I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".
OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.
CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead.
ART NOTES— an exhibition entitled Van Gogh: the Roulin Family Portraits— featuring works he painted while living in the southern French town of Arles with the local postman (and his family) serving as models — is at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts through September 7th.
Clik here to view.
YOUR WEEKEND READS #1 and 2 are these essays in Salon by Amanda Marcotte — (1) on some young influencers with a podcast Girls Gone Bible (yet looking more Kardashian than homemaker) … (2) not to be taken-in by RFKj’s throw-away line about measles vaccines (just offering mainstream media a soup-bone).
HAIL AND FAREWELL to longtime D/K poster Elwood Dowd, who has died at the age of seventy-two. Besides his offerings here, he was a stalwart at the Drinking Liberally meet-up chapter that I host, and last month, Elwood (Michael) wrote a 3-part series here on Aging in Place— which seems almost like a premonition, now. He will be the subject of a Top Comments diary this coming Thursday evening (as I hope to have more details by then).
MUSIC NOTES— this year’s entries into the National Recording Registry chosen by the Library of Congress include works by Miles Davis, Charley Pride, Helen Reddy, Amy Winehouse, Freddy Fender and the soundtrack of “Hamilton”.
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Steve the Cat— a British Columbia kitteh who had to be rescued from a tree (by an arborist) ... twice in six months.
Clik here to view.
FOR YEARS we have had our economic policy dreams dashed by the financial markets, whose goals run counter to ours. Now, with the GOP Congress and Supreme Court greasing-the-skids for you-know-who … for once (and perhaps, for the only time) our one ally may be the financial markets, as Michael Cembalest of JP Morgan wrote:
The stock market …. cannot be indicted, arrested or deported; it cannot be intimidated, threatened or bullied; it has no gender, ethnicity or religion; it cannot be fired, furloughed or defunded; it cannot be primaried before the next midterm elections and it cannot be seized, nationalized or invaded.
YOUR WEEKEND READ #3 is this essay in The American Prospect by Harold Meyerson, suggesting that you-know-who seems to imagine tariffs ... as a means to replace income taxes (on people like himself) with regressive taxes from tariffs.
FRIDAY's CHILDREN are named River & Rain the Dogs, plus Reed the Cat— who were found walking together in central Vermont, with a couple now attempting a foster-to-adopt trial ... of this bonded trio.
Clik here to view.
BRAIN TEASER— try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC ...… and the usually easier, less UK-centered New York Times quiz.
THE OTHER NIGHT yours truly hosted the Top Comments diary with a look at a gathering of myself, my brother and six male cousins … as our female cousins have had an annual retreat for years, finally goading us to hold one.
OLDER-YOUNGER BROTHERS? — two rock musicians of note: Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart and Little Feat pianist Bill Payne.
Clik here to view.
Clik here to view.
...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… just enough time for an example of how a song arrangement … can completely change its essence.
Growing up as a fan of the band Cream, I noted three songs on their 1968 Wheels of Fire album credited to both drummer Ginger Baker (lyrics) … and Mike Taylor, of whom I had no knowledge of. It was only decades later that I learned he was an English pianist and composer who met an untimely end at only age thirty.
He had two albums with his own ensembles in the mid-60’s (writing with saxophonist Dave Tomlin) and also recorded with jazz orchestras (such as Neil Ardley’s), which is where he and Ginger Baker met.
For the last several months of his life he was homeless: believed to be the result of early psychosis (abetted by the use of LSD and hashish). He was found drowned in the River Thames in January, 1969. Several UK musicians put together a 2007 tribute album, and in 2015 Gonzo Multimedia published a biography on Mike.
Clik here to view.
Four months after his death in May, 1969, a group of UK musicians recorded one of his songs (co-written by Dave Tomlin), and sung by the former Cream bassist Jack Bruce. I only heard this recently, and it is quite a subtle version of this song than I was used to hearing in the past.
This song goes up and down, down and down and up and down again These notes like colour balls, leaving smoke trails like an aeroplane Shooting up, falling down like a rocket and then Jumping off the sun This song grows bunches of summer flowers of the smell of rain Dogs barking, smoke rising, cigarettes in bed with you again These notes make a necklace that sings like the moon Jumping off the sun This song is dancing like sunlight on the river Thames at Kew Times for the sound of it, time to Charing Cross and Waterloo Well I know that sounds funny, one might as well go Jumping off the sun This song goes up and down, down and down and up and down again Lemonade kisses I string together like a daisy chain But these words have no meaning unless they are sung Jumping off the sun
Here is the turbo-charged version I was familiar with, recorded in the summer of 1969 by the blues/rock/jazz band Colosseum. The power of arrangements.