Diva series: Easter Parade or love in action

In celebration of the day. La Garland and Mr. Astaire:




Apparently the tradition continues. Who knew?

Andy's planning to have some kind of spinach-stuffed matzo for our Christmas dinner. I didn't get a toddle in yesterday, so I'd better head out there soon before it gets too hot. Near 60F forecast for later today.

I also wanted to point you to today's On Being episode, an interview with John Lewis, a civil rights pioneer & now House of Representatives member. The episode is called "On the art and discipline of non-violence".

Here's an excerpt:

"I wanted to believe, and I did believe, that things would get better. But later I discovered, I guess, that you have to have this sense of faith that what you're moving toward is already done. It's already happened. . .

It's the power to believe that you can see, that you visualize, that sense of community, that sense of family, that sense of one house. . .

And you live that you're already there, that you're already in that community, part of that sense of one family, one house. If you visualize it, if you can even have faith that it's there, for you it is already there. . .

First of all, you have to grow. It's just not something that is natural. You have to be taught the way of peace, the way of love, the way of nonviolence. And in the religious sense, in the moral sense, you can say in the bosom of every human being, there is a spark of the divine. . .

I think all of us in life, not just in the Western world, but all over the world, we need to come to that point. We need to evolve to that plane, to that level where we're not ashamed to say to someone, "I love you, I'm sorry, Pardon me, Will you please forgive me? Excuse me." What is it? Have we lost something? Can we be just human and say I love you? I think so — so many occasions we think of love as being romantic and all of that, but just love because it's good in itself, just love living creatures."

Diva series: Balm in Gilead

I got to thinking that "Big Spender" might not have been the most appropriate posting for Good Friday and then I remembered, "Well, there was Mary Magdalene."

Here's something a bit more Easter relevant. Though if you're anything like moi, it's better to close your eyes while you listen to ol' Scarface & Ms. Battle. Ever wonder there Gilead was? BTW, that's the back of Michael Parloff's head in the opening shot.




Just finished teaching my Saturday student. Scales & spaghettios out of the way. More tootling on tap - and should take advantage of the balmy temps (mid-50s F) today for a good neighborhood toddle.

Diva Series: Hey Big Spender

From the fabulous Shirley MacLaine vehicle, Sweet Charity (1969):




Kind of interesting to see the revue 1978 Fosse revue, NB especially the different (sharp cut) camera work (and is it just or did they take it up 1/2 step?):



Looking at the "Mein Herr" Cabaret choreography (also by Fosse), he really liked that four finger flick, didn't he?

Heading off soon for a last trip to Windsor Button, a yarn/sewing supply store that's closing after 77 years. Must. Not. Get. A. Lot. More. Yarn!

Diva Series: Whatever Lola Wants

Sassy (Sarah Vaughan) with backing from the fabulous Gotan Project.



Amazing what a little reminder of one's mortality (see yesterday's post) does for encouraging one to appreciate clouds in the sky, shadows on the ground, the feel of the breeze. And I realized that there was another number that was up from the last testing, my CD4 (aka T cell) count. Which is a good thing. So I'm doing my best to focus on that.

Diva Series: Fever

The incomparable Peggy Lee:




I'm in a bit of a fever since, according to my latest blood work, my viral load has blipped into the delectable range after years of being below the level of detection - seems to me this might have happened before, but I don't remember when. Waiting a month for another test, as my MD suggested, seems like forever, but I'm doing my best to remain calm, cool & collected about the whole thing and to live in the present.

Diva Series - Mein Herr

One of my favorites from Cabaret. I saw the show several times at Theater on the Bay as a youth (wow, was it 1972? Yup.  I really enjoyed the movie, too.
Though I missed the song "Pineapples"in the latter

Diva series: Don't rain on my parade

First installment designed to lift your spirits.

"DON'T RAIN ON MY PARADE" - "Funny Girl"

This I believe II

Welles delivers a stirring plea for the lives of Leopold and Loeb in the climax of the 1959 film Compulsion. The final summation is taken directly from the transcript of the real trial. As good an oration against the death penalty as you'll ever hear.

The Lady Is A Tramp

I LOVE this:

Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga

Snow overnight - now freezing rain. Blech. Maybe we'll just let Mother Nature take care of clearing the sidewalks.

Once upon a time

Krista TIppet's interview, The Great Cauldron of Story, with Harvard's own Maria Tatar (professor of Germanic Language & Lit whose blog, "Breezes from Wonderland" is here) explored the idea of fairy tales and how they "don't only belong to the domain of childhood. Their overt themes are threaded throughout" popular culture. The program had several points of connection with things I've been doing recently, like reading a kind of fairy tale, Bram Stoker's Dracula, and reminded me that one of our calendars this year feature artwork by Arthur Rackham. A recent Sunday Times featured an article about London's hidden crooks & nannies, and mentioned Victorian artist, Frederic, Lord Leighton's house museum. If you don't want to listen to the podcast (see the Cauldron link above) the transcript of the interview is here, and I'm going to include one of his drawings of Pan, and a couple of favorites from the page on Rackham. Enjoy.

Study for an Illustration for 'A Musical Instrument': '
The Great God Pan', Composition

Illustration to the ballad Young Beckie
from "Some British Ballads"

"How at the Castle of Corbin a Maiden Bare in the
Sangreal and Foretold the Achievements of Galahad",
from The Romance of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table,
by Alfred W Pollard, 1917

U.P. back in the day

The Pope and Change

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Incognito kitty

You'll just have to take my word for it that this is Mimsy, my little purr muffin. Make sure you have your speakers turned up.

Here she is when she's not in disguise as a bed spread:

Signs of spring part deux

Some signs of spring chez nous 4.March.2013.

 

And then not on 9.March.2013

Spring in Israel

Jan & Arie forwarded some signs of spring that they recently enjoyed. I thought I'd post some of the photos for yins to enjoy.