Jazz is good for you

No, it's not good for you like, say, broccoli or a good night's sleep, but a group of researchers are studying how the experience of improvised music could serve as a model for collaborative work in other areas.

Quoted in a newspaper article, U. of Guelph professor Ajay Heble says: "A group of people who may have never met, who know very little about one another - may not even speak the same language - can create inspired music. What makes it work and what does this tell us? These are the kinds of questions we are asking." You can read the full Globe & Mail article here.

I can see it now: instead of butting heads with management representatives at a bargaining table, I'll just walk in with a horn and call a couple of tunes. Maybe the choice of song would even have some effect on the tenor of negotiations (pun completely intended): perhaps The Meaning of the Blues if things are going badly; In Your Own Sweet Way if I'm feeling conciliatory; All Of Me for concession bargaining; My Favorite Things during the initial stages when each side presents its initial wish list; Old Folks when we discuss pensions... my mind is spinning with possibilities. I'll leave it up to you as to when I might play a tune like You Don't Know What Love Is or (ahem) Oleo.

And oh yes... Todaybour Day is Labour Day! (sorry for the *-gasp!-* US spellings in the linked cartoon) I think Bennedetto is one of my favourite Homestar Runner characters.