December 23rd, 2016
Bonum mane!! (“Good Morning” in Latin to you! It will be handy if you get that time machine you asked Santa for and go back to the time of Christ in Ancient Rome.)
Merry Christmas to y’all and all the best for 2017!!!!
This has been a tough week for our clan. A sweet young man I have known most of this 30some years fell terribly ill and has been hospitalized near death. As I write this for you now, we still do not know his prognosis. I was so moved by the shock and the different ways we deal with the fear of death I had to write. I am not sure if anyone will ever see it or not but I needed to say something to at least me. If you live long enough you will find some point where life gets out of order. Whenever a young vibrant person passes, the natural order things is lost for a moment. Old should die before young. It doesn’t always work out that way. Its not easy to celebrate such a short life but that is exactly what we should do. We should focus on being grateful for the tie time we had together. We should also remind ourselves that our tomorrow is never assured. Do everything important today. Please keep a good thought for Steven and his family.
Its hard holiday in other ways as well. I saw Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Mrs. Obama last night. It was nice to hear her thoughts as they prepare to move to the next chapter in their lives. Her grace and common sense I fear will be sorely missed when she leaves in January. Meanwhile, the Trump parade of embarrassment spreads and promises to continue as the Electoral College failed in its duty. The Trump cabinet selections should have scared the bejesus out of everyone by now. I agree with Bill Maher when he proposed that Trump is just f*cking with us. Frank Luntz, a key Republican strategist and bolster said in an HBO Vice interview that he is leaving for New Zealand before the Trump Inauguration. And so it goes…
This week I learned some stuff:
• I learned that Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers are giving away a free Live Album. Just go to: http://www.brucehornsbylive.com/default.aspx
• I learned again, that once you reach a tender age, one should not get one’s feelings hurt near to a nearly full bottle of scotch, else one wake up the next morning wishing that one had not done so.
• It is Christmas, be of good cheer
Website Update
• Merry Christmas! Unwrap your new Vocabulary Quiz!!
• Added a new quotes this week – from Mr. Mark Twain.
Painting Update:
• No painting this week
Weird-Stuff-O-Meter:
• Saw the new Star Wars Story this week. Rogue One is a delight to watch and I hope you get the chance to watch it.
• Georgie, my grandkids dog escapes from time to time and always takes off to hunt bunnies in the ground cover at the park near our house. She established this habit as a puppy which makes it easy to find and capture her but hunting the bunnies now that she is older takes a toll on her elderly bod. She delights in the activity but hobbles around the house for 3 days after every episode.
Music Update:
Bruce Springsteen published a memoir this week and his 67th Birthday was December 20th. He was on Stephen Colbert last night and he looks really good in a squinty eyed sort of way. Journey was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this week as well. I hope you enjoy this weeks mix:
• Bruce Springsteen – Santa Claus is Coming to Town — Bruce’s special treatment of the standard.
• Johnny Mathis – The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) – Johnny Mathis always had one of the most beautifully smooth voices. Eighty something years old, still living in the Howard Hughes’s mansion in Hollywood and playing golf.
• Bing Crosby – White Christmas (1947 Single Version)- Another velvet voice from the past. Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without hearing Bing sing it so:)
• Paul Cardall – Sweet Escape — I heard a song by this guy on NPR and fell in love with his clean piano work.
• Jimmy Buffett – Happy Christmas (War is Over) – Jimmy does a good job on this John Lennon/Yoko Ono classic.
• Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band – Little Drummer Boy — Bob sings this sweet song and the band does a great job.
• Fleetwood Mac — Rhiannon – From the Vinyl!!! A beautiful song that I never really understood as much as I enjoyed it. Stevie Nicks reported that she saw the name in a book and sat down and wrote the song in about 10 minutes- Amazing!
• Bruce Cockburn – Last Night of the World – I apologize because I know I have featured this one not that long ago on UJT Radio/ I try not to repeat music too much and certainly not with the same year but Its Just Such A Good Song.. when it came up again, I just couldn’t resist playing this cut from Bruce’s “Anything, Anytime Anywhere” album.
That’s it… Do the best you can; Laugh every chance you get; And always remember … The best is yet to come!
As always, thank you for being my friend!
James
Under the Jacaranda Tree URL: http://www.jfmccann.com