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. I will not be at Netroots Nation this year (will be at the Drinking Liberally conference in Savannah, Georgia the weekend following Election Day, instead). For those attending — enjoy! And for everyone, have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead.
ART NOTES — an exhibition entitled 3D: Double Vision— the first American exhibition to survey a full range of artworks, dating from 1838 to the present, that produce the illusion of three dimensions — will be at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to March 31, 2019.
Now at L.A. County MuseumYOUR WEEKEND READ is an interview with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright— who was born in Prague before emigrating to the US at age eleven — who describes herself to Der Spiegel thusly: “I Am an Optimist Who Worries A Lot”.
THE NEW GOVERNMENT in Spain plans to move the remains of your-friend-and-mine, Generalissimo Francisco Franco— provided that Chevy Chase’s pronouncement still holds-up — from a controversial war memorial (built with forced labor) with 33k bodies from the Spanish Civil war, located just outside of Madrid. And not without protest from Franco loyalists, either.
THURSDAY's CHILD is named Emmy the Cat— a Maryland kitteh who survived a fire that destroyed her family’s home … discovered three days later when an insurance adjuster was inventorying the damage in the kitchen, then moved a bag …. of dry cat food.
Emmy the CatPUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT — if you go back to the days of the old Saturday Hate Mail-a-Palooza….. one of the Usual Suspects who was not simply bluster/expletives was Edscan— and thanks to some detective work by another D/K reader, this may (possibly ) be …. his Twitter handle.
He was the most eccentric character around, and while I know there were reasons for his banning ….. I sure do miss his nonsensical words. That his first name may be the same as mine is …… irrelevant … OK, notable. Anyway, have-at-it if you’d like (in one tweet, he claims to be 89 years old). He does not seem to get any recommends or replies …. which does not surprise me at all.
STRANGE THINGS HAPPENING EVERY DAY — two years ago, Bruno Le Maire was a candidate for president in France’s (Gaullist) Republican party … now, things have changed:
Little over a year ago, he denounced another presidential candidate, Emmanuel Macron, as a “man without a project because he is a man without conviction”. Today, the “man without conviction” occupies the presidency and Mr. Le Maire (who quit his own party) serves as his finance minister.
Astonishingly, all this is regarded in France as perfectly normal.
SHE HAS BEEN described as “Africa’s Richest Woman” — however, after her father stepped-down after thirty-eight years as Angola’s president (to be succeeded by General João Lourenço, her father’s choice), Isabel Dos Santos has now lost four lucrative contracts, plus her post as CEO of Angola’s state-owned oil firm.
FRIDAY's CHILD is named Dexter the Cat— an English kitteh who went missing for 2-½ weeks before being found ...… bricked-into a new home constructed next door, but now safe-and-sound.
Dexter the CatTHE DRIVE to impeach Rod Rosenstein will never be voted upon; it will simply be touted in right-wing fundraising letters. Years ago, I got letters that read like this:
Send $25 NOW ………... or else, South-by-North-West Africa goes Communist!!!
BRAIN TEASER - try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC.
OLDER-YOUNGER BROTHERS? — HGTV star Drew Scott (“Property Brothers”) and Uruguayan World Cup star (talented and also known for his biting) Luis Suarez.
Drew Scott (born 1978) Luis Suarez (born 1987)...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… in one of my continuing attempts to profile performers under thirty ….. someone whom I heard on Live from Here (the successor radio program to A Prairie Home Companion) is the singer Cécile McLorin Salvant— whom critics describe as wise beyond her years, and is very adept at ballads, which I am fond of. Her career was launched via a talent show and may not be someone you are familiar with … just yet.
Born in 1989 in Miami to a Haitian doctor father and a French-Guadeloupean educator mother (and speaks French, Spanish and English well), she said her career path was set when (at age ten) she saw the young Welsh singer Charlotte Church singing opera on TV.
She credits her musical style to growing-up in a polyglot musical environment: with Haitian music, Cuban music, soul, hip-hop, blues, Gospel and other forms all opening up her world. At age eight she joined the Miami Choral Society and had such an appreciation for old things (books, music, architecture) that other kids nicknamed her Grandma.
In 2007 at age eighteen she enrolled in a conservatory in Aix-en-Provence, France — named after the composer Darius Milhaud (whom Dave Brubeck studied with) — and was studying classical voice. Yet her mother recommended she audition for a class in jazz voice, with Professor Jean-François Bonnel so impressed … he threatened to ring her doorbell until she enrolled in the class. She said she preferred the vibe there to the classical music students and especially to the poli-sci classes (“full of rich kids from Saint-Tropez, very arrogant and politically on the right”).
While still in France, her mother persuaded her to send an audition disc to the annual Thelonious Monk Competition— which is to the jazz world what American Idol or The Voice is to pop. The competition has a different emphasis each year — Joshua Redman was on his way to Yale Law School when he won the 1991 Competition dedicated to saxophone — and her disc arrived just in time to be accepted as one of a dozen finalists for the 2010 Vocal Competition.
Flying to Washington, D.C. (an unknown in her own country) she won the competition (with French singer Cyrille Aimée finishing third). Bassist Rodney Whitaker says he knew Salvant would win even in early rehearsals. She ended her studies in 2011 after being offered a recording contract and relocating to New York.
Her recordings feature a mix of tunes: from the 19th Century (“John Henry”), the 21st Century and some spirited originals. The works of Noel Coward, Kurt Weill, Rodgers & Hart plus the blues singer Ida Cox are but a few examples.
Her US debut album in 2013 earned a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal album. Her second album in 2015 reached #2 in the jazz album charts and this time won the Grammy Award in that same category. Her most recent release was last year’s live album Dreams and Daggers— recorded (in part) at Greenwich Village’s legendary Village Vanguard (which has seen comparatively few female headliners over its sixty-year history).
Cécile McLorin Salvant will turn age twenty-nine next month and is in the midst of a European tour, before returning to perform at the Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island (as part of an international ensemble) next week. One of the most demanding music critics around said last year:
Wynton Marsalis, who has twice hired Salvant to tour with his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, told me, “You get a singer like this once in a generation or two.” Salvant might not have reached this peak just yet, he said.
But, he added, “could Michael Jordan do all he would do in his third year? No, but you could tell what he was going to do. Cécile’s the same way.”
Cécile McLorin SalvantPerhaps the tune that most defines her attitude is Wives and Lovers by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, from the Mad Men days of 1963. She notes the lack of feminist songs in the cabaret world, and decided instead to focus on sexist songs, instead. She liked Burt Bacharach’s music (as does her pianist, Aaron Diehl) and about Hal David’s lyrics she admits that they’re ridiculous ….
“But they’re also things I really do. I’m not completely over the idea of needing to be presentable and looking my best. It’s advice that I’ll almost take, then say no. The songs that I sing and kind of make fun of—they have some kind of power over me. By making fun of them, I weaken that power.”
And below you can listen to it.
Hey little girl Comb your hair, fix your makeup Soon he will open the door Don't think because there's a ring on your finger You needn't try anymore
Day after day There are girls at the office And men will always be men Don't send him off with your hair still in curlers You may not see him again
Hey little girl Better wear something pretty Something you'd wear to go to the city Dim all the lights, pour the wine, start the music Time to get ready for love
For wives should always be lovers, too Run to his arms the moment he comes home to you I'm warning you
x xYouTube Video