Hi Mado! Happy Valentine’s Day/Singles Awareness Day! Thanks so much for your friendship & support! I just wanted to let you know that my new e.p. “Paper Box” is available now on itunes. Drop me a line and let me know how you’re doing! Visit http://www.tunecore.com/music/gayleskidmore for a link to my itunes site. Cheers! Gayle Skidmore
We invite you to listen to DIAL-A-DIVA on Saturday 8th September.
VOCAL PERFORMERS from around the world have signed up for a 24 hour arts extravaganza that's shaping up to be one of this year's cultural highlights.
DIAL-A-DIVA connects an audience and performers by telephone, for 24 hours on September 8th 2007.
Each artist's performance is transmitted via their telephone into a conference call. The audience can then dial in to listen to the phonecast. An internet webcast will also be available. The event will start in New Zealand at 8pm local time. We will follow 8pm around the world with artists participating throughout Australasia, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas. It will culminate 24 hours later as 8pm crosses the dateline once more.
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a short story by Washington Irving contained in his collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., written while he was living in Birmingham, England, and first published in 1820. With Irving's companion piece "Rip Van Winkle", "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is among the earliest American fiction still read today.The story is set circa 1790 in the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town, New York, in a secluded glen called Sleepy Hollow. It tells the story of Ichabod Crane, a priggish schoolmaster from Connecticut, who competes with Abraham "Brom Bones" Van Brunt, the town rowdy, for the hand of eighteen-year-old Katrina Van Tassel, daughter of a wealthy farmer. As Crane leaves a party at the Van Tassel home on an autumn night, he is pursued by the Headless Horseman, supposedly the ghost of a Hessian trooper who lost his head during "some nameless battle" of the American Revolutionary War and who "rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head." ."The denouement of the fictional tale is set at the bridge in the real location of the Old Dutch Burying Ground in Sleepy Hollow. The characters of Ichabod Crane and Katrina Van Tassel may have been based on local residents known to the author.
Sleepy Hollow (1999) is an historical horror film directed by Tim Burton, interpreting the legend of The Headless Horseman and based loosely around the Washington Irving story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The film was written by Andrew Kevin Walker and retooled by Tom Stoppard. It starred Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci, and was scored by Tim Burton stalwart, Danny Elfman.Portions of the film's opening (featuring a dialogue-free Martin Landau cameo) were actually shot in New York State, not far from the actual town of Sleepy Hollow.~H
Ventriloquism is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) manipulates his or her voice so that it appears that the voice is coming from elsewhere. The act of ventriloquism is ventriloquizing.The Greeks called this gastromancy and it was often closely aligned with aspects of necromancy in that it was used to make it seem that the spirits of the dead had returned to pass on information retrieved from beyond the grave. In the Middle Ages it was thought to be similar to witchcraft. As spiritualism led to stage magic and escapology so ventriloquism became more of a performance art as, starting around the 16th century, it shed its mystical trappings.
The most familiar type of ventriloquist today is a nightclub performer sitting on a stool with a wooden dummy on his lap. In the days of Vaudeville in the late 19th century, the vaudeville acts did not concentrate on humor as much as on demonstrating the ventriloquist's ability to deceive the audience and his skill in switching voices. For this reason, many of the performers used multiple figures, switching quickly from one voice to another. One difficulty ventriloquists face is that all the sounds they make must be made with lips slightly separated. For the bilabial sounds /b/, /p/, and /m/, the only choice is to replace them with others. The dental sounds /v/, /t/, /d/, and /n/ can replace them successfully enough that, if spoken quickly, it is difficult to notice a difference.
A nursery rhyme is a traditional song or poem taught to young children, originally in the nursery. Learning such verse assists in the development of vocabulary, and several examples deal with rudimentary counting skills. It also encourages children to enjoy music. Many cultures feature children's songs and verses that are passed down by oral tradition from one generation to the next. In the English language, the term "nursery rhyme" generally refers to those of European origin, and the best known examples are English and originated in or since the 17th century. Some nursery rhymes, however, are substantially older. "Sing a Song of Sixpence" exists in written records as far back as the Middle Ages.
Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye. Four and twenty blackbirds, baked in a pie. When the pie was opened, the birds began to sing. Now, wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the king? The king was in his counting house, counting out his money. The queen was in the parlour, eating bread and honey. The maid was in the garden, hanging out the clothes, When down came a blackbird and pecked off her nose!
A brothel, also known as a bordello or whorehouse, is an establishment specifically dedicated to prostitution, providing the prostitutes a place to meet and to have sex with the clients. In some places, licensed brothels are legal , and in many countries, places such as massage parlors are allowed to function as brothels, with varying degrees of regulation and repression. Depending on zoning, brothels may be confined to special red-light districts or 'tolerance zones'.
The word brothel is from Middle English, and stems from 'brothen', the past participle of 'brethen', meaning 'to waste away' or 'to go to ruin', showing the low regard brothels and prostitution have been held in throughout much of history.
Other (older) names for brothel are 'cathouse', 'bawdyhouse', 'house of ill repute', 'house of prostitution', 'knocking shop', 'pleasure house' or 'sporting house'. Brothels have been known for most of recorded history. Early incidences include temple prostitution in many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries.
By the time of the ancient Grecian and Roman civilizations, brothels were established and sometimes licensed institutions, with the latter first being recorded in Athens in 594 BC. This first official brothel was soon followed by many others, and also influenced the creation of special schools in which various classes of prostitutes (from slavegirls to future courtesans) were trained for their profession.
The Ostrich (Struthio camelus) is a flightless bird native to Africa. It is the only living species of its family, Struthionidae, and its genus, Struthio. It is distinctive in its appearance, with a long neck and legs and the ability to run at speeds of about 65 km/h (40 mph), the top landspeed of any bird.
Ostriches are the largest living species of bird and are farmed in many areas all over the world. The scientific name for the Ostrich is from the Greek for "camel sparrow" in allusion to its long neck.Ostriches are large enough for a small human to ride them, typically while holding on to the wings for grip, and in some areas of northern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula Ostriches are trained as racing mounts. There is little possibility of the practice becoming more widespread, due to the irascible temperament and the difficulties encountered in saddling the birds. Ostrich races in the United States have been criticized by animal rights organizations; however, they continue to take place in the streets of Miami Beach.
~Hello my friend! I hope your Summer is filled with odd fun and many pleasures, as well as good fortune! Thanks so much for your friendship. Please stop by again soon won't you? Have a most excellent week!~
The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever items are of interest to the individual collector. Some collectors are generalists, accumulating Movie merchandise, Vintage doorknobs or stamps from all countries of the world. Others focus on a subtopic within their area of interest, perhaps 19th Century postage stamps, milk bottle labels from Sussex, or Mongolian harnesses and tack.
The items collectors collect may be antique, or simply collectible. Antiques are collectible items at least 100 years old; collectibles are less than antique, and may even be new. Collectors and dealers may use the word vintage to describe older collectibles. Most collectibles are man-made commercial items, like keys, books or art, but some private collectors collect natural objects such as birds' eggs, butterflies, rocks, and seashells. ~ What if anything do you collect?~ Have a delightful week my friend~
Triskaidekaphobia (from greek tris=three, kai=and, deka=ten) is a fear of the number 13. It is usually considered to be a superstition. A specific fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia.
• The arrest and murder of the Knights Templar occurred on Friday October 13, 1307. This event is incorrectly said to be the origin of the supposed unluckiness of Friday the 13th.
• In the US, many tall buildings do not have a floor numbered "13" (see picture at left for an example).
• On some passenger aircraft there is no seating row numbered "13" (see picture at right for an example).
• In Formula One and many other racing categories, no vehicle carries the number 13.
~ GOOD FORTUNE TO YOU MY FRIEND, HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13TH~
~Hello my friend! I hope your Summer is filled with odd fun and many pleasures, as well as good fortune! Thanks so much for your visits to my 'space' and the lovely comments you send. Please stop by again soon won't you? Have a most excellent week!~
The evening of June 23, St. John's Eve, is the eve of celebration before the Feast Day of St. John the Baptist. The Feast of St. John coincides with the summer solstice or Midsummer in the northern hemisphere, which Pagan traditions celebrate on June 21st. The Christian holy day is fixed at June 24, but, in the old way, festivities are celebrated the night before, on St. John's Eve.
St. John's Eve (or Bonfire Night) is celebrated in many parts of rural Ireland with the lighting of bonfires. This ancient custom has its roots in pre-Christian Irish society when the Celts honoured the Goddess Áine, the Celtic equivalent of Venus and Aphrodite.
Historically, this date has been venerated in the practice of Voodoo. The famous Voodoo priestess Marie Laveau was said to have held ceremonies involving Voodoo ritual on the Bayou St. John in New Orleans, commemorating St. John's Eve annually. Modern day practitioners of Voodoo have kept the traditions alive.
~ Wishing you a wonderful Midsummer Night and St John's Eve!~
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling place.
And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!
Lord Byron
~Enjoy the Beautiful daydreams of Summer my Friend~
There is no Frigate like a book, To take us Lands away. Nor any Coursers like a Page of prancing poetry- This Traverse may the poorest take, Without oppress of toll- How frugal is the Chariot that bears the Human soul (ED)
Thank You for your friendship. Do visit again soon won't you? ~Have a most enchanting evening~.
Ostriches are the largest living species of bird and are farmed in many areas all over the world. The scientific name for the Ostrich is from the Greek for "camel sparrow" in allusion to its long neck.Ostriches are large enough for a small human to ride them, typically while holding on to the wings for grip, and in some areas of northern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula Ostriches are trained as racing mounts. There is little possibility of the practice becoming more widespread, due to the irascible temperament and the difficulties encountered in saddling the birds. Ostrich races in the United States have been criticized by animal rights organizations; however, they continue to take place in the streets of Miami Beach.
