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May 30, 2012 11:15:41 GMT -5
Post by joew on May 30, 2012 11:15:41 GMT -5
I really liked Doc Watson's performances of traditional music. Bought a couple of his records back in the Sixties.
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May 30, 2012 22:29:30 GMT -5
Post by BoatBabe on May 30, 2012 22:29:30 GMT -5
I was already familiar with his music when I first saw Doc Watson live in 1981 in Boston at a coffee/pastries shop that turned into a smokin'/drinkin' place after dark. He was accompanied by his son, Merle, who died four years later in a tractor roll-over.
I loved Doc Watson! He was always a Stand-Up Gentleman, and a Fine Musician.
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May 30, 2012 22:40:55 GMT -5
Post by doctork on May 30, 2012 22:40:55 GMT -5
I know he was elderly and lived a full life and all, but still...it is a damned shame. And a great loss.
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May 30, 2012 22:44:34 GMT -5
Post by doctork on May 30, 2012 22:44:34 GMT -5
On the other hand, what do you think these pastors are thinking with this snake handling foolishness? abcnews.go.com/US/serpent-handling-west-virginia-pastor-dies-snake-bite/story?id=16459455#.T8bl4MXrFUYThis West Virginia pastor lost his own father to the same thing - snake handling. I am a Christian too but my mamma always told me that "The Lord helps those that help themselves." And He didn't give me a brain so I could do stupid stuff, either. I loved living and working in West Virginia and I think much of its bad rep is undeserved. However, there is a reason that stereotypes develop. Maybe I should have put this under "Stupid Pet Tricks."
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Jul 3, 2012 14:17:10 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Jul 3, 2012 14:17:10 GMT -5
Another damned shame, despite his advanced years. Will the world remain intact without Mayberry and its sheriff? We all grew up with that show and then Matlock, so life will seem empty now.
Of course this one is close to home for us since Mayberry (Mount Airy, NC) is very close to our North Carolina home, and Andy always remained a hometown boy.
Not only that, Don Knotts was a native of Morgantown, West Virginia where we used to live. after he passed the main drag was renamed Don Knotts Boulevard.
Shoot! At least we still have Opie. we'll go on.
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Jul 3, 2012 19:26:40 GMT -5
Post by Jane on Jul 3, 2012 19:26:40 GMT -5
I feel sad. Watching Andy, Aunt Bea et al actually got me through some difficult days. I still think that if there is a heaven, that's what I want it to be.
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Jul 3, 2012 22:55:08 GMT -5
Post by BoatBabe on Jul 3, 2012 22:55:08 GMT -5
Me, too.
Andy taught us a lot of things.
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Jul 4, 2012 0:45:23 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Jul 4, 2012 0:45:23 GMT -5
"Sad" is exactly how I feel. My heart hurts.
Thanks for the clip BB.
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Sept 22, 2012 21:23:44 GMT -5
Post by BoatBabe on Sept 22, 2012 21:23:44 GMT -5
I just stumbled across this clip of Doc's funeral:
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Sept 23, 2012 6:40:30 GMT -5
Post by joew on Sept 23, 2012 6:40:30 GMT -5
I just stumbled across this clip of Doc's funeral: Interesting. It's not the same Doc Watson as the one whose passing we noted a few months ago. He was Arthel Lane Watson.
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Sept 23, 2012 12:23:00 GMT -5
Post by BoatBabe on Sept 23, 2012 12:23:00 GMT -5
I just stumbled across this clip of Doc's funeral: Interesting. It's not the same Doc Watson as the one whose passing we noted a few months ago. He was Arthel Lane Watson. Well, that explains a lot! ;D I still loved the music and funeral procession.
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Sept 23, 2012 18:01:15 GMT -5
Post by joew on Sept 23, 2012 18:01:15 GMT -5
… I still loved the music and funeral procession. Me too.
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Sept 26, 2012 19:28:16 GMT -5
Post by BoatBabe on Sept 26, 2012 19:28:16 GMT -5
Man, Andy Williams was so much more than "Moon River!"
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Sept 26, 2012 20:17:08 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Sept 26, 2012 20:17:08 GMT -5
Yeah, some losses hurt more than others.
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Oct 5, 2012 9:57:14 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Oct 5, 2012 9:57:14 GMT -5
Andy Williams wrote a book called "Moon River and Me" and he recorded an audio-book version of it.
While listening to "50's on 5" (my favorite Sirius-XM station) they played Andy's "Cant Get Used to Losing You" which happened to be one of my favorite songs. After the song, the DJ mentioned that the Book Review Channel would be playing the audio book of "Moon River and Me" every day this week at 10 am ET and 1 pm PT. This was about 9:45 ET so I tuned right in to the audio-book. It was really good, quite well-done.
Andy Williams was a class act. Can't get used to losing you indeed.
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Nov 12, 2012 10:37:08 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Nov 12, 2012 10:37:08 GMT -5
I meant to post something like this yesterday, but I re-discovered this today:
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved, and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.
- John McCrae
I watched PBS' "National Veteran's Day Concert" last night, excellent as always. I love the medley with the band playing the hymns of each of the armed services, but it always makes me cry.
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Nov 12, 2012 11:23:59 GMT -5
Post by BoatBabe on Nov 12, 2012 11:23:59 GMT -5
Yes, I watched it, too, Doc. Excellent. And it always makes me cry, too.
This isn't that same broadcast, but it has all the songs:
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Nov 12, 2012 14:41:44 GMT -5
Post by gailkate on Nov 12, 2012 14:41:44 GMT -5
Do you remember when the VFW used to hand out paper poppies on Veterans' Day? I remember as a small child being told what it meant and solemnly putting the poppy on my coat lapel. It's a symbol I miss in these days of blockbuster sales and people lining up before dawn to get the best deals.
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Nov 12, 2012 16:15:12 GMT -5
Post by Jane on Nov 12, 2012 16:15:12 GMT -5
I just got back fromt the Veterans' Day program at Tom and Anna's school. I always weep. The children are sweet and so solemn; the old soldiers are touching (WW II vets always make me cry). A 90-yr-old ex-Marine who had been at Iwo Jima spoke. It's all just too awful to think about war and how little was ever accomplished by all the deaths. I think particularly of VietNam and our present wars, which are endless and ultimately change nothing.
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Nov 12, 2012 17:53:07 GMT -5
Post by booklady on Nov 12, 2012 17:53:07 GMT -5
I do not remember poppies. I remember this poem, first read when I was 12 or so, and found horrifying and haunting to the point that I never forgot the last line.
DULCE ET DECORUM EST
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!---An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling, And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime... Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--- My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.
(Wilfred Owen, 8 October 1917 - March, 1918)
I also remember "Testament of Youth," by Vera Brittain. So many people just never recovered from the horrors of WWI.
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Nov 12, 2012 20:08:58 GMT -5
Post by gailkate on Nov 12, 2012 20:08:58 GMT -5
Oh, God, yes, Wilfred Owen. This started me thinking of other great WWI poets and I found this site. Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon are the ones I remember best but I may look up some of the names I don't know listed here. www.firstworldwar.com/poetsandprose/index.htm But that "Gas! Quick,boys!" finally made me understand what we learned in history about why poison gas was banned. (We hope.)
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Nov 12, 2012 20:11:36 GMT -5
Post by Jane on Nov 12, 2012 20:11:36 GMT -5
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Nov 12, 2012 20:15:34 GMT -5
Post by Jane on Nov 12, 2012 20:15:34 GMT -5
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Nov 12, 2012 21:02:12 GMT -5
Post by booklady on Nov 12, 2012 21:02:12 GMT -5
"Out, out--" is the worst horrible terrible poem of all.
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Nov 12, 2012 21:04:37 GMT -5
Post by booklady on Nov 12, 2012 21:04:37 GMT -5
Very cute and sweet-looking little girl, Jane!
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Nov 12, 2012 21:12:00 GMT -5
Post by jspnrvr on Nov 12, 2012 21:12:00 GMT -5
"Poppy Day" was sponsored by the VFW and the American Legion, in association with Memorial Day, "Flanders Field", and so on. Veterans' Day is for the living. It's a bit late, but here. As it says, not all the vets walked upright: drgrumpyinthehouse.blogspot.com/2012/11/veterans-day.html
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Nov 12, 2012 21:12:43 GMT -5
Post by joew on Nov 12, 2012 21:12:43 GMT -5
At Halifax Airport, as I was heading home, a representative of a veterans' post was offering poppies on pins. They were somewhat more substantial than paper. I gave $5 and took one. Yesterday I wore it on the lapel of my coat. It was the only one I saw. I don't know why or when the custom faded.
When I was a college freshman, my Latin professor read us "Dulce et Decorum Est," which I had never heard before. What a shock that conclusion was!
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Nov 12, 2012 21:28:00 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Nov 12, 2012 21:28:00 GMT -5
Neither my father nor my father-in-law ever talked much about their experiences in WWII. My f-i-l not at all, as he was an infantryman involved in the Normandy invasions. My dad only enough to say that he thought being on Ice Patrol in the North Atlantic was better than a fox hole.
Yesterday I watched "A Night to Remember," the 1958 movie about the Titanic sinking, much better in black and white than the 1999 James Cameron full color version. At the end there was a caption noting that the 1500 had not died in vain as ships now carry plenty of lifeboats for all aboard, and there is constant Ice Patrol in the North Atlantic to protect ships plying that route.
Last night's Veteran's Day Concert took note of the fact that this is the first Veteran's Day to be celebrated with no living (US?) veteran of WWI. Even the WWII generation is passing on.
I don't have any trouble seeing the value of WWII and stopping the Nazis, even at the cost of war. I've toured Yad Vashem in Israel, The Memorial to the 600,000 Deported in Paris, and one of the concentration camps in Czechoslovakia. The rest - not so much. In Afghanistan it seemed like the big military contributions were building roads, schools, drilling wells, running immunization clinics, agricultural and economic dvelopment.
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Nov 12, 2012 21:51:48 GMT -5
Post by BoatBabe on Nov 12, 2012 21:51:48 GMT -5
"Poppy Day" was sponsored by the VFW and the American Legion, in association with Memorial Day, "Flanders Field", and so on. Veterans' Day is for the living. It's a bit late, but here. As it says, not all the vets walked upright: drgrumpyinthehouse.blogspot.com/2012/11/veterans-day.html That was a Great story, Jay! Thanks for posting that.
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Nov 13, 2012 11:01:29 GMT -5
Post by booklady on Nov 13, 2012 11:01:29 GMT -5
"Poppy Day" was sponsored by the VFW and the American Legion, in association with Memorial Day, "Flanders Field", and so on. Veterans' Day is for the living. It's a bit late, but here. As it says, not all the vets walked upright: drgrumpyinthehouse.blogspot.com/2012/11/veterans-day.html Terrific story, Jay. Thank you.
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