On week from today Thanksgiving. The next day the start of Christmas shopping. The stores will be playing Christmas carols.
One of the carols that will be heard is Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Not written as a Christmas carol, however.
It was July 1945. The song writing team of Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn were in California. Styne wrote the music, Cahn the lyrics.
It was an unusually hot summer. I doubt there was air conditioning back then in homes and offices. Californians were sweltering.
Out of frustration, Styne and Cahn wrote a song to make themselves and others feel cool. The song Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Vaughn Monroe recorded it. Let It Snow! became an immediate hit. Its popularity did not die as Christmas approached. People began playing it as part of their Christmas repertoire.
Several years later, Frank Sinatra recorded the song. A while later, Dean Martin.
Let It Snow! is still with us. As a Christmas carol. We are sure to hear it beginning next week.
Lunched at Harpoon Harry’s yesterday. The wednesday special is a turkey dinner. Excellent!
I was seated at the bar. Soon a lovely young lady sat next to me. We chatted.
From Toronto, she had arrived in Key West only 2 hours earlier. First time here. She was staying at a guest house near Harpoon Harry’s.
She is in Key West for 5 days. She is in the film business. Has a documentary entered in the Film Festival.
Yesterday was the first really cold day in several months. Cold in the day time! It was 74 degrees. With a brisk wind was coming in off the Gulf.
I was cold. Most of the Key Westers in Harpoon Harry’s were dressed for it. Long pants, sweaters.
I have no long pants that fit since I lost all that weight last year. Nor did I think it was that cold when I left the house. I was in a T-shirt and shorts.
Did I feel the cold!!!
The film lady from Toronto mentioned how hot it was. She had left cold and snow. Her blood thick. Mine thin. She laughed when I said how cold I was. She was going to the beach after lunch.
An enjoyable lunch. She well traveled. We spoke of Greece. Cyprus her favorite island. She especially likes Turkey. We covered Italy and France, also. Our discussion primarily about the Alps.
I spent the afternoon watching the House Impeachment Inquiry. Trump buried again. Each day, the hole gets deeper. The Republican Committee members tried to salvage his ass. Only made them look ridiculous and emphasis Trump’s bad day.
I continue to admire the lower echelon bureaucrats who work in government. They are smart, know their jobs, and for most intents speak the truth. Contrary to what those in the higher echelons do.
Last night was the Democratic Debate. A lot of politics for one day. It was getting to me at the end of the evening.
I thought all the candidates did well. No one stood out.
I was especially impressed by the MSNBC moderators. All women. They were gentle, lady like and respectful. Finally! In the 4 previous debates, the moderators were bullies. Much like the Republicans on the House Impeachment Inquiry Committee.
Syracuse played Cornell last night. Syracuse won 72-53. A close game till the final 10 minutes.
Coach Boeheim and his wife have a difficult time in recent years when the 2 teams play. One son plays for Syracuse, the other Cornell.
Syracuse’s Buddy Boeheim scored 16 points. His brother Jim was Cornell’s high scorer with 25 points.
Boeheim says he does not enjoy the game when the 2 are playing against each other. Nor does their mother.
This morning’s Citizens’ Voice carried an interesting comment: “The only non-breeding iguana is a dead iguana.” I agree. Iguanas are not a joke. They are destructive creatures. Kill them all!
In 3 different years, today had particular significance for Key West.
In 1946, Truman went down 440 feet in a captured German submarine manned by a U.S. crew. Part of Truman’s Key West vacation.
In 1954, the crew filming the “Rose Tattoo” completed the film’s final scenes at the Mardi Gras Club at 92 Duval Street. Then left en masse. The play The Rose Tattoo was written by Tennessee Williams. Filmed at a house 2 doors from his Key West home. Burt Lancaster stayed at Williams’ home during the filming.
In 1978, filming was started on a movie about the life of Captain Tony Tarracino.
Three to 5 years ago, there was a huge dispute re the Keystone Pipeline. Part was to be constructed in North Dakota. Local Indian tribes and environmentalists opposed the pipeline. Claimed it would spill and cause significant damage.
Pipeline developers and owners said no way would the pipeline leak.
Obama opposed the construction and prevented it from being built.
Trump was elected. During the first month of his Presidency, Trump signed an Executive Order permitting the project to go ahead.
The pipeline’s third spill occurred October 29. Not the first, not the second, the third.
Pipeline owners initially reported the spill/leak as a minimum one. Three hundred eighty three gallons, 2,500 square feet affected.
The preceding the result of “visual” testing.
Turns out the spill was much worse that initially reported. Eight thousand thirty seven barrels (not gallons). The leak impacted 23,232 square yards (4.8 acres).
The oil company people claim they were able to clean up most of the spill promptly. By November 9, 8,037 barrels.
The moral: If it can’t spill, it will. Those quick to ok such a construction (Trump) did so without knowing what he was doing. He was accommodating a major corporation and not the people in surrounding the area.
When next will Keystone experience another spill?
An example of negligence/malpractice. Goshen Hospital in Goshen, Indiana.
Staff failed to properly disinfect surgical tools. Used and reused in more than 1,000 operations from April 1 to September 30. Operations performed included hepatitis, HIV, and other infectious diseases.
Hospital has notified the 1,000 plus patients who were operated on with the “dirty” surgical tools. The hospital claims risk of infection low. The hospital willing to test free of charge any patients involved.
One of the patients a nurse. Says she is “scared!”
Ella Fitzgerald’s professional discovery an interesting one.
It was this day in 1934. Ella was a “nobody.” It was Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater. Names were put in a hat. A certain number were pulled out. Ella’s was.
She walked on the stage intending to do a dance number. At the last minute, changed her mind and decided to sing.
You know the rest. Her decision was one that not only changed her life, it changed musical history forever.
Enjoy your day!