Thursday, December 31, 2015
Happy New Years...!!
Happy New Year!!! to all my fellow internet bloggers and other people looking for the seamier side of the internet.
What are my resolutions? Seriously Lose weight, I have volunteered to be on National Jamboree Staff and I will be running one of the gun ranges National Jamboree is in 2017 up in Summit Bechel in West Virginia....I hope. it is very hilly and there will be a lot of hiking so I need to be in good shape....or as good shape a 50 something *mumble* person can be in. Also buy more ammo.....I
have a feeling that 2016 will be the year of decision and I really don't know how it will go.
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Monday Music "After the Fire" by Roger Daltrey
I was driving home and the song on my Sirius/XM the 80's channel from the WHO came on called "Eminence Front". It came out in 1983 if memory served, it got a lot of play on MTV. The WHO are considered Rock legends and their effect on Music will be felt for generations to come. I remembered Roger Daltrey going solo in the mid 80's and he released this song and it did get a lot of airtime. I really liked the song and it was a tribute to the loss of their Drummer Keith Moon and the anger and grief that Roger did have for the death of his friend. I considered it a really good song and he was the first of the "old school" musicians that went with short hair rather than the "hippie" style that was prevalent. I considered it a cultural shifting from the values of the 60's to the the 80's. Hey I was a teenager back then.
"After the Fire" is a song from the solo album Under a Raging Moon released by Roger Daltrey of The Who. The song was written by Pete Townshend, also of The Who. It was considered a hit for Daltrey receiving extensive play on MTV. The song was played during the second season finale of Miami Vice during a flashback scene.
The song was originally planned to be played by The Who at Live Aid. However the band committed last minute and was unable to rehearse the song. So it was given to Daltrey to record for Under a Raging Moon.
The recording was produced by Alan Shacklock and recorded at RAK Recording Studios and Odyssey Studios, London. The album Under a Raging Moon was released on the Atlantic label (81269-1) in the U.S. in 1985, and singles were also released in other countries in the same year.
"After the Fire" is a song from the solo album Under a Raging Moon released by Roger Daltrey of The Who. The song was written by Pete Townshend, also of The Who. It was considered a hit for Daltrey receiving extensive play on MTV. The song was played during the second season finale of Miami Vice during a flashback scene.
The song was originally planned to be played by The Who at Live Aid. However the band committed last minute and was unable to rehearse the song. So it was given to Daltrey to record for Under a Raging Moon.
The recording was produced by Alan Shacklock and recorded at RAK Recording Studios and Odyssey Studios, London. The album Under a Raging Moon was released on the Atlantic label (81269-1) in the U.S. in 1985, and singles were also released in other countries in the same year.
Monday, December 28, 2015
Why we don't turn in our guns....
I am feeling a bit better, but I will get Monday Music up tomorrow...I gotta see what is playing on the Sirius/XM on the way to work to spark my imagination. Well I saw this cartoon, it explained why we don't register guns or turn them in....
I do love it when people tell me "You don't Need your AR-15", I actually get this from some of the "Fudd" hunters and other people that don't realize the true reason for the 2nd amendment and the Bill of Rights.
This is my response when I get the "What are you gonna do with your popgun against the might of the U.S. Military?" I just smile and mention this graph...
I do love it when people tell me "You don't Need your AR-15", I actually get this from some of the "Fudd" hunters and other people that don't realize the true reason for the 2nd amendment and the Bill of Rights.
Something for our "Betters" to think about.....
Yeah..the gift that keeps on giving
I started coming down with the scratchy throat on Christmas morning...and it progressed on there...
I stayed in bed, called out of work and swilled gatorade like a junkie chasing his next fix. I feel better, I might post a "Monday music" later on tonight. But I gotta hunt the song.
Friday, December 25, 2015
The "Santa Tracker" and how it came to be...
I was making one of my infrequent forays into Facebook and saw this post from my good friend "Mac". He had posted this story and it had the "www.NPR.org trailer on it. I asked him about his listening to "National Proletariat Radio". He responded with " It's all that comes in other than the idiots on ESPN between Jackies house and camp.". Logical...I would rather listen to NPR than ESPN any day of the week. If nothing else, it helps you figure out what your adversary is thinking...although I would have been muttering "idiots" or "brain dead morons" under my breath. This was a cool story though and props to Mac for posting it.
The pictures are compliments of the original article and "Google Search".
This Christmas Eve people all over the world will log on to the official Santa Tracker to follow his progress through U.S. military radar. This all started in 1955, with a misprint in a Colorado Springs newspaper and a call to Col. Harry Shoup's secret hotline at the Continental Air Defense Command, now known as NORAD.
Shoup's children, Terri Van Keuren, 65, Rick Shoup, 59, and Pam Farrell, 70, recently visited StoryCorps to talk about how the tradition began.
Terri remembers her dad had two phones on his desk, including a red one. "Only a four-star general at the Pentagon and my dad had the number," she says.
"This was the '50s, this was the Cold War, and he would have been the first one to know if there was an attack on the United States," Rick says.
The red phone rang one day in December 1955, and Shoup answered it, Pam says. "And then there was a small voice that just asked, 'Is this Santa Claus?' "
His children remember Shoup as straight-laced and disciplined, and he was annoyed and upset by the call and thought it was a joke — but then, Terri says, the little voice started crying.
"And Dad realized that it wasn't a joke," her sister says. "So he talked to him, ho-ho-ho'd and asked if he had been a good boy and, 'May I talk to your mother?' And the mother got on and said, 'You haven't seen the paper yet? There's a phone number to call Santa. It's in the Sears ad.' Dad looked it up, and there it was, his red phone number. And they had children calling one after another, so he put a couple of airmen on the phones to act like Santa Claus."
"It got to be a big joke at the command center. You know, 'The old man's really flipped his lid this time. We're answering Santa calls,' " Terri says.
"The airmen had this big glass board with the United States on it
and Canada, and when airplanes would come in they would track them," Pam
says. "And Christmas Eve of 1955, when Dad walked in, there
was a drawing of a sleigh with eight reindeer coming over the North
Pole," Rick says.
"Dad said, 'What is that?' They say, 'Colonel, we're sorry. We were just making a joke. Do you want us to take that down?' Dad looked at it for a while, and next thing you know, Dad had called the radio station and had said, 'This is the commander at the Combat Alert Center, and we have an unidentified flying object. Why, it looks like a sleigh.' Well, the radio stations would call him like every hour and say, 'Where's Santa now?' " Terri says.
"And later in life he got letters from all over the world, people saying, 'Thank you, Colonel,' for having, you know, this sense of humor. And in his 90s, he would carry those letters around with him in a briefcase that had a lock on it like it was top-secret information," she says. "You know, he was an important guy, but this is the thing he's known for."
"Yeah," Rick says, "it's probably the thing he was proudest of, too."
Produced for Morning Edition by Jasmyn Belcher Morris.
StoryCorps is a national nonprofit that gives people the chance to interview friends and loved ones about their lives. These conversations are archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, allowing participants to leave a legacy for future generations. Learn more, including how to interview someone in your life, at StoryCorps.org.
The pictures are compliments of the original article and "Google Search".
This Christmas Eve people all over the world will log on to the official Santa Tracker to follow his progress through U.S. military radar. This all started in 1955, with a misprint in a Colorado Springs newspaper and a call to Col. Harry Shoup's secret hotline at the Continental Air Defense Command, now known as NORAD.
Shoup's children, Terri Van Keuren, 65, Rick Shoup, 59, and Pam Farrell, 70, recently visited StoryCorps to talk about how the tradition began.
The Santa Tracker tradition started with this Sears ad,
which instructed children to call Santa on what turned out to be a
secret military hotline. Kids today can call 1-877 HI-NORAD
(1-877-446-6723) to talk to NORAD staff about Santa's exact location.
Courtesy of NORAD
Terri remembers her dad had two phones on his desk, including a red one. "Only a four-star general at the Pentagon and my dad had the number," she says.
"This was the '50s, this was the Cold War, and he would have been the first one to know if there was an attack on the United States," Rick says.
The red phone rang one day in December 1955, and Shoup answered it, Pam says. "And then there was a small voice that just asked, 'Is this Santa Claus?' "
His children remember Shoup as straight-laced and disciplined, and he was annoyed and upset by the call and thought it was a joke — but then, Terri says, the little voice started crying.
"And Dad realized that it wasn't a joke," her sister says. "So he talked to him, ho-ho-ho'd and asked if he had been a good boy and, 'May I talk to your mother?' And the mother got on and said, 'You haven't seen the paper yet? There's a phone number to call Santa. It's in the Sears ad.' Dad looked it up, and there it was, his red phone number. And they had children calling one after another, so he put a couple of airmen on the phones to act like Santa Claus."
"It got to be a big joke at the command center. You know, 'The old man's really flipped his lid this time. We're answering Santa calls,' " Terri says.
Col. Harry Shoup came to be known as the "Santa Colonel." He died in 2009.
Courtesy of NORAD
"Dad said, 'What is that?' They say, 'Colonel, we're sorry. We were just making a joke. Do you want us to take that down?' Dad looked at it for a while, and next thing you know, Dad had called the radio station and had said, 'This is the commander at the Combat Alert Center, and we have an unidentified flying object. Why, it looks like a sleigh.' Well, the radio stations would call him like every hour and say, 'Where's Santa now?' " Terri says.
"And later in life he got letters from all over the world, people saying, 'Thank you, Colonel,' for having, you know, this sense of humor. And in his 90s, he would carry those letters around with him in a briefcase that had a lock on it like it was top-secret information," she says. "You know, he was an important guy, but this is the thing he's known for."
"Yeah," Rick says, "it's probably the thing he was proudest of, too."
Produced for Morning Edition by Jasmyn Belcher Morris.
StoryCorps is a national nonprofit that gives people the chance to interview friends and loved ones about their lives. These conversations are archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, allowing participants to leave a legacy for future generations. Learn more, including how to interview someone in your life, at StoryCorps.org.
NORAD today doing the"Santa Tracker"
Merry Christmas to All
Remember the reason for the season. Merry Christmas to all the Bloggers and others hanging around the internet. Remember the Reason for the Season. Spend time with your families and friends.
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Wednesday stuff...
Today I did my Christmas shopping after getting my butt kicked at work. I got a few things then returned home and crashed. This is to all my Blogger buddies and Babe's. Be careful out there, remember the reason for the season and be aware of your surroundings. The #BLM group are talking about protesting a bunch of malls so don't get caught up in the drama.
Monday, December 21, 2015
Monday Music "You Hosers" and other Christmas songs....
On this edition of "Monday Music" a couple of things...one..I actually got this one on Monday, Two, I will actually run 3 Christmas Songs today. The first one is from the Mackenzie Brothers, "The 12 days of Christmas".. The Mackenzie Brothers Bob and Doug McKenzie are a pair of fictional Canadian brothers who hosted "Great White North", a sketch which was introduced on SCTV for the show's third season when it moved to CBC Television in 1980. Bob is played by Rick Moranis and Doug is played by Dave Thomas. Although created originally as filler to both satisfy and mock network Canadian content demands, the duo became a pop culture phenomenon in both Canada and the United States.
The sketch was conceived when SCTV moved to the CBC television network. Due to the difference in the amount of time allocated for commercials, each episode to be broadcast on that network was two minutes longer than those syndicated to the United States. The CBC network heads asked the show's producers to add specifically identifiably Canadian content for those two minutes. Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas thought that this was a ridiculous request, since the show had been taped in Canada, with a mostly Canadian cast and crew, for two years.The request inspired them to create a parody that would incorporate every aspect of the humorous stereotype of Canadians.
The segments were videotaped at the end of a day's shooting, with just Thomas and Moranis and a single camera operator. The sketches were for the most part improvised on the set, after which they would select the best ones for use on the program.
Moranis recalled, "We went on the stage with no preparation, and did 15 [sketches]. Two of them were lousy, in three we cracked up and fell apart... maybe six were keepers." Added Dave Thomas in a 2000 interview, "Rick and I used to sit in the studio, by ourselves – almost like happy hour – drink real beers, cook back bacon, literally make hot snack food for ourselves while we improvised and just talked. It was all very low key and stupid, and we thought, 'Well, they get what they deserve. This is their Canadian content. I hope they like it.'"
To their shock, the comedians found that this filler material had become the most popular part of the show. Though initially intended for Canadian TV only, some of the two-minute "Great White North" segments would find their way into U.S. versions of the 30-minute shows due to a shortage of content that week. When NBC ordered the 90-minute shows for the 1981 season, they specifically cited good affiliate feedback on the "two dumb Canadian characters" and requested that the characters be included in every program.
According to co-writer Ian Fraser, Bowie balked at singing "Little Drummer Boy": "I hate this song. Is there something else I could sing?", Fraser recalls Bowie telling him. Fraser, along with songwriter Larry Grossman and the special's scriptwriter, Buz Kohan, then wrote "Peace on Earth" as a counterpoint to "Little Drummer Boy". Crosby performed "Little Drummer Boy", while Bowie sang the new tune "Peace on Earth", which they reportedly performed after less than an hour of rehearsal.
Crosby died on October 14, nearly five weeks after recording the special at Elstree Studios near London; in the U.S., the show aired just over a month later, on November 30, 1977, on CBS. In the United Kingdom, the special first aired on December 24, 1977 on ITV.
Feed The World logo designed by Markus Newman
The following morning, Geldof appeared on the Radio 1 breakfast show with Mike Read, to promote the record further and promise that every penny would go to the cause. This led to a stand-off with the British Government, who refused to waive the VAT on the sales of the single. Geldof made the headlines by publicly standing up to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and, sensing the strength of public feeling, the government backed down and donated the tax back to the charity.
The record was released on November 29, 1984, and went straight to No. 1 in the UK singles chart, outselling all the other records in the chart put together. It became the fastest- selling single of all time in the UK, selling a million copies in the first week alone. It stayed at No. 1 for five weeks, selling over three million copies and becoming easily the biggest-selling single of all time in the UK, thus beating the seven-year record held by Mull of Kintyre. It has since been surpassed by Elton John's "Candle in the Wind 1997" (his tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales) but it is likely to keep selling in different versions for many years to come.
After Live Aid, "Do They Know It's Christmas?" was re-released in late 1985 in a set that included a special-edition 'picture disc' version, modelled after the Live Aid logo with 'Band' in place of 'Live'. An added bonus, "One Year On" (a statement from Geldof and Ure on the telephone) was available as a b-side. "One Year On" can also be found in transcript form in a booklet which was included in the DVD set of Live Aid, the first disc of which features the BBC news report, as well as the Band Aid video. Heyday Films was the Studio for the film and Walt Disney Pictures was the distributor and the film was released on December 5 1991 to honor Walt Disney since that day was his birthday and was to celebrate his 90th birthday and was directed by James Cameron.
The sketch was conceived when SCTV moved to the CBC television network. Due to the difference in the amount of time allocated for commercials, each episode to be broadcast on that network was two minutes longer than those syndicated to the United States. The CBC network heads asked the show's producers to add specifically identifiably Canadian content for those two minutes. Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas thought that this was a ridiculous request, since the show had been taped in Canada, with a mostly Canadian cast and crew, for two years.The request inspired them to create a parody that would incorporate every aspect of the humorous stereotype of Canadians.
The segments were videotaped at the end of a day's shooting, with just Thomas and Moranis and a single camera operator. The sketches were for the most part improvised on the set, after which they would select the best ones for use on the program.
Moranis recalled, "We went on the stage with no preparation, and did 15 [sketches]. Two of them were lousy, in three we cracked up and fell apart... maybe six were keepers." Added Dave Thomas in a 2000 interview, "Rick and I used to sit in the studio, by ourselves – almost like happy hour – drink real beers, cook back bacon, literally make hot snack food for ourselves while we improvised and just talked. It was all very low key and stupid, and we thought, 'Well, they get what they deserve. This is their Canadian content. I hope they like it.'"
To their shock, the comedians found that this filler material had become the most popular part of the show. Though initially intended for Canadian TV only, some of the two-minute "Great White North" segments would find their way into U.S. versions of the 30-minute shows due to a shortage of content that week. When NBC ordered the 90-minute shows for the 1981 season, they specifically cited good affiliate feedback on the "two dumb Canadian characters" and requested that the characters be included in every program.
The 12 days of Christmas by Bob and Doug Mackenzie.
I will also add my one of my favorite songs of the Christmas season, Well I figured I would run out another Christmas song for Monday Music and I
always liked "little Drummer Boy with David Bowie and Bing Crosby. To
me this song plays well with their own music strength and is one of the
best known and unusual duets in Music history...Think about it Bing
Crosby, the classic crooner and Ziggie Stardust. Whodda thunk it?
But they played well together and created in instant classic. This
song and one other are my favorite Christmas Songs.
"Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" (sometimes titled "The Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth") is a Christmas song with an added counterpoint performed by David Bowie and Bing Crosby. "Little Drummer Boy" is a Christmas song written in 1941, while the "Peace on Earth" tune and lyrics, written by Ian Fraser, Larry Grossman, and Alan Kohan, were added to the song specially for Bowie and Crosby's recording.
"Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" (sometimes titled "The Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth") is a Christmas song with an added counterpoint performed by David Bowie and Bing Crosby. "Little Drummer Boy" is a Christmas song written in 1941, while the "Peace on Earth" tune and lyrics, written by Ian Fraser, Larry Grossman, and Alan Kohan, were added to the song specially for Bowie and Crosby's recording.
The track was recorded on September 11, 1977 for Crosby's then-upcoming television special, Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas. The pair exchanged scripted dialogue about what they each do for their family Christmases, before singing "Little Drummer Boy" with a new counterpoint with original lyrics written for the special, "Peace on Earth".
Bowie's appearance has been described as a "surreal" event, undertaken at a time that he was "actively trying to normalise his career" He has since recalled that he only appeared on the show because "I just knew my mother liked him" Buz Kohan was not sure that Crosby knew who Bowie was, but Ian Fraser claimed, "I'm pretty sure he did. Bing was no idiot. If he didn't, his kids sure did."According to co-writer Ian Fraser, Bowie balked at singing "Little Drummer Boy": "I hate this song. Is there something else I could sing?", Fraser recalls Bowie telling him. Fraser, along with songwriter Larry Grossman and the special's scriptwriter, Buz Kohan, then wrote "Peace on Earth" as a counterpoint to "Little Drummer Boy". Crosby performed "Little Drummer Boy", while Bowie sang the new tune "Peace on Earth", which they reportedly performed after less than an hour of rehearsal.
Crosby died on October 14, nearly five weeks after recording the special at Elstree Studios near London; in the U.S., the show aired just over a month later, on November 30, 1977, on CBS. In the United Kingdom, the special first aired on December 24, 1977 on ITV.
There is a 20 second spoof of Bing Crosby"BeatBoxing" I think it was called. This song is still one of my favorite songs for Christmas, it showed a generational bridge of singers and they sang it well.
And Finally my favorite song, "Don't they know it is Christmas".The name 'Band Aid' was chosen as a pun on the name of a well-known brand of adhesive bandage, also referring to musicians working as a band to provide aid and alluding to the fact that any help stemming from their efforts is likened to a band-aid on a very serious wound.
The original 1984 Feed the world logo was designed by Markus Newman
after winning a national competition aged just 14. Geldof was so moved
by the plight of starving children that he decided to try to raise money
using his contacts in pop music. Geldof enlisted the help of Midge Ure, from the group Ultravox, to help produce a charity record. Ure took Geldof's lyrics, and created the melody and backing track for the record. Geldof called many of the most popular British and Irish performers of the time (Kool & The Gang and Jody Watley
were the only Americans present at the original recording), persuading
them to give their time free. His one criterion for selection was how
famous they were, in order to maximise sales of the record. He then kept
an appointment to appear on a show on BBC Radio 1, with Richard Skinner, but instead of promoting the new Boomtown Rats
material as planned, he announced the plan for Band Aid. The recording
studio gave Band Aid no more than 24 free hours to record and mix the
record, on 25 November 1984. The recording took place at SARM Studios in Notting Hill between 11am and 7pm, and was filmed by director Nigel Dick to be released as the pop video
though some basic tracks had been recorded the day before at Midge
Ure's home studio. The first tracks to be recorded were the group /
choir choruses which were filmed by the international press. The footage
was rushed to newsrooms where it aired while the remainder of the
recording process continued. Later, drums by Phil Collins were recorded. The introduction of the song features a slowed down sample from a Tears for Fears' track called "The Hurting", released in 1983. Tony Hadley, of Spandau Ballet, was the first to record his vocal, while a section sung by Status Quo was deemed unusable, and replaced with section comprising Paul Weller, Sting, and Glenn Gregory. Simon Le Bon from Duran Duran sang between contributions from George Michael and Sting. Paul Young has since admitted, in a documentary, that he knew his opening lines were written for David Bowie,
who was not able to make the recording but made a contribution to the
B-side (Bowie performed his lines at the Live Aid concert the following
year). Boy George arrived last at 6pm, after Geldof woke him up by 'phone to have him flown over from New York on Concorde to record his solo part. (At the time, Culture Club was in the middle of a US tour.)
The record was released on November 29, 1984, and went straight to No. 1 in the UK singles chart, outselling all the other records in the chart put together. It became the fastest- selling single of all time in the UK, selling a million copies in the first week alone. It stayed at No. 1 for five weeks, selling over three million copies and becoming easily the biggest-selling single of all time in the UK, thus beating the seven-year record held by Mull of Kintyre. It has since been surpassed by Elton John's "Candle in the Wind 1997" (his tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales) but it is likely to keep selling in different versions for many years to come.
After Live Aid, "Do They Know It's Christmas?" was re-released in late 1985 in a set that included a special-edition 'picture disc' version, modelled after the Live Aid logo with 'Band' in place of 'Live'. An added bonus, "One Year On" (a statement from Geldof and Ure on the telephone) was available as a b-side. "One Year On" can also be found in transcript form in a booklet which was included in the DVD set of Live Aid, the first disc of which features the BBC news report, as well as the Band Aid video. Heyday Films was the Studio for the film and Walt Disney Pictures was the distributor and the film was released on December 5 1991 to honor Walt Disney since that day was his birthday and was to celebrate his 90th birthday and was directed by James Cameron.
Participants
The original Band Aid ensemble consisted of (in sleeve order):- Adam Clayton (U2)
- Roger Daltrey (The Who)
- Phil Collins (Genesis, solo)
- Bob Geldof (The Boomtown Rats, subsequently USA for Africa)
- Steve Norman (Spandau Ballet)
- Chris Cross (Ultravox)
- John Taylor (Duran Duran)
- Paul Young
- Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet)
- Glenn Gregory (Heaven 17)
- Simon Le Bon (Duran Duran)
- Simon Crowe (The Boomtown Rats)
- Marilyn
- Keren Woodward (Bananarama)
- Martin Kemp (Spandau Ballet)
- Jody Watley (Shalamar)
- Bono (U2)
- Paul Weller (The Style Council, and previously The Jam)
- James "J.T." Taylor (Kool & The Gang)
- George Michael (Wham!)
- Midge Ure (Ultravox)
- Martyn Ware (Heaven 17, and previously Human League)
- John Keeble (Spandau Ballet)
- Gary Kemp (Spandau Ballet)
- Sting (The Police)
- Pete Briquette (The Boomtown Rats)
- Francis Rossi (Status Quo)
- Robert 'Kool' Bell (Kool & the Gang)
- Andy Taylor (Duran Duran)
- Jon Moss (Culture Club)
- Rick Parfitt (Status Quo)
- Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran)
- Johnny Fingers (The Boomtown Rats)
- David Bowie (who contributed via a recording that was mailed to Geldof and then dubbed onto the single)
- Boy George (Culture Club)
- Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes to Hollywood) Recorded over the phone
- Paul McCartney (The Beatles, and then Wings) (who contributed via a recording that was mailed to Geldof and then dubbed onto the single)
- Big Country (only appeared on the b-side of messages, they did not participate in the recording of the a-side)
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Doings on here at Casa De Kona
I will veer away from the political stuff, lately I have been doing a "Friday Rant" where I go on a tear, but I kinda did one earlier in the week(see Thursday). Christmas is coming, I find myself slowly getting into the Christmas spirit with lot of some prodding from the spousal unit. We went to get the tree at the local tree farm...My son wanted to cut the tree down and me being the father of the year candidate agrees....so when the tree is almost cut through, I push the tree over on him....Remember the father of the year award I was going for....hehehe
Well we get the tree loaded up on the Ranger and made a few other stops before we get the tree home..
We got the tree set up and I got the outside decorations set up. We had to get ready for our Order of the Arrow Banquet, the end of the year celebration for our Lodge. Thecrumbsnatcher, anklebiter, rug rat, my son was there with some of his friends
They had an awesome time...we got awards, Here is what I got...he got the same...
The one on tip is the "service" flap, you have to give 25 hours of service a minimum a year to get it and maintain it. The other one goes on the Sash, the only patch "authorized" to go on the sash. I saw at conclave earlier in the year, an elderly gentleman with the "50" year patch on his sash...
Here is my son getting sworn in on his oath of office..for the year.
I was very proud of the kids, they all have done well and have worked hard....now they will work harder next year....
After the banquet most of the people took off, the kids from my chapter immediately went into the mess hall and started helping Mac in cleaning up the kitchen.
I was really impressed that they would step up without asking to help somebody else. It was a group decision, I just saw a bunch of kids heading into the kitchen area and I grabbed my kid and asked "what going one" and he stated..."We are going to help Mac get the kitchen closed down". And off they went. I was proud, this is where selfless service starts... We on the way home, stopped at Krystals to get some gut grenades....I havn't had them in a long time.....and yep they havn't changed...I was passing gas all night;)
A couple of weeks later, I had the opportunity to meet with Old NFO,Senior, Old, Antiquated, fossilized, experienced Blogger at the Original Chicfila in Hapeville Georgia. the store that started them all. Chicfila started in 1946 and the building of the Atlanta Assembly Plant of Ford Motor Company really got them going. I would walk over to the Chicfila during work to get me a Chicken Sandwich when I worked there until The Ford plant closed in October 27th 2006.
It was great meeting again one of the people that got me blogging, Old NFO despite me ragging on him about his age, experience is a class act, he has a lot of great stories and is a really good guy. he was stopping in locations visiting people on the way to the ranch in Texas where he will be a full time author for a group of books that is like reading a bunch of old friends and people you know and wished you knew. I am glad that I took the plunge to blogging back in 2011, I have met some great people, people I would have never had the honor to meet if I hadn't taken the gamble to start blogging. Yep you can blame him for foisting me on the blogging world.
And finally the new Star Wars has hit the screen, I will try to see it in a couple of weeks after the hype has died down a bit...
We got the tree set up and I got the outside decorations set up. We had to get ready for our Order of the Arrow Banquet, the end of the year celebration for our Lodge. The
Here is my son getting sworn in on his oath of office..for the year.
After the banquet most of the people took off, the kids from my chapter immediately went into the mess hall and started helping Mac in cleaning up the kitchen.
A couple of weeks later, I had the opportunity to meet with Old NFO,
And finally the new Star Wars has hit the screen, I will try to see it in a couple of weeks after the hype has died down a bit...
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Clip from Senator Sessions on Voter disenfranchment and the upcoming election.
I ran across this clip and tried to post it in facebook, but I don't post political stuff on facebook, I get irritated when people do that all the time. So I figured I would post it on my blog instead.
He made a valid point that this isn't why they were not elected to congress, the people sent them there to represent THEIR interest, not the interest of the President or special interest groups. he talked about the H1B visa program and the flaws in it, where they bring people from other countries, have the Americas train them, then get laid off like what Disney did. he also talked about the h2b visa program where people come over to do "seasonal jobs" but wind up staying and using the "Tax credit" to get money that they never paid into the system,,then you wonder why the voters are pissed off and the popularity of Trump with the GOP millennial and the popularity of Sanders with the Democrat millennial. The underlying voter anger and open revolt to the establishment is increasing.
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
1st tier debate impressions... and web redirects
*Unrelated issue...... To anybody that web surfs...I have noticed a lot of redirects when I check other sites, I get diverted to different site . They show ads from the Ad council and they range from adopting a kid to "check your Bias". I have noticed this on several sites that I frequent. I have tried to do a "screen capture" to save a couple, but so far unsuccessful. Has anybody else have this issue?
I am now listening to the 1st tier debates, the candidates are
The Donald
The Cruz
The Dr.
Senator Rubio
Kasich
Paul
The Establishment favorite Jeb
Carly
Chris Christie
I have several impressions...First off...there was a vocal Paul contingent there, they were noisy and I did like what he said about following the constitution...but the national polls don't reflect the cheering I heard.
The Donald was vague on his answers, and he and Jeb sparred a lot. Jeb being the establishment candidate is trying to revitalize his campaign with a 3% favorability despite spending a lot of money.
The Donald did reaffirm that he will stay with the party even if he don't get elected as the nominee. The Establishment and their hacks in the media have been pushing the narrative that if Donald don't get the GOP nod, he will run as an independent thereby splitting the vote
Like what Ross Perot did in 1992 and guarenteed Bill (I didn't inhale) Clinton the presidency.
There were sparks between Rubio and Cruz, I get the feeling that the Rubio people dispise the Cruz people, Cruz is viewed as an outsider and Rubio was an establishment candidate, Rubio support of the gang of 8 on immigration was mentioned and Rubio tried to deflect it when he was asked if he would try such a thing again. His response was this wouldn't work now..The American people don't trust the government to follow the law. We gotta fix that first before we can try again."
Cruz did a good job when the panelist tried to pin him on deporting the illegals here, he replied "We will follow the law, We either have a border like every other country in the world...or we don't."
Chris Christie did a good job using the plain english that made him popular commented after Rubio and Cruz were in the weeds debating a nuance in a bill, "This is to all the people back home, your eyes glaze over during this? This is what it is like in a senate hearing.."
Dr Carson did well but he wasn't asked a lot of questions except one that stood out "Could you as Commander in Chief order a strike against ISIS in a civilian population killing hundreds of people? Do you have the experience to be a commander in chief?. The resulting booing was loud from the audience, it was perceived as a *Gotcha* question.
Carly Fiorina didn't get a lot of time to answer questions, she was almost totally excluded from the questions, I would have liked to have seen more.
Kasich was touting his experience as Governer of Ohio, he did mention that if we don't get the economy going, all the people wanting to rebuild the military can't do it. He mentioned that we would love to get the 4 billion dollars back from the war and use it in our infrastructure.
I would have loved to have more time with more variety of information.
This kind of stuff.....
I am now listening to the 1st tier debates, the candidates are
The Donald
The Cruz
The Dr.
Senator Rubio
Kasich
Paul
The Establishment favorite Jeb
Carly
Chris Christie
I have several impressions...First off...there was a vocal Paul contingent there, they were noisy and I did like what he said about following the constitution...but the national polls don't reflect the cheering I heard.
The Donald was vague on his answers, and he and Jeb sparred a lot. Jeb being the establishment candidate is trying to revitalize his campaign with a 3% favorability despite spending a lot of money.
The Donald did reaffirm that he will stay with the party even if he don't get elected as the nominee. The Establishment and their hacks in the media have been pushing the narrative that if Donald don't get the GOP nod, he will run as an independent thereby splitting the vote
Like what Ross Perot did in 1992 and guarenteed Bill (I didn't inhale) Clinton the presidency.
There were sparks between Rubio and Cruz, I get the feeling that the Rubio people dispise the Cruz people, Cruz is viewed as an outsider and Rubio was an establishment candidate, Rubio support of the gang of 8 on immigration was mentioned and Rubio tried to deflect it when he was asked if he would try such a thing again. His response was this wouldn't work now..The American people don't trust the government to follow the law. We gotta fix that first before we can try again."
Cruz did a good job when the panelist tried to pin him on deporting the illegals here, he replied "We will follow the law, We either have a border like every other country in the world...or we don't."
Chris Christie did a good job using the plain english that made him popular commented after Rubio and Cruz were in the weeds debating a nuance in a bill, "This is to all the people back home, your eyes glaze over during this? This is what it is like in a senate hearing.."
Dr Carson did well but he wasn't asked a lot of questions except one that stood out "Could you as Commander in Chief order a strike against ISIS in a civilian population killing hundreds of people? Do you have the experience to be a commander in chief?. The resulting booing was loud from the audience, it was perceived as a *Gotcha* question.
Carly Fiorina didn't get a lot of time to answer questions, she was almost totally excluded from the questions, I would have liked to have seen more.
Kasich was touting his experience as Governer of Ohio, he did mention that if we don't get the economy going, all the people wanting to rebuild the military can't do it. He mentioned that we would love to get the 4 billion dollars back from the war and use it in our infrastructure.
I would have loved to have more time with more variety of information.
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
2nd tier debate thoughts....
I am watching the 2nd string debate on CNN and so far I like Huckabee, and Santorium the best. Pataki and Graham seem to be disjointed. Isil or Daesh seem to be the main topic. Would like to see other topics discussed. Putin and Obama was discussed.
Talking about instituting a draft....the best response I heard was from Huckabee was no draft but re institute the full G.I. Bill..if you want to get full college ride, join the service...give to your country and your country will give to you.
Now they are talking about the full inclusion of women in combat jobs. Santorum and Pataki got into it about it. I would have commented that "the people pushing the full inclusion...it is a political decision, their daughters and sons won't pay the price for this flawed policies...it will be the kids from the "flyover" countries that pay for the short sightedness."
The civilian hostages were discussed, and Huckabee gave the best response...about the people willing to pay the ransom. His response was "If it was my son or daughter...I would give every drop of my blood.....but as a national policy, it is flawed...it would encourage more kidnappings and more terrorism."
Still haven't heard any domestic policies....the candidates need to tell their vision for domestic policies to steal the thunder of Hillary and Bernie.
My opinion of the 2nd tier debate is that Sanatorum and Huckabee did best.
Now they are talking about the full inclusion of women in combat jobs. Santorum and Pataki got into it about it. I would have commented that "the people pushing the full inclusion...it is a political decision, their daughters and sons won't pay the price for this flawed policies...it will be the kids from the "flyover" countries that pay for the short sightedness."
The civilian hostages were discussed, and Huckabee gave the best response...about the people willing to pay the ransom. His response was "If it was my son or daughter...I would give every drop of my blood.....but as a national policy, it is flawed...it would encourage more kidnappings and more terrorism."
Still haven't heard any domestic policies....the candidates need to tell their vision for domestic policies to steal the thunder of Hillary and Bernie.
My opinion of the 2nd tier debate is that Sanatorum and Huckabee did best.
Monday, December 14, 2015
Monday Music "Gold" by Spandau Ballet
I was listening to my 80's channel going in to work and this song came on....Now I am not a big fan of Spandau Ballet, they are tied in with the 2nd British Invasion relating to the new wave that was played prominently on MTV back in the channel's infancy.....back when they played music.
The band changed its name to The Makers in late-1976 and played as a punk band at the Roxy in their early years.
In 1978 they became a power pop band and changed the name to Gentry,
under which they played a few gigs, including at Kingsway College. They
changed the band's name to Spandau Ballet after a friend of the band,
journalist and DJ Robert Elms, saw the phrase "Spandau Ballet" scrawled on the wall of a nightclub lavatory during a visit to Berlin.
The expression "Spandau Ballet" was slang used by Allied troops in the
trenches in the First World War referring to the twitching of the
corpses hanging on the barbed wire and repeatedly hit by Spandau machine gun fire from the German lines. The name also refers to Spandau Prison and the many hangings there, especially in 1945–46 of Nazi war criminals,
when the victims would twitch and jump at the end of a rope. The new
Spandau Ballet, with Martin Kemp and Hadley, began performing with this
name around London. Their music had been in the style of the early Rolling Stones or The Kinks, but became more electronic after they attended clubs such as Billy's and Blitz where the New Romantic[scene was spearheaded and they listened to bands like Kraftwerk and Telex.
Gary Kemp, joint leader, with his brother Martin, of Spandau Ballet, wrote the words to, and composed the music of, the selection, which the partnership of Steve Jolley and Tony Swain produced.
The song is Spandau Ballet's second best-charting single behind their previous release, "True,"reaching #2 on the UK Singles Chart (KC and the Sunshine Band's "Give It Up" held it off the top of that chart), and #29 on the U.S Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The music video was directed by Brian Duffy and filmed on location in Carmona, Spain. A 'making of' video featured photographs of the band taken by his son: Chris Duffy.
The video featured Sadie Frost as a gold-painted nymph, in one of her earlier roles.
Spandau Ballet
Gary Kemp, joint leader, with his brother Martin, of Spandau Ballet, wrote the words to, and composed the music of, the selection, which the partnership of Steve Jolley and Tony Swain produced.
The song is Spandau Ballet's second best-charting single behind their previous release, "True,"reaching #2 on the UK Singles Chart (KC and the Sunshine Band's "Give It Up" held it off the top of that chart), and #29 on the U.S Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The music video was directed by Brian Duffy and filmed on location in Carmona, Spain. A 'making of' video featured photographs of the band taken by his son: Chris Duffy.
The video featured Sadie Frost as a gold-painted nymph, in one of her earlier roles.
Sadie Frost in "Lucy" with Bram Stokers "Dracula" 1992
Friday, December 11, 2015
Our "betters" are at it again....
I have seen articles from several magazines that represented the view of the elites in D.C and other liberal enclaves, this one from the New Republic,
Ban guns. All guns. Get rid of guns in homes, and on the streets, and, as much as possible, on police. Not just because of San Bernardino, or whichever mass shooting may pop up next, but also not not because of those. Don’t sort the population into those who might do something evil or foolish or self-destructive with a gun and those who surely will not. As if this could be known—as if it could be assessed without massively violating civil liberties and stigmatizing the mentally ill. Ban guns! Not just gun violence. Not just certain guns. Not just already-technically-illegal guns. All of them.
We have Dear Leader pushing a "Universal Background Check" according to the A.P, he is wanting to go around Congress according to his adviser Valarie Jarrod.
We have other magazines that represent the worldview of the elitist and their enablers like the New Yorker Cover...
We have the Democratic Front runner also espousing a very aggressive gun control platform..
I keep wondering how these elitist is going to persuade the average American to give up their guns? They gonna have the PoPo go bust down doors to get the guns.....all you gonna get is a bunch of dead citizens and dead police...and the average police officer ain't keen on kicking in doors. Now the weenies from the federal side of the house might be game...but the local law enforcement ain't going to have a lot of excitement. The feds would try it because it isn't their community...and they want to keep their benefits and paychecks..but they would have to get the support of the local PoPo....
I am disturbed that the democrats really believe that they can force gun control on the populace. There are a lot of gun owners that will not hand them over...and I am not sure that the government knows exactly what they are in for..If memory serves...There are something like 300 million firearms here in the United States and most people ain't going to just hand them over.....it will be ugly fast. I find it ironic that the people that espouse gun control want somebody else to go physically take the guns away from the citizens. The people that are pushing this to support their nanny state big government agenda will not lead the stack into somebody's house in the middle of the night...they will be behind their keyboard and living in their guarded enclaves that insulate them from the results of their actions and we the people in "flyover country" will have to deal with the crime and other actions. The liberals especially the limousine variety like the idea of the unwashed masses being totally subservient to their "betters" whom thanks to the knowledge imparted by their professors in
their Ivory towers in their Ivy League colleges that havn't worked a real job in their life and have no idea how the world actually works, just what they believe would work if the right people are in charge.
There is a growing disconnect with the people who are in charge, there is an undercurrent of anger and frustration and I am afraid that it will boil over and it will get ugly fast, we have the people in D.C doubling down in stupid and actually pushing for a confrontation....they believe that the power of the state is superior to all and that a people need to do what they are told. This is Anathema to a free people and it will force a fight for the direction of the United State...If we will remain a free nation or continue the slide toward socialism and the chains of slavery where all we are is a resource to be used by the state and discarded when we have no value and the dream that was the United States will be in the dustbin of history.
Ban guns. All guns. Get rid of guns in homes, and on the streets, and, as much as possible, on police. Not just because of San Bernardino, or whichever mass shooting may pop up next, but also not not because of those. Don’t sort the population into those who might do something evil or foolish or self-destructive with a gun and those who surely will not. As if this could be known—as if it could be assessed without massively violating civil liberties and stigmatizing the mentally ill. Ban guns! Not just gun violence. Not just certain guns. Not just already-technically-illegal guns. All of them.
We have Dear Leader pushing a "Universal Background Check" according to the A.P, he is wanting to go around Congress according to his adviser Valarie Jarrod.
I keep wondering how these elitist is going to persuade the average American to give up their guns? They gonna have the PoPo go bust down doors to get the guns.....all you gonna get is a bunch of dead citizens and dead police...and the average police officer ain't keen on kicking in doors. Now the weenies from the federal side of the house might be game...but the local law enforcement ain't going to have a lot of excitement. The feds would try it because it isn't their community...and they want to keep their benefits and paychecks..but they would have to get the support of the local PoPo....
American gun owners are beginning to respond with a fresh, powerful
argument when facing anti-gun liberals. Here it is, in its entirety.
Ready?
“Screw you.” That’s it. Except the first word isn’t “Screw.”
The fact is that there is no point in arguing with liberal gun-control advocates because their argument is never in good faith. You can’t argue with someone who is lying about his position or whose position is not based upon reason.
They lie about their ultimate aim, which is to ban and confiscate all privately owned weapons. And they adopt a pose of reasonability, yet their position is not susceptible to change because of evidence, facts or law. None of those matter – they already have their conclusion. This has to do with power – their power.
Put simply, liberal elitists don’t like the fact that, at the end of the day, an armed citizenry can tell them, “No.”
“Screw you.” That’s it. Except the first word isn’t “Screw.”
The fact is that there is no point in arguing with liberal gun-control advocates because their argument is never in good faith. You can’t argue with someone who is lying about his position or whose position is not based upon reason.
"Scratches from the Ovens at Auschwitz"
They lie about their ultimate aim, which is to ban and confiscate all privately owned weapons. And they adopt a pose of reasonability, yet their position is not susceptible to change because of evidence, facts or law. None of those matter – they already have their conclusion. This has to do with power – their power.
Put simply, liberal elitists don’t like the fact that, at the end of the day, an armed citizenry can tell them, “No.”
their Ivory towers in their Ivy League colleges that havn't worked a real job in their life and have no idea how the world actually works, just what they believe would work if the right people are in charge.
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Monday Music "Rolling in the Deep" By Adele
I intentially waited on posting my Monday Music until today....Normally when I post it on Tuesday it is because I was OBE (Overcome By Events)...from work, scouts or stuff at home ....Technical issues....Grrrr but I digress.
But Yesterday I could have posted it but Yesterday was December 7 and was 74 years earlier that we were forced into WWII by the Japanese. I hold December 7 in Reverence for the sacrifice and what that day meant for the American Nation, I feel the same way about 9/11/01. It changed America fundamentally.
I had wanted to do this song last week when I had major technical issues....still unresolved with Blogger. I am contemplating a move to Wordpress but I have a lot of material on Blogger and hope I can get the issues fixed since I ain't gonna have the time to push a move unless forced.
Well back to my Monday Music I am doing a total changeup...for this week only. Normally I post music from the 80's Which I personally consider my favorite decade, the 70's usually from my rock favorites from when I was a young kid listening to the superbands on AFN, and some music from the 90's that I like. This is the first time I am using music from this century. I as a whole consider the present genre of music that is commercially released to be crap. I don't listen to it. When I see what the talent that was coming out of Motown and other places with Rock and Soul with some R&B in the from the last half of the last century that was awesome in its breath of talent and display to the garbage that is listened to now...I am not impressed and I am not a music snob...far from it...I like a wide range of music from country to disco to R&B to soul and of course my 80's music:) I see what is coming out today as lacking in substance, to me music tells a story and also I like it as background for it surrounds me when I am working or doing something and it makes it more pleasent.
I decided to go with this song because I heard it for the first time at six flags at the water park a few years ago and the song was catchy, but I ignored it but heard it a few more times here and there usually at places where they pipe in music like stores and other places. I heard it a few more times and the more I heard it, I liked it it showed depth and range and it actually didn't sound vapid and canned like a lot of what I call "current music". A couple of years later I heard a couple of my black scouts singing it and they were doing a good job with it at cub day camp. I finally heard the song playing somewhere a couple of weeks ago and I pulled out my "Shazam" app on my phone and it told me who the artist was.
"Rolling in the Deep" is a song recorded by British recording artist Adele for her second studio album, 21. The song was written by Adele and Paul Epworth. The singer herself describes it as a "dark blues-y gospel disco tune". The largest crossover hit in the United States from the past 25 years, "Rolling in the Deep" gained radio airplay from many different radio formats. It was first released on 29 November 2010 as the lead single from 21 in digital download format. The lyrics describe the emotions of a scorned lover.
"Rolling in the Deep" was acclaimed by music critics and represented a commercial breakthrough for Adele, propelling her to international success. The song reached number one in 11 countries and the top five in many more regions. It was Adele's first number-one song in the United States, reaching the top spot on many Billboard charts, including the Billboard Hot 100 where it was number one for seven weeks. By February 2012, "Rolling in the Deep" had sold over 7.6 million copies in the United States, making it the highest-selling digital song by a female artist in the US, the second-best-selling digital song in the US and Adele's best-selling single outside her native country, topping her previous best-selling "Chasing Pavements". Worldwide, it was the fifth-best-selling digital single of 2011 with sales of 8.2 million copies, later going on to sell over 14 million copies.The song spent 65 weeks on the chart, making the song at that time the fourth-most weeks spent on the chart, tying the place with Jewel with her double single "Foolish Games"/"You Were Meant for Me".
The song was reportedly inspired by a Nashville-schooled US tour bus driver, and composed by Epworth and Adele in a single afternoon following Adele's breakup with her boyfriend. It was "her reaction to, 'being told that my life was going to be boring and lonely and rubbish, and that I was a weak person if I didn't stay in the relationship. I was very insulted, and wrote that as a sort of "fuck you".
The music video for "Rolling in the Deep," directed by Sam Brown, premiered on Channel 4 on 3 December 2010. The video begins in an abandoned house, where Adele is sitting in a chair singing. During the video, the scenes show hundreds of glasses filled with water that vibrate to the beat of a drum, a mysterious person (played by Jennifer White, who also choreographed the sequence) dancing in a room with white flour and dust, the drummer playing the drums behind the stairs, china being thrown and breaking on the wall in front of the staircase, and a white model of a city which is set on fire by five bursting light bulbs at the end of the song.
On 20 July 2011, the music video was nominated for seven MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year, Best Female Video, Best Pop Video and Best Direction, and won three for Best Editing, Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction. The video won the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video on 12 February 2012. As of December 2015, the music video has received over 770 million views on YouTube.
But Yesterday I could have posted it but Yesterday was December 7 and was 74 years earlier that we were forced into WWII by the Japanese. I hold December 7 in Reverence for the sacrifice and what that day meant for the American Nation, I feel the same way about 9/11/01. It changed America fundamentally.
I had wanted to do this song last week when I had major technical issues....still unresolved with Blogger. I am contemplating a move to Wordpress but I have a lot of material on Blogger and hope I can get the issues fixed since I ain't gonna have the time to push a move unless forced.
Well back to my Monday Music I am doing a total changeup...for this week only. Normally I post music from the 80's Which I personally consider my favorite decade, the 70's usually from my rock favorites from when I was a young kid listening to the superbands on AFN, and some music from the 90's that I like. This is the first time I am using music from this century. I as a whole consider the present genre of music that is commercially released to be crap. I don't listen to it. When I see what the talent that was coming out of Motown and other places with Rock and Soul with some R&B in the from the last half of the last century that was awesome in its breath of talent and display to the garbage that is listened to now...I am not impressed and I am not a music snob...far from it...I like a wide range of music from country to disco to R&B to soul and of course my 80's music:) I see what is coming out today as lacking in substance, to me music tells a story and also I like it as background for it surrounds me when I am working or doing something and it makes it more pleasent.
I decided to go with this song because I heard it for the first time at six flags at the water park a few years ago and the song was catchy, but I ignored it but heard it a few more times here and there usually at places where they pipe in music like stores and other places. I heard it a few more times and the more I heard it, I liked it it showed depth and range and it actually didn't sound vapid and canned like a lot of what I call "current music". A couple of years later I heard a couple of my black scouts singing it and they were doing a good job with it at cub day camp. I finally heard the song playing somewhere a couple of weeks ago and I pulled out my "Shazam" app on my phone and it told me who the artist was.
"Rolling in the Deep" is a song recorded by British recording artist Adele for her second studio album, 21. The song was written by Adele and Paul Epworth. The singer herself describes it as a "dark blues-y gospel disco tune". The largest crossover hit in the United States from the past 25 years, "Rolling in the Deep" gained radio airplay from many different radio formats. It was first released on 29 November 2010 as the lead single from 21 in digital download format. The lyrics describe the emotions of a scorned lover.
"Rolling in the Deep" was acclaimed by music critics and represented a commercial breakthrough for Adele, propelling her to international success. The song reached number one in 11 countries and the top five in many more regions. It was Adele's first number-one song in the United States, reaching the top spot on many Billboard charts, including the Billboard Hot 100 where it was number one for seven weeks. By February 2012, "Rolling in the Deep" had sold over 7.6 million copies in the United States, making it the highest-selling digital song by a female artist in the US, the second-best-selling digital song in the US and Adele's best-selling single outside her native country, topping her previous best-selling "Chasing Pavements". Worldwide, it was the fifth-best-selling digital single of 2011 with sales of 8.2 million copies, later going on to sell over 14 million copies.The song spent 65 weeks on the chart, making the song at that time the fourth-most weeks spent on the chart, tying the place with Jewel with her double single "Foolish Games"/"You Were Meant for Me".
The song was reportedly inspired by a Nashville-schooled US tour bus driver, and composed by Epworth and Adele in a single afternoon following Adele's breakup with her boyfriend. It was "her reaction to, 'being told that my life was going to be boring and lonely and rubbish, and that I was a weak person if I didn't stay in the relationship. I was very insulted, and wrote that as a sort of "fuck you".
The music video for "Rolling in the Deep," directed by Sam Brown, premiered on Channel 4 on 3 December 2010. The video begins in an abandoned house, where Adele is sitting in a chair singing. During the video, the scenes show hundreds of glasses filled with water that vibrate to the beat of a drum, a mysterious person (played by Jennifer White, who also choreographed the sequence) dancing in a room with white flour and dust, the drummer playing the drums behind the stairs, china being thrown and breaking on the wall in front of the staircase, and a white model of a city which is set on fire by five bursting light bulbs at the end of the song.
On 20 July 2011, the music video was nominated for seven MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year, Best Female Video, Best Pop Video and Best Direction, and won three for Best Editing, Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction. The video won the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video on 12 February 2012. As of December 2015, the music video has received over 770 million views on YouTube.