The Old Year and the New

The Old Year and the New
Cotton Noe (1916)

Good-bye, Old Year; our journey has been brief;
I'm sorry now to leave thee dying here,
For thou hast borne my burdens with good cheer,
And never murmured, but assuaged my grief.
When buds of promise never came to leaf;
When broken resolutions, doubt, and fear
Did mock at my defeat, O good Gray Year,
Thy reassuring smile restored belief.

Good-bye—farewell! I trust thy dear young child,
Who greets me at the gateway of the dawn,
Will deal as gently with me and my friends,
And lead our footsteps through the springtime mild,
O'er summer's lawn, down autumn's slopes, and on
To where the path of chill December ends.

Soyez hardis en joye mis,
Chacun s’assaisonne,
La fleur de lys,
Fleur de hault pris
Y est en personne.
Suivez Françoys!
Suivez la couronne!
Sonnez, trompettes et clairons
Pour resjouyr les coms, les coms, les compaignons.
    --La Bataille de Marignan

Indeed, I am following Francis in Dunnett's last book on the Lymond Chronicles. In the previous Book 5, as the Supreme General to Ivan the Terrible, Crawford modernized the Russian military to fight against the Tartars. This time, Francis Crawford is fighting for France to stave off a pincer invasion by Mary Tutor from across the English Channel, and the Spanish force lead by her Spanish husband King Phillip II of the Habsburg Dynasty.

His Name Is Immanuel

"Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."   --Isaiah 7: 14

Charles Spurgeon:
"Let us today go down to Bethlehem, and in company with wondering shepherds and adoring Magi, let us see Him who was born King of the Jews, for we by faith can claim an interest in Him, and can sing, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." Jesus is Jehovah incarnate, our Lord and our God, and yet our brother and friend; let us adore and admire. Let us notice at the very first glance His miraculous conception. It was a thing unheard of before, and unparalleled since, that a virgin should conceive and bear a Son. The first promise ran thus, "The seed of the woman", not the offspring of the man. Since venturous woman led the way in the sin which brought forth Paradise lost, she, and she alone, ushers in the Regainer of Paradise. Our Saviour, although truly man, was as to His human nature the Holy One of God. Let us reverently bow before the holy Child whose innocence restores to manhood its ancient glory; and let us pray that He may be formed in us, the hope of glory. Fail not to note His humble parentage. His mother has been described simply as "a virgin," not a princess, or prophetess, nor a matron of large estate. True the blood of kings ran in her veins; nor was her mind a weak and untaught one, for she could sing most sweetly a song of praise; but yet how humble her position, how poor the man to whom she stood affianced, and how miserable the accommodation afforded to the new-born King!

Immanuel, God with us in our nature, in our sorrow, in our lifework, in our punishment, in our grave, and now with us, or rather we with Him, in resurrection, ascension, triumph, and Second Advent splendour."

- a L'envoi iPad 3 post

All My Heart This Night Rejoices

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
and we have seen his glory...
John 1:14

All My Heart This Night Rejoices

Words: Paul (Paulaus) Gerhardt (1606-1676), Pastor, St. Nicholas Church, Berlin.
Music: Johann George Ebeling (1637-1676), Cantor, St. Nicholas Church, Berlin.
German to English Translation: Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878).

All my heart this night rejoices,
as I hear, far and near,
sweetest angel voices;
"Christ is born," their choirs are singing,
till the air, ev'rywhere,
now their joy is ringing.

Forth today the Conqueror goeth,
who the foe, sin and woe,
death and hell, o'erthroweth.
God is man, man to deliver;
his dear Son now is one
with our blood forever.

Shall we still dread God's displeasure,
who, to save, freely gave
his most cherished Treasure?
To redeem us, he hath given
his own Son from the throne
of his might in heaven.

Should he who himself imparted
aught withhold from the fold,
leave us broken hearted?
Should the Son of God not love us,
who, to cheer sufferers here,
left his throne above us?

If our blessèd Lord and maker
hated men, would he then
be of flesh partaker?
If he in our woe delighted,
would he bear all the care
of our race benighted?

He becomes the Lamb that taketh
sin away and for aye
full atonement maketh.
For our life his own he tenders
and our race, by his grace,
meet for glory renders.

For it dawns, the promised morrow
of his birth, who the earth
rescues from her sorrow.
God to wear our form descendeth;
of his grace to our race
here his Son he sendeth.

Hark! a voice from yonder manger,
soft and sweet, doth entreat,
"Flee from woe and danger;
brethren, come; from all that grieves you
you are freed; all you need
I will surely give you."

Come, then, let us hasten yonder;
here let all, great and small,
kneel in awe and wonder,
Love him who with love is glowing;
hail the star, near and far
light and joy bestowing.

Blessed Savior, let me find thee!
keep thou me close to thee,
cast me not behind thee!
Life of life, my heart Thou stillest,
calm I rest on thy breast,
all this void thou fillest.

Thee, dear Lord, with heed I'll cherish;
live to thee and with thee,
dying, shall not perish;
But shall dwell with thee for ever,
far on high, in the joy
that can alter never.

Puccini's Birthday on This One Fine Day

Giacomo Puccini
Italian opera composer
(22 December 1858 - 29 November 1924)

The MP3 below expired on 01-13-2013.
Click here to play the current selection.

James Last
- Summchor aus Madama Butterfly(Puccini)

Winter Solstice, 2012

Lat: 37.7° N
Astronomy:

December  21, 2012       Rise:        Set:
Actual Time            7:15 AM PST  4:49 PM PST
Civil Twilight         6:46 AM PST  5:18 PM PST
Nautical Twilight      6:13 AM PST  5:51 PM PST
Astronomical Twilight  5:41 AM PST  6:23 PM PST
Moon                  12:34 PM PST  1:11 AM PST

Length of Visible Light 10h 32m
Length of Day 9h 33m

My New Retractable 4 MM HAND Stylus

My collection of styli for my Apple mobile devices and the Kindle Fire
My new retractable green color HAND stylus arrived yesterday. It's a first cabin trip for this stylus. It's the most expensive stylus I've owned to date  (handstylus.com).

At a cost of $29.95 for the stylus, I also ordered a six-pack replacement tips at $9.95. Including a required two-day USPS priority shipping charge for $5.00, toss in a sales tax of $2.89, the total came to $47.79 USD for this gadget.

I liked the sturdy, well-balanced, and all metal construction of this handsome stylus. Its 4 mm retractable tip and the removable pocket clip features are one of its kind in the deep bin of styli. Functionally, the ability to tap this stylus tip iside the confine of any key on the virtual keyboard (in portrait display) on the iPhone is really the best feature of all. No more unintentional fat finger tapping on the wrong keys!

If one has an iPad polyurethane Smart Cover, the stylus's magnetizes to it; the inclusion of the pocket clip will strengthen the hold much more. For this to work, the Smart Cover must be closed over the iPad. My other styli with a metal pocket clip would magnetizes similarly on a Smart Covered iPad, but they don't look as nice as the HAND stylus. This all-purpose Smart Cover magnet even holds my Zaggfolio keyboard.

The HAND stylus writes and draws smoothly on my iPhone 4S Note Taker app; it does equally well on iPad's Note Taker HD and Evernote's Penultimate. My only other stylus which comes close in second place on these two iOS writing/drawing app is the black Targus. For it I paid $20.00 at Best Buy(see the close-up picture of all my styli).

One more thing, Steve. My using this new stylus should reduce the smudge footprints my touch-screens.

Close-up look at the tips of my four styli

Moon Flying Towards Jupiter Tonight

Photo: Planet Jupiter, lower left corner;
the moon with its two plumes of cloud near upper right

Canon PowerShot SD780 IS
Date and Time - 2012:11:27 20:57:05 PST
Shutter Speed - 1/8 seconds
Aperture - F 5.78
Direction - Eastern Sky
The planet Jupiter (lower left corner of this picture)is nearing its opposition to the sun. It will happen on 2-3 December. As a matter of course (pun), we have our November full moon tonight, 27 November. Keep your eyes peeled between tonight through 3 December. You can see Jupiter, by jove, in the eastern sky and will not mistaken it as a bright star.

Sing with Nature Our Thanksgiving Psalm

Thanksgiving
Kate Seymour Maclean
1880


The Autumn hills are golden at the top,
And rounded as a poet's silver rhyme;
The mellow days are ruby ripe, that drop
One after one into the lap of time.

Dead leaves are reddening in the woodland copse,
And forest boughs a fading glory wear;
No breath of wind stirs in their hazy tops,
Silence and peace are brooding everywhere.

The long day of the year is almost done,
And nature in the sunset musing stands,
Gray-robed, and violet-hooded like a nun
Looking abroad o'er yellow harvest lands:

O'er tents of orchard boughs, and purple vines
With scarlet flecked, flung like broad banners out
Along the field paths where slow-pacing lines
Of meek-eyed kine obey the herdboy's shout;

Where the tired ploughman his dun oxen turns,
Unyoked, afield, mid dewy grass to stray,
While over all the village church spire burns—
A shaft of flame in the last beams of day.

Empty and folded are her busy hands;
Her corn and wine and oil are safely stored,
As in the twilight of the year she stands,
And with her gladness seems to thank the Lord.

Thus let us rest awhile from toil and care,
In the sweet sabbath of this autumn calm,
And lift our hearts to heaven in grateful prayer,
And sing with nature our thanksgiving psalm.

Veterans Day 2012

An Elegant Love Paradox

The MP3 below expired on 12-22-2012.
Click here to play the current selection.

Duncan Galloway, vocals (2002)
- Where or When (Rodgers & Hart)

The Lymond Chronicles, Book 5

After almost four months of slacking since I began this book in July, tonight I finished reading this most excellent Book Four of the Lymond Chronicle, "Pawn in Frankincense."

And how could I love my leman without longing?

When the soul has what it loves: it is without longing.

With medieval literary gems such as the preceding two lines strewn about in Book Four, I long to begin reading the next book in the chronicles. So onward to Book Five I am, "The Ringed Castle."

Jiro Persimmons Before Harvest

Picture of Jiro (Fu Yu) Persimmons (Diospyros virginiana)
Moments Before Harvesting
4 November 2012, 1324 Hours
iPhone 4S

October Goes

October Goes
Virna Sheard
1917

October goes, and its colors all pass:
At dawn there's a silver film on the grass,
And the reeds are shining as pipes of glass,

But yesterweek where the cloud waves rolled
Down a wind-swept sky that was grey, and cold,
Sailed the hunter's moon,—a galleon of gold!

And now in the very depth of the night
It is just a little flame, blown and white,
Or a broken-winged moth on a weary flight.

But the steadfast trees at the forest rim,
And the pines in places scented and dim,
Still wait for one hunter, and watch for him.

And the wind in the branches whispers, "Why?"
And the yellow leaves that go rustling by,
Say only, "Remember," and sigh,—and sigh.

This Lovely Autumn Day

An October Day
Esther Nelson Karn (1900)

'Tis sunrise o'er the eastern hills.
All hail! thou lovely morn!
Thy tender blush, thy mellow light
Proclaim "The autumn's born."
All nature is so wondrous fair,
Bedecked with golden sheen—
A fleecy cloudlet, here and there,
In azure sky is seen.

The gold and crimson leaves that give
The trees their autumn gown,
Are scattered by the gentle breeze
Upon the meadows brown.
Tho' summer flow'rs that were so fair
Have faded, one by one,
The goldenrod, in beauty rare,
Her reign has just begun.

The grapevines now are laden with
Sweet clusters, oh, so blue!
And scattered o'er the orchard ground
Are rosy apples, too.
Oh, who could sigh for summer skies,
For summer flowers and trees,
For singing birds and rainbow showers,
'Mid autumn scenes like these?

As sinks the glorious "King of Day"
A down the western sky,
He bathes the trees and hilltops in
A flood of crimson dye.
He sets the westland all aglow
Before he sinks away;
So endeth, as a beauteous dream,
This lovely autumn day.

Autumn Color Chrysanthemum Exhibition

Pictures at a Chrysanthemum Exhibition
Sherman Library & Gardens
Corona Del Mar, CA.
Sunday, 21 October 2012.

Chrysanthemum Exhibition Hall

Full Article...continued »

The Bowers Museum Fabergé Exhibition

Pictures at the Fabergé Exhibition
Bowers Museum
Santa Ana, CA
Friday, 5 October 2012
Saturday, 19 October 2012

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was there also for a talk of her "Pin Collection." Her exhibit started on Saturday, 20 October 2012.

Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, CA

Bowers Museum Featured Exhibit Banners

Full Article...continued »

Georges Bizet's Birthday Anniversary

Georges Bizet
French-born classical and opera composer
(25 October 1838 - 3 June 1875)
The MP3 below expired on 11-11-2012.
Click here to play the current selection.

Alfred Wallenstein and the London Virtuoso Symphony (1959)
- Opera "Carmen" Prelude to Act III (Bizet)

Lenya "Pirate Jenny" Lotte Birthday Anniversary

Lenya Lotte
Mrs. Kurt Weill
Austrian-born singer and actress
She played the ex-KGB agent Rosa Klebb
in "From Russia with Love" (1963)

(18 October 1898 - 27 November 1982)
The MP3 below expired on 10-24-2012.
Click here to play the current selection.

Lenya Lotte (1955)
- Die Moritat von Mackier Messer
(Weill und Brecht)
Die Moritat von Mackier Messer
Kurt Weill und Bertholdt Brecht (1928)

Lenya Lotte
und The Turk Murphy Jazz Band (1955)

Und der Haifisch, der hat Zähne
und die trägt er im Gesicht
und Macheath, der hat ein Messer
doch das Messer sieht man nicht

An 'nem schönen blauen Sonntag
liegt ein toter Mann am Strand
und ein Mensch geht um die Ecke
den man Mackie Messer nennt

Und Schmul Meier bleibt verschwunden
und so mancher reiche Mann
und sein Geld hat Mackie Messer
dem man nichts beweisen kann

Jenny Towler ward gefunden
mit 'nem Messer in der Brust
und am Kai geht Mackie Messer
der von allem nichts gewußt

Und das große Feuer in Soho
sieben Kinder und ein Greis
in der Menge Mackie Messer den
man nicht fragt und der nichts weiss

Und die minderjährige Witwe
deren Namen jeder weiss
wachte auf und war geschändet
Mackie, welches war dein Preis

Getting iTunes 10.7.0.21 to Wi-Fi Syn with iPhone 4S

With the advent of the new iPhone 5 and iOS 6 in September, I obligingly updated my
iPhone 4S and the iPad 3rd generation to iOS 6. Alas, the new iOS eschewed my iPod 3G, a soon-to-be digital relic. It behooved me also to update my Windows XP iTunes to version 10.7.0.21 as the new gatekeeper for iOS 6 apps. It quickly became apparent, however, the latest iTunes version was not intuned with the iPhone 4S sporting the iOS 6 system. It wouldn't recognize it as a legitimate device allowed to do iTunes Wi-Fi Sync. Thus my quest to have all three i-devices, including the problem-child iPhone 4S, wi-fi sync-able to iTunes. Getting all three devices recognized for wi-fi sync through the iTunes gateway is akin to playing the slot machine wanting three "7s" to line up. I finally succeeded in beating the odds playing against iTunes.

Full Article...continued »

David Hughes Birthday Anniverary

David Hughes
English-Welsh operatic tenor
(11 October 1929 - 19 October 1972)
The MP3 below expired on 10-17-2012.
Click here to play the current selection.

David Hughes, tenor (1968)
- You Are My Heart's Delight (Lehar & Lohner)

You Are My Heart's Delight
Lehar & Lohner (1929)

David Hughes, tenor (1968)

You are my heart's delight
And where you are I long to be

You make my darkness bright
When like a star you shine on me

Shine - then my whole life through
Your life divine bid me hope anew

That dreams of mine may by chance come true
And I shall hear you whisper - I love you

In dreams when night is falling
I seem to hear you calling
For you have cast a net around me
Underneath a magic spell have bound me
Yours - yours alone

How wondrous fair is your beautiful hair
Bright lies a summer sky is the light in your eyes
Soft as the turtle dove is the voice of my love

You are my heart's delight
And where you are I long to be

You make my darkness bright
When like a star you shine on me

Shine - then my whole life through
Your life divine bid me hope anew

That dreams of mine may by chance come true
And I shall hear you ever - I love you

iPad 3rd Gen AT&T LTE Data Plan Cancellation Steps

Screen 1 of 3:   Two-Steps to Change or Cancel Current Data Plan

Screen 2 of 3:   Select the Option to Change of Cancel a Current Plan

Screen 3 of 3:   Select the Cancellation Option
or Change to a Different Data Plan
Make your cancel or change selection before the next month's credit card billing cycle. If changes are made after the next billing cyle starts, you are stuck with the bill for the current plan.

iPad 3rd Gen AT&T LTE Data Plan Sign-up Steps

Screen 1 of 5:   An iOS 6 Opening Screen
for the iPad Data Plan Sign-up

I used a different email, username, and password to separate this pay-as-you-go plan from my long-term cyclical U-verse and Internet services.

Screen 2 of 5:   Select a Data Plan and Complete the Required Information

Screen 3 of 5:   Service Agreement Cancellation Instructions
(not very useful info; see next post on data plan change or cancellation)

Full Article...continued »

Stay Jobless, My Friends

Dmitri Shostakovich, a Lyrical Waltzer

Dmitri Shostakovich
Russian-born neo-classical composer and pianist
(25 September 1906 - 9 August 1975)
The MP3 below expired on mm-dd-2012.
Click here to play the current selection.

Riccardo Chailly
and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (1993)
- Lyric Waltz 'from Jazz Suite No. 2' (Shostakovich)
With the arrival of autumn and Shostakovich's birthday, I'd posted a music video for the last days of summer in 2010. The YouTube link is as follows:

Janine Jansen, violin (2003)
Romance (The Gadfly Suite, Op. 97a)
Film Score: The Gadfly (1955)
Dmitri Shostakovich
Click here to view this L'Envoi YouTube.

Relaxing on First Autumn Evening, 2012

"I've hummed the music after thee as well
As changing tones of youth allowed, and fear,
And vexing sprites that choke the upward swell.
But yet, perchance, some bosom it may cheer,
By recollection making thee more dear
To those who've drunk thy music at its spring,
To some, mayhap, who never learned to hear,—
Alas! poor, wretched souls!—its sound may bring
Some semblance of thy strain, some wish to hear thee sing."
--W. M. MacKeracher (1891)

The MP3 below expired on 09-25-2012.
Click here to play the current selection.

Music for This First Autumn Evening
Duet - Canzonetta Sull'aria (Le nozze di Figaro)

Enchanting Dawn of Autumn Days

Enchanting dawn of autumn days,
So clear, so cool, so calm,
O'er all creation breathing forth
Thy sweet refreshing balm!
The woodland dons its brightest hue,
Its rainbow-tinted gown;
Each soft and dreamy breeze that blows
Brings showers of crimson down.
Old earth now groans beneath her load
Of grain and fruited vine,
That thickly hangs o'er orchard wall,
And drips with mellow wine.
The birds fly lazily above,
Bathed in thy misty light,
While on the hillside loll the kine
In morning's gold delight.
Wrapped in thy folds of golden mist,
This restless soul of mine
Is lulled into a blissful dream
Of peace and love divine.

-- Ester Nelson Karn (1900)

The First Day of Autumn, 2012

September 22, 2012
1010 Hours PDT
Current Temperture and Condition:
71.2° F | 22° C
Clear

Astronomy:

September 22, 2012       Rise:        Set:
Actual Time            6:52 AM PDT  7:00 PM PDT
Civil Twilight         6:26 AM PDT  7:26 PM PDT
Nautical Twilight      5:55 AM PDT  7:56 PM PDT
Astronomical Twilight  5:24 AM PDT  8:27 PM PDT
Moon                   2:08 AM PDT  No Moon Set

Length of Visible Light 12h 59m
Length of Day 12h 07m
Tomorrow will be 2m 24s shorter.

Waxing Crescent, 49% of the Moon is Illuminated.

The Philosophical iOS 6 Siri

I updated my Apple i-gadgets to the new iOS 6 yesterday. Supposedly, Siri has also received further education as my personal assistant.

On the wonders wrought by "Miss Hunter's College on the Hudson River, New York, for young ladies of good families", I asked Siri, our poised and ebullient graduate, this question:

L': What is the meaning of life?
Siri: I Kant answer that. Ha Ha.

Touché! Very clever, Siri.

Note: "I Kant" is Immanuel Kant.

William Boyce Birthday Anniversary

William Boyce
Venerable English-born 18th century composer,
who, like Beethoven, became deaf in later life
(11 September 1711 - 7 February 1779)
The MP3 below expired on 09-22-2012.
Click here to play the current selection.

William Boughton
and The English String Orchestra (1996)
- Symphony No. 1 in B flat major: I. Allegro (Boyce)

Sin's Bonds Severed

Dear S:

I read and viewed your referred video sermon on, "It's Friday, Sunday's Coming." I deferred replying in part due to an epistolary inertia; this refined expression I owe to Harry James. Also in thinking the better, I should not sport with your kind intentions for sharing this article by offering crude and premature remarks. Some coherent thoughts have finally emerged today.

Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" I have not seen, although I own an unopened DVD version of the movie. For its portrayal of the last dozen hours of Christ leading up to his crucifixion, I recall this movie was generally well received. The referred sermon through its tenancy with the "The Passion", however adroitly elicited resounding amens from the fold, I weighed it, and found wanting.

Given the focus of the sermon centered on juxtaposing the many iterations of "It's Friday, Sunday's Coming" with selected imageries from the "Passion", it could never free itself from the snare of the latter. The result then was almost a haughty yet inchoate explanation on God's word to the affect the "cross of Christ would not be made void."

As Spurgeon insightfully considered, "No art like the art displayed in our salvation, no cunning workmanship like that beheld in the righteousness of the saints. Justification has engrossed learned pens in all ages of the church, and will be the theme of admiration in eternity." So it is, cinematic arts and any humanistic expressions, sacred or profane, can never triumph above or mock God's providential grace and promises. On that ordained Friday, the first to enter into God's kingdom was one of two criminals being crucified alongside Jesus. Hanging on the cross beside, our Savior said to the repentant man, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” The glory of the cross and the salvation of the first condemned soul beyond physical death began on that day at Golgotha.

In the resurrection of Christ, there was put forth nothing short of divine grace and power. In His resurrection, as in our salvation, Christ has overcome death; so that He makes His own to share in the righteousness He won. By His power, believers are too now resurrected into a new life. Finally, by Christ's resurrection, it is ensured there will be a glorious resurrection of those whom He called by name.

"Sin's bonds severed we're delivered;
Christ has bruised the serpent's head;
Death no longer is the stronger
Hell itself is captive led,
Christ has risen from death's prison;
O'er the tomb He light has shed."

To Him be glory forever!

L'

- a L'envoi iPad 3 post

Humor Me, Crazy

Antonin Dvořák
Czech-born late Romantic classical composer
(8 September 1841 - 1 May 1904)
The MP3 below expired on 09-11-2012.
Click here to play the current selection.

Crazy Otto, honky-tonk piano (1960)
- Humoresque (after Dvořák)

Harvard Law Review - Obama Born in Kenya

Alleged 1991 Harvard Law Review Year Book
Statements of Fact:
A. The supposed Harvard Law told the truth that Obama was born in Kenya, Africa.
or
B. Obama told the truth that he was born in Hawaii, USA.
Either A or B is true. Both cannot be true.

For All the Saints

On this Labor Day, a William Walsham How hymn, "For All the Saints", comes to mind. Ralph Vaughan William re-arranged the hymn to his Sine Nomine setting. This is one of the most beloved hymns in Christendom.

The first stanza of the hymn reads as follows:

For all the saints, who from their labours rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.

Obama SUX

"Obama Welcome to SUX - We Did Build This."
(SUX is the 3-letter airport code for Sioux City, Iowa)
1 September 2012
Notice the words "welcome to" are in much smaller print than "Obama SUX". A cleverly word juxtaposed double entendre by the Iowans who built this facility.

Blue Moon, You Know What I Am Here For

The Last Blue Moon* of 2012 Until 2015
Date and Time of Picture: 31 August 2012; 20:38:38 PDT
... to take your picture as an object of affection for the Rodgers & Hart ballad.

*A rare two full moons in a month.

Johnny Mann's Birthday

Johnny Mann
composer, arranger, and choral conductor
born: 30 August 1928
The MP3 below expired on 09-07-2012.
Click here to play the current selection.

The Johnny Mann Singers (1967)
- This Is My Song (Chaplin)

A Blogger Notice

I had not been paying attention to the number of posts made over the years, until recently. Yesterday when I signed on to the Blogger app, this line in small print caught my eye. It read as follows:

"1,000 Posts, last published on Aug 28, 2012"

Swiftly Flow the Days

28 August

Dear S:

I was agreeably pleased at getting an e-letter from you; it arrived on my birthday no less! The last time I saw Eli, he was being cuddled in the warmth and security of his mater. In the sentiments of Tevye, "sunrise, sunset, swiftly flow the days...". Alas, the ever flowing tide of time does not tarry in the circle of life. Generations go and generations grow.

It's heartwarming to read Eli trundled his first exploratory steps with the aid of an elder's walker. Truly, only Eli's loved ones could have comprehended with affections his mirth. Perhaps at his next milestone you could send a picture as well.

Jesus has a special interest in children, as they are precious to Him. My supplication is your family and others in Eli's circle shall, with the steadfastness of prayer, love, and Christian teaching, stand by him when life's happiness and sorrows to come.

Our plead and thanksgiving rest on His grace. Give my love to all.

L'

p.s.
A friend from Alaska sent me a natal day greeting with a witty reminder, "the hairs on my head are all numbered". It is ordained should my hairs fall as the sands of time. To have my head shaved in these listless summer days is an inviting thought. Such thoughts I could bare with ease. Would I then as Li Bai reposing under a leafy canopy:

Gently I stir a white feather fan,
With open shirt sitting in a green wood.
I take off my cap and hang it on a jutting stone;
A wind from the pine-trees trickles on my bare head.

Rebecca Clarke Birthday Anniversary

Rebecca Clarke
English Neo-Classical composer and violist
Best known for her chamber music works
(27 August 1886 - 13 October 1979)

The MP3 below expired on 08-29-2012.
Click here to play the current selection.

Daniel Hope, violin (pizzicato)
and Sophia Raham, piano (2007)
- Chinese Puzzle (Clarke)

Note: Eric Coates, English light music composer, was also born on 27 August 1886, and coincidentally, a violist as Rebecca Clarke.

Precursor of the Democratic Party

He Ain't Dan Quayle That's Why

The liberal mainstream media don't harp on our sitting President when he makes gaffes. He'd wanted to be the President of a 57-United States. Instead, he got elected as president of these 50 states only. And recently, on 22 August, he misspelled "Ohio" while campaigning in that state. These glaring faux pas committed by one who had been the president of the prestigious Harvard Law Review and a learned Constitutional Law professor. The liberals shrugged off these embarrassments. Some even went as far as calling the real photo of Obama misspelling "Ohio" a digitized lie (cf. Washington Post's apology).

The staunch defense of this liberal's poster-child President boils down to this: Because Obama ain't Dan Quayle (who being white and conservative). He is the anointed one of the Democratic Party and its apparatchiks. This President is viscerating America, transforming and folding it into the morass of EU's democratic socialism. Worst yet, how does a full fledged People's Republic of the United States sound?

By the waters of the Potamac,
there we sat down and wept,
when we remembered the United States of America.

A Beautiful Evening on Debussy's Birthday

Claude Debussy
French Neo-Classical composer
His 150 birthday today!
(22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918)
The MP3 below expired on 08-26-2012.
Click here to play the current selection.

- Beau Soir (Debussy)
~Debussy wrote this piece to the setting of Bourget's poem,
"Beau Soir" (Beautiful Evening).

Beau Soir

Lorsque au soleil couchant les rivières sont roses.
Et qu'un tiède frisson court sur les champs de blé,
Un conseil d'être heureux semble sortir des choses
Et monter vers le coeur troublé;
Un conseil de goûter le charme d'être au monde
Cependant qu'on est jeune et que le soir est beau,
Car nous nous en allons, comme s'en va cette onde:
Elle à la mer, - Nous au tombeau!

--"Les aveux, En voyage, VII-Beau Soir" de Paul Bourget

Excuses-in-Chief

Memo to Mitt Romney

To: Mitt Romney
Subject: Releasing Your Tax Records
Date: 20 August 2012

If President Obama continues to insist on seeing your income tax records, do it on one condition. That is, if said president would also release his real and authentic US birth certificate.

There Be None of Beauty's Daughters

"There be none of Beauty's daughters
With a magic like Thee;
And like music on the waters
Is thy sweet voice to me:
When, as if its sound were causing
The charméd ocean's pausing,
The waves lie still and gleaming,
And the lull'd winds seem dreaming..."
-- Lord Byron

The MP3 below expired on 08-21-2012.
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Beegie Adair, jazz piano trio (2012)
- What a Wonderful World (Thiel & Weiss)
Enjoy the summer!

Finished Garage Cabinetry

After two months toiling in the sweltering summer heat - with temperature hovering at or above 100°F/38°C - the garage remodeling project has come to an end. With the upper and lower cabinet trees secured in place, the last task to do was the work bench. In all, this project has been very satisfactory. More important, I now have more space to fit two Toyota 4Runner SUVs, figuratively speaking, with clearance enough to open the lower cabinet doors.

With this remodeling project, I discarded a truck load of unwanted things and books. Now I can, again with resignation, put all the "I want to save it for now" stuff in the upper 21 cabinets.

Cécile Chaminade Birthday Anniversary

Cécile Louise Stéphanie Chaminade
French-born pianist and composer
(8 August 1857 - 13 April 1944)
The MP3 below expired on 08-12-2012.
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Stephen Hough, piano (1999)
- Pierrette: Air de ballet (Chaminade)

Une fois hors de la nature, jamais je n'emprunterai
Mon apparence physique à une chose naturelle
Je revêtirai plutôt une forme comme celle que les orfèvres grecs font sourdre
De l'or martelé ou de l'émaillure d'or
Pour faire s'éveiller un Empereur ensommeillé
Ou je me saisrai d'un rameau d'or pour chanter
Aux Seigneurs et aux Dames de Byzance
Ce qui s'est passé, se passe ou arrivera

-- "Sailing to Byzantium" de W.B. Yeats

Amazon Is Not Membership Friendly

I just got off chat with an Amazon representative about the company has intentionally removed the "Sign Out" button from the user's account. Short of closing the desktop browser, one has to lie as being "Not (my account name), Click Here" to sign out. The representative more or less said that was the case. It's being done for account security reasons. Horsefeathers!

Amazon's specious argument for effecting this indirect and confusing way for a customer to exit his account is a non sequitur. What is more secure for a desktop user to sign off his account web page than by him having an easy and direct access to the "Log Out" button?

To wit, General McAuliffe: "Nuts!"

An important side note:

I don't even bother with the Kindle Fire built-in Amazon store app. There are no provisions whatsoever in this tablet app to sign off the Amazon account by lying or otherwise. One has to go to the Kindle Fire device setting to clear the app's data and to force stop it from running to log out of the account.

Vote for the American

Another Sign of the Times

He Ain't Government Motors

A Sign of the Times

Sigmund Romberg's Birthday

Sigmund Romberg
Austro-Hungarian American
Renown Operetta Composer
(29 July 1887 - 9 November 1951)

The MP3 below expired on 08-07-2012.
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Stanley Black, piano (1959)
- Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise (Romberg)
Alternatively available:
Click here to view
a L'envoi YouTube of this same Romberg piano rendition.

A Field for Chopin

Perhaps when you listen to a Nocturne (a small form in classical music), most likely the name Chopin would come to mind. It was really John Field who first elevated the Nocturne to the status later achieved by Chopin and other great romatic composers.

John Field
Irish composer and pianist
(26 July 1782 – 23 January 1837)
The MP3 below expired on 07-29-2012.
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Benjamin Frith, piano (1999)
- Nocturne No. 5 in B Flat Major (Field)

How Beautiful Night Is with You

Robert Farnon
Canadian-born conductor, light music composer
and strings arranger par excellence
(24 July 1917 - 23 April 2005)
The MP3 below expired on 07-26-2012.
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- How Beautiful Is Night (Farnon)

How Beautiful Is Night
Composer: Robert Farnon
Vocalist: Catrina Valente (1972)
A Bossa Nova arrangement

When I see the night
My heart is lost in flight
To some enchanted land beyond the blue
And oh, how beautiful is night with you

Stars awake, and rise, and smile
Before my eyes
I’m in a wonderland
I never knew
And oh, how beautiful is night with you

The moon is new
And love holds me fast
And you are mine at last

We kiss and then
My heart sings again

When I see the night
My dreams will hold you tight
I know I’ll find you
When each day is through
And oh, how beautiful is night with you

[Guitar Interlude]

I’m in a wonderland
I never knew
And oh, how beautiful is night with you


Click here to view a 2010 YouTube I posted in which Farnon conducted his beautiful strings arrangement of a ubiquitous Gershwin tune.

Birthday of The Fiddler on the Roof

Isaac Stern
World renown violinist
(21 July 1920 - 22 September 2001)
Isaac Stern, violin (1990) -
Greensleeves (English Traditional)

Click here to view this L'Envoi YouTube.

A High School Linsanity Photo

A Jeremy Lin High School Years Photo