This weekend I attended the Starry Night gala honoring Quincy Jones, put on by The Grammy Foundation.

The outdoor evening event featured dinner and an all-star concert under the stars. The concert featured performances by Herbie Hancock, Nancy Wilson, Clark Terry, John Legend, Kanye West, Gloria Estefan (who was fabulous despite not rehearsing), Patti Labelle (who sang one of the best versions of "Over the Rainbow" I have ever heard) and others. I was also excited to see Nathan East on bass. Mr. East has toured extensively with Eric Clapton and he is a fabulous bass player.

I escorted Herbie Hancock for the evening, saw many celebrities and spoke with Naomi Campbell. I also saw many other industry people I knew and enjoyed seeing all of them.

Here is a photograph of me on the red carpet:


This photo was taken on a cell phone and didn't come out that great under the bright lights. I did the best I could with it in post processing.
(Thanks to Joe for the photo!)

So many song lyrics come to mind with that subject...

It really has been quite a long time since my last post. It's been a CRAZY two months. I have been working for my professor and studying A LOT for my classes. I just finished final exmas for my summer school classes and I am excited to get a bit of a break!

Both of my classes were very interesting. My Criminal Procedure class was all about the IV Amendment (Searches and Seizures), the V Amendment (right against self-incrimination and due process), Miranda Rights (not part of the V Amendment but related/based), and the VI Amendment (right to counsel). It was informative to learn about the rights afforded to everyone and the fact that so many people have no idea of their rights. It was also interesting to see the dynamics between the students in the class. Some were very anti-law enforcement officers. Others, like a friend of mine who is a former officer, is pro-law enforcement. I was a bit surprised to find myself siding more on the law enforcement side of the cases. Forgive me for lack of a better word, but a lot of the defendants were just so stupid. However, I guess that is why they got caught. The thing I keep in mind is that I am just an outsider reading the stories of the troubles in which people got themselves involved. Hindsight is 20/20, as is an objective third party.

My other class was Music Publishing. In addition to looking at cases, we looked at actual publishing contracts and the different types of deals that can be made between the writer and the publisher. We also looked at the different kinds of licenses for different uses of musical compositions and even had mock negotiations. Our professor is one of the top music publishing attorneys and the class has been really worthwhile.

Now for something on a more personal note:
Lately, I have been encountering many people with a complete lack of manners. It is really not that hard to reply to an email, return a phone call or make time for a meeting. It is incredibly frustrating when things need to get done and people cannot get themselves together enough to do their parts.

In addition, when a person receives an invitation, especially one with an RSVP date, it is important to actually read the e-mail, pay attention to that date and actually respond by the designated RSVP date. Even if a person does not know whether he can attend, respond to the host and say he does not yet know. To not respond at all is rude, inconsiderate and ill-mannered.
Manners never go out of style.