The Ice Man Cometh...

How many politicians had to look up the word "valor" today?

Common Ground

So the world is a circle.

My favorite tune for decades comes from Paul Winter's 1977
album/CD, the title tune, Common Ground.

"Voices are calling round the earth, music is rising in the sea
The spirit of morning fills the air
Guiding my journey home
Where is the path beyond the forest
Where is the song I always knew
I remember it just around the bend
In the village, the music never ends ..."

I assumed it was a product of the Paul Winter Consort.
The only album credit is to the guy who sings it, Jim Scott.
He was the Consort's guitarist.

Last month, I discover Jim Scott in his garden on youtube--now 40 years older.
He sings Common Ground.
But his second verse is new! It doesn't rhyme.

The new verse:

"Somewhere is the melody we need
There is a certain harmony
Even a rhythm in the trees
In the song that we've always known
As every road comes to its end,
Every path must cross again
Now I'm returning to my heart
Back to the sound that is our own... "

A web search for that lyric produces a new clue: Velho Sermão.

That's Portugese!

Translation: Old/Ancient Lesson.

I enter the Portugese title into youtube. Deep dive.

Paul Winter's Common Ground came out in 1976.

But Velho Sermao was on another artist's Lp the previous year, 1975.

Scott's new verse is a literal translation of Portugese into English from the original recording.

Of course! The world is a circle!

I have every album by Ivan Lins, who actually wrote Velho Sermao.

He's been Brazil's premier tunesmith for decades.

-----

The bugs are back. Pollens drift. Eyes itch. Hear that 
rhythm in the trees? Every path must cross again ...

Sweet.

Paul Winter, Common Ground:
https://youtu.be/EAIxjjPiDTs

Jim Scott, Common Ground
https://youtu.be/LpppGJlYeLs

Ivan Lins, Who Actually Wrote the Song:
https://youtu.be/vRR_pgprTpQ

Spring

Life is a one-way test.
The correct answer is always ... "yes"
                                 --Livingston Taylor

But spring is still coming, right?

"A strong low pressure system may begin as snow overnight but is expected to quickly transition to freezing rain or ice pellets and then to rain.

"Precipitation will change back to snow late Sunday afternoon. Total snow and ice pellet accumulations up to 20 cm. Strong winds with gusts to 80 km/h will produce zero visibility in blowing snow.... whiteouts, falling trees, hydro outages, extinction of small mammals, the  Apocalypse...."

Happy New Year

Larry Hart's birthday!

Night whisper

We are all connected to each other.... even the trees.
                                             --Arthur Miller

Saturday night at Mike Pence's

Barry Blitt's rejected Trump sketches for the New Yorker

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/rejected-trump-sketches-by-barry-blitt


 The sketch of Trump and Bannon in matching bathtubs cannot be unseen ... LOL

Pray for an opening at Apple's genius bar

 "Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart ... I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius .... and a very stable genius at that!"

 --Today's twitter from @realdonaldtrump

Gonna leave my footsteps on the sands of time....

Sad

Two real estate rich kids walk into a bar.

They are joined by a a Russian lawyer, a fat foreign showbiz agent and a shady political strategist.

Next arrivals: two Soviet-era spies, trailing a translator.

"Hi guys," sez the bartender. "You must be here to talk about adoption."

It's cool to be a cat

I wish I had nine lives

I bet it feels real nice

Sitting in the sun

Letting all the waves wash over me

I do what I want

Everybody wants to be a cat ...

It's cool to be a cat.

Why God gave you the Internet....

So here's all you need to know ... just three things.

*  yourclassical.org ... Minnesota Public Radio's never-ending streams of classical music, hosted or by genre ... make your iPad or Kindle soar!

*  thecurrent.org ... MPR's genius new music fountain, streaming or on demand, studio sessions with every new songster/band eager to knock your socks off

*  wnyc.org ... public radio's best host site ... here, find the New Yorker mag's podcasts, Jonathan Schwartz's jazz stream, WQXR, all searchable by program/topic/toontype


You will notice cbcmusic.ca does not make my cut. Why is that? Look. Listen. Pity.

This is how I spent my Saturday...

It's bug season in my part of the world ... so I spend the day watching this a dozen times ... is it the video? The audio?

Do I care? LOL....

Oh so spicy

Republicans hurry to floor for Trump vote

Your moment of Zen.....

The water's rising in eastern Ontario.....