Christmas Echoes

Well, it's the afternoon after Thanksgiving lunch, which to me means it's the official start of the Christmas season. I mentioned that to my Grandmother at lunch, and she disagrees. She said it's not right to listen to Christmas music until tomorrow. but luckily for you, I didn't listen to her. I've been listening to and recording Christmas music since not long after Christmas ended last year, and now it's time to share some of the goodies I've found. I've got many, many old vinyl records recorded and converted to MP3 files, I've scanned the covers, and now I'm ready to share it. There are lots of great sites out there doing the same thing, and many of them will have better and more interesting tunes, and probably cleaner copies. Most of my vinyl cost $1.00 or less, so it's not in the best shape, and I don't have any fancy noise filtering software, so you are going to get what you get. But for what I lack in quality, I hope to make up for in quantity. So check back in often, and see what's new.

My first share is also probably my oldest share. I believe this record dates from exactly 50 years ago. It's George Feyer's Echoes Of Christmas (Vox VX 25010, 1955). Download and enjoy! It's tinkly, cocktail lounge piano music, and it all runs together. So you're getting two tracks, side one and side two. I didn't know what to expect when I got this, but I really loved that cover. Turns out that George Feyer made a whole series of albums through his career, all called Echoes Of something. It makes great background music, or if you happen to own an elevator, you're gonna love it!

Please note, I'm using RapidShare.de for my posts. When you click on the music link, you'll be taken to a screen where you have to choose between a paid download or the free version. You are welcome to select the paid version, get a memebership, and download like a madman. Or you can select the free version. On the next page after you click the Free button, you have to scroll to the bottom and wait for the countdown to reach zero. Then a link will appear and you can download the Zip file containing the music and the cover scans. If you have downloaded anything else from RapidShare within the past hour, you'll have to wait until the hour is up. It's a bit of a pain, but it means these files will be hosted indefinately. They'll either go away if they don't get downloaded for 30 days, or they'll go away really quickly if I get a nasty email from the RIAA. Let's hope neither one of those happens.

Good News And Bad-I received an email from George Feyer's daughter-in-law last night, and she tells me that the family is in the process of making all his recordings available for legal download. That's the good news. The bad news is that I can't share it with you anymore, but I think the good outweighs the bad. So keep checking back and hopefully I'll have some information about when and where you can download some tasty GeorgeFeyer.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I only know of two songs that celebrate Thanksgiving. One of them is Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant, which isn't really about Thanksgiving, but sort of mentions it, at least, and this one I'm sharing with you today. From 1960, here is Spencer Ross-Thanksgiving Day Parade (Columbia 4-41532 7" 45 RPM single). The flip side is Tracy's Theme, and that track made it to #13 on the Billboard charts in January of 1960. Both tracks are from TV productions of famous movies. Our Thanksgiving track is from "Miracle On 34th St.", while the flip side is from "Philadelphia Story." This song is a real toe-tapping, march-along band number. I think you'll like it. Stay tuned to Ernie (Not Bert) for a whole lot more music between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's going to be a blast!

Near The End Of November

Oooh, look, a self-portrait! If you look closely, beneath the groovy starburst filter effect, you can see me reflected in this side-view mirror. Cool, eh?

Luther Played The Boogie

I saw the new Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line on Friday night. It's really good. I'm certainly not the world's biggest Johnny Cash fan, but I was drawn in from start to finish. I was impressed by Joaquin Phoenix in the title role, but even more so by Reese Witherspoon as June Carter. Who knew she could act, and in a role other than the same blonde girl she has played in Legally Blonde, Pleasantville and Friends? But, and this is where I get to post some pictures, there are a few background performers in the film that you aren't likely to notice unless you are familiar with their real-life personas. The band The Dempseys perform in the film as Elvis' backup group. I was suprised to see them in the film, but then I remembered them saying something at one of their recent concerts about being chosen to star in a Johnny Cash film. I think I nearly fell out of my seat when Joe, the bassist (above) from the group, walked by in the background of a shot. Anyhow, I've seen these guys twice in concert, and it's been awesome both times. Super high energy from start to finish, never a missed note, and a brilliant selection of tunes. The first show I saw, the stand-up bass actually broke from being played too hard. They spent about 20 minutes with two rolls of duct tape, and started the show right back up exactly where it had left off.

These guys are active performers (unlike Luther Perkins, a member of Johnny Cash's Tennessee Two, who is famous for just standing there during performances). The shot above is the drummer, Ron, playing bass from a rather precarious perch. Yes, I said the drummer was playing bass. You've got to go see these guys, then it will all make sense.
As if a bass-playing drummer weren't wacky enough, how about the shot above, where the bassist is playing guitar and the guitarist is playing bass? I told you they were wacky. At one point, these two guys were both playing guitar. The same guitar. At the same time. Oh, and the drummer was tapping out a beat on the guitar body. You've got to see it to believe it.
Several times during the show, in response to some particularly loud cheering, or maybe just because a pretty lady flipped up her top for a second, Brad would flash a little message to the crowd from the back of his guitar. Talk about a hard shot to get! He only did this for about a second each time, since he never missed playing the next chord.
After the show, the guys in the band hung out with the crowd, selling CDs and signing autographs. This fan (groupie?) was excited about getting her glove signed by the boys in the band. Don't tell the guys in the band about this post, just in case you happen to know them. They hate me. I shot these pictures at two of their shows, and I got carried away and took hundreds of shots from right in front of the stage with my flash. I think I probably blinded them. Sorry guys. I'll leave the camera at home next time. Maybe...

Blue Spring In Fall

From Daytona Beach, I went down to Blue Spring State Park along the St. Johns River. It's beautiful place with lots of wildlife along a scenic spring-fed river. The river is lined with these oak trees that have been there for centuries. It's nice to know there are still spots like this out there.

South Bound And Down

These pelicans were flying South along Daytona Beach last weekend. I don't think they were going away for the winter, they probably just spotted some fishermen bringing in their catch.

Big Girl

I spent Friday in Daytona Beach for work, and of course I got some pictures. The Lambo you see below is on Main Street, which is where all the bigger biker bars are. And the diving girl you see here is just up the street from there. I think she's a bit of a local landmark, but I don't know much about her. Not sure if she's vintage or new, either, but I've always seen her over there, so she dates to at least the eighties. (She's mentioned briefly here as dating to the fifties.)

Washington (4/50)

Here's another license plate for you. Washington state. Not a bad looking car, either...
Previous plates: New York, Maine, Hawaii.

The Middle Of November

This week is a night shot of the Anna Maria City Pier. Pretty cool, eh? Gotta love those long exposures.

November

Whoops! I forogt to post this calendar page back at the first of the month. This is the blossom of the Coral Bean plant, which most of the year is a scrawny, ugly, thorny, downright lousy excuse for a bush. But when it blooms, WOW!

Tripping The Light Fantastic

No, these aren't milk flavored jellyfish. This is the reflection of the moon in the bay. I liked the way it looked, so I tried to shoot it. This isn't exactly what I saw, but it looks pretty neat.

Another Day, Another Sunset

I shot this on my way home tonight. I don't think it looked this interesting in person, but I shot it through a pretty long telephoto lens, so I was able to get in there where I had nothing but color. I'm starting to experiment with the higher ISO settings on my new camera, so I can get sharper pictures in lower light with higher shutter speeds. All of my previous cameras added too much noise to the image, making it unacceptable, but this Digital Rebel XT seems to do a great job at the higher ISO settings.

From Deep In Tropical Bradenton

I brought you a picture of one of these parrots last week, but this weekend I came across whole flocks of them getting drunk on fermented fruit. I think these may be a different species, since they have dark faces instead of grey. Just a couple of minutes after I took this shot, they all took off and flew away, probably over 100 of them. It was a pretty impressive sight. It was all the more impressive because it was right in front of the yacht basin downtown instead of some jungle-like setting.

A Ray (Not Sunshine)

I forgot to show you guys this sting ray I saw on Saturday. I shot this from the Rod N Reel Pier out at the northern tip of Anna Maria Island. I suppose a fisherman would say it was at Bean point, but I'm a land lubber. He was maybe two and a half or three feet wide, and almost 6 feet long with that pointy tail. I happened to have a polarizing filter on my lens when he swam by, so that helped me get the shot without a lot of glare off the water.

Oodles of Doodles CLVIII

Here are a few exotic musical instrument doodles for you from the flipside of Dancers Of Bali-Gamelan Orchestra From The Village Of Pliatan, Bail, Indonesia, Under The Direction of Anak Agung Gde Mandera, by arrangement with the Cultural Department of the Republic Of Indonesia (Columbia Masterworks ML 4618). Boy, is that a mouthful. The first instrument you see above is called a reyong. In order below are a gong, an angklung, a gangsa and some cymbals. Pretty exotic stuff for around here. I'm used to guitars and drums, with the occasional organ.

This Week In November

This week's calendar page is a rose from my Mom's garden. It's a little tiny tea rose, but I've got my lens right down in there so it looks really big.

DVD (Not MTM)

Since I just brought you an LP with Mary Tyler Moore on the cover, I figured it fitting that I bring you an LP with her TV hubby on the cover. Important difference here is that Dick Van Dyke actually sings on his LP. This is Songs I Like By Dick Van Dyke With The Ray Charles Singers And Enoch Light And His Orchestra (Command RS 33-860, 1963). Those who thought that the only singing done by Mr. Van Dyke was from Disney movies will be happy to know that he doesn't sing any Disney songs on this release. It's all standards, many from theater and Tin Pan Alley. As far as I know, this was the only personality release on the Command label. I guess things didn't work out between Dick and Enoch.

MTM (Not DVD)

I've probably picked this record up a hundred times, but never bought it. Something about it was drawing my attention, but I could never put my finger on it. I'd be flipping through a stack of 100 LPs, and this one would make me stop every time. I finally ran across a comment on a discography, and it solved the puzzle for me. The cover model is Mary Tyler Moore! Hard to believe, but true. There are more LPs out there with her on them, but this is my favorite, or at least the only one I have stumbled across since I found out it was her. Not that it matters one whit, but this cover is from Gordon Fleming-Gigi (Golden Tone Hi-Fidelity C 4035).

Oodles of Doodles CLVII

This doodle seems a little more international than most, and I'm not sure why. It's from Roger Williams-Waltzes In Stereo (Kapp KS-3000), which doesn't imply anything international. Perhaps they had the doodle from some other project, and just snuck it in there for kicks. Doodles are a hard thing to explain sometimes.

Vulture Culture

Halloween is over, but here's something a little spooky for you anyway. I came across this branch loaded down with turkey vultures out at Myakka River State Park today. There are dozens and dozens of vultures that hang around out there, I have no idea why. If you look close, one of these guys has some red on his head, which makes him a different kind of vulture, I think. But I'm not sure...