Silly Old Bear

[PART 2 OF 3]

OK, this post is primarily for the benefit of my brothers, but someone else might find it useful as well. In response to my previous “Danny Boy” post, my brothers and I are making plans to record a 4-part harmony version of “Danny Boy” when we are all together at Thanksgiving. This post is designed to facilitate the preparations for the Thanksgiving recording session.

« Read the rest of this entry »

[PART 1 OF 3]

Fascinating History

“Danny Boy” is a classic song, known and loved by many through the years. The melody is actually the old Irish tune “Londonderry Air”. There is a fascinating story of how that tune came into prominence back in the 19th century, and became “Danny Boy” in the early 20th century.

« Read the rest of this entry »

[PART 9 OF 12]

The Byrds had a chart-topping song in October 1965 entitled, “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There is a Season)“. The song was written and composed by Pete Seeger in the 1950′s, who released the song on his album “The Bitter and The Sweet” on Columbia Records in 1962. The lyrics were taken almost verbatim from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, King James version. [Source: "Turn! Turn! Turn!", from Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia]

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

« Read the rest of this entry »

Israel Kamakawiwo’ole is a legend. For many people around the world, he is the voice of Hawai’i. A native Hawaiian, he started playing the ‘ukulele as a boy. In 1976 he formed a band called “Makaha Sons of Ni’ihau” with his older brother Skippy and three other native musicians. Even after Skippy died of a heart attack in 1982, Iz (as he was known to his friends and fans) stayed with the Makaha Sons until 1993.

« Read the rest of this entry »

One of my favorite songs ever is “Dream Big” by Ryan Shupe & The Rubberband. In fact, it starts off at the top of my Favorite Songs list, and will probably stay in the Number 1 spot.

First of all, “Ryan Shupe & The Rubberband” has got to be the coolest name ever for a band!

« Read the rest of this entry »

I love music. Always have. I started collecting records when I was in junior high school — back before the days of CD’s. By the time I graduated from high school, I had amassed a collection of over 300 LP’s. I still have all of them stored away in a cabinet in our “junk room”, and have even added to the collection through the years thanks to garage sales and thrift stores.

« Read the rest of this entry »

When I was in high school, I purchased a ukulele and learned how to play a handful of songs. It was a lot of fun, and I kind of wish I still had that old uke.

A couple of years ago, I ran across a video on YouTube of a guy playing George Harrison’s song “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” on the ukulele. The musician’s name is Jake Shimabukuro , and his ukulele skills are unbelievable.

« Read the rest of this entry »

Some of you may have already heard of this, but I just discovered it, so I thought I’d share it with you.

I was on FaceBook, accepting a couple of new “Friend Requests” (one from Becky Woods, a high school friend I haven’t seen in almost 20 years!), and then just looking around at a few other people’s profiles. One of my FaceBook Friends had updated his profile to say, “Matt Burnett is in love with the JCB Song”. I thought to myself, “Huh? What in the world is the JCB Song?” So I did what I normally do when such a question arises. I Googled “JCB Song”.

« Read the rest of this entry »

Horace Bratcher is a dear friend. He has been around nearly twice as long as I have, and he likes to say that he has spent his life “collecting experiences”. He is quite the philosopher, and has spent untold hours at the local Public Library reading voraciously, expanding his knowledge, always looking for tidbits of wisdom that he can incorporate into his already vast storehouse, and can then share with others.

Horace comes by my office nearly every day to visit. He almost always has one of those tidbits of philosophical wisdom to offer, usually accompanied by a story. Horace has lots of stories. I have learned much from Horace Bratcher, from his homespun philosophy, and from his stories. Now, it is time to tell Horace’s story.

« Read the rest of this entry »

Alyssa

OK, so I was doing a little blog-hopping tonight. I started on my sister-in-law Alyssa’s blog , where she talks about the daily challenges and hilarity of raising her three kids: Lauren and Camryn (the two precious girls to whom she gave birth), and my baby brother Clint (whom she married of her own free will, bless her heart!)

« Read the rest of this entry »