Small Talk: Out of Genoa

[Cupid Stunt]

Quote

To add to the "I think we're related" prevert file, I was also a rebellious kid - for good reason IMO - and once my mother threatened me with "If you don't shape up we're going to take you to see a psychiatrist!" to which I answered back that I would LOVE that.  Not the response she expected and it was never brought up again.

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

With my mom it was always boarding school. I would picture large columned buildings, extensive grounds, possibly with horses. I fantasized about learning Latin and Greek and the Fine Arts. And like you I would shout "Oh please, send me to boarding school. I'll start packing now!"

 

You Preverts are romantics.

As a parochial school reject, taught Latin and Greek and all the Art Fart Jean Paul Sartre finer things in life ... It's no picnic when you find out the Pauline/Socratic Method don't clean out the barns or pay the bills.

[peacheslatour]

1 minute ago, Cupid Stunt said:

You Preverts are romantics.

As a parochial school reject, taught Latin and Greek and all the Art Fart Jean Paul Sartre finer things in life ... It's no picnic when you find out the Pauline/Socratic Method don't clean out the barns or pay the bills.

I already knew how to muck out barns. My mom bought me a horse and since we didn't live on an estate, we had to board him. Which was expensive. I paid partially for the boarding by cleaning stalls and renting out my horse in the winters to back packers and hunters. Schools really should teach students things like budgeting, simple bookkeeping, investing and basic house keeping and laundry. Do they even have Home Ec. classes any more?

[boes]

2 hours ago, Cupid Stunt said:

You Preverts are romantics.

As a parochial school reject, taught Latin and Greek and all the Art Fart Jean Paul Sartre finer things in life ... It's no picnic when you find out the Pauline/Socratic Method don't clean out the barns or pay the bills.

I know all about mucking out barns, I shared a room with three brothers.  

[Cupid Stunt]

Both Things took a semester of personal money management in high school, thinking Mom and Dad were too conservative.

<shrug> They found out they were living under a benevolent dictatorship.

 

Getting kicked out of Our Lady of Perpetual Basketball only added to my daily ranch chores; chicken house/egg cooler, farmer's market sales.

Horses are noble animals. Not everyone who loves them can have the privilege of caring for them. 

[OhioSongbird]

Love, love, love horses!  Papaw had a farm in KY and us kids used to spend the summers down there and we all had chores.  I've cleaned chicken coops, mucked stalls, picked tobacco worms off the 'backy' plants, picked pawpaws/wild blackberries, shucked corn, tended the garden etc.  Loved it and I wouldn't trade trade that experience for the world.

Edited January 30, 2021 by OhioSongbird
...spelink are good....

[geauxaway]

15 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Schools really should teach students things like budgeting, simple bookkeeping, investing and basic house keeping and laundry. Do they even have Home Ec. classes any more?

Kind of, yes (Home Ec).  Just depends on the schools district but they do have some life skills included still.  Thank goodness!

Speaking of which, last night kiddo asked me how I can text so fast and I said well you see my type on my work computer, right?  I’m very fast.  I said I’ve been learning to type since I was in about 2nd grade because Mimi had a typewriter at home.  The blank stare was priceless.  THEN I completely blew his mind when I told him I took typing (on a typewriter) class in both middle school AND high school.  He said “why?”  🤣

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, geauxaway said:

Kind of, yes (Home Ec).  Just depends on the schools district but they do have some life skills included still.  Thank goodness!

Speaking of which, last night kiddo asked me how I can text so fast and I said well you see my type on my work computer, right?  I’m very fast.  I said I’ve been learning to type since I was in about 2nd grade because Mimi had a typewriter at home.  The blank stare was priceless.  THEN I completely blew his mind when I told him I took typing (on a typewriter) class in both middle school AND high school.  He said “why?”  🤣

Kids today. My son can type 90 wpm and never took a typing class in his life. It's like he was born knowing how to type.

[MollyB]

2 hours ago, OhioSongbird said:

picked pawpaws

"pickin up pawpaws, put them in your pocket".....

[OhioSongbird]

Ever tasted one?  It's been a long time but they're kinda like a mushy mango.  They don't stay ripe for long after they're picked so you gotta eat 'em quick....

I took Home Ec, too.  We learned cooking, sewing etc...even had guys in our class!  Took secretarial courses HS....hated shorthand and adequate in typing (never got beyond 70-75 wpm).  Boychild took it (begrudgingly) and as he is a computer tech he types circles around me.  But I'm glad I know the keyboard since these newfangled computer things came along.

 

 

[Cupid Stunt]

 

[deirdra]

3 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Kids today. My son can type 90 wpm and never took a typing class in his life. It's like he was born knowing how to type.

Before I took mandatory typing class for girls in HS ~1970 at my Lowoodesque school, I developed my own typing method where I covered 2/3 of the keyboard with my right hand and 1/3 w/my left (I started writing/typing stories and a neighbourhood newspaper in grade school). I still follow it.  In typing class on a stair-like stiff manual typewriter I could do 60 wpm using the "correct" method while the teacher was watching, but could do ~80 wpm using my own method.  Similarly, when learning cursive writing and forced to hold my pen and paper "properly", I got D's in handwriting (the finger, wrist & elbow positions weren't ergonomic for me).  When left to my own devices (long edge of paper nearly parallel to my stomach & pen held more comfortably), people would rave about how nice and even and legible my handwriting was, both cursive and my usual half cursive, half printed handwriting.

[peacheslatour]

21 minutes ago, deirdra said:

Before I took mandatory typing class for girls in HS ~1970 at my Lowoodesque school, I developed my own typing method where I covered 2/3 of the keyboard with my right hand and 1/3 w/my left (I started writing/typing stories and a neighbourhood newspaper in grade school). I still follow it.  In typing class on a stair-like stiff manual typewriter I could do 60 wpm using the "correct" method while the teacher was watching, but could do ~80 wpm using my own method.  Similarly, when learning cursive writing and forced to hold my pen and paper "properly", I got D's in handwriting (the finger, wrist & elbow positions weren't ergonomic for me).  When left to my own devices (long edge of paper nearly parallel to my stomach & pen held more comfortably), people would rave about how nice and even and legible my handwriting was, both cursive and my usual half cursive, half printed handwriting.

That's my son. He taught himself typing the "incorrect" way but he's way faster that way. Same with reading. He taught himself to read at about four years old and the teachers said he was doing it "wrong", even though he was reading at a second grade level. I swear, on some primordial level, Preverts are all related to each other.

[Cupid Stunt]

3 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Kids today. My son can type 90 wpm and never took a typing class in his life. It's like he was born knowing how to type.

Being the Thing's typed before they could write, they had a terrible time with Handwriting in elementary school. Their alphabet, single words and names were legible, but trying to string sentences together was an unholy mess. We would spend an hour each night using practice books, until their teacher was satisfied.

-- Shut The Fuck Up Ms. Milgrim! I am working with Thing 1 EVERY DAMNED NIGHT!

The Top Ten of the worst parent/teacher meetings I've ever experienced. 

[peacheslatour]

35 minutes ago, Cupid Stunt said:

Being the Thing's typed before they could write, they had a terrible time with Handwriting in elementary school. Their alphabet, single words and names were legible, but trying to string sentences together was an unholy mess. We would spend an hour each night using practice books, until their teacher was satisfied.

-- Shut The Fuck Up Ms. Milgrim! I am working with Thing 1 EVERY DAMNED NIGHT!

The Top Ten of the worst parent/teacher meetings I've ever experienced. 

We went through that too. "What do you mean he reads wrong? He's reading every word." "yes but he doesn't read the way WE teach reading." Us "WTF??"

He also has dreadful handwriting. But that was never too much of an issue. They didn't teach cursive thank goodness.

[Cupid Stunt]

Got Snow?

 

[peacheslatour]

Whoa, those pups will sleep good tonight. I wonder if he was wearing snow shoes? Cute guy, though.

[Snaporaz]

It's headed our way!  Snow is supposed to start early in the morning, with 6 - 10 inches predicted by Tuesday.  Not the 8 feet that others are getting, but still a pretty big storm.

Have any of you Preverts been able to get a vaccine yet?  I'm 53 years old with no health problems, so I'm in the very last grouping and don't expect to get it before the summer.  But I've been trying to get it for my parents.  It's kind of like a radio contest right now...**Be the 8th caller when you hear Stairway to Heaven and win a Covid vaccine appointment!**   My older siblings are driving me crazy because I haven't taken care of this yet.  They started giving me crap saying that I'm not taking it seriously.  So they took over the project and learned pretty quickly that it isn't so easy.  I'm just trying to be impatiently patient...yes, I'd like to get them vaccinated ASAP, but I'm willing to wait until it isn't so chaotic.  Competent people have been running this for about a week and a half now, so give them a minute to get things organized.

Edited January 31, 2021 by Snaporaz

[Cupid Stunt]

It's soaking wet in LA, which is a good thing. The higher elevations are snow-bound.

My parents, grandmother and Aunt Trinket got their phase one shots last Monday. They're scheduled for phase two shots February 8.

 

[deirdra]

11 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

That's my son. He taught himself typing the "incorrect" way but he's way faster that way. Same with reading. He taught himself to read at about four years old and the teachers said he was doing it "wrong", even though he was reading at a second grade level. I swear, on some primordial level, Preverts are all related to each other.

Same here.  My older sister helped me learn to read at 4 and my first grade teacher kept telling my mother that I was doing it "wrong" (even though my sister had learned from this teacher).  My best friend & I competed for gold stars - one for each book read and we both read over a 100 books by the end of first grade while the rest of the class averaged ~20.  So I must have been doing something right. And then I started teaching my little brother to read at 3 ... and he had the same teacher, who complained some more.

Edited January 31, 2021 by deirdra

[peacheslatour]

9 hours ago, deirdra said:

Same here.  My older sister helped me learn to read at 4 and my first grade teacher kept telling my mother that I was doing it "wrong" (even though my sister had learned from this teacher).  My best friend & I competed for gold stars - one for each book read and we both read over a 100 books by the end of first grade while the rest of the class averaged ~20.  So I must have been doing something right. And then I started teaching my little brother to read at 3 ... and he had the same teacher, who complained some more.

I hate the "one size fits all" approach to teaching. And private school was worse than public about it. He had two years at a very exclusive private school before we moved him back to public.

Mt dad got the first dose of the vaccine. My doctor told me we might not be able to get it until summer. 😬

[MollyB]

15 hours ago, Snaporaz said:

Have any of you Preverts been able to get a vaccine yet?

My doctors keep telling me I need it because of the cancer and my low immunity, but none of them have it.  I'm too young (ha, ha, only 72) to qualify to sign up, so I'll wait.  My firefighter son hasn't gotten one yet, either.

[Cupid Stunt]

 

[boes]

20 hours ago, Snaporaz said:

It's headed our way!  Snow is supposed to start early in the morning, with 6 - 10 inches predicted by Tuesday.  Not the 8 feet that others are getting, but still a pretty big storm.

Have any of you Preverts been able to get a vaccine yet?  I'm 53 years old with no health problems, so I'm in the very last grouping and don't expect to get it before the summer.  But I've been trying to get it for my parents.  It's kind of like a radio contest right now...**Be the 8th caller when you hear Stairway to Heaven and win a Covid vaccine appointment!**   My older siblings are driving me crazy because I haven't taken care of this yet.  They started giving me crap saying that I'm not taking it seriously.  So they took over the project and learned pretty quickly that it isn't so easy.  I'm just trying to be impatiently patient...yes, I'd like to get them vaccinated ASAP, but I'm willing to wait until it isn't so chaotic.  Competent people have been running this for about a week and a half now, so give them a minute to get things organized.

None of us have been able to get it yet.  K is 76 so supposedly he should be able to get it but A -they seem to be out of it at the moment and B -getting an appointment, having them call you back etc. has been a no-go so far. I'm in the next group - 69 and they're just flat out telling us it'll be a while and P is 60 so he's further down the  list.  

Like you Snaporaz, I'm not going to get too worked up about it yet considering the rollout in all seriousness has really only just started.  Till then we're acting like we have for the past 11 months, masked and gloved and only out when we have to.

[Cupid Stunt]

 

Hilton Valentine, the founding guitarist of the English rock and roll band The Animals who is credited with coming up with one of the most famous opening riffs of the 1960s, has died. He was 77. The band’s label ABKCO Music confirmed that Valentine died on Friday, saying it was told of his death by his wife, Germaine Valentine. The cause of death was not given.

“Valentine was a pioneering guitar player influencing the sound of rock and roll for decades to come,” the label said in a statement.

Valentine took up the guitar at 13 in his hometown of North Shields in northeast England, subsequently getting involved in the skiffle craze — a kind of fusion of American folk, country, jazz and blues — that was sweeping the U.K. His skiffle band The Heppers evolved into The Wildcats, a rock and roll band that became popular across the north of England, partly because of Valentine’s habit of rolling on the ground while playing his guitar. Having learned his craft, Valentine formed The Animals in 1963 alongside singer Eric Burdon, bassist Chas Chandler, organist Alan Price and drummer John Steel.

The band’s most famous hit came in 1964, when their rock-infused take of the folk song “The House of the Rising Sun” topped the charts in both the U.K. and the U.S. The song, whose opening riff has been a rite of passage for budding guitarists around the world ever since, had such resonance in the U.S. that many people were surprised to hear that the band came from the industrial heartland of England.

Burdon paid tribute to Valentine on Instagram, writing: “The opening opus of Rising Sun will never sound the same!... You didn’t just play it, you lived it! Heartbroken by the sudden news of Hilton’s passing."

Valentine remained with the band for four years and is also heard on other classics by the band including “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” and “Don’t Bring Me Down.” Valentine released solo work subsequently and intermittently returned to the band, which was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. In recent years, Valentine has been living in the U.S. state of Connecticut, returning to skiffle music with the formation of his band Skiffledog.

 

 

 

 

[OhioSongbird]

At this moment (8 am EST) we are getting snow, freezing rain and it's windy.  In other words it's a lovely winter's day in Ohio.  Got 3" last night and more coming.  We've been lucky so far this winter...lots of days in the 30-40's....but we're getting it now.  😟

[Cupid Stunt]

 

[Cupid Stunt]

We feel for ya', Ohio.

 

 

 

 

My parents ended up with 6 inches of rain and 33 inches of snow in Owens Valley over three days. The snow has melted off in the Valley but White Mountain and Mount Whitney upper elevations are locked in snow.

[OhioSongbird]

Thanks!  The wind right now is a bitch.  Just let the cat in and the temp is 24 but the wind makes it feel like fucking 0 for my old bones.

Made a big pot of soup for hubs...clean out the pantry/fridge soup...to warm him up.  He's parking at the end of the driveway (300') so he doesn't get stuck and has to walk to the house.  Feels like the tundra out there.....

My man's a trooper.....think I'll keep him.

[peacheslatour]

1 minute ago, OhioSongbird said:

Thanks!  The wind right now is a bitch.  Just let the cat in and the temp is 24 but the wind makes it feel like fucking 0 for my old bones.

Made a big pot of soup for hubs...clean out the pantry/fridge soup...to warm him up.  He's parking at the end of the driveway (300') so he doesn't get stuck and has to walk to the house.  Feels like the tundra out there.....

My man's a trooper.....think I'll keep him.

❤️❤️

[Cupid Stunt]

Hot soup is the only thing that works when it's that cold.

In California we do cold and damp, that's why the Lady is a tramp.

 

 

I made matzo ball soup for dinner tonight.

Edited February 2, 2021 by Cupid Stunt

[peacheslatour]

51 minutes ago, Cupid Stunt said:

Hot soup is the only thing that works when it's that cold.

In California we do cold and damp, that's why the Lady is a tramp.

 

 

I made matzo ball soup for dinner tonight.

I've always wanted to try making Italian Wedding soup. Anybody have a recipe?

[Cupid Stunt]

Italian Wedding Soup

Soup:
1 onion
1 fennel bulb 
4 garlic cloves
1/4-oz dried porcini mushrooms
4-oz ground pork
4-oz 85% lean ground beef
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups beef broth
2 cups water
1-1/2 cup ditalini pasta (Tubetti is a good substitute)
6-oz kale (4 cups)

Meatballs:
1 slice hearty white sandwich bread
5 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4-cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 teaspoons finely grated onion
1/2 teaspoon finely grated garlic
Salt and pepper
6-oz ground pork
1 teaspoon baking powder
6-oz 85% lean ground beef
2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano

1. Chop onion, and rinse your dried mushrooms. Peel your garlic cloves and smash them. Discard the fennel’s stalks, cut the bulb in half, remove the triangular-shaped core, and chop the fennel. The exact size of your chopping is not so important, because it will eventually get strained and discarded.

2. Set a Dutch oven over medium-high burner. Add chopped onion, rinsed mushrooms, smashed garlic, chopped fennel, bay leaf, 4-oz of ground beef, 4-oz of ground pork. Saute for 5 minutes until the meat is no longer pink. Add 1/2-cup white wine and 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, and continue to cook for 1 minute, before adding water, chicken and beef broth. Bring up to a simmer, then cover, reduce to low heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Remove crust from 1 slice of sandwich bread and rip into 1″ pieces. Add to large bowl. Grate 1/2 onion on small holes of a box grater, add 4 teaspoons grated onion to the bowl. Grate 2 garlic gloves, add 1/2 teaspoon grated garlic to the bowl. Add grated Parmesan cheese, heavy cream, and season with ground black pepper. Mash into a paste with a fork.

4. Add 6-oz ground pork, baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon table salt to the bowl of a standing mixer. Use the paddle attachment and beat on high for 2 minutes until the meat becomes smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add beef, oregano and mashed bread. Mix at medium/low speed for 2 minutes to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl at least once. Keep your hands slightly moist, scoop a heaping teaspoon of meat into your hands and roll into 35 to 40 smooth meatballs. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.

5. When the broth is finished, strain soup through a fine-mesh strainer into a large bowl. Use a rubber spatula to press on the solids to yield as much soup as possible. Wipe any remaining solids from your Dutch oven and pour the soup back into the pot.

6. Remove kale stems and cut into 1/2″ pieces. Set your Dutch oven over a medium-high burner and bring up to a simmer. Add the pasta and kale and cook for 5 minutes, stirring a few times. Add meatballs to pot and bring back up to a simmer. Cook for 3 to 5 more minutes, checking to make sure the meatballs are completely cooked. Adjust salt and pepper according to taste and serve in individual bowls. Add a sprinkle of  Parmesan cheese and drizzle of olive oil.

 

Note: The pale meatballs look completely unappetizing. In the end, the boiled meatballs turn out very tender and flavorful. 

[bannana]

It was surprisingly temperate and warm here today. I went for a walk. The deep freeze will be back by the weekend though.

Today I made Ginger Beef for the first time. I am trying to think of new things to cook. I do have Asian meals that I have been cooking for some time, but this was a new venture. It turned out great! I used way less sugar than in the recipe.

https://www.dinnerwithjulie.com/recipes/ginger-beef/

[peacheslatour]

Thanks, Cupid!

[Cupid Stunt]

Groundhog Club handler A.J. Dereume holds Punxsutawney Phil, the weather prognosticating groundhog, during the 135th celebration of Groundhog Day on Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa., Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. Phil's handlers said that the groundhog has forecast six more weeks of winter weather during this year's event that was held without anyone in attendance due to potential COVID-19 risks. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)

 

Every year on February 2 people keep an eye out for a groundhog's shadow to help predict what the weather will be like for the next few weeks. This year that shadow may be cast on snow. The legend goes that if groundhog Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow we will have six more weeks of winter. If he doesn't, spring will arrive early.

Right now the outlook for Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, is for snow. A lot of it. The forecast for Tuesday morning while Phil is making his prediction calls for snow showers and temperatures in the mid 20s. Winds will be whipping up to 25 mph making wind chills feel in the low to mid teens. Even if it isn't snowing very hard during Phil's televised forecast, there will be at least 6-8 inches of fresh powder on the ground from a weekend winter storm that will make it's way through the Northeast from Sunday through Tuesday.

The celebration, which is over a century old, will look a little different this year. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there will be no crowd in attendance or guests present, but you can watch the ceremony on the internet via live-streaming. Phil is not new to the forecasting game. The ceremony has been going on since 1887.

Scientifically speaking, winter will officially come to an end on the equinox on March 20, regardless of what Phil predicts. But Mother Nature doesn't always follow the timetable. In fact, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, and South Dakota actually have their snowiest time of year after Groundhog Day. For the last two years in a row Phil has not seen his shadow, predicting an early spring. In the past Phil has been way more likely to see his shadow than not. He has reportedly seen his shadow 104 times, but not seen his shadow only 20 times. Statistically speaking, Phil has been correct in his forecasts about 50% of the time in the last 10 years.

Phil is not alone in his prognosticating skills. In fact there are many others like him. States like Ohio, North Carolina, New York, Georgia, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Illinois, Maryland, West Virginia, and Michigan all have their own groundhog to use for predictions. Some of the more colorful names include Pierre C. Shadeaux of Louisiana, General Beauregard Lee of Georgia, and Staten Island Chuck from New York just to name a few. There's also Unadilla Bill from Nebraska who boasts one of the highest accuracy ratings in the groundhog business.

This means that if you don't like Phil's forecast, chances are one of the other groundhogs will predict something you do like.

A note for all the snow-bound Preverts: As the Midwest digs out, the East Coast is bracing for more snow and a powerful nor'easter out of the Atlantic.

 

Thanks, Phil.

[geauxaway]

16 minutes ago, Cupid Stunt said:

Groundhog Club handler A.J. Dereume holds Punxsutawney Phil, the weather prognosticating groundhog, during the 135th celebration of Groundhog Day on Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa., Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. Phil's handlers said that the groundhog has forecast six more weeks of winter weather during this year's event that was held without anyone in attendance due to potential COVID-19 risks. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)

 

Every year on February 2 people keep an eye out for a groundhog's shadow to help predict what the weather will be like for the next few weeks. This year that shadow may be cast on snow. The legend goes that if groundhog Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow we will have six more weeks of winter. If he doesn't, spring will arrive early.

Right now the outlook for Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, is for snow. A lot of it. The forecast for Tuesday morning while Phil is making his prediction calls for snow showers and temperatures in the mid 20s. Winds will be whipping up to 25 mph making wind chills feel in the low to mid teens. Even if it isn't snowing very hard during Phil's televised forecast, there will be at least 6-8 inches of fresh powder on the ground from a weekend winter storm that will make it's way through the Northeast from Sunday through Tuesday.

The celebration, which is over a century old, will look a little different this year. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there will be no crowd in attendance or guests present, but you can watch the ceremony on the internet via live-streaming. Phil is not new to the forecasting game. The ceremony has been going on since 1887.

Scientifically speaking, winter will officially come to an end on the equinox on March 20, regardless of what Phil predicts. But Mother Nature doesn't always follow the timetable. In fact, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, and South Dakota actually have their snowiest time of year after Groundhog Day. For the last two years in a row Phil has not seen his shadow, predicting an early spring. In the past Phil has been way more likely to see his shadow than not. He has reportedly seen his shadow 104 times, but not seen his shadow only 20 times. Statistically speaking, Phil has been correct in his forecasts about 50% of the time in the last 10 years.

Phil is not alone in his prognosticating skills. In fact there are many others like him. States like Ohio, North Carolina, New York, Georgia, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Illinois, Maryland, West Virginia, and Michigan all have their own groundhog to use for predictions. Some of the more colorful names include Pierre C. Shadeaux of Louisiana, General Beauregard Lee of Georgia, and Staten Island Chuck from New York just to name a few. There's also Unadilla Bill from Nebraska who boasts one of the highest accuracy ratings in the groundhog business.

This means that if you don't like Phil's forecast, chances are one of the other groundhogs will predict something you do like.

A note for all the snow-bound Preverts: As the Midwest digs out, the East Coast is bracing for more snow and a powerful nor'easter out of the Atlantic.

 

Thanks, Phil.

NOPE.

[Cupid Stunt]

 

Edited February 3, 2021 by Cupid Stunt

[Cupid Stunt]

 

Emmy and Tony winner Hal Holbrook, an actor best known for his role as Mark Twain, whom he portrayed for decades in one-man shows, died on Jan. 23. He was 95. Holbrook’s personal assistant, Joyce Cohen, confirmed his death to the New York Times on Monday night.

Holbrook played the American novelist in a solo show called “Mark Twain Tonight!” that he directed himself and for which he won the best actor Tony in 1966. He returned to Broadway with the show in 1977 and 2005 and appeared in it more than 2,200 times (as of 2010) in legit venues across the country. He began performing the show in 1954.

He received an Emmy nomination for a TV adaptation of “Mark Twain Tonight!” in 1967, the first of multiple noms. He won four Emmy Awards. He also drew an Oscar nomination for supporting actor for his role in the film “Into the Wild” in 2008. At the time of the nomination, the 82-year-old Holbrook was the oldest performer to ever receive such recognition.

Holbrook’s craggy voice and appearance lent itself to historical portrayals and other parts that required gravitas. Indeed, he also played Abraham Lincoln, winning an Emmy in 1976 for the NBC miniseries “Lincoln” and reprising the role in the ABC miniseries “North and South” in 1985 and its sequel the following year. Moreover he won his first Emmy, in 1970, for his role as the title character in the brief but highly regarded series “The Bold Ones: The Senator.” He played the commander-in-chief in 1980 film “The Kidnapping of the President”; a senior judge tempted into vigilante justice in “The Star Chamber”; and John Adams in the 1984 miniseries “George Washington.” Much later, he played the assistant secretary of state on a couple of episodes of “The West Wing,” and most recently he played a conservative Republican congressman in Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” and a judge in the 2013 historical drama “Savannah.”

In 1978 he was nominated for an Emmy for his role in a TV adaptation of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” as the Stage Manager, another role with which he is strongly associated. Earlier, he drew an Emmy nomination for a noted role as a man who reveals his homosexuality to his son, played by Martin Sheen, in the ahead-of-its-time ABC 1972 telepic “That Certain Summer.”

He recurred on the late ’80s Linda Bloodworth sitcom “Designing Women” as the boyfriend to his real-life wife, Dixie Carter; his character on that show was killed off so he could take one of the starring roles in another CBS-Bloodworth effort, the Burt Reynolds starrer “Evening Shade,” in which he played Reynolds’ irascible father-in-law. He appeared in 79 episodes of the show from 1990-94. Holbrook also directed four episodes of “Designing Women.”

In 2006 the actor guested on “The Sopranos” as a terminally ill patient who imparts some wisdom to the hospitalized Tony Soprano.

Holbrook’s inimitable voice, full of a world-weary integrity, was inevitably attractive to documentary makers and feature film directors requiring narration or voiceover. He narrated docus such as “The Might Mississippi” and “The Cultivated Life: Thomas Jefferson and Wine” and movies including 2011’s “Water for Elephants.” He won an Emmy in 1989 for narrating the “Alaska” segment of the “Portrait of America” documentary series. The actor made a deep impression on the big screen as well, playing Deep Throat in “All the President’s Men” — it was he who intoned the famous words “Follow the money!”; a power-mad police lieutenant in the Dirty Harry movie “Magnum Force”; and, in a brief and underappreciated performance, a stockbroker warning of the dangers of ethical lapses in Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street.”

Harold Rowe “Hal” Holbrook, Jr. was born in Cleveland; his mother was a vaudeville dancer. He was raised in South Weymouth, Mass., and graduated from Ohio’s Denison U., where an honors project about Twain led him to develop “Mark Twain Tonight.” Serving in the Army in WWII, Holbrook was stationed in Newfoundland, where he performed in theater productions including the play “Madam Precious.”

Ed Sullivan saw him perform “Mark Twain Tonight” and gave the young thespian his first national exposure on his television show in February 1956.

Holbrook was a member of summer stock legit troupe the Valley Players, based in Holyoke, Mass., and opened its 1957 season with a perf of “Mark Twain Tonight.” The State Dept. sent him on a tour of Europe that included appearances behind the Iron Curtain, and Holbrook first played the role Off Broadway in 1959. Columbia Records recorded an album of excerpts from the show.

On Broadway, Holbrook played the role of the Major in the original production of Arthur Miller’s “Incident at Vichy” in 1964. In 1968 he was one of the replacements for Richard Kiley in the original Broadway production of “Man of La Mancha” despite limited ability as a singer.

As Holbrook approached his mid-80s, he remained a busy actor, including multi-episode appearances on FX’s “Sons of Anarchy” and NBC’s “The Event.” In 2011 he was also in an independent film, the thriller “Good Day for It,” in whose conception he was intimately involved, and he appeared as a science teacher who knows the truth in Gus Van Sant’s anti-fracking film “Promised Land.”

Holbrook’s memoir “Harold: The Boy Who Became Mark Twain” was published in September 2011.

In 2014, Holbrook was the subject of the documentary “Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey,” directed by Scott Teems, which premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival and depicted Holbrook’s career portraying Twain. Holbrook appeared as Red Hudmore on the final season of “Bones” in 2017, and appeared in an episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Hawaii Five-0” that same year. In September 2017, Holbrook announced his retirement from “Mark Twain Tonight.”

Holbrook was married three times. He and Dixie Carter were married in 1984 and remained together until her death in 2010.

He is survived by his three children and two stepdaughters, as well as two grandchildren and two step-grandchildren.

 

[Cupid Stunt]

 

[peacheslatour]

Robert Johnson. What a short but brilliant life. 

[Cupid Stunt]

 

[peacheslatour]

46 minutes ago, Cupid Stunt said:

 

OMG, I so loved Marvin Gaye.

[OhioSongbird]

Same here.  Sam Cooke, too.  😟

[Cupid Stunt]

 

Jim Weatherly, the country singer-songwriter who penned the Gladys Knight and the Pips hit “Midnight Train to Georgia,” among other hit songs, died Wednesday at his home. He was 77. Music publisher and family friend Charlie Monk, “the Mayor of Music Row,” confirmed Weatherly’s death to the Tennessean. No cause of death was provided.

Weatherly was a celebrated, championship-winning quarterback at Ole Miss before abandoning football to start a music career in Los Angeles. It was there that Weatherly first recorded his best known track as “Midnight Train to Houston” — the song was inspired by his friends Lee Majors and Farrah Fawcett, the latter of whom told Weatherly she was taking a “midnight plane to Houston” — before the song caught the attention of soul singer Cissy Houston, who changed “Houston” to “Georgia” before recording it in 1973.

 

 

Soon after, Gladys Knight and the Pips recorded their signature version of “Midnight Train to Georgia,” which became a Number One hit in October 1973. Their version would also win the Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus, and would later land at Number 438 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Aretha Franklin, Neil Diamond, Garth Brooks and dozens more would later record their own versions of the Weatherly-penned classic.

While pursuing his own musical career — he released nearly a dozen studio albums over the past 50 years — two other Weatherly-penned tracks became hits for Gladys Knights and the Pips: “Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)” and “Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me” (originally recorded by country singer Ray Price).

 

 

Weatherly, whose biggest solo hit was 1974’s "I'll Still Love You" moved to Nashville in the 1980s, and was ultimately inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. His songs were also recorded by Glen Campbell (“Where Shadows Never Fall”), Charley Pride (“Where Do I Put Her Memory”), Kenny Rogers (“Until Forever’s Gone”), Vince Gill (“If I Didn’t Have You In My World”) and more.

“When I inducted Jim into the Songwriters Hall of Fame I said, ‘This may be the most honorable human being I’ve ever known,'” Monk told the Tennessean Wednesday. “He never had a cigarette in his mouth, he never had a taste of alcohol, he didn’t chew (tobacco), he didn’t cuss. The only cuss word I ever heard him use was ‘Foot! Charlie.’ He probably was one of the top five most talented songwriters to ever drop into this town.”

[Cupid Stunt]

21 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

OMG, I so loved Marvin Gaye.

<sigh>

Oh that silky voice ...

 

11 hours ago, OhioSongbird said:

Same here.  Sam Cooke, too.  😟

Testify!

 

 

Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 is a fantastic album.

[peacheslatour]

Christopher Plummer, the dazzlingly versatile Canadian actor whose screen career straddled seven decades, including such high-profile films as The Sound of Music, The Man Who Would Be King and All the Money in the World, has died aged 91.

His family confirmed the news, saying he died peacefully at home in Connecticut with his wife of 53 years, Elaine Taylor, by his side.

[Cupid Stunt]

 

[OhioSongbird]

True confession....I have never seen The Sound of Music beginning to end.  Tons of clips over the years but not the movie.  Ironic...since I sang My Favorite Things in my first talent contest when the movie came out.   🙂

[peacheslatour]

30 minutes ago, OhioSongbird said:

True confession....I have never seen The Sound of Music beginning to end.  Tons of clips over the years but not the movie.  Ironic...since I sang My Favorite Things in my first talent contest when the movie came out.   🙂

My parents took me to see it as a kid. I don't think I've really seen it since.

[Cupid Stunt]