On this day in music history - Radiant Sky, by Scott August (2010)

Radiant Sky

by Scott August 

was released on February 16, 2010.

Track list:

Calling the Sun; New Horizons; Arc of Dreams; Rivier of Stars; Santa Fe; Since the Stars Fell; Rising from the Plateau; Journey of Solace; A Pale Radiance; Searching Beyond.

Dogwood Blossoms Poem by George Marion McClellan.

Dogwood Blossoms

Poem by George Marion McClellan.
 
To dreamy languors and the violet mist
Of early Spring, the deep sequestered vale
Gives first her paling-blue Miamimist,
Where blithely pours the cuckoo’s annual tale
Of Summer promises and tender green,
Of a new life and beauty yet unseen.
The forest trees have yet a sighing mouth,
Where dying winds of March their branches swing,
While upward from the dreamy, sunny South,
A hand invisible leads on the Spring.
His rounds from bloom to bloom the bee begins
With flying song, and cowslip wine he sups,
Where to the warm and passing southern winds,
Azaleas gently swing their yellow cups.
Soon everywhere, with glory through and through,
The fields will spread with every brilliant hue.
But high o’er all the early floral train,
Where softness all the arching sky resumes,
The dogwood dancing to the winds’ refrain,
In stainless glory spreads its snowy blooms.
 

Recommended reading:
Poems by George Marion McClellan.
Video by Jack Kost.
2025.
 
Dogwood Blossom photographs by Jack Kost.
Sound effect credit:
Forest wind and birds
by freesound_community
from Pixabay.

Dogwood Blossoms Poem by George Marion McClellan.

 

Dogwood Blossoms

Poem by George Marion McClellan.

To dreamy languors and the violet mist

Of early Spring, the deep sequestered vale
Gives first her paling-blue Miamimist,

Where blithely pours the cuckoo’s annual tale
Of Summer promises and tender green,

Of a new life and beauty yet unseen.
The forest trees have yet a sighing mouth,

Where dying winds of March their branches swing,
While upward from the dreamy, sunny South,

A hand invisible leads on the Spring.
His rounds from bloom to bloom the bee begins

With flying song, and cowslip wine he sups,
Where to the warm and passing southern winds,

Azaleas gently swing their yellow cups.
Soon everywhere, with glory through and through,

The fields will spread with every brilliant hue.
But high o’er all the early floral train,

Where softness all the arching sky resumes,
The dogwood dancing to the winds’ refrain,

In stainless glory spreads its snowy blooms.

Recommended reading:

Poems by George Marion McClellan.


Video by Jack Kost.

2025.


Dogwood Blossom photographs by Jack Kost.

Sound effect credit:
Forest wind and birds

by freesound_community

from Pixabay.

On this day in television history - Justified (2013)

Justified
Season 4. Episode 6.

Episode entitled: Foot Chase.

Released February 12, 2013.

Directed by Peter Werner.

Written by Graham Yost, Dave Andron, Ingrid Escajeda, Ingrid Escajeda, VJ Boyd, Leonard Chang.

Based on the short story Fire in the Hole by Elmore Leonard.

Music by Steve Porcaro.
 
Cast:

Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy, Joelle Carter, Jacob Pitts, Erica Tazel, Walton Goggins, Jim Beaver, Ron Eldard, Brian Howe, Gerald McRaney, David Meunier, Romy Rosemont, Lew Temple, Salvator Xuereb, Casey Brown, Ian Reed Kesler, Alexandra Kyle, Michael Stoyanov, Hope Allen, Cathy Baron, Joseph Barone, Dakota Black, Kevin Brief, B.J. Clinkscales, Billy Finnigan, William Gregory Lee, Kevin McNamara, Rob Welsh, Adam Zastrow.

Recommended reading – The Doomsday Conspiracy, by Sidney Sheldon (1991)

 

This is my favorite of all Sidney Sheldon’s books. Very different from his other glossy, more mainstream stories, this one surprised me; an entertaining and suspenseful science-fiction thriller. Fans of the movies Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), The Fugitive (1993), and the TV show The X-Files will see similar plot elements in The Doomsday Conspiracy.
– Jack Kost.
 
----------

 
The Doomsday Conspiracy

by Sidney Sheldon.
 
Paperback.
Published 1991.
Published by Warner Books.

ISBN 13: 9780006472087
ISBN 10: 0006472087
ASIN: 0006472087

Sample:

Prologue:

Uetendorf, Switzerland
Sunday, October 14, 1500 Hours

The witnesses standing at the edge of the field were staring in horrified silence, too stunned to speak. The scene that lay before them was grotesque, a primeval nightmare dredged up from some deep, dark depths of primitive man’s collective consciousness. Each witness had a different reaction. One fainted. A second one vomited. A woman was shaking uncontrollably. Another one thought: I’m going to have a heart attack! The elderly priest clutched his beads and crossed himself. Help me, Father. Help us all. Protect us against this evil incarnate. We have finally seen the face of Satan. It is the end of the world. Judgment Day has come.

Armageddon is here. … Armageddon … Armageddon …

 
Description from cover jacket:

‘The witnesses standing at the edge of the field were staring in horrified silence, too stunned to speak. The scene that lay before them was grotesque, a primeval nightmare…’

 

So begins The Doomsday Conspiracy, Sidney Sheldon’s eleventh novel and one that has been called his most ingenious and surprising. Navy Commander Robert Bellamy is assigned to investigate the crash of a weather balloon in the Swiss Alps. All witnesses to the accident must be found and questioned. However, for Bellamy it is the beginning of a journey of terror into the incomprehensible.

 

From Washington to London, Zurich, Rome, and Paris the story unfolds to reveal Bellamy’s past — why the woman he loves most cannot return his love, why his friends become his deadly enemies, and why the world must never learn an incredible secret shielded by an unknown lethal force.

Master of the unexpected. Master of the game. Best-selling author Sidney Sheldon has created The Doomsday Conspiracy, a tightly plotted, breathlessly paced thriller — and compelling love story — that confirms his best-selling status.

 

Recommended reading - The Warriors

The Warriors

by Sol Yurick.

Published by Grove Press.

First published 1965.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0802139922
ISBN-13: 978-0802139924
 
Description:

Every gang in the city meets on a sweltering July 4 night in a Bronx park for a peace rally. The crowd of miscreants turns violent after a prominent gang leader is killed, and chaos prevails over attempts at order.

 

The Warriors follows the Dominators as they make their nocturnal journey to their home territory without being killed. The police are prowling the city in search of anyone involved in the mayhem. An exhilarating novel that examines New York City teenagers left behind by society, who form identity and personal strength through their affiliation with their "family," The Warriors weaves together social commentary with ancient legends for a classic coming-of-age tale.

On this day in television history - Justified (2011)

Justified
Season 2. Episode 1.

Episode entitled: The Moonshine War.

Released February 9, 2011.

Directed by Adam Arkin.

Written by Graham Yost, Elmore Leonard, Benjamin Cavell and VJ Boyd.

Based on the short story Fire in the Hole by Elmore Leonard.

Music by Steve Porcaro.

Cast:

Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy, Joelle Carter, Jacob Pitts, Erica Tazel, Natalie Zea, Walton Goggins, Margo Martindale, Jeremy Davies, Alexandra Barreto, Jordi Caballero, Matt Craven, Kaitlyn Dever, Brad William Henke, Chris Mulkey, Joseph Lyle Taylor, Billy Miller, Peter Murnik, Mark Irvingsen, John Kelly, Michelle Dunker, Reggie Jordan, Omar Avila, M.C. Gainey.