Katie Melua

Once I had HD video clips of musical performances by Katie Melua, described by one critic as “the Soviet Georgia-born, Belfast-based singer-songwriter and pan-European star who is virtually unknown in the United States.” Unknown in the US maybe, but I’ve been aware of her music for about five years. One early song was 9 Million Bicycles, written by Mike Batt for Katie’s second album. It is simply a sweet song. The music video for the song is one of those that make you wonder, “How’d they do that?!” and it can be found here. (Be sure to select 360p and either expand or full-screen). If you prefer less in the way of special effects, a live performance from AVO SESSION Basel, October 2007, is below. If you like songs that have recognizable melody and lyrics, you’ll probably like this music.



Another Mike Batt song performed by Katie is her debut single The Closest Thing To Crazy. Watch her performance at the Echo Music Awards, February 2005. Again, be sure to select 360p and either expand or full-screen.

Florida Trip

I drove to central Florida on Monday, drove back to central Virginia on Friday. While in Florida, I mostly spent time with Betty and Ron Jr and Bonnie. One day we went to Rainbow Springs State Park. It’s a beautiful place; we took food and drink and ate a picnic lunch in one of the pavilions. In the evening we invited neighbors to meet us on the dock at sunset; we took wine and cheese and crackers, and we had a pleasant time. Afterward everyone went to Betty’s house for cake or pie or pastries, of which there was an abundance.

I took about 300 photos on the trip. I uploaded several photos to an album on Picasaweb. You can see the photos here.

Note

There was a death in my family. Sudden, unexpected, senseless. I don’t expect I’ll be posting new material for a while. But I may have to; it may be the only way to handle what I’m feeling. Until next time, you be good.

Last Roses of Summer

The last roses of summer bloom beside my house. They bask under the early autumn sun, more yellow now than they ever became during the hot, dry days of summer, and their perfume is sweet. They summon to mind this poignant metaphor from Thomas Gray’s Elegy Written In A Country Churchyard:

“Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.”

But the metaphor only works if the desert is a wasteland. Readers of Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire know a different desert: not a wasteland, but a different world. Dewey Bunnell tried to capture the essence of that world when he wrote A Horse With No Name: “There were plants and birds and rocks and things … There was sand and hills and rings ...”

Besides, flowers don’t bloom for our benefit. They have their own reasons.

Dinner

Although food is good to eat, it’s also fun to photograph, sometimes.

Ingredients:

Summer squash, 1/2 gold Bell pepper (green is OK), 1/2 red Bell pepper (it has to be red), 1/2 yellow onion, 2 or 3 cloves garlic, red pepper flakes (hot and spicy!), salt and pepper. Not shown: olive oil, soy sauce, and a wok for stir-frying. To add protein to the meal, I baked a salmon filet.

Voilà:

Makes two servings. Sprinkle lemon juice on the fish and add a spoonful of tartar sauce beside the fish. Yes, it was good. And photogenic, too.

Lene Marlin

I was at the Bee for lunch. My friend Kimberly used to work there. Now her son works there. However, I didn’t know he had gotten married recently and that his wife also works there. I learned about that when the hostess pointed to a slim young woman in jeans and a black top and said, “That’s Kim’s daughter-in-law.” Then I found out the name of the mother of Kim’s new daughter-in-law. It’s Kimberly.

I came home and called Kim. We hadn’t talked in months so we talked a good while. At one point Kim asked me for the name of the singer I had introduced her to musically a few years ago. “What’s the name of that Irish singer so popular overseas but not in this country? Maybe she was Swedish.” She wanted to find her on Youtube.

Irish? Swedish? Hmm. The only tune I could think of that Kim had really liked was Lene Marlin’s Playing My Game. Lene Marlin is Norwegian. But I posted a link to the video on Kim’s Facebook wall, and it turned out to be the singer Kim had in mind.

Here’s Playing My Game. It’s the title track of Marlin’s first album.

A more recent song by Lene Marlin is Disguise. I like this one, too. I don’t know why Marlin’s music isn’t more popular in the US. Maybe her music is too good.

Thursday Night News

Walking up the street tonight, I encountered a woman walking her dog. They turned out to be Danette and her pug Tootsie Roll. I snapped a photo of the dog, and I told her if she would hold her pug up I would take a picture of them for my blog. She said, “Oh no … my hair … it’s a mess.” So the photo is just Tootsie Roll.

As we talked, Tootsie Roll wandered into an adjacent yard. When that happened, an elderly man approached us and said to Danette, “I don’t appreciate that. I don’t want dogs doing their business in my yard.”

“Oh, she didn’t go,” Danette told him.

“You don’t know that,” the man said. The yes-she-did-no-she-didn’t volleyball was tossed back and forth a few more times. Finally I injected my own opinion. “Look at the shape of that dog,” I said. “It’s plain to see this dog has never pooped.” That brought a chuckle from the man, and I decided it was a good time to resume my walk.

Then I ran into Zoe (from the previous night). She had exciting news. I don’t think she will mind if I share it – even if she wanted to keep it secret, that won’t be possible for much longer.

“I just found out I’m pregnant!” she exclaimed. “Isn’t that exciting!”  She seemed thrilled. I think it was something she had wanted badly. Zoe ran off, I’m guessing to deliver the news to a friend, and I resumed my walk.

A little while later as I passed by the park, I saw a woman playing fetch with her dog. She would throw a red rubber ball and the dog, a pit bull, would take off like a rocket after that ball and bring it back to her. So I went over and talked with her a while. Her name was Shawnna and her dog’s name was Savior -- because the dog saved her sanity after a messy divorce. I offered to take a picture of her with her dog, but she said “Oh no … my hair … it’s a mess.” We talked for a long time while I threw the ball for Savior to fetch. She’s from West Virginia by way of North Carolina. She was supposed to have wed her fiance last week but couldn’t get off work, so the ceremony was rescheduled. Now she just wants to go to a JP. “I’ve had the big ceremony and so has he.”  She said she and Savior were at the park almost every evening. It was nice talking with her – another friendly person in the ‘hood. It was dark when we both left for home in opposite directions.

Telepathy

I stayed up too late, writing and listening to music, and as a consequence I got up too late. I went to the ‘puter and checked my IM to see if my main online peep CyberDave was at his pc; he wasn’t. I checked Facebook and saw that my cyber-friend Barbara was online. Barbara and I attended the same high school at the same time (this was back in the day, of course). I didn’t know her well then, but we recently connected through Facebook. She lives in Florida now. So I chatted with her a while. We talked a little about her mother, who is 83 and is starting to “be difficult”. I sent her a link to a poem called Warning – When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple by Jenny Joseph. One of my favorites.

Why did I stay up so late, you ask. I was writing about Deborah Allen and the song Telepathy. Deborah Allen is known as a country singer who has charted on the country chart many times with songs such as Rock Me (In The Cradle of Love).

In 1987 she recorded a very non-country pop album called Telepathy. The title track was written by Prince under the pseudonym Joey Coco. It’s a soft-funk, synth-pop number driven by synthesized horns. I used to have Telepathy on cassette tape and played it often in the cassette player of my ‘88 Subaru. I liked all the tracks on it and I think RCA could have done more to promote it. I lost the tape a long time ago. (It was probably in the center console of my Subaru when I sold it.) But thanks to Youtube, I can still listen to the title track, and even watch Deborah Allen sing Telepathy. Although, being a late-80s music video, you might prefer to skip the video and just listen to the tune. In that case, click this link for Telepathy in stereo. (FYI, she has no connection to Debbie Allen on Fame.)

Just got a Facebook message from Barbara. She recognized the poem as the one that inspired the founding of the Red Hat Society. Read about it here.

Well, it’s been fun but I’m burning daylight. It’s sunny and 70° and I have things to do. See you later.

Three New Readers

I almost titled this post “Three New Friends”, because I met three friendly people on my street. But of course, they aren’t exactly friends. Acquaintances? Potential friends?

Walking up my street, I meet Beth in front of her house planting … well, plants. I’m no botanist – I have no idea what she’s planting. But she’s hard at work trying to make her house look nicer. Good for her! Beth is remodeling the outside of her house. She intends to retain the unique blue color of her house … it’s the only blue house on the street. She says of her house, “I love it.”

Beth

Beth was at the park last night for the Night Out event. Beth says the Halloween bash in the park is ON … and she’s taken on the role of being one of the organizers. Good for her, again! Her Facebook photo shows her on a motorcycle.

While we’re talking, a couple walk up. We introduce ourselves … they’re Leslie and Zoe. We chat a little and then they leave for home. A few minutes later I continue my walk. I don’t get far; just a short way up the street, I run into Leslie and Zoe sitting on their front porch. We have a nice conversation. Zoe is outgoing and sunny. She says they love this neighborhood and have made some good friends here.

Leslie and Zoe

They’re buying their home. “We closed two years ago on Halloween,” Zoe says. We talk a little bit about Facebook. Zoe has a friend in Singapore and more friends in other distant places; she stays in touch with them through Facebook. Zoe and I have a few things in common: living in North Carolina, hiking Linville Gorge. She attended ASU in Boone; I recalled spending a night in a house on a mountain overlooking the ASU campus. I wish the neighborhood had more Beths, Zoes, and Leslies: friendly homeowners who like the neighborhood and want to make it a nice place to live.

After Midnight (Imelda May)

I probably should mark this post as continued from the previous post. It is now a few hours later and just after midnight, and I’m listening to a Dublin-born rockabilly singer, Imelda May. She’s good … very good. Check out this gal:

Johnny Got a Boom Boom (FYI: at the beginning, that’s Jeff Beck in the audience!)

Love Tattoo (I think that’s her husband playing guitar.)