dog walk surprise....

it was so nice out today, so I took Roxie for a walk. everything was fine till we were about a block from the house. these two dogs came from out of nowhere. a large black dog and a small curly haired not-dog. They didn't have any i.d. on them. anyhoo, so I'm trying to keep Roxie calm and keep walking. we had to stop a few times and let everyone sniff each other. they followed us all the way up to the front door. so weird. last week it was a dachsund. and I suppose Roxie's been known to get out and roam a few times, but I always got a phone call from whoever she decided to befriend that day.

Today's record

Blooming Hits - Paul Mauriat: I don't know what to say, I keep just staring at the cover trying to figure out how they did that. some kind of paint obviously, but it all lines up see? she probably needed some help getting out of that pose. anyhoo, this has some nice arrangements on it, I probably picked it up for L'Amour est Bleu (Love is Blue) also trying to figure out why Adieu a la Nuit is translated as Adieu to the Night, why not make it Goodbye?

Sunday records

Hustle Hits - Disko Band: It has instructions for the Hustle on the back! anyhoo, this one was badly scratched and I couldn't salvage three of the tracks. : ( oh well. I'm sure it was cheap and too entertaining looking to pass up at the time i bought it.

Hawaii Isle of Paradise - The Honolulu Guitars: it was Hawaiian and it was only a dollor. not a bad album, they of course cover the Hawaiian Wedding Song.

Music, Martinis, and Memories - Jackie Gleason Presents: very mellow. strings and trumpet. and it was a dollar, from the same place as Hawaii Isle of Paradise. the back cover describes it as a "romantic haze" yep, that sounds about right.

i guess March is coming....

it was so windy today. I didn't think much of it until the 10 o'clock news started running stories about it, seems quite a few flights were canceled or delayed and some buildings were damaged. huh. I did notice the haze in the sky, it was weird. just kinda dim part of the afternoon.

update: Gradual Dazzle has a few pictures.

Saturday! records!

as usual I've goofed off most of the day. watched a movie. whee!

All Tempos - Perfect for Dancing: or various artists, whatever.

The musical selections in this album have been carefully chosen by the world famous Fred Astaire Dance Studios, a name synonymous with "Perfect for Dancing." The Fred Astaire Studios recommend these selections as the best for your dancing enjoyment.

They cover a lot from Foxtrot to Waltz to the Hokey Pokey.

Spanish Rhapsodies for Young Lovers - The Midnight String Quartet with Harpsichord, Piano and Rhtyhm: I didn't know I had more than one Midnight String Quartet album, but it was a pleasant surprise. the day I pass something up that has The Girl from Ipanema on it is the day I'm, um, probably seriously ill.

The Lady's in Love with You - Maxine Sullivan sings the music of Burton Lane with the Keith Ingham Sextet: Dollar album! Mr. Lane mostly wrote songs for movies in the 30's and 40's though he's also got a stage musical or two to his name the most recognizable ones being Finian's Rainbow and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. so I really liked the arrangements on here, nothing too foofy it really focuses on the lyrics and melody.

oh, mom had asked how many songs I've recorded so far. um, a lot. currently showing 105 folders in the LP folder, 1312 files, which includes the raw files so maybe 1100 songs so far. and I'm not even half way through. yay! we'll never see the kitchen table again.

why?

they will never forgive us for bringing Roxie into their lives.

hmmmmm

Dear maggie,
Here is your horoscope
for Friday, February 23:

Sitting around and staring at your phone or email won't make that message get to you any faster. You have a life, remember? So get up and get outside. That communication will arrive when it's supposed to.

fun with doors...

just a second ago I was thinking it was much too quite in my house. I called for Roxie..... nothing. hmmmm, maybe I should go find all the animals. turns out Carlos and Roxie had managed to pin themselves in the scary bedroom. the door is at an angle so rather than being flush with the wall there's a little bit of wall that's perpendicular to the door on the side that swings in. anyway they couldn't pull it open since nobody had long enough arms to open the door without wedging themselves against the wall and blocking the door. I don't think they did any damage to the room, though it's impossible to tell since there's so much stuff in there.

pictures, pictures....

I know you're just dying to know how snoopy is holding up. good. she's almost got the palette off, it's hanging by a thread. I think this is a couple weeks old, and I have more recent pics but they're still on the camera, which now I'm thinking i should have waited to make this post. oh well.





also, gail posted a link to the portrait illustration maker, so I made a new (more realistic) one. you can go over there and see some of the other scribalistas.

tuesday record

Mantovani Tango - Mantovani and His Orchestra: yep, tangos, arranged by Mantovani. I thought it was interesting that there's an interview on the back cover and he's talking about a few of the tunes that aren't necessarily tangos, but he made it work. except that I don't agree that that's such an innovation with The Rain in Spain. I mean, they already did that IN THE MUSICAL. oh well.

raaaarrrrrr

today's record

String of Pearls - ?: I don't know if this is actually Glenn Miller or what since it says "...music made famous by Glenn Miller" on the cover. I just love the crazy looking lady on the cover her pose says "whee! I'm dancing!" but her eyes say "I'm going to kill someone if I have to keep looking so damn happy"

remember how I said i'd been bad about cat blogging?

so then I forgot to send a link in to the carnival of cats. but, Maggie was cat model of the week! go check out this week's carnival at Pet's Garden Blog anyway. Florida tabbies!

Sunday records....

Alo-o-o-ha - The Boltz Family: not sure how you pronounce that. is it a prolonged "o" or a couple glottal "o"s ? the world may never know. anyhoo, this is a nice stripped down Hawaiian album, nothing but ukuleles and guitar and soprano soloist.

Reach Out - Burt Bacharach: He plays the piano on every track. whee! I think I've really said all I ever could about Bacharach. I think this is the first record of his I picked up. I've noticed I'm hitting some of my older stuff here.

Jack Jones in Hollywood: just what it sounds like, dude named Jack Jones singing movie tunes. personal faves being All the Things you Are and More (duh). He sounds like he's well on his way to smokin enough to have a really entertaining voice, kinda furry.

it's Saturday, so there must be records....

though not many, i keep getting distracted....

No Answer - The Electric Light Orchestra: whee! there's nothing on here I've ever heard before, but I really liked it. probably too "arty" for most people. a few bits made me think of Apocalyptica.

Debussy- La Mer, Trois Nocturnes - Boston Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis: I bought this because i had sung the last of the three nocturnes (Sirenes) in the Dallas Symphony Chorus, and i hadn't seen a recording of it before. It was one of those fun no-words-just-oohing-and-ahing things. and i've ruined the collectors' value cause I opened it to record it. yeah, it was still shrink wrapped. oh well.

catbloggin

I've been so bad about keeping up with this lately. anyhoo, here's Maggie.

if I turn up dead...

It'll probably be cause I o.d.'d on cake batter. made more cupcakes today for bridge night. gonna go try to frost them now.

update: Success!!! okay, here's my theory..... the other cupcakes had been kept in a pyrex dish with the lid on and they got kind of, um, sweaty. like I said they still tasted good, but the frosting was kinda scary. anyhoo, today I just let them cool on the cooktop and frosted them before putting them in any container. I pwnd the cupcakes now!

ugly cupcakes

*sigh* I thought i'd be adventurous and make some cupcakes for work tomorrow. they're tasty, but they aren't pretty. is there some trick to frosting? They're supposed to be chocolate with white frosting and little sugar hearts. they came out speckled because the tops kept crumbling off as I was spreading the frosting on them. and then I managed to squish some of them with the cover of the cake carrier. yay! maybe if I'm lucky, I can have a wreck on the way to work tomorrow and toss them around in there so it will just be a big blob of cake and frosting and paper cups.

tuesday record

Rhapsodies for Young Lovers Volume 2 - Midnight String Quartet: yeeesssss, string quartet with harpsichord. There's a kinda strange arrangement of Clair De Lune here, I've heard others change the meter with better results. Other than that I liked it pleasent interpretations of Michelle and My Cup Runneth Over.

monday recording

Sounds Like.. Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass: cause it is! heh. this has Casino Royale on it. RTO was telling me he watched that the other day, as he put it, "it was a movie that could only have been made in the late 60's" yes, yes it was, and for some reason I love it.

Herb Alpert's Ninth - Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass: this one had some interesting arrangements on it. My Heart Belongs to Daddy and With a Little Help from my Friends. most entertaining was the Carmen medley, he managed to hit most of the highlights, at first I thought it would just be the Habanera, but then he started up the Seguidilla and towards the end they threw in a line of Toreador. Yay!

via cute overload....

I give you, Nora, the piano playing cat. I'm gonna have to make maggie and carlos practice now. or get them a mug to drink out of.

Sunday excitement...

Thankfully I was here for this. Roxie was outside barkin' away as usual and then her tone changed. I look out the window and she's fighting with the little wire fence that runs along the back garden. so I ran back there and she's trying to run towards me but isn't going anywhere. she'd managed to break the fencing and one of the wires hooked through the webbing between her toes on one of her back feet. it was fun trying to convince her not to try to pull away so I could get the thing out, but we finally managed it. she seems to be okay, isn't limping or anything, is running around like normal. I'll just have to keep an eye on it the next few days.

falling down on the job....

oh well, haven't done any recording in a while, so I'll try to make up for lost time tonight.

Mad About the Boy - Andre Previn: all of the songs except Skylark are from musicals. just, not, musicals i've ever heard of, with the exception of Anything Goes. That's always mind boggling to think about, how many musicals have been written and produced and how few survive. and then to see how many what I would call jazz standards come from these old musicals.

Bongos/Flutes/Guitars - Los Admiradores: yeah, so I love odd instrumentation. I could understand calling this one Bongos! maybe. cause, while there are flutes and guitars, there are also piano and vibraphone. I'm not sure why flutes and guitars won out for the title. oh well.

bailando boleros - Chick Tally y su conjunto: this somehow found it's way from Chile to an antique shop somewhere near me. I recognized Perfidia and lots of organ and piano solos.

snoopy impression?

not exactly, Roxie seems to have the ability to close her eyes for all pictures that use the flash. no really. it's a recent development. kinda strange.

not 45's and a request....

i'm about to o.d. on "Hawaiin" stuff. I didn't think that was possible. um, anyway, I have one album that I can't read the only english on it is "STEREOPHONIC" the rest is kanji of some sort, I suspect it's a soundtrack from the picture(s) on the cover. anyhoo, anyone know someone that could translate it for me? I'll try to get a picture of the cover here in the next few days. moving on ...

Aloha from Hawaii - The Diamond Head Beachcombers: it was recorded in New York City! they mention Hawaii being the newest state... which may explain why there are soooo many cheesey records.

far away music - Don Baker at the console: of some organ they dug out of storage.

The instrument previously saw two years of service at a theatre in Redwood City, California. It took four days of painstaking labor to extricate the 17,000-pound Robert Morton organ from its vault, and three months to install it for the Whitney studios under the expert supervision of specialist Henry Rossner.

The mammoth organ was voiced for the studio by Henry Pope, one of the leading organ technicians in the United States. It has recently been augmented with new pipes and stops, and an extra manual, to bring it up to an impressive four manuals and 24 ranks, involving approximately two thousand pipes. These ranks are capable of producing the sound of almost all members of an orchestra's string, reed, brass and percussion sections, including mandolin, English posthorn, glockenspiel, tambourine, vibraharp and piano.

errrr, it all sounds like organ to me. except for the chimes. anyway it's a pleasent enough album. I think I picked it up because it's organ and it has In a Persian Market on it. Japanese Sandman is nice too.

45's

I have a few... a couple i think are RTO's anyhoo, thought I'd knock them out today.

Henry Mancini and his Orchestra - Pink Panther Theme and Dear Heart: one of these I'm familiar with, one I'm not. it wasn't offensive or anything, just not one of his better things.

Sweet Pickles - Lion Looks at Love and Lion Looks at Hair: I am soooo Goof off Goose. obviously Lion's goofiness scarred me for life. YOU CAN'T MAKE ME CLEAN MY HAIR!!!!! AND WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT IN YOUR BACKYARD!!!???!!!

Louie Louie - The Kingsmen and High on a Hill - Scott English: not sure why these two were paired together, but ther ya go. I did not recognize HoaH. oh well.

A Treasury of Immortal Performances - Famous Duets: this is a box set of 45's, eight opera duets, the latest being recorded in 1927. a couple of Caruso, a couple Farrar and some others i don't recognize. I'll just say early recording methods were not kind to sopranos. or orchestras. I like the records themselves though, because they are red and transparent. whee!

A Treasury of Immortal Performances - Wagner: more Met stars. all Wagner. about half of this set is Friedrich Schorr singing various Meistersinger bits. and thankfully a couple of the soprano recordings are from the early thirties so they don't sound as whiny.

and that's all the 45's. and I only forgot to change the speed one time.

saturday recording

Look Around - Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66: gold sticker on the front says, "contains 'The Look of Love' as performed by Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 on the Academy Award Show" yay!

Caribbean Moonlight - Les Baxter: I was trying to explain Exotica to my mom the other day since I had found a copy of Martin Denny's Exotica at the thrift shop. so I'll give you the Wikipedia definition:

Exotica is a musical genre, named for the 1957 Martin Denny album of the same title, popular during the late 1950's to mid 1960's typically with the middle aged suburban set who came of age during World War II. The musical colloquialism exotica means very precisely tropical ersatz: the non-native, pseudo experience of Oceana (Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Southeast Asia).

if you follow the wiki link you'l'l see that Les Baxter is related. anyhoo, I found a couple Les Baxter pages also. If anyone can figure this one out, please explain it to me. huh, skimming the obit from this site it looks like he also did some television and movie scoring. including the theme for "Lassie" and he also worked with one of my other faves, Yma Sumac. (oh, ha ha ha, reading the interview here, she apparently hated him!)

Mirella Freni: sings lots of arias, mostly Puccini, which is cool with me. I think I picked this up because it had Poveri fiori from Adriana Lecouvreur(Cilea), which just isn't done much but i'd looked at it for a while. it's relatively short and makes one float a few high notes rather than yelling, which is what i normally do, so it was something different.

Honeymoon in Italy - Roberto Rossasni and his Orchestra: not nearly enough mandolin for my taste. oh well. I have a weakness for (fill in festive occasion) in (location) albums. one of my faves that i wore out in college was Holiday in Rome. I was hoping this one would be similar. it's not. no bad, but not loving it either. oh and with this one, I'm through the first cubby of records. that makes 81 folders, 1020 files, 29.8GBs. if i'm estimating things correctly, I have about 240 records to go. update: I just realized i mis-calculated because I skipped about 15 christmas albums. so, um, that makes about 280 to go. although I think there may be some more christmas stuff i'll skip. so, maybe i was right the first time. only time will tell.

annoyances....

I've turned on comment moderation because i've had nothing but comment spam the last ocuple days. tons of it. not sure what that's about, it seems to be a widespread problem. (I couldn't comment at a mu.nu. site last night because of it) so, if anyone happens to comment for reals it won't show up until i approve it.

on the plus side, RTO helped me clean up the laptop a bit and now I can plug in the soundcard without it maxing out the CPU usage. yay!

decomposing

oh, bad joke. I know. Gian Carlo Menotti dies at 95.

You can catch a production of his opera The Old Maid and the Thief next month.

oh... well....

This could make things interesting. I told RTO I'm getting a grand piano out of the next trip.