“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”
Gerard van Honthorst, Birth of Christ, 1622
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Archive for December, 2011
Good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people…
Posted in Religion, Visual art on December 25, 2011| Leave a Comment »
That’s Little Sal, second from the right.
Posted in Cartoons, Humor, Music on December 24, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Itzhak Perlman goes improv
Posted in Music on December 21, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Happy Hanukkah! And this klezmer music featuring Itzhak Perlman is nothing but happy. He and his fiddle join up with four different groups in this 10-minute film, so watch all or part of it.
As one of the comments says, “This makes me want to dance around and break stuff!”
Fourth Sunday of Advent: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Posted in Humor, Music, Religion on December 18, 2011| Leave a Comment »
“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” is one of my wife Jeri’s favorite carols, probably because it lends itself so well to jazz.
I did have a video of Jerry Garcia and David Grisman scheduled until YouTube deleted it. But I found an adequate substitute.
Mister Bean really gets into the Christmas spirit with his chance to conduct a Salvation Army band. Get a chuckle out of it.
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Music can have a soothing effect on people…
Posted in Cartoons, Humor, Music on December 16, 2011| Leave a Comment »
…but not on Schroeder when he’s around Lucy.
Happy Birthday, Ludwig.
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Have a listen to Ivo Pogorelich as he plays Für Elise:
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It’s over, for now
Posted in History, Political on December 15, 2011| Leave a Comment »
It really began in 1991 (or 1990, if we count Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait), but the current phase began in 2003 because we could. Let this be the end of it.
Timeline: U.S. Troops in Iraq (source: BBC News)
- March 2003 – Operation Iraqi Freedom begins with a “shock and awe” assault on Baghdad, which falls in under a month
- May 2003 – President George Bush declares “mission accomplished”
- Dec 2003 – Saddam Hussein captured in a bunker south of Tikrit
- April 2004 – Photos emerge showing abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison
- 2005 – Suicide attacks in Iraq hit all-time high as insurgency spreads
- January 2007 – US troop “surge” begins, leading to a drop in violence by 2008
- August 2010 – Last US combat troops leave Iraq
Ending an earlier war: Saigon, Vietnam, 1975. Fleeing the U.S. Embassy.
The Silent Monks: Hallelujah Chorus
Posted in Humor, Music, Religion on December 15, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Third Sunday of Advent: Gaudete!
Posted in Music, Religion on December 11, 2011| Leave a Comment »
It means Celebrate! or Rejoice… Maybe “Get down and boogie.”
Gaudete, gaudete!
Christus est natus
Ex Maria virgine,
Gaudete!Rejoice, rejoice!
Christ is born
Of the Virgin Mary,
Rejoice!”
The Tenebrae Choir makes lively work of this 16th Century Christmas carol.
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The day after…
Posted in History, Maritime, Political on December 8, 2011| Leave a Comment »
“The day…”
Posted in History, Maritime, Political on December 7, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Dandelions as therapy
Posted in Cartoons, Humor, Political on December 6, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Dandelions in December
Posted in Local on December 5, 2011| 6 Comments »
It’s the coast of Maine. It’s December already. Why are plants and insects beginning to think it’s May?
Some years, May is colder than this.
This morning I walked to the post office with dog Gracie and her buddy Cairn, who is on loan for a few days, and we spotted a dandelion alongside the road. Other ones, gone to seed, stood next to it. Walking at the speed of two old dogs, I noticed a lot more on the way home and picked a small bouquet from various people’s lawns (they’re summer people and this is supposed to be winter, so they’re not here). A hornet, though a bit sluggish, nuzzled the nectar in one of them.
At 50 degrees outside I felt foolish wearing winter gloves, but once out there it’s easier to keep them on than to carry them, and the bright blue came in handy to contrast the dandelions in the photo.
There is no global warming. And the earth is flat.
Second Sunday of Advent: Pie Jesu
Posted in Music, Religion on December 4, 2011| Leave a Comment »
This version of Pie Jesu is arranged by Andrew Lloyd Webber and sung by Sissel.
The Latin translates into something like,
“Holy Jesus,
Who takes away the sins of the world,
Grant them peace.
Lamb of God
Who takes away the sins of the world,
Grant them peace,
Everlasting peace.”
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Anticipating winter
Posted in Local, Maritime on December 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »
I suppose every blog needs a “here is a picture of my cat” page. This is Little Sal, thinking I stacked the cellar woodpile just for her.
Now that it’s December and cooled down (?!) into the 40s Fahrenheit, I finally got around to putting on the storm door. Usually it goes up about Halloween, and even then it’s past due because October gets pretty chilly around here. This year I skipped right over Thanksgiving and into a bona fide winter month.
Some years, we tear the page off the calendar and December brings arctic air flash-freezing a bit of sense into us, but it’s hard to take winter seriously when I’m still out on the water with sleeves rolled up, and bringing in traps without spray freezing on the windshield. The pattern of high pressure over the mid-atlantic states has been sending air up from the Gulf of Mexico instead of down from Siberia.
But, the calendar says it’s December, so up goes the storm door. Finally.
Sorry no photo of the door. Little Sal is more interesting.
From Offshore 