Trivia Thursday-Lesser Known World Firsts

Trivia Thursday-Lesser Known World Firsts

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay I want to apologize for my tardiness in posting this a day late; I completely forgot about it until this afternoon. But never fear, in honor of a belated Trivia Thursday, I present some lesser known firsts, in no particular order: First Computer Programmer: Ada Lovelace, often credited as the world’s first computer programmer, wrote an algorithm for Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine in the mid-19th century. First Female Film Director: Alice Guy-Blaché, a French filmmaker, is believed…

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Tuesday Tunes – Mendelssohn’s Duetto

Tuesday Tunes – Mendelssohn’s Duetto

I have long loved classical music, as those who have read my blog posts over the years will likely remember. Of the various subsections of the overall classical genre, I tend to be a classical guy, though I do like some romance and baroque music too (think Mozart). I’m not a fan of modern classical, as most of it seems to be a contest of who can create the most discordant cacophony. My favorite composers have always been Mozart and…

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Funny Friday – The Great Dane

Funny Friday – The Great Dane

Photo from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Borge To be honest, today’s blog would fit equally well for either Funny Friday or Tuesday Tunes. My subject today is the inimitable Victor Borge, also known as “The Clown Prince of Denmark” and “The Unmelancholy Dane”. I remember crowding around the television to watch him on The Ed Sullivan Show whenever he was scheduled to appear. His routine, that of a bumbling and confused musician of limited talent, always brought plenty of laughs as he fumbled his…

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What’s Up Wednesday – Mr. Darcy’s Return Excerpt

What’s Up Wednesday – Mr. Darcy’s Return Excerpt

As you can probably see by the title, this post was supposed to be published yesterday. For the delay I offer sincere apologies, for I was anticipating this post, which is an excerpt! I hope you will all forgive me if I offer this little tidbit to you, a story that you’ll be able to read for yourself by the end of the month! The story is called Mr. Darcy’s Return, though that might change if whim and fancy take me…

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Man’s (and dog’s) best friend

Man’s (and dog’s) best friend

Meet the newest member of my family, Daisy. She is a four-month-old German Shepherd, we adopted on Saturday as a playmate for my two-year-old Border Collie, Haley. I wanted to post a picture of her sitting, but couldn’t get her to stay still long enough. I happened to mention, totally in passing, that Haley needed someone to play with, because she was wearing me out. Don’t misunderstand, I love her, but she only has two speed- overdrive and off. Unfortunately,…

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Release Notice – Only Exceedingly Shy Audiobook

Release Notice – Only Exceedingly Shy Audiobook

As the subject indicates, I have a new release to announce today. The audiobook for Only Exceedingly Shy has been released, featuring Harry Frost as the narrator. Thank you, Harry, for lending your talents to my little story! https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Only-Exceedingly-Shy/dp/B0CXQLZ18Z Now, let’s do something fun. I have a code for a free copy of the audiobook to give to a lucky reader. Please add any comment to this post, and I will put your name into a draw to receive the audiobook….

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More Regency Trivia

More Regency Trivia

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash In my January post I mentioned the possibility of following up with more Regency era trivia. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go any further, but I have to confess that some of the things I’ve found are begging me to share them with you. Here, in no special order, are more bits of fact, and a little bit of fancy. As before, this information can be found at https://www.thevintagenews.com/2022/06/30/regency-era-facts/ Caricatures were popular,…

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Spring-The best season of the year

Spring-The best season of the year

Image by Nicky ❤️🌿🐞🌿❤️ from Pixabay “Spring is sprung, the grass is riz. I wonder where the flowers is?” That silly children’s rhyme is running through my head, as it always does this time of year. With the season’s official arrival last night, I wanted to extol its virtues. Spring is my favorite season, followed by autumn and summer. Winter? That accursed time of year follows a distant fourth. Although I love the warmer weather and freedom that temperatures above freezing bring, what…

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Tuesday Tunes – Barcarolle

Tuesday Tunes – Barcarolle

Rather than a specific piece, I thought I would highlight a music style today–the barcarolle. A barcarolle is a traditional folk song sung by Venetian gondoliers and over time has come to mean any piece of music that was composed in that style. A barcarolle when done properly is supposed to give the sensation of traveling on waves through music. It is usually written in 3/4 or 6/8 time (or some other three beat pattern) and is often, though certainly…

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