Song of the Day: Sara Lou - Caledonia (Dougie MacLean cover)

Dedicated to those of you of Scotch-Irish descent (you know who you are).

Here's a beautiful song by one of my favorite Irish singers.  Caught this live in Dublin on May 11, 2013 at Malloy's on Talbot Street.

Sara Lou - Caledonia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC-EaU6Za-U

I wasn't familiar with the song before I heard it in Dublin.  I thought it might be some kind of old Irish folk song.  Shows what little I know.  Caledonia is apparently the name the Romans gave to Scotland way back in history.  The song is actually a cover of a Dougie MacLean song:

Dougie MacLean - Caledonia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP8A9rtg0iI

From the Wikipedia page for Dougie MacLean:

The latter [Caledonia] has been covered by numerous popular singers and groups, and called Scotland's "unofficial national anthem."

And from the Wikipedia page for the song Caledonia:

Dougie wrote it in less than 10 minutes on a beach in France, feeling homesick for Scotland. He said: "I was in my early 20s and had been busking around with some Irish guys. I was genuinely homesick. I’d always lived in Perthshire. I played it to the guys when I got back to the youth hostel where we were staying and that was the final straw – we all went home the next day."
"It took about 10 minutes but sometimes that’s how songs happen. I’m still amazed at how much it has become part of common culture. There’s not a pub singer, busker or pipe band that doesn’t play it."

Lyrics here:
http://www.dougiemaclean.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=80&Itemid=85

CALEDONIA
Music & Lyrics by Dougie MacLean. Published by Limetree Arts and Music
I don't know if you can see the changes that have come over me
In these last few days I've been afraid that I might drift away
So I've been telling old stories, singing songs that make me think about where I came from
And that's the reason why I seem so far away today

CHORUS
Ah but let me tell you that I love you and I think about you all the time
Caledonia you're calling me and now I'm going home
But if I should become a stranger you know that it would make me more than sad
Caledonia's been everything I've ever had

I have moved and kept on moving proved the points that I needed proving
Lost the friends that I needed losing found others on the way
I have tried and I've kept on trying stolen dreams, yes there's no denying*
I have travelled hard, sometimes with conscience flying somewhere in the wind
CHORUS

Now I'm sitting here before the fire, the empty room, the forest choir
The flames that couldn't get any higher they've withered, now they've gone
But I'm steady thinking, my way is clear and I know what I will do tomorrow
When the hands have shaken and the kisses flow Oh I will disappear
CHORUS

  * Earlier lyric for this line was "I have kissed the ladies and left them crying"...Dougie changed the lyric for Frankie Millerwhen he released Caledonia as a single and feeling comfortable with the new lyric himself, carried on singing the new version!

The trouble with Republicans

I think I could write a long blog post about this subject--wait, I think I have!  But instead of doing that, let me just post a picture.  I saw this while driving the other day here in the greater Atlanta area.

If you can't read those bumper stickers, allow me to help.  They say:

Hands Off
My Health Care

And:

Romney
Believe in America

Yes, on the same car.  I don't know how you could put those two stickers side by side on the same car with a straight face.  I don't think they were trying to be ironic or satirical.  I think that many people really are this stupid, sadly.

And that, my seven* readers, is the problem with the Republican Party.


* estimated

BMW HP4 - I want one!

Check out THIS bike!

From the MotorTrend YouTube channel:

2013 BMW HP4 Superbike! In-Depth and on the Track - On Two Wheels Episode 32

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg2GFMpP5WY

Here is the BMW page, from bmwmotorcycles.com:

http://www.bmwmotorcycles.com/us/en/index.html?content=http://www.bmwmotorcycles.com/us/en/bike/sportbikes/hp4/hp4_overview.html

Song of the Day: Polica - Wandering Star

Another hauntingly beautiful song from Polica.

POLICA - Wandering Star (Official Music Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX4iIPlwS5c


Lyrics from LyricsReg:
http://www.lyricsreg.com/lyrics/polica/Wandering+Star/

Polica lyrics : "Wandering Star"

when the day is done
and i lay me down
i sit alone in my lonely bed
and i think about the day we had
and it makes me sad cuz your gone
when the day is done
and i lay me down
the sheets are cold
and your space is dark
and i hear you whisper something sweet
but it doesn't move any nerves in me

after all, i'm married to the wandering star
and i've kissed the moon
it was full when i fell in love with thee
but now the world turns without me
turns without me

when the day is done
and i lay me down
the sheets are cold
and your space is dark
and i hear you whisper something sweet
but it doesn't move any nerves in me

after all, i'm married to the wandering star
and i've kissed the moon
it was full when i fell in love with thee
but now the world turns without me

Are we speaking the same language?

I'm fascinated by how we speak one language, with many differences.  Consider this story, from Business Insider:

http://www.businessinsider.com/22-maps-that-show-the-deepest-linguistic-conflicts-in-america-2013-6?op=1

Love the "soda vs. pop" chart.  And the "bubbler" usage only in Milwaukee!  Based on where I'm from I got both sides of both of those issues--I'm bi-lingual!

Love the "y'all" divide in the country!

And it's true, I never did figure out "crayfish/crawfish".  I don't know what to call those things!

Quote of the Day: Louise Erdrich on Life

Saw this on a friend's Facebook page, and wanted to re-post it here.

"Life will break you.  Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won't either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning.  You have to love.  You have to feel.  It is the reason you are here on earth.  You are here to risk your heart.  You are here to be swallowed up.  And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness.  Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could."  - Louise Erdrich, The Painted Drum LP


http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/8706-life-will-break-you-nobody-can-protect-you-from-that

Cryptosporidium - Ah, the Memories!

Here's a story that ... well, it doesn't warm my heart, exactly.

From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
"Milwaukee marks 20 years since Cryptosporidium outbreak" by Don Behm
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/milwaukee-marks-20-years-since-cryptosporidium-outbreak-099dio5-201783191.html

Other links:

• Wikipedia: 1993 Milwaukee Cryptosporidiosis outbreak
• Water Technology: Lessons from Milwaukee
• Helio: Cryptosporidium in Milwaukee’s water supply caused widespread illness

From the Helio article:

To date, the Milwaukee cryptosporidiosis outbreak is the largest epidemic of waterborne disease reported in U.S. history.

I remember that time well, all too well.  Consider this quote from the Journal-Sentinel article:

In the days before Norquist's announcement, most of the reported illnesses were concentrated on the city's south side. City officials on April 8 took the unprecedented step of shutting down the Howard Ave. filtration plant until it could be cleansed of the parasite.

I lived on the south side.  In fact, I lived exactly 1.3 miles from Howard Avenue water treatment plant, the center of the outbreak.  I never had a chance.  :(

I was very, very sick.  It was so bad that I actually went to a doctor's office--which I NEVER do!  They prescribed some penicillin for me and I was on my way.

Except ... I quickly learned that I am allergic to penicillin!  That was it.  I was completely knocked out.  I missed a whole week of work.  I asked a co-worker to bring a computer home (we didn't have personal laptops back then, but we did have some "portable" computers) so I could do some work but I never used it once.  I just lay on the couch all day, barely conscious.  The only time I got up was to drink water, try to eat a little bit of food (and keep it down), or to use the toilet ... which I had to do OFTEN.

As the article describes:

Surveys determined about 403,000 people in the five-county metropolitan area were sickened with watery diarrhea between late March and early April of that year, according to Davis.

Yes, indeed, I was in that group of people.  My apartment was not a pleasant place during this time.  Watery diarrhea indeed!  I have never been so sick in all my life, before or since.

On the bright side, it was the best weight loss program I've ever seen.  I lost 20+ pounds, easy, and I wasn't nearly as fat then as I am now so that was a good chunk of weight to lose.  I was skin and bone after that week of eating nearly nothing.