I haven’t had a video for a little bit here and tomorrow is my birthday, so I was going to wait till then to put up a song by someone who shared my birthday. But out of all the singers with birthdays I saw, I really wanted to listen to Vikki Carr. Her birthday is today.
Vikki is looking and sounding incredible in this live performance from 1984. Vikki is a remarkable person not only for her singing talents, but she has long devoted her time and talents to helping many charities, like the United Way, the American Lung Association, the Muscular Dystrophy Association and St. Jude’s Hospital. In 1971, she established the Vikki Carr Scholarship Foundation, as a way to “personally return the support and encouragement she received from others in her own musical career.” Since then, the Foundation has awarded scholarships in excess of a quarter of a million dollars.
There are also Spanish and Italian versions of “It Must Be Him” on youtube performed by Vikki if you want to check that out.
Today marks the 91st year since the Bolsheviks executed Tsar Nicholas II and his entire family in Ekaterinburg, Russia, but did you know that the Tsar and his family are saints of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and passion bearers of the Russian Orthodox Church?
This is a somewhat complicated matter, since their canonization was based upon their being victims of Soviet oppression. Many others who were murdered along with the Royal Family on that awful day were also canonized, as well as relatives of the royals and servants of the relatives who were killed in the days that followed. The killings were still going on in September.
There is a wealth of information, including miracles attributed to Nicholas II, here:
Looking for something to do that’s inexpensive, fun and entertaining? It’s still not too late to experience Shakespeare. There’s a real good chance that there’s a play going on near you sometime very soon. Shakespeare Fellowship (www.shakespearefellowship.org) has a comprehensive list of Shakespeare Festivals and Theatres throughout the world. Some of the links are broken, but it’s still a good place to start, and you can always google ‘Shakespeare Festival’ and your own state or city. Many are very reasonably priced while some are even free.
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New Hampshire has “Shakespeare in the Valley,” for instance, and the good news is that even if you’re not in New Hampshire, you may be able to catch up with “Shakespeare in the Valley” another time, since they travel around the East Coast the rest of the year. If you’ve been suffering from “Bad Shakespeare Syndrome,” they aim to cure it. Take the test on their website: http://www.shakespeareinthevalley.com/.
If you’re going to be in the Houston area, The Miller Outdoor Theatre is offering free performances of Twelfth Night and Pericles in August (as well as a bunch of other non-Shakespeare offerings).
Hie thee to your favorite search engine and find out if there’s a play coming up near you.
Ah, another day … another historical murder, and another poem on the topic. This one is by English clergyman and author, William James Dawson, (1854-1928), who obviously wasn’t at the execution of Mme. Corday for the murder of Jean-Paul Marat in 1793, but Dawson seeks to reproduce the emotions of Adam Lux, who was:
Adam Lux to Charlotte Corday
Red is the garb thou wearest, red is the deed thou hast done,
And red on a land of blood rises the morning sun.
Kings have ridden this road, conquerors mailed in gold,
But none in such red triumph as this that we behold.
Rose, thro’ a rose-red dawn, go to thy valourous fate,
Queen of all roses thou, splendid and passionate.
And lo ! at thy feet I fling, here, in the gallows-cart,
Passionate even as thine, the rose-flower of my heart. Read the rest of this entry »
Oh Burr, oh Burr, what has though done,
Thou has shooted dead great Hamilton!
You hid behind a bunch of thistle,
And shooted him dead with a great hoss pistol!
It’s been said that this anonymous poem addressed to Aaron Burr was left on Burr’s doorstep in 1804, while other reports say that Burr never saw it until many years later. Whichever, Burr really didn’t hide “behind a bunch of thistle.”
