Is Spring Finally Here?

By: ornamento.blog
Art, Flowers, Philadelphia, Photography, Wanamaker's Department Store, , , 2 Comments on Is Spring Finally Here?

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I saw this sign in the window of the Morning Glory Diner a couple of weeks ago but I admit that at that time Spring seemed so far away. Then yesterday, I saw my neighbor Bob outside starting work on his sidewalk garden. That means that Spring is here and that soon Bob, Loki the cat and Barbra the macaw will be hanging out by the Koi Pond. This year new family addition Calypso the cockatoo will join them. I can’t wait. Until then, here are some pictures I took at the Macy’s Spring Flower show now on display in the Wanamaker Building Grant Court. Enjoy!

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Philadelphia Holiday Traditions

By: ornamento.blog
Art, South Philadelphia, South Philly, Urban Landscape, Wanamaker's Department Store, , Leave a Comment on Philadelphia Holiday Traditions

Christmas Show in Macy’s (Wanamaker’s Grand Court). Click here for the history of this tradition.

Lighting the Menorah on Independence  Mall

Street Decorating in South Philadelphia. Read more about it here.

Kwanzaa Nguzo Saba Candle Lighting Ceremony and Dance

Holiday Train Shows Reading Terminal Market. Find out more here.

and finally, my favorite and the oldest of  all,

The Winter Solstice

Last year:

My Grandmothers’ Christmas Legacy

Virgil Fox, Bach, and the Wanamaker Organ

By: ornamento.blog
Bach, Blogroll, Church Music, history, Johan Sebastian Bach, Johann Sebastian Bach, Music, Organ Music, Personal History, Philadelphia, Uncategorized, Virgil Fox, Wanamaker's Department Store2 Comments on Virgil Fox, Bach, and the Wanamaker Organ

The above video is an interview of Virgil Fox, and a film of him playing the pipe organ at Wanamaker’s Department Store in Philadelphia.   Click the arrow in the lower left hand  of the You Tube box to view it. 

The organ is still there in the Wanamaker building, although the store is now a Macy’s.  If you are in  Center city Philadelphia,  stop by to see the organ sitting overhead in the store’s Grand Court.  They still play it on a daily basis.

I first heard Virgil Fox’s Album, Heavy Organ, Live at the Fillmore East” when I was around 15.  It was an experience I’ll never forget.   A few weeks ago, my brother mentioned listening to Fox on You Tube and I started jonesing for  for Heavy Organ.  Before he got into the music at that concert,  Fox told the audience,   “I believe that Sebastian Bach is delighted that you are here. Bach and Shakespeare have felt everything. This man Bach is, as history goes on,  proving to to be one of the great inspirations for our inheritance.  All we have to do is open our pores and let him in.”  Fox played though 144 speakers at that concert.  He really knew how to put on a show.

Do yourself a favor and let in Johan Sebastian Bach and Virgil Fox.  Listen to Heavy Organ in streaming audio, by clicking   Here.  You’ll have to create an account at Wolfgang’s Vault, but it’s definitely worth it.  The have a lot of great music including free streaming audio.

To learn more about the Wanamaker organ, press  Here.