Music Friday: Ed Sheeran Carves a Heart Pendant for His Girlfriend in the 2011 Love Song, 'Wake Me Up'

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you wonderful songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Ed Sheeran carves a heart pendant for his girlfriend in the 2011 love song, "Wake Me Up."

"Wake Me Up" is essentially a musical love letter to Sheeran's girlfriend, where the English singer/songwriter outlines all the characteristics and idiosyncrasies that make her so endearing.

Sheeran told The Sun, "I picked out every little thing about my ex-girlfriend that I thought was wicked (i.e. awesome) and put it into a song. There's a lyric about New Year's Day on Southwold Beach when I made her a necklace from two bits of chalk, which I carved into a heart."

In the song, he describes his romantic foray into jewelry-making...

"So I'll take you to the beach / And walk along the sand And I'll / Make you a heart pendant / With a pebble held in my hand / And I'll carve it like a necklace / So the heart falls where your chest is / And now a piece of me is a piece of the beach and it falls just where it needs to be / And rests peacefully / So you just need to breathe / To feel my heart against yours now / Against yours now."

In a beautifully turned phrase, Sheeran describes how he'd love to be wearing a wedding band on the ring finger of his left hand...

"See I could do without a tan / On my left hand, where my fourth finger meets my knuckle / And I should run you a hot bath / And fill it up with bubbles."

According to SongFacts.com, Sheeran penned "Wake Me Up" while poolside at the California residence of actor/singer/songwriter/comedian Jamie Foxx in 2010. Foxx had met Sheeran through a chance encounter at an open-mic night and was so impressed by his talent and potential that he invited Sheeran to perform on his radio show and to use his home recording studio.

Born in Hebden Bridge, England, in 1991, Sheeran sang in a church choir with his mother starting at the age of 4. He was inspired to pursue music as a career after having the opportunity to chat with Irish singer/songwriter Damien Rice. Although Sheeran was only 11 at the time, he still remembers the profound impact the meeting had on his life.

"I had a little bit of a chat and kind of had an epiphany, like 'Wow, this is exactly what I want to do!'" Sheeran told The Telegraph. "I got home that night and wrote a whole bunch of songs. I remember one was called 'Typical Average Teen.' Yeah, I was one of those."

At the age of 17, Sheeran moved to London, where he played small venues. In 2010, he bought a ticket to Los Angeles with no contacts or solid leads. All that changed when he met Foxx. Soon after, Sheeran was signed by Asylum Records.

His breakthrough song, “The A Team,” was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammy Awards. A year later, he was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2014 Grammy Awards.

Please check out the video of Sheeran’s live performance of “Wake Me Up.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along.

"Wake Me Up"
Written by Ed Sheeran and Jake Gosling. Performed by Ed Sheeran.

I should ink my skin
With your name
And take my passport out again
And just replace it

See I could do without a tan
On my left hand, where my fourth finger meets my knuckle
And I should run you a hot bath
And fill it up with bubbles

'Cause maybe you're lovable
And maybe you're my snowflake
And your eyes turn from green to gray and in the winter I'll
Hold you in a cold place
And you should never cut your hair
'Cause I love the way you flick it off your shoulder

And you will never know just how beautiful you are to me
But maybe I'm just in love when you wake me up
And would you ever feel guilty
If you did the same to me
Would you make me a cup of tea
To open my eyes in the right way
And I know you love Shrek
'Cause we've watched it twelve times
But maybe you're hoping for a fairy tale too
And if your DVD breaks, today
You shoulda got a VCR
'Cause I never owned a Blu-Ray
True say

And now I've always been s*** at computer games and your brother always beats me
And if I lost, I go all cross
And chuck all the controllers at the TV
And then you'd laugh at me
And be asking me
If I'm gonna be home next week
And then you'd lie with me till I fall asleep
And flutter eyelash on my cheek between the sheets

And you will never know just how beautiful you are to me
But maybe I'm just in love when you wake me up

I think you hate the smell of smoke
You always try'na get me to stop
But you drink as much as me
And I get drunk a lot

So I'll take you to the beach
And walk along the sand And I'll
Make you a heart pendant
With a pebble held in my hand

And I'll carve it like a necklace
So the heart falls where your chest is
And now a piece of me is a piece of the beach and it falls just where it needs to be
And rests peacefully
So you just need to breathe
To feel my heart against yours now
Against yours now

'Cause maybe I'm just in love when you wake me up

Or maybe I'm just in love when you wake me up
Maybe I fell in love when you woke me up

Credit: Image capture via YouTube.com.

Minnesota Twins Pitcher Phil Hughes Has 24-Karat Aspirations for His Surgically Removed Rib

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Phil Hughes shook up the internet last week when he hinted that he's seriously considering transforming his surgically removed rib into a piece of jewelry.

Hughes underwent surgery last July to correct a condition called thoracic outlet syndrome. During the surgery, a small rib in the upper chest was removed to alleviate pain caused by the compression of nerves and blood vessels near his collarbone and shoulder.

While chatting with reporters in Florida early last week, Hughes discussed his recovery and the fact that he decided to keep the rib as a memento.

“I haven’t decided what the next step is,” he said. “I have a few ideas. Plating it with some sort of precious metal is one way to go. I’ll figure out something to do with it before it corrodes.”

Hughes' outrageous jewelry concept sparked a surge of coverage and commentary by high-profile media outlets, such as USA Today, MSN, ESPN, Fox Sports and Yahoo! Sports, among others.

The 10-year veteran, who started with the New York Yankees and has been pitching for the Twins since 2014, turned to Twitter to chime in about the flurry of attention.

He tweeted: "2 things I definitely didn't foresee myself making headlines for: Adele jokes and making a rib into bling."

The Adele reference related to the singer's "restart" of her live tribute to George Michael at the Grammy Awards. Hughes had tweeted, "I wish I could have gotten an Adele do-over on 168 pitches in my career."

It's not unusual for a patient to keep the rib after surgery, according to Dr. Robert W. Thompson of Washington University, who does more than 200 thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) surgeries each year.

Thompson told USA Today, "It gives them a souvenir and a memory. A lot of the patients that have had this have gone through an awful lot of disability and difficulty getting a diagnosis. Then it’s treatment, recovery and rehabilitation. That little souvenir represents a long road that patients have gone through with this condition.”

It's not clear right now if Hughes will actually have his rib dipped in gold and perhaps strung on a necklace, but we will be watching this story carefully as the baseball season unfolds.

Credits: Phil Hughes screen captures via YouTube.com; Medical diagram by BruceBlaus (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

Museum-Quality Collection of North Carolina-Sourced Star Rubies to Hit the Auction Block in June

Sourced in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, four museum-quality star rubies weighing a total of 342 carats will hit the auction block at Guernsey’s in New York City this June. The Mountain Star Ruby Collection will be sold together as one lot and could yield an eight-figure windfall for the family of Jarvis Wayne Messer, the humble fishing guide/rockhound who discovered the gems in 1990.

The largest of the four gems, the 139.43-carat Appalachian Star Ruby, has been compared favorably to the Smithsonian's Rosser Reeves Star Ruby, which is one carat lighter. Guernsey’s President Arlan Ettinger told National Jeweler that Messer's find may be superior to the Rosser Reeves because it has six prominent needles, whereas the Rosser Reeves displays only five prominent needles and one broken needle.

In 1992, the Appalachian Star Ruby made its international debut at London's Natural History Museum, where it drew 150,000 visitors in just a few weeks, according to Guernsey's.

When gem enthusiasts discuss the finest star rubies, they generally invoke the famed gem fields of Burma and Sri Lanka. That Messer sourced his star rubies in North Carolina makes their story that much more remarkable.

Guernsey's described Messer as a man of modest means, who made his living as a fishing guide. He also was a self-described rock hound, constantly searching for rare and unusual stones in his native Appalachia.

"I started off as a pebble pup at 6 and worked myself up to a rock hound at 13," Messer told the Associated Press in 1994. "What began as a hobby led me to one of the finest jewels in the world."

In 1990, while searching an ancient stream bed in a still-secret location, Messer made an unprecedented discovery of four star rubies, including the aforementioned Appalachian Star Ruby and the Smoky Mountain Two Star Ruby, which displays distinctive stars on both the front and back of the stone.

"When I found the [Appalachian Star Ruby] I did not realize how important a stone it would become," he said in the 1994 interview. "I knew it was a ruby and a beautiful specimen. But we did not know what we had until we started to cut the stone. I realized what we had found when I made my first cut. The star just popped right out. Right from the beginning I could see it portrayed attributes that no other stone has."

Messer passed away in 2008 at the age of 52, and his collection was returned to his family where it has quietly resided ever since.

Guernsey’s Ettinger told National Jeweler that it is important to keep the four stones together.

“It was suggested to us that part of the extraordinary nature of them is where they were found and their individual brilliance, but also the fact that they are four matching stones and it would be crazy, almost criminal, to destroy the collection and the set,” he said.

The collection will be offered without a minimum reserve, and the auction house did not provide pre-sale estimates.

“These are wonderful and important stones,” Ettinger told National Jeweler. “The world will determine what they’re worth.”

Guernsey's hinted that the collection could yield eight figures, using the Smithsonian's Rosser Reeves as a point of comparison.

The Rosser Reeves was appraised at $25 million in the early 1980s and about 20 years later at $40 million, according to Guernsey's.

Guernsey's has yet to pick a date in June for the sale that will take place live at the Americas Society on Park Avenue in Manhattan. Online bidding will be held concurrently at LiveAuctioneers.com.

Credits: Mountain Star Ruby Collection images courtesy of Guernsey’s. Rosser Reeves photo by Chip Clark/Smithsonian.

Average Bridal Couple Spent $6,163 on Engagement Ring in 2016, Reports The Knot

The average bridal couple in the U.S. spent $6,163 on the engagement ring in 2016 — an increase of 5% compared to 2015, according to The Knot’s 10th annual Real Weddings Study. The engagement ring remains the second-highest-priced item on the list of wedding expenses. The reception venue easily claimed the top spot at $16,107, which was nearly 9% pricier than in 2015.

The Knot, which surveyed nearly 13,000 U.S. brides and grooms married in 2016, reported that the average total cost of a wedding (excluding the honeymoon) has reached an all-time high at $35,329. That's $2,688, or 8.2%, more than the total tallied in 2015.

Overall, The Knot concluded that couples are spending more per guest — even though the average number of guests are down — to create an unforgettable experience, which often includes a photo booth, musical performances, games and even aerialists.

“Wedding spend continues to rise, but at the same time, guest lists are shrinking as couples spend more per guest to create an unforgettable experience for those closest to them,” said Kellie Gould, editor in chief of The Knot. “Couples are also using their wedding day to make their first big statement as a couple. From invitations to the reception band, couples are spending more to put their personal stamp on every detail.”

Other key findings from the survey include the following:
• Most Expensive Place to Get Married: Manhattan, $78,464
• Least Expensive Place to Get Married: Arkansas, $19,522
• Average Spent on a Wedding Dress: $1,564
• Average Marrying Age: Bride, 29 ; Groom, 31
• Average Number of Guests: 141
• Average Number of Bridesmaids: 5
• Average Number of Groomsmen: 5
• Most Popular Month to Get Engaged: December (15%)
• Average Length of Engagement: 15 months
• Most Popular Month to Get Married: October (16%) and September (16%)
• Popular Wedding Colors: Dark blue (29%), gold (28%) and light pink (28%)
• Percentage of Destination Weddings: 20%

The average number of wedding guests in 2016 is down to 141, compared to 149 in 2009, while the cost per wedding guest is up to $245, compared to $194 in 2009, according to the survey. Forty-one percent of respondents said they ordered "custom guest entertainment," such as photo booths (78%), games (18%), musical performances (12%) and fireworks (8%). The portion of couples demanding custom guest entertainment has skyrocketed from 11% to 41% since 2009. The Knot advises: Don’t be surprised to see aerialists, acrobats, live painters or gospel choirs this year, as 2017 wedding trends reach new heights in guest entertainment.

On average, the bride’s parents contribute 44% of the overall wedding budget, the bride and groom contribute 42% and the groom’s parents contribute 13%. (Others account for the remaining 2%.) In 2016, 10% of couples paid for the wedding entirely by themselves, and 8% of couples didn’t contribute any finances to the wedding expenses. Exactly 47% (up from 42% in 2011) admitted going over budget.

These are the average costs of key bridal services: reception band ($4,156), photographer ($2,783), florist/décor ($2,534), ceremony site ($2,197), wedding/event planner ($2,037), videographer ($1,995), wedding dress ($1,564), rehearsal dinner ($1,378), reception DJ ($1,245), transportation ($859), ceremony musicians ($755), wedding cake ($582), invitations ($462), groom’s attire and accessories ($280), officiant ($278), favors ($268), wedding day hair stylist ($119) and wedding day make-up ($100). Catering averaged $71 per person.

The 2016 Real Weddings Study captured responses from nearly 13,000 U.S. brides and grooms married between January 1 and December 31, 2016.

Credits: Image by BigStockPhoto.com. Infographics courtesy of The Knot.

Woman Sinks Half-Court Shot, Wins $500 and Gets a Surprise Marriage Proposal From Dunkin' Donuts Mascot

Upstate New York resident Erin Tobin just had her best day ever. She achieved instant fame when she banked in a half-court shot at a Siena College men's basketball game on Thursday night, not only earning a $500 Dunkin' Donuts gift card, but also a surprise marriage proposal from her boyfriend disguised as a larger-than-life coffee cup named "Cuppy."

Actually, the half-court shot promo was staged by Tobin's boyfriend, Steve Duckett. A Siena College season ticket holder, the 31-year-old romantic schemed with the college's PR department to surprise Tobin with an on-court marriage proposal.

Duckett would pose as the Dunkin' Donut mascot while Tobin, a 2008 Siena graduate, would get an opportunity to hit a half-court shot. After the shot, Duckett would strip off the mascot costume and propose to her in front of 5,500 fans. All this would have to happen quickly, because the events were set to take place during a timeout, not during halftime.

On Thursday, Duckett and the PR staff put their plan in motion. The only thing they didn't expect was that Tobin — a former high school basketball player — would make the shot.

The Albany Times Union reported that in the days leading up to the halt-court attempt, Tobin was allowed to visit the Times Union Center to take a few practice shots. Apparently, one barely reached the end line and another was wide by a mile. Tobin's brother joked that he pay her $50 if she could even hit the rim during the game.

In a 32-second YouTube video that has been viewed more than 250,000 times — including high-profile appearances on Good Morning America and ESPN's SportsCenter — Tobin is wearing a golden Siena Saints T-shirt as she stands at center court, takes one stride and launches a right-handed fling. The ball takes a high arc, banks off the backboard and then right through the net. The school's announcer can be heard exclaiming, "It is up. It is good, good."

Duckett told the Times Union that the visibility within the mascot outfit was very limited. When Tobin, 30, hit the shot, she the threw up her arms and danced out of his view.

"I couldn't see her!" Duckett said. "She makes the shot, and then for me, she disappears. I can't see out the sides of Cuppie. I didn't know where she went."

The Siena College PR staff was able to guide the excited girlfriend back to center court, where Duckett — still disguised as Cuppie — was already down on one knee. A moment later, the costume was lifted to reveal Duckett with a ring box in his hand.

He quickly popped the question (this is all taking place during a timeout of a live game) and Tobin said "Yes."

"I was jumping up and down after hitting the shot since my brother said he'd give me $50 if I even hit the rim," Tobin told the Albany Times Union. "And then I turn around expecting a gift card from Dunkin’ Donuts and there he was on his knees and I didn't have any words."

The announcer summed it up for the fans: "The cup of coffee was so excited, he wants to marry that girl that just knocked down a half-court shot."

It was a great night overall for the couple and their favorite team, as Siena College defeated Manhattan 94-71.

Check out the awesome video, below.

Credits: Screen captures via YouTube.com

Music Friday: 'Bad, Bad Leroy Brown' Shows Off His Diamond Rings in Jim Croce's 1973 Chart Topper

Welcome to Music Friday when we celebrate classic songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today the late, great Jim Croce sings about a giant man with an affection for diamond jewelry in his 1973 chart topper, "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown."

In this song inspired by a friend he met while working as a lineman for the U.S. National Guard, Croce tells the fateful story of one of the toughest guys from the South Side of Chicago. Leroy Brown stood 6'4" and had a reputation of being "meaner than a junkyard dog." He was also a flashy dresser, loved his jewelry and was quite the ladies' man.

Croce sings, "Now Leroy, he a gambler / And he like his fancy clothes / And he like to wave his diamond rings / In front of everybody's nose."

At the end of the song, Leroy approaches Doris at a local bar and learns a tough "lesson about messin' with the wife of a jealous man."

Written by Croce, "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" spent two weeks at the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in July of 1973. The song also netted Croce two Grammy Award nominations in the categories of Best Pop Male Vocalist and Record of the Year.

Born in South Philadelphia in 1943, Croce expressed a love for music at a young age. He played his first song, "Lady of Spain," on the accordion at the age of 5. While attending Villanova University, he performed with two singing groups, the Villanova Singers and the Villanova Spires. Croce graduated with a degree in psychology in 1965.

He joined the U.S. National Guard in 1966, and while stationed in Fort Jackson, S.C., he befriended the larger-than-life Chicagoan who would inspire his 1973 hit.

Croce struggled early in his music career, appearing at large coffee houses, on college campuses and at folk festivals. In 1972, he scored a three-record deal with ABC Records.

Later that year, he made his national debut on American Bandstand, which sparked appearances on The Tonight Show, The Dick Cavett Show, The Helen Reddy Show and The Midnight Special.

Sadly, at the peak of his fame, in September 1973, Croce perished in a plane crash near Natchitoches, La. He was 30 years old.

In a letter to his wife, Ingrid, that arrived after his death, Croce told her that he was homesick and couldn't bear the pain of being away from her and their infant son. He was planning to stop touring and to concentrate, instead, on writing short stories. It was never to be.

Please check out the video of Croce's live performance of "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along...

"Bad, Bad Leroy Brown"
Written and performed by Jim Croce.

Well the South side of Chicago
Is the baddest part of town
And if you go down there
You better just beware
Of a man named Leroy Brown

Now Leroy, more than trouble
You see he stand 'bout six foot four
All the downtown ladies call him "Treetop Lover"
All the men just call him "Sir"

And it's bad, bad Leroy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damned town
Badder than old King Kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog

Now Leroy, he a gambler
And he like his fancy clothes
And he like to wave his diamond rings
In front of everybody's nose
He got a custom Continental
He got an Eldorado too
He got a 32 gun in his pocket for fun
He got a razor in his shoe

And it's bad, bad Leroy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damned town
Badder than old King Kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog

Now Friday 'bout a week ago
Leroy shootin' dice
And at the edge of the bar
Sat a girl named Doris
And oo that girl looked nice
Well he cast his eyes upon her
And the trouble soon began
'Cause Leroy Brown learned a lesson
'Bout messin' with the wife of a jealous man

And it's bad, bad Leroy Brown
The baddest man in the whole damned town
Badder than old King Kong
And meaner than a junkyard dog

Well the two men took to fighting
And when they pulled them off the floor
Leroy looked like a jigsaw puzzle
With a couple of pieces gone

Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com.

Lulo Mine's Spanking New Large-Diamond Recovery System Nets 227-Carat Gem-Quality Sparkler

Lucapa Diamond Company's $3.5 million investment in a state-of-the-art XRT large-diamond recovery system is already paying big dividends at the Lulo Diamond Project in Angola. The mine just yielded a 227-carat, Type IIa, D-color gem that's expected to sell for an amount far more than the cost of the technology upgrade.

The extraordinarily pure diamond is the second-largest ever recovered at Lulo. Exactly one year ago, a 404-carat, thumb-shaped diamond that should have been pulverized by an ore crushing device was salvaged, thanks to a stroke of good luck.

At the time, the older diamond sorting equipment was not calibrated to capture a diamond that large. By some fluke, the odd-shaped rough diamond oriented itself vertically, instead of horizontally, while it crawled across the sorting screen and was able to fall through. Had it not found its way through the screen, it would have been crushed. Lucapa has since sold the 404-carat rough diamond — the largest ever discovered in Angola — for $16 million.

Recognizing the upside potential of being able to capture much larger diamonds, Lucapa installed advanced X-ray transmission technology (XRT) and larger screens (55mm) so diamonds up to 1,100 carats can be identified and cherry picked. The company also noted that the XRT technology is more efficient at recovering low-luminescing, ultra-pure Type IIa diamonds.

The Australia-based mining company has recovered seven diamonds of 100 carats or more from the Lulo mining area, which comprises 1,100 square miles along the length of the 31-mile Cacuilo River. Lucapa and its partners have explored only 20% of the Lulo concession, so far.

“It is fitting that within a week of the anniversary of recovering Angola’s biggest diamond, we have now recovered Angola’s second-biggest diamond on record, our 227-carat Lulo gem," commented Lucapa Managing Director Stephen Wetherall. "Both were recovered during the Angolan wet season.”

Lucapa, which holds a 40% stake in the Lulo mine, has two partners in the project — Empresa Nacional de Diamantes EP and Rosas & Petales.

Photo courtesy of Lucapa Diamond Company.