Winterfell
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| View from my patio, 8:15 AM |
So, when I awoke this morning, the predicted winter storm was already underway. The National Weather Service has already backed off from earlier predictions of 10+ inches of snow for the area, but even the 4-7 inches they're now predicting will be bad enough when combined with wind and temperatures in the teens.
After laying in provisions yesterday in anticipation of this, I'm prepared to wait out the first big winter storm with minimal disruption. I'll need to keep a closer eye than usual on the B&B, as the blowing snow is creating some issues there, but things will be okay.
(This section's header is a Game of Thrones reference, of course. Winterfell is the ancestral castle of House Stark.)
Happy 169th Birthday, Iowa!
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| State flag of Iowa |
A little over 106 years later (February 18, 1953), I was born here. Some might call this
a mere coincidence,
of course...
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| "Hard to believe there are no statues of you anywhere in the state." |
I know, right?
Things That Make Me Happy: Playoff Berth Edition
It wasn't pretty, but my beloved Kansas City Chiefs won their 9th straight game and clinched a spot in this season's NFL playoffs with a 17-13 victory over the Cleveland Browns at Arrowhead Stadium. |
| QB Alex Smith threw two TD passes and rushed for 54 yards |
Now 10-5 after their horrendous 1-5 start, the Chiefs are still alive to win the AFC West if they can defeat Oakland next Sunday at Arrowhead and the Denver Broncos lose one of their next two games. Remarkable.
Having watched our beloved Kansas City Royals become World Series Champions, do Chiefs fans dare dream of a possible trip to the Super Bowl this season? Maybe that isn't such a crazy notion...
Sad News
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| Meadowlark Lemon, 1968 |
This morning brought word that one of the great entertainers of all time passed away yesterday in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Born Meadow George Lemon III on
April 25, 1932 in Wilmington, North Carolina, he found fame under the name "Meadowlark Lemon" as the star attraction of the celebrated Harlem Globetrotters basketball team.
I never had the chance to see the Globetrotters in person, but watched Lemon and his teammates many, many times as a kid on shows like ABC'S Wide World of Sports.
Requiescat in pace...
They Deserve Each Other
From the pen of Chip Bok, whose editorial cartoons you should read often, as I do.
Until Next Time...
Most of the Christmas songs I learned in Catholic school had been around for a hundred years or more. There are so many good ones that it was always difficult for a "modern" song to become popular enough to merit inclusion in the playlist of the nun in charge of the various class choirs and the Christmas concert. |
| 2015 Sheet music |
In 1962, during the so-called "Missiles of October" stand-off between the United States and the Soviet Union, the husband and wife songwriting team of Noël Regney and Gloria Shayne Baker wrote
"Do You Hear What I Hear?" as a heartfelt plea for world peace.
The song was first recorded by the Harry Simeone Chorale, which had made an international hit out of "The Little Drummer Boy" just a few years earlier. They were able to repeat that success with the Regney/Baker song, which has now sold millions of copies and been covered by countless artists.
I was in 5th grade in the fall of 1963 when I first learned the song for that year's all-school Christmas concert. As kids we were excited to have a "new" song to sing,
one we had heard on the radio. The song is popular enough now that music ministers often include it during Mass services around Christmastime.
Today's send-off is the original 1962 Harry Simeone Chorale recording of the then-new carol, which sold more than a quarter of a million copies during the Christmas season that year. Enjoy...
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