It Doesn't Block Traffic by The Valiant Little Tailor

One of my many childhood dreams involved my singing brilliantly with a group of talented musicians. When visiting my grandparents on their farm in North Carolina, I used to stand under their apple tree and sing my little heart out. I concede my exuberant singing was probably not a good thing for the tree as those were the sourest apples ever.

Thanks to Kristie and Shenry, a super fun meme gives me my dream, albeit in a ‘roundabout way which doesn’t involve actual sharing of non-singing skills but allows the illusion I’ve done so.

Photo Source: Wink, who states, “All my public photos are free for personal use. Creative Commons license.” My husband cropped the photo to emulate a real CD cover and I added the text.

My very own musical group has produced its first album— It Doesn't Block Traffic by The Valiant Little Tailor. I’m so proud. Isn’t it lovely to be certifiable? One may easily imagine a world all one’s very own.

Want an album of your very own? Here’s how:

1. Go to “Wikipedia.” Hit “random” or click here. The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
2. Go to “Random quotations” or click here. The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
3. Go to Flickr and click on “explore the last seven days” or click here. Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
4. Use Photoshop, the gimp or similar to put it all together.
5. Post it to your blog with this text in the “caption” and TAG the friends you want to join in. (Junie Moon Note: I won’t be tagging anyone as most everyone knows my feelings about tagging.)

Please let me know if you try this fun meme; I’d love to see your results.

Rock and Blues Served with Brass and Sass

A blend of rock and blues—what can be better than that? And it’s even better when served with brass and sass which is exactly what we got over the weekend when we went to hear Giant Blue make their debut at the Chicago Bar in Tucson.

Musical talent is naturally a must in a band, but how the performers work together can make or break a group’s efforts. Giant Blue’s eight members, all talented, worked perfectly with each other to put out a vibrant sound that had the audience immediately on their feet and happy.

Source: Photo used with the kind permission of Mike Walden of Giant Blue

I loved the energy—from both the band and the audience. The horn section adds a rich depth that makes this group unique in Tucson.

Music ranged from Kathy Thomas’ exquisite vocals on Koko Taylor’s Hound Dog to kick-ass guitarist/vocalist Mike Walden ripping out songs like Santana’s Everybody's Everything. We thought the instrumental rendition of Lou Donaldson’s Hamp's Hump was exemplary and reflects Giant Blue’s celebration of music.

If you live in/near Tucson, don’t miss experiencing Giant Blue; their schedule is posted on their web site.

Shenry Christmas CD Swap: The Path

“Path” is a “trodden track or way. A road, way, or track made for a particular purpose” (Answers.com).

This presupposes actually knowing one’s particular purpose; sometimes it’s an act of meandering along while hoping a purpose will eventually make itself known—defined by me as getting through life. Tell me someone who has never made a false turn on their path and I’ll add their name to my Big Liar List.



Thus were my thoughts whilst compiling songs for the annual Shenry Christmas CD utilizing the theme “The Path,” make of it what you will. I’ve opted for reflecting my inherent confusion about life’s convoluted path and end with the point at which I am now.

My resulting song compilation is as follows:

1. Nowhere Man (The Beatles)
2. Fakin’ It (Simon & Garfunkel)
3. T’Ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do (Saffire: The Uppity Blues Women)
4. Gone Fishin’ (General Johnson & The Chairman of the Board)
5. Everytime You Go Away (Paul Young)
6. Wherever You Will Go (The Calling)
7. Don’t Look Back (The Temptations)
8. Bump in the Road (Johnny Lang)
9. Magic Carpet Ride (Steppenwolf)
10. Kashmir (Led Zeppelin)
11. Long As I Can See the Light (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
12. The River of Dreams (Billy Joel)
13. As Long as You Follow (Fleetwood Mac)
14. End of the Line (Traveling Wilburys)
15. Good Intentions (Toad The Wet Sprocket)
16. Dignity (Bob Dylan)
17. Change the World (Eric Clapton)
18. At Last (Etta James)
19. Roadrunner (Microwave Dave & The Nukes)

A Day in the Life of a Mermaid

Today’s mermaid music is:



I’ve mentioned my love of Tai Chi and most of you know my secret mermaid persona. Yesterday I picked up the new catalog for Tucson Parks and Recreation’s fall program and found a perfect marriage of water and Tai Chi—just right for a mermaid.



I called and signed up right away—there’s more to mermaid exercise than just swimming.


Graphic from The Vintage Workshop; text added by me.

A mermaid’s skin needs care and attention—all that swimming about in the salty sea, y’know. Naturally this calls for Mermaid Lotion, a recipe found in a library book years ago (I don’t remember the book title but this was the actual name of the recipe). This takes a bit extra effort but is a wonderful product. My ingredients come from the local New Life Health Center.



It’s been a busy day; now it’s time for a nap in my beach dollhouse. A new addition is an embroidered linen bedside rug from A Touch of Fancy.

Happiness is Carolina Blue

We’re dashing out the door to catch a flight to North Carolina and will be back July 9. Although I’m originally from coastal N.C., we’re opting for the coolness of the mountains this year. Tucson is hot, hot, hot!



General Johnson and the Chairmen of the Board is an old North Carolina beach music group. I want to share their song Gone Fishin’ with you today as it perfectly echoes my feelings right now. I found a You Tube video that features the song. Just click to play.

This trip is going to be good for me as I’m homesick. I can tell I’m feeling this way because my mouth is thinking about Carolina barbecue, boiled peanuts, and sweet tea.



I’ve packed my Chairmen of the Board t-shirt. Carolina Girls is their most famous song—and I’m a Carolina girl through and through.



There are lots of activities planned for this trip, but we’ve also built in “slow” time. I’m going fly fishing as the mountains offer great opportunities with their cold, freshwater sites. I don’t much care about actually catching anything; the act of fishing is very meditative and relaxing.



This is going to be my fishin’ hat. It’s one I made last year (pre-blogging days) from Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing: Patterns and How-To for 24 Fresh and Easy Projects. I love this fabric--it has the most wonderful oceanic mythology graphics, from mer-horses to mermaids to King Neptune, etc.

Okay, I’m leaving now and will be back on July 9.

Hugs!

Dig Out the Holiday CDs

Music helps soothe your frazzled nerves and the holidays can indeed get on your very last nerve. So, Better Homes and Garden’s healthy countdown task today is to play soothing music.

This works out great because I made a mixed-CD for The “It’s A Very Shenry Christmas” CD Swap hosted by my friend Kristie via her blog Fresh on Fridays.

The theme is “Beauty in the Dark” and we’re tasked to explain each song choice. And, no, we’re not pirating music to make our CDs.

These are the beautiful songs I would listen to in the dark—perhaps outside snuggling with my husband under a quilt while enjoying the stars overhead.

1. Summertime by Janis Joplin: no, it’s not summer here in the Northern Hemisphere but this song always evokes memories of hearing Janis Joplin live on a night many, many years ago. It’s a great song.


2. The Rose by Bette Midler. The legend is that this is about Janis Joplin. It describes both sides of love, a subject that seemed to confuse the troubled Ms. Joplin.


3. Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening performed by Musicians Out of the Box. This is a reading of Robert Frost’s poem of the same name whilst Vivaldi’s Winter plays in the background. I love Robert Frost’s poetry as well as Vivaldi.


4. Peaches & Diesel by Eric Clapton. I have a thing about the blues, a really big thing. It plucks at the chords of my soul. This is an instrumental I find lovely by a master of the blues guitar.


5. Tin Pan Alley by Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble. Oh, delicious—more blues by another master.


6. Georgia On My Mind by Ray Charles. Just beautiful.


7. Unchained Melody by The Righteous Brothers. This is our song—as in my husband and me. No matter where we are—the grocery store or anyplace else—if this song comes over the store’s sound system, my husband and I dance to it. We do not much care what other people think about that. Our favorite line from this song is “Time can do so much.”


8. Hello Stranger by Barbara Lewis. I always think of my joy when my husband returns from a long business trip—it always feels like he’s been gone forever and then, suddenly, he’s home again and I’m ever so happy.


9. You Shook Me by Led Zeppelin. This is from their first album; music from my high school days (I graduated in 1970). It’s hard rock mixed with the blues. Everyone says the group’s song Stairway to Heaven is sexy but You Shook Me is the song that does it for me. Although I don’t include it on my CD, the song flows perfectly into their next one, Dazed and Confused. The whole album is fantastic.


10. I Will Always Love You as sung by Whitney Houston. She may not be one, but she sings this song like an angel.


11. Stand By Me by Ben E. King. Oh man, this is just beautiful.


12. Still Water by The Four Tops. I had a copy of this record (yes, an old-fashioned record with plastic and grooves and everything) which I played continuously during my first year of college. The whole dorm hated me after awhile.


13. Last Date by Floyd Cramer. This is my only country choice for this CD mix. An instrumental, I love the rhythm and the sentiment it evokes.


14. Sleep My Love by Glenn Yarbrough. Somewhat folksy, this is a pretty love song by a man with a wonderful voice.


15. Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair) by Harry Belafonte. This lovely song tells the story of a father who hears his daughter’s prayer for new ribbons, his effort to procure some during the night, and his amazement when the ribbons she prayed for appear the next morning.


16. Seeds of Love by Loreena McKennitt. I have every one of her albums and love them all—it’s Celtic New Age music. I chose this song because it’s a gorgeous reminder to sow seeds of love.


17. The Planets, Movement 2: Venus—the Bringer of Peace by Holst. The Planets is one of my favorite classical pieces of music. I adore Holst’s first movement Mars but it’s about war and not appropriate for this swap theme. So, I chose Venus as a quiet and graceful end to the CD. I heard The Planets played by the North Carolina Symphony while in grad school and remember sitting in my seat at the end with tears running down my face—I was so touched.

Oh, this one sounds good!

Blessings Friday

Your Comments

I always enjoy reading the comments you leave on my blog. They are often funny, quite encouraging, and very helpful.

Music

I’m enjoying music perfect for Halloween season that has more depth to it than stuff like “Monster Mash.” Jill Tracy and the Malcontent Orchestra’s Into the Land of Phantoms is a live recording of a 2001 Nosferatu film performance—the original score to F.W. Murnan’s 1922 silent vampire classic Nosferatu. I couldn’t find it locally so I ordered it from Amazon.com.



My husband’s review: “I don’t like it.”

My review: “I like it.”

You Make Me Smile Award Tag

Joni of Yummers! gave me the You Make Me Smile Award last week which came with a tag.

• Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
• The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed.
• At the end of the post, the player tags 6 people and posts their names.

The Facts



Only numbers 3 and 4 are blessings but I have to list six, so here you go:

1. I am a grasshopper murderer. My husband and I stopped at one of the overlook vistas in the Santa Catalina Mountains and a pretty grasshopper was sitting on top of the stone wall. I tried to get a closer look which scared it so the grasshopper dropped down behind the wall. I leaned over and saw it landed right by this hole in the ground. Suddenly, a tarantula popped out and snagged that poor grasshopper. It was my fault.


2. Great heights frighten me so I went parachuting and then up in a hot air balloon to face my fear. I’m still scared.


3. A short story I wrote was scripted for a movie and filmed for the Sundance Film Festival.


4. In my purse is an antique book of Keats’ poetry that I carry around.


5. I worry that women with overly-large breast enhancements will fall over backwards into a big pool of water and drown because their “air bags” will pop up higher than their heads.


6. I can twirl my golf club really fast like a baton—a useful skill I’m sure.

I’m choosing the following for the You Make Me Smile Award:

• Anina of Twiddletails. Blog titles are so entertaining. Just saying Twiddletails makes me laugh—try saying it three times really fast.


• Cindy of So Inspired. I’ve read her blog since the birth of my blog awareness. She’s truly inspirational.


• Jody of Gumbo Lily. Don’t you just love her blog name? It makes me want to dance.


• Kelli of Africankelli. She has a wonderful giving heart—get over to her blog and join her fan club.


• Kristie of Fresh on Fridays. I love her blog subtitle: Proud Charter Member of the Fraternal Order of Onion Rings—she’s such a hoot and writes the most thoughtful posts on Fridays.


• Rosie of Rosie’s Whimsey. Her mission is the pursuit of happiness at home and in life—just like all of us.

Please, no more tags for me for awhile as I’m fresh out of confessions. I hope your weekend is full of joy and laughter!