you say it’s your birthday?

June 18, 2013August 25, 2017 ~ jama ~ 27 Comments

“One of my biggest thrills for me still is sitting down with a guitar or a piano and just out of nowhere trying to make a song happen.” ~ Paul McCartney

Sir James Paul McCartney (my other secret husband) is 71 years old today!

He’s still one of the most well preserved classic rockers out there. Can’t get enough of his boyish good looks and irresistible charm. Plus, he makes good mashed potatoes. 🙂

Despite having been a member of the greatest rock band ever, and now described by the Guinness Book of World Records as “the most successful composer and recording artist of all time,” (wow) he seems remarkably down to earth. Paul just keeps on doing what he loves and we love him all the more for it.

Macca is the wealthiest musician in the UK (and probably the world); as of this year, his net worth is estimated in excess of £680 million. Not bad for a lad from Liverpool with a modest working class background. In this interesting BBC Radio 4 interview with Sheila Dillon, he talks about being raised on traditional meat and potatoes meals. His mother served Yorkshire Pudding as a dessert (with Golden Syrup), and the Sunday roast was the highlight of the week.

He enjoyed the usual chops and liver but drew the line at tongue, a cheap alternative to meat in those days of rationing. Can’t blame him in the least. As he says, “It’s a tongue!” Ewwww.

While touring with the Beatles, food was basically fuel. He remembers huge steaks drooping over the edge of the plate and thinking how Americans always like to do things “big.”

Though he was introduced to vegetarianism in the 60’s while studying meditation in India, it wasn’t until he met Linda that he adopted it as a lifestyle, initially because of his compassion for animals. Over the years, his commitment to a meat-free diet intensified as he learned more about its health benefits and the detrimental effects of livestock production on the environment. These days he passionately campaigns for animal rights, using his fame to help spread the word about how greenhouse gas emissions impact climate change.

paul's kitchen — The McCartney kitchen at 20 Forthlin Road, Liverpool, is now maintained by the National Trust.

I like looking at the humble kitchen at 20 Forthlin Road, imagining 15-year-old Paul eating beans on toast or sausages for tea and writing songs with the Quarrymen, never dreaming where his life’s journey would take him.

Other things I love about Paul:

Sometimes, just for fun, he uses the pseudonym “Apollo C. Vermouth”
He wrote “Yesterday,” the most covered song in history (3000+ recorded versions)
He had a rare and genuine-for-real, 29-year enduring marriage to Linda, the love of his life
He’s a firm believer in family life and never spoiled his children, wanting them above all to be people with good hearts
He’s also a painter and a poet
He can’t read music and is largely self-taught, a natural-born instinctual artist
He’s considered one of the most generous musicians in the world, having contributed millions of pounds to various charities
He wrote beautifully lyrical love songs inspired by his real-life muses: “And I Love Her,” “You Won’t See Me,” “I’m Looking Through You, “Here, There and Everywhere,” “For No One” (Jane Asher), “Two of Us,” “I Will,” “Maybe I’m Amazed,” “My Love” (Linda McCartney)

Lookin’ good in Melbourne, Australia, 1975:

* * *

To celebrate his birthday, I made the Easy Chocolate Fudge Cake recipe included in The Meat Free Monday Cookbook (Kyle Books, 2012), which Paul launched with his daughters Stella and Mary. It was nice to get a quick chocolate fix made with ingredients I already had on hand. It turned out to be more like a cakey brownie with a moist fudgy layer on the bottom. Yum!

EASY CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE
(adapted from The Meat Free Monday Cookbook)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
7 tablespoons melted butter
2 organic eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons organic milk
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup hot water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 1-quart baking dish.

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the baking powder, 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, and 1/2 cup sugar. Make a well in the center, pour in the melted butter, eggs, vanilla extract, and organic milk, and beat until well combined.

Stir in the chopped pecans, and pour into the prepared pan. In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, and hot water. Stir well and pour over the cake batter.

Place in the oven and bake for 40 minutes. During baking, the cake will rise to the top and underneath there will be a delicious chocolate sauce. Serve hot with cream.

Serves 4.

* * *

Here’s Paul to sing us out with “Birthday,” performed live in Quebec. The song was written mostly by Paul in the Apple Studios 6 days before Linda’s 26th birthday.

* * *

mccartneys — Paul with daughters Mary and Stella

♥ HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MACCA! ♥

———————————————-

every little thing is more than all right!

March 7, 2013March 7, 2013 ~ jama ~ 17 Comments

dream big — “Thoughts become things! What we think about is what we bring about. Think Big and Dream even Bigger!” ~ Vanessa Brantley Newton

TA DA! EXCITING NEWS!

Remember a couple of weeks ago, when I mentioned that children’s author/illustrator Vanessa Brantley Newton had entered the We TV Mary Mary Singing Spotlight Competition and that she needed your votes to make it to the Final Round?

Well, she was a Top 10 Finalist . . . and

SHE WON THE GRAND PRIZE!!

*cue in marching band, balloons, whoops, hollers, cartwheels, backflips, confetti, fireworks, et.al.*

WooHoo! Hooray hooray! We are SO THRILLED for Vanessa because no one is more deserving. When I first saw her audition video back in December, I was totally blown away. What a set of pipes! Moreover, I could just feel the love, the energy, the pure joy that came through in her song. And the fact that she could sing, and sing so well was such a fabulous surprise — I’d known about her talents in writing, illustration, fashion design, cooking, crafting, doll-making, etc. before, but not singing.

Finalists were judged based on: 50% creativity, 35% vocal talent, 15% charm. Vanessa is a veritable creative machine, oh-so charming and hilarious! Did you see her final, “please remember to vote for me” video? Who could top those glasses, big mustache, and sneaky smile? The girl oozes charm. Some people just have it. Did I mention Vanessa is also a songwriter? I’d say the judges were spot on by selecting her!

* * *

Vanessa’s Grand Prize includes a trip to Los Angeles, where she’ll have a recording session with professional producers, a musical critique from a leading record producer, career advice and much more.

I love it when good things happen to good people!

Here are some of Vanessa’s children’s books in case you’re not familiar with her work. She’s illustrated a number of picture books (including two based on Bob Marley’s lyrics and Think Big by Liz Garton Scanlon, which we featured here), many chapter books, and she’s also self-illustrated Let Freedom Sing, a picture book highlighting significant events in the Civil Rights Movement and — *wait for it* — a food-related book called: Don’t Let Auntie Mabel Bless the Table. 🙂 Her projects aptly reflect the many facets of her creativity and enviable versatility as an artist. Her pictures are infused with energy and vitality and reflect her genuine love of people.

She has (I think) five new books coming out this year, including this picture book about Billie Holiday written by Amy Novesky, being released in June:

and here’s the more recent Bob Marley-inspired title:

Here’s the trailer for ONE LOVE in case you’d like to see more of her art:

* * *

What an inspiration she is to us all.

CONGRATULATIONS, VANESSA!

♥ To see Vanessa’s winning audition/entry video, click here.

♥ To learn more about Vanessa and her work, visit her website, the Ooh La La Design Studio!

———————————————

friday feast: over the moon!

September 14, 2012September 15, 2017 ~ jama ~ 41 Comments

Most everyone reading this has in some way been affected by breast cancer. Either you know someone currently battling the disease, have relatives or friends who are survivors, are a survivor yourself, or have sadly lost someone.

I know at least nine survivors and one person who lost her battle, and of course, we all recently learned that Judy Blume was recently diagnosed.

Over the Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project is a beautiful collection of lullabies written by eminent Broadway composers and lyricists and performed by Broadway singers to benefit breast cancer research. It’s available as a 26-track two CD set, an eBook, and a hardcover picture book with a 17-song CD illustrated by Broadway set designers and some of our most beloved children’s book artists, including Wendell Minor, Jon J Muth, Sean Qualls, Peter H. Reynolds, Marc Simont, Melissa Sweet, Paul O. Zelinsky, Barry Moser and Richard Egielski.

*“Onesie” illustration copyright © 2012 Paul O. Zelinsky*

The project was conceived and created by Kate Dawson and Jodi Glucksman, two veterans from the New York theatrical community whose own lives were touched by breast cancer: Kate lost a cousin who was just 45 years old with two small children, and Jodi lost her beloved grandmother.

Continue reading →

sweet treat

August 29, 2007 ~ jama

RONDEAU
by Leigh Hunt

Jenny kissed me when we met,
Jumping from the chair she sat in;
Time, you thief, who love to get
Sweets into your list, put that in:

Say I’m weary, say I’m sad,
Say that health and wealth have missed me,
Say I’m growing old, but add,
Jenny kissed me.

(1838)

I’ve loved this little poem since college. With each reading, it’s always fresh and accessible. I marvel at how simple words can freeze a moment in time forever.

The “Jenny” here is Jane Carlyle, wife of Scottish essayist, satirist, and historian, Thomas Carlyle. Hunt had visited them to announce the publication of one of Carlyle’s works. Today I toast all friends, family and significant others of writers everywhere. Thank you for helping us celebrate each small step in the arduous journey.

thought for the week

August 28, 2007 ~ jama ~ 3 Comments

“Poetry is imaginative passion. The quickest and sublest test of the possession of its essence is in expression; the variety of things to be expressed shows the amount of its resources; and the continuity of the song completes the evidence of its strength and greatness. He who has thought, feeling, expression, imagination, action, character, and continuity, all in the largest amount and highest degree, is the greatest poet.

Poetry includes whatsoever of painting can be made visible to the mind’s eye, and whatsoever of music can be conveyed by sound and proportion without singing or instrumentation. But it far surpasses those divine arts in suggestiveness, range, and intellectual wealth; — the first, in expression of thought, combination of images, and the triumph over space and time; the second, in all that can be done by speech apart from the tones and modulations of pure sound. Painting and music, however, include all those portions of the gift of poetry that can be expressed and heightened by the visible and melodious. Painting, in a certain apparent manner, is things themselves; music, in a certain audible manner, is their very emotion and grace. Music and painting are proud to be related to poetry, and poetry loves and is proud of them.”

Leigh Hunt (from “What is Poetry?”), 1884