My A to Z Themes in the past have covered a range of topics and for 2024 the theme is a personal retrospective that I call "I Coulda Been" which is in reference to my job and career arc over my lifetime. I'll be looking at all sorts of occupations that I have done or could have done. Maybe you've done some of these too!
Betty and I had a nice anniversary celebration and now we're ready for a quiet Christmas. It's probably going to be quiet. Nothing on the schedule at least. And now for Battle results...
Battle of the Bands Results
Anniversary Songs
Most recently I had a showdown between Al Jolson's "Anniversary Song" and Little River Band's "Happy Anniversary". As one might expect, the more modern LRB tune got more votes, but old Al didn't do too badly.
Betty went for Al Jolson's song as did I. It's kind of like one of "our songs" as might be said. I've been a big Jolson fan since I was about 9 or so when I saw the film The Jolson Story. I still rank it as one of my favorite films.
When I was on the road in the eighties LRB's greatest hits cassette was one of the albums I had highest on my playlist. Spent many a night drive listening to that music. There's not a bad song on that album in my opinion.
Still, I'm going with Al Jolson.
Final Vote Tally
Al Jolson 6 votes
Little River Band 10 votes
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I plan to be back on January 1 with a new Battle of the Bands. Everyone have a fun and safe holiday time.
Recently (12/13) my wife and I celebrated our 27th anniversary of marriage. It's also been 27 years since we've lived in our current house. So that's going to be the theme of my new...
Battle of the Bands
Battle of the Bandsisthe blogging event started byFar Away Seriesand now hosted byStMcC Presents Battle of the Bands. This event happens each month on the 15th and on some there is also a Battle on the 1st of the month. My blog is one of those with a second Battle excepting over these summer months. The premise is simple: Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it. Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battle action.
Happy Anniversary Songs
Since anniversaries are pretty important events for most of us, there are undoubtedly many songs for that sort of occasion. Two immediately came into my mind. December is a pretty celebratory month as it is, but why not one more reason to celebrate?
I've always been a big Al Jolson fan and I've liked his "Anniversary Song" since I was a kid and heard it in the biopic The Jolson Story. After my wife and I got married I introduced her to the song to her and she loved it. After all the melody comes from a famous waltz called "Waves of the Danube" so she was already familiar with that.
I've enjoyed the music of the Little River Band for over forty years now and their "Happy Anniversary" song is another favorite of mine. I know John Holton is also a big fan of LRB so we'll see how he votes on this one. When I think of anniversary songs the Little River Band song is the second one that comes to my mind.
Take a listen to two very different style songs and tell which you like best...
Time to Vote! C'mon and celebrate with us by voting on this Battle. Which of these songs do you prefer? Battles are no fun without you the reader participating. Hopefully you have an opinion of some kind. You don't have to know about music to have an opinion since it all comes down to your own personal taste.
Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose. Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around. And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours. I don't know if anyone else will be doing a Battle this time around, but you can still check out these sites. Here are some other places where you might find BOTB posts: StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands 'MIKE'SRAMBLINGS' 'Curious as a Cathy' Sound of One Hand Typing Jingle, Jangle, Jungle
And I guess I'll be throwing in a results post for this current Battle before year's end. Don't seem to get many comments on those results posts so I don't know how many people really look to see what happened. I could call it writing practice I guess. Hope your holiday season is going well...
Remember back years ago when you'd go to the mall at Christmas and drive around a while before you found a parking space? Now trucks drive around my neighborhood throughout the day dropping off packages. Does anyone go to the mall these days? How can malls continue to survive? Just thinking...
Battle of the Bands Results
Diana in the Autumn Wind
This Battle was essentially Chuck Mangione against Chuck Mangione. Chuck was the mastermind behind the National Gallery project as well as his brother Gap's reinterpretations of some of the arty works from the Gallery album. Both projects used a number of very capable musicians coming up with two very different sounding albums.
Personally I like both of them a great deal, but my preference goes to the version closest to my heart: The National Gallery. I've listened to this album so many times back in the seventies and it really grew on me. Gap's album was a new discovery for me which was led me to doing this Battle. I hope you enjoyed it. Here is a copy of the Klee painting that lent inspiration to the song.
"Diana in the Autumn Wind" (1934) by Paul Klee
And here are the Battle results:
Final Vote Tally
National Gallery 6 votes
Gap Mangione 9 votes
Next Battle Sunday December 15th
If all goes as planned it will be happening. That's the plan at least. If it doesn't happen then plans must have changed. Enjoy your holiday season!
Another autumn is rapidly coming to an end. Just a few more weeks and winter will be here. Are you feeling it yet where you are? I'm in Los Angeles so autumn-schmautumn. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was small with only three in attendance this year, but the food was fantastic! And I cooked it all. I also cooked up the following autumn musical Battle...
Battle of the Bands
Battle of the Bandsisthe blogging event started byFar Away Seriesand now hosted byStMcC Presents Battle of the Bands. This event happens each month on the 15th and on some there is also a Battle on the 1st of the month. My blog is one of those with a second Battle excepting over these summer months. The premise is simple: Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it. Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battle action.
Diana in the Autumn Wind
Once again I delve into the psychedelic past of Lee's Basement to dig up another treasure from the cut-out bins. It was early 1970's when I was regularly foraging cut-out record bins wherever I found them. I can't recall where or when I acquired the vinyl album of The National Gallery performing musical interpretations of the paintings of Paul Klee, but I was onboard as soon as I laid eyes on it. Since I was becoming more aware of art at that time the concept of the album intrigued me. The psychedelic artwork of the cover certainly drew me in as well.
The National Gallery was not so much of an actual group as it was a classical/jazz/rock project by jazz artist Chuck Mangione and Cleveland record producer Roger Karshner. They co-wrote the songs and brought in various artists to record the album. This was a favorite album for me back in those days and received frequent spins on my turntable. I still have the vinyl in my collection and listening to it in recent days it still sounds great. I took good care of my vinyls.
Here are two versions of the song "Diana in the Autumn Wind" which appears on the National Gallery album and then later on an instrumental jazz album by Chuck's brother Gap Mangione. Which do you enjoy most?
Time to Vote! Don't let winter come before you vote. Battles are no fun without you the reader participating. Hopefully you have an opinion of some kind. You don't have to know about music to have an opinion since it all comes down to your own personal taste.
Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose. Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around. And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours. I don't know if anyone else will be doing a Battle this time around, but you can still check out these sites. Here are some other places where you might find BOTB posts: StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands 'MIKE'SRAMBLINGS' 'Curious as a Cathy' Sound of One Hand Typing Jingle, Jangle, Jungle
December 4 question - Do you write cliffhangers at the end of your stories? Are they a turn-off to you as a writer and/or a reader?
I do sometimes like ambiguous endings and have written such when that seemed to be the most appropriate way to deal with a story. An absolute cliff-hanger ending that demands resolution in a sequel of some sort is fine so long as there will be some upcoming book or part of the story and readers are on board with that. Personally I don't like investing too much of my time and energy into a series that goes on too long. I know some people seem to like this sort of thing, but not me so much. I like to move on to new stories and have variety.
If the book or story is a stand alone then I think the reading audience deserves a more absolute resolution to the story being told. Really though, I guess it depends. Depends on what? Hmm--let me think on that. I'll tell you next month,
Do you prefer to just wrap things up and move on when you read something? When a story leaves you hanging, do you like to make up your own ending?
