Saturday 9: On a Clear Day (1970)
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
1) Is today a clear day where you are? I'm doing this Friday night, but Friday was a beautiful day. 70ยบ and sunny.
2) Streisand sings that today she's "astounded." What has recently shocked or greatly surprised you? The continuing casual cruelty of Donald Trump and his supporters. I just read that at a California rally he made jokes about the attack on Paul Pelosi, and the MAGA faithful laughed. Folks, if you don't want to be called "deplorable," try not acting deplorably.
3)
Streisand's voice astounded people from an early age. She began
performing in New York clubs when she was only 18, too young to order a
drink in the establishments where she sang. Do you remember the first
adult beverage you ordered at a restaurant or bar? For awhile in the mid-1970s, we could order beer and wine at 18, so it was probably a Miller Lite. I remember the bar more clearly than the drink. It was torn down about 10 years ago and condos went up in its place.
4)
Barbra has discussed the importance of her Jewish faith in her life and
has enlisted the guidance of Reform, Conservative and and Orthodox
rabbis as she explored her religion's complexities. Do you enjoy
discussing religion? Depends on who I'm discussing it with. I love it when, within our congregation, we discuss how to "put our faith on its feet." I'm less enthusiastic when other Christians try to tell me how to be a Christian. (BTW, if you are amused by Donald Trump, I don't want you to advise me about how to practice my faith.)
5) Taylor Swift just passed Barbra Streisand as the woman with the most #1 albums (12). What's the last album you purchased? I don't even recall. This makes me sad. I used to love lying on my tummy in my bedroom, listening to an album and reading pouring over the liner notes. It was a different world.
6)
The lyrics to "On a Clear Day" were written by Alan Jay Lerner. He
attended Choate, a private boarding school in CT, at the same time as
John F. Kennedy. While JFK was in the White House, Lerner had two major
Broadway hits -- Camelot and My Fair Lady -- running
concurrently. Obviously those two Choate alumni did very well. Have you
been to any of your class reunions? Have you been surprised, pleasantly
or less so, by how any of your classmates turned out? I have no interest in attending reunions. My oldest friend is plugged into that world and reports back to me. George, who was among the grossest boys in our grade school, is a very successful investment banker. This fascinates me. I can't imagine taking financial advice from someone ate paste and wiped his boogers on his desk. (Of course, I'm pretty sure he no longer does that.)
7)
The music was written by Burton Lane. In the 1930s, Lane worked for MGM
Studios in Hollywood. After he heard Judy Garland perform at the
Paramount Theater in Los Angeles, he brought her to the attention of his
studio bosses and the rest, as they say, is history. Lane and Garland
later worked together when Judy was an established star. He wrote the
song, "How About You?" for her to sing in Babes on Broadway and received an Oscar nomination. Judy's best known movie has to be The Wizard of Oz. How many times have you seen it? About a gazillion. I had a particularly wonderful time watching the Sing-Along Wizard of Oz with my niece, who was then about 10. It was delightful to experience it with an interactive audience. She was especially tickled by the row of men behind us, wearing spray painted shoe boxes on their heads (they were the yellow brick road, get it?).
8) In 1970, Glenn Frey formed the Eagles. What's your favorite Eagles song? Oh, sweet darlin', that would be The Best of My Love.
9) Random question: Which would upset you more, being trapped in an elevator or stranded atop a mountain in a ski lift? I don't think either one would upset me, unless I had to pee. I've been trapped in an elevator and it was no big deal. I know how to dress for the cold, so I think I'd be OK on the ski lift for a while until I was rescued. Of course, much of the experience would depend on who I was with. I don't want to be stranded/trapped with someone who is freaking out.
I decided that I would rather pee outside than inside the elevator. I would have fresh air and a beautiful view. We have been through albums and I still have my Tapestry album.
ReplyDeleteI get what motivates the MAGA thinking. I live in the "rust-belt" and am very familiar with those who feel disenfranchised. So many feel that the very foundations of their way of life don't matter any longer and in our society we have become increasingly isolated and lacking any community. Trump gives them hope that the America they grew up with can come back. It can't. For better or worse, we cannot stay stagnate. What I find deplorable is that in a country with hundreds of millions of people, what we've got in Washington (and those striving to get there) are the best we can come up with.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI appreciate that they feel disenfranchised. I don't understand the joyful bullying. You say Trump gives them hope, but it looks to me like he gives them permission. Laughing when a reference is made to a man beaten with a hammer by an intruder ... Is that the kind of America they want? When I see how many of the MAGA wrap themselves in my Christian faith, I cringe. Trafficking in conspiracy theories and mocking other people's suffering is not in my New Testament. PS Perhaps if election workers like Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman weren't harassed by men with tremendous power, more citizens at the local level willing to get involved. That, too, was deplorable.
DeleteI think you’ve nailed it on the MAGA folks. We need to do better for all segments of our society.
Delete#2 I heard that also, people can be so cruel especially in a crowd.
ReplyDelete#5 Yup. People are so attached to their phone.
I so agree with you on #2. I am surrounded by them and constantly horrified as there does not appear to be any limit to the depths they will go to be ill-mannered, ill-informed, and obnoxious.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Gal on #2. I don't think I will ever forget Trump mocking and mimicking a handicapped Law maker, and NO one around him being outraged. If he is the best person we have to make those who feel they have no voice, then this isn't America anymore. This is the Land of the Bullies.
Delete#5--liner notes!!! I loved liner notes!!!
ReplyDelete