Monthly Archives: December 2024

Come and Get Your Love:

30 December 2024 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment



In the opening credits of the 2014 Marvel movie Guardians of the Galaxy, Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), pops his Awesome Mix Vol. 1 into his Sony TPS-L2 Walkman, first released in 1979, and begins to dance and lip-sync on Morag, scooping up a lizard to use as a mic while grooving to the words of Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love.”

In the 2017 sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, during the opening credits, Baby Groot reprises the dancing role while the rest of the Guardians battle a big and nasty monster, with ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky” blasting in the background.

“Come and Get Your Love,” originally titled “Hail” and released in 1974, was Redbone’s most successful song, reaching #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and going Gold in the U.S. and Platinum in the U.K. The song was included on the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack, which reached #1 on the Billboard 200 for 2 weeks in August 2014.

Trivia: Beginning around the 3:15 mark in the video, the phrase “mehohta naa hekotahestotse” is written above a picture of the band members. While I’m not entirely sure of the language and its translation, it appears to be Cheyenne, meaning “I am happy to meet you.”

Source: Come and Get Your Love, RedboneVEVO by Juan E Bedolla, 2019.

The First Capitalist

29 December 2024 By in Economics, History Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Adam Smith, who published his landmark economic treatise The Wealth of Nations in 1776, created an immense tome that spans around 950 pages of incredibly original theory, but it also disparagingly known for its complex language, lengthy, detailed detours, and economic examples that can seem quaint or enigmatic by today’s standards. The book is worth reading but find an abridged version such as The Wealth of Nations: Abridged, CreateSpace, 2011, 150 pages.

His theories for the efficient running of a country’s economy have become the foundation of classical economics, eventually forming the basis for the capitalist economic system. In his book, he introduced concepts such as the invisible hand, free markets, and laissez-faire economics—principles that are widely accepted in the Chicago and Austrian schools of economic thought today.

The Wealth of Nations is divided into 5 books:

  • Economic Efficiency: Discusses the division of labor and how it increases productivity and efficiency in the economy.
  • Accumulation of Capital: Focuses on the importance of savings and investment in driving economic growth.
  • Economic Growth: Examines the factors that contribute to the prosperity of nations, including labor, land, and capital.
  • Economic Theory: Lays out the principles of supply and demand, price mechanisms, and market dynamics.
  • The Role of Government: Argues for limited government intervention, emphasizing the protection of property rights, national defense, and the provision of public goods.

Trivia: Smith never used the word capitalist or any of its derivatives. The first English use of the word “capitalism” is believed to have appeared in the novel The Newcomes by William Makepeace Thackeray. The story follows a banking family and their increasing wealth and admittance into the English aristocracy.

Source: The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith. The Newcomes by Thackeray.

Journalism – Hunter Biden’s Laptop and the FBI 2019-2020:

28 December 2024 By in History, Journalism, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

In October 2020, a few weeks before the election, the New York Post reported on the existence and contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop. Media sources other than the Post did not report on the laptop, supposedly due to concerns about the authenticity of the computer and its contents. Below is a partial timeline of FBI’s involvement in the laptop.

  • Summer 2019: John Paul Mac Isaac, owner of the computer repair shop, attempted to notify the FBI through his father that he had a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden. The FBI turned Isaac away.
  • October 2019: The FBI contacted Isaac’s father and eventually Isaac to discuss the laptop, which occurred during the impeachment of President Trump. That same month, Hunter Biden’s attorney contacted Isaac about the laptop, but nothing came of that interaction.
  • November 2019: The FBI authenticated the laptop as belonging to Hunter Biden and determined it was not part of any foreign disinformation campaign. The FBI authenticated the laptop, in part, by matching communications contained on the computer with intercepted 2017 communications from China. The FBI kept the authentication confidential, supposedly due to concerns over foreign disinformation.
  • December 2019: The FBI seized the laptop from Isaac under a subpoena issued by a Wilmington Grand Jury. The grand jury had been investigating Hunter Biden’s foreign financial dealings. The IRS was also notified that the laptop likely contained evidence of tax crimes.
  • Run-up to the 2020 Election: The FBI warned social media companies about potential foreign disinformation related to the laptop, which caused the story to be suppressed on Twitter and Facebook.
  • Post-2020 Election: The FBI continued to remain silent about the authenticity and contents of the laptop, citing concerns over foreign disinformation and ongoing criminal cases.

Sources: Morris and Fonrouge, NY Post, 2020. John Solomon, Just the News, 2020. Kerr and Simonson, Free Beacon, 2023. Oliver, Washington Examiner, 2023. Sperry, NY Post, 2023. Graphic: President Biden and his son Hunter, AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu).

Kung Fu Fighting

27 December 2024 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Fifty years ago, during the Bruce Lee and David Carradine Kung Fu craze, the Jamaican musician Carl Douglas recorded “Kung Fu Fighting” as a B-side throw-away funky novelty song to his A-side soulful tune: “I Want to Give You Everything“.

“Kung Fu Fighting” quickly eclipsed the A-side record and rose to number 1 in December 1974 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The record went Gold in the same year as its release and eventually sold over 11 million copies worldwide.

Bruce Lee was instrumental in bringing Kung Fu and Chinese martial arts to the U.S. in the 1960s through his films and by teaching his skills to notable Hollywood personalities such as Chuck Norris, Roman Polanski, James Coburn, and Sharon Tate.

Trivia: The beginning and ending scenes in the “Kung Fu Fighting” music video are from the 2004 martial arts comedy movie “Kung Fu Hustle” starring Stephen Chow as Sing.

Source: Kung Fu Fighting (Remaster HD) by Carl Douglas 20th Century Fox 1974 and YouTube 2022.

Sarcasm Slightly Cold

26 December 2024 By in Biography, History Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Stacy Schiff, biographer of Cleopatra VII and history of Egypt and Rome during her reign as Egypt’s queen is an entertaining writer with a sardonic sense of humor.

Wit of Schiff I: Cleopatra and Mark Anthony, after a three-year separation, reunited in 37 BC in Antioch. They rekindle their relationship, Cleopatra becomes pregnant, and they part again in early 36 BC, he for a military campaign in Parthia and she to go south to meet with Herod in Jerusalem.

“In the course of the visit she met Herod’s fractious extended family…Herod had the misfortune to share an address with several implacable enemies, first among them his contemptuous, highborn mother-in-law, Alexandra…his insinuating mother; a grievance-loving, overly loyal sister; and Mariamme, the cool, exceptionally beautiful wife…who to his frustration, somehow could never get past the fact that Herod had murdered half her family.”

Wit of Schiff II: Mark Anthony after conquering Armenia, which included parts of modern Turkey and Azerbaijan, in 34 BC, “returned to Alexandria in triumph, taking with him not only the collected treasure of Armenia, but its King, his wife, their children, and the provincial governors. Out of deference to their rank, he bound the royal family in chains of gold.”

Trivia: No good, confirmed likenesses of either Cleopatra or Herod exist. Recently a bust from the Egyptian Taposiris Magna temple near Alexandria has been recovered which the archaeologist, Kathleen Martinez claims is a likeness of Cleopatra. Other experts disagree.

Source: Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Shiff, 2010. Marble Bust Found, Gadgets 360, 2024.

The Little Drummer Boy

24 December 2024 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Katherine Davis, an American composer of over 600 songs, is remembered today for one iconic song: “The Little Drummer Boy“, which she penned in 1941 and was originally titled “Carol of the Drum”.

Claire Fontijn of Wellesley College, commenting on the inspiration for the song, states that Davis, an alumna of the college, “when she was trying to take a nap, she was obsessed with this song that came into her head and it was supposed to have been inspired by a French song, ‘Patapan,’” explained Fontijn. “And then ‘patapan’ translated in her mind to ‘pa-rum-pum-pum,’ and it took on a rhythm” that became the beat of the song.

The Trapp Family Singers, famous from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “The Sound of Music“, brought the song to the American public when they recorded it in 1951 for Decca Records.

Jack Halloran, a composer and choral director for singers such as Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, recorded the song with a different arrangement for the album “Christmas is A-Comin’” on Dot Records in 1957. The song was not released as a single, though. In 1958, Harry Simeone recorded an almost identical version of Halloran’s arrangement for Decca Records. The song, as recorded by Decca Records, credits Davis, along with arrangers Henry Onorati and Harry Simeone. Jack Halloran is not given credit for the Decca Record.

Source: Wellesley Faculty, Wellesley College, 2017. The Little Drummer Boy by Harry Simeone, 1977. Graphic: The Little Drummer Boy by Joan Jett on the 1981 I Love Rock’n Roll album, Boardwalk label.

Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire

23 December 2024 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

On a sweltering summer day in 1945 in Los Angeles, Bob Wells was sitting at his piano, trying to coax himself into a cooler state of mind by writing some wintry lines in his notebook:

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Jack Frost nipping at your nose

Yuletide carols being sung by a choir

And folks dressed up like Eskimos

His songwriting partner, Mel Tormé, stopped by shortly after he had written those lines, and in less than an hour, they finished the lyrics to what would become “The Christmas Song” (also known as “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire“).

Nat King Cole fell in love with the song when Tormé played it for him shortly after they had finished it. However, it took until 1946 before he could get into a studio to record it. Cole recut the song again in 1953 and 1960, with the last version becoming today’s definitive standard.

On most ranked lists of Christmas songs, “The Christmas Song” usually comes in at number 2, just behind “White Christmas“.

Source: The Christmas Song by Lydia Hutchinson, Performing Songwriter, 2016. Graphic: The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole, Capital Records and YouTube, 2010.

Friends

22 December 2024 By in Art, History Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

On a fine, lazy summer day along the banks of the Seine in 1880, possibly 1881, Pierre-Auguste Renoir began sketching and painting his most celebrated structured composition, “Luncheon of the Boating Party”.

The luncheon party takes place on the balcony of the Maison Fournaise restaurant and includes 14 friends and acquaintances of the painter, 13 of whom have been identified.

The Phillips Collection, where the painting resides, comments that, Renoir has immortalized his friends to such a degree that the image is “not anectdotal [sic] but monumental.” …Renoir’s magnus opus is a very tightly composed work, uniting within one image the time-honored compositional traditions of figure painting, still life, and landscape.

Edward G. Robinson, American actor and art collector, in “All My Yesterdays: An Autobiography” amusingly remarks, “For over thirty years I made periodic visits to Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party in a Washington museum, and stood before that magnificent masterpiece hour after hour, day after day, plotting ways to steal it.”

Source: The Phillips Collection, Washington D.C. All My Yesterdays by Robinson. Graphic: Luncheon of the Boating Party by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1881. Public Domain.

Journalism – Tom Llamas and Ian Panell 2019

21 December 2024 By in Journalism Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

In October 2019, ABC “News” broadcast video supposedly from Syria, depicting an attack by the Turkish military on Kurdish town and civilians. ABC later apologized that the video was not from Syria but from a gun range in Kentucky in 2017.

Both ABC News anchor Tom Llamas and foreign correspondent Ian Panell described the video as a military bombing in Syria during their nightly broadcast. “This video, obtained by ABC News, appears to show the fury of the Turkish attack on the border town of Tal Abyad two nights ago,” said Panell, while Llamas also told viewers the footage appeared to show “Turkey’s military bombing Kurd civilians in a Syrian border town.”

However, Gizmodo, a tech site, said the explosions in the video are very likely from a YouTube titled “Knob Creek Night Shoot 2017,” a biannual event hosted at a local gun range in West Point, Kentucky.

Source: Fake Bombing by Kayla Kibbe, InsideHook, 2019. Graphic: Beat the Press, PBS.

White Christmas

19 December 2024 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Berlin believed that “White Christmas” was not only the best song he ever composed but quite simply the best song ever.

Although accounts differ, most agree that he wrote the song between 1938 and 1940. It was eventually included in the 1942 movie Holiday Inn, earning the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1943. Bing Crosby debuted the song on Christmas Day 1941, a mere 18 days after the Pearl Harbor attack.

“White Christmas” evokes a melancholy nostalgia for many listeners, bringing back cherished memories of simpler times. Tina Benitez-Ives of American Songwriter writes that the lyrics may have been centered around the death of Berlin’s son, who died on Christmas Day in 1928 at only three weeks old. Every year after the death of his son, Berlin, who was Jewish, and his wife would visit his grave on Christmas, which may have led him to write the more somber holiday song.

Source: American Songwriter. Graphic: White Christmas by Bing Crosby and the London Symphony Orchestra, youtube. White Christmas by Bing Crosby, Decca Records.