songbird's crazy world

 And it’s a “your choice” week. Last month I had the pleasure of seeing Audra McDonald in concert. You may recognize her from this performance.    Six Tonys, two Emmys and a Grammy, and no wonder.  With a voice like that … So let’s play a few more songs. From Carousel     She can’t stop talking about him …    She enjoys audience participation     I saw her in Porgy and Bess .     Saw her in Ragtime    Let’s end with some Sondheim     Yes, that last one was done during the pandemic …

  Two Easter Sunday Sweethearts 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: Two Easter Sunday Sweethearts (1954) Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it  here . 1) This song is about a couple dressed in their "Sunday Best." Will you be getting dressed up this weekend?   No. 2) The happy couple is walking up the street arm-in-arm. Have you recently seen a couple holding hands or walking arm-in-arm in public? Were you one of that romantic duo? Haven’t seen it recently, 3) This week's featured artist, Vera Lynn, was a beloved English sing...

 Full moon #skywatchfriday

 Spring training is over, today is Opening Day at Citi Field.  The Mets will host the Milwaukee Brewers. (The season was supposed to start yesterday but the weather.. sigh…) Search this blog and you will find many, many posts about baseball in general and the Mets in particular. You know my pedigree.  My father was raised in Brooklyn, in the shadow of Ebbets Field.  My mother was a Bronx girl.  On their first official date (they’d known each other for several years) he took her to Yankee Stadium to see DiMaggio play.  Yes, a Dodgers fan in enemy territory…he must have really wanted to impress her. I grew up a Mets fan, but unlike many of my fellow sufferers, I also like the Yankees.  Given my history, how could I not?  But whenever there’s a Subway Series, I root for the blue and orange, not the pinstripes.  I know where my loyalty lies. This season, 1986 will be on my mind, as the Mets retire two numbers — on April 14 they will retire Dwight...

 Dotted on my afternoon walk. My favorite bird. He had a few friends with him.  A “round of robins”.

 There it was, on the news. A cargo ship hit the base of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, and the entire bridge collapsed. Scary.   One minute you’re riding over the bridge, admiring the view of the harbor at night.  The next you’re tumbling through the darkness into the frigid water below.  The stuff that nightmares are made of. I’ve visited Baltimore several times, most recently in August 2021.  Drew and I spent a week vacationing in Maryland, and much of that time we explored Baltimore.  We visited the harbor area several times — the aquarium is wonderful.  I’m not sure if we drove across Key Bridge, there are several ways to cross the harbor, but I know we saw it …

 And the theme:   Alana suggested “Misheard Song Lyrics”.  For instance, a song lyric you’ve misheard or is commonly misheard  i.e. CCR’s Bad Moon Rising (“there’s a bathroom on the right”) .  Let’s keep it family friendly! This one sounds like fun.  Nowadays you can Google the lyrics, even find the official lyrics video.  But back in the day, before the internet, you’d hear a song (or perhaps mishear it) on the radio and hope for the best. Let’s start with Aretha Franklin. Though some listeners hear the legendary singer say, “R-E-S-P-E-C-T, take out T-C-P,” she is actually singing, “R-E-S-P-E-C-T, take care, TCB.”   Then there’s Uncle Kracker Some fans claim that they hear, “Give me the Beach Boys and free my soul,” instead of the actual lyric, “Give me the beat, boys, and free my soul.”    (This song was popular when my kids were teens.  They had no idea it was a cover or why mom knew all the words.) Let’s talk about Toto The song...

 Definition of a Jewish holiday:they tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat. Well, that is certainly true about Purim, a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar. Purim is based on the Book of Esther, where the evil Haman tried to kill all the Jews of Persia, but brave Queen Esther, with the help of her cousin Mordechai, saved her people. The celebration of Purim feels like a combination of Mardi Gras, Halloween and April Fool’s Day.   Costumes are worn to synagogue, where the Megillah (the Book of Esther) is read aloud.  Every time Haman is mentioned the congregation is encouraged to make a lot of noise to stamp out his name. Some synagogues hold a carnival, with games and prizes.  In some communities children go door to door begging for treats.  Some families exchange gifts of food — a fruit-filled pastry called hamantaschen is traditional. We also feast, and adults are told to drink enough alcoholic beverages so that we cannot tell the difference between Haman and M...

  If You've Got the Money 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: If You've Got the Money (1950) Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it  here . 1) In this week's song, Lefty Frizzell is eager to go out on the town and hit all the night spots. What are your plans for the weekend? Going out to dinner Saturday night, going to a friend’s house Sunday afternoon. 2) He tells his girl he'd rather ride in her Cadillac than his old car. Back in the 1950s, Caddys were quite the status symbol. Lefty bought a white on...

  Someone was enjoying Drew’s Amazon delivery. More scenes from the living room

 When my time is limited but I need to take a walk, I walk around the block. That’s sort of a misnomer, because a complete circle around my block is over a mile … I walk out of my house and turn right.  I walk past my neighbors’ houses until I get to the end of the street, then I turn right.  I walk past the park — baseball diamonds, handball and basketball courts and a playground.   A few minutes later and I’m passing the entrance to the elementary school and the  weird yellow farmhouse . I walk past the front of the school, and when I reach the corner I turn right, and walk along the side of the school property — more athletic fields and another playground.  And then there’s the municipal storm drainage basin. You can actually see the basin right now.  In a month or so all the foliage will block the view. When I reach the corner i could cross the street and go to the community pool, but instead I turn right, and continue past the storm basin until th...

 No, I’m not talking about insects. I’m talking about the sport. I’ve never played cricket, I’ve never watched a cricket match, I don’t have a clue about the game.   But apparently this summer Long Island will host the ICC Cricket World Cup qualifiers.  Eight games over a two week period in June.  Tickets for each match have already sold out.  And where, pray tell, will these games be played? In my favorite place to walk — Eisenhower Park.   They’re building a 34,000 seat stadium in the park.  Right next to the lake.  The construction materials are already piled upon my usual parking lot, and I had to park in the other lot last time I was there.  I’ve already put the dates of each match into my calendar, because traffic in and around the park will be horrendous and I plan to avoid the area at all costs. I’ll be heading to Jones Beach or maybe Wantagh Park if I don’t want to just walk around the neighborhood. But I can’t complain that thousand...

 Another walk in the park.   I love to walk by the man made lake. The lake is the center of the park, surrounded by the Verterans Memorial, the driving range, the amphitheater, the 9/11 memorial and the rose garden.if you walk a loop around the lake you cover about half a mile.  I usually do two laps.  Usually I see ducks and geese at the lake.  Sometimes I see egrets  and terns and seagulls.  This time I saw a couple of ducks,  I know that the lake was stocked with fish, but the water is murky so I’ve never seen any … until now. I usually see a turtle or two sunning themselves, but this time the turtles were out in force. Ten turtles! Got a close up of the foursome. The park is only a short drive from my house. I pass by the park whenever I drive to or from work. Great place for a walk.

 I misspoke yesterday.  Today is another “your choice” week; parody is next week. Steve Lawrence passed away on March 7 at the age of 88. He earned fame both as a solo artist and as part of a duo with his wife, Eydie Gorme.  She passed away in 2013. As I mentioned on a recent  Saturday 9 , my late mother-in-law claimed kinship with Eydie.  She always told us that she and Eydie were cousins.  Both were Sephardic Jews from the Bronx.   Steve Lawrence was as Ashkenazi Jew from Brooklyn.  So let’s salute the music of Steve and Eydie.                            

 Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Everyone is Irish on St Patrick’s Day, right? Last night drew and I went to a St. Patrick's Day event at one of our favorite restaurants.  The menu featured Irish and Irish-American classics like corned beef and cabbage,  bangers and mash, shepherds pie, soda bread … There was a group of young girls who performed Irish step dancing, and a kilted man who played the bagpipes. I’m in the mood for some music … Parody songs are the theme for an upcoming Music Monday, but we can get started today.   Now we go to something a bit more traditional.    How about something from the movies/Broadway?   One year I had the pleasure of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day at Radio City, watching Riverdance.    You have to include the Irish Rovers.    This last song … one of my favorite radio DJ’s is Scott Shannon.  He’d play this song on his morning drive time show every year in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.☘️   ...

  Charlie Mops 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: Charlie Mops (2007) Not familiar with this week's song? Hear it  here .   1 . This week's song is about a legend, Charlie Mops, the man who invented beer. Tell us about something you enjoy so much you could sing about it with the same enthusiasm the Salt Sea Pirates sing of beer.  Chocolate! Of course. 2.  The lyrics tell us beer goes well with breakfast, dinner and snacks. Think about what you dined on yesterday. What beverages did you have with your breakfast, your dinner, and your...

 Clouds over the bay #skywatchfriday

 So we moved into this house in July.  I had no idea what the previous residents may have planted in the yard, This is what’s growing in the front yard.  The daffodils are starting to bloom.  I don’t know what the little white flowers are.  I can’t wait to see what else there is.  And yes, that’s my shadow …