This will be kinda a short post because it is a Holiday Season.
I want to wish all my fellow bloggers and readers a Merry Christmas. Remember the reason for the Season and spend it with your family if you can. I have spent time away from family in the past during deployments or work, but the past few years I have been lucky to spend them at home with my family. Keep in your prayers those that walk the ramparts on this day so we can celebrate with our family.
This will be kinda a short post because it is a Holiday Season.
I want to wish all my fellow bloggers and readers a Merry Christmas. Remember the reason for the Season and spend it with your family if you can. I have spent time away from family in the past during deployments or work, but the past few years I have been lucky to spend them at home with my family. Keep in your prayers those that walk the ramparts on this day so we can celebrate with our family.
Also my son got a couple of presents from a family get together and he was very happy about the gifts.
He was excited to get the shirt, he is looking forward to the first day of school to see how many people he can "trigger" at his school. I do like the shirt however he could lose the hat though.
And watching 24 hour marathon of "A Christmas Story"
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.)
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 MinisterMargaret 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.
Participants
The original Band Aid ensemble consisted of (in sleeve order):
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. The crumbsnatcher, 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...
Well I was like most people, I spent time with my family on Christmas and that was very nice, spending time with family is important, it reminds us what the season is....It isn't gifts...although those are cool, it is spending time with people, and it don't have to be with family, but spend time with people you want to spend time with or have to spend time with. I wasn't upset about having to work on part of my Christmas....it is necessary and knew that I would go home when it is over. To those that have been checking out my little corner of the internet know that I was in the service and was deployed to the Middle East, in my case it was in 1990, I was stationed in Germany since 1986 and we got deployed when Desert Shield started becoming Desert Storm. Being closer to where Jesus was born was uplifting. I remember a bunch of us were walking around the tents in Dammon waiting for our equipment to catch up with us and singing all the Christmas songs. From all the different units, soldiers were coming together in groups to sing and that was magical in itself.
Flash forward to today, Christmas still has its magic for me, there is still a little kid inside of me that loves Christmas, that will never change. But now it is the day after Christmas and the reality is here.....
Yes I did it this way one time...
Now is the time we have to clean up the decorations, pack them away for next year. And get ready to start ramping up for New Years. I will be spending time with my son at winter-camp with the Boy Scouts until the New Years Eve. so I will be preloading stuff into the scheduler so I will have things posting and my various comments about the pictures. I will have sporadic internet usage so I will not be able to respond immediately.
Well this is the 3rd and final post on Christmas Tidbits, and other information that you can use to either win bets at the bar, try for jeopardy or even to impress/annoy your friends, family and coworkers....I have posted 2 prior bits of tidbits, they are Here and Here.
Before I continue to post, I do have an observation, I was driving to work last night in a great Southern City where features prominently in "Gone with the Wind", and it was raining hard...and all I can say was....:
I havn't seen such dumbness and head up neither regions in a long time........Jeez, nothing like playing the law of averages on the way to work...
-Paul McCartney earns $400,000 a year off his Christmas song, which is widely regarded as the worst song he ever recorded.
-The first person to decorate a Christmas tree was reportedly the
Protestant reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546). According to legend, he
was so moved by the beauty of the stars shining between the branches of
a fir tree, he brought home an evergreen tree and decorated it with
candles to share the image with his children.
-Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was invented for a US firm's Christmas promotion in 1938.
-In 1647, the English parliament passed a law making Christmas
illegal. The Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell, who considered feasting
and revelry on what was supposed to be a holy day to be immoral, banned
the Christmas festivities. The ban was lifted only when Cromwell lost
power in 1660.
-The largest Christmas cracker, 45.72m long and 3.04m in diameter, was pulled in Australia in 1991.
-Did you know that giving presents were once banned by the Catholic
Church? It was believed that gift giving was connected to paganism.
-Approximately 30-35 million real Christmas trees are sold each year in the US.
-Franklin Pierce was the first president to decorate an official White House Christmas tree.
-The long shopping spree before Christmas
began in America when relatives of soldiers posted overseas in the
Second World War were encouraged to mail gifts early.
-Do you know why we say the Twelve Days of Christmas? It is believed that it took the 3 kings 12 days to find baby Jesus.
-The highest-grossing festive movie is 2000's How The Grinch Stole Christmas, which has raked in $345M to date.
-Christmas is a contraction of "Christ's Mass," which is derived from
the Old English Cristes mæsse (first recorded in 1038). The letter "X"
in Greek is the first letter of Christ, and "Xmas" has been used as an
abbreviation for Christmas since the mid-1500s.
-Christmas Crackers were invented around 1846 by Tom Smith who developed them for Christmas from the French habit of wrapping sugared almonds in twists of paper as gifts.
-Jingle Bells was the first song broadcast from space when Gemini 6 astronauts sang it on December 16, 1965.
-Many years ago in England a traditional Christmas dinner included a pig head served with mustard.
-Commissioned by Sir Henry Cole, British illustrator John Callcott Horsley invented the first Christmas card in 1843.
-The Canadian province of Nova Scotia leads the world in exporting lobster, wild blueberries and Christmas trees.
-Astronomers believe the Star Of Bethlehem, which guided the wise men to Jesus, may have been a comet or the planet Uranus.
-The tradition of naughty children getting a lump of coal in their stocking comes from Italy.
-Christmas purchases account for 1/6 of all anual retail sales in the US.
-Roast turkey did not appear consistently on
royal Christmas Day menus until 1851 when it replaced roast swan. The
medieval dish of Boar's head remained popular with Royals for much
longer.
-Upside-down artificial Xmas trees are sold to allow more gifts to be piled under.
-Tinsel was once made from real silver. It was invented in Germany in 1610.
-In the Czech Republic they enjoy dinners of fish soup, eggs and
carp. The number of people at the table must be even, or the one
without a partner will die next year.
-December 25 was originally a pagan
celebration. Nobody knows when Jesus of Nazareth was born and nobody
celebrated his birthday for hundreds of years.
-Electric Christmas lights were first used in 1854.
-Christmas pudding was originally a soup made with raisins and wine.
-There are two islands named Christmas. Christmas Island (formerly
Kiritimati) in the Pacific Ocean and Christmas Island in the Indian
Ocean.
-"We Wish You a Merry Christmas" was
originally a threat. The ever-popular song was originally sung, loudly
and repeatedly, by crowds of rowdy, lower-class servants demanding
booze from their masters... or else.
-Many parts of the Christmas tree can actually be eaten, with the needles being a good source of Vitamin C.
And this completes the Christmas Trivia section of my little corner of the internet. Remember the reason for the season and" be good to each other...
On Sunday I posted Part ONE of little Christmas Tidbits, here are part II, I will post a part III tomorrow...This will provide entertainment or horror for your coworkers, family..and anybody else within earshot.....
-According to the UNICEF there are 2,106 million
children under age 18 in the world. If there are on average 2.5
children per household, Santa would have to make 842 million stops on
Christmas Eve, traveling 221 million miles. To reach all 842 million
stops, Santa would need to travel between houses in 2/10,000 second,
which means he would need to accelerate 12.19 million miles (20.5
billion meters) per second on each stop. The force of this acceleration
would reduce Santa to salsa.
-It is said that candy canes were invented by a candy maker in
Indiana. He wanted to use them to spread the name Jesus around the
world.-Mistletoe kissing originated with fertility rites. The hanging
sprig is a very ancient symbol of virility and therefore anybody
standing beneath it is signalling that he or she is sexually available.
-America's official national Christmas tree is
located in King's Canyon National Park in California. The tree, a
giant sequoia called the "General Grant Tree" is over 90 meters (300
feet) high, and was made the official Christmas tree in 1925.
-There is no reference to angels singing anywhere in the Bible.
-Some zoos take donated Christmas trees and use them to feed their animals.
-Because they viewed Christmas as a decadent Catholic holiday, the
Puritans in America banned all Christmas celebrations from 1659-1681
with a penalty of five shillings for each offense. Some Puritan leaders
condemned those who favoured Christmas as enemies of the Christian
religion.
-The first Christmas was celebrated on December 25, AD 336 in Rome.
-Nearly 60 million Christmas trees are grown each year in Europe.
-Charles Dickens grew up during a 'Little Ice
Age' - it snowed for each of his first 8 Christmases, influencing his
writing and hence today's tradition of a 'White Christmas'.
-Early illustrations of St. Nicholas depict him as stern, commanding,
and holding a birch rod. He was more a symbol of discipline and
punishment than the jolly, overweight elf children know today. -Artificial Christmas trees have outsold real ones in the US since 1991.
-Biblical scholars believe Jesus was probably born in a cave and not a wooden stable.
-Mormon missionaries can only call home twice a year: once on Mother's Day and again on Christmas.
-In Greece, Italy, Spain and Germany, workers get a Christmas bonus of one month's salary by law.
-Christmas stockings allegedly evolved from
three sisters who were too poor to afford a marriage dowry and were
therefore doomed to a life of prostitution. They were saved however
when the wealthy Bishop Saint Nicholas of Smyrna (the precursor to
Santa Claus) crept down their chimney and generously filled their
stockings with gold coins.
-St. Nicholas was bishop of the Turkish town in the early 4th
century. The Dutch first made him into a Christmas gift-giver, and
settlers brought him to America where his name eventually became the
familiar Santa Claus.
-The chances of a white Christmas is Australia is pretty much 0.
-Telling "scary ghost stories" is an old Christmas Eve tradition that has died out in the past century.
-95% of all Americans celebrate Christmas
(only 75% of the U.S. is Christian), and just 51% of the holiday's
celebrators consider it a "strongly religious" holiday.
-President Teddy Roosevelt, an environmentalist, banned Christmas trees from the White House in 1912.
-In Armenia, the traditional Christmas Eve meal consists of fried fish, lettuce and spinach.
-Many theologians estimate that Jesus wasn't born sometime in September between 6BC and 30AD.
-Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen is the only record
to get the UK Christmas Singles Chart Number One twice, once in 1975
and again in 1991.
-It is estimated that the single "White Christmas" by Irving Berlin
is the bestselling single of all time, with over 100 million sales
worldwide.
-Christmas has different meanings around the world; Christmas Eve in Japan is a good day to eat fried chicken and strawberry shortcake.
-In 1999, residents of the state of Maine in America built the world's biggest ever snowman. He stood at 113ft tall.
-Engineers designing the Voyager Space mission planned it to avoid planetary encounters over Thanksgiving and Christmas.
-Gold-wrapped chocolate coins commemorate St Nicholas who gave bags of gold coins to the poor.
-There are approximately 21,000 Christmas tree
farms in the United States. In 2008, nearly 45 million Christmas trees
were planted, adding to the existing 400 million trees.
-Alabama was the first US state to recognize Christmas as an official
holiday, and the tradition began in 1836. Oklahoma was the last to
declare it a legal holiday, in 1907.
I had in the past have gone with "traditional" Music, 2 years ago, I had used "Do they know it is Christmas" by Band Aid and last year I went with Bing Crosby and David Bowie with "Little Drummer Boy". I consider those songs "Iconic: Christmas Songs. This year I decided to go with something new and different.....I heard a track from "Celtic Women" and I was mesmerized. There is something haunting and sends chills down my spine when I hear songs like this. There is something about a group of people able to sing in symphony and play off their voice strength. I really thought this was very good. I remember what it was in the late 90's when the Celtic movement hit the states when we had "Riverdance" and others like that. it was nice to see the culture no longer be submerged and I like that.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
The Irish Holiday Film Orchestra was recorded at Icicle Studios, Dublin, Ireland Directed by Timothy Wells Celtic Woman Band:
The Antonas Choir was recorded at South Hill Studios, Dublin, Ireland
Directed by Rosemary Collier All Christmas arrangements by David Downes
I am putting this up on the scheduler, While we were on vacation, we walked into the Christmas Store here in the land of the rodent and they had a bunch of cool shops on "Downtown Disney". I saw this and wondered how they got started.
So I figured I would do a bit of research on the subject.
A nutcracker is a mechanical device for cracking nuts. The earliest use of the term nutcracker in English dates from 1481
Manufacturers produce modern nutcrackers—designed to crack nuts—usually somewhat resembling pliers, but with the pivot point at the end beyond the nut, rather than in the middle. The spring-jointed nutcracker was patented by Henry Quackenbush in 1913. These are also used for cracking the shells of crab and lobster to make the meat inside available for eating.
Nuts have long been a popular choice for desserts, particularly throughout Europe. The nutcrackers were placed on dining tables to serve as a fun and entertaining center of conversation while diners awaited their final course. At one time, nutcrackers were actually made of metals such as brass, and it wasn't until the 1800s in Germany that the popularity of wooden ones began to spread.
Parrots use their beaks as natural nutcrackers, in much the same way smaller birds crack seeds. In this case, the pivot point stands opposite the nut, at the jaw.
Nutcrackers in the form of woodencarvings of a soldier, knight, king, or other profession have existed since at least the 15th century. These nutcrackers portray a person with a large mouth which the operator opens by lifting a lever in the back of the figurine. Originally one could insert a nut in the big-toothed mouth, press down and thereby crack the nut. Modern nutcrackers in this style serve mostly for decoration, mainly at Christmas time, a season of which they have long been a traditional symbol.[2] The ballet The Nutcracker derives its name from this festive holiday decoration. The original nutcrackers were first seen in Germany and were thought to have guardian-like properties because of their strong appearance.
The carving of nutcrackers—as well as of religious figures and of cribs—developed as a cottage industry in forestedrural areas of Germany. The most famous nutcracker carvings come from Sonneberg in Thuringia (also a center of dollmaking) and from the Ore Mountains. Wood-carving usually provided the only income for the people living there. Today the travel industry supplements their income by bringing visitors to the remote areas.
Steinbach nutcrackers have become popular in the United States as well, and the recreated "Bavarian village" of Leavenworth, Washington, even features a nutcracker museum. Many other materials also serve to make decorated nutcrackers, such as porcelain, silver, and brass; the museum displays samples.
Carvings by famous names like Junghanel, Klaus Mertens, Karl, Olaf Kolbe, Petersen, Christian Ulbricht and especially the Steinbach nutcrackers have become collectors' items.
Merry Christmas to everybody in internet land, Right now people are recovering from the early morning wakeups after going to bed late to make things were squared away for Christmas. This is a day to hang with family and relax...eat more then you are supposed to despite what any government health nazi is saying to the contrary. Again Merry Christmas to everybody especially to those people that are twisted enough to visit my little corner of the internet.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!!!
I will go back to my regularly scheduled programming stuff tomorrow.
Well I figured I would run out a 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.[1]
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.
Release
The song was available for some years as a bootleg single backed with "Heroes", which Bowie had also performed on the TV special. In 1982, RCA issued the recording as an official single, complete with the dialogue, arbitrarily placing "Fantastic Voyage" from the Lodger
album on the B-side. Bowie was unhappy with this move, which further
soured his already strained relationship with RCA, and he left the label
soon after.
The single debuted on the UK singles chart in November 1982, and
climbed to position number three on the chart, boosted by a 12" picture
disc release. It has since become a perennial on British Christmas
compilation albums, with the TV sequence also a regular on UK nostalgia
shows.
In the United States, "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" became a staple on radio stations during the Christmas season.
On November 9, 2010, Collector's Choice Music released a 7-inch vinyl edition of "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy" on red-colored vinyl in the United States. The flip-side of the single contained a Bing Crosby/Ella Fitzgerald duet of the song "White Christmas", recorded in 1953. The single was limited to 2,000 copies.
