I just got back from my family vacation overseas, an occasion that gave me the opportunity to read a lot, one of life´s dearest pleasures. Thankfully, my parents and teachers instilled a love of reading that´s enabled me to progress in my profession, as well as emotionally and mentally. And of course, I derive immense pleasure from the written word. Great read: My Stroke of Insight, by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, about the author´s intimate experience with a life-altering physical catastrophe.

Being away from a job for a bit gives one the ability to reflect on—dare I say—the “meaning of life.” When you´re outside the U.S. and get a chance to see how other folks live, it really puts things in perspective. I thought of the way things are in America—we´re profit-and pleasure-obsessed, spoiled rotten by the wealth and resources we´ve enjoyed—and managed to squander—over the past 100 years or so.

This morning, Joseph and I were discussing how ridiculous it is to expect the federal government to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The mission statement of Fannie Mae is “a shareholder-owned company with a public mission. We exist to expand affordable housing and bring global capital to local communities in order to serve the U.S. housing market.” Oh, really? I think Fannie Mae´s mission has failed, and we the people are going to be asked to prop them up. The thing that really, really bothers me is that the CEO of Fannie Mae makes a whole lot of money, about $13 million a year. Isn´t this corporation supposed to be geared towards the public good? I know saying something like this is anathema to our capitalist society, but why does this guy need to make this much money?

I´ve always approached what we do at OffBeat as the opportunity to build a business culture that´s based on serving the public good. Sometimes I have to fight with staff members, editors, writers in order to convince them we are supposed to support and promote the Louisiana music and entertainment communities. We exist because be believe in what we do and we believe that putting out a quality product that serves our community is the best way to stay in business. We live to serve.

But times are changing, and fast. I just read about the terrible times that local newspapers are having with maintaining their advertising base, which they´re quickly losing to the Internet (we have a similar situation). I´ve thought about that and, coming from a mostly print environment, it´s difficult to see how well-rounded information is available in an online-only format. Too many people get their news quickly online, skimming the top of their favorite news Web site and don´t go in-depth on anything. We as a society are becoming shallower, it seems. Perhaps there´s so much information that we can´t possibly process it all, so we take little bits and pieces and use that to inform us of the bare minimum of what´s happening in our world. As Joseph Irrera would say: It´s a pity and a shame.

The same thing is happening in music, I think. Where are the classic songs from the ´80s and ´90s and ´00s that are going to still be listened to 25 to 30 years from now? Where are the classic songwriters? There´s so much music out there to be consumed that we can´t possibly digest it all, listen to it all, appreciate it all. Because of downloading and music sharing, discovering new music is something we can do really fast, but really shallowly. Nothing seems to stick—and I happen to like sticky. But then, I´m just an old broad. I´d love to hear our readers´ comments on the classic pop music of the future. Email me anytime at [email protected].

I am discovering American classic music as I age, and I love John Swenson’s story on Dr. Michael White in this issue. White has been haunted by his jazz forbears, comes to terms with their influence, and brings their art to a new audience. That´s pretty cool, and White is a prime player in this year´s Satchmo SummerFest, the first weekend in August. Yeah, it´s hot, but the location at the Old U.S. Mint is a godsend. There´s AC inside—if you need it—very interesting workshops about Louis Armstrong, and of course, great music and food. Check out the complete schedule in the brochure in this issue, and come visit us at the Contemporary Jazz Stage.

If you are still unschooled or unconvinced as to the influence that Armstrong had on American music, well, shame on you! For a good introduction, rent or buy a copy of Ken Burns´ Jazz documentary.

My Norwegian visitors are staying several extra days to experience this year´s Satchmo SummerFest. After returning from a wallet-bustingly expensive trip to Bergen to see family, it continues to amaze me why the city and the state have not done more to attract international visitors to the city. We know that people outside the U.S. love our culture, music and musicians more than they do in the states. What can we do that can effectively attract Europeans to New Orleans and Louisiana?

Europeans have massive amounts of money to spend. Satchmo SummerFest is great, but French Quarter Festivals needs the backup of some serious marketing clout overseas to really fulfill the potential of the event. It´s interesting that White Linen Night, Dirty Linen Night and the Satchmo Club Strut (a fantastic bargain, by the way, on Friday August 1) and more are on the first weekend of August, along with Satchmo. Isn´t it a good idea for the “powers that be” to market these events as a package to Europeans and Japanese? Oh, if only I ran the city!