On New Year’s Eve we sing Auld Lang Syne. It’s one of the most widely known songs in the world. I think it’s magnificent. It’s an old Scottish song, written down by the poet Robert Burns in 1788 and thus immortalized for us to sing every year. It’s a sing-along of course. Click below to hear it.
Whenever I hear the song I think of that marvelously sentimental scene from Chaplin’s Gold Rush – when we hear the melody played as we watch the New Year’s party from the outside. Tremendously sad and beautiful at the same time. Such was Chaplin’s genius. Sing along! And Happy New Year!
So, let’s “drink a cup of kindness yet” and wish everyone out there a Happy and Healthy New Year! “Cheers!”
Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And days o’ lang syne!
Chorus: For auld lang syne, my dear For auld lang syne, We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet For auld lang syne!
We twa hae run about the braes, And pu’d the gowans fine, But we’ve wander’d mony a weary foot Sin’ auld lang syne.
We twa hae paidl’t in the burn Frae morning sun till dine, But seas between us braid hae roar’d Sin’ auld lang syne.
As I read the AmericaOnCoffee blog I thought of this song that I wrote thirty something years ago. It’s a silly song, but I always liked it. Perhaps America On Coffee can use it as a theme song.
I’m re-posting an old post because I like what it said about Remembrance Day.
November 11 , 11/11, is here, and it’s important we remember the millions of soldiers who died — rededicate ourselves to avoiding more useless wars.
ELEVEN
Onze, 11. A fine number. A prime! Composed of two skinny numerals, two 1’s. Mathematically, the eleven is not particulary interesting, it’s not useful in constructing things. Nothing in nature uses eleven-fold symmetry if I’m not mistaken. But we humans harbour a certain liking for the eleven. We do. We like the eleven. Eleven connotes a certain solidity, a feeling of dominance, or power. Eleven, which is derived in English from “one lef” or “one left over after the ten” appears surprisingly frequently in our languages and in our various cultures. The 7-11 convenience store network comes to mind. And I wish it didn’t.
The Statue of Liberty stands on Bedloe Island in N.Y harbor on what was originally an eleven-pointed island (It has eroded a bit at the corners). What a beautiful symbol. Long may she stand on her eleven-sided island! The Canadian dollar coin and the Indian two-rupee coin are also eleven sided. OK, I’ll stop. It’s the eleventh hour, and I still have to get down to the 7-11.
Football is played with 11 men. Likewise cricket. Did I mention the 7-11 convenience store? I have to go there later. There’s the 11 O’Clock News, Apollo 11, and Remembrance Day, Poppy Day, and Veterans’ Day – which are commemorated on 11/11, because World War I ended on the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month back in 1918. May the memory of those millions who died in WWI be blessed. Looking back at history, we can see that WWI was avoidable. All those millions of soldiers didn’t have to die. May all the fallen soldiers from all the wars rest in peace. And let us always strive to avoid wars and to seek peace in the future.
Back to the eight, and the month of August. August is named after the Roman emperor Augustus, who named the month after himself in order to celebrate …er….himself. August means admirable and reverential, it implies all things good. Ol’ Octavius thought Augustus sounded cool. As indeed it is. The August flower is the poppy, and the birthstone for August is the onyx.
No. not you! You’re not an onyx! You’re an oryx!
August is the eighth month! Eight: that’s two fours, or four twos a: a very even number. Eight is two cubed, duality expressed in three dimensions. Eight traditionally represents order and stability. The eighth note completes the octave (That’s the musical octave, not old Octavius. We don’t want to start with him again!).
I wrote about the eight last year, so consult Something I Eight for further number silliness. The only thing I’ll repeat here is that 8 was the late Yogi Berra’s uniform number. Good ‘ol Yogi. Yogi was loved by everyone and he was a heckuva ballplayer.
Many traditions see the 8 as a good luck number. In the Jewish tradition there are eight days to Chanukah, and also Passover. Even after the seven days of Succoth, an eighth holiday day is added, Shmini Atzeret, Shmini meaning eighth. Eight is just a good solid number. Follow the Buddha’s Eight-Fold path to Nirvana.
And keep your hands on the table. Thank you for your cooperation.
And here’s a song to send you on your way. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out, sung for the eighteenth time by poor Bumba, who says he just loves to sing this song and hopes you love to sing along too.
It’s May, the fifth month of the year, so we are duty-bound to talk about the five. The numeral five is one of the best numbers of all. I must admit I’m kind of tired of re-posting old March Through the Numbers posts. However, I still want to add a little bit on a personal level about the five.
I got enchanted by the five and hooked on math when I chanced upon the book The Secret Doctrine by Helena Blavatsy among the shelving stacks at the Beverly Hills Library. It’s a heavy tome, and seemed to me a lot of obtuse nonsense (and still does). But on one page was a drawing, a copy of some purportedly very ancient drawing. I believe it was titled the “dance around the circle”. Two adjacent circles are divided into ten equal sections by walking or dancing the compass around the the circle. A pentagram is created- and each of the five intersecting arms of the pentagram is intersected at the “golden mean”: the square root of 5 divided by two. The golden proportion! I must admit that I was mystified or seduced by the golden mean and the shining beauty of the mathematics. Somehow this interest in the elegance of math changed my life.
Five is the most interesting and intriguing of the numbers – at least to me. Its symmetry is the most subtle. The five is the framework, the nuts and bolts, of the DNA molecule. The five underlies Euclid’s Golden Proportion, nay, our sense of beauty. We can’t help but like five-fold symmetry. It’s in our genes.
So here’s to the number 5!
Musical interlude: A song that uses the word five: Five Hundred Miles to be exact. Maybank and Bumba finished a fifth of it (well, we sure were finished after that fifth) to get through this sappy, but popular folk classic. Sing along if you must.
A bit more bout the five…
There’s the five pointed star, the Pentagon, the gimme five handslap, 5 card stud, Dave Brubeck’s Take Five, the circle of fifths in music, the fifth of liquor in the bottle, and Five Corners in the Bronx.
“It’s your performance or lack thereof here at Bumbastories Magazine, George. It’s your numbers. Your performance numbers. You know what I’m talking about, George. Your number are zilch, George. Like zero, like nada. You haven’t written anything in months!”
“Well, I’m working on a lot of things, Bumba. You think it’s easy being a roving reporter, not to mention being a roving reporter who doesn’t get paid? There I am, pedalling my bicycle all the time, searching for a Breaking News story….”
“Aw, C’mon, George. All you do is ride your bike to the beach”
“I resemble that remark, Bumba”
**********************
George Packard took the Ballona Creek Bicycle path to the Playa Rey beach.
He got to the beach. But he didn’t take any pictures of the beach – which indeed made him quite a crummy roving reporter. It was a hot day and he plunged into the water briefly just to cool down. Other than it was a hot day there weren’t any Breaking News stories to report.
The way back he picked up the the Culver City bus at Washington Blvd and rode it to to the Fairfax terminal. The ride on the Culver City Green bus was also unexceptional and not worth reporting. However, it was quite pleasant and George looked forward to the rest of the day. Maybe, just maybe, a good story would come his way.
The new pope, Pope Leo, was in the news. The pundits were hoping that the new pope would somehow be a counterbalance to Trump. Pretty lame, clutching at straws. The grimness of the Trump regime was beginning to settle in.
Light is always good. Sunlight disinfects. We’ll get past this.
03/01/25
Happy March! Happy Third Month of the Gregorian Calendar!
Hurray for the Three! The Triad! The Triangle! The Holy Trinity! The Three Graces…….
Sorry, but we’re gonna have to get spiritual about it:
The Two (the number two, the concept of duality) splits unity (the One) into our world of opposites: here or there, present or absent, life and death, matter and energy, up and down, back and forth, figure/ground, yin and yang, Etc and etc
When you connect two points you create a line: One dimension. Connect three points you have a plane: Two dimensions. Now we’re getting somewhere. Well, it was plane to see.
The intersection of two circles: the vesica picsis – which means it’s shaped like a fish in Latin -generates the equilateral triangle. The three is created by the intersection of the two. Thus we obtain the triangle! Howm do you like that? We were introduced to the triangle in geometry class. Remember? Congruent triangles, similar triangles, isoscoles, and right angle ones? The triangle is the cornerstone of trigonometry – and the main character in Euclid’s plane geometry – which has provided scientists and the rest of us with the template for logic – a system where you need to prove things before you think they’re true.
Once again, hurray for the triangle! Hurray for its strength of structure!
More social/cultural/psychological/interesting stuff about the three
As children we grow up listening to stories about the The Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs, The Three wishes! As adults we encounter the Three Musketeers, Three Coins in the Fountain, Three Days of the Condor, Three Dog Night, the Three Stooges, and the Tri-State area. In basketball there’s Phil Jackson’s triangle offense and the Triple Double (which sounds like an oxymoron). Baseball has the triple play (it’s a treat to see one. I saw one once at Dodger Stadium). Baseball has three bases to touch or tag (the fourth base is called Home), and three strikes (and you’re out!). Hey, baseball season is fast upon us. It’s spring season! It’s spring, the time of rebirth, the time to plant seeds, the time of renewal and new beginnings.
Here’s a song that doesn’t mention the three, but it’s in 3/4 time, which is the best I could do. Sing along! Admittedly, I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry is one of Hank Williams’ saddest ones. But one his most beautiful ones too. And one plus two is three, so I’m out of here.
Hey, it’s February already. For us news junkies, the news has been pouring in at a torrential flow. Despite expecting the worst from Trump, despite being unsurprised at every one of his gambits, it still just hurts. He just continues to amass more and more power. But here at Bumbastories, we’re not amassing anything and we’re trying to keep this simple and apolitical. Famous last words. On to a consideration of the number Two.
February also happens to be the second month, In addition, February is a short month -which is what happens when you try to fit 12 months into 365 days. Ever notice how the different months have different lengths? Personally, I don’t understand that. Anyhow, somebody, one of the months had to draw the short stick, and it was February.
So, with February being the second month, etc, etc, Bumbastories feels deeply obliged to return to a consideration of the numeral 2. A second look? Our March Through the Numbers continues!
The two – the dos, the deux, is the first real number, because one can’t be considered a “regular” number, since all the numbers are multiples of the one. One is unity, the All.
Our world, the world of opposites, comes into being with this division: heaven and earth, good and evil, life and death, present and absent, holy and secular, male and female, up and down, true and false, etc. and etc.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Life as we know it began when the first organism split in two. This fundamental process of mitosis has put us in good stead. The cells of our body are reproducing all the time. These things go on whether you know it or not, which is quite a relief. Imagine if you had to sign off on several million mitosises every day.
Two is the first prime number! It is also the first even number! In fact the two generates all the odds and evens. Numbers are either 2n or 2n +1.
The symmetry of the two, bilateral symmetry, is basic to all vertebrates and arthropods, even down to worms. That’s to say all us more “advanced” animals. Let’s face it: we bilaterals, or bilaterians, have a definite edge when it comes to getting around. Bilateral symmetry gives you the ability to steer. Unlike the corals, the sponges and jellyfish, we have a left and a right. A front and a back too! Advanced animals like us humans can even get to conceptualize and ponder things like “going forward” and “making progress” in our lives. Generally it’s considered a good thing to be moving forward. Presumably a jellyfish would have a different point of view.
The yin and yang, the dialectic, the class struggle, the dynamism of the two is how the world operates, and how we see things as happening. Instinctually, we discriminate between figure and ground. When you come down to it, things are either there, or they ain’t. Two is how it is, my friend.
It takes two to tango. The dance, the interplay – and I’m trying to keep this clean – of the sexes, is the greatest game in town. Meiosis and sexual reproduction has accelerated the pace of evolution, which some may regret, but that’s how it is. The Good Lord put two of every animal on Noah’s ark. The ark, by the way used port and starboard, fore and aft, and also used a lot of mops and pails.
So many things come in pairs. How many can you think of? Personally, I can think of franks and beans, corned beef and cabbage, wine and roses, and burgers and fries. Not to mention peanut butter and jelly. In baseball 2nd base is right there in the middle, and a double is a very good hit.
There’s nothing like going for a double! Except going for a triple, but that’s already the next number!
As for the two in our language, there are just too many twos to mention. And please, don’t mention the ballerina’s tutu.
Two tutus! Yikes!
Before we get sentimental about the two, let’s remember that to “speak with a forked tongue” is not a cool thing. Neither are “snake eyes”, second-in-command, or Bi-Polar disorder. To quote Joe E. Brown (at the end of Some Like It Hot),“Well, nobody’s perfect”. Neither is the two. Nothing is perfect it seems. And that includes the two. It is also incumbent upon me to remind you that “number two” is the well-known toilet euphemism for poop. Well, I won’t waste any more of your time. Except to remind you that 2 is the atomic number of helium, and that Hank Williams said “If you loved me half as much as I love you, you wouldn’t worry me half as much as you do….”Click to twice to hear
Auld Lang Syne is one of the most widely known songs in the world. A true folk song. It’s the song we sing to ring in the New Year (Be careful: this is a sing along!). It’s an old Scottish song, written down by the poet Robert Burns in 1788 or so. And it’s always been a favorite. Whenever I hear the song I think of that marvelously sentimental scene from Chaplin’s Gold Rush – when we hear the melody to Auld Lang Syne played as we watch the New Year’s party from the outside. Tremendously sad and beautiful at the same time. Sing along! And Happy New Year!
So, let’s “drink a cup of kindness yet” and wish everyone out there a Happy and Healthy New Year! “Cheers!”
Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And days o’ lang syne!
Chorus: For auld lang syne, my dear For auld lang syne, We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet For auld lang syne!
We twa hae run about the braes, And pu’d the gowans fine, But we’ve wander’d mony a weary foot Sin’ auld lang syne.
We twa hae paidl’t in the burn Frae morning sun till dine, But seas between us braid hae roar’d Sin’ auld lang syne.
What a terrific poem. I remember “Fat and Skinny had a race” from the depths of my childhood. Apparently, my brain, and most likely your brain, too, and all of our poor, tired, little brains, are sprinkled with these memory traces: poems, nursery rhymes and ditties – cultural imprints if you will (every culture has ’em ) – little rhymes and songs that remain with us for life, just sitting there, hanging out up there inside our crania, all electrically coded somehow into the grey and white matter of our poor, over-evolved brains. They (the ditties, not the grey matter, thank Goodness) occasionally rise to the surface or get somehow activated as what we call “memories”. Anyhoo, the rhyme about Fat and Skinny is one I can clearly recall knowing and singing at a very early age. I recall that, as a toddler, I pictured Laurel and Hardy running around a bed, racing in circles. I associate the song with my grandmother – I’m sure she recited it to me – which gives the silly poem a very warm glow for me, not to mention the Laurel and Hardy image.
Fat and Skinny had a race
All around the pillow case
Fat fell down and broke his face
Skinny won the race
******************
Hail December! The Twelfth month!
Hail to the number twelve. Three cheers (four times) for the ol’ 12, the number with so many easy factors: 2,6, 3,4. The number on the top of the clock! Hurray for the end of the Julian year, and the beginning of a new one. Twelve more months! Twelve more reasons to celebrate.
The word twelve, whose early English-Germanic roots derive from “two left”, or two left over after counting to ten, completes the cycle for us. After twelve o’clock we start counting the hours again. Every day (actually twice a day) we count twelve hours. And you know, of course, what time it is when your clock strikes thirteen? That’s right! Time to get your clock fixed!
Happy Holiday Season to all! Dozens of blessings for the twelve days of Christmas. Twelve songs of praise from the Twelve chromatic notes, Twelve hurrahs from the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Also twelve shout-outs from the Twelve signs of the zodiac up in the sky! Hail the 12 and Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to all!
Here’s Twelve Gates to the City to get you started on a happy twelfth month.
from Chaplin’s Gold Rush – when we hear the melody played as we watch the New Year’s party from the outside. Tremendously sad and beautiful at the same time. Such was Chaplin’s genius. Sing along! And Happy New Year! 
Hurray for the end of the Julian year, and the beginning of a new one. Twelve more months! Twelve more reasons to celebrate.
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