The second day of Christmas

The Young People's Chorus of New York City singing the 12 days of Christmas, and Jingle Bells

Three Christmas songs to start your weekend

 The first by Broadway's own Michael Winther giving Let There Be Peace On Earth the Judy Garland treatment with a smidge of Mariah Carey thrown in:

 Then there's "Stop The Cavalry" by English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jona Lewie:

Hey, Mr. Churchill comes over here
To say we're doing splendidly
But it's very cold out here in the snow
Marching to and from the enemy
Oh I say it's tough, I have had enough
Can you stop the cavalry?

I have had to fight, almost every night
Down throughout these centuries
That is when I say, oh yes yet again
Can you stop the cavalry?
Mary Bradley waits at home
In the nuclear fall-out zone
Wish I could be dancing now
In the arms of the girl I love

(Dub a dub a dumb dumb)
(Dub a dub dubadum dubadum dub a dub dubadum)
(Dub a dub a dumb dumb)
(Dub a dub dubadum dubadum dub a dub dubadum)

Wish I was at home for Christmas

Bang! That's another bomb on another town
While the Tsar and Jim have tea
If I get home, live to tell the tale
I'll run for all presidencies
If I get elected I'll stop, I will stop the cavalry

(Dub a dub a dumb dumb)
(Dub a dub dubadum dubadum dub a dub dubadum)
(Dub a dub a dumb dumb)
(Dub a dub dubadum dubadum dub a dub dubadum)

Wish I was at home for Christmas

Wish I could be dancing now
In the arms of the girl I love
Mary Bradley waits at home
She's has been waiting two years long

Wish I was at home for Christmas.

Speaking of La Carey:

And last but certainly not least, Knitters in Nairn in the Scottish Highlands making post box toppers..

4th day of Hanukkah

 Wanted to share this Hanukkah holiday song with you.

Poor person with the other microphone in the first group never gets to sing on camera. My favorite part is the duet following the trumpet. FINALLY some harmony and hints what the lyrics migth mean.

Puss'n window

Took this the other day. Just noticed that the window seems to have frost covering it so I'm glad we were both inside. 

Toby's being very brave just now and has refused to cede the same place in the sun as I sit here typing in the living room (within feet of him so it's a big deal) since the outlet in the dining room where I usually work has died overnight. Blown fuse? Time will tell.

Wish

 

Maya Angelou

I note the obvious differences
in the human family.
Some of us are serious,
some thrive on comedy.

Some declare their lives are lived
as true profundity,
and others claim they really live
the real reality.

The variety of our skin tones
can confuse, bemuse, delight,
brown and pink and beige and purple,
tan and blue and white.

I've sailed upon the seven seas
and stopped in every land,
I've seen the wonders of the world
not yet one common man.

I know ten thousand women
called Jane and Mary Jane,
but I've not seen any two
who really were the same.

Mirror twins are different
although their features jibe,
and lovers think quite different thoughts
while lying side by side.
We love and lose in China,
we weep on England's moors,
and laugh and moan in Guinea,
and thrive on Spanish shores.

We seek success in Finland,
are born and die in Maine.
In minor ways we differ,
in major we're the same.

I note the obvious differences
between each sort and type,
but we are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.

We are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.

We are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.

2023-10 Garden finery

 Shots taken around the yard and in front of the porch of the garden finery Andy's tended all season.

Halloween kitty

 How nice of Toby to pose for moi. If you look closely behind him, you can tell that its garbage pick-up day today :)

Too long

 Someone's been waiting for their close-up a wee bit too long.

Rare sighting

Tobey on the back of the sofa. He usually drags the rug down off the back & makes a nest of it. :| 

 

Mrs. Slocum of Are You Being Served

 I just stumbled across this and had to share. Some of Mrs Slocum's best lines:

 

The actress is Mollie Sugden (1922-2009)

And to think that I saw it on Mulberry St.

 Or, rather, on my dailyish toddle this AM. The Johnny Jump Ups & poppies are from the garden Andy so dutifully tends. The other was atop a nearby wall. (I think slightly bigger versions are a click away.)

Life slices

 Thought you might enjoy these photos I made recently as the sun shone through the kitchen windows in the early morning.

When the Folks High Up Do the Mean Low Down

Believe or not, this showed up on the music librarianship listserv today. (Probably ot surprising knowing how amazing music librarians are.)

And here's a wee bit about the female singer Bebe Daniels. Her Wikipedia biography talks about the 1930 film the song was in, Reaching for the Moon, The movie was intended as a musical but by then, early-Depression, folks had soured on them and this was the only song left in the movie. (It looks like the full version is on Amazon.)

Lenox Avenue is known
For doing the low down
But you'll find they're not alone
In doing the low down
Fifth Avenue's learning how
They had to fall
Fifth Avenue does it now
But that's not all
[Refrain:]
Whenever the folks high-up do that mean low down
There is no low down lower than that

Whenever the swells slow down and become low down
There is no low down lower than that

You may believe it or not
When they start getting hot
There is no Hottentot
That's hotter than that

So you can lay your dough down when they go low down
There is no low down lower than that

RRR

 This amazing dance sequence from the 2023 Oscars Best Song winner.

My special friend

 Here's a recent photo of Mimsy (you can click on the photo for a larger version, I think).

And a story I thought you might enjoy: 

Big Hug

 A link to the unveiling of what someone said would become Boston's version of the Statue of Liberty.

Is a good man real?

Caught this amazing performance by the wonderful Rachael & Vilray on the Late Show last night. Thought you might enjoy it.

 

Is A Good Man Real?

I’ve never known one
What do they do?
We’ve always heard the legends
But can they be true?

My cousin’s best friend’s boyfriend
Once nearly cooked a meal
So is a good man real?

Does he try to remember
What his old lady said?
When he sleeps in on Tuesdays
Does he straighten the bed?
Once he’s had three martinis
He’ll let you take the wheel
Oh is a good man real?

I’ve never seen a narwhal
The unicorn of the sea
But if god made whales
And put horns on the males
Maybe he’d put a heart in a guy for me

He don’t need money
[spoken] "I said good not perfect"
I’ll settle for honey
And a quarterly date

So if you see this treasure
Please let him know how I feel
I hope a good man’s real

I’ve never seen a narwhal
The unicorn of the sea
But if god made whales
And put horns on the males
Maybe he’d put a heart in a guy for me

He don’t need money
I’ll settle for funny
So if you see this sucker
Please let him know how I feel
I hope a good man’s real

I really wonder
Is a good man real?

Two more for January 2

 A couple more clips from the amazing Schmigadoon:

Kristen Chenoweth with Tribulation (shades of The Music Man)

Alan Cumming with Somewhere Someone Is Waiting For You
(I'm sure there's a B'way reference there . . . Some Enchanted Evening?)

Start the new year right

 Let's start the year with some literally toe-tapping music. A few days ago I forwarded Ariana DeBose's Kennedy Center performance. I discovered later that I had earlier seen her in an entirely different role in the wonderful Schmigadoon. And this has to be my favorite scene from that wonderful show.