Musical Interlude

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Antonio Vivaldi's "Autumn," a portion of The Four Seasons (published, 1725) — this portion perhaps the most underrated of Vivaldi's "seasons":

Musical Interlude

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This weekend, enjoy Spring, Opus 34, by Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936):

[About Alexander Glazunov and a must read!] 

One of the YouTube comments about Spring:

Glazunov, pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov, teacher of Shostakovich, composed this lovely piece in 1891, yet it sounds so modern ... as if it could have been written only yesterday!...

Remember This?

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 I didn't have sea monkeys, but I remember seeing them advertised. The backstory:

More information about these creatures HERE.

Have a good weekend.

Musical Interlude

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A sampling of the first-ever singers:

Have a good weekend!

A Break For Beauty

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Rainbow here in Northern Virginia on April 1. Photo courtesy of NextDoor Online Neighborhood:

Musical Interlude

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Peace.

[about composer Ernesto Cortázar (1940-2004)]

Welcome, Spring!

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Enjoy!

[hat tip to Bunkerville, 2018, for the above video]

Snowed In!

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Here at the AOW house today:

Our SW front yard

E front porch and wheelchair ramp

And it's still snowing!

The pantry is full, and I'll be cooking a roasted chicken this afternoon.

My days of shoveling snow are over, so once the snow stops, I'll be seeking someone to dig us out.

Suda The Elephant

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One of my Facebook finds:

More "elephant art" HERE.

Related reading: Can jumbo elephants really paint? Intrigued by stories, naturalist Desmond Morris set out to find the truth.

Another kind of elephant video:

Musical Interlude

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Enjoy these images and the pop standard "Autumn Leaves" as performed by Pianist to the Presidents Roger Williams and orchestra, first recorded by Williams in 1955. "Autumn Leaves" stands as the greatest selling piano recording of all time, with more than 2 million sold.


The home page for Roger Williams.

About the above piece and pianist Roger Williams (1924-2011):

In 1955 Williams recorded "Autumn Leaves", the only piano instrumental to reach #1 on Billboard's popular music chart. It sold over two million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. It was the fourth #1 song of the "rock era," which unofficially began with the ascension of "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets into the top spot.  In 1966 he had another Top Ten hit with the song "Born Free" from the motion picture soundtrack. His other hits include "Near You", "Till", "The Impossible Dream", "Yellow Bird", "Maria", and "The Theme from Somewhere in Time". Billboard magazine ranks him as the top selling piano recording artist in history with 18 gold and platinum albums to his credit. Williams was known as the "Pianist to the Presidents", having played for nine US Presidential administrations, beginning with Harry S. Truman.  His last White House performance was in November 2008 for a luncheon hosted by First Lady Laura Bush.

On his 75th birthday, Williams performed his first 12-hour piano marathon. He performed the marathon at Steinway Hall in New York City and the Nixon, Carter and Reagan Presidential Libraries. His Steinway & Sons "Gold Steinway" grand piano was on tour for public display and entertainment during 2007–2008. In 2010, Roger Williams was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

Read the rest HERE.

Lyrics below the fold.

Welcome, Autumn 2017

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God's paintbrush:

Photo credit

According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, the 2017 Autumnal Equinox arrives today at 4:02 P.M. EDT.

Related: best fall recipes from the Old Farmer's Almanac.

An Antidote For Politics

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Another of my Facebook finds and worth six minutes of your time:

Pray For Florida

Hurricane Irma has struck the Keys and is making its way up the west coast of Florida (at the time of this posting, at the rate of approximately 8 mph, NNW):

Pray For Texas (With Two Addenda)

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The August 27, 2017 photograph that went viral:

La vita Bella nursing home in Dickinson Texas is almost underwater with nursing home patients pic.twitter.com/oCNkrgoRZY

— Timothy J. McIntosh (@DividendsMGR) August 27, 2017

Article: Nursing home residents evacuated from Harvey flood waters.

ADDENDUM 1

Facebook photo posted by the Louisiana Cajun Navy:

Remember the picture of patients at an assisted living center that flooded in Dickinson TX sitting around in waist high water?. Here is a new picture. All safe,warm, and dry.

One of the many comments to the photo update:

These ladies lived through the years after the Depression and WWII. I tell ya, there won't be another generation as resilient as they are. God bless the rescuers still respecting our elders. Thank you.

ADDENDUM 2

Hurricane Harvey: First Person Witness. Excerpt:

The Last English Prince [Tammy Swofford] has a friendship with a general manager of a country club near the city of Houston. These images were taken by my friend and permission has been received to populate them on this site. I have also included an image from a news grab which provides a strong metric for what the region has endured thus far.

See the photo essay HERE.

Break From Politics

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One of my Facebook finds and particularly appropriate for Labor Day Weekend, which, here in the Northeast, traditionally marks the end of summer:

Time For Some Beauty

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I took this quick photo of this morning's sky as it looked across the street from my back porch:

The sunrise was pinker than the camera shows, and the entire D.C. region was bathed in a soft-rose glow.

Photo Essay: Deserts Of The United States

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One example from the photo essay at THIS LINK:

The Milky Way seen at White Pocket in Arizona

See the rest HERE.

Break From Politics

(For politics, please go to THIS THREAD)

I hope that you will take a few moments to enjoy this video, one of my Facebook finds:


The Mountain from TSO Photography on Vimeo.
From the blurb at Vimeo:

Nature's Respite

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Enjoy:

Winter Blast!

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Blizzard time. We're due.  The last horrible blast struck in 2010.

One of the prediction maps:

Photo from the Washington Post

The biggest concern, of course, is the possibility of losing electrical power.