April 16th, to be exact. New York City awoke this morning to freezing temperatures and something between a dusting and an icing of white stuff. At points west and north in the U.S.A. there are places that have been receiving more substantial quantities. But just for the record, we took a few photos. Continue reading “Snow in April”
Here’s to Saint Patrick, a great Welshman (or so I was told as a lad) who tried mightily to save the Irish.
The tune to “Be Thou My Vision” is known as “Slane,” and is associated with a moment in history when Saint Patrick lit a fire on a hill in pagan Ireland—the hill of Slane—in defiance of the customs of the time, in order to mark the Christian holy day of Easter. His bravery was met with a success that put him in the history books and makes him the subject of parades in countless cities across the world. Many Christians today exhibit similar bravery and find merely death—in places like Nigeria, Pakistan, Egypt and North Korea—but their hope is in something far beyond the acceptance of men.
Surely no one has sung it better than Van the man.
(Available on Van Morrison’s album, Hymns to the Silence.)
Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight
Be thou my armor, and be thou my might
Thou my sole shelter, and thou my high tower
Raise thou me heavenwards, O power of my power
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Ray Price, a towering figure in country music and the kind of performer who truly defined what it meant to be a class act, has died at home at the age of eighty-seven.
He recorded too many classics to mention, but I’ve long loved his very special version of “Danny Boy.” Continue reading “Ray Price, Rest in Peace”
The statue of Balto (hero sled dog of 1925) watches over the first real snow of winter in New York City today.
[click for larger] Continue reading “Snowstorm in Central Park”
Thanksgiving in the U.S. is tomorrow. It coincides in rare fashion with the Jewish holiday of Chanukah which begins this evening. So blessings to those celebrating one, the other, or both. These are serious times, no doubt, but all the more reason to remember gratitude.
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The sun’s magnetic field is expected to reverse its polarity in the next few months, flipping the north pole to the south and vice versa. It is said to occur every 11 years. Researchers have assured that “we have nothing to fear.” Solar physicist Phil Scherrer told SPACE.com that “the world will not end tomorrow.” Continue reading “Sun to Undergo Total Magnetic Flip”
Happy Fourth of July. Can’t go wrong with watching the YouTube clip linked below of an incomparable American artist literally lighting up the stage.
Click: Fred Astaire: “Say it with Firecrackers”
(Especially wishing a happy Independence Day to Mayor Bloomberg of my own New York City, who ought to very much appreciate the content of that performance.)
Jim Walpole, a 77-year-old man from Ohio, was visiting Toronto with his wife Marilyn when, as reported in the Toronto Sun, he just happened to stumble. He fell against scaffolding and in a freak happenstance his throat was cut by some sharp piece of the structure as he fell. Blood gushed from what should have been a lethal wound.
“Out of nowhere” a man who had been standing outside an adjacent building (apparently the King Edward Hotel) while smoking a cigarette rushed over and immediately pressed on Mr. Walpole’s neck at the precise location necessary to prevent him from bleeding to death. He was soon assisted by a couple of other bystanders. Paramedics arrived and Mr. Walpole looked up at the man who’d saved his life and asked, “What’s your name?” He reportedly said, “My name is John and you’re going to be alright.” Multiple reports now confirm that the man was none other than John Malkovich, the well-known actor, who is currently starring as Casanova in a stage-play titled “The Giacomo Variations” at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto.
There is as yet no word on whether he finished his cigarette.
The funeral of country singer extraordinaire George Jones will be this coming Thursday at 10 a.m.; it will take place at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House (where else?) and the public will be permitted to attend.
My guess is that it will prompt a kind of outpouring rarely seen. There will an awful lot of ordinary people who will want to pay their respects to George Jones, people who felt like they knew him, and felt like they were somehow blessed and helped through some of the darker times in life by his way with a song.
It would be nice to think that George might be watching from a window up above.
Hey, that reminds me of a song. Indeed, “Window Up Above” is one of George Jones’ greatest hits, dating from about 1960. George has been known primarily as a vocalist, but this is one of his own songs, and a beautiful tune it is too, a song of broken love of the kind Jones sang so well, with a melody both lilting and mournful. Continue reading “George Jones’ funeral to be open to the public”
“I wonder if you can …”
A new documentary film titled Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s is said to reveal many celebrity shopping “secrets,” culled from happenings over decades at the ultra-high-end fashion mecca known as Bergdorf Goodman in New York City. Continue reading “Imagine No Possessions”
Just a couple of thoughts this morning as the breaking news from Boston continues to break with regard to the hunt for the April 15th marathon bombers:
The story of the pursuit of the two (who’ve been identified as Chechens, and Islamists by ideology, although apparently living in the U.S. since childhood) through the streets of Watertown sounds like something from a TV show like “24.” The most mind-boggling thing of all is that one of the terrorists succeeded in escaping, despite being pursued by every law enforcement resource that could be thrown at him. This happens on TV and in the movies all the time; you just don’t seriously expect it to happen in real life.
With the lock-down in Watertown, adjacent towns and cities (and indeed almost the entire Greater Boston area, the last time I heard) one can only imagine how anxious many people in the area feel. Women living alone, elderly people, parents with young children and indeed everybody. They’ve been told there is an armed terrorist killer on the loose, and advised not to leave their homes. Well, what do you do if he comes to your door or window? By the time you called the police and they arrived, you and your family could be dead as dead can be. Or, at the least, hostages. (And it is obviously highly likely that the fugitive is in someone’s home keeping any occupants as hostages right at this moment.) It does seem to yours truly that this is a time when the only possible source of any peace of mind would be the Second Amendment. But not too many people in those neighborhoods would be owners of firearms.
Here’s praying for a conclusion to this drama without further injury and loss of life, and also a prayer for those who have already been injured or who have lost loved ones. Continue reading “Mayhem in Watertown and Boston”
Three people dead, at this point, after the bombings in Boston yesterday, and over one hundred and seventy people injured, many seriously and with lost limbs. IEDs on the streets of an American city, targeting the most helpless in their moment of innocent joy.
Maybe you’re like me and you went to bed last night thinking: Well, there’s a lot of rumors and speculation flying around, but by morning things will have been pulled together and we’ll have a clear idea of what this was about. The big surprise today is that this is not the case. There is only a “person of interest,” a young Saudi, who’s apartment has been searched but apparently has not been arrested. We have become accustomed, in the wake of jihad attacks across the world, to know almost immediately who was responsible (at least in general terms) because the perpetrators very much want everyone to know who committed the carnage and why. So either this is the work of one or more jihadis who are for some reason not following the script, or it is the work of some monster or monsters with a different kind of motivation.
The thought that people capable of such despicable evil may still be at large and planning more such acts is no doubt giving the investigators a radical sense of urgency. And here’s to their quick success.
The cardinals in Rome have selected Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina as the new pope—in case the news didn’t reach where you live—and based on the thumbnail sketch of who he is, it seems they have gone not with a safe choice, but with a hope for renewal. That said, he is 76 years-old, so his papacy is unlikely to last decades. In any case, one must wish him well, and the Catholic Church, and Catholics in general. Although I was raised Catholic, I now denominate myself differently; still, there are too many Catholics in the world not to wish that that Church should be led by an inspired and inspiring shepherd.
A local sheriff in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, is seriously investigating the possibility that a 65-year-old man died as result of spontaneous human combustion. A neighbor saw smoke coming from the door to the man’s home. The body is said to have been not only burned but “incinerated,” while there was no damage to the house or furniture.
Well, I introduced my theory on this subject a few weeks ago. My paper is still awaiting peer review. The question is: Could this man’s life have been saved by a thirty dollar humidifier?
I know: it’s not quite fitting to joke about a man’s death. May he rest in peace, and may those who loved him be comforted. Yet, this kind of thing is so bizarre that one feels that there is maybe a little leeway for levity.
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And then, there is also always the possibility that my theory is right, and I therefore have an obligation to promote it in the name of saving someone’s life.
Well, excuse me, I think that it’s getting time to go fill up that humidifier again.
The Nobel Peace Prize has long been degenerating into a vapidly-politicized joke, and this surely qualifies as the punchline: The European Union has been awarded the prize today.
Split between the populations of the various EU states, the roughly $1.2 million prize will amount to something that would probably require ha’penny coinage to distribute; ah, but the Euro does not feature such denominations.
So, a president wins the Nobel Peace Prize for the great achievement of merely winning the U.S. election. A wannabee super-state, administered in the least democratic fashion that the bureaucrats and political elites can get away with, wins the Nobel Peace Prize for merely existing.
All this, while the world teems with brave individuals opposing tyranny and repression, all essentially nameless and subject to being eliminated by the regimes they oppose. Many of them sure could use the positive attention brought by a Nobel Peace Prize. But then, there is so little time, and there are so many punchlines to deliver. Continue reading “Nobel peformance art?”
I haven’t been posting a whole lot in the past week, due to distractions and whatnot, but this is just to say I’ll be posting even less in the next seven days or so, due to traveling beyond the reaches of reliable Wi-Fi. (That’s right: it’s a scuba-diving trip in the Mariana Trench.)
If I can, I’ll probably throw some comments out on the first great Romney/Obama debate, which is occurring this coming Wednesday, October 3rd, but we’ll see. There won’t be any shortage of commentary; at least that’s my firm wager and I’ll cover all takers. Continue reading “Out of office”
The sad truth is that it is hard to be surprised—strike that: it is impossible to be surprised by displays of savagery on the part of Islamic “demonstrators” in places like Tripoli, Khartoum and Cairo. (Impossible, at least, if you don’t work for the U.S. State Department.)
But to get news like the following from Sydney, Australia is chilling on another level, and surely it should be.
Violent clashes erupted yesterday after demonstrators marched from Sydney’s Town Hall to Martin Place yesterday afternoon and confronted police outside the US consulate.
Some protesters allegedly threw glass bottles and other missiles at police, forcing officers to use capsicum spray during a melee that led to six police and 17 others being injured.
Seven men and one male juvenile were arrested, with six men so far charged with offences including assaulting police and animal cruelty, police said.
[…]Waving banners with slogans such as “Behead all those who insult the Prophet”, protesters listened as one protester told the crowd: “We will never accept the assault on our prophet.”
The rally was the latest in a spate of demonstrations at US embassies and consulates in the Middle East, Africa, Britain and elsewhere against the film, Innocence of Muslims.
Protester Abdullah Sary, who said he wanted a peaceful protest, said although he had not seen the film, he was offended because it ridiculed the Prophet Mohammed.
“The prophet is more beloved then my family, my wife, my mother and myself. So if someone says this, you can see how upsetting it is.”
What is truly upsetting is this image of a man, in Australia, in the year 2012, speaking to a reporter and being glad to state publicly that “the prophet” is more beloved to him than his family, his wife and his mother. Continue reading “And in Australia too”
Ben Stein, that is, in The American Spectator.
Well, you never know.
Things have certainly gotten tempestuous since September 11th.
Continue reading “Hebrew prophet speaks of now as the End Times”
We will never forget what happened. And we will never forget why.
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I personally find Leonard Cohen’s “On That Day” to be a very affecting and exceptionally fine song. Embedded via YouTube below. (That “boinging” sound is Leonard’s self-accompaniment with a Jew’s Harp.)
Some people say
It’s what we deserve
For sins against g-d
For crimes in the world
I wouldn’t know
I’m just holding the fort
Since that day
They wounded New York
Some people say
They hate us of old
Our women unveiled
Our slaves and our gold
I wouldn’t know
I’m just holding the fort
But answer me this
I won’t take you to court
Did you go crazy
Or did you report
On that day
On that day
They wounded New York
Jeb Bush delivered a dynamite speech tonight at the RNC on providing parents with choice in education. I also appreciated how he opened.
Before I began my remarks, I have something personal I
would like to share with you. I’ve been so blessed to be part
of a family that has committed its life to public service.My granddad and my father have been incredible role models
for me and served our country honorably. And my brother,
well, I love my brother.He is a man of integrity, courage, and honor, and during
incredibly challenging times, he kept us safe.So, Mr. President, it is time to stop blaming your
predecessor for your failed economic policies.You were dealt a tough hand, but your policies have not
worked. In the fourth year of your presidency, a real leader
would accept responsibility for his actions, and you haven’t
done it.
Full video below:
It’s frankly demoralizing to continue contemplating the seemingly endless reign of brutality and hatred in what we know as the Islamic world. But to pretend it’s not happening is to surrender to a very dangerous delusion.
Via Robert Spencer (for whom the word indefatigable was invented):
In the middle of a forest in the Pakistani capital, a group of Christians has cut down trees to clear land and has begun to build a church out of branches after leaving their neighborhood in fear when one of their own was accused of violating Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws.
