Sunday Serendipity

as the old ad goes: “you’ve come a long way baby” since renoir’s day. a blue dress then and now ain’t the same either.

and a happy happy to george gershwin, the birthday boy today

as well as st. francis of assissi and t.s. eliot and beto o’rourke among others.

now that’s quite an eclectic crew, but all artists in their own spheres.     

Donald Trump could be charged with multiple crimes over his attempts to overturn his loss in the state of Georgia, report says (msn.com)

[…]
The report by the Brookings Institution, a leading think tank in Washington DC, analyzes publicly available evidence that shows that Trump and his allies attempted to pressure Georgia officials to “change the lawful outcome of the election.”
A key piece of evidence is the now-infamous call made by Trump on January 3 to Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger. He told him to “find 11,780 votes” to overturn Biden’s win.
The report adds that Trump publicly pressured and personally contacted several other officials in Georgia to ask them to help him overturn his loss in the state.
It includes Governor Brian Kemp and Attorney General Chris Carr, who Trump reportedly placed direct calls to in December to urge them to go along with “his increasingly desperate plans to decertify his loss.”
“We conclude that Trump’s post-election conduct in Georgia leaves him at substantial risk of possible state charges predicated on multiple crimes,” the report said.
“These charges potentially include criminal solicitation to commit election fraud; intentional interference with performance of election duties; conspiracy to commit election fraud; criminal solicitation; and state RICO violations.”
The report added that criminal liability could extend to some Trump allies, including his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
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more about the thread selection

Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue – the story behind a hastily composed masterpiece – Classic FM

Late at night on 3 January 1924, George Gershwin, his brother Ira and lyricist Buddy DeSylva were having a game in the Ambassador Billiard Parlor at 52nd Street on Broadway, when an item in the amusement section of the New York Tribune caught Ira’s attention. It was about a concert of new American music to be given by Paul Whiteman and his Palais Royal Band at Aeolian Hall on 12 February – Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. 
“George Gershwin is at work on a jazz concerto,” ran the article, “Irving Berlin is writing a syncopated tone poem…”
It was all news to George. His musical comedy, Sweet Little Devil, was set to open in just three weeks. And now he had to write a concerto by 12 February as well?
[..]
While he was on the train to Boston for rehearsals of his musical, Gershwin sketched out a framework for the new piece, which he began writing on 7 January. Over the next few days, while he also made last-minute changes to ready Sweet Little Devil for its New York opening on 24 January, the genius completed a two-piano score.
What Gershwin produced was not a “jazz concerto” but a rhapsodic work for “piano and jazz band” incorporating elements of European symphonic music and American jazz with his inimitable melodic gift and keyboard facility.
Gershwin’s original title for it was American Rhapsody. But, by chance, Ira had been to an exhibition of Whistler’s paintings and saw the painter’s Nocturne In Blue And Green of the Thames at Chelsea. Why not call the new piece Rhapsody In Blue instead, he suggested. The title would reflect the European and American influences. Also at Ira’s suggestion, George contrasted the syncopated character that dominates the tune with an expressive romantic theme the composer had previously improvised at a party.
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