International Artists and Songs #MusicMovesMe

It's Monday and it's time for music!

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1. Songbird’s Crazy World	2. The girl I used to be
3. Driller's Place	4. StacyUncorked
5. Ramblin' with AM	6. CAAC
7. Adventures in Weseland	8. The Sound of One Hand Typing

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Today I am joining up with other Music Moves Me bloggers (and you can join us at the linky above). We are a group of music loving bloggers who blog about music each Sunday or Monday (or even later in the week). If you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only-meaning at least one music video, please! Otherwise, your post link may be labeled "No Music" or even removed.)   

Our head host is Xmas Dolly, and our co-hosts are Cathy from Curious as a Cathy, joined by the knowledgeable Stacy of Stacy Uncorked and, last but not least, me.

Every other week we have a theme.  This week's theme is  "International Artists/Songs".

Since we have bloggers from several countries participating in this weekly meme, this should be interesting.  As for me, I'm going to somewhat stick to the familiar:  international artists whose songs have charted in the United States (although the song I choose may not be one of their hit songs).  Bonus points if the song is in a language other than English.

This song is a bit outside the genres I usually listen to.  Here's  Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor, better known as Lorde, who holds dual New Zealand and Croatian citizenship.  She's perhaps best known for her hit song "Royals" but I chose a song "Te Ao Mārama" ("World of Light"), which has had some controversy surrounding it, but here it is.

The Swedish group ABBA has recorded several of their hit songs in their native Swedish language.  Here is "Waterloo". 

And, since the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest concluded this past Saturday, why not also feature the 1974 Eurovision performance of Waterloo by Abba which helped to launch their career?

As a matter of fact, a number of Eurovision Song Contest winning songs have charted in the United States.  Although he was not the artist who won with this song, French musician Paul Mauriat & His Orchestra charted in 1968 with an instrumental version of Love is Blue (L'amour est bleu).

The late, great Austrian artist Johann "Hans" Hölzel, better known to us as Falco, charted in 1982 with Der Kommissar.  He later reached #1 with his 1986 "Rock Me Amadeus" but tragically died in a car/bus accident in 1998.  (Yes, I know the big hit was Rock Me Amadeus but I was in the mood for Der Kommissar.)

Thanks to social media, this arrangement of Barry Manilow's Copacabana by Dutch musician Emma Wieriks went viral several years ago.

Last but not least, although he sings in English, there is Canadian Tom Cochrane, one of many (many, many) musicians who have hit it big in the United States.  Today, with his group Red Rider, is the hit "Lunatic Fringe" from 1981.  I love the beginning of this song.

And that's a wrap!

Join me again next week for another episode of Music Moves Me. 

Mother's Day Shadows #ShadowshotSunday

 From a walk in my neighborhood last Sunday.

I was intrigued by the patterns on my lawn.

Sidewalk patterns.

It's nice to have leaves on the trees again as there are more opportunities for shadows now. So why not come out of the shadows and join us?

Joining Lisa at Lisa's Garden Adventure for her #ShadowshotSunday.

Directional Skies #SkywatchFriday

Today, I bring you skies from yesterday, several hours before thunderstorms hit our area of the Southern Tier of New York.  What I did was point my camera at each direction and took a picture.

Now I can't remember which direction was which, so let's just let the clouds and sky tell the story.  Direction #1

Direction #2.  I see some storm clouds building.

Direction #3. Looks peaceful here.

The final direction.  Not peaceful here.

Joining Yogi and other skywatchers for #SkywatchFriday.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day May 2025

Spring has arrived in my zone 6a garden in the Southern Tier of New York.  Or, should I say, it's been shot out of a cannon?  That's how it's been:  one flower after another, boom boom boom!  And many of the flowers haven't lasted long, either, due either to the weather being either too warm or rainy.  But other flowers are soaking it up.

Shall we peek outside and see what's blooming today?  

Our tree peony flowers are just starting to open.

Euphorbia is in full bloom. 

Violets are hanging on.

These are, or were, orange.

White and orange

Then, there are the almost-done-but-hung-on for GBBD flowers, like the last of my late daffodils.

But so many of my spring flowers didn't make it, even my lilacs, although one lilac hung on.  My purple lilacs were disappointing this year, and I'm not sure why. 

In my sideyard (very shady), cranesbill geranium. 

Star of Bethlehem, which I never planted but showed up several years ago, being choked out by vinca.

In the back, another resident wildflower I never planted, yellow Corydalis.

We all dream about May, we in this clime, when the flowers bloom and the weather (maybe) finally becomes springlike.

Joining Carol at May Dreams Gardens for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. Why not click on the link and visit other gardeners who, each 15th of the month, show what is blooming inside or outside their abodes?

Clever Signs #WordlessWednesday

Here are a couple of pictures taken recently around Binghamton, New York recently.  These were taken by my guest photographer, not by me.

At a CVS [major drug store chain in the United States] drive-thru.

Please, no smoking.

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1. Wordless Wednesday	2. Milepebbles	3. OF MICE AND raMEN
4. My Mind's Eye	5. messymimi's meanderings	6. Keith's Ramblings
7. Senior Salon	8. Image-in-ing	9. MCow
10. A ShutterBug Explores	11. Ana Linden	12. Animal Shelter Vol. Life
13. Forgetfulone	14. SuzetteB	15. Jackie's Photo Blog
16. Nature's Beauty	17. Ramblin' with AM	18. Sognafaret
19. Suzana	20. Spoiled Teddy	21. Jutta K. Germany
22. MM&TW	23. Meezer's Mews	24. Deb Nance at Readerbuzz
25. My GBGV Life	26. Moonwashed Musings	27. Roentare Photo Blog
28. His Daily Photo	29. Melbourne Candid	30. Florida Furkids
31. 15andmeowing	32. The Enigmatic Frog	33. Xena, Lucy and Chia
34. Driller's Place	35. Brian's Home ~ Forever	36. The Cat Blogosphere
37. Temperament Test	38. Garden is Growing!	39. Heidi Dare
40. DonnaleeQ	41. Laughs	42. Gattina/Ingrid
43. The LLB Life	44. Midweek News	45. Kitties Blue
46. Shiju Sugunan	47. Rusty Ring	48. Mihaela Toila
49. Maschas	50. Enduring Horizon	51. CatSynth
52. Fools Rush In	53. klara/Brussels	54. Golch Central
55. Curious as a Cathy	56. ES #76 #WW	57. Hermanus South Africa
58. Summer Fun	59. Magical Mystical Mimi	60. Ruby Rose & Angels
61. Stippie & Peachy	62. On the Bay	63. Wordless Wednesday
64. Jim, Sydney, Australia	65. Roentare Photo Blog	66. His Daily Photo
67. Melbourne Candid	68. Lone Star Cats	69. Kinley Westie
70. Favorite Shot	71. Mr. Ohh!'s Sideways View	72. Feline Fiction
73. Paspii	74. Carpe Diem

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Joining up today with Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday. 

Tomorrow, if you love flowers, please join me for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

Songs to Honor a Good Man #MusicMovesMe

It's Monday and it's time for music!

---

1. Songbird’s Crazy World	2. THursday Songs
3. Driller's Place	4. Ramblin' with AM
5. CAAC	6. Stacy Uncorked
7. The Sound of One Hand Typing	8. A Mewsic Glow
9. Birgit	10. Adventures in Weseland

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What is a blog hop?
Get the code here...

Linky Tools  |  Linky Blog 2013

Today I am joining up with other Music Moves Me bloggers (and you can join us at the linky above). We are a group of music loving bloggers who blog about music each Sunday or Monday (or even later in the week). If you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only-meaning at least one music video, please! Otherwise, your post link may be labeled "No Music" or even removed.)   

Our head host is Xmas Dolly, and our co-hosts are Cathy from Curious as a Cathy, joined by the knowledgeable Stacy of Stacy Uncorked and, last but not least, me.

Every other week we have a theme.  This week's theme is  "You Pick"

My last living uncle passed away earlier this month at the age of 100.  I was fortunate enough to be able to attend his memorial service via the magic of the Internet (aka Zoom).  I mentioned a little bit about him in my blog post yesterday.

My uncle was the lastborn of his six siblings (one of whom died as an infant), born into an immigrant family who had settled in Brooklyn. (Brooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City). My father's father owned a candy store in the Ocean Hill section of Brooklyn and all the children were expected to work long hours in the store. They lived in poverty, in an apartment that only had heat in one room (the kitchen).  

My uncle excelled as a student, but his mother died when he was only 10 years ago.  He was raised by his older siblings (including my father) and, eventually, he earned a PhD in chemistry. Much of his life was spent in the field of organic chemistry. But that only tells a part of his story.

As a college professor, he mentored many of his students.  When I first visited him as a teenager, he and his family were hosting an exchange student.

He loved to work with his hands, and loved poetry.  He memorized entire (long) poems like the one I posted yesterday.  I remember him reciting Oscar Wilde's The Ballard of Reading Gaol on a long drive.

When my spouse was in basic training in the military, I lived with his family for two months in a small town in Iowa called Fairfield.  Several years previously, my father and I had flown out to stay with him and his family for a week.  What an adventure that was for a New York City born and bred girl.

Here are a couple of my blog posts about my visits to Fairfield, Iowa.

Iowa

Why I Didn't Become a Librarian 

Some of the memories shared at the memorial service brought back happy memories of that time.

I wanted to share a song I remember from that time, and a couple of songs played at the memorial service. 

Mason Williams and Classical Gas was released in 1968, when we visited my uncle and his family out in Iowa for the first time.

One of my Iowa cousins introduced me to Larry Fast/Synergy and their cover of Slaughter on 10th Avenue during my 1976 stay with them.  You have to love electronic music to listen to this - for me, it was instant love.

And from the memorial service, two of my uncle's favorite songs.  

 Danny Boy was played by the pianist at the service so I decided on an instrumental.

Finally, John Denver and Take Me Home Country Roads.

My uncle didn't have an easy childhood or, in some ways, an easy adult life, but he impacted everyone (I suspect) he came in contact with.  May he forever rest in peace.

And that's a wrap.

Join me again next week for another episode of Music Moves Me.

A Poem in Honor of a Good Man #ShadowshotSunday

His daughter love lilacs so much that she planned her 1995 wedding for when the lilacs were in bloom.

May 10

 Yesterday, I attended a memorial service (via Zoom) for my last living uncle, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 100.

From my yard, May 10

The youngest brother of my father, he was raised by his siblings, including my late father, when his mother died way too young.  He was a scientist and a man of many interests, including poetry.  I remember him reciting poems - long poems, at that.

Today I will honor my late uncle with a poem he used to recite to his children as they grew up in Texas and Iowa:  Some Little Bug by John Leroy Atwell, from 1915.

In these days of indigestion
    It is oftentimes a question
        As to what to eat and what to leave alone;
    For each microbe and bacillus
    Has a different way to kill us,
        And in time they always claim us for their own.
    There are germs of every kind
    In any food that you can find
        In the market or upon the bill of fare.
    Drinking water's just as risky
    As the so-called deadly whiskey,
        And it's often a mistake to breathe the air.

    Some little bug is going to find you some day,
    Some little bug will creep behind you some day,
        Then he'll send for his bug friends
        And all your earthly trouble ends;
    Some little bug is going to find you some day.

    The inviting green cucumber
    Gets most everybody's number,
        While the green corn has a system of its own;
    Though a radish seems nutritious
    Its behaviour is quite vicious,
        And a doctor will be coming to your home.
    Eating lobster cooked or plain
    Is only flirting with ptomaine,
        While an oyster sometimes has a lot to say,
    But the clams we cat in chowder
    Make the angels chant the louder,
        For they know that we'll be with them right away.

    Take a slice of nice fried onion
    And you're fit for Dr. Munyon,
        Apple dumplings kill you quicker than a train.
    Chew a cheesy midnight "rabbit"
    And a grave you'll soon inhabit
        Ah, to eat at all is such a foolish game.
    Eating huckleberry pie
    Is a pleasing way to die,
        While sauerkraut brings on softening of the brain.
    When you eat banana fritters
    Every undertaker titters,
        And the casket makers nearly go insane.

    Some little bug is going to find you some day,
    Some little bug will creep behind you some day,
        With a nervous little quiver
        He'll give cirrhosis of the liver;
    Some little bug is going to find you some day.

    When cold storage vaults I visit
    I can only say what is it
        Makes poor mortals fill their systems with such stuff?
    Now, for breakfast, prunes are dandy
    If a stomach pump is handy
        And your doctor can be found quite soon enough.
    Eat a plate of fine pigs' knuckles
    And the headstone cutter chuckles,
        While the grave digger makes a note upon his cuff.
    Eat that lovely red bologna
    And you'll wear a wooden kimona,
        As your relatives start scrappin 'bout your stuff.

    Some little bug is going to find you some day,
    Some little bug will creep behind you some day,
        Eating juicy sliced pineapple
        Makes the sexton dust the chapel;
    Some little bug is going to find you some day.

    All those crazy foods they mix
    Will float us 'cross the River Styx,
        Or they'll start us climbing up the milky way.
    And the meals we eat in courses
    Mean a hearse and two black horses
        So before a meal some people always pray.
    Luscious grapes breed 'pendicitis,
    And the juice leads to gastritis,
        So there's only death to greet us either way;
    And fried liver's nice, but, mind you,
    Friends will soon ride slow behind you
        And the papers then will have nice things to say.

    Some little bug is going to find you some day,
    Some little bug will creep behind you some day
        Eat some sauce, they call it chili,
        On your breast they'll place a lily;
    Some little bug is going to find you some day.
 

More about my uncle (and my connection with him) in my Music Moves Me post tomorrow.

Joining Lisa at Lisa's Garden Adventure for her #ShadowshotSunday.