Thursday Thirteen - Week 98

13 Christmas Carols I love
1. What Child is This (Greensleeves)
A popular Christmas carol written in 1865. At the age of twenty-nine, English writer William Chatterton Dix was struck with a sudden near-fatal illness and confined to bedrest for several months, during which he went into a deep depression. Yet out of his near-death experience, Dix wrote many hymns, including "What Child is This?", later set to the traditional English tune "Greensleeves"


2. Riu, Riu Chiu
A Spanish villancico that has attained some contemporary fame as a Christmas carol.


3. Silent Night (Stille Nacht)
A popular Christmas carol. The original lyrics of the song Stille Nacht were written in German by the Austrian priest Father Joseph Mohr and the melody was composed by the Austrian headmaster Franz Xaver Gruber. In 1859, John Freeman Young published the English translation that is most frequently sung today.

4. The First Noel (Nowell) A traditional English Christmas carol, most likely from the 18th century. In its current form it is of Cornish origin, and it was first published in Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern (1823) and Gilbert and Sandys Christmas Carols (1833), both of which were edited by William B. Sandys and arranged, edited and with extra lyrics written by Davies Gilbert.

5. Gaudete
A sacred Christmas carol, composed sometime in the 16th century. The song was published in Piae Cantiones, a collection of Finnish/Swedish sacred songs published in 1582. No music is given for the verses, but the standard tune comes from older liturgical books. The Latin text is a typical medieval song of praise, which follows the standard pattern for the time - a uniform series of four-line stanzas, each preceded by a two-line refrain (in the early English carol this was known as the burden). Carols could be on any subject, but typically they were about the Virgin Mary, the Saints or Christmastide themes.



6. O Come O Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)
A hymn tune attributed to King John IV of Portugal (although the exact authorship is unknown and disputed). The text itself has unclear beginnings, and may have been written in the 13th century by John of Reading, though it has been concluded that John Frances Wade was probably the author.

7. Little Drummer Boy
A popular Christmas song written by Katherine K. Davis. It was popularised by the version of the Harry Simeone Chorale and has been adapted many times since.
The lyrics tell of a poor young boy who, unable to afford a gift for the infant Jesus, plays his drum for the newborn with the Virgin Mary's approval. The newborn seems to understand and smiles at the boy in gratitude.
(This song ALWAYS makes me cry)

8. Canon in D major (Pachlabel's Canon)
The most famous piece of music by German Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel. Like most other works by Pachelbel and other pre-1700 composers, the Canon remained forgotten for centuries and was rediscovered only in the 20th century. Several decades after it was first published in 1919, the piece became extremely popular, and today it is frequently played at weddings and included on classical music compilations. Not a traditional Christmas song, not written as one, I recognize it as a Christmas Carol due to the following...

9. Christmas Canon
A Christmas song by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra from their 1998 album The Christmas Attic. It has debuted on the iTunes Top 100 download chart at #48 during Christmas time. The song is set to the tune of Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D Major with new lyrics added. The group's rock version is entitled "Christmas Canon Rock", which debuted on their 2004 album The Lost Christmas Eve.

10. Carol of the Bells
is a choral miniature work originally composed by the Ukrainian composer Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych. The "Carol of the Bells" was premiered in December 1916 by a choral group made up of students at Kiev University. It was introduced to Western audiences by the Ukrainian National Chorus during its concert tour of Europe and the Americas, where it premiered in the United States on October 5, 1921 at Carnegie Hall. It was later adapted into an English language version by Peter Wilhousky in the 1930s, and to this day is performed and sung worldwide during the Christmas season.

11. Good King Wenceslas
A popular Christmas carol about a king who goes out to give alms to a poor peasant on the Feast of Stephen (the second day of Christmas, December 26). During the journey, his page is about to give up the struggle against the cold weather, but is enabled to continue by the heat miraculously emanating from the king's footprints in the snow. The legend is based on the life of the historical Saint Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia (907–935), known in the Czech language as Svatý Václav.

12. Mary Did You KnowMark Lowry wrote the words in 1984 "when his pastor asked him to write the program for the living Christmas tree choir presentation. It was while he was working on the project that Mark considered what it would have been like to have been Jesus' mother".



13. Halleluja Chorus
Originally, Handel wrote The Messiah to be performed at Lent or Easter. Today, however, the Hallelujah Chorus is most popular as a piece of Christmas music.

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Thursday Thirteen 96 (week 4)

It is exactly one week until Thanksgiving in the United States. Thus starting my favorite time of year. My family has a 'tradition' for that day. We do just about the same things every year. In the past few years, we've had Thanksgiving at my house. My mom comes the night before and spends the night, and we wake up the next morning and start our day.

Here are the 13 Things I will do on Thanksgiving Day

1. After I roll out of bed (around 8:00am), I will whip up some breakfast. I don't normally eat like this for breakfast, only on holiday's. We have eggs, bacon, toast, juice, coffee. It is a treat, my daughter will appreciate it, and my son especially, I'm sure campus food is NOT like this.

2. Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!! I've never been. Can you see me leaving my nice warm home to go stand around with a bunch of other people watching floats go by. I'm in the city all the time, I want one day away. But I do enjoy watching it on TV!!

3. It never fails, we always forget SOMETHING. Luckily, our neighborhood supermarkets are open on Thanksgiving (and Christmas and Easter), so we can always run down and pick up whatever. I've been sending my son the past couple of years, well he is 19!! Yes he still protests.

4. Now it is time to cook. Me and my mother squeeze into my tiny kitchen to prepare the meal. To be fair, my mother makes most of the food, she does most of the work. Hey, it is her thing, I don't want to take that away from her, what kind of daughter would I be? And as we cook, I find some appropriate festive music to listen to. My ipod is ready to go.

5. Every year, I hope and pray that "Miracle on 34th Street" comes on. I like to watch this movie on Thanksgiving. I think over the past few years it has come on some channel. My family thinks I am nuts. I have seen this and "It's a Wonderful Life" more times than they care to remember. But those movies are classics for a reason. If Miracle on 34th Street does not come on, I hope "It's A Wonderful Life" does. Keeping my fingers crossed.

6. The DVD for this year will hopefully be "A Christmas Carol" with Jim Carrey. I didn't get to see this one last year. If for some reason we cannot watch this before dinner, we will watch it after. But it will get watched.
7. As we watch our movies, we have to snack. You would think we aren't going to stuff our faces in a few hours, but we nibble anyway.

8. Me and my son set the table. We first have to pull out the big folding table as the kitchen table is too small to hold all the food. Then we set it. Mine doesn't look as pretty as the one above, but I can dream.
9. Dinner time. It is finally time to eat the delicious turkey. I love my mother's gravy. We usually have all the regular stuff, Turkey, gravy, stuffing, mac & cheese, cranberry sauce....you know.
And of course more music. I haven't decided if I'm going to listen to Pandora or iTunes during dinner. Decisions, Decisions.

10. Now that we've eaten, we have to do the dishes. We will have washed many as we cooked, but there will be many more by this time. I do not own a dishwasher, so it is a hand washing and drying job. However, we have a system. There are 4 of us, one washes, one dries, one puts the food away and one bosses us around (that would be my daughter).

11. Dessert time. Ahhhh...probably 2 pies. The family likes apple, I prefer Pumpkin or Sweet Potato, or even better Mince, but we'll see what I can get. If I have to, I will eat the Apple LOL!
After all, I still have Christmas to get my pie!!!

12. After Dinner, Dishes and Dessert, we can rest. We will watch something either on TV or on my DVR (or DVD). I'm not sure what will be on, but we always find something.

13. After stuffing ourselves with Turkey, Cider and Pie, and after watching some TV, we are all ready for bed. But probably no Black-Friday shopping for me, as I will have hoped to finish it all by this time...maybe we will go to the movies instead...Harry Potter anyone? But that will have to be Friday, because on SATURDAY........

Thursday Thirteen 95 (week 3)

I did a similar post 2 years ago, but that blog is long gone, so I thought I'd revise it.

Thirteen Celebrities who were BORN in THE BRONX
(there are 14 here, but you'll understand why)

1. Stanley Kubrick
July 26, 1928 - March 7, 1999
(Aged 70)
Film Director & Producer

Stanley Kubrick was born in Lying-In Hospital in Manhattan, New York. His father Jacques Kubrick, whose parents and paternal grandparents were Jewish of Austrian, Romanian and Polish origin was a doctor. At Stanley's birth, the Kubricks lived in an apartment at 2160 Clinton Avenue in THE BRONX. Kubrick attended William Howard Taft High School (Bronx Public HS) from 1941–45.

He is best known for movies such as "A Clockwork Orange" and "The Shining". He died in his sleep of a heart attack.



2. Ellen Barkin
April 16, 1954
(Age 56)

Barkin was born in THE BRONX. She was raised in a lower-middle-class Jewish family a descendant of immigrants from Siberia and the Russia-Poland border. Barkin received her high school diploma at Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts. She then attended Hunter College and double majored in history and drama.




3. E.L. Doctrow
January 6, 1931
(Age 79)
Author

Edgar Lawrence Doctorow was born in THE BRONX, the son of second-generation Americans of Russian Jewish descent. He attended city public grade schools and the Bronx High School of Science where.

He has written such works as "Ragtime" and "Billy Bathgate". "Billy Bathgate" takes place in THE BRONX during Prohobition. He is a fictional character. The name Bathgate comes from a street in THE BRONX named Bathgate Avenue.

4. June Allyson
October 7, 1917 - July 8, 2006
(Aged 88)
Actress

Allyson was born Eleanor Geisman in THE BRONX. She was terrified that people would discover her background from the "tenement side of New York City". Following hip-replacement surgery in 2003, Allyson's health began to deteriorate. With her husband at her side, she died July 8, 2006, aged 88.





5. Carly Simon
June 25, 1945
(Age 65)
Singer, Songwriter

*Note: Unsure if she was BORN in THE BRONX, but she was raised in THE BRONX. After all both my son and I were born in Manhattan but lived/raised in the Bronx.

Her father, of Jewish descent, was Richard L. Simon (co-founder of Simon & Schuster). (Bet you didn't know that).

Her mother was Andrea Louise Simon a civil rights activist and singer of black and German descent. (Bet you didn't know that either).

Carly Simon was raised in the Riverdale neighborhood of THE BRONX. She attended Riverdale Country School which is a Bronx Private school that still stands today. Of course you have to be well-off to attend, the yearly tuitions range from - Pre-Kindergarten through Grade Five: $36,500 and Grades Six through Twelve: $38,800.





6. Garry and Penny Marshall
Garry: November 13, 1934 (Age 75)
Penny: October 15, 1942 (Age 68)
Actor/Actress, Director, Producer

Their father was of Italian descent, his family having come from Abruzzo,and their mother was of English and Scottish descent. Their father changed his last name from "Marsciarelli" to "Marshall" before Penny was born. In the 1950s, she grew up in an apartment on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx on a block that also spawned Neil Simon, Calvin Klein, and Ralph Lauren.

Garry attended De Witt Clinton High School (an all boys public HS at the time), Penny attended the sister school Walton High School (an all girls public HS at the time).

Penny was once married to our next BRONX born entry.


7. Rob Reiner
March 6, 1947
(Age 63)
Actor, Director, Producer, Writer

Reiner was born to a Jewish family in THE BRONX. As a child, Reiner lived in New Rochelle, New York (the next town over from THE BRONX) where his family lived at 48 Bonnie Meadow Road. This is similar to 148 Bonnie Meadow Road, the fictional address of the Petries on The Dick Van Dyke Show, the 1960s CBS sitcom created by his father. At the age of 13, Rob relocated with his family to the Los Angeles area, where he attended Beverly Hills High School.



8. Chazz Palminteri
May 15, 1952
(Age 58)
Actor, Writer

Chazz Palminteri was born Calogero Lorenzo Palminteri in THE BRONX. Now if the name Calogero sounds familiar, it is because it was the name of the young boy/man in the movie "A Bronx Tale", starring Robert DeNiro and the now imfamous Lillo Brancato Jr. who had his own Bronx Tale.

Chazz wrote the screenplay to the movie based on his childhood growing up in The Bronx (the movie was semi-autobiographical while the play was autobiographical). In the movie Chazz plays Mob boss Sonny.



9. Bobby Darin
May 14, 1936 - December 20, 1973
(Age 37)
Singer

Bobby Darin was born Walden Robert Perciville Cassotto was born to a poor, working-class family of mostly Italian descent in The Bronx. The person thought to be his father (who was actually his grandfather) died in jail a few months before he was born. It was the height of the Great Depression, and he once remarked that his crib was a cardboard box, then later a dresser drawer. He was initially raised by his mother Polly, who was Anglo-American, and his sister Nina, subsisting on Home Relief until Nina later married and started a family with her new husband Charlie Maffia. It was not until Darin was an adult that he learned Nina, who was 17 years his senior, was in fact his birth mother, and that Polly, the woman he thought was his mother, was really his grandmother. (You can't make this stuff up people).

Darin was frail and sickly as an infant and, beginning at the age of 8, was stricken with multiple recurring bouts of rheumatic fever. The illness left him with a seriously weakened heart. Overhearing a doctor tell his mother he would be lucky to reach the age of 16, Darin lived with the constant knowledge that his life would be short. In 1973, Darin's ill health took a turn for the worse. After failing to take medication (prescribed to protect his heart) before a dental visit, he developed blood poisoning. This weakened his body and badly affected one of his heart valves. On December 11, Darin entered Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for surgery to repair the two artificial heart valves he received in the previous 1971 operation. On December 19, the surgery began. A five-man surgical team worked for over six hours to repair his damaged heart. However, although the surgery was initially successful, Darin died minutes afterward in the recovery room without regaining consciousness on December 20, 1973, at age 37.

10. Tony Curtis
June 3, 1925 - September 29, 2010
(Age 85)
Actor

Tony Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz in THE BRONX. His parents were Hungarian Jewish immigrants from Mátészalka, Hungary. Hungarian was Curtis' only language until he was five or six, postponing his schooling. Curtis joined a neighborhood gang whose main crimes were playing hooky from school or minor pilfering at the local dime store. When he turned 11, a friendly neighbor saved him from what he felt would have led to a life of delinquency, by sending him to a Boy Scout camp, where he was able to settle down and work off his energy. He attended Seward Park High School (Public HS in Manhattan, New York) and received his first bit part in a stage play at age 16.


11. Anne Bancroft
September 17, 1931 -June 6, 2005
(Aged 73)
Actress

Anne Bancroft was born Anna Maria Louisa Italiano (Gotta love that name). She was born in THE BRONX. Her parents were both children of Italian immigrants. She was brought up as a Roman Catholic. Bancroft graduated from Christopher Columbus High School (Publich HS) in the Bronx in 1948. Anne Bancroft died, age 73, of uterine cancer on June 6, 2005, at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.




12. Regis Philbin
August 25, 1931
(Age 79)
TV Personality

Note: Unsure if he was BORN in THE BRONX, but it doesn't matter, because he has a street named after him, so he gets a special pass. After all both my son and I were born in Manhattan but lived/raised in the Bronx.

Regis lived at 1990 Cruger Avenue in the Van Nest section of The Bronx. Philbin was raised Roman Catholic (this would explain his entire name Regis Francis Xavier Philbin). Philbin attended Our Lady of Solace grammar school in the Bronx. He went on to graduate from Cardinal Hayes High School (All Boys Catholic HS) in the Bronx.

13. James Caan

March 26, 1940
(Age 70)
Actor
Caan was born in The Bronx, New York City, the son of Sophie and Arthur Caan, Jewish refugees from Germany. His father was a meat dealer. Caan grew up in Sunnyside, Queens, New York City.

Boo....he moved out of the Boogie Down Bronx!

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Thursday Thirteen 94 (week 2)

My favorite Rock Star is Jimmy Page. I have been in love with him for 29 years.

Here are 13 things I love about Jimmy Page.


1. In my opinion he is one of the best guitarists that ever lived and ever will live. There have been debates over this as to who is actually better; Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimi Hendrix, but honestly I like Jimmy the most. This is not to say the others don't deserve recognition, they do, but to me, there is something about Mr. Page that just gives him an edge.


2. Ummm...He's British (that is an automatic increase in hotness factor). I'm such an anglophile.


3. He had/has the best hair in Rock history. Thick, Shiny, Dark, Wavy, Long. Good grief, women would kill for this stuff.


4. He looks great with silver hair. I thought he was hot with his dark hair, but man, something about him and the silver hair makes me weak in the knees. I was unhappy with his hair during the late 80s (awful 80s glam rock curly dyed rat nest), and the early 90s through the early 2000's (short black dyed mess). I am glad he finally embraced his age. There is nothing wrong with gray hair, and when you are as hot as Jimmy Page, it can only make you look sexier.


5. He likes the Blues. He is the one that actually got me interested in the genre. Because of him, I've learned to appreciate the blues. Most of Led Zeppelin's stuff is blues based, so I suppose I always liked the blues a-la Jimmy.

7. (He's a Knight) Sir James Patrick Page II. In 2005, Page was awarded the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his Brazilian charity work for Task Brazil and Action For Brazil's Children's Trust.


8. I really love that he doesn't do THIS anymore!! As well as other recreational activities which shall not be named.
*I sit in non-judgement*



9. He is a snazzy dresser. Always the proper English gentleman. Look at that suit, look at him in the suit. That suit costs more than my whole wardrobe. He proves rock stars do have class.


10. He is the founder of Casa Jimmy. Casa Jimmy started functioning in October 1998 and took its first intake of abandoned street children. Local care workers, youth workers and social workers were employed to provide the best possible care for the children. Since then, over 450 children and teenagers have benefited from the home.



11. He was such a cute kid. Even then he was a proper English gentleman in his manner of dress. He probably had all the little girls falling all over themselves, even then.





12. He has other talents besides playing the best guitar in the world. He is an artist. Before Jimmy became a Rock God, he attended art college in England. Music won out obviously, but he still paints. Cannot find any of his canvas work online, but his 'Jeff Beck' guitar has his art work all over it.



13. He was and is and always will be the most handsome man I've ever seen.

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Thursday Thirteen 93 (week 1 - round 2)

If any of you remember me, I am big on visual Thursday Thirteen's, with that said, Thirteen of my Favorite Horror Movies. Keeping in the spirit of Halloween.

Thirteen of my Favorite Horror Movies

1. Carrie (1976) - I will watch this movie every time it comes on TV. This is hands down, my favorite horror movie of all time.

2. Pet Sematary (1989) - Just the thought of burying something and it brings it back to life. Stephen King is twisted...I love it.


3. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) - The original is still the very best.

4. Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980) and Stephen King's The Shining (2007). Based ont he same book by King, nearly similar in story-line, but of course, King keeps his verson truer to his book and Kubrick's version is more theatrical. However, both work, both are very good. So they are tied since it is essentially the same movie.

5. The Mist (2007) - Stephen King wrote the story, but didn't have part in the screenplay. However, for something he had no part in, it was very, very good. I gave it 5/5 stars.


6. The Eye (2002) - Hong Kong version of this movie. Similar to the American version only creepier. If you liked the one with Jessica Alba, then you will really like this one.

7. The Pit and the Pendulum (1961) - Starring Vincent Price. A very good adaptation of the Poe classic story.


8. The Omen (1976) - Creepy kids are just creepy.


9. Creepshow (1982) - Stephen King's finest. Several short horror stories. My favorite one is "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" starring King himself.

10. Ju-on (The Grudge) (2002) - Creepy original version of (The Grudge). Japanese horror is pretty scary and unsettling.

11. Ju-on 2 (2003) - Japanse Horror sequal to Ju-on (The Grudge). Not as good as the first, but still pretty creepy.

12. Gothika (2003) - The newest edition to my horror list. I watched this in the dark and I was scared, I don't scare easily.

13. The Exorcist (1973) - I just watched it again this year.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN