Pophistory: music, movies, history, and life.
Happy Presidents’ Day! If you are working on memorizing the names of all the U.S. Presidents, this song from the Animaniacs may help. But you will have to make up your own verses for Pres. George W. Bush and Pres. Barack Obama.
If you cannot quite place the tune, it is “The William Tell Overture” by Gioacchino Rossini.
Who is your favorite president? Leave your two cents in the comments.
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This season some of the highlights from Saturday Night Live have come from returning show alum, like when Jimmy Fallon hosted the show. This week, the show had several highlights thanks to the return of former cast member Maya Rudolph as host. Although producers recognized it would be inappropriate for Rudolph to reprise her Whitney Houston impression, she did pull out her Beyoncé.
In the skit below, Jay-Z and Beyoncé welcome several celebrity guests, including “Prince,” stopping by to give their respects to their new baby, Blue Ivy. Other guests stopping by include LL Cool J, Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift, and Brangelina.
One of the highlights of the segment is Justin Timperlake’s cameo as Bon Iver. His imitation is so good, one suspects that he must be a Bon Iver fan, which was confirmed by Timberlake’s appearance at the show’s closing with a sign, “I Heart Bon Iver.”
What was your favorite part of the skit? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some Related Chimesfreedom Posts)
On today’s date of February 19 in 1981, the United States government released a report claiming an El Salvador insurgency came from aggression by communists. The report prompted the U.S. government under new President Ronald Reagan to begin to address the perceived threat. The U.S. then assisted the government of El Salvador against rebels by sending money and advisers to the country.
Through the 1980s, the U.S. government spent more and more money on El Salvador. Still, violence and instability continued in El Salvador, with many accusations of torture, kidnapping, and assassination on both sides.
Although Peter, Paul & Mary are best-known for the songs they recorded in the 1960s, they still made some excellent music later in their career. One of their late-career highlights is “El Salvador,” which they recorded in 1982 soon after the U.S. report and the escalations in that country.
In the song “El Salvador,” written by “Paul” — i.e., Noel Paul Stookey, the trio helped bring attention to the continuing atrocities in that country and the involvement of the U.S. government in the mess. Stookey and the other singers were surprised to sometimes hear booing when they sang the song, which later appeared on Songs of Conscience and Concern (1999). Here, Peter, Paul & Mary perform “El Salvador” at their 25th Anniversary Concert in 1986 — without any booing.
At the end of the song, the trio asked a question:
They’ll continue training troops in the USA,
And watch the nuns that got away,
And teach the military bands to play South of the Border,
And kill the people to set them free;
Who put this price on their liberty?
Don’t you think it’s time to leave
El Salvador?
In 1992, the United Nations and Costa Rica President Oscar Arias helped negotiate a deal between the warring parties in El Salvador. Although a U.N. commission condemned the U.S.’s involvement in Salvadoran military atrocities, then U.S. President George H.W. Bush claimed that the peace was a result of the U.S.’s long fight against communism El Salvador.
But today even the U.S. Department of State website recognizes the problems: “During the 12-year civil war, human rights violations by both the government security forces and left-wing guerillas were rampant.”
Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some Related Chimesfreedom Posts)
On today’s date of February 18 in 1930, Clyde Tombaugh — an Illinois-born man in his early 20’s working at Lowell Observatory in Arizona — discovered a moving object on photographic plates taken weeks earlier. The object turned out to be Pluto.
A number of scientists had earlier theorized about the existence of the object, and Tombaugh was part of the observatory’s quest to find a mysterious Planet X they predicted existed. After further investigation confirmed Tombaugh’s discovery, news of it was released in March.
The discovery created excitement around the world, and the object’s name came from a suggestion by an eleven-year-old girl in Oxford, England — Venetia Burney — who had suggested the name to her grandfather who had passed it on to various contacts.
In recent years, scientists have changed the classification of Pluto because of its small size, so that the International Astronomical Union no longer classifies it as a “planet.” Instead, it is classified as a “dwarf planet.” For various reasons, including some that are sentimental, others have argued that Pluto should still be regarded as the ninth planet in our solar system.
There is another famous Pluto, i.e., Pluto the pup from Walt Disney. Like the debate about whether Pluto is a planet, there is no consensus on how Pluto the dog got his name. The cartoon dog was created in 1930 around the same time as the “planet” was named, although people dispute whether the planet was named after the cartoon, or whether the cartoon was named after the planet, or whether it is just a coincidence they have the same name. Cartoonists there at the creation are not sure where they got the name.
At least Pluto the dog does not have to worry about being downgraded from a cartoon. So let us celebrate the Pluto in the sky with the Pluto of our childhoods. Pluto is one of the more interesting Disney characters in that the cartoon character is portrayed as an animal. He does not talk, unlike the talking mice (i.e., Mickey and Minnie), talking ducks (Donald), or the talking dog Goofy. Enjoy.
If you are more interested in the celestial object, check out this PBS documentary on the Pluto “dwarf planet”
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I have already discussed on this blog how I am a fan of Matthew Ryan’s music. His recent album I Recall Standing As Though Nothing Could Fall (2011) captures his trademark sound of a combination of gravely voice and hypnotic music with a touch of despair. On this CD, Ryan uses a number of friends and collaborators to help create an excellent sounding album. Check out the tracks here.
The album came out several months ago, but Ryan’s website is selling the CD download for the low price of $5.00 if you like it. (I have no affiliation, just providing the links because I like the music.) I particularly like the opening track, “The Sea” and the full-band songs like “All of That Means Nothing Now.” The beautiful lyrics range from the heartbroken to the political, assuming wishing for peace can be qualified as political. On “I Want Peace” he sings:
You know the facts are being murdered
By the din of politics
And in the ways that we avoid each other
While the big clock tics
There’s a violence in doing nothing
As if the plot could be ignored
Just because you’ve picked your poison
Doesn’t mean the wolf’s not at your door
I get no thrill from bringing bad news
I’d much rather make you smile
But I refuse to be a passenger
As we smile
And swallow up the miles
Cause I want peace
Yeah I want peace
Cause I want peace
Yeah I want peace
For you
And for me
For you and me
Let’s hope his wish comes true.
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