St. Patrick’s Day is an all-inclusive holiday that anyone can enjoy. Green beer, shamrocks, magical leprechauns, corned beef and cabbage, dancing, singing, and parades celebrate Irish culture and Irish immigration to America. What can be better than that? Finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, of course!
(A little Irish clogging for your enjoyment. It’s incredible how nimble these dancers are!)
(One of the most beautiful Irish songs ever written)
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Dawn Pisturino
March 17, 2023
Copyright 2023 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
Both Aristotle and Plato commented on the healing power of music. But it was not until the 20th century that the idea of music therapy began to take hold.
Music therapists are trained healthcare professionals who utilize music to encourage wellness, healing, and a better quality of life. They work in psychiatric facilities, hospitals, nursing homes, hospice programs, schools, and other organizations.
People with mental illness benefit from the influence that music has over mood and emotions. In the hospital setting, music has been used to reduce pain and suffering, relieve tension, and promote sleep. Nursing homes employ music therapists to keep senior citizens active and socially involved. Music has been used in hospice programs to provide comfort, relaxation, and a better quality of life for people who are terminally ill. Music therapy is used in special learning programs at schools to improve communication and coordination skills.
Research has shown that music can improve depression and insomnia, reduce blood pressure, lower respiration and heart rates, and alleviate nausea caused by chemotherapy.
Children who take music lessons tend to have higher IQ scores and do better in school. In the home, music is a valuable tool for reducing stress, engaging in physical exercise, and creating a more positive environment. Employers have found that background music in the workplace can help reduce stress among employees.
Listening to the sounds of nature can also be therapeutic. Birds singing, waves crashing on the beach, a babbling brook, the wind blowing playfully through wind chimes, whale songs, the purring of a cat — these all have the power to soothe frazzled nerves and fill us with a sense of comfort and joy.
Dawn Pisturino
April 2, 2007; March 13, 2023
Copyright 2007-2023 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
Published in The Kingman Daily Miner, April 24, 2007.
[Please note that I will not be posting again until Friday]
There are some singers whom you will never forget. Roberta Flack is one of them. Her lush voice washes over you like a liquid massage, soothing all your anxieties, and smoothing all the rough corners away. She simply is fabulous!
Two of her hits are my favorites: Killing Me Softlywith His Song and The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.
“Internationally hailed as one of the greatest songstresses of our time, GRAMMY Award winning Roberta Flack remains unparalleled in her ability to tell a story through her music. Her songs bring insight into our lives, loves, culture and politics, while effortlessly traversing a broad musical landscape from pop to soul to folk to jazz. She is the only solo artist to win the GRAMMY Award Record of the Year for two (2) consecutive years: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face won the 1973 GRAMMY and Killing Me Softly with His Song won the 1974 GRAMMY.
Classically trained on the piano from an early age, Ms. Flack received a music scholarship at age 15 to attend Howard University. Discovered while singing at the Washington, DC nightclub Mr. Henry’s by jazz musician Les McCann, she was immediately signed to Atlantic Records. With a string of hits, including, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Where Is the Love (a duet with former Howard University classmate Donny Hathaway), Killing Me Softly With His Song, Feel Like Makin’ Love, The Closer I Get to You, Tonight I Celebrate My Love, and Set the Night to Music, Roberta Flack has inspired countless artists with her musical brilliance and honesty.
Described by Reverend Jesse Jackson as “socially relevant and politically unafraid”, Ms. Flack is very active as a humanitarian and mentor. She founded the Roberta Flack School of Music at the Hyde Leadership Charter School in the Bronx, providing an innovative and inspiring music education program to underprivileged students free of charge.
In 2010, Ms. Flack founded The Roberta Flack Foundation whose mission statement is to support animal welfare and music education. In 2019, she awarded grants to Anasa Troutman’s Shelectricity and filmmaker Carol Swainson.
In 2018, Ms. Flack retired from touring and continues to make special appearances.
In 2020, Ms. Flack received a GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, she raised awareness and funds for Feed The Children.org during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Dawn Pisturino
March 6, 2023
Copyright 2023 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
I was finishing up my final project for class, and I had notebooks and papers scattered all over the living-room. My husband, who hates it when I pile books and papers everywhere, said to me:
“You’re a nerd!”
I looked at him and said, “You’re just now figuring that out?”
I mean, I’ve known like forever that he’s a comic book-reading, Star Wars-watching Trekkie and Geek! No mystery there! We used to spend hours at the comic book store in Palo Alto, California while he looked at role-playing stuff and browsed through the collectible comics. We used to show up every Saturday to play hours of Dungeons & Dragons, which I thought was boring as hell. We spent hours playing board games that I almost always lost (except Scrabble). We spent tons of quarters at the arcade playing video games.
My husband watches the original Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and now Picard, over and over again. I swear, he has the dialogue memorized for every episode. He and my daughter watch all the Star Wars stuff. We even attended a Star Trek convention one year in Las Vegas. Then there are the Superheroes, like Batman and Spider Man.
I do what I’ve always done – read books, write, watch movies and TV, take classes, and listen to music.
And he’s just now figuring out that I’m a nerd?
I told my daughter about our conversation, and she just laughed. She said she doesn’t think of either one of us in that way!
~
Dawn Pisturino
February 22, 2023
Copyright 2023 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
A few months ago, I suddenly realized that I had not been to the local library since before the pandemic, so I dusted off my old library card and made a point of visiting. During the lockdown, the county remodeled the whole facility and expanded the number of books available. They did a fantastic job! I was very impressed with the results and enjoyed browsing the shelves for a few good mystery books — and it didn’t cost me a dime.
When digital publishing became popular, people predicted the demise of public libraries. While bookstores in general have been profoundly affected, local libraries seem to have thrived. And, thank goodness for that! Libraries offer so much more than just checking out books.
I still remember Mrs. Brown from my childhood days, the chubby little librarian with stern eyes and short grey hair, who presided over our tiny branch of the county library. We lived out in the country then, and I used to ride my bike several miles to check out books. Whenever I chose something she didn’t approve of (I was an advanced reader and liked to check out the latest New YorkTimes best-sellers), she would ask me: “Did your parents give you permission to read that?” Now, my parents didn’t care what I read, but I always told her “yes,” and that was the end of the conversation. I still remember her looking at me with grave doubts when I checked out The Collector by John Fowles (which is still a good book and a great movie, by the way).
One of the most famous scenes from musical theater is “Marian the Librarian” from The Music Man – a musical that will put you into a joyous and inspired mood like nothing else. The movie (1962), starring Shirley Jones, is delightful!
Have a great day!
Dawn Pisturino
January 6, 2023
Copyright 2023 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
Green groweth the holly, so doth the ivy. Though winter blasts blow never so high, Green groweth the holly.
As the holly groweth green And never changeth hue, So I am, and ever hath been, Unto my lady true. Green groweth the holly, so doth the ivy. Though winter blasts blow never so high, Green groweth the holly.
As the holly groweth green, With ivy all alone, When flowerys cannot be seen And green-wood leaves be gone, Green groweth the holly, so doth the ivy. Though winter blasts blow never so high, Green groweth the holly.
Now unto my lady Promise to her I make: From all other only To her I me betake. Green groweth the holly, so doth the ivy. Though winter blasts blow never so high, Green groweth the holly.
Adieu, mine own lady, Adieu, my specïal, Who hath my heart truly, Be sure, and ever shall.
Green groweth the holly, so doth the ivy. Though winter blasts blow never so high, Green groweth the holly.
Greensleeves –
Attributed to King Henry VIII but actually published in 1580 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
In 1865, Englishman William Chatterton Dix “borrowed” the musical composition, changed the lyrics, and turned it into the Christmas carol, What Child is This? While Greensleeves remains a popular folk song in England, the Christmas carol is uniquely popular in the United States.
~
December 7, 2022 is Pearl Harbor Day.Remember Pearl Harbor!
Dawn Pisturino
December 7, 2022
Copyright 2022 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
(George Winston playing his beautiful and inspiring piece, “Thanksgiving.” My mother adored George Winston.)
My parents always came for Thanksgiving. Now that they are gone, I always think of them at this time of year.
PSALM 95:1-5 (NKJV)
Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is the great God, and the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.
PLEASE NOTE: I WILL NOT BE POSTING ANYTHING UNTIL SOME TIME NEXT WEEK.
Have a joyful and blessed Thanksgiving!
~
Dawn Pisturino
November 23, 2022
Copyright 2022 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
Jazz musicians are no strangers to Halloween. Even the great Louis Armstrong recorded a couple of fun Halloween songs that were quite popular in his day. When Armstrong appeared in his first major motion picture, Pennies from Heaven (1936), he performed The Skeleton in the Closet with Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra.
The Skeleton in the ClosetLyrics
Boy, don’t you go in there Come outa there, boy Don’t you know that house is haunted
There’s an old deserted mansion On an old forgotten road Where the better ghosts and goblins Always hang out. One night they threw a party In a manner à la mode And they cordially invited All the gang out At a dark bewitchin’ hour When the fun was loud and hearty A notorious wall flower Became the life of the party Mmm! The spooks were havin’ their midnight fling The merry makin’ was in full swing They shrieked themselves into a cheerful trance When the skeleton in the closet started to dance Now a goblin giggled with fiendish glee A shout rang out from a big banshee Amazement was in every ghostly glance When the skeleton in the closet started to dance All the witches were in stitches While his steps made rhythmic thumps And they nearly dropped their broomsticks When he tried to do the bumps You never heard such unearthly laughter Such hilarious groans When the skeleton in the closet rattled his bones
In 1954, Armstrong recorded the song Spooks with Gordon Jenkins and his orchestra.
SpooksLyrics
The other night, about twelve o’clock I thought I’d go downstairs just to check the lock When I heard something in the house I don’t mean a mouse
I swear they were spooks, spooks, spooks I know they were spooks, spooks, spooks, spooks I couldn’t move, just stood and stared I never was so scared
The first spook spoke and I heard him speak He said, “What say I go make the back door squeak?” Oh he would tease the cat and hound the pup And raise our spirits up
Oh lordy, them spooks, spooks, spooks Those scary old spooks, spooks, spooks, spooks You don’t have to take my word But I heard what I heard
The next spook spoke, he said, “Suppose we make The faucets drip and make the shutters shake You let me know just what you want This is my favourite haunt
Beware of them spooks, spooks, spooks Them mischievous spooks, spooks, spooks, spooks I ain’t spoofing, man I mean That I seen what I seen
A big spook spoke, he said, “Spike, my son,” he said “I’ll show you how to scare up some fun But next time when you wail, see here You make it loud and clear”
Watch out for them spooks, spooks, spooks Oh them nasty old spooks, spooks, spooks, spooks Maybe you don’t think it’s so But I knew what I knew
The last spook turned to his spouse and frowned Said, “I thought I’d told you to wait in the ground But you look awful cute tonight In fact, you look a fright”
How did Johann Sebastian Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor BWV 565 become a staple among Halloween favorites? After all, Bach lived 300 years ago and wrote high brow classical music during the high Baroque Period — not exactly popular music for pranksters and merry-makers. And yet, this organ masterpiece has become associated with Halloween as surely as dark, haunted mansions and creepy carved pumpkins.
Bach wrote it in two parts. The first part, the Toccata (from the Italian toccare, meaning “to touch”), was meant to show off the performer’s skill as a virtuoso organist, so it is characterized by many arpeggios (broken chords) and light-fingered gymnastics up and down the keyboard. The second part, the Fugue, uses repetition in various keys (“voices”) to highlight a central musical theme. A minor scale was used to give the piece a dark, ominous, foreboding, and dramatic tone. Organs have a deep, rich, and powerful quality, so writing such a magnificent piece for the organ (especially a large, full-bodied organ with pipes) was sheer genius.
Movie audiences were introduced to Bach’s piece in the opening scenes of the 1940 animated Disney classic, Fantasia. Instead of using the organ, however, conductor Leopold Stokowski arranged the piece into an orchestral number. But the music became associated with horror films when it was used in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), The Black Cat (1934), The Raven (1935), Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972), Gremlins2 (1990), and The Babadook (2014). And, truthfully, if you ask music lovers what images come into their minds while listening to Bach’s organ piece, many will tell you that they envision ghostly encounters in haunted houses, mist-covered cemeteries, scary pumpkins, mad organists in Gothic churches, and vampires and other creatures of the night.
But experience it for yourself!
(Organ version performed by Hannes Kastner)
(Orchestral version from the 1940 animated film, Fantasia, arranged and conducted by Leopold Stokowski)
Have a spooky day!
Dawn Pisturino
October 19, 2022
Copyright 2022 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
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