james brown

Christmas carol odds and sods

Submitted by rickeyre on December 28, 2006 - 3:06pm

On the fourth day of Christmas, I think it's time to wrap this series up, and not in either Christmas wrapping paper or swaddling clothes either.

But before I do ACCP7, there's a few odds and sods that I haven't pulled together into one theme, and unless I get some inspiration between now and Epiphany, I'll leave them for another year to germinate. I hadn't even contemplated the Christmas Oratorios of JS Bach until Al Sharpton made the following pronouncement:

"What James Brown was to music in terms of soul and hip-hop, rap, all of that, is what Bach was to classical music."

A great American died this week. So did Gerald Ford.

Submitted by rickeyre on December 28, 2006 - 1:13am

"Tune Into FOX News Channel for Live Coverage of President Ford's Death"

- foxnews.com home page, 27.12.06

James Brown emulated WC Fields on Monday by expiring on Christmas Day. Gerald Ford emulated Harry Truman by expiring on Boxing Day.

James Brown was a legendary R&B performer who spent time in jail for crimes of violence. Gerald Ford was an unelected president who complicity in Indonesia's invasion of East Timor - among other episodes - has gone unchecked.

Wikipedia's bio of President Ford is currently in a state of flux, as one would imagine. It does include a 1975 photo of Ford having a chat with his Chief of Staff Richard B.Cheney, and his Secretary of Defense, Donald H.Rumsfeld. (This at a time when Nobel Peace Laureate Henry A.Kissinger was Secretary of State, and George W.Bush was National Guardsman In Absentia.)