DEEP as opera: heard!

What a grand view I had for this third, and last, evening in the rotunda of Telfair Academy!

(Thanks, Katie and Olivia, for D-13!)

I was very excited about "Song", as I knew several works from the youth at DEEP were to be featured... and I do so love their insights!

Of the fifteen pieces performed, five were from four of those middle-school students!!!

The poetry from Lincoln Davidson and Madeline Pelli was transformed into a musical triptych, painting a poignant picture of hope for better days and easier nights.

"I Lay Myself To Rest", "A Voice", and "I Dream Of A World" had been set to music with the help of Patrick Vu (who had helped do the same for an artist in svf-8.)

The middle piece, paraphrasing a classic riddle as "if a man shouts in an empty house, does anyone hear him?", nearly brought me to tears.

In its entirety, that trio of songs reminded me of classic works from Elvis Presley ("If I Can Dream") and others, speaking to a human need for unity and connection to others.

That trio was performed by Chad Sonka (with his lovely baritone), Sara Zoe Budnik, and Melanie Spector (both sopranos). 

Heather Jones performed "Worthless", another that wrenched at my heart, written by middle-school student Ella Zipperer and set to music by Dave Ragland.

Why did it affect me so?

The child was being regarded as nothing, absolutely nothing, for only being "100 pennies" instead of a dollar bill.

Wow.

The fourth student appeared on video, having not only composed "Blessed By The Best" but also set it to music and performed it - quite enthusiastically, too!

I just have to believe Louis Armstrong would have loved that one as much as I did!

Positive perspective and faith in God - oh, yes!

Maybe living in a pandemic, still, has made me even more sensitive to such issues.

I just know it's been like a dream to be attending concerts again!

Maria Zouves even performed two pieces, "Sinevi Stin Athina" and "Floghera", plus there was Jonathan Walker-VanKuren with "I Found A Woman" and the fabulous "Landscape 1: From A Train", in which the piano captured the sound of wheels on a rail very well!!!

Even so, with all this wealth of poetry in the air, the performances I was most drawn to were the two solos from Mariano Gladić for "Cancion al arbol del olvido" and "Los pajaros perdidos".

And just what would be my reason for that?

He sang them to me!

He looked straight at me - practically dancing in my seat, feet tapping, hands at work with my invisible piano - and sang to me that he would not think of me at the tree of forgetfulness, and that he realized I had been his only love among all the lost birds.

He did, he most assuredly did!

How blessed am I by the Best?

i thank You, God!

And now the blessing that is this day continues - the Chicago White Sox are playing the New York Yankees at the Field of Dreams, a place etched into my heart... and I get to see it for free on tv!

i thank You, God!

just for expanding his horizons

I woke to an alarm today, as I have done on Tuesdays for almost a year now.

That's because this is the day that Mayor Van Johnson gives his televised update to we citizens of Savannah about our progress during this time of pandemic.

It's usually at least thirty minutes in length, with questions from the media after.

Today, he didn't do that.

Not any of it.

I have no idea why, but it didn't happen.

So, instead, I pulled up a tv show I haven't watched for a while: "Beat Shazam".

That provides me a bit of entertainment and music, a winning combination, right?

Absolutely!

And I got that in spades today!

(Give it a minute and you'll know why I  went and fetched that definition.

I don't want anyone thinking I''m being racist with my choice of words.

Go ahead, look up the phrase, I'll wait.

*

*

*

Just a reference to a centuries-old game of cards, naught else.

Okay, forward we go!)

So... where was I?

Oh, yes, watching Jamie Lee Fox and his daughter, Corinne, this morning.

Episode 1 of Season 3 featured three pairs of teachers vying for the money.

One of the pairs, two brothers, did poorly the first round, scoring no money.

Then, for the second round, in which they were able to choose the song categories (they opted for 80's rather than 2010's), they continued to fare poorly...

until the final two songs, which they answered correctly...

preventing them from being dismissed and allowing them to continue playing.

They had gone from zero dollars to $9,000, putting them in second place.

For the next round, which was Corinne's choice, the artist was Shania Twain.

Let me allow that to sink in a moment while you recognize who that is.

Got it?

White woman, Canadian, the Queen of Country Pop.

Honestly, I know, possibly four of her songs, primarily because my husband was working at "KIX 96 and a half" during our first few years of marriage in the 1990's.

Two of those tunes I knew showed up in the game; I didn't know the other three songs that showed up at all.

I mean, I'd never even heard them and they were supposed to have been some of her top hits, as only those are used for the game.

The contestants - the two brothers versus a pair of female friends - had to correctly guess the title of the six songs and score the most money in order to continue to play for the truly big bucks in the final round.

"That Don't Impress Me Much" was one of the two I knew and the fourth one in the set...

and the one that cinched their lead.

After the last one in this set, Aaron and Martin, two African-American men, had $64,000 and had won the chance to play, versus the machine, for a million dollars.

Wow, what a Cinderella story, right?

From absolutely zero in the first round to almost losing out on the second round and missing the Motown song, then knowing all that country music that few would regard as culturally relevant for them and going to the final round - wow!

But it wasn't the two of them that knew the songs...

oh, no, Aaron didn't have a clue and was openly surprised that his brother knew them.

Seriously.

He was in open-mouthed surprise by the third Shania song.

Even the two white women they were playing against were in awe.

But Martin had it down pat.

I was thrilled!

I always am when people venture outside their comfort zone and open their minds.

That's what I do, trying out new ideas and concepts from different cultures, embracing the activities in the Savannah Black Heritage Festival, in the Jewish Film Festival, in the Clergy Talks by Zoom on Wednesdays, in the Savannah Music Festival, in the Telluride MountainFilm on Tour, in the Savannah Jazz Festival, in the Savannah VOICE Festival - most of which is free, by the way, so there really is no good reason to not attend.

Seriously.

Some folks may think I'm "just going to a lot of movies", but that isn't how I regard it.

Movies are the fastest way to 'read' a story about another person, another country, another culture, another way of thinking.

I've been a bookworm since I was young, eagerly reading of other's adventures, and I credit books with opening the door to travel, with the military, and on my own afterward.

I know so many who do not venture outside their circles, staying around only those who look like them and think like them.

How wonderful to watch this show this morning and see another adventurer!

And what were Martin's plans with the money?

His daughter was going to college to become an immunologist and he wanted to be able to help her with that so she wouldn't have loans to repay.

Wow.

So, how did their story end?

The two brothers won the million dollars, that's how it ended...

with Martin answering all the questions, correctly naming all six songs before the computer could.

The first was Taylor Swift's "22", a song I have never heard.

The second was an oldies tune that I did know: "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys.

Third was a pop-rock hit, "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train, a song I love!

The category for the fourth song had him worried, but Martin recognized Harry Chapin's "Cat's In The Cradle" before I did, and, more importantly, before the machine did, too.

The penultimate song was rhythm & blues and one I didn't know: "Nobody Knows", from the Tony Rich Project in 1996.

I suppose I might have been too busy trying to finish my doctoral dissertation...

but Martin knew it.

He knew it justthatfast, too, as he had known all of these songs.

His knowledge had brought them $189,000 and to the point of no return -

hmm, I wonder if he might recognize the pun-titled song by Kansas? -

(I'm guessing he would) -

meaning, they would need to decide if they wanted to opt to leave the game and to keep the money amassed, or risk losing half of it if they continued to play.

That final song category was "90's".

After the commercial break, Aaron had convinced Martin they should continue.

Aaron's wife had been in a recent car wreck and had not worked for some time.

Aaron told the audience that their mother had always told them to never give up...

so they kept playing, gambling that the adventurous brother would know the song.

And he did!

So did I, incredibly.

The Gin Blossoms' "Found Out About You" was, literally, the million-dollar tune for these two Pennsylvania teachers.

Wow.

He had a moment of uncertainly after, wondering if it should be "I Found Out About You",

as he said in an aside to his brother, then he had shaken his head -

no, he'd said it right the first time.

And he had.

Wow.

Good for Martin!

Being adventurous truly paid off for him, literally and figuratively.

I hope his daughter is just like him...

and I hope his brother will try to follow his lead.

What a wonderful way to start my day!

i thank You, God!

breath of normalcy

"Instead of kisses,
we get kicks.
Instead of hugs,
we get hits,
it's a hard knock life!"
I just love this song from "Annie"!
It should be depressing,
but I find it to be uplifting!

That was "The Big Bang Theory" the universe graced me with last night before bedtime.
(smile!)
Then, this is the "Seinfeld" I selected this morning -
it's the bizarro world episode!
Elaine has a choice of hanging out with a trio of good guys (Kevin, Gene, Feldman) or continuing to pal around with Jerry, George, and Kramer.
In other words, she was able to choose between perspectives, just like Raj, Howard, and Stuart could.
It's good to have choices, isn't it?
We always do, even when they are not the options we prefer to have.
Who wants to scrub sticky floors and grubby counters?
Certainly not I!
But when I do, I choose to have music to sing along with.
That's definitely more positive!

Going to the Jepson Museum was more positive, too!
It's been open for about a month.
I had promised myself I'd go last Sunday, but reneged.
Not this time!
I have so missed visiting this beloved "Swarm" and allowing it to recreate my visage!
Today, I'm sporting a new seashell mask as well as my blue-ocean top from my second trip to Italy.
(smile!)

Then "I Saw Him Standing There" -
this Emily Earl photograph, not The Beatles' tune, silly rabbit!
Her #art912 exhibit was partly the draw to the museum.
I'll be 'attending' her talk about her Polaroids on Thursday, so I wanted to see them beforehand.
Know why she stopped taking photos after eight years?
She ran out of the discontinued film that her old camera uses!
True story!

"Fallen God-Runners" and "Fallen God-Dunks" are part of another new Jepson exhibit, Cut & Paste: Works Of Paper.
What I liked most were the shadows of the shoes on the wall!
That begged the question: did Matt Haffner intend those shadows to be part of that display, or were they an act of serendipity for my pleasure?
I do so like chiaroscuro!
Right place, right time!

Then I revisited an exhibit last seen in February, when I was there for the curator's talk and reception.
I had missed taking this photo of "The Savannah Art Club at Armstrong Farm in 1925",
enlarged as a wall mural for the original display.
Glad it was still in place!
I'm also so glad those kind folks so the need, a century ago, for fostering creativity in this seaport!
Right place, right time!

Next on my agenda: the Telfair!
I made it to the Academy just as the first rain drops began, too!
I had an ulterior motive for this visit.
I was not there just to visit "Belle of 1810", as I had missed doing for birthday62.
I was there because I had just seen her in the first installment of the Stay-At-Home Season VIII of the Savannah VOICE Festival and naught else would do but for me to go and to see her in person.

Here she is in the video, providing delightful background as Jessica Fishenfeld performed "Casta Diva" from the 1831 opera, "Norma".
Believe it or not, I once made a dress similar to the soprano's, for a military ball in the fall of my senior year of high school.
So many dances that academic year!
That was definitely one of the perks of meeting the three Benedictine Cadets I dated during the STERI science program.

Again, that's grist for another grind, maybe one day soon.
Back to my current story of "why I visited the museum today".
Belle's room was not the only featured place in that music video; the basement of the Telfair, with its lovely statuary, was also part of the scenes that were seen!
Specifically, this area, with the tortured Gaul, as well as the giant work with the man and his two sons.

See the songstress walking along in this same part of the display shared by the statue and windows?
That means the video must have been filmed some other time, during a sunshine-filled, blue-sky day.
The dark clouds this afternoon finally unleashed their summer thunderstorm, but I minded the weather outside not one whit.
I sat and enjoyed these art pieces for the next half-hour.

Then I bopped across the way to visit my cabana boy - ooh la la!
That Hermes is one mighty fine-looking young fellow, even though his chest is rather boy-like.
I prefer a man with hair on his chest - RAWR!!!
Yet another reason for my attraction to Scott Bakula in "Quantum Leap" and his shirtless interludes!
And no worries... I didn't actually lay my hand on this statue's buttock.
I didn't touch anything here.

After my delightful two-and-a-half hours sojourn at the two museums, with the air washed clean by the downpour, I drove past Ben & Jerry's on Broughton on my way home...
and, hallelujah, they were open!
Hallelujah, I found parking right around the corner!
And after getting my first ice cream of summer, I walked about in this empty parking lot to savor each and every little bit of it.
Right place, right time!
i thank You, God.