Extra Credit Questions

[Eva Elisabeth]

A carrier pigeon?

[L Verge]

(12-12-2019 10:12 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  A carrier pigeon?

Very logical guess, Eva, but not correct.

Since the Christmas hustle is in full swing, I will spill the beans a little early and tell you that Jack was a mockingbird who resided in a cage at the White House, but Jefferson would release him to follow him from room to room and encourage him to sing. This according to James Conroy's book.

I love mockingbirds, named an old and dilapidated plantation house Mockingbird Hill when I was a child, and now have a resident mockingbird who stays outside my kitchen door most of the time. I call him my "watchbird." He screeches (doesn't sing) every time someone approaches - even me. The cat next door is allowed to roam and sends this bird into spasms. The cat is more interested in my resident squirrels and bunnies.

[David Lockmiller]

(12-14-2019 08:25 PM)L Verge Wrote:  

(12-12-2019 10:12 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  A carrier pigeon?

Very logical guess, Eva, but not correct.

Since the Christmas hustle is in full swing, I will spill the beans a little early and tell you that Jack was a mockingbird who resided in a cage at the White House, but Jefferson would release him to follow him from room to room and encourage him to sing. This according to James Conroy's book.

I love mockingbirds, named an old and dilapidated plantation house Mockingbird Hill when I was a child, and now have a resident mockingbird who stays outside my kitchen door most of the time. I call him my "watchbird." He screeches (doesn't sing) every time someone approaches - even me. The cat next door is allowed to roam and sends this bird into spasms. The cat is more interested in my resident squirrels and bunnies.

My Italian friend, Ebe Giovanna, refers to "mockingbird" in her native language as "uccello polyglatta" or "bird of many languages" which is so Italian and so accurately descriptive.

[Gene C]

This reminds me of a song - Mockingbird Hill by the Lennon Sisters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK99-mLWkjA

[L Verge]

(12-15-2019 03:57 PM)Gene C Wrote:  This reminds me of a song - Mockingbird Hill by the Lennon Sisters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK99-mLWkjA

"It is difficult to believe that this quaint little song, half waltz, half lullaby, is an important milestone in the development of contemporary music, but according to Don Tyler's 2007 compendium Hit Songs 1900-1955: American Popular Music of the Pre-Rock Era, it was the first song in which electric guitar pioneer and innovator Les Paul used overdubbing. This is probably not quite correct, Paul was experimenting with multi-tracking as early as 1947, and released a song that year which featured multi-tracking. "Mockin' Bird Hill" does though appear to be the first such record to have been a hit." Wiki Post

And, it was recorded by many artists, some famous, some not so, and many in different countries. The first recording was in 1950 by a group named The Pinetoppers, and then came Les Paul and Mary Ford. Other names that you might remember are Donna Fargo, Teresa Brewer, Burl Ives, George Jones, Ray Stevens, Roger Williams, Lawrence Welk, and lots more. Do you feel old now because you recognize more of those artists?

And then, there was Blueberry Hill by Fats Domino. If that mockingbird had flown over to that hill, I suspect there would have been no more blueberries...

[Gene C]

Here is the Pinetoppers original version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53a0CKgY750

Here is the Les Paul version sung by his wife Mary Ford. With a beautiful voice it's easy to see why they sold millions of records together in the 1950's.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9Hje2BTvAo

[Amy L.]

Gene's links make me think of Dolly Parton singing 'Listen to the Mockingbird.'

Did Lincoln say this song brings to mind a frolicking girl?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMCpaFuYmcg

[RJNorton]

Amy, I have seen it written that Lincoln said of the song, "It is as sincere as the laughter of a little girl at play." But I do not know if there is a legitimate source for this, or if Lincoln's statement is apocryphal. If anyone knows of a legitimate original source, please post!

[AussieMick]

Which person took 20 years to complete a 4 volume history of Britain, the British Commonwealth, and the US (with one-third of the last volume being devoted to the military details of the US Civil War) ?

[RJNorton]

Sir Alistair Horne?

[AussieMick]

No, Roger. But this person was also , like Horne, a journalist, biographer, and historian ... and he also took time to be involved in other occupations.

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This man's mother was born in New York (Brooklyn). Some people have said that she had Iroquois ancestry through her maternal grandmother but there's no proof of this ... I see that the name 'Iroquois' may have meant 'they who smoke'. They were certainly warlike and great fighters.

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There was a contract that he'd be paid the equivalent of a quarter of million USD for this history. But the publishers complained in 1940 that the manuscript ended with the end of the American Civil War.

He offered to write an epilogue of 10,000 words. ( The publishers said that 10,000 words 'cannot repair the omission of 50 years vital history'.)

However, he was rather busy at that time.

[Steve]

Winston Churchill

[AussieMick]

Yes, Steve. Well done. I was about to say that this person was with a President who recited the 1st two lines of a patriotic US poem ... the person then recited the rest of the poem.

"“‘Shoot if you must this old grey head / But spare your country’s flag,’ she said.” In Frederick, Maryland, as President Roosevelt recited the two most famous lines in Whittier’s “Barbara Freitchie,” the voice of his companion rumbled: “Up from the meadows rich with corn / Clear on the cool September morn….” It was Churchill, reciting the poem from end to end."

https://winstonchurchill.hillsdale.edu/l...urchill-2/

http://scriptoriumdaily.com/winston-chur...m-lincoln/

BTW
Churchill’s maternal grandfather, Leonard Jerome, as part owner of The New York Times, had “staunchly supported Abraham Lincoln in a city where anti-war feelings were vehement.”

Again, well done Steve.

[Eva Elisabeth]

Over here, Churchill is often misquoted to have said in an interview upon the question how he made it to get that old "no sport". I think the "quote" only exists in Germany.

[AussieMick]

I'd not heard that quote, Eva.
I sort of recall reading of him boasting that his smoking and heavy reliance on alcohol helping to keep him alive.
But apparently he did as a young man believe that he'd have a short life , like his father and grandfather.