I always give thanks to God for inventing the redundant systems of the body when I have a cold. If I didn’t have a mouth to breathe through, I’d have died in my sleep. I sound like a sick elephant when I blow my nose.

The JAZZ documentary by Ken Burns has been stunning.

These things can’t happen – Dave Brubeck had me in tears recounting the story of his father taking him out to meet a black man for the first time. The man took off his shirt and revealed a brand. His father told him that “These things can’t happen.”

I will never understand the mentality of people who revile, or think themselves superior to other human beings based on race, religion, nationality and the like. And to think someone felt so superior to another human being as to brand him. It’s just arrogant, and shameful.