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I’m a Frank Zappa Site!

It looks like about 80% or more of the visitors I have to this blog now are searching for Frank Zappa! Never knew I was such a resource. So maybe I should change the site name to ZappaSite from SeevsPlace? Hey, and this post will only increase the Zappa hits. Zap Zap WoW!
:mrgreen: :twisted: :lol: :lol: :lol:
UPDATE: I’ve already got 5 visits to this post in the last couple hours. See the sidebar. I’ve got ten times more Zappa hits than the next most frequent.

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Frank Zappa

Boy, have I gotten a lot of hits for Frank Zappa in the last week or two! See my sidebar. I think it says 87 hits. Wonder why all of a sudden? There must be some recent news about him. Minds Erased has some great stuff on Frank Zappa. He/she must be getting deluged by Frank Zappa fans!

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Here’s my old “buddy” Joan Baez, singing We Shall Overcome, partly in Persian, in support of the Iranians campaigning for more rights. Hat tip to Juan Cole. (Back in 1962 I went to the Brookline Public Library in Brookline, Mass., with a friend and watched the young Joan Baez do some songs.)

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HEY! Let’s party with Gogol Bordello! It’s been quite a while! Start wearin’ purple for me NOW! GO GOGOL!

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OK, I’m still on a high I guess from participating in Heather Pierson’s Open Mic last night at our First Universalist Church of Norway, Maine. I recited/read three poems, there was a great young comedian, and the great character Wellington was there with his wife, and some of the other performers, like Nate Towne, and Harry [?], and Bob Wallace, were great too. Am I including myself under the word “great”? Ha Ha. Hardly! I think I was a bit over the top in trying to get attention for the poems I read, but I felt powerful and enjoyed getting laughs — certainly different from the old days when I was so shy and frightened up there on the Open Mic stage trying to be perfect. And to top it all off, the Rev. Richard Beal was there providing scrumptious popcorn which I couldn’t resist.

For the record, here’s the poems I read: (1) Poem XXXII from Alfred E. Housman’s Shropshire Lads (note he’s not Alfred E. Newman) with the first line. From far, from eve and morning; (2) Sunday Morning by Wallace Stevens of which I read only the first stanza and part of the final, and last but not least (3) Lady Lazarus by Sylvia Plath. Quite a bunch! I gave my personalized interpretation of each.

Perhaps I’ll add more to this later. I’ve probably forgotten things I should mention. OH, I forgot the Rev. Tom Myorie (sp?), and Mary Uke! More later.

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Here it is!! Your once in a lifetime chance to have it all!! From a handcuffed dance contest to a gourmet pie auction in your face, to B.Y.O.B. allowed in the church, to whatever and whenever from 7pm to 11 or longer!! What kind of a church is this? A FREE CHURCH!! (Well, of course the price of admission to the dance is $10; we gotta make money somehow even in a free church. heh heh)

THE SUSPECTS are a great group, a great band!! Come and experience them along with all the other great goodies!!

See the poster below. The Main Street, Norway is written over the First Unitarian Universalist Church in the poster, but that’s where it is, Main Street in the great little Maine town of Norway.

See ya there!! ENJOY!! It’s gonna be gas, a great time for ALL ages!!

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I found this fascinating video on the blog of Missy, and it’s a hum dinger and real pick me up. Watch this amazing dance group take off on “Do Re Mi” in the Central Station of Antwerp, Belgium, at rush hour. It electrifies and charms the place out of its gourd maybe even drawing a smile from the staid old station master announcer! Watch the expressions on the people’s faces. Totally awesome!

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I’m a little late in posting this but better late than never. We had a great concert last Sunday from 2 to 3pm at the First Universalist Church of Norway in Norway, Maine. It was musically arranged by Heather Pierson and motivated by Pat Shearman, the cause being the repair of the church belfry. Bernice Martin gave opening and closing words, and seeds were passed out mid-way for replenishing the earth. Heather and Mary Uke Hargreaves were featured performers along with the choir of the church. Heather was totally awesome in her playing and singing of her own music, Mary was totally delightful in singing her creations accompanying herself on the ukulele, and yes, the choir rocked! Here’s a couple pictures, taken by a friend of Heather’s named Eric, of the choir singing Earth Day songs at Heather’s Open Mic the previous evening:

Left to right, Heather Pierson (the director), Rowena Palmer, Nancy Wood, Dolores Farr, Douglas Leathem, Marden Seavey, Bernice Martin, Kevin Farr, Sallie Nealand, Cynthia Seavey

The following quote from John Lennon was included on the program: Imagine all the people living in peace. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us, and the world will be as one.

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More Fun in Church

Fun in church again today. Richard (our minister) created a “Lighter and Brighter” service dedicated to easing any growing winter blahs. This worked! My blahs were definitely eased and it appeared to me from my vantage point in the choir that the blahs of the rest of the congregation were eased as well. In fact Kathy happily lit a candle for the big fat robin she had seen yesterday, and Heather lit one for the amazing shooting star she saw last night on driving home from performing at the White Mountain Hotel. Were these premonitions of the paradigm shift we experienced in church today? Ha Ha Who knows? Speaking of paradigm shifts, Richard arrived in a light tan suit with a yellow tie and proceeded to give us opening words in jumpy jazz rhythm.

He invited Mary Hargreaves, better known as Mary Ukelady, to help us sing away the winter blues, and she was terrific as usual. She and Heather did a great duet together, and also Heather, our choir director, did her amazingly awesome new song, Make It Mine, that she did at the Open Mic on Friday. The choir put on a show of its own with an exciting do-do-wah song which Heather had picked out for it. We had the congregation jumping, yes, almost literally.

Speaking of the Open Mic on Friday, that was terrific too. There may have been upwards of 60 people squeezed into the concert hall in the church basement. Heather, leader of the Open Mic, had to cut the number of songs per performer back to two from three in order to fit everyone in. The choir did “One More Circle” by Peter Mayer, arr. Jim Scott, and I think we really bashed it. Yippeeee!

So what do all these fun and games have to do with bettering the state of the world and the people suffering in it? Are people suffering? Absolutely! But the purpose of our celebration today was to celebrate life, the world, and our amazingly good fortune to be alive in it, to be thankful, ever so thankful that we live, have life and love for this brief time on earth. And every person’s death diminishes us.

How about I close with John Donne’s famous poem?

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manner of thine own
Or of thine friend’s were.
Each man’s death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

Many years ago at the Arlington Street Church in Boston we did a Vaughn Williams musical arrangement of this poem. Wish I still had it.

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Hey, we had a good day in church today. I always get turned on there. It starts slow. Very few people. You wonder if anyone will show up. We had a full complement of people for the choir. Four women in the front row. Three men and one woman in the back row. This let us do a four part round. It was a little shaky but we got silent clapping from Becky. For introit we did a Jubilate Deo. Great fun to hit that. I enjoyed singing it.

Mind you this is a UU church with Universalist leaning. We’ve added about six or seven people this year. I think there were close to forty people in attendance today, counting the choir. We’re all very informal. Lots of candles lit. I lit one for son Christopher, saying today would have been his 52nd birthday.

There’s a lot more I could say. I could get into the personalities. People are all friendly and enjoy one another during coffee hour, before church, and even during. There were about ten people at the social concerns meeting during coffee hour. I didn’t attend — being treasurer is enough — and chatted with various people.

I’ve decided to learn “One More Circle” by Peter Mayer, arr. Jim Scott, for the Open Mic this Friday. It’ll be the seventh anniversary. Heather started it the end of January 2002. See an earlier post on the fourth anniversary for background. It’s amazing how time flies.

OK, that’s it for now. Over and out.

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