75 Years On

Remembrance

USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor

Today is a day for solemn reflection on
a very dark date in our nation's history. It is the 75th anniversary of that event, which of course means some expanded commemorations were scheduled, and have been ongoing for the last few days leading up to today's observances.



My dad got to visit his older brother, a retired naval officer, in Hawaii while I was still in college. It was one of the peak experiences of his life, and in particular he enjoyed telling the story about his visit to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor.

"Wow! I'll bet that's quite a sight to see in person!"

I'm sure it is, yes...I still have some hope of visiting myself someday...

Cold Snap

"Holy shit, folks, we're gonna freeze our asses off!"

We're now experiencing our first really cold days of the fall season, with nightly temperatures
in the teens, and daily highs in the low 20s.





It is supposed to continue in this vein for the next several days, but at least there is no snow in the forecast (one of the upsides of temperatures this low in the midwest).

"Good! I absolutely HATE when it snows!"

I know you do, old friend, but it's a fact of life here in the midwest this time of year...

Hot Stove League

2014-2016: 1.18 ERA, 51 Holds, 47 Saves

The weather may be cold, but baseball trade activity is certainly heating up. As I write this morning there are reports that my beloved Kansas City Royals have reached an agreement with their successors as World Series champions,
the Chicago Cubs.



The deal sends All-Star closer Wade Davis to the Windy City in exchange for 24-year-old outfield prospect Jorge Soler.

I've never gotten entirely comfortable with the revolving door of players that was ushered in by free agency, but Wade's departure will be particularly rough. He was
a key figure in the team's back-to-back American League pennants, and of course their 2015 World Series triumph.

"Only 24, has 27 home runs in just 211 games..."

I know, I know...I'll be rooting for the kid, of course...but Wade was just...reassuring, you know?

Cultural Lacuna

From the delightfully off-kilter webcomic xkcd, by Randall Munroe, which you should read every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Until Next Time...

Some Christmas songs are the work of brilliant individual songwriters, like James Pierpont's "Jingle Bells" or Irving Berlin's "White Christmas." Others are the product
of songwriting teams, like Jay Livingston and Ray Evan's "Silver Bells," or Bob Wells
and Mel Tormé's "The Christmas Song."

With more overtly religious hymns and carols authorship is usually more complicated. Many of the most beloved such songs are "traditional," meaning no one really knows who composed them. Others are the product of collaborations spanning decades, or even centuries.

"Angels We Have Heard On High," for instance, is based on lyrics to a traditional French Christmas carol, translated into English by several writers, most famously in 1862 by the Catholic bishop James Chadwick. The musical setting is also French, the hymn tune "Gloria," and the most commonly-heard version is the 20th century arrangement by American organist Edward Shippen Barnes.

In the fall of 2006 I was searching online for some new instrumental Christmas music to add to the playlist I used on the last day of school before Christmas vacation
(I typically had such music playing softly in the background throughout that day in my classroom).

One of my pleasant discoveries
was Christmas Piano, an album
by Canadian pianist and composer Chemayne Micallef. Every track
on her album wound up in my classroom Christmas playlist, and
I still use the latest version of that playlist every Christmas Day.

Today's send-off is Chemayne's lovely rendition of "Angels We Have Heard On High," from her YouTube channel. Enjoy...

We Believe...

A Cautionary Tale

Hurricane Arthur in 2014

One of the more tiresome tropes in contemporary political discourse is the common progressive claim that conservatives are "anti-science."






The truth of the matter, of course, is precisely the opposite. It is progressives who reject science when it suits their political agenda. They have no trouble ignoring scientific knowledge regarding human biology and sex differences, genetically-engineered crop strains, clean energy, vaccinations, and a whole host of other subjects.

Perhaps the most prominent subject of progressive know-nothingism these days is climate science. Their treatment of those who dissent from progressive orthodoxy on
this issue is downright shameful. One of their targets, Roger Pielke, Jr., has written
an eye-opening piece in the Wall Street Journal describing the campaign to discourage him from participating in public debates on climate issues.

Sadly, it appears that Professor Pielke has decided to throw in the towel, which of course is the whole point of progressive smear campaigns. Keep Pielke's story in mind the next time you hear some arrogant progressive talking about how much more open-minded and scientifically inclined the left is. It is a lie...

"Isn't it also what the psychologists call 'projection'?"

It absolutely is, yes...

Feast Day

St. Nicholas (1563), by Titian

Today is the feast day of St. Nicholas, a cleric born in Patara, in what is now Turkey.

Following the death of his parents from plague when he was very young, he was raised by his uncle, who was the bishop of Patara. It was his uncle who ordained him into the priesthood, and eventually Nicholas himself became bishop.

As a bishop, Nicholas attended the famous First Council of Nicaea, and was a staunch advocate there of traditional Church teachings. The council had been called by Emperor Constantine largely to address the spread of unorthodox views propagated by
a priest named Arius.



Nicholas's opposition to Arianism was so intense that he is reported to have struck Arius himself in the face during a debate. Nicholas was a signatory to what came to be called the Nicene Creed, which remains an important symbol of faith in the Church to this day.

It was Nicholas's generosity and practice of gift-giving that led to his association with
the popular legendary western figure Santa Claus, who of course is an iconic part of the Christmas season around the world.

Among his many patronages, Nicholas is the patron of children and merchants.

Congratulations, Joe!

The list of nominees for the 2017 Grammy Awards was released this morning, and my guitar hero
Joe Bonamassa was on it, for his superb Live At the Greek Theatre double album.

Joe's nomination is in the
Best Traditional Blues Album category, which was restored this year by The Recording Academy after a six-year experiment with something less respectful of classic old-school blues music.

"Does this mean you're going to watch the Grammy Awards telecast?"

Oh, no...this isn't Joe's first nomination, and his category is treated like a red-headed stepchild by the folks producing the show...

Teenager Repellant

From the droll comic strip Zits, by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman, which you should read every day, as I do.

Until Next Time...

One of the many joys of the Christmas music season is the annual release of a Christmas blues tune by my Grammy-nominated hero Joe Bonamassa.

The annual Christmas releases are always made available as free mp3 downloads from Joe's website, as a gift to his legion of loyal fans.




This year he upped the ante a bit with the release of a "Christmas album" consisting of his previous five Christmas songs plus a new tune for this year.

Today's send-off is his live-in-the-studio performance of the latest release, the wry Christmas blues "Bring Back My Cadillac," from his YouTube channel. Enjoy...

Thrills and Agonies

Sore Loser Update

"Your rules and laws mean nothing to me, meat-sacks!"

The presidential election was November 8, but we're still being plagued by sore loser and black- eyed skank Hillary Clinton, who is using her meat-puppet Jill Stein to press forward with recount efforts in three states (apparently only states where Trump won are worthy of having their election results called into question).

So, how is that going so far?

We're a few days in on the Wisconsin recount, and so far Trump is actually gaining votes. Oops!

The recount process is about to begin in Michigan, but even if the recounts there and
in Wisconsin flip those states, it would not change the result of the election. To do that, Pennsylvania would also have to flip.

The recount efforts in the Keystone State have been a mess, but even if the Federal courts step in no one really expects Clinton (who lost by over 46,000 votes) to prevail.

"The progressives really aren't taking their defeat very well."

No, no they are not...but they're famous for that...

Berry, Berry Good

My beloved Kansas City Chiefs were on the road for the second straight Sunday yesterday, beating the Atlanta Falcons 29-28 in the Georgia Dome. It was a hard-fought game the Chiefs led for most of the way...

Chiefs QB Alex Smith was efficient, going 21-for-25 on pass attempts, for 270 yards.
He was only sacked once, and threw a short touchdown pass to RB Spencer Ware.

His primary target on the day was Pro Bowl TE Travis Kelce, who caught 8 passes for 140 yards and kept several scoring drives alive.

For all of that, it took the heroics
of S Eric Berry, playing in his home town for the first time since being diagnosed with cancer two seasons ago, for the Chiefs to prevail.

Eric's interception return for a touchdown in the first half gave the Chiefs the lead at 20-13, and was
a huge momentum shift.


When the Falcons took a one-point lead with a TD late in the 4th quarter they tried
a two-point conversion, but Eric intercepted that pass also and returned it 100 yards
for two points for the Chiefs, which proved to be the decisive score.

"Say, didn't you predict that they'd lose this game a couple of weeks ago?"

They had just lost at home to Tampa Bay, so yeah...and they almost DID lose the game, by the way...

That Time of Year

For someone like me who has very little resistance to sentimental advertising appeals, the Christmas season is especially hazardous. Not a day goes by it seems without some heartwarming new commercial popping up on my TV. Some of them are so effective
at turning on my tear ducts that I have to mute the sound and go into the kitchen whenever they come on (the NFL has been showing "Frankie's Holiday" quite a bit during games lately, for instance).

A couple of days ago some folks I follow on Twitter began sharing a commercial made by the Polish auction website Allegro that has been released with an English translation. It doesn't run on American TV, of course, for which I am grateful. Loving language as
I do, this one pushes several of my emotional buttons...

Don't get me started, old friend...

Thanks, Utah!

On December 5, 1933 Utah became
the 36th state to ratify the Twenty-First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

That ratification repealed the infamous Eighteenth Amendment and ended Prohibition in the United States.

One would think that that failed experiment in social control would have discouraged the progressives whose crave nothing more than to manage every private decision, but that hasn't proven to be the case...

Down for the (Re)count

From the incisive pen of Michael Ramirez, whose editorial cartoons you should read often, as I do.

Until Next Time...

Thanks to the frequent TV showings of that Apple "Frankie's Holiday" commercial,
I've had difficulty getting the Christmas song it features out of my head...

"(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays" is almost as old as I am. It was written in 1954 by composer Robert Allen and lyricist Al Stillman, and was recorded and released as a Christmas single by popular crooner Perry Como that November. That release was
a Top 10 Billboard hit, and eventually Como re-recorded the song in 1959 in stereo and with a different musical arrangement. The second version proved even more popular, and has been included on many Christmas music compilations ever since.

When I went looking for a version of the song to include in this section I wanted something different from the overly-familiar Como hit, and in The Barefoot Movement
I certainly found what I was looking for.

"We're not kidding about the 'barefoot' part!"

A Nashville-based bluegrass group, they formed seven years ago and have since released five recordings, including a Christmas EP which was just released last Friday and is this week's

During that time they have gotten attention for their live shows (which they really do perform in their bare feet, by the way). After watching some of their videos it is certainly easy to see why.

Today's send-off is the group's lively rendition of "(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays," with a very different vibe from Como's original. Enjoy...

Happy Returns

About Those Candles

I forgot to mention it last week, but each of the candles in a traditional Advent wreath has a name and its own unique symbolic meaning.

Last Sunday we lit the Prophecy Candle, as a reminder that the coming of the Christ Child has been foretold, and that God's promise will soon be fulfilled.

Today, the second Sunday of Advent, we light the Bethlehem Candle, symbolic of the preparations we make for the Christ Child's arrival.

Win Some, Lose Some

Yesterday's college football results were something of a mixed bag for me, emotionally...

No. 19 Navy was the only one of my own rooting interests who played, losing to Temple 34-10 in a mild upset in the championship game of the American Athletic Conference.

We'll find out later today which bowl game the 9-3 Midshipmen
will play in, but they've had a fine season to date and next week's traditional Army-Navy game
should be quite a tussle.

As Navy did in their game, my best friend Skip's No. 7 Penn State Nittany Lions fell behind early, trailing No. 6 Wisconsin by as many as 21 in the Big Ten Conference Championship Game before roaring back to claim the title with a wild, pulse-pounding 38-31 win.

The Nittany Lions are most likely headed to the Rose Bowl after their fine 11-2 season.

"You don't think he'll mind PSU getting left out of the playoff?"

Not really, no...Skip loves the Rose Bowl...

Wild Kingdom Bed & Breakfast Update

"Long time, no see!"

The loss of foliage and the colder temperatures have meant an uptick in the number of customers I see
on a daily basis at the B&B.

I was a bit surprised this morning on my way to Mass when I spotted a mourning dove on the patio all by himself. I haven't seen any of his species around for several weeks, but I guess they haven't migrated anywhere for the winter...

All are welcome at the B&B, of course, but if these guys are still around I'll need to make sure there are things they like to eat on the regular menu.

"You know those things are just rats with wings, right?"

You've been talking to Skip again, I see...

Trump Bullies Everybody

From the pen of Henry Payne, whose editorial cartoons you should read often, as I do.

Until Next Time...

During Advent most of the music we hear during Sunday Mass at St. Peter's is hymns and songs traditionally associated with that season. One of the best known of these is
"O Come O Come Emmanuel," which happened to be our entrance hymn at 8:00 Mass this morning. It has been recorded by hundreds of artists over the years, including some lovely instrumental versions. I happen to especially enjoy renditions by choirs and other choral ensembles.

One joy of the Christmas season is renewing my enthusiasm for the music of the San Francisco-based men's a cappella ensemble Chanticleer. They have released several Christmas albums over the years, and this time of year they all get regular listens in my seasonal iTunes playlists.

In 1994 the group released  
Our Heart's Joy: A Chanticleer Christmas. It was the second of their many Christmas albums, and included material from their first, which had a Renaissance focus.

One of the joys of a Chanticleer recording is their skillful arranging of traditional songs and hymns in ways which make those beloved favorites seem new somehow. No one else interprets this material in quite the same way, which makes these guys a musical treasure.


Today's send-off is the 2004 remaster of the group's gorgeous and heartfelt arrangement of "O Come O Come Emmanuel," from their YouTube channel. Enjoy...

Endings and Beginnings

Climactic Weekend

It has certainly been an entertaining season for college football fans, but for my rooting interests things are drawing to a close.

Iowa State and Notre Dame finished their seasons last weekend, and can only look forward to 2017. Boston College and Air Force also don't play this weekend, as they wait to see which bowl games will select them.



Army, which also has bowl aspirations, is off this weekend and will conclude its regular season next Saturday with the traditional Army-Navy Game.

As for No. 19 Navy, the Midshipmen play at home today in the championship game of the American Athletic Conference against Temple.

My best friend Skip's beloved No. 7 Penn State Nittany Lions face No. 6 Wisconsin in
the Big Ten Championship game. Even if they win, it is unlikely that they'll get picked for the NCAA playoff, but I think Skip would be more than happy if they get a trip to
the Rose Bowl as a consolation prize.

The announcement of which teams will make the playoff, as well as other bowl game announcements, will be made on Sunday. There are some who say that a Navy win today would throw a monkey wrench into the non-playoff bowl picture, but I doubt the suits will let such a thing come to pass.

"So you don't think they'll wait to see how the Army-Navy game comes out?"

No, I don't...principles are principles, money is money...they'll hose the Midshipmen in a heartbeat to get the rest of their ducks in a row by Sunday afternoon...

Feast Day

St. Francis Xavier, by Marcantonio Franceschini

Today is the feast day of St. Francis Xavier, a 16th century missionary who died on December 3, 1552.

Francis was one of the six young followers of St. Ignatius Loyola who joined him in founding the Society of Jesus, which was formally approved by Pope Paul III in 1540.

Because of his devotion to missionary work, St. Francis Xavier is a popular namesake for schools and churches in the United States, and he is considered a patron saint of church missionaries.

Francis was beatified in 1619 by
Pope Paul V, and in 1622 he was canonized by Pope Gregory XV.


My family attended St. Francis Xavier Church when I was growing up in Council Bluffs. I also began my schooling at St. Joseph's, across the street, though by the time I began attending the school had become coed. Both the church and school were closed in the early 1970s.

Last Run

EMD E7 No. 4007 leads the way through Chicago's Englewood Union Station

On December 3, 1967 the New York Central Railroad's celebrated 20th Century Limited passenger train made
its final New York to Chicago run.




Along with the equally famous Broadway Limited operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad from 1912 to 1967 (and subsequently by first Penn Central and then Amtrak until 1995), the 20th Century is the passenger train railfans in the east rhapsodize about most frequently.

Being a lifelong midwesterner, I feel equally nostalgic about Sante Fe's iconic Super Chief, Rock Island's Golden State Limited, and Union Pacific's City of Los Angeles.

Happy Birthday!

Original 1947 playbill

On December 3, 1947 the groundbreaking stage play A Streetcar Named Desire opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in the heart of New York City's Theatre District (aka
"The Great White Way").

Arguably the best play of Tennessee Williams's career, this original Broadway production starred Jessica Tandy, Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, and Kim Hunter. It was directed by the legendary Elia Kazan, and made major stars of Tandy (who won a Tony Award for her performance) and Brando (who got his first Academy Award nomination for the movie version of the play). Malden and Hunter received Oscars for reprising their stage performances in the film.

The play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
in 1948, and has been a staple of professional and amateur theatre for nearly 70 years.

Mugged Again

This morning I enjoyed my white chocolate raspberry double latte (made on my favorite kitchen appliance) in a new mug, having finally chosen something from the Starbucks 2016 Holiday Collection.

The new mug is a nice match with my other Siren Collection mermaid from 2014...

"You get excited over the dumbest stuff..."

I'm not "excited"...I just enjoy collecting interesting coffee mugs...

Reality TV for Parents

From the wry comic strip Zits, by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman, which you should read every day, as I do.

Until Next Time...

One of the things I look forward to the most during Christmas season is revisiting favorite albums I only listen to this time of year. That is especially true of music
I most likely would never have heard had it not been for my students.

When Christmas season rolled around in 1996, my students at Bishop LeBlond were sharing their seasonal music enthusiasms with me on a daily basis, and one of the groups they couldn't stop talking about was the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, a side project of the American heavy metal band Savatage. The kids were excited by the group's guitar-heavy takes on traditional Christmas songs. I was skeptical at first, as most rock and roll Christmas music doesn't do much for me.

I was never happier to be proven wrong, as this band's debut album immediately became one of my seasonal favorites.

Released in mid-October in 1996, Christmas Eve and Other Stories quickly became a bestseller, and currently ranks 9th on the list of top-selling Christmas albums in America over the past 25 years.
It has received three platinum certifications from RIAA.

The radio hit from the album was "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24,"
an instrumental which exemplified the band's progressive rock approach to traditional Christmas music. I found it captivating, and promptly bought the album, which gets regular listens this time of year.

Today's send-off is the official video of the song, from the group's YouTube channel. Enjoy...

Questions

Thank The Avatars It's Friday!

"Need Christmas gift ideas? We know the perfect thing!"

What Century Is This Again?

Having spent 30 years in American K-12 education, I'm no stranger to parental objections to curricular content for the silliest
of reasons.

There's a reason the American Library Association still sponsors the annual Banned Books Week every fall, after all.


That said, it is more than a little dispiriting whenever some halfwitted parent convinces
a pusillanimous school board to ban a book, as recently happened in Virginia. I had held out some hope that this kind of nonsense was something that would eventually die out in the 21st century, but there has been no sign of such progress so far...

"Remember, you're talking about a country that just did this."

A fair point...

Ain't That a Kick?

"Yeah, I doinked it in just to add a little drama!"

The month of November was very, very good for K Cairo Santos of my beloved Kansas City Chiefs, who was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Month yesterday.

Cairo was 11-for-11 on field goal attempts during the month, including walk-off kicks as time expired against the Panthers and the Broncos, both on the road. He was also 5-for-5 on PATs, which as recent events have shown can no longer be taken for granted.

"Wait, what? The Chiefs only scored five touchdowns total in four November games?"

Seven, actually...we went for two on a couple of those...

Does Obamacare Cover This?

From the indispensable comic strip Dilbert, by Scott Adams, which you should read every day, as I do.

Until Next Time...

I first saw and heard a Christmas season "flash mob" performance by the United States Air Force Band in December of 2014, when someone shared this magnificent video with me via Twitter. I never get tired of watching that video (even though it makes me weep almost uncontrollably near the end), and I have shared it here and elsewhere on many occasions, including with my classes at TJ on the last day of school before Christmas vacation that year.

I soon learned that the 2014 performance was their second such "flash mob," and that
it is now a traditional holiday season event the band uses to kick off their Christmas concert schedule. This year's show took place on November 29, at the usual venue: the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Col. Larry H. Lang conducting

This year's performance had a French flavor,
as the band performed the 18th century French carol "Patapan" and
the George Ratcliffe Woodward favorite "Ding Dong Merrily on High," which is based on a 16th century French dance melody.


Today's send-off is the video of the band's charming performance, filmed live on November 29, from their YouTube channel. Enjoy...

December Arrives

Waste of Time (and Money)

No one who reads this blog is unaware of my undying animus toward bloviating asshat Donald Trump. The outcome on November 8 did nothing to erase my objections to the man, and despite the eagerness of some conservatives to rave about his cabinet picks,
I remain deeply skeptical.

"Am I dumb or merely spiteful? You decide."

That said, the efforts by failed Green Party candidate Jill Stein to force recounts in key states strikes me as the worst sort of pig- headed progressive sore-loserdom.

Stein wants recounts in Wisconsin
(where Trump won by more than 24K), Michigan (Trump won by nearly 11K),
and Pennsylvania (Trump won by more than 64K). There is simply no way that recounts will reverse outcomes of those sizes, and it would require all three of those election outcomes to be reversed in order to change the Electoral College results.

Trump won the election. Full stop.


Stein has raised millions for her quixotic efforts, though there is widespread skepticism about the integrity of that fundraising. Stein's own party has announced its opposition
to the recounts.

Here's a hint, progressives: When even the New York Times and The New Yorker think you're being dumb, you're being dumb.

"As many elections as she's lost, you'd think she'd be used to it by now."

I know, right?

Still the Champ

Yesterday was FIDE World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen's 26th birthday, and he celebrated in style by retaining his title with a victory in the 2016 World Championship Match tie-breakers against Russian challenger Sergey Karjakin.

As I have said in this space before, I'm not a big fan of using these tie-breaks to decide the world championship, and in particular I didn't like making the players play four Rapid games all on the same day.

That said, there is no question that Carlsen is the best player in the world, and I congratulate him on his successful title defense.

"You didn't really want the other guy to win, did you?"

I was ambivalent...it is always fun to root for the underdog, and Karjakin is a talented young player also, but on the other hand it doesn't break my heart that the champion
is from Norway rather than Russia...

Happy Birthday!

December 1, 1886 - October 27, 1975

Rex Todhunter Stout was born
on December 1, 1886 in Noblesville, Indiana.

Stout began his career as a writer
by publishing stories in the pulp magazines that flourished in the early 20th century. He abandoned writing for money around 1916, but when the Great Depression began he turned to writing as a source of income again.



In 1934 Stout published Fer-de-Lance, the novel that introduced his famous detective
Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin. Both of my parents were huge fans of the Nero Wolfe series, and because there were dozens of Stout paperbacks in their library he was one of the first American mystery writers I ever read.

I acquired other favorites over the years, but Stout richly deserves his reputation as one of the finest American mystery writers.

Progressive Scam du Jour

From the pen of Lisa Benson, whose editorial cartoons you should read often, as I do.

Until Next Time...

It has been a relatively mild autumn here in the Bluffs so far, weather-wise. There might have been a snowflake or two in these parts before yesterday, but when you see snow on November 30 it just feels...different. We didn't actually get real snow, but seeing those snowflakes when I went to the grocery store last night was a reminder that the white stuff will be here again, soon.

And that puts me in mind of one of my favorite songs associated with this time of year, "Winter Wonderland." Written in 1934 by Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith, it quickly became one of the most popular secular Christmas songs of all time, even though the song's lyrics don't specifically mention Christmas. It has been recorded hundreds of times by artists and groups in every musical genre. I have an iTunes playlist that is nothing but covers of this song.

Original 1946 45 rpm single

In 1946 the popular vocal group
The Andrews Sisters had a hit recording of the song, made with Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians.

That single peaked at No. 22 on
the charts, and its success led to an entire album of Christmas standards a year later. Several of the songs
on that album charted as singles
as well, the most popular being a version of "Jingle Bells" featuring Bing Crosby.




I have always preferred the jauntier, more up-tempo renditions of "Winter Wonderland," and have never cared for attempts to turn it into a slow ballad. The Andrews Sisters' bouncy version is one of my favorites because it fully captures the song's underlying playful mood.

Today's send-off is the trio's original hit recording, paired with some evocative photos and video clips from those days. Enjoy...