Y is for Yma Sumac

The Rogue Speaks:

Well, last week I told you that I was going to connect my "X" and "Y" posts for Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday, and today I am fulfilling that promise.

I grew up in a home where there was music--classical, contemporary, and international, thanks to my father. I was a small child when I first heard the voice of Yma Sumac. She was quite the rage in the 40's and 50's, and her recordings made their way to the U.S. where they were eagerly snapped up by music aficionados who just could not believe her vocal range. It was totally amazing! Her vocal range was over five octaves. She was able to sing baritone notes as well as notes higher than an ordinary singer. The album my father bought was called "The Voice of Xtabay." Apparently no one in America knew how to spell Xtabai!!

Yma was born in Peru, and was believed to be an Incan princess, directly descended from Atahualpa, the last Incan emperor. Hmmm! That sounds suspiciously like the the subject of my last week's offering!!

She first appeared on radio in 1942, singing Peruvian folk music. The music that made her famous in many countries is called Exotica. She recorded many tracks of folk and Exotica, as well as a sultry selection of lounge music.

She died in Los Angeles at the age of 86.

Well, I've gotta jump now! It's time to research a "W" for next week!

p.s. The singer your hear in my musical selection from Playlist is YMA!!

Did I really say "W"???? I meant "Z"!!!!!

The House In The Woods

The Rogue Speaks:

Very clever, Miss Jenny! You thought you could challenge us with poetry for your Saturday Centus, but now you have to read the words of all the Dr. Zeuss wannabees in blogland! Well, here's my hasty offering! Now I'm off to the Tucson Museum of Art spring festival, to check out all the pretties they have on display. As always, the prompt is in bold type:

The House In The Woods

“I’m not a chicken,”
The young boy said.
He took off his cap,
And sat, scratching his head.
“I’ll run to the front door
And give it a rap!
Those spooks, they can’t hurt me!
They’re taking a nap!”
His buddies were laughing,
“A chicken,” they think.
Their leader just sat there
And gave them a wink.
“I’d run like the dickens
And I’d be the winner,
But I hear Mama calling!
It’s time for my dinner!”

The Legends of Xtabai

The Rogue Speaks:

In keeping with my search for little-known facts/fiction on Jenny's
Alphabe-Thursday, I present to you today the legends of Xtabai!

The first legend of Xtabai tells of a young woman of the Mayan aristocracy. She is beyond beautiful, with dreamy eyes and a seductive smile. Every young man lusted after her but she was indifferent to all of them, including a handsome and gallant nobleman.

One resident of her village was a sorceress who wanted the nobleman for herself. She lures the beautiful maiden to her cottage and tricks her into drinking a potion that turns her into an insatiable sex-addict. The young woman's addiction eventually causes her death. It is said that she was re-born as Xtabai, who appears to men as a seductive woman with long hair and a flowing dress. She then turns into an evil spirit, causing the death of any man who follows her.

Another legend tells of two women, one good and the other evil. The evil one was beautiful, but she was shunned because she was a loose woman, and the good one had virtue but was scornful of the poor. When both died the good one's body began to stink of decay, but the evil and beautiful one's body was sweet-smelling. The "good" woman was reborn as Xtabai, who led men to their death with her selfishness.

Xtabai appears to men during a full moon. They never see her face, but she lures them into the deep forest, where they are then killed. Xtabai still walks the earth today!!

HANGMAN

The Rogue Speaks:

Jenny's Saturday Centus, in which we are given a prompt, and must write a short story in only 100 words or less, makes us stretch our creative selves and work to become better writers. I always look forward to Saturday and to Jenny's challenge. The prompt is in bold type.

The curtain parted. The audience, riveted to their seats, stared in horror as the body of the main character dangled lazily in the air, a rope suspended somewhere high in the rafters of the theatre, tied tightly around his neck. He was obviously quite dead. A piece of paper, pinned to the front of his shirt, bore only one word in large block letters--"LIAR."

Was it murder, or was it suicide?

THE WOLF MAN!!

The Rogue Speaks:

We are all the way up to "W" in Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday, and there were certainly many words to choose from! It actually wasn't too hard for me to make up my mind, though. I have always loved the horror movies of the 30's and 40's, so Lon Chaney Jr. immediately came to mind as the quintessential wolf man!!

Lon Chaney, Jr. was born in Oklahoma City in 1906. His father was an actor who discouraged his son from a career in films. Instead, the younger Chaney went to work for an appliance company in L.A., and did not begin his acting career until after his father died. He starred in his first film in 1932. In 1939, he made quite a name for himself in "Of Mice and Men," but once he played "The Wolf Man" in 1941, he became typecast as a star of horror films.

Although he occasionally played character parts in other films, his typecasting and a serious bout with alcoholism made his acting life difficult. He died in 1973, but his wonderful horror films live on!!


Did you think that was the end of my post?? No, no, no! In keeping with my propensity for the somewhat bizarre, I feel compelled to write about Wolf Man Syndrome, or hypertrichosis.

Hypertrichosis is an extremely rare medical condition that causes thick hair to cover the body. The hair also grows in places not normally covered by hair to begin with. Not much is known about this rare condition, but one theory is that it is caused by a gene that becomes a throwback to the early evolution of humans.

The two young Mexican brothers shown above both suffer from this strange disease. They have made lives for themselves, however, displaying their strange affliction on the midway of a Mexican circus.

After researching this strange disease, I will never again complain about having to shave my legs. Things could be a lot worse!

First-hand News from Tokyo

The Rogue Speaks:

Dear bloggers, if any of you are interested in reading a first-hand report of what life is currently like in Japan, and specifically in Tokyo, please read my friend Jen's blog, Hamster Central. Please keep the Japanese people in your thoughts and in your prayers. There, but for the grace of God, go we!!!

The Perfect Machine

The Rogue Speaks:

I was a little late with my offering for Alphabe-Thursday, so I hope you will take the time to read it, as well as my 100 word offering for Jenny's Saturday Centus. This one really had me wracking my brain, but I think I finally came up with a suitable one. The prompt is in bold type.

THE PERFECT MACHINE:

He had never been accused of being intelligent. That much was painfully true. For years he stood at the copy machine, making copies of the engineers’ reports to the CEO, and always making an extra copy for himself. He memorized the data, studied, learned, and had finally created the perfect piece of equipment for the task at hand. He had slipped his own report into the stack that he delivered to the CEO’s office.

Several hours later, the door to the CEO’s office flew open. “ Miller!” he yelled. “Which one of you is Miller? Get in here now! My God, man, you’re a genius!”

VAGABONDS!!

The Rogue Speaks:

It's time again for Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday, and I can hardly believe we are up to "V." If you want to read more "V" entries, just go to Jenny's blog. I'm heading there as soon as I write my offering, so please read on:

Hurrah for the literary vagabonds! They have made our reading lives so full with their tales of daring deeds, and their struggles in life! A critic once defined a literary vagabond as one "with a vagrant strain in the blood, a natural inquisitiveness about the world beyond their doors." That certainly describes Jack Kerouac, and a host of others whose books we have read and music we have heard. Woody Guthrie was a vagabond, as was Henry David Thoreau. And I'll be you didn't know that Walt Whitman, and even Leo Tolstoy were considered vagabonds!


One famous vagabond was Ernest Hemingway. His travels around the world have given us such novels as A Farewell to Arms, Under Kilimanjaro, The Old Man and The Sea, and a host of others.

John Steinbeck is also on our list of literary vagabonds. Who can forget The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, and Of Mice and Men? John Steinbeck traveled around as a vagabond, collecting material for his wonderful stories.



Now here's one for you--Abraham! Yep, he was a vagabond, traveling around with his band of followers, searching for the Promised Land. Did you know that Abraham is considered the father of three religions, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity? Well, he is, but that is a post for another day.

We cannot forget about Jack Dawson, that vagabond artist who stole the heart of Rose DeWitt Bukater in the movie "Titanic!" He was only one of many artists who loved the life of a vagabond!

Vagabonds have a serious case of wanderlust, and our literary vagabonds have wandered into many wonderful stories for our edification and enjoyment. We should always think of them kindly!!!

I'm Sorry!

The Rogue Speaks:

Ah, yes! Jenny's Saturday Centus! Too much salty popcorn at the movie yesterday has left me with a head like a water balloon! So if my centus is completely stupid, will someone please let me know so I can re-write it? Thanks, pals!!



He had been such an idiot! Why couldn't he learn to keep his fat mouth shut! This time he had really done it, though.

"Out!" she snapped. "Get out! You have NO empathy! You have NO filter! You have hurt me for the last time!"

Now he had to find a way out of this mess and make amends for his stupid remark. O.k., so he wasn't good with words--that much was clear. Plus, he wasn't good at make-up gifts. He stood in front of the display, trying to choose. Everything depended upon this single card. He looked frantically for a Hallmark moment.