German hand cat

My euphonium kind of works again.  To celebrate, here's "I want to hold your hand" in German and some pictures of Mira.  And there's a squirrel laying down in the middle somewhere.  I challenge you to find it.  I don't know how to pronounce German words.  

The Fly

Here's a feel-good poem by Blake set to music. I made ample use of effects.

Lyrics/poem:
The Fly
Little Fly
Thy summers play,
My thoughtless hand
has brush'd away.

Am not I
A fly like thee?
Or art not thou
A man like me?

For I dance
And drink & sing;
Till some blind hand
Shall brush my wing.

If thought is life
And strength & breath;
And the want
Of thought is death;

Then am I
A happy fly,
If I live,
Or if I die.

Miners

I was thinking about mining today.  I used to be quite interested in finding neat rocks.  I remember smashing certain rocks with a sledgehammer to harvest the sweet, sweet garnets inside.  Then covetously storing said garnets in a secret box.  I often want to ask people what they would be doing at this point in the summer at age 8-10.  For me, it's smashing rocks to harvest garnets.

I went to the mountain to try and mine gold

But lost my pickaxe on the way

And do you know how much pickaxes cost?

I don't, but I've nothing to pay

So I took a deep breath and I entered the mine,

Hoping to find me a jewel,

But busted up roots were all I could find,

I foolishly felt like a fool

Since things were all wrong,
I hummed by best song,

There's a silver lining

To all this ma-lining

I felt something crawling its way up my arm

A beautiful beetle vermillion

I dropped him off lightly, and picked up a stone

Older than me by the billions

Twas then that I realized the sum of my parts

And this is the point of my story

Down in the depths of a dusty old mine

I silently struck a satori.

And I left without gold and I left without jewels

My mining sack sad and berefted

But on my way home I found my pickaxe

Right in the spot I had left it. 

Plovers

They're a kind of bird, I think.  I don't know if black spotted ones are real.  I guess probably not.  Or maybe there's One.

My voice is so high and untuneful in this.  Here's lyrics so it's perhaps not so cringeworthy.

Don't say nothing, Francis,

Don't you even breathe,

Cause the last Black spotted plover

Is perched among the reeds

The rarest thing you'll ever see

Is right before our eyes

And it'll fly away

It'll fly away

It'll fly away

In time

Don't say nothing, Francis

Ain't this moment grand

The last Black spotted plover

roosting in the sand

The only one we'll ever see

In our entire lives

And it'll fly away

It'll fly away

It'll fly away

In time

Oh darling

Why do you feel bad

Oh darling

How are you so sad

Oh darling

Why can't you just see

 The last black spotted plover

With me

I know about Pathfinder

I just think this one is way cooler, and way worthier of a song.

I remember when Pathfinder went to Mars; I was beyond psyched.  This is much, much more neat.  I also saw a really neat bug yesterday(?); perhaps it will be the image for my next song (about cool bugs???).

Where are you supposed to look

When recording a video song?  I think I tried all the places.

Motorcycle gangs are still around

This is the best song about motorcycles since Daniel Johnston

Here's the lyrics to sing along.  And the chords to play along.  Oh, and try to ignore that one string that sounds like it's out of tune.  It's not.  And also my singing being out of tune.  That's not out of tune either.

It kind of feels like a bad cross between I Can See for Miles and Susan on the West Coast Waiting
Chorus C g7 C; C F G7; C g7 C; F G7 C (or something like that)

Verse  F d7 G am7 d7; F d7 G Bbdim7 g7

Motorcycle gangFollow me down the highwayMotorcycle gangWhere are you going today?
I predict you're going to the mallSpencer's giftsGetting some risqué merch to embarrassYour brother's kids.
After that you'll regroup with a songMellifluousI'm sure it's nice, but why bike when you could justCharter a bus
Motorcycle gangWhere every guy has an old ladyMotorcycle gangExcept when you're at a truck stop
Motorcycle gangI only know what I'm told I'm not judgingMotorcycle gangI wonder how many have guns
I predict that one out of threeAre packin heatAnd maybe one out of five have knife bootsOn their feet
Maybe they are heading to a concertJudas priestOr maybe to the local musicalI bet it's grease
But motorcycle girlI know we have nothing in commonYou'll bike around the worldSo I know it could never work out
Motorcycle girlYour tattoos are siouxsie sue worthyIf I had tattoosThey'd be guides for emergency surgeries
Motorcycle gangWhen you rev is it communicationDo you speak in revs?Cause I think that would be real cool.
Motorcycle gangDo you pick up the ladies by revving?Motorcycle gangAre you trying to pick up me?
If so,  I'm flattered,I'd ride in your side carWhat do you think,Can you drink in a side car?Probably not,But if so I'm your guy,Just don't go over twentyCause I don't want to die.