Saturday 9: Over There (1942)

Because it's the Fourth!

Unfamiliar with this rendition? Hear it here.

1) George M. Cohan wrote this song in 1917, inspired by our country's entry into WWI. It was not only popular with the young men who enlisted, it was reassuring to their families. Tell us about a time when music was a comfort to you.  

Music is truly one of the sustaining parts of my life.  And it's a daily comfort.  I could never be completely without it.  It goes through my head constantly.  I have written songs.  And, it hurts that I can't sing anymore.  

But I can still hum and whistle. DH says that he likes to hear me do those things. As far as now.... I am definitely a Contralto.  My range has shrunk. 

2) "Over There" was revived at the start of WWII, and President Franklin Roosevelt cited this song specifically when he awarded Cohan with the Congressional Gold Medal. What's your favorite patriotic song?  

Actually, it's this one.  *Points upward*  I still sing it.  Sometimes I will belt it out with the the singer if it's a recording...... and no one else is listening.  Lol...

3) This rendition of the song is from the 1942 film, Yankee Doodle Dandy. James Cagney won an Oscar for his performance as George M. Cohan. Also nominated that year was Gary Cooper, who portrayed a different Yankee, Lou Gehrig, in Pride of the Yankees. Tell us about a movie biography you have enjoyed.  

"Shindler's List".  It's a great movie but maybe "Enjoyed" isn't the word for this one.. Let me see...."Hidden Figures".  I really love that one.

4) Cagney had a rebellious streak. His boss, studio head Jack Warner, nicknamed Cagney, "The Professional Againster." Cagney joked that he was proud of the title. How about you? Are you rebellious?  

Yes, I think I've been so ever since I got out from under the dangerous thumb of the Paternal Unit. 

5) In the clip linked above, a woman sings with Cagney. Her name was Frances Langford, nicknamed the "GI Nightingale" because during WWII she performed for the troops at bases throughout Europe, North Africa and the South Pacific. Do you have any nicknames? 

Actually, my given name is a nickname for my mother's first name.  Lillian.  Her family called her that although most of her life after her teens, she was called Bobbie by friends and "the despot's" family (who were nothing like him) but not by her sisters.  They always called her by her nickname, which they bestowed upon her.

6) In 1942, when audiences were enjoying this performance of "Over There" in movie theaters, the fashion trend was for mothers and their young daughters to wear identical dresses. Moms would buy lots of fabric and patterns for the same casual day dress in both their own sizes and their little girls'. Can you sew?  That sounds like fun.... 

But we never did that.  I remember that Mother sewed matching Easter Dresses one year (they were yellow dotted Swiss) that she and I wore to church.  And, yes, I can sew, and I made most of my dresses in High School, and I've sewn garments for pay, and did alterations for others for a few years as a business.  I love to sew.  

This has brought some tears to my eyes because I can remember how happy Mother was that Easter Sunday at church.  Mother used to make all my clothes, sewing most of them by hand when I was a baby and a toddler.  She made me sun suits and little dresses when I was small.  1942 was the year I was born.  Those were the "War Years".  Everything was rationed so material was unavailable pretty much.  She made my clothes from whatever someone else outgrew, and I was the last of the girls and quite small. 

We lived on our Grandparent's Farm with the other sisters whose husbands were off fighting or training.  I grew up sewing clothes for my dolls and then for myself.

7) The Fourth of July means we're in the middle of summer. Are you careful about applying sunscreen?  Well, I do now.  I didn't use to need to.  But I was careful about not getting burnt before I could get a good tan every year. Now it seems like Wisdom itself to wear it. 

8) Mosquito bites an be a major summer annoyance. Are you scratching any itches right now?  No, I am not.

9) Celebrity chef Rachael Ray says she considers mini-hamburgers, or "sliders," the All-American food. What will you be eating this 4th of July?  It all depends on how adventurous the chef is.  Hubby does all the cooking but if he has a potato salad on the menu, I'm the one who makes it. It is one of Grandmother's recipes that was passed down to me.

Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend! 

And thank you Sam!  Happy Fourth of July to you!  

Will Smith, I still love you even if you are an Arse at times!

Readers.  If you would like to go Sam's blog  you can join in the fun.  She has a linkie there at the bottom.  

 

Three on Thursday: Buckingham Palace and the White House and a different sort of light.....

Yes, this is Buckingham Palace. 
I can't seem to find a credit for this Beautiful photo.  

 It will probably be proven at some point, that the more crowded a species becomes in a finite space, the more of an expression of  a "rainbow" affect in the population.  It's one of Mother Nature's ways of limiting populations. It's happening in Antarctica among Emperor Penguins, and that's only one species.  

I suggest that before becoming incensed about it, we have to figure out a way to accommodate something in our OWN population that could very well be a natural reaction to overcrowding.  

And, since we are constantly looking for clues in all of Nature to our own origins - and even to our own well developed customs and behaviors- we need to look closer at this in an analytical way.  We need NO more knee jerk over-reactions!  

Peace to all.  Life can be Hell, or it can be a constant joy, like a Rainbow.

I haven't got a name to attribute this to either.



It's time we all grow up and admit that God Loves us ALL -  
And just make a Peaceful place for ALL of His Children

We have some terribly big fires to put out.  You Know?
We were driving past this truck on our way to escape a forest fire.
Firemen are my Heroes.

Wordless Wednesday: Big Sur

 

Music Monday: LIVE Justin Johnson Backporch Blues Concert - June 25th

This young player is totally awesome!  

Saturday 9: "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over" 1991.

Saturday 9: "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over" (1991)

Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it here.

1) In this song, Lenny Kravitz sings about all the tears he's cried over this relationship. Scientists theorize that human tears fall into two categories: emotional and irritant. "Emotional tears" are most often shed over physical pain, empathy, compassion, depression, and anger/frustration. Think about the last time you cried. What triggered your tears?  

Elle's birthday. 

2) We also cry "irritant tears," which means we well up when a foreign particle gets in our eye. Over-the-counter drops can help. What's the last thing you bought at the drugstore? Was it a medication (OTC or prescription) or something else entirely?  

The last thing that I, myself, actually did at a drugstore was to get a flu shot a few years ago. 

3) TV actresses have played a big part in Lenny Kravitz' life. His mother was Roxie Roker, who played the neighbor Helen on The Jeffersons. His wife (and the inspiration for this song) was Lisa Bonet, who played one of the daughters on The Cosby Show. Their daughter, Zoe Kravitz, appeared in the HBO series Big Little Lies. What TV series do you never tire of, and could watch again and again?  

That would most likely be, "Major Dad".  I can watch it on YouTube now.   When someone says, "Night Recon", that just makes me Laugh out loud. 

4) Thinking of Big Little Lies ... Zoe Kravitz co-starred with Nicole Kidman. Shortly after Kidman divorced Tom Cruise, she dated Lenny Kravitz. Have you ever been curious about a partner's past love? 

No not at all.  This was way back in a different era; we were both very young and neither of us had any real X's.  

5) Lenny Kravitz and Today Show weatherman Al Roker are second cousins (their grandfathers were brothers). Do you turn to a TV weatherman for the forecast? Or do you check a website or app? 

Not a fan of TV, so I use a couple of Apps - Weather Cat and Yahoo Weather.  I love the maps at Yahoo Weather and Weather Cat gives me all the weather info from Monterey Bay. 

6) Also a talented photographer, Lenny's work has been displayed at the Leica Gallery in Wetzlar, Germany. What's the most recent photo you took? 

It was of a short fingered glove and it's mate that I have just started.  

7) In 1991, when this song was popular, Murray Bicycles were the top seller among younger set. Popularity is fleeting, though. By 2004, the company filed for bankruptcy and no longer produces bicycles. Was your bike a big part of your summer when you were a kid? 

That's sad.  I remember Murrays. My kids had Schwinn's from a bike shop where my bike came from.

About my summers...I learned to ride when I was barely four years old, in Ohio in 46.  That was in summer when my youngest baby brother was born.   Later, my older little bro and I loved to ride all over the half acre during summer. I also rode my bike to school a lot in grammar school. We had  "stripped down model" bikes,  meaning that they had handlebars, frames, and brakes but no fenders,  We didn't get so called "English Three Speed" bikes until quite a few  years later, when I was in Jr. High.  

8) Also in 1991, Gene Roddenberry died. Mr. Roddenberry is best known as the creator of Star Trek. Who's your favorite Star Trek character?  

💓It's Warf! 💓 He's my FAV guy. And,  HERE's a WIKI page for him.

9) Random Question: How do you think your high school classmates remember you?  

I think - if they remembered me at all - they would remember me as a serious student, a very good basketball, tennis and a pretty good volleyball player.  A few may actually remember me, as a person  But I really doubt it would be more than a few.  

So, I cannot say for certain.  I never had a class with Meffie, who is a year or so younger,  but she remembers me.  We were friends for years after school.  A few of the kids from the lunch-bunch that I hung with might remember as a well, and one who wanted to go to college.

My best guy friend, Steve, whom I shared two classes with - Art and "Senior Problems" - might remember me as a good artist.  He asked me why (on earth!) I hadn't tried for a scholarship in art.  Honestly, I hadn't even thought of doing anything with it as a career.

I remember wanting to be a History or English Major. And having finally fallen in love with Math, I wanted to think about a career in the sciences.   You know, I possessed the persona of a complete scatterbrained Teen.  I had so many troubles at home that it just was a dream to me to be ANYTHING at all but a statistic by the time I was 21. You may recall that until recently your parent's still ruled your life and did until you were 21 or married.  This was 1960.  Adult women couldn't even get loans or credit cards unless a Male signed on...

 I think the Vietnam meat grinder was waiting for him and a lot of the boys in my class.  He was a wonderful kid -  Level headed and good natured.  When I think of the high school years, I always think of Steve and wonder how life turned out for him.  It was so nice to have a boy and a friend without having it need to be Boyfriend- Girlfriend or anything  "Heavy", in the "Beatnik" sense of the word. 

Thank you Sam! 💓💟 I look forward to this meme every week.  

DEAR READERS:  Want to join in?  Go HERE to Sam's blog 

Want to read other Niner's Posts?  Go HERE to the linkie

Three on Thursday: OMG what a hassle..

RANT ONE:  Usually I don't have a problem with technology but Google has got my goat.  I turned on Apple's newest app, and Google went berserk. Firstly, they bought Blogspot- aka Blogger, and then they released it to the wind sometime later.  On paper maybe, but it's still tethered to the Mother Ship.  

So you can't really get here through Blogspot.com unless you know a trick or THREE.  That involves passing a saliva test and a breath-a-lizer. "Are you sober enough to wade through our swamp?  OK I guess you are. "

Well that is the end of the rant.  

Now the knitting part.. #2

Which brings us  to RANT #3

And a little of a "What's on the Needles" bragging.... even though my computer and my camera are not talking to each other at the moment, something about property rights and law suits, I am posting a generic photo that sort of approximates the act of knitting for charity.  

This, if it ever loads, is from THIS site.... Better Homes and Gardens Magazine.  

I'm still trying to use my photos with Google's little p*ssy app shut down FOREVER, and so here we are.....  No knitting photo to show YET, but I have hopes.  This is what happens when TECH GIANTS fight.  The GRASS, that's YOU and ME, (I?) suffers. 

Here it is.  But my brain is either fried now, or pickled…I’m too numb to tell. 🤣 

Here's a shot from Space ... to put all this DRAMA into perspective. 

End Rant #3

Wordless Wednesday…🥺

 

Photo c/o Evgeniy Maloletka AP

Music Monday: Donald Trump sings "Jailhouse Rock" .

Artificial Intelligence can be pretty scary ... We were warned! LOL

OMG! OMG.  😄

Saturday9... Beautiful Boy: John Lennon

 Saturday 9: Beautiful Boy (1980)

This song was chosen in honor of Father's Day. Hear it here.

1) Paul McCartney has said that "Beautiful Boy" is one of his favorite John Lennon solo songs. What's yours? (This link will take you to his greatest hits.)

I'd say that my favorite on that album is, "Give Peace a Chance".

2) Lennon wrote this for his son, Sean. Father and son share an October 9 birthday. Does anyone in your life share your birthday?  No.  The only other person I've ever met who shares my birthday is a receptionist who works in the eye doctor's office! LOL....

3) John asks Sean to take his hand before they cross the street. Name another song that references holding hands.  I can't think of another song that does.  It will be interesting to see what other Niners come up with.

4) Today Sean Lennon is in his late 40s. He lives in Greenwich Village, creating art and music from his elaborate home-based music and film studio. Are you into the latest in electronics?  Nom but I sure would love to have a new robot like the one that is dancing on You Tube.  

Here's a human dancing it.. whatever it is called ... the "craze" I mean.  It's WAY beyond Hip Hop... but oh so cute and exciting.  I've heard it called the Paragon Shuffle but I'm sure there are other names for it. 

5) In Thailand, Father's Day is observed on the birthday of the current King. Are you celebrating any birthdays this month?  June is a big month for birthdays in the family.  Our two oldest were both born in June, a year and a day apart.  They were "Irish Twins", only 12 months and one day apart. The nurse said that it was nice that Bee would have her own birthday. 

There are three other people in the immediate family have birthdays this month.  My MIL was a June baby, and our niece, and, I think, both of her two daughters.  If there's anyone else, I've forgotten who it is. 

6) Crazy Sam vividly remembers her long-ago high school days when her father gave her driving lessons. Do you consider yourself a good driver? I do.  I've driven since I was 15 years old (back in the day you could do that) and have only gotten one ticket. 

7) Sam's dad is a stickler about car maintenance and reminds Sam to change her air filter regularly so her a/c and heater can run efficiently. Share a car maintenance tip.  In addition to the above things, I say get the lubes and oil changes on time, and always.. just do it.

8) When he fills up the car, Sam's father also stocks up on his favorite candy: Life Savers. He always has a bag in the glove compartment. What's something you don't leave home without? Usually that would be my purse.

9) Random Question: How long can you go without checking your phone? Hours and HOURS....In fact I'm infamous.

Thanks again to you, Sam, for this lovely Meme 💖🙏

Lest we forget.....

Child labor laws: the Why of them, the When, and the work-around of them which has been done sub-rosa over time.

From an newsletter by Heather Cox Richardson,  in the Washington Post:

"Finally, in 1938, as part of the New Deal effort to level the playing field between workers and employers, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). It established a federal minimum wage, a 44-hour work week, and an end to work for those under 16. During his quest for the legislation, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt told Congress, “A self-supporting and self-respecting democracy can plead no justification for the existence of child labor, no economic reason for chiseling worker's wages or stretching workers’ hours.”

By the time the FLSA passed, laws requiring children to attend school had joined with the high unemployment of the Depression years to shift the idea that children should work to the idea that they should stay in school, and worker protections and Social Security, passed in the same era, meant that parents no longer needed their children’s wages to survive."

Here is LINK the Newsletter by Mz Richardson.    

I really don't think we want to go back there or we will just deteriorate as a civil and just society, something which we are aiming to become. 

Three on Thursday: Post op

1,  Both eyes are now fine.  They work together like champs.  

I'll still  be recovering for the next week.  Then I get some new glasses, even though I am typing this with no glasses at all, and in a small font from 2 feet away from an admittedly largish monitor.  And, I can watch the flat screen with NO glasses at all.  Do not be afraid of this surgery.  Just pick a great doctor, and be calm. 

2.  Spring is here!  What a good time to have perfect vision.

3. Just keep chugging through life.  I know it's a slog, and some of the times are sadder than others, but no one escapes that part.  The only way to escape it is to never love anyone or anything.  That is a terrible solution.  

You can't let loss stop you.  There is always something to love, or that needs your love.  

Wordless Wednesday... shhhhh late.....

 

Music Monday: Supertramp: "The Logical" And "Take the Long Way Home"

 

I'm old and cynical, I know..  But..... just stay as sweet as you can, even when you rage against the machine! .  

Supertramp!  Roger Hodgson!

Take the Long Way Home... See you in the garden there!

Sunday Komeeks: Ann Telnaes, and the Very Big FISH!

 

HERE is A link to the Post.  

Three on Thursday: I'm doing a flit, Painful Day, Eye candy stuff, and surgery update.

1. I will be gone for awhile.  But, hopefully, not too long.  I promise not to have too much fun.  Presently, The right eye sees through a yellow caste, but the left sees the purest white.  

An aside:

I love my surgeon.  He's such a cool guy.  He "gets" my somewhat off the wall sense of humor!

2. Today is a very painful day, as Laura's birthday was today.  She would be 59.  She died three days before her 52nd birthday.  My heart goes out to any others who are reading this who have lost a child, no matter the age of that child.  

3. A beautiful Cal-Coasty thinga to look at..

I'm not sure if my daughter's SO took this
but I'll say that it is his.  He's really a great photographer.

 

"May you walk with Beauty all Around you." 

a Navajo Blessing Way prayer....

Military whistleblower claims US has UFO retrieval program | Elizabeth V... Ooo Laa Laa!

Hubby and I saw some UFO's, hovering above us, in the form of incredibly bright lights, one late afternoon.  You can BET that had Miramar jets scramming to get into the air to try to catch them. 

But they all come up from behind a cloud bank, hovered a bit over our heads, and just shot like bullets, to the South East over the Mexican Border when the jets scrammed.  

This was the late 1960's.  It's something you do NOT forget.  Wheee!  I wanted to shout, "Told you so!".  

They are OUT there... 

P.S. We never took any "substances" besides a beer now and then at the beach. 

✌ Peace Out!

Wordless Wednesday… 🤫

Music Monday: My Heart Will Go On - Titanic Theme - Fingerstyle Guitar Cover

For Laura who left this Earth seven years ago today. We will always love you,  and we'll always miss you.    

Always  

My friend Suzie sent me a message about Laura, and a song, and this is part of my reply...

I do this to ease my heart.

An Indian woman was grieving her daughter's death, and she went to the temple where she begged Krishna to please bring her child back to her.  Krishna told the mother to go and bring a single tear back from someone who had not lost a child. 

The woman took her little tear collecting bottle all over her own village and even villages beyond.  She couldn't find a single other family who had not lost a child.  But by the time she was done, she realized that she would recover and learn to not grieve so much, but be at Peace.

I am at Peace most times, but there are still times when I have tears streaming down my face.  Like now.  But I know that Laura is somewhere, and it's Peaceful.  Laura worried about just, well, about Everyone, and now I know she is at Peace. 🙏

 

Saturday 9: The Best (1991)

 Saturday 9: The Best (1991)  

Mz Tina, the Eternal.....

In memory of Tina Turner, who died on May 24.

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Here it is.

1) In this song, Tina Turner sings that she can think of no better place to be than her lover's arms. Since we're entering summer vacation season, let's switch it to: What's the best place you've ever traveled to? It's was after we  bought our fairly new but used motor home, we travelled to the Four Corners Region of the U.S. with the Rock Hounds.  We  visited every national park there.  We all had the best time ever. 

2) Songwriters Holly Knight and Desmond Child originally offered this song to English pop singer Paul Young. He declined it. Can you think of a time when you said "no" when "yes" might have been a better answer?  Yes, I can.  Plenty of times in my past.  Enough said.

3) Tina Turner was born in Nutbush, TN. In 1973 she recorded a song about it called "Nutbush City Limits." Is there a song about your hometown? That’s a no… Because the farmland of Ohio doesn’t figure large in the music world. Not at all.

4) It was at Nutbush's Spring Hill Baptist Church that very young Tina began singing with the choir. She credited those early performances with giving her confidence in front of a crowd. Are you comfortable with public speaking?  I was.  Now I don't think I would be.  I know better how things work.  I'd be haranguing everyone and everything. 

5) When she was a teen, her mom relocated the family to St. Louis. It was here that Tina played on the high school basketball team. Can you make a free throw? Yes, probably, and this is because I played on a traveling basketball team in high school.  I might still be able to sink a free throw.  I haven't tried since I broke my wrist and shoulder. though. I stick to wadded up, used kleenex into waste baskets now-a-days.

6) Tina met her second husband, Erwin Bach, at the airport. A record exec, Erwin went to Heathrow to meet her flight and help her prepare for her London appearances. The last time you were at the airport, were you a traveler or were you meeting or dropping someone off? What a sweet love story.  Last time I was at the airport, I was a traveler. I was flying home from a visit to my hubby who was working in San Francisco.

7) In 1991, the year this record was released, Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury died. What's your favorite Queen song?  I really love “Bohemian Rhapsody”.  But I do think all their stuff was very good.

8) Also in 1991, Disney's Beauty and the Beast became the first animated movie to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. What's your favorite Disney movie?  I’m really not that into Disney movies.  

Well, I’ll pick “Toy Story”.  I like that one. That is unless Disney made “Princess Bride”.  I’ll go with that if Disney made it. It is practically my all time favorite movie; though, actually, it’s in a tie with “Milagro Bean field War”.

9) Random question: What's your perfect day, weather-wise? Warm and slightly cloudy but also sunshiny.  I’ve had enough of this so called “June gloom” which started somewhere around May 1st this year.

Thank you Sam for this meme ... 💓💓💖

Readers, If you would like to join in or see other offerings go HERE to the Linkie

Three on Thursday

1.  Getting set for the second eye operation.  

2.  I love that I see just as well as when I was running across the desert, bare-footed, when I was a teenager. 

3. That I can see at all is a credit to modern medical science and great Doctors.