at the indians-tigers game, two mondays ago, i was settled in my seat, watching the game, and...a called strike three -- hey, that's tom hallion -- i'd recognize that strike-three call...anywhere
a pair of other...very short videos...tom hallion, calling strike threes -- great guy too
all of which reminds me of the guys in toronto...who imitated umpires...from the first row...near home plate -- love 'em
i loved this -- when they pulled out the balls, and threw them...out
for today's baseball story -- from...his...tory -- vin scully told about the night...walter o'malley...invited all amateur musicians...to the game, for free -- if they brought their instruments with them -- this was in response to the musicians' union...protesting...the brooklyn dodgers sym-phony, a motley group of musicians...who wandered through the stands, making...music -- if you wanna call it that -- the union objected...to musicians..., including union musicians, i suppose, playing music...without being paid
here's a picture of the sym-phony
o'malley called the special event, on august 13, 1951, 'music depreciation night'
THE BROOKLYN DODGER SYM-PHONY: To call the Sym-Phony a group of dedicated amateur musicians would be to grant them a degree of musical competence many magnitudes above what actually existed. "They couldn't hit a note," said Don Newcombe. Maybe not, but these guys had a great deal of fun parading through the stands with their brass instruments and big bass drum, adding musical punctuation to every step (and misstep) on the field. "Three Blind Mice" was the theme song for the umpires, "The Worms Crawl In, The Worms Crawl Out" greeted struck-out players as they returned to the dugout, and no matter how savvy the player, a big "ba-boom" greeted every player as his rump hit the bench. A totally spontaneous outgrowth of the madcap energy that effused Ebbets Field, the Sym-Phony drew the ire of the powerful Musicians' Union, who accused owner Walter O'Malley of allowing non-union performers to entertain at Ebbets Field. To prove the point that anyone could play an instrument without being an "entertainer," O'Malley, in a rare moment of business whimsy, announced "Music Depreciation Night," and allowed any fan carrying an instrument to enter the park for free. Kazoos, whistles, ocarinas, jews'-harps, accordians, trumpets, drums, violins, upright basses, tubas and sousaphones, a woodwind section, and even two pianos set up a still-remembered caterwauling that night "to beat the band," or, more accurately, the Musicians' Union. The union dropped the matter. The band played on.
i just found this rendition of 'casta diva'...by sondra radvanovsky -- i was preparing an e-mail to my opera 'list,' in which i wrote about my recent trip, and a production of 'norma' in which she starred -- in spain -- i was in barcelona, and my taxi driver told me that this production was happening, an hour outside the city -- it would take place (in peralada), two weeks after i left the city -- i love the conductor, here, leading the applause
i then saw this version -- spine tingling -- monica zanettin -- and this is a huge...outdoor arena
my new friend cecile...told me her favorite arabic song was 'ana leek,'...and she sent me the following video
the first couple minutes of the video reminded me of that...tremendously endearing...and charming...german/turkish movie...from 2000, 'im juli' (in july), one of my all-time favorites
the singer's sound...struck me as like amr diab's -- and,...what do you know,...amr diab...has a song...of the same title
i found, on youtube, a couple of other videos...of samo zayn's 'ana leek,' which is...growing on me
one video has, for its background -- for the entirety of the song -- this...adorable picture
for my turn, i told cecile...my favorite arabic song was 'sawah,' by abdil-haleem hafudh (egyptians pronounce it 'hafiz') -- actually, it might be...my favorite song, period -- i adore abdil-haleem -- as the arabs say, haleem yiT'rub'ni (he...serenades me -- he...'sends' me,...'moves' me) -- he did that for my khala maha, with whom i spent many fun times in amman, recently -- and with her wonderful daughter, nagham, and nagham's three...fantastic children
well, khalti maha and i...have a few other things in common
my mother, when she was a girl or a teenager, made fun of her little sister,...for her...adoration...of haleem -- shame on you, beebee
here,...just the song,...without any visuals -- just the man -- his face
here's a shorter,...more...hip-hoppy...rendition -- and, for cecile,...there's a picture of a girl...surrounded by birds -- lots of birds -- seagulls...and...a sunset...over the sea
i just found...this great...video, the heading of which says...'complete' -- but...is it ever...complete
we get to see haleem...conducting
now,...for the israeli...wing...of the sawah musuem
we start with the ishtar/alabina rendition -- the only...israeli take...i knew -- ishtar/alabina...call it 'habibi' -- now this...is really hip-hoppy -- and...short -- about as short...as you can get 'sawah'
then there's...tamir gal -- it takes him...a couple of minutes...to get into...the sawah...rhythm -- the music sounds...quite turkish -- i'll have to find out...his ethnic background -- sounds a bit...kurdish too
well, i can tell you this much -- they're having...entirely too much fun...at his party
ishtar and tamir gal...team up
here's aufr loy's rendition -- i don't think that's him...in the lead picture here -- his picture...does appear, once the video begins
the star of the show, though,...is mr. arieh fartoush -- trusting...that that's the name of the singer, rather than the honoree...of the hafla
well,...this boy, by any other name,...smells as...confident...and commanding...and beautiful....
