dual personalities

Category: Music

July 3, 2018

Yankee doodle, do or die

by chuckofish

Screen Shot 2018-07-02 at 12.29.29 PM.pngToday we toast John Singleton Copley (July 3, 1738 – September 9, 1815) on his birthday. Copley was was an American painter, active in both colonial America and England. He was famous for his portraits, but the above painting–Watson and the Shark (1778)–traumatized me as a child. It is still scary!

It is also the birthday of George M. Cohan (July 3, 1878 – November 5, 1942)–although I always think of him having a July 4th birthday–you know, “I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy, born on the 4th of July”! Poetic license, I guess. Anyway, Cohan was the quintessential Irish-American song-and-dance man and everything I  know about him I learned from the James Cagney movie Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) which is a good movie, although probably only half true.

Screen Shot 2018-07-02 at 1.31.19 PM.pngI also saw George M! with Joel Grey at the Muny Opera back in 1970 when it was touring.

Screen Shot 2018-07-02 at 1.32.25 PM.pngI wonder if kids today have ever heard of George M. Cohan or heard any of his songs. I grew up with them. “Over there! Over there!/Send the word, send the word over there/That the Yanks are coming/ The Yanks are coming…” I guess Americans lost their enthusiasm for that sentiment somewhere in the 1960s. Oh well.

And hold the phone, Steve McQueen is star of the month on TCM!

Screen Shot 2018-07-02 at 4.53.22 PM.pngJune was Leslie Howard and July is Steve McQueen. Have I been a good girl or what? Set your DVRs for Thursdays! By the way, the OM and I watched The Towering Inferno (1974) the other night–possibly one of the worst movies ever–but it was worth the 165-minute investment of time to see Steve McQueen…

Screen Shot 2018-07-02 at 5.03.32 PM.png…and Paul Newman.

Screen Shot 2018-07-02 at 5.02.26 PM.pngThe horrible 1970s sets and costumes were amusing as well. Egad, 1974 was the pits.

Screen Shot 2018-07-02 at 5.16.29 PM.pngToday is also the start of the Dog Days of summer according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. To the Greeks and Romans, the “dog days” occurred around the day when Sirius appeared to rise just before the sun, in late July. They referred to these days as the hottest time of the year, a period that could bring fever, or even catastrophe.

Dog Days are approaching; you must, therefore, make both hay and haste while the Sun shines, for when old Sirius takes command of the weather, he is such an unsteady, crazy dog, there is no dependence upon him.
–The Old Farmer’s Almanac, 1817

We are mixing a lot of metaphors here, along with myths, so I’ll wrap this up.

Daughter #1 arrives home tonight to celebrate the 4th of July with us, as will my nephew Tim and his girlfriend Abbie, who are driving in from Indiana. We will have a full house. Cross your fingers that the air conditioning holds up!

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The wee babes have come a long way since last July 4th, but Lottie was still stylin’.

7 Comments
June 29, 2018

“Stick with me baby, I’m the guy that you came in with”*

by chuckofish

Today is the birthday of one of my favorites: Frank Loesser (June 29, 1910 – July 28, 1969) who wrote, among a lot of other things, the lyrics and music to Guys and Dolls. Over his career, he won four Tonys, a Pulitzer Prize for Drama and an Academy Award–all richly deserved.

Loesser, we are told, was one of those guys who, when four years old, could play any tune on the piano by ear (he never had a lesson). In WWII he joined the Air Force and wrote “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition.” What a guy.

If I hadn’t just watched Guys and Dolls (1955) recently, I would watch it tonight in his honor. Instead I may watch Destry Rides Again (1939) in which Marlene Dietrich sings the Loesser classic “See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have.”

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Speaking of westerns, Loesser also wrote the classic “Jingle, Jangle, Jingle” as in “I’ve got spurs that jingle, jangle, jingle/ as I go riding merrily along/And they sing, oh, ain’t you glad you’re single?/And that song ain’t so very far from wrong.” I have known the song forever, but never knew who wrote it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0ac5AVosug

So a toast to Frank Loesser tonight! The weekend is almost here. I have no big plans beyond getting ready for the 4th of July holiday when we have guests arriving. And hopefully those wee babes will toddle over on Sunday night.

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Plus: This is a good one from one of my favorite female (Episcopal) clergypersons.

I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

–Ephesians 3:14–21

*”Luck Be a Lady Tonight” by Frank Loesser

2 Comments
June 15, 2018

“On a lonely road quite long ago, A trav’ler trod with fiddle and a bow”*

by chuckofish

On this day in 1836, the Arkansas Territory was admitted to the Union as the 25th state. In 1861 Arkansas withdrew from the United States and joined the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. It returned to the U.S. in 1868.

Screen Shot 2018-06-14 at 10.25.28 AM.pngArkansas borders Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, Oklahoma to the west, Missouri to the north, and Tennessee and Mississippi to the east. Considering it is our neighbor to the south, I am not at all well acquainted with this state. I have been there only twice. The OM and I visited Eureka Springs, an historic Victorian town in the Ozarks, years ago, and daughter #1 and I drove to Bentonville a few years ago to see the Crystal Bridges Museum.

Historically, the Arkansas River, a major tributary of the mighty Mississippi, is a very important river, especially in regards to the Santa Fe Trail, which, you know, interests me a great deal.

Screen Shot 2018-06-14 at 10.36.31 AM.pngHowever, I can’t say I have a great desire to go to Little Rock.

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The William J. Clinton Presidential Library kind of looks like a giant double-wide…seriously, did they do that on purpose?

The Fort Smith National Historic Site might be interesting to visit with Judge Parker’s courtroom…

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…but I’m not putting it on my bucket list. Instead I will suggest we watch a movie starring one of these illustrious sons of Arkansas:

Alan Ladd in Shane (1953)

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Billy Bob Thornton in Sling Blade (1996)

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Dick Powell in Murder My Sweet (1944)

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Arthur Hunnicutt in El Dorado (1967)

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…or True Grit (1969) which stars Glen Campbell, who haled from Arkansas. Fort Smith actually plays an important part in the action of the film as does Judge Parker, the “hanging” judge.

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Of course, one of the most famous sons of Arkansas is Johnny Cash.

How can you top that?

Have a good weekend! Mine will be a quiet one. The wee babes don’t return from Florida until Monday night!

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We miss them!

*The music for the Arkansas state song, “The Arkansas Traveler,” was written by Colonel Sanford (Sandy) Faulkner (about 1850). Lyrics were added by the Arkansas State Song Selection Committee in 1947.

3 Comments
June 1, 2018

There’s a white line in the distance*

by chuckofish

Today daughter #1 and I are hitting the road and heading to Nashville (sans the winded, but soldiering-on, OM) to celebrate our friend Andrew’s wedding. Hopefully we will have a chance to visit a few of our favorite spots in Music City, such as…

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the Johnny Cash Museum…

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and the Wildhorse Saloon…

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In Nashville one can drop the highbrow pretense and just have fun.

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If we are feeling hipster-ish, we can hit The Gulch. There is an antique mall there, after all. But I doubt we are cool enough.

We may be driving in the rain today, so please say a little weather prayer for us travelers!

BTW, we were distracted and missed mentioning Bob Dylan’s 77th birthday last week. but any day (including today) is a good day to toast old Bob.

*Bob McDill, On the Road

2 Comments
May 3, 2018

Last man standing

by chuckofish

Screen Shot 2018-05-02 at 11.41.43 AM.png

We missed Willie Nelson’s birthday last weekend. He turned 85, so Garden & Gun made a playlist of 85 of his hits. Wow.

You may recall that Willie had a go at an acting career back in the late 1970s-early 1980s when he made a couple of pretty good movies: The Electric Horseman (1980), Honeysuckle Rose (1980), Barbarosa (1982). Things petered out though, probably because he lost interest–writing music and touring were where his real interests lay obviously. After that, he would appear with friends in movies and on television, and, no doubt, to make a quick buck, from time to time.

My favorite Willie Nelson acting effort is the “El Viejo” episode of Miami Vice (1986) where he plays an aging Texas Ranger bent on revenge. It’s a good one.

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I may watch it tonight.

Oh, and by the way…

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Way to go, Big Mike.

5 Comments
April 26, 2018

And she was

by chuckofish

I heard this song recently and so I thought I would share it for a throwback Thursday post– a favorite song from a favorite album from back in the day.

I always liked the Talking Heads.

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I liked David Byrne and I liked their ladylike bass player Tina Weymouth. I am happy to report that she and Chris Franz–the drummer–who married in 1977, are still married all these years later. Chris Franz is the older brother of one of my students at St. Catherine’s in Richmond way back when, so I assume he was/is an Episcopalian and a fine young man. (His sister Ruthie was a nice girl.)

It made me happy when daughter #2 and DN chose a Talking Heads song for their “first dance” at their wedding reception. The song was:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUlTtxufQes

When you were little
You dreamed you were big
You must have been something
A real tiny kid
You wish you were me
I wish I was you
Now don’t you wake up
The dream will come true
Every dream has a name
And names tell your story
This song is your dream
You’re the dream operator
It’s bigger than life
You know it’s all me
My face is a book
But it’s not what it seems
Three angels above
The whole human race
They dream us to life
They dream me a face
And every dream tells it all
And this dream is your story
You dreamed me a heart
You’re the dream operator
Shake-it-up dream
Hi-di-ho dream
Fix-it-up dream
Look at me dream
I’ve been waiting so long
Now I am your dream
Hard to forget
Hard to go on
When you fall asleep
You’re out on your own
Let go of your life
Grab on to my hand
Here in the clouds
Where we’ll understand
And you dreamed it all
And this is your story
Do you know who you are?
You’re the dream operator
And you dreamed it all
And this is your story
Do you know who you are?
You’re the dream operator
(David Byrne)

Perfect.

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And you dreamed it all and this is your story. Have a good day!

4 Comments
March 8, 2018

No hard feelings

by chuckofish

Halfway into Lent. Busy and stressed at work, but getting along.

Tomorrow is Friday!

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.

–Psalm 100:5

2 Comments
December 29, 2017

Come to rifle Satan’s fold

by chuckofish

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Twas much,
that man was
made like God before,
But that God should
be like man
much more

–John Donne (1572-1631)

Lest we forget.

This little babe, so few days old,
Is come to rifle Satan’s fold;
All hell doth at his presence quake.
Though he himself for cold do shake,
For in this weak unarmèd wise
The gates of hell he will surprise. 

With tears he fights and wins the field;
His naked breast stands for a shield;
His battering shot are babish cries,
His arrows looks of weeping eyes,
His martial ensigns cold and need,
And feeble flesh his warrior’s steed. 

His camp is pitchèd in a stall,
His bulwark but a broken wall,
The crib his trench, hay stalks his stakes,
Of shepherds he his muster makes;
And thus, as sure his foe to wound,
The angels’ trumps alarum sound. 

My soul, with Christ join thou in fight;
Stick to the tents that he hath pight;
Within his crib is surest ward,
This little babe will be thy guard.
If thou wilt foil thy foes with joy,
Then flit not from this heavenly boy.

Christmas vacation is coming to an end. Sigh. It’s back to work on Tuesday. Still can’t believe how 2017 raced by. Here’s hoping you foil thy foes with joy in 2018.

1 Comment
December 20, 2017

“Team free will 2.0”*

by chuckofish

I always read the NYT obituaries. They let us know when the famous, as well as some pretty obscure people, pass away. However, they failed to note the death of one of the giants of reformed Christianity–R.C. Sproul last week.

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I guess they are unwilling to acknowledge evangelicals even when their leaders die. Sigh. As you know, I am a member of one of the most liberal denominations out there, but I can appreciate a man like Sproul for his devotion to the Bible and his passionate belief in salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ based on Scripture alone for the glory of God alone. (AMEN) Shame on the NYT for the umpteenth time.

While we are on the subject of obituaries, here is the 2017 TCM Remembers video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uae_iodwpvg

This annual video is always a sad reminder of those familiar faces who have passed out of this world, but who will forever remain on film.

On a cheerier note, here is a new rendition of a familiar Christmas carol. We sing this spiritual at our church and never get it right. But I like this version.

Tomorrow I start my own personal winter break and I can’t wait!

*Dean Winchester

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4 Comments
December 5, 2017

Love is gonna blow my way

by chuckofish

Yesterday was one of those days at work when I was busy from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm and I finally hit the road. No lunch, no break. I was happy that over the weekend daughter #1 had showed me how to sync my phone and use Amazon Prime to play music in my car, so I listened to Steve Earle on the way home.

This song made me happy:

Enjoy your day!

5 Comments