Watch This: "The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari"

 If you have not seen this excellent documentary about the deadly 2019 volcanic eruption in New Zealand, please do so! I have seen it described as "gripping" and that was certainly true for me.  Don't know if you know this but I am all about books and films about true stories from real life, and especially those that show the bravery and resilience of people during (and after) a traumatic experience. I say "during" and "after" because after such a life altering experience as being on an island during a volcano eruption, for those who survive, the effects are lingering, not just physical but psychological.  

The documentary is by Rory Kennedy. Perhaps you might remember her name, she is the youngest child of Robert and Ethel Kennedy.  After seeing the documentary, I read a magazine article where she was interviewed. One of the things that she said was that she chose to tell the story only through the views of those who were there.  I can't tell you how many times I have watched documentaries where some "expert" comes on and tells us every single detail of the science behind the event.  I just want to say, "Never mind that, just let us hear from the actual PEOPLE who lived through it!" This film does just that and what is more, if you watch this and are not absolutely overwhelmed by the courage of those who survived and the rescuers...well, you just will, I know you will. I pray for those who lost loved ones and for continued strength for those who survived and for those who were involved in the rescue.

If you are not able to view this in your part of the world just now, please make a note of it for the future.  I want to say more about it, but of course, I don't want to spoil it for you if you haven't seen it.

Perhaps you know of couples who have met on dating apps and wonder if any of them are successful? The couple that survived the volcano in this film met in such a way. They were on their honeymoon cruise when they did this shore excursion to the island of Whakaari in New Zealand. Such an amazing couple! I am sure you will think so too, their love shines through for all to see.

The song that I have to go with this post is one that I also hope you will listen to carefully.  You might be tempted to sing along but please, make sure you listen to the harmonies! They are amazing. By the way, you all know that I am big fan of Glen Campbell, Sadly, he died a few years back.  This video is a medley of him singing with David Gates. (Remember the group "Bread"?) It is from a show on the BBC in 1975. Note the expression of great respect on the face of Glen Campbell when they begin singing. Now, after listening to the song, I am glad to say that David Gates is still married to his high school sweetheart, married since 1959! Of course, they didn't meet on a dating app but that doesn't mean that you can't find true love online! 

Peace and harmony, my friends. Love always!

Baby It's You

 

All of you must know of the recent passing of a great songwriter, Burt Bacharach. I thought that I knew of all his songs but one that really surprised me was "Baby, It's You".   The Shirelles and The Beatles both did this song but it was the single by the group called Smith that I remember.  I had no idea that it was a Burt Bacharach song! 

The lovely singer was Gayle McCormick. Sadly, she passed away in 2016.  What a great song! Does anyone else remember it?

The song was a hit for Smith in 1967, if anyone can remember those long-ago days!

Hope you are all keeping well, my friends!  It is a cold, grey day here in Georgia! We are promised 40MPH wind gusts with a cold rain.  I would type more but my fingers are too cold! LOL!  BRRR....take care!

Because All Men Are Brothers

 My goodness, you all know after my last post I had to look up the person who wrote the lyrics to "On Top of Old Spaghetti"! The words are by Tom Glazer (1914-2003) and although that particular song was very popular (it was in the charts for 9 weeks in 1963), he also came to feel a bit chagrinned at its success, much as Mr. Burgess did with his "Purple Cow" poem.  (You have to read my last post!)  You may read more about Tom Glazer just here.)  I do hope you will read about him! 

The wonderful thing about good lyricists to me...they might not write music, but they know a good melody when they hear one and have no qualms about writing words to a song even if it is a well-known one.  Listen to the following song, Tom Glazer wrote the lyrics in 1948 and it is set to Bach's "Passion Chorale", which Bach adapted from a melody by Hans Leo Hussler (1564-1612.) -

 "Because All Men Are Brothers". 

Isn't it something that the man who wrote "On Top of Spaghetti" also wrote "Because All Men Are Brothers"?  I hope you were able to listen to the song and to hear the words.  (I gave you two videos!)

The amaryllis is a nice flower at this time of year! 

WD40/ Blurb

 Someone once wrote a comment on my blog that said, "Thanks SO much for that little factoid".  I have had a few nasty things left here over the years but that one....well, I just thought to myself, if you don't care for the things that interest me then please, just take a hike! 

My father used to listen to show on the radio that was by "The Professor of Useless Knowledge". He loved it! (Very often, info given would be the background of things that we use everyday that we take for granted.) He said to me once, in a kind of confidential tone, "You know, Kay, I don't think any knowledge is useless. I like learning about anything!"  My Daddy died in 2019. How I wish I could tell him the following but by telling it here on my blog, I think it would please him.... (And oh, how much I love to learn of anything and everything too, just as he did!)

Whenever I hear a door squeak as it is closing, I can just hear my Daddy say, "That needs some WD40."  (He always said this, and you know I do the very same thing).   WD40, it stands for water displacement and was invented in San Diego, California in 1953 by the Rocket Chemical Company which is now the WD40 Company! What does the "40" stand for?  They got it right on the 40th try! It was originally designed to protect a missile from rust and corrosion, but the employees of the company began to take cans of the product home in their lunch boxes for personal use.  What exactly is in WD40? I can't tell you that, it is a trade secret and was never patented.  The copy of the formula is in a bank vault in San Diego, California, just in case anyone is worried about it! 

That really tickles me thinking of the 40th try... I wonder, what IF a person had said, "Dad-gum it, this is the 39th time trying this, I am GIVING UP!".  See, whenever you think of failure, just go and look at that can of WD40, you know you have one! 

______________________________________

Remember me telling you that my husband and I like to do "Wordle"? One of the words recently was "blurb".  It made me wonder how long that word had been around.  It was coined in 1907 by Frank Gelett Burgess (1866-1951), an American writer. His book, "Are You a Bromide", showed a woman on the cover called "Belinda Blurb" who touted his book. Therefore, "blurb" came to be known as "an inspired testimonial" or "a flamboyant advertisement". (Those quotes were his descriptions.)  It also amused me to discover that he is the same man who wrote the following:

"I never saw a purple cow,

I never hope to see one;

But I can tell you, anyhow.

I'd rather see than be one."

Perhaps you find that verse tiresome and I think the author himself must have come to feel the same way, since he also wrote this...

"Ah yes, I wrote the "Purple Cow".

I'm sorry now I wrote it.

But I can tell you, anyhow,

I'll kill you if you quote it!"

Still, I am fond of rhyme and you really should have some funny bits to quote to children! You know I always have some! Why, how many people know all the words to "On Top of Spaghetti"?  This is sung to the tune of "On Top of Old Smokey" and I don't know, I STILL think it's funny! Look it up, folks, I will QUIZ you on this!) LOL!

So, that reminds me, very often, I used to call my Daddy and say, "Guess where I am?" and he would say "On Top of Old Smokey?" (meaning Stone Mountain, which is the highest point around this area).  Therefore, I have given you a photo of me on the very top of Stone Mountain!  Go take a hike folks, it's good for you!

And listen to music! As I have been typing this post,  Richard was playing this song by Ralph McTell, "The Maginot Waltz".  Ralph's guitar playing is very good but you know what, Richard is very, very good too!  What a lovely song! If you click on that link below, I do hope you will hear Ralph himself playing and singing!

(2) Maginot Waltz - YouTube

I really wanted to make sure that I got at least one more post written during the month of January. WHEW! I made it! 

"Like A Twig" and "Window, Window"

 

(This was at a restaurant and Richard liked the bottles over the bar!)

How has this year been going for you all? Anybody else tired of all the bad news and want to hear something good for a change? I was very pleased to learn that John Fogerty after a fifty year battle, now has the rights to his own songs that he wrote while he was a member of Creedence Clearwater Revival! These songs would include "Bad Moon Rising", "Have You Ever Seen the Rain", "Proud Mary" and "Fortunate Son".   John Fogerty had the rights to his solo material but think of this...whenever he sang any of those songs that I just told you about, he would have to PAY to play them!  It got to the point that John Fogerty only wanted to perform his solo songs and I can hardly blame him! (It is a bit complicated for me to understand, it is not a 100% win for him but nevertheless, if he is happy then I am happy.) You may read more about it just here.

 

For some other good news, I think I might be able to get some videos of my FAVORITE songwriter! This would be our son, Christopher when he was in the band, the Sevens! This is when he performed at Smith's Old Bar in Atlanta in 2013!  Don't you want to hear him sing and to play the guitar? Sure you do!  (I notice that one of my blog posts about our son has been viewed almost 100 times this week! And the blog post is from years ago too! Can anyone tell me why that is?)   The blog post is "Christopher, The Babe and A Great Writer" you may read it here.

                  "Like A Twig"

"Window, Window"

Both of these songs were written by Christopher!

The recordings aren't great but I promise you he is a great singer and guitarist.  And he has them under his own copyright too!

Hope you are all doing well, my friends.  Peace!

A New Christmas Song! (New To Me, That Is!)

 

Music! It is wonderful at any time of the year but isn't it very special to hear all the songs of Christmas? I think I have told you before that the song "Away In A Manger" is sung to a different tune in the UK than the one that is used in the USA.   As I was working on a crochet piece this year, I kept singing that song and I even sang it using the two different tunes! The one phrase that kept coming to mind was "his sweet head"...  If you see the following photo, you will know why!

My friends, I worked very hard on trying to make Baby Jesus! (You start at the head -and it took me a while to get it right- so you can see why I kept singing that song part!) It was an awesome project and I felt very happy to work on it. I completed the head and body and since that took me so long, I set it aside.  It got closer and closer to Christmas and even though I didn't have time to do any other figures, I was determined to make a manger for the Christ child.  Yes! I was able to make the manger and I had Baby Jesus resting there in time for Christmas. 

Now, for the rest of this story...

Richard recorded some things for me on TV that he knew we would enjoy watching together.  I was very pleased to hear "Away In A Manger" done beautifully from "Royal Carols: Together At Christmas" from Westminster Abbey! It was a lovely service.  If you can, you should watch it too!

The other service was from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. There was a song on there that I had never heard of before. THAT song is the one that I want to make sure you listen to the words, keeping in mind of me trying to work on Baby Jesus and then, his manger.  The song is "Jesus, Jesus Rest Your Head".  (I know, I know.... can you believe it?)   "Jesus, Jesus- rest your head, you have got a manger bed".

From what I understand, the song was a folk song from Kentucky. Had it not been for John Jacob Niles who was not only a composer and musician but also a collector of folk music, we might not have ever known this song. (I had never heard of it until I heard it this week on TV!)  I truly hope that you love this song as much as I do! It is so peaceful and lovely.

Wish me luck in making this Nativity Scene. Please note that the photos that I have shown you are from the crochet magazine.

We had a bit of snow the day after Christmas. You know I had to ask Richard to take this Christmas ornament (Max, The Grinch's Dog!) and pose the figure as if Max were going down Mt. Crumpet! Yes, my husband is a saint, if you are wondering.  LOL!  I am sure I have told you before but I will tell you again that I read the book "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" so much to my younger sister and brother that I know the book by heart. It was a joy to read!

Of course, it is warm today with high in the 60's with pretty blue skies.  The photo below is from the lift at Stone Mountain, which was taken in October but I promise today was just this sunny. I just thought this shot was interesting, don't you?

God bless you all and a safe and happy new year to you! Peace to you always.

Dear Friends- Merry Christmas!

"Our fireplace spells out this greeting

For dear friends like you to see,

We've also hung a New Year wish

For you on our Christmas tree!"

In case you can't see that Christmas greeting on the mantel, it says "Merry Christmas"!

That is a photo of a Christmas card that was sent in the 1940's from Oliver Hardy and his wife, Lucille!  Oliver Hardy, you must know from the great comedy duo of Laurel and Hardy.  (Another great pairing of a Brit and a Southerner from the USA!) They were such great friends also and that is a very nice thing to remember about them, I think.  There is a small but very nice museum in Harlem, Georgia dedicated to Laurel and Hardy. (Harlem is a small town where Oliver Hardy was born. If you are thinking that Harlem brings to mind the famous Harlem neighborhood in New York City, this small town in Georgia was renamed "Harlem" in honor of the famous one in NYC. I think the original name of the town was "Sawdust"!)

Richard and I just had to pose with these wooden cutouts of Laurel and Hardy!  Isn't it funny? This was the summer and we were just about melting here but hey, I have to give y'all a photo to laugh about sometime, don't I?

"Santa Claus Is Back In Town"!  If you want to watch a fun film, be sure and watch " The Christmas Chronicles" with Kurt Russell! (Just saying, I LOVE Kurt Russell! Richard knows this about me! LOL!) If you don't have time to see the film, I have the BEST song from the film! It was acutually performed by Kurt Russell. (It also made me think that had Elvis lived longer, he would have been great in this role of Santa Claus.) Kurt Russell portrayed Elvis in a TV film once. It was wonderful! Of course, Kurt Russell is a huge fan! If you ever watch the Elvis movie "It Happened At the World's Fair", Kurt Russell is the cute kid with the red shirt that kicks Elvis in the shin! (He paid him to do so, in order to get attention from the pretty nurse!)

Now, if you watched that video, I do hope you enjoyed it!

"Is there a piano in this joint?"   HA!!! (A special thank you to our musical son, Christopher for telling us to watch this film. He KNEW I would love this song!)

Stay warm, everyone!  It is so cold today here in Georgia that those lovely walks we like will have to wait. (Our high was at midnight last night, and this dang Polar blast came in blowing a gale and it will struggle to get to 20 degrees today and with the wind chill...let's don't even think about it!)) Never mind, the high will be 50 again by Wednesday! 

So, my dear friends, I do hope you all have a lovely Christmas and that the peace and joy of this time will remain with you all through the year.