maren

couw -- amazing, I baked the same cake! Who knew? Deus and his twin are holding up remarkably well! with love from couw & maren:

In the pop realm, the chorus (bridge?) of Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind" (1970), the part that goes: "I never thought I could feel this way And I've got to say that I just don't get it. I don't know where we went wrong, But the feeling's gone And I just can't get it back." always struck me as awfully similar to the part of George Benson's "Greatest Love" (1977) that goes: "I decided long ago Never to walk in anyone's shadow If I fail, If I succeed At least I live as I believe No matter what they take from me They can't take away my dignity." Of course, it's not "very many notes" -- in terms of pitches -- but the rhythm, the sequence, the function as "bridge" are really close. But I guess it's almost a public-domain kind of thing -- this kind of folk-songy or chant trope is really deep -- reminds of what we were talking about the Nanner Nanner Boo Boo thread.

But George Harrison lost, because the judge decided the resemblance between the "I really want to see you" part of 'My Sweet Lord' and the bridge of 'He's So Fine' was the clincher. Ruled that it "may not have been deliberate" but that they were "the same song." Harrison had to pay royalties. Then the Chiffons covered 'My Sweet Lord'! And then 25 years later Harrison bought the rights to 'He's So Fine'! And, as he said all along: "I was inspired to write 'My Sweet Lord' by the Edwin Hawkins Singers' version of 'Oh Happy Day.' " Don't think Edwin Hawkins sued the Chiffons, however!

No recording with Bob Stewart yet. From googling, I see she's recorded with "Stratospheerius... the illegitimate child of Dave Matthews, Frank Zappa, Phish, and Mahavishnu Orchestra" but I can't listen on my computer at work [and anyways, the looks of the self-proclaimed "Jimi-Hendrix-of-the-violin" bandleader makes me think "screaming fusiony electric violin solo" (not my cup of tea) and hints at the backstory behind Big Wheel's "gotten more tasteful" comment...].

Sad -- hopefully some publicity will inspire a few more donors to improve this guy's comfort level. I'm kind of surprised nothing could be done about the pituitary problem, but I suppose the efforts would be too much in the guinea-pig realm. My son was really fascinated with the Guinness Book of World Records when he was a kid, and with Robert Wadlow -- who he always spoke about really sadly, because Wadlow spent his last years increasingly immobilized and hunched over, and it seems that the relentless growth is what literally killed him.

I think you're right, Big Wheel. And DEFINITELY tasteful.

Even the teeny tremors we have in the Northeast can be incredibly noisy. I remember one morning here in NYC about 4 years ago -- I was awakened at 6 AM by what sounded like a car falling on the roof of our building, and a slight shake (much less than if a car really HAD dropped out of the sky!). Since nothing followed, and I couldn't see anything, and cars slam into things all the time around here, I slept for another hour, then heard on the radio that a 2-point-something tremor had occurred (epicenter in Brooklyn, I think?).

I just saw Bob Stewart's quartet “Swing Shift” last night at Tonic in New York, and raved about his young drummer, Luciana Padmore, on an ARTISTS thread (group also includes Amina Claudine Myers and Jerome Harris). I thought possibly couw, deus62, king ubu, mikeweil might be interested. I don't know all the dates, but here are a few:

Just heard this amazing drummer last night, playing in Bob Stewart's "Swing Shift" (along with Amina Claudine Myers and Jerome Harris). She is completely stunning: skilled, subtle, swinging and -- well, a force making the music cohere. And only around 20 years old!!!

Guess it's a little downhill from Marilyn Monroe singing to JFK, but "Happy 72nd birthday, Mr. President" with love from couw, maren, Jimmy & Rosalyn...

Haven't read much Benchley. Thurber a lot when I was young, and loved it -- Walter Mitty explained me to myself! But I voted for Perelman, because of New Yorker stories in the 70s -- always a delight.

This may be one for the books: bandleader who wanted everyone to take long solos!!! Guy really needed to feel he was running the show, mostly had to play his tunes, which were rather underdeveloped. Relied on (other people's) solos to provide more content -- would always insist on being the one to bring the bridge or head back -- would invariably not bring it back until the soloist was SICK OF SOLOING, had been trying to cue the bandleader, had begun quoting/restating the head ad nauseam, etc...

Sounds like me. Very bad type of procrastination -- do a lot of work and then can't get the final part together. Finished 3 of them (my Federal, son's Fed & state)in the first week of February, but just mailed them last week. Copier at work made bad copies. So in March paid to make copies at a stationery store. Then couldn't find stapler. Then couldn't find stamps. Finally got everything done last Tuesday. One benefit to procrastination -- state helpline finally was answered by humans who explained I could take an EXTRA credit not fully explained in their pamphlet (hadn't wanted to pay a tax guy just to answer this one question).

I said Carmelo, but my son (DivIII power forward, junior, 20yo) says LeBron because the rest of the Cavs are weaker than the rest of the Nuggets: i.e., LeBron couldn't singlehandedly get the Cavs into the playoffs, and Carmelo DIDN'T singlehandedly get the Nuggets into the playoffs...

Jumping the gun slightly, but I might not be back till Monday, so... all weekend long!

Don't know about the musicians, but according to a friend of mine, his parents were among circle of FANS in NYC in the 50s-early 60s who took speed together when they would go out to hear Charlie Parker, Mingus, Monk... Guess after working their day jobs, feeding their kids and instructing the babysitters, they needed a little pick-me-up to make it through a set or two at the Five Spot...

Open wide -- for more cake! with love from couw & maren:

Reminds me of one of my ex-husband's cab-driving stories (NYC, 1970s, lots of celebs): he picked up Bob Dylan and a companion or two -- -- the party was unsure about where they were headed -- "downtown" -- but a few blocks later a woman in the cab said, "Oh, Bob -- here's that strip club I was telling you about" -- and Dylan said, "Driver, we'll get out here."

Wow!!! great work, Jim and crew! I'm impressed. Did someone build you that cradle in the last pic? It looks a lot like a plan my father used, when he made three (one for each of first 3 grandkids -- after that, we handed down -- or maybe "around"). He shipped one from Wisconsin to New York 20 years ago, just before my son was born. It was so impeccably packed (by Dad) that it took me HOURS (and lots of tools) to open the shipping crate he built!

63 down, 36 to go!!! With love from couw & maren:

I knew someday you would come around to my way of thinking. This is why I KNOW I shouldn't be allowed to own a gun!!!! (When my son was about 14, he would entertain me in these moments by describing all the weapons the car should be equipped with -- bazookas, battering ram, etc.)

Is Deus62 REALLY 62??? with love from couw & maren:

All the low-class things like lying, cheating, being two-faced, insulting your spouse in public -- I agree. But what gets under my skin THE MOST (probably bringing out a holier-than-thou rage quality in MYSELF that I can't stand, thus I find it especially hard to forgive the instigating behavior) is this: You're on a busy highway. Coming to a bottleneck. Either there's a sign that says "left lane closed 500 feet" or "merge ahead" or there are only two lanes on a crowded exit ramp -- but SOMEBODY zooms up ahead in the empty soon-to-vanish lane -- or on the shoulder! -- and expects to cut in ahead of everyone else dutifully waiting in line. (And it's really aggressive high-speed stuff, not an improvisation to deal safely with something sudden, like avoiding adding to a crash that just happened in front of you, or avoiding being rear-ended when you have to stop suddenly). HATE that.

Happy birthday! And many more! And congratulations on being "finally perfected"!!!

Can't say this any better than Berigan did. You and your family are in my thoughts too, GOM. I'll always remember, when my father died, the incredible feeling that connected all of us family and friends who were fortunate enough to be together for a number of days. I hope you all can draw strength from something similar.