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Post by mszue on Oct 10, 2012 11:06:29 GMT -5
Great video alison....my chorus sang that a couple of years ago...thanks for the memories
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mahailia
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Post by mahailia on Oct 10, 2012 12:08:59 GMT -5
Greetings Moon Gardeners ~
So glad to be back home, and really enjoying all the music posted here. Great to see all my friends checking in!
Sugaree - I lOVE Jimmy Buffet, and go to Margaritaville quite often. I saw him in concert years ago in Austin, I love his music, and I can remember several of his songs that were popular back in the day, bring me two Pina Coladas, one for each hand. Hope you have a great time on your anniversary trip!
This is for you, junie:
My trip to the UK was amazeballs, I went with my sister, we met up with a group that had already hit London, we spent a week in Edinburgh, and toured around in Scotland, it was really beautiful there! We went to St. Andrews, of golf and Prince William/Kate fame, went to Blair Castle, up the Spey (a river where all the Scotch distilleries are) and toured Glendronach Distillery, got a little buzz there while participating in the Conisuer's tour. Then to York, Bath, Salisbury, and ended our trip in London. We mostly saw castles, museums, and Cathedrals. This was my first trip overseas, and I loved seeing all the very old and amazing architecture.
Glittergma: your son's wedding sounds like it was really fabulous! We saw weddings where ever we went while in UK. The hotel we stayed at in Bath had weddings at the hotel each night we were there. I got to meet the father of the bride on the first night, and the maid of honor the second night. Our hotel was 5 miles south of Bath, in a building that had been built in 1760, and had eventurally become a hydrotheraputic facility. It was very beautiful.
Several things impressed me about the UK. First, although the buildings are old, they take great care in making things look new and fresh on the inside. I loved their heating systems. I have an old rock house, and it is hard to keep heated in the winter, and I would love to have their radiator systems in my house. Hubby says we would have to put a boiler in the basement. There are no fat people in the UK. Guess it is because they walk everywhere. And McDonalds, although present, is not on every corner. Their food consists of a lot of potatoes, sausage, and lamb, and fish, of course. And lots of tubular vegetables that I was not familar with, but enjoyed. How do they make their french fries? They taste so much better there. At one pub, my sister and I shared "The Codfather" which was a huge fillet of fish and chips, really yummy. I tried to eat different foods than what I am familar with, and at one restaurant, had ambergine (not sure that was spelled right). It was eggplant, and was delicious. I also sampled the different beer there, Guinness was my favorite. People are very polite there, and in Scotland, they are downright friendly. Everyone we met was very nice. There was no pushing or shoving or shouting or rudeness. On the streets of Bath, where I was amazed that all the huge buses could make those tight corners on narrow streets, there were no traffic jams and no people blasting their horns. I was surprised there were no car wrecks to be seen. They are courteous drivers across the pond.
We met up in London with my BFF UK Glambert, and she showed us where Adam had performed his London Showcase, the Royal Arts Club. We got a picture in front of the club, as it is a very exclusive Men's Club, and they wouldn't let us inside. The front door was manned by an man in a Derby Hat and coat tails. We also walked by the Royal Albert Hall, where Adam also played, we didn't go inside, as the tour for the place was over 10 lbs. I think it is the equivalent of our Carnegie Hall, very beautiful and majestic looking. She took us to Harrod's and on the 5th floor there is this very exclusive perfumery. They have 5 large glass containers that hold different perfumes, and you can have them mixed to make your own custom fragrance there. We sampled some of the scents, but no way I could afford anything in that shop. Lady Gaga Fame perfume is now in stores there, I saw big displays in quite a few stores. There were more shoe shops in London and Bath than I have ever seen in my life!
In London, we saw the play, Billy Elliot, and it was very good. My son is a dancer, so the story reminded me of him, and Elton John wrote the music, it was really really good. We couldn't get tickets to Rock of Ages or We Will Rock You, which are playing there. We spent quite a bit of time in the West End, where most of the theatres are, it is like our Broadway in NYC. Lots of fabulous shops, boutiques, and pubs on almost every corner.
On one of the buses going by, I saw a huge sign, it took up the whole side of the bus, that said "Some people are gay. Get over it". I loved that sign, and hope that some day, people will get over it.
All in all, it was a really fabulous trip! Unfortunately, now I am so broke, there is no way I can go to Adam's concert in Grand Prairie, which is here in Texas in 2 weeks. It is killing me that he will be so close, and I will miss him again!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2012 16:16:53 GMT -5
mahailia, thanks for the amazing recap of your trip! I hope I get to go to the UK sometime. I am of Scottish ancestry and would love to go there. My impression is that things there are somewhat more on the human scale than they are here sometimes, where it is all about efficiency. I am not going to Grand Prairie either. I just can't swing it. :( You mentioned that no one in the UK was fat. I am a student of history and one thing I found interesting not long ago was reading very early accounts of visitors to the US -- back in the 18th century, some even before de Tocqueville. These visitors recounted that Americans: 1) worked all the time 2) only wanted to talk about politics 3) ate huge meals and were fat LOL. Some of these national traits are pretty deeply ingrained. Have you guys seen this video of Louis CK playing air guitar in the car while his daughters cringe in the back seat? vimeo.com/33103241# (won't embed) So funny, valiant, and crazy! And mzsue, your quote: What is that old adage....that the definition of insanity or stupidity is to keep doing the same thing while expecting a different result??Somehow reminded me of this, also from Louis CK: ‘I’m bored’ is a useless thing to say. I mean, you live in a great, big, vast world that you’ve seen none percent of. Even the inside of your own mind is endless, it goes on forever, inwardly, do you understand? The fact that you’re alive is amazing, so you don’t get to say ‘I’m bored.”It gets boring to trot around the same old arguments and anxieties. So much that Adam could do to liberate himself and us besides stodgy old radio ... and other things that are all so manufactured and have nothing to do with music or putting on a great show. Sometimes I feel that Adam and we are in a box, partially of our own making. The music world is huge and there is so much happening ... In making the Trespassing album, Adam took aim at pop super-stardom, but he also chose honesty and bravery over what's popular, easy, safe, and commercial. For this he has my undying respect. Like everyone else I often wonder what Adam's ultimate path will be. Trying to get the attention of radio program directors and record execs often seems like casting pearls before swine, when he has such important things to say. I can only hope that people who need to hear Adam's message ultimately find him.
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Post by melliemom on Oct 11, 2012 7:27:53 GMT -5
I'm here.. lots of back pain ,so I breeze through a lot ,but can't sit long enough to write.. Love y'all
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Post by LindaG23 on Oct 11, 2012 11:40:32 GMT -5
You guys, you guys, you guys. I am going to start this whole statement with a caveat; no responses are necessary, I just need to say my piece and that is all.
I am going to start with a quote from the mission statement for the Moon Garden Lounge that is posted on page one; “You are in the same room here with your fellow human beings. This is a place for respect, for wit, for intelligence, for having a good time. Talk to each other like we're all having a drink at the same table” and continue by asking if you would sit at the same table with your very chubby friend and discuss how fat a group of people are. There are words that no matter how they are meant, will always be perceived as demeaning or negative because it is the one word most often used by bullies to make fun of or insult another person. For gay men it is fag, for black people it is well there are just too many to count, and for overweight people it is fat. Fatty, fatty, two by four, can’t get through the bathroom door. Black people are pretty much born black, it is evident at birth, and we are coming to accept that LGBT people are “born that way” even though they don’t have a big GAY stamped on their forehead out of the womb but fat people, well they did that to themselves and since they choose not to change - it is open season for blithe denigration. Fat people know they are fat and are constantly reminded of it in one way or the other. The sheer magnitude of (monetarily successful for the business owners at least) programs to lose weight is a testament to how many times people try to change but fail. I know I sound harsh and I try not to let my frustration become sarcasm but - is it so hard to hypothesize that being obese is not just the result of a lack of will? There are hereditary, cultural, and environmental factors linked to obesity that are far too complex to discuss offhandedly. Yes, deTocqueville had a point that large meals will make you fat and lord knows, Americans don’t have a reputation for restraint but we also work hard and love politics, so we can’t be all bad. And yes, I too noticed how much trimmer Londoners were overall so you are not alone in that observation. But, although the US has the highest obesity rate in the developed world (BMI > 30) at 33%, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), one in ten people in the world are obese and in the UK the rate is 23% which means there are fat people there somewhere and regardless of our accents, none of us like it and we all cringe just a little bit when the "f" word is used.
Anyway, I have had my say. I am not mad or offended or crying in my gallon of Blue Bell ice cream. I have mostly come to terms with being very chubby, perhaps it has something to do with being older, I don’t know. I just wanted to be comfortable coming back to the Moon Garden Lounge and I knew you guys would understand that meant I had to speak up. As they say on the other side of the pond, “Keep Calm and Carry On”.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2012 12:03:49 GMT -5
Linda, I know you said that no response was necessary, but I feel that it is. I feel horrible. I am fat myself. As you know since we have met in person. I do try to look on the light side of it as best I can, and I didn't say anything I wouldn't have said in your living room if we were kicking it around with mahailia about her trip ... which I would love to do ... my point really was about that it's part of our culture and history, as were the other points about being obsessed with work and politics. Essentially that it's just part of who we are as Americans going back for centuries. I guess that didn't come off. I don't like fat jokes or constant denigrations of people for being fat. For example, I'm currently reading, as I mentioned earlier, a book about a historic wildfire that takes place in 1910. Often, President William Howard Taft is mentioned. Every single time, the author gives him a mean dig about being fat. How is that relevant to the subject at hand? Clearly it isn't. Anyway, I am sorry. I'm glad you spoke up.
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Post by LindaG23 on Oct 11, 2012 12:22:21 GMT -5
Really junie, no worries. We three know each and I knew you guys meant no harm and I would love to discuss my visit to London any time. We could also discuss deTocqueville but give me a week to study up. I read some brief essays on him after you brought him up (don't you just love wikipedia, lol) and of course had to google a picture of his skinny slender French ass. There are times that I really wish reading nonfiction didn't put me to sleep, I would be so much more informed about something other than the butler did it. Although I guess the Pope's butler did do it, so I am at least moderately informed on current events. ;D
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annala
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Post by annala on Oct 11, 2012 12:53:17 GMT -5
Hmmmm ... war on women, war on men, war on boys, war on girls, war on gays, war on the church ... class war ... everyone I know and talk to seems to feel they are on the receiving end of a war. Everyone. There is something larger happening here than we have captured, something that I still only dim grasp for a few seconds and then it is gone. Society is changing and everyone feels under a siege. OK, Junie and whoever else wants to read this, here is my response to that post of yours back on page 43. I'm gonna get a bit rambly, so anyone can just scroll through this and it's OK. First off - yes, I do believe something larger is happening and society is changing - but so often these cultural changes don't come about as quickly as we would like them to, but the changes will happen in time. In an odd way, the times we are in now somewhat remind me of the 1950's - now thought of as a rather bland "blah" time with "I Like Ike", Pat Boone, apple pie. and all - these were the times of my high school and college years. However, during this so-called bland decade, there were definite rumblings that affected what was to come. Most important were the beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement with school desegregation, Rosa Parks and all. At the time I had friends that I met at a church camp, and one of my best friends was black. Everything was fine at the camp, but back in the "real world", things were different. We couldn't do normal things like kids do - go out for a hamburger, go for pizza, go to an ice-skating rink - we were either refused or if we were allowed in, we were looked on with such distain (to me that was a worse feeling than being refused). I had some of my church camp friends over at my house several times for little get-togethers, and while I didn't realize it at the time, my parents took a lot of heat from neighbors, but now in retrospect I am so grateful and proud of my parents for standing up for us. I also had the opportunity to attend a conference where Martin Luther King spoke (a small man in stature, but a big man with a powerful baritone voice and message), and we all held hands and sang "We Shall Overcome". I thank my mother for letting me come with her to this conference. In music, this was a time of the early development of rock 'n roll which was essentially considered "underground" black music. I remember driving downtown in St. Louis where kids danced outside black bars pumping out the music and beat of St. Louis's own Chuck Berry. When a white guy Bill Haley and the Comets adopted this music, then it began to become mainstream and officially called "Rock 'n Roll". BTW, the first time I ever heard the Beatles was Paul McCartney doing a cover of "Long Tall Sally", and at the time I thought "Whaaa??" This was also the time of early Elvis and Buddy Holly, bringing in new excitement to the diversity of American music traditions. In literature, many teen-age kids carried around JD Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye", which spoke to us about teen-age angst and alienation (and which I was not allowed to use for a book report in high school). Politically, this was the time of the McCarthy hearings, the big "Communist" scare, where many individuals especially artists had their careers ruined from being black-balled. I was told that the college I went to, a liberal arts college in Ohio, was "pink" (a euphemism for "leftist leanings", I think). It had been a station in the Underground Railroad and had a rich tradition of social and artistic awareness. I had four wonderful years there and my friends included the man who designed and implemented the two large shafts of light in Manhattan from Ground Zero after 911 - another friend was the son of Luis Bunuel (a Spanish iconoclastic film maker, check him out on Google). We had such people visiting the campus as Carl Sandburg, Pete Seeger, and Theodore Bikel. From there, I headed out to the San Francisco Bay Area - first in Berkeley. This was before the "hippies" and Haight-Asbury, but it was the time of "Beatniks" at the City Lights Book Store in North Beach - Ferlinghetti, Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac ("On the Road"). Also, Finnochio's, a gay bar with a great drag show was going strong. So, this is what it was like for me in the '50's - a time of rumblings which were to explode in the '60's and '70's - along with Viet Nam, the environmental movement, the AIDS crisis. So, Junie, I think we are in a period of change where right now we can't see the outcome, but it's 'a-coming. I want to close with something Pi posted this morning (10/11) on the main thread where she quoted someone's twitter - "Had a big talk sesh with this dude who never cared for Adam's voice, but is so impressed by his truthspeak and naturalness...he's now a new fan...he said 'There's something about him. He's like something on the horizon that the world needs, That pop culture needs." Adam is very much a part of the change. Sorry for being so wordy, but all of this is something I've been thinking about for quite a while.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2012 15:52:06 GMT -5
annala, your post was amazing. You have given me a lot to think about and I will be reading this several times and thinking about more questions and thoughts. I really like the way you think.
Meanwhile want to leave this just because it is really, really cool. So creative!
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Post by LindaG23 on Oct 11, 2012 16:07:50 GMT -5
That is really cool. Is it OK if I find it a little creepy in a sci-fi insect leg sort of way? It is however an amazing rendering
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