Auld Lang Syne

Another "copy cat" blog post, but I was very happy to find this to share.

Listen up!

This was put up on YouTube on Nov 13, 2013.

Here's all the information describing it which is quite a lot and including many facts I did not know.

No copyright is claimed in [the music].
Arista/Legacy's 2012 compilation The Classic Christmas Album is not the first collection of Kenny G's holiday recordings -- he's had two prior, both compiling highlights from three albums -- but this set whittles down his seasonal tunes to a compact 16 tracks. As expected, most of the big Christmas carols and seasonal standards are here: "Winter Wonderland," "White Christmas," and "Silver Bells" sit alongside "Silent Night," "Do You Hear What I Hear," and "The First Noel." Perhaps there are no surprises, but any listener looking for a consistent collection of Kenny G's Christmas songs will find this quite enjoyable. (Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine for Allmusic)
http://www.allmusic.com/album/release...
"Auld Lang Syne" is a Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song. It is well known in many countries, especially in the English-speaking world, its traditional use being to celebrate the start of the New Year at the stroke of midnight. By extension, it is also sung at funerals, graduations and as a farewell or ending to other occasions. The international Boy Scout youth movement, in many countries, uses it as a close to jamborees and other functions.
The song's Scots title may be translated into English literally as "old long since", or more idiomatically, "long long ago", "days gone by" or "old times". Consequently "For auld lang syne", as it appears in the first line of the chorus, might be loosely translated as "for (the sake of) old times".
The phrase "Auld Lang Syne" is also used in similar poems by Robert Ayton (1570--1638), Allan Ramsay (1686--1757), and James Watson (1711) as well as older folk songs predating Burns. Matthew Fitt uses the phrase "In the days of auld lang syne" as the equivalent of "Once upon a time..." in his retelling of fairy tales in the Scots language.
The song begins by posing a rhetorical question as to whether it is right that old times be forgotten, and is generally interpreted as a call to remember long-standing friendships. Thomson's Select Songs of Scotland was published in 1799 in which the second verse about greeting and toasting was moved to its present position at the end.
The confusion over the song is arguably almost as much of a tradition as the song itself. As revelers stumble and mumble through the verses--singing the "auld lang syne" part much louder than the rest of the song because it's really the only part people know--someone always asks what the words mean.
The title of the Scottish tune translates to "times gone by" and is about remembering friends from the past and not letting them be forgotten.
Despite its strong association with New Year's Eve, "Auld Lang Syne," written by Robert Burns in the 1700s, was never intended to be a holiday song. Guy Lombardo is credited with popularizing the song when his band used it as a segue between two radio programs during a live performance at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York in 1929. By coincidence, they played "Auld Lang Syne" just after the clock hit midnight, and a New Year's tradition was born.
The song, and the confusion that comes with it, has been immortalized in countless movies and TV shows.

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne ?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And surely you'll buy your pint cup !
and surely I'll buy mine !
And we'll take a cup o' kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have run about the slopes,
and picked the daisies fine ;
But we've wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine† ;
But seas between us broad have roared
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there's a hand my trusty friend !
And give me a hand o' thine !
And we'll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

sound recording administered by SME
(thanks for allowing this to remain)
"The AUDIO content does not belong to me. I do not profit from these Videos and/or Slideshows. I do not own copyrights of the images, which are from free websites. This is strictly for Educational use and Commentary purposes."
Copyright Disclaimer--"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."

Auld Lang Syne



Fall Trip of 2014

On Tuesday, September 23, 2014, we left Foley, AL, in a rental car, a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Our first destination on this trip was to make it to the Savannah and Fort Pulaski area in Georgia. This took two days of driving. When we did get to that area, we wound up going to the fort first. This is when we realized we were not really fit enough to do the walking and stair-climbing involved. It is an understatement to say we wore out ourselves once we had finished touring the fort.

Before we headed back toward Savannah, we went to Tybee Island, which seemed to be in the mode of gradually shutting down most of the summer activities there. While there, we discovered where Atlantis is and stopped for a photo.

These two sites were in Georgia Low Country. Most of the roads we were driving on were going through lands that reminded us of some of the other low lands we are familiar with that have important ecological reasons for existing and protection, but, in many cases look like they are waste lands, not suitable for habitation by people but places where much wildlife and the lower part of the food chain get their start. It was very obvious that fishing boats were part of the income in some of the areas.

Until this trip, I'd never thought about why the state is named Georgia. We did learn history as we toured and learned Georgia is named after King George II, an English King who granted the state its original charter.

Later, as we toured both Savannah and Charleston, we found that many very old buildings have been preserved. These two cities are probably older than many of the cities where we have traveled and lived.

The Savannah trolley tour had drivers/guides who narrated the points of interest along the route with interesting historical information. The only stop we made was at The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. By that I mean, many stops existed on the tour and the passengers could make their own decisions about where they wanted to get off for awhile and then get back on the trolley to continue the tour. Almost during the entire trip the skies were overcast, which does not make for good photos. That's why the photos we are sharing include a couple up on Google Images that were professional and VERY GOOD.

We have Spanish Moss growing where we live now, but not as much as we saw there with streets lined by Live Oaks with lots of Spanish Moss hanging from them.

More photos from Savannah...

We've been very close to the Cradle of Forestry on previous trips but have not stopped. Glad we finally did on this trip. The Cradle of Forestry is located in Pisgah National Forest.
Several years ago we might have taken all the trails they have to offer, but, alas, our lack of fitness prevented our seeing it all in person. Our volunteer guide told us we should be happy we did not come until the day before because the place had a huge turnout of visitors because there was no entrance fee to get in and many children were there on field trips.

We are glad we toured it because we did get to take a ride with firefighters aboard a helicopter on their way to a roaring fire in the wilds of Idaho in the Forest Discovery Center Exhibit Hall. (Shown below)

We took part of the shortest trail, which is described fully on the cradle of forestry website at
Virtual Biltmore Forest Trail . This is one of the sights along this trail:

Our walk on the trail was all by ourselves and very peaceful.

It was about this time that we tired of being on the road and made a fast exit by way of the various routes that led us back to Sweet Home Alabama.

P.S.: November 21, 2014 -- Just came to my attention that a pretty important part of the trip was left out. Just as we were leaving the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, we saw a bear along side of the road just as unconcerned as he or she could be. We didn't turn around and go back to take a photo like some people did because we have seen live black bears before in park and know how bad "Bear Jams" can be in traffic. Besides, we were really in the mood to "get on down the road."

The Niña & Pinta replicas at Lulu's Marina

The Niña & Pinta replicas have been open for tours at LuLu's Marina. Today is the the last day because the ships leave early Monday.

For those who have lived in the Gulf Coast area (Gulf Shores, Alabama), the same opportunity presented itself a few years ago.

Since I like history, and this is just a bit like stepping back to the time when some have reported Columbus discovered America while he was trying to find a western route to India, it is neat.

We both struggled to take some photos that were worth viewing. Pretty sure WDS took the one above. You can see our other efforts at: The Niña & Pinta replicas open for tours at LuLu's Marina

Here's a website that explains what this is and the 6-minute video from Iowa is very good.
Discover Columbus' Ships

BLUE MOON

BLUE MOON, a photo by Photojet84 on Flickr.

We have not traveled to the moon, but we know who has and honor his memory.

Been on the Road

... and in the air at times.

Have you missed us?

Hope not.

It's been so much trouble to fool with the photos, we're just going to show them to you and let that do it because we really don't feel like doing a blog post. Seems like maybe it's too much trouble to go into detail.

Does that make sense? Well, it does to us right now because we have things to do and places to go in Lower Alabama.

Here's the photos from a week of travel in Mississippi, Tennessee, and the upper part of Alabama.

Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday

Manci's Antique Club in Daphne

The above images are from the website for Manci's Antique Club. The bar-restaurant is located at 1715 Main Street, Daphne, Alabama (Phone: 251/626-2124).

After you look at the website, you will know Italian immagrant Frank Manci purchased an old wooden produce warehouse in what is now downtown Daphne in 1924 and built a gasoline station on the property. This caught my attention because of my own life's history, but I'll get back to that later.

Twenty-three years later Arthur Manci, Frank's son, took over the business. After obtaining a liquor license in 1967, Arthur started to hang bottles and various items on the walls of what is now a full fledged bar, which has resulted in the establishment holding the largest collection of Jim Beam decanters on display. But Jim Beam decanters are not all that decorates the interior of Manci's. All manner of old items are outside and inside such as two antique gravity gas pumps and a wooden schulpture in the inner chamber of the Ladies Room.

Alex Manci, Arthur's son, took over the club in 1987. He holds the title for the "Bloody Mary Capital of the Eastern Shore." So, naturally, I had to try the Bloody Mary. Since I'm not any kind of authority on Bloody Marys, I'll not critique it, but I will tell you it was so hot with spice that I didn't finish it.

In 1995, Alex and his wife Gwen started serving food in the club.

Southern Living and Coastal Living have carried articles about this historical place.

The entire west side of the 1700 block of Main Street (Old Scenic Highway 98) is filled with restaurants. The other two, Guido's and Cousin Vinney's, are owned by the same owner but have separate kitchens. Another restaurant we noticed that seemed to be doing a booming business was East Shore Cafe located about two blocks away on the east side of Main Street (1506). All you need to look for is the old yellow house surrounded by a white picket fence. After reading reviews, I understand they serve Philly Cheese Steak. Hope we can check out that one of these days.

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Here's the part about how the history of Manci's Antique Club
sort of coincides with mine.

All along, I had known that both my sister and I were born at home. Are you ahead of me? What I did not know was:

I was born in the back of a gasoline station where Daddy worked and my parents lived at the time.

Think about it. The country had not fully recovered from The Great Depression in 1936, so Daddy had the good fortune of having a job and all of us were lucky to have a place to live.

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We took a few photographs while we were there enjoying the food, drinks and atmosphere, which you can see on Flickr at Visit to Manci's Antique Club in Daphne.

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Since I'm a very curios person, I still want to go back there when few, if any, customers are there and check out that fig leaf. I received an early warning with a VERY LOUD buzzer before I went into the Ladies Room and put 2+2 together. Still wanta know what's under it :)

The Hanging Monastery

The above photo came from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HangingMonasterySculptures.jpg

WHEN? Probably never except by armchair, but that's okay

WHERE? Xuangong Si above Jinlong Canyon near Mount Heng in the province of Shanxi near Datong, China

Another email from BH had a Powerpoint Slide Show regarding a tourist attraction and historical site. This Buddhist Monastery was built more than 1500 years ago and includes Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian elements with sculptures of Sakyamuni, Laotzu and Confucius appearing together inside. A unique mechanical theory was applied to building the framework of hemlock wood with mortise and tenon joints. Twenty-seven cross beams are the key building elements.



The video stops abruptly. That’s because this video is 1 of 3.

• You can see the next video at:
  Hanging Temple in 500AD 2/3
• And the final video at:
  Hanging Temple in 500AD 3/3

It's a lot to take in, but shouldn't using the computer at the ripe old ages of 73 and 74 be educational. Wendell collects trivia in his brain cells somewhere (in the box marked TRIVIA) so he might as well selectively put this there for future reference.

Visit to Mystery Vessel Ruins

WHEN? Friday · September 19

WHERE? Gulf Shores, Alabama · find us on the map

WHY? History swept ashore

After several days of rumors that Hurricane Ike's storm surge had washed an old wrecked ship ashore near Fort Morgan, curiosity got the best of us and we drove over to Gulf Shores to check it out.

Once we were in the area where we thought the ship ruins were, we stopped at a small grocery store located at 5160 West Fort Morgan Road (State Highway 180) to ask directions. Tequila Bay Bar & Grill is what you see first from the road, and just west of there is a road named OUR ROAD, on which you can turn south (only way it runs) and get close enough to view the ruins.

Several beachgoers are poking through the wreckage
Click on the photo for a closeup size comparison

There's a good bit of speculation about what ship it is. Although some suggest it's a Civil War schooner that ran aground in 1862, others have said it might be the schooner Rachel, built at Moss Point, Mississippi in 1919, and wrecked near Fort Morgan in 1933. I vote for the second possibility.

Newswires have been buzzing with stories about the area's newfound relic:

• Associated Press:
  Waves from Ike reveal shipwreck on Ala. beach that could be Civil War schooner
• CNN coverage:
  Mystery ship washes ashore in Alabama after Hurricane Ike
• Yahoo News includes video footage:
  Ike helps uncover mystery vessel on Ala. Coast

See our photos on flickr:
Ship Washed Ashore Near Fort Morgan

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Update from Hurricane Isaac
Associated Press/Press-Register, Brian Kelly - In Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012 photo, the ghostly remains of an old wooden ship rest along a private beach at Fort Morgan, Ala. The ship is the Rachel, a schooner built in Pascagoula, Miss., during World War I, according to Mike Bailey, historian with the Fort Morgan Historical Society. The ship was lost in a storm in 1923. The remains of the the Rachel have been uncovered by hurricanes in the past, but more of the wreck was revealed in the wake of Hurricane Isaac. (AP Photo/Press-Register, Brian Kelly)

Read the Yahoo story regarding this.
Shifting sands from Isaac reveal 1923 wreck