Holiday Aftermath

Progressives Never Learn

It is only the second day of 2017, but it is already clear that one of my favorite pastimes (making fun of idiotic progressives) will continue unabated in the new year.

An article in New York magazine, for instance, breezily suggested that "the best gift" this holiday season was a package of "Check Your Privilege" cards, just $5 for 10 cards. The notion that handing one of these things to someone will result in anything positive happening just shows how deluded these people are.


Of course, their conviction that everything would be perfectly fine if only the world just gave in to their absurd demands in this way is unshakable, so opportunities for me to mock them ruthlessly should be plentiful. These dimwits didn't learn a thing from 2016.

Do I exaggerate? This "gift" is sold out.

"That's just your Biped Privilege talking, man!"

Nobody likes a hippie quadruped, so shut your pipe...

Feast Days

The Mass of St. Basil, by Pierre Subleyras

Today Catholics celebrate the feast day
of St. Basil the Great, a Greek who served as
a bishop in Cappadocia (modern-day Turkey) during a turbulent period in Church history.

Basil was an important theologian who staunchly supported the Nicene Creed and resisted the heresies of both Arianism and Apollinarism. He was also noted for his charitable works and his promotion of cenobitic monasticism.

Basil is a pre-Congregation saint, and was named Doctor of the Church in 1568 by
Pope St. Pius V. The date of his feast day varies depending on denomination. He is the patron of monks and of hospital administrators.

St Gregory of Nazianzus, by Domenichino

Today we also celebrate the feast day of
St. Gregory of Nazianzus, one of the most influential theologians in the early history
of the Church.

A classically-trained orator and skillful writer, Gregory's ideas were particularly influential with regard to the Trinity.

Like Basil, Gregory is a pre-Congregation saint, and was named Doctor of the Church in 1568 by Pope St. Pius V.

Gregory's feast day also varies according to denomination, with Catholics celebrating it on January 2.

Champion Chiefs

My beloved Kansas City Chiefs hit the road for their final regular-season game yesterday, completing their 6-0 season sweep over AFC West Division foes with a 37-27 victory over the San Diego Chargers. The Chiefs finished 12-4, and won the Division with a bit of help from Denver, who defeated Oakland. That clinched a bye for Wild Card weekend in the playoffs, and a home game at Arrowhead the following week.

"Paydirt, baby!"

Chiefs QB Alex Smith was efficient, going 21-of-28 passing for 264 yards and two touchdowns (both to RB Charcandrick West). He also had
a short TD run of his own.

Alex's only real miscue was an interception that was returned for
a score by the Chargers, but that came on a tipped ball.

"That's six picks this season, if you're counting."

It wasn't a dominating performance by the Chiefs defense, which gave up nearly 400 yards and forced only a single Chargers punt, but thanks to interceptions by Pro Bowl CB Marcus Peters and S Daniel Sorensen they did just enough. For the second straight week the Chiefs were without Pro Bowl LB Justin Houston, who now gets an extra week to get healthy for the playoffs.

"Yeah, me again!"

The one time the Chargers were forced to punt, Pro Bowl rookie
WR Tyreek Hill returned it 95 yards for a touchdown, his second punt return score of the season.

Hill also has a kick-off return TD, three rushing TDs, and six receiving TDs this season. He should win Offensive Rookie of the Year honors going away.

Happy Birthday!

Today is the birthday of two of my all-time favorite writers...

His exact date of birth in Petrovichi, Russia
is unknown, but Isaak Ozimov (later changed to Isaac Asimov to seem more "American" after his family moved here) celebrated his birthday on January 2, the latest of the plausible possibilities.

One of the most prolific writers in English, Asimov published more than 500 books on
an incredibly broad array of subjects (you can find Asimov books in nine of the ten Dewey Decimal Classes).



His greatest claim to fame is as one of the most prominent and successful authors in the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction, with some of the genre's most famous novels and stories to his credit. His classic 1941 story "Nightfall" was selected by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America as the best SF story written before that group inaugurated its annual Nebula Awards in 1965.

There was a point in my life where I had read more Asimov novels than any other author, although he was eventually supplanted by other writers. But his influence on me both as a science fiction fan and as a writer has never wavered.

On January 2, 1949 Christopher Ferdinand Durang was born in Montclair, New Jersey. After getting a degree in English from Harvard and an MFA in playwriting from the Yale School of Drama, he has enjoyed
a long and successful career writing mostly for the stage.

For the entirety of my career coaching students for speech competitions Durang's material was wildly popular for Humorous Interpretation and Duo Interpretation.

As a play director I have produced his short one-woman play "Mrs. Sorken" on two occasions, and I also directed a successful production of one of his best-known works, the one-act farce "The Actor's Nightmare."

We Don't Need Reminding

From the Jeff MacNelly-created comic strip Shoe, now being produced by Gary Brookins and Jeff's widow Susie.

Until Next Time...

Now that Christmas season has come and gone, things will be going back to normal in this section with regard to featured music, but for a finale today I decided to combine my love for Christmas music with my fondness for my hero Joe Bonamassa (whom I hope to see in concert a time or two in 2017).

For several years, Joe has been recording blues tunes with some Christmas flavor and releasing them as free downloads to his fans through his website during the holiday season.

This year he added one new selection ("Bring Back My Cadillac," featured here on December 6) and offered it plus the previous five releases as an "album" download,
so new fans could catch up on his earlier Christmas tunes.



None of those songs were renditions of a traditional Christmas favorite, however. Joe rectified that in a recent newsletter, sending fans the link to a video in which he takes on one of the most beloved Christmas carols of all time.

Today's send-off is Joe's superb, bluesy rendition of "O Holy Night," one of my personal favorite sacred carols, from his JoeBonamaaTV channel on YouTube. Enjoy...