BLUEGRASS CLOG DANCING

When I taught English, someone at the school contracted local dance troupes representing different countries around the world—Romania, Guatemala, the Czech Republic, and so forth.  But we never had anyone from American Appalachian.  That was too bad because this is just terrific.  You have to love the respect that was extended to the families.  I guess I just needed a break from all of the Social Justice garbage.  In fact, what all of this Social Justice Warrior, MeToo, and BlackLivesMatter garbage will do is spur a renewed interest in the white Appalachian cultures.  People seem to be getting pretty sick and tired over honoring cultures on the other side of the planet.  Honor the cultures inside the North American states.  

You have to love the respect that was extended to 

"Let's do ol' John Hardy there." 

Reminder on how to set the embed code.  Click on "Share."  Then on "Embed."  Go to the end of the code where the question mark is and add "start=33&end=120" or whatever your parameters are.  See here for more.  

FRANK CONVERSE & NYPD

An actor whose stature, voice, and screen presence I liked a lot was the talented Frank Converse.  

His show NYPD was gritty and the discordant, sharp music was suspenseful. I liked the inner monologue of the characters as they entered existential conflicts and situations. As a kid, I liked that the characters revealed what they were thinking.  It certainly was not a standard trait of TV detectives, for sure, but being the main characters they often shared with the audience what they were thinking or how their calculations were being formed.  As a young actor, Converse had that New England New York college boy look.  At other times, he'd played a seasoned but beleaguered NYPD detective existentially remarking on the violent, desolate, and schizophrenic nature of the people of New York of the 70s.  I thought that he was an interesting guide on that scene for a kid watching a day unfold on the streets of New York.  Of course, he wasn't the only NY detective in those days.  There was Dennis Weaver (1924-2006) as McCloud.  Funny aside is that I saw Dennis Weaver on the 210 Freeway years after his show ended and he went into retirement.  He was driving in the eastbound lanes in a Nissan 240Z.  He was likable.   

A ESTE SOL PEREGRINO, TOMAS DE TORREJON Y VELASCO

More than any other song this past week that has uplifted my spirits it was this one that Robert Higgs posted on Facebook, who wrote on July 28, 2018, @ 1:36 pm

One of the good things—among many bad things—that came out of Spanish colonization of the New World.

I love the chorales, how one voice sustains, others pipe in, punctuating enduring ones, then rush headlong on their own riff, heavy, dominant.  I don’t know what I am talking about. 

CATRIN FINCH, CELTIC CONCERTO

I was up early to exercise, about 4:30 am, and as I sat in my parked car before stepping out I heard this piece. It was the energy and mysteries of the harp that struck me.