songbird's crazy world

  On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever) Welcome to Saturday: 9 .  What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every  Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love to answer questions, however, and here are today's questions! Saturday 9: On a Clear Day (1970) Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it  here .   1) Is today a clear day where you are? If only … here on Long Island we’ve had so many days of rain that I’m seriously thinking about building an Ark. Seriously, though, NYC, Long Island and most of the region is under a state of emergency due to the extremely heavy rainfall and flash flooding.     2) Streisand sings that today she's "astounded." What has recentl

  Do not be deceived.  This in NOT a cat. This is a vantz. Oh, that’s right, you all probably don’t speak Yiddish. The literal translation is “bedbug” but it’s commonly used to describe a mischief-maker. And here is the victim of the vantz. If there’s drama between the cats, you can be sure Shadow started it … as soon as Duchess is settled on the couch or the recliner, Shadow is sure to sneak up on her and poke at her. She’s not satisfied until Duchess is growling at her. Little troublemaker. But I love her …

 Yes, it’s definitely fall - we’ve had cold and wet weather.  The rain is supposed to stop and the sun will come out tomorrow, but the cooler temperatures have definitely arrived.  I’ve put away the summer clothes and brought out my sweaters. I bought a few Halloween decorations for the lawn.  Nothing over the top, just a few things to get into the holiday spirit.   Would it surprise you that some of the decorations are feline? Yeah, I’m slightly obsessed with cats. I’m hearing that we are supposed to have a very snowy winter.  That does not make me happy.  I’ve got a brand new winter coat and warm, sturdy boots, but I am so happy I can work from home and won’t have to drive in bad weather. I’m picturing myself at home, curled up with two cats, watching the snow fall.   But for now I’m enjoying autumn.  

 And now for the cultural portion of our program. Andre Rieu  is a Dutch violinist and orchestra leader.  He tours with his famed “Johann Strauss Orchestra”.   An evening with Andre Rieu features rousing marches, Italian arias, Broadway show tunes, pop standards, and (of course) waltzes.  When Rieu plays a waltz, audience members dance in the aisles. We saw Rieu in  2011  and  2018 , but when Drew heard he’d be playing at UBS Arena, Drew had to buy tickets. We had floor seats, fourth row from the stage. The evening included a performance by a saxophone player, age 102.  The gentleman was a veteran of WW II and helped liberate the Netherlands. Someone else in the audience that night captured the performance.    If you look very, very carefully, you can spot the top of my head in the fourth row … The sopranos were lovely, as always, And of course there were bagpipes. What surprised me, though, is that this year he’s touring with a gospel choir, the ladies in evening gowns and the gentlem

 So the baseball season was a bit of a disappointment this year.  The Mets and Yankees were disastrous. But the Long Island Ducks?  They made the playoffs! The Atlantic League is much simpler than Major League Baseball.  There are two divisions within the league.  Each division has a “best of five” playoff series between the top two teams, and the winner moves on to the league championship series. The first two playoff games would be on the road, with games 3,4 and 5 to be played on Long Island. Game 3 was scheduled for last  Friday  Drew and I bought tickets. We approached the game with some trepidation.  The Ducks lost the first two games to the Lancaster Barnstormers.  Game 3 became “do or die”. The first 1500 fans to enter the ballpark received a free t shirt. Ironic, in a way, because the weather Friday night was definitely not summery.  I was wearing a sweatshirt and a jacket and still felt cold!  (Tropical Storm Ophelia showed up yesterday, bringing wind, rain and real autumn we

  Answer the Phone Welcome to  Saturday 9 . What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme! Saturday 9: Answer the Phone (2001) Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it  here . 1) This song likens a relationship to a roller coaster ride. When did you most recently visit an amusement park? We went to Disney World in Florida in 2019.   2) Lead singer Mark McGrath reasons that his girl should answer the phone because he knows she's home. That was decades ago, when most homes still had landlines. Where were you when you took your last call? Were you at home?  It was a business call yesterday

 Farmingdale High School is a 20 minute drive from my home. I’ve spent time in Farmingdale: there are some great restaurants in that town, two nice multiplex movie theaters, a huge wine store and Stew Leonard’s very quirky grocery store. Farmingdale High School has experienced an enormous tragedy.  You will no doubt have heard about yesterday’s bus accident.  Six buses headed from Farmingdale High School, loaded with students and their chaperones, headed to a band camp in Pennsylvania.  As the buses traveled through upstate Orange County towards the Pennsylvania border, the first bus lost control and rolled down an embankment into a ravine.  Two adults — the band teacher and another chaperone — were killed.  Five other passengers are in critical condition.   All of the students on that bus are traumatized.  All of the students in the other buses, who saw the accident, are traumatized.  The whole school, the whole community, are traumatized. Drew sent me a text this morning.  He teaches

   Shadow’s new favorite place is the kitchen window.  She loves looking out at the front lawn and the street. The other night she had a long conversation with the neighbor’s cat.    But on Saturday morning, when an entire flock of birds landed on our lawn, she could not contain her excitement.  Pity I didn’t have my camera, her butt wiggle was a sight to behold …  

 So if you look at the foiliage maps you’ll see that Long Island is completely green.  We don’t usually see real color until mid October, and we peak at the end of the month. But yesterday during my walk in the neighborhood I saw this tree.

 So we’re finally starting to feel settled in the new house.  We still have things to do in order to make this place our own, but it’s coming along nicely. Duchess is still unhappy about having to live with another cat, but she’s getting used to Shadow.  We get to see the little “kitty dramas” play out every evening in the living room as they negotiate the hierarchy and boundaries. Our house is adjacent to a public park, and there are tall pine trees in the park, all along our back fence.  Right now the trees are dropping pine cones into our yard.   Yeah, the house has interesting quirks, But it also has lovely flowers.  I found these growing right by our front door, Not sure what they are, but they’re pretty. I can’t wait to see the fall foliage in this neighborhood.

 And the theme is … MOVIES! That’s quite broad, isn’t it? I was at Becca’s house for Rosh HaShanah, and I was telling Brendon all about the things we did when Jen and Becca were little girls.   Back then Disney was experiencing an animation renaissance, with films like The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.   Each time a new Disney movie would come out, I’d run to the Disney store and buy merchandise related to the new movie — a nightgown, a doll or stuffed animal, whatever else looked cute.  Then I’d put together a “movie premiere bag” and give it to them when we’d see the movie. A few months later the movie would become available on videotape…and our VCR would get quite the workout. So, today’s playlist …music from the Disney renaissance.                     

  Got My Mind Set on You Welcome to Saturday: 9 . What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions everySaturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love to  answer the questions, however, and here is today's questions! Saturday 9: Got My Mind Set On You (1987) Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it  here .   1) In this song, George Harrison tells us he's willing to devote his money, patience and time to his girlfriend. Of those three things, which can you most easily spare? Patience.  Time and money are in short supply.   2) This song had long been a favorite of George's. He first heard it in 1963 when visiting his sister in United States. He couldn't get the tune out of hi