Who goes there? Please leave comments so (An Aries Knows)!
You might remember back in April of ’22 I shared my Eddie Van Halen Funko figure in which he was “jumping” and holding his customized red, white, and black Frankenstrat guitar. Funko obviously knows the way to my heart and my credit card because they’ve done it again, this time posing EVH with his custom-designed Black and White Eruption guitar.
Maybe next year, the Bumblebee?
Here’s Eddie playing the Black and White on “You Really Got Me.”
In mid-April, I posted about how a few notes* of a song were in my brain, and I couldn’t identify the song. I found a virtual piano keyboard so I could play those notes for Tom and Tim, but neither of them could identify it from what I remembered or from my speculation about who the artist might be. One of those artists was the band Pearl Jam.
Last night, the show I’ve been rewatching played in the background while I was doing other things, and I suddenly realized I was hearing lyrics that matched that music–oh, thank you, Internet, for giving the world a means to quickly look up lyrics.
So… Turns out I was right. A familiar song that I just couldn’t quite remember. Now that I’ve listened to it a few times (especially reading the lyrics), I understand why it persistently nagged at my memory–and so do my characters, one of whom could have written those words.
*These were the notes that I played over and over, except for a couple of blanks, to try to figure it out.
Below are tiny charms I used to embellish kilts.
I ended up with six finished 1:6 scale kilts. Then I realized the trouble I’d had modifying the pattern I found (for a human kilt) contributed to how I misread the actual arrangement of the kilt. Kilts open or fasten on the wearer’s right side, what we see facing it on our left. I got that reversed in my brain, so all my dolls’ kilts open on their left side and are incorrectly fringed on their left side. Since these are dolls representing characters in the Neverending Saga, Tom advised me to accept that I’ve created a mirror universe in my fiction. It’s always good to have a science fiction buff around.
Here are the six. From left to right (real left as you’re looking at it, not some fictitious left), their characters’ initials are AC, MA, DFS, BW, PA, and CA. I tell you that so I can give credit for the pieces I didn’t make.
I made AC’s white shirt (in the 1990s), vest, kilt, and socks. The shoes are Mattel’s.
I made MA’s kilt and socks and the strap with the ram charm. The green over-shirt, black long-sleeved tee, and shoes are Mattel’s.
I made DFS’s gray shirt, kilt, strap with the piano charm, socks, and necklaces. The shoes are Mattel’s.
I made BW’s kilt, fly plaid, belt with the crow charm, and socks. Black shirt and shoes are Mattel’s.
I made PA’s red shirt, black belt (many years ago), kilt, and socks. Shoes are Mattel’s.
I made CA’s brown shirt, kilt, socks, and chain holding flower charm. Boots are Mattel’s.
I can bring a little life to these characters by imagining dialogue. You might have to zoom in to read it.
Definitely a learning experience, and not only will my next kilts and shirts be better, but I’ll make sure they open on the dolls’ right sides. Literally.
Love the newly released Beatles song and video “Now and Then” as well as the video of how it came to be made partially thanks to new technology that Peter Jackson worked with when he updated the Let It Be movie with his The Beatles: Get Back film. Tom was kind enough to watch that with me last year (has it been that long?), putting up with my bouts of tears and occasional commentary during, as well as prolonged reminiscing afterward.
It’s been fun sharing online comments about the new song with a few people who are either musicians or love music, in general, and love the Beatles in particular. The Beatles weren’t around for my whole life, but I was around for their many incarnations. It’s truly a gift from those Liverpool lads to have them visually and musically provide the world another song. We can thank Yoko for sharing the tapes for the two songs with all four Beatles released in the 1990s, then to her and Peter Jackson for this third one.
Good job, Paul and Ringo and, posthumously, John and George. Beatles4ever still sounds true–and the love you made is still felt around the world.
Question 1258: Violin or harp? (and why…)
I don’t know much about the harp. I’ve known two people in my life who played harp, and both of them were gifted. That being said, I’m picking violin. For one thing, I find its use in Western classical music beautiful, passionate, and haunting. But the violin is also used in country, jazz, blues, folk, Americana, and rock and roll, even if it’s called a “fiddle” in some of those genres. And a player can’t pick up a harp and dance around a stage but definitely can with a violin/fiddle.
Violin at approximately 1:4 scale.
Because of the violin’s versatility, I wrote a classical violinist turned blues fiddle player into the Neverending Saga. =)
I previously published a photo of an art print on wood, date unknown, by artist Rebecca Puig, and titled Choose Peace.
Featured quotes on this art print include:
Make love not war
All we are saying is give peace a chance. – John Lennon
What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family. – Mother Teresa
Teach Peace
If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. – Mother Teresa
Happiness is the new rich. Inner peace is the new success. Health is the new wealth. Kindness is the new cool.
Peace begins with a smile.
Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.
Smile, breathe, & go slowly. – Thich Nhat Hanh
Shalom
Imagine all the people living life in peace. – Lennon
Breathe out peace.
If there is to be peace in the world, there must be peace in the nations. If there is to be peace in the nations, there must be peace in the cities. If there is to be peace in the cities, there must be peace between neighbors. If there is to be peace between neighbors, there must be peace in the home. If there is to be peace in the home, there must be peace in the heart. –Lao-tse
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.
Peace is our gift to each other.
People for peace
Peace is always beautiful. – Walt Whitman
Come Together
Each moment is a chance for us to make peace with the world. – Thich Nhat Hanh
Sky above earth, below peace within
The planet does not need more successful people. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of all kinds. – Dalai Lama
Paz
May you be well. May you be happy. May you be peaceful. May you be loved.
Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
There is no path to peace. Peace is the path. – Gandhi
Current Photo Friday theme: Inside
Houston Heights, October 2014
That’s what’s comin’ down on the inside
Don’t let this get around to the outside
My mother worked crossword puzzles for as long as she could, and I’d buy increasingly larger sizes and simpler books of them, until Alzheimer’s finally took away her ability, and therefore her interest, in doing them. When she died, I still had a few of those books, and I’d work puzzles in them occasionally, but I never really shared her enthusiasm. I more often like finding words in big blocks of letters (also why I enjoy playing the game of Boggle), and I really like Scrabble (as did she), which is why I still play the online version of that with several friends.
I think all kinds of games and puzzles, whether with words or numbers (numbers will never be my go-to), help keep us sharp as we age. (Not to mention the way cut-throat card games can keep us social and hopefully having shit-talking fun.)
I think I’ve mentioned before on here that I do a game that’s emailed to me each morning in the newsfeed I subscribe to. It’s a word game that I use to test my mental acuity, and I don’t actually play by the rules of the game (which would make it similar to Boggle, with more rules), I just try to find the solution that suits my own criteria. I started doing this in 2020, and I’m still going strong. It’s a rare day when I don’t find the one word I’m looking for, though it has happened.
In August, my newsfeed started including a new daily game called Connections, which I think can probably be found on other online sites. I LOVE it, and again, it’s a good way to make me think and reassure me that I still can. You’re given a list of 16 words, and you have to divide them in related groups of four. Since words could often be included in more than one group, it can take some thinking. Here are three examples below if you want to grab a pencil and piece of paper and see how you categorize the words, and I’ll put the solutions behind a cut.
Look at this sweet red Woody that’s come to join the fleet. Surfboard included.
IYKYK. ❤ 💔
I’ve been thinking a lot about bridges lately because of something I wrote. Many titles containing bridges drifted through my musings…
Songs instantly familiar to me included “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “59th Street Bridge Song,” both by Simon and Garfunkel, “Love Can Build A Bridge,” The Judds, “Under The Bridge,” Red Hot Chili Peppers, “The Bridge,” Elton John, and “Seven Bridges Road,” The Eagles. I did a Google search, and found so many more! (And lots of songs that feature bridges, too, like “Ode to Billie Joe”.)
A few movie/book titles that I’ve seen or read also came to mind: The Bridge On the River Kwai, The Bridges of Madison County, Bridge to Terebithia, Waterloo Bridge, A Bridge Too Far.
Bridges can be treacherous, beautiful, meaningful, sad, hopeful. I guess it’s all in one’s perspective, so I found a few buttons online with varying takes on bridges. I eliminated any buttons about the game of Bridge, about which I have no concept because I’ve never played or watched anyone else play.
Now that I’ve brought up the subject, it’s a safe bet you’ll start seeing bridges or hearing about them, too. The bridges were always in front of you or inside your brain, of course. This post is just helping you remember or notice. Maybe bridges are like cows, and we see one every day…
