Everett Jenkins Birthday Blog

  On late Saturday night, while scrolling through the channels to find something to watch, I came across a PBS special highlighting the music of Englebert Humperdinck and, by "coincidence", just as I joined the program this song was playing  Engelbert Humperdinck In Hawaii 2018 - A Time For Us - - YouTube In my universe, there are no "coincidences". The timing of this encounter with a performance of "A Time For Us" immediately after having written about it, caused me to think that my previous post was incomplete.  While Henry Mancini's piano version is beautiful, the lyrics associated with later versions of the song has given even greater life to this masterpiece.  So, to complete what I started, I  now note the mastery of not only Engelbert Humperdinck and also of Andy Williams   Bing Videos And I especially favor the rendition of the song as performed by Johnny Mathis.  Bing Videos With these additions, and the references set forth below, I now ...

  Ellis, In answer to your question, there was a song that came out in 1968 that became embedded in my mind because of my nascent athletic career.  In my only track and field campaign with Len Miller, I found that my running abilities were rather mediocre but I began to get some traction with my jumping abilities.  In February of 1969, I began to learn the Western roll method of high jumping.  For me, success came by learning to approach the bar with a certain cadence and the song that came out in 1968 provided the perfect cadence for my high jump approach.  The song was Soulful Strut by Young-Holt Unlimited Performance: Soulful Strut by Young-Holt Unlimited | SecondHandSongs You can hear and feel the song at Bing Videos I actually set my one and only athletic record by jumping to Soulful Strut.  I was 15, a sophomore on the Class C track team and, in May of 1969, I jumped 5'9 and 1/2" to set the school record.  Not bad for a 5'11" 110-pound Ethiopian ...

    In previous emails, I have noted that 1968 was the year the made me.  I will not repeat what I previously said but I will add that one of the reasons why it was an important year was because of the notion of romantic love that became embedded in my 14-15-year-old mind influenced by Franco Zeffirelli's beautiful film adaptation of William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" and by Henry Mancini's haunting 1969 Love Theme based on Nino Rota's music from the movie. Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet - Wikipedia Bing Videos Of course, the lovely Juliet in Zeffirelli's movie was Olivia Hussey, the British-Argentine actress who ten years later would again inspire me with her portrayal of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Franco Zeffirelli's "Jesus of Nazareth."  Bing Videos As is my custom, I finished watching "Jesus of Nazareth" early on Christmas morning.  And, as is also my custom, later on that Christmas day, I made a call to the woman who...

  As I ready myself for my traditional watching of Episode 3 of Jesus of Nazareth, I wanted to send everyone a warm Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year message.  I am 71 now and this year I have been reminded that no one lives forever.  But I am still here, and I am very thankful to once again celebrate this very special time of year.  So, to all of you who may receive these email messages, I wish you all only the best and that I hope to see you again, hopefully, within the coming year.  Also, for those who receive my snail mail Seasons Greetings cards, just a reminder that the "Season", for me, lasts until the Lunar New Year.  God willing, your card and my Jenkins Family Update will soon be in mail. Peace and Good Will to All, Everett "Skip" Jenkins Fairfield, California December 25, 2024

  As I return to my stroll through the year 1930, I come to Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe - Wikipedia In reading the Wikipedia bio for Chinua Achebe, I am struck by the fact that this trailblazing African writer resided in the town of Amherst, Massachusetts from 1972 to 1975, some of the same years that I resided at Amherst College.  In reading his rich bio, I suddenly thought about the lost opportunity I may have had to have gotten to know him while we were both at Amherst and to learn more about his perspective on African literature.   Obviously, I cannot go back in time, but I can make up for loss of time by reading Achebe's most famous work  Things Fall Apart  Things Fall Apart - Wikipedia   Accordingly, for the month of December 2024, the book of the month shall be  Things Fall Apart  by Chinua Achebe.  I wonder if reading it now will lead to a change in perspective on what is occurring in Africa now. Peace, Everett "Skip" Jenkins Fai...

    Learned today about the passing of Zakir Hussain, the Tabla Master (see below).  Zakir Hussain, Tabla Virtuoso Who Fused Musical Traditions, Dies at 73 - The New York Times For those who like to travel to a distant place and a distant time without leaving the comfort of the living room chair, please listen to Ustad Zakir Hussain and Rakesh Chaurasia- #Tabla and #Flute John McLaughlin, Jean-Luc Ponty, Zakir Hussain: "Lotus Feet" | International Jazz Day Istanbul Is that So: John McLaughlin/Shankar Mahadevan/Zakir Hussain: Sakhi - YouTube Shakti ft John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain: Finding the Way (This Moment) Live from The Ryman - YouTube and enjoy the journey. Peace,  Everett "Skip" Jenkins Fairfield, California December 17, 2024 ----- Forwarded Message ----- From:  skipjen2865@aol.com <skipjen2865@aol.com> To:  Everett Jenkins <skipjen2865@aol.com> Sent:  Tuesday, December 17, 2024 at 04:45:05 AM PST Subject:  Zakir Hussain, R. ...