Sunday, October 14, 2012

Out Spotlight

Today's Out Spotlight was a songwriter, poet and educator.  They are best known for writing “America the Beautiful" and for popularizing "Mrs. Santa Claus" through the poem Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride. Today's  Out Spotlight is Katharine Lee Bates.

Katharine Lee Bates was born August 12, 1859  in Falmouth, Massachusetts, the daughter of a Congregational minster.  Her father’s family left England and settled in Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1635. He was the pastor of the Congregational Church on the Village Green at Falmouth on Cape Cod and died from a back injury when Bates was a month old. Her mother, a graduate of Mount Holyoke Seminary, moved the family to Wellesley where Bates graduated in 1880 from then-new Wellesley College, thanks to help from her two older brothers.

 After spending a year at Oxford University, she began teaching English at Wellesley College and soon became a full professor. Her salary was $400 per year “with board and washing.” When she met  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, he praised her high-school poem, “Sleep”. Writing was a continuing priority that provided some financial support—children’s stories, books of verse, textbooks, travel books based on her three sabbatical years in Europe and the Middle East.
 
In the summer of 1893, when she was lecturing at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Bates joined a group that took a rough prairie wagonride plus a struggle by mule, followed by an exhausting hike to the top of 14,000 foot-high Pike’s Peak. Overwhelmed by what she saw, Bates scribbled in her notebook wrote down a four-verse poem originally titled “Pike’s Peak,” now known as “America the Beautiful.” When published in local newspapers, the poem became wildly popular. Her copyright provided continuing royalties for years.

Although set to various tunes, the poem is traditionally sung to the tune of Samuel Ward’s hymn “Materna,” and has become the unofficial national anthem. There have been efforts to give “America the Beautiful” legal status as the national anthem.

She also popularized Mrs. Claus in her poem Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride from the collection Sunshine and other Verses for Children (1889).

Bates contributed regularly to periodicals, sometimes under the pseudonym James Lincoln, including Atlantic Monthly, Congregationalist, Boston Evening Transcript, Christian Century, Contemporary Verse, Lippincott's and Delineator.


In 1915, Bates cofounded and served as the president of the New England Poetry Club. She was actively involved in social and labor reform.

While teaching at Wellesley, Bates became involved with professor, poet and dean Katharine Coman.  She described their relationship as a “romantic friendship.” The couple lived together for 25 years until Coman died. “So much of me died with Katharine Coman,” Bates said, “that I’m sometimes not quite sure whether I’m alive or not.” To honor her partner and celebrate their shared love and scholarship, Bates wrote “Yellow Clover: A Remembrance of Love” (1922).

Bates passed away in Wellesley, Massachusetts, March 28, 1929 at the age of 70.

The Falmouth Historical Society preserved Bates’s family home as a historical landmark. In 1970, she was inducted posthumously into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

"That the hymn has gained a hold is clearly due to the fact that Americans are at heart idealists.”

54 comments:

Houston we have a Touch Down said...

Aubry Midkiff ‏@aubrymidkiff

The lead singer of Tennis and I just agreed to exchange progeny. I gave Noam Pikelny a beer. Jake Gyllenhal &Ryan Gosling are here. #aclfest
10:39 PM - 14 Oct 12

He was there on Friday said...

From Friday, 10.12.12


rachel waters ‏@deerrachel

Apparently Jake Gyllenhaal is here. My plan is to steal him.
6:59 PM - 12 Oct 12

Tweeter Location Miranda TX said...

miranda ‏@porcelainqueen_

JESUS WOW U STAY IN THAT GREY HOODIE JAKE GYLENHALL U STAY IN IT

12:34 AM - 13 Oct 12

prairiegirl said...

Jake flew back & forth this weekend. He was in ATX Friday morning. @deerrachel heard somewhere that Jake was at the festival and he was there earlier in the day but by the time she tweeted, he was long gone.

Jake returned to NYC later on Fri, performed at the play that night, Saturday and then Sunday. But yesterday, I bet he left right after the play. He high tailed it out of NYC and he went back to Texas.

These guys are nuts.

Yes, Ryan Gosling is in Austin TX said...

Stephanie Contreras ‏@stephaniecont

So Ryan Gosling and Natalie Portman were at ACL. No big deal.

12:38 AM - 15 Oct 12

Mary Tran ‏@MarysLame

“@olv: FYI: Ryan Gosling was spotted at the Whole Foods in Austin, TX (again) about an hour ago” umm are you freakin kidding me?!?!! ��
Collapse

11:13 PM - 14 Oct 12

Chinmay Baxi ‏@ischombay

Also saw Natalie portman today... I'll die happy. Seeing michael fassbender, Ryan gosling, and Terrence Malick was alright too
Collapse

11:08 PM - 14 Oct 12
Location: ACL

Not a sighting said...

That tweet about the Grey Hoodie is taken completely out of context. It’s clear from the rest of her tweets that she’s making references to Donnie Darko. She didn’t see Jake in Texas.

have a cigar said...

It’s clear from the rest of her tweets that she’s making references to Donnie Darko.

Good catch!

Know your tweeters said...

@porcelainqueen_ is a foul mouthed tweeter, isn't she?

prairiegirl said...

That clarifies that one, Not A Sighting. The tweet was not intentionally "taken out of context" however, watch your accusations.

You are not going to get anything on the other tweets.

He was there on Friday and he's there right now. And if the Old School Hollywood Homophobes want to try and move that family "in the middle of the night" like a group of rent bailers, then you guys would be sicker than fiction.

I wish Jake and Austin would just stop all of this absolute nonsense. This is precisely why Jake looks like he does. It's why Austin had dark circles and bags under his eyes in one of those ACL fan pictures. It's the jumping through hoops and spinning on the hamster wheel that they're doing while living this life of witness protection program guard-ees.

We know why this particular trip is so important, so just stop it. You're wasting your breath.


prairiegirl said...

This is exactly why that phony Jake Twitter ramped up their tweets all weekend. It is exactly why.

That account has tweeted this kind of nonsense, it's chief intent to flood twitter with its paid followers' responses and try to bury any possible real tweet sighting of Jake in Texas.


@Jake_Gyllenhaal
10/14/12, 10:09

Ok, SO I've got about half hour free, One I dont do very often, hit me up with questions! Will answer as many as I can.

@Jake_Gyllenhaal
10/14/12, 14:36

Next time you lip sync a performance apparently about me, remember what I have on you :-)


I mean, look at that. And those were both just from yesterday. I mean, seriously? Jake had a play yesterday and you expect us smart ones to believe that guy is sitting around tweeting backstage at the Laura Pel theater? That Taylor Swift tweet got that account's followers all wound up. That TS nonsense had died down to embers. And that tweet yesterday just revved it all up all over again.

It's because that account is operating under the approval and design of Jake's mgmnt. Its purpose is to distract and encourage the bogging down of a search of tweets on Jake for the slip of that one true tweet sighting.

That was never more evident than this past weekend.

Know your tweeters said...

It's because that account is operating under the approval and design of Jake's mgmnt.

Interesting theory, but that's all it is :)

Reality said...

Jake was in NY friday:

Franchesca Ramsey ‏@chescaleigh

OMG I just saw Jake Gyllenhaal in the subway. I am fan-girling so hard right now. So embarrassing
he was getting off the E train in Alberto Chan ‏@albertochan
I think just saw Jake Gyllenhaal in soho. Hipsters looking....
9:42 NY

the west village.
I completely lost my cool. I don't even know what happened! lol
he was passing the train window and I literally screamed "g that's f-ing jake gylennhaal" and the entire car thought i was nuts

around 1:30 NY

Pili Castiñeyras Pili Castiñeyras ‏@Pilicasti

Aaaaaa no puedo creer q d pedo lo vi al potro d Jake Gyllenhaal si pasaba dos min antes llegaba para la foto #teamoo pic.twitter.com/v6coDsiU

Jennifer Witzel ‏@jennifer_witzel

Jake Gyllenhaal.... http://instagr.am/p/QtFOnCo8Sm/


Liz Bauer ‏@lizzgb519

Met Jake Gyllenhaal!!! He put on a great performance in his new play #jakegyllenhaal #ifthereisihaventfoundityet pic.twitter.com/YYg9Nlm7

10:48

Plus Yesterday Jake after the play had a A discussion with the actors
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Tuesday–Saturday evenings at 7:30pm; Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00pm
Previews: August 24–September 19, 2012
Opening Night: Thursday, September 20, 2012
Monday, November 19, 2012 evening performance: 7:30pm
No Perfomances: Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 22, 2012; November 26–December 7, 2012

Complimentary Talkbacks: A discussion with the actors following the 2:00pm performance (subject to change without notice). Sunday, October 14, 2012; Saturday, October 20, 2012; Saturday, October 27, 2012; Sunday, November 4, 2012; Sunday, November 11, 2012

http://www.roundabouttheatre.org/shows-events/if-there-is.aspx





reality #correction said...

Forgot this one

Alberto Chan ‏@albertochan
I think just saw Jake Gyllenhaal in soho. Hipsters looking....
9:42 NY

Franchesca Ramsey ‏@chescaleigh

OMG I just saw Jake Gyllenhaal in the subway. I am fan-girling so hard right now. So embarrassing
he was getting off the E train in the west village.
I completely lost my cool. I don't even know what happened! lol
he was passing the train window and I literally screamed "g that's f-ing jake gylennhaal" and the entire car thought i was nuts

around 1:30 NY

Sorry for the mess

roundabout said...

Jake didn't participate in yesterday's Talkback.

Get real said...

Sorry, we know tweets are faked, and these two guys are experts at distracting from the truth.

prairiegirl said...

If you're going to bring tweets to this discussion today, please be prepared to print dates and times with your tweets. We're not going to decipher through a "mess".

I saw those. That last one is the same girl as the very first tweet because that is part of the same conversation; I saw it.

How easy is it for Jake's people to have false tweets planted?

But who is going to plant a false Texas sighting tweet? A NYC one is a dime a dozen.

Sure there were some NYC Jake tweets on Friday.

And was Jake at the Q&A yesterday?

I bet someone can answer that for us.

Someone who was there

Question said...

Jake didn't participate in yesterday's Talkback.



How do you know?

R versus F said...

Natalia Garza ‏@nataliagarzag
It was a pleasure meeting you @AUS10NICHOLS #ACL pic.twitter.com/xeLEM8kt
6 h ago

India Milton ‏@IndiaBethany
@TheRealShantel @AUS10NICHOLS It was so nice to meet you both at ACL, you made my day! Thank you so much!! :) http://instagr.am/p/QtgiBVxjDh/
8 h ago

I try again said...

Jake didn't participate in yesterday's Talkback.



How do you know?

roundabout said...

Someone who was there told me.

Nice try said...

Someone who was there told me.



Yeah right, sorry but if you don't come here with something more consistent i can't believe you.

Special K said...

Jake doesn't have to be back on stage until Tuesday night I can see him leaving right after the play and heading to TX for a couple of nights.

It's not the first time he's done quick trips.

The big apple said...


Jake was seen Friday in NYC in the morning and afternoon SpecialK

there is also a pic of him and Bryan O'B in the subway, but I'm not sure if the pic was taken Friday or Sat.

Special K said...

I was talking about leaving yesterday and going to TX.

7:58 AM said...

Oops I'm sorry.

Know your trolls said...

Hi minka trolly

Florida Tom said...

Jake didnt participate in the Q and A yesterday. I was there.

Florida Tom said...

Great day in NYC with OMG friends. I am not great at reviewing plays or movies. The play certainly was unusal but the acting was very good. I thought Jake was very very good. Again he did not stay for the Q and A only the young girl and the actor who plays her father stayed.

Methodical Muser said...


Yep, I saw those ACL tweets too and was not surprised, especially given the time of year it is. I also noticed the flood of tweets from that fake Jake Gyllenhaal account ramp up over the weekend and the Spin Cycle resurrection was a dead giveaway to distract and introduce another venue for fake sightings to be made. Both Austin and Jake look exhausted and this kind of "time travel" is one big reason why. In a way, that Donnie Darko tweet was a perfect compliment to Jake's real life exploits these days.

destiny said...

I saw Jake's play yesterday with M, Tom, Roma, and some of our spouses and friends. We had a great time at the play, went for a drink at Sardi's, and then dinner afterwards at a nearby Italian restaurant. SOme of us also met for brunch at my place beforehand.

Jake was really great in the play, he was the best thing about it. I really forgot who I was watching in a way I don't do with his films. I think he could have a very good career on stage if he wanted to go in that direction.

The actress playing his niece was also really good, and the two of them worked well together.

I liked the staging a lot too, with objects that began the play piled up in the middle of the stage being moved around to create scenes. There's also a lot of water involved, but that's all I'll say on that point.

The play itself was decent and kept my interest while watching it for the most part, but it's not very memorable. Some of us thought the play suffered when Jake wasn't on stage, that's how good and how central he is to it.

Jake really is in most of the play, except the first few minutes and a stretch of about 10-15 minutes about 2/3 of the way in; I don't know why someone here kept saying he's not in it all that much. Not true.

destiny said...

It's true that Jake did not show up for the Artist talk after the play. I was really disappointed he didn't stick around because we picked this particular showing in hopes that he would participate. The actress playing the mother didn't come out either, and the explanation given was that this was the start of their weekend.

I have no idea if he didn't stick around because he had to catch a flight. The play is short, and sticking around for the talk would have only involved another 30-40 minutes.

NYC said...

Alex Fromer ‏@alexfromer
ny
Good Morning to me! Jake Gyllenhaal just pet Ziggy outside my favorite coffee shop and told me she's so sweet. #swoon

9:53 am

Posting (not a sighting) said...

@ Prairiegirl,
The tweet was not intentionally "taken out of context" however, watch your accusations.

You are not going to get anything on the other tweets.


I didn’t accuse anyone. I don’t even know who posted it. Just stated that it was taken out of context, which it was. I always like to check sources before accepting as fact. I’m not out to “get anything” on these tweets.
IMO it is highly unlikely that Jake did a round-trip to Texas in the middle of his theatre schedule. If he went to the festival he would have arrived on Sunday evening the earliest, which is entirely possible as he now has a few days off (I’m not sure when ACL ends). I’ll wait to see what tweets/information surfaces on Monday / Tuesday before I draw any final conclusions on that.

I’m not sure if the rest of your post was aimed at me specifically or was more of a general rant, so will refrain from commenting on that.

Special K said...

Posting(not a sighting) - comments are moderated at the moment, that's why it seemed like your comment wasn't posting.

twitter deceits said...

At this point, I really don't need to see more NY sightings of Jake Gyllenhaal today or tomorrow...or ever again. It's pretty clear now to me that his people have been planting tweets and pictures of him for some time. Certainly, for the past three years, but particularly since he's been associated with living in NY, which began last Fall. Jake was seen in Austin at ACL on Friday and now again on Sunday after the play. And, of course, Austin Nichols is there too. That is no coincidence because the odds of that happening is highly unlikely. Now, we learn he didn't do the Q&A either. At this point, when I know I'm being lied to by a much of PR goons, I don't need them to "prove" I'm wrong with another, "Oh Jake Gyllenhaal's at Bubby's," nonsense. Or, "He's so hot," and my Twitter Account profile distinctly says I live in Manhattan.I wonder how much more these closet cases pay their "teams" to keep their "dirty little secrets" from the unsuspecting public?

Viento Noreste said...

Although set to various tunes, the poem is traditionally sung to the tune of Samuel Ward’s hymn “Materna,” and has become the unofficial national anthem.

I loved this week's Out Spotlight. :)

the real m said...

Just dropped in to add my two cents. Jake was terrific in the play. He worked hard, schlepping props, managing an accent and complicated dialogue all the while giving a great performance. As for the play itself, Not memorable in my book. But I am so happy to have seen him perform live. He looked quite handsome despite the unruly hair and beard. In great physical shape too. The q and a afterward was disappointing since he did not show. I guess he had a plane to catch since it only lasted a half hour at most. Perhaps it would have run longer had he participated.

Special K said...

I just want to say:

Happy Birthday Destiny!

Hope you have a day today!

Florida Tom said...

We were all dissappointed that Jake didn't come out with the other 2 actors after the play. I am certain the whole audience was. No one asked but I think an interesting question would have been how it felt for them to work with such a high profile actor and how has their relationship with him developed since the play opened. Jake did seem to have a very good rapport with the young girl.

Florida Tom said...

Destiny Happy Birthday. The Jets gave you a very nice present yesterday:-)

prairiegirl said...

Happy Birthday, Destiny!! Hope you have had a great day today.

I'm sorry I haven't been on since before I left for work but the job today was a brute and I just now got home. Since we were on moderation most of the time anyway...;D

Special K said...

Well if they said that it was the start of Jake's weekend, I could see him getting out of town and heading to Big T.

Did anyone notice that Austin didn't post pictures of any of the band from last night? Just the afternoon. Makes you wonder after all that those pictures the first two days, that he wouldn't for the headlines for the last and biggest night of ACL.

prairiegirl said...

Good observation, Special. And no one questions Austin's Wolfman Jack impersonation all weekend long. Taking pictures with fans here and there, stirring up all of his followers into a wild tweeting and retweeting frenzy.

No one questions why he's not in L.A. hitting the pavement? Because some of the OTH girls sure have. 'What's your next project?' 'I miss you on my TV screen' Nooo, he's in TX. Then he's in LA. Then he's...where? Then he pops up in NYC. Now he's back in TX. He's in Germany. He's doing homemade movies with his GoPro, he's training for a triathlon, he's hitting a 3-day music festival. No one wonders why he hasn't had any news of upcoming projects.

Meanwhile, Jake has been the one working since Austin stopped.

if this doesn't tell you it's a fake account nothing will said...

@Jake_Gyllenhaal

As A Democrat, I'll say it now, I endorse Mitt Romney For President Of The United States #MyVoteIsMade

prairiegirl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
prairiegirl said...

I don't know why someone here kept saying he's not in it all that much. Not true.

Well, back on the 27th through about the 28th of August, there was a good handful of us discussing this subject which came up after a post by entertainment lawyer about Jake's fast exit immediately following Preview Opening Night was published.

It was also brought up on a thread of Broadway.com during the beginning of Previews, by someone who had seen the play as well. But no one was pounding the statement that he "was hardly in it" - although I did see a one-time comment by someone who said he "was hardly in it". What the commenter on Broadway.com said was that Jake was hardly in the last act.

Now it's very possible, that this was something that was changed between the time of Previews and official opening night.

And the reason we were discussing Jake's presence in the final act on Opening Preview Night was because some of us believed Austin was there. And Jake skidaddled out of there on that particular night.

Hmmm. Kind of sounds like what happened yesterday too, doesn't it?

I've been hounding Jake relentlessly since the release of that movie EOW. I've seen a lot of distasteful things.

But I have no doubt in my mind, he never had any intention of doing that Q&A yesterday because he knew where it fell on the calendar. This is a very special time of the month for that Gyllenichols family. So while play attendees stayed inside for the Q&A, Jake used that opportunity to scoot out of there and hit the road.

Very, very sharp. And while normally I would want to bop him on the head for skipping out, I'm not going to this time. Because he put his family first. He just wanted to go be with his family.

I was ecstatic as this unfolded last night; if that sounds awful, well that's just the way some will have to feel about it. I am so happy about this one isolated event. Just for tonight, I forget everything else.

No, I am not endorsing the hiding, the lying, etc. And I'm not sure what very well may happen after this (there traditionally have been repercussions for these slips), but that will be another day.



Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
prairiegirl said...

And you're a coward for saying that under Anonymous when you know full well it's going to be deleted.

Just so you can vent it out.

Hey - go ahead. So that must mean you believe there are children, don't you?

And you know why Jake is in Texas, don't you?

And you know what secrets they hide, don't you?

And you know that what some of us have said on here is indeed the truth.

Don't you? You must.

Get out of here, Jack. Go back to your bridge across the way. You told me to stay out of your territory? Well, the same works over here.

prairiegirl said...

If I want to be happy about what Jake did, I'll be happy.

sass said...

Glad y'all had fun with each other and @ the play. just had to tell you that The Drudge Report--reported a pro, I'm voting for Romney tweet by Jake G. Drudge realized this tweet was from a fake Jake twitter account...and removed it...Whew!

the real m said...

ENT lawyer has a blind about a closeted actor(academy award nominee or winner) finally being openly affectionate with a lover. A large number are guessing its Jake. Lets hope so. Though if he was spotted out in the open and not hiding, I'm not sure why ent lawyer does not just say who it is.

Florida Tom said...

Tweeter is out of control. A complete joke. It is getting worse and worse. I know people like it but you really cannot believe any of it.

I had to check something out myself a few weeks ago out of curiosity. A young lady tweeted that she saw Jake at a restaurant in Nashville I believe. I called the restaurant and a young lady answered the phone. I asked her if Jake really was at the restaurant the night before. She said she heard nothing about it and would ask a co worker. The co worker told her that she had worked that night and that no Jake was not there. She also said other people had called to inquire about it. So I guess I was not the only curious one. I really did not care if Jake was there or not but just felt it was an opportunity to check out if a tweet was BS and it was.





Florida Tom said...

The morale of the story is that I believe most tweets are nonsense. Especially the sighting tweets.

Special K said...

Hi Sass - Your post went triplicate. HA! So I went ahead and fixed it and left the first one you did.