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Odds & Ends: News/Humor (with a "Who Lost the Week?" poll)

I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in "Cheers & Jeers".

OK, you've been warned - here is this week's tomfoolery material that I posted.

CHEERS to Bill and Michael in PWM and ...... well, each of you at Cheers and Jeers. Have a fabulous weekend .... and week ahead.

ART NOTES— an exhibition entitled Her Art, Her Story: South Dakota Women Artists (1900 - 1950)— with works by ten with ties to the state (including three Oglála Lakota women) is at the South Dakota Art Museum in Brookings through January 18th.

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  Lena Lova Jones, Brandon S.D.

QUOTE of the DAY— with the passing of the tabla player Zakir Hussain (not only a virtuoso, but someone I found quite humorous on-stage), he spoke of loudly playing “Light My Fire” on a boombox at home in India and wanting to become a rock musician — until he was persuaded otherwise by … George Harrison.

“The reason why you're sitting next to me is because you represent a culture that I really adore. And that's what you bring to this table. I have 500 drummers at my beck and call. And if you want to be just one of the(m) … that's entirely up to you. But if you want to take all this incredible Elvin Jones or Tony Williams …. and you make that part of your music: just imagine how unique your music would be”.  Zakir Hussain: And it made total sense.

YOUR WEEKEND READ #1 is this essay by the social media founder/composer and playwright Jay Kuo, on why he believes that this week’s ruling by Judge Juan Merchan not to dismiss the criminal charges against you-know-who ... is not only courageous but also made for a compelling brief that will not easily be overturned.

THURSDAY's CHILD is named Tiki the Cat— a blind, twenty year-old Massachusetts kitteh who went missing and (after possibly being chased by a predator) was stuck on some floating ice in a lake, before being rescued by two contractors using a rowboat ….. and is now recuperating at home.

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                     Tiki the Cat

YOUR WEEKEND READ #2 is this essay in The American Prospect by … Joe Biden, looking at the economic policies his administration pursued … and believes that they will endure.

FORESTRY NOTES— traditional Christmas trees (Frasers, Balsams, et al) have been affected by climate change. A different type (Korean firs) have a pleasant citrusy smell, yet are difficult to prune (and don’t always grow straight up). Now, a hybrid Korean/Balsam may possibly incorporate the best of both worlds.

HOLIDAY SHOPPING GUIDE— as is my wont: I am pleased to recommend this year’s Conservative Women’s Calendar for your gift list ….

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… from the Clare Boothe Luce Center

… though I must admit: the listing of the twelve names not only doesn’t include any of the Usual Suspects from years past … they don’t even include any name recognizable to me now. So I gotta give a modicum of credit.

PROGRAMMING NOTE— as I will be travelling, next week there will not be a Friday Cheers & Jeers posting, nor a Sunday wrap-up diary. The following week (due to a family wedding) I will only have a stripped-down Sunday diary to offer. If you celebrate any of these: Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. And to all, a hopeful 2025.

FRIDAY's CHILD is named Mow Mow the Cat— who went missing from his upstate New York home two years ago, then spent much of that time at an SPCA shelter … where the couple who lost him visited, hoping to adopt a new pet … and saw Mow Mow in a cage.

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                         Mow Mow the Cat

BRAIN TEASER— try this Quiz of the Week's News from the BBC ...… and the usually easier, less UK-centered New York Times quiz.

THE OTHER NIGHT yours truly hosted the Top Comments diary with a look at the aforementioned family wedding— my nephew Kevin marrying Jemma, a woman from Australia that he met in Copenhagen, Denmark (when both were on separate business trips) just before Covid lockdown, so they had a lot of time to know each other. Now, their concerns are her green card process (and whether there will be more delays than normal, due to the incoming administration).

MOTHER-DAUGHTER?— TV host Martha Stewart (circa 1966) and TV/film star Lea Thompson (Caroline in the City, Back to the Future).

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Martha Stewart (b. 1941)

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Lea Thompson (b. 1961)

...... and finally, for a song of the week ...........................… my annual tribute to a performer that one reviewer declared to be "the most listened-to jazz pianist of all time" and with the Yuletide season upon us: if true, it should be noted that Vince Guaraldi achieved that status - in a quiet way - due to a certain comic strip of note.

His breakthrough hit (in more ways than one) was the 1963 Grammy-winning tune Cast Your Fate to the Wind - a gorgeous melody that eight years later the guitarist Joe Walsh — later to join The Eagles — worked into a medley (most improbably) with a hard rock song with the James Gang entitled The Bomber in 1971.

In the early 1960's, Vince Guaraldi was successful in the jazz world — first as a sideman in  vibraphonist Cal Tjader’s band— yet unknown to the general public. But that changed - dramatically - with a 1965 cab ride that TV producer Lee Mendelson took across the Golden Gate Bridge. He had already contacted Dave Brubeck as well as Cal Tjader about composing for his project (and turned down by both, for lack of time).

Just as The Sopranos producer David Chase decided upon his show's theme song - by hearing the UK band "Alabama 3" perform it on the radio - Lee Mendelson heard "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" on the radio in that fateful cab ride.

He asked for help from the noted San Francisco music writer Ralph Gleason (who helped co-found Rolling Stone magazine later that decade) and was thus able to contact Guaraldi about composing for the upcoming Charlie Brown Christmas special. (In 2018, the Jersey City Ballet Theater did a dance version of the special).

Sixteen TV shows (and one feature film) later, the music of Vince Guaraldi is an integral part of the Peanuts experience - with the theme song Linus and Lucy plus the irresistible song Skating among his best-loved Peanuts music. One reviewer noted that Linus and Lucy borrows its syncopation and A-flat key from “Cast Your Fate”. And Guaraldi was a later influence for Gary Burton and Pat Metheny.

As a child, my mother bought the Vince Guaraldi album for me … mistakenly believing it was the soundtrack of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” (and apologizing to me for it) — but I was delighted to be introduced to his music, and it was a stepping-stone (among other recordings) to becoming a piano trio lover. When people say there is no Thanksgiving music to speak of — while instrumental (and quite short), Guaraldi wrote Thanksgiving Theme to offer a possible gift to us.

Vince Guaraldi died in 1976 (at only age 47) in-between sets of a gig in Menlo Park California. The musician David Benoit cites Guaraldi as an inspiration, and it's difficult to imagine Peanuts with any other music backing it. If you are a fan of the late George Winston: he had a meeting with Guaraldi in 1971, saying "He was very gracious and encouraging when I occasionally had the opportunity to play intermission piano between his sets” (a common practice at jazz clubs then).

Some long-lost film archives of Guaraldi were discovered in Ralph Gleason’s attic, and his son has helped restore them for a new documentary The Anatomy Of Vince Guaraldi— seeking to bring it to home video at some point.

Some more recent news

→  A recent book notes that Guaraldi submitted lyrics for copyright in 1958 for Cast Your Fate to the Wind… which never saw the light of day (nor were ever recorded).

→  The sons of producer Lee Mendelson previously released “definitive” editions of the soundtracks for It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (for Concord’s Craft label) and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (on their own LMFP label). This past July 5th, It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown came out after a preview limited edition was sold out on Record Store Day (April 20).

For the trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, “Peanuts" was the only chance to hear jazz on television in his youth. Wynton also loved that his late pianist father Ellis— the patriarch of the Marsalis musical family (whom we lost to Covid) — knew Guaraldi. "Our father knew somebody who was connected to television!", he exclaimed.

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Vince Guaraldi (1928-1976)

While most of Vince Guaraldi's work is instrumental: appropriately for the season, the song Christmas Time Is Here had lyrics written by the show's producer Lee Mendelson — who prophetically died on Christmas Day in 2019 (at age 86) — for kids to sing. A nice grown-up version was recorded a few years ago by Diane Reeves - the featured nightclub singer in the film "Good Night and Good Luck". And below you can hear Vince Guaraldi's original version.

Christmas time is here Happiness and cheer Fun for all that children call Their favorite time of year

Snowflakes in the air Carols everywhere Olden times and ancient rhymes Of love and dreams to share

Sleigh bells in the air Beauty everywhere Yuletide by the fireside And joyful memories there

Christmas time is here We'll be drawing near Oh, that we could always see Such spirit through the year


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