April, 2009 - Always running behind in posting this, and I am not so naive as to think that anyone out there is eagerly awaiting what I have to say - it's just a personal thing - something I want to do and something that gives me pleasure.  If life is only about pleasing an audience, that may be a bit shallow, unless that activity pays the rent.  Since it gives me pleasure to do this - it gives me even more pleasure to do it on schedule.      For many years I have been addicted to television.  You might think by my saying this that I spend countless hours in front of the tube watching the generally mindless programming.  Actually I limit my consumption to an hour or two a day, so my "addiction" would fall under one of the web definitions that describes this behavior as an "abnormally strong craving".  And even with that definition in mind, I suppose that an hour or two a day is not "abnormal".  It's just that after most of those hours I come away with the feeling that my time could have been better spent in something more worthwhile.      If you are saying to yourself, "Pinson is a complete idiot." - I accept your diagnosis.  I am what I am, and I am loving every minute of it - except those times when I leave the TV feeling less good than I felt before joining the audience.        Enough of me and TV - April was a very good month.  I performed three times at the annual Denton Arts & Jazz Fest - first with Mister Joe & Friends (me and some of the guys from a senior jazz band that allows me to participate), then with Strictly Dixie (the senior jazz band), and finally as director of the Denton Bell Band.  These were all volunteer indoor performances directed to smaller audiences that pay attention.         On April 29 we got to hear Henry Gibbons conduct the UNT Grand Chorus, the Denton Bach Society, and the UNT Symphony Orchestra in a performance of the Brahms Requiem.  WOW !!  He was able to get his 200 voices to sing beautiful pianissimos and magnificent fortissimos.  It was a wonderful experience - and a fitting tribute to Maestro Gibbons, who is retiring at the end of this season. April, 1980 - WHY NOT?  You may have heard that they're changing the name of your Master Charge card.  Since the BankAmericard people decided to change their name to VISA, a term which has nothing to do with credit, I think the other plate peddlers should go ahead and call theirs PASSPORT - then everyone would be thoroughly confused.  I can think of a better name for either card, but it has already been adopted by someone else.  Nothing could be more appropriate than GOTCHA!       FAMILY:  Little sister asked for big brother's chewing gum that he was about to discard - something we had never seen her do before.  I reminded her that we do not chew one another's gum.   Even drinking out of another family member's glass, something we do on rare occasions, was forbidden when I was a youngster.  In discussing the matter further we decided that, if prices keep escalating at the present rate, the next generation may be sharing bubble gum and grateful for the opportunity.  Chew on that for awhile.       PSALM 151:  A commentary I read recently on the book of Psalms suggested that the reader draft some psalms of his own, so here goes:  Lord, be merciful to me when I seek your favor one moment and then act as if you didn't exist in the next.  Deliver me from powerful people who will do anything to anyone for a price, and deliver me from the laws that protect these same persons.  Bless the disabled, the aged, the neglected, the poor, the exploited, the forgotten, and all of those whose lot in life would be better in a world less greedy, less self-serving, less bent upon pleasure, and less committed to every false god that makes an appeal. RHYME FOR OUR TIME: If our doctor makes an error, we say "Get rid of the quack". When our favorite team is losing, they trade the quarterback. If our children show real talent, we're glad they use our name; but if they become delinquents, their teachers are to blame. The preacher who has courage to preach about damnation may find himself out looking for another congregation. If things go wrong across the street, we shrug and say "That's fate." When the trouble's close to home, we look for another mate. Don't address the problem; don't try to find the source. Patience is old fashioned; today we have divorce. If we could only learn to love and trust God's saving grace, we might find all the things we need in the people we want to replace.