A day early

But I was sitting here and so I thought, I might as well. You don't have to read it earlier than Sunday dear Reader. :-)

Anyhow: this has been a horribly hot week here in my part of Germany and I am definitely NOT heatprove.
So, the songs, that I already had, about the heat, are still valid. Although, I think, I only had one of them on, so I put on the other one now. I don't own it. It might bore you to read that all the time, but I can hardly put on the mantle of creatorship for something, I didn't create. So I don't. Here goes:

There is a nice version sung by Miss Monroe, from the film "There's no Business, like Showbusiness" But somehow the version I found was a bit grizzling in the pixels. And this is really nice enough...

As I said, we had a heatwave and this always means, that my feet swell to about double their size. So I wear shoes with laces, that I can widen. But if this goes on, I have to buy these kind of shoes a size larger. Just so I won't have to go to work barefoot or in flipflops. That is generally frouned upon in an office and generally rightly so, but in this heat? There should be exemptions. Though: I do not like to walk in FlipFlops, but some people do and can and should be allowed to.

Other than that: not only did I finish the second act of "The Crucible" I finally got around to read the story of the real happenings in Salem in the 17th Century Massachussetts (sorry, if I wrote that wrong, not on purpose). Anyway, I did know, that it really happened, I just didn't know, that Arthur Miller stayed so near the truth.Some things he eliminated and some (mainly the ages) he changed, but most of the characters he kept. It is a shocker and more shocking than the truth of the story is, that this can practically happen every day, everywhere to everyone. Well, maybe minus the hangings, I hope, but the "witchunt" of people.

Even more frightening to me personally is, that I cannot be sure, that I wouldn't be a witchhunter. Now, unencumbered but such happenings, I would say: no way! But if I thought my life or that of the ones I loved depended on it? I couldn't say. I really couldn't say, but I say it right away: I wouldn't want to try it out.

So, apart from reading The Crucible I finished the Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux and I am currently listening - again - to "The little Beachstreet Bakery" by Jenny Colgan. I like her style.

Yesterday I started "The black Country" by Alex Grecian. It is good and it is about the work of Scotland Yard in its beginning in the late 19th Century. But it started with a girl finding an eye and it started with "The American" who had a gash in his cheek, that showed his teeth. Won't describe it further. 

On my e-reader I am also reading "Locavore - U.S.A." which is about people to try and make their grocery shopping more local. That is interesting and it is, what I try, but not always manage to do. Anyway, it is a nice book and when I don't want to read about crimes in the 17th or 19th centtury I gladly turn to economic adventures in the 21st Century.

Oh and I have been watching a lot of clips from X-Factor (several different countries), and "you name the county" go talent. I watched again Susan Boyles first audition, but there was one by a then 13year old girl, Carly Rose Sonnenclar on X-Factor America, who then got sponsored or whatevere it is called, by Britney Spears and I thought then and think now, that Britney Spears did a great job. It was a bit as if she wanted to show, how it can be done. She didn't turn the girl around, She asked hard work of her and she tickeled out the best and she showed, that she herself really is a pro. Also I had the feeling, that she found some sort of piece in this. She got a girl on first place by her mentoring (that was the word) and showed, that she is more than her child and teen clips, but a talented, hard working woman.

She should do more of here quiet songs, like "Sometimes I'm sad..." Maybe even Jazz or Blues or Soul? I don't know, but I think, that she is much more, than what she was made to be.

So, to honour that, I shall try to find a clip of Miss Sonnenclar, after Britney Spears mentored her.

As always, I don't own that clip!

O.k., she does not look like 13, but she does not sound like it either. Below another clip of hers, the original audition, that clip I don't own either...

Yes, it is the same girl. :-)

I wish you a good Sunday!!

The Garden Song

Today we start with a clip almost right away. One of those I do not own:
It is a John Denver/Muppet-Version of the Garden Song...

I found this song on i-tunes, sung by Arlo Guthrie. The text is a little different, but the melody stays lovely.

Now, where I live, it is definitely far too  hot to either work or be in the garden, but never mind. It is summer.
Though judging by the heat, the temperature is curtesy of hell, not of heaven. But this may be, because I am
not heatproof.

Anyway, life goes on, the World Cup is finally finished, so as far as that is concerned, there should be some peace for about four years. Well, there are always those, who would like to revel in these things for more than a month and I am sure it will come up again at the "end of the year" reviews, but other than that, it will be rather peaceful.

My Aunt finally died. Now, this might be hard, even though she was 91 already, but for the past two months, all she could do, was lie and sleep. She wasn't conscious to speak of and she couldn't eat of her own accord. That is not living, that is vegetating. And she has always been a very active person. So she had a right to die, says I.
It is also a relieve to my father (her younger brother, who had the worry and the close up work. But my cousins do now have the paperwork and organization of the funeral and all that. They are executors.
At any rate, it is an aera ended. She has always been there, one way or another and it is weird, that she is not now. Though lately we did not get on so well, I shall still miss her.

Other than that, there is really not much to tell. My BBC-links don't seem to work and I hope, that the problem lies not in my computer. Since obiously my blog works and YouTube, I'd say, it isn't.

Yesternday I had some business in the city and it was darn hot. Which gets me to another song I don't own, nor do I own the clip. But either "says" what I mean...

Yet another Sunday

I had so much fun, playing the Sims 3, I actually only remembered, that Sunday is my blog day. But a look as to the number of readers showed me: nobody realized it. Yet. It is out now, that I pointed to it myself.

So yesterday we had our "Schools-Out" barbecue and coffee, though not in that order. My oldest niece is finished with school, my nephews are changing schools and my niece holds the fort in primary school.
It was great fun and took a long time. Still, as long, as it is fun....

Today the last game in the world cup takes place and ain't I happy. I do hope, that the bother of it all will be finished with it. Though I do not see that yet. But at least it will all quieten down and that's something. Really I am not fond of soccer. People turn into annoyances, which makes me turn into an annoyance. And I do not like to be one.

Anyway, I got on with my holiday planning. I can do a tour with the steam-train and on the canal on the same day. They start not so very far apart. So I can do exactly, what I had in mind. I just love it. It is wonderful. I still have to buy a ticket for The Buckingham Palace, but I can do that tomorrow. I am suddenly very tired. AND I am eagher to go on reading "The Crucible". I thought, that I might be better to know more about the peace. Well, I do know, what it is about and the main characters and how the hold together or rather apart. But I didn't know the details. Well, I am getting there and I only just started.

From the pictures I saw - and I obviously don't mind repeating myself, see above - there is a lot of female screeching and male roaring. Am partial to neither. The screeching is on a level that induces my tinnitus-nerves to wake up and the roaring rather frightens me. Which is, why I am more afraid of the Thunder, than the Lightning in a storm. And so I avoid it, if I can. I usually can. But this I brought on to myself.
Still, it is a very interesting story and a good study in human behaviour. Seen not only in 17th century. From what I read about Mr. McCarthy in the 50ies, it really wasn't much different, though for different reasons.

There is the thing, that Mr. Miller wrote his piece at that time, when he was made to feel the workings of those trials and this has obviously made a strong impression on him or he wouldn't have written this piece.
So one can learn more than one new "thing".

There is a song sung by Noel Coward, his text to a melody from Cole Porter: "Let's fall in Love" and Mr. Coward shortly refers to Mr. McCarthy.
And then, coming to names mentioned in a song, there is the name of Fred Astaire mentioned in "A Nightingale sang in Berkeley Square". I own neither, but I will try to get both or one of them on here.

For now it is enough frome me. Cheerio!

Since I'm still awake

I decided to write now and not much, much later...

It has been a very hot week, but the weekend is rather wet. As this saved me from walking, I was personally not very sad about it. But I do hope, that there was nobody inconvenienced by it.

It was the 4th of July so a very important day in the U.S.A. and I do hope, that the weather there was nice.
I do assume, that there will have been parades and barbecues and fireworks and a lot of fun for everyone.
Much nicer and good weather.

Actually, I do not have much to tell. The world cup is still on, but fortunately, there are only three more games. I do hope, that Brazil or Belgium wins. Though I wouldn't mind Argentina either. We shall see.
But I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Next week we have a "schools-out-barbecue" in my family. My oldest niece did her A-levels with very high marks, she will be off to University soon. Her brother finished part of his schooling, you might call it High School, equally well. He will go to college to do his business-A-levels there. My younger nephews will change to Junior High-School, Grade 5 at any rate. And my youngest niece will go on to second grade.
The summerholidays here started on Friday, with the last day of school.

I love the summerholidays. It means, that the trains are emptier and the chances to have a seat in the morning are much higher. Lovely. And it's nice for the kids, though their parents might be glad for the end of the holidays, when they don't have to find ways to keep the kids occupied or watched ove. For them it will be a long 6 weeks.

That's about all I could tell you. My holiday is getting nearer and I am looking forward to it. I'll be seeing "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller with Richard Armitage. It will be interesting, but I got a bit worried from the photos, as the insinuate, that there will be a lot of screeching, screaming and shouting. And that I am not a fan of. Or my ears are not, especially the screeches. At first I was sad to sit rather in the back rows of the stalls, because I might not be able to see Mr. Armitage so well. Now I am actually rather glad. Otherwise my ears would be ringing the whole way back home. As to the view: I shall borrow my Moms opera glasses.
At any rate, the piece will be very good and it got a lot of good reviews, so I am all in all looking forward to it. And it will be a nice roundup to my holidays. Since I will have a long trip on the train the next day, I have enough time to think about it.

Now: since it is in the middle of the night, I thought a clip referring to the night might be in place. I do not own it, as is never the case, but enjoy anyway: