I realized that I had not posted a picture of my cats, so before WordPress gives me the boot, I shall correct this oversight.
Awwwwwww!
I will be at Panhandle Skirmishes this weekend. Happily I opted for a hotel as it looks to be cool weather. See you there!
Update: In response to a request from one of the three of you who read this stuff, the names of the cats are: (in approximate relation to their placement)
Kipling
. Little Kip
Doppler
. Emily
This is one of many Scottish ballads written about “Bonnie Prince Charlie.” It concerns his infamous escape after the Battle of Culloden in 1746. The song itself was written by Sir Harold Boulton and was first published in 1884.
Skye Boat Song by Glen E Hammer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
As a side note, I decided that 26 songs (equaling a half a year of posts) is enough to wade through on the Song of the Week page so I will begin a new page next week.
Someone pointed out to me that I hadn’t posted about the outcome of my accident. Link to the original post. The outcome is generally good; I was provided with a free rental while repairs were being made, the other party accepted all liability (no kidding), the car was fixed and looks as good as new, and my back pain has receded. I am also confident that the repairs are the highest quality because the last time I let Progressive send my Odyssey out for repairs (about four years ago) it came back looking great and the repaired area is still indistinguishable from the original body and paint. All-in-all I would have to call it a happy conclusion to some abject stupidity.
Not so good included the rental car. It was a Pontiac G6, one of those new cars that show GM has turned the corner on quality. Well, not really. To describe the car as gutless is being kind. Its 4-cylinder provided very little power and, unless you were very gentle, pushing the accelerator caused it to drop a gear or two and the revs would shoot up as you tried to accelerate. With my Odyssey I push on the gas and it goes faster. No theatrics, no revving, no gear drop that you can almost feel. (Of course, the Odyssey has a GREAT engine. See the end for a story.) If the G6 was way more economical, it might be worth putting up with but it only averaged 25 mpg for the two weeks I had it. My Odyssey averages 22 over the same roads.
Rental Car - Pontiac G6
Poor Interior Trim
(The story about the Honda engine, as I remember it, is that when Saturn decided the Vu needed a new 6-cylinder engine they looked at the thirteen or so different 6-cylinder engines that GM made and decided instead to contract with Honda for up to 50,000 of the 6-cylinders that Honda uses in the Odyssey. And the kicker is that when they started installing those engines in the Vu, it increased the “American Content” of the vehicle.)
This week’s posting is one of the many songs that Leslie Fish has written for the poetry of Rudyard Kipling. If you are not familiar with these works, I would encourage you to go to the Random Factors site or Leslie’s site and get some of them. I think she did an excellent job of putting music to the words and, of course, no one sings quite like Leslie.
Perhaps I’ll see you at Eistefodd this weekend.
Again I would mention that, although this audio file is Creative Commons licensed and the Kipling poetry is in the Public Domain in the United States, the music is Copyright 1987 by Leslie Fish, assigned to Random Factors. Leslie’s albums “Cold Iron” and “Our Fathers of Old” as well as many other recordings are available through her publisher, Random Factors at http://www.random-factors.com/ or on Leslie’s site at http://www.lesliefish.com/.
The Quest by Glen E Hammer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.lesliefish.com/.
I apologize for this week’s late post. I had serious computer issues for the last three days and, though I had the song recorded on tape, I couldn’t convert or upload it. =(
This song is considered Traditional, though it dates from the late 19th or earlier 20th Century. It was written by the Irish composer Percy French (1854-1920) and is also known by the name Eileen Og. Percy French wrote a number of other songs including the better known piece,The Mountains of Mourne.
The Pride of Petrovar by Glen E Hammer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Another Traditional song this week. This one was included in the Skene Manuscript between 1615 and 1635 though it may date back to 1605 or earlier.
The Parting Glass by Glen E Hammer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
I had hoped to make it to Village Fair this weekend. In fact I was on my way to the event on Friday night when some idiot in a Hummer came careening into my Odyssey at 40+ miles per hour while I waited at a stoplight. He swerved at the last second so only took out the right rear quarter of my van but as he jumped the curb and hit a sign he actually tore the front wheel and axle off his H3.
I think I’m okay, though I should go get my neck checked, but the people in the car ahead of me that he pushed me into were taken to the hospital.
Unfortunate events but I still could have made it to Saturday’s activities except my insurance company, Progressive Insurance, totally dropped the ball and left me stranded for the weekend. I had stayed with Progressive because they had such great customer service the last time I was in a not-at-fault accident. I have Comprehensive, Collision and Rental Car on my auto insurance so I kind of expect that I’ll go to their Service Center, write them a check for my deductible, and drive out in a rental car. As soon as I got the Accident Report from the police I had called them and given them the details, about 8:30 last night. They said someone would be back to me before noon today. At 12:15 I call to find out whats up. After over 65 minutes on hold I had to hang up because my cell phone battery was dying. After a recharge, I call Customer Service but don’t put my claim number in, just try to talk to a Customer Service Rep. After only about 3 minutes, one comes on the phone and I explain my situation and my displeasure. The Rep says that no one is scheduled to call me until Monday morning, a mere 44+ hours after I was told they would call. She then puts me on hold for over 20 minutes and I finally hang up because it’s obvious she has just left me there so she doesn’t have to deal with me. I call yet again and ask the next representative to please not just put me on hold. This representative looks into the situation, expresses her regrets for the treatment I’ve received and with only very short waits on hold eventually puts me in contact with a Supervisor. The Supervisor is also very helpful and solicitous, promising me a call back but also giving me her direct line. She does indeed call back but the news by this time is it is now too late in the day to do anything, everything is closed. She promises that it will be resolved Monday, she herself will make sure, and I believe her but that doesn’t help me for the rest of the weekend. So, though I give the last two people I talked to an A+ for effort, the whole incident gets a big F- for Customer Service. A poor return for over 6 years as a loyal Pregressive customer.
I was rather shocked and deeply saddened when I read Mary Travers died. I’d never really though about it much but much of my early interest in folk music was inspired by Peter, Paul and Mary. I remember listening to them on 8-track and, though I never had many of their albums, it seemed I always ran across their songs. I would say that they, along with Paul Simon / Simon and Garfunkel and John Denver were what really got me started playing guitar and singing. To this day, when I sing If I had a Hammer, or Lemon Tree, or especially Day is Done, I hear their harmony playing along in my head. I can’t believe I’m tearing up but it kind of feels like losing an old friend.
This might be a good place to list some of the many others who’ve inspired me and helped me along to where I am. (Where am I anyway?) I’m always amazed at how simple and how timeless Malvina Reynolds’ work is. It’s about issues we are dealing with today though the songs were written 50 years ago. I missed meeting her by five weeks, she passed away just before she was to come perform at Rocky Mountain College.
My classical voice teacher, the late, great Elizabeth Rowan, taught me that important things lie beyond technical proficiency. (Not that I ever really got that proficient.)
And where would I be without most of Montana’s Fab Four, from the People Tree to the Rocky Road Shows to the ML&BC. Rusty, who inspired and taught me so many things in The Rocky Road Scholar days. Fitz, the practical one who educated me in the tenets of professionalism. Tim, who listened and showed me that you can chose how you live your life.
And then there’s the fannish world. Bob Aspirin, Cynthia and Dr. Jane, Leslie Fish, Frank Hayes, Mirendel & Baldwin, Meg Davis, and Heather Rose Jones would probably be the most influential folks.
Of course, I’ve had thousands of other influences along the way. All have helped to make me the person I am today. So to all of you I’ve met along the way, in person or through your works, thank you for all you’ve taught me. I’ll try to pass it along as I go my merry way.
This weeks song was written by the legendary Viscount Edward “Fast Eddie” Zifran of Gendy (E F Morrill), kind of, at least. I came across the song in a songbook from Oertha. I learned the song and made it part of my repertoire. Then one year the Board met in Orlando. I dropped by in the evening, with my guitar of course, and made the acquaintance of Mr Morrill. When I said I knew the song, he was quite interested and so I performed it for him. After, he admitted that the version I had learned was not quite the version he had written. We exchanged information, he agreed that I could record the song and further agreed to send me a copy of his original version of the song so that I could do it instead. I’m still waiting… =)
Again, a quick reminder that though this version is Creative Commons licensed, the original version of the song is Copyright by E F Morrill.
The Champion by Glen E Hammer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Here’s another Leslie Fish song that I do. It’s fairly popular, it was requested several times at last weekend’s event. There are also a couple of sub-titles to the piece. The original one was Bringing the War Home but the more popular one is The SCA Wet Dream. I know that a few of my words are different than the ones on her album (also called “Serious Steel”) but that is because I learned it from a recording I had made of her from a long-ago Pennsic. Again I would remind you that although my version here is Creative Commons licensed, the original words and music are Copyright 1991 by Leslie Fish, assigned to Random Factors. Leslie’s album “Serious Steel” as well as several others recordings are available through her publisher, Random Factors at http://www.random-factors.com/ and Leslie’s site is at http://www.lesliefish.com/.
Serious Steel by Glen E Hammer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.lesliefish.com/.
Not a Bard 