I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".
OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.
CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM, our Wyoming-based friend Irish Patti and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead.
ART NOTES — an exhibition entitled Crossing Borders: Mexican Modernist Prints will be at the Baltimore, Maryland Art Museum through March 11th.
In Baltimore to March 11thLANGUAGE NOTES — across Canada, localities are replacing European names with indigenous ones— although some rather cumbersome suggested replacement names for cities (such as Calgary) … are not finding much support.
LAST NIGHT the SNL star Cecily Strong impersonated the adult film star we have had many a chuckle over the past few days.
In reality, though: Stormy Daniels made an appearance at a nightclub in Greenville, South Carolina … with the caption, "He saw her live. You can, too" ….. and on the club’s Facebook page in response to someone asking what the admission price was (who received a private reply), someone else chimed in with … “$130,000”.
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Slim the Cat— a Florida kitteh who did not accompany his family back from a holiday trip from Erie, Pennsylvania because …. he was found packed into checked baggage.
and not accidentally packedIN an INTERNAL POLL the correspondents of The Economist offer their nominations for the world’s worst airports— and not just Third World ones, either.
IN THE PAST the advertisements described Forbes magazine as a capitalist tool. I wonder if their newsstand sales may see a spike and, if so … what their new line should be?
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Koshka the Cat— who was feared lost in the California mudslides … before firefighters saw paw prints and located the mud-caked kitteh.
Koshka the Cat: now reunitedBRAIN TEASER - try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC.
JOHN 1:1 — updated for the year 2018 …..
In the beginning was the Party
Then the Party was with Trump
And the Party was Trump
Reader Suggested SEPARATED at BIRTH — from 1864 House: TV host Megyn Kelly and …. why, the very adult film star (and alleged Trump $130k payoff recipient) we have referenced: Stephanie “Stormy Daniels” Clifford (w/o a copy of Forbes). So … whaddya think ?!?
TV host Megyn Kelly Someone DJT actually paid...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… eighty years ago, a Broadway play flopped, closing after only fifteen performances. Yet two songs from Right This Way have endured, becoming classics. Both were sung by the play’s lead, Tamara Drasin — who five years earlier in 1933 had sang another song destined to be a classic (“Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”). One of the two songs from 1938 was “I Can Dream, Can’t I?” … but the focus of this profile is the other song, I’ll Be Seeing You (In All the Old Familiar Places)— which was a late addition to the play, yet became legendary during WW-II with Allied soldiers.
Both of these tunes were written by the composer/lyricist due of Sammy Fain and Irving Kahal — who usually did not write whole scores, but instead contributed specific songs. They were among those songwriters who began on Broadway, then also went West and wrote for films in the 1930’s: and a look at them is in order.
Lyricist Irving Kahal began his career as a performer in Broadway sketches when he met his composing partner in 1926. They worked together for sixteen years for films and Broadway (notably Hellzapoppin in 1938) and who knows what they could have achieved but for Kahal’s 1942 death in NYC at age 38. Irving Kahal was inducted posthumously into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.
Irving Kahal (1903-1942)The one who wrote the music for Kahal’s lyrics was Sammy Fain, who began writing tunes as a high school student in NYC (yet were rejected by publishing houses). After graduation he worked for Mills Music Publishing, rising from a stockboy to staff composer. In 1925 he had his first song published (with lyrics by Al Dubin) and the next year met Irving Kahal, who was his partner until death.
Sammy Fain went on to work with other lyricists and for studios such as Disney (Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan). Sammy Fain was nominated for nine Academy Awards for Best Original Song and won two (both with lyricist Paul Francis Webster). These included “Secret Love” (from the 1953 Doris Day movie Calamity Jane) and the 1955 title tune for “Love is a Many Splendored Thing”. Later that decade, they wrote film songs “April Love” (a hit for Pat Boone) and “A Certain Smile” (a hit for Johnny Mathis).
Sammy Fain was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972 and died in late 1989 at the age of 87.
Sammy Fain (1902-1989)Six years after the flop of the 1938 play it was written for, “I’ll Be Seeing You” became the title of a 1944 film starring Ginger Rogers, a recording by Bing Crosby reached #1 and the sentimentality of the song (as previously noted) became a favorite of soldiers during WW-II. In addition to Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday had a noted jazz version …. and over time the song’s popularity has mushroomed.
It became the theme song of Liberace’s 1950’s television show, and at the 2009 Academy Awards: during the In Memoriam look at those who died the past year, Queen Latifah sang this to accompany the video — and since then, singers have often accompanied this tribute (with a variety of songs).
The best tribute to the song is the wide range of performers who have recorded it. Some you’d expect: Frank Sinatra, Liza Minelli, Barbra Streisand, Peggy Lee, Harry James, Rosemary Clooney, Johnny Mathis), and some you aren’t surprised (Cass Elliot, Carmen McRae, Judy Collins, Linda Ronstadt, Willie Nelson).
One duo version most people would not expect …… comes from the 1998 album Jazz a Saint-Germain— featuring jazz standards with both French and American performers (such as Debby Harry, Patricia Kaas, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jane Birkin … and the 1960’s French pop star Françoise Hardy— whom Bob Dylan was a big fan of. Here she is paired with James Osterberg, better known as … Iggy Pop?!? Yes, indeed … and below you can hear the result.
I'll be seeing you In all the old familiar places That this heart of mine embraces All day through
In that small cafe The park across the way The children's carousel The chestnut trees, the wishing well
I'll find you in the morning sun And when the night is new I'll be looking at the moon But I'll be seeing you
x xYouTube Video