My father taught me how to play when I was three. I learned the basics and then read books as I got older and soon beat my father all the time. I was always better than most of my friends, but never great.

When I was ten years old, I was introduced to Morris, an old and tall silver-haired Eastern European with a number tattooed on his arm, and he became my chess teacher. He was brilliant, and even though the Nazis took away his business, stole his home, annihilated his family and experimented on him in Hitler's Concentration Camps, Morris always had a smile in his eyes, was always patient and explained things in an easy and gentle manner.

Life wasn't easy for Morris, and he escaped death only because he was liberated by the Allied forces. He loved chess, and he loved the parks in upper Manhattan. He never was able to do well financially in New York. But he scraped by and everyone was fond of him.

When I was 13 I discovered girls and stopped taking lessons at 14. I continued to play a lot but when Morris died when I was 21, I stopped playing except on occasion. When I first discovered chess.com, I mostly played one-minute quick games.... Tons of them.. And I didn't play them very well. It was all about racing to beat the clock. I started playing most of my games as if I was playing a one minute game. Even some of my online games I played quickly. It was only recently that I started thinking about everything I learned from Morris. The importance of development,tactics and the end game and for taking my time. Morris was a stickler for end game theory. And he hated fast chess games. My hat is off to Morris, and although he was a pawn in Hitler's "final solution," Morris was a King and a gentleman on and off the chessboard.

I love music of all different types and styles... Here are some performances by some great musicians....

Now - How about a little Nina Simone:

Now here is one of my favorite versions of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Just watching and listening to this video puts me in a great mood.

And how about gorgeous Miriam Makiba singing her wedding song about cows and issuing a warning to all girls...

Now here is a song that really builds up... Rokia Traore - originally from Mali.....

I loved Celia Cruz --

And while we are on that vein.... Linda Ronstadt - sho could sing any type of music - singing a hot salsa number with a fantasic band behind her. That guy with the mustachio is one of the most talented guitar and cuatro players around.... Yomo Toro (and he takes a solo in this piece)... Give it up for Linda (I'd give it up for Linda)

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Laura Nyro was always a large influence on my life. I was lucky enough to meet her when I was a young teenager and she was an older teenager. She asked Miles Davis, when she was recording her classic album "Eli and the 13 Confessions" if he could help her tighten it up. His answer to Laura was that he could not because you can't improve perfection. From the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, this clip begins with the end of "Billy's Blues" and goes into "Poverty Train." There aren't very many live clips of Laura Nyro....

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