For our redoubtable isonprize, a bit of jazzy Christmas, in my third of my series of Christmas music.
Ella Fitzgerald – The Christmas Song
Duke Ellington – Jingle Bells
Continue reading ‘Chat Away – Ho Ho Ho with Jazzy Xmas Tunes’
Posts Tagged ‘ll
In the second in my series of Christmas music, a little bit of the traditional. (There are many reasons for the season, but there’s nothing like ancient music to ring it in, even if some of it has a modern ring.)
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Gabriel’s Message
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O Holy Night
Continue reading ‘Night Owl Chat – Traditional Christmas Carols’
Rhodes Scholar Megyn Kelly of Fox “News” (snort*giggle*) has given us a wonderful opportunity to badger her again. It seems to happen every time she opens her mouth, but this time it was a doozy.
In an article written by Aisha Harris at Slate, Ms. Harris suggested that Santa didn’t have to be white. Which is a valid point to make, as Santa isn’t, you know, real. (Sorry to my 2 year old nephew for breaking the news to him.)
Kelly, in a fit of pique, had this to say:
“For all you kids watching at home, Santa just is white,” Kelly said. “But this person is just arguing that maybe we should also have a black Santa. But Santa is what he is.”
“Just because it makes you feel uncomfortable doesn’t mean it has to change, you know?” she added. “I mean, Jesus was a white man too. He was a historical figure, that’s a verifiable fact, as is Santa — I just want the kids watching to know that.”
Of course, again, Santa isn’t exactly real—regardless of what NORAD says every Dec. 24—and Jesus, well, he was a Jew from the Galilee. Not a haven for 6-foot tall, blond, blue-eyed Nordic supermen—again, regardless of what painters from throughout Western history say.
Maybe Megyn Kelly wants to start a Race War on Christmas, or at least on those who don’t adhere to her yearning for a “white” Christmas. Whatever. Enjoy some Tweets.
https://twitter.com/Mvbennett26/status/411192549789802496To bring to a close another momentous day in our ever-turning world, a bit of that old progressive rock for the kiddies.
Genesis – The Musical Box
Yes – Roundabout
A post to soothe the nerves as another momentous day passes into the rearview mirror.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo – Rain
Miriam Makeba – Soweto Blues
06
Dec
13
Night Owl Chat – Northern Soul
Party time!!
From Wikipedia:
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England in the late 1960s from the British mod scene. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound.
The northern soul movement, however, generally eschews Motown or Motown-influenced music that has met with significant mainstream success. The recordings most prized by enthusiasts of the genre are usually by lesser-known artists, released only in limited numbers, often by small regional American labels such as Ric-Tic and Golden World Records (Detroit), Mirwood (Los Angeles) and Shout and Okeh (New York/Chicago).
Time to dance, night owls.
Frank Wilson – Do I Love You
Al Wilson – The Snake
As I’m sure you’ve all determined by now, I’m a bit odd. And that was true in my childhood as well.
I was probably the only freshman in high school who would stop off and buy copies of the New York Daily News and New York Times every morning. (Daily News for the sports and local news, NYT for the national and international news.) And Dan Rather’s broadcast was appointment viewing for me every night.
Growing up I was, while not consumed, very mindful of the struggles of black South Africans to secure freedom from apartheid. For most of the 1980s, their struggles dominated the evening news and newspapers. I remember curling my lip in disgust when the Reagan administration pursued “quiet diplomacy” with the racist regime. That told me all I needed to know about Reagan, as if I didn’t know enough already.
Growing up, Nelson Mandela was a mythic figure, the Once and Future King, kept on the isle of Avalon (Robben), awaiting to return to a nation in desperate need of him. And it finally happened in 1990.
Time for a little reminder after Martin Bashir’s firing from a post I wrote not too long ago.
We can be angry. We can be saddened. But what we mustn’t be is surprised.
One can argue that there never was a “liberal media”. But it’s safe to say that there used to be a more balanced media, one in which factual reporting and accurate analysis were the linchpins of the industry. If the reporting on Vietnam was rosy at first, by the end of the war its full horrors were being reported on honestly.
But that was also in an era when media ownership was far more diffuse. NBC and MSNBC are owned by Comcast, one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world. ABC is owned by Disney Corporation. Fox News is owned by News Corporation. CNN is owned by Time Warner. CBS has remained “independent”; but it too is a large multinational.
Corporations may be many things. They may be the most efficient means to organize economic activity. They may give their employees a somewhat remunerative working environment. But one thing for which they can never be mistaken are altruistic institutions acting for the public good.
Chat away and keep on fighting. It’s the only way anything has ever changed.
03
Dec
13
Fish slapping
I began watching Monty Python on WNET in New York when I was, oh, about eight. Which explains a lot about me.
The pinnacle of Monty Python’s sketch comedy was a 30 second skit called “The Fish-slapping Dance”. Here is the skit, and a few related videos.
The Fish Slapping Dance
Michael Palin on “The Fish Slapping Dance”
The 20th Century produced two great novels, by which all other novels are judged: Marcel Proust’s “In Search of Lost Time” and James Joyce’s “Ulysses”. For your evening enjoyment, some selections from Proust’s gargantuan work. (And a bit of funny at the end.)
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The madeleine scene
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Alan Rickman reading Proust
The Obama Diary 
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