Marsh Family sings 'Bile and Lies' about JD Vance for Tuneful Tuesday

I promised a musical entry for Tuneful Tuesday, so I'm sharing "Bile and Lies" - Marsh Family parody of The Eagles "Lyin' Eyes" about JD Vance views on Henry Nowak.

“Lyin’ Eyes” was written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey, released by California’s rock legends The Eagles in 1975. It was apparently inspired by their visions of many beautiful younger women with older husbands in Los Angeles, who they imagined leading double lives and lying and cheating. So it’s a story about moral reprobates, hypocrisy, double standards, and virtual self-prostitution, which made it perfect to adapt to address J.D. Vance’s latest foray into European politics.

This reads like another take on the situation that inspired "Little Girls" by Oingo Boingo, which I featured in An attack ad and drink for today's special Senate election in Alabama nine years ago. Back to the Marsh Family.

Plenty of muck-stirrers had already sought to whip up anger and outrage in the wake of the tragic murder of Henry Nowak, and the horrendous footage and troubling backstory. These included Nigel Farage, Tommy Robinson, Rupert Lowe, and Elon Musk. But Vance – who had met several of the more disturbing UK ‘politicians’ last summer – in his inimitable style took things to a new level.

Vance showed wanton disregard for the grieving Nowak family’s own stated request: “We do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred, or tension.” He shared footage of the eighteen-year-old’s ghastly final moments, let down by mistakes by British police officers under huge stress, and crassly linked it to fears about migration, civilisational collapse, hatred, invasion and anger. It was a sick message that has been amplified on Twitter/X and, at point of writing, has over 10m views.
We didn’t even have time to get into the hypocrisy of casting stones across the Atlantic by this administration or this chameleon. But the song’s intended to express that the behaviours, ideologies and values that Vance and his ilk embody, particularly in this tragic moment, are anathema to most in the UK, and we suspect most Europeans. They are like a cancerous cell in the tissue of what we understand being ‘civilised’ means, and they are threatening to metastasise.

"This chameleon" — tell us how you really feel about JD Vance!

I'm going to turn the rest of this post into a brief retrospective of a top share of a Marsh Family song post on Instagram. Follow over the jump.

Meyers, 'The Daily Show,' Kimmel, and the Marsh Family take closer looks at the royal visit

Happy Throwback Thursday! Before I look back at last year's top posts, I'm returning to current events, namely the royal visit of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. Take it away, Seth!

Seth takes a closer look at Trump getting roasted by King Charles III over his $400 million golden ballroom, which Republicans are now insisting should be funded by taxpayers.

I'm repeating what I wrote yesterday.

Donald "Hoover Harding Cleveland" Trump doubling down on his ballroom and going after Kimmel and James Comey is just him persuing his pet projects. It's also an example of "never let a good crisis go to waste." It's just a shame that the projects being pursued are so petty.

Even more of a shame that he's getting so many to go along with him, including shifting its funding from private donors to the taxpayers. Ugh.

By the way, I'm not surprised at the beehive shaped like the White House. Queen Camilla is a beekeeper and I'm sure this was her idea.

Seth didn't mention the new indictment of James Comey, but The Daily Show did in Trump Indicts Comey Over Seashells & King Charles Is King of Congressional Comedy.

King Charles visits Congress for open mic night, and Trump tries to out-tyrant His Majesty with another indictment of former FBI Director James Comey, this time for the "crime" of posting a photo of seashells spelling out "8647." Josh Johnson breaks down MAGA world's feverish accusations against Comey, and Grace Kuhlenschmidt decodes other treasonous hidden messages at the beach.

I'm old enough to retire and in all my years I don't think I've ever written that the King is funny, but he is, and not unintentionally like Joseph II, the Austrian Emperor in Amadeus. Oh, we're getting a remake of that, too.

On the other hand, the second indictment of Comey is both serious and ridiculous. The Daily Show managed to get the right level of comedy out of this personal vendetta disguised as an official act.

Speaking of personal vendettas, I'm returning to Jimmy Kimmel, who both Melania and her husband have called to be canceled, for Trump’s Totally Unhinged Assault Rifle Pic, Big Night with King Charles & James Comey Vendetta.

King Charles and Queen Camilla spent the day in New York, last night they were honored with a lavish dinner at the White House, Charles is here trying to mend the fractured relationship between the U.S. and everyone else, he gave Trump a big shiny golden bell, his MAGA-sty offered some remarks about the royal mess he’s made in Iran, he posted a truly unhinged picture of himself this morning holding an assault rifle, the State Department is planning a limited edition passport with Trump’s face on it, Donald welcomed the astronaunts from Artemis II to the White House, he has an absolutely pigeon-brained vendetta against former FBI Director Jim Comey, and with everything going on it’s very clear that Trump isn’t well, but help is a TrumpRX prescription away!

I need a new passport, but I'm definitely not going to Washington D.C. to get one with Hoover Harding Cleveland's face on it. Yuck!

Stephen Colbert is off this week, so I'm embedding The Marsh Family singing "The British King is Here!" - parody of "The British Grenadiers" about King Charles's US state visit.

King Charles arrived just a few hours ago on a diplomatic mission that has been ludicrously overegged, given the track record of the man he is visiting. So here's our adaptation of a classic British Army marching song (that developed in the seventeenth century and became a staple in the eighteenth - including in the colonies and the Revolutionary War that saw the USA declare its independence). The British Grenadiers is a rousing tune - for many still a regimental quick march - and often a feature of the Trooping the Colour ceremony. Before people wring their hands at adapting it, it's been a recurring theme throughout its history - including notoriously by Joseph Warren (his was called "Free America") in 1774, just before the War of Independence began. We kept to some archaic language to give it the right feel, and had a stab at our own arrangement for who had instruments at home - though a hasty one, on a school night. There are references in there to scrofula, a recent UK ambassador and we removed powwow but kept kowtow after checking about usage and implications - but apologies if any offence caused. We're thinking about recording a few like this in the run-up to the 250th anniversary, so this is a kind of test case :)

Hah! Make more like this!

Follow over the jump for a retrospective of the top posts featuring late-night talk-show hosts during the 15th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

Peaches and carrots, food history from Vox for Throwback Thursday

I closed PBS Terra warns 'A Hidden Antarctic Tipping Point May Have Just Been Triggered' for Wayback Wednesday by telling my readers, "Stay tuned for two videos about food history on Throwback Thursday..." Both are by Vox and the first is The biggest peach myth in America.

Peaches are one of America’s most recognizable fruits. In the US, hundreds of thousands of tons are produced each year, and the fruit is closely tied to one place in particular: Georgia.

The Georgia peach is on license plates, road signs, and even county names. But today, the state doesn’t grow the most peaches. Not even close.

This video explores how peaches became a state symbol, how that reputation spread through active mythmaking, and why the Georgia peach identity has lasted even as the industry changed.

That was a fascinating video that taught me a lot of new things about peaches, including California being the leading peach-producing state, not Georgia. I doubt California will become the new Peach State; my former home state has better things to brag about.

The second explains How we fell for carrot propaganda.

We all heard the myth while growing up: Carrots are good for your eyesight. Or maybe even: Carrots can make you see in the dark. But where did this myth come from? And is there any basis in science?

It turns out that carrots are chock-full of vitamin A, which is necessary for vision. But most people today get enough vitamin A in their normal diet, and eating an excess of the orange vegetable won’t boost your eyesight or grant you night vision. In fact, consuming more vitamin A than your body can handle (via supplements instead of natural fruits and vegetables) can be detrimental to your health.

The origins of this common myth actually lie in World War II.

During the Blitz (the German Luftwaffe’s bombing campaign against London and other British cities), the British government had several important reasons to persuade both its citizens and the wider world that eating carrots improved eyesight. The Ministry of Information and Ministry of Food worked together to spread some shockingly impactful carrot-based propaganda. And the myth remains prevalent to this day.

Vox producer Nate Krieger spoke to an ophthalmologist and a World War II propaganda historian to get to the bottom of the carrot vision myth. This video explores the impetus behind this strangely targeted propaganda campaign, explains why it was so successful, and reintroduces the world to Dr. Carrot.

LOL, World War II British propaganda. Keep calm and carry on, everyone.

Follow over the jump for the top posts featuring Vox on social media last year.

Randy Rainbow sings 'Lyin' and Spinnin' (and Cheatin' and Hidin')'

I told my readers to "stay tuned for Randy Rainbow's latest to[day]. Laugh at the news so we don't cry." Watch and list to Lyin' and Spinnin' (and Cheatin' and Hidin') - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody.

Parody of “Wishin’ and Hopin’” by Burt Bacharach and Hal David

Parody Lyrics by Randy Rainbow
Song Produced, Orchestrated, Mixed, Mastered by: Michael J Moritz Jr

It has been almost two months since Randy Rainbow sings 'It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like F This' and it was worth the wait. Bravo, Randy!

That takes nothing away from the Marsh Family, who filled for Randy during his holiday break. They have a new song, "Peter Mandelson" - Marsh Family parody of "Mrs Robinson" by Simon & Garfunkel on Epstein Files.

Here’s a weeknight speedy turnaround musical parody (missing Tess and Alfie cos unavailable) on the UK fallout linked to the Epstein files, and specifically the former US Ambassador and British Lord, Peter Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein, and the bigger implications of his omissions and appointment rippling through Westminster. Naturally we picked a song from a movie about proteges, covert relationships, virtues and vices, which is another toe-tapping Paul Simon favourite, “Mrs Robinson” – recorded with Art Garfunkel in 1968. The song became the duo’s second number one, and the first rock song to win the Grammy award for Record of the Year. Apparently when the melody was first written there was no name in it, so it could be suited to any three syllable name – which helps explain why Mandelson seemed to fit so well.
...
A “SPAD” is a special adviser to UK politicians (usually a high-level civil servant) – and two resigned in the last day or so who were central to Starmer’s government operation.

The British government seems to be facing consequences faster than the American government. I wonder why that is?

That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned as I plan on examining horror movie nominees for Friday the 13th. Frankenstein!

Brits try Detroit Pizza for Detroit-style Pizza Day

Happy National Detroit-Style Pizza Day! I'm looking at the holiday from across the pond with British trying Detroit-style pizza for the first time. JOLLY did it thrice, beginning with Two Brits try Detroit Pizza for the first time!

In today's video we discovered yet another style of Pizza that we hadn't really even heard of before - Detroit Pizza! Apparently tipped as the best pizza in the world by some, we couldn't wait to give it a taste.

Thanks to Detroit Pizza London for taking such good care of us!

I don't think they got all the history correct, but their enthusiasm is sincere.

They came back for a sequel in British College Students try Detroit Pizza!

In today's video, we were joined by Armand & Max on a break from their studies and we took them to try Detroit Pizza for the first time!

Their friends certainly enjoyed Detroit-style pizza. They also enjoyed the deep-fried lasagna, to which my reaction is "don't give Americans any ideas."

JOLLY did what they promised in the first video in the final video of the series I'm featuring today in Two Brits try REAL Detroit Style Pizza in Detroit!

We're starting off our Detroit series with an obvious first episode, Detroit Style Pizza! In this episode we headed over to the much recommended Loui's Detroit Style Pizza to see what the hype was all about.

I'm glad they enjoyed real Detroit-style pizza. Welcome to Detroit!

Lydic, Colbert, Meyers, and Kimmel take closer looks at the first American Pope for Flashback Friday

Happy Flashback Friday! I set up today's post in the middle of 'Conclave' — fiction vs. reality, when I wrote "I expect I'll return to the topic once the real conclave elects a new Pope." That happened yesterday with the election of Leo XIV. Without any further ado, I begin the videos with The Daily Show's First American Pope Makes History and MAGA Catholics Already Have Issues.

Desi Lydic has the latest from the Vatican after the announcement of the first American pope, Leo XIV, including the world's reaction to a Chicago-style pope and Fox News immediately yelling at him to speak English. Plus, Michael Kosta celebrates America's conclave win.

The Pope told off JD Vance? I like him already.

Unlike Michael Kosta, Stephen Colbert is Catholic, and he weighed in with White Smoke! | The Chicago Pope | Melania Absent While Donald Handles First Lady Duties.

The new Pope is an American from Chicago, and Melania Trump is M.I.A. so her husband has taken on tasks traditionally managed by the First Lady.

"Pope-S-A! Pope-S-A! Pope-S-A!" and "Daa prayers" — classic. On the other hand, Stephen repeating Desi Lydic's line about "English being good enough for Jesus" is enough to bring out my inner pedant to say "Well, actually, Jesus probably spoke Aramaic," complete with pushing up my glasses.

As for the First Lady being at the White House for a total of two weeks out of the first 100 days, I'm not surprised. I wrote Melania Trump prefers Trump Tower to the White House more than eight years ago. Some things haven't changed.

Before I move on, the nomination of Casey Means to be Surgeon General after Dr. Janette Nesheiwat withdrew shows two things; first, the influence of RFK Jr. remains strong, and, second, things can get worse. I can say the same about the replacement of Ed Martin with Jeanine Pirro as Interim U.S. Attorney for D.C. Break out the w(h)ine!

It wouldn't be a closer look post without Seth Meyers, so here's New Pope Criticized JD Vance; Conclave Upstages Trump's Underwhelming U.K. Trade Deal: A Closer Look.

Seth takes a closer look at Donald Trump announcing a meaningless trade deal with the United Kingdom, which is the first deal he's reached after claiming he already had 200, and him getting upstaged by the new pope.

Donald "Hoover Cleveland" Trump deserved to be upstaged. I'm not so sure about UK Prime Minster Keir Starmer, who I mentioned here for the first time since his election, although he was boring. I hope he feels like his country got something out of the deal. Hoover Cleveland probably does; he might buy a Rolls-Royce because of it.

I close the video portion of today's post with Jimmy Kimmel's Trump Reveals First Trade Agreement, MAGA Nuts Lose Minds Over New Pope & MTG’s Dumb-assery.

A new Pope was selected and he’s American, thousands of worshippers gathered in St. Peter’s Square to welcome the new holy father, right wing social media is losing its collective mind because the new Pope cares for the poor and the sick and the plight of immigrants, Trump announced his first trade deal today with the UK, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was not able to be at the White House but he did call in to kiss some ass, Trump blamed Pete Buttigieg for all of the issues at Newark Airport, several of Pete Hegseth’s personal passwords have been compromised by cyberattacks, Klan Mom Marjorie Taylor Greene put on a magnificent display of dumb-assery, Trump has an important Mother’s Day message, and Jimmy’s wife Molly gives a helpful hint for how to make this the best Mother’s Day ever.

Not only did the new Pope criticize Vance, he criticized Hoover Cleveland. I like him even more. Speaking of criticism, fake Starmer was a lot more entertaining than the real one. So was Representative Melanie Stansbury, who showed that Hoover Cleveland isn't the only politician who can be fooled by a doctored photo and then insist they weren't fooled. "Who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?" was a lot funnier when Chico Marx said it.

Because of the criticism of VP Vance combined with the election of the Pope, today's retrospective covers last year's most read shares of blog posts on social media about the 2024 election I haven't already covered. Follow over the jump.

WatchMojo recounts 'The Heartbreaking Life of Freddie Mercury' for World AIDS Day

I promised "a special observance of World AIDS Day as the Sunday entertainment feature," and I'm following through with WatchMojo recounting The Heartbreaking Life of Freddie Mercury.

The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long. Come along as we take a closer look at the story of this legendary singer, musician and performer, including the many challenges and hardships he weathered before being taken too soon. Our video includes Freddie’s struggle to be taken seriously as an artist, his issues with substance abuse, his battle with AIDS, and more! What do YOU think is the most heartbreaking thing about Freddie Mercury’s life? Let us know in the comments!

I've called WatchMojo's videos "high-quality, well-researched clickbait that is worth sharing" and this video exceeded even that standard. I learned a lot about Mercury from this video, including his being born in Zanzibar and his having extra teeth in his mouth. As I'm fond of writing, "it's always a good day when I learn something new, which makes today a good day."

WatchMojo's Top 10 Facts You Never Knew About Freddie Mercury is more the channel's style.

He’s one of the all-time greats, but how much do you really know about this ‘80s musical icon? Did you know that Freddie Mercury wasn't his real name? Or that he actually had more teeth than most people? WatchMojo is counting down the things you never knew about Freddie Mercury.

I learned even more from this video, as light-hearted and trivial as it is. One of the facts was Mercury being David Bowie's roadie. While the Wikipedia entry for "Under Pressure" makes no mention of this connection, it makes for an irresistible transition to Under Pressure - Annie Lennox & David Bowie from Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992.


What chemistry!

That concludes today's tribute to an entertainer taken away too early by AIDS. Stay tuned for Cyber Monday followed by Giving Tuesday to complete the extra-long holiday weekend.

Lost in the Pond explains 'How US Thanksgiving Wasn't What I Expected'

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm taking advantage of today to follow up on an idea I had last month — "I should probably share a video from Lost in the Pond here" — to share Lawrence of Lost in the Pond explaining How US Thanksgiving Wasn't What I Expected.


Hah, Planes, Trains & Automobiles, which I've only referenced once in Meyers' and Colbert's guests on strikes and labor issues and messed up the order even then. It's about time I got it right, thanks to Lawrence.

That's it for Thanksgiving, except for the leftovers. Stay tuned for a tale of the Retail Apocalypse for Black Friday/Buy Nothing Day as I remain in full holiday mode through Tuesday.

BBC News on U.K. and French election results

I closed John Oliver examines the UK elections with a wish and a suggestion to myself.

May the U.K. avoid falling down a rabbit hole because of the election results!

I might return with the results of the U.K. and French elections, where the French seem to have realized that they might fall down a rabbit hole as well and have caught onto the edge to prevent it.

Both elections have concluded, so it's time to review the results. I begin with BBC News reporting UK election results: Labour wins landslide victory.

The Labour Party has won a landslide victory in the UK general election.

With fewer than 10 seats left to declare, this is set to be the worst Conservative result – in terms of seats – in history.

Sir Keir Starmer will be the next UK prime minister and will enter Number 10 Downing Street today.

Overnight, the Liberal Democrats made huge gains, while the Scottish National Party lost dozens of seats.

Reform UK have net four MPs so far and the Green Party have had their best election performance to date.

Wow! That's quite the convincing victory for Labour! Looks like the U.K. got out of the rabbit hole or at least didn't fall into it.

BBC News covered more of Sir Keir Starmer's acceptance speech in Labour wins UK general election with Keir Starmer to be next prime minister.

Labour has officially won the 2024 general election after reaching the required 326 seats.

Speaking in central London, the next prime minister Keir Starmer says "change begins now".

"It feels good, I have to be honest," he tells a cheering crowd.

He adds that the task of a Labour government is "nothing less than renewing the ideas that hold our country together".

I liked P.M. Starmer's speech. I especially appreciated his slogan "Country first, party second." That's a sentiment I wish both major U.S. parties believed in. One of ours certainly doesn't.

While Labour was the clear winner in the United Kingdom, there was no clear winner in the French elections, just a clear loser, Marine Le Pen and her National Rally. As BBC News reported this morning, France faces hung parliament after election result.

France is facing political deadlock after parliamentary elections dealt a blow to the far-right National Rally - but leave no party with a majority.

A coalition of left wing parties - have won most seats in the high stakes snap election.

The left-wing New Popular Front has won 182 seats in total, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally have 143 MP’s, coming behind President Emmanuel Macron’s Ensemble Alliance, which has 168 seats.

RN leader Jordan Bardella blamed "unnatural political alliances" for stopping their rise to power.

France managed to avoid falling into the rabbit hole, but might still be teetering on the edge. Still, it's better than the alternative.

I hope to have more good news about France in time for Bastille Day. If not, no worries, as I already have the plan B I mentioned in A happy drum corps Canada Day 2024! In the meantime, may the U.K. and France serve as good examples for the U.S. in this election year.

CityNerd declares 'Music is urbanist' and lists the top ten music cities

I asked my readers for advice yesterday.

I'm taking a break from Project 2025 to post the Sunday entertainment feature. My choice right now is between Tiana's Bayou Adventure or the BET Awards. Decisions, decisions. Any preference from my readers?

Since no one chimed in, both projects would take more time than I want to spend, and neither ended up appealing to me when I woke up, I changed my mind, so I'm embedding CityNerd's Music Is Urbanist & These Are the Top 10 Cities instead, an entertainment topic that intersects with sustainability.

Whatever kind of music you listen to, it's almost certain it was developed and produced in a city. The way cities nurture and develop artists is vastly under-discussed, so today we're discussing it! In the guise of a top ten list, of course.

When Ray "CityNerd" Delahanty asked "If the question is who's your favorite band or artist, there's really no wrong answer, is there?" and then showed Insane Clown Posse, I smirked. Detroit represent! Speaking of which, Motown is number six on CityNerd's list. I'm not going to complain about its placement, given what cities are ahead and behind of it.

Here's the top ten along with the artists Delahanty gave the most credit for each city's position.

10. Atlanta, Ray Charles
9. Houston, Beyoncé, who just won the Viewer’s Choice Award for “Texas Hold ‘Em” at the BET Awards — see, I actually followed through on one of my ideas!
8. Minneapolis/St. Paul, Prince
7. Seattle, Nirvana and Jimi Hendrix
6. Detroit, Stevie Wonder and other Motown artists
5. Liverpool, The Beatles (plus a Rickroll)
4. Chicago, multiple acts, including Michael Jackson
3. Los Angeles (my original home town), multiple acts, also including Michael Jackson
2. London, multiple acts, including The Who and The Rolling Stones
1. New York, too many acts to pick out.

Honorable Mentions include New Orleans, Memphis, San Francisco and the rest of the Bay Area, Philadelphia, Toronto, Manchester, Oxford, Reykjavik, Jacksonville, Nashville, and Austin.

Did your city make the list?

John Oliver examines the UK elections

I'm still upset after writing MSNBC's anchors and expert guests analyze the Supreme Court's immunity ruling, so I'm looking at some other country's screwed-up politics and having a good laugh at their expense. To that end, I'm sharing UK Elections: (HBO) before that topic turns into a pumpkin tomorrow.

John Oliver discusses the UK elections, who’s running, why people are so upset with the Tories, and the happiest surgeon in all of Lithuania.

One of my favorite sayings that I tell my students is "no one, or in this case, no place, is completely useless; it can always be used as a bad example." Both austerity, a core conservative project on both sides of the pond, and Brexit, which the first two of five consecutive Conservative Prime Ministers did not support and struggled to implement, serve as bad examples that the U.S. should avoid. There is a reason why I have an anti-austerity label on this blog. Also, Brexit may be an analogy for Hoover Cleveland's hostility to NATO. Leaving NATO would be a mistake, too, and another reason not to re-elect the convicted criminal.

By the way, tomorrow is Alice In Wonderland Day, a day that the U.S. and U.K. can celebrate together. May the U.K. avoid falling down a rabbit hole because of the election results!

I might return with the results of the U.K. and French elections, where the French seem to have realized that they might fall down a rabbit hole as well and have caught onto the edge to prevent it. In the meantime, stay tuned for the 4th of July.

Biden, Macron, Trudeau, and King Charles observe the 80th anniversary of D-Day

It's the 80th anniversary of D-Day on Throwback Thursday, so I'm sharing videos from the three countries leading the landings plus the host country. I begin today's observance with ABC News video of President Biden speaks in Normandy marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

Biden greeted surviving members one-by-one, thanking them for the service on that fateful day.

As an expatriate Californian, who loves entertainment nearly as much as my country and tells my students you can take me out of California but you can't take California out of me, I appreciated the name checks of The Longest Day and Band of Brothers. I'm only surprised he and his speechwriter(s) didn't manage to mention Saving Private Ryan as well. I guess one Tom Hanks show was enough.

I also appreciated how President Biden related D-Day to the present day, especially the domestic fight to protect democracy against authoritarianism at home and foreign aggression in Ukraine. May we be up to the task.

Follow over the jump for videos representing France, Canada, and the United Kingdom at the event.

'The Year of the Dragon' from The Cadets and Sacramento Mandarins for a drum corps Lunar New Year

Happy Lunar New Year! So long, Year of the Water Rabbit! Welcome to the Year of the Wood Dragon! I'm celebrating this year's holiday differently than I have before, but in a way I've observed many others, through drum corps, thanks to two DCI corps playing "The Year of the Dragon" by Philip Sparke. I begin with Spotlight: 1997 Cadets from Drum Corps International (DCI), which features the opening of the show with the last movement of the piece.

Placing between the Devils and Vanguard were the Cadets of Bergen County with their production “Celebration,” based entirely on the music of British composer Philip Sparke. Originally, Sparke was mostly known in British brass band circles, resulting in a number of awards, honors, and commissions from brass band associations in western Europe, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

DCI has the rest of the description, written by the late Michael Boo, on its website.

Most of the show was devoted to the three movements of Sparke’s “Year of the Dragon,” originally a 1984 commission for a championship Welsh brass band, later arranged by the composer for concert band. Sparke conceived the work as a virtuosic piece to display the talents of each of the band’s instrumental sections.

Just as the lion is the animal symbol of England and the unicorn is the animal symbol of Scotland, the dragon is the animal symbol of Wales, so this music is not originally about the Chinese Zodiac sign. That didn't stop a historically Chinese-American corps, the Sacramento Mandarins, from playing it in 2002. Watch Mandarins 2002 DCI Championships, uploaded by the corps to its YouTube channel.

2002 DCI Championships. Program: Year of the Dragon. Repertoire: Year of the Dragon, Montage, A London Overture, Diversions.

The Mandarins adopted it as the corps song and played it 20 years later in Year of the Dragon, again uploaded by the corps itself.

Mandarins Brass and Mandarins Alumni Brass perform the corps' anthem, Year of the Dragon at the 2022 DCI Capital Classic.

The Mandarins have definitely made the music their own.

Those are the official uploads. Follow over the jump for the unofficial uploads, previews of coming attractions, and my traditional salutations I use to end my Lunar New Year posts.

Monstrum on 'Mari Lwyd: The Skeleton Horse's Deep Past with Christmas Tradition' for Winter Solstice/Yule

Happy Winter Solstice and Yule! Like last year, I'm celebrating by sharing the latest video from Monstrum on PBS Storied, Mari Lwyd: The Skeleton Horse's Deep Past with Christmas Tradition | Monstrum.

The coastal villages of Wales around the winter holidays have a bizarre nighttime visitor: a grim skeletal horse who roams the streets with a rag tag group, demanding food and drink from neighborhood families. But is this really a monster to be feared, or one that is rather cheered?

First, I'd never heard of Mari Lwyd before watching this video, so I learned something new. It's always a good day when I learn something new. Second, I enjoyed Dr. Z connecting this monster to both the Winter Solstice and to other European Christmas monsters, including Krampus, who has a video of his own. I'm an environmentalist, so I don't just recycle, I conserve my resources. I'm saving that episode of Monstrum for a future Yule. Finally, I have a holiday meme for my readers.


Stay tuned for more holiday posts. I love holidays!

PBS Eons on mosquito evolution for World Mosquito Day

Happy World Mosquito Day! I telegraphed what I am doing today at the end of Vox explains 'What we get wrong about saving the bees' for World Honey Bee Day: "Like Vox did for bees, PBS Eons did for mosquitos, uploading a video this week, just in time for World Mosquito Day. Again, perfect timing." Without any further ado, here's PBS Eons telling its viewers We Helped Make Mosquitoes A Problem, which the channel uploaded on August 15, 2023.

Around 6,000 years ago, in the Sahel region of Africa, a lone female mosquito buzzed through the lush, green savannah. She couldn’t know it, but the planet itself was about to change in ways that would see her descendants evolve to live very different lives. A sudden ecological shift would force them to go from living in forests and feeding on a range of animals to specializing on just one single species: us.

As Michelle Barboza-Ramirez pointed out, this story is an example of everything is connected to everything else, one of Commoner's Laws. This includes us, mosquitos, and climate change, this time caused by natural cycles instead of human pollution.

The story of Aedes aegypti aegypti may be the earliest instance of mosquitos evolving to specialize on humans, but it's not the last. PBS Eons told that story in The London underground has its own type of mosquito.



These underground mosquitos are coming for you
This is literally a textbook example of evolution, as one of the textbooks I used for my biology classes told this story. That's where I first read about it nearly 20 years ago.

Speaking of subway lines, this is where I get off. I have to grade more exams and papers to pass back to my students for the last meeting of my classes tomorrow and Tuesday. Stay tuned for another short video post tomorrow.

The histories of Christmas trees and Poinsettia from Vox for Christmas Eve

I changed my mind since I wrote Festivus history, song, and drink for the rest of us; instead of two weeks of holiday material from "Saturday Night Live" for Christmas Eve, I'm sharing two videos from Vox about the history behind two of the plants used as holiday decorations, beginning with How Christmas trees stopped being just a German thing.

It's a local custom that became a worldwide tradition.
...
The Christmas tree tradition as we know it today has a long and varied history.

It is believed to have roots in ancient cultures, where trees were decorated as part of celebrations.

In the 1500s and 1600s, the Christmas tree became a Germanic custom, with fir trees being a popular choice.

In the 1840s, the practice of having a Christmas tree in the home became more widespread, thanks in part to the influence of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who were both of German descent. The Christmas tree also gained popularity in the United States during this time due to a large influx of German immigrants. The tradition was further popularized through the mass media, such as The Illustrated London News, and the publication of Christmas cards and books like Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Today, Christmas trees can be found in homes around the world and can even be spotted from satellite images of Christmas tree farms.

Why am I not surprised that Christmas trees became more widely popular through the British royal family, which is originally German, intermarrying with their sometimes not-so-distant cousins from Germany at least twice, and then from German emigration to the U.S. and elsewhere? Then again, I shouldn't complain, as I'm one-eighth German and one-eighth English, so I wouldn't exist without German immigration into the U.S.*

The other video Vox uploaded on the general subject was The case to rename this famous Christmas plant.

Why the story of the poinsettia is a troubling one.
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Depending on where you live, there is one plant that you can spot anywhere during the winter holiday season (outside of, well, Christmas trees): poinsettias. It was named for the first US minister to Mexico: Joel Poinsett. In Mexico, Poinsett saw the plant — called cuetlaxochitl by the Aztec and with a long history of use in the region — and shipped some cuttings back to the US.

Many around the world started calling the plant “poinsettia” to celebrate Poinsett’s legacy. But that legacy is a troubling one. Poinsett was a slave owner, a firm believer in American expansion, and during his tenure as secretary of war he oversaw the displacement of thousands of Native Americans. In his role as minister to Mexico, he meddled so much in local politics that he was asked to leave the country.

Because of that history — and the fact that the US still corners the lucrative poinsettia market while restricting their imports from Mexico — many people today reject the name poinsettia in favor of the plant’s Native name, cuetlaxochitl. Check out the video above for more on how the US got the poinsettia.

While I will still say that any day I learn something new is a good day, learning about Poinsett's key role in The Trail of Tears is enough to make me want to change the name I use for the plant. I take that fact a bit personally for reasons I described a decade ago.

My wife, my ex-girlfriend, and my ex-wife all have Native American ancestry. At least two of them would qualify as Native Americans under U.S. government policy, and one of them is enrolled as a Cherokee...

Now to choose between cuitlaxochitl and flor de noche buena. Decisions, decisions.

Follow over the jump for two drink recipes for the holiday.

'Last Week Tonight' examines Jair Bolsonaro after winning three Emmy Awards

Happy October! I'm continuing my coverage of Emmy winners with "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver," which returned to HBO with Bolsonaro after winning three Emmy Awards.

John Oliver discusses Jair Bolsonaro, how he’s run Brazil as president, how far he might go to maintain power after the upcoming election, and, of course, nunchucks.

This sounds familiar and not in a good way. Here's to hoping the Brazilian presidential election has less violence than ours in 2020 and 2021.

Oliver didn't acknowledge his show's Emmy in the clip above. For that, watch John Oliver Roasts the U.K.'s "Very Weird" 10 Days of Mourning for Queen Elizabeth on "Late Night with Seth Meyers."

John Oliver talks about his Emmy win for Last Week Tonight being presented by Selena Gomez, Steve Martin and Martin Short; shares his reaction to the 10 days of mourning for Queen Elizabeth; and discusses turning down his offer for the Order of the British Empire.

I hadn't heard that Oliver turned down an O.B.E., but I'm not surprised. He'd then be "Sir John" and I have a feeling that would cause a lot of cognitive dissonance. Also, I think he's on to something when he called the cancellation of soccer games but not rugby or cricket matches a form of class warfare. As the snarky saying about soccer and rugby goes, "rugby is a rough game played by gentlemen, while soccer is a gentle game played by ruffians."

Follow over the jump for the awards won by "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" along with a revisiting of my calls from John Oliver examines inflation plus 'Last Week Tonight's Emmy nominations.

Colbert returns from vacation to tell jokes about heat waves, drought, and climate change

Stephen Colbert has been on vacation the past two weeks, which is one of the reasons I haven't featured his monologues here since Colbert covers the fourth televised January 6th Committee hearing 30 days ago.* I've missed him and so have my readers, as that post is the second most viewed entry during that time span, behind only Decreased air pollution from pandemic response reduced lightning strikes, which received an assist from Boat Bits before I shared it at the Coffee Party USA Facebook page. He returned Monday and his monologues have all been about climate change and natural disasters, beginning with Europe Swelters Under Heat Apocalypse | Late Show To Go LIVE After Next Jan. 6 Committee Hearing.

Stephen checks on our friends in Europe who are experiencing a record-setting heat wave, and announces that The Late Show will broadcast LIVE this Thursday after the next public hearing by the Jan. 6th Committee.

After starting his monologue with the European heat wave, Stephen moved on to the kind of political news he would normally make fun of, including the third take-home message from the most recent hearing after the 'Unhinged' meeting leading to the January 6th riot and the involvement of extremist groups, The Former Guy calling a future witness, apparently trying to tamper with the witness. We might hear more about that and the Secret Service text messages at tonight's hearing followed by Colbert's live monologue. I'm looking forward to both.

Stephen's writers stepped up the heat wave coverage the next night, beginning with Tuesday's cold open, Peppa Pig And The Very Hot Day.

It's good that Mummy and Daddy Pig are making the best out of a bad situation.

It's a good thing Peppa's fans were all in bed when that aired. It would have upset them.

Tuesday's monologue focused even more on the European heat wave in It's Benny's Birthday! | The U.K. Boils | T**** Hopes Bannon Will Defend Him To Jan 6th Committee.

Stephen celebrates his dog Benny's third birthday, peeks across the pond at the sweltering heat in Europe, and takes a look at what Steve Bannon may say about the former president when he testifies before the Jan. 6th Committee.

Stephen's dog is cute and made a good transition from the roasting of Peppa Pig, pun intended. As for the conversion from Celsius to Fahrenheit that Stephen fumbled hilariously, 40^oC is 104^oF. Yikes!

Stephen and his writers shifted from the U.K. to the U.S. in last night's Celebs Flout CA Water Restrictions | Arnold Schwarzenegger Outed As A Face Farter.

Sylvester Stallone is apparently ignoring California's new rules aimed at conserving water during the current drought, and "End Of Days" star Arnold Schwarzenegger has been credibly accused of passing gas into a fellow actor's face on the set of that film.

Having grown up in Southern California around show business people, I'm not surprised by either of the action stars' bad behavior. As for President Biden, he may not be doing enough about climate change, but he's at least doing what he can. It's something, which is better than nothing.

Stay tuned as I plan on returning tomorrow with Stephen's live monologue.

*So were Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and Trevor Noah. Kimmel had guest hosts on, but Seth and Trevor had no new content during their breaks. I missed them, too.

The history of 'May the Fourth be with you' for Star Wars Day

Happy Star Wars Day and May the Fourth be with you! For this year's celebration, I'm expanding on my aside that "May the Fourth crossed the Atlantic to become Star Wars Day" in Celebrate First Contact Day on 4/5, a Star Trek Day that mirrors Star Wars Day on 5/4. Watch Star Wars Day celebrated as unofficial holiday | Today in History from WUSA9.



Here's a little history behind the punny day.
National Day Calendar has more on the trans-Atlantic history of the holiday.

May the Fourth be with you each year on National Star Wars Day. Or is it, “May the force be with you?” It all depends on whether you like using puns or not.

Thousands of Star Wars enthusiasts celebrate this day each year with parties and celebrations around the nation. If you a fan, then National Star Wars Day allows you to dress like your favorite character, say your favorite lines from the series and catch a movie or read a book.

Star Wars fans didn’t first introduce the often quoted phrase on May 4th. It was 1979, and Britain elected the first female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. On May 4th, the day she took office, the Conservative Party placed an advertisement in The London Evening News, which read, “May the Fourth Be with You, Maggie. Congratulations.”

Star Wars creator, George Lucas, was asked during a 2005 interview on a German news TV channel to say the famous sentence “May the Force Be with You.” Upon doing so, the interpreter interpreted the sentence into German as Am4 Mai sind wir bei Ihnen (On May 4 we are with you). TV Total captured this and aired it on May 18, 2005.
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National Star Wars Day was first organized in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at the Toronto Underground Cinema in 2011. Produced by Sean Ward and Alice Quinn, festivities included an Original Trilogy Trivia Game Show, a costume contest, and the web’s best tribute films, mash-ups, parodies, and remixes on the big screen. May 4th was chosen because of the play on words.

1999 may be the first mention of an American using the phrase in the day's Wikipedia entry, but it didn't stick on this side of the pond until 2011 when the Canadians seized upon it. After Disney bought Lucasfilm in October 2012, it adopted the day beginning in 2013. That is the subtext of May the 4th be with you from ABC News, a division of Disney.

ABC News’ Will Ganss caught up with ‘Star Wars’ fans to see how they’re celebrating the big day!

As I wrote about CNN defending Big Bird after Ted Cruz called one of the character's tweets "Propaganda," "my readers should keep that relationship in mind when watching the clip above. It's not just news value that's driving it."

That's it for Star Wars today. I will return to the theme on the Revenge of the Sixth on Flashback Friday after celebrating Cinco De Mayo. Stay tuned.

Kenneth Branaugh says 'Belfast' has lessons for a divided America

I gave a capsule description of "Belfast" in Politics, government, and diversity among movie nominees at the 2022 Golden Globes, writing the film is "political, as it takes place in Northern Ireland during the 1960s, when The Troubles started to escalate," but "primarily [a] family drama..." MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell previewed the film's Oscar nominations when he interviewed its writer-director Kenneth Branagh in Branagh's 'Belfast' Has Lessons For A Fiercely Divided America.

Oscar-nominated director, actor, and screenwriter Kenneth Branagh joins MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell to discuss his brilliant new film, ‘Belfast,’ which is based on Branagh’s own experiences with the start of The Troubles in Northern Ireland. The two also discuss the parallels of the turbulent era brought to life in the film and the current deep political divide in the United States.

I found reason for both alarm and hope in Branaugh's and O'Donnell's observations. The alarm comes from Branaugh's description of the street where he grew up being transformed in a matter of hours into a barricaded and occupied area during a low-grade civil war. That situation lasted for about thirty years until the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Yikes! The hope is that family life continued through all of it and Northern Ireland recovered to the color scenes of today that open the movie. If all that happens to the U.S. on that time scale, I may not live to see it, but my children will. That's cold comfort for me, but it is something, although I'd rather have the U.S. fall into civil disorder. That's a topic I'll have to examine again, as it's a prime example of collapse and decline.*

O'Donnell was correct in forecasting Oscar nominations for "Belfast." The movie has earned enough awards and nominations that the topic has its own Wikipedia page. The Motion Picture Academy nominated "Belfast" in seven categories: Best Picture, Best Director for Kenneth Branagh, Best Supporting Actor for Ciarán Hinds, Best Supporting Actress for Judi Dench, Best Original Screenplay for Kenneth Branagh, Best Original Song for Van Morrison for "Down to Joy," and Best Sound. I plan on writing about the film's chances for most of its nominations later, but right now I'm venturing that Branaugh, who won Best Screenplay for "Belfast" at Golden Globes, is the most likely winner for Best Original Screenplay.

I am disappointed but not surprised that Judy Dench earned the Supporting Actress nomination over Outlander actress Caitríona Balfe. I think both repelling and attractive forces contributed to that choice. I'm going to be a good environmentalist by recycling what I wrote in Fantastic and futuristic politics and government nominees at the Critics Choice Super Awards for National Science Fiction Day for what pushed the Oscar voters away from Balfe: "[T]he creatives in Hollywood won't give 'Outlander' the time of day. As I wrote in September, 'The fans love 'Outlander.' The professionals, not so much.'" That even seems to extend to the actors in roles outside the fantasy historical romance series. As for the attractive force, all I have to type is "Dame Judy Dench." Electorates matter.

"Belfast" may be the most nominated contemporary or historical film at the Oscars nominee about politics, but it's not the most nominated movie about politics in general. That distinction belongs to "Dune," which features a lot of futuristic politics and political allegory in its science fiction. I definitely plan on writing about it. Consider this a down payment on the Oscars posts I promised at the end of 'Diana the Musical' leads 2022 Razzies with nine nominations. In the meantime, stay tuned for Darwin Day.

*Yes, I'm still a doomer blogger and societal collapse is still part of the blog's description, although I'm writing about that mostly in terms of the pandemic lately.