songbird's crazy world

And the theme?   In ancient times, “Dog Days of Summer” was connected with bad luck, mad dog attacks, unexpected thunderstorms, heat, and drought.  These days gained the “Dog Days” name because they are connected with a star in the Canis Major (Greater Dog) star system known as Sirius. Nowadays, “Dog Days of Summer” is associated for summer’s long hot days. Based on these interesting tidbits use your imagination to find music that’ll make us howl on the dance floor! Long, hot days! And then I came across this humorous piece, love the reference to dogs … Getting back to more serious stuff And from Broadway Yeah, it a bit hot out there

 So the weather yesterday …a series of thunderstorms in the early afternoon (including flooding, especially in NYC), a lull I the late afternoon, and more storms at night.  The Yankees postpoed their game, Noah Kahan cancelled his concert at Citi Field … …but in Central Islip, the Ducks were determined to play. The FIRST PLACE Ducks, I might add … While waiting for the gates to open we saw Seriously, cars had to honk at them to get them to move. And while we were waiting, we discovered that the national anthem would be sung by …a friend of ours! Well, actually by a group, the Long Island Choral Society.  But she is a member. Oh, and the conductor?  He also conducted the orchestra for Yeoman last month. Oh, and my daughter Jen was at the game.  Not with us, she was with her best friend and the friend’s family.  Just a coincidence that they came the same night we were there. And she told us that the guy acting as master of ceremonies for the Ducks was also th...

 I am not a particularly observant Jew.  I no longer belong to a synagogue. My practice is limited to holidays and lighting candles on Friday night.  But yes, I do engage in those rituals, I need to feel the connection. The spiritual connection, and the connection to heritage and community. Along with resuming my yoga practice, I’ve started to meditate again.   Mindfulness/meditation is inexorably linked to the practice of yoga. And both practices are linked to the culture and religious beliefs of India and other Asian cultures. But Judaism has its own traditions.  Not just spirituality via prayer and ritual, Judaism has its own tradition of mysticism - Kabbalah.   I’ve done reading, on and off, about Kabbalah - it’s a lot more than Madonna wearing a red string bracelet.  I think I’m going to dive more deeply into it.  Just downloaded a book to my Kindle,  And I have now (re)discovered a Jewish YouTube channel that’s amazing.  Every day ...

  Kung Fu Fighting 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 the questions, however, and here is today's questions! Saturday 9: Kung Fu Fighting (1974) Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it  here . 1) Have you ever taken a martial arts class?  Does tai chi count?  During the pandemic a local yoga/tai chi studio was offering Zoom classes.  I tried a few classes, but the Zoom connection was so poor I stopped participating. Recently I discovered some tai chi instructors on YouTube, so I’ve been experimenting again. 2) In this song, Carl Edwards sings about funky Chinatown. Many cities – in...

 We’re expecting rain tomorrow.  That should thin out the smoke from the Canadian wildfires. Good news, right? Well …  The rain is coming in the form of severe thunderstorms and possible tornadoes. We can’t catch a break, can we?

 Duchess is a lady.  She claimed a chair in the living room, and that’s where she sits. Shadow, on the other hand …