Stardust memories (my dad's reply to Carl Sagan's idea of us being stardust)

[BelgianMadCow]

All the "heavier" elements like the C, N and O we consist of have to be created by fusion in stars. So we are all somehow made of stardust

My dad said it reminded hime of the following song, which has made the hitparade some 14 different years from 1929 to 1963 iirc.

[elfin]

1. BEST song of all time! Eom

[immoderate]

2. Here's another version I'm fond of...

--imm

[maddiemom]

4. Wonderful! How did I ever miss this?

[longship]

6. I am a huge Spanky and Our Gang fan.

I had three of their albums, back in the day.

Good call!

[maddiemom]

3. Ah the hit parade (Your Hit Parade?). Gone when its cast of singers couldn't

do justice to rock and roll ( not that they could really do justice to Nat King Cole). The loss was a crime to my grandparents' early days of TV, and one of my earliest television memories.

[sarge43]

12. Still remember them trying to do "Rock Around Clock". n/t

[maddiemom]

14. Oh, and continuing my thought---remember they had this guy actually

named "Snookie (Lansing, Lanson?)?

[sarge43]

16. Lanson. You might want to check out the Wiki article.

Until r&r killed it, it was very successful -- 24 year run on radio and TV.

[maddiemom]

17. How can you possibly be older than me these days? If you loved

"Hit Parade," more power to ya! I was among the snotty early hippie crowd, actually working in the Woodstock N.Y. area two summers before the famous festival (and actually met Pete Segar very casually ). I also remember "Sing Along with Mitch Mitchell," and Lawrence Welk. My generation loved getting snotty with our parents' devotion to these shows. In retrospect , those of our parents who were truly open, rather than sticking to a hind bound rule, were coming up with the times. My mom felt compelled to disparage Bob Dylan, but actually loved a live concert I took her to. Running into some friends of her generation afterward, they were all enthusiastic---well times keep changing

[sarge43]

18. Born in 1943

Didn't exactly love it. Admired and still do the skill and professionalism. Performing well live without sync wasn't easy.

My first love were/are the swing bands. Probably the first music I heard.

My mom thought the Beatles were great and in her salad days she listened to Armstrong's Hot Five.

I may not like today's music, but I won't bad mouth it. Whatever jump starts you.

[maddiemom]

19. You're the same age as a husband of twenty years who brought a slew

of Sinatra and various jazz recordings into our record collection. Truly, I've enjoyed a wide range in music. Patsy Cline is absolutely my favorite female singer. I'm just bemused as to how long the previous generation has taken to understand good rock.

[longship]

5. Here's the original!

Hoary Carmichael! (The guy who wrote it.)

BTW, I love both the Nat King Cole and the Spanky and Our Gang versions, too. Just thought this great song needed some historic grounding.

[RainDog]

8. This is my favorite version by Hoagy

(who, fwiw, like Carl Sagan, enjoyed some reefer from time to time)

[maddiemom]

15. And speaking of Carl Sagan, I've been amazed that those recently

defending the new marijuana laws (such as well-known smoker Bill Maher) rarely if ever mention Sagan, who made no secret of claiming he did some of his best thinking while partaking. Bill O'Reilly's recent pronouncement that "pot makes you STUPID!" had many critics, but I don't remember any mentioning Sagan.

[RainDog]

20. Or Francis Crick, co-credited with elucidating the structure of DNA

Last edited Mon Jan 20, 2014, 02:14 AM - Edit history (1)

Tho, let me give a shout out to Rosalind Franklin for her pioneering work in this subject, for which she has never been properly acknowledged.)

However, Crick credited LSD, a far more potent substance, with help in visualizing 3-D structures. He told Cambridge fellow Dick Kemp that he had “perceived the double-helix shape while on LSD.”

Just a few other scientists who have bothered to speak openly about the widespread acceptance of conscious-altering substances within the fields of science, mathematics, and related academia that allow them to think in expanded terms about their subjects include:

Ralph Abraham, a prominent theoretical mathematician.

Richard Feynman, one of the greatest theoretical physicists in history.

Kary Banks Mullis, biochemist who won the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Stephen Jay Gould, paleontologist, evolutionary biologist and popularizer of science for the American public through his books.

Margaret Mead, one of the most famous anthropologists in American history and President of both the American Anthropological Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She also testified before Congress on the legalization of marijuana, and popularized "multi-culti" through her work.

Oliver Sacks, Oxford graduate and professor of neurology at Columbia Medical Center, and popularizer of neurobiology through his books.

Susan Blackmore, psychologist and author of at least 40 books and 60 scholarly articles on subjects ranging from "memes" to the study of issues like ESP and out-of-body experiences.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Blackmore

[BelgianMadCow]

21. That's an impressive list. I had no idea

and now I have debate munition

[RainDog]

22. Hoagy Carmichael was a viper

You can tell your dad...

In Carmichael's biography, he talks about going to the jazz clubs, listening to the musicians who had migrated from New Orleans to Chicago, like King Oliver (who hired Louis Armstrong for his band), and smoking reefer while listening to jazz. Many of the Chicago musicians were first recorded in Hoagy's Indiana at Gennett recording studio, near Chicago. They recorded "race records" and these were made available to white folks, too. Louis Armstrong was first recorded with King Oliver.

Even as the Klan poisoned the midwest - racists as well as musicians migrated north - musicians were building bridges between people.

fwiw - no one I have ever met in the arts or the sciences who has bothered to mention the subject supports prohibition of cannabis or hallucinogenics. No doubt someone could find such a person, but such a person would be the outlier in fields dedicated to expanding knowledge and the arts. That doesn't mean someone uses them, but it does mean they see the value for people in certain cirumstances.

As with most things - the mindset of the person, the setting and purpose really determine the value of things. Hallucinogenics are serious stuff and should be treated as such. With respect.

This site Very Important Potheads mentions people who have spoken out about cannabis.

[Little_Wing]

7. Such a transcendent song. Love Willie's version

So sweet and fragile. Le sigh.

[longship]

9. Well here he is:

Love Willie Nelson.

[Little_Wing]

10. oh gawd thanks

Transplendent

Gotta remember to link.

[RainDog]

11. Aaron Neville and bassist Rob Wasserman

This is another GREAT song that RLJ's dad wrote - on the same cd. (Rob Wasserman, Duets)

[BelgianMadCow]

13. Thank you very much for the addition, longship

I really like this version and I suspect so will my dad.

I believe we don't see eye to eye on some things. But I don't care all thàt much, there are things that transcend and unite. Music is a gateway.

Thanks again.