WA2K Radio is now on the air

Before I must make a quick run downtown, I would like to share this song with our listeners:



When I Look In Your Eyes Lyrics
by Diana Krall


When I look in your eyes, I see the wisdom of the world in your eyes
I see the sadness of a thousand goodbyes
When I look in your eyes

And it is no surprise, to see the softness of the moon in your eyes
The gentle sparkle of the stars in your eyes
When I look in your eyes

In your eyes, I see the deepness of the sea
I see the deepness of the love
The love I feel you feel for me

Autumn comes, summer dies
I see the passing of the years in your eyes
And when we part there will be no tears no goodbyes
I'll just look into your eyes

Those eyes, so wise
So warm, so real
How I love the world, your eyes reveal

It interests me that many love songs are about "eyes". I often think about songs that include the word "hands".

Well, listeners. I just returned the video of Kinsey. I'll need to think about that movie for some time.

I have no idea from whom this song cometh, but it's another one of those thought provokers:


When northern storm is rising
He gathers the powers might
Travels through the highest skies
Alone forevermore, but so sublime

Crying here to be free from mortal form, so valueless
Heading towards source of all
Alone forevermore

In the hands of storm he is purified,
Searching for the sound from the ancient lakes
Heavens open now, clouds are raining blood
This might be the one, our final doom

Found the source of life that is our doom
This is all too much, this is the doom

Odd, no?

found myself thinking of this song all day

Allentown
Billy Joel

Well we're living here in Allentown
And they're closing all the factories down
Out in Bethlehem they're killing time
Filling out forms
Standing in line
Well our fathers fought the Second World War
Spent their weekends on the Jersey Shore
Met our mothers in the USO
Asked them to dance
Danced with them slow
And we're living here in Allentown

But the restlessness was handed down
And it's getting very hard to stay

Well we're waiting here in Allentown
For the Pennsylvania we never found
For the promises our teachers gave
If we worked hard
If we behaved
So the graduations hang on the wall
But they never really helped us at all
No they never taught us what was real
Iron and coke
And chromium steel
And we're waiting here in Allentown

But they've taken all the coal from the ground
And the union people crawled away

Every child had a pretty good shot
To get at least as far as their old man got
But something happened on the way to that place
They threw an American flag in our face

Well I'm living here in Allentown
And it's hard to keep a good man down
But I won't be getting up today

And it's getting very hard to stay
And we're living here in Allentown

while we're at it, how about one more from mr. joel

You May Be Right
Billy Joel

Friday night I crashed your party
Saturday I said I'm sorry
Sunday came and trashed me out again
I was only having fun
Wasn't hurting anyone
And we all enjoyed the weekend for a change

I've been stranded in the combat zone
I walked through Bedford Stuy alone
Even rode my motorcycle in the rain
And you told me not to drive
But I made it home alive
So you said that only proves that I'm insane

You may be right
I may be crazy
But it just may be a lunatic you're looking for
Turn out the light
Don't try to save me
You may be wrong for all I know
But you may be right

Remember how I found you there
Alone in your electric chair
I told you dirty jokes until you smiled
You were lonely for a man
I said take me as I am
'Cause you might enjoy some madness for awhile

Now think of all the years you tried to
Find someone to satisfy you
I might be as crazy as you say
If I'm crazy then it's true
That it's all because of you
And you wouldn't want me any other way

You may be right
I may be crazy
But it just may be a lunatic you're looking for
It's too late to fight
It's too late to change me
You may be wrong for all I know
But you may be right

You may be right
I may be crazy
But it just may be a lunatic you're looking for
Turn out the light
Don't try to save me
You may be wrong for all I know
But you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right
You may be wrong but you may be right

and a little something from john prine

Paradise
John Prine

When I was a child my family would travel
Down to Western Kentucky where my parents were born
And there's a backwards old town that's often remembered
So many times that my memories are worn.

Chorus:
And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay
Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking
Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away

Well, sometimes we'd travel right down the Green River
To the abandoned old prison down by Adrie Hill
Where the air smelled like snakes and we'd shoot with our pistols
But empty pop bottles was all we would kill.

Repeat Chorus:

Then the coal company came with the world's largest shovel
And they tortured the timber and stripped all the land
Well, they dug for their coal till the land was forsaken
Then they wrote it all down as the progress of man.

Repeat Chorus:

When I die let my ashes float down the Green River
Let my soul roll on up to the Rochester dam
I'll be halfway to Heaven with Paradise waitin'
Just five miles away from wherever I am.

Repeat Chorus:

So, dj, all of your songs seem to ring of coal, and others sing of old black gold. While windmills whisper, "tilt me first", and dear old sol caresses earth, and here I sit in my air conditioned house:




Lyrics as reprinted in liner notes of "Come All You Coal Miners" (Rounder 4005, 1972).


We read in the paper and the radio tells
Us to to raise our children to be miners as well.
Oh tell them how safe the mines are today
And to be like your daddy, bring home a big pay.
Now don't you believe them, my boy,
That story's a lie.
Remember the disaster at the Mannington mine
Where seventy-eight miners were buried alive,
Because of unsafe conditions your daddy died.
They lure us with money, it sure is a sight.
When you may never live to see the daylight
With your name among the big headlines
Like that awful disaster at the Mannington mine.
So don't you believe them, my boy,
That story's a lie.
Remember the disaster at the Mannington mine
Where seventy-eight miners were buried alive,
Because of unsafe conditions your daddy died.
There's a man in a big house way up on the hill
Far, far from the shacks where the poor miners live.
He's got plenty of money, Lord, everything's fine
And he has forgotten the Mannington mine.
Yes, he has forgotten the Mannington mine.
There is a grave way down in the Mannington mine
There is a grave way down in the Mannington mine.
Oh, what were their last thoughts, what were their cries
As the flames overtook them in the Mannington mine.

So don't you believe them, my boy,
That story's a lie.
Remember the disaster at the Mannington mine
Where seventy-eight good men so uselessly died
Oh, don't follow your daddy to the Mannington mine.
How can God forgive you, you do know what you've done.
You've killed my husband, now you want my son.

Sounds like war of sorts, right?

Dj, I love John Prine's Paradise.

Letty, coal miners song is one I remember from long ago.

Here is one I like:

Standing on the moon
© By the Grateful Dead


I got no cobweb on my shoe
Standing on the moon
I'm feeling so alone and blue
I see the gulf of Mexico
As tiny as a tear
The coast of California
Must be somewhere over here - over here

Standing on the moon
I see the battle rage below
Standing on the moon
I see the soldiers come and go
There's a metal flag beside me
Someone planted long ago
Old Glory standing stiffly
Crimson, white and indigo - indigo

I see all of Southeast Asia
I can see El Salvador
I hear the cries of children
And the other songs of war
It's like a mighty melody
That rings down from the sky
Standing here upon the moon
I watch it all roll by - all roll by

Standing on the moon
With nothing else to do
A lovely view of heaven
But I'd rather be with you

Standing on the moon
I see a shadow on the sun
Standing on the moon
The stars go fading one by one
I hear a cry of victory
And another of defeat
A scrap of age old lullaby
Down some forgotten street

Standing on the moon
Where talk is cheap and vision true
Standing on the moon
But I would rather be with you
Somewhere in San Francisco
On a back porch in July
Just looking up to heaven
At this crescent in the sky

Standing on the moon
With nothing left to do
A lovely view of heaven
But I'd rather be with you - be with you

Standing on the moon
With nothing left to do
A lovely view of heaven
But I'd rather be with you - be with you

Ah, Diane, that is the stanza that caught my hands. (no, not my eye)

Can you imagine, listeners, what it would be like to catch a hand full of star dust or moon beams?

A country dance was being held in a garden
I felt a bump and heard an Oh, beg your pardon
Suddenly I saw polka dots and moonbeams
All around a pug-nosed dream





The music started and was I the perplexed one
I held my breath and said May I have the next one
In my frightened arms, polka dots and moonbeams
Sparkled on a pug-nosed dream

There were questions in the eyes of other dancers
As we floated over the floor
There were questions but my heart knew all the answers
And perhaps a few things more

Now in a cottage made of lilacs and laughter
I know the meaning of the words ever after
And I'll always see polka dots and moonbeams
When I kiss my pug-nosed dream.

Ah, what memories, folks. My sister use to tell me that I had a ski-jump nose.

Time for my goodnight song, listeners:


When I'm dreaming I'm guided to another world
Time and time again
At sunrise I fight to stay asleep
Cause I don't want to leave the comfort of this place
Cause there's a hunger, longing to escape
From the life I live when I'm awake

So lets go there
Lets make our escape
Come on; let's go there
Lets ask can we stay?

Chorus
Can you take me higher?
To the place where blind men see
Can you take me higher?
To the place with golden streets

Although I would like our world to change
It helps me to appreciate
Those nights and those dreams
But my friend I'd sacrifice all those nights
If I could make the earth and my dreams the same

The only difference is
To let love replace all our hate
So lets go there
Lets make our escape
Come on
Lets go there lets ask can we stay

Chorus

Lets go there
Lets go there
Lets go there
Lets ask can we stay

Up high I feel like I'm alive for the very first time
Sat up high I'm strong enough to take these dreams
And make them mine

Creed

Lawdy Miss Clawdy
(Lloyd Price)


Well lawdy, lawdy, lawdy miss clawdy
Girl you sure look good to me
But please don't excite me baby
I know it can't be me

Well as a girl you want my money
Yeah but you just won't treat me right
You like to ball every morning
Don't come home till late at night

Oh gonna tell, tell my mama
Lord, I swear girl what you been to me
I'm gonna tell everybody that I'm down in misery

So bye, bye, bye, baby
Girl, I won't be comin' no more
Goodbye little darlin' down the road I'll go
So, bye, bye, bye baby
Girl, I won't be comin' no more
Goodbye little darlin' down the road I'll go

A very fine welcome back Letty.
Thankyou.
And Walter, greetings to you.

I wouldn´t want to touch those Lotus plants though.

Rudy Vallee
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Rudy Vallee (July 28, 1901 - July 3, 1986) was a popular United States singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer. Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, he grew up in Westbrook, Maine. In high school he took up the saxophone and acquired the nickname "Rudy" after then famous saxophonist Rudy Weidoeft.


Vallee played clarinet and saxophone in various bands around New England in his youth, in the mid 1920s played with the Savoy Havana Band in London. He then returned to the States to form his own band, Rudy Vallee and the Connecticut Yankees. With this band he started taking vocals (supposedly reluctantly at first). He had a rather thin tenor voice and seemed more at home singing sweet ballads than attempting vocals on jazz numbers. However his singing, together with his suave manner and handsome good looks attracted great attention, especially from young women. Vallee was given a recording contract, and in 1928 started performing on the radio.

Vallee became the most prominent of a new style of popular singer, the "crooner". Previously popular singers needed strong projecting voices to fill theaters in the days before the electric microphone. Crooners had soft voices that were well suited to the intimacy of the new medium of radio.

Vallee became also perhaps the first complete example of the 20th century mass media pop-star. Flappers mobbed him wherever he went. His live appearances were usually sold out, and even if his singing could hardly be heard in those venues not yet equipt with the new electronic microphones, his screaming female fans went home happy if they had caught sight of his lips through the opening of the trademark megaphone he sang through.

In 1929 Vallee did his first film "Vagabond Lover". His first films were made to cash in on his singing popularity, but Hollywood was pleasantly surprised to find that Vallee could act as well. Also in 1929 Vallee started hosting The Fleishchman's Yeast Musical Variety Hour; he would continue hosting popular radio variety shows through the 1940s. When Vallee took his contractual vacations from his national radio show in 1936, he insisted his sponsor hire Louis Armstrong as his substitute (this was the first instance of an African-American fronting a national radio program). That same year Vallee also wrote the introduction for Armstrong's book "Swing That Music".

Vallee acted in a number of Hollywood films in the 1930s and 1940s. One of his best acting roles is in the 1942 screwball comedy film "The Palm Beach Story".

In middle age Vallee's voice matured into a robust baritone. (In his later years he told a collector of his early records that "Everything I did before 1950 you can **** on.") He performed on Broadway in the show "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" and appeared in the film of the same name. He appeared in the 1960s Batman television show as the character "Lord Marmaduke Fogg". He toured with a one-man theater show into the 1980s.

Rudy Vallee died on July 3, 1986 and was interred in St. Hyacinth's Cemetery, Westbrook, Maine.


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

Grand Old Ivy

J.B.BIGGLEY:
Groundhog!

FINCH:
Groundhog!

J.B.BIGGLEY:
Stand Old Ivy.
Stand firm and strong.
Grand Old Ivy,
Hear the cheering throng.

BOTH:
Stand Old Ivy.
And never yield-
A-rip, rip, rip -
The Chipmunk off the field

FINCH:
When you fall on a ball

J.B.BIGGLEY:
And you're down there at the bottom of the heap.

FINCH:
Down at the bottom of the heap.

J.B.BIGGLEY:
Where the mud is oh so very, very deep.

FINCH:
Down where it's very, very deep.

J.B.BIGGLEY:
Don't forget 'twas

BOTH:
That's why they call us,
They call us:
Groundhog!
Groundhog!

J.B.BIGGLEY:
Groundhog! Groundhog!
Rip, rip, rip the Chipmunk

FINCH:
Stand Old Ivy.
Stand firm and strong.

BOTH:
Grand Old Ivy,
Hear the cheering throng

J.B.BIGGLEY:
Groundhog! Groundhog! God bless you!

FINCH:
Stand Old Ivy, and

BOTH:
End never yield -
A-rip, rip, rip -
The Chipmunk off the field.

FINCH:
Oh, I enjoyed that sir!

J.B.BIGGLEY:
Stimulating, most stimulating.
Shall we do it one more time?

FINCH:
Why not?

FINCH:
Groundhog!

J.B.BIGGLEY:
Groundhog!

BOTH:
Stand Old Ivy.
Stand firm and strong.
Grand Old Ivy,
Hear the cheering throng.

Stand Old Ivy.
End never yield,
A-rip, rip, rip-
The Chipmunk off the field.

Because How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying was one of the last films of Rudy Vallee and I really liked some of the songs I thought I'd post some of the lyrics here.


The Company Way

MR. TWIMBLE:
When I joined this firm
As a brash young man.
Well I said to myself not brash young man.
Don't get any ideas.
Well, I stuck to that
And haven't had one in years.

FINCH:
You play it safe!

MR. TWIMBLE:
I play it the company way.
Wherever the company puts me
There I stay.

FINCH:
But what's your point of view?

MR. TWIMBLE:
I have no point of view!

FINCH:
Supposing the company thinks that...

MR. TWIMBLE:
I think so too!

FINCH:
Now, what would you say...

MR. TWIMBLE:
I wouldn't say!

FINCH:
Your face is a company face...

MR. TWIMBLE:
It smiles at executives
then goes back in place!

FINCH:
The company furniture...

MR. TWIMBLE:
:it suits me fine!

FINCH:
The company letterheader...

MR. TWIMBLE:
A Valentine!

FINCH:
Anything you're against?

MR. TWIMBLE:
Unemployment!

FINCH:
When they want brilliant thinking
from employees...

MR. TWIMBLE:
That is no concern of mine.

FINCH:
Suppose a man of genius make suggestions....

MR. TWIMBLE:
What's that genius get suggested to resign?

FINCH:
So, You play it the company way.

MR. TWIMBLE:
Oh, company policy is by me ok.

FINCH:
You'll never rise up to the top...

MR. TWIMBLE:
But there's one thing clear,
Whoever the company fires
I will still be here!

FINCH:
Ah, you certainly found a home.

MR. TWIMBLE:
It's cozy...

FINCH:
Your brain is a company brain.

MR. TWIMBLE:
The company washed it,
Now I can't complain.

FINCH:
Hey, the company magazine...

MR. TWIMBLE:
Know what style, what punch

FINCH:
The company restaurant!

MR. TWIMBLE:
Ev'ry day same lunch.
Their hattock sandwich, it's delicious.

FINCH:
I must try it!

MR. TWIMBLE:
Early in the week.

FINCH:
Do you have any hobbies?

MR. TWIMBLE:
I've a hobby, I play gin with Mr. Bratt.

FINCH:
Mr. Bratt! And do you play it nicely?

MR. TWIMBLE:
Play it nicely, still he blitzes me on every game like that!

FINCH:
Why?

MR. TWIMBLE:
'Cause I play it the company way.

BOTH:
Executive policy...

MR. TWIMBLE:
Is by me ok.

FINCH:
Oh, how can you get anywhere?

MR. TWIMBLE:
Junior have no fear.
Whoever the company fires
I will still be here.

FINCH:
You will still be here.

MR. TWIMBLE:
Year, after year, after fiscal,

BOTH:
Never take a risko.
Yeeeear!


A Secretary Is Not A Toy

BRATT:
Gentlemen! Gentlemen!

A secretary is not a toy,
No my boy;
Not a toy to fondle and dandle
And playfully handle
In search of some puerile joy.
No, a secretary is not,
Definitely not a toy.

3 MALES:
You're absolutely right, Mr. Bratt!
We wouldn't have any other way, Mr. Bratt!
It's a company rule, Mr. Bratt!

MALE ENSEMBLE:
A secretary is not a toy,
No my boy,
not a toy.

So do not go jumping for joy,

MALE ENSEMBLE:
Boy! A secretary is not...
A secretary is not,
A secretary is not ...a toy,

FEMALE ENSEMBLE:
A secretary is not to be
Used for play therapy.

COMPANY:
Be good to the girl you employ, boy;
Remember, no matter what
Neurotic trouble you've got,
A secretary is not ...a toy.

She's a highly specialized key
Component of operation unity...
A fine and sensitive mechanism
To serve the office community
With a mother at home
She supports.

FRUMP:
And you'll find nothing like her at F.A.O. Schwartz!

SMITTY:
A secretary is not a pet,
Nor an erector set.

FRUMP & SMITTY:
It happened to Charlie McCoy, boy!
They fired him a shot
The day the fellow forgot
A secretary is not... A toy!

COMPANY:
(Whistling)
A secretary is not...A toy!

And when you put it to use,
Observe,
When you put her to use:

FRUMP:
That you don't find the name Lionel
on her caboose!

FEMALE ENSEMBLE:
A secretary is not a thing
One buy key, hold by string

Her pad...
Is to write in,
And not spend the night in
If that's what you plan to enjoy.
No!

COMPANY:
The secretary you got,
Is definitely not
Employed to do a gavotte,
Or you know what,
Before you jump for joy,
Remember this my boy,
A secretary is not,
A tinker toy!

I Believe In You

FRUMP:
Hello, Executive Washroom. Oh! Come on down. We're here making plans.

COMPANY:
Gotta stop that man.
I've gotta stop that man cold
Or he'll stop me.

Big deal, big rocket,
Thinks he has the world in his pocket.
Gotta stop, gotta stop.
Gotta stop that man.

FRUMP:
Now! Look at him standing and staring at himself on the mirror!

FINCH:
Now there you are.
Yes, there's that face.
That face that somehow I trust.
It may embrace you, too.
Here me say it.
But say it I must,
Say it I must

You have the cool clear
Eyes of a seeker of wisdom and truth,

Yet, there's that up turned chin
And the grin of impetuous youth.

Oh, I believe in you,
I believe in you.

I hear the sound of good
Solid judgment whenever you talk.

Yet, there's the bold, brave spring
Of the tiger that quickens your walk.
(roar, roar!)

Oh, I believe in you,
I believe in you.

And when my faith in my fellow man
Oh but falls apart,
I've but to feel your hand grasping mine
And I take heart,
I take heart.

To see the cool clear
Eyes of a seeker of wisdom and truth,

Yet with the slam, bang, tang
Reminiscent of gin and vermouth.

Oh, I believe in you,
I believe in you.

MALE ENSEMBLE:
Gotta stop that man.
Gotta stop that man.

Or he'll stop me.

Big will, big beaver
For we won't live in front of this fever

Gotta stop, gotta stop.
Gotta stop that man.

FINCH:
Oh, I believe in you...

COMPANY:
Don't let it be such a hero

FINCH:
(ha, ha, ha)
You...
(ha, ha, ha)
You...
You!

COMPANY:
Gotta stop that man!
Gotta stop him!
Stop that man!
Gotta stop him!
Gotta stop that man!

Brotherhood of Man

FINCH:
Now you may joint the Oak's, my friend,
And may joint the Shriner's.
And other men may carry cards,
As members of the Diner's.

Still others wear a Golden Key,
Or small Greek letter pin.
But I have learn that's one great club,
That all of us are in.

There is a brotherhood of man,
A benevolent brotherhood of man,
A noble tie that binds
All human hearts and minds
Into one brotherhood of man.

Your life long membership is free,
Keep a-giving each brother all you can.
Oh, aren't you proud to be in that fraternity,
The great big brotherhood of man?

So, Wally, before consider firing everybody, remember this:

One man may seem incompetent.
Another not make sense.
Well, others look like quite waste
Of company expense.
They need a brother's leadership.
So, please, don't do them in
Remember mediocrity
Is not a murder sin.

FINCH:
There

MALE ENSEMBLE:
Where?

FINCH:
In

MALE ENSEMBLE:
In

FINCH:
the

MALE ENSEMBLE:
the

COMPANY:
Brotherhood of man.
Dedicated to giving all we can

FINCH:
Oh, aren't you proud to be
In that fraternity.

COMPANY:
The great big brotherhood of man.

WOMPER:
No kidding!
Is there really a brotherhood

MALE ENSEMBLE:
Yes, you're a brother.

WOMPER:
of man.

MALE ENSEMBLE:
You are a brother.

WOMPER:
On the level of brotherhood of man.

MALE ENSEMBLE:
Oh, yes! Oh, yes!
A noble tie that binds
All human hearts and minds

WOMPER:
Into one brotherhood of man.

COMPANY:
Oh, yes! Your life long membership is free,
Keep a-giving each brother all you can.

MALE ENSEMBLE:
Oh, aren't you proud to be,
In that fraternity,
The great big brotherhood
Of man?

MISS JONES:
You, you got me
Me, I got Yooooooooo - yooou

MISS JONES:
Oh, that noble feeling
Feels like bells are pealing
Dong with double jingling
Oh, brother!
You, you got me
Me, I got Yooooooooo - yooou

COMPANY:
Oh, that noble feeling
Feels like bells are pealing
Dong with double jingling
Oh, brother!
You, you got me
Me, I got Yoooooou

MALE ENSEMBLE:
Oh, that noble feeling
Feels like bells are pealing
Dong with double jingling
Oh, brother!

MISS JONES:
Oooooooooooooooooo
Oooooooooooooooooo

COMPANY:
You, you got me
Me, I got Yoooooou

Your life long membership is free,
Keep a-giving each brother all you can.
Oh, aren't you proud to be in that fraternity,
The great big brotherhood of man?

Good morning, WA2K listeners and contributors.

Hebba, to me, the idea that Homer included this one segment in the Odyssey is a metaphor in that it reflects the tendency of all of us to be seduced by the caressing of nature when our voyage home is thwarted by "seas of trouble". I hope that poem becomes clearer now, my friend.

Bob, once again we are in your debt for the great bio of Rudy Vallee, and thank you for the delightful song from How to Succeed. When River Phoenix made the movie, My Own Little Idaho, the song from that was fantastic even with the megaphone treatment of Mr. Vallee.

Let's listen, listeners:

Frank Sinatra - Deep Night Lyrics
<brief instrumental intro>

Deep night, stars in the sky above
Moonlight, lighting our place of love
Night winds seem to have gone to rest
Two eyes, brightly with love are gleaming
Come to my arms, my darling, my sweetheart, my own
Vow that you?ll love me always, be mine alone

Deep night, whispering trees above
Kind night, bringing you nearer, dearer and dearer
Deep night, deep in the arms of love

<lengthy instrumental>

Come to my arms, my darling, my sweetheart, my own
Vow that you'll love me always, and be mine alone

Deep night, whispering trees above
Kind night, bringing you nearer, dearer and dearer
Deep night, deep in the arms of love.

For a short while, the megaphone sound became quite popular in England, and, of course, found its way to America. <smile>

Homer schmomer. I´m still not going near those Lotus plants!

Have just heard The Sandpipers singing "Softly as I leave You" and I´m still smiling.
Unbelievabley high octane stuff.
Full hammer.

Good Day to all:

July 27 Birthday Celebs:

1452 - Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan (d. 1508)
1667 - Johann Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (d. 1748)

1768 - Charlotte Corday, French aristocrat who killed Jean-Paul Marat (d. 1793) She was educated at the Abbaye aux Dames, a convent in Caen, Normandy. She approved of the French revolution, supporting the Girondists.
Jean-Paul Marat (1743-1793) was a member of the radical Jacobin faction that initiatied the mass atrocities and beheadings known as the Reign of Terror, which followed the early stages of the Revolution. He was a journalist, exerting power through his newspaper, The Friend of the People (L'ami du peuple).

In 1789, when Marat had 22 Girondists arrested, Charlotte Corday began to consider killing him. On 13 July Marat admitted her into his presence (he conducted most of his affairs from a bathtub because of a debilitating skin condition).Marat copied down the names of the Girondists as Corday dictated them to him. She pulled the knife from her scarf and plunged it into his chest, piercing his lung, aorta and left ventricle. He called out, A moi, ma chère amie! ("With me, my dear friend"), and died. This is the moment memorialized by Jacques-Louis David's painting The Death of Marat.

At trial, Corday testified that she had carried out the assassination alone, saying "I killed one man to save 100,000." It was likely a reference to Maximilien Robespierre's words before the execution of King Louis XVI. Four days after Marat was killed, she died under the guillotine.

1781 - Mauro Giuliani, Italian composer (d. 1828)

1824 - Alexandre Dumas fils, French author (d. 1895) Alexandre Dumas fils was born in Paris, France, the illegitimate child of Marie-Catherine Labay, a dressmaker, and novelist Alexandre Dumas. In 1831 his father legally recognized him and ensured the young Dumas received the best education possible at the Institution Goubaux and the Collége Bourbon. Laws at that time allowed Dumas Sr. to take the child away from his mother and her agony inspired Dumas fils to write about tragic female characters. In almost all of his writings, he emphasized the moral purpose of literature and in his 1858 play, "The Natural Son," he espoused the theory that if someone brings an illegitimate child into the world, then they have an obligation to legitimize the child and marry the woman.

In addition to bearing the stigma of illegitimacy, Dumas fils was part black, his father the quadroon descendant of a white French nobleman and a black Haitian girl. In the boarding schools, Dumas fils was constantly taunted by his classmates. These issues all profoundly influenced his thoughts, behaviour, and writing.

In 1844 Dumas fils moved to Saint-Germain-en-Laye to live with his father. There, he met Marie Duplessis, a young courtesan who would be the inspiration for his romantic novel, La dame aux camélias (The Lady of the Camellias). Adapted into a play, it was titled in English as Camille and is the basis for Verdi's 1853 opera, La Traviata.

In 1864, Alexandre Dumas fils married Nadeja Naryschkine, with whom he had a daughter. After her passing he married Henriette Régnier.

During his lifetime, Dumas fils wrote twelve other novels and several plays. In 1867 he published his semi-autobiographical novel, "L'affaire Clemenceau," considered by many to be one of his best works. In 1874, he was admitted to the Académie française and in 1894 he was awarded the Légion d'Honneur.


1833 - Thomas George Bonney, geologist (d. 1923)
1835 - Giosue Carducci, Italian writer (d. 1907)
1857 - José Celso Barbosa, Puerto Rican political leader (d. 1921)
1857 - Augusta Stowe-Gullen, Canadian physician and feminist
1867 - Enrique Granados, Spanish composer (d. 1916)
1870 - Hilaire Belloc, English writer (d. 1953)
1877 - Ernst von Dohnanyi, Hungarian composer and conductor
1881 - Hans Fischer, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1945)
1882 - Geoffrey de Havilland, British aircraft designer (d. 1965)
1886 - Ernst May, b. Hamburg, Germany, architect (d. 1970)
1901 - Rudy Vallee, American singer (d. 1986) (See Bob's bio)
1903 - Nikolai Cherkasov, actor (d. 1966)
1904 - Isaac Bashevis Singer, writer, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (d. 1991)
1905 - Leo Durocher, Baseball Hall of Famer (d. 1991)
1908 - Joseph Mitchell, American writer
1912 - Hilde Domin, writer
1915 - Mario Del Monaco, tenor (d. 1982)
1916 - Elizabeth Hardwick, novelist

1916 - Keenan Wynn, American character actor (d. 1986) appeared in hundreds of movies and television shows between 1934 and 1986. Early notable Wynn performances can be seen in See Here Private Hargrove (1944), Under the Clock (1945), Weekend at the Waldorf (45), The Hucksters (1947) and Annie Get Your Gun (1950). He had a featured role in Kiss Me, Kate (1953) and The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956). His best-known part was as Col. "Bat" Guano in Dr. Strangelove (1964). He appeared as the villainous Alonzo P. Hawk in the "flubber" movie, The Absent-minded Professor (1961), in which his father appeared as well. He also appeared in other Disney films, including Herbie Rides Again (1974) and The Shaggy D.A. (1974).He was a regular on Dallas from 1978 through 1980.

1918 - Leonard Rose, American cellist (d. 1984)

1922 - Norman Lear, born New Haven, Conn., American television writer and producer (All in the Family, Sanford and Son and Maude.)Throughout the 1980s Lear's Act III Communications produced several notable films, including Stand by Me, Fried Green Tomatoes, and The Princess Bride.


1924 - Vincent Canby, film critic (d. 2000)

1931 - Jerry Van Dyke, American actor (brother of Dick Van Dyke, on whose 1960s show he sometimes made guest appearances. He was the star of the short-lived situation comedy My Mother the Car in 1965 and also played in the long-running series Coach.)

1938 - Isabelle Aubret, French singer
1938 - Gary Gygax, creator of DnD
1940 - Pina Bausch, dancer
1948 - Peggy Fleming, American figure skater

1949 - Maureen McGovern, Youngstown, Ohio, singer and Broadway actress ("The Morning After", the theme from The Poseidon Adventure; We May Never Love Like This Again" from the disaster film The Towering Inferno) In 1980, she made a cameo appearance as the singing nun, Sister Angelina, in the comedy-disaster Airplane. In 1981 she made her Broadway debut as Mabel in a revival of Gilbert & Sullivan's musical The Pirates of Penzance.

1954 - Peter L. Allen, actor and musician
1957 - Bill Engvall, comedian
1967 - Juliana Hatfield, musician
1967 - Kellie Waymire, actress (d. 2003)
1968 - Cliff Curtis, New Zealand actor
1969 - Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Italian actress
1969 - Triple H, professional wrestler
1972 - Jill Arrington, sports reporter
1974 - Eason Chan, Hong Kong pop singer
1975 - Shea Hillenbrand, baseball player
1975 - Alex Rodriguez, baseball player
1977 - Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, actor
1979 - Shannon Moore, professional wrestler

hebba, Often that is the best approach to the classics. Funneeee!

And here's our Raggedy with an ever growing list of celebs. Isn't it interesting how we have come full circle and meet again, Corday and Marat? How long ago we discussed this here on the radio.

Just turned on TCM which is honoring Donald Crisp today. How could our trusty Wikipeda (with its ever growing list) have overlooked that fine character actor - How Green Was My Valley being one of my favorite, next to Wuthering Heights, movies of all times.

Oxford-educated Crisp is one of the movie industry's true pioneers, active on both sides of the camera. He acted in Biograph films beginning in 1908, worked with D. W. Griffith in The Birth of a Nation (1915, as General Grant) and, memorably, in Broken Blossoms (1919, as Lillian Gish's brutish father). He directed and codirected classic silent films including The Navigator (1924, with Buster Keaton) and Don Q, Son of Zorro (1925). He returned to acting exclusively with the advent of talkies, always cutting an impressive figure with his military bearing and stern visage. Crisp sometimes did play sympathetic roles, such as the Welsh patriarch in How Green Was My Valley (1941), for which he won an Academy Award. He's also in Red Dust (1932), The Little Minister (1934), Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), The Life of Emile Zola, The White Angel (both 1937), Jezebel, The Dawn Patrol (both 1938), Juarez, Daughters Courageous, Wuthering Heights (all 1939), The Sea Hawk (1940), Lassie Come Home (1943), The Uninvited (1944), National Velvet (1944, as Elizabeth Taylor's father), Prince Valiant (1954), and The Long Gray Line (1955). At 75, he was still impressive as the ruthless cattle baron in The Man From Laramie (1955), and went on to deliver equally forceful performances in The Last Hurrah (1958), Pollyanna (1960), Greyfriars Bobby (1961), and Spencer's Mountain (1963). His wife was screenwriter Jane Murfin.

Greyfriars Bobby, Raggedy? I had no idea. That was the dearest movie. Was that little dog that lay on his master's grave a Yorkshire terrier?

Thank you, PA for reminding us of Donald Crisp!

Walter posted When my Guitar Gently Weeps. Many of us wondered about the history behind the song. I started searching because it is one of my favorites. Here is what I found: