Standing In The Shadows Of Motown

I saw blog posts from some of my classmates talking about their favorite music and song lists. If I were to post a list of my favorite songs it would really date me. I grew up listening to the Motown sound and all of the great dance tunes of the 60’s and 70’s. I still think that Marvin Gaye had the best voice of any singer from that era. My sister Debbie and I used to dance for hours to the music that came from “Hitsville USA.” That was the house in Detroit where Motown founder Berry Gordy built his new record company’s studio and literally hundreds of hits were recorded. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitsville_U.S.A.

There were dozens of great singers and groups who recorded the songs that came from Motown records. But, from my point of view, the music behind the singers was unbelievably powerful. It was that musical sound that changed everything.

I used to wonder just who it was that played on all of those great records. Then, in 2002 there was a movie released called “Standing In The Shadows Of Motown.” http://www.standingintheshadowsofmotown.com/ It was amazing. From that film I leaned that the music behind the Motown sound was recorded by a group of studio musicians who called themselves the “Funk Brothers.”

The Funk Brothers truly revolutionized music by combining Jazz, Blues, Gospel & early Rock & Roll sounds to create the Motown Soul Sound. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funk_Brothers The 13 core members of the group have been awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. The Funk Brothers played on more number 1 hits than the Beatles, Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones, and the Beach Boys combined.

My list of favorite songs would be much too long for a blog post. So, I’ll just say that Motown recorded the soundtrack of my young life.

Pulitzer, The Man Who Changed The Way We Get Our News

As I was doing some more research for my essay on immigration in St. Louis at the beginning of the 20^th Century I found some information about an immigrant who changed the way that newspapers were written and published forever. His name was Joseph Pulitzer. He was born in Hungary to Jewish parents and immigrated to the US in 1864. When he arrived he did not speak English and he didn’t have any money. When he was 18 he joined the Union Army and became a part of Sheridan’s Troopers and fought in the Civil War. He spoke three languages; German, Hungarian and French. After the war he was once again penniless and decided to travel by train to St. Louis. When Pulitzer arrived in St. Louis he said "The lights of St. Louis looked like a promise land to me." He also liked being in St. Louis because at the time St. Louis was a German speaking city.

In 1879 he bought two newspapers; the St. Louis Dispatch and the St. Louis Post and merged them into one newspaper, the St. Louis Post Dispatch. I heard an author, James McGrath Morris, on KMOX yesterday talking about his book: “Pulitzer, A Life In Politics, Print and Power.” Mr. Morris said that Pulitzer changed the way that news was reported forever. Before Mr. Pulitzer, newspapers were written for upper class readers. He decided to have his paper written for everyday working people. He told his reports to give him stories that everyone would be talking about at night around the dinner table. Early on he exposed corruption in St. Louis County government. Newspapers had never carried those kinds of stories before. They had been controlled by politicians. Pulitzer was also behind the creation of the Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri.

Vitamins And Healthy Living

Several years ago while I was living in Arizona I was looking for information on vitamins and healthy eating and living. This was just before the Internet exploded into our lives and changed everything about how we gather information. On one of our local Tucson television stations I saw a show featuring University of Arizona professor, Dr. Andrew Weil, MD. Dr. Weil is the founder and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine (AzCIM) at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, in Tucson.

I was walking quite a bit then and averaging 28 miles a week. When I found Dr. Weil on TV I was looking for some good vitamins to increase my energy levels or at least to keep the energy that I had up and maintain it. Dr. Weil said that many of the vitamins available over the counter at supermarkets and pharmacies were not completely pure. Many of those vitamins contained more fillers than the actual vitamins. That's when I found out about the importance of Vitamin B12. This vitamin is necessary to maintain many body functions. The lack of B12 can cause many problems. Symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency include fatigue, muscle weakness, shortness of breath, dizziness, numbness, heart palpitations, bleeding gums and mouth sores, nausea, poor appetite and diarrhea.

The good news is that we are now in the Internet age and if you are looking for information about vitamins and healthy eating Dr. Weil has a very good website: www.drweil.com

The Missouri History Museum

Today I went to the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis. With a rainy drab day like today, it was a good day to walk through the museum.

To my surprise there was an exhibit for the 1904 World's Fair. I have always been interested in this subject. When I was a little girl growing up in St. Louis my grandmother who was born in 1893 still talked about how wonderful the fair had been.

The subject for my final essay is immigration in St. Louis in the early 1900s. While I was at the museum I found some good sources of information for my essay.

The picture I have posted is of workers who were living in an old streetcar on the fairgrounds in 1902. A plaque at the museum said that more than 10,000 workers had been employed by the Louisiana Exposition Company to transform Forest Park from a rough wilderness into the largest world's fair in history.

As I looked at the paintings and photos of how grand the fair was, I am still amazed that most of the buildings and exhibits were torn down in the years that followed. I've read that the track for the roller coaster was 3 miles long. The Observation Wheel (Ferris Wheel) was 264 feet high. Each car held 36 passengers. It took 20 minutes to go around 1 time. There were weddings and banquets on board. On May 11, 1906 the Observation Wheel was dynamited and sold for scrap. I think that was a huge waste. They should have left it up.

It was a nice day at the museum. I got a lot of good information for my essay.

Spring Flowers

I am so happy that Spring is just around the corner. It was over 70 degrees today.

In the Spring and Summer I like to plant as many flowers around my house as I can. As you can see from this picture of my front door I planted so many flowers last year that they overflowed the sidewalk. I really loved it.

I also planted flowers around the front, sides and back of the house. So, by the end of Summer my house is basically surrounded by a sea of colorful flowers.

This will be the third summer in my house. I am planning on adding more foliage and color to my flower beds this year than last.

I'm not alone in my love for gardening. Both my parents used to plant a garden of flowers and vegetables every year. My sisters all enjoy gardening as well. So, I guess it runs in the family.

My husband also likes gardening. He helps me with the flowers. But, he really likes to plant vegetables. We can't do much of that where we live now. At our last house we had an acre of ground. My husband planted 48 tomato plants one summer. We gave away over 60 bushels of tomatoes that year. They sure were delicious.

Happiness Is Grandchildren!

During Spring Break my grandsons, Tristan and Jarod will go to Disney World in Florida with their Dad, Aaron. This is not the first time my grandsons have been to Disney World. The first time they went was about five years ago. I remember how excited they were when they came home. They talked about all of the great rides at the park and how good the food was. There is an ice cream store that Tristan and Jarod love to go to when they’re at the park. My grandsons always tell me that ice cream should be the national dessert of the United States. And, I agree.

Their other thrill while in Florida came when they went to Discovery Cove and went swimming with the dolphins. They came home with videos and pictures of the event. It was such a blessing for me to watch them while they were having so much fun.

Tristan will be 14 years old on the 25^th of March. So, he will be there for his birthday. One of Tristan’s favorite foods, (besides ice cream), is crab legs. My son Aaron told me that he’s going to take Tristan and Jarod to a great restaurant down by the beach on his birthday. They’ll be able to hear the ocean while they eat.

My son Aaron will also have a birthday while they’re on vacation. He’ll be 36 while he and his sons are in Florida. The beach has always been one of his favorite places to go. Between the rides at the park, and going to the beach, my son and grandsons will be doing a lot of smiling and laughing. The definition of happiness is Tristan and Jarod.

My happy words are: ice cream, Tristan, Jarod, vacation, laughing Disney, birthday, plane, ocean, rides, family, food, dolphins, grandsons, beach, Florida, blessing and happiness.