Music Friday: 'Diamonds' Rise Up Out the Dust in Johnnyswim's 2014 Anthem

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you excellent tunes with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, the husband-and-wife duo known as Johnnyswim performs "Diamonds," an inspirational song about enduring personal tragedy and coming out stronger on the other side.

Amanda Sudano-Ramirez and Abner Ramirez employ diamonds in the lyrics to symbolize the triumph of the human spirit.

They sing, "In the wake of every heartache / In the depth of every fear / There were diamonds, diamonds / Waiting to break out of here."

“‘Diamonds’ is a song about the realization that even the hardest times can somehow make life more beautiful,” Sudano-Ramirez told Entertainment Weekly, “just like the years of pressure that turn coal into a diamond.”

The catchy chorus repeats, "We're the diamonds, diamonds / We're the diamonds, diamonds / Rising up out the dust."

The 2014 release draws on the real-life experiences of the couple. They both suffered heartbreaking losses in 2012. Abner's mom passed away, as did Amanda's grandmother and famous mom — five-time Grammy winner and 1970s "Queen of Disco" Donna Summer.

The couple channeled their sadness into a passionate, upbeat anthem that earned critical acclaim that resonated with their growing fan base. "Diamonds" became the title track of Johnnyswim's first full-length album.

The Nashville-based duo met at a church service in 2001 and formed Johnnyswim in 2005 after reconnecting at a songwriting class that Abner was teaching. Their professional relationship evolved into a romantic one and the couple married shortly thereafter.

Please check out the video of Johnnyswim performing "Diamonds" in a live session for Dallas radio station KXT in 2014. The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along…

"Diamonds"
Written by Abner Pedro Ramirez, Amanda Sudano Ramirez and Britten Newbill. Performed by Johnnyswim.

In the wake of every heartache
In the depth of every fear
There were diamonds, diamonds
Waiting to break out of here.

Don't you think I hear the whispers
Those subtle lies, those angry pleas
They're just demons, demons
Wishing they were free like me.

We're the fire, from the sun
We're the light when the day is done
We are the brave, the chosen ones
We're the diamonds, diamonds
Rising up out the dust.

Oh oh. Rising up out the dust
Oh oh. Rising up out the dust
Oh oh. Rising up out the dust
Oh oh. Rising up out the dust

All your curses will surrender
Every damning word will kneel
They're just mountains, mountains
About to turn into fields.

We're the fire, from the sun
We're the light when the day is done
We are the brave, we're the chosen ones
We're the diamonds, diamonds
Rising up out the dust.

Oh oh. Rising up out the dust
Oh oh. Rising up out the dust
Oh oh. Rising up out the dust
Oh oh. Rising, rising, rising, rising…

You've taken down
So many others
Oh but you'll know my name when you see
And in these ashes I'm stronger still
You'll learn to fear my pain, yeah you will.

You've taken down
So many others
Oh but you'll know my name when you see
And in these ashes I'm stronger still
You'll learn to fear my pain, yeah you will.
You'll learn to fear my pain, yeah you will, yeah you will, yeah you will.

We're the fire, from the sun
We're the light when the day is done
We are the brave, we are the chosen ones
We're the diamonds, diamonds
We're the diamonds, diamonds

We're the diamonds, diamonds
We're the diamonds, diamonds
Rising up out the dust.

Oh oh. Rising out the dust
Oh oh. Rising up out the dust
Oh oh. Rising out the dust
Oh oh…

Oh oh. Rising out the dust
Oh oh. Rising up out the dust
Oh oh. Rising out the dust
Oh oh…

Credits: Screen capture via YouTube.com / kxtradio.

Here's Why It Took Only Seconds for 6-Year-Old to Unearth Lost Engagement Ring

An adorable six-year-old is now a celebrity at Dogwood Elementary in Germantown, TN, after finding a lost engagement ring during a treasure hunt on the school grounds.

The treasure hunt was initiated by kindergarten teacher Ann Wallace in an effort to support her friend, first-grade teacher Sabrina Mink, who lost her engagement ring and wedding band at the school two days earlier.

On Saturday, March 4, Mink, her husband and her daughter prepared for a late afternoon outing at the playground of the school where Mink teaches. In the parking lot of the school, Mink took off her diamond engagement ring and wedding band before putting sunscreen on her daughter. She deposited the ring in her husband's T-shirt pocket for safekeeping.

A little after 7 p.m., Mink and her family were back at home when she remembered that her rings were still in her husband's pocket. When she went to retrieve them, she and her husband were terrified to see a giant hole in the bottom of the pocket and no sign of the rings.

“We panicked,” Mink told the Dogwood Elementary School website. “There were five of us that went back to the park that night with flashlights.”

They quickly found the wedding band in the parking lot, but the engagement ring remained elusive. They searched the parking lot and the playground and came up empty. A return to the scene during daylight hours on Sunday proved fruitless.

Mink posted a lost-ring message on the Facebook Germantown Bulletin Board and emailed the Dogwood Elementary School staff.

On Monday, Mink's fellow teachers searched the grounds as they walked to class. One first-grade teacher scanned the area with a metal detector.

Cleverly, kindergarten teacher Wallace told her class that they would be going on a treasure hunt during recess. Then young Scarlett Arnold asked her teacher what they were looking for.

“When Ms. Wallace said we were looking for a ring, I knew where it was,” the youngster told the Dogwood Elementary School website.

You see, Arnold had been at the playground on Saturday, as well.

“I saw it shining in the rocks, so I buried it like treasure,” she said.

“I didn’t believe her at first,” Wallace said, “but she brought it back. I was ecstatic for my friend.”

Arnold's mom told local TV station WREG that her daughter has a new nickname.

“I think when she’s walking down the hall, everyone’s saying, ‘Oh, the ring finder,’” the mom reported.

Mink was thankful that her colleague came up with the idea of a recess treasure hunt and mentioned the lost ring. It was serendipitous that the child who buried the treasure was in that very class.

“It was so sweet that everyone was trying to help,” Mink said. “The events that led me to lose [the rings] were so silly, and the events that led to finding it… you can’t make them up.”

The Dogwood Elementary School website reports that young Arnold was rewarded for her responsible thinking with a supply of Skittles.

Credits: Teacher and student photo via Dogwood Elementary School website (des.gmsdk12.org). Screen captures via wreg.com.

Have You Ever Wondered If the Oscar Statuettes Are Made of Pure Gold?

On Sunday night, as you watched the cast and crew of Everything Everywhere All at Once scoop up seven Oscars at the 95th Academy Awards — including best picture and best actress — were you wondering if the gleaming statuettes were made of pure gold?

Well, the short answer is "yes and no."

Depicting a knight holding a crusader's sword, the Oscar was designed in 1928 by MGM art director Cedric Gibbons and sculpted by Los Angeles artist George Stanley. It is composed of 24-karat gold-plated bronze.

The sleek award stands 13.5 inches tall and weighs a hefty 8.5 pounds. If cast in 24-karat gold, the award would weigh 22.7 pounds, a mass equivalent to a large watermelon or two-year-old child. Gold is 2.7 times as dense as bronze.

Another reason the statuettes are not cast in sold gold is because of the prohibitive cost. At yesterday's gold spot price of $1,902 per ounce, each statue would require $690,000 worth of precious metal — and the Academy requires 60 statues each year.

The reporters at CNN did a wonderful job recounting the origin and evolution of the Oscars with an illustrated story on CNN.com.

CNN explained how the original statue was made from gold-plated bronze, but then changed to painted plaster during World War II, due to a scarcity of resources. In 1982, the bronze core was substituted for a pewter-based alloy, but changed back to bronze in 2016.

In that year, the UAP (Urban Art Projects) workshop in Rock Tavern, NY, worked with the Academy to create a new version of Oscar that would incorporate the best elements from the original design and those of the more recent incarnations.

UAP uses a lost-wax method to cast the awards in bronze. In the finishing phase, the bronze castings are meticulously checked for minor flaws, polished and plated — first in copper and nickel and finally in 24-karat gold.

“By the time you get to the end," UAP general manager Jake Joyce told CNN.com, "the final Oscar is much smaller than the original because they’re always grinding and sanding and polishing and taking away metal.”

Trailblazing actor and filmmaker Douglas Fairbanks hosted the 1st Academy Awards in 1929 at The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The award ceremony became must-see TV starting in 1953. Sunday's broadcast was seen in 200 territories worldwide and attracted 16 million viewers in the US alone.

Credit: Oscar statuettes by Amdrewcs81, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Eva Amurri and Ian Hock Re-Enact Paris Engagement So Kids Can Share the Love

Actress Eva Amurri and new fiancé, chef Ian Hock, recently re-enacted their romantic Paris engagement in Westport, CT, so Amurri's kids could share the love.

Amurri, who co-parents her three children with ex Kyle Martino, explained on Instagram how excited the kids were when they learned that Hock was taking her to Paris.

"The two big kids kept on asking me if I thought Ian would propose in Paris," she wrote. "Marlowe, especially, has been asking us to get married for over a year, and she told me “I think it’s gonna happen in Paris, mom!!! You have to call me if he gives you the ring!!!”

And he did. In an Instagram Story, Amurri displayed her new emerald-cut diamond engagement ring in a series of photos from the City of Love.

The daughter of actress Susan Sarandon and director Franco Amurri told her fans that she was "absolutely dying" over the ring, and gave a shout out to her new fiancé and the ring's designer.

Amurri wrote, "Ian designed it with @cms_custom and OMG Christina you outdid yourself!!!!!"

The platinum and 14-karat gold ring features a large center stone accented by square baguette side stones and secured in a basket setting with an open gallery.

Amurri explained that after she and Hock were officially engaged, they called the kids to share the news.

"They were SO excited, and they wanted to know all the details," Amurri wrote on Instagram. "We told them we’d redo it for them when [we] came home."

In a video posted to Instagram, the couple shared the heartwarming scene, as the three kids — sons Mateo (2) and Major (6) and daughter Marlowe (8) — watch intently as their mom shows them photos and videos of the garden in Paris where the engagement took place.

Then, in the family's living room, Hock got down on one knee and proposed to Amurri. She said "Yes," and they kissed.

Then Hock pulled a ring box from his pocket and placed the ring on Amurri's finger. The kids cheered and Major was so excited, he jumped on Hock's back. Then each kid got to try on their mom's new ring.

The family capped the celebration with a toast. Their drink of choice was red, sparkly soda.

"This morning, we relived our engagement all over again, with our three favorite people, and it was so dreamy," Amurri wrote on Instagram. "This engagement isn’t just ours, but theirs as well. Feeling so grateful for this love."

Amurri is an actress, blogger and founder of the Happily Eva After lifestyle collection.

Credits: Photos and screen captures via Instagram / thehappilyeva.

Queen Consort Camilla Alters Queen Mary's Crown to Reflect Her Individual Style

In preparation for King Charles III’s coronation on May 6, Queen Mary's crown has been removed from public display at the Tower of London so it can undergo a few alterations that reflect Queen Consort Camilla's "individual style."

Traditionally, the British Queen Consort would commission a new headpiece for the grand event, but “in the interests of sustainability and efficiency," Camilla decided to repurpose the crown originally designed in 1911 for Mary of Teck, the wife of King George V.

The newest incarnation of Queen Mary’s Crown will see the addition of three famous diamonds — the Cullinan III (pear-shaped, 94.4 carats), Cullinan IV (cushion-shaped, 63.6 carats) and Cullinan V (heart-shaped, 18.8 carats). Each of these diamonds were cut from the magnificent 3,106-carat Cullinan Diamond, the largest diamond ever found.

Discovered in South Africa in 1905, the enormous rough diamond was transformed by Joseph Asscher of the Amsterdam-based Asscher Company into nine major diamonds, each of which was given the name Cullinan and a Roman numeral.

In this photograph, the top row shows the Cullinans II, I and III. On the bottom row are the Cullinans VI, VIII, IV, V, VII and IX.

Camilla chose to add the three historic Cullinan diamonds to honor the late Queen Elizabeth II, as they were part of her personal jewelry collection. Elizabeth wore the Cullinan III and IV as a brooch and playfully called them "Granny's Chips" because she inherited them from her grandmother, Queen Mary. According to naturaldiamonds.com, the current value of Granny’s Chips is more than £50 million ($59 million).

The Queen Consort's jewelers are also making physical modifications to the crown. Four of the crown's eight detachable half-arches will be removed to create "a different impression to when the Crown was worn by Queen Mary at the 1911 coronation," Buckingham Palace noted.

Queen Mary reportedly purchased the Art Deco crown from royal jewelers Garrard & Co. with her own money, hoping that it would someday become an heirloom worn by future queens consort. The crown weighs 1.3 pounds and is set with 2,200 rose-cut and brilliant-cut diamonds.

Buckingham Palace reported that this will be the first time since the 18th century that a Queen Consort will be utilizing an existing crown. The last time it happened was in 1727, when Queen Caroline, consort of George II, wore Mary of Modena's crown.

Credits: Queen Mary's Crown photo by Cyril Davenport (1848 – 1941), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Queen Camilla photo by Carfax2, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cullinan diamonds photo by Plate X, The Cullinan (1908)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Queen Mary and King George V at her coronation in 1911, photo by W. & D. Downey, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.