A nightly pause from the news to give the reader/viewer a bit of classic entertainment.
An evening pause. Hat tip Phill Oltmann. I had sworn I had posted this already, but now can’t find it on BtB. And even if I have posted it, it is worth watching again. My only comment is that I am baffled by the film’s description of the event as “horrifying.” I don’t find this natural event horrifying, I find it awe-inspiring. It reminds us that the scale of the universe if far far beyond anything we can imagine.
An evening pause: As the youtube website explains, “This is perhaps the only hotel in the world where you may need to make way for passing elephants when checking in. During the month of November, a small herd of pachyderms nonchalantly tromps through reception on their way to a wild mango tree.”
Hat tip Danae.
An evening pause: Rybak returns, this time performing live in 2014 his song for the animated film How to Train your Dragon 2 (2014). I normally don’t post videos made by audience members, but this time I make an exception because the performance is good and the videographer had the sense to soon ignore the dancers and stay focused on Rybak, who grabs the audience and holds them.
Hat tip Danae.
An evening pause: Hat tip Danae. Tomorrow the evening pause will be an entirely different piece of music written by tonight’s violinist. As Danae noted in describing Rybak to me, “Composer, singer, dancer, musician on violin and piano, actor and impersonator of famous vocalists on Eurovision TV’s equivalent of American Idol, this 29 year-old, though occasionally temperamental, is a rising star in Europe. He was born in the Soviet Union, but has lived in Norway since he was four years old, and speaks Russian, Norwegian and English fluently.”
An evening pause: I posted a 1960s television performance in 2012, but this recent live version is also worth watching, if only to see how time has changed the performers.
Hat tip Diane Zimmerman.
An evening pause: Tonight we take a short aerial tour of a mountaintop that every Boy Scout who has backpacked at the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico will immediately recognize.
Hat tip to Steve Golson, whose son is currently doing this very hike.
An evening pause: Also called “The Egyptian”, performed live by the Concertgebouw Orchestra with Jean-Yves Thibaudet on the piano.
A nice way to end the week. Put it up in the background if you find focusing on classical music too difficult. You will find yourself coming back to it to watch and listen. Quite beautiful and enchanting.
An evening pause: Rather than waste your time watching the childish reporting of the presidential campaign on cable news, watch this short satire of NPR instead. It sums things up nicely, poking great fun at liberal news coverage.
Sadly, most of the conservative coverage has been as childish.
Hat tip Tom Biggar.
An evening pause: Hat to Phill Oltmann, whose comment was, “Too tight for me!” Me too, though I definitely would be willing to try.
An evening pause: Something calm and relaxing to ease the mind in these interesting times. Performed live by the Paris Orchestra conducted by Paavo Javi.
Hat tip Danae.
An evening pause: Tonight’s pause is a challenge. Can you watch this 1940s industrial, describing the lumbering and milling of California redwoods, without feeling outrage or indignation against the work being described? Can you watch it with an open mind, recognizing that trees are renewable?
Or will the environmental brainwashing that our society has undergone since the 1960s cause you to shut your mind and refuse to consider the other side of this story?
Hat tip Phill Oltmann.
An evening pause: Hat tip Danae, who notes correctly, “Terrible lifestyle, terrible message, but they knew how to play.”
An evening pause: Hat tip to caver Ray Keeler. As noted by Walt Willis, who had tipped Ray off and knows some of the people on this rafting trip,
They were rafting on the San Juan river and camped in a side canyon for the night. It started to rain so they all went under an overhang to stay dry (good decision). The person in blue (doing all the yelling) is my Cousin.
There are obvious lessons to be learned here. One never ever discounts “Luck”. They lost some of their gear but left with their lives. My Cousin was yelling at one of her friends not to go out and try and save anything.“ He thought better of the idea and stayed put. She proved that the sign above my desk is not always correct (“You Can’t Fix Stupid”).
An evening pause: No music this time, only some history. Hat tip Tim Biggar, who notes “Couple of interesting things: The Fokker used a 9 cyl radial (clearly seen when they prime the cyls before takeoff). Unlike most modern designs, the crankshaft was bolted to the frame and did not rotate. The prop was bolted to the engine case and the entire engine case rotated. Lots of gyroscopic force made it hard to maneuver.
“The ‘flight suit’ and the gauntlets are worth noting.
“I think that may be Goering on the left (plain uniform with Iron Cross) at the 3:05 mark.
“At the end we see a Sopwith he shot down and the Brit pilot who lived.”
I note the sense of comradarie between these pilots at the end. In World War I there still was a sense of behaving civilly (as in civilization) even during war.
An evening pause: It could be argued that all classical music would be better played in this manner.
An evening pause: How about a wonderful country rendition of this pop classic?
An evening pause: This story illustrates well the unexpected and sometimes harsh aspects of nature. described well by Tennyson as “red in tooth and claw.”
Hat tip Phill Oltmann.
An evening pause: I posted a 1999 Clapton performance of this song in 2011, but this 2013 version is worth watching as well.
Hat tip Danae.
An evening pause: Performed live on the Johnny Carson Show sometime in the 1960s.
Hat tip Diane Zimmerman
An evening pause: But not very relaxing. Hat tip to Phill Oltmann, who notes “This video is of commercial fishing boats returning from fishing off the coast of Washington and Oregon. They are crossing the Columbia Bar, which is the site the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean.”
An evening pause: Performed live, 2014. I especially like the dancing security guards.
Hat tip Danae.
Hey, I am still looking for tips for my evening pauses. Why let Danae have all the fun? If you see a video you think might fit, make a comment here mentioning that you have something, but don’t post the link. I will email you to get it from you.
