Saturnalia was a public holiday celebrated around December 25 in the family home long before the common era and the cult of Saturn survived in Mediterranean locale such as the province of Constantine, somewhere in present day Algeria until the third century CE. The Saturnalia celebrations were annual events well into a century after Constantine's, the first 'Christian' Emperor's reign. During its popularity, the length of the celebration ranged from two to seven days.
The earliest known reference to December 25th commemorating the birth of Christ is in the Roman Philocalian calendar of 354 CE. The same day also appears in the Philocalian calendar as a Roman civil holiday honoring the cult of sol invicta, originating in Syria and relating to the cult of Mithras.
Buying gifts to celebrate Christmas is steeped in tradition, dating to the 1820s when newspapers began to advertise items for Christmas presents.
(from http://www.nbcnews.com/health/we-all-speak-valley-girls-now-2D11722245)
We are always asking questions, even when we're not. A new study suggests that "uptalk," phrasing your statements with a rise in pitch at the end, isn't just something young women do: it seems to be expanding to other demographics, including young men.
In Southern California, anyway, young people tend to uptalk no matter their gender, ethnicity or socioeconomic status, suggests a small new study presented last week at the Acoustical Society of America’s annual meeting.
. . . Uptalk serves several purposes in the speech of SoCal speakers. . . Here's an everyday example: When the barista at Starbucks asks for the customer's name, an uptalker almost sounds like he or she is guessing at the answer (Mike? Isabelle?), "even though we know that this person is not actually questioning his or her name,” the authors write.
Ritchart and Arvanti rounded up 23 UCSD undergrads – 12 women, 11 men, all “native speakers of SoCal English." Their backgrounds varied widely: most self-identified as middle-class, but six said they were upper-class, and four said they were lower-class. Eight of them were bilingual. But despite their differences, they all used uptalk, the authors say.
It’s easy to dismiss uptalk as the airhead’s language quirk, but it can be a useful way of speaking: Ritchart and Arvanti identified an interesting way uptalk is used – to “hold the floor,” or to let the listener know they’re not done talking. The uptalk sort of acts as a verbal comma, explains Arvanti, who notes that their study is not the first to find this usage. For example, in the map experiment, the speaker might say something like, “OK, so, go toward Warren?” before continuing on with his instructions (“And then do you see Valley Mall?”). Ritchart and Arvanti found that 45 percent of “floor holding” instances used uptalk, and 16 percent of simple statements did, too.
. . . from the past (circa 1997 and featuring Spencer Jozwiak, formerly of Angel Fallen and Left Stronger)
Taking in my daily sustenance
Down at my local Scottish restaurant
When I
noticed that my entree was
More than I bargained for
Look what I got
The manager said there was compensation
Coming my way
But not today
Don't call us
Don't call us
Don't call us
We'll call you
Auntie
Lynn said it would be a sin
To waste my precious vocal expertise
So I
took me to audition down
At the prestigious theater called the Ritz
Producer man was nice as he could be
He said I was fine
But not this
time
Don't call us
Don't call us
Don't call us
We'll call you
Seems
I've been hearing
The same thing since
I don't know when
Some with a
little less
Confidence might just give in
I'm no one's fool
Unless I
want to be
Life can be cruel
Won't someone please
Just call me
At
the end of what had seemed to be
A perfect evening
Just what did I do
Could it be something I said
Or didn't follow-through
I wish I
knew
We danced and dined
I even kissed your hand
Under a twinkling
sky
I said goodbye
When you cried
Don't call us
Don't call us
Don't call us
We'll call you
(from http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/11/21863224-boehner-lashes-out-at-conservative-groups-on-budget-deal?lite)
Republican leaders defended a modest budget deal that would maintain
government operations through 2015 amid conservative opposition that
could scuttle the legislation in the House.
House Speaker John
Boehner, R-Ohio, lashed out at conservative advocacy groups that have
encouraged GOP lawmakers to oppose a budget framework unveiled last
night by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.
"They're
using our members and they're using the American people for their own
goals," an animated Boehner told reporters at the Capitol. "This is
ridiculous."
Republican
House Speaker John Boehner delivers a message to advocacy groups
opposing the bipartisan budget framework agreement that was reached this
week.
Ryan and Murray, the top budget officials in their
respective chambers, announced an agreement that would set baseline
spending levels for the 2014 and 2015 fiscal years. The agreement calls
for spending levels slightly above the cap established by the automatic
spending cuts known as the "sequester" through a combination of reforms,
cuts and new, non-tax revenue.
Conservative groups had been girding themselves against the deal
before its details were finalized, mostly because the spending levels
exceed sequester levels. The Club for Growth, Americans for Prosperity
and Heritage Action -- each of them well-financed conservative advocacy
groups that hold some sway over Republican primary voters -- have begun
lobbying furiously against the modest government funding agreement.
"By
having a budget agreement that does not raise taxes, that does reduce
the deficit and produces some certainty and prevents government
shutdowns -- we think is a good agreement," Ryan, the architect of the
budget agreement, said after a closed-door meeting with fellow
Republicans.
Of the package's prospects for passage, the 2012 GOP
vice presidential nominee added: "We feel very good at where we are with
our members."
Chuck Todd reports on the budget deal presented by Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. Patty Murray.
The
Republican leadership's struggle to manage its restive conservative
flank is a familiar storyline to any observer of Congress over the past
three years.
(from http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/legal-and-management/5820021/lost-johnny-cash-album-out-next-spring)
There's new never-before-heard music coming from Johnny Cash. Cash's estate is releasing "Out Among the Stars," an album he recorded with Billy Sherrill in the early 1980s that was never released by Columbia Records, then disappeared when the company dropped Cash in 1986. Turns out Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash, stashed the tapes - along with just about everything else that came into their possession. . .
. . . Columbia paired him with Sherrill, a producer and Country Music Hall of Fame member who was then the president of CBS Records Nashville. One of the main architects of country music's so-called countrypolitan sound, Sherrill helped push the genre toward pop sounds and conventions - and away from Cash's more independent-minded ways.
The pairing came at a time when Cash was at a low ebb in his popularity. The music on "Out Among the Stars" is taken from 1981 and `84 sessions, at a time when country music was going through great change.
It was clear record company executives didn't think much of the outcome. They put out a few more Cash albums after the recordings were made, but never used the music from those sessions before dropping him. Sherrill backed Cash with a band that consisted of fellow Country Hall of Fame member Hargus "Pig" Robbins and a young friend of Cash's named Marty Stuart. . .
. . . [It] was recorded during some of the most difficult years of Cash's life. He felt like he'd lost his legacy and he was still dealing with the fallout from personal problems including infidelity and drug addiction.
He soon met producer Rick Rubin, though, and wrote a coda to his career that gave his life something of a mythic quality.
The Ditty is progressing nicely, thank you. And working with the fine gentlemen of OHO continues to be technically, creatively and personally enriching for me. Jay, David (and Bill of The Bratt Studio) possess the focus of a mother eagle on its prey and exhibited rare and precious mettle in the task at hand . . . nurturing The Ocean City Ditty (by Jay Graboski) to a snappy and rocking maturity.
Coming along well, don't you think? . . .
O - C - E - A - N C - I - T-Y
O - C - E - A - N C - I - T-Y
On your mark get set
Disconnect that internet
Every girl and boy
Breathing in the joy
Not a care at last
Sit outside and bask
In rays of summer's bliss
Crabs and fish and shells
Feel your tension spell
Fries and pizza pie
Smiles won't be denied
Everything is cool
in 2 1 8 4 2
Feel the sparkle in your eyes
Catch a wave and ride
Cars and motorbikes
Bikini babes in the sand
Vibin' to rockin' bands
Ocean City
From Memorial to Labor Day
We beckon you to play
To a boardwalk beat
Miles and miles of beach
Your memories to take
Currents dance and sway
leave your footprints in the sand
Fireworks at night
Give your love a kiss
Sail and fish the sea
Here life is a beach
in Ocean City
Now is the time that's right
For you only live once
Time does drag when it's all work and no fun
The ocean gateway calls you
Sport your shorts and shades
It's so divine to dine at life's buffet
It's almost heaven and
There's so much more we can say
Catch a wave and ride
Cool cars and motorbikes
Bikinis on the sand
Dance to rockin' bands
Ocean City
. . . person to give credit to the current U.S. Senate, would be ME . . .
. . . but . . .
Signs of progress began to emerge in U.S. budget talks on last Tuesday, as top Senate Democratic negotiator Patty Murray said that she sees a path toward an agreement to ease automatic "sequester" spending cuts.
Murray, asked if there was now a path forward in her talks with her counterpart, Republican Representative Paul Ryan, said: "I believe there is."
The lawmakers are racing against a December 13 deadline for a deal, as Republican resistance to including new tax revenues continued to be a sticking point, according to a Democrat on the negotiating committee headed by Murray and Ryan.
House and Senate negotiators were putting the finishing touches Sunday on what would be the first successful budget accord since 2011, when the battle over a soaring national debt first paralyzed Washington.
The deal expected to be sealed this week on Capitol Hill would not significantly reduce the debt, now $17.3 trillion and rising. It would not close corporate tax loopholes or reform expensive health-care and retirement programs. It would not even fully replace sharp spending cuts known as the sequester, the negotiators’ primary target.
(thanks to Reuters and the Washington Post)
