Mrs. Miller: Cult figure of the 1960s

Listeners loved the novelty of Mrs. Miller. She sang off key and out of sync with the band, but she was a good-natured, plump 59-year-old woman whose enthusiasm for performing and overconfidence in her singing ability seemed authentic.

- Suzanne Raga
"The '60s Housewife Who Couldn't Sing - But Landed on the 'Billboard' Charts Anway"
mentalfloss.com, May 29, 2015 

Recently I saw the movie Florence Foster Jenkins, starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant.  The film is based on the true story of a New York socialite by that name.  Florence Foster Jenkins, who was portrayed by Streep in the film, was an amateur soprano with poor singing ability.  Known for her flamboyant costumes, she became something of a cult figure in New York City during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. On October 25, 1944, at the age of 76, Florence performed at a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall. The concert turned out to be her swan song.  She died about a month later, on November 26, 1944.

After viewing the film about Florence Foster Jenkins, I was reminded of Elva Miller, who recorded under the name of "Mrs. Miller" and was a cult figure of the 1960s.  Since I have an interest in '60s pop culture, I decided to do some research on Mrs. Miller.  I wanted to know how in the midst of the of the Vietnam era and the civil rights struggle, she became so popular.  At a time when young people were told not to trust anyone over 30, how did this 59 year-old suburban housewife become a star?

Elva Ruby Connes was born in Joplin, Missouri on October 5, 1907, the third of the seven children of Edward Connes and Ada Martin.  Elva's family soon moved to a farm in Jetmore. Kansas.  As a teenager, Elva left Jetmore  and went to live with a family in Dodge City, Kansas.  In Dodge City, she continued her high school education and sang in a church choir.

On January 17, 1934, Elva married John Richardson Miller, a professional investor and horsebreeder who was thirty years her senior.  In 1935, the couple left Kansas behind and moved to Claremont, California where Elma studied music and voice at Pomona College. Elva kept busy with church and community work and produced several recordings which she financed on her.own, mainly classical, gospel and children's songs.  When arranger Fred Bock heard her, he persuaded her to record some contemporary songs and offered the recordings to various record companies.

In the early 1960s, Gary Owens of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in fame was a disc jockey at KMPC radio in Los Angeles.  Owens, who was a friend of Fred Bock, played Elva's songs on his radio show. In 1965, she was signed to Capitol Records,

The story of Mrs. Miller's rise to success is extraordinary.  Within 18 months, she rocketed to fame. Her debut album, Mrs. Miller's Greatest Hits, sold 250,000 copies within three weeks.  In April of 1966, her rendition of Petula Clark's hit song "Downtown" reached the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, peaking at Number 82.

Below is a promotional ad from Capitol Records for Mrs. Miller's Greatest Hits.  The ad also highlights Elva's whistling and humming ability.

Meet Mrs. Miller.

You've been teased long enough.

This is Mrs. Elva Miller, our newest vocal find, with her distinguished and well-mannered sound.  

Mrs. Miller is a singer a whistler, and a hummer.  She is also a founder of the Foothill Drama and Choral Society, located near her Claremont, California home.  

Mrs. Miller is not one to live in the past.  Today's music is her music.  Classics-to-be such as "Downtown," "A Hard Days Night," "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," and "Let's Hang On" are inimitably rendered in her new album.  Thus,we believe they now belong to the ages.  

By that token, we at Capitol proudly introduce a new talent and a superlative musical document, "Mrs. Miller's Greatest Hits."

Was Mrs. Miller's Greatest Hits all just a gag, a tongue-in-cheek joke on Capitol's part.  How serious did Mrs. Miller take herself?  In a December 1967 interview with Bob Thomas for The Associated Press (AP) ("Mrs Miller Tries to Change Image"), Elva shed some light on the issue and seemed determined play it straight with a new image.  She stated that "Capitol Records created the angle that 'she's so bad that she's good.  Or it's what you call camp." Elva also claimed that she wasn't originally in on the gag.  She insisted that she didn't sing off key. She said that "They got me to do so by waiting until I was tired and then making the record. Or they would cut the record before I could become familiar with the song. At first I didn't understand what was going on. But later I did, and I resented it. I don't like to be used."

Mrs. Miller's second album for the Capitol label was titled Will Success Spoil Mrs. Miller? While Mrs. Miller's Greatest Hits focused on contemporary hits, Will Success Spoil Mrs. Miller? contained traditional pop standards such as "Moon River" and "Strangers in the Night."  In 1967, Mrs. Miller's third and final album for Capitol was released.  It was called The Country Soul of Mrs. Miller and it did not sell very many copies.

At the height of her fame, Elva Miller performed at the Hollywood Bowl and entertained U.S. Servicemen in Vietnam.  She made television appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. The Ed Sullivan Show, Art Linkletter's House Party and Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In.  In December of 1966, she appeared on Hollywood Palace with Jimmy Durante and they sang a duet of "Inka Dinka Do."  Mrs. Miller was also featured in the film The Cool Ones, starring Roddy McDowall.  She sang "It's Magic." in the 1967 comedy about a has-been pop star and a go-go dancer.

Mrs. Miller with Jimmy Durante

Mrs. Miller singing "It's Magic" in The Cool Ones"

After three albums, Capitol Records unceremoniously dropped Mrs. Miller from its label.  In a December 1967 AP article by Bob Thomas, Elva related her feelings about being rejected by Capitol.  "I could see that they were doing nothing for my records in the way of promotion," she stated, "and I felt this was a signal.  So we asked for my release. Without consulting us, Capitol released the news that I was being dropped."

In 1968, Elva released one album, Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing, on the Amaret Records label.  She then released some singles on her own label, Vibrato Records. On the album cover, she is dressed in a psychedelic hippie outfit, holding a plate of green brownies.  The album included songs with drug symbolism.

By the early 1970s, Mrs. Miller's career was largely non-existent.  In 1973, she officially retired.   
Elva Miller spent the last years of her life in Hollywood and then in Northridge, California (in the San Fernando Valley near Los Angeles) where she occupied herself with charity work.  In 1994, her Northridge apartment building collapsed during an earthquake and she was immediately moved to a convalescent hospital.  On July 5, 1997, Elva  passed away in Garden Terrace Retirement Home in Vista, California.  Mrs. Miller was 89 years old at the time of her death.


END NOTES

* In The Book of Lists 2 by Irving Wallace and David Wallechinsky, Mrs. Miller's voice was likened to the the sound of "roaches scurrying across a trash can lid."

* Elva and John Miller did not have any children.

* In a September 1967 interview with Life magazine, Elva Miller talked about whistling.  She that "for whistling you need a good tight pucker.  I use ice clamped between my lips.  I leave it there about 20 minutes.  It doesn't hurt.  It just freezes up."


- Joanne

Teched Out House: A Look at a Technology Friendly Home of the Future

This infographic provides a glimpse of how technology may affect the homes of the future.  I hope you enjoy it and that you find it thought-provoking.  Think about how prophetic it will turn out to be.  Challenge yourself.

- Joanne


Teched Out House Infographic by The Rug Seller by The Rug Seller

Upcycling Your Rug: How to Give Your Rug a Second Life

Here is an infographic with tips on how to give fresh life to an old rug.  It tells you how to convert your rug into items such as bags or purposes.  It also shows you how to find other uses for a rug that are a bit shopworn.  Hope you enjoy it and find it useful.

- Joanne



Upcycling Your Rug Infographic by The Rug Seller

Keeping Up With Debby Boone

The woman who lit up our lives is 60 years old today.  Deborah Anne "Debby" Boone was born on September 22, 1956 in Hackensack, New Jersey.  Aside from being the third of the four daughters of singer Pat Boone and his wife Shirley.  Debby is best known for her huge 1977 hit, "You Light Up My Life."  At he age of 14, she began touring with parents and her three sisters: Cherry, Lindy and Laury.  The sisters made recordings as the Boones or Boone Girls.  Although they primarily recorded gospel music, they also released singles for the Motown and Curb labels that were covers of secular pop songs.  Debby, who was the lead vocalist on the recordings, eventually branched out on her own.

As the daughter of Pat Boone, Debby had a strict upbringing.  She also has a great musical pedigree because her mother, Shirley, is the daughter of country music star Red Foley.  Due her parents, Debby was surrounded by some of Hollywood's biggest stars, including Frank Sinatra.  In a July, 2013 interview with Nicki Gostin  for Fox News, Debby discussed how Ol' Blue Eyes took her under his wing when she was starting to launch her solo career. She was Sinatra's opening act and she stayed at his Palm Beach compound.  "It was the 1970's, she said.  "He was never grumpy with me.  Getting to stay on the property and getting a touch of the life he lived . . . All the guesthouses were named after his albums. They had little notebooks and match pads engraved with our names on them. We could either order room service to our private guest house or we could eat in a common room with everyone. He treated us all like royalty."

Debby Boone's first solo effort was "You Light Up My Life."  The song was composed by Joe Brooks for a movie of the same name.  Brooks wrote and directed the 1977 film, starring Didi Conn.  Although the late Kvitka "Kasey" Cisyk, performed "You Light Up My Life" for the film's soundtrack, it was 21-year-old Debby's recording that became a monster hit.  The song was  charted number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for ten straight weeks.  It also won Debby a Grammy Award for for Best New Artist,  Remarkably, she has never had another major pop hit. In the 1980s, she focused on country music and Christian music.

Debby has also performed in stage in productions such as Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Camelot and Meet Me in St. Louis.  In 1990, she starred as Maria in the Lincoln Center's production of The Sound of Music.  In 1996, she played Rizzo in a revival of Grease.  In 2001, she played the role of Anna in the Rqdgers and Hammerstein's The King and I at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Center in California.

Debby's television work includes a 1978 TV adaptation of O. Henry's Gift of the Magi in which she co-starred with John Rubinstein.  She also had two of her own NBC musical specials - The Same Old Brand New Me (1980) and One Step Closer (1982).  In 1984 she appeared in a television movie entitled Sins of the Past with co-stars Anthony Geary of General Hospital fame, Barbara Carrera and Kim Cattrall.

In a self-deprecating manner, Debby Boone assessed her career on the Oprah Winfrey Network's Where Are They Now?:

Basically, the truth is I am a one-hit wonder. You know, I have one big hit record. .  I had some country number ones and some contemporary Christian records and that kind of thing.  I've had a career.  But basically I'm known for one recording.  And I think people knew who Debby Boone was.  I was the daughter of Pat Boone and I was, you know, all-American, squeaky clean, you know, me and Marie Osmond . . .

Debby told the Arizona Republic (March 16, 2003), that her career "wasn't the best-managed career in the history of show business."  "I would love to be able to sing a medley of my hits, but I'm not complaining," she said.

On September 1, 1979, Debby Boone married Gabriel Ferrer,  Gabriel, a priest in the Episcopal Church, is the son of singer/actress Rosemary Clooney (1928-2002)  and Oscar-winning Puerto Rican actor Jose Ferrer (1912-1992).  His first cousin is Hollywood star George Clooney.  Debby told Fox News that  she "adores" George and that he "always will be the most charming guy."  She also said that she and Gabriel almost never see him because he is so busy.

Debby and Gabriel have four adult children: son Jordan (born 1980), twin daughter, Gabrielle and Dustin (born 1983), and daughter Tessa (born 1986).  They have collaborated several children's books such as The Snow Angel and Counting Blessing, with Gabriel providing the illustrations.

In 2005, Debby Boone released a CD album  album called Reflections of Rosemary.  The album is a tribute to her mother-in-law, Rosemary Clooney, who died on June 29, 2002 at the age of 74.  It is a collection of 16 songs that, according to Debby, paint a musical portrait of the legendary singer.  The songs include Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies," Duke Elligton's "Moon Indigo" and Sammy Cahn and Jule Stynes' "Time After Time,"

Debby's most recent album is called Swing This.  It is a tribute to Las Vegas during the 1960s "Rat Pack" era.  From May 19th to June 5th of this year, Debby starred as the witch in the musical Into the Woods at the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse in Johnstown, Colorado.

Photo credit. Garland Photography

END NOTES

* Of her late father-in-law, actor Jose Ferrer, Debby Boone is quoted in Tom's Colorado Theatre Reviews (April 29, 2016) as saying "“I was always a little shy with my father-in-law, Jose Ferrer, however, as he was so well known and so very intelligent..”

* Unlike her father, Pat, Debby has become a supporter of gay rights.  In April of 2014, she attended the GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles with a lesbian couple who attended the church where her husband, Gabriel, was an associate rector. At the event, she stated, "It’s getting to know people -a lot of the gay and lesbian people who I have come to know really well. I just can’t continue to reconcile what I believed with what I know now.  It has really shifted the way I grew up thinking."  

* Debby and Gabriel have a grandchild, a granddaughter who was born in 2015.


EDITORS UPDATE: (February 8, 2019:  Debby's mother, Shirley Boone, passed away on January 11, 2019.  Shirley was 84 years old at the time of her death.


- Joanne

Hillary Clinton: Does she face blatant sexism?

Although I am not an apologist for any politician, I feel compelled to respond to the way Hillary Clinton is being treated by the media and by Donald Trump and his supporters.  Enough is enough! Isn't this 2016?  Shouldn't a woman be able to run for the office of President of the United States without being called "shrill" and "unlikeable."  Name me one male politician who has been called "shrill" and "unlikeable."  Has anyone discussed Trump's likabilty?  Why should the election of the President of the United States be treated as a popularity contest anyway?

Words like "shrill" are part of a code, a cover for anti-woman sentiment, just as President Barack Obama's detractors use code words to hide their anti-black sentiments.  Obama's opponents don't dare mention his race, so they question whether he is a "real American"  Even though the president's birth certificate has been produced, they still refuse to believe he was born in Hawaii.  One of the most prominent of the "birthers," by the way, is one Donald J. Trump.

Hillary Clinton, of course, is not without her flaws and she is not above criticism.  She is, however, very experienced, very knowledgeable and very competent.  She is a supreme achiever.  In fact, Hillary is the only American woman who has been First Lady, a United States senator, U.S. Secretary of State and the Democratic Party's presidential nominee.  That's quite a resume, isn't it?  It may also be the reason she is so disliked.  Could it be that a successful and ambitious woman still unnerves a large number of Americans?  Is it true that in the 21st century many Americans still consider aggressiveness to be an unattractive and scary trait in a woman,  Evidently, the answer is yes.  Otherwise, the election would not even be close, considering how much more qualified the female candidate is.

As U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary was a participant in some of the Obama administration's most difficult and significant decisions.  Contrast her experience to that of Donald Trump's lack of experience.  Trump  has never even held public office (although that fact makes him attractive to his supporters).  Recently, Matt Lauer asked The Donald what he had experienced in his personal and professional life that had prepared him to make the decisions that a commander-in-chief must make.  Here is Trump's response:

Well, I've build a great company.  I've been all over the world.  I've dealt with foreign countries.  I've done very well, tremendously well dealing with China and dealing with so many other countries that are just ripping this country . . .

Donald Trump's reply was so unfocussed and rambling that Lauer was forced to repeat the question..  "But what have you done in your life," he inquired of Trump, "that prepares you to send our men and women into harm's way,"  This time Trump's response was that he had the good judgement to oppose the invasion of Iraq.

Many people have built great companies, travelled all over the world, dealt with China and other countries and opposed the invasion of Iraq.  Does that make them qualified to be President of the United States?  Trump's lack of experience and skill in foreign policy and diplomacy is worrisome.  He is not qualified to make life and death decisions.  If he should be elected president, he will be holding office the most powerful public office in the free world.  He will be stepping into that office as an inexperienced and ill-prepared neophyte.  Frankly, that's a frightening scenario.

Hillary Clinton, as we know, does not score well among voters in terms of trustworthiness.  She has been dogged by an email scandal, for which she has admitted her error and has accepted responsibility for her mistake.  I can't think of any politician who has endured the intense scrutiny that Hillary Clinton has endured through her years in public life.  As Barack Obama has stated, she has been under a microscope, for decades.

This week, we witnessed the spectacle of the media's over-the-top obsession over Hillary's health.  I understand that all-news stations such as CNN have to fill 24 hours, but really?  She had a bout of pneumonia (which she should have revealed sooner). She's not dying.  If Hillary were a man, would Trump be accusing her of not having the energy and stamina to carry out the duties of the highest office in the land?  President Dwight D. Eisenhower suffered a much-publicized heart attack in September of 1955.  Yet that didn't stop him from seeking a second term in office in the election 1956, which he won over the less popular Adlai Stevenson.  Can you imagine how today's media would have reacted if Hillary had had a heart attack?

Meanwhile, Donald Trump continues to make outlandish remarks and disgusting comments.  It is not Hillary who wants to build a wall between Mexico and the United States.  It' wasn't Hillary, but Trump, who stated that Mexicans are "bringing crime" and that "they're rapists."  Trump also added that he assumes that some are good people.  Well, isn't that generous of him.  At least he didn't say, 'Some of my best friends are Mexicans."

It's not Hillary who's campaigning for the presidency as if she were hosting a reality show.  She hasn't called her political opponents names such as "Little Marco," "Lying Ted" and "Crooked Hillary." Given his own record, Donald Trump has some nerve calling anyone "crooked."  It's not Hillary, but Trump, who has allegedly refused to pay hundreds of workers.  Steve Reilly of USA Today, did a thorough probe of Trump's business practices and discovered a large number of people who worked for Trump in the past and were not paid much or nothing at all.  Reilly wrote the following about Trump:

The number of companies and others alleging he hasn’t paid suggests that either his companies have a poor track record hiring workers and assessing contractors or that Trump businesses renege on contracts, refuse to pay, or consistently attempt to change payment terms after work is complete as is alleged in dozens of court cases.

Oh, and don't forget the Trump University scam.  In a June 2, 2016 article in The New Yorker, John Cassidy asks the following question:  "Will one of the world's leading democracies elect as its President a businessman who founded and operated a for-profit learning annex that some of its own employees regard a a giant ripoff, and that the highest legal officer in New York State has described as a classic bait-and-switch scheme?"

Then there is the matter of the Trump Foundation, a private charitable organization that Trump started in 1987 from the profits of his bestselling book, The Art of the Deal.  New York's attorney general, Ed Schneiderman said he is investigating the foundation over "suspected" impropriety.  Not surprisingly, the Trump campaign has called Schneiderman, a Democrat, a "political hack."

Let's talk about transparency now.  It's not Hillary who hasn't released her tax returns.  It's Donald Trump.  If he has nothing to hide, why doesn't he release them for heaven's sake.  Furthermore, Trump hasn't been forthright about his medical history either.  One day after he announced he would release his larger health history on The Doctor Oz Show, Dr. Oz admitted that he wouldn't ask the Republican nominee any difficult questions.  "This is a doctor's office, the studio" Oz declared yesterday morning on Fox and Friends.  "So, I'm not gong to ask him questions he doesn't want to have answered, and I also don't want to talk about anyone else."

It's not Hillary, but Donald Trump, who is outspoken in his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin.  It's not Hillary, but Donald Trump, who is the favoured candidate of white supremacist David Duke.  It is Trump who thinks hat climate change is a hoax, despite a mass of scientific evidence to the contrary.  It' is Trump who wants to revoke the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as "Obamacare," despite the fact that millions of American now have health insurance.  Hillary, on the other hand, has promised to continue and improve upon Obama's health care policy.

Female leaders are nothing new.  Germany's Angela Merkel and Britain's Theresa May currently lead two of Europe's most powerful countries.. Now Hillary Clinton has made history by becoming the first woman presidential nominee of any major American  political party.  Unfortunately, due to her gender, she has been disparaged and denigrated.

The  Republican Party is the party of Abraham Lincoln.  Surely the GOP can do better than to elect Donald Trump as its nominee.  America can do better than to elect him.  It's sad that he has come so close to occupying the Oval Office.  It will be even sadder if he wins the election.  The media are a huge mart of the problem.  Trump is a born showman, an entertainer.  The media find him immensely entertaining. They enjoy covering his controversial comments and his many antics.  Trump revels in the attention. He enjoys performing for the cameras.  Is it any wonder that some American's have trouble distinguishing between "realty" and a "realty show?"  The lines have been so blurred that Trump himself behaves as if he is auditioning for a television show - The Presidency of Donald Trump, starring Donald Trump.  Voters need to be reminded that the American presidency is not a game.  It's not a show and its certainly not a real estate deal.


- Joanne

15 Years After September 11, 2001: Memories and Reflections

The world marks a terrible anniversary today. 15 years have passed since the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and life has never been the same.  We face stiff security and regulations around the world at airports and baseball parks. The days when I, as a Canadian, could enter the United States with just a birth certificate are long gone.  Subways and other public places in major cities are vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

I will never ever forget the details of that dreadful day, 15 year ago.  I will always remember the horror and the courage displayed.  Both are stamped indelibly in my mind.  As I prepared to go to work at the Toronto Star newspaper library that fateful morning, I turned on the television to catch the news headlines.  With a deeply sombre voice, an announcer reported that a plane had crashed into one of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan.  The crash was replayed over and over again.  At first, I thought it was a terrible accident, that a pilot had miscalculated and lost control of the plane.  Such was not the case.  There was more to it, something much more sinister.

Before I went out the door, I was informed that the second tower had also been hit and that there had been terrorist attacks elsewhere.  I was shocked and astonished. As I stepped outside to wait for my bus, I couldn't help noticing what a picture perfect day it was.  There was nary a cloud in the bright blue sky.  My head was spinning.  What was going on?  Was this Armageddon?

When I arrived at work I immediately noticed a flurry of activity in the library and in the newsroom. The little television in the library was turned on to CNN.  I was shocked to see that both towers had completely toppled.  Reporters were scurrying around the library searching for road maps and routes from Toronto to New York City.  They were determined to get there to cover the story.

I sat down at my computer to begin archiving the day's paper, as I was assigned to do.  My colleagues  at the reference desk were besieged with requests.  Our manager at the time walked over to help out at the reference desk.  As she passed me, she asked, "How can you work at a time like this?"  "It has to be done," I responded calmly, although my head was still spinning.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Franklin D. Roosevelt described December 7, 1941 as "a date which will live infamy."    September 11, 2001, 60 years later, is the second "date which will live in infamy,"  The Third Reich and Imperial Japan were eventually defeated, but terrorism still rears its ugly head.  Sadly, radicalism and anti-Western hatred have been energized by the U.S. military response to 9/11 - America's ill-fated and ill-conceived invasion of Iraq.  Understandably, America was literally and figuratively wounded on 9/11..  Americans wanted to lash out at someone or something.  Unfortunately, invading Iraq was the wrong choice.  It was a tragic choice.  Not a single 9/11 terrorist was from Iraq.   All of the 19 hijackers were affiliated with al-Quaeda.  15 were Saudi Arabian citizens.  Of the remaining four, two hailed from the United Arab Emirates, one was from Egypt and one was from Lebanon.

With the misguided belief that Iraq held weapons of mass destruction, the United States, under President George W. Bush, invaded Iraq in 2003.  Many innocent people, the vast majority of them Muslims, were killed.  It was a terrible loss of human life and Iraqi's wondered why they were being killed and punished in retaliation for 9/11.  In short the invasion of Iraq was unconscionable in human cost.  Bush's folly also cost the United States greatly in financial terms.  Here are some statistics according to the Costs of War Project by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island: According to the 2013 report, the U.S. war in Iraq killed at least 134,000 Iraqi citizens might have contributed to the deaths of quadruple that number.  When journalists, humanitarian workers and insurgents were added to the total, the wars death toll increased to an estimated 176.000 - 189,000.  The war cost a whopping $1.7 trillion with an extra $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans, a number which is still growing and could reach $6 trillion over the next forty years (with interest factored in).

When I look at those numbers, I want to weep.  The waste is human terms and financial terms is staggering.  It makes me think of what Donald Trump's folly might cost in terms of lives and money if he should become President of the United States.


- Joanne

Making Your Student Room or Dorm Feel Like Home

Here is an infographic especially for university students.  It contains tips on how to make your student room or dorm feel as comfortable and familiar as your bedroom at home.  I hope you find it useful.

- Joanne



22 Great Tips to Make your Student Room a Home Infographic by The Rug Seller

Should the Loon Be Canada's National Bird?

Here the call of the ringneck loon
Here the sound, he will be home soon
Here the cry in the afternoon
Ringneck loon, he knows best
He's a loon and he don't care less
Ringneck loon, away off shore
How could anybody ask for more

- From the song "Ringneck Loon"
Lyrics by Gordon Lightfoot



Call of the Loon

Across the lake, the loon call echoes . . .
Magnified by water bird, this temple gong
summons all to worship
in the shrine of silence

- Poem by Saiom Shriver


It is right and fitting that the loon should be Canada's national bird.  The Canadian people have spoken.  They have made their choice clear in a recent online survey - part of the "National Bird Project," presented by the Royal Canadian Geographic Society (RCGS) and Canadian Geographic magazine. The contest ended August 31st and the results are in.  The common loon finished in first place with 13,995 votes.  The snowy owl came in second with 8,948 votes, followed by the gray jay (also known as the whiskey jack) with 7,918 votes.  The Canada goose received 3,616 votes.  The goal, according to the RCGS, is "to designate an official bird for Canada by 2017, the country's sesquicentennial (150th anniversary)."

On September 19th, ornithologists, cultural experts and writers will converge in Ottawa to discuss the issue.  They will discuss the results of the survey and debate the relative merits of each of the top five birds,  After choosing from among those five candidates, they will inform the federal government of their recommendation.  The official winner will be revealed in the Canadian Geographic's December 2016 annual wildlife issue (on newsstands November 21st).

It is important to remember that the loon, despite being the popular choice in the survey, will not necessarily be the recommendation of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society.  There are other factors that the RCGS will take into consideration before making a decision. It's not just a popularity contest.  Still, there are many solid reasons why the loon is the best choice for Canada's national bird.

More than any other bird, the loon symbolizes Canada,  Common loons can be found throughout this vast country, from Newfoundland and Labrador to British Columbia, as well as in the three northern territories.  The loon is a  magnificent water bird and it represents the solitude of the wilderness.  Its distinctive call is hauntingly beautiful.

The loon appears on Canada's  one dollar coin, commonly known "the loonie,"  It is already the provincial bird of Ontario and, yes, it's the state bird of Minnesota too.  That doesn't matter, though.  Oregon's state animal is the beaver, but the beaver is still widely recognized as a symbol of Canada and it's Canada's national animal.

The snowy owl, the gray jay and the Canada goose are not without great merit and they are all worthy candidates.  I like the the snowy owl immensely and it would be my second choice,  It is one of largest species of owl and has beautiful, thick plumage. The gray jay (whiskey jack) would be my third preference. It is a member of the crow and jay family and can be seen in the boreal forests of North America.  My fourth choice, the Canada goose, bears the name of our country and it can be be found in every Canadian province at one time of the year or other.  However, it is a honking bird (I'm referring to both its size and its sound) that can be quite a nuisance at times.  (It leaves its calling card everywhere).  I much prefer the call of the loon than the honking of a Canadian goose.

Female Snowy Owl   Photo Attribution: Snowy Owl - Schnee-Eule

gray jay

Canada goose  Photo Attribution:  Dig deeper

 I know where I stand.  It's got to be the loon for me.  Do you agree?  Take Number 16's own survey on Canada's national bird.

What is your choice for the national bird of Canada?

The snowy owl

The loon

The Canada goose

The gray jay (whiskey jack)

Other

Please Specify:

Survey Maker

EDITOR'S UPDATE (November 22, 2016):  On Wednesday, November 16, 2016, the Royal Canadian Geographic Society announced its choice for Canada's national bird.  At the society's annual dinner in Ottawa.  Its expert panel chose the gray jay, also known as the whiskey jack.  In the online contest, which attractded nearly 50,000 voters, the gray jay finished third to the common loon and the snowy owl.

Ornithologist David Bird (Yes, that's his name!), a member of the expert panel, stated that the gray jay is "a   poster child for the boreal forest, our national and provincial parks, and for climate change."  Bird argued that among the other finalists,the loon is already Ontario's provincial bird, the snowy owl is Quebec's and the black-capped chickadee is New Brunswick's.

It is important to note that nothing is official.  Canad's federal government has not even committed to naming a national bird.  Meanwhile, the debate continues.


EDITOR'S UPDATE (July 3, 2017):  It appears that Canada will not have a national bird this year, in time for the country's 150th anniversary.  Aaron Kylie, editor-and-chief of Canadian Geograhic, and others, contacted Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly.  They were told that "at this time we are not considering any new national symbols."  In an email to the CBC, a spokeswomen for the Department of Heritage confirmed this stance by stating: "At this time, the government of Canada is not actively considering proposals to adopt a bird as a national symbol."

- Joanne

Peterborough Liftlodk and River Boat Cruise

Last weekend I visited Peterborough, Ontario and enjoyed a two-hour cruise along the Trent Severn Waterway. The cruise departed from the Peterborough Marina, near Del Crary Park under bright blue skies.  Our captain regaled us with vivid commentary on the history of Peterborough and the 112-year-old lock system. We traversed across Little Lake and past the Peterborough Centennial Fountain.  The first traditional flood lock raised us 12 feet (3.65 metres).  From there, we witnessed the highlight of our voyage, the Peterborough Liftlock, the highest hydraulic liftlock in the world.  It soared 65 feet (19.8 metres) above us.  This world-renowned engineering wonder has been in operation since 1904.

If you have the opportunity to visit the Peterborough area, I highly recommend that you take this cruise.  It's fun, relaxing and interesting.


THE PETERBOROUGH MARINA

THE LIFTLOCK CRUISE

- Joanne

Making Movies: DIY Guide

Here is a infographic about making movies on a small budget.  It provides you with tips on how to make films using technology and a do-it-yourself attitude.  I hope that you find it informative, useful and interesting.

- Joanne


DIYMovies by PowerTool World.

Quotes for an August Day

We're heading toward the end of August.  The Rio Olympics are over and the days are getting shorter. Every time I turn on the television or listen to the radio, I am reminded that summer will soon be coming to an end.  The "back to school" commercials are endless and relentless.  Yet, I try to ignore them.  My goal is to savour what's left of the summer.  I intend to taste every last drop of the season.  

I'd be lying if I denied that it's sad and bittersweet to see the summer fade away.  However, it's a reflection of the cycle of  life.  Summer will return in all its glory.  It's not even over yet, so why rush it?  After all, we officially have almost a month remaining.  The fall equinox does not occur until September 22, 2016.  Not only that, but there are some beautiful autumn days ahead.

Forget about the rampant consumerism of the "Back to School" ads.  In order to add to your enjoyment of the rest of the summer, Number 16 presents some thoughtful and engaging quotes on the month of August and the final days of the season:



“Summer will end soon enough, and childhood as well.”

Martin   Photo Source: Archiepelacon offical photo album.

-  George R.R. Martin (1948 - ), American novelist and short story writer



"At these times, the things that troubled her seemed far away and unimportant: All that mattered was the hum of the bees and the chirp of the birdsong, the way the sun gleamed on the edge of a blue wildflower, the distant beat and the clink of grazing goats."

- Alison Croggin (1962 -), South African-born Australian playwright, poet and novelist.
From: The Gift (published in the United States as The Naming, 2003, Candlewick Press)



"Throughout August, with almost sadistic joy, I watched summer slowly die.  I over-played the records of my favorite host-weather artists in an attempt to reach full saturation.  On the first day of September I put those records away for months.

August is a funeral.  I already know the end of the story.

August, the summer's last messenger of misery, is a hollow actor."

-  Henry Rollins (1961 - ) - American musician, actor, television and radio host
From Summer Be Gone!, LA Weekly, September 6, 2012



"What good is the warmth of summer without the cold of winter to give it sweetness."

- John Steinbeck (1902-1968), American author
From Travels with Charley: In Search of America



"Woodstock happened in August 1969, long before the Internet and mobile phones made it possible to communicate instantly with anyone, anywhere. It was a time when we weren't able to witness world events or the horrors of war live on 24-hour news channels."

Richie Havens in 1974

- Richie Havens (1941-2013) ], American singer/songwriter and guitarist
From Haven's  refection on the Woodstock Festival, Special to CNN, 2009



"Youth is in a grand flush, like the hot days of ending summer; and pleasant dreams thrall your spirit. like the smoky atmosphere that bathes the landscape of an August day."

- Donald G. Mitchell , pen name: Ik Marvel (1822-1908), American writer
From Dream Life,: A Fable of the Seasons [1851]

"August has passed, and yet summer continues by force to grow days,  They sprout secretly between the chapters of the years., covertly included between its pages."

- Joanathan Safran Foer (1977 - ), American novelist
From Tree of Codes [2010]


- Joanne

Here's to Tony Bennett on his 90th birthday!

I'm not staying contemporary for the big record companies, I don't follow the latest fashions. I never sing a song that's badly written. In the 1920s and '30s, there was a renaissance in music that was the equivalent of the artistic Renaissance. Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer and others just created the best songs that had ever been written. 

- Tony Bennett
Winston-Salem Journal, September 5, 2010, "Tony Bennett says a key to his continued success is being true to the audience", by Tim Clodfelteer


…his voice is still a technical marvel, and no one else on Earth can make a lyric written eight decades ago sound as natural as a conversation at a coffee shop.

- New York Magazine


Happy Birthday to Tony Bennett, the ageless crooner, who turns 90 years young today.  Tony was born Anthony (Antonio) Dominick Benedetto in Astoria, Queens. New York on August 3, 1926.  His parents, John Benedetto, a grocer, and Anna, a seamstress, were Italian-Americans.  John was an immigrant from southern Italy, while Anna was born in the United States to parents who had just immigrated from Calabria.

The Benedetto family, including Tony's older brother John Jr. and his older sister  Mary, struggled through The Great Depression.  John Sr. became too ill to work and he died when Tony was just ten years old.  Despite the hardships, young Tony found joy in music.  Growing up, he listened to artists such as Bing Crosby, Judy Garland and Al Jolson and such jazz greats such as Louis Armstrong.

Tony attended the High School of Industrial Arts in Manhattan where he honed his musical and painting skills.  However, he dropped out to help support his family by taking various menial, low-paying jobs.  His goal, however, was to launch a singing career.  To that end, he competed in New York City amateur night contests and performed at a nightclub in New Jersey.

In 1944, Tony Benedetto was drafted into the United States Army.  He served overseas in World War II and remained in Germany as part of the occupying force.  Upon returning to America in 1946, he studied at the American Theatre Wing, a New York-based organization devoted to excellence and education in the theatrical arts.  In 1949, the great Pearl Bailey invited the young singer to open for her in Greenwich Village.  After seeing the show, Bob Hope asked Benedetto to tour with him.

In 1950, Tony recorded a demo of a song called "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and producer Mitch Miller signed him him to the Columbia Records label.  Tony's first big hit was "Because of You," produced by Miller with an orchestral arrangement from Percy Faith.  He followed the success of "Because of You" with a pop version of country singer Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold Heart."  In 1953, Tony had another big hit with "Rags to Riches."  As he reaches his 90th birthday, this remarkable music legend is still going strong.

What I admire about Tony Bennett is that he has managed to stay true to his music and to his audience.  He is a man who was born in the "Jazz Age" of F. Scott Fitzgerald.(Young people were dancing the Charleston when Tony was born).  Yet he still remains relevant in the 21st century and the "Digital Age.".  He performs duets with Lady Gaga, a woman 60 years younger than he, but continues to sing songs that are suited to his style.  He doesn't try to dress ridiculously young or to cultivate a cooler image. Tony's not phony.  He seems comfortable in his own skin.  He hasn't dyed his hair platinum blond or tattooed his arms just to appeal to a younger demographic.  Not only that, but Tony has a good sense of humour too.  He once stated: “I think one of the reasons I'm popular again is because I'm wearing a tie. You have to be different.”

Tony Bennett is all about his music and mainly his music.  That's why he's received 19 Grammy Awards (including a 2001 Lifetime Achievement Award).  That's why he'll continue to sing his signature song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," at the age of 90 and beyond.  By the way, Tony released "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." as a single in 1962.  He first sang the song in the Venetian Room at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.

It appears that Tony Bennett has discovered the fountain of youth.  The man simply refuses to slow down.  He has a full fall tour schedule and he will be performing in Detroit next week.  Oh yes, according to an AFP story, he has declared himself in good health and "ready for a new collaboration - with Beyonce if she's interested."  He told NBC's Today show that his doctors "keep telling me, "There's not a thing wrong with you. Just keep going at it.'" Not bad for a nonagenarian, eh?


END NOTES

* Tony Bennett's 2007 autobiography is entitled The Good Life.

* Tony is an accomplished artist and signs his paintings with his real name, Anthony Benedetto.

* It was Bob Hope who suggested that Tony change his name from "Benedetto" to "Bennett."

* Tony Bennett  has been married three times and divorced twice.  On February 12, 1952, he wed Ohio art student Patricia Beech in a ceremony at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.  The marriage produced two sons, D'Andrea (Danny, born 1954) and Daegal (Dae, born 1955).  In 1971, he married American actress Sandra Grant.  The couple had two daughters, Joanna Bennett and Antonia Bennett (born April 7, 1974).  Antonia, now 42, is a singer.  On June 21, 2007, Tony married Susan Crow, a much younger former school teacher, in a private civil ceremony in New York City.

Tony and Susan Crow in 2008 

                                                                        Photo Attribution:

  originally posted to Flickr as Tony Bennett and wife, Susan Crow

* With Cheek to Cheek, his 2014 collaboration with Lady Gaga, Tony Bennett became the oldest artist to have a Number One album on the U.S. sales chart.  He was then 88.

* Fellow Italian-American singer, Frank Sinatra, was a great admirer of Tony Bennett.  In a 1965 Life magazine interview, Sinatra said the following: "For my money, Tony Bennett is the best singer in the business.  He excites me when I watch him.  He moves me.  He's the singer who gets across what the composer has in mind, and probably a little more."

* NBC will broadcast a special tribute to Tony Bennett. The two-hour program, entitled Tony Bennett Celebrates 90: The Best is Yet to Come, will air on December 20, 2016, just in time for the holiday season.  Guests will include Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Elton John, Aretha Franklin and Lady Gaga. Tony, of course, will perform some of his hit songs.


- Joanne