Though Nationally-Recognized Rail Expert Believes Obama Administration Miscalculated
MacIver News Service | December 10, 2010
This Just In ...
Kevin Fischer is a veteran broadcaster, the recipient of over 150 major journalism awards from the Milwaukee Press Club, the Wisconsin Associated Press, the Northwest Broadcast News Association, the Wisconsin Bar Association, and others. He has been seen and heard on Milwaukee TV and radio stations for over three decades. A longtime aide to state Senate Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature, Kevin can be seen offering his views on the news on the public affairs program, "InterCHANGE," on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10, and heard filling in on Newstalk 1130 WISN. He lives with his wife, Jennifer, and their lovely baby daughter, Kyla Audrey, in Franklin.
The Music of Christmas: "I am a fine musician"
When you talk Christmas classics, there are those chestnuts, the Christmas songs that have lasted decades, generations.
Christmas classics on TV usually involve animated specials like Charlie Brown, Rudolph, the Grinch, and Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol.
What about TV shows that weren’t cartoons?
How about the All in the Family episode, “The Draft Dodger,” when Christmas dinner at the Bunkers finds Archie playing host to a draft dodger and a father whose son was killed in the war. A back and forth conversation between the Gold Star father and the draft dodger leaves Archie stunned and speechless.
As good as that was, I think the best Christmas TV classic that wasn’t animated or a variety special was the Happy Days episode, “Guess Who’s Coming to Christmas?”
From tv.com:
“At
Howard and his employees have a party at Cunningham Hardware. Howard and Richie have car problems. Fonzie fixes their car and turns down their invitation to drive him to
Howard and Chuck decorate the tree, and Richie mopes around thinking about Fonzie. Richie and Howard go over to Fonzie's apartment and try to convince him to come over to the house to fix the Santa. Fonzie is able to fix the Santa and the Christmas tree lights which were not working.
At this point, Fonzie has ‘missed his bus,’ so he stays and pops some popcorn in the fireplace and reads The Night Before Christmas. Richie takes a picture of Howard with Chuck, and Joanie and Fonzie look at a Viewmaster. The family sits down to eat, and Fonzie says grace.”
Then there’s the Dick Van Dyke Show from December of 1963, “The Alan Brady Show Presents.” From answers.com:
“This half-hour musical comedy-revue is staged as the Christmas episode of ‘The Alan Brady Show’ (though clearly played by Carl Reiner, we still don't see Alan's face, since he is hidden behind a Santa beard). The program is a showcase for Brady staffers Rob Petrie (Dick Van Dyke), Buddy Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam), Sally Rogers (Rose Marie), and Mel Cooley (Richard Deacon) as well as Rob's wife Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) and son Ritchie (Larry Mathews) “
This might be the best Christmas episode of classic television.
Here is the great finale...
Assault rifles, pistols and machine guns: OK; Nail clippers: NOT OK
This is a very good read.
Not only is the TSA a bunch of buffoons, they're lying buffoons.
La Crosse billboards emphasize humanity of the preborn Baby Jesus
La Crosse billboards emphasize humanity of the preborn baby Jesus
Conceal-carry is coming to Wisconsin
Young and old, male and female, they stormed
600,000 of them on the hunt.
600,000. That’s about the population of the city of
600,000, all carrying loaded guns.
According to the misinformed, disillusioned gun control crowd, this should have been a recipe for disaster, an invitation to massive human carnage. That many people with that many rifles in such proximity? The only people smiling should be the undertakers. People don’t kill people, we are lectured. Guns kill people. Never mind that some evil person has to actually pull the trigger. It’s those blasted guns, and there are just too damn many of them. We need to get rid of all those guns. The sheer number of available guns is the main reason we have so much crime. So we are told.
Using this extremely flawed logic, the annual
The problem for the liberal point of view that is so often incorrect is that the mass murders never transpired.
Incredibly, with all those guns concentrated in the woods, there were ZERO fatalities. ZERO.
Twelve hunters were injured. That’s 0.00002 % of all hunters.
The 2009 season had but one fatality.
How can this be? The north woods was supposed to be a war zone.
Shooting large holes in the gun control argument, 600,000 hunters exhibited the utmost in safety because:
1) They are licensed.
2) They are trained.
3) They take their gun ownership and use very seriously.
Conceal-carry that would allow law-abiding citizens that have undergone training and background checks, much like deer hunters, to arm themselves for their protection and the protection of others is not the highest priority for state policymakers, nor should it be. Appropriately topping the list are jobs, economic recovery, balancing the budget, and tax and spending relief.
Fixing the $3 billion budget deficit can be done, but the arduous process takes time, right through the end of June 2011. The tsunami of
Governor-elect Scott Walker says his legislative priorities include creating a Waste, Fraud and Abuse Commission that will find and eliminate waste in state government; balancing the budget; implementing a small-business tax cut; restructuring the Department of Commerce so the Secretary of Commerce dedicates more time to economic recovery; enacting tax breaks for those with health savings accounts; and curbing malpractice lawsuits against medical professionals.
That’s all important; however, Republicans in control should sense the “what have you done for me lately?” sentiment of voters. Enter photo ID. I predict Governor Walker will sign photo ID legislation into law soon after the 2011-12 legislative session begins. Editorial writers will cringe. The majority of voters will celebrate.
There eventually will be other major policy decisions including conceal-carry. As mentioned earlier, nothing can stop the measure from becoming law.
John Lott, author of “More Guns, Less Crime” has conducted the definitive research and study on this issue, analyzing crime and handgun data for all 3,054 counties in the
“Criminals are deterred by higher penalties. Just as higher arrest and conviction rates deter crime, so does the risk that someone committing a crime will confront someone able to defend him or herself. There is a strong negative relationship between the number of law-abiding citizens with permits and the crime rate—as more people obtain permits there is a greater decline in violent crime rates. For each additional year that a concealed handgun law is in effect the murder rate declines by 3 percent, rape by 2 percent, and robberies by over 2 percent,” says Lott. “When states passed these laws, the number of multiple-victim shootings declined by 84 percent. Deaths from these shootings plummeted on average by 90 percent, and injuries by 82 percent.”
Lott contends that adults and children both benefit from conceal-carry laws.
“After extensively studying the number of accidental shootings, there is no evidence that increasing the number of concealed handguns increases accidental shootings. We know that the type of person who obtains a permit is extremely law-abiding and possibly they are extremely careful in how they take care of their guns. The total number of accidental gun deaths each year is about 1,300 and each year such accidents take the lives of 200 children 14 years of age and under. However, these regrettable numbers of lives lost need to be put into some perspective with the other risks children face. Despite over 200 million guns owned by between 76 to 85 million people, the children killed is much smaller than the number lost through bicycle accidents, drowning, and fires. Children are 14.5 times more likely to die from car accidents than from accidents involving guns.”
The benefit to women is even greater. Lott says, “An additional woman carrying a concealed handgun reduces the murder rate for women by about 3 to 4 times more than an additional man carrying a concealed handgun reduces the murder rate for men.”
Conceal-carry is not all that high on the Republican priority list. It may not even be in the top ten. But make no mistake, it is a priority. And it will be approved in the next legislative session. The question is simply when.
The Music of Christmas: Mary's Boy Child
EVERY DAY FROM NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 24, I AM HIGHLIGHTING A CHRISTMAS SONG AND THE STORY BEHIND IT. PLEASE ENJOY AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Harry Belafonte first recorded “Mary’s Boy Child” in 1956.
Belafonte’s version featured a soft, slow, melodic tone.
Every Christmas season, radio stations are flooded with requests, not for Belafonte’s recording, but for the 1978 cover by the Euro-disco group Boney M.
German producer Frank Farian had a successful single in 1975 but decided he wanted some attractive singers and dancers to present on stage and in concert. Farian was watching an Australian detective series. The main character was called Boney Maroney, and that’s how he came up with the name for the group.
From the unofficial Boney M website:
Boney M. was a studio-group and all vocals on the records were done by Marcia Barrett, Liz Mitchell and Boney M.'s producer and mastermind Frank Farian. When Reggie Tsiboe replaced Bobby Farrell he would also be a part of the recording-team. From around 1980 session singers would also be used for backing vocals. However it should be mentioned that no matter what is said or written then the members of Boney M. did sing live on stage at live concerts. Farian wasn’t a part of that act.
(In 1978) Boney M. broke record sales in most countries. It wasn't just another hit - it was THE Christmas record of the year.
"Mary's Boy Child - Oh My Lord" was released in Germany on 27th November and an instant hit. However the strange thing was that in Germany the single first went to no. 1 in early January 1979 when the Christmas period was over.
In England the single was no. 1 for four weeks and in Denmark "Mary's Boy Child - Oh My Lord" was the first single ever to be achieving platinum status.
Today, radio stations in Milwaukee get tons of calls asking for the name of the group that does that, “Oh my Lord,” song.
It’s Boney M.
Here they are in all their late 1970’s cheesy disco-ness. (Just look at those clothes and hair styles).
I dare you to watch the entire video and not be humming or singing the tune for hours after.
"This is why the People have Thrown You Out"
Watch how Democrats govern.
Watch how Democrats control proceedings.
Watch how Democrats regard their Republican colleagues.
Watch (and you can also hear) how the Acting Democrat Speaker, Democrat Congresswoman Laura Richardson, who just happens to be from the same state as outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is coached on how to address Republican Indiana Congressman Steve Buyer:
I'll need to see (AH-CHOOO!!!) a photo ID
Soon-to-be Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald promises that the first piece of legislation introduced in the state Senate that reconvenes January will be a bill to require photo ID to vote.
That, of course, is tremendous news. It’s too bad we can’t fix another photo ID mess.
This week,
On June 7, 2005, Wisconsin Governor Doyle signed into law the “Meth Bill.” Talk about your bipartisanship. Only six of
A Wisconsin Legislative Council memo states that under Senate Bill 78, the “Meth Bill”:
“Any person purchasing the substance (cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine) must, at the time of purchase, present to the seller that person’s name and address and an identification card containing the person’s photograph. The seller must record the name and address and the name and quantity of the product sold. The purchaser and seller must sign the record of the transaction unless the product is sold by a person working under the direction of a pharmacist, in which case, the supervising pharmacist must sign the record of the transaction.
The records of transactions of sales of pseudoephedrine products may be kept in either a paper or electronic format and must be maintained by the pharmacy for at least two years. Only a pharmacist or a law enforcement officer may have access to information recorded with respect to the sale of a pseudoephedrine product.
No person, other than a physician, dentist, veterinarian, or pharmacist may purchase more than 7.5 grams of a pseudoephedrine product within a 30-day period without the authorization of a physician, dentist, or veterinarian.”
The Music of Christmas- Elvis Style
Forty-two years ago today, Elvis Presley made TV history. On December 3, 1968, NBC-TV aired a one-hour special simply entitled, “ELVIS.”
Elvis’ manager, Colonel Tom Parker envisioned the project in the vein of traditional Christmas specials done by the likes of Perry Como. Elvis would perform some safe, warm Christmas carols on some holiday-themed sets.
Thank goodness the people involved in the special’s production didn’t let the Colonel have his way.
The producers plotted a special that would let Elvis be Elvis, and break out of the Hollywood B-movie mold he had become trapped in the entire decade of the 60’s.
Elvis performed elaborately staged production numbers. He sang in the round with his old band mates. Elvis was in the round. Elvis was the first entertainer to go unplugged.
Remember, this was 40 years ago.
The special was the highest rated show of that television season and is now referred to as the Comeback Special.
Elvis did his top material, but he also sang some Christmas songs.
One of them, of course, was “Blue Christmas.”
Originally a country song recorded by Ernest Tubb in 1948, Elvis iput his rock and roll style on the song in 1957, and it became a classic.
He also sang the bluesy, “Santa Claus is Back in Town,” during filimg of the TV special, but it didn’t make the final cut.
Both songs were from his mega-selling 1957 Christmas album.
Author Peter Guralnick who has written extensively about Elvis, contributed to the liner notes of one of Elvis’ box collections about “Santa Claus is Back in Town.”
Guralnick wrote that Elvis had asked songwriting duo Mike Leiber and Jerry Stoller, who wrote many hits for Elvis including, Jailhouse Rock,” to come up with a Christmas song during sessions for the 1957 Christmas album; within a few minutes, they had the song written and ready for recording. It was originally titled "Christmas Blues", and features a slightly risqué treatment and lyrics.
Elvis’ backup singers, the Jordanaires were interviewed a few years after Elvis’ death and said they warned Elvis he couldn’t do Christmas songs this way and would face heavy criticism. Elvis politely told the Jordanaires to let him worry about that.
Here’s Elvis, resplendent in famous leather outfit, from the ’68 special doing "Blue Christmas."
Goodnight everyone and have a soft and smooth December weekend!
It's Friday night. Time to unwind with our regular Friday night feature on This Just In.
The weekend has finally arrived.
The sun has set.
The evening sky has erupted.
Let's put controversy and provocative blogs aside for the rest of this work week and smooth our way into Saturday and Sunday.
Tonight, more great sounds of the season from some performers that might be new to you.
We begin in a big way.
Every year, smooth jazz saxophonist Dave Koz puts together a list of musician friends that go on tour in December for special Christmas concerts. It’s a great show and if you haven’t seen it, there’s a CD available, “Smooth Jazz Christmas by Dave Koz & Friends” featuring vocalist Brenda Russell, pianist David Benoit, guitarist Peter White, and trumpeter Rick Braun.
The Music of Christmas: Rudolph
The Christmas of 1938 was shaping up to be the worst holiday ever for Bob May, an advertising copywriter for Montgomery Wards in Chicago.
May’s income was paltry. Exhaustion was settling in. So was the Depression. And his wife, Evelyn was fighting an uphill battle against cancer for two years.
One night in December, after visiting her emaciated, bed-ridden mother, four-year old Barbara May jumped up into her father’s lap and sadly asked him, “Why isn’t my mommy like everybody else’s mommy?”
Put squarely on the spot, May struggled for an answer.
Inspiration for his response came from his recollection as a frail child. So thin was May that other kids made fun of him, calling him, “sissy,” and other names.
Despite being forced by the Depression to work at a job far below his skill level, and despite living in a two-room slum-like apartment, and despite his beloved wife having life-threatening cancer, May wanted to give his daughter an answer filled with hope.
There in that tiny apartment, with his inquisitive daughter in his lap, May made up the story of a reindeer with a large, bright red nose.
Barbara enjoyed her father’s story so much that she asked him to tell it every night. And so May did, each night adding more details.
Unable to afford a Christmas present for Barbara that year, May utilized his skill as an artist and made a book with drawings about his story about the reindeer he called Rudolph. He’d work on it at night, when his sickly wife and daughter were asleep.
Before Christmas arrived, Evelyn succumbed to cancer. His heart filled with grief, May somehow finished the Rudolph book before Christmas. Barbara found it on Christmas morning.
A few days later, May was expected at the company Christmas party. Called upon to read his book in front of his fellow workers, May’s book was a hit, and every employee wanted a copy.
Realizing May was in need of funds, the chairman of Montgomery Wards, Stewell Avery bought all the rights to the Rudolph book from May. Avery then had thousands of copies printed and sent to Wards stores in time for Christmas 1939. For the next six years, any child visiting Santa at a Wards store was presented a Rudolph book.
It is now 1946 and over six million of the books have been given away.
As Avery was inundated by requests to publish a new version of the book, Avery exhibited the utmost in holiday spirit.
In a phenomenal gesture, Avery gave, he didn’t sell, he GAVE all rights to Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer back to May.
One year later, May was officially a wealthy man.
Re-married and very happy, May allowed his brother-in-law, Johnny Marks to adapt the story into a song.
Marks wanted Bing Crosby to sing Rudolph.
Crosby said no.
The next choice was Dinah Shore.
She balked.
In fact, nobody wanted their voice associated with the song.
Then, Gene Autry was contacted.
The thought was Autry, who liked to sing kids’ songs, would do it, especially since he had recorded, “Here Comes Santa Claus.”
Autry didn’t like the song.
Marks didn’t give up and begged Autry to reconsider.
Autry took the song home for his wife to hear (Remember, Walt Disney’s wife told him to change Mortimer’s name to Mickey).
Touched by the lyrics, Ina Autry insisted Gene record the song.
Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer is the second-largest selling Christmas song of all-time. Burl Ives immortalized Rudolph in an incredibly popular animated special that debuted in 1964.
The Barking Lot (12/04/10)
The Barking Lot is a regular weekly feature of this just in…Written by my lovely wife, Jennifer and me. It opens with the weekend dog walking forecast followed by the main blog from dog lover, Jennifer. Then it’s DOGS IN THE NEWS and our close. Enjoy!
THE WEEKEND DOG-WALKING FORECAST: We grade the weather outlook for taking your pet outdoors.
TODAY: Snow showers. High of 31. "F"
SUNDAY: Morning snow showers, windy. High of 26. "F"
My lovely wife, Jennifer has been dealing with a teething baby angel this week.
Sooooo………
Yours truly is stepping in to guest blog on my very own blog. That means a bit more edginess to The Barking Lot this week.
Katie
bar
the
doors!
As I observed this week what was happening in
My, what a clever devil he is. I guess dogs running off leash at any dog park in
Now, think about it.
A dog park.
Anywhere in the good ol’ US of A.
What would one expect a dog to do at a dog park?
Run?
Run with reckless abandon?
Run without a leash?
BINGO!!!
Problem.
The local authorities (remember this is
If it’s not nailed down, Democrats will find way to tax it.
In
Most of us realize that a fee is a tax.
It’s not as low as you can go (Jim Doyle's tax on nursing home beds is especially scummy), but c’mon. A tax, and that’s what the hell it is, to take your dog to a dog park and take the leash off so that the dog can run around playfully with other dogs for a few minutes?
I guess the Democrats that are just aghast by such a proposition are like the mom in the movie The Christmas Story whose son wants a BB gun. Her reaction? You’ll shoot your eyes out.
Can’t have dogs running loose in a dog park, dad gum it!
Needless to say, dog owners that possess common sense are not happy.
About 66% of those that responded to a Boston Globe survey were opposed to the fee. Why? Because they used the brains God gave them.
The newspaper’s out of touch liberal editorial board, like so many others around the country (and they wonder why circulation is plummeting) reacted huffing and puffing, writing:
“Ideally,
Leveling a fee on dog owners that amounts to less than $1 a week is a better choice than simply ignoring one of the town’s longstanding bones of contention.”
The fact is no other group is being targeted for fees, i.e., taxes in
Dog owners in
Time now for DOGS IN THE NEWS, canines that made headlines the past week.
Dog burned alive gets day in court thanks to a cellphone.
"Contact voltage" electrocutes
Amazing Caine doing well after losing three inches of his tongue.
Earless puppy finds home.
Dog saves Marine in
Dog found in tornado ravaged home.
Amy Hunt has saved over 500 dogs.
Wyoming pastors rescue stranded Wisconsin dog.
Wisconsin woman devoted to saving disabled dogs needs help.
A dog mural is the subject of a lawsuit.
A fee to unleash your dog at a dog park?
Sixth grader wants to expand beach access for dogs.
Philadelphia looking for "spokesdog" to educate about the evils of dog waste.
10 human remedies that are poison to dogs.
Mona is the perfect dental assistant.
Is it a good idea to bring a dog to work?
Show dogs stolen, then found.
Pampered stray dog leaving
It's a dog's life at the White House this Christmas.
A dog rescuer's 12 Days of Christmas.
10 reasons why you should get a dog.......instead of a facelift.
Congratulations. You may now kiss the.......dog?
That’s it for The Barking Lot.
Thanks for stopping by.
Week-ends (12/04/10)
A look back at the people and events that made news the past week. Week-ends is a regular weekly feature of This Just In...
HEROES OF THE WEEK
Marinette students
Those who treat the US war wounded
Maybe not the textbook hero, but a hero nonetheless.
The mayor of Philadelphia
Chuck Norris
VILLAINS OF THE WEEK
Garron Lewis
Mary Grier
Bianca Rodriguez
Wal-Mart customer
Mariusz Wdziekonski
St. Lucie County (Fla) school system
Boss in Norway
And we can't forget........the TSA.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“Grandmama, they touched you on your special girl spots.”
Antonia Riggs Miernik's granddaughter on her pat down.
“Everyone knows that the reason we have to take off our shoes, have our toothpaste confiscated, and get photographed naked or groped at the airport is because Religion of Peaceniks keep trying to kill us out of sheer evil. We go through these intensely irritating rituals so that our liberal rulers can make it clear that they would rather we suffer than profile the Muslims who commit terror attacks.”
Blogger Van Helsing on Moonbattery
“We had the greatest generation -- I think this is the greediest generation.”
Alan Simpson
“Liberals don't care. Their approach is to rip out society's foundations without asking if they serve any purpose. Why do we have immigration laws? What's with these borders? Why do we have the institution of marriage, anyway? What do we need standardized tests for? Hey, I like Keith Richards -- why not make heroin legal? Let's take a sledgehammer to all these load-bearing walls and just see what happens!”
Ann Coulter
“Wikileaks’ deliberate disclosure of these diplomatic cables is nothing less than an attack on the national security of the United States, as well as that of dozens of other countries. By disseminating these materials, Wikileaks is putting at risk the lives and the freedom of countless Americans and non-Americans around the world.”
Joe Lieberman
Thomas Sowell
“The federally funded National Portrait Gallery, one of the museums of the Smithsonian Institution, is currently showing an exhibition that features images of an ant-covered Jesus, male genitals, naked brothers kissing, men in chains, Ellen DeGeneres grabbing her breasts, and a painting the Smithsonian itself describes in the show’s catalog as ‘homoerotic.’ Please. If you want to impress me with your artistic courage, pay tribute to the American flag or Sarah Palin. Naked brothers kissing is about as avante-garde as bringing a keg of imported beer to a frat party.
How can the same political party that claims our nation’s infrastructure is crumbling, children are going to bed hungry, and that more money is needed for breast cancer and AIDS research justify spending millions on this crap? Do Leftists want people crushed in bridge collapses, children to starve, and women and gays to die prematurely?
I guess so. There’s really no other way to explain their priorities.”
John Nolte at Big
OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK
Your tax dollars at work. Christmas at the Smithsonian.
NOTE: Due to protests, the Smithsonian took down the display.
MOST UNDER-REPORTED STORY OF THE WEEK
Media ignores GOP taking over Obama's Senate seat.
Report warns Obama about 'New' Dark Ages.
MOST OVER-HYPED STORY OF THE WEEK
LeBron James returns to Cleveland.
STRANGEST, MOST UNUSUAL STORY OF THE WEEK
Shave and a haircut.......and a car crash. MORE
Passenger strips on plane.
REMEMBER:
The Music of Christmas: The Fat Man is watching
EVERY DAY FROM NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 24, I AM HIGHLIGHTING A CHRISTMAS SONG AND THE STORY BEHIND IT. PLEASE ENJOY AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!
The following is from the Kiwanis International website:
Claus alert!
In 1934, J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie began warning children to be on their best behavior, lest their names be written on Santa Claus’ “naughty” list. Fred—the composer—wrote the music for more than 700 songs, including Precious Little Thing Called Love, Love Letters in the Sand, and the holiday classic Santa Claus Is Coming to Town. But he also was a New York City Kiwanian. His story, including memories of his fateful encounter with lyricist Gillespie, appeared in the December 1956 issue of The Kiwanis Magazine.
Following is an outtake of the article, relating Fred’s fateful encounter with lyricist Gillespie.
“One morning in June (1934), Coots was on the subway to Brooklyn when he saw a vaguely familiar face. ‘It was Lady Luck, but I didn’t know it then,’ he says. The man looked at Fred expectantly, then sauntered over and stuck out his hand.
“‘You’re Fred Coots, aren’t you?’
“‘Yeah, and you’re…’ Coots still couldn’t recall his name.
“‘Gillespie. Haven Gillespie. Lyric writer. From Covington, Kentucky.’
“‘That’s right,’ said Coots. He remembered that Gillespie had written the lyrics for several very popular songs. ‘What are you doing up here?’
“He was going over to Brooklyn to see an old friend, a composer who might be able to set some of his lyrics to music, explained Gillespie. He’d felt the pinch of the Depression and was in his old business, running a Linotype, to carry himself over. He tapped his pocket. ‘I’ve got an idea here for a Christmas song that might go over,’ he said.
“Like most song writers, Fred Coots thrives on the ideas and suggestions of lyric writers. He tingled with expectation at the thought of Gillespie’s lyrics, but he knew that the ethics of the trade demanded that he ignore them as long as they were committed to some other composer. ‘But I’m at the Albee in Brooklyn, Have,’ he said, ‘and if there’s anything I can do, just drop in and see me.’
“When he finished the matinee that afternoon, Coots found Gillespie waiting in the dressing room. ‘My friend’s gone to California,’ said Gillespie ruefully, ‘and it looks like I might be stuck with these lyrics.’ He handed them to Fred…
“‘Uh-hug,’ said Fred without enthusiasm. ‘You got a love song? A ballad?’
“Gillespie shook his head. All he really had was this little ditty—‘a kid song,’ says Coots. Fred sat down and pecked away speculatively at a piano backstage. In about 10 minutes, he had the skeleton of the tune knocked out. ‘I figured that I’d humor the guy,’ he says. ‘If I tried to do something with this kid song maybe he’d bring me his next ballad.’
“When he brought the song around to his publisher, Leo Feist Inc., Coots aroused no enthusiasm. ‘Nice tune, Fred,’ they said, ‘but it’s a kid song. Can’t really expect too much from it.’ They talked and haggled and finally the publisher agreed to put it out, with some doubts and reservations.
“Later that same summer, Coots offered the tune to Eddie Cantor, who decided to use it on his radio show in November. Suddenly the song shot from nowhere into the hearts and minds of an America that needed a lilt and a lift. ‘The morning after Eddie sang it on the radio, we had orders for 100,000 copies of sheet music,’ says Fred. By Christmas, sales had passed 400,000. ‘It picked Tin Pan Alley right off the floor and really gave it a merry Christmas,’ says Coots. Since then, the song has become one of the best-sellers in American music history. It’s sold millions of records and copies of sheet music—most of them in December. ‘You can see why I have a special affection for Christmas,’ says Fred.”
If I had to choose just one, my favorite Christmas album, it would most likely be, “ A Christmas Portrait,” by the Carpenters.
Richard Carpenter’s lush, old-fashioned arrangements backing the angelic voice of his sister, Karen, are a perfect Christmas combination. Karen did “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” like no one else.
From the Carpenters' web site:
In November 1974, Karen and Richard released a shimmering ballad version of “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” a holiday staple since 1934. Richard’s torchy arrangement was as unexpected as his 1969 ballad interpretation of the Beatles’ “Ticket To Ride.” Karen and Richard recorded the basic track and the lead vocal in 1972, and added brass, strings, the sax solo and background vocals two years later. They sang the song on a Perry Como Christmas special that aired on Dec. 18, 1974.
Here is that performance from the Perry Como special, featuring a jazzy, sultry vocal by Karen and a great sax solo.
Photos of the Week (12/05/10)
President Barack Obama greets troops at a rally during an unannounced visit at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan, Friday, Dec. 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Members of 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, based at Fort Stewart, Ga., sit in the belly of a C-17 aircraft at Sather Air Base in Baghdad as they begin their journey home after a year in Iraq. More than seven years after 1st Brigade entered Baghdad as the first conventional U.S. forces in Iraq, its soldiers are coming home from a yearlong deployment that saw the end of combat operations. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
The U.S. Navy's USS Fort Worth, a littoral combat ship, slides into the Menominee River during its launch at Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wis. on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2010. (AP Photo/The Marinette EagleHerald, Rick Gebhard)
Culinary no-no #195
Here are some of the key ingredients for this week’s Culinary no-no:
cheese·burg·er (ch
z
bûr
g
r)
n. A hamburger topped with melted cheese.
The above is the Frenchie burger from the NY restaurant, DBGB.
obesity (
-bs
-t)
n. The condition of being obese; increased body weight caused by excessive accumulation of fat.
gar·den (gärdn)
n. A plot of land used for the cultivation of flowers, vegetables, herbs, or fruit.
The above garden is located at1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington D.C.
hyp·o·crite (hp-krt)
n. A person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives
The above garden is located at
hyp·o·crite (h
p-krt)n. A person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives
hyp·o·crite (hp-krt)
n. A person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives.
Barack and Michelle Obama, the two leaders of the federal government’s food police, have lectured us to death.
We will show you how to eat properly.
We will tell you what to eat.
We will tell you what not to eat.
Restaurant owners, we will tell you what to serve.
Restaurant owners, we will tell you what not to serve.
We will set the rules and you will follow them or government bureaucrats will make you suffer.
The complete and utter condescension has been sickening.
The Obama’s have become the quintessential spokespeople for the phrase, “Do as I say, not as I do.”
Last year, the New York Times reminded us, “As President Obama ran for office, whenever questions of his ordinary-man credentials arose, his aides were quick to say that he loves a good burger. As he worked to win over male voters, a stop at a beer joint would suddenly be on his itinerary. But when the cameras weren't rolling, he was just as likely to have a healthy plate of sea bass and steamed vegetables as a burger and fries."
The newspaper noted Obama’s cholesterol had jumped 42 points since 2007. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told White House reporters, ''You guys think he eats carrots and celery. There's more cheeseburgers, fries and pie than you previously knew.''
How could this be? After all, the First Lady took on America's girth as her persoanl crusade, going so far as to plant a veggie garden to promote all heathy items green and orange.
The British press asked the obvious question: What would Michelle say? (We also learn the Obamessiah isn't exactly a terrific tipper).
So, Barack isn’t following his wife’s advice. One could argue the president is allowed because Mrs. Obama doesn’t practice what she preaches.
On March 11, 2009, the website Listicles.com suggested five foods Michelle Obama should banish for American diets. Sure enough, burgers made the list, and that would seem to follow the First Lady’s emphasis on vegetables rather than meat. A month later, the Associated Press shockingly reported that, for shame, Michelle sneaks out for burgers.
It gets better.
Last August, Mrs. Obama visted the Good Stuff Eatery in Washington D.C. with daughters Malia and Sasha where they dined on cheeseburgers, fries, and shakes. The New York Post reported, "Fellow patrons had their cellphones temporarily confiscated to prevent pictures from being taken.
Washington's radical attempt to reform
NEWS FLASH to the food police: We just don’t want to eat it. We eat what we want to eat because we live in what is still a free country. What a concept!
No one is suggesting that the Obama's should never indulge in a greasy burger. However, if they're not going to lead by example, they need to tone down their pontificating and over-regulation.
But they won't.
A new book contains an anecdote about the all-knowing Calorie Counter-in-Chief counseling an overweight staffer that he will eat a salad and like it.
hy·poc·ri·sy (h-p
kr-s)
n.
1. The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.
2. An act or instance of such falseness.
It's run amok at the White House.
WOW!
There couldn't possibly be more, Kev, could there?
It couldn't possibly get any better, could it?
It could and it does.
CULINARY NO-NO BONUSES
A WHAT-tini?
I don't care what's in a hot dog. I'll take one anytime.
Why you ate too much on Thanksgiving.
The Music of Christmas: "Haul out the holly...."
EVERY DAY FROM NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 24, I AM HIGHLIGHTING A CHRISTMAS SONG AND THE STORY BEHIND IT. PLEASE ENJOY AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!
The mid-60’s gave us the popular Broadway musical, “Mame.”
From the website, “The Guide to Musical Theatre”:
Synopsis
Who is Mame? There's surely one in every community, often there's one in every family. Some of the wild, exploratory spirit of Mame bubbles in each and every human being who believes that "life is a banquet!"
Mame is Eve, St. Joan, Lady Godiva, Susan B. Anthony, Clara Bow and Florence Nightingale, all rolled into one. She epitomises optimism, the power of positive -thought and sheer joie-de-vivre, and projects them to everyone that meets her, influencing and improving the lives of them all. She is ageless, timeless, graceful, beautiful, kind and elegant. She dances, too, and cuts across all barriers, whether of age, colour; creed or gender. We have all seen hundreds of Auntie Mames and in each and every one, there seemed to be a flash of something a bit different, a new discovery in the way that this particular remarkable lady thinks, feels and moves.
Musically the show is packed with Jerry Herman songs that are in perfect accord with the whole positive attitude of the story, and includes what is probably the most memorable title song ever written.
Story:
Agnes Gooch brings young Patrick Dennis from a farm in
She is overjoyed with Patrick. Unfortunately her authority over him is shared with Dwight Babcock, a trustee for the Knickerbocker Bank. They clash on schooling, but Patrick's father's will spells out a conservative education. Babcock wins, but Mame is busy opening exciting windows for Patrick behind Babcock's back. Babcock catches Patrick enrolled in Ralph Devine's Laboratory of Life - a foreward thinking establishment. This is hardly a conservative education as stipulated in the will and so he packs Patrick away to boarding school.
To add to her problems, the stock market has crashed and Mame must attempt the only thing in the world for which she is unsuited - work. She gets a job in the theatre in the show that her friend is starring in. However, she upstages her actress-friend, Vera Charles, and is fired.
It’s that this point in the story that Auntie Mame decides that she "needs a little Christmas" early. She exhorts her nephew Patrick to "put up the tree before my spirits fall again", even when he reminds her that it's still a whole week before Thanksgiving.
(Mame circa 2010 would have the same scene taking place around the 4th of July).
Angela (“Murder, She Wrote’') Lansbury was Mame in the original musical. Here she is singing a very popular holiday song with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir:
High taxing/spending Franklin City Hall in damage control
It happens all the time.
When people learn I reside in
“My God, man, how can you afford those taxes?”
Last month, the Franklin Common Council on a vote of 5-1 with support from Mayor Tom Taylor adopted a 2.6 percent property tax levy increase during a recession when taxpayers are facing salary and benefit cuts, job losses, and foreclosures. We who pay the bills were lectured that this tax and spending increase was “responsible.” In other words, keep your mouth shut, accept it, and pay your bill on time.
Just a few weeks later, could it be that a case of the guilts has descended upon City Hall?
At the request of Mayor Taylor, an informational report has been compiled for Tuesday’s Franklin Common Council meeting entitled: “Comparison of Municipal Property Tax Rates and Other Municipal Charges.” The intent is crystal clear. The report, prepared November 30, is to be used as ammunition in defense of the recession property tax levy hike.
The Mayor, the report states, asked for the analysis “to address whether or not
I’m sure that comes as great comfort to
City staff analyzed the assessed property tax rates for all 19
The report then makes this bold claim:
“From this perspective,
Another key point of the report is that other communities impose “special charges” for services.
Finally, the report asserts, “
Really?
The Music of Christmas: Judy Garland
EVERY DAY FROM NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 24, I AM HIGHLIGHTING A CHRISTMAS SONG AND THE STORY BEHIND IT. PLEASE ENJOY AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!
After starring in, “The Wizard of OZ,” young Judy Garland needed a more “mature” role. It came five years later in “Meet Me in
In one of the key scenes,
Songwriters Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane wrote what would become a classic for that scene, but at first,
The first words originally were, “Have yourself a merry little Christmas, it may be your last; next year we will be living in the past.”
Realizing World War II had millions of soldiers homesick for the holidays,
Martin and Blane changed the words, and a timeless masterpiece was born:
The Music of Christmas- A partridge in a pear tree
EVERY DAY FROM NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 24, I AM HIGHLIGHTING A CHRISTMAS SONG AND THE STORY BEHIND IT. PLEASE ENJOY AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!
It is an urban legend that, “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” was created as a coded reference to important articles of the Christian faith. That’s according to the urban legend de-bunker, snopes.com.
Snopes.com says, “The twelve days of Christmas in the song are the twelve days between the birth of Christ (Dec. 25) and the coming of the magi (Epiphany, January 6). Although the specific origins of the song are not known, it possibly began as a “Twelfth Night “memory-and-forfeits” game in which the leader recited a verse, each of the players repeated the verse, the leader added another verse, and so on until one of the players made a mistake, with the player who erred having to pay a penalty, such as offering up a kiss or a sweet. This is how the song was presented in its earliest known printed version, in the 1780 children’s book Mirth without Mischief.
Textual evidence indicates that the song was not English in origin, but French. Three French versions of the song are known and items mentioned in the song itself (the partridge, for example, which was not introduced to England from France until the late 1770’s) are indicative of a French origin.
The “Twelve Days of Christmas” is what most people take it to be: a secular song that celebrates the Christmas season with imagery of gifts and dancing and music."
I’m not a big fan of this Christmas song. Sounds like one big skip in the record, the same old annoying refrain over and over and over again.
That’s why I do enjoy versions that are a bit different.
Like this one.
Gather the kids around the computer for The Muppets and singer-songwriter John Denver performing "The Twelve Days of Christmas" together on the 1979 television special John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together.
OK, now the TSA has REALLY gone too far!
Santa Claus Larry Durian is taken to a private TSA room after passing through metal detectors at the Akron Canton Airport on Dec. 8, 2010 in Green, Ohio. Santa planned to spend seven hours at the airport greeting passengers for their customer appreciation day. He emerged from the room a short time later. AP photo
The Music of Christmas: Disney-style
It is one of the most moving spectacles I’ve ever seen, so moving that grown men weep openly.
The Candlelight Processional at Epcot in Walt Disney World takes place three times every evening, this year from November 23-December 30.
From allearsnet.com:
A Disney tradition now in its 37th year (2007), the Candlelight Processional is a moving presentation of the Christmas story in readings by a celebrity narrator and music by a Mass choir and 50-piece orchestra.
And from mickeyears.com:
This beautiful Christmas program began in 1958 at Disneyland in
This is a show that should be on everyone's Christmas agenda. It is a retelling of the Christmas story narrated by a different guest celebrity every few days till the end of the program. This is all accompanied by the Disney orchestra and over 400 singers in the chorus. The singers are anchored by the "Voices of Liberty", the famed a cappella group that performs in the American Adventure rotunda. For anyone who has heard this group, they have the most amazing voices and range of any singers I had the pleasure to listen to. The other vocalists are from participating guest choirs from over 15 states and are dressed in gold. The choir members in green are Disney Cast Members who volunteer to be a part of this wonderful show.
The cast members in green are arranged on the stage in the shape of a Christmas tree and the Voices of Liberty singers are at the base of the tree. All other choir members flank the tree; this with the lighting and decorations make is visually stunning and gives that "Feeling of Christmas". But the centerpiece of the show is the narration of the Christmas story; and after a passage is read, the choir and the orchestra showcase stirring Christmas songs relating to the passage read. And this will continue to the end of the show. And before the narration begins, the choir and orchestra will play Carols and songs that have to be heard to appreciate!
Homemade videos don’t do the Candlelight Processional justice. Trust me, the performance is phenomenal.
UPDATE: If only it happened in America, the ACLU would have gone into cardiac arrest
They broke out in song in Canada.
Another "Random Act of Culture" as it's being called took place at Macy's in
650 choristers mingled as shoppers. And then at 12:00, the famous (and huge) Wanamaker Organ erupted. Watch the reaction.
One of my favorite holiday blogs
From www.Womanhonorthyself.com:
Top Ten Reasons Why Liberals Hate the Holidays
10 - Thanksgiving is mass murder for turkeys.
9 - Too many SUVs traveling to grandma's house.
8 - College bowl games encourage competition.
7 - Millions of Christmas trees are cut down.
6 - The pilgrims thought up Thanksgiving, not the Indians.
5 - Christmas lights waste electricity.
4 - People are giving thanks to WHO?
3 - Winter lull in global-warming hype.
2 - Daycare centers are closed.
1 - Christmas celebrates a birth, not an abortion.
UPDATE: Tis the Season for Liberals to Go Nuts Over Nativity Scenes
BRAVO SCOTT WALKER!
Ding Dong! The Train is Dead. Which old Train? The Wicked Train!
Ding Dong! The Wicked Train is dead!
That would be the $810-million half-fast train between
Scott Walker said he’d kill the train. He did.
The Music of Christmas: "Snowing and blowing up bushels of fun"
EVERY DAY FROM NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 24, I AM HIGHLIGHTING A CHRISTMAS SONG AND THE STORY BEHIND IT. PLEASE ENJOY AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!
One of the classic Christmas songs reached the 50-year milestone a few years ago.
From Reporter-Times.com in Martinsville, Indiana, December 17, 2006:
When Bobby Helms first read the sheet music for “Jingle Bell Rock,” he didn’t like what he saw.
Work was needed on the song. Session guitarist Hank “Sugar Foot” Garland and Helms decided to make a few changes in the song written by Joe Beal and Jim Boothe.
After those changes were incorporated, Helms’ 1957 recording of “Jingle Bell Rock” went on to become what is still, 49 years later, a part of many family holiday celebrations along with eggnog, mistletoe, stockings and glowing Christmas trees. And that’s in addition to it becoming a nearly instant hit.
Martinsville residents Rob Helms and Angel McCartney, two of the singers’ children, say the song has sold more than 100 million copies since it was released.
On the walls of the Martinsville room where Rob Helms and the rest of the band Bigg Country rehearse are gold records symbolizing the success of that song. A picture of Bobby Helms taken during one of his appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show” is part of the memorabilia in the room that bears homage to Helms’ career.
Helms lived in Bloomington when he recorded the song, but moved to Martinsville in the late 1950s. He lived most of his adult life in Martinsville until his death from emphysema in 1997, his children said.
Helms isn’t in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame nor the Country Music Hall of Fame, but his children say a good case can be made for his election to one of the halls. Helms is in the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and a Web page at its site features him.
“Anyone who sold 100 million records of one song deserves to be in the country or rock ‘n’ roll hall of fame,” Rob Helms said.
An article by John Bush at the Web site AllMusic.com states, “Though his name is unfamiliar to most, Bobby Helms rules the airwaves every year around December 25th.”
After “Jingle Bell Rock” became a hit in 1957, it reappeared on the charts four of the following five years. Bush writes that the song is “an all-time Christmas classic.”
In addition to the “Ed Sullivan” appearances, Bobby Helms appeared on “American Bandstand” about a dozen times, his children said. During his career, he performed at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn., and in other venues ranging from Market Square Arena in Indianapolis to halls in Germany. His break came after country legend Ernest Tubb saw him on “Hayloft Frolic,” a program on Bloomington’s Channel 4.
“Jingle Bell Rock” makes the record sales charts nearly every year, but 1957 was the biggest year for the singer, his children said. The holiday song was one of three hits for Helms in 1957. “Fraulein” and “My Special Angel” soared on the country and popular music charts that year.
“Fraulein” was his debut single in 1957. The song didn’t sell well at first, but in April soared to Number One on the country charts.
In October 1957, Helms’ “My Special Angel” was released. It was Number One on the country charts for four weeks.
Helms also found success on the pop music charts with “Fraulein” breaking into the Top 40 and “My Special Angel” reaching Number Seven.
In an edition of Billboard’s Hottest 100 Hits, “My Special Angel” was in the top 500 of a listing of the 3,000 biggest singles in the rock era from 1955 through the early 1990s.
“Jingle Bell Rock” was released only two days before Christmas 1957, but it reached Number Six on the pop chart.
At first, however, Helms hated the song and didn’t want to record it, Rob Helms said. Garland, a top Nashville, Tenn., session guitarist, worked on the bridge with Helms, creating a perky guitar twang that meshed with Helms’ voice and the background chorus.
After the success of the record, Helms grew to love the song and sometimes honored requests to play it several times a night during live shows.
Helms died in 1997.
Like most Christmas songs, many versions of "Jingle Bell Rock" by different artists have now been recorded.
Let's see how much coverage this story gets
Dem Saying “F— the President” Worse Than Joe Wilson Shouting “You Lie”
Goodnight everyone and have a Christmas cocktail this weekend!
It's Friday night. Time to unwind with our regular Friday night feature on This Just In.
The weekend has finally arrived.
The sun has set.
The evening sky has erupted.
Let's put controversy and provocative blogs aside for the rest of this work week and smooth our way into Saturday and Sunday.
Tonight, the albums your father had that you thought weren't cool.....
Turns out, they're mighty cool.
More sounds of the seasons, wrapped with Christmas cocktails.
We take you inside music from the Ultra-Lounge series, described by the record company as:
“An era batted in gimlets, hi-balls, straight up, on-the- rocks, shaken not stirred, hi-octane elixirs dressed in garish garni. A time viewed through the seductive daze of slow-burning lipstick-kissed cigarettes that end up dancing ashtray dancing with cigar stubs and cherry stems. The atmosphere mambos to the soundtrack of cool. Rumbling saxophones. Jazzy vibes, over-heated
"Ultra-Lounge" is a series of 1950's to 1960's lounge music cds released by Capitol Records. It’s our feature tonight.
From the back cover notes of Christmas Cocktails-Part Two:
"Another Round Of Cool Holiday Spirits. Christmastime is here again and Santa's mixed up another batch of intoxicating hi-fi holiday highballs, cooler than Jack Frost's smile and sweeter than a candy cane swizzlestick. If these 18 hot chestnuts don't jingle your bells, then you're Scrooged, man. Fruitcake!"
Llet’s get our Santa Claus’ party going with duel pianists, Ferrante and Teicher followed by Les Baxter.
Rail Expert Sees Wisconsin High Speed Rail Reversal as Political Retribution
Randal O’Toole Sees Wisconsin High Speed Rail
Reversal as Political Retribution
The Music of Christmas: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
EVERY DAY FROM NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 24, I AM HIGHLIGHTING A CHRISTMAS SONG AND THE STORY BEHIND IT. PLEASE ENJOY AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!
When I was a mere child, there were certain annual TV Christmas specials you didn’t miss. In the Fischer household, one of them was the Andy Williams Christmas show.
Williams taught
That was over 40 years ago, but the name Andy Williams is still synonymous with Christmas. When he appeared at the Riverside Theater in December of 2000, Dave Tianen of the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel wrote this in his review:
If Bing Crosby defined the sound of Christmas in the '40s and '50s, it was Andy Williams and his long-running series of holiday TV specials that gave voice to Christmas in the '60s.
Today, Williams is 73, and it takes the magnetism of Christmas to lure him from his home in
Probably not even Williams would argue that it's a contemporary show. Doubtless, the older audience that nearly sold out the
Williams set the agenda when he told the crowd he wanted to sing some old chestnuts.
"Chestnuts are old songs that just get better and better with age," he said. "Just like me."
Amazingly, no one covered Williams’ big hit from 1963 for decades. A few newer versions have popped up in recent years, including one by Amy Grant.
In 1997, the Oklahoma City Philharmonic was selected to perform with Kathie Lee Gifford in her Christmas Special Just in Time for Christmas. The show was taped at the
The Barking Lot (12/11/10)
The Barking Lot is a regular weekly feature of this just in…Written by my lovely wife, Jennifer and me. It opens with the weekend dog walking forecast followed by the main blog from dog lover, Jennifer. Then it’s DOGS IN THE NEWS and our close. Enjoy!
THE WEEKEND DOG-WALKING FORECAST: We grade the weather outlook for taking your pet outdoors.
TODAY: A wintry mix of rain and snow. A mix of rain and freezing rain this morning will change to all rain by this afternoon and all snow by tonight. High of 38. "F"
SUNDAY: Snow showers, windy and cold. High of 19. "F"
Here’s my lovely wife, Jennifer with this week’s main blog:
“Santa Baby, forgot to mention one little thing… a ring… I don’t mean on the phone…”
Week-ends (12/11/10)
A look back at the people and events that made news the past week. Week-ends is a regular weekly feature of This Just In...
HEROES OF THE WEEK
Tom Mahoney
J.C. Penwell
Durrell Conner
Charlie Cangelosi
Halley Knight
Claudio Palma
James Stone III
Rohan Murphy
The folks at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte
VILLAINS OF THE WEEK
State agencies in WI
Sheboygan woman
Brian David Mitchell
Mark Prior
Westboro Baptist Church
Isaac Henry Anderson and ????
Lisa Brabazon
Bristol Palin haters
Union Square Macy's in San Francisco
University professors
Congressman Jim McDermott (D)
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“If Bradley Tech was a tavern in the city of Milwaukee, it would have been shut down.”
WTMJ’s Jeff Wagner
"Then get the hell out of here if you don't like it."
Franklin Alderman Steve Taylor to bloggers that have been critical of
“It’s tempting not to negotiate with hostage takers, unless the hostage gets harmed…the hostage was the American people.”
President Obama on his discussions with Senate Republicans on tax cuts, calling the GOP, “hostage takers.”
"A long political fight that carried over into next year might have been good politics, but it would be a bad deal for the economy and it would be a bad deal for the American people. This is a big, diverse country. Not everybody agrees with us. I know that shocks people.”
President Obama on criticism from his party over his compromise with Senate Republicans on tax cuts.
“Unfortunately I think that President Obama sees the job more as negotiator-in-chief than really the leader of our country and the leader of our party.”
Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY)
“We're interested in what the men who fight think. As the Pentagon study itself reports: ‘A higher percentage of service members in war-fighting units predicted negative effects.’
So gays openly serving in the military will harm the ‘war-fighting’ part of the military, but the ‘social action’ part will thrive!
Naturally, Marines are the most resistant to overturning ‘don't ask, don't tell,’ with 58 percent of those in combat opposed.
Who cares if the Pentagon's sexual harassment task force supports gays in the military? The combat units don't, and they're the ones who do the job. The rest of us shouldn't get to vote on gays in the military any more than we get to vote on the choreography of ‘
Ann Coulter
“The bankrupt federal government has decided to spend $4.5 billion regulating bake sales and high school football concession stands. Because, it would appear, there's nothing more urgent than issuing licenses to sell chocolate chip cookies. To be a member of the modern Democrat Party, you have to be exceedingly stupid. The voters just kicked the crap out of Democrats at every level of government for precisely this unconstitutional insanity.
And while they're regulating bake sales, the economy is trembling as taxes on every American are poised to increase. But the lame duck Democrats can't trifle with those minor concerns: vending machines are killing kids. Killing kids, I say!”
Blogger Doug Ross
“So what are they mocking her for? Only for one thing: For not getting an abortion, like any smart career-minded media woman, or media man, like Keith Olbermann, would do. Or advise. Or cajole. Or insist upon. Or pay for, and I don't just mean for the costs of the procedure.
Really?”
Blogger Ace of Spades on the attacks against
“They basically are just raping you in public. I got asked the other day, do you want to go for a screening or get patted down. I don't want that X-Ray to see everything, honey. The people are so aggressive! It's like, 'Chill out, you didn't find anything on me yet, calm down,'. They say, 'OK, I'm going to be patting you down and I'm going to be touching the crease of your ass.' That is so inappropriate!”
Khloe Kardashian on the TSA patdowns
"On this tragic anniversary please join me in remembering John with deep love and respect. In his short lived life of 40 years, he has given so much to the world. The world was lucky to have known him. We still learn so much from him today. John, I love you!"
Yoko Ono on the 30th anniversary of the assassination of John Lennon
"These critics with the illusions they've created about artists; it's like idol worship. They only like people when they're on their way up. I cannot be on the way up again. What they want is dead heroes, like Sid Vicious and James Dean. I'm not interested in being a dead f . . king hero . . . so forget 'em, forget 'em."
From the last interview John Lennon gave before he was shot dead, revealed in full for the first time this week by Rolling Stone magazine.
OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK
About two dozen squad cars responded to a disturbance at Bradley Tech last week. MPS tried to cover up the story. When it broke this week, MPS tried to downplay the incident.
MOST UNDER-REPORTED STORY OF THE WEEK
Dems gone wild: F*** the president!
MOST OVER-HYPED STORY OF THE WEEK
To read the one-sided coverage, one would think the death of the $810 million train from
Is it?
Let’s find out.
How about we ask……
The
How about it, guys?
“
Thank you.
STRANGEST, MOST UNUSUAL STORY OF THE WEEK
Gettin' high around the Christmas tree.
He put his watch on eBay for $9.95.....
REMEMBER: Your suggestions/nominations for any of these categories every week are welcome, especially for HEROES OF THE WEEK. If you know of anyone in the community deserving of recognition, please e-mail me.
Living Nativity this weekend in Franklin
It's at St. Paul's Lutheran Church.
Sure hope this doesn't happen.
The Music of Christmas: Santa Baby
The naughty but nice Christmas song.
In 1953 Eartha Kitt recorded, “Santa Baby.”
From Kitt’s official website:
Eartha Mae Kitt was ostracized at an early age because of her mixed-race heritage. At eight years old, she was given away by her mother and sent from the South Carolina cotton fields to live with an aunt in Harlem. In New York her distinct individuality and flair for show business manifested itself, and on a friend’s dare, the shy teen auditioned for the famed KATHERINE DUNHAM DANCE TROUPE. She won a spot as a featured dancer and vocalist and before the age of twenty, toured worldwide with the company. During a performance in Paris, Miss Kitt was spotted by a nightclub owner and booked as a featured singer at his club. Her unique persona earned her fans and fame quickly, including Orson Welles, who called her “the most exciting woman in the world”. Welles was so taken with her talent that he cast her as Helen of Troy in his fabled production of DR. FAUST.
From Philadelphiacitypaper.net:
Eartha Kitt possesses one of the most seductive and feline voices ever known. She is the textbook diva — a woman who acts with divine providence as high as her cheekbones. She has danced for the Katherine Dunham dance troupe, acted on Broadway with Orson Welles and on film with Sidney Poitier, recorded pop hits and taken a place in the kitsch history books for her portrayal of Catwoman on the Batman TV series. Her American career came to a halt in January '68 when she made an anti-Vietnam remark at a White House luncheon hosted by Lady Bird Johnson. Kitt soon found herself blacklisted from performance venues and recording.
Following Kitt’s huge hit with “Santa Baby,” she recorded a follow-up in 1954 called, "This Year's Santa Baby." It bombed. That’s why you never heard of it!
In 1987, Madonna did a cover for the 1987 charity album A Very Special Christmas.
I guess you either love this “baby” or you don’t. One Internet reviewer wrote:
Madonna had been around the block far too many times to get away with playing the infuriating Betty Boop-ish ingenue. When Eartha Kitt made a case for being a good, deserving girl -- "think of all the fellas that I haven't kissed" -- it was mildly amusing. When Madonna trotted out the line, it was just another reason for Sean Penn to start throwing ornaments.
Start throwing your tomatoes. I not only like the song, I prefer Madonna’s uptempo version to Kitt’s more laid back original.
OK.
Here we go. C’mon, Santa.
Slip that sable under the tree.
Been an awful good girl...
Photos of the Week (12/12/10)
Governor-elect Scott Walker speaks to reporters at the Wisconsin Realtors Association conference in Waukesha. He addressed the importance of Realtors in getting out the word of a more business-friendly Wisconsin under his leadership. Walker also spoke about the withdrawal of high-speed rail funding and "right-to-work" laws. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel photo: Michael Sears
Police officers break a rear window of an SUV and insert a gas canister during a standoff on I-94 westbound on Friday, Dec. 10, 2010 in Milwaukee. Officers sent in a robot they normally use to defuse explosives to break an SUV window and end a standoff that shut down a major Milwaukee freeway for six hours on Friday. The robotic device, with its long tentacle, broke a rear window on the vehicle authorities suspected was stolen, and a deputy then used a long stick to drop in a canister of gas. The driver emerged in a cloud and laid down on the freeway as SWAT officers moved to handcuff him. (AP Photo/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Gary Porter)
A man raises his hands as he exits a vehicle after officers inserted a gas canister through a back window during a standoff on I-94 westbound on Friday, Dec. 10, 2010 in Milwaukee. Officers sent in a robot they normally use to defuse explosives to break an SUV window and end a standoff that shut down a major Milwaukee freeway for six hours on Friday. The robotic device, with its long tentacle, broke a rear window on the vehicle authorities suspected was stolen, and a deputy then used a long stick to drop in a canister of gas. The driver emerged in a cloud and laid down on the freeway as SWAT officers moved to handcuff him. (AP Photo/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Gary Porter)
Inmates at Chino State Prison sit inside a metal cage in the hallway on December 10, 2010 in Chino, California. Inmates wait in the cages to be assigned permanent housing or for medical, mental health, counselor or other appointments. The U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to hear arguments to appeal a federal court's ruling last year that the California state prison system would have to release 40,000 prisoners to cope with overcrowding so severe that it violated their human rights. More than 144,000 inmates are currently incarcerated in prisons that were designed to hold about 80,000. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
U.S. Border Patrol agent Richard Funke looks for footprints from illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.- Mexico border on December 7, 2010 near Nogales, Arizona. Although a new fence has been built along the majority of Arizona's border with Mexico, critics have called for fencing of the entire stretch. Much of the unfenced terrain is in remote and mountainous areas. Although illegal immigration has slowed all along the U.S. Mexico border, Border Patrol officials say the Tucson sector remains the most heavily trafficked in the nation. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), officers pat down undocumented immigrants from El Salvador before boarding them onto a deportation flight on December 8, 2010 in Mesa, Arizona. Of the 111 Salvadorians on the flight, most had criminal records. Although illegal immigration to the United States has decreased nationally in the last few years, ICE deported almost 400,000 people in the last year, which is a record. Of that number, almost half had criminal records. The Obama administration has made targeting undocumented criminals a priority in its immigration enforcement policy. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
Culinary no-no #196
Last week’s Culinary no-no, #195 focused on:
+
The Obama’s like to lecture all of
Some celebrity types have decided to ignore the White House condescension. They include:
Chefs Bobby Flay, Emeril Lagasse, and Hubert Keller, shunning the call of the president and First Lady to eat healthier, are just a few in their profession to open restaurants that feature gourmet burgers.....big, juicy, fatty burgers.
The Wall Street Journal reports, "Some beef experts say the main secret behind tasty celebrity-chef burgers is simple: They pile on the fat, whether from beef patties with 30% fat content or from patties basted in butter. That alone may make their burgers delicious at a time when supermarket ground beef may contain as little as 8% fat."
Burgers with 30% fat swimming in butter! In front of a camera, Michelle Obama would frown. When the camera goes off, she’d run as fast as she could to order.
Burgers are big business. Top-shelf chefs have noticed, ever since Hubert Keller opened Burger Bar in 2004. Restaurants where beef on a bun is king run by TV chefs who’ve become household names have opened across the country.
Adorned with a myriad of toppings, these burgers have gotten cool reviews showing what little many of these writers actually know. The Wall Street Journal reports, “Instead of the 9% to 12% margins of his fine dining restaurants, Mr. Keller says he pulls down a 35% margin on annual sales of $7.5 million at Burger Bar in
Imagine that. The masses ignore a few snooty critics.
Who’d a thunk it. As a recession pounds the restaurant industry, one way to fight back was to put haute burgers on the menu.
Let’s examine one entrée in particular. To do that we visit….
Tony Bennett left his heart there.
The city by the Bay.
Specifically, we head to............
We need to take an elevator to the 6th floor...
Check out the TV's at the table....
The Music of Christmas: The Best Ever?
EVERY DAY FROM NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 24, I AM HIGHLIGHTING A CHRISTMAS SONG AND THE STORY BEHIND IT. PLEASE ENJOY AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Ask anyone their favorite Christmas song, and they’ll probably mention a dusty oldie recorded decades ago.
Is there a modern Christmas classic?
Maybe.
How about, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” by Mariah Carey.
Certainly you’ve heard of her.
Sasha Frere-Jones wrote this in the New Yorker on April 3, 2006:
“She (Carey) co-wrote one of the few worthy modern additions to the holiday canon, the charming “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (from “Merry Christmas,” of 1994, which also happens to be the best-selling Christmas album of all time).”
Roch Parisien of the All Music Guide wrote, “Mariah Carey's co-penned "All I Want for Christmas Is You" is a well-crafted Phil Spector tribute, with Beach Boys-style harmonies, jangling bells, and sleigh-ride pace…”
But Rachel Beckman of the Washington Post wrote that Carey’s colossal Christmas tune is the “best ever.”
It's a holiday tune full of pure joy
It hasn't been around as long as, say, 'Joy to the World,' but Mariah Carey's 'All I Want' strikes an ecumenical chord even today.
By Rachel Beckman
Washington Post
December 4, 2007
It isn't December until Mariah Carey puts on her bright-red knit hat, zips up her white boots and kicks around in the fakest-looking snow ever with Santa Claus.
Is the scene familiar? It's from Mariah's music video for her 1994 holiday hit, "All I Want for Christmas Is You," the best Christmas song ever. Lots of people apparently share my love of this song: It was the 21st most-downloaded song on iTunes last weekend. Pretty impressive for a 13-year-old pop tune.
I first heard it while sitting in the basement of my Portland, Ore., home, watching MTV with my younger sister Heather. I was 12.
It starts with dramatic piano music, tinged with the sound of festive bells. Mariah drags out each syllable for maximum theatrics: "I don't want a lot for Christmas / There is just one thing I need."
About 50 seconds in, the chorus peps up, the piano goes nuts, a gospel choir claps and harmonizes with Mariah. My little *** heart couldn't soak in all the joy emanating from the television screen, so Heather and I danced.
We jumped around the basement, twisting our hips and squealing with delight. We tried and failed to hit Mariah's glass-shattering last note. "All I want for Christmas is YOU!"
Read the entire article.
Here’s the yummy Mariah Carey in an outfit that could melt an iceberg, singing this contemporary Christmas classic to open a recent Christmas Day parade ABC-TV special from Walt Disney World.
NPR highlights lefty Nutcracker
National Public Radio is in the fight of its life. Republicans on Capitol Hill are threatening to defund the taxpayer-supported network. How does NPR respond? By continuing to step in it.
On Saturday's Weekend Edition newsmagazine, NPR broadcast a story about a
NPR's reporter, who once ran to the left of Nancy Pelosi, said, "There's a snow dance where ice caps melt in the background....The Sugar
No, it's not your typical Nutcracker ballet. Mr. and Mrs. McGreed have a gay son decked out in a Che Guevara T-shirt and a pink Mohawk. Clara is an illegal immigrant maid.
Your tax dollars at work.
The Saturday NPR program also spent several minutes discussing agnostic holidays.
Franklin city taxes by-the-numbers
In Sunday’s Crossroads section of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Steve Walters offered a statistical analysis of the 8 years Jim Doyle served as Wisconsin Governor.
“Going forward, my mind will be open to every solution -- except one. We should not -- we must not -- and I will not -- raise taxes.
Governor Doyle during his 2003 State of the State address
Here is one of Steve Walters’ findings:
"+19.1%: The Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates that the December 2002 net property tax bill on that mythical median-valued Wisconsin home was $2,517, and the bills that will soon be arriving in that homeowner's mailbox will be for $3,000 - a $19.1% increase."
Walters’ column got me wondering how the city of
The property tax levy is the most important tax piece. In 2002,
Rather than focus on the levy,
OK, so let’s look at the tax rate. In 2002,
Even if you just look at the past four years going back to 2006,
Is
And BTW, my kingdom for that median valued property tax bill Steve Walters wrote about.
After all the warnings, watches, alerts, predictions of Armageddon and the Apocalypse and urging to hide in our basements because we were all going to die.....
The latest storm brought a whopping 1.1 inches of precipitation to
Thank you, local weather “experts” for once again needlessly scaring the devil out of people.
The Music of Christmas....that has nothing to do with Christmas
Ever notice how so many “Christmas” songs have absolutely nothing to do with the holiday?
Let’s look at some examples, shall we?
There’s the 1937 song, “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,” sung here by the man who’s re-invented himself by performing tunes older than he is….Rod Stewart.
UPDATE: Culinary no-no #109
Culinary no-no #109 addressed the advent of the food truck craze.
Starting in
The Wall Street Journal video…..
Warm, fuzzy lefty Chris Matthews is told what he can do with his fat comments
Hardball's Chris Matthews last week criticized
"Chris Christie is moon over
A response from Neil Cavuto...
Brett Favre: Greatest athlete of all-time?
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You might be tempted to say YES after reading this AP article.
The Music of Christmas: You're a Mean One
EVERY DAY FROM NOVEMBER 30-DECEMBER 24, I AM HIGHLIGHTING A CHRISTMAS SONG AND THE STORY BEHIND IT. PLEASE ENJOY AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!
It wouldn’t be Christmas without him.
From the National Public Radio website:
Dec. 23, 2002 -- To most folks, he's the scheming, green sourpuss who hated Christmas so much he tried to make it vanish completely. But the Grinch inspired a little more sympathy in his creator. To Dr. Seuss, he wasn't a villain -- just a guy whose heart, "two sizes too small," needed a dose of the true spirit of the holiday. In fact, Seuss himself said that he identified with the fuzzy anti-hero.
Just like the Grinch, Theodor Geisel, who wrote and illustrated dozens of books under the pseudonym Dr. Seuss, didn't go in for the fancy celebrations surrounding the holiday. According to his niece Peggy Owens, he wasn't "into the sentimentality" of the season. Still, he spent every Christmas at home with his family in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Theodor Geisel was a private man, but those who knew him said he was a meticulous worker. He created his thought-provoking comic masterpieces in a house on Mt. Soledad, overlooking La Jolla, Calif., and the Pacific Ocean. Ted Owens, who is Geisel's great nephew, remembers the studio where the unmatched Seuss imagination was set free.
"All the walls would just be plastered with rough tissue sketchings," Owens says. "Sketches of what the story would be, what the layout would be, with the ideas for texts (and) crossed-out words as he refined over and over again, finding the right cadence and words to use in these stories."
In 1957, at the age of 53, Seuss published The Grinch, and thousands of children first discovered the story of the Whos -- an endlessly cheerful bunch bursting with holiday spirit -- and the outsider so sickened by their joy in the season that he decides to hijack the holiday. The Grinch proves a natural at thieving, even lying to little Cindy Loo Who about his intentions as he stuffs the family tree up the chimney. Yet his efforts to ruin Christmas fail in the end.
Nine years after the publication of the book, television came calling. For help in translating his character to the screen, Seuss turned to Chuck Jones, the animator behind Bugs Bunny, Wile E. Coyote, the Roadrunner and many others. The two artists first met while collaborating -- imagine this -- on a series of military training films during World War II.
Jones' oddball, sardonic sensibility meshed perfectly with Seuss' nasty-but-nutty creation. Jones respected the source material, but trusted his own artistic instincts. In a 1996 interview with NPR's Bob Edwards, Jones revealed that it was his idea to make the Grinch, drawn in black and white in the book, into a green meany.
Listen to a report on the Grinch by NPR’s Elizabeth Blair.
The Grinch....star of TV, film, and Broadway.
"Mary's ultrasound" billboards expand to Milwaukee and Green Bay
This is how the Democrats govern....
Firings Rare in State Service MacIver Analysis Finds
MacIver News Service | December 15, 2010 The Music of Christmas: Southern gospel's contribution
Culinary no-no #197
The Government Can
Seen for sale at Mayfair Mall.....
Guys, these are absolute MUST'S for your Christmas list
Person of the Year & Person of the Decade
The Music of Christmas: "Soon It Will be Christmas Day"
Goodnight everyone and have a delightful holiday weekend
The Music of Christmas: And Heaven and Nature Sing
The Barking Lot (12/18/10)
Week-ends (12/18/10)
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Franklin Alderman Steve Olson
The Music of Christmas: "Come, they told me....."
Photos of the Week (12/19/10)
A horrible idea from FOX
Culinary no-no #198
The Music of Christmas: "If Only In My Dreams" Education in Wisconsin: A guest perspective
The Conservative Digest So Long To Ya, 2010"Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes...."
Franklin resident: "I am overwhelmed by my tax bill"
The Music of Christmas: "It is the Night of our Dear Saviour's Birth"
Franklin Common Council scheduled to take up resolution honoring the late Lyle Sohns
Tonight, the Franklin Common Council at the request of Mayor Tom Taylor is scheduled to act on a resolution honoring former Franklin Alderman Lyle Sohns who died December 6, 2010. New pro-business attitude comes to MadisonI wrote the following piece for the latest edition of Conservative Digest that includes articles by Governor-elect Scott Walker, Lieutenant Governor-elect Rebecca Kleefisch, state Senator Mary Lazich, state Senator Glenn Grothman, state Representative Jim Ott, Congressman Paul Ryan, Congressman Tom Petri, Reza Kahlili of FoxNews.com, Sarah Palin, Rich Lowry of the National Review, and James Wigderson. The Music of Christmas: "Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire"
Christmas classic songs a thing of the pastA year ago, I wrote that the last great original Christmas song was released in 1970. THE TOP TEN FRANKLIN STORIES OF 2010: #10
Kyla's Korner - Musings of a Mother (12/22/10)
The Music of Christmas: The Number One
THE TOP TEN FRANKLIN STORIES OF 2010: #9
The Year of My Mother: O Tannenbum
How incredible was Bob Hope?
The Music of Christmas: "All is calm, all is bright"
THE TOP TEN FRANKLIN STORIES OF 2010: #8
The Christmas edition of Week-ends
Until recently, harvest fortune-telling was very popular in the countryside. After supper, the host would go out to the garden, carrying dried fruit. He would throw it on the trees, shouting "Apples, pears, plums, cherries, and all the leaves in the neighbor's yard." He would take a handful of straw and twist it into a rope. Grabbing an ax with other hand, he would approach a tree and threaten it by saying, "I'll cut you down!" His wife would cry, "Don't cut it, it will bear fruit!" Then she would tie the straw rope around the tree. This bizarre little pantomime apparently brought a good harvest. "For you know the Lord's been good to you...."
What ARE you doing December 26, 2010?My Most Popular Blogs (12/26/10)
Photos of the Week (12/26/10)
Culinary no-no #199
THE TOP TEN FRANKLIN STORIES OF 2010: #7
The Latest News You Can Use from WRTL
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![[Interior of main terminal]](http://images.ookaboo.com/photo/m/Mke_airport_terminal_m.jpg "Interior of main terminal")
On Christmas Eve day, Pro-Life Wisconsin and 
Pro-Life Wisconsin will observe 
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1) The Music of Christmas: Jingle Bells
2) The Music of Christmas: "I am a fine musician"
3) The Music of Christmas: Mary's Boy Child
4) The Music of Christmas - Elvis Style
5) The Music of Christmas: Rudolph
6) The Music of Christmas: The Fat Man is watching
7) The Music of Christmas: "Haul out the holly....."
8) The Music of Christmas: Judy Garland
9) The Music of Christmas: A partridge in a pear tree
10) The Music of Christmas: Disney-style
11) The Music of Christmas: "Snowing and blowing up bushels of fun"
12) The Music of Christmas: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
13) The Music of Christmas: Santa Baby
14) The Music of Christmas: The Best Ever?
15) The Music of Christmas....that has nothing to do with Christmas
16) The Music of Christmas: You're a Mean One
17) The Music of Christmas: Southern Gospel's Contribution
18) The Music of Christmas: "Soon It Will Be Christmas Day"
19) The Music of Christmas: And Heaven and Nature Sing
20) The Music of Christmas: "Come, they told me......."
21) The Music of Christmas: "If Only in my Dreams"