Just when you thought it was time to turn the pot off, in comes a group of friends..

Ron: I've had practice the last two night myself. Last night at a practice for the Fellowship Male Chorus I sing in, we were doing a last run-through of the songs we're singing this weekend (The night before last, the Messengers practiced their songs for the same program.) We have a wonderful, fun-loving but demanding director and on one song, the 1st tenors sing a line twice, then the second tenors sing their harmony, and then the baritones come in next (and then we all sing together. The 1st tenors were fine, but each time the second tenors would come in, they'd sing the samd melody as the 1st tenors. Our Director, Jonatahn was getting more and more frustrated and after the third time he saidas to the second tenors.. I'm trying to make a BLT, the B's are Fine and the T's are fine, but we need that L to make it a BLT.. so I called out, "Give e'm L, Jonathan." You don't get set-ups like that very often.

Elmer: Yes, I love Ella and her songbooks. I have Hard Hearted Hannah on a 45 r.p.m. and for years it wasn't out on CD. I finally found it on a two or three CD boxed set, and much later I discovered an import CD of songs from Pete Kelly's Blues (One of my very favorite movies.) Ella has a small role as a singer in a small black speakeasy and sings the song in the movie.

"Imagine a woman as hard as Hannah
She's got the right name, the Vamp of Savannah
Anytime a woman takes a great big pan
And starts pouring water on a drowning man
She's Hard-hearted Hannah, the vamp of Savannah, GA

An evening spent with Hannah sitting on your knee
Is like traveling through Alaska in your BVD's..

Great lines, great delivery.

Peggy Lee sings three or four great songs on the CD, too..

I have two different Ella and Louie CDs with a major overlap on songs. One is on Verve (the one you have, Elmer) and the other is on Decca. I ran across a third one recently but didn't buy it because it only had one or two songs that aren't on the other CDs..
A copy of one of the CDs is on its way to you, Ron.

And you're right about coffee houses these days, Elmer. It seems like technology is being used to qrap each of us into our privatge little wombs, even when we're in public. Between cell phones, MP3 players and Laptops, the individual reigns.

Glad you stopped in, Alba...

Jerry