I’d been paying scant attention to the Ron Paul newsletter story over the past few days, but finally caught up last night with this Reuters piece, which, as in the Fuqua School case, we need to remind ourselves is not that far in the past — in this case, 1993. And in the letter over Paul’s signature:
Among other things, the articles called the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. a “world-class philanderer,” criticized the U.S. holiday bearing King’s name as “Hate Whitey Day,” and said that AIDS sufferers “enjoy the attention and pity that comes with being sick.”
Oh.
The story includes a pdf of one of the solicitations for his investment counseling service. It’s a marvel of the form, and reading it took me back to my talk-radio days, when paranoia ruled the land and dark speculations on black helicopters and FEMA kept the phones ringing. Paul speaks of how new anti-counterfeiting measures in U.S. paper money was a plot to track good Americans with radio beams:
These totalitarian bills were tinted pink and green and brown, and blighted with holograms, diffraction gratings, metal and plastic threads, and chemical alarms. It wasn’t money for a free people.
This tone must work on somebody, because it’s widely pervasive in paranoia/fringe circles. There must be a lot of dementia patients out there who still have control of the checkbook.
Or maybe I just move in the wrong circles, and this stuff is simply more common than I think. The sitting secretary of state in Indiana, Charlie White, was ruled ineligible to hold office yesterday, clearing the way for the Democrat he defeated in 2010 to take the seat. I really know very little about this case — honestly, nothing — so you Hoosiers will have to bring me up to date. However, late last night, one of my Indiana Facebook people told me to check out Charlie’s father’s FB wall, where, in posts no more than an hour or two old, he was ranting about the “Jew judge” who presided in the case, as well as the Nigerian-born Democrat who wins his son’s seat by default. Today, all the posts were gone. (I’m sure he’s the victim of a cruel hacker.)
Bleh. It’s almost Christmas. Let’s clear our palates with…Festivus! We start with the airing of grievances. Caliban?
Srsly, happy Christmas to all. I shall be back Monday.
beb said on December 23, 2011 at 10:34 am
What confuses me is how a Jewish comedian like Jon Stewart could be such a big fan of Ron Paul considering that anyone who hates Blacks probably hates Jews as well.
Oh, and Merry Christmas, y’all.
Tom Lehrer’s Hannakuk in Santa Monica song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LslsgH3-UFU
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Pam said on December 23, 2011 at 10:39 am
I have to believe that Rove is wondering “what have I wrought?” How did the party get so nuts? Nah, he’s too arrogant for that.
John Stewart yesterday wished everyone “a happy and heartfelt end of the fiscal 4th quarter”. That’s a keeper.
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coozledad said on December 23, 2011 at 10:56 am
My grievance is there won’t be a Republican debate in a Mexican wrestling format.
Dr. Paul is the candidate for the Republicans in the first stages of denial over what the party actually represents. He’s got solid anti-black cred, and he’d reduce our overseas military presence so the Army can be repurposed as sex police. Win-win.
Now that the Bush family has gotten behind Thetan on a bike Mitt Romney, they’ll be working the refs.
Still, most fans refuse to believe the fix isn’t in, poor things.
Will no one listen to the voice of the heartland?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ulRnhZnkeM
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Suzanne said on December 23, 2011 at 10:56 am
I swear the conspiracy people hang out at Meijer. About every third time I go through the check out and try to make idle small talk with the clerk, I get a diatribe on how the government is out to thin out the population, and on and on. I love Meijer, but wonder that so many employees are building bunkers in their back yards.
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Jeff Borden said on December 23, 2011 at 11:04 am
I’m complaining that I have no big box home improvement stores to shop in any more. The founders of Home Depot are fucking fathead 1%ers who loathe Obama and mock those appalled by our economic unfairness as “imbeciles” while Lowe’s is terrified of a lone Florida bigot who fears he’ll get Muslim cooties from a TV series so they hide under the bed like a toddler.
Now, on to the tests of strength!
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Jolene said on December 23, 2011 at 11:35 am
Coos, I am so impressed by the range of your tastes and interests. How did you even come to hear of Betty Butterfield? Is she an Internet wonder about whom I am the last to know?
I must say that I have been struck by Mitt Romney’s stories about how he suffered as a Mormon missionary in France. Earlier this week, he was on Morning Joe describing how he had knocked on doors for hours every day for months w/o once finding anyone receptive to his message. This was meant to indicate that, despite his privileged existence, he had, indeed, known hardship. I couldn’t help but wonder why it never occurred to him to go home and leave the people of France alone.
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Jeff Borden said on December 23, 2011 at 11:40 am
Jolene,
If you read more about his French mission, you’ll find that the LDS owns a palatial mansion in the 16th arrondisment –one of Paris’ chic neighborhoods– where they had a chef and a houseboy to attend to their needs. Yeah, ol’ Mitt really suffered when he was bending the ear of the French. Asshole.
BTW, have you seen that he will NOT release his tax returns? Supercilious bastard shitheel. It’s because we’d learn that he’s taxed at 15% on the sweet stream of income he collects from Bain, while NYC firefighters pay 30% on their salaries.
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coozledad said on December 23, 2011 at 11:42 am
Jolene: My wife found Betty Butterfield on Joe.My.God.
If you ask me, Betty is Elvis. I think this proves it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh9J-VLonPw
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Jolene said on December 23, 2011 at 11:55 am
I did see that story, Jeff. To his (minimal) credit, he acknowledged that he had lived in comfortable quarters during part of his time in France when he spoke on MJ. But that was after he’d characterized his circumstances much more harshly while speaking in NH and the article contradicting that characterization had appeared.
Really, the man cannot be trusted. If he is not making stuff up about Barack Obama, he is making stuff up about himself.
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brian stouder said on December 23, 2011 at 12:00 pm
And not for nothing, don’t forget that Willard’s other choice, when faced with the hard life of an American Mormon missionary in France, was to be an American combat soldier in Vietnam…. And really, come to think of it, with his connections he could have been a rear echelon officer of some sort, no doubt living in a French colonial era villa.
‘Course, still, people tended to get hurt there, in those days, and that could have fouled up his aspirations to be Commander in Chief
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caliban said on December 23, 2011 at 1:09 pm
Merry Holidays and Happy Christmas to Christians. Season’s Salutations and Goodwill to everyone else. Now for a grievance, when did the word “holiday” become interchangeable with the term “holy day”. Seems to me there is a decided difference.
I love it when Moro…Mormons and Jehovah’s come to the door. Try always to greet them in u-trou holding a liter of Mr. Jack’s finest. Seriously, what a God-awful imposition. Mormon missionaries in France sounds like the premise for a meta existentialist joke invented by Jean Paul Sartre to amuse Albert Camus. And why do LDS call themselves Mormons when Joe Smith’s angel was named Moroni? Why aren’t they Morons? And how do they explain the Sons of Dan, and the Brigham Young U honor system that requires students to rat out fellow students that might drink coffee or hold hands while unmarried? That is some loony toon shit.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on December 23, 2011 at 1:09 pm
Merry Eve Eve, y’all – off to see Tintin with the family, and will offer a review to anyone who wants it later. I grew up with segments of this in (I believe) “Children’s Digest,” where I also first encountered “The Hobbit,” and didn’t find the color bound full story arcs until college. Can’t wait to see Serkis as Cap’n Haddock, and the first utterance of “Blisterin’ Barnacles!”
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adrianne said on December 23, 2011 at 1:51 pm
The Reillys are looking forward to Tintin, Snowy and Thompson and Thompson as well!
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caliban said on December 23, 2011 at 2:05 pm
Had Willard Windsock gone to Viet Nam, would some teabanging Republican aholes be Swiftboating him now? Most likely.
Too bad the First Lady is so out of shape.
Van Gogh’s ear.
Wasn’t all that keen on Tintin until I started seeing all the favorable comparisons to Raiders. Now, I must see it. But first, Hugo, in 3D.
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baldheadeddork said on December 23, 2011 at 2:37 pm
“However, late last night, one of my Indiana Facebook people told me to check out Charlie’s father’s FB wall, where, in posts no more than an hour or two old, he was ranting about the “Jew judge” who presided in the case, as well as the Nigerian-born Democrat who wins his son’s seat by default. Today, all the posts were gone. (I’m sure he’s the victim of a cruel hacker.)”
Not quite all gone.
http://www.indystar.com/comments/article/20111222/NEWS/111222028/Judge-Secretary-State-White-ineligible-hold-office
Darrell White · Indiana University
“Judge”…and I mean the term lightly….Rosenberg…is a typical liberal Democrat toady…he is nothing but a toady, stooge for Dan Parker. He is a draft dodger and a nothing and I hope he burns in Hell..he wants others to respect his religion as a Jew but he is biased and his daughter probably wrote the opinion like she did the last time….he is despicable…”
Here’s what I know about the story: Before running for SOS, Charlie White had been on the Fishers town council. At some point during his term he and his wife divorced and Charlie bought a condo that was out of the district he was representing. Instead of giving up the gig as he was required by law to do, he continued to list his legal address as his ex-wife’s home and voted in that district.
That’s the source of most of his felony charges. But he’s also on the hook for falsely reporting his legal address when he registered for the primary and general election run for SOS. White dug his own grave by, and I am not making this up, testifying to the Recount Commission that “he used his ex-wife’s address to vote because he was spending several nights there to avoid living with his new wife until they were married.”
(Nice parenting skills, Darrell. Take a bow.)
The law at the time this case came forward said that if it was determined that a candidate was unqualified to be on the ballot then they would be removed from office and the candidate who had come in second would take their place. Naturally, once they were faced with this possibility the State Ledge rushed to change the law for future cases, but it didn’t apply retroactively to White. That put it in the hands of the 2R-1D Recount Commission, who ruled that White was okay because you only have to be registered in Indiana. If you’re illegally registered apparently didn’t matter. That’s what caused Rosenberg to order the case back to the Recount Commission.
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brian stouder said on December 23, 2011 at 3:05 pm
Indiana, Indiana; only in Indiana.
Our State Auditor, (dingle)Berry, accidently mislaid (so to speak) $300,000,000 (“OOOOOPS!!!”); and our Secretary of State, who certifies elections, lies and perjures and misleads the state with regard to his status as a voter.
And if you listen to the rightwing lip flappers, “Voter Fraud” is what happens “on the bad side of town”; those darkies and Asians and Latinos are who you have to watch out for (and crack down on), right? Early voting and extended hours and simplified registration – all that stuff is BAD BAD BAD, right? But we can trust the ‘White guys (so to speak) on the good side of town*; hell, we can try and change the rules in their favor after the game is over, right?
And My Man Mitch is the guy who ‘coulda been a contenda’, for the presidency in 2012, right? (and indeed, it would have been great, great fun to watch that guy crash and burn as a consequence of the antics of his incompetent auditor and crooked SecState, not even to mention (to be unfair!) the crashing and burning at the State Fair on his watch.
And no, I’m NOT in the Christmas Spirit yet….but I will be!
(And now my grievances are aired!)
*or wherever the hell the guy calls home. (‘Charlie was a rolling stone; wherever he laid** his….hat, was his home’ – right?)
**oh, we’ll skip the joke about what Charlie laid, in lieu of his hat
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caliban said on December 23, 2011 at 3:22 pm
Motown Christmas!!!
Folky Christmas. Great guitar playing.
And the office of SoS in Indiana may seem like a hill of mole turds, but that crooked Bozo could have been the next Ken Blackwel or Katherine Harris (who’s a dead ringer for Betty Butterfield).
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Connie said on December 23, 2011 at 3:30 pm
Roller derby daughter asks dad to go roller skating with her while she is home. In an amazing coincidence the recovery room nurses aide after Dad’s recent colonoscopy works part time at a nearby (20 miles) rink and offers him passes.
You may have seen the headline on msnbc.com: Five shot at Detroit metro area skating rink. Yup. I am guessing they’re not going.
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Jolene said on December 23, 2011 at 4:00 pm
Lord, I haven’t heard John Fahey in ages. Thanks for the posting, Caliban. I went to a Fahey concert sometime in the late 1970s that was one of the weirdest events of my life. He was, I think, drunk, and would interrupt himself occasionally to ask the audience if anyone had certain drugs. He was particularly interested in choral hydrate, which is a prescription sleep med. Maybe he needed help coming down from whatever else he was taking. A strange, strange event, but a great guitarist.
I sold all my vinyl years ago and never replaced his records w/ digital recordings, but that may have to change. Maybe I owe myself a Christmas present.
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caliban said on December 23, 2011 at 4:25 pm
Rasta Christmas.
Great Joni Mitchell Christmas song. River skating is fantastic fun. We used to skate miles straight ahead on the Charles when the ice got black. Damn, you can get going frighteningly fast.
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Jolene said on December 23, 2011 at 4:33 pm
Backstage w/ Paul Shaffer getting ready for the appearance of Darlene Love–always preceded by “the great” in Letterman’s intro. Fun video. Be sure to watch all the way to the end.
http://www.cbs.com/late_night/late_show/video/?pid=Kf_BKoy1h4Swp9bLrJ_LYTyOP1J5NO_Y
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caliban said on December 23, 2011 at 5:00 pm
Ramones Christmas.
Oi! to the World.
I saw John Fahey years and years (and even more years) ago in a coffee house called Ichthus in the shadow of the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit, near the Mariner’s Church, one of the city’s most beautiful buildings. I suppose I prefer Leo Kottke, who is outgoing and extremely funny in performance, and a very good “bad singer”.
Jolene: That is one great video. The sax player getups are a riot.
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caliban said on December 23, 2011 at 5:26 pm
Two excellent versions of my favorite Christmas song by Annie Lennox and Aimee Mann (one Oirish and one middle eastern):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMlRfiRppGo
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-FpMPucfTU
Somewher, there is an MJQ version, I heard them play it once on the Today Show.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on December 23, 2011 at 5:53 pm
Blistering barnacles, that was fun — somehow, Spielberg & Jackson have bridged the “uncanny valley.” You really forget you aren’t watching “live” actors (with all due respect to Andy Serkis, who portrays Cap’n Haddock, lively enough). The whole vaguely uneasy feeling many of us had watching “The Polar Express” is gone, but the ability to caricature personality is still there. “The Adventures of Tintin” starts with a very clever title sequence that is wonderfully underplayed, catching those of us who loved the print version with the fonts & general imagery of the Herge drawings, and then a bravura touch in the first scene to connect the Tintin we know with the Tintin we’re given.
Spoiler alert: Snowy does not address the camera, or have audible thoughts. Maybe they’re saying that, since it was used sparingly in the cartoons anyhow. You get Snowy’s character just fine.
If you want marginal plausibility, try the Bourne movies; this is “real” in the sense that MI or the later Indiana Jones movies have been “realistic.” Lots of coincidence & fortuitous happenstance, deal with it. The atmosphere in every sequence is laid on with a 1930’s era ladle, and Edward Said could have gotten another book or two out of the implicit “Orientalism” in the visuals & tropes of the latter half. That said, it’s a very 30’s movie, with 21st century production. Telegraphs, steam-powered cranes, and elegantly curved automobiles are all deployed & destroyed with abandon.
Personal observation: I would swear the pickpocket is Spielberg himself. My wife thinks the same. If Jackson motion-captured himself into the story, I didn’t see anyone I could fit to what little I know of his post-weight-loss physical presence. He is in the first scenes entering Bree eating a carrot along the side of the road, as Frodo and friends pass through the gate. So I’ll bet he’s in there somewhere. But I could be wrong about Spielberg & the dip, it just felt like it was him.
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ROGirl said on December 23, 2011 at 7:35 pm
Darlene Love is simply phenomenal.
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Kirk said on December 23, 2011 at 7:53 pm
After I get off work tonight, I look forward to seeing her and watching Dave and Jay Thomas fling footballs at the Christmas tree after Jay repeats the Lone Ranger story.
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caliban said on December 23, 2011 at 7:59 pm
Merry Little Christmas, swing version, very well done. Great song from the movie Meet Me in St. Louis (a good Chrismastime view).
Naturally, Christmas makes Tom Waits think of hookers he’s known.
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basset said on December 23, 2011 at 8:10 pm
The only John Fahey performance I ever went to, he didn’t – was supposed to happen in one of the convention rooms in the Poplars in Bloomington, he apparently decided about midafternoon that he didn’t want to and was in New York by show time.
Caliban, I used to work with Aimee Mann’s brother; we were both news reporters at a tv station in Nashville. Good guy, quite talented. And I believe Annie Lennox is Scottish, didn’t watch the video though.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on December 23, 2011 at 8:23 pm
Tintin and exotic locales – http://www.theatlanticcities.com/arts-and-lifestyle/2011/12/interpreting-world-through-lens-tintin/795/ Check out the “Tintin Travels” blog linked in the story.
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James said on December 23, 2011 at 9:03 pm
The Ron Paul newsletter thing has surfaced occasionally. How responsible is he? Did he personally write all the content? Are the excerpts cited taken out of context?
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Deborah said on December 23, 2011 at 9:20 pm
Not that any one has asked but my favorite Christmas movie is Deskset with Hepburn/Tracy. There’s a great office holiday party scene that I would have loved to have recreated in the various offices I have worked in.
And completely off topic, while we’ve been in New Mexico we’ve been listening to Amy Winehouse on the CD in the car and on YouTube in the place we’re staying. All I can say is, wow, the woman could sing and what an original personality. I had no idea. Littlebird had us listen to Adele in comparison, also a woman who can sing but relies on belting emotion rather than subtle sophistication. We compared both of them to Billie Holliday, Ella, Sarah Vaughn and even Queen Latifah. It’s been a totally entertaining education.
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Jolene said on December 23, 2011 at 10:09 pm
Thanks, Caliban for all the great videos. Really liked both Modern Grass and Tom Waits, as well as the earlier ones. Wasn’t able to get the Aimee Mann clip to play on either iPad or smartphone. Not sure why. Maybe it will work on the computer.
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Sherri said on December 23, 2011 at 10:32 pm
Deborah, Desk Set is my favorite holiday movie, too! I wanted to grow up to be Katharine Hepburn’s character.
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James said on December 23, 2011 at 10:40 pm
http://lewrockwell.com/dilorenzo/dilorenzo223.html
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Deborah said on December 23, 2011 at 10:44 pm
Sherri, I can so relate, I wanted to be that Hepburn character ever since I saw that movie, also loved Adam’s Rib. Oh to be an erudite urban denizen of that beehive, what I aspired to be all my life.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on December 23, 2011 at 11:20 pm
DiLorenzo does a nice job of summarizing the well known record of how National Review has been on the wrong side of history, morality, and the arc of justice over the last 50 years, while never saying a word about what the blog’s eponymous ghostwriter (Lew Rockwell) wrote under Ron Paul’s name. The whole essay is an excellent example of Pee Wee Hermanism — “I know you are, but what am I?”
Paul made millions with Rockwell’s help peddling racism as fuel for flaming gold fever. Was Buckley a racist? Yeah, at least in the 50s & 60s it seems unquestionable. What’s that got to do with National Review asking in 2011 about what Ron Paul “wrote” in the 1990s?
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basset said on December 24, 2011 at 12:08 am
My favorite Christmas movie is the one I don’t have to watch.
My favorite Christmas song is the one I don’t have to hear.
Guess I’m just no fun.
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Jolene said on December 24, 2011 at 12:21 am
A few of Ron Paul’s greatest hits: http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/10-shocking-quotes-from-ron-pauls-newsletters.php
Worth emphasizing, as Jeff notes, that these newsletters are not ancient history. They were published in the mid-1990s. Pretty awful, I’d say.
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MarkH said on December 24, 2011 at 12:30 am
basset — You’re right. It’s not too late, though. Take the cure with this. A compilation of all the appearances of Darlene Love on The Late Show since 1986 with a seamless “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”.
http://www.mediaite.com/online/mash-up-shows-every-time-darlene-loves-performed-christmas-baby-please-come-home-on-the-late-show/
Merry Christmas to all in NN.C-land from -15 deg. Jackson Hole!
EDIT – it’s from mediaite because the CBS link is broken.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on December 24, 2011 at 8:12 am
Wonder why they never invite Testaverde back on the show. Maybe for the 15th anniversary in 2013.
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Connie said on December 24, 2011 at 8:38 am
Bassett I feel the same way about Christmas movies . I particularly dislike “It’s a wonderful life.” Last night my daughter said “You know which Christmas movie I haven’t seen yet this year? Die Hard.”
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caliban said on December 24, 2011 at 9:24 am
Die Hard is certainly a Christmas movie. It’s a Wonderful Life is odious, James Stewart’s most egregious set mastication, and that’s saying a lot considering that guy’s over the top acting style. We have a copy of Millions, Danny Boyle’s Christmas feature, a superb, whack movie. Way better than Slumdog Millionaires. Meet John Doe is one of my favorites, though that’s more of a New Year’s Eve movie (Gary Cooper, the anti-james Stewart), and A Christmas Story is just plain hilarious, Christmas or no. FaRaRaRaRa, Scut Farkus.
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Jolene said on December 24, 2011 at 9:37 am
I’m a fan of millions too, Caliban. The way that little kid keeps tossing out details from Lives of the Saints cracked me up.
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caliban said on December 24, 2011 at 9:54 am
Jolene, I sent Millions to one of my brothers that’s a big fan of Zuzu’s petals, which I find more excruciating than the most embarrassing moments of I Love Lucy. Buffalo Gals my ass.
This Ron Paul hoohaw is ludicrous. Paul has spent two decades insisting he knows nothing about his own newsletters ripe with manifestly racist BS. He’s not about to admit anything now. What’s funny is that people insisting he explain himself are people that wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole at the polls, solid Obama bloc voters. The people who back Paul are perfectly comfortable believing he shares their patently racist beliefs. It would be comforting to think that nobody in the USA could overlook or make excuses for those 90s broadsides in support of David Duke and shooting black people, but Ron Paul’s name is the only one on that shite, and GOPers are giving him a pass. Anybody heard Andrew Sullivan on this subject? I thought not.
Here’s a tidy and quite plausible explanation of how this denial and cognitive dissonance work.
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caliban said on December 24, 2011 at 10:19 am
Primary amebic meningoencephalitis (brain eating amoeba):
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/12/23/brain-eating-amoeba-cases-puzzle-and-worry-scientists.html
Boil that water, or use distilled.
And you will know her by the trail of dead:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2011/12/23/neti-pots-and-other-worst-oprah-winfrey-endorsements-photos.html
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on December 24, 2011 at 2:14 pm
Grievances aired! Now, the feats of strength . . . or of strong harmonies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFUV4t8CllI
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MichaelG said on December 24, 2011 at 2:43 pm
Merry Christmas to all here at nn.c. May you all be warm, snug, and full of love and good food.
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caliban said on December 24, 2011 at 3:30 pm
Amusing Christmas rant.
Astonishing interactive piece from Guardian online.
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caliban said on December 24, 2011 at 4:04 pm
Fannie and Freddie? GOPers are so full of it on this subject it’s coming out of inappropriate orifices.
James Brown Christmas. Brilliant Maceo Blowin’.
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mark said on December 24, 2011 at 9:18 pm
Merry Chrismas and Happy New Year to all! Flight loads and stand-by pass permitting, I’ll be spending Christmas day en route to Tokyo, then on to more interesting places. They love Tintin in VN, and lacquerware reproductions of book covers, real and imagined, are plentiful.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on December 24, 2011 at 10:29 pm
Book covers? Fascinating.
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Deborah said on December 24, 2011 at 10:35 pm
Happy Holidays to all from Abiquiu. Unfortunately my husband came down with a bad head cold so we won’t be going to the last night of the posada at the village of Abiquiu where spectacular bonfires abound. But me and Littlebird had our own private Idaho of Christmas eve. We went out under an astounding canopy of stars and sang some tunes that were meaningful to us then we opened gifts with blubbering all around.
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Connie said on December 25, 2011 at 10:27 am
Christmas Eve movie at our house was Love Actually. Happy holidays to all, we are off to the inlaws.
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Jolene said on December 25, 2011 at 12:31 pm
Your PBS station is likely replaying all four episodes of Downton Abbey today. They’re warming up to Season 2, which begins on January 8. There’s actually a Christmas special that has gotten good reviews, but, as far as I can tell, it’s not being shown outside the UK.
Somewhere this past week, I heard or read a feature about Christmas at the real Downton Abbey, as celebrated by the current residents, but I can’t seem to retrieve it. Did anyone else catch it?
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LAMary said on December 25, 2011 at 12:39 pm
Just back from a Christmas morning long dog walk with Smokey the Lab. We ran into another black Lab and they celebrated the day by chasing a tennis ball together for a half hour. The other Lab’s owner was a guitarist neighbor I hadn’t seen in at least five years so it was nice catching up while throwing a spitty tennis ball.
I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas with people they love and nice things to eat.
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MichaelG said on December 25, 2011 at 1:09 pm
I’ll never be the DJ that Caliban is but here’s a happy Christmas song from some Brits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDZcGz4vmJc&feature=share
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MichaelG said on December 25, 2011 at 1:17 pm
Here’s another take on the same song with a slight modification. Presented by Ken Levine. Scroll down a tad to “All I want for Christmas …”
http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/
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Jolene said on December 25, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Another tune in the, shall we say, irreverent, category.
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DP37xPiRz1sg&v=P37xPiRz1sg&gl=US
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Jolene said on December 25, 2011 at 2:19 pm
Found the story re the real Downton Abbey by, you’ll be surprised to hear, googling “the real Downton Abbey”. You can find it at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/christmas/8968267/We-do-just-as-well-without-Downton-Abbey-style-footmen.html
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baldheadeddork said on December 25, 2011 at 2:38 pm
Nance – you nailed it. Guess who is now saying his FB account was hacked, complete with filing a police report and considering hiring a PI to find the real poster.
http://www.indystar.com/article/20111224/NEWS05/312240003/Charlie-White-s-father-blames-hacker-Facebook-posts?odyssey=tab
I know it’s too much to hope for, but just maybe there is a geek on the Westfield PD who could look at the browser history on White’s computer. Filing a false police report is a crime, too.
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Jolene said on December 25, 2011 at 2:54 pm
One more: An interesting piece on the Downton site as a tourist destination. The TV show has been good for business. Tours are booked through 2012. It’s also a popular site for weddings–popular among people hosting expensive weddings, that is. Still, you have to admire their resourcefulness. It’s one thing to be born into historic privilege, quite another to find the cash to keep up the property.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/travel/2011/1119/1224307790618.html
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Kirk said on December 25, 2011 at 4:51 pm
Merry Christmas, folks. Being a team player, here I am at work, filled with pork tenderloin, corn, green beans, broccoli salad and a dynamite vegan apple pie.
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Dorothy said on December 25, 2011 at 8:33 pm
I thought I’d added a comment from my phone while we were driving back from dinner in Chillicothe about an hour ago but I guess it didn’t work. Drat! Happy Christmas to all, and thanks for the link to the Darlene Love appearances. I always record the show and watch it the next day, and yesterday as we watched it, I said “Oh! I’d give anything to see this episode in person someday!” So I”m going to see if we can pull off a visit to NYC in 2013.
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ROGirl said on December 26, 2011 at 8:30 am
Lady Carnarvon, champagne and Bloody Mary’s around the fire in the library after church, and knickers on the head at the dining room table at lunch — now that’s Christmas at Downton Abbey!
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