An American Sunday, part 2

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After all the rousing patriotic music and endless days of fireworks it is time for some peace and relaxation, something soothing. I started my search as always wingth Google and discovered that there was a fine line between most peoples concept of soothing and my definition of boring.

However as it is still the fourth of July weekend, something by an American composer seemed appropriate. Aaron Copland translates Americana into great music better than anyone and Appalachian Spring is my favorite. Also, it fits my idea of soothing.

If you click on the youtube link there is an interesting back story about the collaboration between Copland and choreographer Martha Graham.

Enjoy, Jack

Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland performed by Perspectives Ensemble

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44 thoughts on “An American Sunday, part 2”

  2. Each of you a bordered country,
    Delicate and strangely made proud,
    Yet thrusting perpetually under siege.
    Your armed struggles for profit
    Have left collars of waste upon
    My shore, currents of debris upon my breast.
    Yet, today I call you to my riverside,
    If you will study war no more.
    Come, clad in peace and I will sing the songs
    The Creator gave to me when I
    And the tree and stone were one.

     

    [Maya Angelou: “The Rock Cries Out to Us Today” ]

  3. The morning after report – little is left of this formally bucolic peninsula.Ā  Between the small arms fire, the mortar fire and the rockets, all the animals, birds and most of the lizards are dead.Ā  There is a deafening silenceĀ  now.Ā  There appears to be no human life left, outside of a handful of us who hid in the bombshelters.Ā  For some reason the battle did not break the electric lines so we at least have air conditioning to filter out the cordite.Ā 

  4. Once upon a time when young girls wore dresses and silk panties underneath I had the misfortune to sit on a just extinguished sparkler.Ā  My appreciation of fireworks has been deeply diminished ever since.Ā  Watching the DC fireworks, I always worry about the arboretum and Potomac eagles.Ā Ā 

    Jack,Ā  thank you for the peaceful music.Ā  Let us hope all the savage breasts belonging to humans will quiet it down a bit.Ā Ā 

  5. It is total silenceĀ  this morning, I don’t think there were any survivors.
    Brewster dog is curled up asleep in the back bedroom. He wandered out briefly as I passed out morning treats and I haven’t seen him since. Just me and the bird munching on our shredded wheat.Ā 
    Jack

  6. Trump faces a now historical disadvantage

    Now, the past isn’t necessarily prologue. There is time for volatility. The polls will probably bounce around during the convention period. (Part of the reason the first 10 days of July are a good snapshot is that it is usually after the primary season but before the conventions.) Trump could close the gap and could very well win.
    But make no mistake: An incumbent trailing by double-digits in early July with an opponent over 50% is a heavy underdog for reelection.

    Reading this was fun but I know we have to come at this like were 10 points behind. Although the polls in 2016 were basically correct I don’t want to be crushed again. There’s so much at stake. This monster has to go!

  7. Havenā€™t seen a bird or a squirrel this morning. Ā Iā€™m guessing there will be more fireworks for the next, few nights. Ā  Itā€™s like folks were having one, last hurrah. Ā Maybe it was just a way to blow off steam, but it was something new around here.
    Bink – Careful that you donā€™t get West Nile virus in your effort to avoid COVID. Ā (Donā€™t know what else to call it but West Nile, so apologies to West Nilers.)

  8. ā€œIā€™m bring home a baby bumblebee…ā€ Part of that piece reminds me of this school bus favorite. Ā  It is soothing. Thanks much to Jack.

  11. As I said last night, it sounded like a war zone here. Our dog is 15 – her fictional birthday is July 4. Her hearing isnā€™t so sharp anymore. In fact sheā€™s a bit hard of hearing. Worked for her last night. Last fireworks I heard were at about 2:30. Assholes.Ā 

  14. Jamie, I understand scientist don’t believe that the brain eating amoeba to be a real threat given that it is in Florida predictions are it will starve before it can invade any other state.
    Jack

  16. A neighbor kid found a string of firecrackers that were missed last night, just one thankfully. But Brewster came in from the back bedroom to hang with me.
    Jack

  18. ā€A neighbor kid found a string of firecrackers that were missed last nightā€
     
    Nice, now that the idiots wasted all their explosives frivolously, you now have a resource advantagešŸ’Ŗ

  19. The dog with whom i cohabitate isnā€™t scared by fireworks, but with every sound of them, she gives me a look that says ā€œwe should probably go investigate what that wasā€.

  22. rubin oped in wapo:

    It was not simply his slurred speech (Trump also mangled the pronunciation of Ulysses Grant, as if he had never seen in print the first name of the Union general who clobbered the Confederate generals Trump still tries to venerate) that conveyed the impression there is something just not right with the 45th president. It was not merely Trumpā€™s sweaty, oddly colored pallor; his squinting to read the teleprompter; or the uneven pacing of his reading, which at times threatened (promised?) to grind to a halt. No, it was the darkly aggressive and fascistic substance of his speech: positing that his enemies want to destroy America and eradicate its history.
    [ā€¦]
    Now, if you were looking for normalcy, sanity, actual patriotism and something uplifting, you could have read former vice president Joe Bidenā€™s July 4 op-ed.
    [ā€¦]
    Biden offers a vision of a country that stands ā€œready to lead again, not by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.ā€
    You can have that guy or the raving, paranoid one peddling hate and dystopia. The choice is not even close.

  25. I hate to finish the day with a downer, but at some point it has to show up.Ā  What, no make that when, will it show up in one of the rambling mutterings of an imbecile that he “wonders when the good people show up and protect him from the anti–facists”?Ā  He has come close to saying things like that, but so far it has not stated himself as the person or object to protect.Ā  We have several more months, almost seven months, for this to happen.Ā  There is no reason to not expect it.Ā  I am sure he saw the limits to his ordering the U.S. military to do things and is deciding that he can call the “white supremacist militias” to do the dirty work

  26. I think Melanoma is appearing with Trump to keep him from the shuffle walk Ā He is clutching her hand like he is drowning.

  27. KGC – she must be getting extra pay for that, maybe part of that renegotiated pre-marriage contract.Ā 
    Ā 
    I had read enough separate articles about how bad SFB was slurring last night.Ā  So I had to listen and look.Ā  He states he does not drink, he states he does not do drugs.Ā  His “doctors” state he is in better shape than a twenty-two year old half-back.Ā  Yet he could not stand, his grip on the podium was white-knuckle.Ā  His speech had to be how I sounded back when I drank (heavily).Ā  His pronunciation was weird.Ā  I will not comment on his actual speech, just his delivery.Ā  His appearance looked like there was a make-up artist who knew how to trowel on crease filler and then spray paint on a couple coats of smoother and a few top coats.Ā  I thought of Miss Congeniality at that moment.Ā  The funniest thing was it looked like his right man boob got stuck over the top of his bullet proof vest and was bouncing around his shoulder as he staggered around.

  29. Orange makeup applied with a spatula.
    Jewelry,Ā 
    Painted nails,Ā 
    Perfume,
    Dyed hair,
    Shoes with lifts,
    Corset and
    Bullet-proof falsies that migrate.
    A man’s a man for all that.Ā 
    Ā 
    snicker

  34. I told another relative about the family out in California and the COVID-positive test of the BF who has had contact with them. Ā The response was that they ā€œhope it can be contained.ā€ Ā  Just as well ā€œhopeā€ it will just disappear. Ā 

  36. Spackle and Bondo and a belt sander. – Ms Dallas
    Yup, with struts, flashing, dope and loose screws.

  37. NH venue is a hangar. Ā They know it will look stupid if they try to fill a large facility. Ā  Ā But, they have overflow space on the tarmac if folks actually show up. Ā 

  39. DONā€™T MASK HER ā€˜Target Karenā€™ seen ā€˜attacking face masks and told cops ā€œcall Donald Trumpā€ as she canā€™t share ā€œclassified informationā€ā€˜
    Another Trump supporter goes nuts. This is who Trump inspires. They must go along with their monster leader. Back under their rocks.Ā 

  40. hey, they were making campaign commercials at rushmore on the 3rd & last night with fireworks and planes in the background in both places.Ā  that extra makeup was for that. he had to look good for the camera.

    Ā 

    considering his speeches re statues being torn down,Ā  most likely the ones being taken down now are done and paid for by the campaign also for those ads.Ā  I’ve noticed mitch’s ads cover some monument destruction clips soĀ  the RNC must need more and fresher footage.Ā  would be interesting to see just who the current vandals pretending to be protesters are but who look a lot like mercenaries. Ā 

  43. We paid for that trip, that flyover, those fireworks, didnā€™t we? Ā The campaign didnā€™t pay for it, right? Ā They used that backdrop to tape ads at the expense of the American people…and to distract from the mishandling of the on-going pandemic, and, the sound of crickets weā€™ve heard from SFB about bounties on the backs of our troops. Ā  Independence from tRUMP!

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