I’ve been planning todays selection for most of the week , listening to the doom and gloom in the background. Somewhere, I know, in our past was an America that for all it’s problems was idealistic enough to lead the world to a better life. The world of 2020 is a better world than the world of 1928. Not perfect but a far better place to live. Yet we seem to be hell bent on tearing that world down with little thought as to what needs to replace it. I think one thing about getting older is realizing that civilization ain’t a bad thing
Not trying to lecture here just trying to understand why all week I’ve been coming back to this Gershwin piece, An American in Paris. It conveys his experiences in Paris in the 1920’s. It is fun, lively, sensual, interesting and optimistic. Almost the exact opposite of where we seem to be these days.
This is a classic performance from 1958
The New York Philharmonic Orchestra with Leonard Bernstein playing An American in Paris by George Gershwin.
Enjoy, Jack
variation in the key of dance major
a takeover test? we failed the first one.
Old man, Roger your comment on Peter Green. Those early FM albums were very good. Albatross And Hypnotized were early Fleetwood Mac favorites. Ebony Eyes was a nice one from his post FM career.
An American in Paris is a great Gershwin piece. But then again what Gershwin piece isn’t?
new group with anti-trump ad interviewed on mojo friday in case you missed it.
Great line from commenter Liam-still at WaPo
I appreciate a nice turn of phrase like that.
Patd, Vote Vets is all over this, too. I’ve seen two of their ads, and they are powerful critiques of his lack of support and respect for our vets.
Jack
Thank you for the much needed dose of joy. Watching that piece is always fun to “name the artist” for each section.
Now even the stars of my early movie years are passing. He was the teenage crush idol from such films as That Happy Feeling and The Reluctant Debutant in the late 50s.
And Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac at 73
Don’t know how many who read here ever have reason to visit through the Catskills, but if there you should find yourself, put this place on your list. It was begun by an ex-musician named Ryan McGiver, (nephew of the great character actor John McGiver), in W. Fulton N.Y. He created this space from a totally dilapidated storage shed on the side of the road just down from his uncle’s house.
It’s a delightful place and the hard cider is good for ya.
https://www.scrumpyewecider.com/home
Scrumpyville
Mo Scrumpy
A theater carpenter from the city came up and helped him trick out the place.
Pat,
Wow, that clip was so erotic it should have been xrated. Making love with your clothes on.
I never thought of Gene Kelly and Modern Dance together. I always viewed him as an above average hoofer. I guess that is what happens when you work in Hollywood. They have to dumb it down for us rubes out in the sticks.
Thankyou it was an excellent accompaniment to my video/music selection.
Jack
Ryan told me his uncle hated tourists, and worse, hated actors. He said that whenever his uncle finished a project he’d be back home in W. Fulton tilting the bottle with a couple or 3 local friends.
jack, gene made it look so easy even a frog could be taught to dance
he also could sing a song or two
John Lewis. crossing the Edmund Pettit bridge what an amazing person
John McGiver was a mean-spirited man. He was often typecast, which meant he simply played himself.
Lovely musical start to the day. Thanks Jack for continuing Jace’s tradition.
X that’s exactly the impression I got of him from Ryan….mean as a snake except with his drinkin’ pals. Misanthrope was used a time or two, I think.
He had ten kids….that’d make ANYbody kinda cranky.
Just talked to a neighbor who shuffles back and forth to California. I hadn’t seen him in a while, The reason is he caught the Covid while back in California last March. He said it is like nothing he has ever had and he has had pneumonia. He didn’t go to the hospital but he said his breathing was so bad there were some nights he went to sleep wondering if he would wake up. He is better but is still recovering weak and still with low oxygen levels but , as he said , with enough oxygen to think clearly.
He said no matter what you have heard, you don’t want it.
Jack
When SFB tried to institute national policy people has a fit and talked about state’s rights and now there is all the talk about a national shutdown. No one wants SFB to lead the national policy we would all be injecting bleach and taking baths in UV light. The governors needs to get together and coordinate. Oh right can’t do that because of the idiot gooper govs. So in the end 2 million Americans will die and we will be in a depression.
Also questioning the ability of the post office to manage the vote by mail ballots is just crap. It’s just another attack on the post office by ass hole goopers who slavishly follow SFB in all his personal revenge scenarios
Life In Lockdown isn’t all politics
1000 pieces to where I wish I were.
My favorite TV of Gene Kelly was his “Dancing Is A Man’s Game” special on Omnibus that demonstrated the connection between rhythm and spots. You have to buy the DVD to get the whole thing, but here are some nice clips
I took notice when he died that actors who had worked with him might praise his acting or his presence, but not his person. Mostly they referred to him as ‘a difficult man.’ A few called him mean, petty, or cheap. Such comments upon the character of a freshly dead actor seemed remarkably harsh.
We shall hit a count of 150,000 Americans dead from C19 this afternoon.
Good deal, mr. trump. Thanks a barrow.
jack – I’ve never heard that without watching the movie. That was a treat!
Pence was trying to sound tough (what he thought was presidential?) last week, when he said that he and mother would send their kids to school if they were still of school age. A word to any Republicans out there: We don’t want the whitest man/tRUMP’s water boy, either, in case anyone gets that silly idea.
OK, Jamie has inspired a good quarantine game. It looks like she’d be in Australia right now, if she had her druthers. I would be on my genealogy trip to Denmark, Scotland, and, England. (As a resident of Texas, there is a border around me; the welcome mat has been yanked up for now.)
Where would you guys be if you you could travel somewhere right now?
Now Olivia DeHavilland at 104
X-R, an old retired prof who said he once taught kelly in college (pitt?) told me that he was a genius and it surprised the heck out of him at how smart he was. artistic genii can be insufferable they often say.
BiD
You could always head here. I love these Dowdle Puzzles. They have everything from standard jigsaws to frameable wooden puzzles
The aflact duct does John McGiver.
“Where would you guys be if you you could travel somewhere right now?”
BiD, right here in the KY boonies, sitting under a tree watching deer munch grass if it weren’t so hot outside.
2nd choice I might opt for canadian rockies. banff’s nice and the kootenay lake area’s good for cooling down and hiding from viruses.
The Oregon Coast. A friend is in a show in gallery in the area. But it’s all been delayed
I’d be at Clark’s Bar in Gilboa NY.
Where do I want to go?
To some deep shady woods, find a nice seldom used trail. my little cooler with 4 cold beers and a couple of baloney and cheese sanmiches. Maybe some flaming cheetos.
Jack
Also some cold chicken and a bottle of water for Brewster dog.
4th of july we left the noise of the city and went to one local Corp of Engineers lakes. It was still very rural so no firecrackers. Everywhere a road was blocked by the lake they put in a turn around point and have walking trails that connect them. We were out on a trail where horse riders frequent and Brewster has a good nose and he kept smelling their trails and kept looking at me with a worried look. As if “Dad there is something here, they may be big and there is a lot of them. Do you think you can handle this?” We drove to another point and there was a couple currying their horses after a ride so I got a chance to let Brewster see what a horse looked like.
He is ok out on the wild trails but being short he prefers where the grass is mowed short so his underside isn’t poked so much.
Jack
Mark Twain Nat’l Forest
My pick is: Aotearoa. No Covid. Plus, Gandalf.
(wasn’t here, shhh🤫)
I do love the Ozarks, (the hills, the people can be a little trying) My little sister’s place backs up to part of the Mark Twain. If you do a drunken stumbling fall off her back deck you don’t stop for 500 feet. Beautiful country. But right now it is hot and too many ticks. August is seed tick time. a million ticks and they are crawling on you.
Jack
Durango is amazing this time of year. I know what you’re thinking, but you’re a hell of a lot closer than me. Plus, legal weed. Have fun🤫
John Meachem is kind of a twit. He was one of those guys during the Iraq war “we have to keep going to honor those who have died,” Now he saying SFB could win because Democrats are clueless. What a dick
Love me some Gershwin. Back in the day when I played piano I tried mightily to learn his tunes, but mostly failed.
Colorado is fun,
Mrs Jack pulled into a spot along the road to answer a text. They were selling MJ. We almost went in. But she was still working at a place that frowned on that. If we had known the future, yeah she would have went in. She was an old hippie, I’ve got pictures of her crops she grew back in the day.
Jack
…got pulled over in CO a few years back, and the officer said, “i know you have weed in the car, and a year ago, i could have arrested you for it.”
There was a slight pause, and i asked, “So… is there anything else i can help you with?”
He replied dejectedly, “No. Have a good day.”
Yay, Colorado. Ok, going to go die of heat-stroke. ✌️❤️🇺🇸
Mr. Cracker’s sister is 95 today and we want to send her some books. Last year we sent a couple of David McCullough’s She is on the library committee for her elder community. I’m looking for suggestions in travel and history
KGC
I think there are a lot of pundit/intellectuals that say silly stuff and get paid for it. (I need one of those jobs)
Their favorite right now is to say “Look out! Trump can still do it” They never notice all the lefties and even centrists reminding each other that it ain’t over till we all vote.
My Mexican neighbors have a name for such people (pendejo) but they tell me I’m not supposed to use it among nice people. the polite English translation is “fool” But probably a cross between asshole and fool is closer
But it is a perfect description of those pundit/intellectuals
Jack.
KGC
With Hamilton being such a musical hit, she might enjoy the book that was the base for the musical.
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
Given my druthers I’druther be sailing up and down the coast of Maine.
Instead I went to a funeral to comfort a friend whose kid, a guitar player singer a year younger than LP, committed suicide last Sunday. A bit too close to home for my liking.
KGC, look for large print books. There’s everywhere.
And this is good:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B012ID4XAE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
pogo – I’m so sorry. That must’ve been rough.
Jamie – NYC is always my favorite place, but it hurts more to think that I can’t even go there, right now, than to someplace I’ve never been.
crackers -The Secret Life of Trees is a wonderful book, IMO.
Thanks every one
Thanks Blue – not as bad as you’d think. The mom, who was a paralegal in our office for years, had a week to come to grips with the fact that her son, who suffered from depression, couldn’t take it any longer. She was actually in pretty good shape. She has a very large supportive family, which helps. Her brother actually delivered what would pass for a eulogy. I’m not religious, and the service was definitely religious, but still seem to provide her some support, comfort and solace. Goddamn shame. Parents aren’t supposed to have to bury their kids.
BiD, NYC would be my first choice anytime other than July and August. Been there – John Sebastian was as right.
I was supposed to go to NYC in June to see my kids and meet up with a former dance instructor who’s now in Utah. Waaa… Next year? The year after? Ever again?
Next year, TT. I’m hoping for a vaccine that will allow for that to happen.
pogo – June/July hasn’t been bad the summers that I was there…but I flew in from Texas, so it was always a nice break. If you are ever there at that time of year, Lincoln Center has the best event. Midsummer Nights Swing, which lasts a couple weeks. There’s a small floor if you want to pay to dance next to the bands that play, but most are just dancing for free in Damrosch Park, next to the Metropolitan Opera House.
I hope so BiD. Shall we pray to the Big Pharma gods?
Our biggest 2020 mystery: How many Trump voters are ashamed to admit it to pollsters?
What fun. Hurricane Hannah takes down Trump’s wall
Bwaaa-ha-ha!
TT – BigPharma is already making big money off of the race for a vaccine.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/pfizer-biontech-get-1-95-billion-covid-19-vaccine-order-from-u-s-government-11595418221
It’s a drop in the bucket for them, though.
That’s my mayor, he was my councilman BTW he is a law professor. If we can just get him to stay off the proffessor stuff and stay with the politics, he’ll do good.
Jamie,
How could they possibly anticipate that hurricane force winds could occur in Texas on the Gulf coast? Fucking idiot(s).
only 100 days to go!!! we need a song to get us thru. something on the order of “100 bottles of beer on the wall, 100 bottles of beer. take one down and pass it around 99 bottles of beer…” until the election
seems like a century ago we were noting his first 100 days in talk & ‘toons like this posted by 4WWL
How do we put it, that wall is just another example of the Trump administrations competence. Among many btw and from what i could tell probably that Fuckup didn’t kill anybody. Unlike others we could mention.
Jack
https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/21/texas-coronavirus-deaths-rio-grande-valley/
“Last responders”
I think the question about polling that we can’t answer is does the mishandling of the pandemic, and growing death count, (small t) trump racist views? You might also get folks who just stay home.
And yet some wall still stand, That is the White House you see in the distance. Back to my original post , how far we have fallen. BTW Trump like to compare himself to Andy Jackson. But Jackson was never coward hiding behind barricades afraid of the American people
The Trump racist will vote Trump as they lay on their deathbed gasping for oxygen.
It is in the suburbs/exburbs the people who don’t believe they are racist. Will they vote Trump for law and order. Trump is betting the farm they will and he may be right.
Jack
BTW that is why my Mayor did such a great job on Fox news. I didn’t think he had it in him.
Jack
100 more days of Trump on the wall
100 more days of Trump
Tear off a page
In a fit of rage
99 more days of Trump on the wall
jamie, you got it! spot on.
“Tear off a page
In a fit of rage”
and 99 more to go
https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/99-reasons-to-dump-trump/ny-edit-99-days-reasons-20200727-3lzhzfiasraepbjpned2nbjpxq-story.html
NEW THREAD