The holidays are now in full swing. I know this because no agent or manager is answering their calls and, when I do reach someone, it is a recording saying, “let’s talk after the holidays.” In the real business world, they would name a hard date as to when they would be back in the […]

Last week was dominated by programming of upcoming shows and cruises. We had two Samara Joy shows to program and our entire team was in St. Louis working through the programming for The Jazz Cruise ‘24, The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’24.1 & ’24.2, and Botti at Sea ’24. Four full days of putting the final […]

For the next couple of days, at Jazz Cruises, it is all about Samara Joy. Turn back the calendar one year and I will bet that many of you had either not heard of her or knew her by word of mouth only. A turn on The Jazz Cruise ’23, followed by a momentous double […]

Wycliffe Gordon is in our hometown this week performing at Jazz St. Louis. I had the absolute pleasure of seeing him and his wonderful band, the International All Stars (Adrian Cunningham on reeds, Ehud Asherie on piano, Corcoran Holt on bass and Emanuel Harrold on drums, sitting in for Alvin Atkinson who is ill). They […]

It’s Thanksgiving weekend; a time for good cheer.Many believe it’s the best time of the year! It’s only one day, there’s no Thanksgiving Eve,The meal is quite simple, requires no tricks up your sleeve. There’s turkey and dressing and cranberry sauce,No need to make cookies for Ol’ Saint Nicholas. A green bean casserole will be […]

On Sunday mornings, Paula and I drink coffee and watch Sunday Today with Willie Geist. Besides liking him as a host, the show is a nice mix of news, entertainment and whimsy. The hour goes by quickly and requires two large cups of coffee for each of us. One of the recurring elements of the […]

Humor is important to me. Sharing laughter with others is often the best way to break the ice and create a community of spirit and purpose. Checking to see who do not share the laugh is also important. There is nothing wrong with not laughing, but if four people laugh at the same thing, the […]

Later tonight, actually early tomorrow morning, most of us will be turning our clocks back one hour to reflect the end of Daylight Savings Time and the beginning of Standard Time. Not every state abides, and most foreign countries have no idea what we are doing when we do this. The ability to change the […]

Last weekend, while working at the office on the programming for one of our cruises, I received an email from one of our guests. Knowing my fondness for and recent visit with Sue and Lee Berk, the guest wanted me to know that Lee had died of a heart attack the evening before. Lee Berk […]

Changing one’s mind. Doing so can be seen as a sign of flip-flopping or being insincere. Pointing out the inconsistencies of an opponent on issues has been a political tool for as long as I can remember. Effective ads have been built on split screening a candidate showing how his view on a particular matter has […]