Special Treat: ‘My Love’s an Arbutus’

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This isn’t genuine Christmas music, but I always associate it with Christmas because if features prominently in my favorite Christmas movie–Scrooge, the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol starring Alistair Sim. It’s used as the theme for Alice, the sweet young woman Scrooge loved once and should have married. We’re going to watch it this afternoon–a Christmas tradition at our house.

If you can’t quite make out the lyrics, never mind. The melody evokes gentleness, sweetness, and love: in the words of our esteemed colleague, “Unknowable,” the beauty of goodness.

I can’t put it better than that.

Mr. Nature: Snow Wraiths

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Hi, Mr. Nature here!

My neighbor’s son is home from college on Winter Solstice/Kwanzaaa Break; and because it has snowed this morning, the poor guy is hiding down the cellar, behind the oil burner.

“He doesn’t want the snow wraiths to get him,” the father explained. “What the heck are snow wraiths, anyway? You’re Mr. Nature, you tell me.”

Well, I’ll try.

See that picture up there, with the spooky faces in it? Those are snow wraiths–evil spirits that come out when it snows. Sometimes they take human form, sometimes they don’t: but always they are on the lookout for someone’s essential life force to consume. They suck it right out like an Electrolux.

“He’s afraid the snow wraiths are gonna get him because he’s not inclusive or diverse enough,” my neighbor says.

It would not comfort him if I told him that, according to tradition, snow wraiths are especially attracted to out-and-out idiocy. But then I don’t believe in snow wraiths, and I don’t know anyone else who believes in them, either–except for a few individuals who learned about snow wraiths in college and haven’t outgrown it yet.

As for the spooky faces in the sky–well, I’ve never seen ’em. Have you?

‘On This Day Earth Shall Ring’

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This carol was first performed sometime around 1360, and it’s still with us today. In fact, we sang this in seventh grade as part of our school’s Christmas concert. This was before we learned that a single atheist killjoy can veto a whole community’s Christmas celebration. But we do show signs of waking from that troubled slumber: I pray it may be so.

Now I have to run off to the nursing home, and I hope to have received some hymn requests from among my vast host of readers by the time I get back.

Memory Lane: Sky King

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Remember this TV classic? Sky King, starring Kirby Grant, was one of the earliest TV Western hits, running from 1951-1954. They brought it back in syndication in 1959, which was when I saw it.

Sky King was billed as “America’s favorite flying cowboy.” Was there a lot of competition for that title? Anyhow, it was great fun, watching him chase down the bad guys in his airplane.

Ignore the earnest young woman trying to pass herself off as Peter Pan. Hey, a job is a job, right?

High-Energy Kittens

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Look at these guys go! Don’t you wish you had that much energy? Don’t you wish you could get that fired up over a plastic ball or a stuffed mouse? Although the thought of some of us rolling around on the floor with a stuffed mouse is… well, daunting…

The ‘We Was Hacked!’ Defense

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Image result for hackers

Every bit as good as the “Everybody Does It” Defense, albeit not quite so universally applicable, is the “We Was Hacked!” Defense.

This was pioneered in 2009 when hackers got into the computers at the Climate Change Unit at East Anglia University, UK, and released thousands of confidential emails that proved, beyond even an unreasonable doubt, that the whole Global Warming jihad rested on lies, suppression of data, intimidation of critics, political payoffs, and other misdeeds: the scandal known as “Climategate.” If you don’t know much about it, that’s because the “mainstream” nooze media did their utmost to bury the story.

Here’s the argument: You are not allowed to consider all this chicanery because the information was obtained by hackers. Never mind that if it weren’t for the hackers, we never would have known about it. You have to ignore it, and still believe in Man-Made Climate Change, because… hackers provided all that information and hacking isn’t nice!

The success of this gambit inspired Democrats to resort to it again, after Donald Trump’s election as president. “Russian hackers made us lose! No fair!”

Thanks to hackers, thanks to Wikileaks, we learned some unsavory things about Hillary Clinton and her mob. To wit:

The DNC rigged the Democrat primary against Bernie Sanders. But you’re not allowed to know that.

Big-time “journalists” actively colluded with the Clinton campaign, and some of them were paid for it. But you’re not allowed to know that.

Off camera, candidate Hillary was anything but “presidential”–cursing people out, flying into rages, throwing things at staffers, and drinking herself silly now and then. But you’re not allowed to know that.

And of course there was much, much more, none of it flattering to Team Hillary. But we weren’t supposed to know about it. And we wouldn’t have, if not for hackers.

Consider this bizarre argument. Because the information was put out by hackers, we are expected to disregard the lying, the cheating, the bribery, and the candidate’s profound dishonesty, plus her revolting personality–and goldarn it, that whole election oughta be overturned because the Russians and Wikileaks hacked the Democrats’ emails! All that stuff was supposed to be a secret! No fair, no fair!

Absent from the discussion is any serious attempt to claim the information wasn’t true. Well, that wouldn’t get them very far, would it?

All right, it’s too bad we have to rely on hackers to get the truth about our politicians and our–ahem!–scientists.

But coming from the crowd who praised the stolen “Pentagon Papers” as the greatest act of public spirit since Paul Revere climbed onto his horse, it rings a bit hollow.

 

‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’ (Traditional)

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From “Jessicafischerqueen,” who posted it on my chess site this morning–God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen–traditional version, sung by the Bach Choir: plus a thoroughly lovely photo that I only wish I could go into for a little while, and sing this carol, and make the snowscape echo it.

I explane How cats They Got to be Cats

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I has been chalenged “by a” Reeder he thinks Cats are like Some Axternel “Force” programbed them to cach bugs “and” Other Pests. Wel budy i sure can straiten Yiu out on that!!!

Dont yiu know Cats got to Be Cats becose of Evilution? evryboddy knows That ascept For stopid christins who hasnt Got no Collidge Edication! if yiu was In Collidge like us Interllecturals yiu wuld kno Evilution it “is” evrything!!!

OK let me explane it To yiu. Frist thare was Rocks and wehn It rainded on the Rocks they come Alive!! and first they was onely Germs and Werms and stuff, and Evilution it turned Them into bugs and Fish and then Evilution turned them Into Dinosores!!! Iff yiu looks at That thare piture up Above yiu wil see the Cat-o-Sorus witch is The ansesster of Cats and thay Has foned the Fostils in lotts of Diffrint Plases.

So yiu seee thare istnt no Axternle Force to Make cats “be” Cats becose thare isnt no god and It “is al” done By Evilution!!! thare sure istnt No god to programb “them” into bein Predditers and cachin Bugs is is al jist Evilution. It is easy to “Rembember”>>rocks-germs-werms-bugs-dinosores-aminals-cave men-Interllucturals and Climbit Sceintits.

PS.-That Photrograph of the Cat-O-Sorus it is 100 Persent Real i seen It on the Intranet!!!!

‘The First Noel’ (with Elvis)

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This just about brought me to tears, it’s so beautiful–The First Noel, sung by Elvis Presley. Forget the silly costumes and the rock-‘n’-roll. God gave this man the voice of an angel, and he knew how to use it.

Now, folks, Christmas is coming up fast–and don’t leave the daily hymn selection to me and Erlene. We all have very much to celebrate, and good news to proclaim to all the world. Come, get into the spirit of it all! Especially those of you who haven’t yet requested a hymn. If this is your first visit to this blog, you can still request a hymn. So step right up!

Memory Lane: Sandy Becker

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Growing up in the New York media market in the 1950s and 60s, you just can’t imagine it without Sandy Becker on TV. Which he was, from 1955 through 1968, mostly on WNEW.

This guy was a volcano of talent: nobody like him, anymore, to entertain little kids and young teens. Original puppets? Sandy not only performed them; he made them. Far-out characters? Sandy played them: Norton Nork, Hambone, the Big Professor, and the inscrutable Dr. Gesundheit. He also did cartoons.

Much of his show was live, and, alas, little of it was recorded. Much of it was ad-libbed. And you also heard a lot of Bert Kaempfert music: the theme for his daytime show, heard in this video, was That Happy Feeling. When he was on at night, it was Afrikaan Beat.

Kids’ TV in this era was overrun with talent. Along with Sandy, we had the immortal Soupy Sales and the incredible Chuck McCann, who gained national recognition by winning an Oscar nomination for his supporting role in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter… and his “Hi, guy! One shot and I’m good for the whole day!” deodorant commercials. Remember those? The protagonist was an ordinary gtuy who had to share a medicine cabinet with McCann’s weird character. But I digress.

Well, I can’t hear any of Bert Kaempfert’s music without thinking of Sandy Becker–gone, but lovingly remembered by probably millions of people who were kids then.

Let me see if I can get you just a tiny Hambone clip or something…