After we finished watching our regular shows, at 10 pm Whozzit started flipping channels (no! no! no!) to find all the New Yearās Eve shows.
I lucked out. PBS was having a pledge drive special, 60s and 70s Soul Celebration, probably filmed 20-30 years ago. I danced the next 2 hours, minus the slow numbers and the 15 minute pledge drives. When it ended, he switched to the Times Square broadcast to watch the ball drop.
I am impressed you could dance for two hours(minus slow numbers and pledge drives). Recently, been all I can do to get outta bed!!
The trick is to not run, jump or high kick lol. I knew Iād be moving the whole show, so I kept the energy to a sustainable level.
We did the same thing ā¦ we rocked all night ā¦
ā¦ in the rocking chair ā¦ very sustainable at our age ā¦
Within the past week, my wife and I remained in bed until after 1 PM twice. A demonstration of how low an energy level could go.
Cannot blame it on staying up too late either. When we are reading something engaging we stay up later than we did on New Years Eve,
We watch a lot of British, French, German, Scandinavian, Belgian and Italian TV, but I live on the other side of the law. Bittorrent from private sites.
We have also seen a lot of Aussie and New Zealand TV as a change of pace from the Europeans. As well as Brokenwood and My Life, we have seen 800 Words, RFDS (Royal Flying Doctor Service), Mystery Road, One Lane Road and many more.
My video server will probably need an upgrade from the 2GB hard disk it currently has.
I enjoyed that one. And it was nice to see a family related drama that knew when to wrap it up and quit, before it started seeming like a dragged out soap-opera.
Iāll have to look for the others. Although frankly, we have WAY more stuff in our various āMy Listā queues than we can keep up with, so no real pressure to dig too much (with the exception of good murder mysteries; we are running low on those).
Oops it has 2 terabytes.
Oddly, my brain auto-corrected that, and it didnāt even register as being absurdly wrong (of course, I remember when a 2 gig drive was a crazy thought for a home PC).
But still, nowadays 2T is rather small for stuff like this.
Check out the Mhz Mysteries (Ad supported) on Prime and see whether you might want to subscribe to Mhz Choice. At this moment they are running the French āMurder In ā¦ā series. 90 minute crime series with a rotating cast in scenic and historic locals. High quality subtitles.
Weāve been watching youtube videos, starting each session with a band or performer we know and like and allowing youtube to decide what comes next.
This was included in tonightās offerings
As well as several Octabass performances.
This is the absolute coolest looking instrument! Is the ANI in ANIMUSIC a reference to animation?
Yes it is.
This is a software created animation driven by a MIDI music file.
Watched this the other night.
HOME with the Armadillo ā¢ An Evening Celebrating Marcia Ball ā¢ The Paramount Theatre - Austin, TX
Marcia announced she would stop touring in late October. She has been diagnosed with ALS.
So glad we saw her last sping, and the year before. Probably seen her 5 or 6 times.
She does not perform in this concert other than a brief supporting role at the end. But her music is front and center, and some very powerful Texas women are part of the shop.
This is a benefit for a foundation which provides housing and emergency support for musicians and other members of the Texas music community.
Well worth the time to watch this, even if you do not know all the words to sing along.
I highly regret never seeing Ball when she used to play regularly (multiple times a year) at a little (~200 occupancy) bar I used to frequent. (the other regular performer I regret never seeing was Stevie Ray Vaughn). At the time, I simply had not gotten into the genre the way I have now.
We first saw her when she was part of a supergroup with Irma Thomas and Tracy Nelson. And we were hooked. Tracy Nelson sings as part of a group on this video. Irma Thomas appears on tape. Two of the others, we have seen in person , who appear are Ruthie Foster and Cindy Cashdollar. (We are not visitors to Austin, so others are not as familiar).
You should see as many live entertainers as you can, while you are still able to drive at night.
One of the drawbacks of getting old.
We have literally seen thousands, in venues from bars to clubs to festivals to stadiums.
We have been known to decide we have not seen a performer in too long and gotten into the car and driven hundreds of miles to see them.
We had that feeling about Doc Watson, and got into the car to see him at Merlefest in NC, a few years before he went. A great trip because we also got to see people we had not seen in years, like Happy Traum (an acquaintance from Sundays in Washington Square), Roy Bookbinder, and John Hammond Jr for blues. As well as a number of bluegrass greats.
Iāve gotten to see a bunch of them; in that same bar, saw Matt āGuitarā Murphy, and Jimmy Thackery (I donāt remember the name of the band he was in at the time).
And Iāve done a lot better on the Jazz front; we had front row center for Clark Terry; so much so that I tended to forget we were in a large auditorium.
I saw Lou Donaldson the first time he played in his home county; a very odd experience, as it was sort of a combination concert/family reunion. We (a good friend and I) got invited to stay for the pot-luck after the concert, but since we had no idea that was going to happen and didnāt bring anything, we declined. Years later, got to see him in NYC. During the break, I went back to see if I could get an autograph; I felt guilty leaving Nisha at the table, but when he invited me to sit down and chew the fat for a while, I of course accepted.
Missed my chance to see Stanley Turrentine, but since that was because we saw BB King that same night, I guess I canāt complain too much.
On the Celtic folk front, Iāve not only gotten to see a lot of acts, Iāve had a beer or two with quite a few of them (some no longer with us). So Iāve done pretty good.
And thanks to the cataract surgery, I can now drive at night again; although chances are good that if we get to see someone, it will be in NYC, so mass transit the whole way. But frankly, there arenāt many people left that I care enough about to go to that much trouble.
Weāll have to talk about Celtic Folk. Among the first Irish acts I saw were the Clancy Bros and Tommy Makem at the White Horse in the Village.
Iāve seen Steeleye Span and Fairport too, and Richard Thompson several times in recent years.
Unfortunately, it is time for bed.
At the risk of this getting even MORE off topic for the thread, Iāll mention just two experiences I had; Iām not sure which is the bigger brag.
Tommy Sands taught me to play the bodhran.
A few years later, I closed down a bar talking and drinking Guinness with MĆcheĆ”l Ć Domhnaill (he told me that to pronounce his name, think āOld Toenailā).
Oh, and not a musician, but Iāve danced with Fiona Ritchie (I think possibly the only woman that Nisha is jealous of).
We came across the Medic series, circa 1954-55, on Pluto, w/ Richard Boone of Have Gun Will Travel fame as narrator and sometimes star.
For the time, pre-Dr. Ben Casey and Dr. Kildaire medical-series(the latter was a radio drama/ big screen movies in 1930ās/40ās) very realistic. Tonightās episodes showed Lee J. Cobb having shock treatments for a nervous breakdown and a young mother having surgery for a brain aneurysm. The plots sometimes arenāt the most interesting- very much disease of the weekā but the producer/ script-writer spent 2 years as a hospital orderly before selling the series.
Since I can recall a time when folks hemmed and hawed re: āWomen Diseasesā and prostate cancer if the conversation wasnāt among blood-relations, I was surprised and rather impressed.