our Deux Chevaux -the Duck- does not).

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk
BONUS POINTS:

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent presented the three pillars of ‘Trumpanomics’ during a talk at the Economic Club of New York. Of the three economic priorities, which of these are NOT one of them:

1) “Roll back regulatory overreach”
2) “Rein in government excess”
3) “Shift away economic power from Washington bureaucrats”
4) “A focus on the core safety and soundness of financial institutions”
5) “Tighten the “Supplementary Leverage Ratio” SLR ”