La Seine Musicale /Cardboard Houses

 

La Seine Musicale (On MY TV!) Imagine how lovely this would be at night!

It seems like ages since the Olympics in Paris, doesn't it?  I still have fond memories of watching the events and then, pausing with the remote and researching the buildings in the background. During the Marathon, I had a full 26 miles and 385 yards in which to see the surrounding area around Paris! Why is the Marathon that unusual length? It is due to the 1908 Olympics that were held in London. 26 miles was agreed upon- the distance from Windsor Castle to White City Stadium but the 385 yards was for the last lap in the stadium so as for the athletes to finish in front of the Royal Box! Hey, the runners might not wish for that extra bit now but all the more for me to see Paris is fine by me.

The building that I have shown you above - I was truly intrigued by it. The description that I found of it is this: "A unique egg-shaped structure with a sail-like solar panel". It is a music venue! Located in the western suburbs of Paris, it opened in 2017. (The first artist to perform there was Bob Dylan!) The architect is Japanese named Shigeru Ban. In 2014, he was given the Pritzker Architecture Prize, not only for his modern buildings but also for his humanitarian efforts.  He is well known for his work with recycled cardboard tubes which can quickly be made into homes for disaster victims. The nominating committee called him "an inspiration."

 Look, let me see if I have a video to show you....

I wish I could find the video that I found of Shigeru Ban helping to build the houses in Maui- I think it was after the horrible fire.  The buildings had ...I think holes in the roofs that the builders could go in and out of as they were building, and then afterwards, they were used for light.  There, that might be a strange description, but it was very clever, and they were not only functional but very attractive.

I first heard this version of "Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole in the film "50 First Dates".  I have shared it with you before, but it is always nice to hear it again! 

I truly love beautiful buildings.  Paris inspired me to decorate my little creation at Panola Mountain State Park! (No children were around, so I had these wooden blocks all to myself.)

 

Morning Has Broken (Oh, What a Beautiful Morning!)

 

The summers in Georgia, USA are very hot.  However, this past week we have been lucky as we have had cool mornings down in the 60's. It has been heavenly!  Richard must have loved these mornings too as he has been playing "Morning Has Broken" on his guitar. I knew that     Yusuf/Cat Stevens  had a big hit with it in 1971.  (We also had our friend play it on the piano on our wedding day in 1983!)  I also knew that it was a hymn, with the words written by    Eleanor Farjeon.   The hymn was published in 1931.) Now, it made me wonder...who wrote the music?  Eleanor Farjeon is English and so is Cat Stevens but for the music, we have to go to Scotland....

It is set to the tune "Bunessan" which is a folk melody from the village of Bunessan which is a small village on the Isle of Mull off the southwest coast of Scotland. Mary Macdonald from the nearby community of Ardtun first used the traditional local tune to a Christmas Carol that she wrote in Gaelic, translated into "Christ In The Manger". She was the first to call the tune "Bunessan" but as it is true with many folk melodies, the author is unknown. Even though the songwriter is lost to history, we only know that is a lovely tune and we appreciate it.

  James Quinn,   a Jesuit priest from Glasgow, Scotland wrote some lovely lyrics to this same tune, "This Day God Gives Me".   I had never heard it before!  Finding this in my research was a true gift.... and I really loved this description of the priest, "He was known for his gentle manner". 

 I have given you links to those three people- Cat Stevens, Eleanor Farjeon and James Quinn.  Such fascinating life stories! It truly is worth your time to read about them.  I promise! (I do wish someone would make films about each of them. All of them are inspiring!)

Of course,  I cannot finish this post without including "Morning Has Broken".  This is a video of Yusuf/Cat Stevens in 2022.  He still has a great sounding vocal. Enjoy!

Another thing I learned recently....I saw this book at our local library, "The Birds of Edward Lear". Fascinating! Did you know that not only was he an author but a fantastic artist?  Once again, such an amazing life story!  Edward Lear    There, I have another link!   

Perhaps you think I have given you many things to look up here, but you have no idea how many things I look up every single day!  Does curiosity keep you young?  Please, let that be so!  Hope you are all doing well and doing better with your time than I am these days!

I almost forgot to say....

"Oh, What A Beautiful Morning"! That song is from the musical "Oklahoma" by Rodgers and Hammerstein.  Therefore, those lyrics are by one of my great heroes, Oscar Hammerstein! Dare I say it, you MUST read up about him too!

  

Zinnia that I planted from seed.  Cannot tell you how happy this makes me!  Oh, so beautiful!

Sportingly Yours - 2024 Paris Olympics

  

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...", these are the opening words to "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens.  Reading the reviews of the opening ceremony for the Olympics in Paris somehow brought those words to my mind. It seemed you either loved them or hated them.  I didn't watch them on that day, but we recorded it and watched it the next day. Well....much of the beginning of it reminded me of when I was ill and had some drug induced nightmares. So much dancing!  It seemed to me much better when they focused more on the magnificent buildings in Paris! And there were moments that surprised me, the opera singer standing on that bridge and singing the National Anthem? What she wore and the way that she was posed during the entire song, it was most effective. Celine Dion singing from The Eiffel Tower? Wonderful! Oh, and the rain! Goodness me, it seems Paris has had wonderful sunny weather since that Friday! Oh well.  C'est la vie! 

Do you like sports? If so, you must enjoy the Olympics too! You know I do. It has been exciting to watch!  In my last post, I told you that I know the words to the French National Anthem. I sung along with Leon Marchand as he stood on the podium having won the Gold in the 400-meter individual medley!  It was fun to watch him swim the breaststroke, every time he surfaced, the crowd let out a huge cheer! Obviously, he was in his home country!

Ah, Paris! I have never, EVER seen it, but I think I love it! I am reading a book just now...

                           "Eiffel's Tower" by Jill Jonnes!  

While the Eiffel Tower itself is most astonishing, you would not believe all the characters associated with the tower and with the World's Fair in 1889 in which it was introduced! What characters? How about Thomas Edison, Paul Gauguin, Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley? Not to mention the man behind the tower, Gustave Eiffel! (And where would we be without elevators in the tower? Another character to learn about, Mr. Otis from Otis Elevators!  "All safe, all safe".)  It is taking me some time to read this book as I keep looking up more information about each and every person that is highlighted.

Thomas Edison! How I think he would marvel at the Eiffel Tower when it lights up every hour from sunset until 1AM.  (AND the lights actually move and sparkle for the first five minutes for every hour after dusk!)  Instead of a torch for the Olympics, Paris chose a cauldron that looks like a hot air balloon! To me, it looks amazing in the day but just imagine it at night! At sunset, the balloon rises up 60 meters and returns to the ground at 2AM. It is not fire! Water is sprayed and beams of light are projected onto the mist using 40 LED spotlights.  Once again, I can't help but think of Thomas Edison loving this!

The French swimmer, Leon Marchard, that I told you about who won the Gold Medal, had written to the coach at Arizona State University (the same one who had coached Michael Phelps!).  He asked him if he could possibly help a young French swimmer like himself. Sure enough, he attended that university and now lives in Austin, Texas!

 Here's a little detail that I love - he signed that letter, "Sportlingly Yours".

The architecture in Paris is amazing, isn't it?  I have a photo from Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is from the old train depot there. If I can't get to Paris, I will appreciate what I can!

Oh, Say Can You SING? (National Anthem)

 

Last night was the Home Run Derby which is always at the beginning of the All-Star Break for Major League Baseball.  Of course, before it began there was a rendition of our National Anthem.  Now, it is a very difficult song to sing but this morning it was all on the news that it was a terrible rendition.  I could give you a link to it but honestly, you can look it up, if you like....it was by a country singer named Ingrid Andress.  (As I am typing this post, Richard just told me that the singer said she was drunk and has now admitted herself into a facility. Oh dear, let's hope she gets the help she needs.)

I quite enjoyed watching a lot of the Euros. (I spent loads of time looking up the history of each and every city in Germany where the games were played!)  Richard made sure to record the ten minutes or so before the games started just so I could hear the National Anthems. (I only know the words to two of them, "God Save the King" and "La Marseillaise"- the anthems for the United Kingdom and France. I sang along to them both!)

For all the countries, I liked seeing how many of the players and coaches sang along to their national anthems. Quite often, they sang with great gusto and that also included many of those in the audience. The National Anthem for the USA is "The Star-Spangled Banner" and I while I really like the song myself, it IS a truly challenging song to sing!

I am not the first one to say that we really should change it to "America the Beautiful".  There, I said it and I say it again..."America the Beautiful" for the National Anthem! 

Did you know that it used to be the custom for the National Anthem to be played at the end of the films in British theaters? Yes! Ray Bradbury wrote a story about this, "The Anthem Sprinters". He must have found it very amusing when he was spending time in Ireland and heard of men who tried to run out of the theatre before the National Anthem started. The guys would race out as fast as they could, the last man out would have to buy the drinks at the pub! 

I looked this up and it states that this practice stopped sometime in the 1970's but it seems to me that Richard and I went to a play in 1985 in Eastbourne, and I was surprised that "God Save the Queen" was played at the end. Maybe this was still done in certain places, or perhaps in live theater? 

Of course, it didn't bother me one bit - I sang right along!

Now, if you have a chance, do YOU sing along?  During baseball games, we are asked to sing along to "Take Me Out to the Ballgames".  People do sing but without a lot of enthusiasm.  Such a shame! 

There are a lot of videos of "America the Beautiful" but I am very fond of this version by Ray Charles.  He did this just after 9/11 and it was much needed. Hope you like it!

Okay now, I have to be practical. I doubt that the USA will ever change their National Anthem. In that case, it should be sung with a special consideration. Here, let's see if I can find one that we all will like.... Trish Yearwood!  Hey, guess what?  Both these artists, Ray Charles and Trish Yearwood are from Georgia. 

                                                     "God Save the King"

                              "La Marseillaise" 

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In other news, our night blooming cereus bloomed!  This is very exciting!  Just as the name states, it only blooms at night, you have to get up very early to get a photo of it before it closes up.

Richard and I were invited to a garden party, and you know we attended! The gardens were lovely as was the home.

     Who is that crazy lady trying to hide behind the potted ferns?

Lots of videos on here for you but hey, I could have found more! HA! Take care!

1969 Music/Funny Photos/ "The Long Charade"

 

If you are as old as I am, you will remember 1969.  Can you remember all the music from that year? Our son was NOT around in 1969, yet he must know more about that year's music than I do.  He recently wrote not one but two pieces regarding that year's music! The first one about the beautiful, beguiling folk music is just here.  The second piece is of the epic rock masterpieces from 1969- you may read it just here! 

10 beautiful, beguiling and bold folk albums from 1969 (audiophix.com)

15 epic and influential American rock albums from 1969 (audiophix.com)

Just in case, I have the links above also!  

Okay folks, seen anything funny or unusual lately? Sometimes, things will just catch my eye and I wonder if anyone else notices. Did Walmart just run out of display boxes that they had to use a pesticide one in order to store these green bean seeds? "Kills fast- Up to 12 months!". Maybe people did notice this, it doesn't look as if anyone wants to buy these seeds! (Or maybe they only saw the price, $3.74 for seeds!)

This minion was on the back of a truck. I had to take a photo! Can you see that it is made of all kinds of tools and truck parts? So clever!

The next two photos are from the Chattanooga Train Station! I loved the old telephone booth.  The entire train station has now been restored or else, is still in the process of being restored. Since this post began with music, I might as well end this with a music trivia question. What was the very first gold record?  (Hint: this train station should give you a clue!)  Yes! It was "Chattanooga Choo Choo" by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra from 1942 which sold 1.2 million copies. There, see the things you learn from me? 

 

I 

Please do read the music articles that Christopher wrote about on Audio Phix!  The first one about folk music has had, thousands of views!  And the second one, even if you don't have time to read it all, make sure you go to the end where he gives you his review of what he considers the best album of 1969. He truly put so much passion into it, it's simply wonderful how much knowledge he has about music! (You will have to read it now, to know what he considers the top album!)

OH! And I almost forgot, here is a video for you.  Now, the sound quality is not the best but it is Christopher from about 10 years ago and he and his friend, Tim wrote this song and performed it. Both were on guitars and both are singing.  "The Long Charade". (Typical guys, I think I would have put the camera down with something showing other than a heater vent! LOL!) Hey, that goes along with my funny photos!

Take care everyone! Keep finding amusement in the world...and music!

Disney/Derry Girls- "Don't Rock the Boat!"

 Hey! 

How are you all doing? Listen, I only have about 7 minutes of energy these days, so I better type this very quickly....

In my last post, I told you what book you should read.  Now, I will tell you what you should watch on TV!  And in connection with that, I hope you will watch the following video I am sharing here!

There, wasn't that wonderful? Apparently, it is a something that folks in Ireland have been doing at weddings and birthdays for decades.  "Rock the Boat" was a hit for The Hues Corporation in 1973.   This was shown on one of the episodes of "Derry Girls", which is a TV series that I want you to see! It is SO funny, I laughed until I cried.

The video is from Derry from May of this year.  They broke a World record with 1,888 people all lined up like that while seated on the street. And it was done for charity!  It is called a dance, but it is more of a swaying with arm movements to me which is meant to be an imitation of rowing a boat. I was most impressed by not only the number of people involved but also how perfectly they are in sync with one another.

Isn't it a joyful thing?  Wouldn't it be great for other cities to do this same thing?  Our son and daughter-in-law live in Chattanooga, which is right next to the mighty Tennessee River, don't you think the organizers there should do this too? There is a massive Riverwalk there, so lots of space for it!  With money being raised for charity, it would truly be something good to imitate.

Okay, I told you to watch "Derry Girls". Now, I MUST tell you how much I enjoyed watching "How Disney Built America". (It was on the History Channel). It was a five-part series, and I loved every minute of it!  You might think you know Walt Disney, but I promise you will learn more about him! And also, about his brother, Roy who was the one to handle the "money" side of things. Walt was the one with the dreams and the big ideas! There is also another man that I found fascinating, the one behind much of the merchandising, Kay Kaymen. Have any of you seen this series? Did you love it as much as I did? I always loved "Uncle Walt" as a kid, I am pleased to learn that I had great taste even as a child. What a guy!

Here are some "watery" photos for you. One from Eastbourne, England and the other from Georgia, USA!

 Don't Rock the Boat!   

  This has taken me longer than 7 minutes to type so, if there are any mistakes, blame my lack of energy!  

The previous record for the most people dancing to "Rock the Boat" was in Galway. I have that video for you too!

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

 Imagine this:

It is the first day of January in 1916, and you are trapped on an island of ice in Antarctica.   It is cold and you are hungry.  Returning from a trip across the ice, you are on skis and are almost back to camp....

Suddenly, and without warning, a giant head pops up from the ice! You run as fast as you can and shout for help! The animal - a sea leopard- springs out of the water and comes straight after you! It almost reaches you when suddenly, it goes underwater again, in the slushy part of the ice. You have almost made it to the side of the ice floe when the sea leopard's head comes right up in front of you!  The animal has tracked your shadow across the ice. One of your mates has heard your screams and has a rifle.  The animal tries to bite HIM but he gets a shot off and kills the creature. When they bring the carcass of the sea leopard into camp, it measures 12 feet long and they estimate it to be about 1,100 pounds.  They give the jawbone to you as a souvenir, it is nearly 9 inches across.

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The above story is a true one and it is one of the accounts in the extraordinary book : "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage" by Alfred Lansing.  Perhaps you have read many books about Ernest Shackleton or maybe you don't know one thing about him. Either way, you should read this book! Alfred Lansing's book was published in 1959 and he had been able to interview many of those who had been on this expedition and to also study their journals. (What wonderful writers they all were, and so very good to include so many of their own words in this book!)

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  Led by Sir Ernest Shackelton, the polar expedition had set sail on August 1914 for Antarctica on the Endurance.  It became trapped in ice and finally sank on Nov. 21, 1915. You will be filled with admiration for Ernest Shackleton, I promise that you will! Here's the thing: you will like ALL these men on this trip, you will! It is a truly wonderful story of survival and of the power of being positive.  I don't think I am giving anything away by telling you that ALL SURVIVED! Did you know that many major corporations now have classes that follow the leadership techniques of Sir Ernest Shackleton? It's true! 

My friends, I have read a great many books of non-fiction in my life. THIS book might possibly be one of the best.  This should be an example of how to write, not just non fiction but how to write, period.

As I started to write this post, I recalled how much I loved giving book reports in school and how much my classmates enjoyed them. I always had to start my report in front of the class with a true "hook" for the guys who never read books unless they had to do so.   That is what made me think of opening with this account of the sea leopard! I hope you will understand my line of thought.

Of course, I could tell you a lot more about this book and what happened on this expedition to Antarctica, but I want you to read the book!

ENDURANCE: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing.

  

 

On the cover of this book, that is an actual photo of the ship stuck in the ice!