December 2006

A Christmas Carol Playlist 7: Wassail matter with you?

Submitted by rickeyre on December 28, 2006 - 3:42pm

I finish this series with that most English (and most secular) of Christmas traditions, the wassail. It's such an integral part of Christmas that Dictionary.com made wassail its word of the day for December 24.

Here's a recipe for wassail I googled earlier.

So as Christmastide rolls on towards New Year, here is my Wassailing playlist - mostly traditional wassailing songs, and finished off with a delightful Christmas single from 1992 which sounds like it was the outcome of too much wassailing.

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Christmas carol odds and sods

Submitted by rickeyre on December 28, 2006 - 3:06pm

On the fourth day of Christmas, I think it's time to wrap this series up, and not in either Christmas wrapping paper or swaddling clothes either.

But before I do ACCP7, there's a few odds and sods that I haven't pulled together into one theme, and unless I get some inspiration between now and Epiphany, I'll leave them for another year to germinate. I hadn't even contemplated the Christmas Oratorios of JS Bach until Al Sharpton made the following pronouncement:

"What James Brown was to music in terms of soul and hip-hop, rap, all of that, is what Bach was to classical music."

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A great American died this week. So did Gerald Ford.

Submitted by rickeyre on December 28, 2006 - 1:13am

"Tune Into FOX News Channel for Live Coverage of President Ford's Death"

- foxnews.com home page, 27.12.06

James Brown emulated WC Fields on Monday by expiring on Christmas Day. Gerald Ford emulated Harry Truman by expiring on Boxing Day.

James Brown was a legendary R&B performer who spent time in jail for crimes of violence. Gerald Ford was an unelected president who complicity in Indonesia's invasion of East Timor - among other episodes - has gone unchecked.

Wikipedia's bio of President Ford is currently in a state of flux, as one would imagine. It does include a 1975 photo of Ford having a chat with his Chief of Staff Richard B.Cheney, and his Secretary of Defense, Donald H.Rumsfeld. (This at a time when Nobel Peace Laureate Henry A.Kissinger was Secretary of State, and George W.Bush was National Guardsman In Absentia.)

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Melbourne Day Two: Queenslander! Queenslander!

Submitted by rickeyre on December 27, 2006 - 11:59pm

I was just about to congratulate Andrew Symonds for being the first non-white person to score a Test century for Australia in men's cricket. Of course, he's the second... one Jason Gillespie beat him to the punch by eight months.

Still, it's testimony to the conservative, imperial institution that Australian cricket has been over the past century and a half. It's getting better - very, very slowly.

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If you can't say something nice about someone...

Submitted by rickeyre on December 27, 2006 - 6:52am

"The Secretary-General has learned of the sudden death of Turkmen President Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov. President Niyazov made important contributions to United Nations peace processes in Tajikistan and Afghanistan.

The Secretary-General extends his condolences to the family of the late President and people of Turkmenistan."

- Complete and unexpurgated statement by Kofi Annan, 21.12.06 Or maybe he was too busy clearing his office.

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Just a reminder of my change of cricket blog

Submitted by rickeyre on December 27, 2006 - 3:06am

In case you are wondering about the lack of activity on this page, it is because I integrated my cricket blog with my other writings from the commencement of October 2006.

The place you need to be is: www.rickeyre.com/blog/cricket

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Warnie's Farewell Tour dates

Submitted by rickeyre on December 27, 2006 - 2:22am

Dates and venues for the Shane Warne Final Farewell Tour have been announced through till September 2007, and can be viewed at a glance on the Hampshire section of the CricInfo website.

Tour dates for 2008 will be released towards the end of November next year. Tickets from the usual outlets. Be there!

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Melbourne Day One: Whoa Nellie!

Submitted by rickeyre on December 27, 2006 - 1:48am

"It wasn't enough for Melba to become one of the greats of the Golden Age of Grand Opera. She wanted to be the greatest. her glorious voice took her to the top; her ruthless determination to overthrow any rival kept her there long after the voice had begun to decline. Revealed in this relentlessly candid yet sympathetic study is Melba the drama queen, the monstrous prima donna, the canny businesswoman, the generous and kindly friend, the unique star who refused to fade."

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A Christmas Carol Playlist 6: The Final Cut (Subversive Mix)

Submitted by rickeyre on December 26, 2006 - 4:30pm

It starts curiously enough, and takes a sharp turn into the bizarre about half-way through. (And no, this is not the final playlist in this series...)