It's New Year's Eve!

 

"Good Health" 1911                            Heines Kalmsteiner

Welcome to the seventh day of Christmas 2022, the last day of the year. That means it's also New Year's Eve. We bookend our post tonight with two fine examples of the work of the superb illustrators and graphic artists who were part of the Wiener Werkstatte, a Vienna Succession movement in the early 20th century in Europe.

In much of Christian Europe this day is also known as Silvester or the Feast of Sylvester. Some of the more interesting iterations of celebrating the arrival of the new year occur in the Celtic nations of Wales and Scotland. In Wales "New Year's Eve" translates to "Nos Galan," a day to pay off all debts, visit from house to house (first-footing) to sing carols, exchange gifts, drink a refreshing beverage or two, and enjoy mincemeat pie and rice pudding. The great musical tradition of Wales has provided us with the melody for the most appropriate carol for the day, Deck the Halls. A wide variety of lyrics emerged over the last three centuries. The video below provides one example and a partial translation. The video concludes with the more familiar Deck the Halls lyrics written in 1862.

Cold is the man who can't love,

Fa la la la la, la la la la,

The old mountains of dear Wales,

Fa la la la la, la la la la,

To him and his warmest friend,

Fa la la, la la la, la la la,

A cheerful holiday next year,

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Cold is the snow on Mount Snowdon,

Fa la la la la, la la la la,

Even though it has a flannel blanket on it,

Fa la la la la, la la la la,

Cold are the people who don't care,

Fa la la, la la la, la la la,

To meet together on New Year's Eve,

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

The day is known as Hogmanay in Scotland. It's a nice blend of old and new elements including fireworks, bonfires, torchlight processions, partying, and the driving out of trolls. The many features of Hogmanay will be repeated throughout this day as the new year sweeps across the face of the planet. Virtually all the these activities will involve the gathering of family and friends. Whether they celebrate among millions or simply with immediate family there will come a time to end the celebration and look forward to the sun rising on the first new day of the new year. In the western world, perhaps any place touched by British traditions, that gathering will end with the singing of Robert Burns's poem, Auld Lang Syne, set to an ancient Scottish folk melody. At least three centuries before Burns's lyric became popular, there was another song shared among departing English, Irish, and Scots friends on the eve of the new year. We offer The Parting Glass to you tonight as we ring out 2022 and ring in 2023 as a year of hope overflowing with blessing and goodwill for all.

Happy New Year 2023!

Happy New Year, Postcard 149    Karl Dellavilla, ca. 1908

Sources


Photos and Illustrations:
theviennasuccession.com

Text:
bbc.co.uk

Rudyard Kipling: A Man Of The West Who Met The East Face To Face

Born on this day in Bombay (Mumbai), India, in 1865, the British writer, Rudyard Kipling, was a product of England and India. He infused his writing with the essence of Victorian times and the adventure of empire in a foreign culture he would come to call his own. Eighty years after his death he remains a popular writer, a beacon of reason and rhetoric, among political centrists and conservatives. His works for children, including the Jungle Books and Just So Stories, have never lost their popularity among young readers. It is so unfortunate that cultural relativism over the last forty years has sadly pushed Kipling into literary obscurity in most of academia. Although he may be out of fashion he still reaches across a century into an age of moral relativism and leftist ideological fantasy to remind us that ancient virtues and wisdom will hold us accountable in the end.

Kipling and his wife spent about five years living at Bliss Cottage near Brattleboro, Vermont, just prior to the height of his career. In was in this setting that he produced some of his most memorable work, including Jungle Books, a short story collection entitled The Day's Work, his novel, Captains Courageous, and a volume of poetry, The Seven Seas.

In 1897 he returned to England where he continued writing and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907. In the political and social turmoil in the first quarter of the century he began to fall out out of favor due to his perceived defense of jingoism, colonialism and imperialism.   

Our political and cultural slide to the left in the last few decades has brought Kipling's appreciation of realism to the fore. One of his most quoted poems that speaks to the necessity for reason and the folly of cultural relativism is "The Gods of the Copybook Headings." The title derives from the motivational sayings and watchwords often appearing at the top of pages in a student's copybook or notebook for writing exercises. Many readers have inquired about the poem since it first appeared in this blog some years ago. It's become a tradition of sorts to commemorate Kipling's birthday and the coming of a new year by reposting it each year. I'm pleased to present it once again for the uninitiated and for those in need of a Kipling booster. It is indeed a powerful statement for our time.



The Gods of the Copybook Headings


AS I PASS through my incarnations in every age and race,
I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.

We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn
That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.

We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,
Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market Place,
But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.

With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch,
They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch;
They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings;
So we worshiped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.

When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "Stick to the Devil you know."

On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "The Wages of Sin is Death."

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work you die."

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began.
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth!

                Opening and closing lines of Kipling's poem, 

                "Ballad of East and West"

The Troubled Genius Of Oscar Levant

 

Today we remember the American entertainer, Oscar Levant, who was born in 1906 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on December 27. It's been almost sixty years since his last appearances - he died in 1972 - on stage and film. He's likely unknown to a generation of Americans now but that doesn't mean his endearing role as a comedy genius is ready for history's dustbin.

Although Levant's presence on the entertainment spectrum is broad, his greatest impact was as a concert pianist, comedian, and author. He was trained in classical music in Pittsburgh and New York and divided his musical time between Hollywood and Broadway as a young performer and composer. He became a close friend and associate of George Gershwin and his extended family of stars and admirers. With Gershwin's early death in 1937, Levant would become known as the finest interpreter of his work for almost two decades until the end of his own career as a performer. Levant's Hollywood association not only led to his role as a composer but also as an actor. Although his filmography is short it contains a host of memorable, mostly comedic scenes involving song, dance and wit. Here are two clips of Levant at his best:

From the 1951 film, An American in Paris,

and from the 1953 film, The Band Wagon.

Finally, there is Levant, the writer. He wrote three memoirs, two of them best-sellers. His Memoirs of An Amnesiac (1965) is a recollection of his often weird and tattered life as well as a tour de force of wit and wisdom aimed at Hollywood's famous and infamous personalities beginning in the 1930's. It's no wonder he was a highly sought guest for society dinner parties amd other occasions from coast to coast. His second book, The Unimportance of Being Oscar, appeared in 1968. Although both books are a bit dated, readers with some knowledge of popular culture and politics from the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1930's to the entertainment world of the 1960's would certainly find both books entertaining reads.

Levant's bitter humor in his later career came with the high cost of mental illness. It was a thread that moved throughout his life and a condition that eventually became the core of his stage persona. Odd as it may seem, Levant saw it as therapeutic and his self deprecating appearances brought laughter to millions. By the late 1960's Levant's mental and physical condition deteriorated significantly, his drug dependency increased, and he withdrew from public life.

If readers want to explore Levant's life in greater detail there is no finer source at hand than a 1994 biograph, A Talent For Genius: The Life and Times of Oscar Levant, by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger. The book is also an outstanding exploration of the entertainment industry and its place in American culture in the first half of the 20th century.


There is a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.

                                                         Oscar Levant, 1959

Indeed there will never be another like him.



Sources

ClassicalNet biography, Oscar Levant
wikipedia.org, Oscar Levant

Third Day Of Christmas 2022

 

December 27, the Third Day of Christmas, is the feast day for John the Evangelist and Apostle in the Catholic, Episcopal, and Lutheran traditions.


The Gospel for the day: Luke 2:41-52:


41 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover.42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. 43 After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it.44 Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them. 51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

Jesus in the Temple                                      Heinrich Hoffman, 1881

Here is some music for the day:

This is the truth sent from above,

The truth of God, the God of love;

Therefore don’t turn me from your door,

But hearken all both rich and poor.

The first thing which I do relate

Is that God did man create;

The next thing which to you I’ll tell:

Woman was made with man to dwell.

Then after this ’twas God’s own choice

To place them both in Paradise,

There to remain from evil free,

Except they ate of such a tree.

And they did eat, which was a sin,

And thus their ruin did begin;

Ruined themselves, both you and me,

And all of their posterity.

Thus we were heirs to endless woes,

Till God the Lord did interpose,

And so a promise soon did run

That he would redeem us by his Son.

Good Christian men rejoice

With heart and soul and voice!

Give ye heed to what we say

Jesus Christ is born today!

Ox and ass before Him bow

And He is in the manger now

Christ is born today!

Christ is born today!

Good Christian men, rejoice

With heart and soul and voice

Now ye hear of endless bliss

Jesus Christ was born for this

He hath opened Heaven's door

And man is blessed evermore

Christ was born for this

Christ was born for this

Good Christian men, rejoice

With heart and soul and voice

Now ye need not fear the grave:

Jesus Christ was born to save

Calls you one and calls you all

To gain His everlasting hall

Christ was born to save

Christ was born to save

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
heinrichhoffmann.net; original painting in the collection at Galerie Neue Meister, Dresden, Germany

Text:
Holy Bible, New International Version, biblegateway.com
carols.org.uk

Christmas Eve 2022

 

It is the Eve of Christmas. Tomorrow we celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world. Today we continue to ponder the extraordinary, a virgin carrying the Son of God in her womb.

These words have been set to music for a thousand years. This stunning setting was written in 1994 by the American composer, Morten Lauridsen.

Latin text

O magnum mysterium,

et admirabile sacramentum,

ut animalia viderent Dominum natum,

iacentem in praesepio!

Beata Virgo, cujus viscera

meruerunt potare

Dominum lesum Christum.

Alleluia!

English translation

O great mystery,

and wondrous sacrament,

that animals should see the newborn Lord,

lying in their manger! 

Blessed is the Virgin whose womb

was worthy to bear

the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Alleluia!

Annunciation to the Shepherds       William Blake, 1809

Opening illustration, postcard: Wiener Werkstatte
Blake Illustration: Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester

John Marin: A Rule Breaking Artist On The Road To Modernism

Blue Sea                                                           John Marin, 1945

In 1969, I was introduced to John Marin's (1870-1953) work when my history professor, David Grimsted, took his class to the Phillips Collection (Dupont Circle, Washington) for an exploration of American culture through the artist's eye. Not sure how much history was absorbed that day but I left with a deep appreciation of John Marin's work that is still going strong after 50 years. Marin's style largely influenced my interest in the Southern artist, Walter Inglis Anderson, a decade later.

Marin was born on this day in Rutherford, New Jersey, in the midst of the nation's struggling recovery from the Civil War. He was trained at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, spent a few years searching for his muse in Europe, then returned to his home country where he continued perfecting his technique in watercolors. He was almost forty before his serious breakthrough into the art world that included an exhibit at the famous Armory Show of 1913. A decade later he had attracted the attention of major collectors including Duncan Phillips whose world-renowned collection of modern art would form the core of the Phillips Memorial Gallery, now known as the Phillips Collection.

Lower New York From The Bridge              John Marin, 1914

The period from 1870 to 1920 was a transitional one as the United States evolved into the world's leading economy. As one of the first modernists in American art, John Marin had a strong influence on the transition of painting and illustration well into the 20th century. I enjoy his balance of realism and abstraction, the opacity of color, and the fact that he interpreted both nature and its cultural overlay.

For more information on the techniques that made Marin so significant, here is a brief video, "John Marin's Watercolors: A Medium for Modernism," produced by the Art institute of Chicago:

How to paint the landscape: First you make your bow to the landscape. Then you wait, and if the landscape bows to you, then, and only then, can you paint the landscape.

                                                                             John Marin

Winter 2022

In a few hours winter arrives in Atlanta. That event as well as the drizzle and an afternoon temperature of 42 degrees is more than enough to awaken thoughts of sub-freezing temperatures, howling winds and depths of drifting snow measured in feet. Much of the nation won't have long to wait for that weather. By Christmas weekend an Arctic blast will drop temperatures to near freezing on the edge of tropical Florida. Atlanta is likely to experience its third coldest Christmas on record.

Personally I don't look forward to cold temperatures, ice, assorted freezing slop, and black snow lining city streets for the next two months. On the other hand, the thought of lengthening days that arrived with today's solstice brings a big smile to my face. This rebirth of the sun has brought happiness to humans for quite a long time.

The Newgrange Tumulus in County Meath, Ireland, is a nice illustration of this long-standing respect for the rebirth of light and warmth to a culture. The burial mound has a passage that aligns perfectly with the winter solstice sunrise. People have observed the illumination of the keystone at Newgrange long before Stonehenge and the Giza pyramids existed.

For the next six months the sun will climb a bit higher every day in the Northern Hemisphere. We won't notice heat from the "rebirth" of the sun until a month or so into this cycle. While the lengthening days can give us hope that the "dead season" will soon come to an end, we can still enjoy the experience of a world at quiet rest.

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:

Newgrange aerial photo, gaia.com
Newgrange plan and section, public domain illustration, William Frederick Wakeman, Wakeman's Handbook of Irish Heritage (1903), archives.org

Georgia's Fletcher Henderson: Performer, Band Leader, Arranger, And Master Of Swing

Fletcher Henderson (1897-1952) played an important role in bringing improvisational jazz elements into big band/dance band compositions. Both Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman credited his talent as an arranger for much of their success. It is interesting that his role in the development of American popular music was not well understood until academic studies of the history of jazz appeared late in the last century.

He was born on December 18 into a well-educated and musical family in the southwest Georgia town of Cuthbert. Henderson earned a degree in chemistry and mathematics but as a black man he had a difficult time finding work in those fields and soon turned to music to make a living. That musical career took him from accompanying Ethel Waters, Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith and other blues singers, through the creation of an orchestra that included Don Redman and Louis Armstrong, to work as a composer-accompanist for Benny Goodman at a formative time for the swing era. 

Here are some examples of Henderson's approach to music. First is Henderson and his orchestra playing his arrangement of Down South Camp Meeting. Our second music sample is Sometimes I'm Happy, music by Vincent Youmans and lyrics by Irving Ceasar, as arranged by Henderson for Benny Goodman in 1935.

From blues, to jazz, to swing, Henderson was a pioneer in music for almost forty years. His formula for swing music still shapes what we hear and enjoy today.

Sources

Photo:
Compact disc cover, Imports release, ASIN: B01596RGW, October 16, 2015

Text:
wikipedia.com, Fletcher Henderson
newgeorgiaencyclopedia.com, Fletcher Henderson
pbs.org, Jazz: A Film by Ken Burns, Fletcher Henderson biography

Fourth Sunday Of Advent 2022

Today is the fourth Sunday and the beginning of the last week in Advent. Christians around the world light the last of four Advent candles, the Angel's Candle, symbolizing the annunciation of Christ's birth.

The Annuciation of Mary      Salvador Dali, 1967

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a Virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

                                                                   Luke 1:26-38 NIV

An additional song for this season is the 15th century English song text, Adam Lay Ybounden, performed here by the Mediaeval Babes. The text centers on the concept of "blessed fault" or the "fall upward" in three verses focused on the medieval interpretation of Adam, temptation, original sin, the birth of Christ, and redemption.

Middle English

Adam lay ibounden

Bounden in a bond

Foure thousand winter

Thought he not too long

And all was for an apple

An apple that he tok

As clerkes finden

Wreten in here book

Ne hadde the apple taken ben

The apple taken ben

Ne hadde never our lady

A ben hevene queen

Blissed be the time

That apple take was

Therefore we moun singen

"Deo gracias!"

Modern English. . .

Adam lay in bondage

Bound by a contract

For four thousand winters

That he hadn't thought would be too long

And all because of an apple

An apple that he took

As clerics found

Written in this book

Had the apple never been taken

The apple been taken

Neither would our Lady ever have

Been the Queen of Heaven

So blessed be the moment

That apple was taken

For now we can sing

"Thanks be to God"

May you have a blessed day as we approach the celebration of Christmas.

WIlbur And Orville Wright, December 17, 1903: "Success Four Flights Thursday Morning...."

 

On this day in 1903 at Kitty Hawk on the outer banks of North Carolina, the 27-mph wind was harder than they would have liked since their predicted cruising speed was only 30-35 mph. The headwind would slow their ground speed to a crawl but they proceeded anyway. With a sheet they signaled the volunteers from the nearby lifesaving station that they were about to try again.

Now it was Orville's turn. Remembering Wilbur's experience, he positioned himself and tested the controls. The stick that moved the horizontal elevator controlled climb and descent. The cradle that he swung with his hips warped the wings and swung the vertical tails, which in combination turned the machine. A lever controlled the gas flow and airspeed recorder. The controls were simple and few, but Orville knew it would take all his finesse to handle the new and heavier aircraft. At 10:35, he released the restraining wire. The flyer moved down the rail as Wilbur steadied the wings. Just as Orville left the ground, John Daniels from the lifesaving station snapped the shutter on a preset camera, capturing the historic image of the airborne aircraft with Wilbur running alongside.

The Wright Flyer begins its first successful flight, December 17, 1903

Again, the flyer was unruly, pitching up and down as Orville overcompensated with the controls. But he kept it aloft until it hit the sand about 120 feet from the rail. Into the 27-mph wind, the ground speed had been 6.8 mph, for a total airspeed of 34 mph. The brothers took turns flying three more times that day, getting a feel for the controls and increasing their distance with each flight. Wilbur's second flight - the fourth and last of the day – was an impressive 852 feet in 59 seconds.

This was the real thing, transcending the powered hops and glides others had achieved. The Wright machine had flown.

Monuments spanning the 120 feet of the first flight

On completing the flight the brothers walked four miles to Kitty Hawk and sent their father a telegram:

Success four flights Thursday morning all against twenty one mile wind started from level with engine power alone average speed through air thirty one miles longest 57 seconds inform Press home Christmas

Their pilot-controlled, sustained and powered flight by a heavier-than-air machine would soon chnage the world.

For comprehensive information on this historic event visit the National Park Services Wright Brothers National Memorial web page.


Credits:

1903 photograph, unrestored version: Library of Congress
Monuments photo; text: National Park Service, Wright Brothers National Memorial

Erskine Caldwell: He Shaped The Image Of The Great Depression In The South

 

Erskine Caldwell (1903-1987) was an only child, a "PK," a preacher's kid. His family moved frequently throughout the South until he was fifteen when they settled in Wrens, Georgia. Still, his father often preached on large circuits, necessitating plenty of travel. In fact, the elder Caldwell traveled so regularly that his son could determine his destinations by the odor of coal smoke on his suit. In time, father took son on many of these journeys. The peculiarity, poverty, and injustice of the Depression era South was embedded in Erskine Caldwell's memory and he soon began writing about it. His observations had little to do with remnants of "the late unpleasantness" - the Civil War - that often gripped the region. Instead, Caldwell wrote of the raw realities of the human condition in the South. This, and his crusade for improving conditions, did not sit well with many Southerners. The dislike was enhanced because he was writing "in absentia," having left the South before 1930. Furthermore, his subject matter often placed him in conflict with censors across the country.

Caldwell had a long career as a writer of both fiction and non-fiction, but he is best known for Tobacco Road (1932), God's Little Acre (1933) and other works from the 1930's. An adaptation of Tobacco Road played on Broadway for eight years - a record at the time - beginning in 1933. A "sentimental burlesque" adaptation directed by John Ford in 1941 contributed to the stereotyping and ridicule of poor white Southerners. Caldwell greatly disliked the film. God's Little Acre remains one of the most popular novels in the U.S. with over ten million copies in print. A 1958 film version is considered the best presentation of Caldwell themes on film.


Here are the opening scenes from Tobacco Road and the theatrical trailer from God's Little Acre:

Caldwell, who was born on this day in 1903, is an interesting blend of 20th century authors. He is Sherwood Anderson, William Faulkner, D.H. Lawrence, Christopher Isherwood, Joseph Mitchell, and a reflection of other modernists. Readers who seek more than discourse on the happy veneer of the human condition will enjoy Caldwell's interpretations. A good place to start is Deep South: Memory and Observation, a collection of travel essays written in 1968.

Read more about him in this entry from the New Georgia Encyclopedia. The volume is also the source of a quotation and other information in this post.

Frank Sinatra: Singer, Actor, And Chairman Of The Board

Frank Sinatra, the American singer and actor whose phenomenal career spanned sixty years ending in 1995, was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, on this day in 1915. During his career he produced a discography spanning the eras of jazz, swing, big band, and pop music. I had the good fortune to attend two Sinatra concerts during the '60's. Both were unforgettable opportunities to see this American icon at work as a storm of rock music swept the nation and displaced the popular song as the dominant music genre in our culture.

Sinatra at the White House, Washington, D.C., 1973

Writing at nationalreview.com on the centennial (2015) of Sinatra's birth, Deroy Murdock begins his exploration of the life, times, and legacy of "Ol' Blue Eyes" with this:

Saturday completes a century since Francis Albert Sinatra belted out his first note as a newborn, 13-and-a-half-pound baby in Hoboken, N.J. He grew up to become the finest male vocalist of the 20th Century, alongside his female counterpart and occasional partner in rhyme, Ella Fitzgerald.

But Frank was much more than just a crooner. He excelled as an actor, dancer, TV host, entrepreneur, record-company executive, and even music conductor. His timeless fashion sense defined style and elegance for gentlemen from the 1940s until today. He left enormous footprints on popular culture and was as original an American as this nation has produced. After 100 years, a hundred superlatives barely could do Sinatra justice. Rather than wade through the many adjectives that define the man, the best way to appreciate Sinatra and his gigantic contribution is to savor his artistry and epic life story.

The rest of the post is a rich overview of the man in sight and sound. It's not to be missed.

For those who simply want to remember and enjoy Sinatra at his best I offer his version of One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) (1943), music by Harold Arlen, words by Johnny Mercer:

Known first as The Voice, then Ol' Blue Eyes, and finally as The Chairman of the Board, Sinatra left us in 1998 as a man who had a way with a song quite unlike that of any other singer in the 20th century.





Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
public domain photo in the United States, Modified version of Image:Andreotti Sinatra Nixon.jpg (NARA - ARC Identifier: 194505)

Third Sunday Of Advent 2022

Madonna in the Rose Garden             Stefan Lochner, ca 1448

Prepare the way by proclaiming good news. The early church gave the title "Gaudete" to the third Sunday in Advent. The word simply means, "Rejoice!" When you are joyful about something, you share that good news. Think of the custom of the family Christmas letter. Many families will send out letters during these holidays, summarizing the joyful family news of the past year: the birth of a grandchild, a new job, etc. If such joyful events are considered worthy of sharing, how much more the goo news that the Son of God came into our world to save us from sins! Moreover, he is coming again to take believers to an eternity of glory. That is good news believers need to hear again and again. It is a message that we with joyful faith yearn to share with a world that is in desperate need of some good news.

The joyful nature of this Sunday is illustrated by the lone, rose-colored candle on the Advent wreath. It hints of the joyful birth that we are soon to celebrate.

For the seekers of antiquity among our readers here is the chanted Introit - with translation below - from which this Sunday gets it name:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Let your forbearance be known to all, for the Lord is near at hand; have no anxiety about anything, but in all things, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. Lord, you have blessed your land; you have turned away the captivity of Jacob. 

                                            Phillipians, 4:4-6: Psalm 85(84):1

May your day be filled with rejoicing!




Sources


Text:
The opening quotation appeared in the 2013 Gaudete Sunday Bulletin, Abiding Grace Lutheran Church, Covington, Georgia..
Gaudete translation source: Wikipedia page for Gaudete Sunday.

Joel Chandler Harris: In His Time, A Writer Second Only To Mark Twain

Today is the birthday (1845) of the beloved Georgia journalist and writer, Joel Chandler Harris. He was born in Eatonton and raised by his single mother and other benefactors to love reading, writing, and humor. At sixteen he was employed at the nearby Turnwold Plantation as a print setter for what was likely the nation's only plantation newspaper, The Countryman. Under the guidance of owner Joseph Addison Turner, Harris read from the plantation's large library over the a period of four years. He also observed life on the plantation including its rich culture of oral traditions among the slaves.

After a decade of employment with several papers in central Georgia and Savannah, Harris joined the staff of the Atlanta Constitution in 1876. It was here that he linked a Lippincott's article on black folklore to his Turnwold Plantation experience and the Uncle Remus character he had created for his feature writing. The rest was history, described here in R. Bruce Bickley's Georgia Encyclopedia article on Harris:

For the next quarter-century, Harris lived a double life professionally. He was one of two associate editors of the premier newspaper in the Southeast, helping readers interpret the complex New South movement. He was also the creative writer, the "other fellow," as he termed himself: a prolific, committed, and ambitious re-creator of folk stories, a literary comedian, fiction writer, and author of children's books. Harris published thirty-five books in his lifetime, in addition to writing thousands of articles for the Constitution over a twenty-four-year period. Along with his first book, Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings, the most ambitious of the Uncle Remus volumes is Nights with Uncle Remus: Myths and Legends of the Old Plantation (1883). This book comprises seventy-one tales that feature stories told by four different black narrators, including Uncle Remus.

. . .

Harris also left his impact on major literary figures to come. Rudyard Kipling, Zora Neale Hurston, William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, Ralph Ellison, and Toni Morrison all responded to the legacy of Brer Rabbit and the tar baby that Harris had helped popularize. Fellow Eatonton writer Alice Walker protested, however, that Harris had stolen her African American folklore heritage and had made it a white man's publishing commodity.

. . .

Harris died on July 3, 1908, of acute nephritis and was buried in Westview Cemetery, West End, Atlanta. Obituary writers were not exaggerating when they eulogized this celebrated middle Georgia writer as "the most beloved man in America." Only Harris's friend and admirer, Mark Twain, who died two years later, surpassed Harris in popular reputation at the beginning of the twentieth century. Harris's retelling of the story of Brer Rabbit and the tar baby remains one of the world's best-known folktales, and his complex legacy as a literary comedian, New South journalist, folklorist, fiction writer, and children's author continues to influence modern culture in a surprising number of ways.

As noted in the quotation, Harris's place in the history of folklore is not without its controversy. Historically there has always been a struggle in the sphere of anthropological studies with cultural preservation and destruction as well as ownership. In Harris we have a written legacy from black oral tradition as viewed though the author's personal lens. It isn't perfect but it does preserve universal themes and lessons in their cultural context. Furthermore his work in part inspired a resurgence of interest in storytelling and performance in a number of cultural niches. If anything that interest is far stronger today than it was a century ago and much of it under black ownership. I can certainly encourage and appreciate that as well as Harris's contribution.

Sources

Text:
R. Bruce Bickley, Joel Chandler Harris, Georgia Encyclopedia, georgiaencyclopedia,org

National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day 2022

Today marks the 81st anniversary of the Imperial Japanese Navy's attack on the U.S. Navy's base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Below is Pearl Harbor as it appeared on October 30, 1941.

Below is a photo taken by a Japanese pilot 38 days later on December 7 during the torpedo attack on Battleship Row, visible on the far side of Ford Island.

There were almost 4000 casualties that day, including 2400 dead.

The attack led to a war effort that included 16,000,000 American men and women in uniform. The National WWII Museum in New Orleans reports that only 167,000 of these veterans survive. Soon, the relics, memorials and ceremony will be all that is left to testify to America's greatest generation at war. If we are to survive, we need to remember them now and in the future for what they did to crush evil in the world.

USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 2004

Today the youngest surviving veteran of Pearl Harbor would be 98 years old. Many of them can no longer travel and according the officials only one or two will attend the ceremony along with perhaps thirty World War II veterans. 

The Gershwin Meld Of Jazz Age Music And Words

Mention the name "Gershwin" today and just about everyone will think you have "George" on your mind. Granted he wrote some spectacular music between 1917 and 1937, much of it as fresh today as the day it was written. But George and his melodies were only half of the story. His brother, Ira, born on December 6, 1896, added the poetry. Together they formed one of the most successful collaborations in American music history. While George's music has lived on, Ira's words survive primarily in the world of jazz and in the Great American Songbook niche among popular singers.

George (l) and Ira (r) Gershwin, Newark Airport, 1936

This excerpt from the Ira Gershwin bio at the Song Writers Hall of Fame website will give readers an idea of the scope of their collaboration and bring to mind some of Ira's lyrics:

Their first collaborations were for Broadway: Lady, Be Good! (1924, including "Fascinating Rhythm" and, although it was cut from the show, "The Man I Love"), Tip Toes (1925, including "Sweet and Low Down"), Oh Kay! (1926, including "Clap Yo' Hands", "Do-Do-Do", "Maybe", and "Someone To Watch Over Me"), Funny Face (1927, including '"S Wonderful"), Rosalie (1928, including "How Long Has This Been Going On"), Show Girl (1929, including "Liza"), Strike Up the Band (1930, including "I've Got A Crush On You" and "Soon"), Girl Crazy (1930, including "But Not For Me", "Embraceable You", "Bidin' My Time", and "I Got Rhythm"), Delicious (1931, including "Blah Blah Blah. "), Of Thee I Sing (1931, the first musical to win the Pulitzer Prize and which included "Of Thee I Sing", "Love Is Sweeping The Country", and "Who Cares").

The complete picture includes their work in Hollywood, the Broadway opera Porgy and Bess, and Ira's collaboration with a host of songwriters following his brother's death in 1937. Forty years before his own passing in 1983 Ira Gershwin began a long collaboration with the Library of Congress to collect and preserve their legacy. Today the George and Ira Gershwin Collection is the leading archive for the study of the Gershwin brothers and their impact on cultural history around the world. Read more about the collection here.



Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
Library of Congress, loc.gov

Text:
Songwriters Hall of Fame, songwritershalloffame.org
Library of Congress, loc.go

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'Tis The Night Of The Krampas

Some kids - not many I'd guess - still hear about receiving a lump of coal in their Christmas stocking as reward for a year of bad behavior. So much for gifts as a sign of grace at Christmastide. On the other hand given the state of behavior of too many children these days perhaps we are a bit overdue on restoring some form of reward - punishment if you will - for the erosion of good conduct.

We don't have to create something new for this plan. Some years ago I stumbled on an Old World solution that's been around for centuries in many central and eastern European cultures. To boot, the solution to bad behavior has been associated with the most benevolent and generous of figures, Sinterklaas, or as we know him today, Saint Nicholas or Santa.

That's right, for centuries, Santa Claus hasn't always been the only one coming to town! So who or what is the other half of the holiday team? His name is Krampus. Unfortunately, he is extreme to the point of terrifying for children. In fact, an unexpected visit from this visage in the dead of night would insure obedience from most rational adults.

St. Nicholas and Krampus, Arnold Nechansky, Wiener Werkstatte, 1912

I first discovered Krampus through an interest in post cards. When I began looking at cards from central Europe, especially those printed by the magnificent Wiener Werkstatte in the early decades of the 20th century, I noticed that two figures often appeared on the Christmas cards depicting a visit to a welcoming family. One was a traditional Saint Nicholas character dressed in ornate flowing robes and carrying a bag of gifts. The other was a shabbily dressed rather grotesque if not devil-like creature carrying a bundle of switches and a bag. The intention of the visit was to leave a nice gift for the good children or a lump of coal for the "behaviorally challenged." While good children enjoyed their presents moderately bad boys and girls could expect a swat or two from the switches. The worst cases went into the bag and carried off to who knows where or what.

Do understand I'm not advocating whipping, kidnapping, and cooking as a corrective for youth beyond the bounds of civilized coexistence. Rather, I'd just like a little balance for all the feet jabbed into my Economy Class back between Atlanta and anywhere, the screaming tantrums endured at finer restaurants, and the toxic aerosol clouds projected my way by sneezing toddlers. Yes, it is time to modernize the deliveryman and bring on the coal acknowledging of course that the traditional Krampus needs plenty of modification to work as a present day disciplinarian.

Tonight, the eve of Saint Nicholas Day, is the Night of the Krampus. Although this night for European adults has taken on an almost Halloween-like character often fueled by alcohol, it remains a fascinating, ancient story of the dichotomous nature of our existence. Those who understand that good does not stand without evil, just as there are no mountains without valleys, can learn more about the Krampus tradition here.

To close, here is a glimpse of a traditional visit from Weinachtsmann and Krampas in Breitenberg, Pfronten, Germany, not far from the borders with Czechia and Austria. It's very likely that smilar visits have occurred in this valley for a thousand years.

Better hope you've been good this year.




Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
https://www.theviennasecession.com/a-history/

Text:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/71999/9-facts-about-krampus-st-nicks-demonic-companion

Second Sunday Of Advent 2022

In lighting the second candle of the Advent wreath today, we acknowledge the messengers sent to prepare the way for Christ. John prepared people for Christ's first coming. Today's messengers prepare people for Christ's return. God wants us to view these messengers as evidence of his love. He wants us to listen to their message, through which God himself makes us ready.

John the Baptist prepared the way for the Lord by preaching repentance.

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar--when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene-- 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. 5 Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. 6 And all mankind will see God's salvation.”

The Descent of Peace               William Blake

I give you the end of a gold string.

Only wind it in a ball,

It will lead you to Heaven's gate

built in Jerusalem's wall.

                                                                     from William Blake's "Jerusalem"

Mom's Birthday

 

Today, December 2, marks the 108th anniversary of my mother's birth. She was the fourth of seven children born to a farm couple whose deep lineage in the western Virginia mountains has been lost to history. She and my dad met at a community dance in 1931 and married in the fall of 1933. By that time she had worked in a silk mill and as an etcher in a glass factory, and would later work through World War II in a synthetic fabric plant.

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With my birth she became a full time mother and homemaker, but still found time to enjoy her church family, friends, reading, gardening, nature, frequent visits with her large family, and vacations on Pattersons Creek in Burlington, West Virginia. She was taken from this world far too early in 1976 after a long illness. There's no question that I miss her and I'm sorry she did not live to enjoy her daughter-in-law and three grandchildren. Still, I feel her goodness has been with us helping to shape our family over these near forty years. Wouldn't have it any other way. She was a great mom, full of love, compassion, a wonderful sense of humor, and dedication to family and friends.


Happy birthday, Mom! See you later.