I found this video whilst stumbling. It is two cellists playing "Smooth Criminal" and rocking at it, by the way. For your viewing pleasure Stjepan Hauser and Luka Sulic playing "Smooth Criminal" on cellos!
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
The Lady Sings the Blues
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was a Jazz and Blues singer from the 1930's to the 1950's. Born 1915 in Pennsylvania as Eleanora Fagan, Billie Holiday was known for her unique singing voice and her, often, melancholy subject matter.
Some interesting Facts
* Holiday was the first female African-American vocalist to work with an all white Orchestra. She worked with Artie Shaw for a short time, before quitting due to stress over her race and unique vocal style.
* She sang "Strange Fruit" independently from her usual record label because they refused to produce it. It was such a powerful song (a story of lynchings in the South) that some radio stations banned it.
* Another song that was banned was "Gloomy Sunday". Supposedly the Billie Holiday version of the song caused a number of suicides. It was banned by the BBC until the turn of the century.
* She always wore a white gardenia in her hair during performances.
* Holiday was arrested and convicted of narcotics possession in 1947.
* She was in a movie with Louis Armstrong, one of her idols, called "New Orleans".
Some Quotes from Billie Holiday
- "Don't threaten me with love, baby. Let's just go walking in the rain."
- "Love is like a faucet, it turns off and on."
- "I'm always making a comeback but nobody ever tells me where I've been."
- "You can be up to your boobies in white satin, with gardenias in your hair and no sugar cane for miles, but you can still be working on a plantation."
- "People don't understand the kind of fight it takes to record what you want to record the way you want to record it."
- "If I'm going to sing like someone else, then I don't need to sing at all."
My Favorite Billie Holiday Song
Billie Holiday was a Jazz and Blues singer from the 1930's to the 1950's. Born 1915 in Pennsylvania as Eleanora Fagan, Billie Holiday was known for her unique singing voice and her, often, melancholy subject matter.
Some interesting Facts
* Holiday was the first female African-American vocalist to work with an all white Orchestra. She worked with Artie Shaw for a short time, before quitting due to stress over her race and unique vocal style.
* She sang "Strange Fruit" independently from her usual record label because they refused to produce it. It was such a powerful song (a story of lynchings in the South) that some radio stations banned it.
* Another song that was banned was "Gloomy Sunday". Supposedly the Billie Holiday version of the song caused a number of suicides. It was banned by the BBC until the turn of the century.
* She always wore a white gardenia in her hair during performances.
* Holiday was arrested and convicted of narcotics possession in 1947.
* She was in a movie with Louis Armstrong, one of her idols, called "New Orleans".
Some Quotes from Billie Holiday
- "Don't threaten me with love, baby. Let's just go walking in the rain."
- "Love is like a faucet, it turns off and on."
- "I'm always making a comeback but nobody ever tells me where I've been."
- "You can be up to your boobies in white satin, with gardenias in your hair and no sugar cane for miles, but you can still be working on a plantation."
- "People don't understand the kind of fight it takes to record what you want to record the way you want to record it."
- "If I'm going to sing like someone else, then I don't need to sing at all."
My Favorite Billie Holiday Song
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
February: Black History Month
As many of you know February is Black History Month. One of my favorite months of the year (aside from September) for that reason. So I have decided to post a blog each day with a different influential African-American who shaped the United States as a country.
Are you ready? Our first candidate is:
Barack Obama!
Why? Because who better to start off this month with than our President!
Barack Obama is the 44th president of the United States and is also the first African-American to hold that position. He is also the first president to be a native of Hawaii, the last state to be inducted into the union.
Some interesting facts about the election and the man
* It was the second time in the history of the United States that the state of Indiana voted Democrat. The first time was for JFK in the 1960 election.
* Obama practiced Civil Rights law in Chicago and taught at the University of Chicago Law School.
* He helped organize voter registration drives during Bill Clinton's run for President in 1992.
* "Dreams from my Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" is an autobiography written by Obama and published in 1995. It has been published in 10 different languages (including Chinese and Hebrew). The audio book, narrated by Obama, received a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album.
* 28 states voted Democrat, while only 22 voted Republican.
* Obama ran for the Illinois State Senate as a Democrat and won the election in 1996.
Some Quotes from the President
- "Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."
- "A change is brought about because ordinary people do extraordinary things."
- "I believe in evolution, scientific inquiry, and global warming; I believe in free speech, whether politically correct or politically incorrect, and I am suspicious of using government to impose anybody's religious beliefs -including my own- on nonbelievers."
- "Why can't I just eat my waffle?"
- "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our Democracy; Tonight is your answer."
- "Cynicism is a sorry kind of wisdom."
- "Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up"
My Favorite Speech by Barack Obama
Are you ready? Our first candidate is:
Barack Obama!
Why? Because who better to start off this month with than our President!
Barack Obama is the 44th president of the United States and is also the first African-American to hold that position. He is also the first president to be a native of Hawaii, the last state to be inducted into the union.
Some interesting facts about the election and the man
* It was the second time in the history of the United States that the state of Indiana voted Democrat. The first time was for JFK in the 1960 election.
* Obama practiced Civil Rights law in Chicago and taught at the University of Chicago Law School.
* He helped organize voter registration drives during Bill Clinton's run for President in 1992.
* "Dreams from my Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" is an autobiography written by Obama and published in 1995. It has been published in 10 different languages (including Chinese and Hebrew). The audio book, narrated by Obama, received a Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album.
* 28 states voted Democrat, while only 22 voted Republican.
* Obama ran for the Illinois State Senate as a Democrat and won the election in 1996.
Some Quotes from the President
- "Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."
- "A change is brought about because ordinary people do extraordinary things."
- "I believe in evolution, scientific inquiry, and global warming; I believe in free speech, whether politically correct or politically incorrect, and I am suspicious of using government to impose anybody's religious beliefs -including my own- on nonbelievers."
- "Why can't I just eat my waffle?"
- "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our Democracy; Tonight is your answer."
- "Cynicism is a sorry kind of wisdom."
- "Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up"
My Favorite Speech by Barack Obama
Disgusted
* Mood: Outraged
* Listening to: the reports on MSN.com
* Drinking: Coffee
I cannot understand why someone would break into a museum and destroy the priceless histories within.
For those of you who don't know the Cairo Museum was broken into and several (I don't know an exact number) artifacts were destroyed, needlessly. Even two mummies did not escape the desecration.
I agree, wholeheartedly, with Dr. Zahi Hawass "My heart is broken and my blood is boiling".
Who does that? Who goes out and ravages history's final remnants? We have only this one life and it is spent reaping the rewards of History's lessons and we choose rather to destroy it than to preserve it! Who cares about history? Who cares about some dead guys wrapped in cloth in a museum somewhere thousands of miles across the ocean?
I CARE! We are the products of history! We are history in the making! Why would we ever choose to destroy rather than to protect?!
It is ridiculous! I have completely lost faith in a humanity that robs the dead and desecrates a house of History.
* Listening to: the reports on MSN.com
* Drinking: Coffee
I cannot understand why someone would break into a museum and destroy the priceless histories within.
For those of you who don't know the Cairo Museum was broken into and several (I don't know an exact number) artifacts were destroyed, needlessly. Even two mummies did not escape the desecration.
I agree, wholeheartedly, with Dr. Zahi Hawass "My heart is broken and my blood is boiling".
Who does that? Who goes out and ravages history's final remnants? We have only this one life and it is spent reaping the rewards of History's lessons and we choose rather to destroy it than to preserve it! Who cares about history? Who cares about some dead guys wrapped in cloth in a museum somewhere thousands of miles across the ocean?
I CARE! We are the products of history! We are history in the making! Why would we ever choose to destroy rather than to protect?!
It is ridiculous! I have completely lost faith in a humanity that robs the dead and desecrates a house of History.
Absence makes the Heart grow Fonder
(Or, at least that is what I am told.)
Hello Everyone!
Long time, no blog! Due to so many different issues (including moving, losing access to the internet, moving again and again, and losing my mind. Oh, wait, I lost that a while back) I have all but stopped blogging. Which has made me incredibly sad.
Good news though, I am BACK! At least for the moment. Nothing too interesting going on at this moment, but I am planning a glorious "return" blog. Stay tuned.
Love,
Sarai
Hello Everyone!
Long time, no blog! Due to so many different issues (including moving, losing access to the internet, moving again and again, and losing my mind. Oh, wait, I lost that a while back) I have all but stopped blogging. Which has made me incredibly sad.
Good news though, I am BACK! At least for the moment. Nothing too interesting going on at this moment, but I am planning a glorious "return" blog. Stay tuned.
Love,
Sarai
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