Rhiannon Giddens

According to Bluegrass Today (2017), "Giddens shattered long-held stereotypes.  By the time she was done, she had systematically dismantled the myth of a homogenous Appalachia."  She studied and performed opera.  Thank God, huh? A beautiful Dixie lullaby.

Rhiannon Giddens makes the song beautiful. A little about her:  

Giddens is multiethnic in ancestry.  Her father was European American and her mother African American and Native American.  Her sister Lalenja Harrington is a director for Beyond Academics, a four-year certificate program supporting students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  A singer and songwriter herself, Harrington occasionally collaborates with her sister on musical projects.  

Giddens married Irish musician, Michael Laffan, in 2007.  They have a daughter and a son; however, they are now separated.  Giddens is now in a relationship with her musical partner, Francesco Turrisi.  She has homes in Greensboro, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee, and Limerick, Ireland.

The song, released in 2011, is titled "Leaving Eden," written by Laurelyn Dossett.  Eden is a reference to Eden, North Carolina. 

Hush now, don’t you wake up
We’ll be leaving at first light
Mama's buying you a mockingbird
To lull you through the night
Across the den by morning
Here’s a blanket for you to share
They’re building down in Georgia
Daddy hears he’ll find work there

CHORUS
And the mockingbird can sing
Like the cryin' of a dove
And I can’t tell my daughters
All the things that I'm scared of
But I am not afraid of that bright glory up above
Dying’s just another way to leave the ones you love

No work for the working man
Just one more empty mill
Hard times in Rockingham
Hard times harder still
The crows are in the kitchen
The wolves at the door
Our father's land of Eden is paradise no more.

CHORUS
And the mockingbird can sing
Like the cryin' of a dove
And I can’t tell my daughters
All the things that I'm scared of
But I am not afraid of that bright glory up above
Dying’s just another way to leave the ones you love.

My sister stayed in Eden
Her husband’s got some land
An agent for the county thinks that they might make a stand
A hard life for working
With nothing much to show
It's a hard life of leaving with nowhere to go.

CHORUS
And the mockingbird can sing
Like the cryin' of a dove
And I can’t tell my daughters
All the things that I'm scared of
But I am not afraid of that bright glory up above
Dying’s just another way to leave the ones you love.

Quite striking to find her playing with Elvis Costello, aka, Declan Patrick MacManus, best known for "Radio, Radio," 1978, "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding," written by Nick Lowe in 1974 and released by Costello the same year, "Everyday I Write the Book," 1983, and, of course, "Watching the Detectives," 1977.  

"Is it a mystery to live?  Or is it a mystery to die?"

"He Will See You Through," 2003.  The song was arranged and orchestrated by Camp Kirkland.  

MOM LOVED FIGURE SKATING

One of the things that Mom enjoyed watching most was champion paired figure skating.  She loved the graceful dance between the couple, the music, and the elegant designs of their outfits.  

Though I must say that she also loved any good performance, like this one here by Sasha Cohen at the 2006 Olympics. 

Sometimes it's just nice to see winners and their reward.

George Burns, One of the World's Great Wordsmiths

The great George Burns, 1896-1996.  Where was I in 1996?  Teaching.  But I used to think of so many of his jokes, particularly when I was selling real estate for some reason.  

"My doctor is dead."

"I don't drink.  I don't smoke.  I do the other thing." 

"I'm the only one left.  you're the only one I know that's alive."

Though it wasn't said in this interview, it is a good line nonetheless, "Happiness is having a loving, close-knit family in another city." Quoted from the book The Mammoth Book of Zingers, Quips, and One-Liners, Geo Tibballs, 2004.  George Burns mentions in the above interview that he thought that Georgie Jessel was the funniest man he'd ever known, even funnier than Groucho Marx.  I beg to differ.  Though I didn't really know George Jessel's comedy, I thought that Groucho Marx was the funniest.  Judge for yourself from this interview.

Jessel appears to be a decent storyteller with ironic twists.  Prankster, yes, joker, not so much.  See him here in an episode of the Jack Benny Show.  

Just as way leads onto way, I found this episode of the Burns and Allen Show, co-starring the resonate voice of Harry von Zell.  IMDB has an interesting write-up on him.  The episode is titled, The Cigarette Girl, which aired on February 5, 1953. 

Fred Clark also appears in this episode.  What's funny to me is that when I first saw these performers it was the 1960s, actors already at the middle or the end of their career.  I just had no idea what kind of career they had before I first saw them.  I remember seeing Clark on The Beverly Hillbillies, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and as Moose Moran in the 1951 movie, The Lemon Drop Kid, starring Bob Hope.  Well, this little fact on The Lemon Drop Kid was quite interesting.  Damon Runyon wrote the story.  

The Lemon Drop Kid (1934), starring Lee Tracy, was remade in 1951 with Bob Hope (and I Love Lucy co-star William Frawley appearing in both adaptations). The latter version introduced the Christmas song "Silver Bells." 

On Runyon, we have this,

He spun humorous and sentimental tales of gamblers, hustlers, actors, and gangsters, few of whom go by "square" names, preferring instead colorful monikers such as "Nathan Detroit", "Benny Southstreet", "Big Jule", "Harry the Horse", "Good Time Charley", "Dave the Dude", or "The Seldom Seen Kid". His distinctive vernacular style is known as "Runyonese": a mixture of formal speech and colorful slang, almost always in present tense, and always devoid of contractions. He is credited with coining the phrase "Hooray Henry", a term now used in British English to describe an upper-class, loud-mouthed, arrogant twit. 

If you haven't seen it, you should.  And it doesn't hurt that it is available, at least for now, for free on YouTube.  I don't know for how long though, so don't miss it while it's up.  

Praying the Rosary

Praying the Rosary

Familiarize yourself and/or your group with the prayers of the rosary.

1.   Make the Sign of the Cross.

2.   Holding the Crucifix, say the Apostles' Creed.

3.   On the first bead, say an Our Father.

4.   Say one Hail Mary on each of the next three beads.

5.   Say the Glory Be

6.   For each of the five decades, announce the Mystery (perhaps followed by a brief reading from Scripture) then say the Our Father.

7.   While fingering each of the ten beads of the decade, next say ten Hail Marys while meditating on the Mystery. Then say a Glory Be.
(After finishing each decade, some say the following prayer requested by the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima: O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell; lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who have most need of your mercy.)

8.   After saying the five decades, say the Hail, Holy Queen, followed by this dialogue and prayer:

V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: O God, whose Only Begotten Son,
by his life, Death, and Resurrection,
has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life,
grant, we beseech thee,
that while meditating on these mysteries
of the most holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
we may imitate what they contain
and obtain what they promise,
through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

(A prayer to St. Joseph may also follow.) Conclude the Rosary with the Sign of the Cross.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,

and to the Holy Spirit, 

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, 

world without end. 

The history of The Book of Common Prayer is a Protestant book, not one containing Catholic prayers recited in a Catholic mass.  "Book of Common Prayer, liturgical book used by churches of the Anglican Communion."  For Catholics, our prayerbook is the Roman Catholic Missal.

Types of Catholic prayers: 

Adoration: Praising God.

Contrition: Asking for God's forgiveness.

Petition: Asking God for a favor.

Thanksgiving: Showing God gratitude.

Heartland: An Appalachian Anthology. Happy Thanksgiving!

In keeping with the "going home for the Thanksgiving holiday," the local public radio station has been playing music with "Going home" themes. I love the viola and violins in his piece.

 

The song above comes from the album Heartland: An Appalachian Anthology.  

Claude DeBussy's "Clair De Lune"

There's a reason this song has 63 million views or plays.  It's played often on the local public radio station here.

Flower Duet

"The Flower Duet" is sung in Leo Delibes' opera, Lakme.  Heard it this morning at 8:09am while driving in the snow.  The high pitches mimic the reach for beauty and love, and each time I hear this piece I cry over the loss of a friend I'd known for 18 years.