Seeing Red

Red Wednesday

Cathedral Church of St. Mary and St. Helen, Brentwood, Essex

The Catholic charity
Aid to the Church in Need is promoting Red Wednesday today, as a way to honor and bring attention to people all around the world who are persecuted and even killed for their faith.




Many churches are joining in the celebration by using red lighting, as shown above.

You can learn more by visiting the organization's website.

"Of course you support this, red is your favorite color."

Red is my favorite color, but that's not the reason I support this observance...

The Sunny Side of Life

No rational person would deny that this year's election campaign was a raging dumpster fire, and much as I am dreading the presidency of asshat Donald Trump, I also know that life
goes on regardless of who happens to occupy 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue at any given time (and Trump, who undoubtedly sees the presidency as just another side gig, permitted days of speculation that he might not take up residence there before finally announcing that he would).

Part of what makes that easier is the boundless inventiveness and good humor of the American people, as embodied in the Christmas ornament shown at right, created by Jennifer Brooks,
a reporter for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

So long as we don't lose our ability to laugh, we'll be okay...

"Keep that in mind when you're watching the Chiefs offense..."

You would bring that up...

Speaking of Celebrations

Today is also National Espresso Day, not that I need an excuse to use my awesome Mr. Coffee Café Barista...

"Is there ever a day at Casa Shu that isn't 'Espresso Day'?"

Not very many, no...

Word Up, Mr. Hamilton

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

[Note: If the cartoonist's reference escapes you, read this.]

Until Next Time...

My affinity for the type of hard rock music that came to be called heavy metal began with Steppenwolf and Blue Cheer in the late 1960s and blossomed when I discovered Blue Öyster Cult in 1972. I have remained a fan of the genre ever since, particularly as practiced by bands like Metallica, Iron Maiden, and Def Leppard.

Although they themselves resist the category label, I have always included the Australian band AC/DC in this category, though I understand their resistance to the notion.

Even though they had had a string of multi-platinum albums beginning in 1976, I didn't really pay much attention to the group until 1980, when news of the death of their lead singer Bon Scott made headlines in the rock press. In the wake of his death FM radio began playing AC/DC's back-catalog music more frequently, and rock fans were anxious to see if the band could recover.

Their first album release after Scott's death, Back In Black, removed all doubt about whether the group could continue. It earned two diamond certifications from RIAA (sales in excess of 20 million copies) and is widely considered one of the greatest rock albums ever produced. Needless to say, that created some pressure to produce a worthy follow-up.

On November 23, 1981 the band released For Those About To Rock, their seventh studio album for the worldwide market and eighth overall. On the day after Christmas that year it became the band's first release to top the Billboard 200 Albums chart, a position it would hold for three consecutive weeks.

The album received four platinum certifications from RIAA and included their signature song
"For Those About To Rock 
(We Salute You)," which has been the band's show-closing number ever since.

Today's send-off is the 1994 remastered version of the original album track. Pick up your balls and load up your cannon...

Comebacks

Monday Night Foul-Up

For the first time in its history, Monday Night Football visited
a foreign country, as the Oakland Raiders played the Houston Texans at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.





Because the Chiefs lost on Sunday their playoff chances would have suffered no matter which of their AFC rivals won this game, but the Raiders winning was the worse of the two possible outcomes, so of course that's what happened.

Apparently, the NFL decided the best way to make an impression on the locals attending the game was to introduce them to shitty NFL officiating, as the zebras handed the game to the Raiders by nullifying a Texans TD with a blown call and then blunting a late 4th quarter Texans scoring drive with a series of bad ball spots.

"You're just mad because you stayed up late and the Raiders won."

Not true...the officiating was legitimately dreadful the whole game, with almost every bad call favoring Oakland...

Feast Day

St. Cecilia (1606), by Guido Reni

Today is the feast day of St. Cecilia,
a 2nd century martyr who has been one of the most popular saints since her veneration began in the 4th century. She is one of only seven women other than the Virgin Mary to be mentioned by name in the Canon of the Mass.

Cecilia is a pre-Congregation saint, typical of martyrs in the days before the process was formalized in 1588 under Pope Sixtus V.

Cecilia is the patron of musicians, as well as the Archdiocese of Omaha.

A New Champion?

The 2016 FIDE World Chess Championship Match got under way in New York on November 11, pairing the reigning champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway and World No. 9 player Sergey Karjakin of Russia, who won the Candidates Tournament in Moscow in March.



The 12-game match had been uneventful until yesterday, as matches between strong players often are, with the first seven games ending in draws (although a couple of Karjakin's escapes were considered miraculous).

Things got exciting on Monday, however, as Karjakin won Game 8 with the black pieces, taking a 4.5-3.5 lead in the match with just four games remaining. He only needs to draw the remaining four games to claim the title. That's a tall order against a player as strong as Carlsen, but the odds favor Karjakin.

"Did somebody make a mistake moving one of his horsies?"

Nobody thinks you're funny...

We Were All Freshmen Once, Kid

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

Until Next Time...

By the late spring of 1968, Elvis Presley's career as a performer and as a recording artist was in eclipse. He hadn't had a Billboard Top 10 hit record in three years, much less a No. 1. By that point it had become unusual for a Presley single to even reach the Top 40, and concert bookings were rare, as his series of cheesy movies with forgettable soundtracks had turned off all but his most loyal fans.

His career began to rebound following his involvement in an NBC televised special simply called Elvis. The music for the show consisted of some production numbers that were precursors of what Elvis's Las Vegas shows would be, some informal jamming of his older hits with a studio audience present, and a couple of numbers featuring Elvis performing with a full orchestra, with a live audience. All of the recording sessions for the special were done in Burbank, California the last week of June. though the show wasn't broadcast until December.

On November 22, 1968 RCA Records released highlights from the sessions in an album simply called Elvis, but it soon came to be called the "Comeback Special" album by his fans.

It was Presley's most successful album release in more than three years, peaking at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and earning a platinum certification from RIAA.



The TV special introduced a lot of teenagers to an Elvis they had never seen outside of ridiculous Hollywood movies, and a lot of them liked what they saw. The stripped-down, informal jamming surrounded by fans was an ideal setting for Presley, who was having fun singing this music for the first time in years. His charisma as a performer wasn't gone after all, as some had claimed.

Today's send-off is what came to be known as the "Guitar Man Medley," from The King's YouTube channel. Enjoy...

Turkey Week Begins...

Free Advice

This week a lot of people will be getting together for traditional family gatherings, which means
the tiresome progressive set is once again offering "advice" for how to interact with family members who hold "wrong" (read: not progressive) political views.

I have some advice of my own: Don't be that person. Occasions like these aren't supposed to be political seminars. They're supposed to be about great food and football and family stuff.

"Plenty of pumpkin pie, zero politics?"

That would be my strong preference, yes...

Playing Like Turkeys

Heading into yesterday's game against Tampa Bay at Arrowhead Stadium, my beloved Kansas City Chiefs had won five straight games, and ten straight at home going back to last season. The five-game streak included important road wins at Oakland and Carolina that positioned the team to contend for the AFC West Division title. All of that hard work was squandered when the Chiefs were upset 19-17 by the Buccaneers yesterday.

The defeat drops the team's record to 7-3 heading into difficult road games against Denver (7-3) and Atlanta (6-4). They won't play at home again until December 8 against Oakland,
a game that could well be a must-win contest if the team hopes to make the playoffs.

"You don't think they'll make it this season, do you?"

With the offense playing the way it has been lately, they have no chance at all...

Moving Always Sucks

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

Until Next Time...

Between 1990, when I began a hiatus from classroom teaching, and when I returned to teaching in 1995 the music industry had basically abandoned the vinyl 45 rpm single in favor of a compact disc alternative, known as the CD single. This was an interesting period, as bands would usually include two or three extra songs on these singles, often recent live performances of their earlier hits. With the arrival of digital formats, though, it became possible to purchase and download individual album tracks online, and the CD single all but disappeared by the turn of the 21st century.

When I went back to teaching high school I immersed myself in the music popular with teenagers, the first time I had listened to much of that music for several years. One of the rock groups popular at that time was Seven Mary Three, whose album American Standard was released just a couple of weeks after I began teaching again in 1995. The album earned a platinum certification from RIAA, fueled by the success of its first single release, "Cumbersome," a song that was quite popular with the angst-y teenagers in my classroom. As it turned out, my favorite song of theirs was the follow-up release.

Original 1995 CD single

On November 21, 1995 the band released "Water's Edge" as a CD single, and while it didn't quite perform as well as "Cumbersome," it did peak at No. 7 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

I liked it a lot the first time I heard it on the radio, and it was one of my first CD single purchases. 

The song itself is interesting lyrically, a first-person narrative about someone who witnessed
a horrific crime but dares not say anything for fear of retribution.

Today's send-off is the official music video produced to accompany the single's release, which for a change was actually related to the song's lyrics. Enjoy...

Sunday Potpourri No. 50

Feast Day

Chrystusa Króla, in Świebodzin, Poland

Today is the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, called the Feast of Christ the King for short.

It is what is known as a movable feast,
and was instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI. For 45 years it was celebrated on the last Sunday in October, but in 1970 its place on the calendar was changed by Pope Paul VI, who chose to place it on the final Sunday of Ordinary Time (the Sunday before Advent).

This feast marks the end of the Church's liturgical year, which explains why many Catholics are fond of calling the first Sunday of Advent "Catholic New Year."

A Good Saturday

It was a very good day indeed for my rooting interests in college football, even if I did wear out and go to bed before the final result was known...

My day kicked off with Army, in their final home game of the season, beating Morgan State 60-3. Army snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 6-5. They don't play again until the annual game with Navy on December 10.




Speaking of Navy, the Midshipmen improved to 8-2 with a 66-31 win over East Carolina in a game that had been postponed from October 15 due to a hurricane.

The third of my teams to crack the 60-point threshold yesterday was Iowa State, who clobbered Texas Tech 66-10 at Ames in their highest-scoring game ever against a conference opponent.

It has been a rough season for the Cyclones, but they have now won consecutive games for the first time since 2013.


It was a split decision for my Catholic institutions. Boston College improved to 5-6 with an easy 30-0 home win over Connecticut. They can become bowl eligible with a win at Wake Forest next Saturday. Notre Dame was not so fortunate, falling to 4-7 after blowing a 17-point lead and falling 34-31 to Virginia Tech at home, clinching their first losing season since 2007.

My best friend Skip's No. 8 Penn State Nittany Lions played a night game on the road in crappy weather in New Jersey, but it didn't matter. They beat Rutgers 39-0 for their seventh straight win, improving to 9-2.

I tried to stay awake for Air Force's game, but it was on the road at San Jose State, and didn't kick off until 9:30 PM CST. I barely made it midway through the 2nd quarter. Air Force was trailing, but had just scored a touchdown to make the score 17-20. When I woke up this morning I learned that the Falcons had scored a 41-38 win to improve to 8-3 on the season.

"Well, that explains why I heard very little cursing yesterday."

It was a good day, but in any case I don't curse as much as you keep suggesting...

Vivid Imagination

From the droll comic strip FoxTrot, by Bill Amend, which you should read every Sunday.

Until Next Time...

The Feast of Christ the King will be followed by Advent next Sunday, and when that happens the focus of this section will turn to seasonal music again, both sacred and secular.

One of the best things to happen in recent years is the growth of "period" music, performed by people intent on preserving some of history's most stirring music just as one might have heard it played and sung hundreds of years ago.

In 2005 Sequentia, an ensemble promoting medieval music, and Dialogos, a vocal ensemble also focused on music from that period, joined forces to produce an album
of liturgical music featuring Gregorian chants.

Chant Wars concludes with the chant "Christus vincit" (also known as "Laudes Regiæ"), which is traditionally associated with this feast day. One cannot listen to these dedicated musicians and singers without being reminded of the Church's centuries-old traditions.

Today's send-off is their stirring performance of the chant just as it may have been performed for Charlemagne. Enjoy...

Worth Remembering

Pigskin Preview

Today will be a taxing day of college football watching, as my rooting interests are playing basically all day long across four time zones.

It all starts at 11:00 AM with Army playing its final home game of the season against Morgan State. About an hour later Boston College kicks off at home against Connecticut.

Right around the time those games conclude, Notre Dame will be kicking off at home against Virginia Tech. Iowa State is also playing
at home today against Texas Tech
in a mid-afternoon game.

Navy should have been off this weekend, but they're making up
a game against East Carolina that was postponed due to a hurricane
a few weeks ago.

My best friend Skip's No. 8 Penn State Nittany Lions are on the road today at Rutgers
in a 7:00 PM game, and Air Force is on the road as well, playing at San Jose State in
a game that doesn't even start until 9:30 PM my time.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that you'll go to bed before that one ends."

That would be a reasonable surmise, yes...don't want to miss 8:00 Mass on Sunday...

Memorable Rhetoric

On November 19, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln gave a short address dedicating the Soldiers' National Cemetery located in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.



Lincoln's famous words might not be the best political speech in American history, but they are unquestionably the very best brief speech.

As someone who taught public speaking for 30 years, of course I used Lincoln's address as a model for how memorable and powerful words can be. They say a picture is worth 1,000 words, but I have never seen a picture as eloquent as Lincoln's simple 272-word masterpiece.

Steven Spielberg's 2012 film Lincoln starred the incomparable Daniel Day-Lewis
(a performance for which he won the Best Actor Oscar), and incorporated Lincoln's moving words in a novel way in its opening scene...

Typical Saturday

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

Until Next Time...

The best thing about collegiate sports is that they are not professional (well, mostly not). There is just something utterly charming about the youthful innocence which permeates the whole experience. It really isn't about who wins and loses, although winning is most assuredly fun. It is about our young people having some of the best experiences of their lives, providing them with a lifetime of memories.

It also explains why people like me, who haven't been college students for decades, can still revel in the collegiate sports experience in our spare time.

Iowa State isn't having a great season in football, but that doesn't really matter to the university's marching band, whose history dates all the way back to 1881. They work their tails off to put on a great show every time. Their dedication (and exuberance) is inspiring.

It won't be long before I will no longer have any former students in this group, but for now I sure do get a kick out of watching them play.

Today's send-off is a pair of performances from this year's Homecoming festivities. First, the drum line does a lively routine, followed by the band's halftime performance (which included the Alumni Band as well). Enjoy...

Just Chillin'

Thank Sucellus It's Friday!

"If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning..."

Get Over It, Already

Just to be clear: I didn't support asshat Donald Trump's candidacy during the GOP primary, nor during the general election campaign. I also did not vote for him on November 8, and plan to criticize him vigorously whenever he deserves it during his term in office (which I presume will be often). That said...

...these people need to grow the fuck up and remember what country it is they live in.





Whoever wins the election is EVERYONE's president, you dumbasses. That's why who we nominate matters. This is basic stuff. Throwing a tantrum when things don't go your way is not the path to future electoral success.

"It worked in the grocery store when they were three years old, though..."

If their parents were dreadful, perhaps...but it certainly isn't going to accomplish anything now...they're just making themselves look more and more ridiculous...and persuading nobody...

Fall Has Fallen, Finally

We're having our first really chilly weekend of the fall season: overcast skies, high temperatures only in the mid-40s. There is the possibility of some snow by this time next week.

Sweater weather is my absolute favorite!

Pumpkin Parade

The pumpkins lined up outside your grocery store aren't the only ones to be seen during the fall season...

This picture of some BNSF "pumpkins" (actually a lash-up of GE ES44C4s in BNSF's distinctive orange and green livery) was shared on Twitter this morning by a fellow railfan.

"If you like the color scheme so much, why don't you have one in your model collection?"

Haven't decided on which specific locomotive of BNSF's that I want just yet...one of these days, though...

Another Reason I'm Not On Facebook

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

Until Next Time...

As I have mentioned in this space on occasion, when I got to high school in the fall of 1967 my circle of friends began to expand, and part of that process was being introduced to musical artists and styles to whom I had not been paying much attention. I had
a couple of pretty close friends who were very interested in so-called progressive rock, and thanks to them I was exposed to groups like Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Yes,
The Moody Blues, and Emerson, Lake, & Palmer. I still listen to that music fairly regularly in various iTunes playlists.

A friend of mine who played guitar was quite taken with Procol Harum because of its lead guitar player, the amazing Robin Trower. The band had some success in the late '60s and early '70s, and Trower himself has enjoyed a fine solo career, but the group's biggest achievements came after Trower had left the band in early 1971 (a move that was much-discussed among my prog-rock friends at the time).

On November 18, 1971 the group performed live at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. The concert was recorded, and subsequently released as Procol Harum Live: In Concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.

The album was the biggest seller
in the band's career, earning them
a gold certification from RIAA and peaking at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart in 1972. It was one of the best-selling live albums
of the decade.

It also produced their final Billboard charting single, with "Conquistador" reaching
No. 16 on the Hot 100 Singles chart that same year.

Today's send-off is the 2002 remastered version of the original album track, from
the band's YouTube channel. Enjoy...

Unexpected Outcomes

Sore Losers

One of our nation's more tiresome post-election rituals is the tsunami of "explanatory journalism" we're subjected to whenever progressives don't win at the ballot box.




The most obnoxious of the pieces published in the wake of last week's presidential election is a story that appeared yesterday on BuzzFeed which puts forth the theory that black-eyed skank Hillary Clinton lost to asshat Donald Trump because more people were reading "fake" news online than "real" news.

Progressives have fallen for this malarkey hook, line, and sinker. Mainstream news outlets like CBS and The Washington Post are working hard to make sure it becomes Conventional Wisdom. Never mind that the original article is nonsense (that it is being called a "study" is VERY revealing of how badly progressives want it to be true),
the drumbeat about "fake news" (and the obviously addled voters who are falling for it) isn't likely to end any time soon.

After all, Hillary couldn't possibly have lost because she promised to put coal miners 
out of work, regulate political speech, and abolish the individual right to own a firearm.
It can't be because she was a historically awful candidate whom the public intensely disliked.  No, there must be some other explanation...

"You're thinking about throwing in that Mencken quote, aren't you?"

Not that one, this one...

Lesson Learned

The decisive fumble recovery

On November 17, 1968 one of the most famous games in the history of the American Football League (and professional football generally) was played.

It wasn't a Super Bowl, or even
a playoff game. It was a regular-season contest between the New York Jets and the Oakland Raiders.



Because the game was being played on the west coast, the fact that it was running longer than usual created a problem for the NBC network, which was broadcasting it.

As a result of some communication snafus, viewers in the eastern time zone (including Jets fans) didn't see the closing moments of the game because the network switched to its own made-for-TV movie Heidi. At the time the network switched away, the Jets were leading the game 32-29 with just over a minute left to play. The Raiders scored two touchdowns in that final minute to win the game 46-32, and east coast viewers freaked out when the network put up the final score along the bottom of the screen during the movie broadcast.

The so-called "Heidi Game" resulted in a number of changes in the way television networks broadcast professional football games. The most significant change was that
all games must now be shown to their conclusion in the TV market of the visiting team.

Although the Jets lost that game to the Raiders, they went on to beat them in the
AFL Championship Game later that season, and went on to defeat the Baltimore Colts
in Super Bowl III.

"Say, didn't the Raiders beat the Chiefs in a playoff game that season, too?"

Shut your pipe...

Democracy Bomb

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

Until Next Time...

Very few of the bands I enjoyed in high school and college lasted very long. A handful
of acts like The Rolling Stones and The Who managed to stay together for decades, but for the most part the late '60s and early '70s were all about finding groups I liked only to watch them dissolve after a few years. Cream (three years), The Mamas & The Papas (three years), Free (four years), Creedence Clearwater Revival (five years), and even
The Beatles (who broke up just six years after their first visit to the U.S.) were all huge favorites of mine who abruptly went away. Their members typically went on to other projects, including solo careers, but that didn't make my disappointment any less acute.

Faces, a group formed by former members of Small Faces and The Jeff Beck Group, were doomed from the outset by lead singer Rod Stewart's solo ambitions, but during their brief time together they made some of my favorite blues-rock music from that time period. Their most memorable project was a recording I listened to obsessively as my first semester of college was winding down. 

On November 17, 1971 the band released A Nod Is As Good As a Wink...To a Blind Horse, their third studio album and by far their most successful. It peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and produced the group's first Billboard charting single.

That single, "Stay With Me," was not only their first chart hit, it became the band's signature song, and remains a staple on "classic rock" radio stations to this day. Stewart (who co-wrote the song with guitarist Ronnie Wood) has been known to perform it during
his solo concerts as well.

Today's send-off is the 2015 remastered version of the group's biggest hit, from their YouTube channel. Enjoy...

Stepping Out

Oh FFS!

DePaul University in Chicago is the largest Catholic institution of higher learning in the United States, and has been for nearly 20 years. As such, it is deeply disheartening to me when the school beclowns itself on behalf of Political Correctness.

The university was back in the news yesterday for precisely that, as the used strong-arm tactics to prevent conservative author and lecturer Ben Shapiro from giving a talk on their campus.


Shapiro, along with conservative author and academic Christina Hoff Summers, had been invited by the university's Young America's Foundation (YAF) chapter to give
a lecture about...free speech on college campuses!

"What exactly is the university worried about?"

They're afraid that hearing ideas they don't agree with will cause their own students
to resort to violence to silence the bearer of those ideas. I kid you not...

Nice Accolade

"'Scuse me while I take this thing to the HOUSE!"

My beloved Kansas City Chiefs won in Carolina last Sunday largely due to the defense, which held the Panthers scoreless in the second half and provided the team its only touchdown in the 20-17 victory.




That TD came on a 42-yard interception return by S Eric Berry, who this morning was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week.

"Nothing quite like a game-changing pick-six, is there?'

He also led the team in tackles with nine, seven of them unassisted...big game...

The Never-Ending Tech Story

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

Until Next Time...

On November 16, 1964 Diana Jean Krall was born in Nanaimo, a city on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Her mother and father were middle-class professionals
(a teacher and an accountant, respectively), but their amateur interest in music (mom sang, dad played the piano) inspired their daughter, who was playing the piano herself by age four and performing in public by the time she was 15.

Since then she has gone on to a successful, Grammy Award-winning career. To date she has had seven multi-platinum albums and eight albums which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart.

Her recording career got started
in 1993, when Diana released her debut album, Stepping Out.
It featured her splendid jazz piano and sultry vocals on standards like Duke Ellington's "Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me," "On the Sunny Side of the Street" (said by some to be the work of Fats Waller, although officially it is credited to Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields), and "Body and Soul."




What got me hooked on Diana was the album's lone instrumental, her swinging interpretation of the Harry Warren/Al Dubin classic "42nd Street." Great stuff.

Today's send-off is the 2016 remastered version of the original album track. Enjoy...