Music, Poetry, Quote of the Day

Quote of the Day: Longfellow On Self-Conceit

To be infatuated with the power of one's own intellect is an accident which seldom happens but to those who are remarkable for the want of intellectual power. Whenever Nature leaves a hole in a person's mind, she generally plasters it over with a thick coat of self-conceit--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Outre-Mer, A Pilgrimage Beyond the… Continue reading Quote of the Day: Longfellow On Self-Conceit

Britishness, Culture, Music

Meme: YYY, Delilah!

As reported in several places: XX= Woman XY=Man YYY=Delilah In an effulgence of political correctness/cowardice, the Welsh Rugby Union  has announced that the Tom Jones hit song Delilah will no longer be played as part of its approved song list.  Because, you know, "misogyny." Thankfully, and as I had hoped, it's foolish and pointless to bet… Continue reading Meme: YYY, Delilah!

History, Music, Plain Speaking

The Day the Music Died

It was sixty-four years ago today, on February 3, 1959.  Rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson were killed when their plane, a Beechcraft Bonanza, crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa, when the pilot lost control of the plane in bad winter weather, and crashed into a cornfield.  All… Continue reading The Day the Music Died

Ave Atque Vale, Culture, Entertainment, Music

Loretta Lynn, R.I.P.

Loretta Lynn has died at the age of 90. Some who know me might find my love of American country music a bit odd.  Mr. Right never did.  He understood that it hearkened back to centuries ago, to the traditions of English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish ballads, and to the stories those songs told, stories… Continue reading Loretta Lynn, R.I.P.

Entertainment, Movies and TV, Music

Happy Birthday, Englebert Humperdinck!

https://youtu.be/kOcW9gZv68A Oh.  Wait.  Sorry.  Wrong Englebert Humperdinck. “Wut!”  I hear you exclaim in disbelief.  There’s more than one Englebert Humperdinck? Well, no….. The “real” Englebert Humperdinck, born September 1, 1854 was a German composer best known for his opera Hänsel und Gretel, based on the Brothers Grimm fairy-tale of the same name.  Like many of his… Continue reading Happy Birthday, Englebert Humperdinck!

Ave Atque Vale, Entertainment, Music

The Carnival is Over: Judith Durham, R.I.P.

The year is 1964.  The pop revolution is underway, and groups like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones own the British charts and are besieged by thousands of screaming girls throwing flowers (and much else) at them wherever they go. Out of nowhere, that May, a quartet of young Australians who'd worked their passage from… Continue reading The Carnival is Over: Judith Durham, R.I.P.