[NFBV-Historic-Fredericksburg] CRIER April 7th

[rtbyrne at aol.com]

DERICKSBURG CRIER April 7th




 


Hello again. I hope this finds you and your loved ones well.It is a challenging time and the isolation that is needed is often hard to dealwith but it is for the best. Sue and I live on a cul de sac that is about ahalf a mile long so one lap around it is a mile. Today was a good day for awalk and I hope you have the opportunity to walk in your neighborhood.



Even in scary times, good things happen. Chris Erhman justbecame an uncle. Very few things can beat the birth of a new family member.Welcome to the great adventure called life.



     In the last twoCriers I have talked about books by Hillerman, Butcher, and Connelly. Today Iwant to suggest a book series that I think will bring a smile to your face andstart you thinking about some one in a bit of a different way. Then I have somemusic suggestions.



   Do you have a dog? 



Whether it is a guide dog or just your pet, it probablyholds a special place in your heart. Have you ever wondered what they werethinking?



     Spencer Quinn haswritten a series about Chet and Bernie. Bernie Small has his own detectiveagency and Chet is his dog. The book is written from the dog’s point of view.Chet does not always remember all the details but I think you might enjoythings from a dog’s point of view. Interesting little mysteries with funinteractions between people and several types of animals. I think you mighthave fun.



     If you have asmart speaker or just use your computer, you might use a music service likeAmazon or Apple



Or some other one. I have Amazon Echo devices and I useAmazon Prime, so I usually use Amazon music. I also have a fairly largecollection of record albums. Sometimes I elect to listen to my albums but oftenthe smart speakers are more convenient. I am going to suggest several differentmusicians below. I know our ages vary and our musical tastes vary too but I amgoing to suggest some of what I like. If you try it, I hope you will enjoy it.



     I should mentionthat my music tastes are eclectic like my books. I have enjoyed classical sincea young boy. I guess The William Tell overture followed by HiHo Silver onSaturday morning TV started my interest in classical composers. Basically myalbums are late 60’s and 70’s but some Big Band and other types also sneak in.



     Do you enjoydrums, My first two musicians were drummers and big band performers.The firstis Buddy Rich. He was in big bands for many years. Sue and I went to New YorkCity in 1968 so I could try out for a little daytime quiz show called Jeopardy.While there we went to Buddy Rich’s supper club in the basement of the EmpireState Building. The price of the dinner was reasonable and Buddy and his bandwere great. Ask whatever device you use to play Buddy Rich. If you want to, askthe device to play West Side Story by Buddy Rich first. If you have seen themovie, I think you will like it.



     The next drummeris Sandy Nelson. Ask your device to play ‘Let There Be Drums” by Sandy Nelson.If you enjoy it, just ask it to play Sandy Nelson and you will get much more.



     Next a bit of achange of pace. Once ther were two piano students in New York at Juliards. Onehad an aunt who lived nearby and she had two grand pianos in her Living Room.The two students practiced together and the group Ferrante and Tischer wereborn. If you ask your device to play them, you will get a variety of greatmusic. If you know the movie Exodus, ask the device to play their version. 



     One final pianoplayer is Roger Williams. Just ask your device to play him.



     For anotherchange of pace, I have two other groups. First The Baja Marimba Band and thenHerb Alpert and the Tiajuana Brass. These tend to be very lively.



     The musicmentioned above will entertain for hours. If you need more ask for the classiccomposers or Beatles or Hendricks, or Santana or one of so many others.



You can always ask for a specific movie soundtrack. This canallow you to relive a movie you enjoyed.



     A warning about asking for certain songtitles. I asked Alexa for Exodus and got Bob Marley singing some strange song.Sometimes you need to be very specific.



Stay safe and enjoy reading and music



Dick


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