aaaaand we're back

sorta. the external soundcard arrived today, so i can record in stereo. not sure if it's the soundcard or something else, but my laptop has suddenly become very slow. it's been acting a bit strange lately anyway, hopefully RTO can look at it while he's home on leave some day. anyhoo. records.

make it easy on yourself - Burt Bacharach: this was the record that made me break down and get the external sound thing.... you just don't mess with Bacharach and I could not get it to record both channels. it's fixed, for now. There's quite a few songs on here from "Promises, Promises" a musical that he did with Hal David, not sure why I'm not familiar with it, it must have had a really lame story.

Starlight Piano - Andre Previn and His Orchestra: I tend to pick up anything i find by Andre Previn. I just really like his piano arranging. although I have yet to sit down and listen to Streetcar Named Desire.

snoopy, week 1

he looks normal, if dirty, from the front, here you can see the damage. I'm kinda surprised the beret is still on, it's not from a lack of trying on Roxie's part.

accident

I was so proud of myself for not getting hair dye all over the bathroom Sunday, for a change. then last night I noticed this spot.




i checked him over, no cuts, so I'm fairly certain he has a new spot of Feria chocolate cherry. yay! this picture really doesn't do it justice, it's much brighter in real life.

chats with RTO

Gwynnifer: anyhoo, in other news, I notice i get distracted easily by trolls.

RTOTrainer: no?

Gwynnifer: andn timmyb admitted to being an ass.

RTOTrainer: say it ain't so.

RTOTrainer: he's classic online psychology.

Gwynnifer: ja, and it usually happens late at night when i should be sleeping. so i'm thinking there might be a connection there.

Gwynnifer: i need to set a rule. Maggie Katzen shall not comment after 1:30 a.m.

Gwynnifer: unless it's funny.

RTOTrainer: right

Gwynnifer: which it may not actually be funny because again, of the sleep deprivation.

Gwynnifer: so probably should just stick with "no comment"

RTOTrainer: possibly

cookbook, cookbook, cookbook!

ha ha haaaaaa. yeah, I've picked up a couple cookbooks for non-cookers. Cook Something by Mitchell Davis, which is where I got the hummus and miso soup recipes. I like the way it's arranged as well, all the recipes are in alphabetical order and there's an index that lists everything in different categories that aren't typical, such as lunch, dinner, party, half hour or less, before it grows mold and i can cross-reference it to narrow down what i might want to try (what's on the comfort food list that takes less than an hour to make? Home Fries, among other things). and if I make something I like most recipes list other recipes in the book that are related. Either they would go well together or have some odd ingredients in common (because how many uses for tahini are there really?) had miso soup for dinner again, overdid it on the nori this time. maybe next time i'll get it juuuuuust right.

one more thing....

on the list of foods i make now.

Miso soup. I don't know that I would call this cooking, though, it's just a matter of throwing everything into a pot and simmering. I have enough miso paste for a lot more batches and according to the cookbook it will keep for a long time. so notes for next time:

more and smaller bits of seaweed.

i want these scallions, not these, cause they're for garnish. if I'd read the recipe I'd have known that.

and be more careful next time when adding the tofu so that half the soup doesn't end up on the cooktop. same goes for mushrooms.

finally, saturday records....

getting started late cause I got out today, of course I waited until the weather turned ugly. drove into a small hail storm. (less than pea size, I think the car is fine) and it's cold outside now. i think i have everything to attempt some miso soup later. anyway.... records.

Fool on the Hill - Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66: somebody once told me if I loved Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, I would love Sergio Mendes. They were right. I love the title track, makes me want to add it to my imaginary lounge act repetoire. (so, so far it's James Bond movies themes and Fool on the Hill. and maybe Lush Life, in case you were wondering) nice cover of Scarborogh Fair on here too.

Just for You - Peter Nero Trio: everything on this one seems to be pretty peppy. anyhoo, the previous owner of this album made some notes. It might as Well be Spring is good. written across the top of the back cover is, "good piano listening - not too good for background" yeah, probably. LOL. sorry, he just worked that Pagliacci (Vesti la giubba) line into Love for Sale.

Music of Arabia - Hanaan: warning! I'm about to ramble. as this one was playing I kept thinking, "I've either heard enough arab music that I'm recognizing some tunes or I already have this on cd." turns out I have it on cd, it's just called Night in the Casbah. and the cd has no credits so it's funny that I've stumbled on this. there are 3 tracks that didn't make it to cd though so I'm still recording this one. found a little bit about Hanaan here. and nobody seems to know when this was recorded, all I've been able to find is "196?" album cover says:

"...She was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and studied music and voice there. Still in her twenties, she has had a career filled with diverse opportunites to sing to many different types of audiences. In Lebanon, she starred in an Arabian-language film. Numerous recordings in her own tongue as well as in French and Spanish repertory have been issued in Lebanon, Egypt, and in South America in which last she was phenomenally successful during two long tours. She has been seen on television in South America, and her voice has come over the radio via the Voice of America, London's B.B.C., Arabian Nights programs etc. ..."

OH! even better, I've just noticed that the album cover and the label on the album do not agree on what songs are on each side. I would have gotten them completely wrong if I'd looked at the label. (it's pretty easy to recognize Shway Shway even if you don't speak the language)

changing subjects I also figured out the stereo thing. seems the jack is very particular. so now i'm getting stereo sound. don't think I'll be re-recording much. maaaaaybe Queen's Night at the Opera since that's the only other album I've noticed the lack of stereo sound on. I don't know.... this is going to be a long project. I'm not quite through the first cubby of records and I figure there's at least three more cubby's worth of records to go.

Strictly Belly Dancing - Eddie "The Sheik" Kochak: errrr, apparently Belly Dancing for excercise was popular in the early seventies. and Ibrahim Farrah was somehow involved in making this record. i'm trying to figure out why I recognize that name. oh well. it's an entertaining album. bullet points from the back cover:

• Now a complete album with music for an entire belly dance show!
• All the right tempos of the mid-east belly dance!
• the Eddie Kochak sound with the "Ameraba" exciting dance thythms!
• Fast/slow/rhumba tempos chiftitelle tempos/takseems
• No interruptions-just plays on for your own show!
• have fun and belly dance yourself to health!

we get mail....

forgot to mention I got this in the mail earlier in the week.



it's a nice pin. and it came with a foofy certificate. I don't know if RTO sent them to anyone else... well, not a spouse one anyway. (though I don't know what happened to Nicole ;D) Details about the program can be found here.

once again....

Chase bank shows what slugs they are. as if eliminating the grace period on my credit card wasn't enough, they apparently haven't reported my payment activity to the credit bureaus since September 2006. nice.

friday recording

Suite for Chamber Orchestra and Jazz Piano Trio - Claude Bolling (pianist/composer) and The English Chamber Orchestra, Jean-Pierre Rampal, dir.: I liked the other thing so much I figured I'd give this a try. I don't like it as much it's just not as fun.

and to make it even better..... I had to start over on recording the second side two times because animals kept messing it up... first time Roxie bonked her head on the table, second time Carlos STEPPED ON THE TURNTABLE. just planted his big paw on the record. *sigh* finally got it done.

The Moods of Mantovani - Longines Symphonette Society: Mantovani seems to only have one mood really. mellow. not that there's anything wrong with that.

Golden Gems - Billy Vaughn: stuff, stuff, more stuff, nothing's jumping out at me here, it's from the Box o' Records, a lot of them have been lately but I've been forgetting to note it. oh well. the table is extra sensitive today or something, I had to redo the last track because I clapped my hands at Carlos, bumped the table and made the album skip. yay!

You Only Live Twice - Music composed, arranged and conducted by John Barry: Nancy Sinatra sings the title song. it's always interesting to hear where else the title melody pops up.

Koto Vivaldi - The New Koto Ensemble of Tokyo: it's the Four Seasons. played on kotos. which works well.

recording...

Floyd Cramer gets Organ-ized: um, yeah, I was starting to wonder where the title for this one came from because on the first side I was not hearing organ. Unless it was an organ that sounded very much like a piano, which I don't think they had when this album was made. Second side is all organ. hmmmm. dude couldn't record more than six songs on the organ? I don't know, maybe he didn't want to, I don't blame him, his style didn't really carry over well onto the organ. mom used to get peeved with me when I'd tell her she'd been playing the organ too much and her piano accompaniment was suffering for it. they are just two different critters, okay? I know they look very similar what with all those black and white keys, but they're different.

Luau at Waikiki - Ray Kinney, Master of Ceremonies; presenting: Harold Hakuole and The Villagers, Nalani, The Kuuipos: oh, Recorded Live at the Long House at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. wow, do they still do these? so cheesey. aw, everyone gets to sing Aloha Oe at the end.

if your into that kind of thing....

PBS premieres the recent Met production of Mozart's Magic Flute tomorrow. or whenever your local station decides to run it. I think it's a slightly shortened (to make it more "family friendly")version of it the Met broadcast live to select theaters earlier this month. The production was designed by Julie Taymor (she of Lion King fame). The pics of it at the PBS site look interesting.

snoopy pic

I'll try to get at least a weekly pic of him, for as long as he survives. Roxie has almost got his beret off.

today's record (s)?

this may be the only one cause I think I'm gonna try to get away from the computer for a while after this, watch the news, get some knitting done. eh, we'll see.

Sonic Seasonings - Walter Carlos: no idea where this came from, I might have thought it looked interesting. and it is, but not in a pleasantly surprising way. 2 discs, each season gets a side. It's mainly a bunch of electronics noises. Winter is finishing up right now... lots o' wolves howling. from the notes:

All this is simply to explain what SONIC SEASONINGS is all about: It is an aural tapestry created by the imagination and expertise of Walter Carlos, from impressionistic and expressionistic experiences of Nature. It contains natural sounds, recorded in Quad as realistically as possible and subtly mixed with electronic and instrumental sounds in an effort to create four evolving, undulating cycles evocative of the moods of earth's seasons. We have manipulated these sounds - electronically orchestrated them, so to speak - into an amalgam of the natural and the synthetic.

apparently Mr. Carlos also did some movie scoring. OMG I just pulled up the IMDB bio for, uh, W. Carlos. sorry, didn't mean to alarm ya there. You can visit Wendy's homepage here. some interesting stuff there if you're curious about synthesizers or electronic music in general. I think I have some other albums.... we'll see.

ha, I'm sneeking some more in.....

Bacharach Songbook - Various Artists: just a weird mix of people and songs, like Columbia went, "Hey! Bacharach is popular, let's throw together an album!" for example side one has Ray Coniff & The Singers, Aretha Franklin, Andre Kostelanetz & His Orchestra, Charlie Byrd and Jerry Vale.

Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano - Claude Bolling, Pianist/Composer, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Flutist: I picked this one up because in college a friend of mine and i used to mangle this in our free time. mainly cause I was always sight reading. anyway, it's some pleasant fluffy stuff.

pictures....

a little something I knit last week. or a couple weeks ago, I don't remember.

christmas present from RTO. It's a pony!

and finally, I got flowers yesterday.

nosey checkout boy

NCB: pickin' up some odds and ends today?

MK: uh, yeah.

NCB: you make lemonade with that?

MK: huh? oh, no I use it for hummus

NCB: it's just I've never seen anyone buy that monster size bottle of lemon juice.

records for today

Byrd in Hawaii - Jerry Byrd with Guest Vocals by Nina Kealiiwahamana: No. 2 in the Sweet Sweet Steel Guitar Series. I may have to find No. 1. oooh, just noticed the Steel Guitar Player's Creed on the back:

I play the most EXPRESSIVE,
the most VERSATILE,
and the most INDIVIDUAL

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT IN THE
WHOLE WIDE WORLD.

I play the ROMANTIC STEEL GUITAR.

yes, yes you do.

Young and Warm and Wonderful - Peter Nero: all kinds of things I like here, Secret Love, All the Things You Are, The Way You Look Tonight.

Continental Encores - Montovani: I'm starting to put some tunes and names together. huh, so that's April in Portugal.

night owl records....

thought I'd get a couple in before I conk out.

Viva! - Percy Faith and his Orchestra: Mexican music. more La Cucaracha. oh, and Ciapanecas, my voice teacher in high school would use that for a warm up. I didn't realize that until last night, even sang the word though I never knew what it was, still don't, but at least I know it's the title of the song.

Ten Trumpets and 2 guitars - Pete Rugolo and orchestra: this one is interesting just for the copious liner notes. it's like a play-by -play for each song. for example, for Struttin' with Some Barbecue:

Pete Candoli (L) plays the introduction. Then Cappy Lewis, (R), takes up the tune. He's followed by Mannie Klein, (L).

The two guitars have two bars apiece - first Roberts (L) - then Viola (R). Now comes an ensemble answering part with section A (L) playing open answered by section B (R) in mutes.

More guitars left and right and then the Armstrong chorus scored by Pete for the full ensemble. Notice the sly and amusing interpolation, at the end, of the Louis Armstrong's theme Sleepy Time down South.

also in the liner notes is a description of what a flugelhorn is and a diagram of how everyone was arranged in the studio. You can read more about Pete Rugolo at Wikipedia. looks like he did some work scoring TV and films. one of the songs on the album is Trumpets at Large (Bachelor at Large Theme) written for the Tab Hunter show.

hey! the sun did come out tomorrow!

today has been lovely. I took Roxie for a walk. we were both mudballs by the time we got back, but it was nice to get out of the house. I didn't even need a coat or sweater.

records for a rainy day...

ugh, this weather is going to destroy me if it goes on much longer.... I'm just going to stay in bed till the sun comes out again. anyhoo, I'm hoping to get lots of recording done today. I usually save these posts as drafts and then publish them once I'm done, but today I'll just keep updating the post. soooooo, for starters we have:

Music to Relax by in Your Barcalounger - Various Artists: yep, this one is specially made for BarcaLounger reclining chairs by Columbia Records. I love the cover of it , man and woman each reclining in their Barcalounger, all dressed up, like, "we've just been out and it's nice to recline now and listen to this album." and next to the man's chair there's the same album! sorta... it's just called Music to Relax by but the cover is very similar, two people in the same position and chairs with the same album cover.... it could go on and on. anyhoo, I'll take this opportunity to also mention that Smoke gets in your Eyes is from the musical Roberta, since it's on this record. oh, also there's an interesting arrangement of Autumn Leaves on here, actually it's pretty standard until they tack Somewhere Beyond the Sea on at the end. not sure what the reasoning was behind that.

Tchaikovsky Concerto No. 1, in B-Flat Minor, Op. 23 - Van Cliburn, Pianist; Kiril Kondrashin, Conductor: it's hard to avoid Van Cliburn here, what with the Competition every four years in Ft. Worth. Looks like this album was recorded in 1958 shortly after he won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. I recognize a lot more of this than I would have thought.

Then Sings my Soul - Jim Hilderbrand: this appears to be someone's personal project, nice baritone and the music is pretty straight forward with only piano or organ accompianment. mainly hymns and a few other religious tunes that aren't as familiar. There's one I've sung a few times, His Way Mine. anyway, the cover is signed "To Helen from Jim Hilderbrand, Judy Hildebrand ,Louis Hildebrand" the other two Hildebrands are listed as being in the choir. Recorded in Parkview Baptist Church - Albuquerque, NM. couldn't come up with anything extra online.

Latin Pianos - Ferrante & Teicher: I love these guys! I'm still not clear on what La Cucachacha is. it sounded familiar, but not like the La cucaracha cha cha arrangement I was expecting. oh well. their version of Tico Tico flys, I imagine there's probably some kind of competition where people who do that song see who can play it fastest while still hitting all the notes.

Love Letters in the Sand - Ken Griffin at the Organ: um, yeah, surprisingly they don't mention what kind of organ. I'd be embarassed to mention it as well, it's pretty puny sounding as far as organs go.

Marching Around the World with the Band of the Coldstream Guards: Canada gets a medley, what's up with that?

In the dog house!!!!

I had never seen Roxie in the dog house until just a few minutes ago. She was pestering me to go outside and of course it's still raining, but I wasn't going to let her do the "take two steps outside and come back in" thing. so I made her stay out there. I would have taken a picture, but it's too dark.

that didn't take long....

remember the new bunny? he lasted all of about 24 hours. It was like Roxie went, "Aha! I remember how to kill these!"

in other news, I found a Snoopy today! I took a pic of him, but it's still on the camera. so we'll start the countdown for him I guess.

maggie

Snow Day!

it's probably not that bad, but I had no way of knowing if the woman i work with was going to make it in or not, since school was closed where she lives. so I decided to be wussy and stay home.

Plain Mabel is closing....

March 31st or when everything sells out. go check it out, there's some interesting stuff there.

I gave my sister a manatee pin for Christmas. (seems they are gone. trust me, they were cool, little glass tiles with different animal silhouettes)

it's still cold here....

and to illustrate that point, I just stepped out into the backyard with Roxie. She ran over to pick up one of her bunny husks, but it wouldn't come up without a fight. it was still kinda frozen. It was fun watching Roxie try to figure that out. she finally got it off the ground and after taking a few steps decided that she probably didn't really want it after all. poor bunny.

monday recording

Goldfinger - John Barry: title song sung by Sherry Bassey, of course.

Eat to the Beat - Blondie: this is one of those I remember listening to a lot in college, the other being Holiday in Italy, but we'll get to that later. fun.

the mystic moods of love - The Mystic Moods Orchestra: for those of you unfamiliar with the Mystic Moods Orchestra, a blurb from the cover:

About the Mystic Moods: The first MM album, "One Stormy Night", was an overwhelming debut success. The concept was new, different and delightful - combining magnificent music with familiar sound effects, rain, trains, the orchestra of nature. But, to no one's surprise this was not a one-time hit. Time and again this phenomenal pairing has produced acclaimed albums.

so I guess you'd be within your rights to curse them for some of today's New Age music with nature sounds albums. This one is okay, the cheesey music makes up for the cheesey concept. The Look of Love, an arrangement of Clair de Lune they just call Moonlight, Can't take my Eyes off You and Love Theme from Tristan and Isolde. interesting mix.

soap operas v. comics

Way back when RTO and I were living in OKC we started taping Days of our Lives for my sister because she couldn't pick up NBC at her apartment in Norman. well, eventually RTO was hooked on Days. really, he keeps better track of it than I ever did. He usually cracked that there were many similarities between soaps and comics, especially Days at that time since the plot involved mind control and some other sci-fi elements. Anyhoo, that's just to set up this must read post (if your a soap fan) at Dave's Longbox. Seems RTO isn't alone.

records

Rubber Soul - Beatles: okay, I didn't actually record this one cause I already have in on cd. thanks, dad!

The Organ in America - E. Power Biggs: just for the record, before looking I just knew the last track was by Charles Ives. w007! that music education paid off! anyway, I'll probably be burning this onto cd for mom. that's most likely why I picked it up. she plays the organ. sometimes.

A Night at the Opera - Queen: yes, Bohemian Rhapsody. i had some trouble breaking this one up since some of the tracks run together. they have them listed as separate songs but there really isn't a break between some of them. oh well. also I don't know if it's that the laptop won't play back stereo or the mic jack won't record it but there seemed to be some problems. looking at the playback it seems it's not recording correctly. *sigh*

moving on... Where is The Best of Irving Berlin? It's been missing for years, actually. probably being held hostage for some Beatles albums. maaaaaybe it will turn up here, but I doubt it.

The Light Fantastic - The Andre Previn Trio: some nice Gershwin and Porter on this one. oh yeah, it's "A Tribute to Fred Astaire" I wish I could remember which record was the first one I bought, I don't think this one is it, but it was an early aquisition. I'm recognizing most of the songs, going, "oh yeah!" first record may have been the missing Irving Berlin. or ELO, it's a toss up.

Finally remembering....

I was telling my mom the other night that there was something I kept meaning to look up because it was interesting... and trade marked. anyhoo, Pegasus Theatre is a company here in town and they do shows occasionally in "Living Black and White" go check out the photo here. The woman in red is not colorized, she's just the only one not in costume and make-up. They currently have a production running in Richardson at the Eisemann. I may finally break down and go see a show.

audition fun....

today I had to follow a (pregnant?*) woman that sang this.

anyhoo, nerves+hour and a half sitting in a cold room=maggie not hitting high notes.

okay, really not even, like, a difficult high note, I mean, G? c'mon! i crashed and burned on it. oh well.


*and I realize she'll never know i suspected as much, but for whatever reason i can't bring myself to call any woman "with child" for certain unless she tells me she is. i mean sometimes you think it's so obvious, and then you find out she isn't and it's really embarrassing.

rrrraaaaaaarrrrrrrecords!

ugh, this first one I've had to listen to two and and half times or so because the volume wasn't set like i thought it was. of all the records to have to listen to more than once......

I Believe in You - Skip Ross: Bo'R most definitely. sounds about how you would expect an album with such a wonderful title by a guy named Skip to sound. heh. I have to share the "letter" from the back cover:

All my life I've wanted to share this music with you. Music that will put sunshine in your life and fling rainbows across your sky. Music that will lift your soul to soar on the wings of hope. Music to give you courage to stretch the boundaries of your dreams. Music that will inspire the finest expressions of love of which you are capable. Music to release the powerful potentials which are already a part of you. Muisc to celebrate freedom...your freedom...my freedom... that true freedom of the inner man. Music to bring light to your darkness. Music that says, "I beleive in you!" But most of all, music that will cause you to say, "I believe in me!" For then you have found the open door to your possible dream...
Skip Ross

did some googling, turns out he's a motivational speaker.

Look for a Star - Billy Vaughn and His Orchestra: as if to make up for Skip, this record was tucked away in the same sleeve. it has Snowfall on it. Snowfall sounds like something that should have a tropical title, but it doesn't, oh well, I wasn't around for anyone to ask. the other thing I found entertaining is that the title track is from "Circus of Horrors"

The Screen Scene - Peter Nero: mmmmm, Peter Nero. I love his arrangements, and his playing is so crispy. faves on this one... um, Thunderball, Chim Chim Cheree and What's New Pussycat? (which really i would probably like any arrangement of, but here we have two favorites of mine, Bacharach and Nero)

no free dinner for maggie : (

@#(*%# weather. was planning on going to the winter party being thrown by the place i work at, but then they started showing all kinds of closings on tv and i figured it would probably be better if i just stayed home. stay tuned for some record posting....

ferdy reminded me

I just pulled these pics off the camera the other night.



Carlos on catnip.




and maggie

be sure to check out the Carnival of Cats this week at Pet's Garden Blog. It's tabbierific!

the weatherman got this sooo wrong....

see the tempature drop Saturday? well the front that was going to cause that is coming through right now. even yesterday they were saying it would be Saturday evening before it hit. yipee! they're showing pics of ice in OKC. I have tons o' stuff on the schedule tomorrow, should be fun.

pre-christmas mystery....

The hat just showed up in the front yard and hung out for a couple days. I didn't want to pick it up, in case someone came back for it.

no records today....

but i'll post a pic of my set-up



yes, there's usually a cat in the chair. Oh, and there's a 250 GB external hard drive behind the turntable. That's where everything goes to live.

maggie's new nappin spot....

I've found her in there the last few afternoons.

Monday records

Till - Roger Williams: pretty piano, some pop, some classical

In a Sentimental Mood - The Longines Symphonette Society: so I finally broke down and google this label, because I keep getting annoyed that there's no credits on these things. so a couple interesting links. First, Wikipedia and second a brief rambling from someone involved in the Longines Symphonette.

Melodies for Meditation - The Longines Symphonette Society: from the cover, "There is a certain kind of melody that has the power to soothe the spirit, settle nerves, and cancel out external distractions...freeing the mind for peaceful reflection." blah, blah, blah, it goes on... and most of these tunes would fall in that category, Meditation from Thais, Beautiful Dreamer, Andante Cantabile (Tchaikovsky). I'm just curious about the people that find Battle Hymn of the Republic conducive to meditation.

Golden Award Songs - Crazy Otto: I think the crazy bit comes from the badly in need of a tuning piano. (yeah, yeah, it's a honky-tonk thing) More about "Crazy Otto" at Answers.com .

aren't there laws against this kind of thing?

yeah, that was really the top headline a few minutes ago.

some day i will catch up...

till then, more records.....

Let's Dance - Russ Morgan and his Orchestra: I really think they could have given this one a better title. Something that was more descriptive of the content. Four out of the twelve tracks have the names of southern states in them (okay, Missouri might be a toss up) and then you've got the Banjo Tango. which, may I just say how much I love self referential songs? we get the tune and lyrics about how great the tune is! usually for dancing along with. yes! It's the Banjo Tango! It's Great! You will dance to it!

Strauss Waltzes - The New London Symphonic Orchestra conducted by Lionel Atkins: all the hits, the Blue Danube, Tales from the Vienna Woods, Emperor Waltz.heeeeeey, who let the Pizzicato Polka in here?

The Lord's Prayer Volume II - The Mormon Tabernacle Choir- Richard P. Condie, Director-The Philadelphia Orchestra - Eugene Ormandy, Conducting: skimming ahead i can now recognize all the Box o' Records purchases, they all have tags on them with the dealer number. yay! anyhoo, this one made my eyebrows shoot up because the first track is Schubert's Ave Maria, but they're doing it in English as Heavenly Father! (their exclamation point, not mine, well, okay I could give it one, but I didn't want to come across as too elitist) hmmmmmm. whole album is classical stuff, all english (translated if it needed to be) I'm not familiar enough with some of the other songs to know if they mangled the "translations" or not. oh, and they managed to sneak in a bit from the Book of Mormon, Old Things Are Done Away (from the "Oratorio From the Book of Mormon" by Leroy J. Robertson)

just my opinion....

but, a "page-a-day" calendar should have a page a day! sat/sun page? lame. so lame.

so it's Saturday....

I took a couple days off from recording, now back to it.

The Sounds of Tomorrow - Various Artists: according to the album cover, "What it is":

RCA Victor's DYNAGROOVE is a recording process that is the most significant advance in recording art since the introduction of the L.P. In true brilliance and perfected presence, it insures the ultimate in home listening pleasure, whether played at high or low volume level.

the album itself is a sampling of dynagroove records. at least one of which i know I own, "Hail the Conquering Nero". interesting mix of pop and classical from I'll see you in my Dreams (The Cascading voices of the Hugo and Luigi Chorus) to Un Bel Di (Leontyne Price).

The First Family featuring Vaughn Meader: mmmmm, Kennedy era humor.

The First Family Rides Again starring Rich Little: moving on to Reagan.... fun trivia, it's got Michael Richards on the cover.... wearing a tutu.

Mantovani Showcase: not sure why I got this one. I probably have some other Montovani albums. Have I mentioned the box o' records I bought once? that could be where this came from. I bought a box o' records a couple years ago at Antiqueland, because they were cheap (a whole box for five bucks!!!) and skimming through it, there were some things I knew I'd like. anyhoo, the album is eight tracks from other Montovani albums, the album cover lists 25.

the eyes of love - Hugo Winterhalter and His Orchestra: a nice concept album of songs all about love and eyes. no kidding. side one consists of, With My Eyes Wide Open I'm Dreaming, I'll See You Again, There's Danger in Your Eyes Cherie, Star Eyes, I'll Be Seeing you and I Only Have Eyes for You.


Ebb Tide - Frank Chacksfield and his orchestra: is there some requirement that Ebb Tide be accompanied by ocean sounds? gulls in particular. lots of good tunes on this one. Autumn Leaves, Deep Purple.... thinking of Autumn Leaves, I wasn't aware that it was a standard when we sang it in women's chorus my freshman year of college, thought it was a nice tune, loved the arrangement we did, then I started hearing other places.

Sweet and Gentle - Bert Kaempfert: Box o' Records. I didn't recognize anything on this one. not that there's anything wrong with that.

neat idea....

I bought one of these things today. and it would work really well, except that my new headphones have a big lumpy bit in the middle that doesn't quite fit in it. so I can go back to ear buds that don't fit or I can deal with comfy ones that get tangled all the time. decisions, decisions.

so I was thinking about....

taking pictures of my hands and posting them so we could all play, "Feline or Filin'?"

you'd think it would be easy to tell, but it's not, really.

further thoughts after spending an hour and a half in Target today.....

I resisted the urge to buy some action figures today. I don't think I've mentioned it here lately, if ever, that I collect/ed action figures. pretty much all girls, cause they're harder to find, and prettier. last time RTO was deployed, I bought a lot. the thing is, half my collection hasn't made it out of the box since we moved into the house three years ago. I've talked about selling them, but that would require a lot of work also. maybe one of those ebay-drop-off things? but I don't know if they'd know what some of them are worth, ya know? do they research those things? so, I don't have room for them, but I also can't part with them just yet.

Oh yeah, I have a very bad picture of what isn't in a box....

if only RTO knew....

it could be so much worse.

where is the bread?

so Sunday I had to go get some bread, no big deal, right? so I'm in Target and I think, "Hey! how bout some hot dogs for new years!?" (you party your way, I'll party mine.) yay! but I get to the bread aisle and there are no hot dog buns to be found. fortunately no one likes wheat bread so i could at least get what I came for, but everything was pretty picked over. had to get milk today, stopped on the way home, the bread aisle didn't look any better. I did managed to spot a package of Sara Lee Heart Healthy Wheat hot dog buns on a bottom shelf. I thought fat free dogs were of the devil and there couldn't possibly be another way to mess up a hot dog, but I was wrong.

anyhoo, must be some weirdness going on today, I bought treats for everyone. new scratchy thing and purr pads for the kitties. (which they are completely ignoring now that they're high on cat scratcher nip) new asthma friendly bunny for Roxie. (they are cheap and don't have any features that can be gnawed off) some 75% off christmas malted milk balls and a t-shirt for me. oh and hot dogs. so many things on sale.

yes, more records.....

Allen Hanlon picks Leroy Anderson: I remember I got this one at a Tulsa Opera Guild rummage sale shortly before we moved to Dallas, don't think I've ever listened to it before now, though. Anyhoo, you may know Leroy Anderson from such hits as Sleigh Ride, The Typewriter and Syncopated Clock.

Whipped Cream & Other Delights - Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass: first track, A Taste of Honey, skipped. #@$^%&! went to amazon to see what a used cd might be had for. $7.80 for a 40th anniversary edition with two bonus tracks! Or, for something different, from about a year ago.... WC&OD, Re-whipped.

Octopussy music composed and conducted by John Barry: apparently I liked this one so much I bought it twice! actually it's probably just that I rarely come across James Bond soundtracks that don't cost an arm and a leg and I just didn't know I had this one already.

Persuasive Percussion: I think I also have two copies of this one, but it was because they were sneaky and changed the name or cover or something. couldn't track the other one down just now, but perhaps it isn't recorded in Quadrophonic sound. ugh, I'll have to hook this new turntable up to the receiver some day and see if that's all it's cracked up to be.

Music from Million Dollar Movies - Fiedler/Boston Pops: Laura again. and I guess a million dollars was a big thing in 1960.

today's records

A Taste of Honey - Mexicali Brass: okay, I'm seeing now that my love for "latin brass" is not limited to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. This has a kind of interesting rendition of Bill Bailey on it. very slow.

Bouquet - The Percy Faith Strings: some good standards on this one, but Laura probably put it over the edge. also, reading the notes on the back it's supposed to be all strings.... but, um, there's a vibraphone. when did that become a string instrument? piano could go either way I suppose.

Ray Conniff's World of Hits with His Orchestra and Chorus: really who could turn down a "world of hits"? and could you resist this lovely lady on the cover that appears to be wearing only a jaunty hat with flags representing this WORLD that is made of hits?



no, no you could not.

serious lack of pictures.....

this is a few weeks old, but I have a kind of related story. I took some Christmas presents over to RTO's brother and his family today. Matt mentioned that it was a good thing I'd told them to drive by the house the friday before christmas because sure enough, there was a box on the front porch. I told him about how they had put the doormat over this footlocker. Max thought this was the best word ever and proceeded to yell it out at random the rest of the time I was there. except it sounded like deerlocker. I do not understand childrens.

also, the pop-up book may say it's for 3 years and up, but I think they're being a bit optimistic. maybe three year old girls, I don't know. oh well, it's the thought that counts, right?

round and round

today's records:

Going Places - Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass: okay, yeah, I heart Herb Alpert.

"The Windmills of Your Mind" and Other Academy Award Winners - Living Strings and Living Voices: I knew all of the tunes on this one, particular faves were the title track and The Way you Look Tonight (Swing Time was the first Fred and Ginger movie I saw and I was hooked.) and I did not know that Mona Lisa was from a movie.

Mexico Lindo - Living Brass: this is one of those mystery aquisitions. not sure where it came from or why I might have wanted it, probably to experience "A Trip to the Light Fantastic Bubbling Brass Vibrations of Today" and they mention the Tijuana Brass a couple times in describing themselves.

The Surfmen in Hawaii: They manage to play all the hits: Aloha Oe, Bali Hai, Hawaiian Wedding Song. And for whatever reason they add island sounds to the second side of the album. I wish they would provide more in the way of liner notes, or at least who is playing what... there was one bit where I couldn't tell if it was a really stilted vocalist or a theramin. the world my never know.