“Merry Christmas, My Friend!”
The Royal Guardsmen were 5 guys from Ocala, Florida. They recorded a quartet of songs inspired by Snoopy the Beagle in the “Peanuts” comic strip between 1967 and 1968.
According to Wikipedia, the group was indeed originally from Ocala.
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“Hatred” by Italian painter Pietro Pajetta, 1896
An Los Angeles police officer has been suspended from the force after his body camera allegedly recorded him fondling the breasts of a dead woman.
A veteran Los Angeles police officer is under investigation after his body-worn camera captured him allegedly fondling a dead woman’s breasts.
The officer, who is assigned to downtown’s Central Division, was placed on leave once supervisors reviewed the footage during a random inspection, LAPD officials said.
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Matt Gaetz is a Republican representing the 1 District of Florida to the US House of Representatives.
A few days ago, Representative Gaetz tweeted this:
If you are like us, your reaction is “how is that possible?”
Keith Wittington over at the Volkh Conspiracy talks about it:
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This is from a 1988 album of Christian artists including Michael Card, Geoff Goore & The Distance, Deniece Williams, BeBe & CeCe Winans, Margaret Becker, Steve Camp, Steve Taylor, Steven Curtis Chapman, Tim Miner, and White Heart. We happen to really like this version of this classic Christmas carol.
There is something joyful and powerful about it that makes us smile and (heaven forbid) sing along.
You can’t beat this classic.
While most people associate the song “White Christmas” with the 1954 movie of the same name starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Vera-Ellen, Rosemary Clooney (who played the role of Vera-Ellen’s older sister but in real life was 6 years younger) and Dean Jagger, the first time the song appeared in a movie was the 1942 film “Holiday Inn.”
Holiday Inn starred Crosby, Fred Astaire and Marjorie Reynolds.
A couple of interesting trivia facts include Reynolds’ singing voice being dubbed using the voice of Martha Mears. In addition, the set for Holiday Inn was used again in the making of the film White Christmas. Finally, the song won an Academy Award for “Best Song.” In a twist of fate, the Oscar for the category was presented by Irving Berlin who had actually written the song White Christmas. Berlin became the first presenter to present an Academy Award to himself.
The first public performance of the song was by Bing Crosby, on his NBC radio show The Kraft Music Hall on Christmas Day, 1941; a copy of the recording from the radio program is owned by the estate of Bing Crosby and was loaned to CBS Sunday Morning for their December 25, 2011, program. He subsequently recorded the song with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby Singers for Decca Records in just 18 minutes on May 29, 1942, and it was released on July 30 as part of an album of six 78-rpm songs from the film Holiday Inn. At first, Crosby did not see anything special about the song. He just said “I don’t think we have any problems with that one, Irving.”
The song initially performed poorly and was overshadowed by Holiday Inn’s first hit song: “Be Careful, It’s My Heart”. By the end of October 1942, “White Christmas” topped the “Your Hit Parade” chart. It remained in that position until well into the new year. It has often been noted that the mix of melancholy — “just like the ones I used to know” — with comforting images of home — “where the treetops glisten” — resonated especially strongly with listeners during World War II. The Armed Forces Network was flooded with requests for the song. The recording is noted for Crosby’s whistling during the second Chorus
Today is the 78th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan which launched the US into World War II. On December 8, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appeared before Congress and gave the following speech, in which he termed December 7 as a “date which will live in infamy.”
The speech is worth reading and remembering as this was the call by the president to enter a global conflict which by its end will have cost the lives of some 80 million people world wide, including some 418,500 American citizens.
We should never forget.
Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives:
Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
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We often stop to watch kids during this time of year and marvel at the wonderment in their eyes at the lights, singing, etc.
We have a neighbor with children and when they saw Christmas lights and decorations in the neighborhood going up, they squealed, laughed and were excited. Even their exhausted parents smiled.
Watching people and kids is a perfect reason to go to the Palm Bay Holiday Light Christmas Parade and the Cocoa Beach Parade tomorrow.
Maybe we all need a little more wonderment in our lives this season, and during all seasons.
On March 6, 2019 of this year, we wrote a post concerning an amendment to a bill authored by State Representative Randy Fine. The beginning of our post read:
This post came out of our research into the ridiculous bill Representative Randy Fine is proposing that would lower legal governmental notices and thereby lowering the transparency within governments and governmental entities.
In looking at the bills Fine has proposed this year, we caught a glimpse of this little dandy called HB 741 – a bill on “anti-semitism.”
The bill is an amendment to Florida Statute 775.085 Evidencing Prejudice While Committing Offense
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