Anka Games

[Darth Gupta]

Helloand Happy Summer! I hope you are all doing well since my last check in. Life has been very busy here with the kids, sports, friends, the end of school and trying to meet all of my work deadlines. I thought I would pop in quick to tell you about a couple of those work related things.

If you would like to join the sew along, please drop me an email at hea...@ankastreasures.com and I will add you to the list. If you want the kit pictured on the pattern front, you can find it here. If you have any questions for me about any of this, please leave me a comment here or drop me an email.

This version features the fabric collection Rosa by Crystal Manning for Moda fabrics, with the addition of the navy background from my Wildlfower Boutique collection. I am currently loving navy backgrounds (which you will see when I get to announce my next fabric collection at Spring Market!)

Twinkly Stars in the next runner to share and also features my Shades of Summer collection from Riley Blake designs. I wanted to include an offset design with a little bit more of a modern flair, so that is how this design idea started.

When I came up with this design, I could also envision it in a patriotic color combo and a darker background. I found this line, Fireworks and Freedom by Bella Blvd and mixed it with some blue yarn dyed Essex linen for the perfect 4th of July table topper.

Alpine Drive is last runner in the preview and I designed this one specifically to hang above my fireplace. It makes a cute runner on a table too, but I decorate a lot with snowflakes and trees on my mantel, so it fits right in ?

This second version is made from my stash and uses lot of Riley Blake Basics. I think this version really shows off the piecing in the trees. By the way, those trees are just made from half-square triangles, pieced in rows and then cut diagonally in the shape of a tree. You can see this a little better in the close up photos.

As one of the leading teen idols of the day, Paul Anka was as popular in Europe as he was in North America. A Parisian reviewer (quoted by David Cobb in Canadian Magazine) commented: "A finger of Johnnie Ray, a touch of Frankie Laine, the zest of Elvis Presley, several drops of the Platters - shake and serve. That's the Paul Anka cocktail." An acclaimed National Film Board production, Lonely Boy (the title taken from one of his 1960 hits), documented Anka's rise to stardom. In 1960 he became the youngest performer ever to appear at the Copacabana in New York; the LP At the Copa (ABC S-353) was made at this time. Though his records were no less popular in Canada, Anka made only rare Canadian appearances over the next dozen years, and his family moved to New York in 1961. Anka later made his home in Carmel, California.

Anka, who took small roles in Hollywood films in the early 1960s (eg, The Longest Day), saw his singing career wane in the mid-1960s, the result of the change in popular tastes coinciding with the rise of the Beatles. His recordings released 1962-9 by RCA included just three substantial hits: "Love Me Warm and Tender," "A Steel Guitar and a Glass of Wine," and "Eso Beso." His "Ogni Volta" was a million-seller in Italy in 1964. Concentrating on songwriting, he wrote "My Way" to the melody of a French song, "Comme d'habitude," for Frank Sinatra, who made it a personal philosophical statement on the later years of his career. The song also was recorded by many other singers, including Elvis Presley and the Sex Pistols. Anka's "She's a Lady" was a major hit in 1971 for Tom Jones.

Anka resumed his acting career in the early 1990s, appearing (among other roles) in the film Ordinary Magic. He continued to perform in Las Vegas and also appeared regularly in Atlantic City. He frequently gave private concerts at conventions.

Anka made more than 120 LPs, among them several for ABC-Paramount, more than a dozen for RCA, and others for Buddah, Barnaby, United Artists, Columbia, and other labels. Collections of his most popular records also were released by RCA, United Artists, Buddah, and K-Tel. Anka was an affiliate of BMI; copyright of his songs was held by Spanka Music Corp and Paulanne Music, Inc. Sixteen of his songs, including "My Way" and "Having My Baby," received BMI awards for two million or more performances. He has been nominated a dozen times for Juno awards, winning in 1975 as composer of the year. A songbook comprising 28 Anka hits was published by Cherry Lane Music Co in 1989. Anka's theme for The Tonight Show was reputedly played 1.4 million times (it earned a BMI Classic Contribution Award); his score for The Longest Day was nominated for an Academy Award.

Paul Anka's later Canadian appearances remained intermittent but included several concerts 1974-84 in major venues - eg, the O'Keefe Centre, the National Arts Centre, the Canadian National Exhibition Grandstand, Maple Leaf Gardens, and Place des Arts. He starred 1972-3 in the CBC-TV variety series "ANKA," originating in Vancouver. In 1991 Anka was briefly part-owner of the Ottawa Senators' National Hockey League franchise. An Ottawa street was named Paul Anka Drive. Anka performed a public concert in his hometown in 2002, his first there in two decades.

Anka's achievements were chronicled in a CBC Life and Times documentary (first aired 2003), as well on A&E's Biography. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the American Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 1991 France named him a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He is a member of the Order of Canada and has a star on Canada's Walk of Fame.

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