Category: History

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Hot Links

NOEL is LEON spelled backwards, so here is Mr. Redbone (with Dr. John) from the album “Christmas Island.”

Nice list of Christmas Carols organized by language.

Here’s a great title from 1553: “Un Flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle” (“Bring a Torch, Jennette, Isabelle.”)  Basically, two girls are directed to create a fire hazard in a stable, someone bangs on the door to deliver cakes, but there’s a sleeping newborn so everyone better shut up.

The medieval Christmas carol, “Entre le bœuf et l’âne gris” (“Between the Ox and the Grey Ass”) as performed on 10 Theramins.

Q: What’s the oldest Christmas carol?
A: I dunno, but here’s a start.

Every Christmas Tree needs a Jingle Pug.
(That one’s for you Ms. Oops.)

The Story of the Crap Tree.

The missus showed me a coupon that included a turkey stuffing recipe using White Castle Sliders yesterday. Wow.

Every rock band has a Christmas song, including The Ramones.

Los Angeles Ex-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, aka Tony Villar, grunts “Jingle Bells” [via The John and Ken Show AM640KFI].

Pah-Rumpa-Pum-Pum indeed. This is the best version ever.

Ever hear anyone say, “Now, bring us some figgy pudding?” Neither have I, but if someone does, this is what you gotta do.

We Remember – 7 December 1941

WE REMEMBER

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[Top image is my late Dad’s rubber stamp; 2nd image found here.]

Wright Brothers’ Early Spacewalk Test (ca. 1915)

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Using a pressurized helium-vapor suit, Orville and Wilbur Wright sought to solve future problems of space exploration, and their younger step brother “Nottle” volunteered to be the test pilot. Once afloat, the tethers snapped, and he sailed over the horizon. He landed in France and enlisted with the 43rd Balloon Company, serving as a practice target in WWI. Out of eleven volunteers, he was never shot down by the Boche once, and he survived the friendly fire, too.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t a spacewalk test, and maybe it had nothing at all to do with WWI, but maybe it did, depending on how you look at it.

[Original image found here.]

Raul, You’re Next.

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[Update:  Required reading.]

Boy’s Life Magazine November 1927 – Happy Thanksgiving!

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Excerpt from L.K. Smith’s short story:

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In the early years of this country’s formation, Thanksgiving was celebrated intermittently as a time of a bountiful harvest, an insurance policy against winter starvation, and thanks were given to God. It wasn’t until 1863 that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November.

Have a great Holiday, and I hope that the children and grandchildren still fight over the wishbone.  –Bunk

[Previous posts about Thanksgiving here.]

A Super Moon, The Moon Bunny Lady & Apollo 11

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SuperMoon is scheduled to peak at 8:52AM EST Monday (and no, I’m not gonna set my alarm). This full moon will be not only the closest and brightest supermoon of 2016 but also the largest since 1948, and the full moon won’t come this close to Earth again until Nov. 25, 2034.

The moon rabbit in folklore is a rabbit that lives on the Moon, based on pareidolia that identifies the markings of the Moon as a rabbit. The story exists in many cultures, prominently in East Asian folklore and Aztec mythology. In East Asia, it is seen pounding in a mortar and pestle, but the contents of the mortar differ among Chinese, Japanese, and Korean folklore. In Chinese folklore, it is often portrayed as a companion of the Moon goddess Chang’e, constantly pounding the elixir of life for her; but in Japanese and Korean versions, it is pounding the ingredients for rice cake [Wiki].

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[Top image from here; Apollo 11 quotes documented here and here, recording from here ; PBF strip here.]

The 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month of 1918 – Armistice Day

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A suspension of hostilities was agreed to in 1918, yet it was not the end of The Great War. Appeasement without enforcement of sanctions led to unimaginable atrocities a few short years later.

May we never make that mistake again.

 

 

 

 

 

St. Pancras Hotel

St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London

St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London. St. Pancras is the Patron Saint of Teenagers:

We have no reliable historical information about this martyr. Legend tells us he was born at the end of the third century and brought up by an uncle in Rome after the death of his parents. Both he and his uncle became Christians. Pancras was beheaded in 304 during Diocletian’s persecution. He was only 14 years old [via].

[Photo by Dan Hamilton, image found here.]

Jim Ignatowski’s Father

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Veterans of WWII re-acclimating to civilian life.

[Found here. The irreverent reference to Reverend Jim Ignatowski is a joke.]

Happy Columbo Day!

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The feat was both amazing and dangerous, especially given the limited technology of the time. The world was much larger than anyone had previously imagined, and relatively little had been recorded by seagoing cartographers. Much of what they compiled was inaccurate, but they were not completely in the dark.

They had the Martellus Map of 1489 [pictured above].

Cristoforo Colombo changed all that, and for that he should be remembered. He had big cojones, as did every sailor who joined him on his voyages into the unknown. I doubt that his financial supporters (including Queen Isabella of Spain) expected him to ever return from the first exploration, but he did, and he made several round-trip voyages after that, relying on seasonal trade winds.

Here’s to one of the greatest explorers in history.