Dec 4 2024 - Carol of the Bells

 

Our choir songs are overwhelmingly Christian carols/hymns or mid-twentieth century songs.  And then there's the Solstice Song - Carol of the Bells.   There are 10,000 songs on the subject of Christmas.  And seasonal songs like Jingle Bells aren't considered Christmas songs.   When it comes to religious songs, it seems to me that the Manger is the focal point.    Christian Christmas songs are known as hymns - "song of praise".  The "Hymnal" is organized by season.  One has to look through an index at the back to find out which page a song is on.  Lyrics are formal and paraphrase Scripture or quote the Bible.    In the wider context, Christmas songs have more diverse themes.  Here's someone who did some analysis of Christmas songs: "After examining the top 78 holiday songs on Spotify, Bennett found the most common themes included: Home (family, gifts under the tree), Love (finding that special someone at Christmas), Lost love (feeling lonely at Christmas), Parties (dancing, mistletoe), Santa (and his reindeer), Snow (snowmen, sleighs, cold winters), Religion (Nativity story), and Peace on Earth."  Quite the array for Christmas.  I guess that in part accounts for why there are so many concerts at this time of year. Lots to choose from. A person can stay at home:  turn on the perpetual fire burning in the fireplace television station/youtube video and the perpetual Christmas music radio station.  This display of wreaths and urns at the Watering Can is from a few years ago.  This year, the volume is astonishing.

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Aug 20 2021 - Where did Doo-Wop come from?

 

Doo-wop is such a great expression.  I had to look for more on the topic after all the shows TJ Lubinsky has done on Doo-wop for PBS.  As usual, Wikipedia is a handy source of information: "Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated among African-American youth in the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Detroit, Washington DC, and Los Angeles.  It features vocal group harmony that carries an engaging melodic line to a simple beat with little or no instrumentation. Lyrics are simple, usually about love, sung by a lead vocal over background vocals, and often featuring, in the bridge, a melodramatically heartfelt recitative addressed to the beloved. Harmonic singing of nonsense syllables (such as “doo-wop”) is a common characteristic of these songs. Gaining popularity in the 1950s, doo-wop was "artistically and commercially viable" until the early 1960s, but continued to influence performers in other genres." And the name itself?  Though the name was attributed to radio disc jockey Gus Gossert, he did not accept credit, stating that "doo-wop" was already in use in California to categorize the music. The term "doo-wop" itself did not appear in print until 1961.  It was just in the air and in the lyrics of the time.  From nonsensical to a style and genre that influenced all American music to come.  Here's the Doo-wop joke I found: And our photos today?  This was the display at Watering Can the last time I was there a few weeks ago.  I looked at the ceiling and wondered if Photoshop could replace the sky for the airplane picture.  And there it is!

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May 14 2021 -Activity and Rest

 

Yesterday's study didn't seem to talk about the point of restful activities.  By that I mean, the outcomes, goals and objectives of resting.   We often use rest and sleep interchangeably. When rest is used as a term for sleep, it relates to restoring the body's energy, repairing muscle tissue and triggers the releasing hormones that affect growth and appetite.  What happens when you are not 'rested?' It seems to be feeling groggy, experiencing difficulty concentrating, higher risk for heart disease, diabetes, obesity, headaches and depression.   What about exercise?  Is it the opposite of rest?   The benefits of exercise are listed as:  Getting the appropriate amount of exercise benefits nearly all aspects of a person’s health. Not only does exercise help control weight, it also improves mental health, mood, chances of living longer, and the strength of your bones and muscles.  Looks like we are primed for activity and rest as the route to "happiness".  Or did I just make a big leap?

Here's a 'blast from the past' - in the Watering Can amongst all the wonderful plants.

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Nov 30 2020 - Winter Coming with the Moon

 

My sights are set on Winter.  I consider December the start of Winter.  It is the coming of the Christmas winter wonderland weather that does this.   So looking at The Sky This Week for what to expect, the news is that a full beaver moon and lunar eclipse happened this past night. "The November moon got its name for the time of year when beavers scurried to their shelters ahead of winter, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac. It was also the season to trap beavers for their thick pelts during the fur trade, the Almanac notes." "During a penumbral lunar eclipse, the moon passes through the Earth’s outer shadow, called the penumbra, and misses the darker inner shadow, which is known as the umbra," Accuweather says. "This is different from a total lunar eclipse when the entire moon passes through the darker umbra." "The November full Moon has other monikers, the Almanac says: the Frost Moon, the Freezing Moon and the Digging or Scratching Moon, dubbed for animals foraging for nuts among fallen leaves." I got to see how bright it was when Millie went out in the night.  But it is cloudy up there now at 6:00am.  "The next event is the "super conjunction" of Jupiter and Saturn on December 21, 2020. That date is, coincidentally, the date of the December solstice. It'll be the first Jupiter-Saturn conjunction since the year 2000, and the closest Jupiter-Saturn conjunction since 1623, only 14 years after Galileo made his first telescope." Here's an astronomy joke that reflects my sense of the state of things in the U.S: A popular bar had a new robotic bartender installed. A guy came in for a drink and the robot asked him, "What's your IQ?"  The man replied, "130."  So the robot proceeded to make conversation about physics, astronomy, and so on. The man listened intently and thought, "This is really cool."  Another guy came in for a drink and the robot asked him, "What's your IQ?"  The man responded, "120." So the robot started talking about football, dirt bikes, and so on.  The man thought to himself, "Wow, this is really cool."  A third guy came in to the bar. As with the others, the robot asked him, "What's your IQ?"  The man replied, "80."  The robot then said, "So, how are things in America these days?" A frivolous moment at the Watering Can last week - air plants as jelly fish, and the 'pink sofa' corner.

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Nov 25 2020 - Finding a Rainbow

 

Are you looking for cheerful news today?  Go to the Good News Network where the quote for today is: "You'll never find a rainbow if you're looking down".  ~Charlie Chaplin That seems particularly relevant to checking out the Niagara Falls water flow over the edge vs checking out the rainbow overhead.  So what are the good news articles at the Good News Network?  Man Becomes a Millionaire when meteorite from heaven crashes through his roof - HERE "One minute, you’re minding your own business, working outside your house building a coffin, and the next minute a smoking meteorite worth a small fortune hurtles through the roof of your veranda and winds up buried in the earth next to your living room."  (He's a coffin maker - who would guess). If you're feeling the weight of the world, this beautiful book will lighten your load - HERE The book title is HumanKind and is 'a perfect antidote for these times'.  Consider giving it as a Christmas gift this year.  The proceeds to go Big Brothers Big Sisters. This 2-acre vertical farm produces more than 'flat farms' that are using 720 acres - HERE The ag-tech start-up is named Plenty and will soon be the site where your Driscoll strawberries will be grown. This is a good start to a day - consider this: first the goodnewsnetwork and then the NY Times summary.  That would have balance. The Watering Can's piano display is our picture for today.  Everything at the Watering Can would fit the Good News off the day.

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The Biggest Boat

Many people are taking cruises.  This is an extremely popular vacation format.  They discuss which cruise lines have the best value  and offer the best packages for entertainment, meals, drinks, etc. Do you know that the ship Symphony of the Seas with the Royal Caribbean line holds a maximum of 6,870 passengers?  It is the largest cruise ship in the world and was built this year, in 2018.  It is 1,188 feet long and has 18 total decks. It has seven different 'neighbourhoods'.  It looks like it has eight stories above the deck level.  Below is a picture of the historical growth off cruise ships:   Symphony of the Seas Facts The Symphony of the Seas has more pieces of art on board than found in the Louvre Museum in Paris On an average 7-night sailing, over 60,000 fresh eggs are used on board On a week-long cruise, six million coffee beans are required to make the total coffee made on the ship During a 24-hour period on the ship, roughly 500,000 gallons of fresh water are consumed Compared to one eruption of Old Faithful, the Symphony’s 24 pools and water attractions use close to 100x that amount of water Information about the largest cruise ships is HERE.  Or another article is HERE. There were 26 million cruise passengers in 2017, and the estimate for 2018 is 27 million.  The industry has been operating at near 100% capacity.  It is a $100 billion industry. The trend of passengers getting older is true.  And the trend of millennials becoming a major market is true.  The cruise line U by Uniworld imposed an age requirement of 21-45.  That restriction was scrapped before the ships started to sail.  Industry information claims the average age of a cruiser in North America is 46.    I conclude with this cruise ship joke: A magician was working on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. The audience would be different each week so the magician allowed himself to do the same tricks over and over again. There was only one problem: the captain's parrot saw the shows each week and began to understand how the magician did every trick. Once he understood the parrot started shouting in the middle of the show: "Look, it's not the same hat". "Look, he is hiding the flowers under the table". "Hey, why are all these cards the Ace of Spades?" The magician was furious but couldn't do anything; it was, after all, the captain's parrot. One day the ship had an accident and sank. The magician found himself on a piece of wood in the middle of the ocean with the parrot, of course! They stared at each other with hate, but did not utter a word. This went on for a day and another and another. After a week the parrot said: "OK, I give up. Where's the boat?" Our picture today is luxury living here in Vineland, with a reserved table at the Watering Can, a landmark garden centre in Niagara.