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SI J'AVAIS UN MARTEAU
(If I had a hammer)

Claude François (France)
(the same as in "My way")


Si j'avais un marteau
Je cognerais le jour
Je cognerais la nuit
J'y mettrais tout mon cœur
Je bâtirais une ferme
Une grange et une barrière
Et j'y mettrais mon père
Ma mère, mes frères et mes sœurs
Oh oh, ce serait le bonheur

Si j'avais une cloche
Je sonnerais le jour
Je sonnerais la nuit
J'y mettrais tout mon cœur,
Pour le travail à l'aube
Et le soir pour la soupe
J'appellerais mon père
Ma mère, mes frères et mes sœurs
Oh oh, ce serait le bonheur

Si j'avais une chanson
J'la chanterais le jour
J'la chanterais la nuit
J'y mettrais tout mon cœur
En retournant la terre
Pour alléger nos peines
J'la chanterais à mon père
Ma mère, mes frères et mes sœurs
Oh oh, ce serait le bonheur

Si j'avais un marteau
Et si j'avais une cloche
Puis si j'avais une chanson à chanter
Je serais le plus heureux
Je ne voudrais rien d'autre
Qu'un marteau, une cloche et une chanson
Pour l'amour de mon père
Ma mère, mes frères et mes sœurs
Oh oh, ce serait le bonheur

C'est le marteau du courage
C'est la cloche de la liberté
Mais la chanson c'est pour mon père
Ma mère, mes frères et mes sœurs
Oh oh, pour moi c'est le bonheur
C'est ça le vrai bonheur
Si j'avais un marteau
Si j'avais un marteau

Well, here's our Francis, listeners, with a French version of the hammer song. Being curious about this performer, I found this in the archives:

Claude François


Styles: Euro-Dance, French Pop

Along with Johnny Hallyday, Claude François was one of the biggest stars of French rock & roll, emerging during the so-called "yé-yé" movement of the early '60s. Like Hallyday, his early success came mostly from French adaptations of English-language rock and folk hits, rather than from original material written specifically for him. However, his image -- immaculately coiffed hair and glitzy sequined suits -- played just as big a role in his popularity, and made him a major teen idol in his heyday, when fans dubbed him "Clo-Clo." He dressed his much-imitated quartet of backup dancers, the Clodettes, in even more flamboyant costumes (some self-designed), which gave his act a definite kitsch appeal and became a visual signature for much of his career. Appropriately for the singer who recorded the original version of the song that became "My Way," François lived the outsized life of a star, cycling through a series of high-profile affairs and acquiring a reputation for being extremely difficult to work with. Despite continued popularity, he endured a run of bad personal luck in the '70s that culminated in his freak accidental death at only 39 years old, electrocuting himself in the bathtub while changing a light bulb.

How very tragic, Francis. Thank you for that lead.

Word for the day:

Kitsch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Art in questionable taste is sometimes referred to as kitsch.Kitsch is a German term that has been used to categorize art that is considered an inferior copy of an existing style. The term is also used more loosely in referring to any art that is pretentious or in bad taste, and also commercially produced items that are considered trite or crass.

It was my pleasure, Miss Lety.

Events

* 1174 - William the Lion of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173-1174, was captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to Henry II of England.
* 1558 - Battle of Gravelines: In France, Spanish forces led by Count Lamoral of Egmont defeat the French forces of Marshal Paul des Thermes at Gravelines.
* 1573 - Eighty Years' War: The Siege of Haarlem ends after seven months.
* 1643 - English Civil War: Battle of Roundway Down - In England, Lord Henry Wilmot, Earl of Rochester, commanding the Royalist forces, wins a crushing victory over the Parliamentarian Sir William Waller.
* 1772 - HMS Resolution, under the command of Captain James Cook, set sail from Plymouth, England.
* 1787 - The U.S. Congress enacts the Northwest Ordinance establishing governing rules for the Northwest Territory. It also establishes procedures for the admission of new states and limits the expansion of slavery.
* 1793 - Jean Paul Marat, one of the leaders of the French revolution, is murdered by Charlotte Corday.
* 1794 - Battle of the Vosges between French forces and those of Prussia and Austria
* 1822 - Greek War of Independence: Greeks defeat Ottoman forces at Thermopylae.
* 1837 - Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom moves into the first Buckingham Palace in London and is the first British monarch to live there.
* 1863 - New York Draft Riots: In New York City, opponents of conscription begin three days of rioting which will be later regarded as the worst in United States history.
* 1854 - In the battle of Guaymas, Mexico, General Jose Maria Yanez stops the French invasion led by Count Gaston de Raousset Boulbon.
* 1878 - Treaty of Berlin: The European powers redraw the map of the Balkans. Serbia and Montenegro become completely independent of the Ottoman empire.
* 1900 - Boxer Rebellion: In China, Tientsin is retaken by European Allies from the rebelling Boxers.
* 1908 - Women compete in modern Olympics for the first time.
* 1909 - Gold discovered near Cochrane, Ontario.
* 1919 - The British airship R-34 lands in Norfolk, England, completing the first airship return journey across the Atlantic in 182 hours of flight.
* 1930 - The first FIFA World Cup begins in Uruguay.
* 1936 - A heat wave strikes the Midwestern United States. The all-time highest temperatures for the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana are all recorded on this date.
* 1941 - World War II: Montenegrins start the first popular uprising in Europe against the Axis Powers.
* 1942 - World War II: German U-Boats sink three more merchant ships in Gulf of St. Lawrence.
* 1972 - The United States Democratic Party nominates George McGovern for president at its convention in Miami Beach, Florida but, because of an impassioned platform dispute, McGovern does not give his acceptance speech until the early morning hours of the 14th.
* 1973 - Alexander Butterfield reveals the existence of the Nixon tapes to the special Senate committee investigating the Watergate break in.
* 1977 - The New York City Blackout of 1977 lasts for 25 hours and results in looting and other disorder.
* 1978 - Ford Motor Company President Lee Iacocca is fired by chairman Henry Ford II, ending a long dispute between the men.
* 1982 - Montreal hosts the first baseball All-Star Game outside the United States.
* 1985 - The Live Aid benefit concert takes place in London and Philadelphia, as well as other venues such as Sydney and Moscow.
* 1996 - A Garuda Indonesia Airways DC-10 crashes on take-off from Fukuoka Airport, Japan, killing 3 passengers.
* 2002 - A lighting strike sets off the Sour Biscuit Fire in Oregon and northern California, which had burned 499,570 acres (2,020 km2) when finally contained on September 5.
* 2005 - Space Shuttle Discovery launches in the Return to Flight program.



Births

* 100 BC - Julius Caesar (or July 12), statesman and military leader (d. 44 BC)
* AD 40 - Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Roman Governor of Britain (d. 93)
* 1527 - John Dee, English scientist
* 1590 - Pope Clement X (d. 1676)
* 1608 - Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1657)
* 1816 - Gustav Freitag, writer (d. 1895)
* 1821 - Nathan Bedford Forrest, American Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan leader (d. 1877)
* 1841 - Otto Wagner, Austrian architect (d. 1918)
* 1864 - John Jacob Astor IV, American entrepreneur (d. 1912)
* 1894 - Isaac Babel, Ukrainian writer (d. 1940)
* 1900 - George Lewis, American jazz musician (d. 1969)
* 1913 - Dave Garroway, American television host (d. 1982)
* 1918 - Alberto Ascari, Italian race car driver (d. 1955)
* 1921 - Ernest Gold, film score composer (d. 1999)
* 1924 - Carlo Bergonzi, Italian tenor
* 1927 - Simone Veil, French politician
* 1928 - Bob Crane, American actor, (d. 1978)
* 1928 - Mace Neufeld, film producer
* 1929 - Alan Civil, English French horn player (d. 1989)
* 1933 - David Malcolm Storey, writer
* 1934 - Wole Soyinka, Nigerian writer
* 1934 - Aleksei Yeliseyev, cosmonaut
* 1935 - Jack Kemp, American football player and Vice Presidential candidate
* 1936 - Albert Ayler, Jazz Musician, (d. 1970)
* 1940 - Patrick Stewart, English actor
* 1941 - Robert Forster, American actor
* 1942 - Harrison Ford, American actor
* 1942 - Roger McGuinn, American musician
* 1944 - Ernő Rubik, Hungarian inventor, sculptor, and architect
* 1946 - Cheech Marin, American actor and comedian
* 1953 - Johnny Clegg, South African composer and musician
* 1954 - Sezen Aksu, Turkish singer and songwriter, Eurovision Song Contest winner
* 1957 - Cameron Crowe, American film director and writer
* 1962 - Rhonda Vincent, bluegrass singer
* 1963 - Neal Foulds, English snooker player
* 1966 - Gerald Levert, singer
* 1970 - Barry Pinches, English snooker player
* 1974 - Jarno Trulli, Formula 1 racer

Deaths

* 939 - Pope Leo VII
* 1205 - Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury and Justicier of England
* 1621 - Archduke Albert of Austria, governor of the Low Countries (b. 1559)
* 1683 - Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex, English statesman (b. 1631)
* 1705 - Titus Oates, Protestant conspirator (b. 1649)
* 1755 - Edward Braddock, British general
* 1793 - Jean Paul Marat, French revolutionary (murdered by Charlotte Corday) (b. 1743)
* 1807 - Henry Benedict Stuart, the Cardinal-Duke of York and the last Jacobite Claimant (as Henry IX and I) to the thrones of England, Scotland, (France), and Ireland (b. 1725)
* 1896 - Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz, German organic chemist (b. 1829)
* 1946 - Alfred Stieglitz, American photographer (b. 1864)
* 1951 - Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian composer (b. 1874)
* 1954 - Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter (b. 1907)
* 1967 - Tom Simpson, British cyclist (exhaustian) (b. 1937)
* 1974 - Patrick Blackett, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
* 1980 - Seretse Khama, first President of Botswana (b. 1921)
* 1983 - Gabrielle Roy, Canadian author (b. 1909)
* 1993 - Davey Allison, American race car driver (b. 1961)
* 2002 - Yousuf Karsh, Turkish-born photographer (b. 1908)
* 2003 - Compay Segundo, Cuban folk musician (b. 1907)
* 2004 - Arthur Kane, musician (New York Dolls) (complications of leukemia) (b. 1951)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_13

Well, Bob. That's a complete list if ever I heard one.

(hamster is rather slow today. He needs a shot of whatever Bob is having)

Will have a look see later, Boston.

Song for the day:

Artist: Lyrics
Song: Till There Was You Lyrics


There were bells on the hill
But I never heard them ringing,
No, I never heard them at all
Till there was you.

There were birds in the sky
But I never saw them winging
No, I never saw them at all
Till there was you.

And there was music,
And there were wonderful roses,
They tell me,
In sweet fragrant meadows of dawn, and dew.

There was love all around
But I never heard it singing
No, I never heard it at all
Till there was you!

Well, listeners. We have a little dead air here, so I thought I give you an interesting up date and a creature feature song.





New Dolphin Species Found in Australia



SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Australian researchers said Tuesday they have identified a new species of dolphin living in the coastal waters of northern Australia.

The Australian Snubfin Dolphin, which is related to Irrawaddy dolphins found along the coasts and major rivers of Asia and northern Australia, was formally identified as a new species thanks to genetic research carried out in California, Queensland state researchers said in a statement.

``There are clear differences between the two populations that had not been previously recognized and these were confirmed by the studies on DNA,'' said Isabel Beasley, a doctoral student at James Cook University's School of Tropical Environmental Studies and Geography.

Beasley and Peter Arnold from the Museum of Tropical Queensland examined the skulls and external measurements of both species, as well as observations of the dolphins in seven countries


(to the tune of "The Addams Family")

When they get in the notion,
They jump out of the ocean,
With tail fluke locomotion,
The Dolphin Family. I bet you didn't suppose,
Their blowhole was their nose,
And in and out air goes,
The Dolphin Family.
Swim in the sea. Eee! Eee!
Swim in the sea. Eee! Eee!
Swim in the sea,
Live in a pod,
Swim in the sea. Eee! Eee! Swim in the sea. Eee! Eee!
Swim in the sea. Eee! Eee!
Swim in the sea,
Live in a pod,
Swim in the sea. Eee! Eee!

Here's the reference to the rest of the new species story

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/us.jsp?feature=newz_0705dolphin_species

Enjoy, folks

Hey, silent majority. Our BumbleBeeBoogie is having a birthday:
http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1453201#1453201

Go over and give her a hug.

Reading the dolphin poem reminded me of a story I read back in my youth. This was in The People's Almanac published by Doubleday (1975). This is about a porpoise rather than a dolphin and yes, I did that on porpoise.

French Pass, a dangerous water passage through the D'Urville Islands and off the coast of New Zealand, extends from Pelorus Sound to Tasman Bay. It is a shortcut for sailors, but a risky one, with deceptive currents and jagged underwater rocks. Back on a stormy morning in 1871, the schooner Brindle, out of Boston bound for Sydney, approached the passage. A blue-gray porpoise began jumping up in front of the ship, as though it were bidding it welcome. Some of the sailors thought it was a young whale calf and wanted to kill it. The captain's wife talked them out of it.
The porpoise seemed to be leading the way through the channel and the ship followed it, through deep water all the way, to arrive safely on the other side. From then on, the porpoise, nicknamed Pelorus Jack, would meet and pilot every ship, that is, but one. In 1903, a drunken passenger on the Penguin hit Jack with a bullet. Though the crew wanted to lynch the passenger, the damage was done. Jack didn't show up for 2 weeks, but then came back, apparently no worse for the experience. However, after that he would never accompany the Penguin again. In 1909, the Penguin, long considered a jinxed ship, was wrecked in the passage with great loss of life.
In April, 1912, Jack vanished, never to be seen again.

Ah, Bob. That's a great story even though you were talking at cross porpoises <smile>

Mariners swear by creatures of the sea, folks. Remember the albatross?

News Item:





TOKYO - A group of teachers and translators in Japan on Wednesday sued Tokyo's outspoken nationalist governor for allegedly calling French a "failed international language," a news report said.


Twenty-one people filed the lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court, demanding that Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara pay a total of 10.5 million yen ($94,600) compensation for insulting the French language in remarks last October, national broadcaster NHK said.

In their suit, the plaintiffs accused Ishihara of saying: "French is a failed international language because it cannot be used to count numbers."

"It's natural for different languages to have different names for numbers and different ways of counting them, so it's unacceptable for him to insult French in this way," Malik Berkane, who heads a French-language school in Tokyo, told reporters at a news conference.

The Tokyo metropolitan government refused to comment, saying it hadn't received word of the lawsuit.

French is the official language in about three dozen countries and territories worldwide and is one of the official working languages for international organizations such as the United Nations. In French, some numbers can be unwieldy to say, such as 90, which translates as "four-twenty-ten."

Japan's counting system can also be tricky. Adopted from Chinese, the Japanese numeric system ignores the western system of classifying large numbers every three digits. Though one thousand is the same, 30,000 would translate as "three-10,000," 4 million would be "400-10,000" and 4 billion would be "40-100 million."

Counting one pencil or one bottle of beer ("ippon") in Japanese differs from counting one sheet of paper ("ichimai") or one book ("issatsu").

Ishihara, one of Japan's most popular politicians, is known for his blunt nationalist talk, criticism of illegal immigrants and unapologetic view of the Japanese wartime military's atrocities in Asia. His remarks often rile Chinese and Korean residents in Japan.

We all know better than that, don't we, Francis

some thoughts on sea creatures, call me ishmael if it will help you to relax

Greenland Whale Fisheries
The Pogues
(Traditional)

In eighteen hundred and forty-six
On March the eighteenth day
We hoisted our colors to the top of the mast
And for Greenland sailed away, brave boys
And for Greenland sailed away

The lookout in the crosstrees stood
With spyglass in his hand
There's a whale, there's a whale
And a whalefish he cried
And she blows at every span, brave boys
She blows at every span

The captain stood on the quarter deck
The ice was in his eye
Overhaul, overhaul! Let your gibsheets fall
And you'll put your boats to sea, brave boys
And you'll put your boats to sea

Our harpoon struck and the line played out
With a single flourish of his tail
He capsized the boat and we lost five men
And we did not catch the whale, brave boys
And we did not catch the whale

The losing of those five jolly men
It grieved the captain sore
But the losing of that fine whalefish
Now it grieved him ten times more, brave boys
Now it grieved him ten times more

Now Greenland is a barren land
A land that bares no green
Where there's ice and snow, and the whalefishes blow
And the daylight's seldom seen, brave boys
And the daylight's seldom seen

Ev'rything to keep me from sleepin'
A lot of sailor boys they were leavin'
And everybody there were jumpin'
To hear the sailor boys in our chorus singin'

Brown skin girl stay home and mind baby
Brown skin girl stay home and mind baby
I'm goin away, in a sailing boat
And if I don't come back
Stay home and mind baby

Now de Americans made an invasion
We thought it was a help to the island
Until they left from here on vacation
They left de native boy home to mind their children

Brown skin girl stay home and mind baby
Brown skin girl stay home and mind baby
I'm goin away, in a sailing boat
And if I don't come back
Stay home and mind baby

Now I tell you de story 'bout Millie
Well she made a nice blue-eyed baby
And dey say she fancy the mother
But the blue-eyed baby ain't know she father

Brown skin girl stay home and mind baby
Brown skin girl stay home and mind baby
I'm goin away, in a sailing boat
And if I don't come back
Stay home and mind baby

Now de Americans all have their pleasure
While the music played to their leisure
Everybody there they were jumpin'
To hear the sailor boys in our chorus singin'

Brown skin girl stay home and mind baby
Brown skin girl stay home and mind baby
I'm goin' away, in a sailing boat
And if I don't come back
Stay home and mind baby

Ah, dj. Fantasic sea song, but Moby Dick is better suited to yitwail.<smile>

Really, I was trying to recall why the continent was called Greenland-- A ploy to lure settlers? Someone once told me that Iceland was far more desirable.

from wikipedia

The name Greenland comes from those Scandinavian settlers. In the Norse sagas, it is said that Eiríkur Rauði (Erik the Red) was exiled from Iceland for murder. He, along with his family and slaves, set out in ships to find the land that was rumoured to be to the north-west. After settling there, he named the land Greenland in order to attract more people to settle there.

Wow! edgar, that was awesome. Can you explain the meaning of "brown skin girl stay home and mind baby..."?

The Irish Rover
The Pogues


On the Fourth of July, 1806
We set sail from the sweet cove of Cork
We were sailing away with a cargo of bricks
For the Grand City Hall in New York
'Twas a wonderful craft
She was rigged fore and aft
And oh, how the wild wind drove her
She stood several blasts
She had twenty seven masts
And they called her The Irish Rover

We had one million bags of the best Sligo rags
We had two million barrels of stone
We had three million sides of old blind horses hides
We had four million barrels of bones
We had five million hogs
And six million dogs
Seven million barrels of porter
We had eight million bails of old nanny-goats' tails
In the hold of the Irish Rover

There was awl Mickey Coote
Who played hard on his flute
When the ladies lined up for a set
He was tootin' with skill
For each sparkling quadrille
Though the dancers were fluther'd and bet
With his smart witty talk
He was cock of the walk
And he rolled the dames under and over
They all knew at a glance
When he took up his stance
That he sailed in The Irish Rover

There was Barney McGee
From the banks of the Lee
There was Hogan from County Tyrone
There was Johnny McGurk
Who was scared stiff of work
And a man from Westmeath called Malone
There was Slugger O'Toole
Who was drunk as a rule
And Fighting Bill Treacy from Dover
And your man, Mick MacCann
From the banks of the Bann
Was the skipper of the Irish Rover

We had sailed seven years
When the measles broke out
And the ship lost its way in the fog
And that whale of a crew
Was reduced down to two
Just myself and the Captain's old dog
Then the ship struck a rock
Oh Lord! what a shock
The bulkhead was turned right over
Turned nine times around
And the poor old dog was drowned
I'm the last of The Irish Rover

Brown Skin Girl is a song of the Carribean, and, just like it says, the fraternizing between American sailors and the island girls led to lots of single mother families. The song first became known to me in the 1950s, so, how much it has or hasn't changed, I don't know.

Thanks, dj for that brief reference and confirmation about Greenland and Iceland.

Isn't our dj prolific, listeners? Hmmm. I have an Irish friend that would love your rover song. <smile>

When I was just a wee lass, folks, I went through the tall ship phase, but settled for a raft that I made. I always pictured my self on a raft and frying fish right from a frying pan. That was the Huck Finn in me, I guess.

speaking of huck finn and rafts and all that, here's the rainmakers with a little song


Downstream
The Rainmakers
----------------------------------------------------
Well, me and Mark Twain were having us a ball
Telling each other lies, floating down from Hannibal
With a bottle and a worm and a cane pole
We were fishing for secrets where the catfish crawl

And the Mississippi River's flowing downstream
Meet the Gulf of Mexico somewhere downstream
Meet the Atlantic Ocean somewhere downstream
Gonna meet you in the water somewhere downstream

Well, we picked up Harry Truman floating down from Independence
We said "What about the war?", he said "Good riddance"
We said "What about the Bomb, are you sorry that you did it?"
He said "Pass me that bottle, and mind your own business"

And the Mississippi River's flowing downstream
Meet the Gulf of Mexico somewhere downstream
Meet the Atlantic Ocean somewhere downstream
Gonna meet you in the water somewhere downstream

Well, we're rounding St. Louis and heading for the coast
When we pick up Chuck Berry in a little rowboat
With one oar in the water and one in the air
A lightning rod for a white guitar

And lightning struck once, and lightning struck twice
And I said "If there's a God, He sure ain't nice"
And Chuck said "God is an Indian giver
I don't trust nothing but the Mississippi River"

And the Mississippi River's flowing downstream
Meet the Gulf of Mexico somewhere downstream
Meet the Atlantic Ocean somewhere downstream
Gonna meet you in the water somewhere downstream

Thanks, edgar. I wasn't certain, but I rather thought that it would be a girl of the island. Pity, really. but, just as Pitcarin Island; well, we know all about that now, don't we, listeners.

dj, that song is hilarious. My word, folks. Where does this man from Canada come up with all these songs, and right in sync, too.