I slept poorly last night. For some reason, I couldn’t get comfortable. I tossed. I turned. I had a headache; migraine or dehydration, I couldn’t tell. I yanked the sheets off the bed and, at one point, tossed off blankets, later having to recover them because I was cold. I know it’s a bad ideaContinue reading “Hope Christmas Gets You To Me”
A Beatle-esque “Happy Xmas”
No, the Beatles did not perform “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).” But this video by a French Beatles tribute band, the Rabeats, gives one an idea of what the song would have been like as a Beatles song. I like the idea of “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” but two things about the song bug me. First,Continue reading “A Beatle-esque “Happy Xmas””
The Christmas Truce of 1914
It has taken me the better part of six years to find the audio for this program, and last night I finally did. On Christmas Eve 2014, BBC Radio 2 broadcast All Is Calm, a program on the Christmas Truce of 1914, narrated by Sir John Hurt. Hurt, while in treatment for pancreatic cancer, participatedContinue reading “The Christmas Truce of 1914”
Snow Day! (Sort Of)
We had our first snowfall of the year in Pennsylvania today. It started off with a wintry mix… …before changing over to all snow noon-ish… …but accumulation was nil. It was just a hair too warm, the ground was wet, and the result was a sloppy slushy mess. It stopped about three, and by 4:30Continue reading “Snow Day! (Sort Of)”
Christmas on Mars
This version of “Silent Night” performed on the theremin is magnificent. It also puts 1950s sci-fi B-movies in mind — not unlike Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, a long-time holiday favorite of mine — and so I wrote a new verse for “Silent Night”… Silent night, holy night.Mars attacks with laser light.Saucers flying through theContinue reading “Christmas on Mars”
The Mondas Choir Is Singing “Galway Bay”
Even on Skaro or Mondas, the drunk tank of local constabulary is no place to be on Christmas Eve, even when the choir is singing “Galway Bay”…
And Then There Were Peanuts
Ten childhood friends, now estranged in adulthood, are invited to a weekend retreat on a secluded island. A cryptic poem and a message hint that each of these friends harbor personal and professional secrets and that soon they will each die in an elaborate revenge plot. These friends — these peanuts — may not makeContinue reading “And Then There Were Peanuts”
Scenes of Recent Life
Some photos and commentary from the last two weeks. Last Friday, November 29th, marked the 50th-anniversary of the release of George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass. It’s also the day that Jem Roberts’ book, Fab Fools, was in my mailbox. This isn’t a book about the Beatles as musicians. It doesn’t concern itself with whenContinue reading “Scenes of Recent Life”
A Mid-19th-Century View of Harrisburg
While poking around on the Internet this afternoon, I found something that would excite me — a bird’s eye view painting of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, done by an artist for Edward Sachse’s company in 1855. Sasche is an artist I’ve mentioned before in conjunction with my family genealogy — he did bird’s eye view maps ofContinue reading “A Mid-19th-Century View of Harrisburg”
Cards in the Mail
In today’s mail, I received a package of Christmas cards from the National Cathedral. They’re asking for money. I get packages like this every year from charities like the Alzheimer’s Association and Colonial Williamsburg. This is the first year I’ve been on the National Cathedral’s list. It’s a little strange, yet also cool, that thisContinue reading “Cards in the Mail”