Twins!

David Bowie and his wife married in 1992 and have one daughter. Just like LSH and I. We have SO MUCH in common!!

RIP, Mr. Jones. You will be missed.

On the 12th day of Christmas

Did your true love give you 12 drummers today?

"XRF 12days" by Xavier Romero-Frias - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons

 

Quite an impractical gift anyway. I'd rather have a pear tree. And I know LSH would prefer the nine ladies dancing.

Haul out the holly

I've got my Christmas tunes going. Every year we get a fresh crop of recordings from artists as diverse as the Vienna Boys Choir to Keith Urban to Queen Latifah. They all re-do the classics from the 1700s thru the 1950s, but new holiday songs have slowed to a trickle. I will admit to being woefully underinformed about the music industry in general and "cool" music specifically, but on my iPod, I have precisely three songs that were written in the past decade.
Shouldn't there be more than that?


(Although, frankly, I'm a sucker for the Carol of the Bells in any rendition.)

Three coins in the fountain

The Fountains of Rome is a symphonic poem by an Italian composer named Ottorino Respighi. It debuted in 1917 and includes a section (movement?) called "La fontana di Trevi al meriggio" (The Trevi Fountain at midday).

Everyone knows the Trevi fountain for it's numerous appearances in EVERY MOVIE SET IN ROME EVER. But did you know that the fountain is a terminus for the ancient Roman aqueduct, Acqua Vergine. The fountain as we know it today, was completed in 1762, but there was a fountain on that site for centuries prior. In fact the famous sculptor, Bernini was to renovate it right after he finished the Triton fountain in the mid-1600s, but the pope commissioning the work, Urban VIII, died before it was begun.
It's finished size is 83 feet high by 161 feet wide.
The water in the fountain "is regarded to furnish some of the purest drinking-water in Rome, reputed for its restorative qualities. Many people to this day can be seen filling containers for drinking and cooking in its splendid fountains." It also at one time fed the hot baths of Agrippa for over 400 years.
My favorite fun fact about the fountain: "An estimated 3,000 Euros are thrown into the fountain each day. The money has been used to subsidize a supermarket for Rome's needy; however, there are regular attempts to steal coins from the fountain."

Some questions about Christmases of old

What the hell was Christmas like in the 60s? Or at Andy Williams' house in the 60s?

Who the hell tells ghost stories at Christmas?

 

And someone needs to define the word "fling" for this man. It has never, to my knowledge, included a wedding ring even though they rhyme. Also, ALL of your friends are dropping in today?! All of them on the same day? And I'm sure your soon-to-be wife in this ditty is thrilled with the 45 minutes advance notice.

Shadow of herself

Did you know there are children all over the world who have never seen a moon shadow?


We're just three days away from a full moon and its reflected glow is giving the luster of midday to objects below. (with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore) In our darkened back yard, I cast a moon shadow. Now the song is stuck in my head and the fun fact that Yusuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens) wrote that song in his early 20s, he had never seen a moon shadow because he'd always lived in a big city.

That is how you get from locking up for the night, to light pollution in four easy steps.

Plate of Shrimp

Yesterday, I had just read the news story about the asshole school administrators in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, who abruptly resigned when it was discovered that they has been texting each other offensive texts featuring the N***** word prominently. IN 2013!!! IN WRITING!!!
A friend's status update pops up with him telling of a woman referring to his rap music as "n***** music" IN 2013!!! OUT LOUD!!!
I also called up the song he was listening to (which was offensive and misogynistic and rude). It also features the N-word.
I went back to reading my book and within minutes come upon the phrase "working like n*****s" in the story. Now, in my book's defense, it was written in England in 1933, so the author's racism is slightly more understandable. (It still made me cringe.) But it was surprising, especially in light of the other cases from the day.
Bear in mind, being a middle-aged white woman in suburbia, I don't hear this word a lot, for which I am grateful. I know that four times in one day is common for some people. It's not for me, so the day felt a little off-kilter because of it. Too many threads crossing at the wrong point in the lattice of coincidence (which was part of a friend's Facebook posts on Sunday).

History of the world

I found a fun (to me) new (to me) history site, and predictably (to me) spent hours (literally) learning fascinating (to me) tidbits about my hometown. Many thanks to Case Western Reserve University for the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History.
And, should you ever have a burning desire to read about the 1836 Bridge War or the establishment of the second oldest shopping center in the United States, that's the place to do it.

This site reminded me of another old favorite, albeit with a broader subject. Eyewitness to History absolutely delivers the goods with eyewitness accounts of anything from the Capture of Jerusalem in 1099 to Picket's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg.


If you like 80s pop music and history with a bit of humor in the mix, check out the historyteachers YouTube channel. The music videos are amusingly cheesy and briefly educational.

For history geeks like me, these places are a rabbit hole. (Be careful, if you visit, you will find yourself running as late as the white rabbit.)

Cross-cultural

Between the bombardment of Homs, Syria, and the out-of-control protests in Greece, I choose something completely frivolous to begin the week: North Korean accordion players covering 80s Norwegian one-hit-wonder A-ha's "Take On Me."

Who knew the accordion was so popular in the land of Kim Jong-il (or Kim Jong-un)?

We be jammin'

Yesterday was Wilhelm Friedmann Bach's (the eldest son of the famous Johann Sebastian Bach) birthday. He is regarded a genius at the organ, playing, improvising and composing. (I know this is true because I read it on Wikipedia.) That, however is not the point of this post. That is just the engine. Let's get to the caboose.

What was "improvising" on an organ in the early- to mid-1700s?  Did he riff off the main theme of a hymn in the middle of Mass? Did he get together with a few violinists and a French horn player and have jam sessions? If he did, did they call them "jam sessions"?
Turns out the only question I can definitively answer is the last: No.
Which brings us to the caboose: the term 'jam session' originates in America in 1933 in reference to jazz.

Pop-sical

Okay, so almost every evening when I sit down to write the following day's blog post, I ask my daughter what I should write about. And every time she says, "SHINee!!!" (SHINee, for those of you over the age of 22 is a South Korean pop group. They are a really slicked up version of the Backstreet Boys in Korean.) Then we laugh and I post about something else.
Then, lo and behold, yesterday in the news there was an article about, not SHINee, but k-pop in general. The article talks about the intense popularity of these groups which are groomed to put on a show, but I especially liked this paragraph:

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak ranks the overseas success of "K-pop" among his country's top achievements, and the government operates a "Korean Wave" index to gauge the fever for its cultural exports.

Well, it's an export. They will be playing Madison Square Garden on October 23rd. I can only imagine the shrieks of swooning teen aged girls.

what are the odds?

A bit of May 10 trivia:
Two single-named singers and two assassins known by three names have birthdays on this day.

John Wilkes Booth
Donovan
Mark David Chapman
Bono

Do you know who is who? And if you don't have the phrase "any trick in the book..." running through your mind right now, you are too young to appreciate this blog.

Name that tune

Beethoven's 6th symphony is called the Pastoral, a reference to a shepherd-flock-pastures fantasy ideal that was quite popular with urban audiences for hundreds of years. One wonders what Ludwig would have thought of his symphony being brought to life by Disney's baby pegasuses and a hapless Bacchus. Whether he would have been flattered or outraged, most Americans, when they hear Beethoven's 6th, think of Fantasia. I'll bet you did.
Tchaikovsky, as you may know, never wrote lyrics to the waltz from his ballet Sleeping Beauty, but that didn't stop Aurora from singing them.
Much of the classical music that the average American recognizes, is due to cartoons. Bugs Bunny introduced most of us to opera and Walt Disney animated the rest. With the exception of a piece that has made its imprint on popular culture through live people. I'm dating myself, but I'd be willing to bet that almost everyone in my age bracket associates Ravel's Boléro with either Bo Derek or Torvill and Dean.
Modern musicians are quite pleased to have their music featured in major motion pictures and television. Based on that fact, I would assume that Dvořák would be totally fine with this. Provided there are royalties.

Alistair Cooke and all

I have the opening music for Masterpiece Theater stuck in my head.
PBS says of the piece, "From its start in 1971, Masterpiece Theatre became recognizable not only for its outstanding dramas, but for its signature theme music as well. This now iconic music was originally written for the court of Louis XV, King of France. The blood-stirring piece by composer Jean-Joseph Mouret (1682-1738), is the first movement of Mouret's "First Suite in D," from his second book of Fanfares for Trumpets, Kettledrums, Violins and Oboes (published in Paris, ca. 1729)."
Wikipedia says of Mouret, "Jean-Joseph Mouret was a French composer whose dramatic works made him one of the leading exponents of Baroque music in his country. Even though most of his works are no longer performed, Mouret's name survives today thanks to the popularity of the Fanfare-Rondeau from his first Suite de symphonies, which has been adopted as the signature tune of the PBS program Masterpiece and is a popular musical choice in many modern weddings."
TV is everyone's desperate grasp at fame. Even long-dead composers.

Home for the aged

Have you noticed how all the hip, cool, cutting edge musicians from our youth are really old now? How did this happen?
Yesterday, Rick Springfield turned 61. Tomorrow, Gene Simmons also hits 61. Elvis Costello turns 55. David Bowie is 63. Heck, every guy in Def Leppard is in his 50s. There are rumors that 56-year-old David Lee Roth is going to attempt "Jump" with Van Halen again on tour.

Of course, the older we get, the younger that seems. I wonder when AARP Magazine is going to get Devo on the cover.

The beat of a different drummer

For us, here in the Punkinhouse, Friday nights in fall have not been about football. They are all about marching band.
For the past three years, Punkinhead has been a half-time musician. This past weekend was her final year at the marching band invitational held at her school. (Eight high school marching bands performing what amounts to a marathon half time show.)
This will be the last year that we ask, "What is that football team doing on the marching band field?"

Timeless

George Frideric Handel wrote Music for the Royal Fireworks in 1749. The king, George II, was unpopular. The treaty which the fireworks were celebrating was ending a relatively meaningless war (to the English). And the fireworks themselves ended in a conflagration.

In the 260 years since its debut, countless sparklers and Catherine wheels have extinguished, but the music is still ablaze.

Top 10

If you were running for President of the United States of America and a second-tier music magazine asked you to list your 10 favorite songs of all time, what could you do to make yourself out to be an even bigger geezer than you already are? ABBA.

On this day in history

A little-known suburb of Brussels, Belgium, became famous nearly 200 years ago today. And in doing so, bestowed its name to our lexicon.

And forced us to endure cheesy pop music.

Compose yourself

Today as millions of Christians commemorate the death of Jesus, I'd like to celebrate the birth of a man who has almost as large a following.
323 years ago, Johann Sebastian Bach was born. He composed over 1100 pieces of music in his 65 years. He also managed to father 20 children. Busy guy.