Comments on: The fox went out on a chilly night…

By: John F. MacMichael

John F. MacMichael — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 23:44:38 +0000

To AesopFan above @July 7, 2019 at 7:40PM:

Since you said you would love to hear the recording of Tolkien singing his poem “The Stone Troll” to this tune and I just found a current source for it: “The J. R. R. Tolkien Audio Collection” a 4 CD set available from Amazon for about $25. This has Tolkien reading and singing selections from”The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” (and his son Christopher reading from “The Silmarillion”). One of the Amazon reviewers very helpfully lists all the tracks in the set.

I hope you see this note (or perhaps our gracious hostess will point it out to you).

By: OBloodyHell

OBloodyHell — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 19:40:06 +0000

Brings to mind a different song, for sure…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBdFA6sI6-8

By: sdferr

sdferr — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 19:26:46 +0000

Richard, if I remember right I was taught the fossil record showed the progenitors of the horse were native to North America and migrated to Asia. Those ancestors died out in NA.

On the other hand, I tend to think the early human migrants to NA came coasting in canoes or other small boats. Indeed, eventually all the way to Tierra del Fuego is my conjecture.

By: Richard Saunders

Richard Saunders — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 19:19:38 +0000

Chuck — After I saw the movie “Mongol,” I came to the conclusion that the story that all the horses in North America are descended from a couple of escaped Spanish horses, and that the Plains Amerindians developed their horse culture in 200 years could not be right. Suppose the two horses were both males, both females, or one gelding in the pair. It took thousands of years for other tribes to domesticate various animals. I think it’s much more likely that some of the Siberians crossed the land bridge on horseback and brought horses and horse culture with them.

By: Sergey

Sergey — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 08:40:30 +0000

These polar foxes can move amazingly fast, as I witnessed during my hiking in Polar Urals in winter. Their main diet are mice, whom they can smell and dig out from under snow, but they also can hunt polar partridges as well (the birds the size of pigeons).

By: Julie near Chicago

Julie near Chicago — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 07:48:06 +0000

Yep! (But we gotta get PETA after him about his attitude on pigeons in the park. Come to think of it, Ms. Stein expressed a certain sadness about that. But no practical experience in dealing with the problem.) 😀

By: AesopFan

AesopFan — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 03:38:13 +0000

Julie – if Aesop doesn’t have a fable about something, Lehrer probably has a song!

By: Julie near Chicago

Julie near Chicago — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 00:58:14 +0000

Thanks, Aesop! Smart fella, that Lehra! (“Don’t even gotta rhyme.”) 😆

By: AesopFan

AesopFan — Sun, 07 Jul 2019 23:40:19 +0000

John F. MacMichael on July 6, 2019 at 7:39 pm said:
J. R. R. Tolkien set one of his own poems to this tune. There are several versions; the one most people know is “The Stone Troll” which appears in “The Fellowship of the Ring” (first volume of LOTR). It is sung by the hobbit, Sam Gamgee, who is also said to be the author. I think there is also a recording of Tolkien singing this.
* * *
I didn’t know this about JRRT (would love to hear the recording), but when I first read the books, I noticed how naturally that poem fell into the tune, and sang it that way in college.

While I love Ives, I think I like Belafonte’s version better — as for singing along with folk songs, which our generation did as a matter of course, my recording of Lehrer’s ode IIRC has a bit of his patter that isn’t shown below, which is, “They call them folk songs because folk sing them.”

Lynn: even in the seventies, there were people protesting the Offense Brigades; unfortunately, they lost the battle — It doesn’t matter if you have all the good songs when the popular culture gatekeepers drown you out.
See the cross-posted comment here.
https://www.thenewneo.com/2019/07/06/americans-are-not-especially-fond-of-the-woke/#comment-2441636

The Folk Song Army by Tom Lehrer

One type of song that has come into increasing prominence in
recent months is the folk song of protest. You have to admire
people who sing these songs. It takes a certain amount of courage
to get up in a coffee house or a college auditorium and come out
in favor of the things that everybody else in the audience is against,
like peace and justice and brotherhood and so on. But the nicest
thing about a protest song is that it makes you feel so good.

I have a song here which, I realize, should be accompanied on
a folk instrument, in which category the piano does not, alas, qualify.
So imagine, if you will, that I am playing an 88-string guitar!

We are the folk song army,
Every one of us cares.
We all hate poverty, war, and injustice
Unlike the rest of you squares.

There are innocuous folk songs, yeah,
But we regard ’em with scorn.
The folks who sing ’em have no social conscience,
Why, they don’t even care if Jimmy Crack Corn.

If you feel dissatisfaction,
Strum your frustrations away.
Some people may prefer action,
But give me a folk song any old day.

The tune don’t have to be clever,
And it don’t matter if you put a couple extra syllables into a line.
It sounds more ethnic if it ain’t good English
And it don’t even gotta rhyme… excuse me: rhyne!

Remember the war against Franco?
That’s the kind where each of us belongs.
Though he may have won all the battles,
We had all the good songs!

So join in the folk song army!
Guitars are the weapons we bring
To the fight against poverty, war, and injustice.
Ready, aim, sing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tDZ5lriIIc

By: AesopFan

AesopFan — Sun, 07 Jul 2019 23:00:17 +0000

https://www.wideopenpets.com/25-fun-facts-about-homeward-bound-since-the-movie-is-already-25-years-old/

“Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey” is actually a remake of another movie from 1963 called “The Incredible Journey.” That original movie is based off a book by the same name which is based off a true story of pets finding their way home in the Canadian wilderness.