My Daily Smile

Life is short - begin every day with a smile!

The real story behind Dolly Parton’s monster hit “I will always love you”

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Image credit: DollyParton.com

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A while back I wrote this post about how the hit song “I will always love you” went to #1 on the charts on three different occasions.

In a nutshell, that post explained how Dolly wrote that song about her mentor and duet partner Porter Wagoner to let him know how much she cared about him after she made the decision to leave Porter’s TV show.

In the short video below, Dolly gives a more detailed description of how all of that played out at the time, in her own words. After she finishes speaking she sings the song again for our listening pleasure.   [Read more…]

Historic video: Flying Failures

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A few days ago I shared this short video about the lives of Wilbur and Orville Wright, the famous Ohio brothers who designed, built and flew the very first successful heavier-than-air aircraft.

Although they were the first to achieve success, the Wright Brothers were far from the first people to attempt to create a flying machine. There were actually many before them, and to be honest, some of their designs were pretty interesting.

Today’s video shows several early aircraft prototypes that probably seemed like good ideas at the time, but ultimately ended in failure  – some of which just might bring a smile to your face.  [Read more…]

Life hack: I just found the easiest way to remove stubborn jar lids

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Note: The link in this post is an affiliate link.

Few things in life are more frustrating than a jar lid that simply refuses to open. There are several things you can use to help break the seal and remove a stubborn lid, but I just found the best of the lot.

It’s called a JarKey and that name is actually quite fitting given the purpose it serves.  [Read more…]

Another beautiful instrumental guitar performance: “You’re Still The One”

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It’s no secret that I love music. It’s also no secret that I love guitar instrumentals after hearing my dad play them numerous times as I was growing up.

A while back I featured a young man named Guus Dielissen playing “I Don’t Want to Miss A Thing”, and that post was incredibly well received.

The short video below features Guus yet again. This time he’s playing the Shania Twain classic “You’re Still The One”, which many consider to be one of the greatest love songs ever.  [Read more…]

A slice of history: Jana Jae’s “Listen to the Mockingbird” played on an Edison Cylinder Phonograph

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Over 100 years ago Thomas Edison invented his ground-breaking Edison Cylinder Phonograph, the first commercially available machine for recording and reproducing sound.

For the first time ever the folks who owned these machines could listen to their favorite music at any time, and as often as they wished.

In the early 1900s Edison’s Cylinder Phonograph was more or less replaced in the marketplace by the phonograph record players that many of us grew up listening to. [Read more…]