Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How Are Things Where You Are? (was "Routine" ​ 😁 ​day in lockdown... how was yours?)

[lenquixote66]

5 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

Dylan, always hurts the ears and if he ever could sing, he quit doing it before I went to concerts.  Neil can mostly sing, but the problem with a Neil Young concert, is he and Crazy Horse will go into guitar masterbat....

I started seeing Dylan in concert in 1961.He was a very good singer in his younger years and a great song writer.

[lenquixote66]

7 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

Dylan, always hurts the ears and if he ever could sing, he quit doing it before I went to concerts.  Neil can mostly sing, but the problem with a Neil Young concert, is he and Crazy Horse will go into guitar masterbat....

There was a great CSNY cover band in NY .Graham Nash went to see them one night .He walked in as they were singing Almost Cut My Hair and told my friend Bob who was in the band that it was the best rendition of the song that he ever heard.

[Coralc]

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

Yes there is standard notation for drums. For Jazz charts the notation may vary from arranger to arranger. Here is a good example of drum sheet music. This is the legendary Steve Gadd playing on Steely Dan's Aja album which includes the notation for his famous drum solo.

 

That is fascinating! Thanks! The drum music part almost looks more complicated that regular sheet music. Great song BTW. 

[dani negreanu]

@BonTexasNY

 

Happy Birthday, Bonnie. Ad mea ve-esrim. Hope you'll have a lovely time today.

 

DH suggested to add this song.... so romantic 💐

 

 

 

 

[grapau27]

It is currently 46F cold and raining.

It is a bank holiday in England today.

Pauline made us both a picnic and we are sitting in our car looking out to sea while I am on cc and Pauline is emailing her best friend.

Hope everyone is well.

[DaniDanielle]

9 hours ago, mugtech said:

Anthem had We Will Rock You, plenty of Queen music, kind of a silly plot, but worth seeing if you like Queen.

We love We Will Rock You, saw it 9 times, only missed it one cruise.  Plot definitely silly!

[Sea Dog]

11 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

If you are a Steely Dan fan are you familiar with Don Campbell ? He recorded with them years ago.I met Don in Maine in 2013 .He is a great singer/musician and a very nice guy.

Yes I am familiar with DC. I don't know him personally. I do have his Christmas album as I collect Christmas music. Very good artist.

[dani negreanu]

1 hour ago, DaniDanielle said:

We love We Will Rock You, saw it 9 times, only missed it one cruise.  Plot definitely silly!

 

Due to the language barrier, we go to musicals for the songs and dance. Very much enjoyed WWRY.

Saw it only once -- wouldn't mind seeing it several times.

 

Same appeals to Mamma Mia 😁

[bobmacliberty]

While we've been busy getting our Ohio house ready to sell, our now fully vaccinated daughter and her boyfriend decided that they'd had enough sitting around with no travel.  They flew out to hike through Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks.  We were planning to make a western National Park trip this month but buying/selling houses got in the way.  They liked the idea so much they did it themselves.  I'm very jealous of the pictures that she's sending back.  Here is Observation Point at Zion.

 

And yes...SHE IS TOO CLOSE TO THE EDGE.  😟

[h20skibum]

3 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

We were planning to make a western National Park trip this month but buying/selling houses got in the way.

We had planned the same thing, but some unplanned medical issues came up that need dealt with.   Our plan was to fly to Phoenix and start at the Grand Canyon, then make the National Parks loop in Utah. 
 

Nice photo. 

[sgmn]

2 hours ago, grapau27 said:

It is currently 46F cold and raining.

It is a bank holiday in England today.

Pauline made us both a picnic and we are sitting in our car looking out to sea while I am on cc and Pauline is emailing her best friend.

Hope everyone is well.

Ha, if it's a bank holiday in the UK it must be raining.  Hope you have a relaxing day 

Sue

[bobmacliberty]

3 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

We had planned the same thing, but some unplanned medical issues came up that need dealt with.   Our plan was to fly to Phoenix and start at the Grand Canyon, then make the National Parks loop in Utah. 
 

Nice photo. 

 

We were planning on the Utah loop as well, but starting in Vegas.  I wanted to work Yosemite into the mix somehow.  We've never been there and it's supposed to be spectacular in the spring with the falls fully flowing.

[island lady]

14 hours ago, davekathy said:

Yes. The long version. 

 

Encore please!!  😉  

[island lady]

14 hours ago, davekathy said:

I played in a part time garage band in late '68, '69 and part of '70. Three of us. Between dating, working and oh yeah school (🤢) we would sometimes land a gig playing a few Friday night local high school dances. January '70 was the last time we played at our own high school dance. Apparently the school dance chaperones didn't like our version of the Jimi Hendrix song "Fire" and shut us down.  😇 We were called in the office Monday morning and we were given a stern no more! 

 

Yeah, I can see that.  Trouble maker.  You and Bucky for sure. 😄 

[island lady]

14 hours ago, davekathy said:

No. Really a pretty simple song to play. But still one of my favorites to play. I don't believe I've ever had a highlight anything in my life. 😁 

 

Yes you have.   She is called Kathy.  😉 

[Arzeena]

12 hours ago, George C said:

We saw Mamma Mia on broadway and will see it again in November on Allure 

Seen it many times on Broadway and the Allure and enjoy it a lot every time I see it. I queue up outside the Allure's theater way in advance to get front row seat every time. LOVE it!

[island lady]

12 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

That was Folgy.... he was from Kamloops BC in Canada, eh.  He died from cancer.  I believe about a decade ago.  Funny guy.

 

The quote I saw was just a few months ago, that poster must have copied him.   Wish I had the chance to meet Folgy. 

[island lady]

12 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Because you don't like Abba?

 

I won't be on Allure now until end of 2022.  (Was supposed to be on it right now for the first time).  I hope the Momma Mia show is still on by then.  I am also an Abba fan.  😉 

[island lady]

3 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

@BonTexasNY

 

Happy Birthday, Bonnie. Ad mea ve-esrim. Hope you'll have a lovely time today.

 

DH suggested to add this song.... so romantic 💐

 

 

 

 

 

Love the town of Portofino!   Best part was to hike up the hill behind these buildings.  Great view!  🙂 

[cruisingpeople]

On 5/1/2021 at 2:53 PM, lenquixote66 said:

It may have been on TV .Sounds of Silence is your favorite S&G song or favorite of any singer ?

 

A long read, but very interesting........

 

 

Hello Darkness My Old Friend, a Simon and Garfunkel song inspired by a College roommate who went blind - reveals an untold story. 

One of the best-loved songs of all time. Simon & Garfunkel's hit The Sound Of Silence topped the US charts and went platinum in the UK.

It was named among the 20 most performed songs of the 20th century, included in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and provided the unforgettable soundtrack to 1967 film classic The Graduate. But to one man The Sound Of Silence means much more than just a No 1 song on the radio with its poignant opening lines: "Hello Darkness my old friend, I've come to talk with you again."

Sanford "Sandy" Greenberg is Art Garfunkel's best friend, and reveals in a moving new memoir, named after that lyric, that the song was a touching tribute to their undying bond, and the singer's sacrifice that saved Sandy's life when he unexpectedly lost his sight.

"He lifted me out of the grave," says Sandy, aged 79, who recounts his plunge into sudden blindness, and how Art Garfunkel's selfless devotion gave him reason to live again.

Sandy and Arthur, as Art was then known, met during their first week as students at the prestigious Columbia University in New York.

"A young man wearing an Argyle sweater and corduroy pants and blond hair with a crew cut came over and said, 'Hi, I'm Arthur Garfunkel'," Sandy recalls.

They became roommates, bonding over a shared taste in books, poetry and music.

"Every night Arthur and I would sing. He would play his guitar and I would be the DJ. The air was always filled with music."

"Still teenagers, they made a pact to always be there for each other in times of trouble. "If one was in extremis, the other would come to his rescue," says Sandy They had no idea their promise would be tested so soon. Just months later, Sandy recalls: "I was at a baseball game and suddenly my eyes became cloudy and my vision became unhinged. Shortly after that darkness descended." Doctors diagnosed conjunctivitis, assuring it would pass. But days later Sandy went blind, and doctors realized that  glaucoma had destroyed his optic nerves.

Sandy was the son of a rag-and-bone man. His family, Jewish immigrants in Buffalo, New York, had no money to help him, so he dropped out of college, gave up his dream of becoming a lawyer, and plunged into depression. "I wouldn't see anyone, I just refused to talk to anybody," says Sandy. "And then unexpectedly Arthur flew in, saying he had to talk to me. He said, 'You're gonna come back, aren't you?'  "I said,: 'No, There's no conceivable way.' "He was pretty insistent, and finally said, 'Look, I don't think you get it. I need you back there. That's the pact we made together: we would be there for the other in times of crises. I will help you'."

Together they returned to Columbia University, where Sandy became dependent on Garfunkel's support. Art would walk Sandy to class, bandage his wounds when he fell, and even filled out his graduate school applications.

Garfunkel called himself "Darkness" in a show of empathy. The singer explained: "I was saying, 'I want to be together where you are, in the black'." Sandy recalls: "He would come in and say, 'Darkness is going to read to you now.' “Then he would take me to class and back. He would take me around the city. He altered his entire life so that it would accommodate me."

Garfunkel would talk about Sandy with his high-school friend Paul Simon, from Queens, New York, as the folk rock duo struggled to launch their musical careers, performing at local parties and clubs. Though Simon wrote the song, the lyrics to The Sound of Silence are infused with Garfunkel's compassion as Darkness, Sandy's old friend.

Guiding Sandy through New York one day, as they stood in the vast forecourt of bustling Grand Central Station, Garfunkel said that he had to leave for an assignment, abandoning his blind friend alone in the rush-hour crowd, terrified, stumbling and falling. "I cut my forehead" says Sandy. "I cut my shins. My socks were bloodied. I had my hands out and bumped into a woman's breasts. It was a horrendous feeling of shame and humiliation. "I started running forward, knocking over coffee cups and briefcases, and finally I got to the local train to Columbia University. It was the worst couple of hours in my life."

Back on campus, he bumped into a man, who apologized. "I knew that it was Arthur's voice," says Sandy. "For a moment I was enraged, and then I understood what happened: that his colossally insightful, brilliant yet wildly risky strategy had worked." Garfunkel had not abandoned Sandy at the station, but had followed him the entire way home, watching over him. "Arthur knew it was only when I could prove to myself I could do it that I would have real independence," says Sandy. "And it worked, because after that I felt that I could do anything.

"That moment was the spark that caused me to live a completely different life, without fear, without doubt. For that I am tremendously grateful to my friend." Sandy not only graduated, but went on to study for a master's degree at Harvard and Oxford.

While in Britain he received a phone call from his friend - and with it the chance to keep his side of their pact. Garfunkel wanted to drop out of architecture school and record his first album with Paul Simon, but explained: "I need $400 to get started." Sandy, by then married to his high school sweetheart, says: "We had $404 in our current account. I said, 'Arthur, you will have your cheque.' "It was an instant reaction, because he had helped me restart my life, and his request was the first time that I had been able to live up to my half of our solemn covenant."

The 1964 album, Wednesday Morning, 3 AM, was a critical and commercial flop, but one of the tracks was The Sound Of Silence, which was released as a single the following year and went to No 1 across the world. "The Sound Of Silence meant a lot, because it started out with the words 'Hello darkness' and this was Darkness singing, the guy who read to me after I returned to Columbia blind," says Sandy.

Simon & Garfunkel went on to have four smash albums, with hits including Mrs. Robinson, The Boxer, and Bridge Over Troubled Waters. Amazingly, Sandy went on to extraordinary success as an inventor, entrepreneur, investor, presidential adviser and philanthropist. The father of three, who launched a $3million prize to find a cure for blindness, has always refused to use a white cane or guide dog. "I don't want to be 'the blind guy'," he says. "I wanted to be Sandy Greenberg, the human being"

Six decades later the two men remain best friends, and Garfunkel credits Sandy with transforming his life. With Sandy, "my real life emerged," says the singer. "I became a better guy in my own eyes, and began to see who I was - somebody who gives to a friend. "I blush to find myself within his dimension. My friend is the gold standard of decency."  Says Sandy: "I am the luckiest man in the world"

[Tree_skier]

14 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I like Abba a lot. Saw Abbacadabra twice now on the ships and I really like Mamma Mia.

Growing up, I was a rock and roll guy.  Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osborne, AC/DC was the stuff of my early teen years.  Outwardly, I despised disco. Secretly, I loved Abba.  Now my love of Abba isn't so hidden.  We went to an Abba tribute in Branson a couple of years but I got myself in trouble with my wife because of my adoring support of anything thing that woman playing Frida did.

 

I tried to cover it up by explaining that Frida and my wife have always been spitting images of each other.  I'm not sure she bought it.  It is true they favor each other though.  

[Tree_skier]

13 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I had never heard of Queen until a 16 year old relative told me about them,

I saw Freddie Mercury for the first time on TV-Live Aid concert.I had actually won tickets for the concert but I had young children and my wife was working nights at the time as an RN.I gave the tickets away to the son of a co-worker.

Oh wow tragic to miss that.  I think Freddie Mercury's performance was one for the ages.

[dani negreanu]

47 minutes ago, cruisingpeople said:

A long read, but very interesting........

 

Thank you for sharing. A very moving story. I was riveted.

[Tree_skier]

Today is vaccine day! At high noon, against my better judgement, I'll let them jab me me with a needle full of stuff I have no idea about.  I'm hoping I don't grow a third eyeball or lose anymore of my luxurious blond mane.  Cruising may now commence in 5 weeks.  🙂 

[Ourusualbeach]

48 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

Growing up, I was a rock and roll guy.  Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osborne, AC/DC was the stuff of my early teen years.  

Sounds a lot like my youth, the jean jacket with AC/DC stenciled on in black magic marker and buying D cell batteries by the case to power the ridiculously large boom box.  The local radio station still exists and is still playing the same songs but instead of advertising DuMaurier cigarettes and Labatt's they are now pushing ***** and hair loss treatments.🤣