One of my favorite things to listen to during this time is Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker.” Not just The Nutcracker Suite, with which most are familiar, but the entire music from the ballet. I even have a couple of versions of The Nutcracker on video.

One is a movie starring The Pacific Northwest Ballet, narrated by Julie Christie. The other is George Balanchine’s version, starring Macaulay Culkin and narrated by Keven Kline.

The Pacific Northwest Ballet version is a creepier version, partly to the performance of Hugh Duncan Bigney Mitchell (known then simply as Hugh Bigney) and his dedication to the role of Drosselmeyer. They used the name “Clara” for the main girl’s character, performed as an adult by Patricia Barker. The Balanchine used the name “Marie” for the girl, and included Drosselmeyer’s nephew (played by Culkin), a character missing from the PNB version.

Some in the family prefer the Balanchine version, some the PNB version, and some prefer neither. I just love the music.

Here’s a little something to get you into the mood. The Vermont Youth Philharmonia performs two movements “The Nutcracker.”

[Archive.org]

By the way, Tchaikovsky premiered “The Nutcracker” on 18 December 1892 in Saint Petersburg, the one in Russia, not the one by Tampa.

For you history buffs, you know today is the anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first flight. And for those of you who aren’t history buffs, it’s still the anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first flight, you just didn’t know it. But now you do.

[The YouTube]

My grandfather was born before the first flight, and lived to see man walk on the moon. Gosh, the United States is an amazing country.

You know what today is, right? It’s the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party.

I wanted to find a cool video that focused on the Boston Tea Party, but I just couldn’t pass up this Schoolhouse Rock video …

[The YouTube]

Now, go overthrow something.

Being born in The South, I’m kinda partial to The South. I suppose that’s natural. If you were born Up North, you’d be partial to that. Until you came Down South and realized just how awesome it is. The downside is that a bunch of liberals, despite their brains being defective — how else could you explain being a liberal — do seem to like The South. Not enough to keep from trying to turn it into the hell-hole they left from wherever they came from. That’s why we end up with people like Stacey Abrams getting nearly 49% of the vote. It’s certainly not because she’s worthy of being governor or anything, it’s because brain-defective liberals are moving here.

Well, I got a solution. They need to move further south. No, not to Florida. Further south. All the way south.

[The YouTube]

Roald Amundsen arrived at the South Pole on 14 December, 1911.