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”
Category Archives: Life
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”
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”
Life in Pennsyltucky, An Occasional Series
Nothing screams Pennsyltucky quite like the mash-up United States/Gadsden/Confederate Battle Flag hanging off the back of a decal encrusted vehicle in the Giant parking lot. Jeebus.
Hanging from My Doorknob
Was that a Chick Tract hanging from my doorknob when I went to take out the trash this morning? It was! It was a Chick Tract! I was sitting at my dining room table, eating my breakfast, and I saw a large crowd of people of walking through my parking lot. “Whoever could they be?”Continue reading “Hanging from My Doorknob”
Gritty Leading the People
It was a week of publishing deadlines, and thirty hours after my last files went to the printer I’m still mentally exhausted. I did go to Books a Million again today to see what other gems I could find in their CD sale. (CDs, new and used, are 90% off as they are getting outContinue reading “Gritty Leading the People”
Doing the Thing
A week ago I received my mail ballot from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I hadn’t been expecting it, but I voted by mail in the primary due to the COVID risk, and when I applied for the ballot then I must have signed up to receive mail-in ballots automatically. The ballot had sat on myContinue reading “Doing the Thing”
Early Autumn
Autumn has arrived, and so have allergies. I’ve not been able to breathe through my nose for days. In the afternoon, after loading a dozen articles in the work CMS, I took a walk around the block. No jacket, and it felt almost too cool for that. After work, I took my rent check overContinue reading “Early Autumn”
An Eerie Sunset
It’s mid-September, and this week has really started to feel like autumn. There’s a chill dampness in the morning, and the nights feel downright cold. I had to throw extra blankets on the bed last night, and I worked part of the day at home while wearing a hoodie. The weird thing is the sky.Continue reading “An Eerie Sunset”
Three Newspaper Clippings and a Genealogical Puzzle
On June 9, 1886, the Washington Nationals and the St. Louis Maroons met at Swampoodle Grounds in Washington. That same day, a dozen blocks southeast of the ballpark, following a funeral service that morning in Baltimore, Annie Atwell was laid to rest at Congressional Cemetery in a family plot with the remains of her daughter.Continue reading “Three Newspaper Clippings and a Genealogical Puzzle”