Summer in Edinburgh, Scotland, kicks off with an evening of whimsical revelry. Colorful characters parade atop a hill, dancing and marching to the beat of pounding drums. Fires blaze, warming the air with their bright, smoky …
National Bugs Bunny Day is observed each year on April 30. Bugs Bunny is the famous cartoon character best remembered for his roles in Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies produced by Warner Bros. He …
I spent many years helping the school librarian in my son’s elementary school.
They do fantastic things!
April 4th is National School Librarian Day. It is set aside to honor all school librarians.
School librarians spend long hours keeping the library organized, helping our children find the resources they need to keep learning and are dedicated to creating an environment they can learn in every day of the year. All of this hard work often goes unappreciated.
The school librarians aid our youth in many ways, and their patience sets an example for our children on a daily basis.
The Thrillist folks said “As you cruise along the side of frighteningly sheer cliff-drops on this narrow-gauge railway, you can’t help but wonder who in their right mind actually built this thing during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898. The train departs from Skagway on three different excursions, all of which take you up 3,000ft in 20 miles, past glaciers, mountain lakes, and thunderous waterfalls. The signature trip travels the original miners’ supply route to Carcross, Yukon, and stops at a restored station house in Lake Bennett. Or you can take the train past Bridal Veil Falls and Dead Horse Gulch to White Pass Summit, a 40-mile round trip that traverses massive trusses that are not for those with a fear of heights.”
My DH is a major train person. Even in Grad School at the University of Wisconsin/Milwaukee, he worked for the now-defunct Milwaukee Road. They even gave him a company car!
Our time in Milwaukee might be the starter of another post but it was how I got my interest in trains.
Somehow, along the way, I learned about the Soo Line and I’d take a picture whenever I saw one. The very last one I saw, I was on a Cushing’s trip to Chicago. When we went by a railroad yard, I got a glimpse of a Soo and whipped around to get a picture. This isn’t that one but another example.
After Milwaukee, there has always been an involvement with trains – including taking vacations looking at spikes and tie plates.
Fun times!
So, when we found ourselves at Skagway, we just had to go on this train.
I wanted to post some about this trip, so I searched my travel blog. When nothing came up, I thought all my notes were gone. I looked at the one measly post about Alaska and found a link to more info. I had completely forgotten that I had saved all my travel memories on a website in the days before blogs. Most of my info is here, except for some images I had stored on the now-defunct Posterous.
A place exists in Alaska where the past lives on, where the cries of “gold in the Yukon” still echo from steep canyon walls, where the sounds of barroom pianos and boomtown crowds ring out in the night. A place where the romance and excitement of yesteryear linger around every street corner, every bend in the trail.
Skagway! The wide Pacific lying at it’s door, the historic little community, known as the “Gateway to the Klondike,” occupies a lovely site with snow-capped and glaciated peaks as a backdrop. A port of call on south east Alaska’s Inside Passage route , this waterfront town, with it’s pervasive frontier flavour, attracts thousands of visitors annually via road, rail and seaway.
Designated a historic district by the US National Park Service, the area along Broadway from First to Seventh Avenues contains forty to fifty turn-of-the-century wooden structures, housing hotels, saloons and shops restored to evoke the days of the Gold Rush. The former railroad depot, a handsome 1898 building, serves as the Park Service visitor centre and departure point for walking tours conducted by park rangers.
So, join us in celebrating our Gold Rush past as we begin our second century being the gateway to the Klondike. Spend some time in our historical city, visit the surrounding wilderness areas or take in some of our events!
I woke up again sometime around 3AM when it was light again but managed to sleep a bit more. The plan had been to get up at 6 so we could have breakfast before we set out for the day. We missed breakfast. We were to meet our tour at 7:15 AM. Amazingly, we were first on the bus. I don’t think we’ve ever been first for anything!
Our bus driver was a very good driver who told us all about the history of Skagway and the surrounding areas. Our first stop was Liarsville (http://www.klondiketours.com/goldcampshow.html), a tent village for gold miners. It was called Liarsville because many newspaper reporters were there publishing tales of how “easy” it was to find gold and become rich. No Way! The locals did a show for us and let us pan for gold. Of course, most everyone found some little gold flakes. A very hard way to make a living!
We made our way up the White Pass on the Klondike Highway to a 3,000 ft waterfall, Dead Horse Gulch (a lot of pack horses couldn’t make it the whole way), the Moore Bridge, Yukon Suspension Bridge at Tutshi Canyon and up over the West White Pass into Fraser British Columbia Canda, the same way that the miners had to walk or go with pack animal and 2,000 pounds of supplies. Much easier by heated bus! It was very scenic and we took lots of pictures.
At the summit of that, in Fraser, British Columbia, we got on the White Pass & Yukon Route (WP&YR) Railroad train.
The WP&YR was originally built to help those miners who were hauling the ton of supplies up the pass but they finished building the railroad a year after the gold rush had ended. There’s more info about this railroad at www.wpyr.com We went over trestle bridges, through tunnels, over glaciers. Definitely a worthwhile trip.
Here’s a bit of our train trip. Tom took this from the platform between the cars:
Back in Skagway we stopped in the train shop but all I got was coffee, my first of the day. Another Alaskan T-Shirt Company for yet more fleece and stuff and hiked back to the ship.
Tom took a little nap and I read for a while. Then buffet lunch time.
Tom went out to a meeting and I napped for a while. He came back and I started typing this again – and he napped. What old fuddy-duddies!
Time to get dressed for tonight’s show – dual acrobatics, Jean-Claude and Gaby – followed by “casual” dinner. Any dinner that requires anything more than jeans is hardly casual to me!
Sunset 10:23. Hubbard Glacier is 300 nautical miles.
That Thrillist had a couple other trains of interest – 1 that we took and one that we always wanted to take. I’ll save those for another post.
Tap dancing legends Fayard (b. 1914) and Harold (1918-2000) Nicholas amazed crowds with their performances in musicals and films from the 30s to the 80s. They performed with Gene Kelly in The Pirate, with Cab Calloway in Stormy Weather, with Dorothy Dandridge (Harold’s wife) in Sun Valley Serenade, and with a number of other stars on the stage and on the screen. Author Hill not only guides readers through the brothers’ showstopping successes and the repressive times in which their dancing won them universal acclaim, she also offers extensive insight into the history and choreography of tap dancing, bringing readers up to speed on the art form in which the Nicholas Brothers excelled.
Fayard Antonio Nicholas was born October 20, 1914, in Mobile, Alabama. Harold Lloyd Nicholas was born March 27, 1921, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The Nicholas Brothers grew up in Philadelphia, the sons of college-educated musicians who played in their own band at the old Standard Theater—their mother at the piano and father on drums. At the age of three, Fayard would always sit in the front row while his parents worked, and by the time he was ten, he had seen most of the great African-American vaudeville acts—particularly the dancers, including such notables of the time as Alice Whitman, Willie Bryant, and Bill Robinson. The brothers were fascinated by the combination of tap dancing and acrobatics. Fayard often imitated their acrobatics and clowning for the kids in his neighborhood.
Neither Fayard nor Harold had any formal dance training. Fayard taught himself how to dance, sing, and perform by watching and imitating the professional entertainers on stage. He then taught his younger siblings, first performing with his sister Dorothy as the Nicholas Kids, later joined by Harold. Harold idolized his older brother and learned by copying his moves and distinct style. Dorothy later opted out of the act, and the Nicholas Kids became known as the Nicholas Brothers.
From 1935. They were already on their way:
In 1936, Fayard was 22 and Harold was 15. They performed Lucky Number:
From 1940, Down Argentine Way, The Nicholas Brothers serve up a characteristically joyous, effervescent routine.
This video, from the film “Sun Valley Serenade” (1941), depicts the complete Glenn Miller Orchestra’s and Nicholas Brothers’ performances for “Chattanooga Choo Choo”
One of the greatest dance routines ever in movies by the Nicholas Brothers. From the 1942 movie “Orchestra Wives” – I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo.
One of their signature moves was to leapfrog down a long, broad flight of stairs, while completing each step with a split. Its most famous performance formed the finale of the movie Stormy Weather. In that routine, the Nicholas Brothers leapt exuberantly across the orchestra’s music stands and danced on the top of a grand piano in a call and response act with the pianist, to the tune of Jumpin’ Jive.
Fred Astaire thought their “Jumpin’ Jive” production number in Stormy Weather (1943) the greatest musical sequence of all time.
I love how Cab Calloway fades away and lets the Nicholas Brothers take over!
Children: don’t try this at home – never, ever dance on a piano!
The Nicholas Brothers dance with Gene Kelly in the 1948 film “The Pirate”. It’s not their best work because Kelly couldn’t do what they could do. But Kelly could copy them, and The Pirate features some of his most virile and stunt-laden work.
We Sing, We Dance. A 1992 Arts and Entertainment documentary about the life of the Nicholas Brothers. Lots of great clips included!
The Nicholas Brothers’ influence can still be felt throughout our culture. Bob Fosse modeled his first dance act on them and Joseph Jackson hired Fayard to help train his children, The Jackson 5. Both Michael and Janet Jackson were later students of the brothers.
Fayard and Howard also taught at Harvard and Radcliffe.
The Nicholas Brothers got several awards and honors:
Harold received the DEA Award from the Dance Educators of America
Harold received the Bay Area Critics Circle Award (Best Principal Performance, Stompin’ at the Savoy)
Harold received the Harbor Performing Arts Center Lifetime Achievement Award
honorary doctorate from Harvard University for both brothers
Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame (1978)
Ellie Award (1984), National Film Society for both brothers
Apollo Theater’s Hall of Fame (1986), First Class Inductees for both brothers
Ebony Lifetime Achievement Award (1987) for both brothers
Fayard received Broadway’s 1989 Tony Award as Best Choreographer for Black and Blue along with his collaborators Cholly Atkins, Henry LeTang and Frankie Manning.
Scripps American Dance Festival Award
Kennedy Center Honors in 1991 for both brothers who were in attendance
The National Black Media Coalition Lifetime Achievement Award (1992)
Flo-Bert Award (1992)
New York’s Tap Dance Committee, Gypsy Award (1994)
A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7083 Hollywood Blvd (1994)
Professional Dancer’s Society, Dance Magazine Award of (1995)
The 1998 Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award for Lifetime Achievement in Modern Dance
National Museum of Dance Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame Inductees (2001)
Spring has sprung, the grass has riz,
I wonder where the birdies is.
Some say the birds is on the wing,
but that’s absurd, the wing is on the bird.
That’s how I learned this little ditty. A quick internet search shows that some wonder where the “flowers is “and other variations.
“Welcome, sweet Springtime! We greet thee in song,
Murmurs of gladness fall on the ear,
Voices long hushed now their full notes prolong
Echoing far and near.
Sunshine now wakes all the flow’rets from sleep,
Joy-giving incense floats on the air;
Snow-drop and primrose both timidly peep,
Hailing the glad new year.
Balmy and life-breathing breezes are blowing,
Swiftly to nature new vigor bestowing.
Ah, how my heart beats with rapture anew,
As earth’s fairest beauties again meet my view. (Rest…)
Sing then, ye birds: raise your voices on high;
Flow’rets awake ye! Burst into bloom!
Springtime is come! and sweet Summer is nigh,
Sing then, ye birds, O sing!”
Every year on March 17, the Irish and the Irish-at-heart across the globe observe St. Patrick’s Day. What began as a religious feast day for the patron saint of Ireland has become an international festival celebrating Irish culture with parades, dancing, special foods and a whole lot of green.
When I was a child, my dad, a Scottish person, had me wear orange to school on Saint Patrick’s Day, as a minor form of protest. All that did was have the kids make fun of me even more than usual.
As my own form of protest, I later married an Irish Roman Catholic, but that’s a topic for another post.
Quite a while later, a friend of my husband’s friends lent him a copy of something called “Riverdance”. I took one look and figured I would never be interested in some kind of Irish dancing. WRONG!
It turned out I loved Riverdance and we have seen the video, I have my own DVDs, we have seen it at Wolftrap whenever it’s been here, I have 2 copies of piano transcriptions, own the Tshirt… One weekend, we even saw it twice.
We had seen it at Wolftrap on a Friday night. Our son came home on a Saturday and we were telling him about it. We went directly from the train station back to Wolftrap.
As luck would have it, there was a bus driver there who had brought a bunch of people on a tour from a retirement home. Three people hadn’t come and he had 3 tickets to get rid of, right in the front section.
Were we lucky, or what?
One of my favorite dances:
And another favorite:
And, of course, that finale!
Just for fun, there was a flashmob, bringing us back to St. Patrick’s Day…
Needless to say, I was quite sorry to see that Riverdance is not coming to the East Coast this year.
Every year on March 17, the Irish and the Irish-at-heart across the globe observe St. Patrick’s Day. What began as a religious feast day for the patron saint of Ireland has become an international festival celebrating Irish culture with parades, dancing, special foods and a whole lot of green.
Everyone knows we’re supposed to beware the Ides of March and may even remember they’re from William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” but what exactly do they mean?
The Ides of March marked the day the Julius Caesar was assassinated by members of the Roman Senate in 44 B.C.E.
A soothsayer, or psychic, warned Caesar to beware the day, but Caesar doesn’t heed him.
He was then stabbed 23 times by about 60 conspirators, including his friend Marcus Brutus, as immortalized by Shakespeare’s “Et tu Brute?”
I remember learning all about this in Latin class in High School.
I remember another movie, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, discussing the Ides of March and someone asked why a month would need an “idea”.
We found Bill and Ted purely by accident. We were looking at videos for rent in a grocery store and one of the bag boys (remember them?) recommended this one.
Please add your bio. Your information will help others. If anyone would like to do something for the Cushing's Awareness Challenge but you don't have (or want to have) a blog, why not consider adding your bio?
MaryO’Note: An interesting idea, offering a cash voucher for referring new patients! Dr. Friedman is an expert in pituitary, thyroid and adrenal issues as well as several other endocrine conditions, while most endocrinologists specialize in diabetes or just thyroid disease. He has seen and diagnosed more patients with Cushing’s disease, growth hormone deficiency or adrenal […]
This study confirms the significant impact of prolonged high cortisol exposure on cognitive function and identifies key risk factors. The nomogram model offers robust performance, providing a valuable tool for managing Cushing's disease patients’ cognitive health and informing strategies for other cortisol-related disorders.
MaryO’Note: This is really basic information. Maybe News 9 should have checked with a doctor who has actually been diagnosed with Cushing’s or at least tested for it!
Cushing’s syndrome is a rare disorder that occurs when the body is exposed to too much cortisol. Cortisol is produced by the body and is also used in corticosteroid drugs. Cushing's syndrome can occur either because cortisol is being overproduced by the body or from the use of drugs that contain cortisol (like prednisone)…
Did't we all do this? A young woman saved her own life after successfully self-diagnosing cancer/Cushing's that doctors had missed because she researched her own worrying symptoms on TikTok.
Cushing’s Disease is common in dogs but rare and hard to diagnose in people. That’s why University of Georgia researchers are leveraging canine treatments to find new solutions to battle the condition in humans. This collaboration between veterinary medicine and human health care is just one example of how UGA uses a Precision One Health […]
#3– DO NOT MAKE IT “PRETTY” OR “NOT SO OBVIOUS”. I can not stress this enough. Ladies I know that you want the cute ones that look like normal bracelets, and have pretty charms, etc on them… THE ENTIRE point of a medical alert bracelet is that someone needs to see it and know that […]
Cushing's Disease is a rare condition caused by excessive production of cortisol, a hormone essential for various bodily functions. It is a specific form of Cushing's Syndrome, where the overproduction of cortisol is due to a tumor in the pituitary gland. The condition affects 10 to 15 people per million each year, predominantly women between […]
Adrenal insufficiency is a condition where the adrenal glands don't produce enough of certain hormones, primarily cortisol and sometimes aldosterone. This disorder can be categorized into primary (Addison's disease) and secondary forms.
