THIS IS THE NEW YEAR DAY, JANUARY 1, 2010, A DAY OF MIXED EMOTIONS FOR MOST OF US. I have been watching the Rose Bowl Parade, an annual pastime for me. I love the wonderful matching bands and the floats; the color and excitement, humor and creativity. At the end of the parade this year there was a Naval Air Salute to a fallen brother with the "missing man formation." An emotional end to the event. Now the Rose Bowl game is on: LSU vs. Penn State. I will not watch the game until perhaps the last quarter - if the score is close.

I mentioned in my most recent blog that I would look for Hazy Shade of Winter by Simon and Garfunkle. It is a very typical S&G piece with lots of strong chords and strumming. I am not sure I really like it, but if I can find it in the store I will probably get it.

Simon and Garfunkle were childhood friends who grew up in Queens. They both played parts in the school performance of Alice in Wonderland; Simon as the White Rabbit and Garfunkle as the Cheshire Cat. The duo has been off and on in their careers since those days in the early fifties. Their music has been featured in many movies and their awards are numerous. As recently as 2003 they reunited to perform in public for the first time in a decade, singing "The Sound of Silence" as the opening act of the Grammy Awards.. Following that performance, which generated positive feelings, they launched a two month reunion tour of the US and Toronto ~ forty shows in twenty-eight cities.

Following are some of their compositions: Homeward Bound, I Am A Rock, Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Parsley,Sage,Rosemary and Thyme, 59th Street Bridge,
Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard, El Condor Pasa, The Boxer, Mrs. Robinson,
and the list goes on and on.

"In the dept of winter I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." ~Camus

Keep a song in your heart and keep the music playing .

jem