Deep River: Paul Robeson or William Warfield?

Facebook friend Aaron noted that "Deep River is best with Paul Robeson."

What about William Warfield?" I wondered.

I will leave it to my readership to decide, thanks to the miracle of modern youtube and an old wind-up record player. Cast your votes in the comment box.

Paul Robeson from the 1936 version of Showboat

~~~~~

William Warfield, probably around 1951,
the year MGM's Showboat was released.

Just for Fun: GO, CUBS, GO!!!

Go, Cubs, Go!



~~~~~

Take Me Out To The Ballgame
Harry Caray Style

Just for Fun: Daniel Boone was a man...

...was a BIG MAN

With an eye like an eagle

and as tall as a mountain was he!

HT: Ben on Facebook

Just for Fun: King of the Wild Frontier

Actor Fess Parker passed away today.  He played both Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone on television.  These shows didn't run very long in prime time, but they did run in syndication for years afterward.  As a kid, I would watch them on Saturday afternoon when a sports game wasn't on, perhaps just before the 6 pm news.

Here's The Ballad of Davy Crockett, the long play version from the soundtrack to the theatrical movie. Disney connected the first three television episodes to make a feature-length presentation.

Davy, Davy Crockett,
King of the wild frontier!

Just for Fun: Take on Me, the Literal Version

Ever notice how music videos show things that have nothing to do with the song?

Youtuber Dustin McNeato takes the video and the tune and adds his own words, which describe the scenes in the video.

Here's the original "Take on Me" followed by Dustin's version.

Note: this video is still groundbreaking, if you ask me. The mix of live-action and animation still awes me, not to mention the vocal range of lead singer Morten Harket.

~~~~~

a-ha, Take on Me



Dustin McNeato, Take on Me (literal)

HT: Gregory on facebook

Just for Fun: Barber Shop Quartet

Barber Shop Quartet
Ascension Lutheran Church
Huntsville, Alabama

What a Wonderful World



When It's Darkest on the Delta

Just for Fun: It - Can - not - Wait - I'm - Yours!

Dale Witte of Composing My Thoughts and conductor of this wonderful WLA Christmas concert posted this to his Facebook page.

What can I say, the kid's got talent!

Just for Fun: Muppet takes Beethoven

Careful, Beeker. Careful!!!

Just for Fun: Isn't There Anyone Who Knows What Christmas Is All About?

Special thanks to facebook friend Terry who posted this to my wall.

Just for Fun: Straight No Chaiser

Over 10 million views on youtube.  The group got to do a reunion tour and a PBS pledge week special (check local listings, mine aired the concert on Monday night).

On a personal note, I worked with the grandfather of one of these guys in 2000.  This was before youtube and before I even had my own computer.  I remember him saying, "My grandson is in an a capella group at Indiana University called "Straight No Chaser" and they are really a lot of fun!"

Note: You can x-out of one of the ads, and the other one disappears in a few seconds.

Just for Fun: Let It Snow!

Greg Wheatley of Sound of Majesty mentioned the phrase "let it snow" on his Facebook update this morning.  Later in the day, Chicago saw its first snowfall. Sounds like a blog inspiration to me!

Here's Dean Martin singing "Let It Snow" with images of Christmas cards and other wintry scenes flashing before your eyes.

I am reminded of my mother's collection of Happy Holidays albums from True Value Hardware. She loves them because they always feature more than one artist. She may still have them, but the console stereo with record player is long gone. I think this is the one!

Just for Fun: Monastic Baptists? Who knew?

When you HAVE to keep your vow of silence...

Just for Fun: Muppets take Bohemia

Just for Fun: I CALL SHOTGUN!

Over at Autoblog, I found this post regarding the official rules of Shotgun.  You can find the complete rules here.  There is always someone trying to cheat the rules of Shotgun, like calling Shotgun when they EXIT the car, or calling Shotgun when no one is around to hear it, or claiming Shotgun when they never called it and never really intended to call it.

There is even a handy pocket guide.  You need this to keep order in the chaotic world of Shotgun.

If the official rules can't settle your dispute, the official rules suggest Rock, Paper, Scissors as the final means for dispute resolution.

If one of your friends is a true gaper in the world of Shotgun, perhaps this will serve as a warning to him.

Just for Fun: What really happened to my old car...

Perhaps my favorite car ever was my late 80's Chevy Caprice with the vinyl-padded hard top.  The car had V8 power and could go 500 highway miles on a tank of gas (20 gallon tank at 25 miles per gallon).  It was stolen from a mall parking lot.  Not just any mall, this mall's parking lot was filled with late-model Mercedes', BMW's, Jaguars, etc., and the car thief thought mine was the best one on the lot!

Anyways, in an urban setting, it's not too unusual to see one of these gems all tricked out with 24" tires, a fancy paint job, and of course, the vinyl top has been replaced with velvet.  So, for what I considered to be an old persons car (I was in my 20's at the time), apparently I had some major street cred going ;)

Over at Autoblog, they found this Caprice at the SEMA convention, way in the back of the convention hall, all tricked out and ready to go!

Hmm...  I wonder if this one was mine?

Check out more photos of this beauty in the Autoblog Photo Gallery.

Have a favorite car or a good car story?  Share it in the comment section.

Photo credit: SEMA Image Library at semadigital.com.

Just for Fun: Caption Contest at Gottesdienst

Gottesdienst is what the German's refer to as "The Divine Service" or simply "worship."  Literally, it means, "God's Service."

The journal Gottesdienst delves into all things liturgical.

Lest they take themselves too seriously, the Gottesdienst blog is running a caption contest for a picture of Elvis superimposed in front of a priest at the altar and ahead of a congregation.  Check it out here.  They promise a fabulous prize to the contest winner.

LATIN ALERT:

Non sum dignus.
     I am not worthy.

Tu dignus est? 
     Are you worthy?

Just for Fun: The "Big" Piano

MEANWHILE, BACH AT FAO SCHWARTZ...