Sunday, February 09, 2025

MANY WILL KNOW AND UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT

Woke up to another foot of newly fallen snow on top of all the snow we already had, so it didn't take me long to get onto the end of my snow shovel and clean out my front yard paths to the birdfeeders and Pheeb's path to her woodsy area.  We didn't go for a car ride this morning because I still had the backyard paths to do before they filled in with more snow.  So, it turned out to be an uneventful inside day and fortunately, we didn't get any more snow.  Thanks to neighbor Frank for blowing out our driveway again. Can hardly believe it is February 9th already.  Seems like just yesterday it was only November.

I miss Kelly and I think about her a lot and especially so when I put 'Kelly's Corner' together in each post.  I am reminded of all the good times and great memories we shared together over the years.  Had Kelly's death been sudden I would probably still be in a great state of shock but as her chances for a liver transplant became less and less we both knew that nothing short of a miracle was going to save her.  And when she gave up the fight after being told she was being taken off the liver transplant list due to her extremely weak condition it was clear her time was quickly running out.  It was something we had to deal with and we talked about things.  She wished the best for me and had our situation been reversed with the sick one being me, I would have wished the best for her as well and encouraged her to get on with her life and not be sad or carry grief with her.  Both Kelly and I were always realists who saw things for the way they were.  The end of life was something we faced head-on with no misconceptions or delusions........  In 1980 I had a profound life-altering spiritual experience that left me with a strong feeling inside that there is life after death. That feeling has grown much stronger in me these past few years and these past few months.  My experience was real but it's difficult to try and explain.  I feel deep inside that what I felt that night was much larger and grander than any religious things I have been told over the years.  What is out there is far beyond man's religion.  I had a brief awareness, a glimpse of something and it is where I feel Kelly is now.  She has gone home and I am happy for her.  She is the lucky one after her last few years of suffering here on earth finally came to a peaceful end.  I do not mourn Kelly's passing, I am happy inside for her new life.  I've only told a few people about my experience years ago and maybe someday I will try to write about it.  Although there are no words to describe it, I'm sure many will know and understand exactly what I am talking about and feel the same way.   

Al's Music Box:)) Girl is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1965 album Rubber Soul. It was written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon-McCartney. "Girl" was the last complete song recorded for that album.  "Girl" is considered to be one of the most melancholic and complex of the Beatles' earlier love songs.  McCartney claimed that he contributed the lines "Was she told when she was young that pain would lead to pleasure" and "That a man must break his back to earn his day of leisure."  However, in a 1970 interview with Rolling Stone, Lennon explained that he wrote these lines as a comment on Christianity, which he was "opposed to at the time". Lennon said: "I was just talking about Christianity, in that – a thing like you has to be tortured to attain heaven ... – be tortured and then it'll be alright, which seems to be a bit true but not in their concept of it. But I didn't believe in that, that you have to be tortured to attain anything, it just so happens that you were".  Author Ian MacDonald describes "Girl" as "Lennon's answer to McCartney's 'Michelle': another Euro-song, replacing his partner's suave mock-French with a decadent German two-step crossed with Mikis Theodorakis's music for Zorba the Greek.  Performed by Lennon and George Harrison, the acoustic guitars on the track were played with capos, lending an extra brightness to their sound. Musicologist Walter Everett comments that one of Harrison's guitar parts has the capo positioned so high up the neck and is played by him in a manner that creates a "nasal,sitar-like 'bouzouki' sound".  Lennon's lead vocals were initially overdubbed and featured a characteristic unheard before on a Beatles song. In McCartney's description: "My main memory is that John wanted to hear the breathing, wanted it to be very intimate, so George Martin put a special compressor on the voice, then John dubbed it. … I remember John saying to the engineer (Norman Smith) when we did 'Girl,' that when he draws his breath in, he wants to hear it." Following the Beatles' request, the engineer added more treble to the vocal, which, in Everett's description, matches the sound and timbre of the brushed cymbal played by Ringo Starr.  In the song's middle eight sections, McCartney and Harrison sing the word "tit" repeatedly as vocal harmony. McCartney stated that this part of the vocal arrangement was influenced by the Beach Boys. He recalled: "The Beach Boys had a song out where they'd done 'la la la' and we loved the innocence of that and wanted to copy it, but not use the same phrase.  In early 1966, "Girl" was issued as the B-side of "Michelle" in several European countries, reaching number one in Finland.  It was also released as the A-side of a single in Italy, backed by "Nowwhere Man", which reached number seven on the nation's Musica e Dischi singles chart.  John Lennon said“Girl” is real. There is no such thing as the girl, she was a dream, but the words are all right. It wasn't just a song, and it was about that girl – that turned out to be Yoko, in the end – the one that a lot of us were looking for.  The song's instrumentation has specific similarities to Greek music, as with "And I Love Her" and "Michelle".  As for the inspiration of the song's lyrics, Lennon stated that the "girl" was an archetype he had been searching for and would finally find in Yoko Ono.  In an interview for Rolling Stone magazine in 1980, Lennon said of his song "Woman": "Reminds me of a Beatles track, but I wasn't trying to make it sound like that. I did it as I did 'Girl' many years ago. So this is the grown-up version of 'Girl'."  In November 1977, Capitol Records scheduled the United States release of "Girl" backed with "You're Going to Lose That Girl" as a single (Capitol 4506) to accompany the release of Love Songs, a Beatles' compilation album that contains both of these songs. However, the single was canceled before it was issued. Promotional copies, which featured "Girl" on both sides—one in stereo, the other mono, along with a picture sleeve, were issued. (All copies of this promotional single were pressed on black vinyl.)

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Four old Catholic women sit and brag about their sons. The first Catholic woman tells her friends, "My son is a priest. When he walks into a room, everyone calls him 'Father'."  The second Catholic woman chirps, "My son is a bishop. Whenever he walks into a room, people call him 'Your Grace'."  The third Catholic mother says, "My son is a cardinal. Whenever he walks into a room, he's called 'Your Eminence'."  The fourth Catholic woman says, "My incredibly handsome son is 6' 2 with broad, square shoulders, good manners, and impeccable style. Whenever he walks into a room, women say, 'Oh my God!'"

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Ted walks into a bar and shouts out, "So... who's the strongest person in here?"  The toughest guy looks at him and says, "I am the strongest person around these parts!"
Ted politely asks, "Can you help me push my car to the gas station?"
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Knock Knock
Who's there?
Owl!
Owl who?
Owl Aboard!

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A young woman, pursuing a graduate degree in art history, was going to Italy to study the country's greatest works of art.
Since there was no one to look after her grandmother while she was away, she took the old lady with her.  At the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, she pointed to the painting on the ceiling. 'Grandma, it took Michelangelo a full four years to get that ceiling painted.'  'Oh my, 'the grandmother says.  'He and I must have the same landlord.'

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Kelly's Corner
 THIS MIGHT HAVE BEEN CHRISTMAS DAY NEAR CALIFORNIA'S OCOTILLOW WELLS WHEN KELLY PHONED HER MOM AND DAD BACK IN SPENCERPORT NEW YORK

 KELLY AND PHEEBS ON ONE OF OUR MORNING ROCK SCRAMBLES
 ON ONE OF OUR BELOVED DESERT WALKS
Al's Art Gallery














Saturday, February 08, 2025

SERENADING TWILIGHT'S SLUMBER INTO NIGHT

A COLD GRAY MORNING IN THE COUNTRYSIDE

A short car ride for Pheebs and I this morning as we slowly wandered around a few country concessions.  The grey day wasn't too inspiring so we were soon home again.  Feeling the need to change things up a bit for a change I headed off to Goderich this afternoon.  Thought I might pop into the Goodwill Store and look for a couple of warm shirts but by the time I got to Goderich I had lost all interest in a couple warm shirts.  Grabbed a coffee to go at McD's and headed down to the harbor.  Took one photo and thought about going to Zehrs Supermarket but by the time I got there I had lost interest in that too.  No problem, Walmart was right next door and I ended up lumbering around in there with a small shopping cart.  Only $742.81.  Okay, okay, so not that much but $55.37 did get me a couple chocolate bars and a fizzy pop.  Well, so it seemed anyway.  I don't eat chocolate bars or drink fizzy pops but I didn't want to leave the store empty-handed.  Maybe I'll leave the fizzy pop and bars on somebody's doorstep.  Home again and with a touch of snow along the way I decided with a slight headache I wasn't feeling the best.  I am seriously in need of some Spring Tonic.  Sunshine and warm air with flocks of early summer songbirds in the morning air along with a whole host of tiny Peeper Frogs serenading twilight's slumber into night.

 A LOCAL COUPLE AND THEIR DOG OUT FOR A MORNING WALK
Al's Music Box:)) A Blossom Fell is a popular song written by Howard Barnes, Harold Cornelius, and Dominic John and published in 1954.  The best-known version was recorded by Nat King Cole. The recording was released by Capitol Records.  The B-side was "If I May." The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on April 27, 1955, and lasted 20 weeks on the chart, peaking at #2.  Nat King Cole recorded the song again for his album The Nat King Cole Story (1961).

 ICY LAKE HURON
GROANER'S CORNER:(( A wealthy man died and went to heaven. He was met at the Pearly Gates by Saint Peter who led him down the streets of gold. They passed mansion after mansion until they came to the very end of the street. Saint Peter stopped the rich man in front of a little shack.“This belongs to you,” said Saint Peter.“Why do I get this ugly thing when there are so many mansions I could live in?” the man demanded.“We did the best we could with the money you sent us!” Saint Peter replied.

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A father was reading Bible stories to his young son. He read, â€Å“The man named Lot was warned to take his life and flee out of the city, but his wife looked back and was turned to salt.  His son asked, but what happened to the flea.

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- I've used up all my sick days, so I'm calling in dead.

- When a strip club isn't open there should be a sign that reads:  "Sorry, We're Clothed!"

- Hear about the dude who wanted to be an explorer? He bought a piece of sandpaper thinking it was a map of the Sahara Desert.

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Two policemen call the station on their radio.  "Hello. ..... Is this the Sarge?"  "Yes?"
"We have a case here, Sarge. A woman has shot her husband dead for stepping on the floor she had mopped."  "Have you arrested the woman?"  "No sir. The floor is still wet."
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Q: How much does it cost a pirate to pierce his ears?
A: A buck an ear.

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One night, a lady stumbled into the police station with a black eye. She claimed she heard a noise in her backyard and went to investigate. The next thing she knew, she was hit in the eye and knocked out cold.  An officer was sent to her house to investigate, and he returned 1-1/2 hours later with a black eye.  "Did you get hit by the same person?" his captain asked.  "No," he replied. "I stepped on the same rake.

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Al's Doggy World

Meanings::

Kelly's Corner
 AT MITRI LAKE NORTH OF YUMA ARIZONA

 RELAXING AT THE HOLE IN THE WALL CAMPGROUND IN CALIFORNIA'S MOJAVE DESERT
 A LAZY DAY IN THE TOMBSTONE HILLS WEST OF TOMBSTONE ARIZONA
Al's Art Gallery