Super Bowl LVIII, chicken pot pie, Valentine’s Day, Kansas City mass shooting, Alexei Navalny, Fani Willis hearing, ‘Past Lives’ (2023)
holidays
Another Week: Number 48
Thanksgiving week: Amy starts new Piqray chemo, Samsung Portable SSD T7 Shield, ‘The National Dog Show,’
‘Austin City Limits’: Foo Fighters
Christmas with the Pilgrims, America’s earliest Christians
Pilgrims Going to Church (1867), by George Henry Boughton The Pilgrims considered Christmas an abomination The Pilgrims — the people we celebrate each Thanksgiving, who came to America on the Mayflower, signed the Mayflower Compact and founded Plymouth Colony —...
Holiday depression
I finished the book Empty Mansions that I had downloaded from the library to my Kindle. That was pretty fascinating, to read about the wealthy Clark family and how much the heiress Huguette gave away to her caregivers.
How to sleep: Candy Cane Lane tea by Celestial Seasonings
Looking for tips on how to sleep? You may want to try a peppermint green tea from Celestial Seasonings. No, I'm not talking about their Sleepytime Herbal Tea, or any of their expanding line of Sleepytime teas. The original blend — with chamomile, spearmint and...
‘The Beatles Christmas Album’
Among all the John Lennon tributes yesterday, a friend of mine — Stripwax creator Jeff Moody — posted a link to a YouTube video featuring one of the Beatles' wackier departures, "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)". This, in turn,...
The Krampus and St. Nicholas in Austria (December 5)
The excitement is palpable in the video above as children await the arrival of visitors in Dienten am Hochkönig, a little mountain village in Austria. Many Americans probably recognize St. Nicholas, whose feast day is December 6. A legendary bringer of gifts on the...
Wisconsin Lottery’s Holiday Countdown: No Mike Schank?
Something seems queasily familiar here, and it's not just the lame imitation of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In in the Wisconsin Lottery commercial above. It's those 25 windows and the gingerbread house on the Wisconsin Lottery's new...
‘Death Makes a Holiday’ catalogs culture of Halloween
Because so much of my time is spent in the attention-shattering online world, I hope to restore a little balance, when possible, by getting engrossed in a good old-fashioned book. As a lover of history, mythology, traditions and...
4th of July parade video: Racine, Wisconsin 4th Fest Parade
The 4th of July parade video above was shot entirely on a Flip Ultra HD and edited with iMovie HD 6. For best viewing, click the full-screen button and set the quality to 720p HD. There was something about this year's Fourth Fest Parade that was absolutely...
Pierogi recipes from my mom: Pierogi dough & fillings
As a Chicago-born guy of Polish descent, these pierogi recipes have always been central to my Christmas holiday. The humble pierogi is Poland's take on the ubiquitous filled noodle dumpling, enjoyed elsewhere as ravioli or kreplach or pelmeni or jiaozi (pot stickers)....