MLT Bobbleheads – Giveaway
We became a little big-headed!
MLT Club member Tomás sent us these to, and we absolutely LOVE them. Graciously, he sent two pairs so we could give one of them away in the MLT Club. What a unique Giveaway idea!
If you want to enter the draw to possibly become the parent to a set of big-headed MonaLisa Twins figurines, leave a comment underneath this post telling us …
What’s something new you recently learned?
We’ll go first! Did you know that Australia is wider than the moon? We thought that was a pretty cool titbit of info! The moon sits at 3400km in diameter, while Australia’s diameter from east to west is almost 4000km!
If we all share some recently acquired pieces of knowledge in the comments, we can all get big-headed together. We’ll know everything!
How to enter the Giveaway:
- Leave a comment below this post telling us about something you recently learnt
Giveaway Prizes:
- 1 set of MLT bobblehead figurines (including miniature Vox amps)
We will draw the winner in 3 weeks so you have plenty of time to enter the Giveaway! All comments will be treated the same, meaning you will enter the pot of potential winners regardless of what you comment (as long as it meets the subject). You can leave multiple comments but every person will only be added to the hat once!
Good luck and groovy greetings,
Mona & Lisa
Yesterday I learned the name of a Taylor Swift song! I knew nothing about her other than she’s a rich and famous musician. My wife and I ate at a Thai restaurant last night and they were playing one song over and over the whole time we were there. We got out our cell phones and looked it up via a lyrics search, and wouldn’t you know it’s a Taylor Swift song called Blank Space. I still don’t know why they had it playing on a loop.
My favorite fact is there is no such thing as cold. There is heat down to -459 Fahrenheit which is absolute zero. Doesn’t that make you feel warmer over in the UK. 🥶🤯
I learned today being a bassist wasn’t Paul’s choice in the band, but was kind of forced upon him when Stu Sutcliff suddenly left the band in Hamburg. Paul bought a 61 Hofner bass for 30 pounds in a music shop in Hamburg, that would become one of the most famous instruments in music. It was Paul’s most sentimental instrument that got stolen in 1972, and was just this past week reunited with Paul. I watched this amazing story of Paul’s long lost beloved guitar.
The UNTOLD Story Of Paul McCartney’s Lost Bass!
it’s been 60 years since the Beatles were on ed Sullivan. i remember watching it. i must be old.
I’ve now learnt something thanks to Chris and Jackie as to what the two white loops are for inside the MonaLisa Twins Hoodie they are for hooking on the hanger so the hoodie doesn’t fall off in your wardrobe if the hanger has the cut outs for the loops simple when you know how
You’re Welcome, Neil 🤘🏻
I was just reminded this morning while listening to SiriusXM the Beatles channel “ the Beatles sold more records than anyone ever!”
That’s probably old news to everyone that’s reading this… including me!
I am learning more Chinese so I can play more Chinese songs on Guitar. When one is 68 years old, one needs physical and mental exercise, so this is my mental exercise!
Hey Edward, I agree with you, I am 69 and learning to play the guitar for the very same reasons. good luck!
I learned a lot from my recent zoo trip. A group of giraffes is called a tower; a memory of elephants; a bloat of hippos; a crash of rhinos; a clutch of ostriches; a dazzle of zebras. Rhinos can run 35 mph. And giraffes and humans have the exact same number of vertebrae – 7 in each, but the giraffe’s are MUCH bigger…
I learn new stuff all the time as I research things for my novels. My protagonist, 5’2″ police detective Jess Plaxton, MLT fan, lethal weapon and Pooh-Sticks enthusiast, prompts me to discover loads of fighting techniques. She’s an expert marksperson too, so I learn new stuff about guns on a daily basis.
Newest fact to enter my head, though, is that the late Roger Whittaker’s parents ran a greengrocer’s shop just around the corner from where my family lived when I was seven.
Keith,
What a “Novel” way to get word out about the MLT Family! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun!)
Maybe you could make it available somehow to us MLT Fans!? Best of luck with your novel, and —
CHEERS! — Bud
I’m just trying to get my head around the Amazon KDP process. When it’s available, I’ll see if I can find some way to make it available free for MLT Club members…
Keith,
That sounds great, but are you sure you want to make it free for us??
— Bud
The more people who read it, the more reviews it gets. Assuming those reviews are positive, they can generate more sales. And MLT members are, by definition, people of excellent taste and discernment, so of course they will be positive reviews. I hope… First I have to get through the technicalities of the publishing process…
Keith,
Well, that is very nice of you! If you signed them like M&L do, that would be even better! I do wish you the best of luck on your new novel!
My daughter works at a bookstore!
— Bud
Ooohhhh…. incorporating MLT in a novel… Love it… It was bound to happen, if not by me, by someone else …You ….lol.. I’d love a copy of that novel once it’s finished …..
Speaking of writing , around 2014-2016 , I had gifted MLT with a couple of customized Poetry Booklets I had written / got printed for them… ( There’s a photo of them with Saud poetry Booklets in the Photo Archives from 2014-2016 in the ” This and on the website here at the Club, I just can’t offhand recall exactly date but it’s there …. 😁
‘Connect’ request sent.
I just learned we have a Pileated Woodpecker that has made it’s home in the wooded area behind our house. They used to be considered rare, but they are making a comeback in the US. They are quite large, 16 to 19 inches fully grown, and are in fact the largest Woodpecker species in the world. It’s nice to know that this reclusive bird finds our woods secluded enough to call home.
I used to have a home on some acreage, and it had wooden siding… wood peckers started pecking my house… making several holes in my house. So I got my pellet gun out and started shooting a few… hoping the word would get out in the woodpecker hood! One day my neighbor walked over and told me I probably shouldn’t be doing that! They are a protected bird…. I guess I didn’t have a protected house. 🤔🤓
I can see where that would have been a problem Tim. We have a brick home on 6 acres now, but I used to have a cedar sided house on several acres. They didn’t do a lot of damage to the siding, but it sure was noisy when the woodpeckers would get busy pecking at it.
I just discovered that handedness – left or right – isn’t dictated by your brain, but by genetic activity in your spinal column. A developing foetus as young as thirteen weeks will already display a preference for sucking either its right or left thumb.
Weird, eh?
Something that I just discovered…
I’ve been the proud owner for the last two years of a MonaLisaTwins calendar. Being from the United States, all of our calendars start on Sunday and end on Saturday. I’m guessing in the UK that is not true? And now that I’ve had one for a couple years… and pondered…..which one I like better🤓?! I think the calendar that starts on Monday is more accurate for society…. It seems like the week just starts on Monday….. and I believe God said, on the seventh day (Sunday)he rested. Hmmm… I might have to write my congressman and get some changes made! 🤓
I watched the latest On The Table with The Zombies and learned I should listen to your recommendations more often! Seriously, I was impressed with the album, Odessey and Oracle and your enthusiasm over it. In fact, I went out and bought a vinyl copy today, my first brand new record of a non special edition (i.e. Beatles) in many many many years. I look forward to dropping the needle on it tomorrow.
Like everyone else, I think the bobbleheads are really cool, both in concept and in execution. Amazon has vendors who sell custom-made bobbleheads, so maybe this really could become an MLT store item, perhaps made-to-order.
What have I learned recently? Well, my Mom in Mississippi was considering solar panels for her house. I have have them on my house in Maryland since 2016 so I was going to tell her to go for it until my sister piped in. Turns out the states are not equally embracing domestic solar energy. Even in 2024, there’s no state mandate in Mississippi for utilities to buy electricity from homes with solar. Without it, homeowners can’t sell their excess solar output when the sun is shining and buy it back when the skies are dark, a practice known as “net metering”. So a battery system is the only way to get full use of solar, which adds extra expense and makes the financial argument for solar more difficult even as the price of equipment continues to fall. It wasn’t the happiest of lessons, but I guess it’s good to know where things stand.
David…. I don’t know that much about solar…. And I do not have a home that has solar panels that is tied into the grid. I do have a motorhome that runs totally on solar and a small cabin that I am building and the solar system that I have ordered should be able to run everything. It is also not tied into the grid. Both my examples are very small compared to a normal house. My thinking is if you have a large enough system with batteries that would be how you would get the maximum benefit. And then unplug from the grid, or at least have the option? It sounds like you’ve got eight years of experience that I don’t have??
Hi Tim, I think you’re right that you’ll get the most benefit from a system with batteries. If you’re tied to the grid, I think you’ll be limited to how many panels you can set up (at least in the U.S. the utilities don’t want you competing with them by constantly producing more than you need). And then days when the sun’s not out cuts your potential output even more. With a battery system you call your own shots, at least if you’re completely off the grid. If you’re still connected to the grid maybe they’ll limit the size of your array? The only clear downside is the added up-front cost of the batteries and the space requirements. And of course if you’re completely off-grid you lose that safety net if something goes wrong with the system. Do you have a backup for the cabin if the solar quits working? Mine’s been pretty reliable all in all, but I have had to have a couple of things replaced.
Yes, I do have a generator and right now I have a small, portable solar system that I’ve been using. But it’s not large enough it just keep my fridge working for now. That is true. If I have a week of no sun, I will be in trouble. And I don’t have this installed yet, so I honestly don’t know how a big system works. Thanks for your input.👍🤓
When solar and “Net Metering” were a new thing in Oz, I saw this debacle coming. When I moved out of Melbourne and into the bush, I went off grid from day one. I went overkill on the inverter and storage (batteries) but kept the cost down with only a few panels. My needs are modest so I didn’t need a lot. I was using a gas fridge at the time. When I bought a super efficient inverter fridge, all was good in the summer but in winter, I had to top up the batteries with a generator. Expensive long term. Solution: Add another kilowatt of panels to the system I already had. No changing of anything other than the number of panels.
Though it was all a bit pricey at the time, my system has paid for itself several times over in these thirteen years I have been here and is still working just as it was. The utility companies can do what they like with prices. I don’t care. I’m more than happy.
I learned this past week that on April 8th there will be a solar eclipse across North America, with the 90 mile width of the totality spanning from Mazatlan in Mexico to Newfoundland in Canada.
Almost everyone in North America will be able to see at least a partial eclipse, including the whole lower 48 states of America. We’re already talking about a road trip to go to where the totality is in Ohio. If it’s going to be sunny. That’s a big if.
Average April gets 6 sunny and 8 partly sunny days.
It’s worth seeing once in your life, Chris, if you have the opportunity. And the next one in the U.S. won’t be till 2045. If you go, avoid the crowded highways and aim for a small town along a minor road. And be sure to give yourself plenty of lead time, because they won’t delay the show for you!
I drove four hours to see the one in 2017, viewing it from the parking lot of a grocery store so that I could go inside whenever I needed some food or a bathroom break. Strangely, the eclipsed Sun didn’t strike me nearly as much as the ring of orange twilight completely encircling the horizon and topped by a starry night sky.
Thanks David,
May 10, 1994, I was in New Orleans at a business conference, and I remember sitting at the pool while an eclipse was happening. Totally clear day, but I don’t remember that it was a total eclipse where I was, but close to it.
Yep, about a month before the Twins were born.
Eclipses are kind of eery. And you can’t look directly at them, so what are you going to do? I know there are ways to deal with that, and I’ll look into them, but I’m thinking it might be more exciting for my 2 grand nephews who’ll be going along than it will be for me.
I live in the Midwest, I don’t think I have to worry about traffic on the highway. It’s only about an hour’s drive.
We have a small town picked out, Ottoville, Ohio. You’ll never guess who it’s named after. A town of less than 1000 people. My dad was born on a farm there in 1919, while the Spanish flu pandemic was raging. It was fortunate that that town was so remote. I read recently that the fatality rate for pregnant women who caught the Spanish flu was around 100%.
Some of us have never been there, like me, but a few have. There used to be an annual family reunion there, but somehow I never made it. There are a lot of people in the area still that we’re related to. I found a piece on the web about German farmers migrating there around 1850. Which sounds about right for my great grandparents to have shown up around then.
So even if it’s raining, we’ll have something else to do.
I remember the 1994 eclipse, Chris. It was an annular eclipse, which is like a total eclipse except the Moon is too far away from Earth to block the Sun completely, so you get a ring (or annulus) of sunlight around the Moon. But just like with a total eclipse you have to be within a narrow strip to see that. Where you and I were we just saw a partial eclipse, but I do recall that it got noticeably darker.
It’s actually okay to look directly at an eclipse while it’s total. The danger is in the tendency to keep staring at it as the Sun re-emerges from behind the Moon. During these periods before and after totality you can use special eclipse glasses that block out the vast majority of the light (like welder’s glass, but even stronger), or you can poke a small hole in an index card and project an image of the Sun onto a sheet of paper (basically a pinhole camera).
Hi Chris,
I drove down to North Carolina to catch the 2017 eclipse. I stood out in a hotel parking lot with my eclipse glasses on, waiting for the magic to happen. It is worth a trip, I think, but don’t expect the kind of darkness that the TV reports seem to suggest. I think that’s mostly a product of their cameras trying to shoot into the sun. One thing I discovered that was kind of fun was that I could use my low-magnification sunglasses (tinted reading glasses) to project the image onto the asphalt of the parking lot and get a nice, focused view of what was going on. So if you go, bring a magnifying glass and a piece of white cardboard so you can project the image onto a surface. It’s a good way to get a photo if, like me, all you have is a smartphone to capture the image.
Thanks David,
I’ve known the trick of poking a hole in a paper or cardboard and letting it project onto another surface since I was a little kid. So I was thinking of something like that. And I do own a magnifying glass, since I can’t actually see very well any more. And yeah, the only working camera I have has a phone attached to it.
But I’ll rig something up. Probably can see it with a can opener or something.
I was riding around on my bicycle delivering mail – in the UK – when there was a total eclipse. It wasn’t as dark as I thought it might be, but it was gloomy enough to make reading the addresses on envelopes difficult. (This also happens at Christmas time, when blue ink on red envelopes becomes invisible under the light of early morning streetlamps.)
The weirdest thing about the eclipse was I had a partially rural delivery so I had a double helping of the dawn chorus as the birds went up to roost as the light fell, and then came back down to start their day again.
I learned I was was using the wrong setting on the washing machine
Me too, it seems. Mine only washes once per week for some strange and unaccountable reason. I should read the destructions………. 😛
I learned it was expected that 8,000,000 pounds of avocados were expected to be consumed today for Super Bowl Sunday. I also read that the Pittsburgh Steelers new offensive coach, Arthur Smith, is the son of Fred Smith, the founder of FedEx.
Wow! The next comment is the three hundredth! Congratulations, I think that’s a new record, isn’t it?
I was thinking the same thing. And now my name is in the record books!
You are #300 indeed David. There is still 2 more weeks to go before the draw, so it could grow even more.
I try to learn a song or at least a good portion of a song per day on the guitar
I recently learnt that the lady who runs the choir I attend in a nearby city also runs a choir in the nearby woods (the “Woodland Warbers”) and in my village community centre. Needless to say I have joined both.
(I’ve not yet convinced her to cover one of your songs, however, but am working on it).
As of today I learned how to remove the hardware from my “new” 20 year old Martin HD-28 guitar 🎸 that I purchased two days ago. Clean and condition the head stock and fretboard, and restore the body finish to look like new.
I recently learned that Gregory Bateson set up Allen Ginsberg’s first acid trip.
All the planets, including planetoid Pluto, will fit in the space between the Earth and the moon! I wasn’t sure if this, so I actually did the math!
It’s true!
https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Ff37mxhady8v61.jpg
Wow!
I know how you like to adopt birds, but according to British law, any unclaimed swan swimming in the open waters of England and Wales belongs to the British Royal Family—more specifically, the King. After the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the swans became the property of King Charles III.
The law originated in medieval times when swans were a delicacy for the wealthy, but it still stands today. I think you’re okay if you stick with the geese and pigeons. 😉
I learned today that 60 degrees in Wisconsin in February feels really nice!!
A group of giraffes is called a tower. Found this out in a pub quiz, when I got the answer wrong.
Friday February 9, 2024 will be 60 years since the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show. I remember laying on the living room floor two feet from the TV in total amazement.
Rick,
I remember watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan too. If I had been as close to the set as you, I would’ve gotten yelled at by the crowd behind me though. My whole family was watching it. But I do remember all the screaming in the studio.
Must have been interesting playing in a band where you could never hear anything because of all the screaming going on.
I was 8 years old. So there were things I wasn’t too good at paying attention to. (Kind of like now, although it’s a different list of things).
But my mom must have liked them, since she went out and bought all their early albums.
I was 12 the first time the Beatles played Ed Sullivan. I remember watching too, and being totally charged – though later on I was more of a “Stones person” (and Dylan person) than a “Beatles person” – though that changed over time.
I like looking for corroborating evidence. After saying what albums I had here in the Club and being just plain wrong a couple times, I took inventory a few months ago. Now I have a list. Well, of vinyl anyway.
I have 4 Beatles albums, 6 Stones albums, and 2 Dylan albums. Plus McCartney’s self titled album. I bought most of those by around 1975.
Does that mean I like the Stones best? Idk. I’m definitely not scientific about buying albums. I bought all of them a very long time ago, and most of them were impulse purchases. I definitely have spent more time with rock than pop in my life though.
I eventually bought all the Beatles (UK releases), but earlier had all the Stones (US and UK releases) through Exile and all the Dylan until somewhere in his Christian period. The Band and Grateful Dead were also huge forces in my life growing up – prob saw them live more than anyone else. Also dug Quicksilver and Joplin other SF performers. Later went for punk in a big way: Clash, X, Talking Heads, Minutemen, Blasters, Blonde, etc. And after that Sleater-Kinney, Southern Culture on the Skids, Mermen, Larkin Poe, Florence + the Machine, and those Austrian twins – what are their names again? 😉 Never liked stadium rock or metal.
You have the entire catalogues of the Beatles, the Stones and Dylan. Wow. Sometimes I feel like a bit of a pagan in this Club. Somehow, I absorbed the Beatles music, but I don’t have anyone’s entire catalogue. Except MLT’s.
When you said you had the Beatles’ UK releases, I wondered if you were from the UK, so I looked at your profile. I had to laugh when I saw that your favourite line in an MLT song is the same as mine.
I like that kind of rock that you listed. If you ever listen to classic rock stations, that’s the music I have the most experience with. I can name that song within 2 bars in pretty much anything they play on those stations. But in the mid ’70s my friends and I finished what we described as following Jeff Beck from blues to rock to jazz. Jazz rock fusion might still be my favourite genre. I like a lot of other jazz too, and progressive rock. But I like a lot of things, and even if I’m not that much into a certain style, I want to check it out, and I’ll appreciate anything anyone does if it looks like they are doing what they love and pulling off what they were trying to do. I’m still trying to figure out why Taylor Swift is such a phenom though.
I got the UK releases from a store (long gone now) on 8th Street in Greenwich Village that specialized in imports. But as I said, only a couple of Stones albums after Exile, and I stopped buying every Dylan release more or less after his born again phase. I just thought he went from being a genius songwriter in the 1960s to a sporadically very good songwriter in the decades that followed. Also he blew his voice out by the early 90s. (For my money Street Legal was maybe Dylan’s best later album.) I do have a lot, though not all, of the Bootleg Series releases. I do have the complete Hawks/Band catalogue, including all the subsequent releases with all the added goodies. I never went for fusion much; to my ears Miles Davis was the only one who could really pull it off. I like my jazz with standup basses, and I also like it avant garde (none of which prevents me from idolizing Bird and Ellington). Taylor Smith not especially to my taste – Amy Winehouse for me, thank you very much – but I don’t think she debases the music, so more power to her. And yeah, I’m an MLT compleatist as well. Along with that more blue-based sister act, Larkin Poe.
My mother was born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens. Her dad was born in Greenwich Village. I still have a few sisters in NYC area, and my niece lives in the Village now. Since the ’70s, we go see jazz, or whoever’s around, whenever I come out. I’ve seen some fantastic shows in the Village.
Miles’s idea of fusion was great, but a bit different than other people. There’s an interesting channel on YT that I found a while back, Andy Edwards. He’s a drummer, a pro. He did a world tour with Robert Plant once I guess, but he’s totally into fusion and prog. Right up my alley. He’s turned me onto a few things I hadn’t found before, although the first vid of his I ever watched was his picks for top 10 fusion albums of all time. I told him it was a bit disappointing, since I already had all of them! lol. I’m going to have to look up some of the people you mentioned, like Larkin Poe.
I also was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Queens. Prog not my thing. Larkin Poe is the real deal, though. They just got a Grammy for best contemporary blues album.
I was born in Detroit, and still live nearby. On the blues trail between Detroit and Chicago.. Always interested in the blues.
I like Larkin Poe. Blues isn’t the first thing I think of when I hear them though. Rock. Southern rock. Blues influence. Got Blood Harmony on right now.
But I guess if you wanted a definition of rock music, “contemporary blues” could be one. lol.
Larkin Poe actually started out as the Lovell Sisters band, a kind of new grass acoustic trio. But then the eldest sister (Jessica who played fiddle) retired from performing and the remaining two (Megan and Rebecca) went electric and moved in a blues roots/rock direction. (Rebecca btw was an award winning bluegrass mandolinist before she switched over to guitar.) They still do a lot of country-inflected stuff and have been reverting back to acoustic/unplugged performances. They mainly do originals but like MLT also a lot of covers.
“Mem’ries light the corners of my mind”
“Those were the days my friend”.
And just a side note: Friday, Feb 9th is National Pizza Day in the U.S.
Bobby S. 🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵
I remember that Ed Sullivan show too. 6 years old. And I probably was more excited over the release of Now and Then.
I was more excited about Mona and Lisa’s version of Now and Then than Paul and Ringo’s. lol.
Animals and humans that are true albino have no pigmentation in their eyes and are therefore color blind. Rock/Blues brothers Johnny and Edgar Winter were both albino and under stage lights they were virtually blind.
I knew they were albino, but I didn’t know that meant they were blind onstage. Thanks for telling us that. I never saw Edgar live, but I saw Johnny. They were/are both incredible.
I’m remembering them and so many fantastic blind musicians, like Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles.
And in looking at a list of blind musicians just now, I didn’t know that Art Tatum was completely blind in one eye, and mostly in the other. Something else I’m learning today.
Thanks Tim.
I knew that about Edgar and Johnny a long time ago but just happened to remember it. I never seen Johnny play live but I did see Edgar play at Fort McCoy, I believe in the 90’s. It was the first of many shows at the base. Foreigner was the headliner, Edgar played before them and their was a third band that opened but for the life of me I can’t remember who it was, maybe Loverboy or 38 Special. They both played there many times. Johnny passed away a few years ago but Edgar was playing in Ringo’s All-Stars last I knew.
I know there were quite a few blind artists, two that come to mind are Jeff Healey and Ronnie Milsap. Ronnie was mainly country but he had a great crossover hit called Stranger In My House that I thought really rocked.
When I was in college, Edgar’s first album was blowing up. All the bar bands played Free Ride. They Only Come Out at Night. Killer album.
That was a great album, of course it had the (pardon the pun) monster hit, Frankenstein. Edgar was great on the synthesizer, drums and excellent sax player. The whole band was great with Ronnie Montrose and Rick Derringer. Dan Hartman played bass and wrote some great songs, I think he wrote and sang Free Ride. He also had a monster solo hit called I Can Dream About You. Shock Treatment is another good EWG album.
I remember I Can Dream About You. Great song. Derringer, at least, played with Johnny too. Those guys were all bandleaders eventually.
Here you go.
https://youtu.be/P8f-Qb-bwlU
Great to watch Edgar tweaking the patch on his ARP 2600 mid song. So classic. That vid is from 1973, about a year before I saw Johnny play. Johnny was a bluesman, and blues harp master James Cotton opened for him that night, but that was the period he was rocking out.
I saw Ronnie Milsap in concert a number of years ago. I didn’t even know he was blind until I observed an assistant helping him walk from one piano to another.
I’m not really a country music fan, but my wife wanted to go to a George Strait concert, and Ronnie Milsap was one of the opening acts. I actually thought he was better than the main draw. The other opening act was a little-known teenager named Taylor Swift.
Another blind artist that comes to mind is Tom Sullivan, who was in a lot of TV shows and films in the late 70’s and early 80’s. I remember him best from my favorite disaster movie, Airport ’77, in which he played the piano and sang a song he wrote himself called Beauty Is in the Eyes of the Beholder.
Ronnie was a good artist, hard to tell he was blind. I say I’m not a country music fan but I grew up around it and do like a lot of the older stuff. George Strait was good too. I think if Taylor would have stayed pure country I would like her too. She is a good singer and songwriter, and a very kind person from what I’ve heard.
I heard a story recently that Taylor gave $50M in bonuses to the people who worked on her recent tour. And she contributed to the local food bank in every city she played at too. The tour grossed around $1B — I guess some gigs pay better than others. lol.
Yeah, I heard that her tickets were selling for around $1900 at one point. I think I paid $20 to see Edgar Winter and Foreigner. Funny how people put down celebrities when they become icons. I’m guilty of it too but the truth is, I have no idea who these people are and have no reason to put them down, just jealousy I guess. A few years ago the Country Music Hall of Fame was in financial trouble and she gave them something like 20 million. I believe she has a good heart. Can’t wait to see her at the Super Bowl on Sunday.
A very long time ago, a friend of mine when I was in college, was a working musician, and asked me if I wanted to go see Edgar Winter – for free. Middle of the week, I had to go to class, had to go to work, so I said no. I’ve regretted it. They gave him a camera and made him band photographer for the night, he was backstage with them, sounds like he had a lot of fun, lots of stories, and I missed it. Oh well.
When Edgar and Foreigner played at the base it was the first concert they ever had there, outdoors at Constitution Park which was basically a ballfield and picnic area. I wasn’t working there at the time but my brother Rod and nephew Brad worked there. They both helped set up the stage and volunteered to run spotlights under direction from the stage manager. The payoff being free admission. Rod’s spotlight died so he basically got to watch the show for free. Every year they would have a concert night and have 2-3 good bands. They did it for the troops that were training so the tickets were always reasonable. I went to most of the shows until I started working there. I worked on the base from 2008-2019 and mostly at night by myself (building maintenance). I ended up working during a few of the concerts so I would get enough work done ahead of time so I could park my truck close to the park and listen to the shows, Lol.
Billy Joel just released his first album in 17 years. I saw him on one of the late night shows in the last few days. He told a story about how way long ago he and his bandmates went to a Jimi Hendrix outdoor show, wrapped music cables around themselves like they were carrying stuff in, and snuck in. And they were faking English accents in the middle of it.
The band manager spotted them, and put them to work. He knew they were faking it but he told them they at least were doing a good job of faking it. lol. So they got to see the show.
Brooks and Dunn played on the base in 2009, Lynyrd Skynyrd was the opening band. My brother Rod (at that time) ran the tower of one of the shooting ranges on the base. Brooks and Dunn wanted to fire weapons on the range so Rod had to work and got to meet them both. Brooks, Dunn, the colonel and Brooks wife came in by Blackhawk helicopter. Ronnie Dunn’s wife and their manager came by van. Apparently she was afraid of helicopters. She asked Rod if there was a place to smoke so Rod said I’ll join you and they spent all the time shooting the breeze while the rest were shooting rifles. He was told not to take pictures or ask for an autograph but he snuck some pictures from the tower and they volunteered autographs and thanked him. He said Ronnie Dunn was kind of snooty but Kix Brooks was a cool down to earth guy.
I worked that night. Got there just in time to hear Skynyrd play Freebird. Their piano on that song sounded beautiful, whispering through the pines. Later I watched everyone leave. Skynyrd had 1 semi truck and 1 bus. Brooks and Dunn had 2 tour buses and 5 semi trailers. Apparently they couldn’t ride together.
Something I learned today.
Today is the 60th anniversary of the Beatles arrival in NYC on their first trip to America.
And at the time I thought all Brits looked like that, Lol, what did I know, I was only 4 years old.
Since we’re sharing fun things we learned recently, here are a couple more. I shared these in the forum, but for the benefit of the new clubbers here:
1..Mozart’s older sister was the greater genius in the family as noted by some witnesses. If there was more gender equality back then, Marianne Mozart could very well be in the greatest composers of all time hall of fame.
2..Albert Einstein was an accomplished violinist too. When he worked on his greatest achievements like the Theory of Relativity, his wife said Mozart often went to his violin or piano to play a Mozart or Bach piece, and then go back to his work, gaining inspiration from the beautiful order in the music.
Inside Einstein’s Love Affair With ‘Lina’—His Cherished Violin
3..Here is a bonus fun fact I learned recently: Did you know all the cells in our body replenish itself over 7 years. So every 7 years we are effectively a new or different person, in a physical sense. Apparently this 7 year cycle occurs in nature in a number of ways, and a recent article also shows economic models, the time it takes for an economic policy to take effect or show results also has a 7 year cycle.
Mozart’s sister (Nannerl) was nearly his equal as a child prodigy pianist, but in fact showed little of his genius as a composer. She was shamefully stifled by the conventions of her time, but it seems unlikely that she would have produced great works even if free to.
It depends on the source, there is evidence to suggest Mozart’s sister was better.
There is even some evidence to suggest some of Wolfgang’s compositions were Nanneri’s, but we will never know. 😉
My source is Jan Swafford’s thoroughly researched 2020 biography of Mozart, which addresses and debunks all the claims about Narrerl’s “genius”; what remains is the fact that she was almost as astounding a piano prodigy as her younger brother and that her development as an adult was stifled by the conventions of her day and in particular by the demands of Mozart père. There is just no evidence that she had a talent for composition comparable to her brother’s, and it appears to me that the speculative efforts to pump up her profile in this respect are a compound of political correctness and wishful thinking. If Maria Anna 𝘩𝘢𝘥 been allowed and encouraged to pursue a full-fledged musical career in adulthood, it seems most likely that if she composed at all she might have produced work on the level of Leopold or Franz Xaver Mozart – but not at the level of Wolfgang Amadeus.
More on Maria Anna Mozart, while it is speculation whether she was her younger brother’s equal in composition, as none of her compositions survived, other than one letter where Mozart witnessed one of her sisters composition and was in awe of how good it is, it would be logical given how she eclipsed her brother as a musician which is well documented, that she would be his equal in writing music.
I like this imaginative musical tribute video to Anna Maria Mozart. There is quite a treasure trove of videos and even movies about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s brilliant genius sister.
Nannerl Mozart: The Forgotten Genius
Why You’ve Never Heard of MARIA MOZART
Sorry, it is not a given that she eclipsed her brother (who apart from being the greatest pianist of his day was no mean violinist) as a musician. Nor does it follow that the ability to play well implies a talent for composition. (Conversely, there have been great composers who did not excel as players.) So if we could just all leave the land of fantasy and stick to what we have in the way of facts…
I just thought it was interesting there were some discussion in the music world about Mozart’s sister. I did say it was speculation. In the spirit of the “what did you learn recently”, I thought it might be fun for some to bring it up. Didn’t mean to offend. 😉 Be groovy.
I totally agree that she didn’t get a fair shake out of life.
Jung ,
Very interesting but sad for W. A. Mozart that his sister lived to be 78, while Wolfgang only lived 35 years. He overshadowed her, & she must have had to answer questions about her brother for the rest of her life!
It’s hard to wrap your head around what it must have been like to live in those days. And for that astounding level of Musicianship so long ago; wow!
— Bud
Jung & David,
Whatever the real facts are, it’s very interesting to speculate about the talents of
Wolfgang and Nannerl. Those are good videos about Mozart’s sister, and whatever the truth is about his sister, that was truly an amazing Musical family! Just as the current day Wagner Family are all so talented and unusual!
Too bad there was no technology for recording & videos back then! I found out that 51% of people worldwide believe in Reincarnation. Whatever your beliefs, I’m really hoping that someday there will be some kind of technology developed where we can look back on the past! Perhaps it’s just wishful thinking, but if anything we can imagine is possible, then maybe someday, it will come to pass!
OR, if we survive death and exist in a different form, as many people believe, then we might get to pursue our talents and interests in a different realm! I have no idea what will truly come to pass, but I’m sure that it doesn’t matter much what we believe. The Universe will keep doing what it’s been doing for untold eons! But I would like to have another crack at life if that is possible!
Again, I have no answers about the future or life after death. But I would love to have a peek at Mozart, Louis Armstrong or any number of historical figures of the past! It’s something to look forward to, rather than just a dread of dying.
On that note, I’ll sign off for now. CHEERS Y’ALL! — Bud
Hey Bud,
Hope you are having a relaxing break over the weekend.
Yeah it is pretty fascinating, the story around Mozart, there is much mystery towards the end of his life, and around his death and how when he died, there was no big ceremony, in fact Mozart was buried in an unmarked “paupers grave” from the accounts I’ve read about and seen, while his sister seemed to have led a pretty good comfortable life to the end. For a music genius and legend who gave so much to this world and enriched it, it is such a sad ending. This is quite the contrast from Beethoven, when thousands in Vienna came out to pay their respects at his funeral.
In regards to Maria Anna Mozart there seems to be 2 scholarly camps around what really happened to her, and her musical talents. But none of Maria Anna’s compositions survived, though in the letters between the siblings after Maria Anna married, there is evidence that she continued to compose, and perhaps the most noteworthy witness of her talent was Wolfgang himself in a letter giving his sister the highest praise of being in “awe”, just like how Bob Dylan described how he was in awe of Paul McCartney. Words not used lightly by geniuses to describe the works of another genius. Given there is no recording or surviving record of Maria Anna Mozart’s compositions, it will forever remain a mystery.
Jung,
I have a book on Mozart but haven’t read it for over 20 years. I remember the movie, and I remember that Mozart died from horrible flu that was going around. And that he was buried in a mass pauper’s grave. There’s a public monument for him, but I don’t remember that his body was recovered.
Beethoven’s funeral was attended by about 20,000 people. I have an interest in pursuing these things, but I’m caught up in a whirlwind of school activity. Friday night I crashed for 11 hours, and I’m still trying to keep up with all the schoolwork I need to do. I’m not complaining, it’s part of the job. It’s just hard after I already retired in June 2021. It’s difficult sometimes to get myself back to work!
Thanks for getting back to me. Now I need to go to the store, finish lifting my 200 barbells for today. (I’m at 140 right now.) Then continue practicing the guitar parts for the 6 songs we’re performing on Feb. 23 at school. Then there are more new seating charts to write out, and music to practice for the adult band I’m in. Other than that, I’m relaxing!
QUESTION: I thought the Bobble Head giveaway was going to be on Friday along with the MLT’s newest video. Maybe I missed something?
Do you know when it’s happening? Thanks!
Have a nice weekend, and I hope you enjoy the new week! — Bud
Hi Bud,
When they posted the MLT Bobbleheads giveaway on Feb 2nd, they said they would do the draw in 3 weeks, so a couple more weeks from now.
A horrible flu going around that took Mozart’s life? Perhaps that might explain why he was buried in a mass grave, if it was some kind of pandemic thing and they wanted to bury all the bodies quick.
Jung,
Wow, you got back quickly! So that will be the 23rd, and my concert is that day in the morning for the students. So I’ll check out the Giveaway that night after work. I’m going to take a quick 10 min. nap, then get up and go! The bar bells, and possibly some coffee will help get me charged up!
I’ve been reading most of Jurgen’s comments on Asia, & saw some videos, and back and forth with you two! I’ll be on my 3rd night of Thai takeout tonight!
OK, Ciao my friend! — Bud
(I can hear our cat Boots snoring right now!)
From a 2022 article: Some more interesting fun facts:
An Australian professor has found evidence that one of the most famous composers to ever live, claimed credit for some of his older sister’s compositions.
“There is also evidence that Nannerl wrote her own compositions, but none have survived. Or at least that was the consensus until retired Australian professor, Martin Jarvis, suggested that three out of five of Mozart’s violin concertos could have actually been composed by Nannerl.”
Jung,
I have no idea about this, but hopefully the truth will come to light if more evidence is found. And women were definitely not thought of as on a par with men back then, or in truth for most of history until recently! It will take “inquiring minds” to dig up the truth!
Something I learned today about one of our employees. And this is certainly not a criticism. I know we’re all raised under different circumstances. A few months ago, we noticed a mouse in our shop. I believe we’ve been in this building about eight years and I have never seen a mouse in here. But it’s a normal occurrence in a manufacturing facility. So I put out a wooden “standard” mouse trap. I’ve not had a lot of experience with mice, but certainly I have set out mouse traps before. We actually did catch that rascal three or four days after I put the trap out…. But I left the trap there in case he had friends or relatives visiting! Obviously, he was just on his way somewhere because he had no relatives with him. So the trap has been sitting there for almost 3 months. While in the restroom today….. I noticed my mouse trap in the garbage can. I asked our 39-year-old college educated very sharp young man that works for us! He said it went off while he was cleaning the area… and he noticed the metal arm hanging there and thought it was broken. So he threw it away. And to make a long story not any longer. He did not know how to use a mouse trap. He did not know you could reset it. I honestly don’t believe I have ever read the directions on how to set a mouse trap. I’ve discovered there are some things that I believe I came out of the womb knowing…. That must’ve been one of them.🤓
This topic has inspired me to learn lots of things I had long been meaning to investigate.
I threw some laundry into the washing machine today and finally decided to find out why there’s a “hand wash” setting. I mean, by definition a machine can’t hand wash something, right? It turns out it just means it washes with minimal agitation.
I was thinking, it always meant ” delicate cycle ” because some washing machines do say ” gentle/delicates ” cycle on them, perhaps, depending on makers of washers/dryers, the cycles are labeled differently , thus ” hand-wash” was a different way of saying ” gentle/delicates ” …. now I’ve learned something new…🧼🧺🫧
I think you’re right, Jacki. My washing machine doesn’t have a “delicates” setting.
Well, Monday’s new thing learned ( still technically Monday for me in Canada as I post this ) …. I’m in need of a new water heater/gas tank as mine has apparently now given up the ghost, flown the working coop, onwards to Appliance Heaven… l knew something was up when I awoken later on this morning, felt a tad colder , went to turn on tap for warm/hot water….zip happening, then looked at thermostat, went down a few notches from my setting I have it at and checked the heater tank thing itself to look for red flashing light ( previous issues, no heat would occur/no hot water, red light would flash ) and yes, by Golly, red light flashing, something going on, called in to report, guy came to inspect, then he contacted home comfort specialist, to say of issue he detected, and verdict is… a new water heater/gas tank is needed, the age of current one, finally met its stop -working maker I’m guessing, not able to simply replace/fix parts as could do so in past with issues it encountered , I got temporarily provided with space heaters, layered up in extra layers of sweaters and blankets, comfy lounging pants, extra socks to keep warm along with drinking extra tea, eating hot , not spicy to keep my insides warmed to do me until new heater arrives and be installed , hopefully ASAP, as in a day or two … Thankfully it’s not DeepFreeze Frikkin cold out, it’s cold-ish out but tolerable…. That’s what new thing I learned for Monday … 🥶🌡🧊🏠🇨🇦🍁
That’s bad news, Jackie. Stay warm, Dear! 🤗🫂
Well, I learned something new today, and it’s kind of embarrassing: for my whole life I’ve misunderstood what a hangnail is.
I always assumed it referred to the situation where you snag your fingernail on something and it rips halfway across and down into the quick, and then you have to let the nail “hang” for a few days until it grows out enough that you can tear it off painlessly.
So my question now is, if that’s not a hangnail, then what is it called? There’s gotta be a term for it!
I recently found out that when we buy produce at the grocery store, the checkout person enters the same code number for the product regardless of the country we are in. So, when i buy bananas in Thorhild Alberta, it’s the same code as in Liverpool UK, Melbourne Australia etc. Apparently, everyone knows this already, but it’s all i got.
That’s news to me too, John!
Well now, that is interesting , wasn’t aware either that produce/grocery items coding same globally….
John, we’re neighbors! Message your way!!!
Hi Daryl, wow, that’s so funny that we are neighbours> sure is a small world. I live just off hwy 827 south of Athabasca, just north of hwy 661. Moved up here from Calgary area in 2005. Have a 1/4 section that i raise sheep on. I was born and raised in Scotland ( hence the sheep i guess) but have been in Canada most of my life though. Still go “home” fairly often as all my family are still there. I first heard the twins about a year and a half ago, Lola cover, loved it. Was one of my favourite songs as a kid. Since then i joined the club and enjoy their music, videos etc. They seem to be such a down to earth family, no pretensions that normally seem to come with the entertainment world. If you are up for it Daryl, maybe we could get together some time for a beer, coffee or whatever and have a visit. Thanks for the message, take care.
Hehe, I’ve “seen” Scotland, but it was across the channel from Portaferry area in Ireland! That’s me Mum’s ancestral (well mine too I reckon) home along with the seaside southern Wales region where us Joneses hailed from.
Sent you another info direct message so check your inbox! Cheers mate.
Tomas, The bobbleheads are really neat! Thank you for sharing these with us! That was very nice of you. They would make a great addition to my MonaLisa collection! Good luck to everyone!
Those bobbleheads are great Tomás, wonderful attention to detail.
I like trying to learn new things, even if I keep making the same old mistakes anyways.
Here’s something I learned this week.
XO is Hong Kong shorthand for high end/prestige/luxury goods. The name XO was originally borrowed from a grade of Cognac, which means “extra old”.
XO Sauce was developed in Hong Kong in the 1980s for Cantonese style cooking, made with chopped, dried seafood — shrimp and scallops, aka “conpoy”, Jinhua ham – which is a dry cured ham like a country ham or prosciutto, shallots, garlic, chili, and oil. The seafood gives it an extra dose of umami. And it doesn’t have any Cognac in it.
I’ve never tried it, although there are a couple really large Asian markets near me, and I understand there are bottled versions of it too, so maybe a good place to start, to see if I can find a bottle, or the ingredients. It’s reportedly delicious, and pricey, in other words, it’s XO.
This recipe looks interesting. I might try it some time.
https://omnivorescookbook.com/xo-sauce/
I ran across XO Sauce when I was looking for a list of the best restaurants in Liverpool. They use it at Röski.
Something else I learned this week, that’s not related to the above.
I saw Neil deGrasse Tyson talking about how long it might take to convert to climate friendly transportation, and as an example, he said that in 1905, New York City transport was still 100% horses. By 1920, they were all gone, replaced by autos.
That’s making me hungry Chris. XO sauce is great, I usually pour it on.
Yeah, I am seeing a lot more Tesla’s and other electric vehicles on the streets and fewer and fewer gas stations.
That makes sense. I remember when Hong Kong went back from UK to Chinese control, a lot of people from there moved to Vancouver.
And even as close to the Motor City as I am, there’s now a Tesla dealership a mile away from me, that opened last year. The Big Three have a lot of pull in Michigan still, and you don’t see many Teslas on the streets around here.
I tried XO Sauce with my Super Bowl dinner yesterday. Found a jar of it, which was made in Bangkok, at the huge local Asian store. I thought it was good, but not great.
I think the next step is to make my own. I’ve read that I might be able to find the dried scallops/shrimp at an Asian store too, but I don’t think these guys have that, so I’ll just try drying/fermenting the shellfish from scratch and see how it goes.
That’s sounds great Chris. Sometimes, making it from scratch is the best, at least you know what goes into it, ie no preservatives and other unknowns in the processed or packaged stuff.
In Vancouver we have cuisine from all over the world: Greek, Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, East Indian…..because of the many cultures that have made home here for a long time. I think we have some of the best cuisine in the world right here in the city. I’ve tried Greek and Italian in other cities, but none are as good as some of the places here. Baked Lasagna, we have the best. I think I can vouch for Korean food too, better than the food in Korea, though my relatives in Korea tell me my taste is just use to the Korean restaurants here, but I disagree, it’s just better. If you like different cuisines in the world, come visit Vancouver. There are some awesome German/Austrian restaurants here too! 😁
And Mona’s guitar strap says “Twins”. Tomas…. I’m impressed. And I’m sorry I don’t know how to put the apostrophe above the “a”on your name.😬🤓
I was looking at the Mona and Lisa bobble heads…. Mona’s guitar is a Rickenbacker….. and Lisa’s is a Gretsch! Vox amps….? Those have to be custom-made, bobble heads. I don’t believe Tomas has yet told anyone where he got them?? Very cool!🤓
I just learned recently that we are going to have an early spring!
That sounds great William. Are you in the US?
We really haven’t had much of a winter here in NY, for the past few years. Unless you consider upstate NY, like Buffalo & Syracuse, where they get loads of snow. Bobby S. 😎
One thing I just learned last week… our business owns a 2016 Mercedes sprinter van and a 2022 Mercedes sprinter van. I have put most of the miles on the 2016 I know where the dipstick is to check the oil….. I also have put most of the miles on the 2022. It was sitting on a nice level area the other day and I thought heck I should just check the oil. I could not find the dipstick. They no longer have a dipstick.😳 You can only check the oil level from the digital dash. I’m 64 years old… I don’t like computers or email. Typing what I’m typing right now pretty much is my limit. I have no idea how to find the oil level on the digital dash. I guess when we’re all forced to buy electric vehicles…. It won’t matter?🤓
I hear you Tim. But there are many problems with the EVs and I think it will be many years before people are forced to buy them, if at all.
So we are safe for now lol. Bobby S. 😎
That is good to hear…. I would love to own a Tesla. But I don’t want anyone telling me I have to buy one!🤓
I recently learned that a coworker, when he was a teenager played with a group that was traveling thru his hometown and stopped to play at a local venue. He has pictures and great memories of his time on stage with the band. The bands name……none other than Sir Paul McCartney and Wings.
Hi, I thought this might be of interest. About a year or so ago, I read that the first can opener was not invented until about 50 years after the canning of food (although canning may have been done in small quantities many years prior).
The cans were rather thick and people would use a hammer & a chisel to open them lol.
Bobby S.
Wow, I didn’t know that! That must have been a pain, but if that’s all they had!!
I was a college student once. We used to open cans without a can opener. We used to open bottles of wine with a screwdriver, and bottles of beer with the ash tray on the wall in the elevator lobby, or with the end of a seat belt in a car.
You know what they say, if all you have is a hammer, all problems look like nails.
Being both a beagle and a baseball person, I have recently learned that a beagle was once a mascot for a major league baseball team.
The 1962 New York Mets had a beagle mascot named Homer. He was to run around the bases each time the Mets hit a home run. However, it did not work out. The first two times that they released Homer to run the bases, he would run into the outfield after reaching second base. It too an umpire, two security people, and a ballplayer to finally catch Homer.
True fact, the owner of the Mets, Joan Payson, loved Homer. The pampered pooch lived in a fancy New York penthouse with Mrs. Payson and had an unlimited supply of dog toys and dog treats.
True story…you can look it up!
https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-1YWq-sgfyFXbAEWkht-CThozRQ=/0x142:496×421/1600×900/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/36353142/homer.0.jpg
Hi Chris,
BTW – I think the famous hotel that Homer lived at was the Waldorf Astoria. Lucky dog.
Bobby S.
YES!!! It was the Waldorf Astoria!!! The same place where King Jonfree stayed in “Coming to America”. Homer and the King…gotta love that!
Yes, that was a good movie and it also was the hotel in the film “Serendipity” – with Kate Beckinsale, John Cusack, Bridget Moyaham & Molly Shannon. Yes, I like RomComs & Chick Flicks. Take Care,
Bobby S.
Wow Christopher, that must have been the cutest thing ever at a ball game to see Homer run around the field. He must have stole the show at the ball game. Love beagles.
What I’ve recently learned about twins. The chances of a twin having twins is:
Think you still might not care if you’re identical twins or not?………..lol
A fact that I recently read: Paul McCartney & Wings recorded Red Rose Speedway at Abbey Road Studios the same time Pink Floyd recorded The Dark Side Of The Moon.
I learned this week that there is a ship from the revolutionary war period buried in New York City beneath the site of the World Trade Center.
I may keep coming up with something I learned recently all week. 😁 I will try to leave it with this one.
Did you know both Bach and Van Gogh gained their fame and recognition for their works after they died. During their lifetime, neither geniuses knew their work would be recognized throughout the world for all time.
1..While Bach was a well respected musician and court composer, after he died his music was all but forgotten. It wasn’t until over a hundred years later in the early 19th Century when Felix Mendelssohn revived his music that the world came to appreciate his absolute genius, and he gained the status of one of the greatest composers of al time.
2..Vincent Van Gogh struggled with mental illness, and it wasn’t until he was 27 he started painting to help express his emotions, and he took his life at 37. Art was his therapy, but little did he know his work would become recognized as some of the greatest masterpieces of all time and he would be recognized as one of the greatest artists of all time for the beauty he expressed from within his pain and suffering with mental illness.
As Mona and Lisa expressed so beautifully in Vincent:
Colors changing hue
Morning fields of amber grain
Weathered faces lined in pain
Are soothed beneath the artist’s loving hand
Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
How you suffered for your sanity
How you tried to set them free
They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they’ll listen now
You took your life, as lovers often do
But I could’ve told you, Vincent
This world was never meant for
One as beautiful as you
Here is a bonus:
3..One more bonus, while Mozart was a well recognized composer, he was considered on par with composers such as Shubert, Liszt, Chopin… But it was Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms “”The 3Bs” that were considered the 3 greatest composers of all time. In the late 20th Century, with the release of the movie Amadeus, Mozart’s popularity soared, and he displaced Brahms as one of the 3 greatest composers of all time amongst classical music aficionados.
Jung,
Thanks for bringing this up! I was aware of what you just said, and also, those court composers weren’t heard much or at all by the average person during their lives. The wealthy and their entourages heard them in person, and that’s about it! With modern recordings of Bach & Mozart thru contemporary recordings, their Music is available ’round the world!
I was happy to see the spirit of W. A. Mozart come alive in the movie “Amadeus.” I used to show clips of that movie to my String classes, and then we’d play some abridged, or easier versions of his pieces. I also used a short documentary of Beethoven, and video performances of other composers. My students loved these and gaining more knowledge of composer’s lives made playing their Music more interesting and fun!
I appreciate your previous compliments to me as a Music teacher, but I’m just trying to do a good job like all teachers do! So, I’m not that special, just another person trying to contribute something positive to the lives of young people. And in retirement, teaching is more fun & challenging than being a Walmart Greeter! Although that job is important too!
Also, Classical Music has influenced many other kinds of Music including Jazz for chord structure. While African rhythms & improvisation also influenced Jazz. Then Jazz and Blues have heavily influenced the direction of all Popular Music since the beginning of the 20th Century! Classical music & contemporary versions of it thru movie composers was popular, especially in earlier movies, cartoons & TV shows.
Most Classical musicians don’t improvise at all, or very much. Whereas Bach, W. A. Mozart & Beethoven were great improvisers, which must have given them a huge advantage in composition!
And finally, in the late 19th Century, Expressionism in Music and Art was very much of an influence in the development of Art, Music & Civilization in general during the 20th Century! Each Art Form lays the groundwork for the next Art Forms! Think of everything that happened within the Harlem Renaissance with African Americans in the first half of the 20th Century! Without all this previous influence, our lives would no doubt be much duller, & lifeless. It is this shared version of ourselves & our various cultures that can help bring our poor world together!
Thanks again! — Bud
Hey Bud,
Yeah back in those days before recordings, the great music of the legends were only available to the privileged unfortunately. It’s so wonderful music is now available to all to appreciate and love. I have to say in elementary school, music class was my most memorable, and my music teacher Mr Stevens left a profound impression on me. The arts is so important to complete a child’s education. What’s the point of learning to read and write, and build fancy machines when there is nothing worth reading, writing, or listening to.
One of my favourite quotes:
I remember my dad use to tell me the thing that set Beethoven and Mozart apart from all the other great composers in history is that they were just as great musicians as they were composers. Beethoven and Mozart are to the keyboard what Jimi Hendricks and Eric Clapton are to the guitar.
Hi Jung,
Thanks for responding! I’m leaving for work very soon. Have a great week! — Bud
Jung, you are the man and are most deserving of these bobbleheads. You have good stuff about Bach and Van Gogh and I am writing about Homer the Beagle.
Best of luck in the drawing!
Hey Chris,
I think your writing about Homer is more interesting.
Bobby S.
Thanks Christopher for the kind words. Best of luck to you too. We are all deserving for that wonderful MLT Bobble head, but I guess unfortunately there is only one to go around.
Yes, I think we know that there were many famous people (especially artists) who became much more famous and their work much more valuable after their death.
Cheers, Bobby S.
Indeed. Mark Knopfler and Dire Straights, “In The Gallery”, has a lot to say about this.
Jung,
I forgot to say that I went to the Van Gogh Museum many years ago, I think in the Netherlands. I am by no means an Art expert, but I was very impressed with his paintings & their texture! Visiting many museums in Europe was one of the highlights of my trips! — Bud
Hi Bud, that must have been awesome to see all those beautiful Van Gogh paintings. It would be amazing to see his Starry Night painting in person. I came across some videos about Van Gogh lately and was really intrigued and moved by his life and works.
The thick texture of the paintings up close is something I’d never seen before! — Bud
Hi Bud. There was a Dr Who series a while ago about time travel and meeting Van Gogh. It is imaginative and quite touching. Imagine being able to show Van Gogh just what a great impact his work has had on humanity.
Vincent Van Gogh Visits the Gallery
Doctor Who “Van Gogh”
Hi Jung!
I just wrote a LONG response to your comment about the guitar player and composer that Beethoven knew as a friend. I made the mistake of looking back & forth thru other comments, then tried to come back to my long letter. But I completely lost it & couldn’t retrieve it; & I was almost done! Drat! Now it’s too late, & I still have planning left to do for school tomorrow.
But I read all your comments, & just saw the Dr. Who clip. Thanks very much for every response you’ve made. You are so kind, & I like reading all the information that you post!
I really enjoy the MLT site! — Bud
Hey Bud. If you click on the same reply button you used to type the comment under the post, it might still be there. The text stays in the website memory buffer, even if you lose the page you were on. I’ve recovered that way before. Sorry for that.
Hi Jung,
That’s worked for me before, but it didn’t this time for some odd reason. But it’s no big deal. I was just rambling on anyway! I’ve read all of your posts though, and many of the others from our friends in the Club.
It’s hard to keep up though, ’cause I’m getting behind on my planning work for school. We’re putting on a Black History Month Concert in 2 weeks, & I’ve been rehearsing the kids. But I still have so much more work to do!
I’ll have to watch Lisa & Mona’s Livestream, or video tomorrow night when I get home. I’m looking forward to that!
Have a great weekend! — Bud
I really love these, they look absolutely brilliant. Well done Tomás.
I learned recently, how much I still love my vinyl. Especially my singles. I had a lot of singles from my DJ days and decided to spent some time sorting through them. The joy of finding singles that you had long since forgotten. Playing B-sides that you maybe only heard the once when you first purchased the single. I am now playing some on my radio shows. It is a really joy, that I am getting pleasure out of my collection of singles, again, all these year later.
Sounds great Jeff. I haven’t taken much time in recent years to play my vinyl records.
I have about 600 45’s, about 250 LPs, and even a few 78’s. And I still have some 8-Track Tapes and Cassette Tapes along with my CDs lol. Take care and enjoy,
Bobby S.
On a personal note, I recently learned that my Great Niece and Great Nephew have begun taking guitar lessons! 18 year old Joy strummed and sang ‘Silent Night’ and sang as 13 year old Isaac strummed ‘Away in a Manger’ when we got together for our belated Christmas gathering January 20th! I’m so proud and anxious to see how they progress!
That is awesome! Good luck to both of them with their Music practice and enjoyment!
I recently learned that Melanie Safka’s big breakthrough performance at Woodstock was due to her willingness to replace a band that refused to play in the rain in the wee hours of the morning at the legendary concert. Additionally, that she credited seeing the crowd holding candles there to her writing ‘Lay Down(Candles in the Rain)’. And that led, in large part, to the traditional candle, then lighter, and now cell phone show in the audience of concertgoers worldwide!
That’s really neat, Jeffery! I remember attending my first concert and being utterly baffled as to why everyone suddenly started holding up lit cigarette lighters when the group left the stage. But why did so many people bring candles with them to Woodstock in the first place?
A few years ago I went to a Paul McCartney concert. At one point he said, “You know, every time we do a Beatles song, I look up into the crowd and see all these cell phone lights, and it’s like a galaxy of stars. But when we do a new song, it’s like looking into a black hole. But we’re gonna do a new song now anyway.” He successfully guilted the crowd into recording a song they didn’t really come to see.
Hadn’t really thought about the why regarding the candles being there in the first place. Maybe because they were in a farmer’s field with limited lighting and flashlight batteries died quickly back then? 🤔
Yeah, that’s all I could think of too. But being that prepared sounds like a “dad” thing that I wouldn’t expect from that sort of crowd.
Same thing crept into my mind, even as I typed it! But maybe some industrious soul brought a few cases of candles and sold them? 🤪
I just searched the internet for an answer, and found a story that says, “Legend has it that members of the Hog Farm commune happened to have handed out candles throughout the Woodstock audience just before Melanie’s set.” It doesn’t say why, but I’m willing to believe something along the lines of “It’s about peace and love, man!”
David and Jeffery, I remember hearing also where a lot of the concert goers were hungry and thirsty as they weren’t very well prepared. I don’t believe there were any food or beverage vendors present. The owners of the hog farm along with friends and neighbors prepared meals (pork sandwiches) for any hungry fans and gave them access to the water supply.
Sounds good. I was also thinking that candles could be used to heat up or cook food over, rather than campfires.
My dad had a house about ten miles from Bethel, NY and he saw lots of kids hanging out and skinny-dipping in the lake across the road from his house.
Bobby S.
And they’re fiercely proud of it too. They invaded and absorbed the state of Qwerty just so they could hold that distinction.
Being a Business Education teacher that used to teach Typing back in the day…I just typed Alaska. They are all home key reaches!
Have learned that it is important to enjoy everyday life – not just look forward to something.
And totally cool design – will fit perfectly into our “Fan Room”😊
Some golden nuggets of wisdom there Peter.
We keep hearing about “atmospheric rivers” in the weather these days. They really are rivers! Water evaporating from the ocean rises into the jet stream and is collected into an actual river flowing through the atmosphere. They can have a volume greater than the volume of water flowing in the Mississippi! When confronted by atmospheric and temperature changes over mountains ranges, the water is — to put it scientifically — dumped. Large amounts of rain or snow depending on surface temperature.
Here’s some info on the Origins of the Guitar that you might be interested in. Since we’re going back into the “mists of time,” this is what we currently know:
The modern Guitar, similar to what we know today, was developed in Spain, around the turn of the 15th Century. This instrument was called the “Vihuela,” with 4 double strings. It was developed into the “Guitarra Latina,” which looked similar to our modern Classical Guitar.
However, the origins of the first Guitars go back to Ancient Greece, Turkey, Persia & Africa; Egypt in particular. (We’re talking roughly 3,500 years ago, & probably much earlier!)
The 4-string Oud was brought to Spain (Iberia,) by the Moors in the 8th Century. When I first started teaching Music in 1992 – 93, I taught Band, Strings, Beginning Guitar, etc. I had a video which described the first Guitar as a one-stringed instrument from Africa. I’ve learned more since then & I looked up more information today.
Also, the first ELECTRIC GUITAR was invented by Les Paul in 1929. But I found conflicting info on this. Also, musician George Beauchamp & electrical engineer Adolph Rickenbacker were the 1st to achieve an electric guitar with w/a good sound quality! The patent for that was made in California in 1934.
(Apparently, the idea for the first electric Guitar goes back to the 19th Century!)
Not to be outdone, Country Music Historians agree that Robert Lee Dunn, (born in Oklahoma in 1908,) invented his own version of the Electric Steel Guitar, using a homemade pickup. And finally, Jazz Guitarist Charlie Christian (1916 — 1942) used an acoustic Guitar w/a pickup to play solos in his band & was probably the 1st to do so!
There’s much more I learned, but this is enough for now!
This is a very interesting subject that could be the start of a long, long forum.
GUITAR EXPERTS — WOULD YOU LIKE TO WEIGH IN ON THIS SUBJECT?!
THANK YOU!!
— Bud Jackson
Hey Bud,
I am not necessarily an expert, But I do know there is conflicting information in history in general, and especially when it comes to science and the arts.
Who really discovered America? Who really discovered electricity?
Who really invented the first musical instruments?
Did Jack Dawson really have to die after the Titanic sank? (He could have fit on the wooden door with Rose). Bobby S.
Robert,
That is so true! A lot of buried history lies waiting to be discovered. I love to hear about newly discovered revelations that open up our understanding of the past! We may not know yet who first invented the Guitar, but we know that Africa & the Middle East made the first string instruments. They didn’t look much like what we have today, but it was a good start!
Then it took Europeans to refine things more and create new Music for the evolving instruments. One good point is that people in each area of the World made important contributions and shared their knowledge.
Although most people in the Ancient World didn’t wander far from their homes, the Explorers and Traders made up for that with very wide explorations and travel.
Thanks for your comments! — Bud
Hi Bud
I never knew the guitar goes all the way back to Ancient Greece.
I wonder what the maestro would think of Hendricks and Clapton. I am sure he would be in awe! If I could go back in time, I would show him Mona and Lisa.
Jung,
I don’t remember seeing that quote by Beethoven before. Thanks, that’s very interesting! I wonder who he heard play the guitar! — Bud
Hey Bud, I know Beethoven didn’t compose music specifically for guitar, but during his time the guitar gained much popularity, and he did like to experiment with different instruments, and he also was good friends with fellow composer, Mauro Giuliani, a renowned guitarist and composer for the instrument. Giuliani’s compositions and performances likely provided Beethoven with further exposure to the guitar and its repertoire.
I recently learned that approximately 60 tons of dust falls on the earth each day. Guess it’s time to get the dust rag out.
I think most of that is falling in my house.
I know what mean. I’ve already gone through a warehouse full of Dust Busters.
Hi Gerry, I always wondered – who invented dust anyway?
Bobby S.
I think it was the company that makes Endust cleaning spray. They had a ton of spray cans to sell. Lol
CBC Radio Canada has a weekly science program called Quirks and Quarks, which is always good for novel and quirky content. Just today, while making lunch, I found out that rope has been a useful tool since around 37,000 to 40,000 BCE, ahead of the wheel by a few thousand years. I also learned that dogs like to watch other dogs on TV, rather than watching squirrels, for example. Not too surprising.
But, you don’t have to go further than the MLT Club forum, to find out all kinds of things you didn’t know. The recent thread about unusual musical instruments was a cornucopia of entertaining information. Thanks to everyone who submitted.
Then, there’s Bobbleheads. You only have to consult Wikipedia to see that Mona and Lisa (and the Beatles) are not the first, and will not be the last, to be caricatured by big headedness. Spoiler alert: Bobbleheads have been around for longer than you might think. and even the Buddha and the Pope have had their likenesses portrayed, all in good fun, of course. And as one thing leads to another, apparently there’s also an animated movie, and on and on it goes. MLT on the big screen!
Awesome show…CBC Radio Canada has the best programs:
The Inside Track,
Quirks and Quarks,
White Coat, Black Art,
Q (First with Jian Ghomeshi and now Tom Power),
As it Happens,
The Vinyl Cafe (Rest in Peace, Stuart McLean)
Had the opportunity to see The Vinyl Cafe live twice, in St. Catherines and in Hamilton.
CBC Mornings, with Saroja Coelho, wakes me up each morning. Problem is, I do not get the school closings in Lockport, NY on CBC Music. LOL!
I have always thought that CBC Radio, in particular, CBC Music, would be a great new landing point for MLT. Each song on CBC Mornings is preceded by some facts about the song and the artist. This was started by Raina Douris (now on NPRs World Cafe) and has been continued by Saroja Coelho. This would be awesome spot in introduce MLTs music to the Canadian public.
If MLT ever decides to go to Canada (perfect fit…part of the Commonwealth) a visit on Q with Tom Power would further expand their fan base.
Their visit can always conclude with a Duo Session at the Glenn Gould studio which is on the same Front Street location as Q in Downtown Toronto.
Always has been a thought…
That would be pretty awesome Christopher. Perhaps one day in the not too distant future.
Hi Len
Yeah Quirks and Quarks have always been one of my favourite CBC radio programs. I enjoy that kind of radio programming. I wish there were more.
About a year ago, I learned that some of my favorite music from the 60s can be improved on… I would have argued that with anyone until I heard Mona and Lisa. I guess I was somewhat of a purist. And I won’t start naming songs, but if you listen to Mona and Lisa, and then listen to the original…. One of the beach boys songs is playing in the background at this moment, of course, it’s Mona and Lisa’s voice… that proves my point.🤓
I learned the sun’s polarity switches every 11 years and this reversal leads to increased solar flares
And maximum activity for the current cycle is expected to occur this year!
This would be information, mainly for people in the United States… I’m sure all of you has seen a bag of charcoal briquettes made by KingsFord…? The Ford in that company… is Henry Ford. When he was making the model T of course they had wooden spokes in the wheels… and wooden running boards. There was lots of waste. So one of Henry‘s friends, last name of King… got together, and decided to make charcoal briquettes out of the waste. Sometimes it’s the simplest thing$ 🤓
I don’t know if commenting more than once is allowed, but here it goes. I recently learned what the actual geometric definition of night is. It is when the sun is greater than 18 degrees below the horizon. I never considered that “night” is more than being simply dark outside.
I hope it’s allowed…. Things keep popping into my mind!🤓
I just read something about this a couple of weeks ago, Bradley. I had no idea, but the evening (and symmetrically the morning) is officially divided into several zones of time: civil twilight (when the Sun is less than 6 degrees below the horizon), nautical twilight (6 to 12), astronomical twilight (12 to 18), and night (more than 18).
I recently read the same thing. I saw it in a recent issue of Astronomy magazine.
Yes, that’s where I saw it too!
That’s awesome!!
I have recently learned that the last photograph Taken of the beatles while they were still a band that not one Of them had reached the age of thirty yet.
Yes, and age 30 is when you REALLY start to go over the hill! (Ha-ha! Not really!)
Something I didn’t realize until recently, is the song Sukiyaki sung by Kyu Sakamoto, reached #1 on the music charts in the United States and some other countries in 1963.
I remember listening to it back then and I still listen to it from time to time.
Yes! Actually Sukiyaki was the very first 45 rpm record I purchased!
I can’t say that I have learned this only today, but, today has reaffirmed my knowledge of just how well-educated, curious and interesting my fellow MLT club members are. Most of what I learned today I learnt from reading the comments from this post. I would also love to learn from Tomás where he got these groovy figurines from!
I just learned that my knees are much older than I am…lol I also learned that rebuilding a 60’s era vehicle costs more than you would think, but it has to be done. Thanks girls for all the great music you do!
One thing I learned recently is to turn down the volume on your headphone amp before you turn off the mute button.
Exactly! Unless you want your ears blasted out into Space like Janitor Joe!
In 1984 I read Fractal Geometry of Nature and was taken by the application of fractals to explain clouds, coastlines, mountains, ferns, snow flakes, etc. Into the memory bank, considered often, and two months ago back to Mandelbrot Set math, computer iteration and plotting of Set numbers to create designs with incredible math symmetries which repeat smaller and smaller to infinity. Cool! Right, who cares. Well, the JWST (Webb Space Telescope) has been producing images of the universe which are beyond my logical comprehension and at this time I think the concept of the math sets can be applied to what unexpected information is coming from these research images. Real physicists and cosmologists don’t have a clue and the current theories can’t explain what has been found. Learning will continue for me.
Yes, James! When I first learned about fractal geometry, a few years ago, I was flabbergasted. The Mandelbrot set and its implications about the nature of the universe blew my mind. It gets very close to explaining how something can be created from nothing. If that doesn’t blow your mind, nothing will.
That’s very interesting, James and Stephen. I hadn’t heard of fractal geometry being used to address cosmological questions. I’ll have to look into that and see if any testable predictions are being proposed and researched.
I recently started to learn about the pros and cons of owning a teardrop trailer
Tomas…great bobbleheads!! Recently I have learned all about the Da Vinci Robotic Lobectomy. My brother had this procedure done at the beginning of the week to remove a small nodule that was cancerous. Procedure went well and he is home recovering.
If you have the stomach for it these are several examples you can find on YouTube. It truly is amazing how many modern medical procedures and cures there are for issues these days.
I recently learned from a documentary from Astro Physicist Neil Degrasse Tyson that the amount of data humanity has observed of the vast universe is equivalent to a one cup (8oz) sample of ocean water from the vast Pacific or Atlantic Ocean. So it is hard for anyone to dispute or acknowledge the existence of alien life in the universe. He puts things about our universe in great perspective for the lay-people. He’s also a big fountain pen enthusiast, so he got on my radar. 🖋 ✒ 🚀 😁
I enjoy listening to Neil DeGrasse Tyson too. Especially when he says that it’s time for some “DeGrasse kicking!”
Cool giveaway !
Recently I’ve realized how much I dislike winter.
Please give me Spring, Summer and Fall !
And give me Summer all year!
Looks like a great item to win, do they bobble to the music? I’ve not learned much this week other than that Ringo is planning to release a new 10 track album instead of the EPs he’s been doing for the last few years!
I’m with Jung; these are some of the greatest things I have ever seen! I would totally buy them. Nice one, Tomás!
I learned today that I’ve learned nothing interesting in the last few weeks. Which is startling and disturbing. Until I read this post, that is…
Thanks for donating the bobbleheads Tomas!
My “learned something new” is totally off the wall and a bit gross, but here it is:
A few years back I noticed something on my neighborhood walks that I had never seen before. It was a brown mass about 4 inches high and 3 inches across. It was right where someone hadn’t bothered to clean up after their dog. When I gave it a kick it exploded, sending out a cloud of spores – a fungus. The other day I finally googled it. It’s actually called Dog Poop Fungus. The websites I looked at didn’t say if it was eatable of not – I wonder why? Here’s a pic: http://ucanr.edu/blogs/napanewspaper/blogfiles/33936.png
I learned that the State of Alaska (USA) ist twice as big as the State of Texas (USA), and the State of Texas (USA) is two and a half time as big as Germany.
I went to a Tommy Emmanuel concert recently and was bemused that on one song he had two capos on his guitar. A friend kindly explained that they were partial capos. I’ve been playing guitar for over 50 years and its completely new to me that there is such a thing as a partial capo!!! Duh!!!!!
Margot, I had never heard of double capos either! Some very good friends of mine that live in Glasgow saw him recently too. He’s an amazing performer.
OK, well that’s what I learned today! Very cool.
I recently learnt that the number of people who have ever lived on Earth may be 118 billion, including the current 8 billion or so.
I was surprised by the scale of this estimate, as I’d presumed most of the people who live or have ever lived came in the last century or two.
That greatly surprises me too, Derek, for the same reason. I would have guessed the total was about five times less than that. I suppose the very low population for most of human history really adds up over tens of thousands of years.
That’s quite interesting, I wouldn’t have thought as much either. In 118 billion faces that existed, I wonder how many looked just like you and me? In comparison, there are about 100 billion stars in our Milky Way, so humans have surpassed the stars in our galaxy.
100 billion stars is actually at the low end of the range of estimates, Jung. It could be as many as 400 billion.
David, those numbers are incomprehensible. I just read up a little more, and take 400 billion stars, that seems like a lot, and there are some 2 trillion galaxies (2 trillion X 400 billion +). With recent discoveries by the James Web Space Telescope, there is even speculation brewing about multiverses. If there is some truth to that, how many universes are there each with 2 trillion or so galaxies? Starts to get mind boggling. The population of Vancouver is 2.6 million, that’s a little easier to chew on for me.
I learned the other day, in the early formation of the solar system, earth had a twin planet. They eventually collided, and gave birth to the moon. And there is also a theory that there was a second moon that formed around the earth, that collided with the moon, merging into a single bigger moon we see today.
Colorado and Hawaii are the only two states that produce their own water. No water runs by waterways into Colorado , instead water runs downhill from Colorado to every other state.
I just learned that keeping up with the MLT Forum is like trying to follow the chat during the live streams. While I’m here, did you hear they are not going to make twelve inch rulers any longer?
Struth and stone the crows!! Does that mean we’ll have to carry yardsticks? Or Meter rules? Will they keep the pocket sized six inch ones?
Who’s, “They”, anyway? Who to they think they are? 😛
Twelve inch rulers will continue to be twelve inches long. They are not going to make twelve inch rulers any longer.
Thank goodness for that. 🙂
I’m so happy that the Bobbleheads are well liked! Thank you Mona and Lisa for your kind words.
Even though I’m not participating in the draw, here goes what I learned recently, also concerning the diameter of the moon, which is 400 times smaller than the diameter of the Sun, but since it’s distance from the earth is also 400 times smaller, the two appear as being the same size to us.
I really enjoyed reading all the fun facts! As I went to a British school and then moved to the US, I’m always very aware of the language differences:
British English: I learnt that my neighbour is a very learned bloke.
American English: I learned that my neighbor is a very learned dude.
🌙 🌞 🤗
LOVE the bobbleheads, Tomas! And the hilarious language comparison, too!
My first experience with British English was in trying to read the Andy Capp comic strip as a kid. I had no idea it was set in another country; I just thought it was about some people who spoke very strangely for some reason, and somehow that was supposed to be funny. I remember being frustrated that my mom couldn’t explain to me the difference between a bloke and a blighter.
I’m a lifelong musician, but had never heard of an Ocarina until just this week. So, I learned that it is a wind musical instrument—a type of vessel flute. I had to order one to see if I could use it to play Mona’s flute instrumental melody from Any Other Day. 😉 Keepin’ it groovy!
An Ocarina was used for the instrumental break in The Troggs hit single ‘Wild Thing’!
I’ve had the first Troggs album for almost all my adult life. Rog Presley’s singing is fun to make fun of (“Hi Hi, Hazel, Nice to see you in the neighborhood , lookin’ good”). I also have the first Zombies album, the worse for wear. They did harmonies unlike the Troggs.
LOVE this GIVEAWAY! LOL…How cool is that? You know you have made it, ladies, when you have your own bobble heads! 👏🏼👏🏼
I have played various instruments ever since 6th grade, but I am finally learning what “practice” really means — on a hammered dulcimer. It doesn’t have valves like a trumpet; no reeds, like a harmonica; you don’t just form a chord with one hand and strum with the other, like a guitar or ukulele. No, it’s this weird combination of percussion and melody, and for me, it requires — no, demands — daily practice to develop the knowledge of where & how & when to hit 23 strings with 2 hammers to produce 35 notes in the proper order, tempo and volume. So I can’t really use past tense and say that I’ve “learned” this about myself and this instrument; this particular lesson needs to be in present tense, today, tomorrow, the day after that, and so on and so on. Challenge accepted!
I recently learned that the ground hog didn’t see his shadow today (ground hog day) so we will have an early spring. Ya-hoo. Peace be
Punxsutawney Phil has “grounds” for a lawsuit against another groundhog weather prophet I saw a photo of. There’s only one “Punxy”. Accept no imitators! We’ve seen the public library building where Phil stays in a large room with his family. PETA doesn’t like it, of course. 🦫
I just now learned this. Gummy Bear candies contain 0% of your recommended daily dietary fiber intake.
I recently learnt that John Lennon’s classic debut solo album Plastic Ono Band was re issued on EMI’s Budget label fame in the mid eighties and was then able to pick up a copy on ebay. Been a Beatles fan for nearly 48 years and as a record collector I’ve no idea how this passed me by.
Wow that’s great. Bobby S.
I don’t know what happened. I tried to give you an upvote, but a minus 1 lit up in red??
You may have hit the – instead of the + .
I dunno? I had trouble yesterday trying to give some folks upvotes. Some worked and some didn’t. Sometimes I had to press it a few times to activate it. Bobby S.
Did you know that you can listen to ALL of the solo albums on Spotify for free and that even includes the weird ones like Two Virgins and Life with the Lions?
I got Mind Games the same way, extra cheap version. Now there is going to be an expensive box set in June!
Our seven-year-old grandson taught me what a dodecagon is! (12-sided polygon)
I learned that I could win 2 bobble heads in the images of the Moana Lisa Twins
Wow that was really nice of Tomás!
You are now immortal, as your “bobble heads” will be seen by the entire world!
What I just learned the other day, by listening to your cover of the song by Melanie, “what have they’ve done to my song ma”, is that you can sing in at least 4 languages!
English, German, French, and the language of Love!
Bravo Girls.
I recently learned that Napoleon was of normal height and the belief that he was short was started by his opponents…
You are right Dave, I think he was about 5’6” which wasn’t too short at his time. Bobby S.
Someone said it would take 19,000 years travelling at the speed of light to reach the Alpha Centauri System. 🐯
Actually it would only take 4.3 years at light speed. 19,000 years sounds like about how long it would take going at a typical interplanetary spacecraft speed.
Jeepers creepers….. I think I know how long it would take me to get to downtown Denver. Of course that would be typical speed limit…. speed…..😳
One of my favorite things about astronomy is trying to find ways to grasp how big everything is. At 70 mph you could drive to Alpha Centauri in 42 million years. And that’s just the first gas station on the trip through the galaxy!
OK…. Now you’re just showing off….🤓
I’m teasing…. I love this stuff…. I’m glad there’s guys like you that want to figure it out! I think you analyzed the live stream also on another link! Very cool!
Thanks, David.
Pfft. It takes me 19,000 years just to drive across town in traffic.
Bravo, Tomas. A very cute and groovy gift and a prize that many seem pretty keen to win, myself included.
Yesterday, I learned about Negative Harmony and I learned here at MLT Club.
It has turned out to be quite the rabbit hole, like music through the looking glass. I’m still researching it elsewhere.
Just now I learned about the size of the moon relative to Oz where I live. It seems that if the moon were to fall on Alice springs, I’d be in some pretty serious trouble. I can picture it; me and my MLT Bobbleheads singing REM’s “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It, and I feel fine,,,,,,,,”, then a Wyle E. Coyote style ending…… Beep Beep……… fade to black…….
Interesting concept. 🙂
Today I learned a lot of interesting facts here at the club. Thank you for sharing them.
Congratulations Tomás, you did a great job with the figurines.
Hi. Those bobbleheads look amazing. I’m a keen hiker a pastime I’ve only really got into big time this last year. I learnt that the hills I’m walking over ( Shropshire Hills) are 100s of million years old. Amazing to think about really, the Earth would’ve looked completely different. I am literally walking through history
I recently learned that Australia is wider than the moon! Hahaha. That’s not my entry but it is interesting as I have photographed the moon many many times using my telescope to get that perfect shot so it is something of great interest to me. Something I can use with my next moon picture post!
What I found interesting recently, is about off-loader knee braces. I tore my miniscus in my right knee playing sports and was recommended I get an off-loader knee brace. I thought that meant the brace off loaded weight from the knee by using the calf and thigh to bear some of the weight to lessen stress on the knee. Not so. In my case, the brace actually can be adjusted to push the knee sideways,from the outside side, bending it slightly at the inside, opening a slight gap where the tear is, taking stress off the miniscus relieving pain. It works as I am back to playing tennis and badminton and just walking around!
I learned just today that my boss is going on a business trip to Florida this September. He’ll have a free day and wants me to go to Universal Studios with him and couple others from the office. Me. I’m a Disney guy so was ready to say thanks but no thanks. Then I remembered that was the same time I’m going to be at Disney World. Looks like I’ll make the trip after all.
I learned the other day when I was out riding my bicycle in 30-degree weather, (-1C), that there are Trumpeter and Tundra Swans in Illinois. I stopped on the banks of the Des Plaines River in Romeoville, Illinois. I saw an Eagle, perched on a big branch in the river, watch a group of swans float by. I was rewarded for getting off the couch and getting outside on my bike. Pretty cool.
I have only very recently learned that if you turn north America and Canada on it’s side and add a little colour then you have an image of Neve the duck!!
https://www.reddit.com/r/Pareidolia/comments/c85mmd/north_and_south_america_look_like_a_duck_when/
That’s pretty cute! 😁
LOL!
Some people say that the “man in the Moon” face looks like a map of North and South America, which undoubtedly was the inspiration for this comic strip:
https://www.pinterest.ch/pin/695946948644404577/
I learned details about the Somme offensive in WWI. The Allies had advanced only 2-3 miles when it was over. England lost more men killed on the first day than in any other military campaign in their history. Horrible beyond anything imaginable short of nuclear war.
My grandfather Fredrick Killick was a Battery Sergeant Major with the Royal Horse Artillery from day one and throughout that awful war, most of which was spent on The Somme hauling cannons through the mud with horses. He survived and passed away in 1976. My family hero.
I learnt today that Kingfish Ingram, aged 24, is one of the best blues guitar players on the planet. Just Wow!!!
Yes, Mona and Lisa please play at Red Rocks in Morrison Colorado! I’m about 10 minutes away from it as we speak!
When I was in high school.. probably would’ve been 1976 or 1977… REO Speedwagon…. Heart…. And Pure Prairie League played at the fairgrounds in South Dakota where I lived. No one had heard of Heart…. and when one of the Wilson sisters brought out her mandolin and started playing…. They almost got booed off the stage. maybe that was a reflection of the crowd😬…. But we were all wanting REO Speedwagon to play
“Riding the storm out!” Rumor has it….Heart recovered…. I think they did pretty well.🤓
I started a drawing course a while ago and learned about different types of graphite pencils, and how to use construction shapes and lines. I also learned that anyone can do this, just takes a little knowledge and a lot of practice. Sounds strangely like ANYTHING!
I learned that the Mona Lisa Twins are going to let me have those bobbleheads of you – vielen dank
Speaking of Red Rocks…. I believe it’s the only concert that the Beatles did not sell out. I’m pretty sure I heard that on Sirius XM radio!😬🤓
I learned that one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Billy Joel, has released a new song. That makes me extremely happy!
And just for the record (no pun intended), it’s really good.
Yes Dennis, “Turn the Lights Back On” was released as a 7” Limited Edition Vinyl Single Record for $15.98. I ordered 3 copies.
Many years ago, Billy said he would not write any more rock ‘n roll songs. He did put out a classical album called “Fantasies & Delusions”. Funny thing the last song on his last studio album, River of Dreams, was called “Famous Last Words”. Take Care, Bobby S.
Did you know the famous Rock & Roll band Heart is playing at the Red Rocks Ampitheater in Morrison, Colorado, USA on Saturday evening September 22nd, 2024. The amphitheater’s hosted many venues including the Beatle, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and many other famous performers.
Mona and Lisa please consider performing at the amphitheater. You will be a smash hit.
That sounds great. I would travel there from NY to see them. Hey George does that venue seat about 9500 people? Bobby S.
The Bobbleheads are phenomenal!!
I just learned that Gene Hackman was the blind man in Young Frankenstein! Lol
Hello Ladies,
In response to your request, and since it’s almost Valentines Day….
On February 14, 1939, the Original ‘Dracula’ movie was released. Yes, on Valentines Day. Hungarian born Bela Lugosi got the role of Dracula because his accent was spot on.
Imagine being taken on a Valentines Date and this was the movie you were taken to. Perhaps many Boyfriends lost their ‘best girl’ that night
Have a great weekend Ladies and Team MLT 💛❤️
Rick Ross
Hi Rick, I love Bela Lugosi and tell people that I am a decent. My nickname is The Count 🧛♂️.
I want to visit the castles in Romania some day.
Did you know that prior to Dracula, Bela was offered the role of the Frankenstein Monster, but turned it down because he did not want to sit for hours for all that makeup? As you know, Boris Karloff got the job. But Bela did play the Monster later on in a film (or 2?). Bobby S.
Hi Bobby
As I understand it, Bela played the role 2 x as Frankenstein. They had to adjust the height of the camera to make him look taller
Correction – I meant to say that I am a descendent of Bela ( and I’m decent also hahaha).
Hahahaha! Probably so! There’s a book about Bela Lugosi’s final tour playing Dracula in England, late in his life. By Frank Dello Stritto.
I read a few months ago that King Charles III is a direct descendant of Vlad Dracul, the model for Dracula.
That makes sense. He doesn’t appear to do well in the daylight.😆 😆 😆
I also recently learned that all 8 billion people on earth could fit on the big island of Hawaii . ( I had to edit my original comment) For some reason I thought it was Rhode Island but is Hawaii which is quite larger.
Tim
Imagine the traffic grid lock, or finding parking at the mall. It might be hard finding a good spot on the beach.
Lol, yeah the beach might be a little crowded. I’ll be at the bar with the rest of the Wisconsinites and the Irish.
Those bobbleheads are really cool Tomas, did you make those? I am always learning new things from members of this club. Just recently I have learned about ancient instruments called a nyckleharpa and tagelharpa and a hurdy gurdy. I remember the song by Donovan but never knew what a hurdy gurdy was or that it was even an instrument. I also learned about Walpurgis night. Thanks Jurgen.
My friend Vicki Swan is one of the WORLD’S leading nyckelharpa players!
Wow Tomas! The Bobbleheads are just Too Cool! You knocked a home run for sure.
BRAVO!!
I recently learned that NASA scientist truly believe that the moon is hollow.
Howdy,
Mary Weiss, the last surviving member of the girl group, the Shangri-Las, has passed away.
Her sister Betty was in the group along with twins Marge & Maryann Ganser. Wow two pairs of sisters, including twins. Kool.
For those who don’t know them – they had hits – “Remember(Walking in the Sand)”, “Give Him a Great Big Kiss” and of course “Leader of the Pack”.
Bobby S. 🎵🎵❤️❤️🎵🎵
Hey, Bobby. Actually, Betty is still alive.
Speaking of new things learned, I just found out the other day that the piano parts on both Remember and Leader of the Pack were played by a then-teenaged Billy Joel!
Yeah, sorry about that. I had read that Mary was the last surviving original member. Betty did leave the group at one point and they became a trio. BTW they were from Queens, NY. And yes, I remember hearing many years ago that Billy Joel had played on Leader of the Pack. Funny story – Billy said he played piano on those two songs with “Shadow” Morton before The Shangri-Las sang on them. He thought it was him playing on those records, although a co-writer of the songs, Ellie Greenwich, says it wasn’t him. He said it doesn’t matter cause he never got paid. Ciao, Bibby S.
I recently learned (learnt) that “Still A Friend Of Mine” is still my favorite MLT song! I just think it is written perfectly and strikes a chord in our hearts about “old friends” and how we still feel about them even we don’t get the chance to see them anymore. That being said,…..Why? is even better!! Keep it coming ladies!!!
Yes, Still a Friend of Mine is one of my favorite MLT songs. Bobby S.
It’s not only my favorite MLT song, it would make my short list of favorite songs ever.
Guido d’Arezzo, an Italian monk, is regarded as the inventor and developer of written music.🤓
Hm, let me think about it for a moment. How about this: Newly discovered spiders are sometimes named after famous people. For example, one species of trapdoor spider is named “Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi” in honor of Neil Young. A species of beetle was given the illustrious name “Orectochilus orbisonorum” in memory of Roy Orbison. What do we learn from this? As a musician you should take a close look at what kind of fans you have 🙂
Hi Jurgen, that is pretty cool. I always liked Ladybugs, only insect that doesn’t bother me when I see one, in fact I go out of the way to set them somewhere safe so they don’t get stepped on if I see one on the pavement. They are a family of Beatles. 😊
In elementary school art class project, I got a really nice shiny rock, painted it glossy red and drew black spots and wings of a lady bug, glued on eyes, and set it on a felt mat. Looked pretty cool.
How about in honour of Mona and Lisa name a Ladybug: “Coccinellidae MonaLisa”. Did you know these cute Beatles are known as Ladybugs in North America, and Ladybirds in the UK. Lady refers to Mother Mary.
I used to be terrorized by ladybugs when I was in grad school. Each April they would infest my building, and a lot of them congregated on the underside of a fluorescent light directly above my office desk.
Every couple of minutes, gravity would work its magic and one of them would thud onto the piece of paper I was reading or writing on, startling the willies out of me. I really could have used your services then, Jung!
I think an infestation of bugs of any kind would be unsettling for me too. I’ve always had good experiences with these cute red bugs. Perhaps making lady bugs out of rocks in art class as a child with the whole class, and bringing my lady bug creation home sitting on my desk for a year left an impression on me. I could never hurt them even as a grown up. I remember a few months ago found a lady bug crawling on the floor, and I gently picked it up and let if fly away outside. If it were any other insect I would have probably just swatted it. Must have been some kind of childhood imprinting with these bugs. 😉
Yeah Jung. “Marienkäfer” are wonderful creatures. Ladybugs are considered lucky charms for us. In the summer a lot of them live in my garden. How about Coccinellidae pulchra cuprea Lisa (the red variety) and Psyllobora pulchra aurea Mona (the yellow “blond” variety)?
Many insects are interesting creations if you look at them closely instead of hitting them with your slipper. Okay, but I also think they should live in nature and not in my bed or my wardrobe. This is not species-appropriate. Both for the insects and for me.
Hi Jurgen, that’s interesting there are red and yellow varieties of ladybugs or ladybirds. How fitting then; Coccinellidae pulchra cuprea Lisa and Psyllobora pulchra aurea Mona. And they look like Volkswagen Beetles, and belong to the Beatles family of bugs, or birds in the UK! 😉
I learned you can clean your washing machine with white vinegar.
Hi Craig, Yes white vinegar is good for cleaning lots of things. No harmful chemicals that some cleaners have. Bobby S.
Those bobble heads are beautiful. Did Tomas make them or have them made? If we don’t win them, I think lots of us would like to buy a pair.
I have been doing quizzes online almost every day for the past year or two and I’ve learned so much. For now, let me talk about Mary Shelley, who lots of us probably know wrote the novel –
“Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus”. Many consider this to be the first SciFi novel.
She passed away in 1851 at age 53. A year after her death, her husband Percy’s heart was found in Mary’s desk drawer wrapped in some pages of the last poem Percy wrote (“Adonais).
Percy Shelley, a famous British poet, died young at age 29, in a boating accident.
Take care, Bobby S. 😎🎵🎵🎵🧛♂️
So even though I’m in my 70’s I still take guitar lessons each week…and each week I pick a song to play or learn how play with my fantatic teacher Kit. I just bought a new song book (Beatles) and so far the chords etc. seem pretty close to the correct sound. So after all that what have I recently learned (t) … I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party! 😉
Hi Alan, That is a great song. I think it’s the flip side of Eight Days a Week. I never played it on the guitar, but I like to sing it. It’s great that you are still playing. Keep on for as long as you can. Take care, Bobby S.
If you divided Alaska in 2 equal parts, Texas would be the THIRD largest state in the US.
One of the things I’ve learned in the short time I’ve been an mlt club member is that you really have a wonderful and loyal fan base! And I’m glad to be a member with them.
Another thing I’ve recently learned as I’ve been learning more about owls is that some species, especially those that rely on their hearing to locate prey, have one ear that is slightly higher on one side of their head than the other. This helps them locate sounds to within 2-3 degrees!
What i’ve learned?
Today we say: “a person with a record-breaking distance from reality.”
A few years ago we simply said: “complete idiot”
Too much truth in that one…. When I was in grade school…. And we played on the playground we got “thirsty”…. Now when kids play on the playground they get “dehydrated”….😳
I’ve just learnt that the Cavern club sits at 90 degrees to the original and it covers 70% of the original Cavern. Just saw that on YouTube. I obviously knew it wasn’t “THE CAVERN” but never knew that about it. Amazing what you can learn and it’s still a great night of music in there “especially when the MonaLisa Twins were there”
I learned how to use a laser engraver/cutter to create special wooden Christmas labels for my own one year old twin granddaughters.
Rosalie and Everly.
I learned I can make infested stone blocks by haunting it…. I really play too much Minecraft.
I just learned how to completely clean my Harman Pellet Stove. We love it here in Maine.
I just learned how to play the harmonica. So cool and never thought I could do that.
I just learned that my parents were never really married. I guess you know what that makes me then…
Oh my, Daryl, are you okay? That doesn’t make you any lesser of the person you already are. And lots of people live together and have children. Take care, Bobby S. 😎
Bobby, actually, that’s part of an old joke my Dad used to tell. At least as far as I’m told the marriage was real. I meant it in jest. I can’t however, honestly say that there might not be a few souls in this world that may have that particular opinion of me. I was in business all my life after all…(wink)
I’ve learned not to rub the kitty’s belly
I recently learned that the huddle in American football was invented by a team of deaf students from Gallaudet University when they played another team of deaf students in 1894.
—
These bobbleheads are incredibly well done!
I learned that you’re offering a MLT Club members a MonaLisa Twins bobblehead and that the MLT Club is the world’s most popular membership only online club. (even if it isn’t really, it is for me!)!!
The big island of Hawaii… is large enough to put all the other Hawaiian islands on …twice!
The entire U.K. would fit inside Texas.
Those bobble heads look GREAT by the way! Well done!
That’s a great bit of trivia!!
I read recently that all Polar Bears are left handed. How anyone got close enough to figure this out, I have no idea.
😂
I recently learnt that my 90 year old dad is epileptic. He was diagnosed 20+ years ago after having a fit when no family were present.
He kept it from the family, even my mum, but was forced to admit it to paramedics in our presence after suffering another fit at a recent family wedding.
He was OK but having had to collect him from hospital at 4.00 a.m in the morning after precautionary checks, I couldn’t help wishing that I had found out his condition a different way.
And if they did, they’re probably not around any longer to attest to it. 😊
They look great Tomas thank you here is a new fact i have learnt sorry Mona Lisa you cannot blame it on the other either.
Identical twins don’t have the same fingerprints. You can’t blame your crimes on your twin, after all. This is because environmental factors during development in the womb (umbilical cord length, position in the womb, and the rate of finger growth) impact your fingerprint.
Great idea, and thanks Tomas’, I recently learnt that my 6 year old granddaughter Amelia is very clever and can count to 10 in Japanese. However, my 4 Year old granddaughter Elsie, is unable to say ‘Please’ in Spanish!! That’s ‘poor for four’ that isn’t it? ha ha ha….
Ok.
Do you know a beer stein and a beer mug is not the same thing?
A beer stein has a lid. If there is no lid, it is a beer mug.
Another one – the early Black Forest made cuckoo clocks had wooden mechanisms, including the gears. They are extremely valuable now if you can find one.
Mona 👱♀️ and Lisa 👩🦰 , this may not be interesting to most people but I’ll post it anyway.
I learned musically 🎼 “perfect pitch” is something I don’t want! See this video to learn more. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRaACa1Mrd4).
Also, I have learned, from my own experience, that guitar 🎸 players are never satisfied with their playing abilities. I’m always saying I could have played “that” better after I record 🎚 something. I do know that guitar players are always learning new things. As I get older I find that my fingers 🖖 don’t always want to do what my brain 😡 tells them especially when “Travis picking” a form of finger picking. I guess I’m losing my muscle memory. 😒
Groovy! Three cheers for Tomás!
Hip-Hip-Hooray!
I recently learned that some left handed guitarists leave their strings the same way as a right handed guitarist. They basically play upside down. I believe Hendrix and Doyle Brahmall II are guilty of this.
Àh…lol..it was only a matter of time before MLT Bobbleheads would be created …good one Tomas…. maybe Funko Dolls of MLT can be next.. ..lol… Love this awesome Giveaway Offering… they will #MLTBuzzLuvGroovified -ing to the music…lol…
Um, what new thing have I learnt recently ….
Well, I’m always learning new things constantly, in everyday life, within my own city, surroundings, people, in history, etc…. but what I ‘ve learned about recently is …
There’s a TV show that is on TV sometimes called :
” How Things Are Made ” and that’s rather interesting to me, in that I like seeing/knowing the curiosity in detailing, of how something was made, as I never really fully thought of it but yet somewheres in my curiosity mind, it comes to me wondering , and this TV show had surprised me with what all goes into making stuff we commonly see/use… 🤔 I’ll probably end up posting more things as I think but this is my main reply for the Giveaway entry ….
And am curious and looking forward to what all I can learn from others on here from their commentary….
I agree with the old adage of : You’re Never Too Old To Learn … You Can Teach An Old Dog New Tricks ….lol
Happy New #MLTBuzzLuvGroovified Learning Folks …😉😊🙃
Jacki, Me too, I am learning new things just by reading all the comments.
Here’s something I learned recently that will blow the minds of my fellow North Americans: the United Kingdom has the population of California and Texas combined, crammed into an area smaller than Wyoming!
Those are really groovy Tomás! I’ll have to think about what I’ve learned recently, or learn something new. What I’d really like to know right now is, for those of us that don’t win the giveaway, how do we buy a set? 🤔
Yes, I would love to own a set. Can we buy them?
Bobby S. 😎🎵🧛♂️
I also want some
I’m getting ready for work, so I’ll make a better comment later. The MLT Bobbleheads will be a great gift or prize for someone, thanks so much Tomas! Who made those?!
This must have been back in the day when Lisa was taller than Mona!
Jeanette’s comments really point out how lop-sided our global priorities are for people and our beautiful Planet.
Cheers everyone & have a wonderful weekend! — Bud
Oooh nice, these MLT Bobbleheads are the coolest thing I’ve seen. Love it. That is brilliant Tomas! Well if I win, they would go wonderfully next to my Beethoven bobblehead. I could have 3 of my greatest music heroes together on my shelf. 🥰
Here is an interesting fun fact.
Did you know there is speculation that Beethoven may have played for Mozart in 1787. When Beethoven first visited Vienna, Mozart was was living there.
I learned that edlevise is not an Austrian Song
I learned this week that there are more planets that look like earth then there are sandgraines on our earth? Its hard to believe butvit is a fact.
Wow! AMAZING, Tomas! I’ve recently learned Tomas gives marvelous gifts! The Van Gogh mugs, even spanning two attempts due to breakage, and now these! BIG props, Tomas! You don’t have to count this as my entry. I’ll come up with something more appropriate, I’m sure!
Okay, I just came across this interesting but somewhat frightening fact about cats: House cats share 95.6% of their genetic makeup with tigers! Yikes! I have 3. Come to think of it, one of them, Pussywillow, has very tiger-like behaviour.