My Dream Music Festival #MusicMovesMe

It's Monday and it's time for music!

Who  are the Music Moves Me bloggers? We are bloggers who blog about music each Sunday or Monday and if you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only-meaning at least one music video, please!)   Our head host is Xmas Dolly, who has now rejoined us and are we happy to have her back.  Let us also welcome Cathy from Curious as a Cathy, joined by the knowledgeable Stacy of Stacy Uncorked and (last but not least) me. 

Why not join our music loving folks?  It's so easy. All you have to do is join the linky above with a music post that contains at least one music video.  Without a music video, the post may be removed, or may be labeled *NO MUSIC*.  

Every other week is Free Choice, and on non-free choice weeks like this one, we invite anyone (that means anyone) to suggest a theme and be a guest host   That person could be you!

Today, our guest host is little old me!  Here's my theme:

Imagine you are putting together a four day music festival.  For each day you need a headliner, so who would it be (4 needed)?  You can include a couple of other artists, if you want, who would also perform.  Any genre; more than one genre if you want.  Living or dead.  Solo, duo, band.  Your festival, your choices!

Day 1

My headliner for day one is a duo who broke up years ago, but in my festival, they are back together again and better than ever.  Here are two men, both from Queens, a borough of New York City.  They met while in elementary school, back in 1953.  Between 1956 and 1958, as teenagers, they performed under the name Tom and Jerry.  Their first hit was in 1957, "Hey, Schoolgirl".  They became famous in the 1960's as Simon and Garfunkel.

The Only Living Boy in New York, from 1970.

Also from 1970, one of their biggest hits, Bridge Over Troubled Water.

Day 2

Ladies and Gentlemen, my headline group for today needs no introduction. They are an English rock group that is one of the greatest of all time.  I bring you THE ROLLING STONES.  So many hits, so little time to play them all.  I only have time for two:

From 1968 - Street Fighting Man.  I  love the ending of this song. 

From 1969 - Gimme Shelter.  Here's an article on this song.

Background singer Merry Clayton's performance made this song special, but remained anonymous for so many years.  Here's an article on her.

Day 3

Now, it's time for some 70's and 80's music.  This Canadian group fits the bill, and they have so many hits, it was hard to choose two.

I bring you - Rush!

Subdivisions is perhaps my favorite Rush song. I love the video, too.

The song Red Sector A was based on the concentration camp experiences of the late Mary Winerib (who passed away in 2021 at age 96), the mother of Geddy Lee, Rush's lead singer and bassist/keyboard.  It was written by Neil Peart, Rush's drummer, who passed away in 2020 from brain cancer. More than after, this is an important song that deserves more airplay than it seems to get.

Day 4

British rockers the Moody Blues were supposed to play at Woodstock but cancelled out.  But they were one of my favorite groups of the 1970's, and they haven't cancelled out of the last day of my music festival.

 First up is Nights in White Satin - this live version doesn't have the poem at the end but I wanted to feature it and not the studio version.

Go Now was originally released in 1965.  It's not in the style of their later music but I love it anyway.

It's time for three encores from other groups that participated in my music festival.  Please welcome these other three groups:

Foo Fighters:  Times Like These

Red Hot Chili Peppers and Under the Bridge.  

The Who and  Won't Get Fooled Again is just as relevant now as it was in 1972, and is a wonderful ending to my dream music festival.  This was one of my most loved songs from my college years.

Full disclosure, I've never seen any of these groups or duos in concert.  Alas.  (Perhaps I should do a post on groups and singers I have seen perform.  Maybe one day.)

Give all these groups one big, last hand as they take a final bow.  May those members of these groups who have moved on to Rock and Roll heaven always be remembered for their music and talent.

This is a longer post than usual and I hope you enjoyed the sets you listened to.  Join me again next week for another episode of Music Moves Me.

Strawberry Onions 2023

 Our strawberry onion shipment has arrived!

They are not cheap, but they are a luxury we look forward to.

We were introduced to strawberry onions in March of 2013, when spouse and I visited a Florida farmers market in Tampa and discovered them.

We were leaving Florida to drive home to New York State and bought two of the onions.  After we got home and tried them,  I said something like "If I knew how good they tasted, I would have bought up the vendor's entire stock." It was the end of the season, too.  We lucked into them.

So, in case you were wondering, strawberry onions are not a cross between strawberries and onions. Nor do they taste like strawberries.  Rather, they are a mild variety of onion.  They grow in strawberry fields in the Plant City, Florida area, which is a major strawberry producing area. (Plant City is in the same county as Tampa).

At one time, strawberry farmers believed that planting these onions on the perimeter of the field would ward off insects.  That isn't true, alas, but the practice continues.

They don't get their taste from their strawberry neighbors, but they thrive on the water and fertilizer given to the strawberry plants.  They used to be grown at the perimeter of the strawberry fields but production is growing, thanks to a growing demand.

Here's an article about them with a recipe.

In 2020, we discovered we could mail order them, and did.  We have mail ordered them every year since.  We even got two shipments this year.  The harvest begins in early February and stretches into mid to late March, depending, and this year, it appears the season may end early.

We ordered early, but somehow, our first shipment was delayed by the grower and, long story, we had to move the shipment date again because of our schedule, so we will only be getting this one shipment.

It's hard to see the ruler but trust me, these are big.

Big, and beautiful.  And delicious.

The Retreat of Spring

 Last week, spring showed up where I live in the Southern Tier of New York.

On an exercise walk Thursday, I saw snowdrops.  It was such a welcome sight.

 

I also saw crocuses (mine aren't blooming yet).  Sorry about the blurry photo.

Alas, it wasn't going to last.  This was our forecast for yesterday evening.  When it started, it was sleet, hitting noisily against our house.  I think all we got was sleet.

 

This morning this is what greeted us.  At least it got above freezing, the ice disappeared from the street (and, with a little help, the sidewalk) and in the afternoon, we took a one mile walk in those ice cold winds.

Well, it could have been worse.

Spring, please make up your mind soon!

March 1 Skies #SkywatchFriday

March is here.  It hasn't quite come in like a lion, but I know it isn't going to go out like a lamb.  In fact, it's supposed to snow today.

Our up and down winter continues.  I've been working on a temperature afghan, so I'll have a record.  But up and down weather also means up and down skies.

All the pictures are from March 1.

A tree budding out.  It shouldn't be doing that yet.

By the river.

Then, it starts to clear up.

The sun comes out and I got a puddle reflection.

Reflections in a nearby creek end our walk.

Now, it's time to hunker down for the snow.

Joining Yogi and other skywatchers for #SkywatchFriday.

Blogging From A to Z - 2023 Thoughts

We are less than a month away from April now, and it's time to think about the Blogging from A to Z Challenge (A to Z for short).  You may have noticed the new A to Z badge on my sidebar.

First, what is A to Z all about?

This challenge happens every April and lasts the entire month.  Bloggers who sign up (and some who don't) start April 1 with a post whose title and subject begins with "A".  Sundays the bloggers rest, although there will be one exception this year. 

This year, "A" day will be Saturday, April 1. Sunday  will be an off day (although participants are free to post a non A to Z post on Sundays). Monday is for "B" Tuesday is for "C", and so on, all the way to Z on the last blogging day of April.  That's a Sunday but participants will have to blog.  So, 26 blogging days (including April 30), 26 letters of the English alphabet.

Some of the letters are easy.  Some are difficult.  That's part of the fun.

The final part of fun is meeting up with bloggers from previous years, and reading and commenting on blogs of blogs new to you. 

Many A to Z's have a theme for the month of April, which they will reveal starting Sunday, March 12.

They?  and not "we"? Well....

I've participated the last several years (and managed to finish the Challenge) but this year I wasn't feeling the love.  I've cut down on blogging challenges the past several years, and right now, A to Z is the only one I participate in.

I usually do photography based posts discussing past travel.  My favorite theme was probably the year I did "Florida Outside the Theme Parks" .

This year, I wasn't going to participate in A to Z, but last week, my mind started to churn. As I've explained before, my mind goes into a kind of blank state during the winter.  With increasing daylight and bird song, I awaken.  My mind yawns and stretches.  My limbs move.

I'm awake.  My mental winter nap is over.  (Am I the only person this happens to?)

For "A", I could do Art, I pondered.  For "B"...

But it's a lot of work, and I feel myself, in my 70th decade, slowing down, wanting to savor life.  I finally have time to read some of the books I've wanted to read.  There are birds to watch and learn more about. There is post pandemic travel, too. Walking.  And just lazing around.

I'm still not 100% sure I want to participate.  If the badge disappears from my sidebar, you'll know what my decision is.

Do you ever do this challenge?  Will you this year?

The Morning After #WordlessWednesday

Some pictures of snow from a storm that started the evening of February 27 and lasted till the morning of the last day of February.

 Let's great March with some backyard pictures.

It isn't much, compared to a normal winter. We are way below normal on our snowfall.

I have a feeling March may try to make up for it.  We are supposed to get more snow as the weekend approaches.

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.

A Book and Its Cover

How do we choose books to read?  One way, consciously or not, is the cover.

Thinking of book covers makes me think of a post I wrote back in 2012 and reran in 2015.  It follows, with some edits.

Book covers bring back memories of the first author who I consciously fell in love with (his writing, not the author himself.)

When I was 10 years old and growing up in New York City, I broke my leg roller skating.  I was treated at a hospital in the Bronx (a borough of New York City).  I had to go back to the hospital periodically to see the doctors during my recovery.   On one visit, at the hospital gift store, one of my parents bought me a book to read.  I don't know how or why, but they picked "A Princess of Mars" by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

It changed my life.

I don't know how many young people have heard of Edgar Rice Burroughs.  Even in my day (this was in the early 60's) enough children may have known Edgar Rice Burroughs mainly through Tarzan movies.  Reruns of old Tarzan movies featuring Johnny Weissmuller were a staple of weekend movie afternoons on non-network local New York City channels.

But this book my parent bought me was something different.  The cover attracted me immediately - an exotically dressed woman in peril, with a muscular man, holding a sword, defending her.  Although the book started slowly, I quickly got into the story once the hero, John Carter, reached Mars.  I ended up devouring the other 10 books of the series over the next few years.  Then, I went on to other series written by Burroughs - the Venus books, many of the Tarzan books, one of the Pellucidar books, and a couple of his non-series books.

I loved those book covers on the Ballantine and Ace versions of the Martian books from the 1960's.  In doing research, I found that other Edgar Rice Burroughs books were graced with unforgettable covers.  They really wanted to make you buy and read the contents.    Even after I grew up, the tradition of spectacular book covers continued.

Here, Burroughs himself writes about his experiences with illustrations of his books.

I don't know how popular Edgar Rice Burroughs remains, and I haven't read one of his books in many years. 

If you are interested in reading the Martian (Barsoom) books of Edgar Rice Burroughs, or some of his other books in the public domain, they are available for free online.