Theme Thursday - Ball

Some ball-shaped things in my world.

Dandelion puffball in the Quarry Meadow in Ballard Park.

Milkweed on Sachuest Point.

A Buttonbush flower at Salt Marsh House on Hazard Rd.

A Bull Thistle bud (it should be flowering in the next week or so) on Warner St.

Ball-shaped topiary on Warner St.

Video time! The first song to pop into my head was "Red Rubber Ball" by The Cyrkle; the song was written by Paul Simon (yes, that Paul Simon) and Bruce Woodley (of the group The Seekers), and first performed and released by The Cyrkle and later by The Seekers. I had thought that Paul and Artie had also recorded it when they were still Tom & Jerry, but I was wrong. Oh well...

But I decided not to use it when I got led in a different direction. The other song that occurred to me will be discussed below (I'm saving the best for last), but it led me to think of another, well off the beaten path piece of animation I ran across several years ago. It's by two guys operating as Animusic; they create these Rube Goldberg-esque animated music machines and the music these machines "make". This one is the first one of their pieces I ever ran across, called "Pipe Dream".

Animusic inspired others to explore the possibilities of this. The best of them, in my own humble opinion, is by a guy on YouTube called dhugger (his homepage on YouTube didn't list a real name). I really like this piece, called "The Ball Machine".

But the song that really led me away from "Red Rubber Ball" was the 2003 live performance in Milan by Peter Gabriel of his song "Growing Up". This concert was filmed and became the Growing Up Live concert DVD, which is where I first saw it. Peter uses a big, transparent inflatable ball to perform from within for the song, and he has some fun with it, including a lot of bouncing around. Here it is in all its glory. Enjoy!

Photos & text © 2007, 2009, & 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger