Newbies, Lurkers, and Splashers
The Welcome Wagon has rolled into town!
The Welcome Wagon has rolled into town!
Question for everyone:
If your life had a soundtrack,
what songs would it contain?
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May the 4’s be with you
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GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) – Ancient Mayan astronomers aligned their soaring temples with the stars and now modern archeologists have found the ruins of hidden cities in the Guatemalan jungle by peering down from space.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."OK, now that is way cool.
And a special welcome to our newest member:
Frogpond statistic: 4323 users total, 316 international.
As to what the soundtrack of my life would contain: A little rock, a little blues, a little classical, a little world music, a bunch of mad music,a bunch of filk and a bunch of banjo. A few sample songs:
She Belongs To Me — Bob Dylan
Hallelujah — Leonard Cohen
Police Dog Blues — John Capelli (a filker friend of mine)
Instant Karma — John Lennon
Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes by C. M. von Weber (specifically the “March” movement) — Paul Hindemith
Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes — Paul Simon
Eat Here And Die — Worm Quartet
Outward Bound — Echo’s Children
Down The Old Plank Road — Uncle Dave Macon, or Bela Fleck with The Chieftains (take your pick)
Like anyone else, I have good days and bad, and the soundtrack changes accordingly; but the music is always there.
So, jump in!
Welcome to the pond, commonsense09! Stop in the cafe/lounge sometime and say hi.
clik to enlarge
signed: Beelzebufo
Here’s some flowers for the welcome wagon, Hi everyone!!!
Ooooh, nice. Are those from your place?
Hi, yes these are from outside my window and I just took it, there is a light drizzel which makes it all dreamy looking, they are so delightful, it makes me happy just to look.
I didn’t notice the drizzle but now that I look I do see the droplets of water on the leaves. Those are some beautiful flowers.
Oh, man. Am I envious.
You should see our backyard. It looks like a Superfund site that was given up on as beyond remedy.
Thanks, I live in socal so I can grow flowers all year long, I am so lucky.
The problem here isn’t climate, it’s soil. Densely packed sand, harder than clay, past the first couple inches. Consequently, drainage is nonexistent. And as a result, if it’s rained at all in the last five days — and around here, during winter, it’s always rained in the last five days — there are vast splotchy pools distributed all about the place.
I’m actually glad it isn’t warm enough here in the winter to grow flowers, for can you imagine the mosquitos we’d have? They’d be big enough to ride bicycles.
(And please, don’t anybody follow this up posting a picture of a nasty-looking mosquito riding a bicycle. I have trouble enough sleeping as it is.)
At first I was making my husband dig it out for me, so I could just have nice planting holes. Then I got my tiller and life was beautiful. Before, my front yard was just grass and weeds on top of 3 – 6 inches of thatch on top of concrete hard soil. It took me almost 3 weeks to be able to get the tiller down more than 1/8th of an inch. I put down a lot of gympsum and compost and spent two weeks tilling that. I finally got it to the point where I could dig down and get some plants in the ground. And I’ve been adding plants since then.
Fabooj, I had to chuckle at this::
Beautiful for your husband, for sure, I couldn’t help thinking. 😉
More seriously, thanks for your encouragement and inspiration. I’ve looked at your pictures and I’m glad your work is paying off! Me, I tried something along the lines you describe last year, though less assiduously than you. An unfortunate combination: I’ve got both more yard and less patience.
At first I thought my yard was huge (I lived in an apt. for the past 8 years), then when I started making plans, I realized it was kinda of small. I started digging out one corner back in October. It took me 2 weeks to dig out a 3’x3.5′ section. I looked at my yard and thought, “Man, we should have bought a condo.” All of a sudden, my front yard was huge.
After some reworking of plans (mostly because we’re broke), I figured a solution. Considering, I’ve been sick most of time between Thanksgiving and now, I”m pretty impressed. I mean, I put in a walkway run a 103 degree fever.
The only thing that keeps me going is what my backyard looks like today.
I like the purple theme you have going on there. I have a purple/orange/silver them in my backyard and it’s so delightful.
Thanks, the prominent flowers are stock and they have a nice fragrence, I have snap dragons coming along in those same colors, just starting to bloom and violas in all colors.
Oh I do have orange (honeysuckle) and red (geraniums) just can’t seem to ever get enough flowers, lol.
Love the flowers, Diane101! I’ve been learning to grow these babies by sprouting a single leaf.
Our local govt. office is beginning to look like a greenhouse! I’m hoping a little beauty will help charm the savage taxpayers;-)
Hi Diane101,
Nice flowers.
The drizzle has stopped here, & I hope it clears for the eclipse that starts at sunset here, in conjunction with the full moon rise.
thanks for hosting, Omir!
My soundtrack would be a mix of mariachi, hip/hop, old school funk and rock of all eras.
Los Laureles – Linda Ronstadt
Love and Hope – Ozomatli
Bendita Tu Luz – Maná
Double Dutch Bus – Frankie Smith
On A Sunday Afternoon – Lighter Shade of Brown
Nena – Malo
I’ve Got You Babe – Sonny and Cher
Drive – Incubus
Nothing Else Matters – Metallica
Lately – unplugged version with Jodeci
Together – Tierra
Volver, Volver – Vicente Fernandez
Just to name a few…
I need more Tejano and ranchera in my collection. Right now I think the only thing I have is a collection that’s called something like “15 All Time Tejano Favorites,” and that’s it. I’ve got some Gypsy Kings, which I like a lot, but it’s hardly the same.
That was one of the cool things about living in Tejas. Not only did we get all the Austin music of the mid- to late-80s, I could tune my radio down to 1150 (i think) and listen to “XERA, la Ranchera de Monterey.” (I think that was the title.) Hmmm, maybe I should take some of my tax refund money and see if I can hunt me down some Joe “King” Carrasco y los Coronas.
I’ve never heard of Tejano or ranchera music, though I’ve certainly heard the Gypsy Kings plenty. Know of any good online sources you could point me to for information/illustrative samples? I’d sure appreciate it.
hi no3reed. Ranchera can include all different types of Mexican music – I’m not much a fan of banda or norteño but live for mariachi. Ranchera has more to do with lyrics than musical style, tho – life on the ranch 🙂
Tejano is the U.S.-version mixture of norteño/cumbia styles. Some classic groups/artists that come to mind: Little Joe y La Familia, Mazz, Selena, Ramon Ayala, etc.
Thanks Manny — for this and for your further posts on the subject below.
anytime, i live for music
So while you’re living for music, what is Bud doing?
naps, lots of naps. i left my camera at my parents’ place but will grab it this weekend when i go home to visit. he’s the world’s #2 devout slacker 😉
Must be the reason I like Bud so much. 🙂
You need to fly Bud out here to teach Esperanza how to slack. She’s got the energy of a Yorkie and I keep waiting for the laziness to set in, but she’s 2 years old now and it ain’t happening.
still? i’m surprised she hasn’t mellowed out abit as she’s aged. Bud gets bursts of energy here and there, but afterwards he passes out cold for hours on end. I’ve only taken him on a few walks over the years because each time I end up having to drag him back home so he can reunite with his bed.
This silly dog will run around after labs for 90 minutes at the dog park, take a short nap at home and then race around the house snarling, trying to get the cats to chase her. She’s a doll, but unless I spend a lot of time playing with her she’s like a spoiled toddler doing anything for my attention.
lucky you 🙂
maybe she had an ancestor that was struck by lightning, or something. i don’t know what i’d do if Bud suddenly snapped out of his cuddle bunny routine.
It’s all your fault, you know. Your pictures of Bud holding down the rug made me want a basset hound.
[whistles innocently]
Gypsy Kings and Tejano music in the same sentence?!? [gasps dramatically] 😉
We have Tejano 1600 here in Tucson and I can go to a ton of places for it if the need to dance a cumbia becomes unbearable.
I usually just go to the local Mexican restaurant. 🙂
We have a couple of them, one medium-sized chain and another family-owned place, that we go to every so often. Both have music going, but of course I couldn’t tell you the names of the performers any more than I could tell you the names of the performers of the Thai popular music we hear at our favorite Thai restaurant.
Sounds like a good research project, though — find an online streaming station that carries Tejano and ranchera. See, that’s why I really like Internet radio. When your tastes venture off the beaten path like mine so often do, there’s usually someone who can satisfy them.
Batanga, they’re also listed via iTunes in the radio section.
Just what I was looking for. A treasure trove. Thanks again.
For some reason, I’ve been off on Cubanos of late. Love these hombres.
Love the German subtitles!
Hi and bye, everyone!
Heading out in a few to pick up my son at school; we hope to watch the Lunar Eclipse tonight.
Oh yeah, the eclipse! My sources tell me it should be ongoing at moonrise unless you’re farther west than I am (not very many people are), in which case it starts at 0143 GMT tonight (that’s 5:43 Pacific time).
I hope it’s a nice clear night tonight and not the typical Seattle cloudfest, but the weatherman is calling for “partly cloudy.”
Hey Omir,
It doesn’t look too well. It was nice and sunny most of the day, but a cloud cover is coming in and we may even get some snow.
My soundtrack … hmmm …
Imagine the sound of Thelonious Monk. Now imagine that sound being very slowly, very gradually engulfed, bit by bit over many years, by the monstrous, monotonous, vacuous insipidities of Enja.
That captures it, I think.
I’ve been trying to come up with one for the past 3 months. I’m trying to limit it to 10 songs, but it’s looking more like a double-disc compilation.
That’s kind of the way I am. How do I fit fifty years of musical influences into a 12 track CD? I think I’d need a shipping container.
Hi! Wow, y’all a friendly bunch of froggies. Are toads welcome, too?
I’m Beth, a designer/photographer/nerd who resides in Oakland with a boyfriend, housemates, and a small flock of animals.
My soundtrack for today (for my life is WAY too hard) is all the Thelonius Monk I can find, plus the parrot saying “birrrrrrrrd shit shit shit” during good solos.
This might be entertaining, for the really nerdy: a thread about Obama’s branding on Typophile.com.
Hey there! Yep, toads are always welcome.
And nerds.
ooops! I meant to say something like “I wasn’t too worried about my nerdiness in a forum filled with politically obsessed folks whose posts might be approved of by Strunk & White,” but then I pressed “post” by mistake and also realized my sentence is a horrible run-on.
Hey Eeblet. I’m currently residing in sunny Oakland as well with my daughter and two cats. Great town.
I can’t think of what songs would be my life, but definitely something by Bowie, Talking Heads, and REM.
Welcome to the pond, eeblet!
Welcome to the frog pond commonsense09 and eeblet.
eeblet, nice picture and a toad is just as good as a frog here.
I’m Family Man usually referred to as FM. I live in Alabama and I’m retired. I’ve been here for awhile, but usually stay in the Welcome Wagons or the Cafe. When ever you get a chance drop by the Cafe. It’s friendly and laid back.
Lets see a song for my life. Probably “Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road”. 🙂
Whatta guy. He picked himself up some pocket change singing songs on M*A*S*H every once in a while. His son Rufus does some outre stuff, but he also does some stuff for Disney and Dreamworks soundtracks that I really like (like “Another Believer” from Meet The Robinsons).
Hiya Omir!
I think I remember him from some of the M*A*S*H shows. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Meet The Robinsons.
On your list I haven’t heard of most of them, but what I’ve heard of Bela Fleck I liked, and I’ve always liked the Hallelujah — Leonard Cohen.
Hey, FM.
You know, I once had a girlfriend who was just young enough not to’ve heard that song when it was being played all the time on the radio.
One day when we were on a long drive to visit her parents, I started singing it. She groaned. “Why do you think up such disgusting things?”
Nothing I could say availed to convince her that a) I hadn’t just made it up on the spur of the moment, and b) it was not only a real, i.e. recorded, song, but even a hit in its day. She just kept rolling her eyes and saying, “Oh, right.” Which, when you think about it, is quite understandable.
When we finally got to her parents, I asked them, “Do you guys remember that song, ‘Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road’?” Not only did they remember it, her dad sang the chorus.
We were together for years. I don’t think she was ever fully convinced that it wasn’t all an elaborate hoax I’d set up with her folks.
Hi no3reed.
Yep Dead Skunk has to be one of the all time classic songs. 🙂
Late for the pahty. I couldn’t come up with a list but it will definitely include some FooFighters.
Hey boran,
Have you checked outside lately?
The cloud cover is moving away and we can actually see the eclipse in progress – just about 45 minutes until totality.
Thanks ask! I’m going to look now.
It’s about half done.
And some.
Young asklet is here with me, his first total lunar eclipse – we saw a partial one a couple of years ago.
Nuttin’ but clouds here … waaaa.
About 3/4 covered here now. We just went out for another look. Didn’t stay long – its 20F out there.
Hiya Boran and Ask.
I caught just a glimpse but we have cloud cover too.
Anyone heard anything about the shoot down of the satellite?
Hey I am wondering why no one is talking about the McCain scandal, if you want to know go to DK, there are about 20 diaries on it.
There’s talk about it over in the thread for “The People You Surround Yourself With”.
the moon kept moving, so this is blurry.
Very cool SN – Thanks. Wish we didn’t have cloud cover.
With no tripod, it’s even more impressive. If I don’t use a tripod my photos look like Tyrone Biggums took them. I’m barely uploading my photos of the moon.