WA2K Radio is now on the air

Does slow and steady win the race? Not on WA2K radio, folks.

One thing about moon river! Someone out there in our vast audience wanted to know the significance of " my huckleberry friend."

How about a switch of pace and psych out that line, folks.

The Book "Our Huckleberry Friend" ..the Life ,Times and Lyrics, of Johnny Mercer by Bob Bach and Ginger Mercer (John's Widow who passed away in 1994).

Johnny and his friends would enjoy spending time in the early summers picking wild huckleberries (Blueberries). They would place these in pails and bring them home to enjoy. They even turned up in ice-cream. This is where my huckleberry friend came from, just Johnny as a little boy, with his friends enjoying themselves in their private activities.

Wow! dys, and all this time I thought that it had to do with Huckleberry Finn and the raft bit.

Isn't it wonderful, listeners, how much we learn here on WA2K radio?

My first hearing of the song - "huckleberry friend" did not compute. I misheard it as "like Huckleberry Finn." The line evokes some nostalgic pictures, both for the author and the millions who love it.

Here is another clue. To me, it is much too simple, but a few of you might be mystified.

But a father's love will never fade away

I think I've heard that line, Edgar, but I can't place it at the moment.

We Brits hear a lot of American music and get to know a lot about American artists.
Last night on TV BBC4 there was a great set/ session from one of our best-known blues and jazz musiciane, Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, and he was joined by other luminaries such as Zoot Money (and the Big Roll Band)

That was one great programme. The joint was really jumpin'. It's nice to see musicians at work who can really play.

(I'm thinking something like Neil Sedaka, for Edgar's song? Late 60s or early 70s. I may be wrong of course.)

Oops, I was wrong both times. ( I cheated, and snuck a peek). 1963, well well.

One of my all-time favorite artists did my song, McTag.

They did a bio-pic of him last year (with Kevin Spacey?) but I haven't seen it yet.
Because I cheated, I'm not giving the anwer just yet. Let someone else have a go.

Movies - AP
AP
Oscar-Winning Actor John Mills Dies at 97

32 minutes ago



LONDON - Actor Sir John Mills, the quintessential British officer in scores of films, died Saturday after an Oscar-winning career spanning more than 50 years that included roles in "Gandhi" and "Ryan's Daughter." He was 97.



Mills died at home in Denham, west of London, after a short illness, a statement from his trustees said. Details of the illness were not given.

Mills' roles ranged from Pip in David Lean's "Great Expectations" to the village idiot in Lean's "Ryan's Daughter," for which he won his Academy Award as best supporting actor in 1971.

But he took his place in film history as soldier, sailor, airman and commanding officer, embodying the decency, humility and coolness under pressure so cherished in the British hero.

On Mills' 80th birthday in 1988, historian Jeffrey Richards called him "truly an English Everyman. His heroes have been on the whole not extraordinary men but ordinary men whose heroism derives from their levelheadedness, generosity of spirit and innate sense of what is right."

Small, fair-haired, with a boyish face and very blue eyes, he was the son, the brother, the boy next door who went off to fight the Germans and only sometimes came back.

In "Forever England" he was the ordinary seaman who pins down a German battleship. In "Waterloo Road" he played an AWOL soldier. In Noel Coward's 1942 classic "In Which We Serve" he was a Cockney able seaman, and in Anthony Asquith's "The Way to the Stars," one of the most popular films of the war, he was a schoolmaster-turned-RAF pilot.

These performances were touching and restrained, within the wartime bounds of acceptable sentimentality, and they made his name.

Age seemed hardly to touch him and he carried on in military roles for decades, eventually becoming the commander, as in "Above Us the Waves" in 1955. He was trapped in a submarine in 1950's "Morning Departure," toiled through the desert in "Ice Cold In Alex" (1958), and in "Tunes of Glory" (1960) he was the commander of a Scottish regiment, tormented by a fellow officer.

In a recent survey of British film legends by Sky television, voters puts Mills in 8th place all-time among British male actors.

But Mills started his career as a hoofer, a song and dance man in old Fred Astaire roles, far from the trenches.

Born Lewis Ernest Watts, the son of a Suffolk schoolmaster, he started work at 17 as a grain merchant's clerk but longed for the stage.

His older sister Annette, part of a dancing duo at Ciro's, the London nightclub, encouraged his ambitions and he moved to the capital and changed his name.

Mills recalled how he spent the mornings selling disinfectants and toilet paper to pay the rent, and his afternoons at tap dancing lessons.

"Then I got into a very tatty double act with a man called George Posford who played the balalaika while sang 'Sonny Boy' and that was how it all started," he added.

He was acting with at traveling troupe called The Quaints, in Singapore in 1929 when Noel Coward saw the show and suggested Mills look him up in London.

That led to parts in Coward's revues and eventually his war movies, where Mills swapped dancing shoes for uniform.



Mills' own military career in the Royal Engineers lasted little more than a year after the outbreak World War II, until he was declared unfit because of an ulcer.

Mills was married first to actress Aileen Raymond, then in 1941 to Mary Hayley Bell, an actress-turned-playwright.

Their son Jonathan is a screenwriter and daughters Juliet and Hayley are actresses.

Among Mills' many non-military films were "Great Expectations," "Hobson's Choice," "The Wrong Box," "Tiger Bay" with his daughter Hayley, and "Gandhi" in which he played the viceroy of India.

He was made a CBE, or Companion of the Order of British Empire, in 1960 and knighted in 1976.

Mills was wiry, fit and remarkably youthful in to old age, which his daughter Hayley attributed to "joie de vivre."

"Maybe what attracts people is that exuberant spiritual quality that they recognize is still present," she said in 1986.

At 80, Mills rejected any idea of giving up acting.

"I've never considered myself to be working for a living; I've enjoyed myself for a living instead," he said.

Mills is survived by his wife and their children. The funeral service will be held on April 27 in Denham.

I like Mills and his family. Hate to lose the good ones like that.

edgar, I peeked as well, but as I once observed, Bobby Darin's fantastic voice and the songs he chose to sing in later life, were what first attracted me to the man.

Here's an interesting thing, listeners. Most people who sing, such as British singers, do so without an accent of any kind. It's the same way with most announcers. I suppose they want to appear neutral because the song and the way it is sung is the most important aspect. Wonder if Bob sings with a Boston accent. <smile>

McTag, it pains me to tell you that I was not familiar with one of your artists. sheeeeeze. In searching out a particular British vocalist, I chanced to come upon another interesting site about the following:










Chateaubriand, Vicomte François René de

1768_1848
French political leader, diplomat, and writer considered a forerunner of romanticism. His works include Atala (1801), The Genius of Christianity (1802), and Memoirs from beyond the Tomb, published posthumously.

I could not find any info at all as to why Mr. Chateaubriand has a steak named after him.

Where in the world is Francis?

Hey, hopw about one for the Pope?


Padre
Bonnie Guitar
Written by Alain Romans, Paul Francis Webster, Marcel Eugene Ageron

- This version did not chart but
- In 1958, Toni Arden took it to # 13


Padre, padre
In my grief I turn to you

The day that we wed you blessed us and said
"May heaven bestow you grace"
There in that holy place
We shared our first embrace

Our cottage was small but richer than all
The palaces of a king
All day the birds would sing
Our hearts were full of Spring

Padre, padre, what happened to our love so true?
Padre, padre, in my grief I turn to you

Then she came along and sang him her song
And won him with honeyed lies
She of the golden eyes
Now it's my heart that cries

So I kneel and pray the hours away
And weary my heart has grown
Wond'ring where love has flown
Counting my tears alone

Padre, padre, what happened to our love so true?
Padre, padre, Pray for my love and me

Letty,
Bobby Darin recorded this song long after he sang Mack the Knife. He had a folk period, in which he did If I Were a Carpenter, Simple Song of Freedom and the like. He rode with Robert Kennedy on the final flight to California, and they sang songs together. He was not universally loved. One time, he gave a concert (folk, with an acoustic guitar) at which somebody had bought up the first five or so rows and they were all empty when Bobby arrived.

Francis is listening A2K radio. And he has those three books of Chateaubriand at home plus some more.

<The chateaubriand indicates a thick section of medium of "filet" from three to five centimetres. A chateaubriand must be cooked slowly so that the heart heats without surface being desiccated.>

Oh, my, edgar. I didn't know that either. Yikes! as for the new pope, I am certain he will appreciate your dedication as he will need all the dedication that he can garner.

Thanks, Francis. I have eaten chateaubriand in a family owned restaurant here, and I had supposed that it was so named because it came from the house of the vicomte. Now when I go back, I will inform them of the history, and be certain and ask the right questions.<smile>

filet mignon = tenderloin steak = fillet steak = fillet de boeuf = tender steak Pronunciation: fee-lay mee-NYOH Plural: filets mignons
Notes: These are cut from the tenderloin, and they're the most tender steaks you can buy, though not the most flavorful. American butchers usually call all tenderloin steaks filets mignons, but the French reserve the name for just the cuts at the small end of the tenderloin, which is the best part. As they move away from the filet mignon, the French call their cuts tournedos, filet steak, châteaubriand, and bifteck. American butchers confuse matters even more by sometimes calling top sirloin steaks châteaubriands. Don't marinate these steaks and don't cook them beyond medium rare. Substitutes: top sirloin steaks (larger) OR Porterhouse steaks

Ah, porterhouse! My favorite one.

Well, WA2K fans. Here we have it all; music to dine by and your choice of beef.

Let's see. What music? How about some cajun:


Pennywhistle notation and Dulcimer tab for this song is also available


Jolie Blonde

Pretty blonde, look at what you've done
You left me to go
To go with another than me
What hope and what future can I have?

Pretty blonde, you left me all alone
To go back to your family
If you hadn't listened to the advice of the others
You'd be here with me today.

Pretty blonde, you thought you were the only one
You're not the only one in the world for me to love
I will find another pretty blonde
God knows, that I love so much.

Pretty blonde, to die would be nothing
It's just staying in the ground for a long time
I don't know what I'll do if you don't come back, baby
Come back to me in Louisiana.


JOLIE BLONDE
Traditional

Jolie Blonde, 'gardez donc, quoi t'as fait
Tu m'as quitte' pour t'en aller
Pour t'en aller avec un autre, oui, que moi
Quel espoir et quel av'nir mais moi je peux avoir?

Jolie blonde, tu m'as laisse' moi tout seul
Pour t'en aller chez ta famille
Si t'aurais pas ecoute' tous les conseils de les autres
Tu serais ici avec moi aujourd'hui.

Jolie blonde, tu croyais il y avait juste toi
Il y'a pas juste toi dans le pays pour moi aimer
Je va's trouver juste une autre jolie blonde
Bon Dieu sait, moi, j'aime tant.

Jolie blonde, mourir, ca serait pas rien
C'est de rester dans la terre aussi longtemps
Moi j'vois pas quoi faire si tu reviens pas, be'be'
T'en revenir avec moi dans la Louisiane.

I do believe, folks, that THAT music will go with porterhouse or chateaubriand.

And some poetic history to accompany the a la carte:

"Evangeline"
by Angela Simoneaux




ST. MARTINVILLE - Historians may fault his details, but there is no denying that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow brought a very real Acadian tragedy to the world.

In his poem "Evangeline," published in 1847, Longfellow told the story of two Acadian lovers who lost each other during the expulsion of 1755.

On Saturday, the Longfellow Evangeline State Commemorative Area created to honor the poet and his poem celebrated its 65th birthday with visits from interpretive rangers from Louisiana's other state parks.

The celebration continues today with all-day demonstrations of native crafts including net-making, palmetto-weaving, sabot-making, the brewing of herbal remedies, spinning and weaving. A demonstration of alligator skinning will begin at 1 p.m.

Longfellow, who was born in Maine, another Acadian enclave, wrote the poem based on the outline of a story he received from Nathaniel Hawthorne, another U.S. writer who was a friend.

In his story, Evangeline and Gabriel are separated on the beach near Grand Pre as the British expel the Acadians, and her father, Benedict Bellefontaine dies there as the Acadians' farms are burned. Evangeline travels America searching for Gabriel, and finds him many years later by accident as he dies in a hospital where she has come to work as a nurse. The dramatic and heartbreaking tale of families separated and an Edenlike settlement destroyed was one of Longfellow's most popular works.

The site of the SCA, near St. Martinville, was first used as a vacherie, or cattle ranch, and later developed as an indigo plantation.

In the late 18th century, about the time the Acadians arrived in Louisiana, the land was acquired by a wealthy Creole family. Charles DuClozel Olivier inherited the land in the early 19th century and developed it into a prosperous sugar cane plantation.

It wasn't until 1934 that the site became a state park open to the public, said curator Suzanne Laviolette.

"The site was purchased in the late 1920s by a commission that wanted to build a memorial to Longfellow and the Acadians," Laviolette explained.

The project was stalled by the Depression, but revived in 1934 when the Office of State Parks was created and the land was acquired by Louisiana, she said. Although the Olivier house was part of the park from the start, it wasn't officially recognized as a historical site until it was placed on the National Register in the 1970s, Laviolette said.

The park also contains a traditional Acadian home, and the staff tries to explain the many differences between the Creoles, as the wealthy French planters are known, and the Acadians.

"We cover the French-speaking people," Laviolette said. "The Acadians were obviously very different from the Creoles. Their lives were very simple, quite different than the wealthy French planters." Visiting the Longfellow Evangeline area Saturday were Scott Dearman and John House, interpretive rangers from the Mansfield State Commemorative Area. Dearman and House, dressed in Confederate and Union uniforms respectively, talked to visitors about Civil War-era weapons and lifestyles.

Gary D. Blagg, an interpretive park ranger at the Louisiana State Arboretum near Chicot State Park, had skins, print casts and skulls on display. Many of the animals living in Louisiana during the time of the Acadians' settlement still live here, Blagg said. There were plenty of squirrel, skunk, red and gray fox, muskrats, opossum and alligator, he said.

But some animals plentiful during the Acadians' time no longer live in Louisiana or are found in smaller numbers, Blagg said.

During that time, the spotted skunk was more prevalent than the stripped skunk that is common today. The black bear was much more common, as well, Blagg said.

"The beaver was very common at that time, although it was trapped almost to the point of extinction," Blagg said. "Today, because of control and management techniques, it has rebounded and is now causing problems in some areas." The river otter was very common at the time of the Acadians, and also was trapped to a very low population level, Blagg said. Management techniques also have helped the otter population to rebound, he said.

Mountain lions and bison roamed Louisiana during the time of the Acadians. "There were even some reports of jaguars, although those reports are a little questionable," Bragg said.

Coyotes and mink also were very plentiful. Minks may be beautiful to look at, but they are "vicious little carnivores," Bragg said.

The Acadians did a lot of hunting and trapping for food, fur and leather, Bragg said. Many were muskrat trappers, because the soft fur was very popular, he said.

Ah, the forest primeval.