Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist

Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Md Troopers Assoc #20 & Westminster Md Fire Dept Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Showing posts with label Babylon Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Babylon Family. Show all posts

Monday, February 15, 2010

Ice Cream

Ice Cream

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.

In Jupiter, Florida, we stopped over at a family member’s house, Brian and Trudy’s, for ice cream.

And ah, well, we had just a few flavors from to choose…

Ice cream at Brian and Trudy’s, February 5, 2010 by Kevin Dayhoff

Click here for a larger image: http://twitpic.com/1425mq or here: http://kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/post/397901828/ice-cream-i-scream-you-scream-we-all-scream

[20100205 Ice Cream in Jupiter] Babylon Family, Food ice cream, Smurf family, US st Florida 2010 Feb

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2010/02/ice-cream.html http://tinyurl.com/yezlgyu

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream http://tinyurl.com/yezlgyu http://twitpic.com/1425mq http://kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/post/397901828/ice-cream-i-scream-you-scream-we-all-scream
*****
Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://www.westgov.net/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/

One is the loneliest number

One is the loneliest number

“One is the loneliest number for a solitary Sudoku player” by Kevin Dayhoff February 14, 2010.

*****
Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://www.westgov.net/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/

Saturday, November 07, 2009

Grammy bicycling with roommate c 1946


The bicyclers. Evelyn Fluck and Nadine Eustis bicycle on the campus of Gettysburg College around 1946. Click here for a larger image: http://twitpic.com/okryf or here: http://kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/post/235665311/the-bicyclers-evelyn-fluck-and-nadine-eustis

In May 2003, when this picture, from approximately 1946, of Grammy Evelyn Fluck Babylon on a bicycle with her roommate, Nadine (Deanie) Eustis at Gettysburg College became available; Grammy was asked to give us some additional information about the picture. Here, in part, is her response:

Grammy - how about keyboarding in a few words about this occasion for the family. When do you remember the picture being taken? What was the name of your roommate? Where was the picture taken? Did you bicycle a lot? Who took the picture? Did you have any goats at the time?

Grammy responded:

“No goats, but we had names for our bicycles. Mine was Pega'sus, and I'm sorry that I can't remember Deanie's bicycle's name. Nadine Eustis (Deanie) was my roommate for four years. She came from New Rochelle, NY… she was very down-to-earth, … very intelligent.

“She majored in French and was Phi Beta Kappa. Married a minister, Ted Lindquist, and made a very good minister's wife, I am led to believe.

“The picture was taken just outside our dorm on the G-burg campus, although I don't remember the occasion. We frequently bicycled around the battlefield. I as reminded, as I saw the picture, that Mamma had made the jacket that I am wearing. She'd probably made the plaid jumper I had on, also, but I don't remember that as well. She made most of my dresses and coats.

“I bought the bicycle with money that I had earned during the summer after my sophomore year as the nature counselor at a church girls' camp in the Poconos.

“We ‘parked’ the bikes just outside the door to the dorm. We lived in the tiny room that was straight across the hall from that door. My bike was stolen during my senior year. No, of course, I had not put the lock on it that night.

“But life got busy with dates with fellas who had cars - like Dave - and a bicycle was not as big a necessity as it once had been, so Pegasus was not replaced.

“Deanie died just before we came home from Florida this year, and Ted found that picture and sent it to me. I was really pleased to get it because it is very good of Deanie.

“Sorry, that's a few more than a ‘few words,’ but you shouldn't get these old folks started if you don't want to hear a good bit. Love, Grammy”

19460000 sdosm Grammy bicycling with roommate c 1946. Sdosm 20091106

*****
Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://www.westgov.net/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/

*****
Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://www.westgov.net/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Friends and family gather to remember Guy Babylon

Friends and family gather to remember Guy Babylon - long-term keyboardist for Elton John
To find this article in Spanish go here: Amigos y familiares se reúnen para recordar Guy Babylon

Para encontrar este artículo en español, entra aquí: Amigos y familiares se reúnen para recordar Guy Babylon

Click here for a larger image: http://twitpic.com/ll5wl or here: http://tinyurl.com/yzoc638

Click here for a larger image: http://twitpic.com/ll655 or here: http://tinyurl.com/yjj5fkp

More than 250 friends and family members gathered at the New Windsor Fire and Hose Co. hall on Oct. 4, 2009, for a memorial service for Guy Babylon. The room was full of mementos, memorials and Guy Babylon music and videos. I only took a couple of pictures that day…

One of two http://www.explorecarroll.com/ articles on Guy Babylon: Guy Babylon of New Windsor, long-term keyboardist for Elton John
Obituary By Kevin Dayhoff Posted 9/04/09
Guy Babylon, 52, died Wednesday evening in Los Angeles, Calif., according to family sources and Elton John’s official website. He was born on December 20, 1956, in New Windsor, the son of Graham and Mary Babylon, owners of the Babylon Vault Company, a Carroll County business that has manufactured burial vaults since 1930. More: http://explorecarroll.com/obituaries/3374/babylon/

Two of two http://www.explorecarroll.com/ articles on Guy Babylon: ARCHIVE: Guy Babylon made world class music, but never really left Carroll
EAGLE ARCHIVE By Kevin Dayhoff Posted 10/11/09 (Enlarge)
More than 250 friends and family members gathered at the New Windsor Fire and Hose Co. hall on Oct. 4, for a memorial service for Guy Babylon. He was known to the local area as a New Windsor native who excelled in sports and graduated from Francis Scott Key High School in 1974. He was known to many in the rest of the world as Elton John's keyboardist for 21 years. More: http://explorecarroll.com/community/3508/eaglearchive/

In addition to the two http://www.explorecarroll.com/ pieces I wrote on Guy Babylon, which may be found here: http://explorecarroll.com/community/3508/eaglearchive/ and here: http://explorecarroll.com/obituaries/3374/babylon/;

I wrote an additional longer piece in http://www.thetentacle.com/ - October 7, 2009 Always Remembered, Never Forgotten Kevin E. Dayhoff Last Sunday, friends and family from all over the country gathered at the New Windsor fire company social hall to pay their last respects to Guy Babylon, Elton John’s keyboardist for 21 years. Guy Babylon, 52, died at his Los Angles home on September 2. More: http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=3397

For folks who have asked for more Guy Babylon pictures and information: http://twitpic.com/hkleo; and http://twitpic.com/geb34. Elton John News: Farewell Guy Babylon (December 20, 1956 – September 2, 2009): http://eltonjohnnews.blogspot.com/2009/09/farewell-guy-babylon-december-20-1956.html


For folks who have asked for more Guy Babylon pictures and information http://tinyurl.com/phpmak http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/2009/09/elton-john-news-farewell-guy-babylon.html http://tinyurl.com/phpmak

20091015 sdosm Friends and family gather to remember Guy Babylon
Babylon Family, Carroll Co Dist New Windsor, Dayhoff Media Explore Carroll, Dayhoff Media The Tentacle, Dayhoff writing essays Art Artists, Music Babylon Guy, People Tributes

Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2009/10/friends-and-family-gather-to-remember.html http://tinyurl.com/ykvuzdn

[20091004 Guy Mem serv 2wcap.jpg]:
http://twitpic.com/ll5wl Friends & family remember Guy Babylon longterm keyboardist 4 Elton John p1of2 http://tinyurl.com/ykvuzdn http://kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/post/213566056/friends-family-remember-guy-babylon-longterm http://tinyurl.com/yzoc638

[20091004 Guy Mem serv 1wcapsm.jpg]:
http://twitpic.com/ll655 Friends & family remember Guy Babylon longterm keyboardist 4 Elton John p2of2 http://tinyurl.com/ykvuzdn http://kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/post/213569028/friends-family-remember-guy-babylon-longterm http://tinyurl.com/yjj5fkp

*****
Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://www.westgov.net/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

The Tentacle: Guy Babylon Always Remembered Never Forgotten

Click here for a larger image: http://twitpic.com/kkqlx

Guy Babylon, Elton John’s keyboardist for 21 years Always Remembered, Never Forgotten by Kevin E. Dayhoff October 7, 2009

http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=3397

Last Sunday, friends and family from all over the country gathered at the New Windsor fire company social hall to pay their last respects to Guy Babylon, Elton John’s keyboardist for 21 years. Guy Babylon, 52, died at his Los Angles home on September 2.

Read the entire column here: http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=3397

20091007 sdosmetal TT Always Remembered Never Forgotten ttked

For more information on the life and times and talent of the late Elton John keyboardist, Guy Babylon – go to: http://www.guybabylonfan.net/

Related: , , ,
“Guy Babylon, from New Windsor, long-term keyboardist for Elton John has passed away” http://explorecarroll.com/obituaries/3374/babylon/

September 3, 2009 By Kevin Dayhoff

Guy Babylon, 52, died Wednesday evening in Los Angeles, California, according to family sources and Elton John’s official website.

He was born on December 20, 1956, in New Windsor, the son of Graham and Mary Babylon, owners of the Babylon Vault Company, a Carroll County business that has manufactured burial vaults since 1930.

After he attended Francis Scott Key High School he earned his BFA in music composition from the University of South Florida. In 1980, six months after graduation he moved to California, where he quickly established himself as an accomplished keyboardist and composer and respected session musician.

Babylon, as a young man, was known to be a national level swimmer and a family member noted with pride that he once beat Mark Spitz, of Olympic swimming fame. Babylon died of an apparent heart attack while swimming.

Elton John, who according to his official web site, is on holiday in Nice, France, said: “I am devastated and heartbroken at the death of Guy Babylon. Guy played over 1000 shows with me, and we worked together on The Road To El Dorado, Aida, Billy Elliot, Lestat and Gnomeo and Juliet, as well as on countless albums.

“He was one of the most brilliant musicians I ever knew, a true genius, a gentle angel - and I loved him so much. David and I send our deep condolences to Kathy, Max, Ben and Jessica, to Guy's parents, to Kathy's parents and to all his immediate loved ones.’

The web site reports, “Guy's first performance with Elton was for a benefit at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles in July 1988, and his first world tour as part of the Elton John Band began two months later in Miami, Florida.

“Guy became lead keyboardist on May 26, 1992, and has been the only synth man on stage since the Walden Woods Benefit Concert in the fall of 1993.”

Check back with
www.explorecarroll.com later for the full story.

20090903 d1 WE brief Guy Babylon dies

For folks who have asked for more Guy Babylon pictures and information
http://tinyurl.com/phpmak

For folks who have asked for more Guy Babylon pictures and information:
http://twitpic.com/hkleo; and http://twitpic.com/geb34. Elton John News: Farewell Guy Babylon (December 20, 1956 – September 2, 2009): http://eltonjohnnews.blogspot.com/2009/09/farewell-guy-babylon-december-20-1956.html See: www.westminstermarylandonline.net: http://tinyurl.com/phpmak

http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/2009/09/elton-john-news-farewell-guy-babylon.html http://tinyurl.com/phpmak

Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
http://twitpic.com/geb34 Guy Babylon pic: http://tinyurl.com/lfgjvl longterm Elton John keyboardist has died http://tinyurl.com/kuyrrz

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2009/09/guy-babylon-from-new-windsor-long-term.html http://tinyurl.com/kuyrrz

http://www.eltonjohn.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090903&contentid=6770002

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff
http://twitpic.com/geb34 Be sure to read Jennifer Jiggetts’ Carroll Co Times story on Guy Babylon http://tinyurl.com/mhvbbv

Be sure to read Jennifer Jiggetts’ @CCTNews story on Guy Babylon
http://tinyurl.com/mhvbbv

@
kevindayhoff Be sure to read Jennifer Jiggetts’ @CCTNews story on Guy Babylon http://tinyurl.com/mhvbbv @CCTNews

Click here for a larger image:
http://twitpic.com/geb34

UPDATE: Be sure to read Jennifer Jiggetts’
Carroll County Times story. She did a great job: “Elton John's keyboardist, New Windsor native dead” at 52 By Jennifer Jiggetts, Times Staff Writer Friday, September 04, 2009

http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/articles/2009/09/04/news/local_news/newsstory3_keyboardist_new_windsor.txt

When he was in seventh grade, Guy Babylon and several of his New Windsor friends formed a band.

They performed at the New Windsor carnival, gave small concerts by Babylon’s pool and won many talent shows in Carroll County. The band rehearsed wherever it could.

Those practices would set the foundation years later for a more famous gig for Babylon: backing up Elton John.

Babylon, John’s lead keyboardist, died Wednesday night in California. He was 52.

Read more:
Elton John's keyboardist, New Windsor native dead


*****

Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://www.westgov.net/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Dining at Bud’s at Silver Run

Dining at Bud’s at Silver Run

My Sunday, September 20, 2009 Carroll Eagle Archives column - http://tinyurl.com/yca3non - was about visiting historic Silver Run on Sept. 11, 2009.

I ended the column by sharing that another one of the great pleasures in visiting Silver Run is, you guessed it, eating. And why not; Silver Run happens to be the home of one Carroll County’s elegant fine dining experiences, “Bud’s of Silver Run.”

“Bud’s at Silver Run,” http://tinyurl.com/yca3non Sept. 11, 2009 http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ visit them at http://www.budsatsilverrun.com/

Related:

The family at “Bud’s at Silver Run” on September 11, 2009 http://tinyurl.com/yca3non

Click here for a larger image of The family at Bud’s at Silver Run: http://twitpic.com/jc75n 20090911 Buds (14)

Click here for a larger image of “Bud’s at Silver Run”: http://twitpic.com/j6iuk

http://www.budsatsilverrun.com/

http://twitpic.com/j6iuk “Bud’s at Silver Run,” http://www.budsatsilverrun.com/ Sept. 11, 2009 http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ http://tinyurl.com/yca3non

20090911 Buds at Silver Run 20090911 Buds (19)b

See also: Silver Run MD and Bud’s at Silver Run restaurant is rich in history http://tinyurl.com/yajnvhr

http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/2009/09/silver-run-md-and-buds-at-silver-run.html http://tinyurl.com/yajnvhr

(For more about “Bud’s at Silver Run,” call them at 410-346-6816 or visit them at http://www.budsatsilverrun.com/.)

http://www.kevindayhoff.com/

Go here for posts on Bud’s: http://tinyurl.com/yb8e4z8

http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/search/label/Restaurants%20Bud%27s%20at%20Silver%20Run http://tinyurl.com/yb8e4z8

Babylon Family, Dayhoff Media Explore Carroll, Dayhoff writing essays, Dayhoff writing essays Food, Restaurants Bud's at Silver Run

20090911 Buds (4) 20090911 Dining at Buds

Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff

http://twitpic.com/jt63f http://tinyurl.com/yca3non Dining at Bud’s at Silver Run http://tinyurl.com/ycrkq28

*****
*****
Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://www.westgov.net/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/

Friday, September 18, 2009

Welcome home from the sand box D 9000


Welcome home from the sand box D 9000

September 18, 2009

Kevin Dayhoff

Click here for a larger image: http://twitpic.com/i5osg

20090524 D9000 in the sandboxb

Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff

http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/2009/09/welcome-home-from-sand-box-d-9000.html http://tinyurl.com/mqsxob

http://twitpic.com/i5osg Welcome home from the sand box D 9000 http://tinyurl.com/mqsxob


*****
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Elton John News: Farewell Guy Babylon (December 20, 1956 – September 2, 2009)



Guy Babylon, from New Windsor, long-term keyboardist for Elton John has passed away Wednesday evening, September 2, 2009 http://explorecarroll.com/obituaries/3374/babylon/ http://tinyurl.com/n264f5

Picture credit: http://www.eltonjohnitaly.com/guybabylon.html Retrieved September 13, 2009 http://tinyurl.com/nlprpu

Guy Babylon, from New Windsor, long-term keyboardist for Elton John has passed away Wednesday evening, September 2, 2009 http://explorecarroll.com/obituaries/3374/babylon/ http://tinyurl.com/n264f5

Picture credit: http://www.eltonjohnitaly.com/guybabylon.html Retrieved September 13, 2009 http://tinyurl.com/nlprpu
September 3, 2009 By Kevin Dayhoff http://www.explorecarroll.com/ http://tinyurl.com/n264f5

Guy Babylon, 52, died Wednesday evening, September 2, 2009, in Los Angeles, California, according to family sources and Elton John’s official website.

He was born on December 20, 1956, in New Windsor, the son of Graham and Mary Babylon, owners of the Babylon Vault Company, a Carroll County business that has manufactured burial vaults since 1930.

After he attended Francis Scott Key High School he earned his BFA in music composition from the University of South Florida.

Read more: http://explorecarroll.com/obituaries/3374/babylon/

Click here for another image of Guy Babylon: http://twitpic.com/geb34

See also: Farewell Guy Babylon (December 20, 1956 – September 2, 2009)

http://eltonjohnnews.blogspot.com/2009/09/farewell-guy-babylon-december-20-1956.html

Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff
http://twitpic.com/geb34 Guy Babylon pic: http://tinyurl.com/lfgjvl longterm Elton John keyboardist has died http://tinyurl.com/kuyrrz

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2009/09/guy-babylon-from-new-windsor-long-term.html http://tinyurl.com/kuyrrz
For pictures and more information: http://twitpic.com/hkleo; and http://twitpic.com/geb34. Elton John News: Farewell Guy Babylon (December 20, 1956 – September 2, 2009)http://eltonjohnnews.blogspot.com/2009/09/farewell-guy-babylon-december-20-1956.html

http://twitpic.com/geb34 GBabylon http://tinyurl.com/ktz857 piccred http://tinyurl.com/nlprpu EltonJohn keybrd http://tinyurl.com/mo7pds

GBabylon http://tinyurl.com/ktz857 EltonJohn keybrd http://tinyurl.com/mo7pds http://twitpic.com/geb34

http://twitpic.com/geb34

http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2009/09/elton-john-news-farewell-guy-babylon.html http://tinyurl.com/ktz857

sdosm 20090913
*****


My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Forbes ranks West Point as nation's top college

I spent time over the Labor Day holiday with family members who work at the West Point United States Military Academy. They are quite proud that “Forbes ranks West Point as nation's top college.” See this article in “Inside the Army” News…http://www.army.mil/-news/2009/08/07/25619-forbes-ranks-west-point-as-nations-top-college/ Show more results from www.army.mil

I had taken note of the Forbes’ accolades a month ago, yet figure it deserves yet additional attention…

Kevin Dayhoff September 10, 2009

Forbes ranks West Point as nation's top college

Aug 7, 2009

By
USMA Public Affairs

WEST POINT, N.Y. (Army News Service, Aug. 7, 200) - A report released Wednesday by Forbes magazine ranked the U.S. Military Academy as the top college in the country in their America's Best College review.

"Marked by an intense work ethic and drive to succeed on all fronts, the West Point undergraduate experience also allows graduates to leave without a penny of tuition loans to repay," Forbes stated in its release.

In the Forbes rating, West Point outpaced other highly-ranked schools such as Princeton (#2), Cal Tech (#3), Harvard (#5) and the U.S. Air Force Academy (#7).

"All of us at West Point are very proud that Forbes has rated us as the number-one college in the nation," said Brig. Gen. Patrick Finnegan, dean of the Academic Board at West Point. "This ranking recognizes the exceptionally high quality of a West Point education. It is always exciting to be validated by independent organizations."

[…]

West Point was founded in 1802 as America's first college of engineering. Its mission remains constant: to educate, train, and inspire cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of duty, honor, country and prepared for a career of service to the nation as an officer in the U.S. Army.

To see the complete college rankings go to
www.forbes.com.

Read more here: Forbes ranks West Point as nation's top college

20090807 Forbes ranks West Point as nations top college

Click here for other posts on Soundtrack about: Military Army United States Military Academy (USMA) West Point

20070711 "90 seconds" or click on http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2007/07/20070711-90-seconds.html

Click here: 20070610 The United States Military Academy at West Point for a number of pictures from my recent visit to West Point… or click here: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2007/07/20070610-united-states-military-academy.html

Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff

http://twitpic.com/h6cvq Forbes ranks West Point as nation's top college http://tinyurl.com/mmeygc

http://twitpic.com/h6cvq - Forbes ranks West Point as nation's top college http://tinyurl.com/mmeygc

http://twitpic.com/h424s - Joan Didion “Her prose is her servant” http://tinyurl.com/le6r5e1 minute ago from TwitPic

http://twitpic.com/gxqc0 - Dec 11 2006 The family at “Le déjeuner des canotiers” Renoir 1881 http://tinyurl.com/kw3glb2 minutes ago from TwitPic

http://twitpic.com/gvupg - An ebullient porch http://tinyurl.com/kw3glb3 minutes ago from TwitPic

*****

Monday, September 07, 2009

An ebullient porch




September 5, 2009 by Kevin Dayhoff

It was the evening before the annual Sunday family get-together over the Labor Day weekend. The sun had gone down and a slight breeze cooled the broad expanses of the old wrap-around porch that so functionally adorned the centenarian three-story shingle-style merchants’ home.

Click here for a larger image: http://twitpic.com/gvupg


Earlier the porch had the scene of kind and matronly aunts, sisters, and grandma scurrying about as they prepared with great anticipation.

They had all retired to the kitchen where they continued planning and preparing.

As I sat upon the porch my thoughts drifted about like the clouds. I’ve been told artists dream of castles in the clouds, writers live in them and psychologists are the landlords that charge rent.

At my advanced age, I’m comfortable with the concept that my cloud is my castle and I own it and I’m too tight to pay rent.

Although fall is just around the corner, the katydids and the crickets are still out in force in a cacophonous chorus of southern gothic musings and it is still hot enough to remind even the oblivious that Maryland still has one foot in the old south.

I thought of the title of the 1989 novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, “The Remains of the Day.” The novel is about post-war Britain. The main character considers his past and is forced to come to terms with the gravity of the sacrifices he has made in the name of duty.

The plot, at the moment, is not why my mind wonders to the novel. It is the title, “The Remains of the Day,” which refers to a quiet evening when a person takes time to reflect the day's work.

It could also reflect pondering being older and looking back to take a tally of life work. In the novel, “The Remains of the Day” is also a metaphor for the last vestiges of England’s grand homes – and its waning position as a global power.

Although I was pre-occupied with the theme “porch,” my thoughts did not include the 1991 grunge tune, “Porch,” by Pearl Jam. I’m not sure I ever understood the song: “All the bills go by, and Initiatives are taken up, By the middle, there aint gonna be any middle any more, And the cross Im bearing home, Aint indicative of my place, Left the porch…”

Whatever.

It’s Labor Day weekend, a throwback to an ebullient era in the United States when one’s labor was the meaning of the person.

I am reminded that the porch – and the home – were built around 1910 at the end of what the local historian Chris Weeks called an “enthusiastic” period in Westminster, from about 1865 to 1910. He wrote in his 1978 architectural reference book, The Building of Westminster,” that it was an era when Westminster and “the entire nation was reveling in itself and its accomplishments…

“The city was beginning to attract heavy industry; there was a marked shift in population and economics…

“The citizens and their fathers had created a town in the middle of nowhere by using nothing but their own will and work…”

Mr. Weeks cites an excerpt of an address by Dr. J. W. Herring, at the Semi-centennial Rally in Carroll County on April 11, 1887:

“This ebullient era was neatly and succinctly summed up in an address by Dr. J. W. Herring… some of the Doctor's remarks are pertinent and valuable today:

‘Prominent, as we think, among the sources of the prosperity which followed [the settling of the county], and perhaps underlying them all, was the conservative disposition of the people…

‘Labor is not only honorable, but it is the legitimate and necessary law of our being… They [the early settlers] exhibited in large degree the virtue of self-reliance, without which no success can come, either to an individual or to a nation…

‘The prosperity which has marked our country's history and which we enjoy today is in great part due to the fact that our fathers depended upon themselves. They did not believe in the doctrine of 'delegated powers' as it represents one's own business.

‘And in this there is the suggestion of a valuable lesson… To produce, and not alone to consume, is the teaching which political economy would impress...’”

Whether our great nation still revels with pride in the values illuminated by Dr. Hering is for you to decide and the stuff of another musing for another time.

For now, as I sat on the porch in the dark, I daydreamed about my childhood days – - and the reclusive and enigmatic childhood friend of Truman Capote, Harper Lee.

Ms. Lee was born Nelle Harper Lee on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama.

She is best known for her one and only book, which just happened to be a Pulitzer Prize-winning best-seller, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” published in 1960, when she was 34 years old.

Earlier in the day, as I watched a cable news program, I kept wondering what Ms. Lee’s character, Charles Baker “Dill” Harris, would think of the caustic commentary about the breaking news momentary meaninglessness of today.

If you will recall “Dill,” who was based on Ms. Lee’s childhood neighbor, Truman Capote, was “Jem” and “Scout’s” summer friend, with an enormous imagination.

Dill - the porch - is my summer friend.

For those who have studied “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Dill represents the perspective of childhood innocence.

Some will argue that “Mockingbird,” like me, is an anachronism. I suggest that much of her commentary about the machinations of our contemporary society is just as relevant today – just different.

Nevertheless, for those of us who wallow in the loss of innocence five decades later, it is still a sin to kill a mockingbird.

In recent years, the summer months have almost been just as busy as the rest of year. Gone are the lazy southern Carroll County summers. However, growing up in Carroll County in the 1950s and 60s, lazy summer days were the opportunity to sit around and read and write all day.

From those long-gone lazy days, I usually associate “Mockingbird” with short stories like Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” “Rain” by William Somerset Maugham and “Portnoy’s Complaint” by Philip Roth – and why I’m still traumatized by the word spatula – except when Rachel Ray says it on her cooking show.

I think of the film “McCabe and Mrs. Miller,” by Robert Altman – of whom I was initially introduced to when he directed a number of episodes of “Bonanza.”

“McCabe” introduced me to Leonard Cohen – and later his song “Famous Blue Raincoat.” Remember: “It’s four in the morning, the end of December. I’m writing you now just to see if you’re better…”

I think of Carole King’s “It’s too late,” and Carly Simon’s “That’s The Way I Always Heard It Should Be” – “My father sits at night with no lights on. His cigarette glows in the dark…”

It was over forty years ago in the summer of 1967 that I first heard the song, “Ode to Billy Joe,” by Bobbie Gentry on WCAO on the AM dial of the car radio.

Remember, that was when we first learned from “Mama” that the nice young preacher, Brother Taylor “said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge. And she and Billy Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge.”

It was also in this time period that I became firmly hooked on the existential - “Southern Gothic” genre of storytelling.

Examples of authors of the Southern gothic genre of writing include William Faulkner, Carson McCullers, Eudora Welty, Truman Capote, and Harper Lee.

Tennessee Williams once described the genre as stories that reflect “an intuition of an underlying dreadfulness in modern experience.”

The stories these writers tell are fascinating as often they involve aspects of unexplained historical events, enigmatic dialogue, and inexplicable characters.

But it is the other prominent theme of the Southern gothic story that comes to mind these days in the cavalier manner in which folks today will often engage in character assassination in the pursuit of a particular agenda.

It is the particularly disturbing dynamic that much like contemporary commentary, the southern gothic tale peels away the layers of indifference that contemporary society shows towards our fellow human beings – or in the case of “Ode to Billy Joe,” the loss of life.

In the song the family of the narrator nonchalantly mentions the gentleman’s death: “Billy Joe never had a lick of sense/ pass the biscuits, please.”

Of course the narrator of the story cares: “Mama said to me, Child, what's happened to your appetite? I've been cookin’ all morning and you haven't touched a single bite.”

Other than that, they may as well been having a dinner conversation about the weather.

One wonders what it would be like to have the likes of a Margaret Mitchell breeze her way across the porch and strike up a conversation.

According to a website devoted to the now-historic site where she lived on Peachtree Street in Atlanta Georgia, when she wrote the book, “Gone With the Wind,” Mitchell was born in Atlanta on November 8, 1900. Just like me, as a child, she was fascinated by Civil War stories.

The website biography explains that Mitchell was an “imaginative girl (who) wrote, produced, and directed plays, casting her friends, and inviting the neighborhood to the porch performances.”

It seems that Mitchell was a bit of a “free spirit,” who “scandalized Atlanta society by performing a provocative dance at a debutante ball. Two years later the headstrong flapper married Berrien “Red” Upshaw… a bootlegger…

“Financial pressures led her to begin writing for the Atlanta Journal Sunday Magazine where she earned $25 per week. Their stormy marriage ended in divorce in 1924. Within a year she married John Marsh… an editor at the paper.”

Perhaps it may have been fun to imagine her visit during her “free spirit” days. If I were allow myself a brief farbissiner aside; it would be so refreshing to see Westminster being scandalized in some manner that does not involve narcissistically utilizing the cracked mirror by which much of the town now views its navel, in the name of progress.

Tomorrow – Sunday - will remind me of the scene on the balcony, or porch, if you will, of the Maison Fournaise along the Seine River in Chatou, France as painted in the 1881 classic painting, “Le déjeuner des canotiers,” by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

Of course, Caroline, Grammy and I once had a had a fête galante attending the “Luncheon of the Boating Party” with friends of Pierre Auguste Renoir on a balcony of the Maison Fournaise along the Seine River in Chatou, France in 1881.

http://twitpic.com/gxqc0

We went with Aline Charigot, a young seamstress, whom Mr. Renoir married in 1890. She is in the foreground of the above image playing with a small dog.

Behind Kevin in the yellow hat is Alphonse Fournaise Jr., who was responsible for the boat rentals. The woman leaning on the rail, wearing the yellow hat is Alphonsine Fournaise, the daughter of the proprietor.

She is talking with a gentleman, whom we cannot see, who is the former mayor of Saigon, Baron Raoul Barbier. Later he hit on Caroline. Not to worry, Caroline has had enough of mayors, she likes artists and writers.

Seated in the chair with the yellow hat in the right-foreground, is fellow artist and close friend Gustave Caillebotte who is talking with Angèle, an actress, in the blue dress, and Maggiolo, an Italian journalist.

I did talk with him some later. He also likes semi-colons. From right to left across the back is Jeanne Samary, an actress. She is wearing the blue dress and is behind Maggilo.

Hitting on Ms. Samary is the artist Paul Lhote and Eugène Pierre Lestringez, who is some sort of bureaucrat. All the way in the back, wearing the top hat is the editor of the Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Charles Ephrussi.

Editors are pretty cool and he was fun to talk with later. Here, he is talking with Jules Laforgue, wearing a brown coat and cap. He is a poet, critic, and Mr. Ephrussi’s personal secretary.

The dialogue tomorrow will be a collaboration of Tom Stoppard and Robert Altman and will, in part involve aspects of unexplained historical events, enigmatic dialogue, and inexplicable characters. The only thing missing will be the frilly – and manly – hats.

Maybe next year we could ask folks to wear hats… They go well with an ebullient porch. ( I also want to invite Anthony Bourdain – he won’t need an invite or a reservation.)

20090905 ked pubver An ebullient porch

Annual Labor Day, Art Artists Renoir, Babylon Family, Babylon Family Willis St, Dayhoff Daily Photoblog, Dayhoff photos, Dayhoff writing essays, Journalists Bourdain Anthony

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http://twitpic.com/gvupg An ebullient porch http://tinyurl.com/kw3glb

http://twitpic.com/gvupg An ebullient porch http://tinyurl.com/m26znx

http://twitpic.com/gxqc0 Dec 11 2006 The family at “Le déjeuner des canotiers” Renoir 1881 http://tinyurl.com/kw3glb

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Annual Christmas, Art Artists Renoir, Babylon Family Christmas, Dayhoff photoshop
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Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ (http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/) http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/ New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/

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Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://www.westgov.net/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/kevindayhoff Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1040426835 Kevin Dayhoff Banana Stems: http://kevindayhoff.tumblr.com/ Blip.fm: http://blip.fm/kevindayhoff_soundtrack

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Guy Babylon, from New Windsor, long-term keyboardist for Elton John has passed away

Click here for a larger image: http://twitpic.com/geb34

UPDATE: Be sure to read Jennifer Jiggetts’ Carroll County Times story. She did a great job: Elton John's keyboardist, New Windsor native dead” at 52 By Jennifer Jiggetts, Times Staff Writer Friday, September 04, 2009

http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/articles/2009/09/04/news/local_news/newsstory3_keyboardist_new_windsor.txt

When he was in seventh grade, Guy Babylon and several of his New Windsor friends formed a band.

They performed at the New Windsor carnival, gave small concerts by Babylon’s pool and won many talent shows in Carroll County. The band rehearsed wherever it could.

Those practices would set the foundation years later for a more famous gig for Babylon: backing up Elton John.

Babylon, John’s lead keyboardist, died Wednesday night in California. He was 52.


Read more:
Elton John's keyboardist, New Windsor native dead

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Guy Babylon, from New Windsor, long-term keyboardist for Elton John has passed away

September 3, 2009

By Kevin Dayhoff

Guy Babylon, 52, died Wednesday evening in Los Angeles, California, according to family sources and Elton John’s official website.

He was born on December 20, 1956, in New Windsor, the son of Graham and Mary Babylon, owners of the Babylon Vault Company, a Carroll County business that has manufactured burial vaults since 1930.

After he attended Francis Scott Key High School he earned his BFA in music composition from the University of South Florida. In 1980, six months after graduation he moved to California, where he quickly established himself as an accomplished keyboardist and composer and respected session musician.

Babylon, as a young man, was known to be a national level swimmer and a family member noted with pride that he once beat Mark Spitz, of Olympic swimming fame. Babylon died of an apparent heart attack while swimming.

Elton John, who according to his official web site, is on holiday in Nice, France, said: “I am devastated and heartbroken at the death of Guy Babylon. Guy played over 1000 shows with me, and we worked together on The Road To El Dorado, Aida, Billy Elliot, Lestat and Gnomeo and Juliet, as well as on countless albums.

“He was one of the most brilliant musicians I ever knew, a true genius, a gentle angel - and I loved him so much. David and I send our deep condolences to Kathy, Max, Ben and Jessica, to Guy's parents, to Kathy's parents and to all his immediate loved ones.’

The web site reports, “Guy's first performance with Elton was for a benefit at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles in July 1988, and his first world tour as part of the Elton John Band began two months later in Miami, Florida.

“Guy became lead keyboardist on May 26, 1992, and has been the only synth man on stage since the Walden Woods Benefit Concert in the fall of 1993.”

Check back with http://www.explorecarroll.com/ later for the full story.

20090903 d1 WE brief Guy Babylon dies
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