EAST MEETS WEST DAY
EAST IS EAST, AND WEST IS WEST, AND NEVER THE TWAIN SHALL MEET. –Rudyard Kipling
The above quote notwithstanding, it’s not too late if you want to meet Twain. Forget East/West, and return to the site of my previous post (MARK TWAIN ON DONALD TRUMP), where Twain still lives. I could quibble that you should have met him there then, but I am magnanimous enough to forgive those of you who didn’t read that post (so long as you promise never to let it happen again).
Be that as it may, this is April — April 24th, to be exact, which just happens to be East Meets West Day, which just happens to give me an excuse to engross you with some of my favorite East and/or West songs, such as this old standard by an old favorite:
Keely Smith (born Dorothy Keely) died four months ago at age 89, one of the best (though underappreciated) female vocalists of the 1950s-60s.
Next, we change directions for this Kurt Weill classic from the 1943 musical ONE TOUCH OF VENUS:
Let us end, fittingly, with WEST END BLUES by Louis Armstrong, one of the all-time great recordings in jazz history:
That performance was recorded in 1928; 90 years later, you can travel far and wide, east and west, and never the same shall meet.
The Observation Post 
Garfield Hug 1:21 am on April 24, 2018 Permalink |
I am curious too as to how the meeting with N Korea will pan out?
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mistermuse 9:56 am on April 24, 2018 Permalink |
You’re really going East — Far East — with that one, G.H.! Though your question is a bit off-subject with the theme of this post, I’ll venture to predict that if ‘Past is prologue,’ N. Korea will agree to, but not keep, a treaty. Herbert Hoover wasn’t the greatest of American Presidents, but he wisely said, “Peace is not made at the council table or by treaties, but in the hearts of men.”
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Garfield Hug 12:59 pm on April 24, 2018 Permalink
Yes, I did digress! But thanks for sharing the info you gave. I strayed as the title of your post reminded me of how the west as in Trump is planning to meet eastern Asia’s N Korea Kim. 😊
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mistermuse 4:13 pm on April 24, 2018 Permalink
No problem, G.H.! If “digression is the better part of valor,” who am I to say you stray? Unfortunately, the old saying is “discretion” (not “digression”) is the better part of valor” — but I digress. 😦
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Don Frankel 1:53 pm on April 24, 2018 Permalink |
Mr. Kipling also assured us that…
“But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, tho’ they come from the ends of the earth.”
Sorry to hear about the passing of Keely Smith. She was a great singer. And, here’s her take on the subject.
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mistermuse 5:35 pm on April 24, 2018 Permalink |
As you may know, Don, “Sing, Sing, Sing” was a huge hit for Benny Goodman’s big band in 1937 and was one of the songs which helped establish him as the “King of Swing” in the Swing era. Interestingly, the song was written by Louis Prima, Keely Smith’s first husband, who famously partnered with her professionally in the 1950s.
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dunelight 6:29 pm on April 30, 2018 Permalink |
Keely Smith..I love her. What a dream to have seen her in Vegas. She had killer timing as a comedienne. I can watch her play off Louis Prima for days.
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