No long wordy post today but I had to share some pictures as it’s the Vernal Equinox, one of my favourite days of the year. At quarter past four this afternoon we reached one of only two points in the year when the number of hours of night and day are equal. Because it’s March, and I’m in the Northern Hemisphere, that means it’s just going to get lighter and brighter every day now for the next three months. Makes me all perky so decided to go out for a drive and take some footage on the newly acquired dash cam. Tomorrow is the day I go for my “personal training” (of the computer variety) so it made sense to make use of some of my new found skills to put together a little film, in the way of homework. Here we are driving through the centre of town and although I would have loved to leave in the original audio (as Mr WIAA and I ended up having a bit of a domestic and a fit of the giggles over the best route), it was decided that it should be replaced – Just too embarrassing.
Mr. Blue Sky by ELO:
I only thought of using this song for my little film as another ELO song, Strange Magic, had come on the radio earlier in the day when I was out taking footage of some of the beautiful scenery we have around here. Seemed apt somehow but that film will be quite time-consuming to make, so for another day [see Postscript].
Mr. Blue Sky featured on ELO’s seventh studio album “Out of the Blue” and was written and produced by the band’s frontman Jeff Lynne. It peaked at No. 6 in the UK Singles Chart in 1978. The song was apparently played as a wake-up call to the astronauts on the final mission of Space Shuttle Atlantis and of course, it was the music used by the Guardians of the Galaxy film people for the Baby Groot dancing scene – Just love that little guy.
Until next time…
Mr. Blue Sky Lyrics
(Song by Jeff Lynne)
Morning! Today’s forecast calls for blue skies
Sun is shining in the sky
There ain’t a cloud in sight
It’s stopped raining
Everybody’s in a play
And don’t you know
It’s a beautiful new day
Hey ay ay!
Runnin’ down the avenue
See how the sun shines brightly
In the city
On the streets where once was pity
Mr. Blue
Sky is living here today
Hey ay ay!
Mr. Blue Sky
Please tell us why
You had to hide away
For so long (so long)
Where did we go wrong?
Hey you with the pretty face
Welcome to the human race
A celebration
Mr. Blue Sky’s up there waitin’
And today
Is the day we’ve waited for
Ooorrr
Oh, Mr. Blue Sky
Please tell us why
You had to hide away
For so long (so long)
Where did we go wrong?
Hey there Mr. Blue
We’re so pleased to be with you
Look around see what you do
Everybody smiles at you
Postscript:
I managed to put together another little film from the dash cam footage after my lesson. Decided against Strange Magic in the end and went for another piece of music by Mark Knopfler, which seemed to suit the particular scenes around here really well. I give you Going Home from the excellent 1983 film Local Hero.
What's It All About? 
I have been there and possibly walked the same streets as you. It was back in 1995 during my first visit to Scotland. Sorry I didn’t say hi. 😛
Lovely video and musical accompaniment. You can never go wrong playing that song. Happy Vernal Equinox to you & Mr. WIAA. It always gets me excited to know that we’ve got three more months of extended daylight & warmer weather approaching.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely to hear from you – Yes, these are the best three months of the year coming up but time seems to be passing just a bit too quickly for my liking, so it will no doubt be over in a flash. I know you feel a strong affinity to Scotland (and its music) so good to hear you’ve had more than one visit it seems!? No doubt walked the same streets as you say.
Hope all is well in your world – Is the music room being well used?
LikeLike
I’ve been to Scotland three times and hope to be back again someday. My wife & I have good friends who are Scottish. We attended their wedding, which took place on the banks of Loch Lomond, and I got to wear a kilt for the first time as I was a groomsman. I am also a Laird of a castle, where I “own” a 1-square-foot plot of land on the grounds of a castle. It’s a bit gimmicky but fun nonetheless.
Busy here with work & other responsibilities, so not getting quite as much time in the music room as I had hoped, but whenever I do it’s everything I hoped it would be. I hope to write a brief post about the room and my extended blog break soon. I keep trying to start it but find other things to occupy my time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes I remember you mentioning the wedding and the kilt – A nice outfit.
Sorry to hear you’re still a bit too busy for much time in the music room but now that it’s finished at least it’s available whenever you have any downtime. Will look out for that post when you get round to writing it – I love my little routines and your blog was a staple of my Fridays for she whole of last year – It is missed.
LikeLike
In case you’re interested I’ve just added another little film as a Postscript, this time out of town.
LikeLike
I love the postscript. Wonderful combination of visuals & music. Some might be turned off by the ’80s drums & sax but not me. Never noticed it before but that song has a sonic similarity to some ’80s Runrig. Have you ever featured them?
Sorry you’re going through some minor Forty Year Friday withdrawal. I hope you find something with a similar impact on your Fridays soon. Not sure when I’ll return to regular blogging…could be a year or more…but as time permits & inspiration strikes I’ll pop up from time to time. In fact, a recent email conversation with my nephew has inspired an upcoming post about my favorite band of all time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi – yes Runrig would have been a good fit for that film too. I have featured them here in my early days of blogging.
All the best with everything and enjoy the blogging break!
LikeLike
Yeah? Well–we will be hit with snow—the fourth week in a row! But at least the stuff melts eventually! 🙂
LikeLike
Hi – Yes, hopefully any snow that lands now will be short-lived!
LikeLiked by 1 person
We do hope so
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your essays often are an educational experience for me.
In this case, I never heard of dash cams before. Alyson, you are a trendsetter!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha ha – I don’t know about that. Problem is you end up with hours of footage of tarmac as unlike with your own eyes, difficult to see the entire vista and to look left and right as you drive. Yesterday, because the street was in shadow, it just really emphasised the “blue-ness” of the sky, which made me think of the song.
Thanks for dropping by – More dash cam moments to follow!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting to see footage of your town. The river running on the left reminds me of walking in London or Paris. I noticed the street itself is quite narrow! And it really was blue sky to match the song!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Trust me, the river is no Thames or Seine but nice to have it running through the town. Yes the blue sky meant that the song really had to be that ELO one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely – and to one of Mrs CC’s favourite tunes too
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad to hear you approve – Those blue skies made me want to get out in the car making movies!
LikeLike
Of course I should also have thanked you for giving me the idea – I loved your little Glencoe film so have now got myself the necessary kit. Hopefully we’ll see some more footage from you too?
LikeLike
I saved these till I got home tonight. What lovely films. A beautiful day, but a beautiful part of the world too. Not seen very much in the way of blue skies round here recently, so this was like a shot of vitamin D. Thanks, Alyson. I was rather hoping you’d drive over that bridge at the end of the first film though…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad you liked them – yesterday was a beautiful day up here so had to make the most of it.
Sorry to disappoint but that bridge at the end of the film is a footbridge, so I was never going to be driving over it. Having said that, Mr WIAA tells me that one of his friends tried to drive his Mini over it when they were young!
LikeLike
Absolutely beautiful! Thanks Alyson. So lovely to see your fantastic neck of the woods too and on such a bright day. I can almost feel the fresh air. Mmm, must make it up to Scotland one day…..
We’ve wondered about getting a dash cam too. Many years ago a friend lent us a video recorder, one of those big heavy things you had to almost sort of balance on your shoulder. For some reason – just curious, I think – we went out in the car and I tried filming the route with that…. watching it back it was so wobbly it was enough to make you car sick!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks – I remembered that last year I had included little video clips of a walk I’d had on the Vernal Equinox (inspired by your “walk post”) so thought I’d share some more this year. This time I was inspired by CC as he recently shared some dash cam footage of a drive through Glencoe. I’m an unashamed plagiarist it seems.
Although we have pretty great scenery up here I am fully aware that your neck of the woods has a lot more history and quaint little cottages etc. – Would be great to see some more pics over at your place sometime, and always an appropriate song to include!
LikeLike