Sunday Serendipity

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Afro-American Symphony

By: William Gant Still

Performed by: Detroit Symphony Orchestra

I believe we listened to this one last year but it is really good so I guess we can listen to it once a year.

Enjoy Jack

Information from the video notes

The Symphony No.1 “Afro-American” was completed in 1930, premiered in 1931, conducted by Howard Hanson with the Rochester Symphony Orchestra. It was the first time in the history of the United States that a major orchestra premiered a symphony written by a black person.

First, we must mention that, at the beginning of the 20th decade, the black cultural movement known as Harlem Renaissance had been born, when Still came to New York. It was designed to show that the black race had a rich culture, which would soon prove to the United States and the entire world. Still was an active member of this movement, influencing him in his music throughout his life. In 1924 he began to work on a trilogy of works that describe the Afro-American reality: The symphonic poem “Africa” ​​represents its roots, the Afro-American Symphony the life of blacks in America and the Symphony No.2 “Song of a new race” the vision of an integrated society.

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10 thoughts on “Sunday Serendipity”

  1. jack, thank you.  beauty repeated whether in music or in motion is never boring.  for instance, these beautiful teenagers –  can you imagine being so graceful as well as exhibiting such poise and skill at 15 and 18?   shy gawky klutz years for most of us hoping to just get through a sock hop dance without stumbling and stepping on your partner’s toes let alone trying to do triple flips backwards in front of the world.

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    Kamila Valieva, 15, shined in the women’s short program of the team event, becoming the fourth woman to land a triple axel at the Winter Olympics and earning first place for the ROC.

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    18-year-old Yuma Kagiyama of Japan stole the show in his Olympic debut, winning the men’s free skate portion of the team event with a score of 208.94.

  2. Jack

    The symphony is beautiful.  The Harlem renaissance produced so many extraordinary talents in different artistic genres.

    The ice skating is magnificent.  I can remember when Scott Hamilton doing backflips amazed everyone.  Now it is almost common among young skaters.

     

  3. There’s the link. Thanks Jack.

    Yes, she shone and will have more Olympic Games in her future. 

    The guys are working on quintuple jumps now.  We will probably see someone try that in competition in four years.

  4. Nice Jack. You’d probably be jailed in FL or TX. Sounds like critical thinking to me. 🙄

    Nothing like a locked fuel flap, emergency open lever that’s MIA and no service department open with very cold weather to waste an hour or two, and the fucker is still locked.

  5. wapo should have run this cartoon with their story (oh, i forgot high falootin’ newspapers like them and the times don’t do ‘toons anymore unfortunately)

    Donald Trump spent his whole presidency ripping up documents that aides had to tape back together – The Washington Post

    … [he] tore up briefings and schedules, articles and letters, memos both sensitive and mundane.

    He ripped paper into quarters with two big, clean strokes — or occasionally more vigorously, into smaller scraps.
    He left the detritus on his desk in the Oval Office, in the trash can of his private West Wing study and on the floor aboard Air Force One, among many other places.
    And he did it all in violation of the Presidential Records Act, despite being urged by at least two chiefs of staff and the White House counsel to follow the law on preserving documents.
    “It is absolutely a violation of the act,” said Courtney Chartier, president of the Society of American Archivists. “There is no ignorance of these laws. There are White House manuals about the maintenance of these records.”
    Although glimpses of Trump’s penchant for ripping were reported earlier in his presidency — by Politico in 2018 — the House select committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection has shined a new spotlight on the practice. The Washington Post reported that some of the White House records the National Archives and Records Administration turned over to the committee appeared to have been torn apart and then taped back together.
    Interviews with 11 former Trump staffers, associates and others familiar with the habit reveal that Trump’s shredding of paper was far more widespread and indiscriminate than previously known and — despite multiple admonishments — extended throughout his presidency, resulting in special practices to deal with the torn fragments. Most of these people spoke on the condition of anonymity to share candid details of a problematic practice.
    The ripping was so relentless that Trump’s team implemented protocols to try to ensure that he was abiding by the Presidential Records Act. Typically, aides from either the Office of the Staff Secretary or the Oval Office Operations team would come in behind Trump to retrieve the piles of torn paper he left in his wake, according to one person familiar with the routine. Then, staffers from the White House Office of Records Management were generally responsible for jigsawing the documents back together, using clear tape.

    […]

    Early in the administration, the torn paper became such a problem that the administration officials responsible for records management went to then-White House counsel Donald McGahn and then-deputy White House counsel Stefan Passantino, who handled ethics issues, to urge them to remind Trump and other senior West Wing staff about the importance of preserving documents to comply with the records act.
    A former senior administration official said Trump was warned about the records act by McGahn, as well as his first two chiefs of staff, Reince Priebus and John F. Kelly, who lamented to allies that Trump would “rip up everything,” according to a person who heard his comments. Passantino also warned other aides about preserving documents.
    [continues]

  7. Slow day on the trail?  Lots going on in the world.  One of the joys of my life is it is easy to just unplug and skip reality for a few days.  I can, especially during the Boat Ladies Wine Club happy hour, just sit on the dock and sip a glass of wine or a drink a beer while watching the boats floating around and life on the dock.  Do nothing except enjoy breathing clean air, with a hint of sea, watch the birds, and whatever is around.  Sometimes our Pterodactyl (Blue Heron) shows up to croak at us; lately he has been spending his time on my swim platform and leaving huge plops of Blue Heron poop.  Watching the weather and sunsets are typical of those who live or spend much time on the water.
     
    We members of the BLWC spend time whining about the former republican party becomeing the cult members trying to destroy America.  We also spend time on those idiots who are anti-vaccination (see above) and the latest numbers infected and dying.

  8. Meanwhile FOX has not covered Pence at all. Steve Bannon on Pence’s statement: “You are a stone cold coward .. My head’s blowing up .. I can’t take Pence and Marc Short and all these guys up there ratting out Trump on Capitol Hill right now.”

  9. BB, it took me until middle of the afternoon to actually get onto the site except the one post I had Just after noon. Plus I was up my butt in drywall finishing and trying to get a gas flap open on Mrs. P’s car and watching a little bit of the Olympics. I really don’t know how many times they can show the mixed doubles curling. Thankfully alpine skiing and luge are starting to get airtime. 

    PS, took me twice to post this.

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