A violent crime taking place on a CTA car with 12 passengers vs. 10 passengers and calling it an improvement is definitely a stretch. Even comparing crime rates of cities per capita is not comparing true safety, because of geographic area and density. At 875 square miles, Jacksonville FL is the size of 4 Chicagos. There may not be a violent crime within 100 miles of you, yet your safety is being compared to much denser cities.
Your take on the misappropriation of “Hallelujah “ as a Christmas song reminded me of the the funny story of the time that Lawerence Welk decided to feature “One Toke Over the Line” on his show in 1971, performed by his singers Dick Dale and Gail Farrel. Owing to the song’s “sweet Jesus” refrain, Lawerence characterized the song as a “modern gospel” song.
It also reminds me of songs like “Born in the USA” and “Rockin In the Free World” being used at political or patriotic events, and “Every Breath You Take” becoming a staple of wedding receptions, all suggesting that people have never really paid attention to the lyrics of any of these songs.
As a fellow Michigan alum, I'm all-in with you in rooting for OSU this weekend. I'd love to see a re-match between these two teams, even if the Blue end up losing. But first, Michigan has to get by TCU.
While many of your curated top 40 Tweets of the year were funny, I think you featured many more this year that were funnier than many of your picks. Tomayto/Tomahto.
If Putin is not President by the end of the year, it is because he has died, due to (truly) health issues. (In contrast to the tweet I saw yesterday - "I received a Russian advent calendar. When you open each of the 24 windows, a Russian Oligarch falls out to his death.")
I hadn't realized that "Carol of the Bells" was an Ukrainian (non-Christmas carol) song. I'll have to look up an English translation of the original lyrics. My daughter was a high school madrigal, and their rendition was amazing.
I had the same reaction to Rep. Santos. How did this guy's lies not get exposed during the primary and election cycle? They are so absurdly blatant and so easily checked. And how could his Democratic opponent's campaign have failed to expose any of it? Were they clueless or was their candidate so bad that they couldn't beat anyone?
Ever since the Big 10 started scheduling games on Friday nights (which belongs to prep football), I can't stand anything about that conference. Ohio State and Michigan present further complications. I can't pull for OSU cause it's a red state. Meanwhile, the Wolverine coach, Jim Harbaugh is the most annoying coach in history. He is to college football as "Kars for Kids" is to radio commercials. I'm pulling for Georgia and its two votes in the Senate.
"Whatever the song is about exactly — with its biblical and sexual references, its expressions of disappointment, its determination, its hints of joy — it ain’t about Christmas." -- Zorn
Hallelujah is a scriptural word that means “Praise the Lord,” and there is no reason to view it otherwise. The word comes from an ecclesiastical meaning traditionally blended with secular overtones throughout the musical piece. It is hard to dismiss this as historically insignificant and instead view Christmas as an exclusively fun, secular time to exchange gifts with family and friends and not a time to “Praise the Lord” at all (as might be an atheist’s standard of judgment for a secular people). Since we’re celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ the Lord of All, on Christmas it makes sense to acknowledge the etymological connection and the meaningful traditional connections in all other characteristics that the word Hallelujah has to Christmas, which are many.
I would think that the market will be the best discipline for Southwest. This holiday has to make a huge hit to their reputation and hurt near term sales. But given that they are the largest of the low-cost, no-fees, airlines and fly to 100 destinations in the US, I do not expect that they will take a long-term hit. The average fare of $142 drew 50 million passengers in 2020. I am curious to know what has caused the problem, which may be primarily due to a unique alignment of weather and airports that hit their point-to-point model. They are the only airline that ever failed to get my bags on the plane. But this does not impress me as an especially important regulatory issue.
I wish you'd add another link to the tweet of the week poll after the Tune of the Week. I'm always torn between heading off to vote or staying for the tune.
I got 93 out of 100, in the top 100 films, pretty good since I somehow managed to miss Saving Private Ryan and Some Like it Hot, but a host of obscurities, such as Beau Travail bailed me out.
Saw 85 of the Variety 100. That included Sight & Sound BFI’s No. 1 film, “Jeanne Denman” (or something like that) last week. It is remarkable how fast a 3:20 film moves when after the first tedious 20 minutes you fast-fast-forward through the rest in less than half an hour. Didn’t miss a thing.
eric - re poll question about affirmative action for college admissions - i take issue with your use of the provocative verb 'eviscerate'. we agree that SCOTUS will end AA 'as we know it' - but there will remain plenty of room for AA - and a better, fairer AA, i believe - after racial quotas or 'preferences' are abolished. AA will be achieved in student admissions and financial aid through financial need of the student and the student's family. the problem with not enough black and hispanic students in college, and at the best colleges and universities, is not a failure of affirmative action - it is the failure of government-run K-12 education - among the other pathologies of low income, minority urban communities.
I'm surprised to see no mention here or in the older discussion of inappropriate song of "Cherish". Catchy tune and refrain, but it's about a break-up.
Sure wish today's links weren't broken.
A violent crime taking place on a CTA car with 12 passengers vs. 10 passengers and calling it an improvement is definitely a stretch. Even comparing crime rates of cities per capita is not comparing true safety, because of geographic area and density. At 875 square miles, Jacksonville FL is the size of 4 Chicagos. There may not be a violent crime within 100 miles of you, yet your safety is being compared to much denser cities.
Your take on the misappropriation of “Hallelujah “ as a Christmas song reminded me of the the funny story of the time that Lawerence Welk decided to feature “One Toke Over the Line” on his show in 1971, performed by his singers Dick Dale and Gail Farrel. Owing to the song’s “sweet Jesus” refrain, Lawerence characterized the song as a “modern gospel” song.
It also reminds me of songs like “Born in the USA” and “Rockin In the Free World” being used at political or patriotic events, and “Every Breath You Take” becoming a staple of wedding receptions, all suggesting that people have never really paid attention to the lyrics of any of these songs.
EZ -
As a fellow Michigan alum, I'm all-in with you in rooting for OSU this weekend. I'd love to see a re-match between these two teams, even if the Blue end up losing. But first, Michigan has to get by TCU.
While many of your curated top 40 Tweets of the year were funny, I think you featured many more this year that were funnier than many of your picks. Tomayto/Tomahto.
If Putin is not President by the end of the year, it is because he has died, due to (truly) health issues. (In contrast to the tweet I saw yesterday - "I received a Russian advent calendar. When you open each of the 24 windows, a Russian Oligarch falls out to his death.")
I hadn't realized that "Carol of the Bells" was an Ukrainian (non-Christmas carol) song. I'll have to look up an English translation of the original lyrics. My daughter was a high school madrigal, and their rendition was amazing.
Have a great New Year! (And Go Blue!)
I had the same reaction to Rep. Santos. How did this guy's lies not get exposed during the primary and election cycle? They are so absurdly blatant and so easily checked. And how could his Democratic opponent's campaign have failed to expose any of it? Were they clueless or was their candidate so bad that they couldn't beat anyone?
My wish for the P-S in 2023 is to see at least a 75% reduction in posts concerning the University of Michigan's Football team.
Ever since the Big 10 started scheduling games on Friday nights (which belongs to prep football), I can't stand anything about that conference. Ohio State and Michigan present further complications. I can't pull for OSU cause it's a red state. Meanwhile, the Wolverine coach, Jim Harbaugh is the most annoying coach in history. He is to college football as "Kars for Kids" is to radio commercials. I'm pulling for Georgia and its two votes in the Senate.
"Whatever the song is about exactly — with its biblical and sexual references, its expressions of disappointment, its determination, its hints of joy — it ain’t about Christmas." -- Zorn
Hallelujah is a scriptural word that means “Praise the Lord,” and there is no reason to view it otherwise. The word comes from an ecclesiastical meaning traditionally blended with secular overtones throughout the musical piece. It is hard to dismiss this as historically insignificant and instead view Christmas as an exclusively fun, secular time to exchange gifts with family and friends and not a time to “Praise the Lord” at all (as might be an atheist’s standard of judgment for a secular people). Since we’re celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ the Lord of All, on Christmas it makes sense to acknowledge the etymological connection and the meaningful traditional connections in all other characteristics that the word Hallelujah has to Christmas, which are many.
I would think that the market will be the best discipline for Southwest. This holiday has to make a huge hit to their reputation and hurt near term sales. But given that they are the largest of the low-cost, no-fees, airlines and fly to 100 destinations in the US, I do not expect that they will take a long-term hit. The average fare of $142 drew 50 million passengers in 2020. I am curious to know what has caused the problem, which may be primarily due to a unique alignment of weather and airports that hit their point-to-point model. They are the only airline that ever failed to get my bags on the plane. But this does not impress me as an especially important regulatory issue.
I wish you'd add another link to the tweet of the week poll after the Tune of the Week. I'm always torn between heading off to vote or staying for the tune.
I got 93 out of 100, in the top 100 films, pretty good since I somehow managed to miss Saving Private Ryan and Some Like it Hot, but a host of obscurities, such as Beau Travail bailed me out.
Saw 85 of the Variety 100. That included Sight & Sound BFI’s No. 1 film, “Jeanne Denman” (or something like that) last week. It is remarkable how fast a 3:20 film moves when after the first tedious 20 minutes you fast-fast-forward through the rest in less than half an hour. Didn’t miss a thing.
eric - re poll question about affirmative action for college admissions - i take issue with your use of the provocative verb 'eviscerate'. we agree that SCOTUS will end AA 'as we know it' - but there will remain plenty of room for AA - and a better, fairer AA, i believe - after racial quotas or 'preferences' are abolished. AA will be achieved in student admissions and financial aid through financial need of the student and the student's family. the problem with not enough black and hispanic students in college, and at the best colleges and universities, is not a failure of affirmative action - it is the failure of government-run K-12 education - among the other pathologies of low income, minority urban communities.
I'm surprised to see no mention here or in the older discussion of inappropriate song of "Cherish". Catchy tune and refrain, but it's about a break-up.