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Culture, Personal

What’s In a Name?

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December 25, 2025

Many of you know that I’m half-Greek and half-Sicilian. I’ve often joked that my mother’s parents were born in Olympia, Greece—home of the gods and goddesses, while my father’s parents were born in Porto Empedocle, Sicily—home of the godfathers. I like to think of myself as a Brooklyn Dialectical Synthesis,…
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Culture, Music

Song of the Day #2242

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December 24, 2025

Song of the Day: Bob Dylan’s Christmas Waltz [YouTube link], composed and performed by Hayden Jones, offers a lovely melody that I have used as the backdrop for a mini-slideshow of this year’s necessarily scaled-down Christmas decorations for my apartment. I have to thank my friend Ryan Neugebauer for introducing…
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Music

Berklee Holiday Cheer

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December 18, 2025

This is a really sweet video, featuring students from Berklee College of Music, called “December“, based on the classic Earth, Wind, & Fire hit, “September“. Lots of holiday cheer!
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Culture, Frivolity

First NYC Snow in 305 Days!

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December 14, 2025

NYC is getting its first snowfall of the season—the first time we’ve had over one inch of snow since February 11-12, 2025. This is nowhere near the record streak of no snowfall for 701 days, which stretched from early 2022 to mid-January 2024! Tonight marks the beginning of Hanukkah, the…
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Film / TV / Theater Review, Music

Song of the Day #2241

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December 13, 2025

Song of the Day: Chim Chim Che-ree was written by the Sherman Brothers for the 1964 Disney musical, “Mary Poppins” and received the Oscar for Best Original Song. Along with the kids, it is sung in the film by Dick Van Dyke, who turns 100 today and Julie Andrews, who…
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Music, Remembrance

Song of the Day #2240

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December 12, 2025

Song of the Day: It’s a Wonderful World features the words and music of Harold Adamson, Jan Savitt, and Johnny Watson. This song appears on the 1961 Frank Sinatra album, “Sinatra Swings” (originally titled “Swing Along with Me“). The album was arranged and conducted by the great Billy May. One…
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Music, Remembrance

Song of the Day #2239

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December 8, 2025

Song of the Day: Mr. Bojangles, words and music by Jerry Jeff Walker, has been recorded by many artists through the years. It became a signature tune for Sammy Davis Jr., who was born on this date one hundred years ago today. The song appears on the 1972 album, “Portrait…
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Frivolity, Politics (Theory, History, Now)

Hope vs. Stupidity

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December 7, 2025

Courtesy Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis
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Music, Remembrance

Song of the Day #2238

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December 4, 2025

Song of the Day: Turn Out the Stars [YouTube link], composed by Bill Evans, appears on the remarkable 1966 album, “Intermodulation,” which the legendary pianist recorded with virtuoso jazz guitarist Jim Hall. This was a follow-up to the duo’s acclaimed 1962 album “Undercurrent“. The intimacy and delicacy of the interplay…
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Music, Remembrance

Song of the Day #2237

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November 29, 2025

Song of the Day: Land of Make Believe, composed by Chuck Mangione, is the title track to the artist’s eighth album. A paean to that internal space where imagination and dreams become reality, the song features vocalist Esther Satterfield. Earlier this year, we lost Mangione; his music lives on. Today…
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